By: Sai Priya
The world in 1914 was in turmoil.
The First World War had begun. It was the ultimate symbol of negativity felt among devotees of Sai Parabrahman. News of wars were raging everywhere. There were wars in Europe, wars in Asia,
wars in Africa, and wars in Latin America. As a result of this, thousands of people were dying every day, but that was collateral damage. There was no sense of sympathy with the victims.
In addition, climate change with all its erratic weather patterns created havoc around the world. Between flooding and drought, hurricanes, and tornadoes, melting of glaciers, and species extinction. Large sections of the world’s population were suffering.
All this raised the question as to what we as Sai devotees can do.
It is easy enough to shrug off the ocean of suffering as part of the ‘cycle of Karma.’ But that is surely not a satisfactory response from Kaka Dixit, Nana Chandorkar, Das Ganu, and others who are at the holy feet of Lord Sainath at Shirdi. For such devotees, the ancient concept of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam,’ the world is a family, must be rearticulated. Even if we are not able to help concretely, each one of us must try to find within ourselves the fountain of peace and harmony.
Baba felt if enough individuals around the world are prepared to look within and find the spiritual core of their being, it can influence the destiny of humans. Kaka Dixit stated that humans are programmed for self-destruction. Baba called it ‘rubbish,’ and cited Dushasana’s enigma in the Mahabharata when he said, “I know what is correct, but I am not attracted to it. I know what is wrong, but I am attracted to it.”
The greater the outer turmoil, the deeper the inner integration must be. Sainath Parabrahman advised ‘Samyak Sansariti iti Sansar,’ and we all must adjust ourselves to the changing situation by practicing ‘Saburi’ as Hari Vinayak Sathe had complained to Baba about Nanavalli’s harassment and his plan to leave Shirdi forever.
Leave a Reply