|
Speech by Vice Chancellor of Sri
Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Sri Anil Vinayak Gokak
(23rd June 2005)
Bhagawan Baba, Brothers and
Sisters of Sai family!
My Pranams (salutations) at the Lotus Feet of Bhagawan Baba.
He has commanded that I should say a few words now. I therefore
would talk to you about some of my personal experiences. Baba
has graciously permitted me to do so and also about His Avataric
Mission about which I spoke this morning to my young friends. My
father (Late Sri Vinayak Krishna Gokak, 1st Vice Chancellor of
SSSIHL) came in contact with Bhagawan Baba sometime in 1965 in
Hyderabad. He in his younger days believed in God, but at that
time, God was merely an abstract entity to him. But he felt that
God existed when he found himself in a hospital in Edinburough.
He had gone to see an exhibition. Suddenly, he felt an acute
pain in the stomach. He rushed to the hospital and he was told
that he had to be immediately operated and thereafter he got
admitted. He did not know what to do because his examination in
Oxford University was over but the oral test was yet to be
completed. He thought that his entire trip to England was a
waste. But then a telegram came from the University of Oxford
stating that on the basis of his performance in the written
test, they had decided to exempt him from the oral test.
Therefore, at that point of time he realised there was someone
called God but He was nearly still an abstract entity. Then for
the next 20 years or so he came under the influence of Sri
Aurobindo. Sri Aurobindo passed away in 1950 and thereafter
after a gap of 14 years, he came in touch with Bhagawan Sri
Sathya Sai Baba. I may tell you that it was Bhagawan Baba who
prolonged the life of my mother by 18 years and of my father by
5 years. There in no slightest doubt about it. My mother had to
be operated and the doctor whom I consulted had given just 2 to
3 months. But when it was brought to the notice of Swami, He
said there was no need of operation. When the X-rays were shown
once again to the doctor, he said, "Everything is fine".
Thereafter she lived for 18 years from 1976 to 1994.
Once when they were sitting in Brindavan along with students,
Swami materialised a small casket and it was passed on from one
student to the other. When it came to my father, it was slightly
damaged and he brought it to Bhagawan’s notice and apologized
for it. Bhagawan said, "Let it be with you". What did it
contain? A commentary on the Bhagawad Gita!
Let me come to myself now. When Bhagawan visited our house for
the first time in 1965, I was away in my district serving as an
assistant collector. At that time Bhagawan told my father, "Your
son has no faith in God". That was, to be frank, very correct.
It was in 1969 that my parents took me and my wife to Bhagawan
Baba. Bhagawan very affectionately materialised a necklace for
my wife and also out of nothing a magnificent apple and gave it
to her. At that time surely I was attracted and I felt that
there was some power here. Later on, more and more events of
this type took place strengthening my faith in Baba. It was in
1973 that I had another wonderful experience. Baba told me "You
will go to Delhi" and I did go. That apart at a very critical
stage of my career, He advised me again to be in Delhi which I
did. At another critical stage I wanted to be at Bangalore to
take care of my ailing mother. He said, "No, you shall not go to
Bangalore, you shall go to Delhi again and whatever be the post
you are planning for, will not come your way. I waited for 6
months for that post only to find that the whole thing fizzled
out and I was back in Delhi. But at first stage I was attracted
more by miracles. But later on as I became a senior
administrator, I started taking interest in social welfare
activities and without of course actively involving myself in
activities like Seva Dal, Bhajan Mandali, study circle, I found
that behind each activity there was a purpose. Then came the
stage of a big water project. I visited that project in 1995 and
gave a report to the Government of India and let me tell you
that report was very much appreciated - "Here an NGO (Non
Government Organisation) could achieve what even State
governments couldn’t achieve." This was the stage when I felt
that Bhagawan Baba, let me honestly use the word that comes to
my mind, a Vedantic Socialist. These are the words which were
used by Dr. V.K. Arya Rao in his book on Swami Vivekananda. He
described Swami Vivekananda as a Vedantic socialist, that is one
who is deeply immersed in Indian traditions and yet wants to
take care of the welfare of the common man. That was the 2nd
stage of my perception of Bhagawan. Later on as I progressed in
my career and attained higher positions, I realised that He was
something beyond that also and this realisation dawned on me
when I had occasion to travel all over the globe at regular
intervals in my capacity as secretary in the telecommunications
department. I realised that the world was getting smaller and
smaller, but mankind was getting divided equally fast because of
differences in religion, culture and the outlook on both of
them. At this stage, I was very much moved by the book "The
Catholic Priest meets Sai Baba" which the Italian devotee Mario
Mazzoleni wrote. In the book, he has explained why he has
developed immense faith in Baba and how Baba is the one God who
teaches you to respect your own religion. Though he was
excommunicated by the establishment, he said I am unswerving in
my loyalty to Bhagawan Baba. So, here was a who is trying to
teach the whole of humanity how unity is very much desirable and
how in fact all the religions of the world aim at one and the
same thing.
