Part Two
His word and blessing has so much power that it supersedes even the law of karma.
The jnani, it is said, is a mirror or transparency for the Supreme Self. For those fortunate enough to come into contact with him, mystical ideals such as truth, knowledge, God, love, and joy can become a reality, an actual experience. The mirror the jnani holds in front of the aspirant is none other than himself and the reflection seen is the aspirant's own true nature. For the individual soul and Universal Consciousness, say the scriptures, are one in essence.
Babaji's work was primarily then to serve as this mirror for the Supreme Self. On occasions he would also actively intercede on behalf of those who approached him. Babaji's power to intercede on behalf of others and grant blessings can be attested to by literally hundreds of people and it would be impossible as well as unnecessary to record more than a very few of them. This power had been won by his years of penance at Sapta Shringh and elsewhere and his devotion to the Divine Mother. Babaji delighted in telling the story of Narad and the agaram bagaram Baba, to illustrate God's love for his saints and the power of their word. There are quite a number of hilarious and probably deliberate similarities between the agaram bagaram Baba in the story and himself. Indeed, Babaji's favorite description for himself was ‘agaram bagaram!'
Lord Vishnu and the Agaram Bagaram Baba
Once Narada, the wandering minstrel and friend of Lord Vishnu, was on his way through a small village when a woman recognized him and came running up. In tears, she begged for the boon of a child, as she and her husband had no issue. Touched to the heart, Narada promised to ask Lord Vishnu personally about the matter. On being told of the woman's request, the Lord retorted that this particular woman wasn't destined to give birth in her next three incarnations, which Narad sadly conveyed to the unfortunate couple.
Now it so happened that near this same village was a mountain. There, in a cave lived an agaram bagaram Baba who spent his whole life in devotion to God and only rarely emerged from his cave. One day, however, he made his way to the village and started shouting out ‘one chappati, one child; two chappatis, two children, three chappatis, three children! On hearing this the barren woman grabbed three chappatis and ran to the agaram bagaram Baba and lovingly and hopefully placed them in his hand. In due course she gave birth to three children.
Some time after the birth of her third child, Narada again happened to be passing by. Stopping off to greet the woman of unfortunate destiny, he was astonished to see her and her husband surrounded by three children.
'Whose are these, mother?' he asked. 'Ours,' she smiled.
'Impossible. The Lord Himself told me so,' replied Narada. So the couple explained about the agaram bagaram Baba living on the mountain and his blessing. Furious and humiliated, Narada immediately set off for Vaikuntha to voice his displeasure at the unreliability of the Lord's word, to Vishnu Himself.
On arrival, he noticed people running here and there and on coming into the Lord's presence was horrified to see him lying in pain groaning.
"The only medicine that can alleviate the Lord's pain is made from get one?' the liver of a true devotee,' explained the doctor. 'Narada, can you get one ?’
Immediately Narada set off and started asking people if they would donate their liver for the Lord who was ill. Although in theory many were willing, in practice everyone had a reason for not being able to donate their liver. One was about to marry, another had to look after his ageing parents and so on. Finally, Narada found himself in the same village and spotted the woman and her husband. He hastily explained the urgent crisis in Vaikuntha, whereupon the husband interrupted, 'Well, of course, in ordinary circumstances I would certainly give my liver but now that I have three children to support it is not right for me to sacrifice my body for God. But why not ask the agaram bagaram Baba who lives up on the mountain nearby?'
Even as he said those words, who should come running around the corner but the Baba himself!
'What is this about the Lord being ill and wanting a liver?' he cried. 'Look, here is my whole body for him, not just my liver. Let's go! Take me to the Lord.' So they both set off to Vankuntha where, strange to say, Lord Vishnu was sitting quite normally as if nothing had happened.
'Lord, here is someone willing to give his whole body to you.' exclaimed Narada.
Narada,' said God, 'I'm fine now. But tell me why you found it necessary to chase all over the three worlds for a liver. Haven’t you yourself got a liver? You are supposed to be such a great devotee. Now to answer the question you wished to ask about how a woman destined to bear no children can produce three, you now have the answer practically demonstrated.'
Pointing to the agaram bagaram Baba, the Lord continued, ‘Look at this great and true devotee of mine. Because he has given his whole self to Me, and is even willing to give his body without a second thought, his word and blessing has so much power that it supersedes even the law of destiny and karma established by Me.'
