Problems of Life - Teachings to Change Lives:

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Telugu Talk

Why we need to have correct knowledge about life & What’s missing?

As humans we always want to be happy and not have sorrow or difficulties. What do we need to do to be happy?  We need good education, good job, healthy relationship, family and good health like this list goes on. What’s wrong in asking for these things?

As a student we want to have good conventional education where we can be successful in our lives. With this education we can earn material comforts, entertain ourselves in a variety of ways, travel around the globe and support a large group of friends, family and community. Thus, the main purpose of the conventional education is earning comforts and companionship. We need to be happy when we have all these things but we are not always happy. 

Conventional education may be considered a tool that can maximize happiness and minimize or eliminate some of the situations leading to unhappiness. Education cannot change the world unless our outlook changes. Life will present the pairs of opposites such as victory and defeat, pleasure and pain, gain and loss, health and ill health. Although we see that life is constantly changing, we expect it to remain constantly favorable to us. When we hear some bad news such as premature death, loss of property or such unfortunate events, we secretly hope that it should not happen to us.

Correct knowledge guides us to increase the quality of our life.

Most of the time, our focus is on increasing the standard of life.  We keep going for quantity in our lives thinking that next object or person will make us happy. We have to learn to understand the quality that we need, not quantity. We keep accumulating things around us which will make us more depressed some times.

Correct knowledge teaches us the way to handle all our problems in life effectively so that life could be joyful.

It provides us with an emotional insurance cover so that we are not affected by the problems of life. 

Correct knowledge shows resolution to so called problems in our life. 

We remain unprepared when a tragedy strikes us. In life, we may face various difficult situations. Such situations are termed as 'problems' or 'crises. Once we gain the real knowledge of the life, there will be no more problems or crisis in our life but only situations. Life will be joyful.

What are problems of life?

Nature of the problem
All the problems in our life are represented by negative emotions such as:
Anger, Annoyance, Anxiety
Bitterness
Confusion
Discontent, Disgust, Displeasure

Fear, Frustration
Grief, Guilt
Hatred
Irritation

Pain – Emotional and Physical
Rage, Regret
Shame, Sorrow, Suspicion
Worry

When we are crippled at times with these emotions we feel that there is no way out. Sometimes we make mistakes that are irrecoverable when these emotions are overflowing.  The suffering comes through these emotions, and if this is constant this will drag us in to depression or change of personality.

We might think that people around us or objects outside are the problem.

If we carefully examine this, we can understand that these factors are only the causes of the problem. The real problem is in our mind and this is universal in nature.

Only situations and conditions change.

We always react to the situations in a similar way.

We have been facing problems since our birth but we never had time to understand our thinking and patterns of suffering.

Unless we understand these patterns that we go through, we cannot fix our so called problems.    

Understand that the problem is dormant:

We do not enjoy having such negative emotions. If we have such emotions, we suffer.

We call this suffering as our problem.

Even if we do not have these negative emotions, during any given period in our life, it cannot be said we are not suffering. Like a dormant disease, which has not yet manifested, the possibility of suffering by such negative emotions, exist in all of us all the time.

Thus, the problem is always present. Either it is manifested (as suffering) or it is in the dormant state (possibility of suffering). 

Understand that miscalculated expectation is the reason for suffering:

When we encounter a situation that is not in line with our expectations, then such negative emotions are manifested.

In life, either we are expected to be certain way or we want other people or situations to be certain way. We do not make an effort to understand our responsibility and limitations in this aspect.

Multiple causes but single problem

We can have multiple causes for the single problem that exists in our lives.

Where is the problem?

The problem could be caused by anything but suffering remains the common factor. All these emotions that we go through are an expression of our suffering.

Where are they generated?

The simple answer is “Mind”.

Mind is the reason why we suffer.

Not understanding our own self is the reason why we suffer.

Our expectation in our mind is the reason why we suffer.

Not understanding our tendencies and patterns is the reason why we suffer.

By letting our mind control the intellect - is the reason why we suffer.

