Satsang The Call Divine

Satsang The Call Divine

The Call Divine

By Janak Laroiya (Noida U.P.)

We were all born in this world to learn to know ourselves as souls. How are we going to know our true selves, if we don't conquer this little self, this flesh, and this emotional, moody, constantly changing mind? And it can be done, by self-discipline and by practice of deep meditation, by devotion to God, making Him the Polestar of our lives; by fixing the mind on that one Goal. Man's consciousness is always centered in something. It may be sex, money, or possessions. One has to be fixed in something, whether an object, an emotion, or in the soul. Our choice is as simple as that. What is it going to be? Every one should learn to be anchored in Him who is changeless. That is the wisdom taught by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita.

Sri Sri Daya Mata heard Sai Baba's name for the first time in 1958, when I was working in the Indian Embassy at Katmandu, Nepal. Perhaps the time was not ripe for my anchorage to Lord Sainath. In 1959, I was posted back to New Delhi and from my Office-Secretary I got a picture of Sai Baba, books on him and Sai Leela magazine.

I began worshipping Sai Baba and got all my prayers answered by Him. I started penning my experiences to 'Sai Leela' magazine. Day by day my devotion to Sai Baba increased. After a couple of years, I got an invitation from Shirdi Samsthan to participate in the Annual gathering of contributors to Sai Leela magazine. We had not visited Shirdi till then and I took this as a sign from Sai Baba that we should be at His feet.

I did not even know the route to Shirdi. From New Delhi, I landed at Bombay and then hired a taxi to reach Shirdi next morning. It was a new moon day and was raining heavily. Indeed it was a difficult job for the driver also because of bad road condition and pouring rain. It was Sai grace that we avoided a few mishaps on the way and reached Shirdi safely.

On arrival at Shirdi we forgot all the discomforts of the previous night journey. Myself and my wife were treated as V.I.P. guests and comfortably accommodated. I had good 'darshan' of the Master and went round Dwarakamayi, Guru Sthan, Lendi Bagh etc., Baba was pouring His grace on us.

Since a few of my articles had appeared in Sai Leela magazine, I considered myself a great author and a very great Bhakta of Sai Baba. This ego made me consider myself too great and looked upon other shabbily-dressed devotees as not worthy of attending this annual gathering of Sai Leela contributors.

But in the ensuing sessions, I found to my great dismay that there were stalwarts, people from all walks of life - IAS officers, Doctors, Professors, Engineers, Scientists etc., and all of them were much ahead of me spiritually. In that session, Baba was talking to me in whispers about my shortcomings and how I could correct myself. By the time the gathering concluded, my mind was cleansed and Sai Baba made me consider 'absolutely nothing'. We thanked Baba and took leave from Him to return home.

This process of learning on my maiden visit to Shirdi has made me more humble in the last forty years. Sai Baba made me read a lot and take every event as 'divinely sent'. But I still feel I have miles to go to reach the goal of 'Self-Realisation'.

(source Shri Saipadananda Special Magazine)