Live by Atmic Consciousness rather than by Body Consciousness

[Guest guest]

Today being Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba's Birthday - An Article by Dr.

K.Tharmaratnam Sri Sathya Sai Society, Singapore has been sent to us to be

shared with all the devotees of Sai......Swami has blessed this Sai Vahini

Journal in Prasanthi Nilayam.....

 

 

 

Swami advises:

 

Live by Atmic Consciousness rather than by Body Consciousness

(A simplified explanation based on Swami’s discourses)

 

Swami has been telling us over and over again, to live our lives illumined by

Atmic consciousness and not dictated by body consciousness. Using Swami’s

discourses, an attempt is made to explain the above. The topic is wide and

hence the concepts are simplified to understand the broad basis.

 

Difference between Atmic Consciousness and Body consciousness

 

The relative differences can be explained using an analogy of a horse-drawn

chariot. Here, the horses represent the senses. The chariot is the body. The

driver represents the mind. And the passenger is the owner of the chariot -

the Indweller or Atma.

 

When the horses draw the chariot on their own, without the driver controlling

them, due to some impulses of their own, the journey is not safe. This action,

done impulsively by the mind without discrimination, is called animal level

action.

 

When the chariot moves with the driver in command, with the driver listening to

the directions of the owner, this behaviour is called human level action. Here,

our actions are performed using our discrimination and guided by our Conscience.

In this human level action, the discrimination is provided by the intellect

while the Conscience prompts righteous actions.

 

In-between these two levels, is the Body consciousness action. Here, the driver

ignores the owner’s advice and proceeds driving, distracted by the outside

scenes of the world. The mind is possessed by ego, greed, selfishness etc, and

the advice from the Conscience is not heeded. This level, therefore is lower

than the human level mentioned above.

 

Above these levels is the Atmic Consciousness level, wherein the following three

aspects are acknowledged as truths by our mind without doubt. These are: Our

bodies have to be discarded one day, and therefore they are temporary. The Atma

is the same permanent reality in all of us and is also Divine, an aspect of the

Universal Consciousness.

 

Since the same Atma which is Divine, also resides in all humans then we should

recognise and respect every one as God. This is difficult to practise in a

working environment. Hislop has given a practical solution for recognising God

in all. Hislop says, “Recognising God in every person is a secret between God

and you, and you do not tell the other person. Rather, you treat the person

according to his actions and status. For instance, if you meet a taxi driver,

you salute the God in the taxi driver. .. but treat him as a taxi driver.”

(Seeking Divinity, pp139)

 

Attributes of the Atma

 

Swami enlightens us about the essential attributes of the Atma. Although the

body is perishable, the Atma is imperishable. The Atma is also the indwelling

God. It is also the vital force which activates, all functions of our body.

Without the Atma, the body is a corpse. The Atma resides in the (spiritual)

heart and radiates spiritual energy as Consciousness or Inner Voice.

 

Atma is like the electric current that flows in an electrical wiring in a

building. Although the current is the same, some bulbs are bright and some are

not. Similarly in case of the humans if the accumulated impurities in our

hearts and minds are purified, the effect of the Atma can be felt more

intensely. Dirt is like dust on the outside of a bulb. If the dust is

removed, the light shines bright again.

 

How does the human heart get impure?

The heart is masked by impurities of bad actions accumulated over many births,

including the present one. To quote from Swami:

 

“The human heart, which can be compared to a gramophone plate, contains in it,

all the traits of past lives. The reaction, resound and reflection of all that

you have seen, heard and experienced, are contained in it. The infinite ocean,

the mighty mountains, and all the different places that you visited, are

imprinted in your heart. …”

 

(Necklace of Nine Gems Vol 5, pp48)

 

>From the above quotation, we could infer the following:

 

(i) All our actions and activities in our past births are stored in a

storage device in our heart and updated continuously, including from the

present birth as well.

 

(ii) We can therefore infer that all our tendencies and good and bad actions

follow us from our previous lives.

 

(iii) The actions done by us shape our future, as it has shaped the present.

 

(iv) Thus, we are the cause for the accumulated impurities in our hearts and

not anyone else.

 

(v) Also, we cannot hide anything from Swami the Indweller of our hearts.

 

(vi) Fortunately, we cannot read our own karmic data, but only the Divine can.

 

How can we overcome our bad tendencies?

Swami explains man’s predicament:

 

“The mind is the wind that brings to us the smells of the world…….The sensory

world is the cloud, that hides the soul or Atma, which ever shines in the

firmament of your heart. Train the mind to disperse the clouds, rather than

gather them. Every aspirant has to do this by following a systematic

discipline. You cannot reach the peak in one jump; it is a hard job to negate

the evidence of the senses; one has to overcome the tendencies that have grown

through hundreds of births...”

( SSS 12.4.1958)

 

The key sentence here is: “It is hard to negate the evidence of the senses; one

has to overcome the tendencies that have grown through hundreds of births.”

