Action Vs Reaction

Our Reactions Define Who We Are

Many a times in the past, we all have gone through this. On a busy road some rash driver overtakes your car in a rush, cuts you off, endangering many lives as he or she whiz passed you . Let us analyze this action. Action is always true, real, tangible or visible. That can be termed as instantaneous in nature. It is time bound, occurs within a certain span of time.

 An action is bound to generate a reaction or reactions. That is the Law of Nature. There are two individuals associated with any event. One is the 'Doer' who carries on the action and the other being the 'Observer', who is affected by the action. The Observer here is one who reacts.

How one reacts is directly dependent on how the observer interprets the action of the doer. And based on that reaction, an action from the observer is bound to follow. This immediate reaction is transitory, intangible and invisible. Whereas, action resulting in the observer may be prolonged, tangible and visible. This can be analyzed a little further and deeper. Let's start with the kinds of reactions that follow the action of the incident of rash driving mentioned earlier.

The observer will generate either of the three reactions as stated below:

A) Negative : Disgust or anger arises as a result of fear and anxiety. Although natural, that clearly is a negative reaction which is immediately generated. What comes to the observer's mind , image of the doer's family background, uncivilized upbringing, additions, arrogance and many other traits. This is spontaneous and easy but completely imaginary. Its generated by speculations and projection of the the observers own mind.
B) Neutral  : We can be neutral to someone's action when we accept that he was literally in a justifiable situation for the action he did, where he had to rush. Else we can completely ignore that the action just happened, which is rather hard to do. whatever be the method, it will help us being at peace.
C) Positive : What happens when we can not ignore someone's unjustifiable act? There is a possibility it drags us towards a state of negative reaction, which is the next level. There must be a way to divert this to a positive reaction. It can be done in two stages. First, we must accept the acknowledge the action, give our thoughts a pause and be at peace within. And then, pray for the person that he or she may do the right thing. Wish good for the person and pray to God for help.

In all the three situations, the action being the same, the divergent reactions that sprouts in our mind will generate negativity, neutrality or positivity. The example of the rash driver is an action whose reaction in us will be instantaneous. We may or may not know the doer, we may or may not be able to recognize or relate to the doer. In this case the reaction may be less impactful for the observer.

Now, imagine a prolonged action or repetitive action of someone we know, someone we are acquainted with and interact on a regular basis at work or in the family or a friend. When he or she keeps repeating the same action with characteristics which can be termed as negative and unjustifiable, the reaction from us will no longer be instantaneous. It will be prolonged. And over a period of time, we will develop a somewhat repulsive and distasteful attitude towards the doer. As are the actions, so will be the reactions prolonged. And these reactions will slowly define the character or our state of mind of who we are as individuals.

From the Great Masters, we should remember the teachings for this character building in us. The three divergent reactions mentioned above can similarly be applied on us. That in a way will help us generate positivity and build a stronger Self.

Inspired from the 'The Book of Joy : Lasting Happiness in a Changing world' by HH The Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Douglas Abrams

Shradha & Saburi - What they mean for a Sai worker

For many who have heard of Saint Shirdi Sai, these two words are synonymous with the Saint - Shradha and Saburi. A century ago when a lady went to the Saint Sai Baba in Shirdi and asked for Guru Mantra (Mantra/Hymn/Statement given by the Guru for the disciple for spiritual upliftment), Baba had uttered two words which became not only the mantra for that devotee but for millions of devotees across the world for more than a century. Lot has been written and discussed over these two words in the path of Saint Sai. Here I would like to quote a portion of an essay written by Rev. Dr Chandra Bhanu Satpathy in the book 'The Age of Shirdi Sai'

"For His devotees, Baba has set two cardinal principles for the path of devotion. The first is shraddha, which means devotional faith and the other is saburi, which means tolerance with patience"

"Unflinching devotional faith (or Shraddha) is the most difficult state of mind to achieve."

