Man’s Far Journey At the beginning, and for a long time on the [spiritual] journey, we think that it is happiness that we are seeking. But happiness cannot be courted; it comes unbidden, unexpectedly, while you are occupied with other matters; then when you try to possess and enjoy it, it slips away like a shy nymph. Eventually, we learn that the sure way to be unhappy is to strive directly for happiness. Perhaps that is why men camouflage their objective and pretend that it is money, power, fame, or knowledge for which they are striving. But a little self-analysis would reveal to them that just beneath the surface lies the illusory conviction that some permanent brand of happiness will appear when such things have been acquired. The search for the El Dorado [utopia] of perfect happiness is basic to mankind. Some aspect of– this quest, with the illusions, conflicts and tragedies encountered therein, forms the theme of all the human stories ever written, of all the philosophies that have striven to carve an intellectual path to the goal, and of all the religions that have tried to mark the way with sign posts. Though all mankind is consciously or unconsciously on the journey, they are pilgrims at different levels, with different degrees of understanding and awareness. There are some and their number is growing, who dedicate their lives to the greater quest. These searchers are fully aware that money, power, fame—the ‘lights that glitter’ in the world’s pleasure houses—are not the true goals. They know what they seek, though they may call it by different names—the key to the mysteries, wisdom, self-realization, and God. Where will they search: along the tortuous tracks of the philosophers? Amongst the fallen finger posts and half obliterated signs: of the old religions and into the jungles of their own minds? Along the ancient pathways of yogaand mysticism, or will the great god, modern science that has brought them comfort, yet threatens to devour them, point the way? Should a man, as some of the books say, keep his feet to one path, or may he follow the ‘wandering fires’ wherever they lead, learning what he can until such time as he beats out his own by-road to the goal he seeks to God? It seems that we each must ultimately make our own individual way through the strange country. Yet, we are not alone in the great adventure. As we wander through the deserts and jungles and pleasant pastures, we meet and go a part of the way with fellow pilgrims. And we can communicate a little on matters of importance. Each, though he may not have progressed far, has found something that can be a clue, a pointer providing perhaps some help to other seekers. They are found—these serious pilgrims—scattered throughout the world. Some travel alone, some in groups bearing different names. I myself have found pleasant company among them, learning with them a little of that long pilgrimage on which all life has, for some unknown reason, set its feet. Yet, for the most part, it is the blind leading the blind toward a far off lightthat is sensed rather than seen. How inexplicably fortunate then are we—the few—who have found here in physicalform, one who can say, as Christ said long ago, “I am the way.” And for those who can receive it, this statement soon becomes a self-evident truth. We see in Him—Sai Baba—those qualities that we have always associated with the idea of divinity. We see power wedded to benevolence and lit with glory. We feel a love and compassion that hitherto hadbeen no more than a dream of the heart. When we are in His company we are elevated to a golden world where the atmosphere vibrates with inner joy, and all mundane things are forgotten; or at least they take their true place well down the scale of values. Such is His patience, understanding, and power of assimilation that when He talks to you individually, you feel that you are the one person in the world to Him, that in His mind no one else exists but yourself. What a divine gift of heart penetration that is! And so the way becomes clear before us. It is the bhakti marga [path of devotion], the guru marga [path of the spiritual teacher]; all we have to do is to surrender to Him, our sadguru [true guide], and He will do the rest. ‘All’, did I say, as if it were easy, this self-surrender? Alas, it is far from easy to crucify the obstinate, cunning, deceitful lower self—the proud ego built of desires and attachments. It calls for long days and nights of work and watching. Yet I believe it is undoubtedly the surest and swiftest way to the goal, for in it we have the help of the Lord’s grace, and His silent soul—to soul teaching. We must work, worship, watch, and always remember that it is mainly through His grace that our hearts will be purified as they must be; for as Sri Aurobindo [a yogi] wrote: ‘Only the pure in heart shall walk in light’—that glorious light of the true home at the end of the far journey.  ~Howard MurphetSource: Sanathana Sarathi, March 1969

