Swami teaches... Bondages and Power of Devotion

[Guest guest]

Sai Ram

 

Light and Love

 

Swami teaches... (26 January 2005)

Bondages and Power of Devotion

A person is subjected to three kinds of bondages in life: bondages

derived from the past, those arising in the present and those created for the

future.

The three primal qualities - Asti, Bhaati, Priyam (existence, expression,

and utility) - are qualities to all things, while names and forms are varied.

When names and forms are ignored, one can perceive the divine nature of

everything. "Meditateon the divine essence of everything", advised the gum.

Following his advice, the person meditatedon "Sat-Chit-Ananda" and in due

course merged in the Divine. There is no point in dwelling onthe past and

gloating or grieving over what is dead and gone. It is futile to think about

pastsuccesses or failures, pleasures or pains. The past should not become an

incubus on the present.As regards the present, one should act on the principle

that he should conduct himself towardsothers in the manner he would like them

to behave towards him. You cannot expectcourtesy or regard from others if you

don't show courtesy or regard to others.

 

Persons with a narrow, self-centred outlook are prone to express doubts

about the powers of theDivine. To correct such tendencies one should listen to

sacred sayings, ruminate over them and lead a righteous and godly life. To be

concerned only about one's own happiness or comfort and be indiffernt to the

happiness and needs of others is a form of selfishness which creates bondages

in the present. Bondages for the future are created by your actions in the

present. When you entertain badthoughts and indulge in wrong actions, they lead

to bad consequences in the future. Peace ofmind is lost and one is caught up in

perpetual worry. The way out of this vicious circle is to turnthe mind towards

God and refrain from causing harm to others.

 

When a person is ill, the physician prescribes not only medicine for the

disease but also a dietary regimen to be observed strictly. Likewise, for the

diseases arising from mundane attachments, in addition to the prescribed drugs

- the Karma, Jnana, Bhakti and Yoga margas (paths of selfless action, meta

physical wisdom, devotion and inner communion) - qualities such as forbearance,

calmness, fortitude, love and compassion have to be cultivated as dietary

regimen. Without these qualities, the spiritual practices alone will be of

little avail. When the two are combined, like the positive and negative ends in

an electric cell, the disease gets cured.

One who is engaged in the battle of life, needs the armour of spirituality.

With it, he/she can face any situation anywhere. As long as rice is covered by

husk, it cannot be consumed. Likewise, man cannot experience bliss until he gets

rid of the cloak of ignorance. He must develop the quality of forbearance.

Through forbearance and sadhana (spiritual efforts), gradually the shackles

resulting from past actions must be broken.

The tendency to cavil at the ways of the Divine will gradually wither away.

One will begin toappreciate the lessons to be learnt from every day-to-day

experience. For instance, when abeggar comes to your house and says, "Please

give me food," you should not turn him away as amere beggar, but regard him as

a messenger of God. When he is begging for food he is indirectlyconveying a

message: “I am today begging for food because in my previous birth I did not

offerfood to those who begged for it. Please see that by turning me away

without food, a similar fatedoes not overtake you in your next life."

Today such a spirit of magnanimity is lacking. It is not realised that

without largeness of heartand generosity of spirit, all scholarship and

spiritual efforts are of no use. That is why theUpanishads declare:

“Immortality can be attained only by renunciation and sacrifice and not

bywealth, progeny or religious rites.Samanvaya"(the spirit of harmony) and

"Samarasa" (serenity or a sense of respect for all points of view) are

essential for accomplishing anything good in life.

You must realise, by constant contemplation, that the world is the body of

God. And, you are the cell, in that Body. The prosperity of the world is your

prosperity; feel so, act in that spirit; think inthose terms. That is the real

spirituality. The sadhak cannot cut himself away from the world and escape in

solitude, for, the world will follow him into the deepest cave or the darkest

forest. Thesadhak can claim progress only when he has established in himself

Faith in the One-ness of Humanity.

 

The power of devotion and faith has no frontiers. Here is an indirect

example for inner contemplation about power of faith and devotion.

