Sai Ram

Swami teaches... (6 January 2005)

Karma and secret of life

The art of engaging in Karma (action) without getting involved is the thing
that has to be learnt. Karma has to be done, because it is part of one's
nature, not out of any external compulsion. Suurya (sun) is a Sahaja
karmachaari (worker by nature). He draws the vapours of water high up to form
clouds which pours back as rain; no one taught Him to do this. When you do the
Sahaja karma (action dictated by nature), it won't be a burden. It is when you
go contrary to it and do something out of the way that you feel the misery.
The Dharma-karmas (virtuous actions) have to be done; there is no escape.
Fleeing to the forest is no solution, for it only gives the situation a new
turn. Your body may be in the jungle but, your mind will wander in the
market-place! There was a Saadhaka (spiritual seeker) once who was initiated by
a Yogi into some Manthram (holy words); he wanted to meditate on it undisturbed
and he found his home too full of distraction. He fled to the forest and
discovered a convenient tree, under which he could meditate. Before long, the
birds roosting on its branches started to clamour aloud and they showered on
his head their droppings. He was greatly incensed. "Have I no place where I can
commune with God", he cried. "Children at home; birds and bats in the jungle!"
After the third attempt he was too interupted. At last the seeker understood
that Karma has to be carried through in the objective world itself and there is
no use trying to shake it off in a huff.
Let your boat be on the waters, but do not allow the waters to enter the
boat. Be in the world, but, not of it. That is the secret of a successful life.
Desire leads to ultimate ruin. It grows upon each satisfaction and becomes a
monster that devours the victim himself. Try to reduce your desires, go on
reducing them.
The chain of desire binds one to the point of suffocation. Control, curb
your tendency to wish for this and that. Tell the Lord, "You are enough for me.
I do not wish for anything else."

Death is but a passage from this life to the next; it is the change from old
clothes to new, as the Geetha says. Sharanaagathi is the main gate to enter the
mansion of Mukthi (liberation from birth-death cycle). It has four floors:
Dhyaana, Karma, Bhakthi and Jnaana (meditation, activism, devotion and
spiritual knowledge). Each floor rests upon the one beneath and the topmost one
cannot be reached without ascending the first three. (Extracts-compilation from:
The Divine Discourse Bhagawan Sathya Sai Baba, "The Geetha Balance," 24 October
1963, Prashanthi Nilayam).

Namaste - Reet