Swami teaches....Part 8
Link to Swami Teaches....Part 7 Sai Ram Light and Love Swami
teaches.... (6 February 2005)
Obtain the Skill to Manage the Sacred Values
All human beings
belong to one caste, one community, one nation. All are
embodiments of the Divine. Every second is a new moment
in one's life. The eye sees different persons in
different relationship. Although the eye that sees is
the same, the persons seen are different and one's
behaviour is to be in accord with the varying
relationships.
A human being has not taken
birth purely for a selfish purpose. He has to strive
with others to lead an exemplary life. People's actions
are responsible for the good and bad things they
experience.
God is one. The goal is one.
People have to change their outlook. They have to
develop love towards all. There is nothing greater in
the world than this Premadhrishti (feeling of universal
love). The uniqueness of every being is one of the
marvels of creation.
Of all human values, three are
most important. The foremost is love of God. There
should be a fusion of love, sacrifice and purity. They
are not mere human qualities. They constitute vital
organs of a human being. They are as essential for a
human being as the head, hands and legs for the body.
Everyone has a heart.
Every heart is filled with compassion. However, how
many choose to share this compassion with others?
Sharing the compassion in one's heart with ten others
has been characterised as Bhakthi (devotion). Today
the human heart that should be full of compassion has
become stone-hard. This is human's misfortune. What is
the reason? It is because the heart is filled with the
bitterness of differences of caste, creed and
nationality that it has become stony. People talk
about unity but there is no unity.
What we witness today in the
world, however, is a great deal of play-acting. All appear
as devotees and all proclaim their spirit of sacrifice.
Everyone declares himself or herself as a saadhaka
(spiritual aspirant). Every believer claims that he is
seeing God. One must enquire whether it is the so-called
devotee who is seeking God or whether it is God who is
searching for a true devotee. Is the saadhaka serving God
or is God serving the saadhaka?
Offering to God what God has
provided is like offering to the Ganga water from the
Ganga. The truth is it is God who is rendering service to
the devotee. All the capacities given by God should be
used in the service of the Divine. There is no need to go
in quest of God. God is all the time searching for the
genuine and steadfast devotee. The saadhaka is approaching
God for the fulfilment of his desires. He is after petty
and transient benefits. Today's saadhaka proves himself to
be a self-deluded being with no moral commitment.
Trivial spiritual practices (saadhanas)
are invariably motivated by selfish objectives. There is
an element of selfishness in every service which man
undertakes. All undertakings are tainted by egoism or the
acquisitive urge. Only when the saadhaka's heart is filled
with the Divine, will he be able to entertain pure and
sacred love.
Once Shankaraachaarya asked his
disciples what is the hall-mark of greatness. Each
disciple gave his own answer. One disciple said that the
man who won great victories in battle is a great man.
Another disciple said that man who underwent many troubles
and difficulties and amassed large wealth was great.
Another said that a great man was one who accomplished by
determined effort what he wanted to achieve. Planting
one's flag over a territory or crossing a mighty ocean
were mentioned as marks of greatness. Ultimately Shankara
gave the answer that one alone is great who has mastery
over personal mind. All other achievements are of no
avail.
The Hindu almanac refers to five
factors the day of the week, the thithi (phase of the
moon), the relevant constellation, the auspiciousness or
otherwise of the particular day and the Karanam
(astrological divisions). The predictions in the almanac
have no relation to what may happen to any particular
person. The Siddhanthis (the almanac makers) give their
own interpretations of the astrological configurations.*
Above everything, if one has firm faith in God, one can
face the future with confidence.
There is no room for doubts as
to who is God and where He is to be found. God is
Viraata-Svaruupa (Cosmic Form). The whole Universe is
the manifestation of God. What does God teach? The
lessons are given through Prakrithi (Nature) which
conveys lessons to mankind. The Earth is a visible
manifestation of God. The ancients hailed the Earth as
Bhuumaatha (Holy Mother Earth).
