Love In All Of Creation

“Love is present not only in human beings but also in all creatures, birds or beasts.   Nor is that all; it is in fact all-pervasive.  Love pervades everything in Creation. Man’s humanness is vitiated when he fails to recognise this love”, said Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Man, who is considered as the top-ranked creature in the evolutionary ladder is often found lacking, lagging behind in practising ‘LovE’. Today, when he falters, owing to the ‘timely’ influence of the Age Of Kali, he can better learn from the world of mute children of Beloved Mother Sai, of practising LovE. A story from the Shirdi Baba time followed by another one from the collections of late (Ms) Mercini Sherrat of the UK, a champion crusader for the world of Sai’s mute children. 

“Once Baba (Shirdi Sai) was sitting in the Masjid (Dwarakamayi at Shirdi).  A devotee sat in front of Him, when a lizard tick- ticked.  Out of curiosity, the devotee asked whether this tick-ticking of the lizard signified anything; was it a good sign or a bad omen?  Baba said that the lizard was overjoyed as her sister from Aurangabad was coming to see her.

The devotee sat silent, not making out the meaning of Baba’s words.  Immediately, a gentleman from Aurangabad came on horse-back to see Baba. He wanted to proceed further, but his horse would not go as it was hungry and wanted grams.  He took out a bag from his shoulders to bring grams and dashed it on the ground to remove dirt. A lizard came out therefrom and in the presence of all, climbed up the wall.  Baba asked the questioner devotee to mark her well. She at once went strutting to her sister.  Both sisters met each after a long time, kissed and embraced each other, whirled round and danced with love!”

Our Beloved Bhagawan reminds us: “For He makes us aware that the God we adore, the God we love, the God we live by, is in every other being as LOVE.  Thus LOVE expands and encompasses all Creation.

I would like to start with Susie Bear, a remarkable big black bear who so loved her human carer that he, Steve Karlin, seemingly an angel of compassion in human form and founder of Wildlife Associates in California, a sanctuary for animals and humans where animals are the teachers, wrote this:

“Susie Bear and I would go on walks together, and when we would sit together on the trail, she would put her arm around my shoulder and kiss me on the face. We would talk a lot, and she would fall asleep with her head in my lap. I would fall asleep with my head against her chest. She would hug me. I wasn’t sure if this was a platonic relationship or any other, because she seemed to be teaching me lessons all the time. Even today I wake up sometimes and I thank Susie Bear, because I finally understand something that she taught me. It took me years to finally reach a point where I saw what a lesson it was”.

Steve Karlin was so grief-stricken when Susie finally died…she herself gave warning of this the night before… that he could not speak about it for a long, long time.  This is how he describes her last moments: “… The next day, we came with the veterinarian and we gave Susie Bear a shot to relax her a bit. And I put the leash on her and she walked out and lay down. I was not telling her where to go. With both of her paws, she grabbed my hand. She held onto it and looked me in the eyes and told me it was time to go. I tried to pull my hand away and she grabbed it, hard, and held it close to her. Then the doctor gave Susie Bear the shot, and she held on and looked me in the eyes until she left her body, and then her eyes closed. And she still held onto me for maybe twenty minutes, until it loosened up. I was so attached to her; I didn’t know how to let her go at the time. That part of me tore away and went with her. I couldn’t talk about it for years and years.

For months and months and months, I was a different person, depressed and something was missing; a hole was there….and yes, I tested Susie Bear’s love. Even at the time of her passing, after 13 years, I still did not believe it. I moved my hand away, and she grabbed it, pulled it back. So even then, I was thinking, our relationship can’t be that strong, loving me so much, she can’t be so conscious and aware that she is dying, she can’t be wanting to hold onto me until her last breath before leaving her body because I was so important to her. I pulled back and said, “Oh my God,” and she pulled me into her embrace.” Thus showing us how deep an animal’s love can be and how they have an innate wisdom and a knowingness that goes far beyond words and man’s own clever intellect.  Sri Ramana Maharshi knew this when he said: “Some animals have so much love for their masters that they bypass human birth and go directly to God. Some Masters take birth as animals to teach humans how to deepen their love life.”

II Samastha Lokah Sukhino Bhavantu II