Social Work, With a New Look
All that I have witnessed, experienced, and learned since I was brought to that radiant personality, so full of love and compassion, known as Sai Baba cannot be explained. I can but only try to state what I have learned.
Truth is stranger than fiction; that well-known saying was amply proved to me.
Sri Sathya Sai Baba, whom I was destined to meet in the south in January 1967, was then little known here in Calcutta. Now His fame has spread and many can bear witness to the truth of my statement when I say He is incredible and wonderful!
In the unhappy times we live in now, He appears to be the living embodiment of all that is good, true, and beautiful.
He heals, comforts, and counsels. He brings solace to countless people. He takes nothing, and gives everything that fills the heart with contentment and peace; and one returns refreshed, strengthened, and cleansed, in fact better equipped to face the battle of life once again.
He has given me a new angle to the work I happened to have engaged myself, for nearly half a century. The term social service has been given a new look. “There are no others,” He says. “It is yourself you are helping, for the one who is being helped by you is a part of your very self. One spirit pervades the world you live in, but in different forms. As gold is the metal that is made into different kinds of ornaments, and as clay is the basis of molding many forms of pottery, you are all limbs of that one body.”
Then, again He says, “Work is worship. Each one of you must take up one spiritual effort to cleanse the mind of lust and greed, of envy and hate. Come out of the well of ego into the sea of the universal spirit of which you are a part, or engage in some work that will take you out of your narrow self into the vast magnificence. Some task where you dedicate the fruit of karma (work) to God, where you devote your time and energy to share your joy or skill or knowledge with your fellowmen.”
His discourses keep His listeners spellbound. His teachings are leavened very often with stories both grave and gay, to elucidate His points and make them comprehensible to all. Here is one from the burden of the badge. He gave this talk when handing over the badges to volunteers chosen by Him to help many thousands of men women and children who assemble at Prasanthi Nilayam during special festival occasions.
“You must have not merely the enthusiasm to serve, but the intelligence and the skill; then only can you be efficient and useful! Enthusiasm without efficiency is often a source of grief. There were two friends who had to sit for an examination. The duller of the two wanted the other chap to supply him in the hall with the answers to the questions asked. But their seats were too far apart to permit whisperings to be heard. Hence their problem was how to cheat the proctor and communicate with each other, without being noticed and expelled. The sharp one was at one end of the hall and the dull one at the other. So they hatched a plan that they thought was foolproof.”
“The school had a cat which used to roam freely in all the halls. The answers were to be tied to the tail of the cat and the dull fellow would place some food under his desk that would attract the cat to his side. While the cat ate the food and licked the floor, he could loosen the paper tied to its tail and spread it before him on his desk. The plan went through up to a point. The answers were tied; but the cat was so distracted by the thing on its tail that it scampered round and round in terrific excitement. This attracted the attention of the proctor and that was the end of the story.”
“You must not be so foolish as to believe in the possibility of such a stratagem; the seva (the act of service) that is entrusted to you, you must do intelligently and to a successful finish. It does not matter if the recipient is not fully satisfied. You must have done your best.”
“Let your life’s pilgrimage be carried on, by lovingly treading the path of truth, righteousness, peace, and harmlessness. To strive is man’s duty. Success and failure are in the hands of God.”
Dear Baba, I do not ask that I may do great things for Thee. I only ask for a clear vision that I do not fail to see the little opportunities to do a kindly deed, to speak a pleasant word of cheer, to share with those in need.
~Shudha Mazumdar, NCWI Convenor, Prison Reform
Source: Sanathana Sarathi, Nov. 1971
