Conserving Nature Sai Faith Way

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Last post What Makes Us A Sai Devotee almost two months back attracted good readership. This encouraged Sai Brother Bharat ji and he is again presenting few of his thoughts in a different and presentable way. Brother Bharatji i have become your fan and love to read and share them. Keep going. Expecting more!

Sri Shirdi Sai Baba’s Nature Conservation Advice and Care for the Environment

• Sri Sai Baba advised his first (and only) disciple Shri Upasani Maharaj to plant lots of useful trees that give edible fruits, vegetables, shade and many other benefits to all living beings. Sri Upasani Maharaj planted lots of trees as Baba advised in several places.

• Baba’s care for earth and nature is well seen from His Lendi Baag (Lendi Garden) that he originally created from barren land and planted all the flowering plants and watered them by Himself using two unbaked earthen pots in the morning daily. He spent time with Himself in Lendi Bhaag compulsorily daily. This is a lesson to all to spend some time in the lap of nature daily to calm the body and mind and maintain and restore health by reducing tension and daily stress. This will also help us appreciate God’s creation better.

• Baba set an example to all by possessing the least number of man-made items for living in as simple a manner as possible and He took the least resources from nature. He used just Udi (sacred ashes) from the dhuni (fire altar) as the universal cure for all types of medical problems. His divine blessing, devotees’ unshaken faith in Him were the real medicines that cured these diseases. Baba was giving us the message that Faith in Him, faith in the power of natural methods of curing/healing should not be ignored.

• Baba often strongly stressed that He was present in all living creatures by clearly demonstrating it many times. He was also stressed on the importance of feeding all living creatures. Daily several animals were fed from the food that He obtained from begging in five homes daily. By this He showed us all that the entire creation is permeated by God and should be cared for properly – just as we care for humans.

• Baba advised that animals were created by God for a specific purpose (to keep the food-chain moving). He also told His devotees not to needlessly torture/hurt any living creature – even poisonous creatures like scorpions and snakes. He stressed that nothing happens without God’s will and that we cannot take away creatures’ lives casually which were created by God per His Grand plan. He also shared stories on Karma by revealing the previous births of a couple of goats in a market, a snake attacking a frog near a river and explained their births.

• Baba saved Shirdi from a Cholera epidemic by scattering wheat flour all along the borders of the village. This was essentially a biological disease prevention/pest-control method that caused the least damage to nature. Baba always preferred the natural cure methods first as current knowledge also confirms that these have lesser side-effects than chemical-based methods.

• Sai Baba advised His devotees to have God-realization as their goal always by reducing money acquisition or collecting luxury items and to practise contentment with whatever God has bestowed on us. By this, He showed that living a simple life close to nature will help us to reach the goal of life easier and faster.

• Baba advised Shirdi villagers to take turns and participate in regularly cleaning up common public places including temples, streets, burial ground, etc. to maintain a healthy and hygienic atmosphere in Shirdi village. He took special efforts himself in cleaning up all temples in the village.

Om Sai Shri Sai Jai Jai Sai

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