The mind of a jnani is always alert to the events around him, no matter how apparently insignificant. Knowing that 'not a leaf moves except by the grace of God,' he also knows that the inscrutable purpose of God is constantly revealing itself for those with eyes to see.
Many extraordinary and even miraculous incidents occur around great mahatmas or jnanis. However, Babaji regarded showy miracles or "feats” with a mixture of distaste and amusement. On one occasion a lady from Bombay supposedly possessed of the ability to perform such "feats” arrived at Babaji's Nasik bungalow. Dramatically, she entered the room with several of her admirers and suddenly perfumed ash started pouring from her body. This was apparently in spontaneous joy at her meeting with Babaji, who, like others in the room, reacted with childlike delight and surprise. Later, she left with her entourage, whereupon Babaji started shaking with laughter, explaining that the miracle had been effected by bags of ash under the good lady's sari, which she had activated!
Nevertheless, Babaji acknowledged that miracles do happen spontaneously through the power of God, though he strongly warned against their dangers.
“Love and devotion are the direct road to God," is what Babaji never tired of telling us, and gave a story to illustrate this.
The King and the Eight Sentries
Once two friends set out to visit their king. One arrived a little while before the other. Upon being challenged by the sentry on the outside gate, he boldly announced that he had to see the king on urgent business.
Impressed by his determination and confidence, the sentry escorted him straight through the other sentries into the king's presence. The other friend, however, was extremely nervous and unsure of himself.
'Will the king bother to see me?' he thought. 'He's so great and powerful, perhaps he will be angry.'
With these doubts and fears he approached the first guard and hesitatingly asked if it might be possible to go inside. Seeing his state of mind the sentry's mind became doubtful about this stranger. After many questions, finally he was passed through to a second sentry. Again, the same exhausting questions and then finally a third sentry. No less than eight sentries did the poor man have to pass through until at the point of utter fatigue and despondency he at last came into the presence of the king. In a kindly way the king inquired why he looked so ruffled. Whereupon the man confessed his difficulty at being admitted into his presence.
'Why didn't you just mention that you wanted to see me?' asked the king. 'You would have avoided all your difficulties. All these sentries take orders from me, as does everyone in my kingdom, so you only had to use my name and you would have been admitted directly.
Similarly, everything in this creation belongs to God and by being His friend, we become everyone's friend. The eight sentries in the story represent the eight Siddhis or cosmic powers which guard the king, the Lord. Don't get diverted by them but go straight to God, who is the master of all.
Give all your love and devotion only to Him. Once His love is won, then a man need feel no fear from his servants.
Even so, around Babaji, a channel for the power of God, innumerable miracles took place automatically. Some took place in the hearts and beings of people. Others were so subtle that the person concerned was hardly aware of them and others were more tangible. He never claimed responsibility for any of them.
In 1980, when Babaji retired to a bungalow in Nasik Road, there lived in a nearby house a rickshaw driver and his wife, a simple girl who was, medically speaking, unable to conceive a child. After some years of marriage, this placed an intolerable strain on their marriage and often she would bear the marks of her husband's beatings. Finally, she swallowed her pride and approached Babaji, who reassured her.
Don't worry, everything will be fine. You will conceive. Here, take this apple (taking an apple from the table) and eat half of it and give the other half to your husband.
Within a year she gave birth to a son and then, later, a daughter.
Another dramatic intervention occurred in the Nasik bungalow one day when a desperate father begged Babaji to intercede on behalf of his daughter who had been horribly burned when her nylon sari caught fire. She was now lying in the hospital unconscious. Babaji instantly took water from the guru padukas which received daily abhishek and gave the water to the distraught father in a container. instructing him to pour a little into her mouth. Sure enough the girl regained consciousness and the burns healed at a phenomenal speed. Later, the girl became a regular devotee who used to attend the chanting programs.
Evil Rebounds
Another example of the protection afforded by a jnani happened in quite a different way. A young devotee who owned a grocery shop, and who often visited Babaji, informed him that a man who had been threatening his life had himself died. Babaji remarked it is what tends to happen with evil intention, that it rebounds on it’s giver. He then told the following story.
