Transforming Humanity Sri Sathya Sai Baba (Glimpses of Divine Incarnation)

CHAPTER 1

ERA OF GODLESSNESS – CRISIS WORLDWIDE

Divine Incarnation

Steady decline of the age-old beliefs of man in God

The twentieth century witnessed the steady decline of the age-old beliefs of man in God, religion and morality. Instead, it saw the unprecedented rise in materialism. Science replaced God; and money, success and pleasure replaced religion, morality and righteousness. God became almost irrelevant in modern society. With their leaders of society rejecting or suppressing God, it became almost fashionable for the people, particularly the young, to become rationalists or atheists. The educational system also excluded God from children’s text books. Science was in, God was out. The blame for this, as is obvious, must be laid largely on the leaders of society – the successful materialists, the educated scientists and the power-wielding politicians.

Earlier, most countries had monarchies. The rulers and leaders of nations were required to uphold religious and moral values. But when power passed over to other forms of governments – whether democratic, totalitarian, dictatorial, communist, socialist or whatever – God was deliberately excluded from the picture. This was not without reason, as in the last century man discovered that more blood had been shed in the past in the name of God and religion than any other cause. Hence, the simplistic solution to prevent a repeat of such bloodbaths was to eliminate or suppress God and religion from man’s life.¹

In India, many people with modern education are hesitant to follow the practices of the religion to which they belong. Lest they be called irrational and be accused of blind belief, they are not inclined to worship God’s images or forms attributed to Him and are critical of the utility of rituals. If they visit a temple, like tourists, they are more interested in its history and architecture than in its devotional value. This is happening not only in India but all over the world. It is something like an open crusade against religion.

The key lies in the transformation of the hearts of the leaders of society

Sri Sathya Sai Baba is here precisely to do that. What better way to catch the materialist’s attention than the ability to materialize any object at will! And what better way to catch the attention of the scientists than to stand the laws of science on their heads! Baba does this with a mere wave of His hand! This miraculous materialisation catches our attention as nothing else can.

Strife and discord have robbed peace and unity

Sri Sathya Sai Baba says At the present time, strife and discord have robbed peace and unity from the family, the school, the society, the village, the cities, and the state. In each Yuga, the Divine has incorporated itself as an Avatar for some particular task. This Incarnation is different in that it has to deal with the crisis which is worldwide and world-shaking. Intellectual conceit has grown so wild that men have become foolish enough to ask, What and where is God? Immorality has put on the garb of morality and is enticing man into the morass of sin. Truth is condemned as a trap; justice is jeered at; saints are harassed as social enemies. Hence, this Incarnation has come to uphold the Truth and suppress the False.¹

He urges people to give up evil propensities and to recognize and tread the straight path to reach the goal. He adds If you waste this time of saving yourselves, it is just your fate. You have come to get from me tinsel and trash, the petty little cures and promotions, worldly joys and comforts. Very few of you desire to get from me what I have really come to give you – Liberation itself.²

Our past has built our present; our present is building our future. Through a life of righteousness, Man should strive not only for a better life in his subsequent births – in terms of peace, happiness, health and prosperity, but progressively achieve higher levels of consciousness to realise our destiny of merging with the universal consciousness and break free from the cycle of life and death.

Saints prayed – and I have come

The Avatar takes human form for the protection of Righteousness (Dharma); protection of the Devotees; fostering the Vedas; and fostering the scholars. He adds: The arrival of the Lord is anxiously awaited by saints and sages. They prayed – and I have come. My tasks are fostering of the Vedas and fostering of devotees.³

WHY THE AVATAR TAKES HUMAN FORM

Today the evil is so widespread that humanity itself would be destroyed in a nuclear holocaust in the event of a world war. It is to prevent such a catastrophe that this Avatar has come in human form to raise human consciousness above the existing syndrome of anger, hate, violence and war and save the world from disaster. This can be achieved only by the re-establishment of the brotherhood of mankind through the gospel of dharma underlying the scriptures of all religions to liberate the human race from the karmic cycle of birth and death.

It is to facilitate our merger with God that He sends His representatives to Earth, in the form of saints, divine messengers, prophets and so on, and Masters descend on Earth and endure the prison of flesh for our sake. When creation threatens to go totally way-ward instead of God-ward then the Lord Himself decides to descend downward on Earth with all His qualities and Divine nature intact as a Poorna Avatar, a tangible form of Godhead in its totality. It is a mind-boggling moment in history when a Poorna Avatar incarnates, and God literally walks the earth as one of us in our time.