"Rapid evolution takes place when, under all circumstances, the devotee patiently waits for the mercy of Baba. Saburi is therefore, an essential factor for the creation , sustenance and growth of devotion. The qualities of faith and patience are complimentary to each other. Faith without patience is a contradiction in terms and patience without faith is an exercise in futility. They are like two sides of a balance beam - if one comes down, the other goes up."
                                                                                      - The Age of Shirdi Sai, Chapter 5, Page 20-22

So intricately defined by Satpathy Ji in the excerpts from the book. This, in the context of a Guru-Shishya or Master-Disciple relationship is the building block in the path of evolution. The two entities that can be clearly visualized while studying the same is your 'Guru' and you, the disciple.

As the journey progresses, out of millions of devotees, the Guru eventually starts to test the devotees and after much scrutiny gives a few of them an opportunity to carry out small tasks. As they progress further, fewer devotees are assigned bigger tasks. Every step of this, the disciple goes through equally tougher tests and scrutiny. The ego is slowly destroyed and the Shishya(disciple) is evolved into a selfless Sevak(worker). By the grace of the Guru, the sevak no longer seeks the blessings of the Guru to remove his or her materialistic hardships, rather he or she only seeks to serve(or seva) the Guru.

Now, comes the time for the worker to build and work for an organization(Also known as Math or Ashram) under the ever protective umbrella of the Guru. Working for the Guru in an organization is much tougher than the mere devotion of any other devotee for his Guru. The fundamental difference is that in an organization, the disciple is not alone. He or she will be associated with many more workers who are dedicated to the same Guru and His mission. But, the cardinal principles as defined above for the disciple still holds relevance for the worker - Shraddha and Saburi. 

Having reached this stage, shraddha of the devotee for the Master is well established. In addition to that, Shraddha for a Guru-worker also gets fortified as 'Affection for other workers and devotees'. And 'Saburi with your self', that was a pre-requisite for establishing a disciple's relationship with the Guru, additionally becomes 'Patience with other workers and devotees' for the worker. Every single step that a worker takes in serving the Guru can no longer be solitary, rather has to be unanimous. Principles needed to keep the workers united, and carry out the mission of the Master are the same that was needed as a pre-requisite for a devotee. In carrying out the day to day activities as a sevak(worker), affection towards your fellow workers will help you bond with them, similar to what you have with your family members. With all the differences  you have with your siblings, elders and young ones are in your family - what binds you together is the belongingness. The same brotherhood and bonding will come into play while working in an organization. Similarly, shraddha resulting in the qualities of affection and caring for others, will help you to be patient with them in the organization. They are like the two sides of a coin as defined by Dr Satpathy - necessary for a disciples spiritual evolution towards the Guru, and later for a worker doing seva(service) towards the cause of the Guru.

Karma Yoga – Relevance of fulfilling materialistic needs in life

Karma Yoga – Relevance of fulfilling materialistic needs in life

Reading spiritual and religious books is often considered challenging to the common man. First of all, people assume that by reading such books, we would drift away from materialistic world and care less for things around us – our worldly affairs, ambitions to achieve and to fulfill our materialistic needs. Often while talking to friends and colleagues, I have realized that people appreciate someone who is spiritual and religious, studies spiritual books and follows a Guru. But, at the same time when it comes for them to make an attempt in doing the same, they step back. They withdraw with the fear that by following that path, he or she might drift away from day to day life and lose focus on their goals. They fear that being spiritual would make them demotivated to be an achiever.

Ask someone who is a scholar of religious scriptures – and they would just smile! This idea of withdrawal can be associated with the tradition where in the person who preaches religion or does commentary on spirituality, philosophy and scriptures is often projected as a detached human being who has renounced all worldly commitments and lives a life of aimlessly wandering soul. In Hinduism they are known as Sanyasi, A mendicant priest in catholic order of Christianity, A dervish in Sufi order of Islam and a monk in Buddhism and Jainism. A worldly man would like to listen to them, take their blessings and advise on certain matters and move on. A family man is not encouraged to venture into the other world with a fear that it might break the balance which is holding the family and society together. Most common prescription is ‘ That is good, but not for you’.

Now you will be amazed to read that God never wanted the all the worldly man to become monks and quit their duties and walk away. Only a Guru (Spiritual Master) would be able to comprehend scriptures properly and teach the man what the laws expect of a worldly man. As prescribed in Bhagwat Gita

Na buddhi-bhedam janayed
ajnanam karma-sanginam
Josayet sarva-karmani
vidvan yuktah samacaran

-Bhagwat Gita, Ch.3(The Eternal Duties of a Human Beings), Verse 26

Meaning : The wise should not create discord in the mind of ignorant people attached to fruititive actions; instead the wise man with persistence and precision, should induce others in activities, keeping them fully engaged.

