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The Sunday Talk Given by Prof. Anil Kumar

Buddha Purnima:

“Nirvana, the End of Suffering” (Part 2)

Events from May 15, 2011

OM…OM…OM…

Sai Ram

With Pranams at the Lotus Feet of Bhagavan,

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

STORY OF THE GOLD PENS

This story happened soon after I joined Swami’s institution, at an early stage of my life with Swami. That early stage was the ‘honeymoon period’—where we can have some liberty. Thereafter comes a heavy training period, the challenging period. That is the spiritual life that one has to go through while being with Swami.

In those days till these days, I saw Bhagavan did not care for anything. I will not mention the name of the man involved in this story. Anyway, that man brought gold pens, and he wanted Swami to receive and accept them.

The gentleman who brought these gold pens said to me, “Please tell Swami that I have brought gold pens.”

At that time, I did not understand his logic. Innocently, I went to Swami and told Swami that so-and-so brought gold pens.

Swami said, “You take them. You take them.”

“Swami, he has not brought them for me. They are not meant for me.”

“No, no. You are saying he has brought them, so you take.”

“No, no Swami, they are meant for You. They have to be distributed to students.”

Then Baba explained it in this way: “He brought the pens so that I would grant him an interview, and so that he can get a front row seat every day. Swami will never do business like that. If He insists, I will ask him to get out of this gate. Let him not enter the ashram at all!”

Practice detachment in the midst of attachments

He’s Buddha! Bhagavan is Buddha because He’s not attached to anybody or anything. This is the experience of most of the people. When He goes around the devotees, sometimes some people get interviews. They are blessed with interviews. There in the interview room, He talks in such a way that the whole Avatar is there for you only. He gives you that impression. He goes on praising you, your sadhana, your family, your life, your prospects, your wife, and what not. Then you think you are so important.

The moment you come out of the interview, you go on telling people, “You know what Swami said?” Why should I know what He told you? But still we go on telling this and that!

The next day, or that evening itself, when Swami passes by your side, He won’t even look at you! “There in the interview room, You gave me the impression that You and I are one. But today, You are there and I am nobody here. (Laughter) Swami, don’t you know me? Don’t you recognise me? What happened to that romance there in the interview room?” Detachment—this is what He wants, that’s all! Thereafter, it’s nothing doing, no more attachment.

I’m very much surprised. I have had a number of sweet conversations with Him at different places like Kodaikanal, Ooty, Delhi, Simla, Bombay, Pune and other places. Immediately after our return here, He moves in such a way as if we never knew each other (Laughter)—as if we never met at anytime. But yesterday, we travelled together! So what’s all this?

Hari Om, that’s all. That is detachment. That is nirvana. That’s how we have to practise detachment in the midst of all attachments. That is the practice of detachment in the midst of attachments. Even in the midst of family, there’s a way to transcend and to go beyond.

Everyone has to attain that Buddhahood

Therefore, my friends, nirvana or liberation is not an achievement. Nirvana is not an attainment. It is not a thing to be declared, advertised, or telecast. You are born liberated; you lost liberation in between! You got yourself bonded; you are entrapped in the cage of bondage. The attempt is to get out, again enjoying the liberation in which you were initially born. Therefore, I am born liberated, but I got trapped into bondage.

By sadhana, I experience once again that initial state of liberation or nirvana. Therefore my friends, nirvana is our birthright. Nirvana is the natural state, while bondage is of our own making. Bhagavan Buddha! What a kind of state it is. We have to understand Buddha is a state. He’s actually Siddhartha Gautama. But this is Buddhahood, Christhood, or Krishnahood—that is the state. Wherever you feel that spirit of sacrifice, that is Christhood. Wherever you find compassion, it is Buddhahood.

So everyone has to attain Buddhahood, the state of nirvana or liberation, by introspection and by knowing what is real and what is not real (nithya, anithya). Nithya means ‘the eternal’, while anithya signifies ‘the ephemeral’. We have to distinguish between these two, nithya and anithya, with viveka, which is our sense of discrimination. Then we will have that experience of nirvana.

Swami is always with us!

Therefore, my friends, with these words, I have a few points to share with you at this hour. I’m highly conscious of the fact that I am talking to devotees of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. In this gathering are also present leaders of the organisation, convenors, presidents, the ladies’ wing, Balvikas gurus and active workers.

This assembly is a congregation of active workers of the Sri Sathya Organisation from ten different countries. In this context, my sincere appeal to you is this: tell everybody that Swami is always with us! He has not left anywhere! He’s always with us. He will always continue to be with us. Tell them this repeatedly.

First, be convinced of this. Experience this and declare it openly. You may ask, “How to declare it? How to tell it openly? How do I convince myself?” The answer is simple. Has Swami not appeared in Indonesia? Has not Swami appeared in Malaysia? Has He not appeared in Argentina? Many people saw Him at different places in physical form all over the world.

