Swami Teaches...

Swami teaches....Part 105

Light and Love

Swami teaches... 20 - 24 May 2007

Part 3. Take Part in the Divine Play with Awareness

Swami is as the mirror in which we can see the reflection of ourselves. Our passions and worldly desires to obtain property, wealth, riches, and power, are as stormy waves without ruler, which bother to see clean reflection of own Self and to act in harmony with Sathya and Rita.

The Gopikas declared: "Oh Krishna! How can we know your true nature? You are subtlest among the subtle and vaster than the vastest. You are omnipresent. How can we know you?"

It is not easy to understand the ways of the Lord.
The Lord's Leela - the Nithya-vibhuthi (the ever-lasting Glory of the Divine) is the support of the Leela vibhuthi (the scene of the ever-changing ever-fresh sport of God). The sea is the base on which joyful, dangerous and illuminative waves happen. When Leela entices the Lord, it takes eight forms:
Shuddha Brahmamayi (the absolutely pure),
Chara-charamayi (the moving and the non-moving),
Jyothirmayi (the luminous),
Vangmayi (the vocal),
Nithyaanandamayi (the ever-blissfull),
Parathpa-ramayi (transcending this world and the next)
Mayamayi (enrapturing by its delusive charm) and
Shrimayi (resplendent with wealth).

For understanding the ways of the Divine Play, the ancient sages practiced and preached silence. They felt that the Lord's ways are inscrutable and that His attributes are beyond reckoning and praise. The sages, probing the mystery of the Divine, concluded that God is everything and no one can claim anything as one's own. By this attitude, they were able to realize the Divine.

The flower is karma (work, deeds), the emerging fruit is bhakti (worship), and the ripe sweet fruit is jnana (wisdom).

It is one continuous and spontaneous process, this spiritual fulfillment of the spiritual seeker. They are like childhood, youth and old age, each imperceptibly growing into the succeeding stage.

What knowledge is essential for spiritual aspirant?

Swami indicates that in Vedantic vocabulary, chith and a-chith are two terms set against each other, comprehending between themselves, the Created Universe. Chith means 'intelligent' and a-chith means 'non-intelligent.' There are no two opposites like this. There are grades, slowly passing from one to the other, from the less intelligent to the fully intelligent.

Buddhi commonly understood as mere intellectual ability. Nevertheless, it is intelligence, in which Rita and Sathya are combined with zeal and steadfastness. Buddhi includes Yoga* and Maha-thathwa (Supreme Principle; Cosmic intellect) also, which have a purifying influence on the buddhi.

Buddhi is thus, not only the capacity to think. Nor is it only the power of deliberation or the discriminating faculty. Beyond all these, it is the power of deep enquiry and judgment.

Nevertheless, in real there are three grades, not only chith (intelligent) and a-chith (non-intelligent).

1. The Shuddha-thathwa is what Christ referred to as the Kingdom of God. It is far beyond the reach of Mind, it is the realm of pure equanimity. It is spoken of as the Nithya vibhuthi.

2. Mishra-thathwa is this earthly kingdom, alternating between repose and activity, sloth and adventure, thamas and rajas. It is spoken of as Leela vibhuthi.

3. The region of inactivity, ignorance and inertia, the thamoguna. This is where your narrow selfish will takes charge of you, and enslaves you. Vasana (inclination, impression of anything remaining in the subconscious mind from past action) is the ingrained force of eons of enslavement to the senses.

The root causes of human's bondage are abhimana (attachment) and ahamkara (ego), the possessive sense of "Mine," and the arrogance of egoism. These feelings in much are caused by the kind of food that is consumed, (as has already mentioned in previous part).

Below is an example.

In the Mahabharata the grandsire Bhishma was expounding all aspects of Dharma to the Pandavas from his bed of arrows. At one stage, Draupadi burst into laughter. The Pandava brothers were upset by Draupadi's unaccountable levity. Understanding their distress, Bishma told them that Draupadi was an exemplary woman in every respect and there must be a good reason for her laughter. He asked Draupadi to explain her reason. She said: ?Grandsire! The lessons which you should have taught to the evil-minded and wicked Kauravas, you are now teaching to my righteous husbands. This appeared to me ironic and futile."

Bhishma explained that he had been serving the Kauravas and living on their bounty. "Consuming the food received from such unrighteous and evil-minded persons, my blood got polluted. Arjuna's arrows have drained away all that bad blood. And the dharma which was deep in me is now coming forth."