Sai Krishna This is a story about Krishna. In a way, however, the story was not completed until November 1975. A number of years ago I was in Bhagavan’s car. He was in the rear seat with two persons, one on each side of Him. I was in the front seat, with the driver. We were on our way to Puttaparthi. Driving in the car with Swami is a fascinating experience. Not only is there the thrill of being close to the Divine Lord Himself but, sometimes He will give you the opportunity to ask questions. Sometimes, He engages in animated conversation in Telugu [Indian language] with the companions. Sometimes, He indulges in jokes with one or other of them. Sometimes, He remains silent making the characteristic gesture with His hand that seems to indicate that He is giving attention to something quite unknown to us. And, very often, He sings bhajans [devotional songs], with everyone in the car joining in the chorus (except me, who has a musical voice akin to the crow). The net result of all this enthralling activity is that my neck is constantly being twisted in order to see what is going on in the back seat. Swami understands my plight, but, does not advise me to desist; He allows me the liberty to turn round. Of course, I do not stare all the time. I look only so long as I dare and then I resume my posture, turning to the front again. So, my looking at Swami is intermittently back and forth. At some point in the journey, maybe about half‑way, Swami was talking and I turned to look. My breathing stopped and I was transfixed! I could not believe my eyes. His devotees see Swami’s face as beautiful indeed, although the chief impression I receive from His feature is that of power and majesty. What transfixed my movement and stopped my breathing was Swami’s face. The Swami I know was not there! Instead, there was a face of the most extraordinary beauty, quite different of shape and cast from the features of our beloved Sai. The charm was so great, so poignant that my heart seemed to twist, almost as though it were in pain. Never in life, nor in photos, nor in painting by great artists have I seen a face of such exquisite beauty. It was beyond imagination and concept, totally out of experience. And His color was blue. Not just blue, not the blue with which artists paint Krishna but, a deep blue, like the velvet blue that sometimes can be seen in a dark sky, like a blue that I haveattimes seen from the deck of a ship thousands of miles from shore on the Pacific Ocean. I do not know how else to describe it. I could not remove my eyes from Swami. At length, I caught myself and turned away. But, at once, I looked again, and the same beauty surely not of the world, was still there. This continued for at least fifteen minutes. The two men sitting with Swami were beginning to look at me with somewhat puzzled expressions for, my staring was different from what they had become used to. After a few miles, Vittala Rao (on Swami’s left) asked me, “Hislop! What were you staring at Swami like that?” Instead of answering, I directed a question to Swami, “Swami! What was that blue color?” Swami replied, “Oh! That? Whenever there is something of unfathomable depth, it appears to be deep blue.” That was the end of the conversation. Naturally the thought had come to mind that maybe this was Lord Krishna, but neither then, nor at any time in connection with this experience did I ever say the name of Krishna to Swami. There the matter rested until November 1975. It was before people started to arrive in multitudes for Swami’s birthday. Swami’s schedule was still somewhat free and He was taking me with Him in the jeep and so on… and probably that was why I got invited into an interview. An army man and his wife had come from Assam [northern part of India]. They were devotees, but this was their first time to actually see Swami. Often people wait for months for an interview but this family was called in as soon as they arrived. I was seated on the verandah of the mandir [temple] and saw them go into Swami’s room. Swami motioned to me to go in also. The family was made up of the mother, father, son, and daughter. Swami spoke to them most lovingly. He knew everything about their lives and it was very evident that He was an intimate member of that household. After a while, Swami asked me, “Hislop! Tell them some experiences.” I complied and after