JOIN USSome people may think because I live in Puttaparthi and believe Sai Baba is God that I am a holy person—or mad. The truth is there are days I would like to run away from living under the microscope of judges and critics.
The mind says, flee, but the soul sticks to the dust of the township’s streets. No matter what I plan, decide, or insist on, I remain powerless. What God wills happens.
Precious Puttaparthi Sai taught, “Understand that there is no free will for individuals.
They are constrained by various limitations. God alone has total free will. All others are bound in one way or another. Whatever one’s efforts, the ultimate outcome lies with Providence. Therefore, place your faith in God and do your duty, wherever you may be.”
Each day I still make lists of things I need to get done. At my desk, I outline time frames to do certain assignments. Yet, according to Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai, I am not the doer of any of these actions. I am only an instrument.
He explained, “Nobody has free will. For man is subservient to his senses. Even if he wants otherwise, his eyes will look at the world. Ears listen to all sounds. Legs move to places unwanted by him. He is thus reduced to the state of a slave of the senses. Where is the free will? Added to this, man’s behaviour is also fashioned around the acquisitions of previous birth; not only that, the effect of the deeds of his parents too will influence the child born to them. Thus man is subjected to and influenced by diverse forces—the effect of his own deeds, that of his parents and above all the influences of his senses. Then how can free will prevail for man? This faculty is enjoyed by God alone.”
So should I just wake up and do what I feel like doing? What about my responsibilities? There is no one but me to meet my expenses. I am the sole “bread winner” in my life. This is how my mind flies around in my head…like a cruel warden. Yet one of the first teachings of the Avatar Lord Sai is, “Why fear when I am here?” He promised from his first public teachings in the early 1950s that he would protect and care for his devotees. He moves as quickly to protect us as the lid moves to cover the eye.
He insisted, “It is believed that every man has a free will. This is a mistake. It is also believed that it is through the individual's ideas and efforts that many things are accomplished. This is based on misconceptions regarding man's doership and egoism. Strength derived from the Divine alone is true strength. All else is weakness.
To realise the Atma, physical prowess is of no avail. It is only by developing the sense of spiritual oneness, that the Atmic Consciousness can be realised.”