Faith in Swami

Hislop: This morning in the taxi from the airport, even the driver had a marvellous experience of Swami’s leelas [divine plays]. And, the Bombay airport officers told other miraculous stories about happenings in their homes.

Sai: Leelas are occurring throughout India in tens of mil-lions of homes. Swami keeps His hand down so that publicity about the leelas will not spread. The rulers of the country know, but they keep it quiet. If the facts were to have publicity, millions would converge on Swami. The Government would surround Him with security guards, and devotees could not get close to Him. The time is not ready.

Hislop: In the future, when millions of people are crowding around Swami, will our present chance of being close by be gone?

Sai: Not at all. If Baba is pleased with a person, he may still be close. That is Baba’s will.

Hislop: Only a relative few are fortunate enough to see Swami and appreciate that it is God come within our vision.

Sai: One sees a plane in the sky. He cannot see the pilot, but he knows there is a pilot. To see the pilot, he must buy a ticket. The universe also has a pilot. He is God. To see Him, the ticket is His grace. This can be won by sadhana [spiritual effort] of the various types. Underlying all sadhana is love. The reality of all sadhana is love. Without love, no sadhana has any value. To win God’s grace, faith is necessary. Without love, there cannot be faith. That love is in the heart and it arises spontaneously from  there. Love is God. That love which fills the heart is Swami, who is the resident of the heart.

Hislop: What is 100 percent faith in God?

Sai: One hundred percent faith arises from the atma. Full faith is even. Through pain and sorrow, faith in God remains full. Milk may be compared to life. In the whey there is no oil. Butter has some remains of water—this is both good and the bad—the butter represents the good tendencies while the water represents the bad. When the butter is boiled, at a certain stage of the process, there is bad smell. These are the remaining impurities being boiled away. But have faith and keep on [with your sadhana] during that period. Then only the pure ghee [clarified butter] is left. That pure ghee is wisdom. The end of wisdom is freedom.

Source: Conversations with Bhagavan