Sai Upasana

Sai stayed in Shirdi once he came back second time. He did not go anywhere except for Rahata. But he was all pervading and gave darsan to all his devotees all over the world. People worshiped him in different ways. He used to sit in Dwarakamai. He blessed his devotees by teaching them the right path. He always used a piece of sackcloth for His seat, which was covered with a small, beautiful bed by His bhaktas and has a bolster placed by them, as a rest to His back. 

Some waved Chamara or fans before Him, some played on musical instruments, some washed His hands and Feet, some others applied scent and chandan, some gave betel nut with leaves and other things, and some others offered naivedya. We also like serving Baba in different ways. This is excellent. Bhakthi gives us purity of mind. 

Baba respected the feelings of His devotees and allowed them to worship Him as they liked. But he observes us where we get stuck and will help us to grow. But if we resist it becomes difficult. 

Now let us see how we perceive Sai. 

1. Sai as a person

2. Sai as the God

3. Sai as Brahman (Paramatma)

Sai wanted us to learn how to love our Guru and to have single mindedness in worshiping your Guru as Paramatma – All pervading.

There are two aspects of God or Brahman: 

(1) the Unmanifested (Nirgun) and 

(2) the Manifested (Sagun). 

Let us see how our scriptures described Brahman. 

1. Brahman is formless, nameless and does not have any attributes. It is one without a second. It has no beginning, and it exists forever as an ever-witnessing joy.

2. Brahman has a power called Illusion-Maya.

3. Since Brahman is beginning less, Illusion also exists forever.

4. Brahman is changeless and Illusion is ever changing.

5. Brahman is independent. Illusion is dependent on Brahman.

6. Brahman is attribute less. Illusion has three attributes namely Aura, Energy and Matter.

7. Brahman is real and Illusion is unreal.

Sai prescribed that we need to worship him as Niruguna – Brahman, if that is difficult then you can worship me in Saguna roopa. 

The Nirgun is formless, while the Sagun is with form, though both denote the same Brahman. Some prefer to worship the former, some the latter.

The whole essence of Bhagavadgita is also the same as Baba taught. We need to understand the real meaning of God. As stated in the Gita (chapter XII) the worship of the Nirguna is easy and preferable. If we observe the chapter 11 (viswaroopa Sandarshana Yoga), we can learn this truth. Lord Krishna gave DIVYA CHAKSHU which means the vision with Jnana, so that Arjuna can visualize the omnipresence of the Lord. Paramatma is in every atom, cell, from animate to inanimate objects. Lord Krishna describes his Vibhuthis and gives us the way Paramatma exists in all the forms. In a similar way Baba wanted us to see him in every “Prani”. So that we develop this Nirguna Aradhana. People think that Nirguna means formless, which might be true but to see God in every aspect is also Nirguna worship. This is the complete Bhakthi and this is the complete wisdom- Jnana.

All our actions are known to God and God determines the results of our actions. God is foolproof and we are sure to enjoy (or suffer) the results of our actions. Our actions are results of our thoughts. Therefore, we control our thoughts through Upasana Yoga.

 

We can do Upasana Yoga either for gaining maturity in mind or for money, wealth, name, fame, award, reward, people, property, position, power, status, comforts and companionship. Initially people use it for the worldly gains. When they get enough knowledge and see the futility of the prosperity, they start using Upasana Yoga for spiritual progress.

They start working towards mental maturity and then gaining the ultimate knowledge. After gaining the ultimate knowledge on God, one lives a joyful life. There is no more attachment to the world. The world is a theme park and the whole life is a picnic.

We learn the meaning of Esavasya Upansihad in our Sri Sai Satcharita through Dasganu Maharaj. If we limit ourselves to a form and our understanding of God will be limited. We need to expand our thought process and we must learn to see God in each being, organism, moving and non- moving objects.

 As man has got a form (body, senses, etc.), it is natural and easy for him to worship the God with form. Our love and devotion do not develop unless we worship Sagun Brahman for a certain period, and as we advance; it leads us to the worship (meditation) of Nirgun Brahman.

So, let us start with Sagun worship. Image, altar, fire, light, sun, water, Brahman are the seven objects of worship, but Sadguru is better than all these. Let us, on this occasion, bring to our mind the form of Sai, who was non-attachment Incarnate, and Who was a resting place for His whole-hearted devotees.

 Our faith in His words is the seat of Asan; and our Sankalpa (determination to start and finish the Puja) is the abandonment of all our desires.

Requirements to do Upasana Yoga

1. We must have interest in doing Upasana Yoga. It will not be useful if it is done as compulsion or without involvement.
2. We must have the required understanding on the purpose of Upasana Yoga and the method of doing it.
3. We should adopt appropriate lifestyle that is conducive to do Upasana Yoga.

Upasana Yoga is done in many ways.

1. To keep repeating the name or form or attribute of our personal god- Sai. 
2. To do all actions as a dedication to Sai.
3. To think about the various attributes of Sai
4. To read/ listen to Vedanta, Holy Scriptures,  and Sri Sai Satcharita.

 Like we discussed earlier, we must grow from one stage to the next. Because we feel comfortable at one stage, we should not get stuck at that level. Sai wants us to grow, so that he can take us to path of Self – realization. That’s why used to say, “I have cart loads of Jnana but nobody wants it, everyone is interested in materialistic wishes”. Our Guru is directly telling us what he wants from us, why we have difficulty understanding this. He will take care of our families, our livelihood, our health and every angle of our life. Why we need to fear if Sai is in our lives. We need to learn to accept pain and pleasure as Eswara Prasada. Then only we develop endurance and will be able to facethe challenges in life. We become stronger. Sai knows how much we can handle or suffer. He will take away our difficulties when we cannot handle them anymore.

Sai is present everywhere and he is all-pervasive. This fact is daily experienced by lot of his devotees.

 Our humble prostration to this all-pervasive Sadguru.

OM SRI SAIRAM!