The first step that a person takes to move towards God is SHRAVANAM. Shravanam is listening to the divine glories of the Lord.
The word “Divine” means that which is related to GOD. So, divine love is love related to GOD. Divine love is possible only when the Lord is understood as the source of happiness. When one is not sure of the very existence of the Lord, let alone He being the source of happiness, how can one think of loving Him? So, the first step towards Divine love is to understand what divinity is. The first effort in this direction is Sravanam.
Listening to the glories of the Lord includes anything pertaining to divine activities: His form, qualities, miracles and His spoken word. As we begin to appreciate the Lord by listening to His glories, we begin to sub-consciously develop love and reverence for Him. This is the beginning of the devotional process
We have all come to Swami because we first heard about Him; someone told us or we overheard someone talking about Him. Listening is drawing one’s attention, said Professor Kasturi, one of Swami’s closest devotees. And then Swami Himself draws one’s attention towards Him by announcing in various places that He has come. He drops His ‘calling cards’ everywhere.
The manifestation of vibhuti, haldi, kumkum, amrit, etc. on from His pictures are His announcements, His ‘calling cards’ which draw attention to Him. Then there are the miracles of Him appearing in dreams or in meditation, calling seekers to Him. Absolute strangers, far away in some corner of the earth are being beckoned to Him. He is announcing His own arrival. What compassion of the Lord! So we come into His fold when we hear of Him—SHRAVANAM.
Listening to the glories of the Lord is, therefore, the first step in the nine forms of devotion. This also marks the beginning of our process of spiritual awakening. When we are engrossed in worldly life we can be compared to a sleeping person. Listening to the glories of the Lord is the alarm clock which wakes us up to begin our spiritual journey.
In this age it is very difficult for all to perform elaborate yagnas (sacrifices) or do penance to progress towards liberation. That is why the scriptures have suggested this simple mode of devotion, Sravanam, for the purpose of attaining liberation.
The following story highlights the importance of Sravanam:
Maharaja Pariksit was a very pious king but, unfortunately, because of his actions he was cursed by a brahman boy to die within seven days.
Pariksit understood that within a week he would die and so he prepared himself. He gave up his kingdom, entrusting it to his son, he detached himself from the family, and he went to sit on the banks of the Ganges. Pariksit now inquired from all the great sages present there: “What is my duty? I am going to die within seven days, what should I do? You are all learned sages, please tell me.”
Some said to practice yoga and others said to practice jnana, there were different opinions. But at that time Sukadeva Gosvami entered the forest. Since he was so learned, everyone agreed to follow his advice. Pariksit reverentially asked him “O great master, please teach me the way of obtaining freedom from this chain of birth and death.” On hearing this request Sukadeva replied, “If you want to be fearless in meeting your death next week, then you must immediately begin the process of listening to the glories of the Lord.” He then narrated the story of the Lord’s divine play in the universe. Pariksit attained liberation thereafter.
Such is the power of Sravanam. It leads one quickly, higher and higher on to the ladder of devotion until one merges in the Lord.
From whom should we listen? We should listen to HIS glories from realised people like saints and sages who have experienced Divinity. We should listen to people who are true devotees of God, who live their lives in accordance with divine directions, and who are exemplary God men. When a pure devotee speaks, his words act upon the hearts of the audience.
Today, the compassionate Lord has made it easy for us to listen to divine glories by walking in our midst. First it is hearing about Him then it is hearing from Him. Indeed, it is our extreme good fortune that the almighty Lord, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, has come personally to direct us in our spiritual journey. Out of His compassion, the Lord has been guiding us through His divine discourses for the past sixty years.
Pariksit attained liberation by listening for just seven days. We have to ask ourselves how far we have progressed after listening to Swami for all these years? If we have not benefited from His direct guidance thus far there must be a reason. Maybe we are not listening to Him properly.
What makes listening effective then? The following are some of the pre-requisites for effective listening.
ATTENTIVENESS
First and foremost, listening requires the person to have a child-like mind which is innocent, unbiased and unprejudiced while listening. Swami narrates this through a Telugu poem:
“If the brain is empty we can stuff it with any material, with any knowledge, with any wisdom. If the head is already pre-occupied and filled with worldly matters, what else I can tell you? You have come here with your stuffed head. Well, what is it that I can put in there?”
There are instances when one asks a person who has just listened to Swami’s discourse, “What did Swami say?” It will not be surprising to get answers like “Well, He said so many things.” But after listening to Him for one and half-hours why does one reply with just “So many things?”
This listener obviously could not recall even two things Baba had said because he only heard HIS voice, he did not listen to HIM. There is a difference between hearing and listening. Listening requires total attention and the desire to do what the beloved Lord wants us to do. If the mind is pre-occupied with other things, listening will not be effective.
We should attend these discourses with an open mind and leave the place with a clear understanding of His every word, without being opinionated, prejudiced or biased. We should receive His message with child-like innocence.
