What??!!!
You’ve never been to Shirdi??!!!
My colleague Sainath was incredulous. Not because he was from a family of Sai devotees (as if the name wasn’t a dead giveway), not because he made a pilgrimage visit to the holy place every three months, not because he had a huge framed portrait of the saint adorning his living room. Nor was he a preacher trying to push all his acquaintances into belief.
His incredulity was understandable. For the past six months, our interaction used to focus on the Saint from Shirdi. Whenvever we got the time, we used to discuss His teachings threadbare. Having read through the Sai Satcharita some zillion times, I could engage him into the more profound aspects of the book.
On one such occasion, he was aghast to know that I had never visited the holy town of Shirdi. Actually, I had. But that was when I was some 3 years old, so that wouldn’t count. We had boarded a ramshackle bus from Mumbai’s ST terminal, which made its bumpy ride through the night, and finally deposited us on the holy soil of Shirdi in the wee hours the next day. Hazy memories from that trip include the freezing temperature of that dawn when we made our way to the huge dormitory where we plonked our baggage and went off to queue up for hot water to take a bath. Later we found ourselves in another queue waiting for darshan at the shrine of Sai Baba (Mind you, the queues were much smaller in those days). After visiting a few landmarks pertaining to the Saint's life, we had lunch. Post lunch, many of the rooms in the government owned quarters were vacated and we finally got an allotment of one small room. Being a large group, we had to make do sleeping on the floor end-to-end. The next morning, some of the more ardent devotees in the group, made their way to the shrine at some 4.30 a.m. for the “kakad aarti”. After breakfast, we commenced the arduous journey back home.
I’m told that Shirdi has come a long way since those dark ages. Many private hotels have sprung up and innumerable tour operators arrange tours for devotees very efficiently. Some people even feel that the place has become very commercial.
Frankly, I couldn’t care less!
Shirdisa jyaache laagatil paaya, Talati apaaya sarv tyaache
Majhya samadhichi payari chadel, Dukh hey harel sarv tyaache
Zari hey shareeer gelo me taakun,Tari mee dhaaven bhaktaan saathi
Navasaas majhi paavel Samadhi, dharaa dhridd buddhi majhya thaayi
Nitya mee jeevant, zaana heychi satya, nitya ghya pracheeti anubhave
Sharan mazha aalaa aani vaaya gela, daakhwa daakhwa aisa koni
Zo zo maja bhaje jaisa jaisa bhaave, taisa taisa paavey mee hi tyaasi
Tumcha mee bhaar vaahen sarvadaa, navhe hey anyatha vachan maazhe
Zaanaa yethe aahe sahaaya sarvaansa, Maagey je je tyaas tey tey laabhey
Maazha zo jahila kaaya vaacha mani, tayaacha mee runi sarva kaal
Sai mhane tochi, tochi zhaala dhanya, zhala zo ananya maazhya paayi.
These are the famous 11 assurances of Sai Baba which he had uttered at the time of His death.
Loosely translated:
Whoever puts his feet on the soil of Shirdi, his sufferings will come to an end.
He who comes to My Samadhi, his sorrow and suffering shall cease.
Though I am no more in flesh and blood, I shall ever protect My devotees.
My tomb shall bless and speak to the needs of my devotees, Trust in Me
Know that My Spirit is immortal. Know this for yourself.
Show Me he who sought refuge and been turned away.
In whatever faith men worship Me, accordingly do I render to them.
I shall ever lighten your burden. This Promise is not in vain.
Know that help is always available here, Ask and it shall be granted.
To him who surrenders unto Me totally I shall be ever indebted.
Blessed is he who has become one with Me.
At one level, these assurances give a great deal of moral support to a devotee. Countless anecdotes abound wherein Baba has come to the aid of devotees in trouble. Have complete faith in Sai and see the miracles happen. These experiences are not only from the time when Baba was present in his physical form in Shirdi. Till date, the Sai Leela magazines continue to give regular accounts of amazing experiences of Baba devotees. As Baba has promised, even if He is not here in flesh and blood, his tomb would continue to solve problems of devotees.
Millions of Sai devotees have immersed themselves in the faith which they deeply behold. Sai is ever-living, omnipresent and constantly looking to their needs. One just needs to have complete faith (Shraddha) and patience (Saburi) and surrender to Sai!
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The deeper meaning – the Sai Satcharita
After having been a Sai devotee for a long time, the Sai Satcharita (book on the teachings and life of Sai Baba) became a regular reading for me. I used to read this as a weekly ritual. i.e. complete the reading in 7 days – which meant roughly 40 pages per day. Each chapter had a preface followed by 3-4 stories of Baba’s life. Initially, I used to find the preface extremely boring and dry, but in the past few years as my spiritual evolution started to increase pace, I found this part the most engrossing.
If you read between the lines, the message is clear, crisp and profound!
BECOME ONE WITH ME....AND ALL YOUR PROBLEMS WILL VANISH!
This can easily be achieved by meditating on the form of Sai!
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Jaya mani jaisa bhaav, taya taisa anubhava!
Whatever feeling you have in your mind, you will get the experience accordingly!
If you look at Sai as some god man who used to live in Shirdi, you will want to make that pilgrimage to feast your eyes on the relics of Sai’s life here!
But why limit yourself? Sai has manifested outside Shirdi as well – (no, when I say Sai, I don’t mean his physical form, the “Sai” here is a much deeper connotation!) So why are you so eager to transport your physical being to Shirdi?
If you look at Sai only through the limitations of His physical form, you also know that He passed away in 1918! But then, Sai’s manifestations have been experienced much beyond this time! And they continue! So, is Sai bound by time?
Sai is limitless – free from the dimensions of time, space, matter! These dimensions are used by our limited mindset to understand the phenomenon. But these dimensions also interfere in our complete understanding as well.
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Meditate on the Sai form –
.....not as some object to be worshipped..….
…..but to become one with it…..
…..Soon you will find Sai within!
Or rather, you will find that you and Sai are no different!
The two entities will merge!
Merge into one limitless, endless, infinite consciousness without dimensions!
No form……
No space…
No time……
And when you attain this state …..
…..
….
……
WOULD YOU STILL FEEL THE NEED TO MAKE THAT VISIT TO SHIRDI?
