Preface

    Swami indicates the significant role of His Teaching to the students - seekers of truth and to all others who are interested in their spiritual development. Let His words be as a preface to the subsequent Swami's lesson for devotees and followers "Swami teaches...".

     All of you have great love and adore Swami but that love and adoration are of no use if you ignore the teachings of Swami. Even if you do not adore, if you believe in the truth of the word and enforce it in your daily life, Swami's grace will always be with you in your life. It is no use if you simply utter the name of the Lord and do not follow the good things that go with the Lord. It is just like uttering the name of penicillin when you are running a high temperature. Only when you take in the penicillin will the temperature come down. When you are hungry, the hunger cannot be satisfied by uttering words like potato and Chapati. If you eat them, it will be satisfied. It is no use if you only read or listen. You must try to remember the teachings, put them into practice and judge for yourself how far you have acted according to the word. 

Swami teaches.... (2 February 2005)
   Comments on Krishna; Forms of God; True Education  
 
God is the One who manifests Himself in the cosmos with a myriad heads, a myriad eyes and a myriad feet. When this eternal Divinity is so near us (by His omnipresence) we are searching for Him all over the universe.

 
No one can comprehend or describe the glory and mystery of Prakriti (Nature). Nature is a reflection of the sport of the Divine. It is animated by the three gunas, which are manifestations of the trinity (Brahma, Vishnu and Siva). God is nourishing and promoting Nature by using the three gunas in multifarious combinations and forms. The purpose of life is to experience the sacredness of nature as a projection of the Divine.

In commenting on the Krishna story in the Bhagavatha, many writers have indulged in all kinds of misinterpretations. One such misinterpretation relates to Krishna's wives.

In the human body, there are what are called Shadchakras - six spiritual centres. Of these, the two most important are: the Hridayachakra (the Heart Centre) and the Sahasraara (the thousand petalled centre). The Hridayachakra is also known as the Hridayakamala (Lotus of the Heart) and the Sahasraara is called the Thousand-Petalled Lotus. The lotus of the heart has eight petals.
 

These eight petals symbolise the eight worlds, the eight directions, the eight guardians of the world, the eight bhutas (spirits) and the eight parts of the earth. Because Krishna was the lord of these eight petals, He was described as the husband of eight queens. The master is called Pathi and those under him are described as wives. This is a symbolic relationship and not a husband-wife relationship in the worldly sense. It is because the esoteric significance of these relationships was not properly understood, the Bhagavatham came in for misinterpretation.
 

It is also stated that Krishna was wedded to 116000 gopikas. Who are these gopikas? They are not cowherdesses in physical form. In the human head there is a lotus with a thousand petals.
 

The Lord is described as the embodiment of the 16 kalas. As the Lord of the Sahasraara (thousand-petalled lotus), He presides over the 16,000 kalas which are present in this lotus.  
 

The Kundalini Sakti, which starts at the bottom of the spinal column (Mooladhaara), rises and merges with the 16,000 entities in the Sahasraara. This is the esoteric significance and the meaning of the role of the Divine within the body. Oblivious to this inner meaning, people indulge in misinterpretations and perverse expositions.
 

Krishna's encounter with the demon Naraka has to be understood against this background. "Naraka" means one who is opposed to the Atma. Naraka does not mean a demon. It is the name of the satellite which revolved round the earth. When people were filled with apprehension about the threat to the earth from this satellite, when it seemed to be approaching the earth, Krishna removed their fear by destroying the satellite.
 

The legendary version of the Narakasura episode describes the demon as master of Praagiyothishapura. The symbolic meaning of Praagjyothishapura is that it is a place which has forgotten the Atma. The inner meaning of this is that demonic forces dwell in any place where the Atma is forgotten. All the chaos and evil in the world today are due to the fact that ones have forgotten the Atma (the Supreme Spirit). Everyone is conscious of the body and of the individual soul, but is not conscious of the Paramatma (Divinity) within him. By taking refuge in Krishna, the destroyer of Narakasura, one can get rid of the demonic qualities in him.
 

According to the legend, Krishna killed Narakasura with the help of Sathyabhama. What does this signify? Each of us has to fight and destroy the demonic forces within each by resorting to Sathya (Truth). "Sathyameva Jayathe" declares the Upanishad (Truth alone triumphs). "Speak the Truth" is a Vedic injunction. 
 

