Swami teaches... Food for mind, thought and intellect

[Guest guest]

Sai Ram

 

Light and Love

 

Swami teaches.... (07 - 08 March 2005)

Food for Mind, Thought and Intellect

Every word, every form used in the Shaasthras has a symbolic meaning, which

gives it value. The word "Prapancha" which you use so freely to indicate this

"created world" means, "that which is composed of the Panchabhuuthaas - the

five elements of earth, fire, water, wind and ether." Take the word "Hrudhayam"

used for "the heart". It means Hrudhi (in the heart) ayam (He). That is to say,

it means not the organ that pumps blood to all parts or the body, but the seat

of God, the altar where Shiva is installed, the niche where the lamp of Jnaana

is lit. Again, Shiva does not ride on an animal called in human language, a

"bull!" The bull is only a symbol of Dharma standing on the four legs of

Sathya, Dharma, Shaanthi and Prema.

It is the divine grace that gives value to life, authenticity to the

Shaasthras (scriptures), authority to the recipient. A piece of white paper has

no value at all; but send it to the security press and let them convert it into

a hundred-rupee note; you value it. Become impressed with the stamp of God;

carry His signature; that invests you with value and authority. But first you

should become white, tough and strong. Remove all the blemishes that tarnish

you.

Naamasmarana is the best means. Only, you do not really believe that it can

cure you or save you, that is the tragedy. People believe in the efficacy of

only costly brightly packed, widely published drugs; the simple easily

available remedy which is in everybody's backyard is ignored as useless.

God has given human a hundred years of life and plenty of work to fill the

years with; but you fritter the time away in playful games, in founding and

fostering a family; and awake to the fact of preparing for death only when

death knocks at the door. You have no time for reciting the name of the Lord or

meditating on His form, which is within you. You have time for the club, for a

game of cards, for the film show, for wayside chats, for all kinds of

trivialities but no time for a little quiet, for a simple item like worship.

You have got to learn that you bind yourself and you liberate yourself. You

entangle yourself in the three Gunas and by your struggles, you only pull the

world and tighten it round yourself. You are endowed with Viveka, you have a

conscience, whispering Dharma into your ear; so you yourselves must choose and

select.

 

Just as you feed the body, and care for its upkeep and repair, the Manas,

Chittham and Buddhi (mind, thought and intellect) have also to be fed with good

nourishing food. When the morning cup of coffee is missed, you get a headache;

what do you get when the morning dose of Japam is missed? At noon, your hunger

drags you from the shades of these trees to where food is waiting; nothing so

powerful drags you to your shrine-room. When you enter a house, even if it has

been unoccupied for months, you can declare, "This is the kitchen," from the

sooty walls and the smell of condiments. Similarly, you say, "This is the Puuja

room" from the aroma of incense-sticks and flowers that still hovers in the air.

Have a separate Puuja room or at least, set apart a small corner for Dhyaanam

(meditation), Japam (repetition of Lord's name) and Puuja (ritual worship).

Retire there, at least twice a day for some short time; that will be "feeding

time" for the spirit.

 

Sarveshwara Chinthana - allowing the mind to rest on the tree of the glory

of God - will give the tired bird some rest to fly again, beating its wings in

search of food and happiness. Sathsanga (company of the pious) also acts like a

tonic. Try the prescription for some time; it will be rather unpleasant at

first. Due to weakness, the mind, like the body, cannot behave steadily and

remain firm.

Do not keep the Manas, Buddhi and Chittham (mind, intellect and thought)

hungry or underfed; then they will run after all kinds of foul food. Give them

proper nourishment and they will perform their functions well. Their function

is to illumine the Aathma within. In spite of the Dharmic way of life is

dependent on the Guna (quality) of the individual, the Aathma in the individual

is the Aathma in all.

When in difficulty, pray for guidance before jumping in any direction.

People will give you advice only as far as their cleverness can reach; but the

Lord who transforms dullness into intelligence will reveal to you the way out

of the dilemma. Ask the Lord and He will answer. The Lord revealed the proper

course to the hunter. Finally, he broke the bow and arrow and other deadly

weapons as a result of that inspiration.

Do not decry that discipline or the ancient scriptures. They are your

authority to confirm Swami's truth; it is through the study of those

scriptures that you can picture the grandeur of divinity. Do not decry Vishnu

or Shiva for the reason that your devotion is towards some other name and form

you seek to honour. If you dishonour a human being, you are dishonouring Swami.

 

There are many different stories given in the Shaasthras to explain the

origin of the Shivaraathri. One of them is that this is the day on which Shiva

danced the Thaandava (cosmic dance) in His ecstasy, with all the Gods and sages

taking part in the cosmic event.

During Shivaraathri festival is a time to take part in feeding the mind with

power of illumination this cosmic dance.

Shiva is inherent in every thought, word and deed, for He is the energy,

the power, the intelligence that is behind each of them. All energy, power and

intelligence are in you; you need not search for them outside yourselves. God

who is manifesting as time, space and causation is in you; why then do you feel

weak and helpless? You must first know where you stands and where you should

decide to reach.

