Recently I had a friend visit me in Goa. He was staying at a luxury hotel close by. The next day he very courteously invited me to join him for breakfast there. I usually tend to keep to myself and my routine and am quite solitary by nature, but since this was an old friendship, making a rare exception I went along.
While it was a beautiful experience meeting him and spending time with him, it was a painful reminder of the sheer excess, indulgence and wastage of food that often takes place in these elaborate settings.
The other significant reminder I had was the influence of such places and settings on one’s mind. Prabhaav may be a good word to describe it.
In one of the satsangs on the channel with Pujya Bholebaba, he spoke of the effect of even one’s dressing on one’s mindset and attitude. He gave the example of wearing a suit, tie and english boots, an example the great sage Ramakrishna Paramhansa would often give too.
In the earlier stages of one’s practice, till one is firmly rooted and absorbed in the constant remembrance and contemplation of Lord Sai Baba, it maybe helpful to pay more careful attention to such external disciplines.
An analogy commonly used by the sages of a small sapling initially needs to be protected from the elements until it is firmly rooted, then the elements or even grazing animals would not damage or destroy it.
Lord Sai Baba Himself advocated strictness of diet to His disciple Abdul Baba, for any excess would lead to one falling prey to sleep or tamas. Aai would often even say that over eating too is a sin, for it deprives someone else of their share.
Some of these principles may seem like a tall order for most of us, however the direction and path they point in is at least what one must aspire toward. The mind by repeated contemplation over anything tends to imbibe those attributes and qualities automatically.
As one’s sensitivity increases and one is absorbed in the contemplation and remembrance of Lord Sai Baba, one would naturally gravitate away from excess and indulgence, and instead treat food and other beings alike with reverence and respect.
It reminds me of what Masterjee always says repeatedly ‘Anna Brahma Hai’. It reminds me of one of my first documentaries and one most dear to my heart 'The Living Temples of God'
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