A lot of
information can be found in the internet about Dr C.B.Satpathy , but what I
wish to write about Him is the simple truth that mystics and saints do exist in
modern times also.
Dr C.B.Satpathy is
an eminent personality who retired as Director General of Police from the state
of Uttar Pradesh in the year 2008. He has been a source of inspiration for me
personally and my father had entrusted my spiritual evolution to Him when I was
in college.
He was born in
1948, completed his BA (Hons) in Political Science in 1968 from Ravenshaw College, completed MA in
Political Science from Ramjas College, Delhi in 1970 and thereafter taught Political Science in Motilal
College, Delhi University , joined IPS in 1972 and retired in 2008.
He has been an
inspiration behind making more than 300 temples of Shiridi Sai Baba all over
the world apart from a lot of social work, I personally appreciate His writing
for absolute clarity and logical thinking process.
According to him,
temples should not be dedicated only for worship but should function as centers
of human service to all sections of society. “ Love cannot sustain without
mutual tolerance and devotion cannot exist without love.”
We can add immense
value to society by being constructive, our positive thought process and
actions will ultimately make the world a better place and bring us closer to
the Divine. More information is avialable on http://www.saibabaofshirdi.net/
Neem Karoli Baba
is “World Famous” because Mark Zuckelberg, founder of Facebook,told PM
Narendra Modi about his visit to Kainchi Dham in Uttarakhand.
“Early on in our
history……..we had hit a tough patch……..I went to meet one of my mentors Steve
Jobs who told me in order to reconnect with the mission of the company, I
should visit this temple he had gone to,” Zuckerberg said.
He spoke about
how, during the month he spent in India, he saw how people connected and how it
reinforced his vision for the social media company.
Zuckerberg had gone
there in 2008 on the advice of Apple’s co-founder Steve Jobs, who had himself made
the journey in 1974. Jobs could not meet Baba as he had left his body in Sept 11th , 1973.
I appreciate both
Mark & Steve because they have been bringing in revolutionary products
which have been changing our life and help realize our oneness despite the
divergence.
Steve Jobs had
made the Macintosh computer in 1984 featuring an integral graphical interface
& mouse. Later on he was inspired by the book “Be Here Now” by Ram Dass and
visited India to meet Neem Karoli Baba.
Steve Jobs went on to produce ipad, ipod and iphone – which brought about a
much needed integration of computers and mobile phones – something that the
whole world was desperately waiting for.
Mark’s Facebook
could have more engagement and users sheerly due to the iphone , ipad &
android phones.
Interestingly, Ram
Dass the author of “Be Here Now” was known as Dr Richard Alpert who was a Professor
in Harvard University where he worked in Social Relations & Psychology Department
and experimented on hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD. Neem Karoli Baba once
took all his supply of LSD and gulped it to show that LSD is useless in
spiritual pursuit.
Now Neem Karoli
Baba was a Sadguru or Mystic who was born in 1900 and passed away in September 1972.
He made around 108 temples of Hanumanji, influenced American & Indian
Society.
He was born in
Agra District in a Bramhin family and believed in serving people through continuous
feeding, the atmosphere around Him reverberated with chanting of devotional
songs followed by Bhandara or feeding the poor and hungry.
His simple
teaching was to love all of humanity without any distinction of color, caste,
creed, sex – His main role was to break down all barriers and bring about social
integration through music, food and remembering God.
Let us follow a
simple life of serving our fellow human beings all over the world without any
barriers of nationality, caste, sex. To love God is to love humanity- you can’t
be a feminist, nationalist and have an us versus them attitude – because when
you sleep you are no longer a man or woman, Indian or American.
There
are four Sufi Saints who made huge difference in the social and cultural life
and helped evolve Humanity.
1.Moinuddin Chisti of Ajmer – came during rule of Prithviraj
Chauhan .
2.Qutabuddin Bakhtiar Kaki – Qutab Minar dedicated to Him and
was close to Iltutmish of Slave Dynasty.
3.Fariduddin Ganjshakar – development of Punjabi literature –more
than 124 hymns composed by Him is included in Guru Granth Sahib by 5th
Sikh Guru Arjun.
4. Nizamuddin Auliya
- He was spiritual master of Amir
Khusrau & Nasiruddin Chirag –e – Delhi.
The
common thing among these four famous Sufi Saints was that they formed the
spiritual chain or “silsila” of the Chisti order in India, each successive
person being disciple of the previous.
This
was similar to the ten Sikh Gurus or the spiritual chain of Kriya Yogi’s of
Mahaavatar Babaji or Ancient mystics known as Essenes –famous for “The Dead Sea
Scrolls”.
The
Sufi Saints stressed on love as a means for realizing God, love of God implied
a love of humanity. They had a highly evolved sense of secularity and kindness.
They brought about a paradigm shift towards worldly matters and people began to
be inclined towards mysticism and prayers and remaining aloof from the world.
The
Sufi Saints always promoted the local language and culture and believed in
assimilation, mutual tolerance , quality of accommodation and to bring about
cohesion of diverse people they promoted Qawwali music by which listeners became so mesmerized that they
started dancing a traditional religious dance called” Dhamaal”.
