JOIN USSri Sathya Sai Baba says, "Siddhartha, who came to be known as Guatama Buddha, undertook various spiritual practices in order to realize his true self. He studied the Vedas and sacred texts. He met many elderly wise men and tried to know the truth from them. But none of these practices could show him the path to Nirvana."
What others could not give to him, Siddhartha had to discover through his own experiential knowledge. His quest for the answer to, "Why are we born?" was found within. His outer search turned inward.
Puttaparthi Sai, points out, "Ultimately, he realized that Nirvana lies in making use of the five senses of speech, touch, vision, taste and smell in a sacred manner. He understood that Japa, Dhyana, Yoga, Yajna, etc. were mere physical activities. These spiritual practices are needed only for those who are attached to the body. One who abides in the self need not undertake any of these practices."
After realization, Siddhartha spread his spiritual discoveries to those devotees attracted to him. Sai Baba says, "Buddha taught that Nirvana can be attained only by cultivating Samyak Drishti (sacred vision), Samyak Vaak (sacred speech), Samyak Shravanam (sacred listening), Samyak Bhavam (sacred feeling) and Samyak Kriya (sacred action)."
Why, therefore, is it so difficult to emulate Siddhartha?" Swami answers, "Today man is polluting his mind because of his evil vision. Once the mind is polluted, how can he expect to attain Nirvana? So, first of all he should develop sacred vision. See no evil, see what is good. Man is subjected to hardships because of his unsacred vision. Evil vision is sure to lead to sinful acts. In fact, it destroys his humaness itself."
To reach the goal, Sai Baba teaches we must know the goal. He says, "What is Nirvana? Today man aspires to attain Mukthi (liberation). What is Mukthi? Mukthi means freedom from suffering. You need to have Mukthi at three levels - body, mind and soul.
For example, you are hungry. When you eat food, your hunger is satiated. This is a kind of Mukthi. Say, you are suffering from a disease. You take medicine and get cured. This is also Mukthi. All this is related to the body. At the mental level, Mukthi means controlling the vagaries of the mind. But true liberation lies in understanding the principle of the Atma. This is termed as Nirvana."
Happily, with discipline and practice, we too can wake up in this lifetime. We too can become a Buddha. According to Sai, it is our very own Self that is prompting us to do so.