There are thousands of books that narrate experiences where people saw the physical presence of Swami all over the world. Plus there are many people who have not been here, yet are staunch devotees of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Then, how do you say He is not with us?

If anyone says, “Swami has left me”, you are committing a Himalayan blunder. He cannot leave you—just as you cannot leave yourself! Can you leave yourself? No, impossible! You cannot leave yourself because that existential reality is the Divinity of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. So long as I am here, Swami is here. That ‘I’, that individual soul, is He, the universal soul. Therefore, tell everybody Swami is with us.

He insisted on telling us this repeatedly. “I’m with you, in you, above you, below you, around you.” When I missed one, He would say, “‘In you’—add that one also.” You know that. So when He’s in you, above you, below you, around you, how can He leave you? Impossible!

TODAY’S GENERATION QUESTIONS EVERY STATEMENT

There will be questions that you will have from many people; we cannot escape them. I cannot say, “You’re committing a sin” or “You’re going to be blind if you ask those questions.” Those days are gone. If you speak like that, your grandchildren will say, “Tata (Grandfather), it’s time that you keep to yourself. Be calm and composed, but don’t talk to me.” Today children are very highly intelligent; we cannot silence them.

In our generation, we didn’t dare to put any questions. The next generation could begin to ask some questions. But today, they question every statement! You ask your child, “Will you wear this blue frock?”

“Why?” They’ll say immediately, “Why? Why not this?” That’s the sign of this age. We can’t blame them. The intelligence IQ has gone up. We even compliment them. Every child can work on the computer, while I don’t understand computers! I ask my grandson, “Hey, teach me something on computers.”

He told me immediately, “Tell me what to do. To teach you is impossible.” And further He said, “It is boring to teach you also.”

Then I told him, “I have been teaching for 48 years, and I never felt boring. So I don’t know why you feel like this.”

“Yes, tell me what you want and I’ll do it, that’s all.” Therefore, we cannot blame our children.

Now what are the questions you will get?

Why did Swami suffer for a long period?

One question is this: “Why did Swami suffer for a long period? How is it that the vital organs failed all of a sudden? Is it possible for them to collapse all at once? Or, is it as some suspect, that it must have happened over a period of time, as all organs can’t be damaged at one time?”

So, “Why has it happened?” is one question you will get. You cannot tell them to keep quiet. That fellow will pity you. This is the answer, my friends.

Baba may have had a problem. He might have had a problem. The greatness of Baba, the uniqueness of Baba, and the Divinity of Baba is that He never complained to anybody at any time. That is clear in Baba’s speeches. He never complained of anything.

I know some people who came close to Swami and asked, “How are You?”

“I am fine.”

“Swami, how are You?”

“I am very fine.”

“Bhagavan, how are You really?”

“If you ask again, I will send you out!” (Laughter)

He always tells you, “I am fine, I am fine!”

But we know as we see Him that He is not as fine as He says. Because of so many problems from the fractures that He had in the pelvic region, He’s not that free from pain. But He always says, “I am fine.” Why?

Can you say you are fine with a headache? If you have a headache, do you say you are fine? You will not say, “Fine.” Not only that, you will be the cause of headaches for others in the family also! Because of the headache you have, there should not be visitors; there should not be any jokes; nobody should watch TV, and no pudding preparation or ice cream. The whole house is under curfew because you have a headache. So your headache is a universal headache!

On the other hand, take Baba Bhagavan: with all the pain as we imagined, as we watched, He never said, “I have these problems.” Instead He always said, “I’m fine, I’m fine.” It is a message for all of us to think about, so we too can say to everyone, “I am fine. I am fine.”

These days we come across people like this: “How are you?”

“Chelta hai, dhuniya—pulling on, pulling on.”

What is this ‘pulling on’? Are you luggage or baggage? What is this? There are others who say, “I am close to the end of life.” You need not disclose that. That is already decided; the date of expiry is known to Him.

Therefore, let’s not say, “I’m pulling on. I’m carrying on.” Life is like that. Stop that nonsense! The message of Baba is to say, “I am fine, I am fine,” in spite of and irrespective of all the problems that we think and assume we have. That’s how I take it.

BHAGAVAN IS BEYOND THE BODY

Also the second message is this: many people may be saying that He must have had this problem long ago, or He must have had this problem at least the last month. Okay, you may maintain a diary of His problems, good. But what I say is this: He worked for His devotees till the last drop of His blood. With all the damage going on in His body, His constant thoughts and thinking were only of the devotees, their happiness, and their pleasure. That is Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. (Applause)

Jesus left His body on the cross. Jesus on the cross represents supreme sacrifice for the entire humanity. Who could redeem our lives? Who could save us from all sins? That is the idea of our Christian brethren. Jesus sacrificed His life for all of us.

