SRI SATHYA SAI HRUDAYA NIVASI (INDWELLER OF HEARTS) Chapter – 9
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SEVA “Thana” which had since been named “Thane” is suburban city some 30 kilometers away from Bombay. As I had already mentioned, this is the same suburb, in which, thanks to the Grace of Sai, I came to secure a residential accommodation. On the eastern side of the Railway line, a holy spiritual center has come up by the name “Ananda ASHRAM”. Ms. Tara Devi, now reverently called ‘Mataji’ is the head of this Ashram. Earlier she was living in the same colony where we had our accommodation, i.e. at Vatak Nagar on the western side. We just knew her as Ms.Tara. She was living with her parents and brothers who were my very close friends. She was quite young and was in the marriageable age. However, her life style got totally transformed after her first visit to Prashanthi Nilayam. She developed extreme devotion and love towards Swami and lost all interest in the mundane world affairs. All the time ‘Sai’ filled her mind and spirit. Gradually, around her, a small satsang began to emerge and she came to be known as ‘Mataji’ in the area. She organized a Sai Bhajan Group and encouraged those who came to her to participate in Nama Sankirtan. With gathering and increasing visitors, she did not wish to disturb her family members, because of her satsang activities. The inevitable happened. She left her home behind and totally dedicated herself to the devotees. Some Good Samaritan from Thane East provided her a small Ashram place, for accommodating her and facilitating the spiritual activities. This Ashram has become very popular. Sai Bhajans are conducted twice a day and various spiritual activities are also going on. The Ashram is also running a secondary school providing fee education. In the early years due to close proximity to Mataji, ample opportunities were available for us to engage in personal discussions with her on various spiritual matters, especially on the philosophy of Sai. My wife and myself had innumerable divine experiences with her. As for our own development of devotion to Swami, we had accepted Him as another deity and started worshipping Him reverently along with the other Gods. We were undoubtedly aware that mere worship in a ritualistic fashion would not suffice and would not yield results. Mataji Tara Devi advised us that we should try to understand and adopt the teachings of Swami in the conduct of our life. The day to day activities should conform to His spiritual teachings, and the worship should be a way of life itself. In short worship should consist of continuous process of living as per His teachings rather than ritualistic fixed time sitting before the deity in the Pooja Room. We cannot expect to gain the Grace of Swami simply by the usual Pooja rituals, like the ones, which we offer to the other Gods, Shri Rama, Shri Krishna, and others. We were reminded of Swami teachings, “The Hands that serve the needy is much holier than the lips that offer prayers daily” We also tried to understand the principle of universality of divinity which dwells in all the creation and this divinity is nothing but the Atma, in each one of us. If we can appreciate this principle, then we would come to experience that divinity as enshrined in all even in the poor and needy and who are less fortunate than us. The supreme offer to God is the sparing and sharing of the time and resources for and with the less fortunate brethren, sisters, sons, and daughters. Had not swami propounded “Manav Seva is Madhav Seva”? We were made wise by Mataji’s teachings of Swami during those days when we used to get much time for personal discussions. I started to attend the programmes of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organizations in our city. The organization offered excellent opportunities for the devotees to get together and engage in Seva activities as a group so that time and the resources could be put to best use. Our main aim had been to spread the message of