By Tina Sadhwani
He is never born, and he never dies. He is in Eternity: he is for evermore. Never-born and eternal, beyond times gone or to come, he does not die when the body dies…
When one sees this Eternity in things that pass away and Infinity in the finite things, then one has pure knowledge.
(Bhagavad Gita 2:20, 18:20)
It is on this sacred premise that Hinduism builds its conception of reality wherein the boundless chain of life there exists neither birth nor death, only endless cycles of transmutation and regeneration, culminating in the evolution of consciousness and dynamic unfolding of the Divine Intelligence in man. With a mind that thus peered eternity, the ancient Hindus, it is said, had inexorably unlocked such secrets and mysteries of existence pertaining to creation, manifestation, the universal order and human evolution, converging in the supramental vision of Sanatan Dharma- the Eternal Truth and Divine Process that has over many cycles of time revealed itself to us through the mystical life and evolutionary work of many ascended gurus, rishis, yogis, seers and avatars, all of whom have ushered in a higher world-order of love, peace, righteousness and truth, sowing within us the seeds for a greater life and a unified existence.
The intervention of these world teachers and avatars has always appeared during a planetary crisis for the restoration of Dharma, which is an ascension and expansion of all human consciousness as much as it is the external obliteration of social evil and unrighteousness, thus effecting a profound change in the material and spiritual world. Mystic-Sage Sri Aurobindo had once said that “The Divine is not only Transcendent but also Cosmic and finally Individual. Its power and force must be brought down into the world in order to effect any real transformation in the earth-consciousness.” And so it has been with the descent and manifestation of the sacred lineage and unbroken chain of the Divine Sai Consciousness that has unfolded at the outset in the physicality of Shirdi Sai Baba whose influence has initially been known to pervade all of India, successively extending itself in the form of Sathya Sai Baba whose presence has wielded a wider global influence, reaching out to and transforming millions of lives in the world and which will now continue in the extended physical form and presence of the future Prema Sai.
This far-reaching magical web of the Sai Consciousness has indeed powerfully transmuted and effectively empowered individual souls as well as the world-soul in the last few hundred years. As incarnations of the Shiva and Shakti principles, the Sai Avatars have been dynamically and unfailingly productive and acutely conscious of their grand purpose and mission on the planet. “I have a Task,” as Sathya Sai Baba wrote in 1947, “to foster all mankind and ensure for all of them lives full of bliss (ananda). I have a Vow: to lead all who stray away from the straight path again into goodness and save them. To remove the sufferings of the poor and grant them what they lack… I will not give up my mission, nor my determination. I know I will carry them out. I treat the honor and dishonor, the fame and blame that may be the consequence, with equal equanimity. Internally, I am unconcerned. I act but in the outer world; I talk and move about for the sake of the outer world… else I have no concern even with these…I do not belong to any place; I am not attached to any name. I answer whatever the name you use. I go wherever I am taken. I act and move only for the sake of Mankind”.
True to his word and vision, and carrying forward the work of his avataric predecessor Shirdi Sai, Sathya Sai Baba has progressively uplifted millions of poor, inspired humanity and brought back into our lives the beneficence, power and truth of Sanatan Dharma. With relentless determination, unconditional love and powerful resolve Baba has continued to uphold his mission and his message even after the passing of his body, as millions around the world still continue to experience his miracles.
This superhuman power of the avatarhood, according to the Hindu conception, is not a dividing element or a sign of man’s difference or separation from them but is instead a tangible precursor of the enfolded godhead inherent in every individual and a concrete expression of that same godhead awakening in the field of human consciousness. The divine manifestation of a Ram, a Krishna or a Buddha (or myriad other avatars of Vishnu, Shiva and Shakti) in external humanity is indeed a reflection of the underlying unity between the individual soul and the Supreme Soul. It is a cosmic marker of the immanent avataric power that pulses within the heart and soul of every man. “Come back into My Consciousness, which is your own true Consciousness,” as Sathya Sai Baba says, “Let your petty human self fade away as you come to Me, who am your Inner Self. You are My radiant glorious Self… not separate from Me… Merge with Me, Become Me”.