Duryodhana once approached a black magician to kill the five Pandavas. Knowing Lord Krishna himself to be a friend of the Pandavas, the magician was very reluctant. On pressure from Duryodhana, he conjured up a demon by certain rituals and told him to eat up the Pandavas.
Meanwhile, the omniscient Krishna took the five Pandavas into a forest and gave them all a small dose of poison, whereupon they all fell down like dead men. Soon the demon arrived on the scene hungry for his victims and found five apparent corpses. Furious, he returned to his creator, the magician. 'Do you expect me to eat corpses? Now I'm really hungry and will eat you.’
This is what happens to evil, so put all your faith in God. There is nothing above Him.
The ways of God are not necessarily our ways and so it is with the jnani. Established in the self beyond the pairs of opposites, his behavior often appears unpredictable and sometimes even frightening, as we can see in Babaji's gruesome story.
The Strange Ways of a Jnani
Once a certain jnani and his disciple visited a poor man's home and the jnani demanded food. In front of the man's wife and five starving children, who looked on pitifully, the jnani demanded more and more food until the meal meant for the entire family had been consumed. The disciple was quite ashamed of his guru's behavior and the last straw came when the guru took a valuable steel lota (pitcher) when the family wasn't looking and put it into his bag.
Having left the house, they passed through a field where there was a water tap. Taking the lota from his bag, the jnani filled it with water from the tap to drink. At precisely that moment, an irate farmer appeared and shouted abusively that the water was for his animals and not for the likes of him. Promptly the jnani handed the farmer the full lota and went his way. Further along the way he stopped at a dilapidated house where a man and his baby lived in a wretched condition. He again demanded food. Having finished and waiting until the man was out of sight, he seized the baby by the neck and throttled it. Then he left and went his way again.
Finally, the horrified disciple could contain himself no longer and burst out, 'Guruji, you took all the food from the first family we visited, and even stole a lota which you gave to a farmer who abused you. Now you have murdered an innocent baby. Have you gone mad?
'Sit down here under this tree,' replied the jnani, ‘and I will explain. In the first house there was so much sin weighing on the family that their situation was so desperate that there was hardly any food in the house. The food I ate and the lota I took represent that sin and I took the lot. If you return to the house you will find that the family situation has improved and the children are happy. The lota represented the sin and so I gave it to that man who was so miserly he wouldn't give a single glass of water to a thirsty man. Sin always gravitates to sin and virtue to virtue.'
The Jnani continued, 'Finally, in the last house we visited that is my disciple and some years ago he had asked me to bless him with a son. By God's grace his wife conceived but died shortly afterward. Ever since, my disciple has been in a wretched condition. He cannot look after the child properly and both he and the child are utterly miserable. As a result he has completely neglected his remembrance of God. Consequently, not only would he not attain liberation, but both he and his child's life were in a hopeless condition.'
"This evil situation has now come to an end because by meeting his end at my hands the child will obtain a good rebirth and the man can now concentrate his life on God.'
Identification with the Divine Mother
In the scriptures it is said that it is out of fear of God that the wind blows. Babaji often said that fear and respect are indispensable in a seeker's relationship to his guru and to God. The fearsome aspect of the Divine Mother is represented by Kali the Destroyer depicted as having a necklace of human skulls, a sword crimson with blood and a red tongue lolling out of her mouth.
Sometimes the ways of the Divine Mother seem hard to us but look, if a child has worms in the stomach, will its mother give him sweets? No. She will prepare medicine from bitter neem leaves and give it to the child to cure him. If he refuses, she will have to slap him. hold his mouth open and pour in the medicine. All the worms will be expelled. Then she will take a tin full of sweets and put it in front of the child saying, 'Eat son.' The Divine Mother is like that, too she sometimes has to use hard methods to cure us of our faults and imperfections. Under the seeming hardness, She is all compassion and love for Her children.
Babaji was a devotee of the Mother and it was interesting to see that his mood on those days special to Her often seemed different and especially volatile. An example of his identification with the Mother can be seen from the following incident.
