On 4th Nov 2014, Tuesday a Catholic seeker came to the Sai centre to purchase a book; “A Catholic Priest meets Sai Baba”. I was on Seva duty that day with my aunt and another sister. As I was busy with some seva, this Catholic sister after praying for a while approached aunty for this book. It was recommended to her by a devotee and friend. Aunty promptly gave her the book. Then the Sister enquired if there are any other books about Baba and Jesus. That is the time I came to her and told her about the book ‘Baba talks about Jesus’. She went through the book but preferred to just purchase the first book. She seemed to be in a hurry to go back and didn’t even want the receipt. But we insisted that she just wait for a couple of minutes till we record and issue her a receipt. Then as she waited, she took a seat and started outpour of questions. And this person; who was in a rush to leave stayed in the centre for more than an hour after that. These are some of the questions posed by her and Swami just spoke through me as if answering an interview. It was a beautiful feeling.
The questions were
- How many years have you both been knowing Swami?
We (Aunty and I) replied, that by His grace it was some decades now.
- How do I connect to Sai Baba? “I am a devout Catholic.”
“Do you go to church regularly?” She replied, “Yes”. “In that case, you need not connect to Sai Baba”. “You can just connect to Jesus. Both are same”. “Baba says all names and forms are His. HE doesn’t profess people to worship Him leaving their Masters.”
Taken aback, she posed the next question.
- Ok, then how can I connect to Jesus?
“One should have a quiet mind to connect to the Lord. When our mind is overcrowded with thoughts we cannot connect. For listening to the radio, we need a proper frequency to hear, otherwise there will be disturbing noises, similarly we have to tune to a proper frequency to connect to Him. It is not easy as our minds are monkey minds. But with constant practise we can slowly learn to tame it.”
- Then why Sai Baba at all, when we can just pray to our own Masters or go to church/Temple etc?
“How do you practise your faith?”
Her reply was “I go to church regularly and read the Bible.”
“Exactly! That’s what we also do many times, chant prayers, visit temple, read scriptures. We are merely doing these as rituals. Are we really understanding the message intended in the scriptures? “
“Who will guide us in our spiritual path? We need a Master, a guide who will lead us in this path and teach us in a simple and practical manner the essence of the scriptures. That is why Masters like Sai Baba take human form and teach us.”
- What is Sai Baba’s teaching?
“Simple. Love All Serve All and Help Ever Hurt Never.”
- That’s ok; but what does He tell about life?
“Life is all about Love. When we love all and let go of our ego we can maintain relationships.” Also, the essence of scriptures explained by Him is all about life. How to lead a righteous life? How to put into practise the human values of Truth, Right conduct, Love, Peace and Non-violence in our lives. Live this message of the Masters. Isn’t that what every religion tells us?”
She was happy to note this.
- Is Sai Baba; Jesus for you?
Yes, undoubtedly!!
- How can you say that with so much conviction?
‘I have been blessed to see Him ever since I was a young girl of 5. I have yet to see anyone like Him who is Love Incarnate and personified. It has always been the selfless and unconditional love for everyone irrespective of caste, creed, gender, religion etc. Only giving, giving never expecting anything in return. And next very important thing has been the transformation of people sitting thousands of miles away. I myself have not been visiting Parthi (His ashram) very regularly for the past 18 years, but I have experienced transformation happening in me. Who can bring about such a transformation being physically thousands of miles away from us?” She immediately responded; “Only God!!”
I smiled and replied; “So you have the answer for the question you asked.”
She was very happy with this answer.
- Then the final question; “You just mentioned and I also know that we should help those in need and under privileged people; then why does so many problems and obstacles arise when we want to do something good? Isn’t it what Sai Baba also wants, to help the poor?
“You are right. One must try our best to help those in need. But first of all the intention of the doer must be very pure.” She replied; “Yes of course, it is good intention, but still so many problems.” Then I responded; “Ok, once the intention is pure and you are doing your best, then ‘time’ is the only factor, at an appropriate time your project will work out. We can only do our best with pure intention. Only that is in our hands. If the intention is pure, things will settle down. Despite all this if it still doesn’t work out means there is a reason for it, may be it is not the right project to be undertaken now.” Then she replied, “No; but we are keen on this project only.” I then told her; “Many times what we think and want may not be necessarily right for us, He knows what is best.” Then she thought for a while and then shot another question; “Ok, if one helps anyone; can we teach him/her about her religion? What would you do? Would you teach them about your religion?” I thought for a second and then responded; “There is no harm in teaching someone about our religion if he/she is interested to know about it. But it should not be a pre requisite to help him or her. Then it becomes ‘conditional’ and not a selfless service.”
She was quiet for a while and then just thanked me. Later when I saw her, she was meditating in front of the altar for about half an hour.
Hope she found some answers to her questions, I am sure I did, because with my limited knowledge I would definitely not have been able to answer her questions in this manner. It was only His mercy and grace that He chose me as an instrument to speak through me.
Thank You dearest Lord.
Premaarpan 