Prema Sai, the third in the line of this divine Sai lineage has been prophesized to incarnate somewhere in South India in the coming years. His birth and his life it is said, will complete the circle of cosmic manifestation and descent that generates a quantum leap beyond the present limitations of this Kali Yuga, ushering in a new world order that accelerates the long overdue restoration of Sanatan Dharma, the Eternal Truth of life.
However, when and how the Divine Beings and Divine Events unfold within the matrix of space and the mysterious movements of time, manifesting within creation, is considered one of the biggest puzzles and enigmas of the universe, for the Supreme Reality it is said functions with an intelligence and cosmic order of its own (unfathomable by the human mind) that shapes and organizes the universe and all its events and processes in ways that reveals itself to us only at the ‘right time’, which is in fact considered the ‘divine timing’ and grand synchronistic scheming of all the Shakti-laden forces and rhythmic currents of Nature.
Yet, regardless of prophesies, timelines, events, dates or their physical form, the truth, supreme secrets and mysteries of the Avatars are absorbed more through their continually unfolding work and through their message which expresses itself in their lives and in the personal realization and direct experiences of those who connect with them and their mission on a deeper level.
For of what use is it to passively admire and honour these Divine Beings if we cannot actively work towards and serve the mission for which they have come into this world? The grand mission and collective undertaking which indeed links man’s higher life-purpose to that of the Avatars themselves. Hence to rise above our ego-bound needs and petty concerns, to cognize our greater destiny in this universe, to widen our vision and embrace all of existence so that we may become the blazing sparks of that one Supreme fire, the illuminating emblems of that one Absolute reality and dynamic instruments of that one Divine Will is indeed the true fulfilment and realization of Dharma on earth.
As Sathya Sai Baba says in his own words, “I have come to give you the key of the treasure of ananda (immortal bliss), to teach you how to tap that spring, for you have forgotten the way to blessedness…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 the thing that I have come to give you: namely, liberation itself”.
Considering the grand purpose for which the Sai Avatars have been appearing and the dharmic mission towards which they have been uncompromisingly dedicated, every Sai devotee bears a greater responsibility now in joining forces for upholding and carrying forward this majestic vision and world-transforming mission. “I want you in this world. I want beacons of light in the world,” said Sathya Sai Baba once to Isaac Tigrett, “the world must be purified in this age… this wonderful age that we are blessed to have been born into”.
Just as Ayodhya once waited eagerly for the return of its dharmic hero Lord Ram, the Sai devotees wait patiently, and through continuing dedicated work prepare the stage for the arrival of Prema Sai whose extended mission and dharmic journey will now continue in the years to come to uplift mankind in the dawning of the new golden age.
Though I am unborn, though I am imperishable in my self-existence, though I am the Lord of all existences, yet I stand upon my own Nature and I come into birth by my internal potency. Whenever and wherever there is a decline of righteousness and the uprising of unrighteousness, at that time I manifest personally. For the deliverance of the good and the annihilation of evil and to fully establish Dharma, I appear millennium after millennium.
(Bhagavad Gita 4.6-8)
Rajshree says
May 6, 2011 at 8:24 pmExcellent Article Tina, Gives food for thought.Its amazing how the divine plan unfolds through time with all the holymen, Avatars and even the people working against Dharma all play a part in this spiritual evolution..
Gyatva says
May 11, 2011 at 12:13 pm“culminating in the evolution of consciousness and dynamic unfolding of the Divine Intelligence in man.”
And they say atheists are conceited 🙂
” to rise above our ego-bound needs and petty concerns, to cognize our greater destiny in this universe, to widen our vision and embrace all of existence so that we may become the blazing sparks of that one Supreme fire, the illuminating emblems of that one Absolute reality and dynamic instruments of that one Divine Will is indeed the true fulfilment and realization of Dharma on earth.”
Beautifully written. But that supreme fire could well be an ignis fatuus. To me: To rise above our ego-bound needs and petty concerns, to etch for ourselves a greater role in this universe, to widen our vision and embrace all of existence is the fulfilment and realization of Dharma. You do not need to believe in a supreme fire to be Dharmic. Do you? Then why suggest that belief in ‘Divine Will’ and realization of Dharma are inextricably linked?
