Swami teaches... Countless spiritual paths and countless Vedhas

05-01-2005, 12:50 PM

Sai Ram

Light and Love

Swami teaches.... (29 - 30 April 2005)
Countless Spiritual Paths and Countless Vedhas

Once upon a time, since the vices of greed and vanity developed uncontrolled
among people, the Vedha was so incensed and insulted that it took the form of a
black deer and fled into the forests. At this, it is said, the Vedhic Pandiths,
sages and scholars followed it with prayerful importunities; but, it would not
return. They had to come back, with just the skin of the deer and be content
with that remnant. These Rithwiks who officiate in this and other Vedhic
rituals wear, as you can see, pieces of the skin of the black deer, to warn
themselves against the recurrence of that catastrophe. They also take their
seats on deerskins. Every act and gesture, every accent and tone of the
Manthras has a meaning, traceable to the deep past and the experiences of the
makers of Indian culture. The skin is called 'Charma' in Sanskrit. But, worn
during the ritual it gives 'Sarma,' which means joy and enthusiasm, Aanandha
and Sukha.

The Vedhas are countless - 'Anantho Vai Vedhaah,' it is said. Why countless
Vedhas are necessary to lay down the path of spiritual progress? Let us take an
example. To make a child understand the meaning of one word, the parent or
teacher uses often a whole barrage of words. Explanation means elaboration,
repetition, re-emphasising. So, to make clear to humans of average intelligence
or no intelligence, it became necessary to have a number of supplementary or
complementary texts and scriptures, and since their number is immense, they
came to be known as Aanantha (countless). The aim of every Vedha, to lead
people from the animal stage through the human into the height of divine
self-realisation. The same purpose has Swami's Teaching what also is countless
that every human being with different stage of intellect, education and
development would find there guidelines for the realisation of the Self, for
whatsoever spiritual and worldly experiences.

Vedha means 'that which makes you know.' The cosmic principle is amenable
to the mystic formulae and sound patterns that the Manthras (sacred formulae)
of the Vedhas represent; the four fundamental urges of human (Dharma, to be
righteous; Artha, to earn and accumulate; Kaama, to desire and get the desires
fulfilled; and Moksha, to expand and get liberated from the 'here and now' into
the 'ever and everywhere') get sanctified and sustained by the Vedhic path.
The Vedhas elaborate the Sanaathana Shaashtra (the primal science of the
spirit). That science results in the removal of ignorance, the gaining of
knowledge; not the knowledge of material, worldly things, which changes and
gets superseded every few years. It endows the seeker with the knowledge that
is the key to the entire gamut of knowledge.