Baba has said. I incarnate from age to age, from time to time, to save dharma from anti-dharma. Whenever strife, discord and disharmony overwhelm the world, God incarnates in human form to show mankind the way to love, peace and harmony.¹

When we materialists find there is a power beyond the material and when the scientist realises that there is power far beyond science, it shakes the foundation on which our lives are built. This is a very humbling realisation. For a start, it makes us listen to Sathya Sai Baba. His overpowering and unconditional love then wins us over.

The Avatar assumes human form because that is the only way to incarnate the God within man. The realization of the indwelling God as the motivator of life is the task for which Avatars come in human form.

Dharma alone can save the world

Sathya Sai Baba says, In the Treta Yuga, Rama came to feed the roots of truth and righteousness; in the Dwapara Yuga, Krishna followed to foster the plant of peace and love. Now these sacred principles are in danger of wholesale destruction by reason of human weakness under the onslaught of evil forces. They are overcoming the good, the spiritual and the divine in man. That is why, in the Kali Yuga, the present Avatar has come invested with the totality of cosmic power to save dharma (righteousness) from anti-dharma.

The decline of Dharma is an acute tragedy, the intensity of affection that the Lord has for good men is so great that He Himself comes. The Lord is Love itself. He comes in human form so that you can talk to Him, move with Him, serve Him, adore Him, and achieve Him, so that you can recognize your kinship with Him.

Now there is no one fully good

The role of the earlier Avatars was limited to protection of the Vedas and destruction of the wicked or the Adharmic, who were separate from the Dharmic. Previous Avatars like Rama and Krishna had to destroy a few individuals who could be identified as enemies of the godly way of life and thus restore the Dharmic path. However, in the Kali Yuga, Adharma often puts on the garb of Dharma, both good and bad reside side by side in the same individual. Today, wickedness has tainted almost everybody; hence, if God seeks to destroy Adharma or the wicked, almost the entire humanity would be wiped out.

Therefore, the Lord has to adopt a different strategy if humanity has to survive. He seeks transformation rather than termination. In this Avatar the wicked will not be destroyed; they will be corrected and reformed and educated and led back to the path from which they have strayed.¹

Extracts From First World Conference of Sathya Sai Centres, 1972

Sathya Sai Baba says that the limitations of the human mind and intellect prevent man to envision the formless universal consciousness. While addressing the First World Conference of Sai Centres, He said:

"Since I move with you, eat like you and talk with you, you are deluded into the belief that this is but a human phenomenon. Be warned against this mistake. The Avatar takes the human form and behaves in a human way so that humanity can feel kinship with the divinity; but rises to superhuman heights so that mankind can aspire to reach the heights, and through that aspiration actually reach Him.

Limitations of mind and intellect

"For those who are drawn by the pulls of the mind, the intellect and the ego, things beyond the ken of these three are inscrutable, there is a limit beyond which the mind and the intellect cannot traverse. That is why the Supreme Power has to envelop Itself with Maya (delusion) and come down to the level of human comprehension.

This is a human form in which every divine entity, every divine principle, that is to say, all the names and forms ascribed by man to God, are manifest. Do not allow doubt to distract you; if only you will install in the altar of your heart steady faith in My Divinity, you can win a vision of My Reality.

I HAVE COME FOR YOUR SAKE

By assuming human form, Baba says He has come for our sake. I am not the body. I am not the mind. I am not the intellect. I am not the will. I am not any specific object. This body has been assumed for your sake.

Some complain that I did not give them this or that, but that is because their vision is limited to the immediate future or the present; whereas I know what is in store and so I have to safeguard them from greater grief.

I have come to guard not your jewels but your virtue

Baba says If something is lost or stolen from you, you lose faith in Me. I have not come to guard your jewels and your valuables. I have come to guard your virtue and holiness and guide you to the Goal. If your goodness is in danger, come to Me. I shall tell you how to cultivate it and reap the fruit. I utter no meaningless word, I do no purposeless deed. I plan no significant-less action, I never engage in unholy activities. I have nothing that I need. My joy consists in fulfilling your aims, in making you reach the goal. Remember that in no previous Yuga did the people get so many clear intimations of the nature of the Avatar as now; you are indeed fortunate.

What I have really come to give you

First I give you what you want, so that gradually you will want what I have really come to give you – Liberation itself.

