The Easiest Path

Aum Sairam

Though, Sri Sai Baba acted outwardly like an ordinary man, His action showed extraordinary wisdom and skill. Whatever He did, was done for the good of His devotees. He never prescribed any Asan, regulation of breathing or any rites to His Bhaktas, nor did He blow any Mantra into their ears. He told them to leave off all cleverness, and always remember "Sri Sai" "Sri Sai". If you did that, He said, all your shackles would be removed and you would be free. Sitting through five fires, sacrifices, chanting, eight fold Yoga are possible for the Brahmin's only, they are of no use to the other classes. The function of the mind is to think, it cannot remain without thinking for a minute. If you give it a sense-object, it will think about it. If you give it Guru, it will think about Guru.

Hearing the stories of the saints is not so difficult, as the other Sadhanas, mentioned above. The stories remove all fear of this Sansar [worldly existence] and take you on to the spiritual path. So, listen to these stories, meditate on them and assimilate them. You may attend to your worldly duties, but give your mind to Sai and His stories, and then, He is sure to bless you. This is the easiest path, but why do not all take to it? The reason is that without God's grace, we do not get the desire to listen to the stories of saints. With God's grace everything is smooth and easy. Hearing the stories of the saints is, in a way, keeping their company. The importance of the company of the saints is very great. It removes our body consciousness and egoism, destroys completely the chain of our birth and death, cuts asunder all the knots of the mind and takes us to God, Who is pure consciousness. It certainly increases our non-attachment to sense objects and makes us quite indifferent to pleasures and pains, and leads us onward on the spiritual path. If you have no other Sadhana, such as uttering God's name, worship or devotion etc. but if you take refuge in them [saints] whole hearted, they will carry you off safely across he ocean of worldly existence. It is for this reason that the saints manifest themselves in this world. Even sacred rivers such as the Ganges, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri etc., which wash away the sins of the world, desire that the saints should come to them, for a bath and purify them. Such is the grandeur of the Saint. It is on account of the store of merit in past births that we have attained the feet of Sri Sai Baba.

Let us meditate on Sri Sai Baba's Form. He, the graceful and handsome Sri Sai Baba, standing on the edge of the Maszid and distributing Udi to each and every Bhakt, with a view to his welfare, He, Who thinks of the world as an illusion and Who is ever engrossed in Supreme Bliss, before Him, we humbly prostrate ourselves.

Allah Malik