Nothing remains the same in the Nature even for a moment. The sweet dish
that is cooked now becomes stale and stinking a few hours. Other types of
changes happen in other fields, other things and beings.
Human not only expects these changes, but prepares also to face them. A
new-born babe must grow in weight, in movement of limbs, in the intake of food,
and the output of energy through activity. Or else, parents become anxious and
run from doctor to doctor.
In a normal babe, there is no desire (except the instinctive desire for
food, drink and maternal protection) to agitate it. The babe is the inheritor
of immortality; so it is unaffected by anxiety, that haunts the adult. The babe
is sheer equanimity - an unshaken as in state of Samachiththa.
In its philosophical sense Samachiththa means, a consciousness established
in the absolute Brahman, and as a consequence, above and beyond the storms and
stillness of the world of duality. This constant consciousness of the reality
is the fruit of Yajna (selfless sacrifice), the Vedhic symbol of Thyaaga
(renunciation) by Swami - "not by the intellect, nor by progeny, nor by
wealth, but, only by renunciation can immortality be attained."
Without sacrificing, human cannot live. Every individual does undertake
sacrifice but he does not know that he is sacrificing. One should have
sacrifice as the aim and one should enquire into what is permanent and what is
not permanent and enquire into what is to be given up and what is to be
accepted. Looking at things from a worldly aspect, if we do not give out the
breath that we take in we cannot live; if we do not give out the food that we
take in after digesting it we cannot live; if the blood is not constantly moved
from one place to another every instant we cannot live. That is why it is said
that what you cannot get by your knowledge and effort can be got by sacrifice.
By the Vedic idea the good and the bad are obvious, only so long as the
individual is not fully established in the truth that 'God is all'. Until that
moment, the body dominates thought, desires haunt the mind, ego rules the
intellect; so dualities lord over human. When one is sunk and saturated in
God-consciousness, i.e. Cosmic consciousness, there can be no feeling of gain
or loss, pleasure or pain. The aspirant is immersed in the word, and is
unconcerned about its meaning which is manifested in all its variety in the
objective world. The one word seems to have many meanings, as a result of
ignorance. It is the word, the Paraa-Shakthi (the supreme power) that gives
value and validity to every one of the meanings.
Another idea is called Ekaagratha (one-pointedness). Saadhakas (spiritual
aspirants) often bewail that they do not earn one-pointedness. They mean, by
that term, that they are not able to concentrate their attention long on a
flame, light, picture, or idol. The eye concentrates on something seen; the
nose, on some fragrance; the ear on some melody. But, the mind concentrates on
the one, the Brahman - which is described as the one, the eternal, the pure,
the unmoving, the all knowing witness of all. Ekaagratha, therefore, denotes
the concentration of the inner vision on Brahman (omni-self). The intellect,
the ego, the senses - these should subserve this great purpose and help in
attaining the ideal.
However, it has to be admitted that such Saadhana is now very rare; very few
fix their inner vision on the universal and the eternal. The tragedy is just
this: the human's mind has strayed away from its moorings, and is being tossed
about on the waves of doubt and diversity. A mind filled with the yearning for
Brahman will remain unaffected by the smiles and sneers of fortune. But,
human's mind has been tempted into strange paths that can lead one to fear and
frustration.
The human mind is like a razor edge. Without controlling the mind too
rigidly and without allowing it to go too freely, we should encourage it to do
good acts and we should control it when there is any tendency to participate in
bad acts. Thus by distinguishing between good and bad acts, we should be able to
guide the mind in a moderate manner between the two extremes.
Desires and attachments are as roots to the tree of life. When the roots are
cut asunder, the tree dies; the rate of decline depends upon the speed and
effectiveness of the cutting asunder. It will keep sprouting even if a single
root is intact. It will not go dry or die. Remove every single root; then the
tree perishes and becomes deadwood. The boast of people that they have
destroyed all roots is vain, if the tree is green and growing. So too, the Maya
that has possessed the Jivi will perish in proportion to the uprooting of
desire, the desire that binds.
The mind of man alone is responsible both for his bondage and for his
liberation. The difference between bondage and liberation exists only in our
thought. There is no intrinsic or basic difference between these two. We will
be able to appreciate the aspect of the divine only when we sacrifice the
aspect of the Jiva. We have to recognise that the living and visible Jiva and
the invisible divine are the same and we have to recognise the unity between
these two aspects.
The assertive ego that urges to identify himself with the body and the
instrument with which it is equipped, the motives with which those instruments
work and the reactions which those motives breed, has to be mastered by the
real self, a wave of the great ocean of Cosmic consciousness.