This clearly says that for the unintelligent human being, the concept of working without expecting any fruits or results is meaningless. Working selflessly and being unattached to your actions is only for the evolved human being. Work devoid of desire is an exalted state given to the enlightened few. This philosophy is too high for the common man to understand. To work for results is far superior to being given to laziness born of inertia. The indolent man must be roused to ambitions and exertions leading to pleasures and prosperity. Unable to comprehend this philosophy of ‘work devoid of desire’ man would be given to escape-mentality from actions on earth. Care should be taken no such confusion is created in the mind of the indolent and ignorant.

                                    -                         Commentary by Swami Chidbhavananda

Question may arise if scriptures approve of working for desires, how does a man ever get to the selfless work? The answer may be derived from the teachings given by Sadgurus. By following the scriptures and instructions of a Guru , a sincere man eventually achieves what he desires for. After having fulfilled all his materialistic goals and enjoyed the pleasures of life, there comes a time when the same person has nothing more to wish for. He or she contemplates on his or her life and with the same inertia of action, continues to work unattached to the results thus generated. Those results or fruits of ones action thus reach out to others in need. Since all actions and results thereof are contained within the nature, the outcome of ones good work is utilized somewhere else.

Taking various examples from the life of Sadguru Sai Baba of Shirdi as described in Sai Satcharitra, we can find that thousands of people flocked to Shirdi for the fulfillment of various needs in life. Some came seeking to be blessed with a child, some came to be cured of illness and some came to seek blessings and advice on business deals and financial troubles. Being a spiritual master who knew that these worldly needs are temporary and man should rather seek spiritual advice, Baba fulfilled their desires. But if you look at how the lives of these men and women who came transformed later, you will be astonished. Most of them came back to Baba and served humanity with all they had. They sacrificed what they sought from the Guru, devoted their lives in serving others and propagating the message of their Master. Fulfillment in life and seeking for it is an important aspect in the path of spirituality and growing as a human being.

Bow to my Guru!

                                                                                                            -Santanu 

To-Know and Not-To-Know

JAI SHREE SAI  ! JAI GURUDEV !

To-Know and Not-To-Know

Knowledge can be defined as none other than 'To know the truth'. To know something which is not true can be meant for entertainment but cannot be considered as knowledge because that does not add any value in our lives. Everything that exists - living or non living, big or small, good or bad, on earth or beyond earth is all the truth. To know about these is Knowledge. Learning and realizing the fact that all the truths in the universe are nothing but part of  the mUltilateral truth' or the Param Brahma is the ultimate knowledge.
Our five sensory faculties along with mind constitute the six indriyas to receive knowledge.  The truth always existed, is constant and will remain unchanged for time to come. Acceptance and the degree of acceptance may vary from time to time. Truth is constant and cannot be compared. A person standing in front of a a tree can close his eyes and assume that the tree does not exist. But that would merely be his non-acceptance of the truth, it does not make the tree.

'Not to know' in other words can be defined as not accepting the truth. Its is not the same as 'not knowing'. It is knowing and non accepting or ignoring. In day to day life, our self driven obstruction of the senses lead us to Not-Know many things.

• To not know the truth that all faiths, beliefs and practices in the religious world are ultimate part of the onk ::)e creation and lead to realization of God, leads to conflicts in the world. 
• In the society, to not know that even a person who does not believe in Shirdi Sai is also His creation, pushes us away from that person. This leads to bias in our affection and responsibilities towards others. 
• To not know that happiness and pain in our life caused by various factors are ultimately the creation of God alone, leads us to question our faith during adversities in life. 
• To not know the fact that we are just an embodiment of an non destructive soul and that our existence is very limited, leads us to seek for frivolous and materialistic things in life. Rather than focusing on raising our consciousness, and self improvement, we fall into the trap of ego, honor-seeking, anger and jealousy. 
• To not know that truth that all living and non living beings are a part of the Ultimate truth, makes us insensitive towards nature and other animals leading to endangerment of living beings.

