The Archbishop of France meets Sai
Baba
The
Archbishop of France is a very pious man. His face belies
his age (83 years). A man of strong conviction on the
teachings of Jesus, He served in the Church loyally right
from his inception into the order. Even though he was a
strict follower of Jesus, he appreciated the good thoughts
of religious teachers all over the world.
He had met MATA AMRITANANDAMAYI when on Her
satsangh tour of the U.S.A.
We read about the
princess of Belgium’s experiences
with Baba. It was she who was instrumental in bringing the Archbishop
to meet Baba. The Archbishop came along with his cheif disciple and
met Baba around the same time the Belgian Princess was here at
Puttaparthy.
During his visit
here to Puttaparthi, the Archbishop and his chief disciple had several
interactions with Sai Baba on religion in general and discussed in
detail the deep meaning and significance in the teachings of Jesus.
They discussed at length the life of Jesus and the symbolic meaning
that each phase of Jesus’ life conveyed. Baba told the Archbishop his
interpretation of Jesus’ life which was as follows:-
Jesus’ words
adequately prove that, when He says:
“When you clothe the
poor, You clothe me.
When you feed the
poor, You feed me.”
Jesus died to atone
for the sins of the world.
His body was punctured with nails .
Blood flowed out of his body as water flows from the ravines but
even in that extreme pain he maintained calm and composure.
Jesus lived for
others.
Once Jesus was
walking on the streets, he saw a woman pelted with stones. He
immediately jumped in, covered her from those stones in the process
taking all the hits on himself. Seeing Jesus intervening the people
involved in the incident called on him to leave the woman alone saying
she had ‘sinned’. Jesus refused to move and asked the crowd to
move apart. He then seated Himself in one corner and said -- “Now,
The man who has never sinned in his life shall pelt the first stone.”.
Not one man came forward. Slowly the crowd dispersed. The woman
wailing touched the feet of Jesus and went away quietly. Jesus took
those hits to save somebody’s life. This is proof adequate enough of
Jesus’ selflessness.
Mary Magadline was a woman who had been wronged all her life. She was
born poor and needed help to get over her problems. She asked for help
but none helped her. She had to sell herself to meet her family needs.
Everyone including the parish priests considered her a sinner and she
was not allowed at any prayer meetings. When Jesus was invited to the
temple, Mary came there to meet him. She fell at His feet, washed it
with her tears and brushed His feet with her long soft hair.
Everyone present there chided Jesus for having allowed her to even
come near Him. Jesus held the face of Mary and said “Go Woman, All
your sins are forgiven, go, but never sin again.”. Mary never sinned
again but she became an ardent follower of Jesus. She followed him
wherever He went. (Baba once said that Mary was the first person to
see Jesus after resurrection. That shows the extent of her faith and
devotion on Jesus.)
Total surrender to
God releases everyone from the effects of whatever deeds anyone must
have done in His life. Mary’s story is a perfect example of total
surrender. This Baba says is very important.
The Archbishop and
his disciple stayed nearly for a week. Each day, both morning and
evening, passed with spiritual discussions with Baba. The Archbishop
and his disciple also visited the primary school that is a part of the
huge education programme being run by Central trust set up by Baba.
The Bishop left on
February 6th 1999. On February 9th 1999, a letter from the Archbishop
to Baba, the college authorities and the students was displayed on the
institute notice board. A very warm letter it was and that in a way
displayed his warm nature.
It was reported once
that Baba had addressed the Archbishob ‘Pope’. It might seem as
a mistake but who knows, Baba’s ways cannot be judged by us. Baba who
is trikaldarshi might be only referring to what might be happening in
the future. He could be an effective instrument of Baba in His mission
of unifying the world as one humanity with mutual love, respect and
compassion being the binding factor, which happen and that day is
coming.
We the students of
Sathya Sai can sense it when we see the pace at which things are going
on in Prashanti Nilayam. We will not say much about it. We’ll let the
coming events that will bring the whole world to Puttaparthi do that.
Source:
http://www.geocities.com/sai_ram108/mira12.htm |