People bandy the word Vedanta. When a scholar is asked, "What is Vedanta?" the answer is: "The Upanishads, which come at: the end of the Vedas, constitute Vedanta." That is not the real Vedanta. The ending of the "I" (the ego) is Vedanta. If you wish to know Me, you have to first know who you really are. Look into yourselves. Without understanding who you really are, how you can seek to understand Me? When your vision is concentrated on the external, how can you understand the inner being?

Iswara (God) is said to have three forms.
One' Viraat-Swaroopa (the Cosmic form).
Two' Hiranyagarbha (the subtle form).
Third: Avyaakruta (the Causal entity).
 

Viraat-Swaroopa is Viswa-roopa - the entire manifested Cosmos is His form. All the myriad forms and names in the universe are contained in His form. This is described as Jaagrata-Swaroopudu (the Cosmic form as experienced in the waking state).
 

The second one is the Divine as experienced in the dream state Hiranyagarbha. In the waking state we use our limbs, see with our eyes and hear with our ears. In the dream state, we perform many actions. When all the organs and senses of the body are not functioning in the dream state, how do these experiences occur? That is the subtle form of Hiranyagarbha.

Avyaakrutudu, the third form, is the Causal entity. It has no specific form and therefore is called Avyaakruta. But Ananda (Bliss) is present. There is consciousness of experience. You are the same person experiencing the waking state, dreaming in the sleeping state and enjoying the bliss in the sushupti (deep sleep) state. The one entity existing in all three states is the Atma (i.e. Brahman,Iswara) in the body in the waking state, in the mind in the dream state and in the Chitta (Higher Consciousness) in the deep sleep state. The Iswara principle unifies all the three entities.
 

“Isaavaasyam idam sarvam" (All this is pervaded by Iswara). He is omnipresent. There is no place, object or being without presnce of  God (i.e. Brahman, Aathma, Almighty, Iswara...). When God is omnipresent, what need is there to go in search of God? The search is meaningless.
 

Many people come to Swami and ask: "Swami! Show us the way." All that you have to do is to go back to the source from which you came. Where is the need for seeking the way? The Bhagavatha has declared that it is the natural destiny of every living being to go back to the place from which it came.

To understand this eternal truth education must broaden the heart, it must expand one's love. Fortitude and equanimity belong to the Reality in person.

 
I have come to illumine the human heart with the Light Divine and to rid human of the delusion that drags away from the path of shaanthi (peace), the perfect equanimity born of Realisation.
 

Along with subjects related to worldly knowledge, Sai University will impart instruction in ethical, moral and spiritual codes and saadhanas. It has as its goal the cultivation of the student's mind on these lines. Virtues, purity of the mind, adherence to truth, dedication to the Supreme, discipline, devotion to duty - these qualities will be fostered and promoted in this University. Such seats of learning were established in ancient times by the sages and seers. This culture has sprouted from the vision they had of God, in every atom in creation. "God resides," it proclaims, "not only in the idol installed in the temple, but in every atom and cell, without exception."
 

Students are My all. If you ask Me, what is My property, My answer is: "My entire property consists of My students." I have offered Myself to them.

I know that all the thousand fruits that a tree bears do not ripen into tasty edible ones. Some are stolen; some rot away, some are attacked by pests' only a few ripen and confer aanandha on others. In running race, all do not win the first place.
 

Many drop along the track. If at least a few students rise up to the high ideals we have set before us, I am confident this country can be prosperous and happy.
 

There are many who are engaged in criticism and calumny. Many papers publish all types of writings. All kinds of things happen in the world. My reply to all these is a smile. Such criticisms and distortions are the inevitable accompaniments of everything good and great. Only the fruitladen tree is hit by stones thrown by greedy people. No one casts a stone on the tree that bears no fruit!
 

Even if the entire world opposes Me unitedly, nothing can affect Me. My mission is essentially Mine. I am engaged in doing good. My heart is ever full of benediction. I have no ego. I do not own any thing. This is My truth. Those who have faith in this, My Truth, will not hesitate to dedicate themselves to it. 

(Reet's compilation from, Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 22, "The divine and the Demon" Chapter 35 and "From love : to love," Chapter 5;  
Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 15. "An ideal university," Chapter 33;
Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 1. "Shikshana," Chapter 16).

