Jesus and Sai Baba: Two Masters, One Message The teachings of Jesus and Sai Dear Readers, Two thousand years ago when Jesus walked on this earth He gave mankind a message. He taught them in parables and showed them way to the Kingdom of God. Today we have Bhagawan, the Supreme Lord, once again walking the earth and showing the way to HIS Kingdom. Back then it was the Son and now it is the Father. But the message is the same!
Jesus: Man cannot live by bread alone, but needs every word that God speaks. Sathya Sai: Man does not live by bread alone. He lives by the Atma. Devotion and surrender and not greed and deceit should form the basis for man's life and lead to the blossoming of Spiritual Wisdom in his Heart. Life is not to be dedicated for mere food and drink, or merely catering to the cravings of the senses. It has to be devoted to the attainment of Bliss that God alone can confer. Jesus: Do not put the Lord your God to the test. Sathya Sai: Who is there so bold that he can say, "The Lord must wear this dress", "The lord must act only in this manner"? Who can limit His glory or set His direction? Jesus: Go away, Satan! The scripture says, 'Worship the Lord your God and serve only him!' Sathya Sai: Fill your Mind with the desire to see God, be with Him, Praise Him, glorify Him, and taste the Glory of His Majesty. There is no Bliss higher than that. The essence of the Scriptures lies in this one rule: "Repeat the Name of the Lord, keeping His Glory always before the Mind." Jesus: Happy are those who mourn; God will comfort them! Sathya Sai: Bear calumny, loss, disappointment, defeat, boldly and with equanimity; them no mental, depression can overwhelm you. I must tell you that I am happy when someone among you is subjected to suffering, for that is a chance given to you to demonstrate your intelligence and sense of values. Jesus: Happy are those who are humble; they will receive what God has promised. Sathya Sai: Real education requires the cultivation of a sense of humility. Great learning brings humility. Without humility there is no education. True education gives you humility; from humility you get deservedness; from such deservedness you will get wealth; from wealth you will get Dharma, and thence happiness in this temporal world as well as in the spiritual world. Jesus: Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires. God will satisfy them fully! Sathya Sai: Understand that the purpose of life is to know through Love the ultimate embodiment of Love, namely God. And demonstrate through your own Love that you have known Him. Jesus: Happy are those who are merciful to others. God will be merciful to them. Sathya Sai: Live without hating others, condemning others, and seeking faults in others. The spiritual journey lies through compassion, sympathy, mutual help and service. These are fostered by Society and are to be used for Society. Jesus: Happy are those who work for peace, for God will call them His children! Sathya Sai: When man thinks, speaks and acts along virtuous lines his Conscience will be clear and he will have Inner Peace. Knowledge is power, it is said; but Virtue is Peace. Strive for the happiness of the community and of the human race. Pray that all men everywhere may have peace and plenty. Be eager to do good, and always be good. Jesus: Happy are you when people insult you and persecute you and tell all kinds of evil lies against you because you are My followers. Be happy and glad, for a great reward is kept for you in heaven. This is how the prophets who lived before you were persecuted. Sathya Sai: Meet hatred with your innate Love; Meet grief with innate joy; meet anger with the shield of Shanti or Inner Peace. You are bound to win. Jesus: Happy are the pure in Heart. They will see God. Sathya Sai: It is Inner Purity that matters, not the outer movement of lips. Smarana [chanting the Name] being an inner activity, helps that inner transformation. Jesus: Do not think that I have come to do away with the Law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets. I have not come to do away with them, but to make their teachings come true. Sathya Sai: I have not come on any mission of publicity for any sect, creed or cause; nor have I come to collect followers for any doctrine. I have no plan to attract disciples or devotees into my fold or any fold. I have come to tell you of this universal unitary faith, this atmic principle, this path of love. Ekam Sath Viprah Bahudha Vadanti (truth is one, but scholars refer to it by different names). It is not correct to say that you like only Rama or Krishna or Siva or Sai Baba. There is only one God and He is omnipresent. Do not hate other religions. A Hindu should become a better Hindu, a Christian a better Christian and a Muslim a better Muslim. Jesus: If your right eye causes you to sin, take it out and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose a part of your body than to have your whole body thrown into hell. If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose one of your limbs than for you whole body to go to hell. Sathya Sai: We should not give freedom to the organs but use them in complete accord and control within the limits set by ones country, time and circumstances. Jesus: You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth'. But now I tell you; do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap your left cheek too. And if someone takes you to court to sue you for your shirt, let him have your coat as well. And if one of the occupation troops forces you to carry his pack one furlong, carry it for two. When someone asks you for something, give it to him; when someone wants to borrow something, lend it to him. Sathya Sai:I command you: never hate others, or wish evil of them or talk ill of them. Only then can you attain the state of Santhaswarupam [become the embodiment of Peace]. Jesus: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you and pray for those who ill-treat you. Sathya Sai: To think that some are your enemies, some are your friends, some are your children, some are your relations and to develop attachment or dislike towards them is not correct. See the one Atma in them all. Give up illusion and ignorance. Imagine that Light in you more and more intensely-and it will be so. Let it shine all around you, enveloping you in the brilliance of Love; let it spread from you, in ever widening circles, taking into its fold your kith and kin, the loved