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the purpose of a Sai Baba Center was to beer understand and practice Swami’s teachings.
Swami encourages us to understand the underlying unity of all world religions and to look for unity in all paths that lead to higher knowledge. In a Sai Baba Center, this search should be done under the umbrella of Swami’s teachings. The purpose of the Sai Baba Center is to deepen our love and understanding of his teachings.
Here was a problem created by well-meaning people. This example clearly shows how ego can get in the way of clear thinking. Some therapists might have been right in thinking that psychological problems, such as a block in the relationship with a parent, can seriously interfere with our relationship with Swami. What was wrong was the thinking that their theories and practices could help a person along the spiritual path more effectively than Swami’s teachings. For a Sai Baba Center to distract people in this way and encourage the spending of money is in violation of Swami’s directives. First and foremost we must understand his teachings, and notably, centers are to have as lile to do with money as possible. We must constantly remind ourselves of even the simplest of teachings. In this way we change for the beer, as did this group, by being more focused on Sai Baba’s teachings.
In Sai Baba Centers we must maintain the focus on Swami’s teachings with humility and reverence. To change the focus from Swami to some other teacher is like being in the presence of a beloved one and yet talking about our fascination for someone else. Psychological principles should be respected, but in a Sai Baba Center, sensitivity and respect must be placed on how we approach this material. It must be done in a way that deepens awareness of Swami’s teachings, not distracting from them. His teachings are the highest; they are knowledge that once known, all else is known. This experience spurred on my search for an overview of Swami’s teachings, which are presented in this book as the nine elements.
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