The faculty of the mind is like a strong current of electricity. It has to
be watched from a distance and not contacted or touched. Touch it, you are
reduced to ashes. So too, contact and attachment give the chance for the mind
to ruin you. Desires will not disappear for fear of the one or for favour of
the other. Desires are objective; they belong to the category of the "seen".
When the conviction that "I am the see-er only, not the seen", it is possible
to release from attachment. By this means one conquers desire. You must watch
the working of the mind, from outside it; you should not get involved in it.
That is the meaning of the discipline, called the Sthithaprajna nature, the
fourth of four principle points to control the mind explained by Krishna.
The Sadhakas in the midst of their efforts sometimes imagine God to be less
glorious than He really is. They feel that the Lord differentiates between
sinners and saints, good and bad, Jnanis and A-jnanis. The Lord does not
separate people thus. This truth is known to the Jnani. Others are unaware of
this. They suffer under the false belief that the Lord is somewhere far far
away from them.
The Jnani is free from Maya, he is unaffected by the Gunas: Rajas, Thamas or
even Sathwa. The Jijnaasu, the seeker of knowledge, however, is different. He
uses the time for unbroken contemplation of the divine, in pious deeds and holy
thoughts. And the others gather elevating experience and ruminate over the real
and the unreal and transform themselves into Jijnasus, seekers of knowledge.
Later, they become Jnanis. The goal is reached thus, stage by stage. You cannot
attain the goal in one leap. The goal is attained by all; only the process and
the pace are different.
The Karma philosophy is something which is very sacred. Between the worldly
thought and spiritual aspect exists the connection; the worldly aspect and the
spiritual aspect cannot contradict each other.
The relationship between the Jiva, Eswara and Prakrithi is an inseparable one.
Without cotton, we cannot have yarn and without yarn, we cannot have the cloth.
For a piece of cloth to take the shape which it has, the basic material is the
thread. While the cloth has for its basis the thread, the thread itself has for
its basis the cotton. Cotton, thread and cloth are three names for three
different forms but what is contained in all the three is the same and that is
cotton. Prakrithi or nature is like the cloth in this analogy. It is the
conglomeration of our desires that takes the form of nature. These desires
emanate from our heart. We do not see the desires around us. We are able to see
in external appearances what is latent in our hearts in the form of desires.
The Karma or activity is the indicator of inner character. Observing one's
actions, their motives, their consequences and the extent of one's involvement,
it is possible to declare one as a Pashu (beast) or Pashupathi (the Lord of
individual souls), that is to say as divine as God Himself.
The Krathu is also a Karma, albeit a Vedhic Karma, dedicated to the
acquisition of the welfare of the world. All Karma done to ensure the welfare
of others, without, any aspiration for personal benefit, is good Karma which
the Gods would appreciate as a Krathu.

Humans heart is like a camera lens. The object on which we concentrate our
attention gets imprinted on the mind by the lens of the heart. Compassion
towards all creatures is the greatest virtue, wilful injury to any creature is
the worst vice. You do not have joy and peace now, mainly because, your vision
is warped and wobbling. Gandhi used to go round the country praying "Sabko
sanmathi dhe Bhagavaan" - "O Lord, give every one, give all, goodness of mind."

When a human stands on the bank of a sheet of water, the shadow appears in
the water. People say it is he, but Vedhaantha (Vedhic philosophy) says, 'he is
not it.' When the shadow is beaten with a stick, he is not hurt; so, it is not
he; but, when some one says it is misshapen, ugly, etc., he gets angry! So, he
is it. The shadow is both he and not-he. It is neither true nor false, it is
real-unreal, it is Mithya (only mythical).
To the same truth has reached the modern science. Quantum mechanics views
the entire Universe as a quantum superposition of many states which do not
measurably interact on macroscopic scales. It predicts at least three types of
phenomena that classical mechanics and classical electrodynamics cannot account
for: quantization, quantum entanglement and wave-particle duality. When the
particle is moving through the slits, its behavior appears to be described by a
non-localized wave function which is travelling through both slits at the same
time. Yet when the particle is observed it is never a diffuse non-localized
wave packet, but appears to be a single point particle. So by modern physics
the particle too 'he is not it'. The particle by observation is both he and not
he, neither true nor false.... (Reet's compilation from,
Sathya Sai Baba. Geetha Vahini, Chapters V, XIII and XXV;
The Divine Discourse of Sathya Sai Baba. "Brahman and Bharat as the Theme of the
Discourses that will follow." Summer Course in Spirituality and Indian Culture.
May/June 1974, Brindavan;
The Divine Discourse of Sathya Sai Baba. "The Vedhic Rite," 10 October 1974,
Prashanthi Nilayam;The Divine Discourse of Sathya Sai Baba. "Diamonds In The
Dust," 25 October 1974, Prashanthi Nilayam).

Namaste - Reet