Swami teaches... Change the vision to recognize the Divinity

[Guest guest]

Sai Ram

 

Love and Light

 

Swami teaches....(14-16 April 2005)

Change the Vision to Recognize the Divinity

You can win the Grace of the Lord only by dharma. It induces the spirit of

self-surrenderand develops it. Without the training that the practice of dharma

gives to your senses, yourfeelings and emotions, you cannot have steady faith

and steady detachment. The Lord is Dharmaconceived as a personality. Rama is

known as Vigrahavaan Dharmah (Righteousness personified).

In past ages, Avathaars rid the world of evil, by destroying the few

fanatics and ogres who wrought it. But, now fanaticism and felony reign in

every heart. The number of evil persons is legion; no one is free from that

taint; all are wicked to some extent or other. Therefore, every one needs

correction; every one has to be educated and guided into the right path. Every

being is a pilgrim destined to reach Maadhava (God) and merge in Him; but most

people have forgotten the road; they wander like lost children, wasting

precious time in by-paths.

In Tretha Yuga Rama fought the battle in person. In Dwapara Yuga Krishna

played the role of a witness, using others as His instruments. In Kali Yuga

today, the divine and demonic forces are battling in each human being. This is

the mark of the Kali age. In Kali Yuga because the two opposing factors are in

each individual, the Lord plays the role of a witness and as the conscience.

Human being has to use the power of discrimination to fight the evil forces

within. Anyone has to foster the divine elements within by own efforts and

listening to the voice of his conscience. The freedom to choose has been given

to human being for this purpose. This is the unique feature of the Kali age.

Realise that no special Sadhana is needed to experience the Divine in you. You

must get rid yourself of impure thoughts and actions. Sanctify every action you

do and make it a Sadhana. The Divine is not a created object. It is

self-effulgent and present ineveryone. We cannot change the appearance of

the Universe. But by a change in our vision, its divinity can be recognised.

In every person there is a combination of the Mayatatwa (the Deluding

principle) and theBrahmatatwa (the Divine principle). Without the Deluding

principle, the Brahmatatwa cannot beexperienced. Without the Brahmatatwa, the

power of Maya cannot be manifest. On the surfaceof the vast ocean, countless

waves are seen. There must be a force that causes these waves. It isthe power

of wind on the water of the ocean that produces the waves. Without the force of

windthere can be no waves. Maya can be compared to this wind. The water in the

ocean can becompared to the form of Sat-Chit-Ananda (Being-Awareness-Bliss).

The individual selves are the waves of the ocean. The Divine in human being

is always radiating light and bliss. But, because of the barrier of bad

thoughts, human is unable to experience this bliss. The Divine is not something

different or separate from one's self. Although one is identical with the

Divine, the dark cloaks of Raga (attachment) and Dhvesha (hatred) envelop the

divine essence and prevent to realise the inner Reality. The only truth human

being has to discover is the truth about him/herself.

Recognise that God and you are one. There will then be no need to describe

God as father,mother, guru and the like and confound oneself. We should strive

to reduce the bondages createdby such relationships as father, mother, etc. We

should aim at realising that basic Unity thatunderlines and sustains

everything. The only relationship that lasts forever and does notchange is the

association with the Atma. "The eternal resides in every being in the world as

a fragment of Mine", says the Lord in the Gita. You are not even a separate

spirit. You are a fragment of the Divine.

As the clouds form droplets and fall upon the fields which they choose to

foster, the FormlessAbsolute individualises Itself, assumes Form and comes down

in the midst of humanity to saveand sustain, That is the secret of God Maadhava

coming down as maanava (human), the cloudtaking pity on the crop, parching in

the Sun. Once the rains come, the Sun has its uses. So too,when the grace of

the Lord is gained, then ego and greed can be put into useful channels. The

mental clean up is easier to perform through service in all its forms. Service

is a primarily spiritual discipline.

But, think for a moment: Are you serving God? Or, is God serving you? When

you offer milk to a hungry child, or a blanket to a shivering brother on the

pavement, you are but placing a gift ofGod into the hands of another gift of

God. You are reposing the gift of God in a repository of the Divine Principle.

Without His Will, no single blade of grass can quiver in the breeze. Fill every

moment with gratitude to the Giver and the Recipient of all gifts. The

Shaasthry said that the Lord wishes that His bhaktha (devotee) should shine

over non-believers; that he should be happier, more contented, more courageous

than the rest. If Shaasthry gives his sons a hundred acres each, one son may

tend it well and reap golden harvests from it: another may allow it to lie

fallow and himself sink into misery. The equipment each has brought from

previous lives may be different. Spiritual strength will be less in one, more

in another, in proportion to the efforts of each, now and in the past.