mentioning some incidents, I told the same story just now related in these pages, but, not even then, did I mention the Krishna name. The man was deeply impressed and words broke from his lips, “Oh! That had to be Lord Krishna” Swami smiled and said, “Yes, that was Krishna; not the Krishna pictured by artists and imagined by writers. I showed Hislop the real Krishna.” The man said, “Oh! How I want to see Krishna.” Swami smiled again and said, “Wait; wait.” There is a sequel to this story. About a month later, in December, at Brindavan [in Bangalore], I was talking with Swami and I brought forward the names of some famous saints and gurus of the past and Swami said some things about them. Then the idea struck me that, wonderful though it must have been to know those great personages and learn from them, the present day was the first time since Krishna lived that one could have God Himself as guru. So I started to say, “Swami! In the thousands of years of time, since Krishna….” Swami interrupted me before I could say another word and exclaimed “Time since Krishna…? I am Krishna. Where is time?”I folded my hands and bent low to Him and

Sri Sathya Sai—The Shiva This is the 10th Birthday of the Sanathana Sarathi. It is the form of the eternal words, the nitya [everlasting] the vibhu [the supreme Lord], of the Sanathana Sarathi [eternal charioteer] who is eternal. He has no beginning, and no end; He has taken a human form as a result of the love he bears us. Bhagavan Sri Krishna says in the Bhagavad-Gita [the eternal song], “Avyakta hi gatirdukham dehavadbhi­ravapyate—for those who are manifest in the form of a body, it is difficult to understand and rea­lize that which is not manifest.” Taking upon Himself all suffering that the body is prone to, He, the formless, has taken form to come to this earth, to His beloved India, the land acclaimed as the guru of the world in the spiritual field. Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba emphasizes in each of His discourses that we must awaken to our great heritage and be aware of our privileges. He advises us not to run after material success but discriminate between what is ephemeral and what is everlasting. He warns us against identifying the false “I” and the body with the true “I” and the soul. Bhagavan is sathyam-shivam-sundaram—truth-bliss-beauty incarnate. He is bliss, Shivam. Baba is Shiva, the ever auspicious, for He is all love. Who among His devotees—big or small, high or low—has not experienced the very special love, the very special consideration He shows to each? His essence is love, and power is His attribute. Therefore His love is greater than His power [shakti]. On Mahashivaratri day, out of His great love for all His devotees, He manifests His power and demonstrates the most glorious of all miracles, the creation of the linga. “Eating, sleeping, fear, and mating are common to both men and animals,” says the Su­bhashita [Hindu religious text]. How then, are men different from animals? Is it their reasoning faculty or does the instinct overtake his reasoning? For example, when a dog is threatened with a stick, he runs away; was it instinct or was it his mind reasoning that the stick would hit. The real distinguishing mark of a human being is his sense of wonder. Man alone is capable of being in awe and wonder. The Vedic singer was struck by the spectacle of the tropical dawn, and the intense force of lightning and thunder of the torrential rains of the equatorial belt; consequently, he went into raptures and sang aloud in praise of Ushas, Indra, and Varuna [Lords of the elements]. He could not contain himself. But today, our senses are benumbed with the glamour of materialism that infects the objective world. We are complacent and do not appreciate the beauties of nature. Nothing seems to shake us from our stupor. Bhagavan has come to shake us out of this stupor and awaken us to the awe and wonder. While thousands look on, He creates on Mahashivaratri day, the linga, the symbol of creation. The “form” of the “formless,” emanating from the “formless” with “form,” awakens us to this awe and wonder. What a grand spectacle it is! How much grander is its spiritual significance! As Baba says, He manifests His mahimas [glory/greatness] to express the love He bears toward mankind, and to demonstrate His grace and to make them realize who He is. The lesson of the Mahashivaratri miracle is some­thing divine and profound that evades description. Mahashivaratri, the night of Shiva, is supposed to be the darkest night of the year. The moon and the mind have a great affinity, as Baba shows quoting the Shruti, “Chandramaa manaso jaatah,” “Out of the moon, the