Just as Om is the verbal symbol of God, the Lingam is the symbolic form of

the Godhead. It is just a form. Everything is Maaya (delusion) and to grasp it,

you must deal with Maayaa. Otherwise you cannot realise the Maayaa Shakthi

(deluding power). God is as immanent in the universe as life is immanent in the

egg.

Shiva is known also as Ishwara, the repository of all the resources

essential for prosperity. The most important resource is Jnaana (spiritual

wisdom). Three kinds of Jnaana are demarcated: Jeevaprajna (concerning the

individualised divine), Ishwaraprajna (concerning the cosmic manifestation of

the divine) and the Aathmaprajna (concerning the universal absolute of which

the individual is the temporary-particular). He is also known as Shankara, and

sages have experienced Shiva as conferring Sam or auspiciousness of all kinds,

happiness in all ways. Shiva is eternally auspicious; He does not come embodied

in other forms, with other names, as often as Vishnu. So, He is not described as

Shri Shiva or Shri Shankara or Shri Ishwara. Shri is inherent in His very person

and so it is superfluous to add Shri to His name.

The Vibhuuthi Abhisheka has a potent inner meaning connected with Shiva. The

Vibhuuthi is the most precious object, in the truly spiritual sense. Shiva burnt

the God of desire or Kaama, called Manmatha (for he agitates the mind and

confounds the confusion already existing there) into a heap of ashes. Shiva

adorned Himself with that ash, and thus He shone in His glory, as the conqueror

of desire. When Kaama was destroyed, Prema (love) reigned supreme.

Ash is the ultimate condition of things; it cannot undergo any further

change. The Abhisheka with Vibhuuthi is done to inspire you to give up desire

and offer Shiva the ashes of its destruction as the most valuable of all the

articles you have earned. Ash cannot fade as flowers do in a day or two; it

does not dry and disappear or get soiled and unpotable as water does; it will

not lose colour as leaves do, in a few hours; it does not rot as fruits do in a

few days. Ash is ash for ever and ever.

Shiva has a snake around his neck and hairs. Indians worship of the snake.

People laugh at this practice. "Indians offer adoration to snakes, because, in

their opinion, they have poison in their fangs!" The truth is quite otherwise.

The inner meaning of snake worship is quite different. The spinal column of man

ending with the 'thousand petalled lotus' in the brain is very much like a

serpent poised on its tail with hood widely spread.

In the science of Kundalini Yoga, the vital energy of human lying dormant

like a coiled snake, at the bottom of this column is the lowest Muulaadhaara

Chakra (the basal plexus) is awakened and aroused, so that it courses up

through six more wheels (centres of superior consciousness) until it reaches

the Sahasraara (thousand-petalled lotus energy centre) at the very top of the

skull. The passage for the Kundalini is through the Sushumna nerve in the

centre of the spinal column. The worship of the snake, ridiculed as

superstition, is the symbolic counterpart of this great Yogic Saadhana which

confers vigour and vitality.

An additional pictorial explanation concern to snake worship. Thirupathi is

holy place of pilgrimage; Lord Venkateshwara, the deity worshipped there is

called the Lord of the seven hills, for seven hills have to be climbed before

the temple is reached. Obviously the six Chakras (energy centres) and the

Sahasraara are indicated here, for in Raajayoga, the supreme is revealed, only

when the individual raises the vital energy - the Kundalini Shakthi - up to the

seventh stage. One of the hills is named Seshagiri, meaning, snake hill. From

the plains, the range gives the appearance of a snake with a raised hood.

Shiva as concrete symbol of God teaches the unity behind the appearance of

multiplicity, that is to say, to help realise the Adhwaitha (non-dual nature of

existence). Shankara, the greatest expounder of that school of thought,

established four seats of practical philosophy called Mutts in the four regions

of India. The very first step in the endeavour to realise this unity was,

according to him, Upaasana or worship of the concrete symbol of God, which

gives one the experience of the ecstasy of union.

One day, Shankara was seated in meditation on the bank of the Ganga river.

Suddenly, he exclaimed, "Lord! I am yours; but, surely, you are not mine." His

pupil, Thotakacharya was by his side then; he was astonished at this statement,

which, according to him, went against the Adhwaithic stand. He asked the

explanation. Shankara replied, "The waves belong to the ocean; but, the ocean

does not belong to the wave. The wave is the ocean, but the ocean is not the

wave." However, both consists of water. (Reet's compilation from, Sathya Sai

Baba. The Divine Discourse, "The Shiva in All." Prashanthi Nilayam, 20 February

1974. Sathya Sai Baba. The Divine Discourse, "You are Freed!" Prashanthi

Nilayam, 21 Feb 1974. Sathya Sai Baba. The Divine Discourse, "The Broken Bow."

Prashanthi Nilayam, 8, 9 and 10 March 1962. Sathya Sai Baba. The Divine

Discourse, "The Moon and the Mind." Prashanthi Nilayam, 7 February 1959.

 

Namaste - Reet