Guest guest Posted February 11, 2005 Report Share Posted February 11, 2005 Sai Ram Light and Love Swami teaches.... (11 February 2005) Sanathana Dharma - the Divine Illumination Sanathana Dharma - the Universal eternal ancient Wisdom, the Eternal Law - is the mother of all religions, all ethical codes and all Dharmas of this world; and Bharatha Desa is the home where the Mother was born. No other Dharma has or will have Truth and Highest Love, above and beyond that contained in Sanathana Dharma. Sanathana Dharma is the veritable embodiment of Truth. The world in its entirety is the Body of the Lord of the world, and this Bharatha Desa is that Body's unique organ, the Eye. It can be said that Bharatha Desa has been beautified by the two eyes; the Vedas and the Sastras. Sanathana Dharma, which teaches the truth of all religions and tolerance of all religions, is the Dharma of all mankind. Born in various areas, flowing through various paths, the rivers at last reach the Ocean; so too, born in different lands, practising different ways of Dharma, people reach the Ocean of the presence of the Lord, through different modes of worship. Sanathana Dharma is the central location in which all these various paths, moving in different directions, converge. Followers of the different religions can practise this Sanathana Dharma, by being truthful in speech, by avoiding jealousy and anger, and by acting always with a loving heart. All those who so practise Sanathana Dharma and, without faltering, achieve it, are entitled to be called 'Bharathiyas'. The Hindu religion is the only religion that has achieved and maintained the foremost position among all religions from earliest times and established itself permanently. The Hindus have earned their Dharma through the discovery of philosophic principles and through the Vedas. They have drunk deep the essence of the Vedas which are without beginning and without end. A land so holy is a veritable spiritual mine to the world. Just as the bowels of the earth reveal in each area mines of different metals, in Bharatha Desa is found in mine of Sanathana Dharma, the essence of all the principles of all the Sastras, all the Vedas, and all the Upanishads. It is through seers, selfless karmayogis, wise men, realised souls, and Divine personages connected with this religion that spiritual wisdom reinforced by experience flowed all over the country and progressed throughout the world. But, to whatever land it spread, the 'original home' is Bharatha itself. Those who have attained Liberation in this life by adherence to this Sanathana Dharma, who have earned the grace of God, who have understood the nature of Truth, who have achieved Realisation are all Bharathiyas. Bharathiyas have adored those who have reached that holy stage, without distinction of caste, creed, or sex. The holiness of that stage burns to ashes all such limitations. It is only until that stage is reached that it becomes impossible to consider everything as equal. Pictorially through Sanathana Dharma illuminates the source of human activity from which all authority and all power originate is Sarveswara (Almighty, God). Ignoring that omnipotence, to delude one-self that the little power one has acquired is one's own, this indeed is egoism, conceit, pride, Ahamkara. If a person is a genuine vehicle of power, he can be recognized by the characteristics of truth, kindness, love, patience, forbearance and gratefulness. Wherever these reside, Ahamkara cannot subsist, it has no place. The effulgence of the Atma is obscured by Ahamkara. Therefore when Ahamkara is destroyed, all troubles end, all discontents vanish and Bliss is attained. Many an aspirant and recluse, many a sadhaka and sanyasi has allowed all excellences won by long years of struggle and sacrifice to slip away through this attachment to the self. Whatever the wealth of words, whatever the standard of scholarship, it is all a colossal waste. To bring the teachings of the Vedas, Upanishads and the Sastras into one's actual life one has to scotch the feeling, "I know," and open one's eyes to the real Essence and Introspect on it. Then, one can attain Bliss without fail. The Sastras can give only information about doctrines, axioms, rules, regulations and duties. The sublime characteristics of the Vedas and the Upanishads and Sastras are that they give instruction in the methods of attaining peace and liberation. But they are not saturated with these essences of Bliss, so that one can collect them by squeezing the texts. One has to discover the path, the direction and the goal as described in them; one has to tread the path, follow the direction, and reach the goal. Aware of all this, if you get immersed in spiritual practice, the world and its worries will not affect you. Until the reality of Paramatma is known, you are over-powered and stunned by the uproar of the world but once you enter deep into the realm of spiritual