The real criterion of moral
conduct is harmony between one's profession and one's
practice.Morality consists in acting up to the rules of
fight conduct prescribed by society at a particulartime
and place for an individual or group. If there is no
connection between what one professes in words and his
actions, morality cannot exist.
Giving up narrow idea and
feelings, people should show compassion towards their
fellowbeings. Compassion is the hall-mark of Bhakthi
(devotion).
Pray for the welfare of all. The
power of prayer is incalculable. Every one should pray
every day for the welfare and happiness of all people
everywhere, especially for the ill,
disabled and unfortunates. This is true
spirituality and normal behavior of spiritual person. This
should be done without any advertisement, it should be
done as natural duty of any human being.
To render service to others to
the limit of your capacity is real spirituality. If one
has a compassionate heart, is truthful in speech, and uses
his body for serving others, he needs nothing else to
redeem his life.
Charity is the best ornament for
the hand, truth for throat and listening, to sacredthings,
for the ears. These eternal verities are being forgotten
in the craze for ephemeral pleasures.
Regard every moment as new Live
in the present. Cultivate good company. Act according to
the dictates of your conscience.
(Reet's
compilation from, Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 17, "The most
precious period," Chapter 1;
Vol.
29, "Let everyone do his duty," Chapter 7). * By my
insight Swami is not against astrology. Probably He notes
that the signs of astrology show only the more available
opportunities. The main ruler of astrology is the Self.
When one understand his/her place and duty in this
lifetime as one of the Divines aspects in actions, then
all signs of astrology have a secondary value.
Astrological inauspicious positions can to overcome with
faith and devotion to Cosmic Consciousness i.e. God. Swami
teaches.... (5 February 2005) "My
Intention is to Instruct People." Dhyana-2
Until the goal of Dhyanam is achieved, the well established
discipline of Asanas has to be followed. The curriculum has
to be adhered to till then. After the attainment of the
goal, that is after the Manas and the Buddhi have been
conquered and brought under control, one can be immersed in
Dhyanam wherever one finds oneself: on the bed, in the
chair, on a rock or in a cart.
To describe anything in words is
difficult; it might even cause boredom. My writing on it and
your reading it will not make it easy. Through Dhyana,
people reach the Divine experience of realising the Atma
within themselves. Through Dhyana, Sadhakas are able to cast
off the sheaths of ignorance, layer after layer. The process
which aims at this holy consummation alone deserves to be
called Dhyana. Whatever is done must be dedicated for
earning Atmananda. One should train oneself to adopt a good
Asana or sitting pose, to avoid tension of the body and to
ease the mind from weight and pressure of the body.
The secret of success in Dhyana
lies in the purity of the inner life of the Sadhaka. The
success is proportionate to the importance the Sadhaka gives
to Right Conduct or Sanmarga. Every one has the right to
achieve this high degree of success. I declare this loud
enough for all the quarters to hear. Knowing this, Meditate
and Advance! Do Dhyana and progress! Realise the Atma!
Every minute, from inside and
outside, promptings and temptations arise and accumulate in
anyone. Person fixes attention on the most important among
them only. This is called concentration, avadhana.
Purposefully directing the attention on a subject and fixing
it there is ekaagratha or one-pointedness. This is also a
condition of the mind. Concentration and one-pointedness
help to focus effort on any selected task.
There are two types of people:
ones set accusing themselves as sinners and another
flattering themselves as great. Both types are being worried
by their own mental aberrations! What they both need is
mental satisfaction and this can be got by Dhyana; for
through Dhyana, understanding will increase and wisdom will
grow.
From this, a person should develop
interest in Dhyana and a taste for Dhyana. Dhyana gives
concentration and success in all tasks. It is through Dhyana
alone that great personages and Rishis have controlled their
mental activities and directed them towards the sathwik
path.
First, the yearning;
then the selection of the goal;
then the concentration and
through the discipline, the
conquest of the mind...
Every one needs this self-education.
