Swami teaches...Be vigilant, be steady, be earnest

[Guest guest]

Sai Ram

Swami teaches... (3 January 2005)

 

Be vigilant, be steady, be earnest

Krishna declares, "Samoham Sarvabhuutheshu" - "I am equal in all beings. I

behave equally with all. I have no love or hate, no partiality or prejudice.

Joy and grief are brought on by you on yourselves, not by me on you, through

attachment or want of it." When such is His declaration a doubt may arise in

your minds: Why did He also announce that He would be incarnating in every age,

in order to foster the good and punish the wicked? How is it that He talks of

good and bad men? Does it not mean that He likes some and dislikes other? Are

not all parts of Him? Are not the waves parts of the ocean?

 

Man has to engage himself in activity, for his upkeep, as well as for the

sake of happiness. Use the activity to earn what is really good. Seek

something supreme, something of the highest value, something that is beyond

diminution and decline - that is true Bhakthi (devotion). Bhakthi is the love

and longing directed to the attainment of such a goal. The means adopted for

this are Karma (activity). Karma becomes Karma Yoga, when activity is

disciplined, dedicated and demarcated with skill. True love directed towards

God can reveal His reality, and grant the highest Jnaana (supreme wisdom).

 

Bhakthi can flow along two paths: Saguna Bhakthi and Nirguna Bhakthi. When

you feel that God is far away, far higher, far beyond you and when you plead

for mercy, petition for grace, and pray for boons, it is Saguna - you adore Him

as Lord and master, as guardian and saviour; you go through the ceremonials of

praise, propitiation and prostration, submission and service. But when you

practise the discipline of seeing Him in all beings, as the core of every cell

or atom, alive and aware, and experience unity with all creation (for creation

is but His body and you are also in it and of it) then, it is Nirguna. The

Nirguna is the contemplation on the sugar; the Saguna is the adoration of some

one sugar doll, which has caught your fancy and attracted your love and

loyalty.

Let every act of yours stand as your credential when you quit the world. Let

no single act be a drag, or a debit. Soak every moment in love, that is to say,

in God. Of what avail is it to spend hours in Dhyaan (meditation), if, when you

rise and move amongst men, you spread anger, inflict resentment by your words

and deeds?

Be vigilant, be steady, be earnest. The steady person earns wisdom. By the

absence of careful tending, a spark can be nursed into a huge conflagration; by

vigilant care, even a conflagration can be reduced to a splutter. (Compilation

and extracts from Discourse of Bhagawan Sathya Sai Baba, "Choose your God." 23

November 1973, Prashanthi Nilayam).

 

Namaste - Reet