Sai Baba Gita - You are a Human Being, not an Animal

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You are a Human Being, not an Animal

Do not waste your life running after worldly enjoyments. Realize the truth that

you did not get this human birth for the sake of enjoying food or sleep or

wasting your time on meaningless activities or entertainment. When you look

around you can see any number of animals, birds and worms which live only for

the sake of food. Why have a human life if you use it only to enjoy the

pleasures that animals, birds and worms enjoy? What is the use of acquiring a

higher education, and then spending your time reveling in lowly pleasures that

even without benefit of higher education, the animals, birds and worms also

indulge in? What is the special ideal which has been held out for humanity?

What is the inner significance of the statement that it is extremely difficult

to obtain a human life?

Human life has not been given so that you can act like an animal. Human life has

not been given so that you can act like a demon either. Man has taken human

birth in order to realize his divine essence. Human life has been given to you

so that you can reach the highest plane of God-consciousness. The same thing

was taught by Jesus when he said, "Man does not live by bread alone."

You have to attain an achievement which is of extraordinary significance. You

have been given life so that you may realize the divinity which is inherent

within you. Your primary duty as a human being is to give up the things which

are impermanent and attain those things which are permanent. But today you are

not aspiring for such extraordinary qualities. Instead, you are living a wasted

life, filled with attachments. This was also Krishna's admonishment to Arjuna.

He said, "Arjuna! This body consciousness and attachment to the body is binding

you. You are wasting your life. Give up your attachment to the body now!"

You have to inquire why you develop attachment to the body. Consider this small

example. Everyone knows that it is not right to utter a lie. Many people, at

some time, take an oath resolving that they will not lie from that moment

onwards. But, the very next time they get into a conversation, they tell a lie.

Or take a businessman who knows that he should not deceive. He makes a

resolution that he will limit himself to earning only a fair and modest profit.

But the very next day, he resorts to unfair means. Or a person decides he should

not gossip or hurt others with his talk, yet within minutes he has totally

forgotten his vow and begins to criticize someone.

Man seems not to have a steady mind at all, and without a firm and steady mind

he is unable to control his actions. On a holy day he may feel that he should

be thinking of nothing but the Lord and abstaining from taking any food. But

after some time he excuses himself and says, "Let me at least have a few

biscuits with tea." When man is constantly deviating in this way from his own

firm resolutions, there must be some very powerful entity which is working

inside him, constantly defeating him. If there weren't such a powerful instinct

or urge working within him, he surely would not have changed his resolve and he

would have been able to use his will to hold to his announced discipline.

http://www.atmapress.com/saibabagita/saigita209.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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