Dhyana is the remedy for realisation that everything is as
illusory, as the ghost in the well! that this state of mind.
It is possible through Dhyana to
bring into memory the Paradise that is one's empire,
discarding as a dream and a delusion the transitory creations
of the mind. By engaging oneself to Dhyana, systematically and
calmly Dhyana can be made effective and tranquil. Thus, the
road towards the highest experience is laid. A new
understanding dawns, clear and unruffled. When the heights of
Dhyana are reached, this understanding becomes so strong that
one's lower nature is destroyed and burnt to ashes! Then, only
'You' remains. The entire Creation is a delusion of your mind!
One alone Is, Sathyam, the Lord, Satchidananda, Paramatma,
Sivoham - the One.
The Sathya, the Truth, is so subtle
and so soothing. Once that is reached, there is no meditation,
no meditator; no Dhyana, no Dhyatha; all merge into one. That
is the fixed, illumined experience. Exulting within himself
that is Pure Knowledge, the Jnani will be aware only of
Atmanubhava, Atmic Bliss. That is the Goal, the fruit of
Immortality. Attaining the transcendent experience, the Yogi
finishes his Dhyana. He is transformed into a pure being.
Dhyana and Dhyana alone has the capacity to make a person
transcend the vicissitudes of time and make him ever the same
equanimous individual, as if he is another Creator himself.
Into the Inner Realm, the Sadhaka
can enter through the gate of Self-examination. That gate
accords welcome for every Sadhaka endowed with humility and
devotion into the highest and holiest status possible in Life.
To reach to this state, the Sadhaka
must first learn the secret of the 'inward sight', the 'vision
directed inwards' and take his attention away from the
exterior.
Divine Life is nothing but this
method of 'inward living'. Besides, every thought, every word,
every deed has to proceed from the full consciousness of
knowledge. Direct your intelligence not to wander about but to
dwell constantly in the inner world! This is the inward
vision; Dhyana is the most important instrument needed for
this.
The Dhyani considers the promotion
of the welfare of the world equally with Atmic bliss is also
an important aim. One must bring under control certain
physical, verbal and mental tendencies. These are usually
known as the ten-fold sins: the three physical, the four
verbal, and the three mental. The physical tendencies are:
injury to life, adulterous desire and theft. The verbal sins
are: false alarms, cruel speech, envious talk and lies. The
mental attitudes are: greed, envy and the denial of God. The
person intent on following Dhyana must take every care that
these ten enemies do not approach him.
Progress depends on the worth and
quality of the individual, as the harvest depends on the
fertility of the field. Even if a person through perversity or
blind conceit, has so far not cultivated good qualities, he
can at least make a try or carry on efforts to secure them!
There are some who try to be
quality-less; but they achieve only living death. Their pale
faces reveal only lack of zest and interest. This is the
result of unreasoned haste in spiritual discipline. Though
becoming quality-less is ultimately needed, there should be no
hurry to reach the goal; even though a person may have the
ardour, it very often leads to dilemmas, which many solve by
means of suicide! Since they evince no interest in earning
this qualification, many stalwart Sadhakas have lost their way
and not regained it in spite of years of effort! Others have
slipped into the morass through which they were wading!
Therefore, the path of achieving the
absence of qualities is strewn with dangers. One cannot exist
without activity; so, one must of necessity act through 'good'
qualities. One must put down all desires and become free. The
mind filled with good qualities will help in this process. It
will give up doing injury; it will seek opportunities to help,
to heal and to foster. It will not only suffer, it will also
pardon. It will not incline towards the false, it will be on
the alert to speak the truth; it will remain unruffled by
lust, greed, anger and conceit; it will be free from delusion;
it will seek always the welfare of the world.
Dhyana is the only island of refuge
in the ocean of life for all beings tossed on the waves of
desire, doubt, dread and despair.
