Man ventures
to describe the attributes of God and make proclamations about Him but these are
really the reflections of our own limited experiences of Him. Who can affirm
that God is this or that? Who can affirm that God is or is not of any particular
form or attribute? Each one of us
can acquire from the vast expanse of the ocean only as much as our container can
carry back to the shore. From that
quantity we grasp only a little of the immensity.
In the same
way, we describe God Him to have certain perfections which we think are
appropriate. We know that God is only one. He is formless and attributeless. He
is great, simple in His ways and He is easily pleased. As human beings this
enables us to have a better idea of Him and to understand, as far as possible,
what is implied in saying that He is all-perfect.
Knowing
the attributes of God help us in our spiritual growth. Faith in God is trusting
in Him; His attributes are the basis of that trust. Knowing God’s attributes
is, therefore, the inspiration for our transformation. When we are assured He is
all that we attribute to Him, we develop a special closeness to Him.
It enhances our worship.
If we
stay on the path with our hearts and minds dedicated surrendered unto Him,
slowly but surely we will witness His many perfections and realize that we have
all along been under-estimating His qualities, His greatness and His glory.
It is only then that we will be able to reach the stage when we
understand that God is attributeless.
This
process of understanding may take many births depending on our pace of progress.
This is one of the reasons why from time to time God incarnates on earth, to put
us back on the path of realizing the reason for our birth, which is to merge
with Him. Out of His infinite mercy for us, the present Avatar, Bhagawan Sri
Sathya Sai Baba, has come into our midst to redirect all those who have trodden
the wrong path.
On
previous occasions when God incarnated on earth, the bliss of recognizing His
incarnation came only after His physical manifestation had left the world. This
notwithstanding that there had been plenty of evidence of His omniscience,
omnipresence and omnipotence. However, in this age of rampant materialism,
agnosticism, and irreverence what is it that makes millions of people from all
over the world adore Swami as God incarnate?
It is
the simplicity we observe in our Sai, His Divine persona, and the Truth of His
message. It is the experience of His love that has awakened us to who He really
is. The supreme Godhead has assumed a form like us, He walks and talks with us,
and He eats and sings with us so that we can get close to Him.
He is so merciful.
God’s greatest attribute is Divine Mercy. Thus, one of His Names we chant in the Namavali is “Om Sri Sai Karunakaraya Namah”. Karunakara means displayer of mercy, compassion and grace. There are unlimited examples and experiences of Swami showering these in abundance to those who are deserving.
Even though we are sometimes not aware of it, He has out of His mercy come in human form to be our guide, mentor and friend. His limitless love is available to all. We need not despair for out of His compassion He does not expect us to become saints overnight but He does require that we take one step at a time towards Him. All the while He promises to walk with us, step by step, for as long as it takes to see us home.
All that He asks of us is that we open the windows of our hearts and let our love shine through. He does not judge us based on His sanctity but rather on how hard we try to sanctify ourselves. The more we need His mercy the more He is willing to grant it. He only wants us to remember that the worst sin we may commit is but a grain of sand compared to the boundless ocean of His mercy!
A simple
episode will show you how much compassion and mercy He shows for someone who is
out to poison him. A few years back some of the villagers around Puttaparthi
insisted that Swami bless them by visiting their homes on a particular festival
day. Swami accepted the invitation
and He took two of his devotees with Him to go from house to house. He sat with
the villagers, ate some of the sweets offered and blessed them.
In the last
house He visited, Baba strangely enough ate all the sweets offered to Him
without leaving anything for the devotees who accompanied Him. On reaching the
mandir He said that the host of the last house had extended a special invitation
to Him, but He then added: “Poisonous food can never harm Me”.
In a little while, He vomited all that had He eaten.
Learning
that Baba was aware of their evil plot soon thereafter the culprits reached the
mandir and fell at His feet, admitting their guilt. Swami’s compassion and
forgiveness knows no bounds, “They
wanted to examine my Divinity and that is why they offered poisoned food to Me,
but not to kill Me” said
Baba smilingly.