Listening requires attentiveness. The power of listening is God’s gift to us. For listening to be effective, besides using our ears we have to engage the mind. Swami narrates a story to highlight this point:
A teacher was teaching subtraction to his students in a math’s class. One of the students was engrossed in a mouse finding its way into a ceiling crack. This student was watching the mouse disappear until only the tail was sticking out when the teacher interrupted the boy and asked what remains when one takes 5 out of 9, to which the boy replied “Only the tail remains, Sir.”
YEARNING
Next, one has to listen with true yearning. When Pariksit realised his impending death, he yearned for an opportunity to liberate himself. That yearning helped him to listen with an attentive mind which quickened his pace towards liberation. Pariksit indicated he was very fortunate to be listening to Sukadeva who was a highly enlightened master. Imagine how fortunate we are to be listening to Lord SAI directly. We should seize this opportunity to listen to Swami with full yearning. When we listen with genuine yearning we realise that the opportunity to listen to His glories is in itself a blessing.
FAITH
For listening to be effective one has to listen with child-like faith, taking every word of Swami to be nothing but the truth.
We tend to have complete faith in the medicine that our doctors prescribe. In some cases, we do not even check the qualifications of these doctors before we entrust our lives to them. When we are prepared to do this should we not have complete faith in the words of our Divine doctor, Sathya Sai, who has come to save us from life’s miseries and show us the path to liberation?
PRACTISING
The process of Sravanam is not complete unless one makes an effort to put into practice what has been listened to. A person’s hunger will not be appeased just by listening to the word ‘food’, nor will a person’s thirst be quenched by listening to the word ‘water’. Likewise, one can only reap the reward of listening when one is determined to follow what has been said.
We all remember when Swami stopped giving us discourses for a brief period of time a few years ago. After the continued pleading of his students, Swami broke His silence and resumed giving discourses. Swami later mentioned that there was no point in Him continuing to give these discourses as people were simply not prepared to listen and put His teachings into practice. As simple as that.
It is His grace that we are born when He walks in our midst. The least we can do is to take the first step of listening to His divine discourses attentively, with the intention of following what has been said.
Swami says: “Listen to all such things as will draw you towards God, then think it over in silence and make it a part of your consciousness, this is what makes Sravanam effective.”
How do we make it a part of our consciousness? By simply thinking over His words in silence, which in turn helps our understanding go a little deeper, and by putting His teachings into practice and working towards our spiritual transformation.
In summary, when we listen to the glories of the Lord with child-like faith, with attentiveness, with an open mind, with sincere yearning, and we reflect on His words, we finally come to practice what has been heard from the Lord.
Then, and only then, the act of listening itself becomes worship of the Lord and the process of SRAVANAM becomes effective and a form of devotion, leading us to liberation. The choice is ours.
The nature of our choice is illustrated in the following event in the life of Lord Jesus:
Jesus was traveling with his disciples and preaching to the people. He spoke in parables. While he narrated this parable, he was sitting in a ship with his disciples, and preaching to the people who were standing on the seashore. There is a well known parable which goes as thus:
“Behold!, a sower went forth to sow. When he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside and the fowls came and devoured them up. Some fell upon stony places where they had not much earth and forthwith they sprung up because they had no deepness of earth; when the sun was up, they were scorched and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns and the thorns sprung up and choked them. But others fell into good grounds and brought forth fruit, some hundred fold, some sixty fold, some thirty fold.”
The parable was explained by Jesus at the request of his disciple as follows: The seed is the word of GOD. Naturally, the farmer is a prophet who brings the word to the people. To some listeners of the prophet, his words are like the seeds that fall by the wayside. The words make no impact on them. The birds eat the seeds, which are equated to evil tendencies which remove the words from the hearts of the listeners.
Some listeners welcome the words but their interest in them is short-lived. Here the words are like the seeds sown on strong grounds. The seeds sprout but since the saplings cannot drive their roots deep, they wither in the hot sun. That is, the listeners believe in the words for sometime. But when temptation in worldly pleasures or persecution on account of their belief comes, they are not able to stand up.
The seeds sown among the thorns are the words heard by people who are after worldly pleasures. Their craving for worldly pleasures chokes the seeds.
The seeds sown into good earth are the words heard by good spiritually inclined people. They keep the words in their hearts, ponder over them, live according to their teachings and become examples to many. The seeds become plants and bear fruit a hundred fold.
Each and every word of Swami is a Mahavaakya, i.e. a very dynamic statement with deep meaning. Swami’s words will not be in vain. We are very fortunate to be listening and learning from the Lord Himself, Sri Sathya Sai.
May the Lord of the Universe, our Parthi Maha Raja, Sathya Sai, bless all with the mighty power of listening with intense yearning, faith, and the determination to practise all that has been listened to.
JAI SAI RAM