By: Swami Ramdas
Suppose you are on top of a hill and view at a distance, shooting up from the edge of a cliff, the branches of a tree, they appear to you to be suspended and growing in the air. You wonder at the sight. You question yourself as to how a tree could grow and appear in the air without a prop to stand upon. You do not stop at that. You proceed towards the strange sight with the great eagerness to solve the mystery. You approach the very brink of the cliff where the branches were seen. Now you peep down and what do you behold? You find that the branches belong to a tall tree having its root far down at the base of a deep precipice. Now your wonder has ceased. You have discovered the root of the illusive appearance and everything is clear to you. Your riddle is solved. Sai Baba is close behind your thoughts and when you seek his guidance, Sai Baba assures you – “You may ask where I am now and how I can meet you now. But I am within your heart and we can meet without any effort”. – Shri Sai Satcharita (Chap 44, Ovi 162)
So, it is with life. For you, it proves to be a perplexing riddle, so long as you have not seen the source of it. The appearances delude you and you are asking yourself: “Where did I come from? Who am I? Whence is the universe?” You cudgel your brain with these questions and strive hard with all the powers of your thought to find a solution for them. If you merely stand where you are and think and discuss within yourself however much you may, still you are far away from the solution. With zeal and earnestness, you must walk the distance that takes you to the place where you can get the vision to your Source.
The path to the Source of your and world’s being is not without. You have to go within yourself. You must go past your senses, mind, and intellect; you must traverse beyond all limits, conditions, and tastes, and then alone will you have the fullest vision and realization of your Immortal Root. This Immortal Root is also the Root of all that exists- the visible and the invisible worlds, and all beings and creatures in them. Sai Baba assures you –“ If you recite ‘Sai, Sai,’ always, I will take you beyond the seven seas. If you believe in these words, you will be certainly benefited”. – (Chap 13, Ovi 11-13)
Now you realize that from one common existence has evolved the variety of manifests observed all around you. Your perplexity becomes extinct. The knotty problems of your life are solved once and for all. You know that you are one with all lives – one with the entire universe. Infinity is your true existence. Eternal bliss is your real nature. Birth, change, and death are passing and playful events in your Cosmic Life and Spirit. Sai Baba attained Mahasamadhi in 1918 but he is eternally living and taking care of you. Your life, in tune with the infinite God, has now reached the haven where everlasting felicity and peace dwells. In one word, you have realized your Supreme Godhead. Sai Baba has stated – “Such pious persons have become my followers whose sins have been destroyed and they have understood me.” – (Sai Satcharita Chap 13, Ovi 11-13)
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