Bhagavan sacrificed His time, energy, and whole body for His devotees because He has got nobody else other than devotees. That is Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Therefore, why did He suffer? For you and for me. Why He has sacrificed? For you and for me. Why did He have that kind of pain? He didn’t have any pain. Why? Because He is beyond the body. He’s not the body. He always said, “You are not the body, you are not the body.” When you are not the body, how can He be the body? This is all foolishness.

How do I say that? I say that on the basis of my personal experience. Bhagavan starts at 5:30 or 6 o’clock in the morning, travelling from Bangalore to Kodaikanal. He reaches there around 6 o’clock in the evening. It is a 12-hour continuous journey. Please believe me. He doesn’t take a spoonful of food. He doesn’t take any coffee or tea. He doesn’t wash His face or freshen up. People say, “Let me freshen up.” You need to freshen up every second, but there will be no improvement!

Baba never says, “Let me go and freshen up” because that freshness is Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. He need not freshen up. Believe me, He is as fresh at the end of the journey at 6 o’clock in the evening in Kodaikanal as He was at 5:30 in the morning—very fresh, like a rose—whereas we who follow Him have had breakfast, lunch, and a heavy loading up throughout the trip. Yes! And in addition to that, tins and tins of sweets are there, tins and tins!

So this question was put to Swami: “Bhagavan, we eat and eat and eat, but still we are weak. You don’t eat, but you are energetic. Why?” In places like Kodaikanal, Ooty, Shimla, and Delhi, you have many, many wonderful opportunities to be close to Him and put such questions; whereas in Puttaparthi, all you have to do is sit. If He looks at you, it’s good. If He talks to you, celebrate. If He gives you an interview, brag about it!

“Swami, why are You so energetic, though You have not partaken of any food?”

Do you know what He said? “You draw energy out of the food that you take. Food is the source of energy for all of you. I don’t need to take food because I am that energy. I am the energy.” That is Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba.

Therefore, my friends, He is energy, not the body. He is freshness, not the body. He’s not powerful—He is the power. One can be powerful by acquiring power, but He is the power itself personified.

I can give you many examples like this, demonstrating that He’s beyond the body. Therefore, if anyone asks you, “Why that long?” it is because He’s not the body. I dare say this. You may even question me. You may even disbelieve me, I don’t mind. Based on my experience, I am telling you: the body of Bhagavan Baba is so tender, so delicate, so soft—like a rose petal, like the petal of a jasmine flower. It is so tender, so delicate, so soft, so beautiful, and very fair.

As you go close to Him to do some padaseva, you will know that. Any additional pressure to His feet while doing any padaseva or massage will cause blisters on His feet because He can’t bear it. The skin is so soft and so delicate. It is highly sensitive.

Once the boys were doing padaseva, which means massaging His feet. Well, I wanted to do it. He saw me and said, “Come on, you do it.”

When I was trying to do that, I was over enthusiastic. The next morning He said, “Abha! Burning all over my feet—see the blisters there. Abha! I cannot come down, come.”

Then, I had no other option than to open the taps of both my eyes and to allow the water to flow. I started crying.

Baba immediately said, “Nothing wrong with you. You were talking some politics, and I was enjoying. So I did not know what had happened and what you were doing. After you left, I realised the pain,” He said. It is enough proof to say that He is not mindful of what is happening to His body.

Now my question is this: my friends, with that soft and delicate, tender sensitive body, how could He withstand all the pinches and all the needles put into His body? How could He bear that?

My answer is this: He allowed the body to remain there on the bed while He went on a spiritual holiday, visiting all His devotees during that time. He cannot be the body, take it from me—impossible! For His delicate nature, for a body that is so soft, it cannot withstand needles like that. It cannot withstand that kind of treatment for such a prolonged period. He must have left the body on the bed. Or He must have gone to Hollywood or Bollywood—we do not know. He must have visited Malaysia or Indonesia and only then returned.

Why should SWAMI stay in the hospital that long?

Then people will ask another question: “Why should He stay in the hospital that long? Why twenty-seven days?”

I’m giving you these answers because you’ll face these questions back home. You cannot avoid them. Don’t be a coward at any point because we have got enough information with us, by His Divine grace.

He must have stayed there that long period for all of us to get prepared for the terminal event to happen. If there was a sudden announcement, thousands would have had to follow. Thousands would have lost their lives. So He gave time to prepare us.

Also He gave time for us, so that we would know when He had decided to go! It was not the doctors and their treatment. He allowed Himself to be treated. “It will happen when I decide. It will happen: I withdraw when I want to. Why? I could come into the body when I wanted, so I will go when I decide.”