Let us pray to Baba so that he can take us inside our mind. With this we can travel forward in the spiritual path.

OM SAI RAM!

Eliminating the Pain in Life (Teachings to Change Lives)

దుఃఖము - నివృత్తి

As humans we experience both difficulties and pleasures in our lives. We might want the pleasures and this is natural. We might have the required past good deeds to qualify for this. But we do not have any right to reject the difficulties of life. Because these difficulties are the product of our past deeds and we cannot escape from this whirlpool. But we can adapt to these difficult circumstances and this power we can certainly acquire. This is what Sabhuri means (patience), which always was emphasized by Baba. 

Whenever we have Sadguru’s blessings the intensity of these difficulties in our lives will decrease in intensity. Baba will give us the energy to face these so called difficulties. But Baba went another step forward and taught us a way where we do not have to even suffer the consequences of these past deeds that is called Karma rahitya (free from the effects of our actions). Baba gave us these instructions through a funny sequence which was described in Sai Satcharita as Grains story related to Hemadpant.   

  

We got used to materialistic pleasures so much and we lost track of our own destiny. Whoever is a slave to senses cannot achieve the ultimate goal of human life that is self- realization.  The (scriptures) Shrutis proclaim: “Yada Panchava Tishtanthe ” i.e. when all the five senses and the intellect become steady it is considered the highest state of Yoga. That was emphasized by Baba, through this joke. This can change our lives if we can grasp the inner meaning behind the story.

Grains Story:

Once Hemadpant was massaging Baba’s feet and doing his service (seva). At that moment Shyama laughed and remarked: “What Annasaheb! What are these grains here which seem to be stuck? ” Saying so, Shyama touched the sleeve of the coat with his fingers, when from the folds of the coat, grains were found. How did the grains come to be stuck to the coat?  Everybody was wondering how these grains came there.

Then Baba said: “He has a bad habit – that of liking to eat alone. Taking advantage of the market day, he came rubbing the grams in his palms (to take off the skin). It is not good to eat alone. But I know his habit. These grams give the proof. What is there to be surprised about? ”.

 Then Hemadpant said: “Baba, till this day, I have not seen the Shirdi bazaar. If I went there, I could buy the grams. And the question of eating them would arise only later. I never eat anything without sharing it with someone who so ever has this liking may do so, but this is not my habit”.

Now observe Baba’s skill. How he made devotion firmer to himself! Hear with attention, to what he said after listening to my clear denial.

Baba then said; “You share the food with whosoever is near you. But what do you do, when you are alone? What can I also do? Do you remember me? Am I not beside you? Do you offer me a morsel? ”

Meaning behind the story:

To enjoy anything in this world, either it is food or some other object we need our senses, mind and intellect. All Baba saying here is to think about him before we enjoy anything. Lot of people has the habit of praying to God before they eat. This practice is good but Baba did not stop there. He extends this principle to all sorts of actions. This is an excellent tool to achieve our goals and avoid the suffering in our lives. Thus he made the grams a mere pretext and deeply impressed upon this principle. Eating food without offering to gods, the five ‘pranas’, the fire and defrauding them of it or without offering to all deities made by presenting oblations to the fire before meals, or without offering it to the unexpected guest makes the food highly impure.

In principle, this appears insignificant. But its application in daily life is very important. Enjoying the flavor of the food is not the only implication – all the five senses and other enjoyments are included. One who panders to his senses can never hope to achieve spiritual progress. He who has a tight control over the senses alone can succeed.

Then we have more control over our senses and then we can use our mind & intellect in a meaningful way. When we start surrendering our actions even major sins, we lose our bad qualities. Our personality attains some kind of purity. Our love towards Guru will reach to new heights. Then Guru’s blessings will shower us. We lose the (Dwaita Bhavana) duality of life realizing that we are the ultimate universal energy. Whoever sees the difference between Guru and God cannot achieve this goal. So we need to strongly believe that there is no difference between Guru and God.

