The experience that is freely available to all and the one
everyone invariably looks forward to is Darshan. To be in the
Divine presence and to catch a glimpse of Swami as He gently
glides along is the longing of all devotees. Just for this, they
come from all over the world. How they crane their necks to see
Him as He comes out! That is hunger for the Divine; that is the
deep yearning for the Divine. If that thirst is there, then He
makes sure that it is satisfied….whatever the place and
circumstances. Our joy is His joy. As Kasturi found out:
Baba
visited Kakadi village and Razole in the Delta of Krishna river
and then proceeded to the village of Sathyavada, where the
yearning of rural hearts drew Him. The village houses have thick
and high mud walls around them and so, Baba could not grant
Darshan to the thousands who filled the narrow serpentine lanes.
Sensing the anguish of the crowds outside the walls, Baba had a
ladder brought, a narrow contraption with eight horizontal rods as
steps; He climbed it, reached the top, and got a precarious
foothold on the crest of the wall. He stood there, silhouetted
against the sky, in the hot Sun, to confer coveted Darshan on the
people. I have seen Him ascend the parapet of walls of storied
bungalows and the top of His own car in order to give Darshan to
milling crowds and to calm their ardour. In Bombay, He has walked
on the parapet of the Gwalior Palace; in Kurnool, He has stood on
the narrow slab on top of an arch; in Budili, He has stood on a
chair placed on a bullock cart; in Trivandrum He stood on the top
of a Fiat car in the hot Sun so that more people could see Him and
feel joy. But, this quick climb up the bamboo ladder placed
against the mud wall, the stately stand on the narrow wall, will
shine in my mind as a golden memory of His Grace!
On another occasion, Baba
went to Hindupur, a town about fifty kilometres away, that He had
visited last when quite a boy ………… He was taken in procession
through the streets of the town in an open jeep. While devotees
felt that He was in the scorching Sun far too long, Baba expressed
His joy that the jeep had wound its way through all the roads and
by-lanes of the town. Later He said, "How else could the sick, the
weak, the lame, and the old get My Darshan?"
The Darshan of Baba is a
creative chance to transmute our base metal into gold. To listen
to His words is to be charged with the current of spiritual
regeneration. To read His writings is to feed the intellect with
wholesome sustenance and purge it of egoistic dross.
Let
us now find out what Swami Himself has to say about Darshan on
various occasions:
Later it may be difficult
to approach Me and ask Me. For, people are coming towards Me in
full, unending streams, and you may have to have My Darshan from
miles away!
There are those who may
never see Me in the concrete form. They have, all the same,
reached Me through a friend, a book, or a photograph. To each of
these, if they yearn deeply, I give My Darshan inwardly. These too
I love as deeply, for they have begun to see themselves as being
beyond their body, as Divine Souls. This is the advancement
towards Self-Realisation.
After My Darshan, always
find a quiet corner, where you may enter into the stillness and
receive the completion of My Blessings. As I pass you, My Energy
goes from Me into you. If, immediately after Darshan, you start
talking, the precious Energy gifted to you gets dissipated and
returns to Me unused. Be assured that whatever My eyes see,
becomes vitalised and transmuted. You are being changed day by day
- never underestimate what is being accomplished by the act of My
Darshan.
My walking amongst you is
a gift yearned for by the gods of the Highest Heavens; but here
you are receiving this Grace without much effort. Be grateful for
what you are getting. The Blessings you receive would express
themselves in due course, when the time comes. But also remember:
To whom much is given, from him much also would be demanded!
Well, it is time we realize how lucky we are to
be able to see God walking on earth !
Source:
Radio Sai E-Magazine, November
15, 2003