Who is a Sai Devotee?
Following is an extraordinary letter Bhagavan Baba wrote to a devotee wherein Swami enumerates the qualities one should cultivate to become His devotee. We should regard these words as our life breath.
Moksha [liberation] is the final goal of man; that is why he is endowed with vijnana [secular knowledge], the special capacity to analyze and synthesize experience. The Upanishads [scriptures] declare: “Jnanadevathu Kaivalyam,” (liberation can be attained by means of knowledge alone.)
For those who yearn to be saved, Sainamam [Sai’s name] is the Sanjeevini [one that infuses life], the potent drug. Those who have the name ever on their tongues must be vigilant so that egoism and the sense of possession (aham–karam and mama-karam) do not rob them of the fruits of sadhana [spiritual effort].
Really, man is jnanaswarupa [embodiment of knowledge]. Only, since the beginning of time, man has deluded himself into believing that the world is true and eternal. He is himself basically divine; but through the influence of the fundamental delusion, he deceives himself into the belief that he is the doer, the sufferer, the beneficiary, the enjoyer, etc., so, he is born again and again as a result of this attachment and is subjected to the buffetings of duality. He is drifting about in the sea of samsara [world].
Sathya-anveshana, the search for truth ought to be the nitya kritya [daily work] of Sai bhaktas [devotees], their daily activity. Prema [love] ought to become their swabhava, their very nature. Bhava-shuddhi [purity of mind] is more important for them than bahya-adambara, external finery. Be convinced that the vishwa [creation] is the Vishweshwaraswarupa [the Divine] itself; look upon every object as suffused with divinity, as Divine Itself. For, that is the truth.
Again, be engaged in acts that endow every moment of your life with holiness and the fragrance of sanctity. That is the true worship of “He who is Time itself,” the Kala-swarupa.
It is not through their words or their songs that persons are judged as Sai bhaktas! Deeds must be good and correct; that makes the Sai bhakta. That gives joy to Sai. I like the purity of the feelings and emotions. Pravartana or practice must be pavitra, pure. Do right and speak right… not… do wrong and speak of right conduct! If you do not act the advice you give others, you are insulting the name of Sai that you have taken.
Give up show, finery, and exhibitionism. Let your eye be as soft and cool as moonlight, heart as soft as butter, words as sweet as honey. These should be the real characteristics of the Sai-bhakta. Sai’s reality is samarthaprema [capability to love]; Sai-drishti [outlook] is samanjasa prema [harmonius love]. Those who are saturated with these two types of prema are the true Sai-bhaktas.
Instead, if you cavil at others, if you hold forth your own pride, and if you struggle to gather riches, you become exiles from the Lord, and stray away from the spiritual path. The Lord does not care for objects; he cares for the subjective wealth of prema. Sai-bhaktas must have full conviction of this.
Remember, the best way to promote your own peace and the peace of the world is to live in truth and prema, through every act of your life. That will be Ramarajya [characteristic glory of Rama’s reign] indeed.
You must have the vision appropriate to the universal love characteristic of true bhakti [devotion]. Have the premamaya-netra [love filled eyes]; then, the world will be for you, truly Brahmamaya [to see the world as God].
Serve Sai—not with vratas [fasts], processions, puja [prayers], or ritual abhisheka [anointing the idol] and the paraphernalia of mantras [formulas] but with sad-karma, sad-achara, and sad-vakya, good deeds, good conduct, and good words. Serve Sai thus: Sai loves these most; that is the truth of Sai.
With blessings
Baba
Source: Sanathana Sarathi, Oct. 1964