Almost all of us can relate to this predicament. Our mind is often pulled on

one side towards worldly desires, and at the same time pulled on the other side

towards the spiritual path with Swami as our guide. Swami tells us not to worry

about our past and asks us to take up appropriate Spiritual Sadhana to transform

ourselves. Swami’s Grace can burn off our Karmic debt once He is pleased with

our Sadhana. Once we accept Swami as our guide, He will guide us in our lives.

That is why we are fortunate to be born in this very unique period, when the

Paramatma or God, has taken a human form.

 

Let us recapitulate the important aspects of Atma which are:

 

(i) Our soul or Atma is Divine and therefore has inherent divine

attributes.

 

(ii) Atma is said to reside in the spiritual heart and the Heart is the seat

of noble qualities, reflecting human values like Sathya, Dharma, Shanthi, Prema

and Ahimsa.

 

(iii) Atma is the entity that gives life to the body through the Five Pranas.

Without the Atma or soul the body is a corpse, a dead body.

 

But we normally do not have a clear perception of this all-important Divine

entity, Atma. The reason is that Atma being very subtle cannot be seen either

by the eyes or the mind. Atma is always the ‘see-er’ and not the seen. That

is, no one else can see the Atma except a realised soul or Paramatma. It is

just like saying that the eyes cannot see air. But the mind can experience the

Atma through intense spiritual sadhana.

 

Is Atma the Experiencer?

 

When we eat our food, who is the enjoyer or experiencer? We normally feel that

our taste-buds and associated sense organs are the enjoyers. But what about the

Atma, the one who gives the life forces for our bodies to function? Swami

enlightens us on this topic:

 

“What is it that relishes the food that is consumed? The body or the Spirit?

What is it that enjoys fragrance or is moved by companionship? Inquiring in

this manner, it will be found that it is the Atman that is the enjoyer and not

the physical body. The body by itself is gross and is incapable of experiencing

joy. It must be recognised that the Spirit transcends the mind and the intellect

and pervades the entire cosmos…”

(…And the word was God, pp 85)

This could be explained as follows:

 

The Atma, is the permanent entity in all our births but we change our gross

bodies. This means that our gross minds also change. Thus the Atma is the

permanent entity that records our activities and would be the witness of all

activities, as well as the enjoyer for sathwic activities. But it is seldom

that we realize that the Atma is the witness to all our bad actions. Thus we

should rather have our actions pleasing to the indwelling Atma, who is also

Sai. In the Bhagavad Geeta, Lord Krishna also advises Arjuna to choose the

“Good” instead of the “Apparently Pleasant”. Here “Good” refers to the noble

attributes of the heart influenced by Atmic Consciousness like Sathya, Love,

Compassion, etc. “The Apparently Pleasant” relates to worldly desires that are

pleasant to the mind. Thus we should choose the “Good” rather than the

“Apparently Pleasant” for our own salvation.

 

Relationship between Jivatma and Paramatma

 

Swami beautifully explains the relationship, between Jivatma and Paramatma:

“The Upanishads state that there are two birds, the Jivatma and the Paramatma,

that sit on the tree called the body. One bird eats the fruit of that tree

while the other simply looks on as a witness. But the wonder is that the two

birds are in reality one, though they may appear as two. They cannot be

separated since they are two aspects of the same reality.”

 

This means that our Jivatma is indeed the Paramatma, the Indwelling formless

God. Indeed God or Paramatma has blessed us human beings, for HE has His office

in our hearts. Now we understand why Swami says, that we are also God. Swami

further says, that the God that we have been searching for, in Temples and in

Churches, is indeed the Atma in our hearts. Over and over again, Swami in His

messages exhorts us to realise the God in us.

 

Some may think Swami is only at Puttaparthi. True, the manifested Paramatma is

Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, at Prasanthi Nilayam. But as unmanifested

Universal Consciousness, He is everywhere and He is also the resident in our

Hearts. One interesting acronym of SAI is: See always inside; S = see, A =

always, I = inside. This acronym should remind us that Sai is the Indweller of

our hearts as well. This is best illustrated by a Leela of Swami.

 

Once Swami asked a lady devotee from Greece to address the students and teachers

at Trayee. This lady, wife of a medical doctor, was actively involved in Seva

activities. Once she organised a group and went to Croatia, then affected by

civil war and was rendering service to war victims. The members of the group

distributed packets containing food, medicines, clothing and along with them, a

small photo of Swami.

 

The lady said that the people were very happy that her group had gone there to

help them. One person held up Baba’s photo, and said, “We know this person”.

The lady was naturally very surprised and asked them, “How do you know Him?

Have you heard about Him?” They replied, “No, but we have actually seen Him

here.” The lady could not believe them and asked them “Seen Him in Croatia?

What was He doing here?” They replied, “Just what you are doing - distributing

food, blankets and medicines.”

