Four by Six
Bhagavan Baba received a complaint that spiritual life is complicated and difficult. He responded by saying that on the contrary it is worldly life which is complicated and difficult, whereas spiritual life is easy, although it may take a little practice at first, like any new endeavor.
People who have had long experience living in proximity with Swami offer a warning and this warning merits our careful attention. They say, be very sure you know what Swami means when He makes a statement. He stated that worldly life is hard whereas spiritual life is easy. We know what worldly life is because we have been more or less engaged in worldly life since childhood. But are we as sure that we in fact know what Swami means by “spiritual life?”
If our spiritual life is turning out to be difficult, then perhaps we are not living the spiritual life which Bhagavan Baba talks about, for He assures us that spiritual life is easy. If we are experiencing substantial difficulty, then in the light of the warning previously mentioned we would be wise to challenge our present understanding of what Bhagavan Baba means by “spiritual life”.
Now, if what is said by Swami is to bring about a radical change in us, a change from worldly life to spiritual life, then what He says will surely have a deep meaning. A deep and subtle statement by the Supreme Lord of the Cosmos and the unknown-beyond is not likely to yield its depth and subtlety to casual or habitual reading by a person new to spiritual life. In fact, Bhagavan Baba often warns that reading and hearing by themselves are not enough, that what is said by Him needs a further and fuller attention. Indeed, He has said that the one factor most responsible for our ignorance of the truth of our reality is our lack of intensity.
This matter of an ability or a strength to grasp the deep and subtle meaning of Bhagavan Baba’s statements about spiritual life may, at the moment, seem to be puzzling and intimidating. But, surprisingly, a simple mechanical modification of the way we study what Swami says is enough to bring about a very deep comprehension of what He says.
A simple change in your study method will, almost automatically and without any significant effort on your part, allow you to penetrate into Swami’s wonderful statements about spiritual life.
From now on, make this simple change in the way you study Bhagavan Baba’s discourses and writings. Whenever you come upon something which Swami has said which strikes you with an exceptionally strong impact, do not just make a mark at that point, but stop reading and copy the few words, or the sentence, on a 4 by 6 sheet of paper, not in a notebook. Convenient to use are the 4-inch by 6-inch pads of paper obtainable in any U.S. stationery store. In other countries, look for something about that same size. Only write one statement per 4 by 6 sheet, no matter how few the words. Keep the papers in loose form, not in pad form.
The initial tendency will be to copy far too much, to transfer almost the entire book to your notes. The key is, copy only that which hits you very hard, only that which thrills you through and through, only that which you feel is absolutely vital to you for your own unique realization of truth, of God. As you continue with the study method, you will discard some of the 4 by 6 notes, will add some new ones, and will re-arrange the sequence of the notes if several of Swami’s sayings amplify a particular topic.
As soon as you have accumulated three or four of Bhagavan Baba’s sayings which you feel are absolutely essential for your spiritual life, then in calm deliberation read two or three each morning before starting your day, taking your time, letting the words sink in. The sayings of Swami will remain in the background of your mind throughout the day. Since Swami’s sayings are divine truth in the form of words, they are alive, vibrant, and saturated with omnipresent divine energy. These sayings of Bhagavan Baba, as a background to your mind, will exert their beneficial influence, and your daily life will respond to that divine influence. Softly, automatically, as you go over and over your notes again and again, without any effort on your part the divine sayings which you have taken into your mind will unfold their deepest meaning to your intelligence and your intuition and, quite naturally, without effort you will know what Bhagavan Baba means by the term, “spiritual life.” Doubts will fall away as you come to know directly that of which Bhagavan Baba is speaking.
Yes, all of this follows the simple change in the way you go about studying the teachings of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, provided you are faithful in your study. Start, and continue!
~J. S. Hislop.
Source: Sanathana Sarathi, March 1984
