Compassionate Incarnate

Aum Sairam

Merry Christmas And Happy Baba’s Day

May this Thursday [Baba's Day] bring you Strength, Good luck, Success, Happiness and Joy.

God, the manifestation of the Supreme is seen as the savior from sin and the way to the eternal life. The core of the message delivered by different messengers is the same. As if confirming to an unseen doctrine, each of the messenger appeared to have spoken to those under different conditions of life, over the time.

Lord Jesus came proclaiming the Kingdom of God. But unlike John the Baptist, or the Essences, or many others of his day, he did not envision the Kingdom of God descending miraculously from Heaven. The arrival of the Kingdom would not mean the end of the world or the destruction of Israel's enemies. Instead, he said, The Kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed nor will they say, Lo, here it is or There for behold, the Kingdom of God is in the midst of you. The Kingdom had already arrived, and it was a spiritual community consisting of Lord Jesus and all those who centered themselves in God. The Kingdom of God was always meant to be a this worldly movement which would bring a measure of Heaven to earth through the lives and actions of those who lived in God.

Just like Sri Sai had said poverty is Kingship, Lord Jesus said, Blessed are you poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God. Blessed are you that hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you that weep now, for you shall laugh. But woe to you that are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you that are full now, for you shall hunger. Woe to you that laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

Sri Sai asked His followers to cast their burden for Him to carry. Similarly, Lord Jesus said, Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Sri Sai, like Lord Jesus, said that God is great and kind and taught us to be likewise. God is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. Be compassionate, even as your Father is compassionate. The word translated compassionate is derived from a word which means wombish. God's compassion is nourishing and life giving like the womb to an unborn child.

Lord Jesus taught His followers to abandon the broad way of organized religion, which tells us to believe such and such and do such and such to win the favor of God. Lord Jesus said to abandon the way of anxiety, for we already have the favor of God. Sri Sai's advice to the fasting lady is a perfect example of this similarity between Lord Jesus and Sri Sai. But knowing that God already loves us, what are we to do to live good lives? And how do we participate in the Kingdom of God in the here and now? First of all, Lord Jesus said to love, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. And he also said, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. Secondly, he said to have a clean heart. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.[By seeing God, he means primarily the experience of God's presence in this life]

The Mango Miracle in Shri Sai Satcharitra is an interesting one. Sri Sai said to Damu Anna that those who would eat the mango's would die. The way of death is a metaphor for a transformation deep inside, in which we turn away from that which separates us from God. Lord Jesus spoke of both the self and the world as the two great spiritual obstacles. He said to deny self. And he told us that it profits us nothing to gain the whole world, and lose our way spiritually. Therefore, to the self and the world, we must die. For the self absorbed self is filled with narcissism, and greed and fear, jealousy and cruelty. But the self which is centered in God, loves others as much as it loves its own self.

It is kind and compassionate and does not think itself better than any other.

On this Holy Week of Christmas and as we welcome the New Year, let us contemplate on the universal nature of Sri Sai's message that permeates beyond the divisions of religions and fundamental.

Allah Malik