Dear Asterias ji,
Thank you for your reply.
As per the second quoted point in your post, thats exactly what i said -
" If you can be a good human being always, and on your own and can take a spiritual journey on your own ... then so be it ... in that case you will not need Baba's blessings at all ... since you can achieve all that on your own. "
Also in my opinion, Faith is a very personal subject ... since each person is different and their ability to UNDERSTAND is also different, each person's definition of Faith can also vary ... and hence the same path cannot be the best path or the only sustainable path for everyone ...
Here is an anecdote -
A person was walking along a road to reach the next town. He was tired and wanted to reach the next town as soon as possible but was not sure of the path ahead. Some distance ahead he saw a Sadhu walking. He caught up with the Sadhu and asked him - "Can you please tell me the path to the next town and how much time it will take me to reach there".
The Sadhu told him, "Walk along with me" ...
After walking along for sometime the Sadhu turned to the person walking behind him and said " You are on the right path ... just walk ahead and you will reach the next town in half an hour".
The person asked the Sadhu, "Why did you not tell me these details back there itself that the next town is half an hour ahead".
So the Sadhu replied. " I could not as I did not know your speed of walking. I wanted to know your speed of walking before giving you the answer" ..
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Many of us give replies to other ppl based on our speed of walking without knowing if thats the same speed that the other person maintains or not ... He can be slower than us or he can be faster than us ...
Everyone's way and method of understanding is very different ...
Also I dont think you need to see Baba in the poor and needy to serve them ... you can do this just because you see and feel their pain and suffering ..... Even then that would be a prayer to Baba .... and again, you need not serve the poor and needy only as a prayer to Baba, isnt it ... you can do that because of your inner conscience asks you to do it ...
But as you say, and i completely agree, that this sort of nishkarma seva is impossible at our level.
So what is the recourse?
My personal view is that there is no hard and fast rule to say that only if I do such and such a thing then i have faith and trust in Baba.
And then there is also a question of why does each person want to have his or her faith and trust in Baba? Is it to achieve some wish of theirs that they see is not being fulfilled ... or is to for a genuine spiritual purpose?
If a person does his job with full dedication, follows a family life with full dedication and leads a normal life - then would that also be a prayer? ....
Om Sai Ram ....
Om Sai Ram !
Dont you think if you are helping the poor and needy, you are praying to Baba?
If I am serving the poor and needy then i am atleast trying to see Baba in everyone - then its a prayer
Dont you think if you have only good thoughts in your mind and if you completely weed out anger, jealousy, hatred, envy etc, then also you are praying to Baba?
If I am in that state, I dont need to pray to Baba
Dont you think if you do selfless service to others then also you are praying to Baba?
Nishkaama Karma is almost impossible from our level.
Om Sai Ram !