I must save each one of you

I reveal to you my Glory, off and on, to a little extent, through what you call miracles. I do not engage in them for name or fame; I am miraculous by My very nature! Every moment of Mine is a miracle! They are beyond your understanding, your art and skill and intelligence. I must save every one of you; even if you say, nay, and move away; I shall do it. Those who have strayed away from Me have to return to the fold, sooner or later, for I will not allow them to be distant for long. I shall drag them towards Me. That is My basic nature, Love and Mercy.¹

Baba says that he does not hurry

I shall certainly achieve the purpose of this Avatar; do not doubt it. I will take My own time to carry out My Plan so far as you are concerned. I cannot hurry because you are hurrying.¹

I always act calmly. I never hurry. I do say: Let it be so to every request of yours. If you are patient and calm, I shall grant you joy without fail. Do not yield to despair. Even the infant lotus bud will bloom in its own good time. By the cumulative effect of the good done in many previous births, you have secured this fortune; you do not know how much you have gone through, but I know! And, whether you know or not, I shall certainly give you your need.²

Baba loves all – the living and the un-living

In the United States, devotee Ex-Pilot Charles Penn picked up Sathyam Shivam Sundaram by Prof. Kasturi in 1965. He communicated everyday with Sri Sathya Sai Baba through the ether while in meditation in the USA. It was four years later in 1968 that he actually met Baba in the physical form.

Sathya Sai Baba appeared to Charles Penn in the USA in 1972. He said, "You, Charles, saw at Bombay the tens of thousands of seekers of liberation striving to catch even a glimpse of Me. These numbers are but a drop in the ocean, compared to the countless unseen souls who try to reach Me from mortal bounds (the living and the un-living). To all I give My light and love and help each forward towards liberation".

All who come to Me in their concrete form have fortunately reached the stage when they are beginning to see the reality. Those who cry for the chance to see Me in the concrete form have their prayers answered; to each I give at every opportunity My darshan, for they deserve and receive My love.

Then, Charles, there are those who may never see Me in the concrete form. They have, all the same, reached Me, through a friend, a book, or photograph. To each of these, if they yearn deeply, I give My darshan inwardly. These too, I love as deeply, for they have begun to see themselves, as being beyond their body, as divine souls.¹

HOW TO AVERT CALAMITIES

There are two ways in which an Avatar can help people to control the natural forces and prevent calamities: an instant solution as against a long term one.

1.   Instant solution

Any instant solution would go against the fundamental quality of nature itself as well against the karmic law of cause and effect. Most people live in the material world of their desires and egos, which is governed by this law. They reap the fruits of their actions. This brings about their evolution or devolution. If the Avatar intervenes to instantly solve their problems, it would stop all action, development, even evolution. This solution can be ruled out because it totally negates the natural laws.

2.   Long term solution

The other and more effective alternative presents a long-term solution whereby the Avatar leads the people themselves to a higher level of consciousness to enable them to understand the truth of spiritual laws so that they may turn towards righteousness and steadfastly work for better conditions. This will relate them back to nature and the karmic law of causation. This would then transcend the cycle of cause and effect in which today they are involved as Victims and thereby command and control the natural forces as Masters to be able to avert the calamities.

Why God does not solve all problems instantly

Hence, to the question that people often ask as to why Baba cannot, if He is God, solve the problems of the world like poverty, sickness, suffering, inequity and the like with a wave of His hand? Yes, he could. But unless there is a change of heart in man, since man is endowed with a degree of free will, even such a Utopia created by Baba would soon be corrupted by man.

Only a change in heart can bring about a Utopia that will last, for the Lord does not seek to impose His will on us. He seeks to change our hearts so that we will voluntarily change the world for the better. Baba has come down in Avatar form to bring about that transformation of our hearts. The rest will automatically follow. Baba always tells His devotees, Devotion is fine; but what I want is your transformation.

SUFFERINGS OF THE PEOPLE

Man’s birth, till his death, is accompanied by pain and sorrow interspersed with transient moments of happiness – childhood struggle, adolescent waywardness, livelihood travails, marriage issues, misfortune, disease, injury, tragedy, old age, loneliness and, finally, death. And the cycle of birth and death starts all over again, and again.

Suffering and misery are the inescapable acts of the cosmic drama. God does not decree these calamities but man invites them by way of retribution for his own evil deeds. This is corrective punishment which induces mankind to give up the wrong path and return to the right path so that he may experience the godlike condition of Sat-Chit-Ananda – that is, an existence of wisdom and bliss.

So, finally, if the Avatar brings these calamities to an immediate end, which He says, He can do, and does, when there is a great need, the whole drama of creation with its universal, inescapable karmic law will collapse. Remember, these calamities occur not because of what God has made of man but really because of what man has made of man. Therefore, man has to be unmade and remade with his ego destroyed and replaced by a transcendent consciousness so that he may rise above the karmic and be able to command the natural forces.¹

LAW OF KARMA

The Lord has given unto creation an unwritten constitution of natural laws, and the law of natural justice states that for every wrong committed in thought, word and deed in lives gone by, you have to atone in lives to come. Our past has built our present; our present is building our future. This is the law of Karma.

