Posted on: 28 Apr 2011
Baba has several similarities with Shri Shirdi Sai Baba. Baba is said to be the re-incarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba. When there are other human incarnations like Rama, Krishna, etc., why Baba is said to be the re-incarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba only? Does it mean that Baba is not the re-incarnation of Rama, Krishna, etc? The answer for this is that the same unimaginable God exists in every human incarnation and thus, all human incarnations are one and the same basically. But, the programs taken up by the human incarnations may be different superficially. The basis of every program is also the same transformation of humanity or punishment of a few devils to establish balance in the world. For example, if you take the four incarnations i.e., Varah, Narasimha, Rama and Krishna, all these four incarnations are related to a single program, which is the punishment of the two cursed gate keepers born as demons. Similarly, Shirdi Sai Baba was involved in the program of unification of the two religions, Hinduism and Islam. He looked like an Islamic saint (Fakir). In continuation of the same program, Baba is involved in the unification of Hinduism and Christianity. Baba looks like a Christian father. Thus, it is continuation of the same program and hence, Baba is said to be the re-incarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba. The future incarnation is Prema Sai Baba, who will complete the unification of Hinduism with all other religions and complete the program.
In fact, one day Baba appeared before Me and told Me to do the propagation of spiritual knowledge. I told Him that I do not deserve to take up such divine program. Then, Baba told Me that who else can be deserving other than Me to propagate this spiritual knowledge? I feared that Baba is testing Me regarding My resistance to ego. Generally, Datta tests like this by misleading the devotee. This itself is a clear proof that Baba is the incarnation of Datta. I simply obeyed His orders without further debate. In course of time, I found that the spiritual knowledge radiating from Me is unique and unimaginable. Then I realized that Baba Himself is speaking this knowledge through Me. In fact, some concepts were tremendous and were not covered by Baba in His discourses. The reason is that Baba wanted to give fame to Me, His servant, and hence, reserved those concepts. If I do not reveal this truth, it means that I am subjected to ego. Again, this is another test of Datta. The test of Datta is very very subtle and you will be easily caught by the clutches of ego and jealousy. Even angels failed in the tests of Datta. Even Hanuman was tested by Rama on several occasions and the test was so subtle that so far nobody could detect them unless God revealed them through Me.
I feel always that I am the most undeserving devotee of God. But the fun is that some most deserving devotees became My disciples! Most of them call Me as the human incarnation of God due to this excellent spiritual knowledge. It is true that God is identified by the excellent spiritual knowledge only (Prajnanam Brahma…) since the miracles are also demonstrated by devils. I have to accept this new status of human incarnation based on the Vedic authority. But, at the same time, the soul component in Me should be very careful to resist ego. The praise of devotees is only the trial of Datta to subject Me to ego. When the soul component in Parashurama became egoistic, He was punished. But, Hanuman, another human incarnation, was never subjected to ego in any test. Rama and Hanuman were master and servant. But, both were human incarnations. With respect to the soul components, Rama is the master and Hanuman is the servant. But, with respect to the component of unimaginable God present in both, both are one and same. There is a verse which states that Hanuman told Rama like this, “I am your servant from the point of materialistic medium. I am your part from the point of energetic medium. Myself and Yourself are one and the same from the point of the unimaginable God existing in both of us”. Matter and energy constitute the medium, which is the creation. The unimaginable God is the creator.
Devils perform miracles but cannot preach the spiritual knowledge. The miracles performed by them will be used by them for their selfish ends only. The human incarnation also performs miracles according to need only for the sake of welfare of devotees or for the sake of establishment of the concepts of spiritual knowledge. Apart from the miracles, the incarnations preach mainly the spiritual knowledge. The miracles performed by Baba were always for the sake of the devotees and sometimes, during His speeches, the miracles were performed to establish the concepts. Baba always told that everybody is God and this statement always neutralized the egoism and jealousy in the hearts of devotees. On one occasion, a devotee asked Baba, “How can You say that You are God?” Baba replied, “You did not hear Me properly. I say that both of us are God. The difference is that I know this and you do not know this.” The devotee kept silent. In the case of some devotees, the egoism and jealousy are suppressed because they are in need of the help of Baba for their materialistic welfare. In the case of some few devotees, the egoism and jealousy are unconsciously hidden, which will come out on proper occasion. There is no human being without egoism and jealousy just like there is no building without building materials.