Natasha says
May 11, 2011 at 3:24 pmGyatva i suppose because its an advaitic perspective… in which the ‘divine will’ is the ‘active force’ of Dharma itself. And the Supreme fire is then the ultimate reality that manifests on the socio-ethical level as dharma. There is no separation.
Natasha says
May 11, 2011 at 3:33 pmp.s. dharma does not just allude to having a conscience of what is right.. it does not only pertain to human thought or action. Dharma derived from Rta(in the vedas) is ultimately the sublime science of balance and cosmic order… the same cosmic order that sustains the universe and even keeps the planets in orbit.
Gyatva says
May 11, 2011 at 8:39 pmRta originally just meant ‘the course of things’ or ‘the established route’ (Rdkrshna) – of planets and stars, days and nights etc. It said nothing about the ‘source’ of this order and did not carry any connotation of divine will. Its original sense thus seems far closer to ‘natural/physical laws’ than ‘divine laws’. Moreover, the gods were not seen as the source/progenitor of Rta but its custodians – Rta wasn’t subject to the gods, the gods were subject to Rta and could neither interfere in it not overstep it (Aham asmi pratham-aja rta-sya, purvam devebhyo amrtasya nabhayi (Taittriya) I am the first-born of Rta, the centre of immortality, earlier than the gods)
So…to suggest that one can not follow Rta/Dharma unless one also believes in a divine will/supreme fire/god wouldn’t be quite right..would it? If Rta could exist before god and can never be transgressed, it surely was being followed before god? And if it was being followed before god, it (and its ‘finite manifestation’, Dharma) can also be followed without (a belief in) divine will?
Natasha says
May 12, 2011 at 4:22 amGyatva I must ask what your conception of ‘God’ really is? Cos it seems to me that when i say Supreme Fire or Ultimate Reality (Brahman) you seem to be thinking of some abrahamic sky-God.
In western metaphysics God and the phenomenal universe are no doubt seen as divided, separate realities, however Brahman (and do not flinch when Brahman is referred to as the manifested Supreme Fire or Active force/will) transcends the common conceptions of God and represents not just the Absolute, metacosmic reality but also its myriad forms and manifestations (including the agents of Rta or Gods that you are referring to). Yet the sum total of all these gods, of the manifest and unmanifest realms, the personal universe as well its impersonal cause are all said to be contained in and transcended by Brahman which represents the “totality of existence” so you cannot separate dharma from this indivisible supreme reality that underlies it.
And so yes the Gods are even subordinate to this supreme reality in the hindu worldview and came after creation and not before. Divine Will then is not a property of the Gods but an intrinsic force of that indivisible intelligence that is at the core and substratum of everything in the universe. To assume that such vast systems of the universe and such ordering principles have developed randomly without the participation of a superior, cosmic creative intelligence would be untenable.
Natasha says
May 12, 2011 at 4:51 amIn fact, when it comes down to it, Brahman (Source, Supreme Reality or whatever ‘you’ want to call it) and Rta (the cosmic order) are inseparable. The problem with many scholars today is that they take a few concepts either from the Vedas or Upanishads and while building on it divorce it from all its other interconnected concepts which has given rise to all the conflicting schools of hinduism. Yet i suppose this is the nature of the human mind that cannot understand anything without dissecting it and stripping it down of its essence, whereas the Vedic mind which was more holistic in vision anchored itself on the synthesis and unity of all knowledge, and in that unified vision Brahman was not separated from the manifested universe, from the natural or cosmic order or even from the finite living beings.
Gyatva says
May 12, 2011 at 3:52 pmHad to try hard not to flinch 🙂 I see Brahman as the sum total of prakriti (nature) and purusha (creative force) – which is, I suppose, not very different from your defn of Brahman (totality of existence). What makes me uncomfortable however is the often implicit idea that this sum total is ‘centred’ somewhere (Supreme Fire) – that it has a source and a controller which, presumably, has its own will as well as the power and interest to interfere and influence (Divine will / Active Force) – through means such as its periodic descensions on the Earth.
