Children's Corner

Story for children: Only those who make the effort realize God

Once Sai Baba (a Saint from Shirdi, India) was playing with some coins by tossing them from one hand to another while testing them in various ways. He appeared to examine each coin individually. In this manner, He played with the coins for about half an hour without exchanging a word with His disciples, Damu and Nana, who were standing nearby.

Curious to know what Sai Baba was doing, Nana asked Him why He was scrutinizing the coins over and over again. Baba replied, “Beta (Dear son), it is true that I am repeating the same action and uttering the same words over and over again. Look at that mango tree in the yard. It is in full bloom, the leaves are hardly visible. If all the flowers in the tree were to become fruits, would the branches bear their weight? No, so that does not happen. Most of the flowers on the tree are swept away by the wind, many others drop off of their own accord, and only some of them become fruits. Squirrels, birds, or monkeys eat some of the fruits. Thus, over ninety percent of the flowers do not result in fruits that remain on the tree. Only ten percent or so of the fruits remain in the tree. Is it not so?” The disciples agreed that it was indeed so.

Sai Baba continued, “In the same manner, thousands of devotees are coming to me. Are they all maturing into good devotees? Many drop off half-way on the Path. Some come for study. Many seek wealth while many others come in connection with success in their jobs, marriages, or other such personal desires. There is some defect or the other in each of them. No one comes for My sake. I have a precious thing to offer others. But no one seeks it. It is for this reason that I am examining the coins. Among these coins there are some that are worn out, some that are debased, and some that are twisted and worthless. Just as I am examining the defects in these coins, I am also looking for the defects in the devotees who come to me. I am trying to find out if they can really comprehend My Truth with their defects. They want Me, but all their desires are related to worldly objects. How can they attain Me with this attitude? How can you reach your destination if you get into a train going in some other direction as the destination? They want Me, but they don't make efforts to realize Me. Among the many that come to Me, it is only one in a thousand, who really makes the efforts to realize Me!”

Moral: Dear children, from this story we can see how important it is that we make proper efforts to realize God. In fact, Sai Baba has said that faith and patience are important for us to grow closer to God. The best ways for us to develop faith and patience are for daily and regular efforts such as prayer and chanting.

Spiritual experience of a child seeker

Averting of child's death and fragrance from wastewater during His Holiness (H.H.) Dr. Jayant Athavale's visit

H.H. Dr. Athavale was visiting our home in Biravadi, India. During His stay, all present were immersed in Bliss and divine consciousness (chaitanya). During this visit, unnoticed by us, my one-year-old grandson, who was playing with a ball in the backyard, fell into a six-foot-deep wastewater pit nearby. However, thanks to the Guru's all-pervading vision, a neighbour, who happened to enter her backyard at that very moment, saw the child falling into the pit. She quickly pulled him out of the pit, and even though he was covered with mud, his body was emanating the fragrance of sandalwood instead of bad odour. Despite the big fall, my grandson was not hurt at all!

– Mrs. Vijaya Ganesh Bagde, Mahad, India.

[Dear Friends, from this experience we can see how God truly has His eye on everyone, however great or small they may be.

-Editor.]

* Chanting means constantly remembering or repeating God’s Name according to one’s religion. Additionally, the below can be followed for children:

Young children should chant 'Om Gan Ganapataye namaha' (Lord Ganesh's chant) for at least 15-30 minutes daily for divine protection, as well as 3 malas (turns of the 108-bead rosary) of “Om Sri Gurudev Datta”, everyday for divine protection.
Older children, who have been doing spiritual practice for some time, can determine their exact chant from the experiment in 124, Message to Seekers section in addition to 6-9 malas of Lord Datta’s Name (“Om Sri Gurudev Datta”) (depending upon severity of distress and age) everyday.
Parents should chant The Lord's Name for children too young to do so themselves.