You have to realize how important food is in determining one's thoughts and actions.

There is another story from another aspect.

Adi Sankaracharya, during his victorious philosophical travels through Bharat met Sri Mandana Misra (the famous sage) and had a debate with him on Medha Shakti (intellectual ability). Both of them agreed on Ubhaya Bharati, a high-souled scholar, pure-hearted and utterly selfless, as one most competent to decide, who the victor in the debate was. Ubhaya Bharati was none other than the wife of Mandana Misra. The choice was unique in many respects. That Sankaracharya was willing to have as judge in the debate his opponent's wife was remarkable. It was the greatest testimony to his faith in the utter impartiality of Ubhaya Bharati. Sankaracharya knew that the discriminating power of the buddhi was superior to the intellectual ability of the Medhas.

Ubhaya Bharati decided in favour of Sankaracharya and against her husband. She declared that Sankaracharya had the better of the argument in the debate. This decision is based on Sathya and Ritam.

Ubhaya Bharati then declared that in accordance with the understanding between the two disputants before the debate started, Mandana Misra, as the vanquished, should take to sanyasa and become a disciple of Sankaracharya.

At the same time, as the devoted wife of Mandana Misra, acting upto the ideals of Indian womanhood, according to which the wife should follow the husband in weal and woe, Ubhaya Bharati decided to become a sanyasini herself.

Although she was under no obligation to adopt a monastic life, she decided to do so to set an example to the world. After that, she established an ashram in which she wanted to show to the arrogant scholars, who relied on mere intellectual acumen, that it was inferior to the intelligence that was associated with Sathya and Rita.

One day when she was going to the river for a bath with her women disciples, she saw an ascetic, who had renounced everything in life, sleeping on the wayside, resting his head on a hollow water jug, using it as a pillow and at the same time ensuring that nobody took it away. Ubhaya Bharati spoke within his hearing the following words to one of her disciples: "Look at that ascetic, who has ostensibly renounced every kind of attachment. But he has not given up his attachment to his water jug!"

On hearing these words, the ascetic got enraged. He thought, "Is a mere woman entitled to teach me how I should behave?" While Ubhaya Bharati was returning from the river, the ascetic threw the jug at her feet and said, "Now, see what my renunciation is?" Ubhaya Bharati remarked, "Alas! You are not only filled with attachment but you are also filled with ego." On hearing these words, the ascetic ran up to her, fell at her feet and pleaded for forgiveness of his faults.

Devotion has nine paths to adore the Divine. These nine paths begin with shravanam (listening to the glories of God) and end with Atma nivedhanam (complete Self-surrender).

Six forms of devotion are santham (tranquility), sakhyam (friendship), dasyam (service), vatsalyam (maternal love), anuragam (loving feeling) and madhuram (ecstatic devotion). Bhishma, Arjuna, Hanuman, the Gopikas, Yasoda and Radha are examples of the different forms of Bhakti.

Bhishma manifested devotion in the santha form. Lying on a bed of arrows for 56 days, awaiting the advent of the auspicious moment for giving up the body, Bhishma devoted his thoughts to God with a serene sweetness and calm mind.

Arjuna is the exemplar of sakhya bhakti. All his life he was devoted to Krishna, enjoying the relationship as brother-in-law, but always adoring Krishna as his divine mentor. Arjuna's devotion was based on kinship. Krishna, for the same mason, protected Arjuna as a kinsman.

Hanuman's devotion to Rama exemplifies dasya bhakti (service as a form of devotion). Hanuman's only thought was to serve Rama always, be near to him and wait for his commands. Once Rama called Hanuman and asked him: "Hanuman! How do you love me?" Hanuman replied: "In terms of the physical, I look upon you as my Lord and regard myself as your servant. In terms of the mind, you are the object and I am your image. Spiritually, You are I and I am You. I am experiencing you in these ways. As long as I have the body consciousness, you are the Lord and I am your servant."

Anuraga bhakti (loving devotion) is exemplified by the Gopikas. Whatever work they might be doing, their thoughts were centered on Krishna and they were always yearning for Him. When work is done in this way, it is transformed into worship. Every action is dedicated to the Divine and is performed as an offering to the Divine. With this attitude, the Gopikas were prepared for any kind of trials and tribulations from husbands and mothers-in-law. They worshipped Krishna without any feeling of rancor and bitterness against those who treated them harshly. Krishna was firmly implanted in their hearts.