As long as we mean ‘all of nature, creative force, cosmic order’ – which is what Rta and Dharma originally alluded to – I agree that Brahman and Rta are inseparable…but when we start making assumptions about their ‘source/controller’ we step on a rather slippery slope…
Allow me to ask you: “To assume that such vast systems…cosmic creative intelligence would be untenable.” — What exactly makes this assumption untenable? The incredible order in this immeasurable vastness? Which in turn makes us conclude that it must have come into existence with the participation of a ‘superior, cosmic intelligence’. Isn’t it?
But how unfathomably complex, vast and yet orderly must THAT cosmic intelligence have been to create something as incredible and immeasurable as this universe? Wouldn’t it be even more untenable an assumption that such inconceivable intelligence is uncreated and eternal?
Gyatva says
May 12, 2011 at 4:03 pmCan the human mind only synthesise or analyse but not do both? Wouldn’t it be like saying a botanist who dissects plants cannot see the ‘divine’ beauty of nature?….Does your interest in astronomy prevent you from standing in awe under the starlit heavens? Or your study of rhyme and metre take away from the bliss of your favourite poetry/song?
To me the Vedic/Dharmic mind reached such heights of synthesis not because they refused to analyse, but because they were expert analysts – the vedas and the upanishads contain excellent examples of analysis/analytical discourse, as do the Buddhist and Jain texts.
Having said that, pls know that I question with the hope that you can help me see what I don’t.
Natasha says
May 12, 2011 at 5:25 pmAn intelligently articulated analysis Gyatva. I think you and me and speaking about the same reality albeit from different frames of reference. I shall reconsider your flinching at the words Divine Will/Supreme Fire 🙂 and perhaps replace it with more Hindu terms as I suppose I could fall victim to the same Abrahamic template that I detest. Nevertheless by Divine Will I am indeed referring to the same ‘cosmic order’ (note- Divine=Cosmic and Will=Order) that you speak of that has no centralized authority per se that controls things/events/people since Brahman is not an ‘entity’ separate from such forms of existence.
“The incredible order in this immeasurable vastness? Which in turn makes us conclude that it must have come into existence with the participation of a ‘superior, cosmic intelligence’. Isn’t it?” Coming into existence by a primal cause that is itself causeless? Perhaps. But is such an ordering principle endowed with intelligence? In my opinion-Yes, the ‘superior cosmic intelligence’ once again alluding to Brahman itself. In this context I then perceive it in terms of Brahman/Rta manifesting in different levels from the cosmos to the human directing things onto its natural course.
“Wouldn’t it be even more untenable an assumption that such inconceivable intelligence is uncreated and eternal?” Good question. If such intelligence wasn’t mystically unfathomable and eternal then I wouldn’t be often “standing in awe under the starlit heavens… musing on the ultimate song/poetry” 🙂
Gyatva says
May 13, 2011 at 4:49 am“I wouldn’t be often standing in awe under the starlit heavens… musing on the ultimate song/poetry” And that, as Plato would say, “Would be the fairest of sights to him who has an eye to see it.” and Yeats entreat: tread softly 🙂
Natasha says
May 13, 2011 at 8:44 am“The fairest of sights” indeed for which Blake would affirm that “If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, ‘infinite'”… stepping gently or “treading softly” on such boundless landscapes would invariably bring Yeats entreaty into prime light 🙂
Gyatva says
May 15, 2011 at 4:37 pmRead some of your other ‘comments’ and I am…well…utterly intrigued 🙂 If you are ever looking to share your musings with someone assuredly interested, do drop me a line: name-at-gmail. Beware, however, that I can be sceptical of my own beliefs 🙂 Tc
\dfhdfh says
June 8, 2011 at 6:09 pmThank god !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Finally some reasonable comments he is our lord he is the poorna avatar and those who find shall seek he is amazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzing
SAI DAV says
June 18, 2011 at 2:27 pmJesus said at the sermon on the mount
” blesses are the pure in Heart for they shall see GOD”
When the revelations in Christian Bible was written about the Coming of GOD (sathya sai baba) those who saw HIM truy did see GOD – King of KINGS LORD GOD in HUMAN FORM as SATHYA SAI BABA