Incarnation: A Two Component System
The human incarnation is composed of two components, which are God and soul. The statements of God component should not be mixed with the statements of the soul component. The soul component in Shirdi Sai Baba always told that God alone is the master (Allah Malik). The God component in Him told on few occasions that He is the creator. The soul component in Krishna always spoke in humble way throughout His life except the occasion of preaching the Gita in which the God component emphatically declared that He is God. In the case of Rama, the God component always kept silent since the program was to behave like an ideal human being. In the case of Jesus, the soul component stated, “Oh God! Why did you leave Me?” etc. The God component told that He is the truth and light. In the case of Mohammad, the God component kept silent since just before Him, the crucifixion of Jesus took place due to superimposition of the statements of God on soul. In the case of Buddha, the God component kept silent to indicate that the absolute God is unimaginable. In the case of Shankara, the God component always spoke that He is God and occasionally, the human component spoke itself as a devoted soul, while composing the prayers to be recited by the human beings. In the case of Hanuman, the God component always kept silent since the program was to exhibit the service of an ideal devotee to the contemporary human incarnation without selfishness, ego and jealousy. In the case of Parashurama, the soul component misunderstood that it is God and became proud for which he was insulted and punished before the public itself. Therefore, the soul component in the human incarnation should be very careful in not superimposing God on itself. The soul component may speak as soul or not, based on the divine program. But, it should be always internally careful to resist the ego. The ego-serpent moves in curved modes and somehow tries to enter the soul. Baba never showed ego except the self-confidence in His speeches. In the case of a human being, the soul should be separated from body. But, in the case of human incarnation, the soul should be separated not only from the body but also from God.
Revealing the Difficult Path Bit-By-Bit
Nobody should be decided as God based on just miracles. Even though miracles establish the existence of God, God can do miracles through anybody. But, mere miracles do not establish the existence of God in anybody, even though any miracle is done by God only. While preaching knowledge, God enters the medium and hence, knowledge is the only identification mark of God. This aspect is stated by the Veda. But, the Veda says that the knowledge should be excellent to the unimaginable level (Prajnanam…). The Veda also says that the knowledge should be true (Satyam jnanam…). Generally, truth is associated with harshness. Truth alone helps the human being to reach the correct goal. The path to reach God is full of thorns and the path to reach hell is full of flowers. If truth is hidden and the flowery path is shown, the aspirant will go to hell and not to God. Everybody likes to reach God, but, everybody likes to travel in the flowery path only. In such case, you may show the thorny path partially and encourage the aspirant by bringing the goal forward even though the goal is fixed in its actual place only. Due to the short distance, the aspirant will be encouraged and moves forward. You can repeat the trick again and again till the aspirant reaches the goal. For example, Benaras was a holy centre of knowledge in India filled with several scholars. If you go to Benaras and attain the knowledge from the scholars, you will get realization. Such realization will prevent you doing sins again and by this, your past sins are also excused. In this way, all your sins are destroyed. To encourage the aspirant to go to Benaras in the initial stage, it is said that if you take bath in Ganges at Benaras, all your sins are destroyed. Here, the goal is brought forward. When the aspirant reaches Benaras and takes bath in Ganges, you should say that if one visits the temple of Vishweshwara, all the sins are burnt. By this, he is encouraged to visit the temple, where he meets the scholars and slowly gets their association to receive the spiritual knowledge. Then it is said if one stays in Benaras forever, he is liberated from all the sins. The permanent stay in association with scholars will certainly transform him and the goal is really achieved. This is showing the thorny path in bits by bringing forward the goal each time, which is not the truth. However, in this method, hiding the truth is not wrong, since you are leading the aspirant in the correct path only. If you show the flowery path and say that it leads to God, it is wrong. But, some preachers adopt this wrong method because the aspirant is very much encouraged by the flowery path and may donate the preacher heavily in excitation. Such preachers are many in the present time.
