The First Word

Whose dream is this anyway?

We are happy to present the twenty-seventh issue of ‘Sai Aura’ commemorating the 106th MAHASAMADHI of Sainath Parabrahman.

Just before his Maha Samadhi, Baba narrated a story emphasizing that ‘life is a dream’. Ganpat Kote Patil, a farmer at Shirdi was standing completely still amidst the wind-blown paddy field, lost in thought. His wife rushed to him, crying that a cobra killed their son. When her husband did not reply, she blurted out, “You are heartless!”

“Forgive me, but you don’t understand,” the farmer replied. “Last night I dreamt that I was a king with seven sons, who all were bitten by cobras and died. Now I am wondering whether I should grieve for my seven dead sons in that dream, or for my one son who has died in this dream we are in now.”
Our life’s experiences, with all their joys and sorrows, mesmerize us with a sense of undeniable reality. Yet, the truth is that everything is only a thought in the mind of the Divine.

Sai Maharaj, who related the story above, just before his Maha Samadhi in 1918, explains: “This world seems real to you only because God dreamed you into existence along with His cosmic dream. You are a part of His dream. If, at night, you dream that you bump your head against a wall, you may experience an imaginary pain. The moment you wake up, you realize that there is no pain. The pain you experienced was only in your mind; it was not physical. The same is true of this dream you are dreaming now. When you wake up to this reality, you will see that this earthly life is just a show; it is nothing but shadows and light.”

In a small way, this reflects Sainath Parabrahman’s teaching that all of life’s experiences are for our ‘education and entertainment’. The Supreme dreams a particular dream for each of us and arranges the events in life for our benefit. Though it’s often hard to see amid suffering, it is meant for our welfare and growth.

When we get caught up in the pleasure or pain in life, it’s good to remember that we’re not really in charge of our circumstances. We’re only playing our part in God’s dream – be it one of success or failure; health or sickness; love or rejection. With compassion and wisdom, God gives us the roles we are to play, perfectly designed for what we need to learn in this lifetime.

Therefore, try to release the anxiety over what has happened in the past, what choices you must make now, and what the future holds. Let the Divine take charge of your life, for, in fact, He already has. Try to see the Dreamer behind every event and person in your dream throughout your life. There is only one reality behind the lights and shadows of life: God’s joy.

In his lectures carrying Baba’s message all over the length and breadth of the country, Sri Narasimha Swamiji used to quote a poem, ‘When I Am Only a Dream’, explained what it meant to be truly awake, as well as the story related by Sai Maharaj in 1918 before his Maha Samadhi:

I come to tell you all of Him – Sainath Mahaprabhu,
And the way to encase Him in your bosom,
And of the two paise ‘Dakshina’ discipline that brings His grace…
And yet when I am only a dream to you,
I will come to remind you that you too are naught
But a dream of my Beloved Lord Sainath.
And when you know you are a dream,
As I know now, we will be ever awake in Him.

We wish all our contributors and readers happiness and prosperity with Baba’s blessings