AUM SAI RAM
Greetings to all the readers, editorial members, and back-office staff of SAI AURA.
As we bring out the Silver-Jubilee issue (25th issue) in April 2024 our Editorial Board requested me to pen a few words as people around the world will celebrate Ugadi, Gudi Padwa, and the other customary celebrations welcoming the new season, the festival, to mark the admixture of happiness and grief, victory of good over evil, of light over darkness.
There exists another light studied by saints and mystics since time immemorial – the inner Light and that is Sainath Parabrahman. This inner Light can be experienced without the help of any technology or outer aids because Sai Maharaj resides within us.
Sai Maharaj lit many lamps in the mosque where he stayed. Many people follow the ritual of lighting candles and lamps. It illustrates the importance of lighting the lamp within us – and celebrating the festival of the light of the Soul. Experience of this inner Light helps us unravel the deepest mysteries of life.
As long as we are in a state of transience grief and countless other afflictions will always be waiting outside our door. Every time someone or something inside our orbit is snatched away from us, we grieve. It is an automatic response. The truth is, nothing can be lost because we are everything and we have everything, but the realization of this Oneness is a mighty task. So, we must look at ways of dealing with grief.
Grief doesn’t need to be addressed in isolation. It is part of a complex tapestry of afflictions. According to Sai Maharaj, there can be a single approach to dealing with any movement arising inside. Once grief is overcome, every other human pattern will be simultaneously resolved too. There is a domino effect to inner transformation, but we cannot delude ourselves; the ‘hard yards’ must be done first. This work is a perfect path for sublime living as devotees of Sai Maharaj.
First, let us orient your awareness inside. Shift the focus. Step back from the surface. It requires constant remembrance of ‘Aum Sai Sri Sai Jaya Jaya Sai’ and effort. Try to locate your true base and center. Once you feel yourself getting closer to it, just remember to go further. Keep your poise and become the fire that burns inside. Tend to it always. This is your aspiration, and as it grows, the closer you move to your inner Truth.
You reorient your life around Sainath Parabrahman the soul. It takes time. It is an evolving state. The realignment is more spontaneous. Surrender has this effect. Through this connection, spontaneous knowledge and discernment emerge. Questions are automatically answered; patterns get changed.
The next time you get consumed with grief, try this process. You may have to repeat it. If practiced sincerely, you will notice a shift. Grief doesn’t have to be the pretext; any affliction can be addressed by this practice. Just remember to keep the fire burning and maintain this poise.
So, how can we experience this inner Light of Sai Maharaj? Each of us is born with a spiritual eye, a gateway between and behind the two eyebrows that opens into the inner spiritual world. When, through the process of meditation, we withdraw our attention from the distractions of the outer world and focus it on this gateway, we can connect with inner Light Sai Maharaj.
Living at the level of our physical senses, we take ourselves to be the body and we focus our attention on the attractions and distractions of the outer world – a world of impermanence, where lasting happiness and peace are unattainable. It is only when we take our attention away from the outer world and focus it on the spiritual eye, the gateway between the inner and outer worlds, that we can experience the light and love of the inner worlds. Love and light dispel all darkness and enlighten us. In this light, the clarity of our vision sets in, and we can find our way back to God.
The Divine is the source of all love, joy, and bliss, and when we connect with His love and Light, we bathe in this same joy and bliss. Like a fluorescent object that glows long after it has been exposed to light, we, too, glow with divine love and Light. Let us all carry this light within, experience it, and share it with others, truly celebrating the festival of Ugadi.
With all best wishes and regards
Yours Sai Babaly.
Prathibha
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