Once a longtime south Indian devotee visited Babaji in Nasik with his young daughter. In a mood of youthful enthusiasm the girl loudly tried to persuade an English girl who had come for Babaji's darshan to return with her and her father to visit their home. In fact, the suggestion was foolish because the house was at least fifteen miles away and disrespectful, as the English girl had come especially to visit Babaji. However, carried away by the moment, the English girl started answering the girl in a loud, excited voice about the details of returning home with them. This interchange now dominated the room, constituting disrespect for both Babaji and the assembled visitors.
Suddenly the air was rent by a terrifying roar like a lion's. The effect was devastating. Everyone's attention became riveted in astonishment and trepidation on Babaji, who was staring at the girl with protruding, rolling eyes and lolling tongue. It was as if Mother Kali herself had entered him. Then he started shouting at the girl, who, together with everyone in the room, sat transfixed and amazed. After a few seconds, Babaji returned to his normal mood as if nothing had happened. Not another word was said about the English girl's visit and father and daughter left soon afterward. Not only had the girl learned a lesson she would never forget from this bizarre episode, so had the English visitor.
A story Babaji often related illustrates the way a jnani can turn a disciple's apparently idle request or desire into a teaching situation.
Heaven and Hell
One day the disciple of a guru asked to be shown heaven. The guru agreed but only on condition that they first visited hell. Slightly disconcerted, the disciple agreed. Through the power of meditation they traveled off in their subtle bodies. It so happened that in hell it was time for lunch and suddenly a bell rang and all the inhabitants of hell sat down in front of a magnificent feast. The only problem was that everyone had a wooden stick strapped onto both arms preventing them bending. Soon total pandemonium broke out as, with curses and shrieks of rage, the denizens of hell hurled food into the air and vainly tired to catch it in their mouths. No one got even a morsel.
With tremendous relief the disciple noticed the guru beckoning him and off they went again and after some time at last reached heaven, where, strangely enough it again happened to be lunch time. The disciple saw the same feast laid out as had been there in hell. The bell rang, soon everyone arrived for lunch, and sure enough, the same wooden pieces were fastened to both arms. Then everybody started feeding each other and there was joy and delight everywhere.
The jnani's method of teaching is, therefore, varied, sometimes humorous, sometimes even frightening, but always the subtle effect leaves its mark on the intended person.
A disciple should ask nothing from his guru except abuse as this is what kills his ego.
Often Babaji would publicly criticize and even humiliate a close disciple if he knew the person could take it, to squash their pride. If he felt a person was not strong enough to take a dressing down for a particular mistake or fault, Babaji often chastised a close disciple in the hearing of the person on that very point!
In his teaching he made, as we have seen, full use of stories from his own experience and from the scriptures such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata. His range of stories seemed practically limitless.
Often Babaji was also tremendously humorous in making a point. Yet there was always a teaching hidden in it. For example, a regular Sindhi devotee (Sind is an area in Pakistan) one day complained bitterly about the behavior of his daughter-in-law, begging Babaji to intervene. It seems she treated both her husband (the devotee's son) and her in-laws with aggression and recently had beaten her husband on the head with a shoe!
It so happened that the particular Sindhi lady in question used to visit Babaji regularly. Coincidentally, she came the very next day. After she had saluted Babaji and sat down, Babaji casually addressed the assembled visitors.
Did you know that Sindhi women have a reputation for hardness and for treating their husbands badly? Indeed, I heard recently that some even beat their husbands over the head with shoes! Of course, [half seriously and half humorously] women who treat their husbands like that are certainly bound for hell.
From that day there was a distinct change for the better in the Sindhi lady. Furthermore, she suddenly started showing a special devotion toward Babaji and began bringing him specially cooked food! He accepted it a couple of times and then told her not to prepare any more for him.
There are many examples of the power of Babaji's spoken word. Once a foreign devotee was about to leave Nasik to return to his country after a long absence. First, however, he had to make a trip to Bombay in order to confirm his ticket. He told Babaji he thought he might import Indian handicrafts in order to earn a living when he got home but he had no idea how to go about it. After a moment's thought, Babaji said: "Don't worry. You will meet someone in Bombay to help you.”
The next day the devotee arrived in Bombay and secretly wondered what Babaji could have meant. Then, by an extraordinary coincidence, he met a young man whose last business venture had just finished due to a change of government policy. He said that exporting handicrafts would be an ideal business for him and perhaps the two of them could be business partners. They spent the next two days together exploring various options.
