The Guru In Human Form

By Super

Tuesday, May 8, 2012, 14:20

The Guru appears in human form to demonstrate both by precept and example the nature and significance of true bhakti to the benighted and erring mortals below.

Shri Sai Baba's teachings, extolling the qualities of faith and devotion are true for all times. He maintained that dry intellectualism has no force, no potency, and that all great movements of life are actuated by intensity of feeling. Birth itself which is the greatest event of life is the summum bonum of the intensity in feeling. Shri Sai Baba recognized that for a religion to be a living and effective force, profound enthusiasm is necessary, and, that man is the most enthusiastic who loves the best. Devotion gives a man the power and the inclination to do and to dare. Such transcendental love is the ideal of every religion, but it is an ideal very difficult of attainment for an impersonal or unseen Being.

The human soul hankers for something tangible, someone of flesh and blood to whom can be given this unstinted devotion. Shri Sai Baba proved this to be this ideal embodiment of God. The Sai Baba whom his devotees worship is not an ordinary human personality, for it is not possible to worship a human being who is in the same category as ourselves, but then again, he is not the transcendent God beyond human ken, since, as such, he could not have inspired so much love and warmth. The Sai Baba whom thousands of devotees worship is precisely the personified Guru --- the manifested Divine who in his infinite compassion assumes a human form to resuscitate religion.

It is possible even now, years later, to recapture vividly the wonderful leelas of this master artist. The dynamics of his personality, the versatility of his accomplishments, the works and miracles he wrought from day to day, the peculiar mysticism attached to his birth and death and deeds can be composed into a story that reads like a romance yet unsurpassed in the annals of biographical literature.

A visit to Shirdi is an experience in itself. An insignificant village lying almost on the banks of the sacred Godavari river, Shirdi has nothing much to commend it in the way natural scenic beauty or civilized amenities, save for the profusion of sugar cane plants, from which it has derived its name.

The name is, however, symbolically appropriate, for the mystic who chose this spot as his abode did indeed fill it with the aroma of his sweet and gracious presence. The exterior of the Ashram is unimposing too, but as soon as one enters the precincts of the holy shrine where the mortal remains of the seer lie interred, an unspeakable thrill of ecstasy passes through one's being, and there is almost an instant awareness of a living presence. This illusion -- or should we rather not term it a supreme truth -- that Sai Baba is alive and actually present in some part of the ashram is one which many a devotee has experienced. A strange expectancy hovers about the atmosphere, as if just there round the corner we would inadvertently come across the familiar and lovable figure.

For the many descriptions of the Saint and the remarkable likenesses that the camera has reproduced of him in his many moods and poses, it is possible to create him anew! A tall loosely built physique, long and shapely limbs -- one can visualize him sitting in the masjid distributing Udi (ashes of the sacred fire that perpetually burnt before him) to all those who went to him. An arresting appearance, the olive complexion set off to advantage his handsome features. But the chief attraction lay in his deep eyes of a mystic half drunk with some secret nectar, and yet capable of reflecting the many changes in his moods. When his gaze fell upon a devotee the eyes seem to be probing into the devotee's innermost recesses, and yet no one seemed to mind this for the expression in those eyes was one of habitual compassion. This was the mystic of Shirdi, as he is described by some of the veteran devotees who saw him, as his photographs and portraits reveal him to us.