 

After the electrifying narration, one of the devotees present at Trayee

remarked, “Swami this is absolutely extraordinary”. Swami replied, “For you it

is extra-ordinary, but for Me this is quite ordinary and routine.” One way of

understanding Swami’s statement is: When these God-loving people at Croatia

were desperate and cried for God’s help, the indwelling God in them heard the

plea and manifested as Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba to give them solace.

Answering calls from devotees of God all over the world is routine for Swami.

 

Choice of Atmic Consciousness to influence our Life

 

Although we seek explanations on the different aspects of the Atma, we can only

have a glimpse of one of the many facets of the many dimensions of the Atma at

our level of consciousness. If our life is to be influenced by Atmic

Consciousness then what is the path to take to tap our Atmic Consciousness?

There are quite a few paths that could be followed depending on the aspirant’s

interest. One sadhana that Swami tells us often is Love All, Serve All. Thus,

a major portion of our sadhana should reflect the theme “Love All, Serve All”.

 

 

Swami also gives a very simple formula:

MAN – DESIRE = GOD

While this appears to be a simple formula, it would require lot of effort to let

go of our desires. How do we do eliminate our desires? Before that, let us

look at the working of our minds from what Swami observes, rather that what we

feel! All of us will be surprised at our inefficiency in using our minds. To

quote Swami:

“The mind is engaged in two activities: Aalochana or planning and Sambhaashana

or dialogue. Both these follow different lines. Planning is intent on solving

problems that present themselves before the mind. Dialogue multiplies the

problem and confounds the solution causing confusion and adoption of wrong and

ruinous means to solve them. The inner conversation and controversial chatter

continues from morning till night until sleep overtakes the mind. It causes

ill-health and the early setting of old age. The topics on which the chatter is

based are mostly the faults and failings of others and their fortunes and

misfortunes. This perpetual dialogue is at the bottom of all miseries of man.

It covers the mind with thick darkness. It grows wild very quick and suppresses

the genuine worth of manhood….”

 

Hence, our minds are often preoccupied with worldly thoughts and therefore

cannot be relied to do spiritual sadhana through the mind. We have two choices

to curb our minds. One of the choices is to make the mind empty while doing the

Sadhana, which only Rishis or Jnanis are capable and not suitable for many of

us.

 

The other choice is to fill up the mind with Sathwic thoughts all the time, so

that our negative Vasanas will not sprout as thoughts and will die away in due

course. Swami explains this with a story of a king who wanted to do ambitious

projects for his kingdom and prayed to God for help to get specialist workers.

God answered his prayers and said that a “Genie” would be assigned to the king

but he should keep the Genie fully occupied. The king was pleased as he had

many projects in mind. But the genie could finish the work so fast that the

king panicked and prayed fervently to God again. God appeared and suggested

that the king ask the genie to build a tall tower and afterwards ask it to

climb up and when it reached the top to climb down and to repeat this process.

Thus the Genie was kept fully occupied in climbing up and down when there was

no other work. The king was relieved. Likewise, Swami has given us the holy

task of chanting Namasmarana to keep our monkey mind engaged with the thoughts

of God whenever the mind is free from our day-to-day work.

Swami has even structured our Sadhana in such a way that we would be able to do

this while fulfilling our duties. Most of us spend considerable time working

for a living. After all, work is worship. Next we spend time on family

Sadhana, which includes our responsibilities to our parents and family and also

on group Sadhana, for instance participating in spiritual or service activities

at our Sai centres. Then we spend time on personal Sadhana. Our own personal

Sadhana could be an inward pilgrimage to experience the Atma. Our Sadhana would

be full and complete if the Sadhana is done with total surrender or thyaga.

This last category of Sadhana is important because the negative tendencies of

the mind will have no chance to sprout and will therefore die. The result the

mind will be receptive to welcome the Atmic Consciousness and the Buddhi could

shine with additional splendour.

 

Some may wonder whether it is worth living without worldly enjoyment. It is a

valid enquiry. Swami does not want us to live as a recluse. In short we like to

live in this world reasonably comfortably, but if we are inclined on the

spiritual path then we should love the Lord dearer than the World. We should

also remember that NOW is the golden opportunity, a unique and rare gift to us,

to be guided in our lives by the manifested Lord, Bhagawan Baba. May Bhagawan

give us the needed will power to choose consistently, the “Good” rather than

the “Apparently Pleasant” throughout our life.

 

Om Sai Ram

 

Dr. K.Tharmaratnam

Sri Sathya Sai Society, Singapore

 

source: Sai Vahini, 2004 issue, published by the Sri Sathya Sai Society, Singapore.

 

web source: http://sathya-sairam.tripod.com/health/swami_advises.htm

 

Please note that you can access SAIRAM website at

http://web1.mtnl.net.in/~sairam for some time. Thereafter it will be changed

to http://mumbai.mtnl.net.in/~sairam

 

With Love & Light

 

Deepak Bharwani

[Guest guest]

Sairam

Thank you for the Article. we have opened a Web site in Nepal on the happy

occasion of Bhagavan's 79th Birthday today. The web site is:

http://www.sathyasainepal.org

Please have informations from this.

achyut