Respect Your Parents
Hislop: Why does Baba have regular schools? Why does He not have religious schools?
Sai: Religious schools would appeal only to the religious, whereas Baba’s task is to raise the general public into devotion and a spiritual life. One aspect of Baba’s task is to reform education, and if that were impossible, He would not have come. Now, [His] having come, be assured the task will be accomplished. But not as fast as impatient humans would like. By an intensive T.V. campaign, a change could be made fast, but it would be only temporary. God sees differently than man, and He knows that to start early, drive slowly, reach safely is correct. The change that Baba is bringing about may be through slow methods, such as His colleges, but the methods will be effective.
Hislop: What should we do about young people to correct their character and behavior?
Sai: A child is bound to touch a hot lamp until once burned. Young people are without balance. Also, they want immediate results. For example: yesterday there was a marriage here. The young man wanted a son at once; he did not wish to wait for nine months. A guru (so-called) comes into view, and the young people flock to him, hoping for quick self-realization. But once disappointed, they turn away and in the process gain some caution and patience.
A small story: A young man of very poor parents graduated B.A., mainly because the teachers were fed up with his many failures at the exams. His parents were now proud and said, ‘We will find you a wife.’ The boy replied, ‘I will take only a B.A. girl, for I am a B.A.’ Mother said, ‘We cannot afford servants for a girl who will come from her room at 9 a.m. We need a wife to help with the housework.’ The son replied, ‘It is my needs that matter, not yours. Do as I wish or I will leave.’ The parents capitulated and secured the desired wife. The boy told friends, ‘I am now happiness itself.’ Three days later he said to his wife, ‘My dear, arise now and make me coffee.’ She replied, ‘My dear, I am B.A. same as you. Please arise and get coffee for me!’ Now the boy proclaimed to all that life had become black and all was unhappiness and total misery.
These behaviors of the young are typical because they have not been taught to respect and revere their parents. Their behavior in the spiritual direction is similar. How can there be any spiritual light until the inside is clean? And inside work is quiet inquiry and discrimination. After the inside is clean, outward disciplines may have some value.
Hislop: Young people nowadays ask how they can respect their parents when the parents engage in wrong actions.
Sai: The young people do not realize the worry of the parents. No matter how faulty the parents, they wish only the best for their children. At the very least, the children can honor this and also realize the sacrifice, care, and love given to the child to keep it alive and give it a chance for life. These factors must be appreciated and honored even though the parents have faults. Only by honoring the parents will the children’s children do honor to them. A clear case of action and reaction.
Hislop: Swami, if the parent says one thing and the guru says another, to which order should the child give preference?
Sai: The parents who give the body come before God.
Hislop: Parents come before God, Swami? That is surprising.
Sai: For people in the worldly sphere, that is true. For young people leading a pure spiritual life, God comes first of all.
Source: Conversations with Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba
