Shirdi Sai Baba

October 20, 2021 sakshizion Leave a comment

According to accounts from his life, he preached the importance of “realization of the self” and criticized “love towards perishable things”. His teachings concentrate on a moral code of love, forgiveness, helping others, charity, contentment, inner peace and devotion to the God and guru. He stressed the importance of surrender to the true Satguru, who, having trod the path to divine consciousness, will lead the disciple through the jungle of spiritual training.

Sai Baba also condemned distinction based on religion or caste. It remains unclear if he was a Muslim or a Hindu. This, however, was of no consequence to Sai Baba. His teachings combined elements of Hinduism and Islam: he gave the Hindu name Dwarakamayi to the mosque in which he lived, practised both Hindu and Muslim rituals, taught using words and figures that drew from both traditions and took samadhi in Shirdi. One of his well-known epigrams, Allah Malik (God is King) and Sabka Malik Ek (Everyone’s Master is One), is associated with both Hinduism and Islam. He is also known to have said “Look to me, and I shall look to you” and Allah tera bhala karega. He was said to be an incarnation of Dattatreya.

Sai Baba’s date of birth including his birthplace remains unknown. Most information about Shirdi Sai Baba tends to be derived from a book called Shri Sai Satcharitra written by a disciple called Hemadpant (also known as Annasaheb Dabholkar / Govind Raghunath) in 1922 in Marathi. The book itself is a compilation based on accounts by his various disciples and Hemadpant’s personal observations of Sai Baba from 1910 onwards.

There are various beliefs surrounding Sai Baba’s place of birth and parents. According to multiple sources, Sai Baba was born in a small village Pathri in Maharashtra to a boatman called Ganga Bhavadia and his wife Devagiriamma. Sai Baba is also claimed to have been born in Tamil Nadu. According to this version, his mother’s name was Vaishnavdevi and his father’s name was Abdul Sattar. Sri Narasimha Swamy, a devotee of Sai Baba wrote a book Life of Sai Baba. It claims that Sai Baba would make references to Patri in the Nizam State and much later in life told one of his staunch devotees. Many devotees of Sai Baba do not concern themselves with his birthplace or the religion of his family, as Baba actively discouraged such inquiry nor sought to align himself with any region or religion.

According to multiple sources, he was brought up by Fakir in early childhood. Even from an early age, he was always dispassionate and imbibed the detachment from his foster father, the Fakir. Unfortunately, the fakir too died within 4–5 years of adopting Baba.

Sai Baba at Shirdi
Sai Baba’s real name remains unknown. The name Sai was given to him by Mahalsapati[a] when he arrived at Shirdi, a town now in the west Indian state of Maharashtra. The word Sai refers to a religious mendicant but can also mean God. In several Indian and Middle Eastern languages the term Baba is an honorific signifying grandfather, father, old man or sir. Thus Sai Baba denotes “holy father”, “saintly father” or (venerable) poor old man.

Some of Sai Baba’s disciples became famous as spiritual figures and saints, such as Mahalsapati, a priest of the Khandoba temple in Shirdi and Upasni Maharaj. He was revered by other saints as well, such as Saint Bidkar Maharaj, Saint Gagangiri Maharaj, Saint Janakidas Maharaj and Sati Godavari Mataji. Sai Baba referred to several saints as ‘my brothers’, especially the disciples of Swami Samartha of Akkalkot.

Sai Baba opposed all persecution based on religion or caste. He was an opponent of religious orthodoxy – Christian, Hindu and Muslim.

Sai Baba encouraged his devotees to pray, chant God’s name, and read holy scriptures. He told Muslims to study the Qur’an and Hindus to study texts such as the Ramayana, Bhagavad Gita and Yoga Vasistha. He advised his devotees and followers to lead a moral life, help others, love every living being without any discrimination, and develop two important features of character: faith (Shraddha) and patience (Saburi). He criticised atheism.

In his teachings, Sai Baba emphasised the importance of performing one’s duties without attachment to earthly matters and of being content regardless of the situation. In his personal practice, Sai Baba observed worship procedures belonging to Islam; he shunned any kind of regular rituals but allowed the practice of Salah, chanting of Al-Fatiha, and Qur’an readings at Muslim festival times. Occasionally reciting the Al-Fatiha, Baba enjoyed listening to mawlid and qawwali accompanied with the tabla and sarangi twice daily.

Sai Baba interpreted the religious texts of both Islam and Hinduism. He explained the meaning of the Hindu scriptures in the spirit of Advaita Vedanta. His philosophy also had numerous elements of bhakti. The three main Hindu spiritual paths — Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga, and Karma Yoga — influenced his teachings.

Sai Baba encouraged charity and stressed the importance of sharing. He said

Unless there is some relationship or connection, nobody goes anywhere. If any men or creatures come to you, do not discourteously drive them away, but receive them well and treat them with due respect. Sri Hari (God) will certainly be pleased if you give water to the thirsty, bread to the hungry, clothes to the naked, and your verandah to strangers for sitting and resting. If anybody wants any money from you and you are not inclined to give, do not give, but do not bark at him like a dog.”

Baba himself maintained an ambiguous profile, unwilling to identify with either of the two religions. His Muslim devotees were fully convinced that he belonged to their fold, identifying him as an avaliā. The Hindu bhaktas also viewed him as one of them, since he often identified himself with their gods and customs. Sai Baba wanted to belong to all and be shared by all. When pressed on whether he was Hindu or Muslim, he would often get very angry. Once he told a devotee: “You have been with me for eighteen years now. Does Sai mean for you only these three and a half cubits of height?” Sai Baba was able to avoid clashes between the two communities, and, in fact, succeeded in unifying them in an atmosphere of general harmony. In a verse of the midday arti, devotees sing:

“In essence or basic principle, there is no difference whatever between Hindu and Muslim. You took birth in human body to point out this. You look with affection on both Hindus and Muslims. This, Sai, who pervades all, as the soul of all, shows.”

Baba would often talk about the Hindu gods, quoting from sacred texts or even commenting upon passages of the Bhagavad Gita, the Isha Upanishad, and so forth. The names of Krishna and Rama seem to have been particularly dear to him. With his Muslim followers, Baba would always talk of Allah and the Koran, often quoting Persian verses. One of his favourite expressions was “Allah rakhega vaiia rahena”, that is, “Let us be content with what we have, and submit our will to Allah.” On several occasions, Sai reassured his listeners by saying that he, like them, was but a devotee of Allah, a humble faqir with two arms and two legs. In later years, Parsis and even a few Christians would come to Shirdi. Sai Baba respected all creeds, true to his conviction that all religions are but particular paths leading to one ineffable goal. His notion of the unity of all mankind that appealed to everyone was very congruous with Sufism of Islam. “God being one and the master of all also meant that all his creatures were part of one big family,” writes Sikand. “This belief was entirely in keeping with … the teachings of Sufis, who believed that the light of God exists in every creature, indeed in every particle of His creation.” Sai Baba urged his Hindu followers to read their holy books and find their own path. For him, all paths were equally valid, “Ishwar” (the Hindu God) and “Allah” being synonymous.

Padukas of Sai Baba
People coming to his abode were so taken aback to see Hindus, Muslims, and others living together so peacefully that in many instances it changed their entire lives and belief systems.

Miracles
Sai Baba’s disciples and devotees claim that he performed many miracles such as bilocation, levitation, mind-reading, materialisation, exorcisms, entering a state of Samādhi at will, lighting lamps with water, removing his limbs or intestines and sticking them back to his body (khandana yoga), curing the incurably sick, appearing beaten when another was beaten, preventing a mosque from falling down on people, and helping his devotees in other miraculous ways. He also gave Darshan (vision) to people in the form of Sri Rama, Krishna, Vithoba, Shiva and many other gods depending on the faith of devotees.

According to his followers, he appeared to them in their dreams and gave them advice. His devotees have documented their experiences.

Abundance, Inspiration, Law of Attraction, Mantra, Mystical, Natural Healing, Yoga

Green Tara – Mother Gaia

October 13, 2021 sakshizion Leave a comment

A new Earth is being born.

Mother Nature is a conscious, sentient Being. She is our Cosmic Mother. She has many names. Some call her Green Tara. Our modern civilizations lost respect for the Mother Creator. Our disconnect from Divine Mother was our true fall from grace. Now, in order to heal our own lives, we need to reconnect with Mother Nature.

Earth Healers and Guardians are stepping up to their most important mission to restore the sacred relationship with the Earth.

The time has come for the Mother’s ascension. Her electromagnetic frequency is rising. And with that, we are also ascending. It is time to align with the Mother again. The more we attune our lives with her energy, the more blissful the process will be. This is the most radical transformation of human existence. It is time to love Goddess Life again. She is our true savior.

Green Tara mantra: Oṃ Tāre Tuttāre Ture Svāhā
(Om Tare Tuttare Ture Svaha)

Tara, whose name means “star” or “she who ferries across,” is a Bodhisattva of compassion. In Tibetan, Tara is known as “Dölma” (Sgrol-ma), or “She Who Saves.” In particular she represents compassion in action, since she’s in the process of stepping from her lotus throne in order to help sentient beings.

Literal translation

This mantra (or at least most of it) has a literal meaning. Here are the meanings of the various parts of it:

The syllable Om has no conceptual meaning, and is a sound representing the potential for awakening that resides in all living beings. (You can read more about Om on the page discussing the Om shanti shanti shanti mantra.)

