Swami teaches... The ideals laid down in Swami's messages

[Guest guest]

Sai Ram

Light and Love

 

Swami teaches.... (7 - 10 May 2005)

 

The Ideals Laid Down in Swami's Messages

 

By holding a Veena, will human become a great musician? By holding a pen,

will one become a great writer? Can frogs that move around the lotuses in the

water, enjoy the honey in the lotuses? Can a stone on which sandalwood paste is

made, experience the fragrance of the sandalwood pieces? Can a blind man see his

beauty in a mirror?

We think that the world is binding us but the world is lifeless. It is

desire that binds us. Those who catch monkeys prepare a pot with a small

opening in it and fill it with some sweet. The monkey who desires the food,

will put his hand inside the pot and take a big handful of the food. Then the

monkey becomes unable to draw his hand out through the opening. Only on

releasing the grip on the food will the monkey be able to take his hand out. It

is his desire for the food that has bound his hands. Our desires are the sweets

in the pot.

People today live a life from which sacredness, modesty and all other good

qualities have disappeared.

During the centuries the customs and manners that go with Indian culture

make us respected and there is no need to abandon them. Young people with their

peculiar dress imitating the westerners, appear just like clowns. There is

nothing wrong in wearing rich and beautiful clothing but they should be in

harmony with our Indian culture and such as will create respect for our

country. There are some bush shirts which are made of cloth used for furniture,

bed sheets and so on. When ones walk with such bush shirts, even animals will be

afraid.

Indians traditionally look at the forehead of a baby when it is born and if

it is very broad, they presume the child is very fortunate. They think that God

writes the future on the forehead. But people now try to cover their foreheads

with their hair.

 

To avoid the meaningless and 'brainless' imitations, the heritage of India

has to be handed over to the children by the mothers of the land. Discipline

and the exercise of authority must be there, but, modified by love. Without a

certain amount of restraint and some use of authority (to press good things on

unwilling minds), no progress can be made. The child has to be persuaded much

against its will to eat rice and curry, when it has to be familiarised with

them. The sick man has to be reprimanded, if he refuses the drug that can cure

him. Emphasise simplicity and sincerity, more than pomp and show. Make the

mind your the shrine. Have on the first place Mind'irs, not Mandhirs.

The spiritual path to the awareness begins from silence and service. Practice

silence. Then, you can more easily recognise the galloping of the mind behind

worldly happiness. Restrain its movements; turn it inside, into the calm lake

of bliss that lies deep in the heart. Get over fear, by establishing your mind

in the one, for, fear can arise only when there is another.

A practical example in which the spirit of service can be experienced is the

following. Tell this to the all spiritual aspirants. Every day, when the lady

of the house measures the rice for preparing lunch or dinner, let her place a

handful in a separate pot, kept for the purpose, with the words, 'For God;' at

the end of the week, let her cook that rice separately and give it to as many

poor people as the quantity justifies. That will be a daily act of dedicatory

service. However, it happens that several helpers seeking cameramen whenever

they help others and are very disappointed when they are not mentioned in

newspapers. Such ones push themselves forward and climb into positions of

authority, just to parade their importance before the public. They forget that

service is worship, that each act of service is a flower placed at the feet of

the Lord, and that, if the act is tainted with ego, it is as if the flower is

infested with slimy insect pests.

(One may say that he/she is an atheist and there is no need to follow the

spiritual paths. Swami will not accept it if you say that you are an atheist

with no faith in the Lord. You believe, yourself, because your Self is God and

you have an unshakable faith in God, deep down in you. Faith in yourself and

faith in God are identical).

 

The ideals laid down in Swami's messages always in view, and within the

limitations, rules and regulations laid under Swami's guidance and with Swami's

blessings.

The only kith and kin the Lord has are the devotees who have dedicated

themselves to Him; those who have attuned their heart-strings to His Melody.

The Lord who is beyond Time and Space prior to theBeginning and subsequent to

the end can never be described in terms of humans worldly actions. Such

descriptions cannot make any sense to those who have experienced the Glory that

is God. Do not make God modem to suit your fancy. He is neither ancient nor

modern; His countenance never changes, nor His Glory. Present Him if you must

in a modem manner, in a modem style, so that He might be understood today. If a

child is reluctant to swallow a pill, insert it in a plantain and offer him the

fruit; he will swallow both fruit and pill. But do not change the pill itself

to suit the whims and fancies of the child's taste. Then the illness cannot be

cured. Take the Lord to be your father or mother, but only as a first step

to your overstepping that relationship and merging in the absolute. Do not stop

on the steps; enter the Mansion to which they lead. The connection with the Soul

is the - everlasting unchanging association. As a first step, you use the

flower, the lamp, the incense, etc., to worship the Saguna (Form with

attributes) form. Soon, your bhakthi moves on to newer forms of dedication,

newer offerings, purer and more valuable and worthier of your Lord. At last

you feel that you should place before the Lord something more lasting than mere

flowers; and something more yours than incense. You feel like purifying

yourselves and making your entire life one fragrant flame. That is real

worship, real bhakthi. Worship is just a means of educating the emotions.

Human impulses and emotions have to be guided and controlled. Human's age long

instincts have to be trained and transmuted by contact with higher ideals and

powers. When the fruit is ripe, it will fall off the branch of its own accord.

Similarly, when renunciation saturates your heart, you lose contact with the

world and slip into the lap of the Lord.

