INNER-VIEW
OR INTER-VIEW?
Dr.
Sara Pavan
"When
and where was Bhagavadgita taught? On the battlefield, to solve a
mental crisis. It is when such crises affect man that the Lord starts
His mission of instructions. For those who have realised the goal
there is no need; for those who have known neither the goal nor the
path, have neither the thirst nor the yearning, it is of no use. The
instructions will be useful only to those who are hesitant, affected
by doubt with their minds unsteady and wavering, but who are conscious
of the higher power and feebly desiring to make the contact. They
are either ignorant of the technique or afraid of the consequences
if they pursued; it is to such half-eager, half-apathetic devotees
that I talk." -- Baba.
Life itself,
for most of us, has assumed the nature of a battlefield and we are
stressed out. The art of living is to handle stress without distress
and we need to be resourceful to stay afloat and face the challenges
with confidence. The most important resource of all is inherent in
all of us, Self-confidence through Self-awareness. Without this knowledge
we become mere victims of every adversity. By learning to surrender
all our dreams and aspirations to His Divine Will, with absolute trust
in His Wisdom, ("Your Will Lord, not mine") we
may be able to free ourselves from disappointments and failures. Thus
we become fully aware of our true nature - that each one of us is
an expression of God's Will, mere instruments. Only then, with our
ego and bondage reduced, will we be free from anxiety, fear, blame
or grief! To acquire this level of unconcern is not possible without
the guidance of a Guru, an enlightened Master, who will show
us a realistic and practical way. We are blessed to have our beloved
Sai as our Divine Guru. He communicates with us at many levels
and gives us guidance through interviews, dreams and inner-views.
INTERVIEW
is at the physical level and such opportunities are rare. Swami can
inquire, discuss, teach and instruct on any matter, at Darshan
as well as in the interview room, alone or with a group. His instructions
may be direct or indirect, and directed towards a particular individual
or the group as a whole. He may Himself bring up a subject for discussion
and give His guidance in a simple and direct manner. However, on conflicting
matters and differing viewpoints, Swami could, at times, appear ambiguous.
He is Omniscient and therefore needs no information from us to be
kept informed. And yet, He makes such inquiries to appear as if He
is seeking our help to acquaint Himself with these matters! Swami
fully knows the level of purity and innocence of each individual,
especially the motive in seeking His answers.
Swami is a pure
reflection of our own inner thoughts, a perfect witness. We have to
be extremely careful and alert when speaking with Swami, especially
when we try to interpret His remarks or observations. He knows our
own hidden agenda only too well and generally does not interfere with
our plans, because we will learn better and faster through our own
mistakes and personal experiences. He may guide us on important matters
and help us look beyond our limited thinking. However, on important
matters He may intervene and give us an opportunity to revise our
plans. Swami will never put us into any situation, which is beyond
our ability to handle. At the spiritual level there is no hierarchy,
because Swami's relationship is direct.
Swami can grant
interviews through dreams too. Interpreting what Swami says in His
physical presence, at times, is hard enough. These dream interviews
can be even more difficult to understand, although it is reassuring
to know that Swami does not appear to anybody in dreams without His
will. Dialogue with Swami in dreams must be considered as interviews
too. We must understand the context of such an interview and use our
powers of discrimination to ascertain if the guidance was strictly
for the individual alone. Opportunities to converse with Swami are
not easy to come by, let alone dreams. His reasons for granting us
interviews are entirely His. We cannot rationalise or categorise them.
It is generally accepted that Swami intercedes whenever a sincere
devotee is desperate. Often He solves the problems of devotees by
His mighty Will (Omniscience and Omni-will), without any external
contact.
INNER-VIEW
is to have contact with Swami through our inner windows, the mind-intellect-intuition,
for guidance. It is the inner vision that is important and that alone
is true and sacred. We loose sight of the One Reality, of our own
Truth, because we pay attention only to the impermanent outer vision
and forget completely the permanent inner vision. God's Mission is
to restore this sacred inner vision. Through spiritual practice (Sadhana)
we can develop the proper spirit of inquiry ( Vicharana),
discrimination ( Viveka) and detachment
or freedom from bondage ( Vairagya),
the three - V's for victory.
Swami says,
"Seven-tenths of Sadhana is Vicharana". Well, one may
conclude that most of our spiritual activities - Bhajan,
study-circle, Seva etc. - may just be preparation for Sadhana,
to soften our hearts for spiritual transformation, just as bending
an iron rod is made easier after softening it in the fire. There is
no other plane in which we can transform ourselves than in the earthly
plane. Hence, our entire life, with all its varied activities, must
be spiritualised and experienced with our awareness of Swami’s
presence. The greatest breakthrough occurs when we undertake all activities
as worship and offer them to Him.
We begin to realise
and experience God speaking to us in so many ways - books, discourses,
incidents etc. - God speaks through all of them. We begin to look
or listen properly without merely seeing or hearing superficially
things that are only pleasing to us. We begin to accept the uncertain
ways of God and take everything as lessons or tests while applying
the three - V's in our Inner-view. The three - V'
s become part of our continuous meditation. We recognise that our
own Ego and Desires, acting like shutters, are preventing us from
having our Inner-view with the divine. Unlike the Interviews or dreams,
Inner-view gives access to Him all the time. It may be said, one is
"living with God"when one can constantly communicate with
the Sai within, the Real One!
TRANSFORMATION
Both interviews
and inner-views help us in our transformation. Without God's (Sai's)
Grace on one hand and our Effort on the other (triple
- P's - Purity, Patience
and Perseverance), our refinement and self-transformation
would be extremely difficult. With transformation we experience expansion
of love and freedom from bondage. Narrow ideas that nourish selfishness
and fear will vanish. Swami says, "Everything is
Reaction, Reflection
and Resound." Interview gives us encouragement
and strengthens our faith. This must be followed by Inner-view without
which we can hardly transform ourselves. May our Inner-view, like
the radar scope, help us see beyond our limitations. May we be blessed
to be worthy recipients of the Grace of Sai.
[Dr. Sara
Pavan is an Anaesthesiologist from Australia, residing in Prashanti
Nilayam since 1993 and serving at the Super Speciality Hospital.]