SPREADING THE MESSAGE OF PURE LOVE
IN THE NEW WORLD

PROF. G. VENKATARAMAN

Baba's Way is the only Way!

Whether we like it or not, humanity is at the cross roads today. While some are concerned only with making money by any means possible, followed by reckless pleasure seeking, Society as a whole is facing huge problems of various kinds. If you look at the health scene, people are not only becoming excessively obese but also highly prone to diabetes. That is a major problem. If you look at life style, no doubt we have more gadgets which help to reduce drudgery somewhat. However, at the same time, life has become very racy and fast. People are all the time rushing, and cannot have even a free weekend, because they must always carry a Blackberry and be available to their “boss” 24/7.

The human body is simply not designed to live like that, and yet, driven by worldly attractions  and ambitions, humans dare to defy Nature so that they can have what they mistakenly want. At the family level, people hardly spend time with each other, and family relations are not what they should be; and when family ties loosen then the family, which has for thousands of years been the basic brick of human communities everywhere, would collapse – in fact, this is already happening, even in poor countries where traditionally, family ties were always strong.

Everything essential is expensive, including food, housing, and education. Most people have to borrow and often borrow heavily. In short, there is tension due to a hundred different things, causing mental health problem to the extent that many doctors say that depression may over take even other ailments like cancer and heart problems; and increase of depression has also increased suicide rates.

We must all learn to stop, pause, and take a moment off to think deeply over what all this means. Is this why God made us? The Bible says God created man in His own image. Is this how God lives, with two Blackberries, and out of a suitcase all the time? What is the example the Son of God set, coming on earth two thousand years ago? What for did Jesus die on the cross? Why is it that more children know about the latest video games and what movie stars are doing, than the parables that Jesus taught?

No dear friends, as Swami constantly reminds us, God has given us life in the human form for a much nobler purpose than merely for making money, partying, and ruining our health in a thousand different ways, all for the sake of “kicks and excitement”. Our real role models should be saints and sages of all lands and all religions, for they all taught one lesson, the lesson of love.

Just look at Mother Teresa. It is said that once when she went to America, she was told during a reception, “Mother, take it easy while you are here. This is America, and it is a rich country; there is no poverty here and so there is no work for you here.” Mother Teresa shot back, “You are wrong; in fact, there is more work here than in India.” The hosts were shocked and said, “Mother! You cannot be serious!!” She replied tersely, “Of course I am serious. You may not have poverty of material wealth but you sure have Poverty of Love!”

Now that is an important statement for if you think about it, almost all the problems we face today are due to Poverty of Pure Love. Why are so many people so poor? Because, some people whose Heart is dry, choose to make money by all possible means, and when they accumulate huge wealth, they do not spend one peso for the poor. Why? Because of Poverty of Love. Why do we have the climate change problem? Because wealthy people are busy loving their standard of living rather than Mother Nature.

As Swami says, Nature is God in manifest form and in fact our Universal Mother. So, we must love Mother Nature, and respect her in all ways.  Do we do that? No. We pollute the air, water and land recklessly and constantly, cut down forests massively, and are hunting down to extinction the tiger, the lion, the elephant, the rhino, and so on. Do we have the right to do so? Who gave us that right? Did we create all these species in the first place? 

Meanwhile, the population of the world which is currently around 6.5 billion is expected to shoot up to about 9 billion by 2050, which is not far away. That means a lot more food and water would be required. But land availability for agriculture and water availability are both sharply decreasing. So there are going to be serious problems there too.

	The essential message of all religions unequivocally is Love

In short, the time has come to be serious about what we do with our lives. The only sensible option open to us is to follow the teachings of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, and put them into practice to the maximum extent possible.  We must clearly understand and appreciate that Baba does NOT come in the way of the individual’s religious beliefs. Thus, He repeatedly says, if you are a Christian, be a good Christian. If you are a Muslim, then be a good Muslim, and so on. Why? Because, all religions really proclaim the same message, the message of peace, compassion, sacrifice, love and selfless service.

I do not wish to go on and on, but I do wish that you would reflect deeply on such  issues in your study circles and later use your version of H2H to share your thoughts with the public at large via appropriate articles and discussion forums. Your thoughts and sober conclusions must also influence the way you run Bal Vikas classes, etc., because today’s children are very different from those of fifty years ago. They can ask tough and embarrassing questions and we should be ready with the answer. 

At the end of it all, everyone, us, including youth and children, MUST be convinced about the enormous importance of Baba’s profound teachings.  We may deliver talks about Love, we may sing songs praising Baba’s Love and all that, but at the end of the day, that Pure Love must also shine in OUR actions. That is why Swami often tells us:   

YOUR LIFE MUST BE MY MESSAGE!

Evoking Love From The Heart

The question now arises, how do we make our lives to reflect Swami’s Message? Very simple. It means that every single action of ours must breathe Pure Love, radiate Pure Love, and proclaim that the radiance of our actions really comes from our Beloved Swami who is the Real Source. That Swami is always in our Hearts. He is there all the time, 24/7, whether you are in Buenos Aires, or Bangalore or Beijing. All we have to do is to call out to Him with great earnestness.  By the way, it is in this context that the great Gayathri Mantra is particularly significant.

People have given all sorts of interpretations, almost all of them scholarly. However, such technical explanations make the real significance difficult to understand, at least for ordinary people like you and me. For people like us, Swami once gave a beautiful and simple explanation as follows; this He did to one of the people working here, when the latter went to Swami in connection with some work. But Swami often converts “business conversations” into an occasion for teaching Spiritual lessons, and that is how I got this precious gem.  Swami told this person that Gayathri is a prayer addressed to Universal Mother seeking her help. What is the help being sought? For that we turn to the meaning of the Gayathri as explained by Swami to this person. He said the Mantra essentially means:

When we forget to pray in that manner, Swami gently reminds us of the essence of the Gayathri with just two sentences that we all know:

LOVE ALL, SERVE ALL!
HELP EVER, HURT NEVER!!

I think I have said enough. Let me conclude by not only wishing you all the best, but also thanking John Behner who has constantly been our window to Latin America and also Leonardo Gutter, who also has silently helped us in numerous ways. To both of them, we in Radio Sai and H2H owe a tremendous lot, and I do hope that this article in some way manages to convey the gratitude that all of us here feel!

Once again, wishing you all the best! JAI SAI RAM!!   

Dear Reader, did this article inspire you in any way? Would you like more such stories from devotees who have been touched by His Love? Please write to us at h2h@radiosai.org mentioning your name and country. Thank you for your time.