Baba Set Pravritti As the Goal
When the programs are different, the nature and behavior of the human incarnation also differs as per the requirement of the specific program. The program of Rama was to preach the human behavior in the society and hence, acted like an ideal human being following the rules of justice, established by Himself i.e., God. Rama preached Pravrutti through practice only. Krishna came to show Nivrutti and exhibited the potencies of God. He violated the rules of justice to show that He is the rule maker and that the rule maker alone can violate rules. By this, Krishna also tested the faith of His devotees in Nivrutti. The programs were so different that even Hanuman failed to identify Krishna as Rama. In the case of Shirdi Sai Baba and [Satya Sai] Baba, the program is one and the same except slight difference in the dress. It is a big surprise to see some devotees of Shirdi Sai Baba do not have faith in [Satya Sai] Baba. God comes down in different situations and hence, His behavior also differs slightly or more as per the need of the time and followers. The taste and the mental set-ups differ from one human being to the other. Even though the chemical composition is one and the same, somebody likes one vegetable and does not like the other. Liking towards a specific vegetable is not wrong, but, disliking the other vegetable to the extent of criticizing and scolding hurts others. Similarly, you may like one human form of God and it is not wrong. But, if you dislike other human form of God and criticize it, the religious disputes start, which will disturb the balance of the society (Pravrutti). For God, both Pravrutti and Nivrutti are important, which are like the stage and the drama enacted on it respectively. Where is the drama if the stage is broken? Pravrutti is the basis of Nivrutti. You have to follow Rama to please Krishna. Rama is the path and Krishna is the goal. Therefore, God comes down mainly to establish Pravrutti only and Nivrutti is an associated activity. Pravrutti is related to the main lot of the humanity. Nivrutti relates only to a few top-most devotees. If you observe the efforts of Baba, most of them are concentrated on Pravrutti only. He always tried to establish justice and hence, is called as ‘Sai Ram’. I did not hear anybody speaking ‘Sai Shyam’. Through the demonstration of miracles, He always attacked the negative effects of science, which are the fundamentals of atheism and became tremendously strong these days. Through speeches, Baba tried to establish the human values and morals, which are the pillars of Pravrutti. To establish Pravrutti, He went to the extent of saying that Pravrutti itself is Nivrutti. As far as Nivrutti is concerned, Baba gave the directions individually to some devotees. In fact, every human incarnation comes for the establishment of Pravrutti only, which is purely concerned with humanity only. Nivrutti is related to both God and humanity.
The love between human beings is Pravrutti. The love of human being to God is Nivrutti. God never encourages Nivrutti because nobody encourages others to love him or her. It is an aspect related to others only. In fact, God discourages Nivrutti and sometimes even opposes to know the strength of your love to Him. Nivrutti is always taught by Him on your request only. His expectation is Pravrutti only and if you follow Pravrutti, even some gifts like heavenly pleasures are given by Him. If you follow Nivrutti, He creates several problems to discourage you so that your force in Nivrutti is evaluated. Nivrutti is certainly higher and in fact, is the highest of all. But, when people fail in Pravrutti itself, how can Nivrutti be thought of? When you are looting the public without any consideration for the poor, can we expect you to sacrifice for the sake of God? Even if you sacrifice, it is only to trap God and loot Him for higher profit. If you have some attitude of some sacrifice towards your co-human beings, certainly you will have at least the same extent of sacrifice to a specific co-human being in which God exists. Therefore, Pravrutti is the basis of Nivrutti. You do not sacrifice anything for the deserving co-human being because you may not get anything in return. Such a fellow you are and can we imagine yourself to sacrifice to God without expecting anything in return? Therefore, Baba introduced the concept of service to humanity without expecting anything in return. Unless you are trained in Pravrutti to do service without expecting anything in return, you cannot succeed in Nivrutti to have the same attitude. Baba did such great service to humanity, which shall be an eye-opener to the rulers of government. They should examine themselves about the goal of their service, whether it has selfishness or sacrifice for the humanity. They can cheat the public but not the omniscient God and certainly will receive the punishment for looting and the subsequent cheating. If this single point is learnt from Baba by the present rulers and officials of government, God need not incarnate for Pravrutti. You are saving crores and crores in Swiss bank, while the beggars are dying with hunger and you cannot dream Nivrutti. When you fail in the examination with zero marks, how can you expect the gold medal? The expectations of the preaching of Baba are mainly towards the rulers and officials of the government, who should observe the way of service of Baba to humanity. Baba stressed on every human being to change the attitudes and the best title for Baba would be ‘THE KING OF KINGS’.