ones, friends, companions-nay, strangers, foes, rivals, enemies-all men all over the world, all living beings-all Creation. Jesus: Make certain you do not perform you religious duties in public so that people will see what you do. If you do these things publicly you will not have any reward from your Father in heaven. Sathya Sai: Do Karma, but do not hanker after the fruit. Do not complain that you did not get public recognition for the donations you gave to some Trust. Fruits, whether good or bad, yourself have to consume; so the best means of liberating yourself from the consequences is to ignore the fruit and do Karma, only for the sake of Karma. Jesus: No one can be a slave of two masters; he will hate one and love the other; he will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Sathya Sai: It should be realised that there is room in the heart for only a single person. It should not be regarded as a long sofa or as a musical chair. God alone should be installed in the heart. Where money is calculated and garnered, and exhibited to demonstrate one's achievements, I will not be present. I come only where sincerity, faith and surrender are valued. Jesus: Do not judge others, so that God will not judge you. For God will judge you in the same way as you judge others and he will apply to you the same rules you apply to others. Why then do you look at the speck in you brother's eye and pay no attention to the log in you own eye? First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will be able to see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. Sathya Sai: Do not try to find fault with others; search, rather for your own. I direct you to implant three ideas in your Hearts: (1) Do not forget God: (2) Do not put faith in the world you se around you; it is changing every second and does not last; (3) Do not be afraid. You are the imperishable Atman that knows no fear. I want you also to banish two ideas from your Hearts: (1) Forget the harm that anyone has done to you and (2) forget the good that you have done to others. Jesus: Ask, and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks will receive, anyone who seeks will find, and the door will be opened to him who knocks. Sathya Sai: Individual effort and Divine Grace are both interdependent; without effort there will be no conferment of Grace; without Grace, there can be no taste in the effort. To win that Grace you need only have faith and virtue.
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LEARNING FROM JESUS Dear readers, today is Easter Sunday and it is only appropriate for us to ruminate on what Swami has said on Jesus and His supreme sacrifice for mankind. Here are excerpts of Swami’s Discourses delivered during Christmas celebrations of 1997 and 1978 taken from the book “Be like Jesus”.
Jesus Faced Troubles Like Other Divine Personalities
There were controversies regarding Jesus. These differences were the cause of the ordeals he had to go through. But Jesus was prepared to face any trouble or any penalty. He considered compassion as the supreme quality. By chastising the rich and ministering to the poor and the diseased, Jesus taught his disciples a new way of life based on faith in, God. Jesus demonstrated and preached the power of faith and, ultimately, invited on himself the supreme sacrifice of life itself. When his disciples started abusing his tormentors, his voice warned them to desist: "All are one! Be alike to everyone."
You have to remind yourselves of the ideals Jesus stood for. For ages, from time to time, many noble souls, endowed with immense spiritual power, have taken birth to propagate sacred teachings to the world. They struggled hard to make the world a good place to live in. But without understanding their noble intentions, foolish people tried to ridicule and persecute them. Right from his birth, Jesus had to face many trials and tribulations. When the name and fame of noble souls spread far and wide, many people become jealous.
In the past, many evil-minded people were jealous of the Divine personalities who attained worldwide fame through their teachings of truth and righteousness. Even today there is no dearth of such wicked people. If one cannot undertake meritorious deeds, it is better to keep quiet instead of indulging in such sinful deeds.
With faith in the oneness of humanity, Jesus stood against all of his opponents and critics and confronted their onslaughts. Every saint and prophet, who strove to uplift the downtrodden and open the eyes of the blind to the splendour of God's Grace, had to be ready and willing for the ultimate sacrifice. One has to expect trouble and welcome the chance for sacrificing all that one clings to, while one is upholding truth and righteousness. Faith in God is the bedrock that can save man from downfall. It is only when we look upon the universe as permeated by God that we acquire the strength to fight the forces of evil.
There can be no sinner worse than the one who criticises God. There can be no hell worse than distancing oneself from God. God is the eternal witness. It is a great mistake to criticise God. You may argue that there are many in the world who have forgotten God and yet lead a comfortable life. No doubt they are living, but they are living their lives like animals. You should strive to live like a devotee to earn Divine grace.
Jesus' last supper
Jesus said that the bread taken in the "last supper" was his flesh, and the wine, his blood. He meant that all beings alive with flesh and blood are to be treated as he himself and that no distinction should be made of friend or foe, we or they. Every body is his body, sustained by the bread; every drop of blood flowing in the veins of every living being is his, animated by the activity that the wine imparted to it. That is to say, every man is divine and has to be revered as such.
Seeing the same God in all beings is the true spirit of non-dualism. Only when you develop the feeling that all are the embodiments of God, your vision becomes sanctified. Everything in this creation is sacred. All that you see is only the manifestation of God. You see God in the form of the world, yet you feel that you have not seen Him. God has no specific form or dwelling place. He is the eternal witness and is present in all forms. You can progress on the spiritual path only when you have such a feeling.
Jesus: Happy are those who are merciful to others. God will be merciful to them.
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