(In worshipping Krishna, devotees have their own individual partiality for certain names. Meerabai always hailed Him as "Giridhara Gopala." Sakkubai always called Him "Ranga! Ranga!" Yasoda was attached to the name "Gopala.)"

Yasoda exemplified vatsalya bhakti - loving the Lord as a mother loves a child. Despite the numerous miracles performed by Krishna and in spite of witnessing manifestations, Yasoda regarded Krishna as her son and loved Him with maternal feelings. Even when Krishna showed to her all the fourteen worlds in His open mouth, Yasoda imagined that it was only her own imagination and Krishna was just a child. Even when Krishna was performing wonders in Mathura, Yasoda was worried about Him as any mother would and made anxious enquiries about her Gopala.

Radha is an example of madhura bhakti. Radha completely identified herself with Krishna. Her devotion to Krishna was on an inseparable relationship. The Radha-Krishna relationship is that of Prakriti and Paramatma (of Nature and God).

People pay a water tax to the authorities who make available water at their dwelling from a distant source. Likewise, people have to pay dues for the electricity supply, which they receive.

What do you pay for the heavy downpour of rain that you get from providence? God fills the tanks and rivers with water. He provides human with the life-giving oxygen. The Sun illumines the whole world. What is the tax we pay for all these services? The arpitham (offerings we make to God) is the tax.

In making such an offering, Emperor Bali was supreme. He was dedicating his entire life to God. (He was the grandson of Prahlada. Bali's father, Virochana, was also a godly ruler. Thus from Prahlada to Bali the whole line of rulers were filled with love of God. Originally Prahlada's father,Hiranyakashipu, was Lord Vishnu's gate-keeper).

Bali told the Preceptor, "Guruji, what is the use of my possessing anything which is not of use to God? The seeker is God Himself. God has really no desires. However, to redeem us from the consequences of our past deeds He creates situations, which call for offerings. When the infinite Divine appears in the role of the seeker of favors, what greater blessing can there be than making the offering to the Divine? I am ready to offer my mind, my body and my life itself to God."

Bali recognized that not a blade of grass moves without the power of the Divine in it. "No one knows the supreme power of God's will. He permeates everything in the Cosmos from an ant to Brahman,? he declared.

A synonym for the word thyaga (sacrifice) is Bali. The term ?Bali? has several meanings such as offering, dedication, sacrifice and a tax levy. However, the proper meaning of Bali is recognition of the Divinity in human. It means offering one's Self to the Divine.
This is the meaning of surrender.

God does not ask for any offering of wealth or position. God is said to be pleased if a sincere devotee offers a leaf, a flower, a fruit or even water. (The flower to be offered-to God is a pure heart free from all taints and evil tendencies like lust, anger, and pride. The fruit to be offered is a mind free from all bad thoughts and feelings. The water to be offered is the water that flows from the eyes out of joy in experiencing God).

The Lord tells you "My dear! The body does not belong to you. It is precious gift from God. It is inert like a leaf."

Gayatri mantra begins with words: "Om! Bhur-Bhuvas-Suvaha". In this mantra, 'Bhu' refers to the body, which is made up of material substances. 'Bhuvah' refers to that which activates the inert body. That Prana (Life Force) operates as vibration. 'Suvah" What is the basis for the Life Force? It is Prajnana.

The Upanishad declares, "Prajnanam Brahma." The Prajna operates through radiation. 'Suvah' refers to this power of radiation. Humanness is made up of these three constituents' radiation, vibration, and material inertness.

(Reet's compilation from, Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 13. "Full minus full," Chapter 16; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 21. "From Annam To Ananda," Chapter 9; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 23. "Lessons of a debate," Chapter 17; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 26. "The juice, the sugar and the sweets," Chapter 15; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 28. "Offer everything to God," Chapter 24).

* Yoga
1. Union of the individual Self or Atma with the Supreme Being or Universal Self.

2. A spiritual discipline or exercise aimed at control of the senses.

3. Science of Divine communion.

4. Pantanjali's Yoga-sutras define yoga as a series of eight spiritual steps leading to union with God.

5."The eightfold path of yoga" given by Swami in "Prasanthi Vahini."