Let us listen to this in Baba’s words:

  

Before the mind, the intellect and other senses enjoy these objects; remember me first so that they become an offering to me.

The senses can never remain without their objects; but if these objects are first offered to the Guru, the attachment for them will naturally vanish.

If you desire anything, desire me only! If you are angry vent your anger on me only! Offer me your pride and stubbornness. Be devoted only to me.

 Whenever desire, anger, pride arise strongly make me the object towards which to direct them.

In this way, one by one, the Lord will help you in eradicating all the ‘Vrittis’. The Lord will certainly calm the strong waves of these three venomous qualities.

In fact, this disturbed mental state would be absorbed in my form or would become one with me. A state of peace will be yours at my feet”. If you practice this, desires will become weak, on their own, and with the passage of time desires will be destroyed from their very roots. The mind will be free from all such tendencies.

Knowing and believing that the Guru is close by such a person would never be disturbed by such tendencies. Once such a good habit takes firm root, the bondage of the world will loosen. The Guru’s form will be seen in every desirable object. Thus desire itself becomes the form of the Guru.

If there is the slightest desire for the enjoyment of these objects; and you think that Baba is close by, the question whether the object is fit to be enjoyed or not will at once arise. The object that is not fit to be enjoyed will be easily shunned. In this way, the devotee’s vicious addictions will disappear and an aversion towards the undesirable will develop.

He will be ready to obey the rules for the control of the senses, as mainly stated in theVedas. Then, the enjoyment of the objects will be as per the rules and there will be no indiscriminate indulgence. When such a habit is developed, the thoughts about enjoyment of the sense objects are weakened. The desire for the worship of the Guru arises and pure knowledge will sprout. When pure knowledge grows, the bondage of body-consciousness will break and the intellect will be merged in spirit consciousness, leading to infinite bliss. Even though the body is perishable, it is a means towards gaining enlightenment, which is really more desirable than salvation, because through it, we can experience ‘bhakti’. This fifth rung of gaining enlightenment is superior to the other four ‘kama, artha, dharma and moksha’. They cannot be compared to ‘bhakti’. Invaluable are the gains of ‘bhakti’.

One who achieves fulfillment by serving the Guru can fully understand the implication of this statement. He alone will achieve enlightenment by understanding the inherent meaning of ‘bhakti’, knowledge and detachment. One who thinks of the Guru as different from God is like a man reading the whole Bhagavat without realizing who God is.

 Desire for the objects of senses will be destroyed from the root when you serve the Guru, with a pure heart.

The mind will become pure and sinless and your Self will manifest with effulgence.

Ultimate essence:

This story expands our horizons and if we can follow these principles in our daily life; we will become pure in our heart. Then we will be saved by our Guru from this life death cycle.

Let us concentrate on it. ‘Do not enjoy any object with any of our five senses without first remembering Baba’. When the mind is trained in this way, we will be always reminded of him. The attention will be at Sai’s feet in all transactions.

That Incarnation of Pure Brahman will ever remain before the eyes and then devotion, liberation and non-attachment would arise.

Salvation will be achieved. When this beautiful form is fixed before our mental vision, we forget hunger, thirst and the mundane existence.

The consciousness of worldly pleasures will disappear and our mind will attain peace. 

This funny sequence from Sai Satcharita will change our lives if we can grasp this principle that Baba wanted us to learn and apply in our daily life. Let us pray to Baba to give us the strength to acquire this particular skill and adapt this principle. Let his blessings come to us forever.

OM SAI RAM!  

Unnecessary arguments (Teachings to Change Lives)

వాగ్వివాదాలు 

Humans have what other living beings do not have, that is intelligence. This character can either direct us in a right track or wrong way with ego filled behaviors. Our scriptures have emphasized this fact so that we can avoid the pitfalls. 

Baba taught this in a beautiful way without even talking about big words from scripture through Hemdpant. We can recite all the scriptures that we want, but if this is not applied in daily life what good is this? Even so called great people will not realize this and fall in to this trap. So Guru is essential in our lives where can show us the correct path. Once Guru enters our life, our attitude and the way we live our life will change.

