Sai Baba Gita - The Nature of the Sense Organs

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The Nature of the Sense Organs

When Krishna spoke of the sense organs he mentioned that they have the capacity

to measure. For example, the tongue determines the taste of foods, deciding

whether a thing is sweet or bitter. It does this by measuring the relative

sweetness and bitterness of the food. Similarly, the ears determine whether

some music is melodious or not and the eyes discern the beauty of objects seen.

In this way, all the senses measure different qualities. Krishna also spoke of

certain limitations of the sense organs, as ordained by God to insure their

right use. For example, you can use the nose for smelling and for breathing. If

you use the nose correctly, you are obeying the commands of the Lord and will

surely benefit thereby. If, instead of using the nose for breathing and

smelling good things, you use the nose to inhale noxious drugs, then you are

not using it in the way specified by God.

As for the tongue, you have the Lord's gentle reminder, "Child, use this tongue

to talk sweetly and not to hurt others' hearts. Use words which give them joy."

The other function of the tongue must also be attended to. Use your tongue to

take in fresh, wholesome food which is full of vitamins and proteins. On the

other hand, if you use your tongue and sense of taste for smoking cigarettes or

drinking alcohol you will be misusing the tongue. Then you will be disobeying

the commands of the Lord and you will come to harm. In this way, you should use

all of the sense organs for the specific tasks which have been assigned to them

by God. Then you will be fulfilling the purpose for which each instrument has

been given. This kind of regulated behavior will help you to achieve your

life's goal.

As a result of the functioning of the senses, you may experience joy or grief.

This joy or grief that you feel does not come from the senses themselves. It is

only after the senses have come into contact with the sense objects that you

will experience these feelings. For instance, suppose you are on a protracted

visit to a friend in a neighboring town, and while you are away something

happened in your home. No matter what happened, whether good or bad, you would

experience neither happiness nor grief, joy nor sorrow, as long as your ears

had not heard the news. But once you get a phone call and came to know what

happened at home, if the news is good you would feel joy and if the news is bad

you would feel sorrow. It is only after the senses became associated with the

sense objects that the joy or grief would have come to you.

http://www.atmapress.com/saibabagita/saigita165.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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