With this as the ideal, carry on
Dhyana and mental Japa, henceforward. The step immediately
after Dhyana is Samadhi. Dhyana is the Seventh of the
Eight-fold Yoga. Dhyana is the very basis of all Sadhana.
Every one is competent to have that experience; in fact, it is
everyone's right to have it.
The contemplation of the Lord must
proceed in union with the Dharmic life. This type of life has
no need for status, scholarship or vanity. It is only through
this life that the mind and the intellect can be controlled,
the Atma Vidya cultivated, the Will sublimated.
The destruction of the modifications
and agitations of the Mind is the condition precedent to
getting audience with that Ruler. His Durbar Hall has eight
doors through which one has to pass for the audience: Yama,
Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Prathyahara, Dhyana, and Samadhi.
When the mind has been brought under
control by these eight disciplines, the Will can easily be
developed thereafter. The will is the Nature of the Lord; it
is also referred to as the Lord's Ordinance. The Power of the
Will is the deciding fator. In human being the Will is not so
overpoweringly strong. However, when one achieves that
Power,one gets something equal to the Power of the Lord. Such
Merger is made possible through Dhyana.
The knowledge of the world is not
real knowledge. It is relative knowledge. The knowledge of the
eternal Absolute is the Real knowledge. That is acquired by
Dhyana. The fire of Dhyana and Yoga will reduce to ashes the
sapless activities of the Manas. (Reet's compilation
from, Sathya Sai Baba. "Dhyana Vahini," pp. 8 - 18). Humans
have to be doing some karma or other from the moment of
waking to the moment of sleeping; that is to say, from
birth to death. There two types of karma.
Sensory or binding karmas, or
vishaya karmas.
If every one treads this holy
path, the Lord Himself will bestow on each all that is
needed, all that is deserved and all that will give peace
of mind. Offer everything to the Lord without any desire
for the result; that indeed yields full joy; that is
indeed the easiest. While it is very difficult to speak
untruth and act against Dharma it is very easy to utter
the truth and walk in the path of Dharma. To speak out the
thing just as it is, is a very pleasant task; one need not
spend a moment of thought upon it. To speak of what is
not, one has to create the non-existent! That plunges one
into fear and fantasy, in an atmosphere of restlessness
and worry.
Instead of the vishaya karma
which offers all such trouble and all these complications,
follow the Sreyo marga, the Atmananda marga which is true,
eternal and holy.
The best means for this is
Dhyana. My present intention is to instruct people.
Every one in the world has the
nature of behaving and acting in two different ways; one
outside and another inside. This is known to all, though
generally people do not show this out publicly.
The conflicting desires
infecting the mind of human being have to be quenched and
controlled. The mind has to be focussed in one
direction. One must walk determinedly, using all effort
towards and for the purpose of the aim and achievement has
set before oneself. If this is done, no force can pull him
back.
When the wayward mind fleeing in
all directions is plunged in the contemplation of the Name
of the Lord, the effect will be like the concentration of
the rays of the sun through a piece of magnifying glass;
the scattered rays develop the power of a flame to burn
and consume; so too when the waves of Buddhi and the
feelings of Manas get one-pointedness through the
converging lens of the Atma, they manifest as the Divine
Splendour which can scorch evil and illumine Joy.
Every one is able to gain
success in his profession or occupation only through
concentration and one-pointedness in effort. Even the
pettiest of tasks needs for its fulfilment the quality of
concentration. The toughest problem yields before
unswerving endeavour. Human being is endowed with
unlimited powers. But the road is missed, since one is
unaware of this truth. To gain the awareness of this
power, one must join the company of the holy; must strive
in Sadhana; and must practise Japam and Dhyanam. The last
is the process by which it is trained to acquire
concentration.
Dhyanam should be performed
enthusiastically, with full faith and care, and strictly
according to the disciplines laid down. If this is done,
it will bestow not only all happiness and all victory but
even the vision of the Lord. This is bound to the science
of Vedantha and also to the science of Nature or Prakriti.