Namaste - Reet

Swami teaches... 16 - 20 May 2007

Part 2. Take Part in the Divine Play with Awareness

There are three things that are immensely pleasing to the Lord.
A tongue what never indulges in falsehood.
A body that is not minted by causing harm to others.
A mind that is free from attachment and hatred.
These three constitute the thrikarana suddhi (triple purity).
When you approach God and seek His help and guidance, you have taken the first step to save yourself. You are then led to accept His Will as your own. Thus, you achieve Santhi (Absolute Peace).

Many kinds of spiritual practices are resorted to for realizing God. During these exercises, one day God appears in a dream. The devotee rejoices in it. When the Lord seen in the dream appears before him/her, the devotee derives even greater delight. When devotee is able to move and sport with the Lord, he/she becomes ecstatic. That is described as the bliss of oneself with the Divine. It is also called Paramanandam (Supreme Bliss). Of all forms of delight, the bliss that is experienced in oneness with the Divine is unexcelled.

To achieve this state of bliss a start has to be made with the control of the senses.

The mind is the basis for all these sense organs. Without mental consciousness, the sense organs will not be able to function at all.

In the use of sense organs, there must be due regard for moderation and purity. This applies at first to food as well as to many other things, which you may take in.

For example realizing that human's attraction for sensual pleasures is largely due to the kind of food that one takes, the ancients devised an easy and sacred method for purifying the food before eating. They used to sprinkle some water on the food and utter the mantra: "Annam Brahma! Raso Vishnuh! Bhoktaa devo Maheswarah!" (The solid food is Brahma, the liquids are Vishnu and the enjoyer of the meal is Maheswara). The sprinkling is done with Sathya and Rita (Truth and the Cosmic order which together sustain the Universe). In performing this rite, the partaker of food is praying to the trinity to protect him/her with "Sathya and Rita.? This rite was sanctifying the food. (Many intellectuals of today, full of pride in their knowledge and skills, are ignoring the potency of Sathya and Rita).

In the journey to the Divine, human has to reduce progressively various desires, which are the cause of all difficulties. It is true that human cannot exist without desires. Nevertheless, they should be within certain limits and under the control of buddhi (intellect).

(One way to reduce desires is to get absorbed in activity. Idleness encourages the mind to indulge in all kinds of thoughts. If you are intensely engaged in reading, singing, playing, or any other activity, the mind will have no chance to wander hither and thither).

In general, sense organs are subject to various kinds of afflictions. Likewise, when someone criticizes you, the sound waves reaching a certain nerve centre in the brain will excite your mind waves. Immediately an angry reaction occurs. Then there is no control over the mind. On the other hand, someone else may come and praise you. You forget yourself and get immersed in joy. The sense of discrimination may be lost through excessive elation or through deep distress. When the discriminating power is weak, the mind is prone to pursue wrong courses.

Each sense organ has only one function to perform and cannot perform any other function.

Sense organs cannot serve as reliable indicators of truth.

Take, for instance, the tongue. When a person is hungry, the laddu (made from sugar) tastes sweet to the tongue. However, the same laddu tastes bitter to the tongue when a person suffers from malaria. Alternatively, when one is healthy, the eye sees every color in its true form as red, green, or yellow. However, when a human suffers from jaundice, the eye sees everything as yellow. Here, again the eye fails to serve as a reliable indicator of truth when it is subject to disease. All the organs in the body are prone to disease of one sort or another. Nevertheless, of all the ills to which human is prone, there is one which cannot be cured by medicine, that is, ahamkara (egoism).

In this context, there are seven factors, which have to be considered: deha (the body), karma (action), raga (attachment), dwesha (hatred), ahamkara (egoism), aviveka (lack of discrimination) and ajnana (ignorance). These seven influence the human condition.

Ignorance undermines the power of discrimination. Without discrimination ahamkara (self conceit, ego) develops. Ahamkara breeds the twins: attachment and hatred. Attachment and hatred lead to the experience of kartha (the consequences of one's actions).

Raga and dwesha generate actions of various kinds. These actions, in their turn, are the cause of birth in a deha (body).

It follows that the root cause of human birth is karma (action). Your birth is the result of your actions. The nature of one's birth determines one's attachments and aversions.