On his return to Nasik the foreign devotee told the story to Babaji. ‘Well,' Babaji asked, 'are you going to do it?' The devotee rather sheepishly confessed that he had felt the whole process had been rather sudden and that he was not sure if it was wise to actually go ahead.
‘You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink,’ was Babaji's reply.
But even if the disciple is fickle and confused, the jnani's love, patience, and compassion for him never wavers, even to the point of risking his life for his disciple in the following story. It is typical of Babaji's tongue-in-cheek humor hiding a teaching.
Land of One Paise Per Kilo
Once a guru and his disciple visited a kingdom where everything could be bought for one paise (a coin worth very little) per kilo! The disciple thought he had found his heaven but his guru said he had a bad feeling about the place and strongly advised the disciple to leave with him immediately. Nevertheless, the disciple preferred to follow his own will and stayed on in the land of one paise per kilo.'
It so happened that the king had a daughter as 'fat as a potato' whom no one was willing to marry. So it was decreed that until someone married his daughter, no one else in the land should marry. Now very soon the disciple fell in love with a local girl who became pregnant by him. What to do? At all costs, in order to save this delicate situation, they had to get married, he decided. As soon as the king got wind that a foreigner was defying his order, he got furious and ordered his arrest and execution by public hanging. Immediately soldiers erected a scaffold in the town square.
Finally, it dawned on the foolish disciple what a terrible mistake he had made in disobeying the advice of his beloved guru. Standing in front of the noose with crowds of jeering spectators, including even the king himself, he suffered intense pangs of repentance and remorse for his stupidity and infidelity. With his whole heart prayed to his guru even as the noose was placed about his neck. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Guruji came running toward the gibbet pushing aside spectators and cursing loudly, started abusing his disciple.
'Fight me for the noose,' he whispered. Then, grabbing the noose, put it around his own neck. Whereupon the disciple shouted back and put it again on his own neck. Amazed at this spectacle, the king ordered quiet and asked, 'Old man, have you gone mad that you yourself want to be hanged?'
Guruji pleaded indignantly, 'What right has he got to win Indra's throne in heaven? I am his guru and I should, therefore, get the privilege!’
'What are you talking about?' cried the king.
‘Look,' said Guruji, 'the man who gets hanged at this precise astrological moment is destined to win Indra's (the king of heaven) throne and that man should be me. It is my right, not his.
'Out of the way, both of you!’ yelled the king.
Leaping up and climbing onto the chair himself, he placed the noose around his own neck and kicked away the chair. Guruji and his disciple made good their escape.
Look at God's faithfulness and love which is always there to rescue us from our afflictions. If we truly call Him from the heart, He will save us even from the hangman's noose!
The Jnani as Giver
One tangible manifestation of Babaji's love was his habit of distributing whatever was brought to him. No one ever left him without prasad and on occasions he would give sums of money and cloth. On many occasions he himself went out to a nearby shop and bought shawls which he then gave to people. He also loved to distribute to children, sometimes clothes, sometimes watches, but above all, he loved to distribute food - sometimes succulent sweets, sometimes fruit and sometimes sugar prasad. Certainly, no one left his room empty handed. On festival days he delighted in laying on entire meals for the group of up to 75 children who attended the daily chanting program in Nasik.
One hot Sunday in April a famous artist devotee visited who had sculpted several statues for Babaji, including one of his guru, Swami Muktananda. Seeing him Babaji chuckled.
Once someone sculpted a statue of Shenni (an astrological aspect often feared to bring bad luck and disaster in its wake). Once created, the statue started dancing up and down, looking for someone to consume! So the question then arose, who would take care of this ominous aspect of men's fortunes? Of course, no one was prepared to accept the statue until someone agaram bagaram like myself volunteered! He broke the statue into small pieces and distributed them. That way no one got more than they could cope with and the burden got shared out! Similarly, whatever people bring here in the form of their sin, I distribute!
In fact, Babaji possessed an acute sense of the importance of repaying debt and not only gave freely but was very careful not to owe anything to anyone.