This story happens when Hemadpant came to Shirdi for the first time. After having visiting Baba   he went to his lodging (wada) took shower and met other people in the lodging. They started having a discussion about necessity of a Guru. Balasheb Bhate was telling the group that we need Guru in our lives and without which the path of spirituality is difficult. Hemadpant argued that self-effort is so essential without which even Guru cannot do much. The arguments went back and forth and they became heated discussions. Then they could not decide either way. They all went to Dwarakamai. Baba immediately asked them about these discussions. Hemadpant was surprised that Baba knew about the discussions and they are not even close to the masjid.

Baba said “Why all these discussions? What this Hemadpant is saying?”

That was the first time this name was used. Hemadpant name was given by Baba to Anna Saheb Dabolkar. Hemadpant realized why he was called by that name and wanted to control his passion. He also wanted to channel his ego properly. He said “As long as this name is there, I will be reminded to be humble”.

How to apply this in our life:

The same issue we also can apply in our daily life. 

We are slaves to our ego. 

In this universe there is no place for unnecessary arguments. 

We might feel that truth is what we speak. The past impressions from this life and past lives will dictate our thinking and ideology. 

These thoughts will always try to change our world around us and in the process we suffer. 

We cannot change everything around us. This truth will be revealed to us when we have Guru’s blessing. That’s the reason why even supreme God when he takes life, he took the shelter of a Guru. Lord Krishna took Sandipa Maharshi as his Guru, and Rama‘s Guru was Vashista Maharshi and they became role models for the humans. Baba also gave so much importance to Guru.

In Yoga Vashistam it was emphasized that self-effort is also essential. We have to work hard and Guru will not do everything. We have to take some crucial decisions about our life and how we want to live. Otherwise path is not easy.

Sai Bandhus we are all devotees of our Great Guru Sai, we do not have to prove to other devotees that we have superior thinking. Sometimes we get carried away.

Sai knows everything.

Sai might have appeared as different Gods, Gurus and other forms, Sai never said that he is one particular form and depending on our visualization he gave darshan to that particular devotee.

There is no place for unnecessary discussions and we do not want difficulties in our lives.

All we need to do is show Shradda (Faith) and Sabhuri (Patience).

Let Sai bless us and take away ego from our lives.

OM SAI RAM!  

Sai Manasa Puja

సాయి మానస పూజ 

All objects of enjoyment relate to the elements and elementals – in fact, the entire universe is contained within the soul as a reflection of a city in a mirror. The confusion is on account of Maya which is manifested. In reality, it (Maya) has not manifested. It is forever present in the Absolute. But it is also in the world bringing all the movable and immovable objects into being. Whatever is seen in the mirror does not exist in it. Like visions seen in a dream appear very real but on waking all that is gone. When one is awakened the dream world disappears. The joy of the light of Unity appears because of the Sadguru’s significant words.

Great Soul, that is the Lord, becomes agreeably disposed, then only this realization is possible. Understand this nature of the soul to be the glow of the Self having (existential character) the nature of ‘Sat’. Then this world of the elements and elementals is the manifestation of illusion, mere sport.

That’s why we have to pray to Baba as follows:

“Please introvert my senses. Give me discrimination and the ability to identify the transient from the eternal. Grant me too the gift of asceticism”.

I am always an indiscriminating fool, obstructed by profound ignorance. My mind is always soaring on evil imagination and creates all these difficulties for me. See to it that I have an unshakable faith in my Guru’s words, which are as irrefutable as the revelations of the Vedas. Make my mind like a mirror so that it can receive Self-Knowledge.

Moreover, Sadguru Sainath, make me fully understand this knowledge, because without experience when one talks about it, it is mere prattle. Can that achieve the ultimate goal?

Therefore, Baba, with your power let me experience this knowledge myself, whereby I can easily attain liberation. Grant me these alms, I beg of you.