“Tare” is the vocative form of Tara, so it means “O Tara!” (The vocative form of a noun is where the person or thing is being addressed or called upon.)

“Tu” is an exclamation that can mean “Pray! I beg! I entreat!” and so “tuttare” means something like “I pray to you, O Tara,” “I entreat you, O Tara,” or “I beg you, O Tara.”

“Tura” is an adjective meaning “quick, willing, prompt.” As a noun, “tura would mean “swift one.” “Ture” would be the vocative form of the noun, and so “ture” would mean something like “O swift one!”
Svāhā means: “Hail!”, “Hail to!” or “May a blessing rest on!”

So the Green Tara mantra could be translated as “OM! O Tara! I entreat you, O Tara! O swift one! Hail!”

Mystical, Spiritual, Yoga

Dakinis: Goddesses of Liberation in Buddhism

October 2, 2021 sakshizion Leave a comment

A dakini is a manifestation of liberating energy in female form. Sometimes they are beautiful, and sometimes they are wrathful and hideous and decorated with skulls. Because they represent liberation they often are depicted naked and dancing. The Tibetan word for dakini is khandroma, which means “sky goer.”

In Buddhist tantra, iconic dakinis help arouse blissful energy in a practitioner, transforming defiled mental states, or klesas, into enlightened awareness. In Vajrayana iconography prajna, wisdom is often depicted as the female principle to be joined with upaya, or skillful means, the masculine principle. Thus the liberation of the female dakini is the boundlessness of sunyata, emptiness, which is the perfection of wisdom.

Origin of Dakinis
Veneration of dakinis appears to have first emerged in India sometime between the 10th and 12th centuries. The original dakinis may have been the female consorts shown in yab-yum images. About the same time, dakinis also appeared in Hindu art and stories, originally as evil and malevolent spirits. But it was within Buddhist tantra that dakinis developed into richly complex archetypes of liberating power.

The dakini tradition was transmitted from India to Tibet, and today dakinis are most closely associated with Tibetan Buddhism. Dakinis also are found in Japanese Shingon Buddhism, where they came to be associated with foxes. In Japanese folklore, foxes have many magical properties and can take the form of human women.

Classification of Dakinis
Dakinis may be enlightened or unenlightened. An unenlightened dakini is sometimes called a “worldly” dakini. A worldly dakini is still caught in the cycle of samsara and may manifest as a kind of trickster. But most of the time when we’re talking about dakinis, we’re talking about enlightened ones, also called “wisdom” dakinis.

Dakinis play many different roles in Vajrayana and can be identified in many ways, but often they are sorted into four major classes. These four are secret, inner, outer, and outer-outer.

On the secret level, the dakini is a manifestation of the most subtle state of mind experienced intimately in highest tantra yoga. At the inner level, she is a meditation deity or yidam, an expression of the most basic nature of the practitioner. The outer dakini manifests as a physical body, which may be the physical body of the practitioner who has realized himself as her, as self-other dualities melt away. And the outer dakini is a dakini in human form, possibly a teacher or yogini.

Dakinis also are classified according to the five Buddha families, illustrated by the Five Dhyani Buddhas. And they are sometimes associated with the three aspects of the Trikaya.

However, sorting iconic dakinis into rigid classifications is to miss them. More than anything else dakinis represent dynamism and energy. They are the power that brings about transformation. They can manifest in many forms, including as yourself. They are fierce, and often frightening, and don’t conform to expectations.

Wrathfulness
In Western art, traditionally benevolent beings are depicted as beautiful and malevolent ones are ugly, but the art of Asia doesn’t always follow that pattern. The many wrathful characters depicted in Buddhist art, including wrathful deities, often are protectors and teachers. Their appearance is a manifestation of power and even ferocity, but not malevolence.

The symbolism associated with wrathful beings may also confuse the uninitiated viewer. For example, when a dakini is shown dancing on a corpse, the corpse does not represent death but rather an ignorance and the ego.

Many iconic figures can appear in both peaceful and wrathful aspects. For example, the usually beautiful Tara, an archetype of compassion, sometimes manifests as Black Tara, who can resemble the black, dancing dakini in the image above. Black Tara functions to ward off evil, not cause it.

In their wrathful appearance dakinis are akin to Dharmapalas, who in Tibetan mythology often were former demons who converted to Buddhism and became dharma protectors. The Dharmapala Mahakala is the wrathful form of Avalokiteshvara, Bodhisattva of Compassion. The one principal Dharmapala who is female, Palden Lhamo, is often also called a dakini.

Other Prominent Dakinis
The dakini Vajrayogini, who can manifest as several other beings, is one of the earliest dakinis and is considered to be the supreme deity of all tantric gods and goddesses. Narodakini is a particularly fierce dakini of early Vajrayana. Simhamukha is a lion-headed dakini and female manifestation of Padmasambhava.

By Barbara O’Brien