The Lord, it was said, punishes some and favours others. Really the Lord

does neither.He is like the current in this electric wire. It rotates the fan

and makes one's life cooled; itoperates the electric chair and makes one's life

shorter. It has no wish to allay the warmth of theatmosphere; it has no

eagerness to kill. The Lord's Grace is like the wind that blows. Roll upyour

sails and the boat lies limp and lame; unfurl them, it moves faster and faster.

It is like light;one person does good using the illumination; another executes

an evil plan, with its help. Havean "inner day," though an "outer night." Let

the light within, shine. The Vedhas teach this Truth and impart the discipline

needed to attain this fortune. Not set aside the commands of the Vedhas: they

are the authentic voice of the Lord as heard and recorded by purified

intellects. It is best to trust to the experience of sages, who were filled

with compassion and who were moved by that compassion to illumine the path of

liberation. Faith in the Vedhas irrigates the heart and makes it yield the

harvest of Universal Love. Bhakthi (devotion) involves dedication, with

nothing held back; not even a wisp of ego should remain. His command alone

counts; His Will prevails. Bhakthi is unconcerned with all that is unrelated to

own ideal. He is deaf to the call of hunger and thirst; he misses steps in logic

and he calculates wrongly while dealing in the market place. Naaradha says that

those full of the liquor of ignorance stumble after the shadows of the world,

while those drunk with nectar of wisdom never move away from the Highest, which

they have discovered as themselves. Bhakthi must soften the mind and keep it

receptive to the higher emotions for perception of Divinity.

The term "daiva" (Divinity) means wholeness and immanence. Divinity is

immanent in thePrakriti (whole of creation), which cannot exist otherwise. The

energy that is present in everyobject in Creation is derived from the divine

(Sat-Chit-Ananda). Divinity represents the unity ofSat-Chit-Ananda and Prakrti.

In modem parlance, this may be stated as: Matter plus Being isGod.

Recognition of this basic unity calls for earnest and continuous striving. In

the pursuit of thisfundamental quest, four major obstacles have to be overcome.

 

1. Avidya prathibandhakam is the impediment that arises out of the feeling

that one is too weak and powerless to seek the Divine. As long as this sense of

weakness remains, one cannot understand the Omni-Self. 2. Prajna

prathibandhakam is the obstacle that is created by self-conceit. When one feels

that one knows everything and is unwilling to learn from elders he/she becomes

unfit for undertaking the spiritual quest.

3. Kutharka prathibandhakam, is faced by those who are caught up in

illogical reasoning and false arguments. They give farfetched interpretations

to the pronouncements of sages and engage themselves in meaningless

controversies. 4. Viparyaya Duragraha prathibandhakam, is caused by

ignorance of one's inner Reality and a refusal to make the effort to understand

it. It arises out of a feeling of arrogance that one knows everything and has no

need to learn from others. The cause of this arrogance is Maya (delusion). Such

persons view the Jagat (world) as a physical phenomenon.

 

A person stands knee-deep in the Ganga or Godhaavari river and uttering

Vedhic hymns in praise of the river, he lifts up in his palm the sacred water

of the river and pours it back as his offering to the deity that the river

represents. Its water into itself - God's gift for God's. Gift - that is all

that one is capable of; that is all that one needs to do. He has endowed you

with this wonderfulbody, this sweet tongue, this amazing instrument called

mind. He has granted you intelligence,the powers of analysis and synthesis, the

capacity to receive and give up, to remember and toforget. Acknowledge these

gratefully and use them to the best advantage. Use them to see Himeverywhere in

all beings, to seek Him through all the ups and downs, the joys and griefs,

thedoubts and decisions of life.

Those who have attained the inner vision see the Cosmos as the manifestation

of the Lord the Cosmos is the vesture of the Divine. The scientists admit that

matter is composed of energy. Without energy nothing can exist in the Cosmos.

Human exhibits great mental and physical courage, on the battle-fields and

during adventures onland, sea and air. He has evinced in history, vast

reinforcements of courage inside him, to meetall varieties of obstacles. But

the courage to give up entanglement with the material world is agreat

achievement. (Reet's compilation from, Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 3. "Climb the

right tree," Chapter 1; Vol. 6. "Love the source of love," Chapter 5; Vol. 10.

"Truth of Truth," Chapter 35;

Vol. 20. "God and you are One," Chapter 15.

 

PS: Spelling of names as in original texts.

 

Namaste - Reet