In the study of the scriptures, we come across the terms Sama and Dama. Sama is generally regarded as meaning control of the inner senses and Dama as referring to control of the external senses. This is not correct. Sama means control of both the inner and outer sense organs.

Among these sense organs, three are most important: the eyes, the ears, and the tongue. Each of them tries to follow the other. When the eye sees something, the ear tries to listen to what is happening. Immediately thereafter, the eye seeks to explore something new on the basis of what the ear has heard.

(Control your eyes. When you control your eyes and tongue, you can easily control all other senses. When the eyes roam freely, the tongue begins to wag without restraint. When the tongue is engaged in endless talking, the eyes want to look at every conceivable thing. When both these organs combine without restraint, life can become a calamity).

These sense organs, however, do not function by themselves. They are called Upakaranas, that is, subsidiary instruments. For all of them, the mind is the base. It is the mind that creates within itself its conception of the Universe. It gives form to the perceptions got from the senses.

The mind is the underlying current in all sense organs. Suppose that you are experiencing a dream. You see in the dream your parents and friends. In the dream state, you are talking to your parents and friends. You feel in the dream you are listening to what your parents and friends are saying. All that you see, hear, or say in the dream are all the processes of the mind alone.

The experiences of the waking state are laid aside when dreams start; dream experiences disappear when sleep supervenes. Being too is lost in becoming. Christ said, "Life is lost in dreams."

So the mind is present in three states of consciousness - the waking, the dreaming, and the deep sleep states. But it is absent in the karana (causal) state in which them is only experience of the Divine. This is the state of total desirelessness. It is only when desires cease that the mind stops functioning. Real bliss is experienced in that state.

In the waking state, the eye sees, the ear hears and the tongue speaks. In the dream state, the eyes, the ears, and the tongue are inoperative. In the dream state, the mind alone sees, hears, and does the talking. The mind does all the functions of the senses. Mind is the inner operator of all the sense organs, which are only subsidiary ones and not self-acting instruments.

However, beyond the senses, the mind and the buddhi (intellect) there is the Atma (the Indwelling Spirit).

At large there are five kinds of senses in human: hearing, touch, sight, taste and smell. These five senses are based on the five elements: akasa (ether or space), vayu (air), agni (fire), aapa (water), and prithvi (earth).

The earth is the grossest of the elements; water is subtler and more pervasive than earth. Fire is subtler and more pervasive than water. Air is even more subtle than fire and is extremely pervasive. Ether is the subtlest and pervades everything. In this ascending order of subtlety, each element exhibits a wider pervasiveness than the preceding element. With increasing subtlety, pervasiveness also expands. In the reverse process, when subtlety diminishes, the density increases and the pervasiveness contracts. Thus, air is less subtle and grosser than ether. Fire is grosser and less pervasive than air. Earth is the grossest and least pervasive.

Akasa is the basis from which the other elements have emerged. Akasa may be compared to an infinite pot. All the other four elements are evolved from it. From the movement of ether, air came into existence. Out of air, fire emerged in course of time. Without air, there could be no fire. Out of the heat generated by fire, water was formed. From water, all multifarious forms in Nature are evolved.

The relationship between grossness and pervasiveness can be illustrated by an example. Suppose, for instance, a jasmine flower is placed on a table in a room. Fragrance, which is subtle, pervades the whole room.

The human's mind, because of its extreme subtlety, is capable of immense expansion. Nevertheless, because of the senses, the mind has attraction for a variety of objects and persons. It is when the attraction from these objects is reduced that the mind can achieve expansion.

In this context, you have to consider three factors: the gross, the subtle, and the causal. Taking the examples of the tamarind fruit, you find that it has the outer rind, the fruit inside it, and the seed within the fruit.

Our body is like the outer rind of the tamarind fruit. Our mind can be compared to the fruit within. Our causal body is comparable to the seed in the fruit. The human entity is the combination of these three. Moreover, in this entity, there are five kosas (sheaths) - the Annamaya (the food sheath), the Pranamaya (the vital air sheath), the Manomaya (the mental), Vijnanamaya (the intelligence) and the Anandamaya (the Blissful) kosas.

The Annamaya kosa's qualities are hunger, thirst, and sleep.

The Pranamaya kosa's qualities are inhaling, exhaling, and motion.

The Manomaya kosa's qualities are sankalpa (thought), vikalpa (absence of thought), and manana (introspection).
The Vijnanamaya kosa's qualities are medha shakthi (intelligence), viveka shakthi (power of discrimination), and vijnana shakthi (wisdom).

