I feel I must makes amends for my prior entry here. I passed judgment on people, a bad habit I am still having to work on. I forget now and then that others do not see the world as I do, and that their way isn't wrong, just different. My view has been left alone by the ravages I perceive within organized religions of any kind. I base my faith, my knowledge of this world and its illusions, on a combination of physics and metaphysics, which really aren't as far apart as many scientists would have you believe. I see reflections of the other in the macrocosm and the microcosm. That is proof to me of the One. I need little else to confirm it.
But I am only one, and many need other things to hold onto. They have yet to understand the illusive nature of this world. They want, and need, physical proof, something I now know is pointless. Or at least is for me.
I spent yesterday evening at a religious service, something I rarely do save for weddings and funerals. It was a Sai Baba group. Now this fellow Baba has caused quite a stir in our world. He has many, many followers world wide and some religious leaders of other sects or whathaveyou are very threatened by him. I have not told the one who introduced me to him that the first things I found online were the negative ones. I put them aside and went on to find out for myself (that has always been my way anyhow.) Much of this man's life has been spent in doing works that could only be called good; he has built hospitals and schools, aided communities in India with obtaining permanent supplies of fresh water,....... How could he possibly be any worse than our own government? Yet he is reviled. Why? Because he also teaches self-realization. It is the same thing the Christ TRIED to teach, and man was he misinterpreted! Baba's words lead one down a path that one can walk without the aide of organized religion, if one so chooses, and that, my friends, is pure threat to the institutions of Judaism, Islam, Christianity, and most other majour faiths.
Part of the trouble seems to be the physical manifestations Baba creates. There is an ash-like product, and a honey-like product that are supposedly created from his hands, and some icons of him, that hold great sway over his followers. He also reportedly can make things materialize from nothing, and heal the sick, perhaps even raise the dead. Much of the non-Baba community sees this as hoaxes. I don't know if they are or not. I am not particularly moved by them. Why should I be impressed by the manipulation of this illusion by someone who obviously understands its true nature? I may not be able to copy his actions yet, but I do know that if I could get past my clinging to this world, I could do as he does. Ironically to me, he teaches this very thing, and it seems, at least from my novice POV, that it is one lesson that goes unheard. "As I am, so can you be." Not new words. Almost every teacher of any repute has said exactly the same thing.
This is where the apology has to come in. I do forget too often that my path is not the path of others. I do not understand the fascination with the "miracles" above what should be intense study of the WORDS. I have been reading Baba's re-write of the Bhavagda Gita, and have been quite moved by it, yet it was barely touched upon in this service. It teaches the best of what I have already come across myself, in simple language. I don't understand, myself, why it isn't the center of the Baba movement, instead of the manifestations. But that's me. Ever the philosopher.
I cannot look at a wall, see a face in some stain or mark on it, and get all caught up in the religion. I cannot bend knee to a human being, because I know that person is no greater, and no lesser than myself. I am a part of God. So are you, and all those things within your comprehension and far, far more beyond. We are literally little pieces of the One, and you know what? That makes each and every thing SACRED. Not one particular person. Not one particular place. EVERYTHING.
And I forget again: not everyone is ready for this knowledge. Not everyone can get up in the morning and live life this way. There needs to be the lighting of candles, the sung or spoken praise to something higher. They might not be ready to know that they are singing in fact to parts of themselves that have always, will always exist. Baba does know this, just as the Buddha knew, and the Christ knew, and probably a lot of other folks too. It just may not be right for everyone yet. I keep looking for the time of enlightenment, keeping hoping it will happen in my lifetime. It isn't going to be quite yet, I guess. And I am disappointed when I fail to find it where I think it should be. Those are my own failings. Just looking for something does not mean it is really there. It must be nurtured and helped to grow before it can happen. In my own small way, I hope to start that today. I will probably choose to work on a more one-to-one basis, because I don't like crowds, but I will have to remember to retain this humility I write of. Those who are ready will ask when it is time. Those who are not, will not ask. And it really is okay either way.
Peace and love to all.
Namaste.