Prema Jyothi August 2024
Newsletter of the Sacred Earth Community
“My Dears, the peace that arises in the heart is no ordinary peace. It is not the absence of noise or disturbance. It is not the artificial silence that comes with the cessation of noise. It is a deep spiritual process that opens you to infinite possibility. It arises from the source – the One, yet has no beginning. It is always there. It simply needs uncovering. From that deep peace, that dynamic stillness, that silence that contains all sound, this creation was born, and is being birthed constantly. When you fall into that peace, you are enfolded in the arms of the Beloved.” (Sathya Sai – inner message, received at Prasanthi Nilayam 26th July 2024)
In this modern life we often find ourselves disintegrated. Everywhere there are distractions and diversions. We get so busy relating to the world, its needs and desires, that we forget who we really are – the One in the heart.
As I write this, we have arrived at Prasanthi Nilayam – Sai Baba’s Ashram in South India. Prior to our departure from Aoteroa/New Zealand life was hectic. I did not realise how much disintegration was affecting my being. On arrival at Prasanthi Nilayam I could feel all the disparate parts of my being starting to come together deep within the heart. I feel a deep peace emerging from the chaos, and with it, true happiness that has no relation to what occurs in the external world. The name Prasanthi Nilayam means abode of supreme peace, and this peace is almost palpable, penetrating all the atmosphere.
This world is full of fluctuation, movement and change. When we see the happenings in the world, it is food for despair and distress. When we look into the heart, we find only calmness and peace. It is our choice, as to which way we face. Inside there is always peace when we get past the machinations of mind. Externally there will always be fluctuation, we must face it with equanimity, no matter the circumstance. That is a great lesson that Sai wishes to show us. We can remind ourselves of this every day.
“What every sadhaka (spiritual aspirant) needs to secure and should strive for is this Shanthi (peace). It is the flagrant flower which is born out of pure Love. It is the fragrance which is delved as a result of one's good deeds. This noble and fragrant quality of peace, if you lose it, then you have lost everything in 1ife! Right from ancient times, in this country, there have been rishis and sages who have striven to proclaim the greatness' of this Shanthi (peace). They were criticised, ridiculed and deeded and they were subjected to untold ordeals, but they never lost hold of this Peace of theirs.” - Sathya Sai Baba
What is equanimity? - How should practice it in our lives?
“You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can't control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone.” - Marcus Aurelius
The above quote from the Roman emperor and philosopher gives us good advice. But how can we develop such an attitude in life, Sai states that” Life is a game, play it”. When we play a game, we get intensely wound up in the result. Will we win this game? After the game is over, we (generally) accept the result. It happened and either way we move on. As Marcus Aurelius states, so many things are out of our control, but the mind has this voice that says to us, “you can’t accept this”, “you have to get even’, or “you lost, you loser”, and so many more urgings of the mind that has not been able to let go. Can we let go in the game of life?
Equanimity is a great prerequisite for attaining a space of supreme peace. However, it is certain that equanimity cannot be imposed upon one who is not ready. There is a unique story to illustrate this.
Once a guru had a very good disciple. This disciple was diligent, intelligent and hard working. He practised sadhana every day and progressed well on his spiritual journey. The guru was impressed by him but realised that the disciple had to face the ultimate test of his spiritual progress. The guru set up a beautiful scenario to test the disciple. He called the disciple to him and said, “You have progressed so well beloved one and I am please with you beyond measure. You now need to go away from me for one year, practice sadhana - deeply, meditate several hours in the day, and come back to see me, when I will confer enlightenment. Prior to coming to me, you must go to river to bathe, shedding your old clothes and putting on fresh ones that I will send to you. In this way you will come to me with purity.”
The disciple was in rapture at the prospect and went into retreat for whole year, practicing meditation for many hours every day with his mind totally focused. The year was up, and the disciple received the bundle of new clothes from the guru. He duly went to the river, bathed and donned the fresh new clothes. He was just about to leave the riverbank when a street sweeper came along. The sweeper was not watching what he was doing, so intent was he in making the streets as clean as he could. The sweeper did not notice that he sent a shower of dirt and dust all over the freshly bathed disciple, staining his new clothes.
“You fool”, cried the disciple. How could you do this. Today I am to be enlightened and look, you have ruined my clothes and made me dirty.” The disciple was enraged. After calming down a little he went to see his master. “Master, I am here to receive enlightenment,”
“What?” exclaimed the master. “You cannot even control yourself in such a little thing as a sweeper accidently getting some dirt over you. You are not worthy. Go away for one more year and come back when you are worthy,”
Disconsolate, the disciple realised what had happened and knew he had work to do on himself, especially on the aspect of equanimity. He went away for another year, practised being calm under all circumstances and, after a year, came back to the same river with fresh clothes, bathed then got dressed in the new garments. At the river’s edge a washerwoman was doing her daily work. As she slapped the clothes on the rocks a large splash of dirty water leapt up and splashed over the disciple’s nice clean outfit. Again, the disciple exploded in anger. “How can I go to my Guru now, you imbecile”, he shouted. His guru again sent him away for another year to practice more diligently. He was asked to come back, and he would get enlightenment.