Even the debt incurred by accepting a single glass of milk one should not forget. In the early days in Sapta Shringh when we started free food distribution to the children and offered pilgrims accommodation in our ashram, certain Brahmins from the village got furiously jealous that their own their own business monopolies were being threatened. They used to charge exorbitant fees for board and lodging from the visiting pilgrims. Under the leadership of one particular man, they even attempted to poison the food given to the children. In addition, they tried to impose a ban on anyone either visiting our ashram working for us, or supplying anything to us. The fine for disobedience was 101 rupees! At that very difficult time no one was to supply us even milk, except for one poor shopkeeper who used to send milk. One should never forget such debts to others. Just a few days ago I returned from Bombay where some people gave me some money and I am thinking of giving it to him. He has seven daughters and is a poor man.
There are innumerable stories about Babaji's effect on people's lives and everyone in his orbit had his own story. However, he was always quick to point out that the real giver is God.
The King and the Mahatma
Once there was a king who was in the habit of distributing gifts to his subjects, who would line up in his court to receive them. Once a certain mahatma joined the line. Arriving too late, he was told to return on the morrow. The next day the king apologized profusely for the delay and asked the mahatma to ask for what he pleased.
‘First, Oh king, may I ask what you did this morning before coming here?' asked the man of God. The reply came that the king had risen, bathed and then visited the temple.
'Why?' asked the mahatma.
The king replied that he had asked God to look after his family and his kingdom and to provide a constant source of wealth in order to have enough to give his subjects every day.
‘In that case’, replied the Mahatama, ‘ why should I take from you who are receiving from another? I can go directly to Him.’
The Jnani's Compassion
Babaji's powerful compassion and concern for others can be seen not only in his charitable work with children, but also in countless incidents throughout his life. In 1976, when Babaji lived in Sapta Shringh, a visiting Englishman got bitten on the finger by a scorpion. The pain was excruciating and he was running around the ashram crying out with the pain. Someone informed Babaji, who had retired for the night, as it was evening.
“I saw Babaji approaching me with a smile,” related the Englishman afterward, "and I suddenly felt the humor of the situation and my excruciating pain became almost a joke. Babaji looked amused and took my hand and started stroking it. From that moment there was no more pain. I was entirely removed from it and was able to go to bed after an hour or so. Amazingly, I slept very well.”
Once a lady, a Mexican doctor, was accompanying Babaji on an overnight train journey. Unfortunately, due to the oppressive density of passengers they became separated but finally reached their destination, Nasik. The next day the doctor told Babaji of her experience on the train. She said, "I was sitting in my compartment quite upset at the noise and confusion of the crowd. Finally, I slept and suddenly found myself sitting with Babaji, who comforted me, saying 'Don't worry, have patience.
Babaji replied, 'I was worried about you until 12:00p.m. and twice tried to go down the corridor but there were so many people I couldn't reach your compartment. Certainly the atma is One, so my thoughts manifested in your mind.’”
Woman, the Great Mother
Babaji's special respect for women as the visible manifestation of the Divine Mother constantly showed itself. At the time of his serious illness in 1983, a close, long-time devotee came to pay his respects. Though weak and lying on his sick bed, Babaji said immediately on seeing him:
‘I saw in my dream that you had a bad quarrel recently. With whom?
The devotee hung his head and said it was his wife. The man was close to tears and Babaji added:
You should never beat your wife. She is the Mother incarnate. Only because of woman do we have our bodies which were fashioned in her womb.
No matter who he may be, a person is born of woman. As a mother we take birth from her, as a child we play with her, and as a wife she grants us joy. If we are men, we should never think of ourselves as superior to her, but should treat her with great respect and care. If not, she can be the means of our downfall, just like Sita was the cause of Ravanna's final destruction. Jesus, Mohammed, Nityananda-all were born from a mother's womb. Therefore, we should revere women. Instead, people regard women as a means of sense pleasure and so the world sinks into a morass. Where women are revered, a country will prosper and the family where the mother is revered will be prosperous and happy. If, on the contrary, children treat their mother with lack of respect, that home will be a place of misery.
The devotee stood overcome with emotions as did the others present in the room. There were many other incidents which clearly showed Babaji's awareness of the innermost thoughts of others. On one occasion a close disciple was staying with Babaji at the Nasik bungalow over an extended period of time. One evening the young man was invited to a devotional program by members of a large ashram. During the magnificent program the young man was overwhelmed by the splendor of the singing and the large company. In his heart he longed for the excitement of a large ashram and resented the simplicity of Babaji's Nasik bungalow. Upon his return to the bungalow, it was about 10:00 p.m. and Babaji had retired for the night. However, when he opened the door he was astonished to hear Babaji shout from his room,
You can go anytime. There is no need for you to stay here if you don't want to.
