Sai Baba on Vegetarianism

By Terry Reis Kennedy

From the beginning of his teaching, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba has been clear. “It is a sin to kill an animal. You may reply that an animal was killed by the butcher. That is incorrect; it is only because you are eating them that the animals are being killed.”

When I lived in California, I believed, “You are what you eat.”  But I was a vegetarian more out of stylishness than out of heartfelt conviction that eating meat was wrong.

Then I moved to India, land of Buddha, the great Masters, and home to Lord Sathya Sai.  Living in the physical proximity of Beloved Sai, my thinking changed by osmosis. However, not enough to stop me from gobbling chicken tikka, mutton biriyani, and gobs of fish when I could get these “treats”.

Nevertheless, Swami had said long ago, "Today, let it be anyone, whether one deems himself a devotee or not, he should give up meat eating. Why? Meat eating promotes only animal qualities. It has been well said that the food one consumes determines one's thoughts. By eating the flesh of various animals, the qualities of these animals are imbibed. How sinful is it to feed on animals, which are sustained by the same five elements as human beings! This leads to demonic tendencies, besides committing the sin of inflicting cruelty on animals. Hence, those who genuinely seek to become devotees of God have to give up non-vegetarian food. Calling themselves Sai devotees or devotees of Rama and Krishna, they fatten on chickens. How can they be deemed Sai devotees? How can God accept such a person as a devotee?  Therefore, whether they are devotees in India or outside, they should give up from this instant meat eating...... those who aspire to become true devotees of God have to give up meat, liquor and smoking."

Of course, Sai’s words echoed in my consciousness as I devoured meat, smoked cigarettes, and sipped the best wines. I justified my habits with perverse logic, saying that as a spiritual aspirant I was above the mundane world.  It’s all Maya, I told myself. But who was I kidding?  My clay feet were upon the earth—His earth.

Eventually, by the grace Sai, my mind changed about meat-eating, smoking, and drinking.  I was finally able to accept his words which I heard in person, but resisted, as far back as November 23, 1994.

“Embodiments of Love,” he had said. “You are deeming this day as the 69th birthday of Swami. I have no desire to celebrate such birthdays. As I was coming I was greeted by many wishing me Happy Birthday. I am always happy. Why should anyone wish Happy Birthday for me? Be Happy yourselves. Your happiness is my happiness.  Today as an offering to Swami, give up meat eating, consuming liquor and smoking. By renouncing these three, you will benefit yourselves as well as society and the nation. Swami's sole aim is to promote the welfare of the family, the society and the nation. If you wish to carry out Swami's aim, renounce from this moment itself these bad habits.”

THE GOD OF MY UNDERSTANDING

By Terry Reis Kennedy

I started my day at the General Hospital here at the Abode of Peace, Sathya Sai Baba's ashram. A friend of mine had to have minor surgery on her foot. I walked up the hill from the main road to meet her, enjoying the beautiful flowers and bushes all around the hospital area. It was just past 7 in the morning and the grounds were full of patients waiting to be treated by the staff. Birds were singing in the trees, babies were smiling at me; village people spoke to me in Telegu. My heart was full of bliss, the kind that saints and mystics have described feeling after years of prayers and penance.

Yet here I am, a common sinner, a woman of no importance, and I have reached the heights of mergence with the God of my understanding. A few tears plop onto my cheeks as I remember all the days I have spent climbing up to this little hospital to get help for myself or for a friend.....25 years I have been freely served, I have gotten free medicine, I have witnessed people in stages of giving birth and I have watched people slip into death peacefully and quietly. How could I ever leave the little things that Puttaparthi has given to me through the grace of the God of my understanding?

I don't have words to explain when people ask, what do you do there. And now my day is ending. My friend's foot is healing. I have finished the work I left undone in the morning. The birds are back in their trees asleep. The flowers have closed their petals. The sweet aroma of the jasmine trees that rise above my roof waft down through my office window as I type. Thank you, Lord, for all the little things that brought me here and the Huge Love that holds me here.....

Too many years of Ashram Living

(Terry’s Signboard)

Too many years of ashram living

have turned me off to the herds

of fanatics that come for instant cures and miracles;

and who proclaim huge faith in spirituality,

but none in themselves.

Dalai Lama on Aspects of the Mind

By Terry Reis Kennedy

When the mind isn’t working properly and we realize it we may go to a mental health worker to seek a solution.  Likewise, we might take our children to school counselors, or child psychologists. We understand that without a properly working mind it is difficult to function.

His Holiness the 14^th Dalai Lama said, “Since the primary motive underlying the Buddhist investigation of reality is the fundamental quest for overcoming suffering and perfecting the human condition, the primary orientation of the Buddhist investigative tradition has been toward understanding the human mind and its various functions. The assumption here is that by gaining deeper insight into the human psyche, we might find ways of transforming our thoughts, emotions and their underlying propensities so that a more wholesome and fulfilling way of being can be found.”

A family member is presently going through what is called “A Nervous Breakdown” and what my teenage nieces call, “A meltdown”.  But even with the helping sources available sometimes a person just has to be broken fully, perhaps, before he can start up life anew.

The Embodiment of Compassion noted, “It is in this context that the Buddhist tradition has devised a rich classification of mental states, as well as contemplative techniques for refining specific mental qualities. So a genuine exchange between the cumulative knowledge and experience of Buddhism and modern science on wide-ranging issues pertaining to the human mind, from cognition and emotion to understanding the capacity for transformation inherent in the human brain can be deeply interesting and potentially beneficial as well.”

The word transformation leaps out.  Isn’t this what happens to us when we are felled like trees, by the blows of life? Alcohol and drug rehabilitation centers are full of good people who developed additions and are now learning to transform themselves a day at a time.

Our Beloved monk explained, “In my own experience, I have felt deeply enriched by engaging in conversations with neuroscientists and psychologists on such questions as the nature and role of positive and negative emotions, attention, imagery, as well the plasticity of the brain. The compelling evidence from neuroscience and medical science of the crucial role of simple physical touch for even the physical enlargement of an infant's brain during the first few weeks powerfully brings home the intimate connection between compassion and human happiness.”

We help the mentally suffering with expressions of loving concern.  Though our afflicted friends and relatives may lash out at us, our genuine love is absorbed. There is no need to give up hope, though they may give up on us. 

"Buddhism has long argued for the tremendous potential for transformation that exists naturally in the human mind, Dalai Lama reiterated. “To this end, the tradition has developed a wide range of contemplative techniques, or meditation practices, aimed specifically at two principal objectives—the cultivation of a compassionate heart and the cultivation of deep insights into the nature of reality, which are referred to as the union of compassion and wisdom."