Sufi
music serves as a basis of contact with people & facilitates mutual
adjustment between communities. The Sufi poets Rumi, Hafiz, Bulleh Shah, Amir
Khusrow and Khwaja Gulam are so popular that they continue to inspire Bollywood
film music and are known as epitome of romantic songs.
The
Sufi model of “Khanqah” was more like an ancient “Caravan Serai” as they were
removed from the main city, had a “Baoli” or Stepwells – similar to a pond, the
“Khanqah” was more like a spiritual retreat where people from all over the
world came to meet the Spiritual Master, it usually has a mosque for prayers
attached along with a “Madrasa” or School where children were imparted
education . Feeding or “Langar” was very popular as the poor and hungry were
always served with love and care.
Therefore
by default the “Khanqah” became the focal point of social and community
development – very much like our modern day Malls - only difference being that Malls are more
materialistic.
We
can explore the life of the saints and the subtle methods used by them for
social engineering and evolution and with appropriate adaptation they can be
used to develop our complex society.
Sai
Baba used to smoke beedi and eat mutton biryani. This is our thought process
and Baba used to costantly monitor the thought process of his devotees by
asking them what they were talking about in a very fatherly manner.
Shiridi Sai Baba
needs no introduction, however for the benefit of my readers I will add a few
words about Sai Baba and why I think He is relevant in today’s context.
Sai Baba was first
discovered as a young boy in Shiridi sitting under a tree in Samadhi and all
the animals were circumambulating or going around Him as if drawn by a strange
magnetic power. It was as if he was the post to which all the animals were tied
by an invisible thread or rope.
The villagers
respected Him, but He was indifferent to both honor & dishonor as children
used to throw stones at this mad Fakir. Thereafter He disappeared and returned
after a few years with a Muslim Family in their marriage party and stayed in
Shiridi for sixty years.
Since the internet
and many books and videos are there, I shall not write or repeat the same here
about Sai Baba , but shall only write about why He is relevant today and can
solve all our problems faced by Humanity all over the world.
Sai Baba was a
Yogi who could perform many of the Yogic feats as described in the Yoga Sutra,
He encouraged people to follow their own religion and scriptures . There was
constant reading of religious scriptures in Masjidmayee where he chose to dwell
– a dilapidated ,crumbling old mosque which he referred to as Dwarkamayee.
Sai Baba always
uttered “Allah Mallik Hai” , “Ram Bhala Karega” and behaved as a Sufi Fakir and
had full knowledge about the Muslim religion and therefore had both Muslim and
Hindu Devotees.
He fashioned His
abode as a Khanqah or Dargah of the Sufi Saints where constant Bhajan , Kirtan
,Aarti and singing in praise of God used to take place. If we observe – this had
traces of the Bhakti Movement, similar to singing of Gurbani in the Gurudwara, singing
of Qawwali in the Dargah of the Sufi Saints. The whole singing and music
process is recognized today as the best healing and rejuvenating for mind and body
as it elevates the mood.
Sai Baba had a
constant fire burning much like the Yogis and followers of Zoroastrians and
from that fire’s ashes he used to freely distribute Udi or ashes as Prasad
which was also known as a cure for all ills and diseases.
Sai Baba also used
to Himself cook for hundreds of people and operate a community kitchen where
both vegetarian and non vegetarian food was cooked, it was similar to the
langar of Gurudwara and free kitchens operated by Sufi Saints.
The whole purpose
was to bring about social cohesion, mutual tolerance, serving the poor and
hungry.
Shiridi soon
became a Spiritual retreat where people from far and near came for His darshan
or meeting Him to solve their problems and all were blessed and wishes
fulfilled by the Grace of God.
Shiridi soon
became a social, cultural centre for rapid evolution of society and individuals
benefitted from His holy company.
Today a lot of Sai
Baba temples have come up all over the world and they all have the following :
An idol of Sai Baba – like any Hindu Temple
where the Deity is worshipped as father, mother , preceptor , Guru and to focus their attention and communicate
to a form who can help in communicating with the formless God.
Place for reading Sai Satcharita- The life
and teachings of Sai Baba – similar to Temples, Mosques & Gurudwara where
religious scriptures as per one’s own faith and believe can be read in a silent
and tranquil environment.
A constantly burning fire – Similar to the
Yogis and symbol of light, place for collecting Udi or sacred ash.
Arti and Bhajan – Similar to Temple, Mosque
or Gurudwara where prayers are done four times a day. A place for Satsang or
getting together of like minded people.
Langar or Community Kitchen – Similar to
Sufi Khanqah , Gurudwara where food is regularly distributed to the poor and
hungry people.
Social Work – small dispensary for
distributing medicines, treatment of sick , education for children with help of
internet and digital products.
Therefore if the
communities or societies take up building of similar Sai Baba temples , it
would bring about more peace and harmony in a society which is constantly in
competition of us versus them syndrome and build a common platform for social
cohesion and bonding during times of natural disaster like flood , earthquakes
and help evolution.