mind was born.” Therefore, Baba explains that the night of Shiva must be the night when the mind affects us the least, and Shiva affects us most. Those who have no faith in the Shruti might argue that the mind and the moon have nothing to do with each other; but even they have learnt to use the word, “lunatic,” for those whose madness waxes and wanes with the moon. The cosmic forces are too subtle for our gross intelligence to comprehend. All that we have to do is to believe in them and forge ahead. If we have no faith, we have to start the experiments all over again. Yet, we, Bharatiyas [Indians] do neither because we are too engrossed in petty squabbles. When children fight amongst themselves over an insignificant toy, the mother distracts their attention; she does not take the trouble of ending the fight, by trying to judge to whom the toy belongs. That is what Sathya Sai Mata [the divine mother] is doing today for our fortunate country. Differences, disputes, and quarrels permeate this age of political, linguistic, and other ideologies. Those who do not get the opportunity of being selfish in the field of politics indulge in narrow selfishness in the fields of their personal existence. But, Sai Mata is ever vigilant, patient, and persistent for She wants to hold our hands and lead us on to the light. With His loving persistence, everyday and on every occasion, Bhagavan reminds us that we are human beings, much higher than animals. He asks us to awaken from slumber, and realize that the gross world outside is to be given a place lower than the inner world. In His Divine way, He wraps the pill of spiritual training in tasty words so that it is palatable to the minds immersed in the mundane. Mahashivaratri reminds us that by sadhana [spiritual practice] the mind has to be reduced to its minimum. After all, what is this mind? It is our own creation, woven out of the warp and woof of desires. The cherished ideal is “to be” and not “to become.” Desirelessness is the ideal to strive for, and not mere fulfillment of materialistic desires. If we find the effort strenuous, all we have to do is simply to keep faith, and cry for our Sairam, and pray to Him, “Asato ma sat gamaya; Tamso ma jyotir gamaya; Mrtyor Ma amritam gamaya.” (Lead me, Oh Lord, from the unreal to truth, from darkness to light, and from death to immortality). A moment will surely come, when His grace will descend on us and will grant

Namasmarana Adi Sankaracharya, who undoubtedly occupies the foremost place of eminence and honor amongst the great vedantins [philosophers] and jnanis [sages] that Bharat [India] has produced, finally rea­lized in his later years that in this age of Kali (Kaliyuga [Iron Age]), the only sure and safe path along which humanity could successfully reach the supreme goal is that of bhakti [devotion] developed through namasmarana [recitation of the Lord’s name]. Hence he proclaimed: ‘The divine name of Lord Hari [God] and that alone is my support and refuge. In Kaliyuga there is no other effective path for salvation.’ He proceeded to compose and give unto the world many devotional hymns like the famous “Bhaja Govindam” for fostering bhakti in the hearts of men. In today’s world, our environment and conditions of life are such that it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to pursue properly the practice of rigorous `tapas’ [penance] or to follow the intricate paths of rajayoga or jnanayoga [union with God through will power or wisdom]. The all knowing Lord, in His infinite compassion, has therefore declared in the “Gita” and in “Shrimad Bhagavatam” that during the Kaliyuga period, He can be easily attained through nama-sankirtanam [group singing of His name] The nine progressive steps in bhakti sadhana [spiritual effort] have been explained by Prahlada [a devotee of Lord Vishnu] as shravanam. keertanam, smaranam, padasevanam, archanam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, and finally atmanivedanam [faith, praise, remembrance, worship of the feet, prayer, reverence, servitude , friendship, and surrender]. Namasmaranam combines in itself the first three steps of shravanam, keertanam, and smaranam, and it will rapidly lead one past the next five steps to the final stage of complete surrender and merger with the supreme. Namasmaran literally means remembrance of the divine name of God. In practice, this sadhana may take any of the following three forms: japam [chanting the name], dhyanam [meditation], or sankirtanam [group singing]. Each of these methods has its own distinct advantages, but all the three paths, whether pursued separately or conjointly, will certainly enable man to get rid of