TEMPORARY RELIEF AND PERFECT HOPE

 
On December 16th [1952] some poor and needy people, Hindus and Muslims, were brought to Baba. Twenty-five Hindus were gathered at the guest house and forty Muslims were assembled at the dargah of Shah Hussaine, father of the renowned Perfect Master of Gulbarga, Bandanavaz. As usual, Baba's service to the poor was done in His own quiet way.

In the company of the mandali He later remarked, "My bowing down to the poor is an entirely different thing than your act of bowing. It is Godhood bowing down to God" (Khuda ko lekar Khuda ko jhukta hoom).

Then he explained a subtle difference between relief and His help. He used different languages while commenting on this subject and the gist of it is as follows:

"You feel sorry to see a beggar, an injured or diseased person, or someone in a miserable predicament. And naturally you are prompted to do something to relieve the person from his/her suffering. But this gives the person only temporary relief.

"The real remedy, however, is primarily to awaken in others the spirit of accepting suffering as part of one's karma. People should not fear suffering; while overcoming it they should develop a proper understanding of it. This is the beginning of real happiness. However, this act of awakening perfect hope in the hearts of others is bestowed only by the Realized Ones.

"This does not mean that you should not feel distressed for the poor and the afflicted. However, whatever, is done in response to one's honest feelings, should be done in a spirit of selfless service."