The Anandamaya kosa's qualities are priyam (fondness), modam (delight), and the pramodam (supreme delight or ecstasy).

Everyone aspires to have these three experiences.

For example, one learns that mangoes have come into the market. One derives a pleasure immediately on seeing the mangoes. This is priyam. Person then buys the mango and takes it home. The joy person derives from possessing the mango is modam. Then person eats the fruit with relish. The joy derived from this is pramodam.

You have to find out the true role of the mind. Below the mind is the vital principle. Above the mind is the buddhi (intelligence). Buddhi is associated with the agni (fire) principle. Prana (the vital force) is also associated with the fire principle. The mind is situated between these two.

The mind by itself is pure. It is by succumbing to the senses that it goes astray. If the mind allows itself to be guided by the buddhi, it will not go astray.

The scriptures have pointed out that when human follows the senses he/she becomes an animal. Three evil qualities have to be renounced before human. Anger which smothers jnana (wisdom), lust which pollutes karma and greed which destroys one's love for God and human.

The touchstone that pronounces an act as meritorious is "renunciation."

When human acts according to the buddhi he/she achieves the state of Mahat-thathwa (recognition of own great potentialities). When human recognizes own identity with the Atma, human becomes Brahman.

So, human must endeavor to escape from the delusion and reach the state of fully illumined wisdom. The best spiritual discipline that can help him/her to do so is Love.

Foster the tiny seed of Love that clings to 'me' and 'mine,' let it sprout into Love for the group around you, and grow into Love for all mankind, and spread out its branches over animals, birds and those that creep and crawl, and let the Love enfold all things and beings in all the worlds. Proceed from less Love to more Love, narrow Love to expanded Love. The statement, "From untruth to Truth" is not correct. The progress Is always from the lesser Truth to Truth which is God.

Swami teaches... 9 -15 May 2007

Part 1. Take Part in the Divine Play with Awareness

The Motto

I am not merit nor sin.
Neither happiness nor sorrow.
Neither mantra nor holy water.
Neither Veda nor Yajna.
Neither food nor the enjoyer of food.
I am Sath-Chith-Ananda Swarupa;*
Sathyam, Sivam, Sundaram.
(*Swarupa - form, essential nature, true nature of Being).

The Universe is the visible manifestation of the invisible Supreme Self. The Divine is effulgent in every human as Sath-Chith-Ananda (Being-Awareness-Bliss), the Cosmic Consciousness.

Oil is present throughout the sesame seed. Ghee is present in every drop of milk. Fragrance is present in an invisible form in a flower. A fruit is filled with sweet juice. In every piece of wood fire is latent. In the same manner, the Divine is immanent in the entire Cosmos in a subtle form. Like vision

in the eye and hearing in the ear, God is present in the mind as Chaithanya (Cosmic Consciousness).

Reflections of the Sun shining in the sky can be seen in the oceans, rivers, the lakes and in wells.

Though the reflections are varied, the Sun is one alone. The Divine is present in human like the unseen thread, which holds a garland of gems together.

Nothing in the world, no object, no human being, no creature can be found wherein God is not present. Though human appears in the world in different forms, speaking different languages, the essential humanness is common to one and all. There is only one race, that is the human race. God is only one. He is Sath-Chith-Ananda.

That is Full. This is Full. When Full is taken from the Full, Full remains - this is the Upanishadic axiom. The Divine is Full; Creation is Full; even when Creation happened and the Cosmos appeared to be produced from the Divine, there was no diminution in the Fullness of the Full. Fullness is the attribute, the nature of the Supreme. Fullness is the quality of the Divine; it is found in part or portion or in half or whole. Quantity is not the criterion; quality is in the visible world that has been taken from the substance of the Divine, this quality is found equally Full. We shall not consider the world as anything less than God.

(Of course, there are scholars who proclaim that the world is a hollow zero, that it has no latent or potent strength, being but a dream and a delusion).

In the Gita the Lord announces, "I am human among living beings, the cow among animals, the lion among beasts, the cobra among snakes, the eagle among birds, Prahladha among rakshasas (demons).
No item is discarded as not worthy of God. There is no body that He does not activate, no Form that He does not reside in. He is fragrance, brilliance, sweetness and taste, intelligence, valor, austerity, fame, contentment - an desirable and even undesirable things and qualities.