Consequently, O Lord Sadguru Sai, I offer my bodily pride to you. From now onwards take care of me as there is no self with me. Take away my bodily consciousness so that I feel neither pain nor pleasure. Control me so that I act only in accordance with your wish. Or, you become my ego yourself and take over all doer and enjoyer ship. Let me not have anxiety on that account.

Hail, hail to you the One who has fulfilled all desires. Enjoin my love at your feet. O abode of auspiciousness may this inconstant mind find complete peace at your feet.

Who else but you can speak words for our welfare, relieve us of our miseries and bring us contentment?

The great Sankaraacharya says in Shiva manasa puja Sthotram as follows;

Aatmaa tvam girijaa matih sahacharaah praanaah shariiram griham
Poojaa te vishhayopabhogarachanaa nidraa samaadhisthitih .
Sajnchaarah padayoh pradakshinavidhih stotraani sarvaa giro
Yadyatkarma karomi tattadakhilam shambho tavaaraadhanam

You are my self; Paarvatii is my reason. My five praanaas are your attendants, my body is your house, and all the pleasures of my senses are objects to use for your worship. My sleep is your state of samaadhii. Wherever I walk I am walking around you, everything I say is in praise of you, everything I do is in devotion to you, o benevolent lord!

In a similar way Hemadpant gave us Sai manasa (mental prayer) puja in beautiful words.

You are the one to kindle me. You alone are the one to provoke my speech, so who am I to sing your praises?

You are the doer who gets things done. To be always in your company is itself our study of the Scripture.

Listening to your life story daily is itself our reading of religious texts.

Chanting your name without wasting a moment is itself equivalent to doing ‘katha and kirtan’. This itself is our regular meditation and that is itself our satisfaction.

We do not wish to have such happiness which causes us to turn our backs on worship, for could there be any bigger obstacle in attaining the ultimate goal?

Let my tears of joy be the warm water to wash your feet;

Let me besmear your body with the sandal paste of pure love;

Let me cover your body with the cloth of true faith.

May this puja from my heart propitiate you better than the outward ritualistic one and endow you with pleasure and happiness.

Let us offer the eight lotuses in the form of our eight very

pure, satvik emotions and the fruit in the form of our concentrated mind.

Let us apply ‘buka’ of devotion to the forehead.

Let us tie the girdle of deep devoutness and place our neck on your toes.

Then let us enjoy the tender and wonderful celebration.

Adorning him with the jewels of our love, let us wholeheartedly ward off the evil eye4. Make a ‘chamar’ with our five ‘pranas’ and wave it before you to ward off the heat.

After concluding such blissful worship, let us do the eightfold obeisance, offer fragrance and oblations of water.

In this manner, we shall worship you, Sairaja, for our own welfare.

We remember and always chant ‘Sai Samartha’ to attain the desired object; and with the same mantra also attain the ultimate goal and gratify our faith in you”.

OM SRI SAI RAM!

Love Sai like Mhalsapati:

   Mhalsapati faced so many worldly difficulties with extreme poverty. He did not have any food to feed his family lot of times. His family fasted without food on several occasions. He never yielded to this pressure. 

Baba offered to give him some money but he refused to take and used to say “Sai I just need your blessings not monetary benefits from you. 

He was goldsmith by profession but a poor village like Shirdi could not give him any business to survive. His lands were barren. 

He was worshipping his Khandoba (Lord Shiva) in the form of Sai all the time. Even at the height of his poverty, he showed Ananyabhakti (unconditional devotion).

His greatness and unconditional worship (shradda) was evident when he did not ask or say anything about his son’s death. He could have asked Baba to get his son back like all other devotees but he did not. Because he knows what he needs to get from a great Guru like Sai? 

Can we learn this kind of Shradda, and love our Sai to the extent that Bhakta Mhalsapati did. This could be our golden standard for spiritual development in loving Sai. 

Baba gave these padukas to Mhalsapati

OM SAI RAM!