Then came the year 2002, Bhagawan commanded that I should
address the students in Summer Course at Whitefield. I started
making preparations for my talk and during the course of
preparation of that talk a number of events sped past my mind
including the one that took place in September – the bombing of
WTO (World Trade Center) on 11th September 2001. After that I
felt that only an Avatar like Baba can act as a saviour of the
world. Because that was a terrible event, a terrible blow to the
survival of mankind, it was the ugly head of fundamentalism that
sprang up and tried to destroy the fabric of the entire world.
When I analysed the matter again and again, I found that due to
pressures of globalisation, many people in fact have started
feeling that their culture will be uprooted by the Western
powers and therefore, they by way of reaction want to adhere to
things which they consider to be the essential core of their
culture, and that fanatics determined what that essential core
is. That essential core is imposed on everyone else and
fanaticism gets stronger and stronger. In such a world what
matters is a deep and accurate understanding of the
commonalities that underlie all religions, cultures and
civilization. That was the trend which I found in books written
by a number of scholars including Prof. Huntington in his book
"On the clash of civilizations". So, in 2002 that was the matter
and thereafter in 2005, He commanded that I should come here.
Let me say again with you my profound feeling that I regard Him
today as the saviour of the world. If there is anyone who can
save the world today, it is Bhagawan Baba and nobody else. This
is because of the universality of His teachings are rooted in
the past, they look to the future too. The emblem of Prasanthi
Nilayam which has the symbols of all religions of the world
gives the same message. There is an underlying unity and
underlying similarity among all the cultures and religions of
the world and it is this commonality that you have to discover
and act upon. I therefore forget the other differences which are
minor. So the essential core had to be understood and that
essential core is nothing but "Soham" (I am That). That is the
message of Bhagawan Baba and here emphasis on rituals,
scriptures is reduced to the bare minimum. You go direct to the
innermost shrine of divinity on the strength of your own inner
experience. I would also like to repeat what I said in the
morning today - Bhagawan Baba is not a Vyaktinath (master of
individuals), but He is a Lokanath (master of the world). He
believes in multitudes not in solitudes. He wants to elevate
humanity to higher levels of spiritual consciousness and His aim
is different. The nature of His mission is also different. In
Bhagawadgita, Lord Krishna said, "I am born from age to age"
(Sambhavami Yuge Yuge). But if you read "Saitree", you will read
the expression used is "Sambhavami Padhe Padhe"- I am here to
guide humanity at each and every step so that humanity is
elevated at every level of consciousness. The role of an Avatar
is that is that of a pilot. Dr. John. S. Hislop says that the
Avatar comes with the plane on the ground. But the fact that the
plane is grounded on the land does not mean that the plane
belongs to the land. The pilot waits for the passengers and then
flies high up in the sky again. So the Avatar ensures that you
elevate yourself spiritually under His guidance and when He is
satisfied that you have attained the requisite level he takes
you along with him to the skies. So, Bhagawan is modern in all
his analogies, comparisons and similes. When He talks about
human body, He says that human body is like an example of the
law of gravitation. The falling stone may be visible but the law
is invisible. Similarly, human body is visible, but the divine
spark within you is invisible. So, Baba is scientific, modern in
His comparisons, is yet very deeply rooted in our traditions and
He by the imaginations, vision and if I may say so strong
intellect, please don’t forget that. By the combination of all
these, He ensures that the dynamic movement towards the
attainment of divinity is not interrupted in any way. There is
dynamics, but there is no instability - that is the greatness of
Bhagawan Baba. I am afraid I have exhausted whatever I wanted to
say very briefly and once again pray to Bhagawan Baba for all
His blessings and strength which are necessary for me to carry
out this noble task that He has so generously and nobly
entrusted to me.
Sai Ram
Source:
sssbpt.org
website
http://sssbpt.org/Pages/Specially/Memoirs_Gokak.htm
|