Baba Answers

Question: Swami! Excuse me. A person observing you moving amongst people and choosing some of them for special attention is puzzled why some are left out.

Sri Sathya Sai: Yes. It is quite natural that you are puzzled. One looking from the outside cannot know who is worthy and who is not.

Question: People say that they are often punished by Swami. Is that a fact?

Sri Sathya Sai: Of course. In punish­ing a person for misdemeanor, Swami wants to correct the defaulter. But, though harsh in appearance, at other times He is all Love inside. Sometimes He corrects a person in private, at other times He does so in public. For, if He corrects in public, all who hear will learn and see for them­selves what pleases Swami and what does not. Swami is very strict in His principles and rules. An Avatar does not compro­mise. To the sadhaka, strictness is ulti­mately the best kindness.

Question: Yes, Swami. Persons near you have to be perfect.

Sri Sathya Sai: People judge Swami by the conduct and behavior, the earnestness and sincerity, the generosity and humility of those ‘near’ Him. So, those who are outwardly ‘distant’ are not apparently dealt with so severely. But even they are watched and warned. Depending on the situa­tion, I can be soft as a rose petal or hard as diamond.

Question: Swami is the motivator of the individual; I have heard you say it. I know it is true. How then do persons commit faults?

Sri Sathya Sai: Swami is the ‘I’ in you and in everyone else. The ‘I’ that prompts you to will, to think, and act is the reflection of the ‘I’ that I am. The Sun is reflected in water, wherever it lies, whatever its quality. The Sun warms the water it shines upon. When the reflection is in muddy water, we say the person is tamasic—dull, slothful, stupid, fond of darkness, reveling in ignorance. When the Sun is reflected in water that is quivering in ripples, the person is rajasic, passionate adventur­ous, emotional. When the Sun is reflected in clear calm limpid water, the person is satwic, calm, unruffled, full of peace and inner joy.

Question: Many Gurus teach, “All is done by the Lord, and not by you.” But the world over, there is the concept that man is responsible for his actions.

Sri Sathya Sai: As long as you believe you are only human, this concept will per­sist. But that cannot change the truth­—”You are God.”

Question: We do not will to be human, and not God!

Sri Sathya Sai: No, you do not. It is just a matter of being confused. It is a delusion. At present, there is in you a mixture of five states of consciousness: the unconscious, the subconscious, the consci­ous, the super conscious, and the Divine Consciousness, where God alone IS. When you raise yourselves from one state to ano­ther, the idea of your being merely human will vanish of itself. The Gita [Song of the Lord] teaches man first to engage himself in `work’; then he is asked to `give up the desire to earn the fruits of work’; later he is told that dhar­ma [righteousness] is his only concern; afterward, dharma is interpreted as dharma for liberation; finally, he is told that even the desire for liberation is to be given up. `Be attached to Me alone’, is the final lesson. You do not will to be human; you are misled to believe so.

Question: Pardon a question that bor­ders on the personal. Swami seems, to us, to have different moods; what does this mean?

Sri Sathya Sai: I am not hurt by any type of questions; in fact, I want you to be free of all doubt. Remember, Swami is always happy. He is always Bliss. No worries, no concerns can affect the Bliss.

Question: Yes. Swami is often heard saying, `Yes. Yes. Yes’.

Sri Sathya Sai: Your tendency is to say `Yes’ to that which is pleasing to you, and ‘No’ if the prospect is otherwise. Swami says, `Yes. Yes. Yes.’ to everything that comes. For, everything is My gift; every­thing is good for the person, at the time, for the purpose I have in view.

Question: Considering the task that Swami has undertaken, it is strange that You are always in Bliss.

Sri Sathya Sai: The boat glides over the flood; but does not allow the flood to enter it. On Swami’s shoulders alone rests an ever-increasing burden. The problems and sorrows of millions of people; the insti­tutions and individuals who turn to Him for guidance; the interviews, the prayers, the petitions. On the mental level, unknown to you, I am with all who yearn for God, no matter where they actually are, over the entire world.