the evil qualities of lust, greed, anger, jealousy, and egoism and to develop the purest form of prema [love] and thereby achieve shanti [peace], leading to supreme and eternal bliss. Japam consists of the simple process of chanting the divine name of God or reciting some sacred mantras [formulae], the mind being kept absolutely pure. The great advantage of this method is that it can be practiced at any time and at any place or even in the midst of the routine activities of one’s mundane life. The chanting or the recitation of the divine name, if performed with faith and devotion, automatically makes one’s mind dwell on the form and glory of God. When such a state of God consciousness pervades one’s mind, there is no longer any room left for bad thoughts and evil instincts. The manas [mind] is purified and from then on, life becomes a dedicated journey on the God-ward path. The importance of this method has been stressed by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita where He has declared,’ ‘Of yajnas [sacrificial worship], I am japa yajna.’ Dhyana, which is another mode of namasmarana, consists of the process of concentrated meditation on the Lord’s divine form and glory. By practicing this sadhana of single-minded meditation on the Paramatma [supreme absolute], the mind that is by nature wayward, gets har­nessed and ceases to run after sense objects. Once the sensory cravings are banished from the mind, the worries, miseries, and sorrows arising from worldly attachments will all disappear and one is enabled to gradually attain satchitananda [bliss]. However, in the manner of living that  exists today, it is seldom possible for one to spend long hours in dhyana and hence it would be preferable to combine the methods of japam and dhyana, so that part of one’s day can be utilized for such sadhana. Namasankirtan means the loud singing and recitation of the Lord’s name and glory. Even though an individual can perform this sadhana it is more effective when it is done conjointly in the company of other sadhakas [devotees]. Then, it is commonly referred to as bhajan. If performed with discipline and devotion, bhajan offers the easiest medium through which one is enabled to spend some time in communion with God rising above all the cares and anxieties of worldly life. The ecstasy with which bhajan can fill our hearts can only be experienced and is not susceptible to any description. Another great advantage of participation in bhajan is that it helps one to get rid of one’s ego that is the main obstacle in the path of all spiritual progress. Furthermore, while performing one’s own spiritual sadhana through bhajan, one is simultaneously re ndering service to the entire people of the locality also, because the vibrations caused by the chanting of the Lord’s name, with sincerity and devotion, spread out far and wide and sanctify the atmosphere of the entire locality. These beneficial results are even more pronounced in the case of nagarsankirtan . There, groups of sadhakas go round the streets in the early hours immediately preceding day break, melodiously singing the glories of God. The message of namasmarana is thus carried to many homes in the Brahma muhurta [4 to 6 a.m. auspicious time for prayers] period. Nagarsankirtan, if performed regularly and properly, helps one to completely eliminate `ahamkara’ (egoism), and elevate oneself spiritually; and, it also simultaneously awakens and tethers God consciousness, the spread of which is so essential for the welfare of humanity. Has not Lord Krishna declared, “One who constantly chants aloud My names without any sense of shame, not merely attains oneness with Me but also brings along with himself crores [millions] of others to My feet?” One often hears Kaliyuga being described as a bad and inauspicious period. What a thorough misconception it is! Whatever other defects Kaliyuga may have, it offers to mankind, more than ever before, the most precious opportunity of God‑realization through the facile and safe path of namasmarana. Are we not the most fortunate amongst the entire human race, that has existed since the beginning of time, to have been born during this period of the Kali Age when the Divine has again incarnated in human from, more resplendent than ever before and to have been blessed with the unique and precious chance of having His darshan [sight of a divine being], sparshan [divine touch], and sambhashan [conversation]? Unlike during the time of the earlier Avatars we are also being mercifully given the great privilege of participation in His divine mission of dharma samsthapana [the reestablishment of righteousness]. Let us fully utilize this rare