Thus, we mere humans with all our senses and an opportunity called life should try to realize and accept the Truth. If we do so and pray to Sainath, we may finally realize the Ultimate-Truth, something which is not possible without the blessings of a Sadguru

To Know and Not to Know

Knowledge can be defined as nothing but 'To know the truth'. To know something which is not true can be meant for entertainment but cannot be considered as knowledge because that does not add any value to our lives. Everything that exists - living or non living, big or small, good or bad, on earth or beyond the earth is all ‘Truth’. To know about these is Knowledge. Learning and realizing the fact that all the truths in the universe are nothing but part of the 'Ultimate truth' or the Param Brahma is the ultimate knowledge.

    Our five sensory faculties along with mind constitute the six indriyas to receive knowledge. As creation is the truth, so is destruction. The truth always existed, is constant and will remain unchanged for time to come. Acceptance and the degree of acceptance may vary from time to time. Truth is constant and cannot be compared. A person standing in front of a tree can close his eyes and assume that the tree does not exist. But that would merely be his non-acceptance of the truth; it does not make the tree vanish. It would be a mere loss for the viewer only and does not affect the tree.

'Not to know' in other words can be defined as 'Not accepting the truth'. It is not the same as 'not knowing'. It is knowing but non-accepting or ignoring the same. In day to day life, our self driven obstruction of the senses lead us to Not-Know many things.

• To not know the truth that all faiths, beliefs and practices in the religious world are ultimate part of the one creation and lead to realization of God, leads to conflicts in the world.

• In the society, to not know that even a person who does not believe in Shirdi Sai is also His creation, pushes us away from that person. This leads to bias in our affection and responsibilities towards others.

• To not know that happiness and pain in our life caused by various factors are ultimately the creation of God alone, leads us to question our faith during adversities in life.

• To not know the fact that we are just an embodiment of a non destructive soul and that our existence is very limited, leads us to seek for frivolous and materialistic things in life. Rather than focusing on raising our consciousness, and self improvement, we fall into the trap of ego, honor-seeking, anger and jealousy.

• To not know the truth that all living and non living beings are a part of the Ultimate-Truth, makes us insensitive towards nature and other animals leading to endangerment of living beings.

Thus, we mere humans with all our senses and an opportunity called ‘Life’, should try to realize 

and accept the Truth. If we do so and pray to Sainath, we may finally realize the Ultimate-Truth, 

something which is not possible without the blessings of a Sadguru.

Realizing the Chicago Pilgrimage

Realizing the Chicago Pilgrimage

Practical Demonstration of Four Yogas 

People who were in Chicago during the weekend of November 15th, 2014, to attend the tenth year anniversary of Shirdi Sai temple of  Chicago (located in the Hampshire suburb), were definitely fortunate and blessed, without a doubt. Needless to say, it was a pilgrimage like no other for Sai devotees and followers of Guruji C.B Satpathy Ji.

            Of the many takeaways from this spiritual trip, this is one of them. Our trip started with some challenges. People across North America, New Zealand, Europe and India had booked their tickets flying in to Chicago. A week before the event, a rare polar vortex hit the upper Midwest breaking all records of winter temperatures pounding snow all over. The storm slowly approached the great lakes area and was forecast to hit Chicago with a snow storm, during the event. Travelers started getting all precautionary emails regarding the weather and had to prepare well for the trip. With devotion in their heart and faith in Sai, travelers and organizers both went ahead with the planning as scheduled. It was a test of Baba which surely did raise some concerns in the minds of devotees. 
             As it has always been, Baba's kids are always protected. It was evident as the weather became dry and sun was shining as people stared landing in Chicago. Faith conquered the first psychological challenge. As people reached Chicago, Guruji's Sai family started adding more and more members. The warmth of emotions and brotherhood was something to feel. Weather was challenging but not as harsh as expected. The protection of Baba was already reflecting.
              Swami Vivekananda had said " Every Soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divinity within by controlling nature : External and Internal. Do this either by work, or worship, or psychic control, or philosophy - by one, or more, or all of these - and be free." As per the Vedanta philosophy and also practices prescribed by Shirdi Sai and Guruji, the four paths of yoga are - Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga and Raja Yoga. Shirdi Sai Temple Chicago is a true demonstration of the the paths mentioned above. This is how it goes - The temple complex was divided into distinct four parts each reflecting one of the four paths.