These two are different only in one respect. The students
of Prakriti are immersed in the objects of Life; the
students of Vedantha are immersed in the basic truth of
Life. And human being is bound to both these! Prakriti is
related to Vishaya: Vedantha is related to Swarupa. If one
desires to transform his life, internal as well as
external, into one of Splendour, Dhyanam is the best
Sadhana that he can adopt.
If in this manner the Dhyanam
path is rigorously followed, it is possible for one to win
the Grace of the Lord very quickly.
Sadhakas all over the world will
naturally be engaged in Japam and Dhyanam. But first one
has to be clear about the purpose of Japam and Dhyanam
which are for acquiring one-pointed attention on the Lord,
for casting off sensory attachments and for attaining the
joy derived from the basis of all sensory objects. The
mind should not be wandering in all directions,
indiscriminately, like the fly what dwells in the
sweet-meat shop and runs after the rubbish carts.
Look at the other type, the bee!
It will have contact only with sweetness; it will approach
only those flowers that possess nectar. Similarly, one
has to give up all inclinations towards the sensory
attraction towards the rubbish cart as far as possible,
one has to direct the mind to all holy things associated
with the Lord. For this, time is needed, of course. How
long that time will be is dependent on the activities of
thought, word and deed as well as on the motives that
impel those actions.
Japam and Dhyanam should never
be judged on mere external standards; they are to be
judged by their inner effects. Their essence is their
relationship to the Atma. The immortal experience of the
Atma should never be mixed up with low activities of the
temporal world.
The one single fruit of
Japam-Dhyanam is this: the conversion of the out-faced
into the in-faced; the turning inwards of one's eye, the
inward eye seeing the Reality of Atmic Bliss. For this
transformation, one has to be always active and hopeful,
regardless of the time taken and the difficulties
encountered. One should await the descent of the Lord's
Grace. This patient waiting is itself part of the tapas of
Dhyana.
There are three ways by which
apirants try to enter the path of Dhyana: the Sathwika
marga, the Rajasika marga and the Thamasika marga.
1. The Sathwika Path
One considers Japam-Dhyanam as
a duty and suffers any amount of trouble for its sake; one
is fully convinced that all this is just an illusion; and
so, one does only good under all conditions and at all
times; one desires only the good of all; one spends time
uninterruptedly in the remembrance and meditation of the
Lord. He will not crave even for the fruit of the Japam
and Dhyanam; he will leave it all to the Lord.
2.The Rajasika Path
One will be craving at every
step for the fruit of one's act. If that fruit is not
available, then gradually, laxity and disgust overpower
the Sadhaka and the Japam and Dhyanam slowly dry up.
3. The Thamasika Path
This is even worse. The Lord
will come into the memory only in times of danger or acute
suffering or when one is the victim of loss or pain. For
those who adopt this attitude in Dhyanam, the mind and
intellect can never be pure.
Most people now follow only the
Rajasika and Tamasika paths in Japam and Dhyanam. The very
intention in doing Japam and Dhyanam is to purify the
Manas and the Buddhi, the mind and the intellect. In order
to achieve this, the best path is the first, the Sathwika
Dhyanam.