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Swami teaches.... (1 February 2005)
    Awareness of the Supreme and the Universal 
 

Human being is innately Divine; the Divine comes automatically into his consciousness. But the curtain of maaya (illusion) prevents that thrilling contact, that illumining revelation. This maaya is also a Divine Artifice, it is a vehicle or Upaadhi of the Lord.
 

There is a story that once the Lord got angry with maaya and wanted 'her' to disappear, for people are being led astray by her wiles. Maaya said, it seems, "I am the veil that you wear; I am the fog that has arisen out of your own will; I am as widespread as You are; I am wherever You are; give me a place where You are not; I shall take refuge there."
 

Each one of you can tear the veil by attaining the knowledge of the Reality of God; or, you can plead by prayer to the Lord Himself to lift it a little so that you may have a vision of His Reality.
 

The highest awareness to which all spiritual effort leads is: "Brahma sathyam, Jagan mithya"- "Brahman is real, the world is mythical." Every atom and cell is a bundle of energy, expressing the Divine will. Matter and energy are not really separate. It is all one Will concretising, pervading, prompting and continuing. To experience the world as such, one must transcend all dual categories and reach the unique, unitary base, identifying It and establishing oneself in It. When the eye is filled with Jnaana (Vision of God), the world will be seen as Brahman i. e. Aathma (the Eternal Absolute). Then the world and the entire complex of being and becoming will assume one colour, the Brahman colour, and you will have perfect equanimity, unaffected by any modification. Yearn to reach that stage of perfect unshaken Bliss. 
 

Human being is as the visible embodiment of God. Whenever you are serving another and relieving his distress, remember it is your own distress that you are relieving. 
 

A Sanyaasin (monk) passing along the road saw the unfortunate animal; he removed his shin. He threw away his head cover; he jumped into the slush, and lifted the cow on to the bank, in spite of its kicks and frantic movements. The throng laughed at his bravado and weight-lifting prowess and some one asked him, "Why could you not go your way, unconcerned?" The Sanyaasin replied, 'The picture of that cow's agony cut into my heart; I could not go one step further. I had to get rid of the pain in my heart. This was the cure for that pain. I did it to save myself, not so much to save the cow." You serve yourself; you harm yourself, when you gloat on the harm you have inflicted on another. There is no Another! Only those who have reached that stage of spiritual progress have a right to advise on service.
 

God is the Witness. It is human's spiritual heart what must be transformed to perform the actions of serving the other humans and whatsoever beings. It is God what acts through human's heart by such way in accordance with the Great Laws of Oder and Harmony of Creation.
 

Aanandha (Supreme Bliss) is immanent in every thing in Creation, for Aanandha is Brahman (the Universal Absolute, Atma). Everything is Sath (Being), Chith (Awareness or Consciousness) and Aanandha (Bliss), that is to say, Divine. Everything IS, the IS-ness is the Sath (the being) capable of Becoming. Next about Chith (awareness) : the capacity to be known and to know, to gain awareness and to grant awareness is Chith. When we take with us a child to a fair or market or an exhibition, it asks for answers to endless questions, What is that?" "Why is it so?", “What is its name ?" This yearning to know is the sign of the Chith.
 

In spite of our seeing so many dying around us and heating about as many more deaths, though we witness the misery and the suffering of so many, we long for a death-less and sorrow-less life. We spend fortunes to lengthen our lives. That is the urge of the "Sath" in us.
 

The other longing to know is the expression of the "Chith" in us. The third proof of our innate Divinity is the urge of Aanandha in us. Without exception, every one is motivated by this Aanandha urge.

However, these urges have each two aspects - the impression (internal) and the expression (external). Sath has, for example, the being and the becoming. The process of becoming is what the Gaayathri prayer asks for "Awaken my intellect, heighten and expand my awareness (prachodayaath)." Becoming is through expanding, manifesting wider and more varied forms. The Upanishaths declare, "He is everything that exists both inside and outside."

The Become is a reflection of the Will that urged the Being; so, the Being IS the Becoming. It changes from Is to Was; it is unstable, while Being is stable. Being is the screen and Becoming, the pictures that flit across the screen. When there are no pictures, who will be drawn to the screen? How can pictures be seen, when there is no screen? The fleeting and the fixed are inextricably dependent on each other.