Similarly, Fate is the consequence of our Karmic actions that have good or bad effects on our body in terms of health, disability, accidents, injury; and on our life in terms of quality of birth, progress in life, level of spiritual consciousness. It may not be possible for people to reap the benefits of their past good deeds in the same life; just as it may not be possible for them to suffer the consequences of their past bad deeds in the same life, so they are carried over to subsequent lives. Hence, it is not Fate that controls us, but we who control Fate. It is true, God cannot change our Fate. But we can through our actions.

On the sufferings of the people, Baba says He is aware of them but He normally does not interfere with the Karmic Law of cause and effect. He declares:

I am always aware of the future and the past as well as the present of every one of you, so I am not so moved by mercy. Not that I am hard-hearted, or that I have no mercy or compassion. Of course, a person’s pitiable condition melts your heart, it will not melt mine. Since I know the past, the background, my reaction is different. It is the consequence of evil deliberately done in the previous birth. So I have to allow the suffering to continue, often modified by some little compensation. I do not cause either joy or grief. You are the designer of both these chains that bind you.¹

Free will

He always honours our free will, the indwelling spark of the Divine in each of us. Therefore, He says Thy will, not Mine. He does not interfere with our karma but for devotees he accelerates their negative karma to get over with it sooner, and also helps to soften or modify it to the extent that we are able to tolerate it.²

Why Man is miserable

Baba says: Man is endowed with many skills; he is offered many lives; he is shown many paths. The purpose of all these gifts is to develop in him the spirit of devotion and dedication and release him from the dual bubbles of joy and grief.

Having all the instruments of joy and contentment in his possession, if man is miserable it is due only to his perverseness, his stupidity. He has been warned over centuries by the Scriptures of all languages that he should give up greed and lust, give up the habit of catering to the senses, give up the belief that he is just this body and nothing more".³

GRACE

Grace transcends all laws of creation, even the laws of karma, accomplishing the impossible; it can make things happen to what may appear to be the most undeserving person! God’s Grace is beyond our understanding. Grace can heal and save lives.

In order to overcome karmic impediments, it is important to repent all crimes committed against any living being. By sincere repentance, deep remorse and love of God all sins can be washed away. God’s mercy is responsive.

As Sathya Sai Baba says the Grace of God cannot be won through the gymnastics of reason, the contortions of yoga or the denials of asceticism. Love alone can win it, Love that needs no bargaining, Love that is paid gladly, as tribute to the All Loving.¹

It can only be won by love for all life, translating into action by selfless service to all with humility, sincerity and without expectation of any reward. We can win God’s Grace by sharing our joy, our wealth and our knowledge with others less fortunate.

WE ARE ALL ONE

Sathya Sai Baba’s mission is to help humanity, to awaken in man the inherent divinity within, through love, service and sacrifice, and to see that the principles of Love, Truth, Righteousness, Peace, and Non-Violence are propagated and govern all human relations.

He desires us to have the feeling of oneness permeate every act of ours; seek the oneness underlying all diversity, and to cultivate the attitude of oneness between people of all creeds and all continents to establish world peace Sri Sathya Sai Baba says that we are actually one complete entity. We are all one, only one human being and that human being is today divided, or fragmented, into 7 billion entities—all of them being part of the whole.

Therefore, Sai Baba has introduced a new consciousness into the world. It will lead to a new way of living as real human beings, based on our basic human values. This will end the violence, the discord. In other words, when once we are aware of the kinship of all beings, the fundamental Atmic unity and their oneness with God, we will not knowingly cause pain or distress to another; love will flow from one being to another. It will end the suffering, the misery, the greed and all the things destroying us, both individually and collectively, and bring about peace and harmony in society. This may be our true purpose in life. This may lead to a quantum jump in our consciousness. This may accelerate the process of our Liberation.

Through millions of years man has evolved and continues to evolve until he is totally aware of this ‘Oneness’ – That Thou Art. Sri Sathya Sai Baba had explained this progression to senior devotee, Dr. Hislop in this order: rock, vegetable, animal, human, super-human, cosmic and finally God.

REACHING THE GOAL

St. Augustine says, For our souls are restless until they rest in God;¹ and in order to pass through to God, they need to be soaked in the virtues of Truth, Righteousness, Love, Peace and Non-violence. This is the sole goal of life: the realisation of our Divinity.

While discoursing on religion, Sai Baba said "reach the point where churches, mosques and temples do not matter, where all roads end from where all roads began".²

Sai Baba says: "When the Road Ends and the Goal is Gained, the Pilgrim Finds that He has travelled from Himself to Himself; that the way was long and lonesome, but the God that led him unto it was all the while in him, around him, with him, and beside him!³

We are travelling back to the Atma or Eternal Self! The