One in whom this understanding
shines fully is called a Rishi. (Reet's
compilation from, Sathya Sai Baba. "Dhyana Vahini," pp. 1
- 7). Swami
teaches.... (3 February 2005)
v Dharmakshethra,
is being developed as an International Centre for saadhakas
and inquirers, eager to learn the Sanaathana (ancient) way of
life. India has no dearth of temples and institutions claiming
to guide the pilgrims to God. In a Granthaalaya (Library),
only people interested in books will gather; the Bhojanaalaya
(Boarding House) is frequented only by those who want a meal;
the Vaidhyaalaya (Hospital) is resorted to only by the sick;
but in the Devaalaya (Temple of God), we do not find today
either devotees or God! This is the only House where the
legitimate owner is absent! Temples were the centres for the
spread of Bhaaratheeya Indian culture, and, when the
attraction for western culture became strong, they were
deserted, and left open to the ravages of time. Bhaaratheeya
culture has emphasised the valid ways in which one has to
spend energy andmoney for service of the distressed, the
diseased, the hungry, the illiterate, the ill-housed, the ill
clothed. It condemns the
spending of energy and money for pomp, for vengeance, for
competitive faction, for material triumphs. Wealth is to be
held on trust and used for promoting the brotherhood of human
being and the fatherhood of God. This culture also lays down
that nothing should be done to damage any one's faith in God
or in one's own self. Faith is a tender plant and it needs all
the nurture that you can give. Dharmakshethra
has a great part to play. It is in Bombay, which is the
stomach of Bhaarath. The Himaalayas are the Head and the
Kanyaakumari is the feet. When the stomach is inefficient, the
entire body suffers the consequences. So, keep the
Dharmakshethra efficient and strong. Do not allow it to
degenerate into a Kurukshethra; let not friction and faction
raise their heads here. Let the high ideals of Dharma
(righteousness) be upheld here. There are in this
huge gathering people speaking many languages. But, there is
a language of the heart, which all can understand and all
would like to hear. That is the language which I speak, the
language that goes from My heart to yours. When heart speaks
to heart, it is love that is transmitted, without any
reservation. The responsive heart listens to these with
sympathy and answers with love. There are people
who go about declaring that there is no God, because they are
not able to see Him. They say that they have searched in
space, on the way to the moon, and even on the moon but there
was no sign of the Almighty. But they themselves are, all the
time, the mansions in which He resides! The foundations
of this life are laid deep in the past, in lives already lived
by you. This structure has been shaped by the ground plan of
those lives. God is the great Unseen, the vast Unknowable.
When desire disappears or is concentrated on God, Intelligence
is selfluminous, You should not
censure other religions. God is One. Truth is One; there
cannot be two. The Goal is One; for, all roads must lead to
the One God. Why then should men quarrel and fight over the
Eternal and the Absolute? Religion is
three-fourths character. No person can claim to be religious
if he merely observes the sacraments and rules, and fails to
be upright and compassionate. Character alone can harden one
to the blows of pain and pleasure. Serve all, as
embodiments of the Divine Will. That will give you immense
joy, a joy that no other activity can confer. Learn from the
saints and sages who have realised the Truth about the path
you shall tread and the goal you have to attain. That Goal
is God. He is beyond all notions of good and bad, fight and
wrong. These are earthly measures, by which the temporary is
weighed and judged. He has no form, no limbs, no dualities,
no preferences, no prejudices, no predilections. To say that He
is Sathyaswaruupa, (having the characteristic of Truth),
Jnaanaswaruupa (having full wisdom) and Aanandhaswaruupa
(full of Bliss) is also not correct. For, He has no Swaruupa
or Swabhaava (individual form or individual nature); He is
Sathya; He is Jnaana; He is There are no
pots, in the clay; but, in the pots, there is clay. So also
there are no characteristics in God; but, in the
characteristics of Sathya, Jnaana and Aanandha, there is
God. God is everywhere. He is too subtle for all that type
of contact, subtler than ether (Aakaasa). God is too vast,
too far above the reach of reason or imagination. You can
only get glimpses of the Bliss derivable from the
contemplation of His Magnificence. Reduce wants,
live simply, that is the way to happiness. Everything that
is not 'you' is an object; it is luggage for the journey;
the less of it, the more comfortable the journey! Attachment brings
sorrow in its wake; at last, when death demands that
everything be left behind and everybody be deserted, you
are overpowered with grief! Be like the lotus on water; on
it, not in it. Water is necessary for the lotus to grow;
but, it will not allow even a drop to wet it. (Reet's
compilation from, Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol.9. "Cults and
culture," Chapter 7, "In it, not of it," Chapter 8 and
"Beauty and duty," Chapter 30):
Namaste - Reet to be continued |