The expression of the urge of Aanandha is as Love and Delight. Delight is the product and projection of Love. The expression of Chith is awareness. The expression of Sath is Becoming.
 

Divinity is the Unity that manifests in Diversity, the One as the Many. The One is the efficient cause as well as the material cause of the Many. The One is inherent in the Many and shines in the Many which It has become. The ONE is the source of the highest and the most lasting Aanandha.
 

The flooded stream of human life has originated from Brahmaanandha and it has to attain the source from which it has come away. In order to succeed,one must recollect the ecstasy of Brahmaanandha every moment, in every activity. Thyaagaraaja revelled in the Aanandha that poetry, music and scholarship can confer but since the Aanandha that learning can confer (Vidhyaanandha) was liable to weaken, he considered it only as a particle or foretaste of the Brahmaanandha he sought most the Aanandha derivable from the Universal Eternal Delight, the Nirguna Aanandha Brahman, That Aanandha is human's reality, for, he/she is God.
 

God is neither distant, nor distinct from you. You are God. You are Sath-Chith-Aanandha (Being, Awareness and Bliss Absolute). You are Asthi (being), Bhaathi (awareness), Priyam (bliss). You are all. When do you cognise this Truth? If your yearning to experience Brahmaanandha, the Sath-Chith-Aanandha is sincere and pure, from this day, keep ever in your memory what I am about to tell you:
 

    1. "I am God; I am not different from God." Be conscious of this always. Keep it ever in mind. "I am God; I am God. I am not different from God." Be reminding yourself of this. Pray that you may not fail in this saadhana (spiritual exercise).
    2.  "I am the Akhanda Para Brahman (Indivisible Supreme Absolute, Aathma)." This is the second Truth to be established in the consciousness by unremitting repetition and prayer.
    3.  I am Sath-Chith-Aanandha ("Being, Awareness, Bliss"). Divine Bliss is the goal to be ever kept in view.
    4.  "Grief and anxiety can never affect me." Develop ' this Faith and convince yourselves of this Truth by repeated assurance and prayer.

    5.  "I am ever content; fear can never enter me." Feel thus for ever. Pray that this conviction grows stronger and stronger. Exhort yourself, "O self ! Utter 'Om Thath Sath', 'Om Thath Sath' "the threefold symbol of Brahman. As the physical body is maintained healthy and strong by the five praanas (vital airs), these five prayers will endow you with the "awareness of Brahman," which is the same as "the status of Brahman Itself."
 

Have faith in these facts above. In order to develop and deepen this faith, certain spiritual practices can be undertaken. Do not feel separate from God and consider Him as the Giver and yourself as the Recipient.
 

The Aanandha one gets through meditation on the Aathma is as lasting as the Aathma. When Godhead assumes a body, It too is unaffected as the Aathma. Nothing can confer as much Aanandha as virtue, neither wealth, nor material power, nor fame, nor scholarship. The highest virtue is humility, surrender to God.
 

The alert and the inert, the living and the non-living, the moving and the non-moving are all God. Strengthen this faith, live in this faith. This is the prescription for perpetual Brahmaanandha.
 

Move about in the world like an actor, but be conscious all the time that you are on the way home, to be with the Lord from whom you have come. Whenever the feeling that the drama is real enters the mind, deny it firmly. Do not identify yourself with the role that you play. Such identification will retard your progress.
 

You must learn and practise what is called Vibhaaga-yoga in the Geetha. Vibhaaga means division, differentiation, discrimination, separation of one thing from another. Understand the distinction between the Kshethra (the body, the field) and the Kshethrajna (the Knower in this body), He who is aware of all that happens, who is witness, the Dehi (the embodied) who is above all the dualities of pleasure and pain, good and bad.
 

Muscular power, mechanical power, political power, military power, scientific power - all are futile when weighed with the power of God's Grace. Ask that Grace to give you what He knows you most need. Leave the nature of the gift to Him; it may be good fortune or bad; it may be pain or joy; it may be dishonour or defeat. Dedicate yourself to Him. Worship the Grand and the Glorious, the Supreme and the Universal. (Reet's compilation from Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol.7, "No mirror, no image," Chapter 7 and "Vedha Vyaasa," Chapter 22; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol.16. "Perpetual bliss," Chapter 30).

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