Sai Baba Gita - The Anguish of Separation from God

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Sai Baba GitaJanuary 17, 2004

The Anguish of Separation from God

Detachment does not mean leaving behind everything to go to the forest and adopt

the life of a renunciate. Penance does not refer to certain postures or bodily

deprivations. Penance refers to the intense anguish you experience when you

feel yourself separated from God. Whenever that anguish of separation is with

you, wherever you may be, then you are engaged in penance. All worldly

experiences are governed by combinations of the three attributes, inertia or

chaos, action or reaction, and rhythm or calm. The anguish of penance with its

intense aspiration for reaching God, takes you into a state of being which

transcends these three worldly qualities. At that time, you will experience a

deep inner serenity and unity of thought, word and deed.

Thought, word and deed are the causes of karma. They are called the instruments

of action. It is the union of these three instruments of action which may be

described as penance. When that union is complete there follows an ineffable

joy, which is the very bliss of the atma. So true penance is the point at which

the three instruments of action merge together into one and you experience the

eternal delight of your immortal self.

Consider the following example. Every day you enjoy the benefits of electricity.

In your room you may have an electric fan. There are three blades attached to

the motor of the fan. If they were to rotate in three different directions you

would not get much of a breeze. But when they rotate in unison, as if there

were a single blade going around, then you can enjoy a very good flow of air

from the fan. So, enjoyment of the cool breeze comes only when all the three

blades are working together and rotate as one. In the very same way, when the

three instruments of action, thought, word and deed, merge together and work as

one, you can enjoy real bliss.

In this illustration your heart may be compared to the room containing the fan.

The three instruments of action may be compared to the three blades of the fan.

Your intellect may be thought of as the electric switch. Your spiritual power,

the energy emanating from the supreme self, may be thought of as the

electricity that energizes the fan. Your spiritual practice is the process of

clarifying your intellect, and thereby turning on the switch. When the three

instruments of action work together in harmony, just as the three blades of the

fan go around together, then all your anguish becomes transformed into bliss. In

this way, you can convert your life-force and your entire spiritual power into

bliss.

http://www.atmapress.com/saibabagita/saigita110.html

Sai Baba Gita, Compiled and edited by Al Drucker - Published by Atma Press -

http://www.atmapress.com - ISBN: 0963844903Online Edition:

http://www.atmapress.com/saibabagita/index.html

 

 

 

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