endeavour, everything becomes clear and the knowledge of the reality awakens within you. Those who seek union with God, those who seek the welfare of the world should discard as worthless both praise and blame, appreciation and derision, prosperity and adversity. They should courageously keep steady faith in their own innate reality and dedicate themselves to spiritual uplift. No one, not even a mahapurusha or avatar can ever escape criticism and blame. But they do not yield to threats. The real nature of the mahapurusha or the avatar is realized by those who indulge in criticism or blame only after wading through unbearable trouble and then, they too start to praise. The weakness of ignorance is the cause of this failure. Three types can be recognized among those who seek to do good deeds and tread the path of self-realisation. 1. Those who are too frightened by the troubles, losses, and difficulties, to begin the endeavour; they are of the lowest or adharma type. 2. Those who, after having depressed and defeated by obstacles and disappointments and who therefore give up, in the middle. They are of the middling, or the madhyama type. 3. Those who steadfastly adhere to the path with calmness and courage, whatever the nature of the travel, however hard the road; those are, of the highest or the uthama type. This steadfastness, this faith and constancy is the characteristic of the Bhaktha. Consider always the faults of others, however big, to be insignificant and negligible. Consider always your own faults, however insignificant and negligible, to be big, and feel sad and repentant. By these means, you avoid developing the bigger faults and defects and you acquire the qualities of brotherliness and forbearance. Try to know the essence of everything; the eternal truth. Try to experience the Love which is Paramatma itself. To experience it is easier by worship. There are many who cavil at image worship but its basis is really one's capacity to see the macrocosm in the microcosm. The value of image worship is testified to by experience; it does not depend on one's imaginative faculty. What is found in the Virat Swarupa of the Lord is found, undiminished and unalloyed, in the image Swarupa also. Images serve the same purpose as metaphors, similies etc., in poetry. They illustrate, amplify and make clear. Joy comes not through the shape of things but through the relationship established with them. Not any child but her child makes the mother happy. With each and everything in the universe, if one establishes the kinship, that Iswara Prema, verily, what an overpowering joy can be experienced! Only those who have felt it can understand. In reality, as a rule, human beings see the shadow and take it to be the substance. They see length, breadth, height and thickness and they jump to the conclusion that they have an object before them. What is cognised as an object, is not real at all; its reality is not cognisable. Mud alone is real. The pot-consciousness is born of ignorance regarding mud; mud is the basis, the substance of the pot. How can a pot exist without mud? How can effect exist apart from the cause? The world appears as multiplicity only to the ignorant. The Atman alone is cognised; there is nothing else. That is the Adwaithic experience. Keep always before the eye of memory, death which is inevitable, and engage yourself in the journey of life, with good wishes for all, with strict adherence to truth, seeking always the company of the good, and with the mind always fixed on the Lord. Live, avoiding evil deeds, and hateful and harmful thoughts, and do not get attached to the world. If you live thus, your last moment will be pure, sweet and blessed. For a drowning man, even a reed is some support. So too, to a person struggling in the Sea of Samsara, a few good words spoken by some one might be of great help. No good deed can go waste. Let it always remind you of God. It is to earn these holy samskaras that one has to maintain the flow of high thoughts and feelings, uninterrupted. The holy stream of good Samskaras* must flow full and steady along the fields of holy thoughts and finally abide in the great Ocean of Bliss at the moment of Death. Worthy indeed is one who reaches such a Goal. You must do and earn auspicious Samskaras in order that the bond of Love and Grace may exist and get tightened. (Reet's compilation from Sathya Sai Baba. Prema Vahini, pp. 12 - 29). *Samskara - 'impression'; "Every action that you do produces a two-fold effect. It produces an impression in your mind and when you die you carry the Samskara in the Karmashaya or receptacle of works in your subconscious mind. It produces an impression on the world or Akashic records. " (Swami S'ivananda). Samskara is a Sanskrit word, which means to improve, to purify, to refine, to make perfect. Namaste - Reet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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