Love—the Subtle Aspect
Dr. John Hislop has been an ardent devotee of Swami for many years. There are very few people who have had as much close contact with Swami as he has had. His intensity as a spiritual seeker over a number of years and the grace he has received put him in a unique place. The following questions and answers are taken from his book, Conversations with Sathya Sai Baba.
Hislop: What is the most subtle point of Swami’s teaching, and then in the circle around that point, what are the things to do in order to realize that most subtle aspect of His teaching?
Sai: The most subtle aspect of Swami’s teaching is love. The circle around that subtle point, in order to realize it, is the spiritual practices such as meditation, repetition of the name of the Lord, talking with good people, directing the mind away from harmful thoughts and so on. In themselves, these spiritual practices are of no value. The only thing of real value is love itself. In dealing with people, Swami looks to the good and ignores the bad so as to intensify the good. Swami’s teaching, in a way, is like one going into a store to buy sugar. Then one looks at the sugar and buys sugar and does not bother to become acquainted with all the other details present in the circumstances of the store; the history and character of the storekeeper, his personal relationship with other people, his personal looks, whether he is tall or short or old or young, and so on. The central part of Swami’s teaching in regard to living in the world is to see in other people that essential quality which is God and to love that quality and not be bothered by all the other actions, qualities, misbehavior, and characteristics of the person.
The love of God in the person with whom one is dealing is spiritual love and not physical love. That does not mean the worldly nature of the being in whom one sees the Lord, and it does not mean that one condones or admires or does not scold the misbehavior of the worldly part of that person. Even though one sees and loves and really pays attention to God in that person, nevertheless, that person should be scolded, his attention called to his failures and misbehavings and so on. And such is not really cruelty. The factor there is the intention, just as in a street fight amongst laborers. One man might scratch the hand of another man with a penknife and cause no wound gat all, and yet the police would come and take that man to jail. Whereas in a nearby hospital, it a surgeon might take a sharp knife and cut a five-inch gap into a man’s body in order to remove an appendix, and that action would be highly rewarded. So, in one case the doctor is severely wounding a person and getting praise; and in the other case, a laborer merely scratching a person gets a jail sentence. The whole thing is the intention of the person. Swami sometimes finds it advisable to operate on a person, that is to wound the person, to say something to that person that may hurt him, or to reveal the bad points of that person instead of just looking at the good points. But when Swami does that, the intention behind it is to help the person, and not hurt or harm the patient.
Swami then turned to Hislop and speaking directly to him, said: It is perfectly all right to ask all these questions and clear all your doubts—you are examining Swami and Swami is giving the answers. But when this is all finished, the next time around Swami will be the examiner and you will be examined, and you will have to have the right answers in mind and in heart. Now, all doubts should be emptied so that tomorrow Swami can fill your being with something new, a new oil to bathe the skin, so to speak.
Hislop: One finds himself so faulty there seems to be no possibility of being of any help to others.
Sai: People often think they have to be perfect themselves before they can help anyone else, but such is not the case. If one has a fault or certain weakness, one can point out to others the same weakness that is in one-self. And if those people reply, “Before you tell me how to behave, why don’t you behave?” then one could say that he knows the pain of misbehaving in this fashion and he hopes that the other could avoid the same trouble that oneself was experiencing.
In that way it would overcome the difficulty in oneself, and while that was being overcome, ten more people would be helped. For example, suppose a man had walked along a road covered with thorns that had pierced and torn his feet, causing great pain and suffering to himself. At the other side of the thorns, he sits down to rest and then sees other people approaching the thorny area. Now, should he them on to come across the thorns and endure the same suffering that he has endured? Surely that would not be a good deed. Or should he call to them and warn them that the thorns are there and they should try to find some other way of getting across and reaching their destination? If a person has the humility to recognize the fault in himself and admit that fault, then others will be helped thereby and oneself will be helped. To pretend that one is perfect, to tell people how to behave, pretending that oneself behaves in that perfect fashion, is a great sin, not because it harms the other people, but because it seriously harms oneself.