Who other
than God can show such infinite compassion, mercy and grace.
This is what we mean by “Karunakaraya”.
He not only forgave those who tried to poison Him, but out of His
compassion for the other devotees He ate all the sweets so that nobody would be
poisoned.
In Swami’s
presence even the worst of sinners will be forgiven and given a chance to
rectify themselves if they place their trust in Him.
He
loves us all no matter how great our sins are.
He wants us to recognize that His mercy is greater than our sins so that
we will call upon Him with trust to receive His mercy, and then let it flow
through us to others. Thus, all
will come to share His joy.
Remember
the following A B C:
A
- ask for mercy
B
- be merciful
C
- completely trust that He is
merciful, ”Karunakara”
Another significant attribute of Swami which reveals His simplicity as well as His greatness is that He is “Sulabha Prasanna” which means He is easily pleased. In the Namavali we chant “Om Shri Sai Sulabha Prasannaya Namah”. Sai has not only taken a simple form but He is also easily pleased.
Although
He is the goal of our long journey, He now stands before us waiting for us to
share our heart with Him. He is so easy to please that we do not have to worry
about style and language or about dress or status, we need only be at ease when
we talk and pray to Him. What is more great about our Swami is that even if we
cannot find words to pray or converse with Him, the very fact that we desire to
be close to Him gives Him great pleasure.
There
is a story about a cobbler. Baba
was once in a gathering and there was this cobbler sitting in the far corner
with his belongings. He had plucked
a rose and his heart was full of Swami but looking at the people around he
thought he had no chance of getting any closer to Baba and offering his rose.
He stayed far, thinking of how foolish he had been and that Swami was
beyond his reach with all the affluent people around.
Our
Sai will not let any poor man’s prayers go unheeded. In fact, He waits for our
sincere prayers. Just as the cobbler was losing hope, Swami came towards him and
stopped to take the rose from him. This
left the cobbler fumbling and before he knew it he had asked Swami to visit his
home. Swami smilingly accepted his invitation and then passed by him.
When the cobbler came to his senses he realized what had happened and
then he thought “Swami accepted my invitation to come to my home but He did
not ask me where I stay”. So he thought that Swami had just agreed to please
him. He soon forgot all about this promise.
Some
days later, the cobbler saw a car stop where he was working and he then saw
Swami asking him to get into the car as He wanted to visit his home.
The poor cobbler got into the car but it was Baba who directed the driver
which road and lane he should take till he reached the hut where the cobbler
stayed with his family.
The
cobbler was now faced with more anxiety. He had nothing in his house to offer
Swami. Our compassionate Lord took away this anxiety of the cobbler as He had
bought with him a lot of sweets, fruits and other gifts which He gave to the
cobbler, his wife and children. He
then blessed them and left. This only shows how easily our Swami can be pleased.
The
path is the same for the greatest as well as the most ‘insignificant’ of
people. There is only one requirement which is that we to do even the smallest
of things out of great love and faith.
Ordinary
offerings can be most powerful. If
our hearts are full of faith it can be greater than wisdom in many ways.
He is great and majestic, yet so simple. We have only to be open, honest
and clean when dealing with Him so that Divinity may make its presence felt in
our lives.
We
need not go into deep study about His powers and glory because even if all of
mankind join together in this effort we will never be able to understand the
true nature of His reality. It is beyond us. It would be like trying to look
directly in the full radiance of the sun. However, we do see glimpses of His
glory and greatness in His actions, in the grace He showers on us and the
compassion He has for us.
He
accepts whatever way we choose to pray. He sees the devotion, the yearning, the
effort and desire to please Him, and our faith in Him, whether it be when
reciting the 108 names or seeing God in every action performed. We need only
remember that He walks amongst us and that He has promised: “Take one step
towards Me and I will take a hundred towards you”.