You may not believe me, but it is true. A couple of years ago, in front of the Ganesh statue there on the dais, Baba said to me, “Here is going to be Samadhi.” This was a couple of years ago.

Then I said, “Swami, I’m a timid fellow. I’m not the right man to hear these things. Please don’t speak of that. I don’t want to know.”

Then He said, “Hey, it is bound to happen someday or the other. Why are you afraid of it?”

Then He added, “Not now, still time.”

He decided on that spot long ago, a couple of years ago. Not only that, but a few years ago, while talking to students, this same question came up, of whether He would be in His body for 96 years.

“Swami, are You going to be here until 96?”

He said, “If I want, I can be here more than that period. Why only 96? For any length of time I want. If I decide, I will leave this body now!” He said this.

Then I softly, slowly, picked up courage and said, “This is Kodaikanal, Swami. It’s summer vacation. All boys have come to have fun and frolic in Your company, not to hear these words. They get frightened. This is time to enjoy being in Your company, and eat as much as we can. But we cannot hear these words.”

But Baba had said it then: “I can withdraw anytime I decide.”

Therefore, my friends, these are the answers you should be ready with—an answer for our own selves. Be free from doubt; never doubt there is the living God, a loving God, amidst us. He will continue to be with us forever and ever more. There’s no doubt about it. His message will continue to inspire everybody all over the world.

What is Baba’s miracle?

What is Baba’s miracle? The miracle of Baba is not the materialisation of objects alone. Baba’s miracle is that He could reach places like Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and so many far-off places. Tell me! Name the country! He’s already there. One general appeal to all of you, my friends—be sure of this Tell it emphatically, with all conviction! Tell everybody. What is it? He’s the only Jagat Guru—world teacher—the only one.

Without stepping out of Puttaparthi, without moving out of Prashanthi Nilayam, He brought the whole world right to His presence. He’s the only one. That is the proof of His miracle. He has not stretched out His hand. He has not asked anybody to come. Simply He motivated everybody; He inspired everyone from within. They started pouring out their love in the form of sacrifice and participation in the Divine mission. Tell of these things. Share His message. And be firmly established in your conviction.

Never go changing from guru to guru, because what is not here is nowhere else. Take it from me, nowhere else. Impossible, impossible! After enjoying Bhagavan Baba, after experiencing His infinite compassion, having been the recipient of a number of gifts, having had a number of experiences, you don’t need to go anywhere. What is it that you do not have?

Therefore, tell everybody—our Bhagavan is with us. Swami is in me. He’ll continue to inspire me. He’ll continue to organise activities in our areas. I’m sure that the next time devotees come from Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Taiwan, they will be double the number. There’s no doubt about it—double the number!

What will happen to Puttaparthi after Baba?

People are asking the question, “What will happen to Puttaparthi after Baba?” First, the question itself is a stupid question because there’s no question about ‘after Baba’ or ‘before Baba’. Baba is Baba: He’s ever-existent, so there’s no question of ‘after’. Tell everyone openly this point. In fact, all pilgrim centres have developed after the great souls left their body, not during their lifetime.

Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba made Prashanthi Nilayam a role model for the whole world. There is only one place where people of all religions meet, where people of all age groups and all professions meet—only one place! In His lifetime, He started education institutions and hospitals, right in this place.

It is all ready; it is ready-made stuff now. You don’t need to develop anything. It is enough if you don’t spoil it. It is enough if you don’t bring a bad name to it. It is our responsibility to maintain this Divine property, as trustees of this Divine property, given to us by Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba.

Be watchful of the Divine presence in every moment of your life.

I happily remember my visit to Borobudur. I also remember my visit to Malaysia. I also remember my visit to Sri Lanka—the Buddha tooth place, Kandy. I saw huge statues of Bhagavan Buddha in Kobe, Japan.

In Hong Kong, there is a Buddha statue on the hilltop, reminding me of Lord Venkateshwara—like Lord Venkateshwara on the seventh hilltop. There in Hong Kong, Venkateshwara sits there as Lord Buddha on the mountaintop. When you go on the way to the mountaintop in Hong Kong, it is surrounded by clouds. So it is very difficult to see Him unless you climb up the steps. In a sitting posture, Bhagavan Buddha is welcoming everybody, as if the grandfather is waiting for the return of the grandchild! You cannot stop crying, standing in front of Bhagavan Buddha’s statue.

I recall those places, all pilgrimage centres associated with Buddha, and that Buddha is Bhagavan Baba. Bhagavan Baba is Buddha. There’s no difference! The One of that time is now Him in this time. He’ll live forever and forever!

May God bless you! Thank you!

Om . . . Om . . .Om

Asato Maa Sadgamaya

Tamaso Maa Jyotirgamaya

Mrityormaa Amrithamgamaya

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti

Jai Bolo Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Babaji ki Jai!