SABKA MALIK EK
“I laugh when I hear
that fish in the water is thirsty…
I laugh when I hear
that people go on pilgrimage to find God.”
-
Kabir
I have
never been to Shirdi. But, I have, always, been awe-struck by Sai Baba’s life
and teachings. He and Kabir will, always, remain close to my heart…
Last evening, along the
Eastern Express Highway, I saw hundreds of pilgrims… men and women, young and
old… dozens of volunteers, vehicles carrying food and beverages, medicines and
first-aid… saffron flags and silver palki…
some chanted… some laughed… some quietly walked… By foot, our driver told us,
it would take the padyatris about
eight days to reach the shrine at Shirdi… Many groups across the city organize
these pilgrimages, he told us.
Faith is purely a
personal matter. Right from inside the car in which I was commuting, I remembered
Baba’s life… So utterly simple and uncomplicated it was… Nothing in possession,
yet, so rich it was… God of the mosque and
God of the temple were same for Him… He preached, that everything man clinged
to was perishable and a simple surrender to God alone was the true source of
one’s happiness…
So, as I watched those
pilgrims, last evening, I was wondering: Would Baba bless me if I remembered Him
from where I was… Or, would He insist on my coming to His shrine, walking all
the way for eight days!
I am no one to pass a
judgement on another man’s faith… If he believed in meeting Baba at the end of
the 8-day-long pilgrimage, so be it… I am sure, there is blessing for every
sincere seeker!
But, as I said, I can
meet Baba from wherever I am and whenever I long… just by remembering Him from
all my heart…
“Faith is not the clinging
to a shrine,” said Abraham Joshua Heschel, “but an endless pilgrimage of the
heart.” Yes, as long as the heart does not cease
its longing to reach Baba, to me, my clinging to a shrine seems futile…
Kabir had said, “All
darkness vanished when I saw the Lamp within my heart.”
The life and teachings
of Shirdi Sai Baba and Kabir shall, always, remain special to me… They shall
remain above all the man-made boundaries of religions… Temples, mosques, churches, gurudwaras,
synagogues and every other shrine shall look small compared to the simple
beauty of the life and teachings of these two souls…
‘Sab
ka Malik ek.’ It doesn’t matter, which route we have
taken to meet Him.
GERALD D’CUNHA
Pic.: Azriel D'Souza
Comments