Adi Sankara's doctrine of Adwaitha declares, "The Absolute is one alone, not two." There is no second, but there is the appearance of an enormous multiplicity. How, then, can oneness be claimed?

Here is an example. You have the number one and the number nine. Of the two numbers which is the bigger? The natural answer will be nine. But one is really the bigger number 1 + 1 + 1 + 1..... up to nine, make up nine. Hence, the Vedas declare, "I am One; I willed to be many." Sankara declared that many is subsumed by the one this is the unity in diversity. Beings are many, but the breath is the same. Nations are many, but the Earth is one.

Ramanuja (11th century spiritual teacher; proponent of the ultimate oneness of the differentiated, Visishta-adwaitha, believed in a personal God reached by devotion and faith and the everlasting self-identity of the individual soul in communion with God as the goal of life) asked the question, "How long can the sweetness of the juice last?" Not for long. If the sugarcane juice is converted into some other lasting form, it could be used for sweetening many things. The conversion should be in the form of sugar, which could then be used for making any sweet preparation. Without the sugarcane, juice there can be no sugar.

The sugarcane juice represents the Adwaithic principle and sugar represents the Visishta-adwaithic principle.

Without some kind of flour, the sugar by itself cannot appear in different forms. Flour of the sort or another, combined with sugar, can serve to produce any number of sweets. However, it is not the flour is the source of sweetness. It is the sugar in the sweet that is made out of the flour, which accounts for the sweetness. This is the analogy employed to explain Dwaithic (the dualistic doctrine) principle.
Sankara is the exponent of Adwaitha (nondualism) school of philosophy.

Ramanuja as the exponent of Visishta-adwaitha (qualified non-dualism) and Madhva (13th century exponent of dualist philosophy, author of Vedantic works, the expounder of Dwaitha or dualism), stood out as great teachers who taught the path of spirituality to the world. However, there is common sweetness in all the three schools of philosophy.

With regard to Adwaitha, however, it is possible only to experience it as a conscious feeling, but not to apply nondualism on carrying out one's activities in daily life (as has mentioned in in previous compilation "Swami teaches...First for the Mother..." Part 3).

The ancient sages regarded human life as full of fragrance to be enjoyed. They considered life as full of nectarine sweetness. Human struggles in a myriad ways to secure sensual enjoyment, but there is sweetness, which transcends these physical pleasures. Thyaga (sacrifice) is the sweetness in humanness. The scriptures declare' "Only through sacrifice can human realize the eternal Divine."

The Universe is the Field where God sports. God also assumes the mind, the intelligence, the ego, and the magnificent Leela is inaugurated.

God's Leela is evident in the smallest flower and the most distant star. Be aware of this fact, every moment of consciousness, and there is nothing more you need for a happy existence. For, you will then contact God in every thing through every thought at every place and at every moment.

The Sun cannot illumine God; God is the source of the illumination of the Sun. The waves can say they belong to the Sea; but they cannot claim the Sea belongs to them. The individual can say, "I am Yours" to God; he/she cannot say, "You are mine.? God is the support; you are the supported.

"In consequence of this Divine initiation we became spectators of single and blessed visions, resident in a pure light; and were ourselves made immaculate and liberated from this surrounding garment which we call the body and to which we are now bound like an oyster to its shell" (Plato).

In the world human is a seeker of happiness, an aspirant for bliss. In every sphere human desires two things: enjoyment of happiness, removal of sorrow. What is the inner significance of perennial quest for happiness? The answer is given both in spiritual and scientific terms. Human's natural state is bliss. Human is the embodiment of happiness and therefore entitled to seek happiness. If a rose loses its fragrance, it ceases to be a rose. Likewise, if human loses own natural condition of happiness and bliss, he/she has forfeited the human state.

For instance, if one notices on the road a person with sad looks, one enquires why the person is miserable, what is the cause of his sadness. This enquiry is made by every passerby because it is not natural for a human being to be sad. In the bazaar, somebody is going in joyous mood; no notice is taken and no one questions to him/her why person is not sad. Joy and gaiety are regarded as natural condition and cause no surprise.

Krishna has said in the Gita that He is ever by the side of the joyous being. Be joyful yourself and make others too share in that joy.