I am by the side of seekers, saints, yogis, rishis, everywhere, watching them, coun­selling them, fostering every sign of progress toward God and Self‑realization. But the Bliss in Me is constant, unchanging. Even outwardly, My Bliss can be noted as cons­tant, even while I may appear angry, im­patient, aloof, or distant. The anger is put on just to set right some situation; the aloofness is assumed for the particular time and place. My Love is as constant as My Bliss.

Question: Those saints, rishis, and sages, ­do they pray for counsel? Is not praying the same as begging? If we are God, we beg only from ourselves.

Sri Sathya Sai: It is not begging when you ask God for something. When you receive what He gives, you have to rise up to His level, at least for that moment. When you beg from one equal to you, you put yourselves down and he is raised up. When you beg from one lower than you, you degrade yourself still lower. But when you beg from God, you rise; you are ele­vated in spirit and you sense fulfillment.

Question: But I had thought that since God knows all, He would remedy the situa­tion if it is appropriate that it should be done.

Sri Sathya Sai: Of course, He would, provided you have surrendered fully, with­out any reservation. But until then…

Question: Yes. Swami had written in a letter to me, “Do not worry about your health. Your God is always with you, in you, and around you.”

Sri Sathya Sai: That is right. What I said is enough for those who have surren­dered! You must weaken your sense of identification with the body. You may have a headache today, a stomachache tomorrow. Don’t worry. You are not the body; no; you are the atma [soul], the divine dweller in this body. Once I have told you not to worry, there is no more need to ask Me about it. Don’t identify.

Question: Swami said that while pray­ing to God, the petitioner raised himself to the level of God. In order to make such a prayer, in what state of mind should one first put himself?

Sri Sathya Sai: It is not necessary that one should put oneself into any particular state of meditation.

Question: Usually, the advice is that one should go to a quiet place and be in a quiet mood when he wishes to pray.

 Sri Sathya Sai: Wherever and when­ever you put yourselves in touch with God, that is the state of meditation. You may feel that 1 P. M. in California is not a good time to call Me, for I may be asleep in India and that I should not be disturbed! I know you have felt like that once or twice. But I am omnipresent; I have no such limitations. I never sleep. At the middle of the night, I turn off the light and rest in bed because if the light is on, devo­tees will gather. I have no need of sleep. But you need at least four hours of sleep.

Question: If I am walking in the street with people around, and my mind engaged with things I must do, is that a good time?

Sri Sathya Sai: At the beginning, one might need some special circumstances for clearing the mind of junk and concentrate on God; but when you become aware of God in everything and everywhere, no matter where you are, it is the same; prayer can emerge from the heart and reach God.

Question: Swami! You have said that in meditation one should strive to cut off the Form aspect. But we worship your Form and like it. We pray to that Form.

Sri Sathya Sai: That is the right thing to do; but, later, when visualization is abandoned, you come closer. Now, you are looking at Me directly.

Question: Swami! When they heard of Krishna’s death, many Gopis [milk maidens] fell lifeless from the shock. So their relationship was only with the Form of Krishna, it seems.

Sri Sathya Sai: No. The Gopis had both relationships. Because of their years of close companionship, they were strongly attached with the physical Presence. But they also knew Krishna in their hearts as their Innermost Reality. They always felt He was with them, even when His worldly activity took Him far away, physically.

Question: Then why the terrible shock? If Krishna was so firmly imprinted on their hearts?

Sri Sathya Sai: Their only reason for placing any value on the body was that Krishna was also in physical existence! When Krishna left, they had no more inte­rest in the world!

Question: One last question, Swami! On behalf of America. Will Swami come soon?

Sri Sathya Sai: My coming will delay until a base is built in America. However, I can go to America or any other continent informally any time. The devotee need only call Me; I will appear at once.

—From the Notebook of John Hislop
Source: Sanathana Sarathi, Oct. 1974