The young man felt overcome with remorse and wonder. He had no feeling of being exposed, but rather he recognized a fickle aspect to his character, which had been clearly revealed by Babaji's love for him.
Another example of turning an incident into a teaching is the following. Once Babaji was sitting in the company of a number of devotees at his guru's ashram in Ganeshpuri when one of them noticed some mosquitoes feasting on Babaji's bare legs. Getting up, he tried to chase them away but Babaji used the occasion to impart a wonderful teaching on the oneness of all life and on the jnani's compassion.
Let them be. They also have to make a living and have a family to support from what they can find! See, God has given mosquitoes the means to drill for their food and how happy they are to have found it in my legs. Every creature has been given its duty by God to perform its livelihood.
The Sadhu and the Scorpion
Once there was a sadhu sitting beside the Ganges who noticed a scorpion drowning. In front of the astonished eyes of a passerby he reached down and picked it out of the water. The scorpion, in automatic reaction, bit him and fell back into the water. Again, the sadhu picked it up and again it bit him. The third time, however, the scorpion was safely deposited on dry land.
‘Mahatmaji!' exclaimed the passerby, 'why are you saving a scorpion? In return for your kindness he is only punishing you.'
‘I have my duty,' replied the sadhu, ‘and he has his. My compassion for this scorpion, who, like me, is a member of the family of God's creation, forces me to react automatically in trying to save him, in spite of the cost to myself! He, on the other hand, uses the weapon that nature has given him not out of malice but because, feeling his life is threatened, he acts in the only way he knows how. In effect, he is only doing his duty in the same way as I am doing mine in saving him.'
A true sadhu should help others as much as he can.
In everything Swamiji did, love was always present and it was, perhaps, this love above everything which captured the hearts of those who came into his orbit.
I eat love, I breathe love. God's form is love and if you want to find Him, it can only be through love. Always maintain and nurture the love that springs up from within. Don't allow it to get spoiled because when pure love gets frustrated or spoiled, it is worse than death. Love is earned by giving love. It cannot be bought. However, unlike money, the love you earn goes with you at death.
The Jnani and Death
Death is sometimes described as the great fear. It is inevitable and yet unknown. For him who is born, death is certain and for him who dies, birth is certain, says Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita. Death means different things to different people. Baba Muktananda commented as follows:
For a yogi or jnani, death is not death but samadhi or liberation. For an ordinary man, death means transmigration and rebirth as a bound creature.
Babaji was constantly aware of death and always seemed almost eagerly ready for it. Indeed, he was even reluctant to accept an invitation on specific dates in the future.
When someone invites me to their house, I always reply that only if God wills it, I will come. There are no guarantees for us.
We can see a constant awareness throughout his life of the inevitability of death as well as the temporary nature of the body and the immortal essence within the individual soul which is one with the eternal principle. When death finally came to Babaji, his calm acceptance of it was, in itself, his teaching.
Even the wheat the farmer plants thinks it exists for its own sake. But no, it is the farmer who plants, waters, and harvests for his own sake-he has his own intentions for them.
We are like that, we think we are here for our own pleasure, but it is God who has given us life. He creates and maintains us, harvests the necessary work from us and finally destroys us. No, we are here for God's pleasure, not ours. We come into this world with our fists clenched with our karma. But when we leave it, we should go with open hands, keeping nothing.
Actually we are born without caste or creed and only assume them after birth. I myself don't believe in them. Sometimes I want to remove these rudraksha beads (beads worn by seekers and Sadhus) and this orange cloth. They are like chains. I have nothing I want to do.
I don't want moksha (liberation), I don't want to see God. If no one comes to me it is fine. If I have no attachment, when my time to die comes, I can go straight up. When I am free from this body, I will no longer be limited by it and will be available for all those who call me.
What difference does it make if I die in America, Australia, or India? My soul doesn't belong to one particular place. All the three worlds are its home-nether world, earth, and heaven. I belong to them all.