Cultivate the attitude of unattachment, of indifference, of bypassing the urges, through prayer and systematic practice. This will lead you to Dharma (righteous behavior) and Truth; you are then entitled to the Dharma sthambha, or Sathya sthambha (the Pillar of Righteousness or Truth). This is also referred to as the Vedanta's point of view.

Vedanta does not mean, running away from home and the company of people and escaping into the solitude of the jungle. (Home is certain to haunt you, wherever you may take refuge). It implies recognition of all this as Divinely Poornam (full) and dedication of all thoughts, words, and deeds to the Divine. When you have the Vedantic vision, the place where you are will thereby be Kailas (Shiva's mountain abode) for you.

Human has endowed with the body, the senses, the mind, and the buddhi (intelligence) to experience the natural state of bliss.

However, unfortunately, because these agencies are polluted and misused, human is plunged in misery. The body is enveloped in the tainted cloaks of raga and dwesha (attachment and hatred). The senses are shrouded in the soiled cloth of desires and sensuous pleasures. Human believes that the physical and worldly pleasures and attachments and aversions are natural states.

Like the bitter skin of the fruit which is sweet which casts the cover of ignorance over the precious juice within, so too the bitter skin of envy, egoism, hate, malice, greed, lust and pomp does not allow the sweetness to be patent to all.

Here is the legend about the Gods. It was a fine day in Heaven; Narayana and His consort Lakshmi were talking away the hours, when Narada, the wandering minstrel, entered and attracted their attention. Narayana asked Narada whether the denizens of the Earth were happy. Narada replied that since they worshipped Him and won His Grace, people everywhere were quite happy and prosperous.

At this, Lakshmi (who was the Goddess of Wealth) was afflicted with jealousy and anger. She challenged Narada to prove that Narayana was more adored than Herself down on Earth.

Narayana accepted the challenge. Donning ochre robes, He transformed Himself into a monk and went down amongst the villages and towns, preaching the Path. Thousands flocked at these meetings and listened to the enchanting oratory. They followed Him from place to place and adored Him with effusive enthusiasm. He was being carried along on a huge wave of devotion and adulation.

Lakshmi saw this and could not contain herself: She was overwhelmed by envy. So, she too donned the sanyasi (ascetic person) robe and came down to the very region which Narayana had conquered for Himself. The people were drawn towards Her by the effulgence of Her presence, many came away from the meetings addressed by Narayana to bask in Her Presence.

A few invited Her to their homes for dinner. She agreed but declared that it was a vow she had undertaken, not to eat out of plates other than her own. She said, she would bring Her own plate, cup, drinking vessel etc. The host was only too glad to comply with Her request, for, that helped him to overcome one bother among many.

Lakshmi took with Her when She went to the houses of Her hosts, a plate of gold, a cup and a water-vessel, all three of gold. The host admired and adored Her the more for this display of pomp and wealth. But, he was astounded and delighted, when, after dinner, Lakshmi said that She was leaving the plate etc., at the host's home, since that too was part of Her vow.

When the news spread that it was highly profitable to invite Lakshmi to Dinner and to adore Her, there was a huge clamour for Her Grace and millions deserted Narayana's discourses and hovered around the giver of gold. People prayed to Narayana to go back to whence He came, for, they had no time to Him. Lakshmi was monopolising their attention.

So, Lakshmi came back to Heaven, to meet Narayana who was already there. She asked Narada, "Who is being worshiped more, Narayana or Lakshmi?" Narada replied with another question: "Whom are You worshiping, please?" Lakshmi answered, "Why? I worship Narayana." Then, said Narada, "Know that it is Narayana's Grace that is helping you to bestow those gifts of gold, which make people worship you."
Lakshmi's pride was humbled; but human's foolishness continues. Human worships mere earthy riches, indwelling divinity.

There are four stages in securing the Grace of the Lord.
1. Attaching the mind to God,
2. Loving tile Form of God to which the mind has been attached,
3. Installing that Form in the heart and
4. Dedicating all that one has and does to the Form so installed.

You have a great example of one who successfully traveled through these stages and realized the goal of life, in the Mahabharatha, namely Ekalavya. Though Dhronacharya refused to accept him as his pupil, Ekalavya attached himself mentally to him as guru; he installed him in his heart; and finally, he offered at his feet all the skills and fame that he had won through the grace of Dhronacharya.

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