Loving Sai Ram and greetings from Prashanti Nilayam. Some time ago, we had a Sunday Special entitled: WHY ARE WE SO DESPERATE ABOUT EXCEEDING THE SPEED LIMIT? Today we are returning, in a manner of speaking, to that subject not only because it is so important that it can stand repetition, but also for the reason that few seem to be bothered about it.
These days, people are worrying about all sorts of scenarios that are dangerous for mankind like terrorism, climate change, etc. However, it appears that even if the world were to be perfectly peaceful and there are no terrorists waiting to strike and even if the oceans would spare us by not rising in level all of a sudden, we are nevertheless trying to make sure that we continue to be on the path of self-destruction, through a rapid increase of the pace of our lives!
This increase of pace is affecting people everywhere, in all cultures, and across all economic zones. People are tearing around [we don’t know about what!] in China , India , Europe and of course America . Once upon a time, it was a rare experience for a person to fly even within one’s own country; but now, people are dashing across continents, not for pleasure but on work. And they are doing this all the time, despite numerous hassles that befall the air traveller, like cancelled flights, long delays, frequent luggage loss, interminable security delays, the hassles of getting visas to some countries, strict regulations about what one can carry on board, and so forth.
It is not that travel alone is a hassle. Life in the office is a hassle; life at home is a hassle; school is a hassle and even pre-school or kindergarten is a hassle. It would appear that life for a foetus has also started becoming a hassle! People may shrug their shoulders and say in a tired voice, “Sir, that is the price we have to pay for progress.” The question we have to start asking is: “Is it a price worth paying?”
Sai devotees have a particular duty in this regard. How many of us spend time in a serious reading of Swami’s teachings? People say, “I know this is important but then you see, life is so fast these days! There is absolutely NO TIME!” Well, if we have no time for even finding out where we are going in this world, how are we going to figure out where we are headed, as far as our spiritual journey is concerned?
People get irritated when we raise such issues when they drop in to greet us. What they want is for us to give them more of “nice stories” of Swami’s miracles! But what about the greatest miracle of them all called ‘man’? Swami told Prof. Kasturi that the human being is the greatest miracle in Creation, and when we try to talk about what we humans ought to be doing about the problems of the world, we are misunderstood.
Let us take the problem of corruption. We get many mails like this: “What does Swami say about corruption?”, or “How do we fight corruption?” or “Do you think we can ever get rid of corruption?” or “Don’t you think we had better get used to corruption and learn to live with it?” Please take a serious look at these questions. Is not corruption Adharma? Or do we to take it that there are occasions or circumstances when we can give exemptions and declare certain types of actions as inevitable? That is to say, do we simply suspend discussion of Adharma under certain circumstances?
The question of Dharma versus Adharma is central to the issue of the Incarnation of the Lord, especially in human form; the Lord Himself has declared that in no uncertain terms. That being the case, can we humans write all sorts of fine print to suit our own convenience?
Coming back to the issue of corruption, we would like to take a minute off to suggest the following:
Please dear reader, would you make a personal resolution as follows?
Swami, I am aware that the world today is substantially engulfed in corruption. Many even feel that corruption is inevitable. I DO NOT subscribe to that view. However, dear Swami, life being what it is, I am more than likely to be placed in a situation where there may be a strong pressure on me to yield and pay a bribe.
Please Swami, be merciful and see that I am not ever placed in such a situation. However, if as a part of testing my spiritual firmness, You do place me in such a situation, be merciful and grant me the strength to stand up and be resolute in upholding Dharma.
Dear reader, this Sunday Special goes to over twenty thousand people everyday. If each one of us resolves in this manner, it is at least a beginning. Later, we can pray that Swami may enable us to influence at least one such person every month. If that happens then at the end of one year, we would have at least 20,000 x 12 times staunch adherents to Dharma. If this process is continued in this fashion, you can see the power of multiplication entering the process and Dharma snowballing to the point of sweeping aside the forces opposing it!
But to think like this, we need time! So, the first thing we need to do is to somehow carve out a routine that would give each one of us at least a few precious moments all alone with our dear Lord, so that we can commune with Him real Heart to Heart. If we do that, it can work wonders!
You don’t buy that? Well, just wait for the radio broadcast of an interview we recently recorded with Victor Kanu. He did precisely that many years ago, before he even came to Swami! God heard Victor and made sure Victor came to Prashanti Nilayam. For rest of the story, await a forthcoming issue of H2H as also the audio on Radio Sai.
The need of the hour is to SET APART TIME FOR COMMUNING WITH GOD, AND FOR PARTICIPATING IN GOD’S MISSION ON EARTH. Let us not forget that God comes down in human form, mainly to help man put Dharma back on the high pedestal where it belongs. This is not a task that we can outsource to God. On the contrary, God wants us to clean up the mess we have created! The buck really stops with us.
We cannot give excuses like no time. If we have no time for God, is it reasonable to expect God to give us time? Where there is a will, there sure is a way. That is the way it has been in the past, and so it would be always, no matter how intense is the rat race. If we are determined not to be mere rats, then a way to find time can always be found!
Don’t agree? You are welcome to share your feelings with us. You know where to find us, don’t you? As always, h2h@radiosai.org. All the best.
Jai Sai Ram.
