Sadhana and Swami

“Isn’t it enough if we love Swami? What is the need for rules and regulations for Sathya Sai centers?” In answer to this query from an American devotee, Dr. John Hislop wrote the following reply:

Your letter was forwarded from the Council Secretary to me for answer. Your question is, “Why all the rules for centers and members? This is America, a free country. Isn’t it enough if we love Swami?” This question comes up quite often, and it is not at all unreasonable. Please bear with me for a few paragraphs, and I will do my best to explain.

In the context of your sadhana [spiritual effort], which is aimed at God‑realization, intense, all‑con­suming, never‑faltering love for God is surely enough. Swami has declared that the most direct way to Him is `The royal highway of love’. With Lord Sathya Sai chosen as the beloved of your heart, every­thing that you do will be to please Him, and you would face any disaster rather than go against Him. Is it not so?

This great love for Lord Sathya Sai and your dedication of thought, word, and deed to Him implies willingness and an eager­ness to discern and obey every rule of be­havior that He lays down for your spirit­ual realization of Him. Your intense desire to please the beloved of your heart will by itself save you from wrong action and will guide you to right action. In this sense, what you say is correct: “Love for God is enough.”

For a great devotee of God, correct action is intuitively sensed and observed. And it is this self‑same correct action that Swami has described in words as they apply to Sathya Sai Baba centers and the devotee­ members of the centers. In the guidelines for centers, Swami’s rules for correct be­havior are clearly identified. The other data in the Guidelines is background information and administrative rules from the Council Directors that can be readily changed by petition to the Council.

In terms of your personal sadhana, there is only the direct one‑to‑one relation­ship between God and His devotee. But please consider the situation of a center, its members, the public, and Swami’s work and teachings. Not all members of the Sai organization are yet fully‑committed, deeply‑understanding devotees of God. Is it not of genuine advantage to the comm­unity of devotees to be able to know what Swami expects of them as devotee‑members of a Sai organization? Having chosen Swami as supreme guru, will they not be anxious to know and follow His advice?

And further, what Sai organization members say and do, and what goes on at a Sathya Sai Center is not hidden from the public. Will the public not judge Swami and His teachings by what they see of His devotees and their organization? The re­sponsibility to Swami is great and should be scrupulously protected and cared for. For this to be the case, all devotees must be able to know and study the rules that Swami deems essential for Sai devotees and Sai organizations.

I hope that rules seem a little more reasonable than at first.                                    

~Dr. John Hislop