This time there was a softening in the disciple’s heart, and he began to lose his pride and ambition. With this softening, his heart became more loving and he mostly rendered service to the village he was staying in, rather than focusing on his meditative practices. After a year he came back to same river, a chastened and wiser person. Again, he bathed in the river and put on clean clothes. This time they were more simple garments. A bullock cart hauling a load of stinking, fly infested rubbish passed by and a small amount of garbage fell off and smeared the disciple’s clothes. This time the man simply said, “Thank you for showing me that all is not perfect in this world. I am so grateful.”
At that moment the disciple became enlightened. He saw everything and all that happens as part of One Whole consciousness. His heart melted in love, and he gained the supreme wisdom.
The disciple went to see his guru who welcomed him with open arms, embracing him before asking him to go on pilgrimage and serve the people with his wisdom.
This is the power of equanimity that arises from the inside and not imposed externally. Whenever trouble or disturbance strikes us, it is useful to take the thought patterns that arise in that moment and let those thoughts settle in the heart. The thoughts may still be there, but they cannot unsettle the peace we find in the heart. - Satyavan
Prasanthi Nilayam – the abode of supreme peace
“We aspire for peace and comfort all the time, but where can we find it? Is it to be found in the material world around us? Experience shows that the peace or happiness got from external objects is not enduing. It is like a mirage, which cannot quench the thirst of the deluded animal that runs towards it. The real source of peace is within every individual and it is this inner peace that can confer real joy. Saint Thyagaraja proclaimed to the world in his song that there can be no happiness without peace. Such a peace can be got only through achieving equal-mindedness on all occasions, whether one is subjected to pleasure or pain, praise or blame, gain or loss. One should not be affected by criticism arising out of ill-will, envy or hatred. Reacting to such criticism in a like manner will destroy one's peace of mind. We should rectify ourselves if the criticism is justified. We should ignore baseless criticisms motivated by ill-will or jealousy. We should be true to our own good nature and maintain our equanimity.”
- - Sathya Sai Baba
Prasanthi Nilayam – Sai Baba’s ashram is located in a remote corner of Andrah Pradesh state in Southern India. Sai grew up there and it remained as His central residence throughout his 835 years in the body.
As stated, the name means Abode of Supreme Peace. To walk through the gates, especially after a long journey to get to this remote place, is to feel a sense of letting go of the outer world. The aura of peace is highly evident, but what is more astonishing is that this aura seems to emanate from deep inside of us, and it is only the synchronisation of the outer peace with the inner peace that creates the sense of being in an otherworldly state.
Today, the ashram is garden-like, with large trees and open spaces where grass grows abundantly. It was not always thus.
In this photo you see a bare hill (there were scrubby plants such as thorn bushes, but it was dry and desert-like). In the background, a square block building that was to become the exquisite Mandir (temple) that we see today. This photo would have been taken in the early 1950s. Prior to this Sai lived and taught in a much smaller building closer to the village.
This old mandir was the centre of the spiritual life of the village where visitors came to this remote place by bullock cart, drawn by the astonishing stories of this miraculous boy, who cured disease, performed miracles and wonders, taught the deep wisdom of the Vedas, but most of all spread love and happiness among the people.
By the seventies, when I first arrived at this far away oasis of spirituality, the ashram had grown a lot, but was still a far cry from what we see today. I journeyed by train, donkey cart and crowded buses to get here, traversing rough dirt roads, through a spartan landscape (with no large trees to speak of). I remember entering the gates and all the stress and weariness of my travels falling away as I, with wide-eyed wonder looked around me. I had visited temples in South India, magnificent and grand, but nothing prepared me for the simple spirituality, the fragrance of peace, that met me when I walked on this hallowed soil. It was still somewhat desert-like, but trees has start to grow in the sands, and the Chitravathi River flowed during the rainy seasons.
The peace we feel at Prasanthi Nilayam seems to both penetrate and emanate from the heart. IT has a sweetness, yet a power that that can be overwhelming at first. Once we become attuned to the atmosphere, it is as if we have never been away from it. It is like slipping into the most intimate familiarity, for we are coming into relationship with ourselves.
Most mornings I climb the path to the meditation tree. The way from our accommodation takes us through garden settings and on up onto the side of the hill that overlooks the ashram. This tree was planted by Sai in the late 1950s. He materialised a mysterious plaque that He had placed under the tree. He stated that many yogis and saints would come to sit and meditate under the tree in the future. So it has proven. Under the tree there is almost a force-field of peace. To sit there is to immerse oneself in the depth of being.
- Sathyavan
However the wonder of Prasanthi Nilayam, Sai reminds us of the inner reality:
“Prashanti Nilayam is not that piece of land near the village of Puttaparthi in Anantapur District, Andhra Pradesh. It is not an entity related to place and time. It is the Abode from which we all have come. It is the name for that state of the source where there is eternal peace because it is Sat-Chit-Ananda, Truth, Awareness, Bliss. That is our home from which we have migrated through aeons, through several incarnations in multifarious frames. We have forgotten that home. We believe that we are who we think we are and give wrong addresses to each other. We have come to believe that we are the body-mind complex with a name and form.””