Bhakti Yoga - Divinity through worship. The main temple hall where Baba's statue resides, you can feel only one thing - the ever compassionate presence of Shirdi Sai Baba. What emanates from Baba's hall is pure and serene bhakti (devotion). His presence is in the life-like form of His statue in this temple. His compassionate love can be experienced in the hall filled with hundreds of portraits of characters associated with Shirdi Sai Baba during His stay in Shirdi. Also in this Hall, you would see Baba's paintings and photographs performing his divine leelas. Baba and His Bhaktas (Devotees) who saw the 'God who walked on earth', adorn this hall.

Jnana Yoga - Divinity through philosophy. Just below Baba's hall, there is 'Guru Sthan' - The abode of the Gurus. Photographs of many realized saints or Gurus from the past adorn the Guru Sthan. You will see Guruji C. B Satpathy Ji's portrait above entry to Guru Sthan. These Gurus with their divine knowledge had transformed the society and still guide millions of people towards God realization through the Jnana or knowledge imparted. Their divine knowledge acts as the lighthouse for millions of souls drifting in the ocean of Maya.

Raja Yoga - Divinity through psychic control. Adjacent to the main temple, there is a meditation hall. Baba with a hookah adorn this hall generating a divine and serene environment for devotees to meditate on God. Raja yoga is the practice of meditation.  The meditation hall is the place to practice the same.

Karma Yoga - Divinity through work. Adjacent to the meditation hall is another building which houses the temple office and kitchen. All of Baba's work in the temple and reaching out to devotees across the globe is being carried out here. During the event, the volunteers in the basement kitchen incessantly fed thousands of devotees every single day, only with devotion towards Baba and selfless service without any thought of gain or reward. Such is the work done every week in the Baba's temple for years. The true path of divinity through service to mankind is reflected here.

                 After having visited Chicago temple and having experienced this in person, its is needless to say that  in the background of all the events, there lied a powerful message of Guruji and Baba which people would sooner or later start to realize more divinity as they revisit the Chicago events in their mind in the months to come.

What do we seek from God ?

Recently a friend of mine said “ Please pray to Baba to bless me for my exams” And I said spontaneously “ Baba’s blessings are always with us, we just don’t realize It” As I said that , it brought two interesting questions to my mind.

1) First – Do Baba’s blessing(s) come for specific  purpose(s)?

When we seek blessings for our sick child, our healing of sorrows, for success in a venture, for help in desperation, does the Supreme Lord bless us then and there with some powers that cater only to solve the problem we sought help for? I am amazed sometimes to think that over and over again we have been trying to realize the formless and unlimited God and still seek for packaged blessings for small little things and hurdles in our life. Why? If God who is infinite, who is ‘One’, chooses to bless His devotees , why would He chose to bless with finite and multiple blessings for innumerable times we seek? If after all, the sole purpose of God’s blessing(s) is raising our consciousness and uplifting the soul in us, wouldn't it be justified that blessing (and not blessings) come as one?  It’s just the limitation of human memory  that we keep forgetting -  He, the creator and operator of the universe is always present in us and governing us. He being aware of both happiness and sorrows, the giver of both gain and pain is always blessing us. We just need to realize the blessing in every moment we live.

2) Second – Are Baba’s blessings time bound?

We mostly reach out to God begging when the situation propels us to. In the best of out time, we hardly feel the necessity of seeking help from anyone, leave alone God. Only when things start getting out of our hand and incidents beyond our understanding, we get desperate and feel the necessity of some powerful God to hold our hand, to comfort us and save us. We expect a miracle to happen. Parambrahma or the Supreme God is timeless then how come His blessings come to action within limited boundaries of time defined by human beings?  He who governs births and rebirths of living beings, He who governs the creation-destruction-reconstruction of universes, He who operates beyond the human time, how can His blessing be time bound?

With our limited wisdom we categorize moments and situations to be pleasure  vs pain, happiness vs remorse, gain vs loss and react accordingly. Why do we differentiate good as the blessing and unpleasant as a curse? These are the questions we need to ask ourselves before we seek His blessing any given day.