 

There was a woman devotee, who was a worshipper of Krishna. Every morning

she used to clean the Krishna shrine in her house with cowdung and throw the

remnants of the cowdung outsidesaying "Krishnarpanam Asthu" ("Let this be an

offering to Krishna"). The priest of the localKrishna temple noticed that every

morning, after he had washed and decorated the idol ofKrishna with garlands,

when he was offering harathi (waving of lights) to the deity, a small lumpof

cowdung used to fall on the face of the idol. He told the village elders about

it. They also witnessed the phenomenon in the temple and sent a vigilance squad

to find out who was throwing cowdung at that time. In one street a scout

found a woman throwing cowdung outside her house, uttering

thewords,"Krishnarpanam." It was found that at the same time she was throwing

cowdung, theapparent desecration of the idol by cowdung was taking place in the

temple. The Lord is notconcerned as to what is offered to Him. He accepts

whatever is offered to Him with a pure heart.In His eyes there is nothing good

or bad in itself. When the woman devotee offered the cowdungas Krishnaarpanam

(offering to Krishna), it reached the Krishna idol. The village elders went

tothe lady and reproached her for her unbecoming conduct in offering cowdung to

Krishna. Theydid not consider how the cowdung thrown outside her house reached

the temple. Thewoman pleaded before elders and relations: "I am incapable of

hurling cowdung on the face of my Krishna. I am ready to lay down my life for

Krishna." The elders told her to throw the cowdung and not to utter the words

"Krishnaarpanam Asthu."

But from that day onwards, the doors in the Krishna temple would not open

however much thepriest and others tried to open them. The village elders

realised that they had done a grievouswrong to a great devotee and pleaded for

pardon from her. That moment the temple doorsopened. When one offers

everything to God, the Lord submits Himself to the devotee. The old womanwho

did everything as an offering to Krishna was such a devotee. The words

"Krishnarpanam" were on her lips all the time. But they were said with deep

andgenuine devotion. Merely mechanical repetition of "Krishnarpanam" will have

no significance.Engaging priests in temples to perform worship by offering

money is totally wrong. Suchworship is a mercenary exercise and does no good to

the persons who get it done. The properthing is for devotees to offer worship

wholeheartedly in their own homes.

Very often people who experience troubles in life complain: "Why is the Lord

subjecting me totrials like these?" The truth is, the Lord neither punishes nor

rewards anyone. The devotee hasonly to do his duty and leave the results to

God. If the actions are good, the fruits will also begood. If the actions are

bad, the results will be equally bad. Hence without examining the nature of

one's actions, there is no meaning in blaming God for what one experiences.

It is only when you recognise your own faults that you begin to understand the

ways of theDivine. What we witness today is the tendency to forget one's faults

and go about blaming Godfor one's sufferings. Every action, however small or

trivial, has its reaction. Nothing happenswithout a cause. Every object has its

reflection. The Lord awards fruits according to ones actions. The reason is the

stem law of Nature. This universal law operates always at all placesand at all

times. For instance, if a man slips, he falls to the ground. If a stone is

thrown up, itcomes down. These are the results of the law of gravitation.

Whether he is a millionaire or apauper, if his foot slips, he falls down. That

is how the laws of Nature operate, regardless of thepersons. You feel happy

when someone gives you something. But you don't feel equally happy in givingto

others. Humans desire the fruits of good actions, but will not do good actions.

They wish to besaved from the consequences of evil deeds, but will not refrain

from bad actions. As you sow, soshall you reap, is a relentless law. (Reet's

compilation from: Sathya Sai Baba. Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 20, "Samanvaya and

Samarasa," Chapter 8 and "The Lord and the Devotee," Chapter 9).

PS: I have received the requests to compile a small articles 'Swami

teaches...' on different topics. However, I cannot it do by order. As you have

noticed, they are far not extracts from Swami's texts but as separate

contributions by Swami's Teaching. They are as inner contemplation, dialogue

with Swami's texts. I am writing them spontaneously, by some inner request,

usually in late evening after work. I do not know, why I feel such strong inner

request to write these compilations. Previously I even do not know the topics,

Swami's sources for these representations. I am writing as by intuition and

there was no scientific explanation to it.

Namaste - Reet

[Guest guest]

The task you are doing doesn't need any special accolades but it must keep on

flowing like Sai Ganga as it gives strength, solace and Ananda to the fellow

pilgrims.You are chosen by Him so there is no need for scientifc explanation-

 

Salute yu Brother

 

Sai Ram

 

Soumendra