The Vedha speaks in hymn after hymn of the Glory of the Lord, known by

various names as Indhra, Varuna, Mithra, etc. It is all Upaasana - worship

filled with bhakthi, devotion to the Lord, whom the Vedha itself declares as

One, "though endowed with a variety of Names." The Bhaagavatha is the

Vedhasaara (the essence of Vedha), made available for easy assimilation by all.

It is just a limb of the Vedhic literature and as limb it is an inseparable part

of the Vedhic tradition.

Just as juveniles are shown pictures and made to learn names of the objects

which they represent,the Bhaagavatha teaches the Akshara (Imperishable) through

the Kshara (perishable). Youcannot attain the subtle without experiencing the

gross, without the instrumentality of the gross.After rising to the heights of

the Chith (Awareness), with jada (dull witted) as the instrument,you have to

also make the jada so suffused by Chaithanya (Supreme Consciousness) that

thedifference does not persist. The Bhaagavatha helps in this spiritual

education, taking the student through all the lessons from the primary to the

postgraduate levels.

Most readers by-pass the real meaning of the legends, tales and descriptions

given in the ancient scriptures. Brahma's lotus grows in the many petalled

Lotus of the Heart, each petal being the direction in which a particular

tendency attracts the individual. The Bull on which Shiva is said to ride is

the symbol of Dharma or Righteousness which has the four legs, sathya, dharma,

shaanthi and prema. From Paramaatma Moola (Suprme Soul, the Source),

Prakrithi (Nature) descended with the emergence of Maaya (illusion). By a

combination of the five elements, this tabernacle of Paramaatma (the Divine),

that is you, was produced. The entire ladder has now to be climbed up in order

to reach the Paramaatma, the Origin of all. There is a regular syllabus for the

promotion of the spiritual aspirant, which is given in that form in the Vedha

and in an elaborate story form in Bhaagavatha.

 

When Vedhas are ignored, vedana (pain) is the consequence. The teachings of

the Upanishads,theGeetha and Bhaagavatha which give all human activities the

correct sense of proportion are invaluable in preserving mental and physical

health.

Every one has to go from here when the provisions he has brought or secured

have been spent. But by that time, attain the purpose of all this bother of

arriving, travelling, accumulating and spending: the realisation of supreme

happiness by ending this circle of birth and death. Death is not a deplorable

event; it is the journey's end, the owner getting out of the car when the time

is out and the goal is reached. It is a consummation, a happy conclusion, or at

least it ought to be, if only all are wise enough to treat it as such and be

prepared for it.

Migrate into the sea of Grace, which will not dry; or learn the art of

breaking through the net of death. It was the sathwa guna (quality of goodness)

that moved on to the Lord; the rajo guna (quality of activism) broke the net;

the thamo guna (quality of inertia) got caught. Grow into the saathwik stage

and save yourself. Discard sloth, denounce fanaticism and declare yourself a

dedicated servant of the Lord. Then, Grace will be showered on you. Change

your habits and conduct for the better from this very moment. That is the

measure of your sincerity. Moderation is desirable in food and drinks and in

exercise, both physical and spiritual; that is the best cure and teacher; then

can you advance in position. However, as regards God, there is no question of

overdose or underdose; any dose should be welcomed.

Reduce your wants; minimise your desires. All these material knick-knacks

are short-lived. If you go on heaping desire upon desire, it will be impossible

to depart gladly when the call comes. Become rich rather in virtue, in the

spirit of service, in devotion to the Higher Power. A strong will is the best

tonic; the will becomes strong when you know that you are a child of

immortality or a person who has earned the Grace of the Lord. The

reinforcements provided by the Lord are the most reliable means of support.

When you get them, dishonour, defeat and despairfade away like fog before the

sun. Disease too dare not approach you.

Since you cannot swim across the flooded stream, you board a raft. So also,

since you cannot master the Nirguna (Formless God), you resort to the Saguna

and struggle to swim across to the Nirguna through Araadhana and Upaasana

(worship and contemplation).

Those who get their feet worshipped by their devotees and those who think

that it is a great boon so to worship them are both lacking in sense. By aspect

of Nirguna Paadhapuuja (ritual worship of guru's feet) has an atmosphere of

publicity, both for the guru and the sishya; besides, why worship the body

which is decaying every moment? Obey your Guru, follow the instructions,

progress along the spiritual road, these are the best means of Paadhapuuja;

when you achieve some success in these, the craving for Paadhapuuja itself will

disappear. Offer the heart, clean and pure, broadened by saadhana to include all

living beings in its grasp. Offer this to your real guru what is anybody else

than Swami's Omnipresent Form.

For the other ritual it is easy to throw away a few rupees and purchase a

few material objects from some shop and throw them into the fire of sacrifice.

Swami is going to set you a more difficult task; you cannot escape by doing the

easy thing. Swami wants that you should all, when the Poornaahuthi is offered

into the fire, stand up and reverentially offer into the same fire everyone of

the dhurgunas (bad qualities) that you have - the faults, the failings, the

temptations, the transgressions.

It should be known that the realisation of the Reality, through Adhyaathmic

saadhana (spiritual discipline) is an arduous enterprise, as fraught with

calamity, as playing with fire or duelling with tigers or battling with

barbarian hordes. One has to be alert; vigilant and fully trained to meet all

emergencies. Many quail before its impossible demands.

If any human possesses Dharma along with wealth, power and riches, there is

none greater than this person. However learned we may be, if we have no

morality, we shall become into delusion. When bad ideas, which are like seeds

in our heart, are not removed, they will grow into big trees. Only who does not

succumb to desires, will attain the state of Brahman. (Reet's compilation from,

Sathya Sai Baba. The Divine Discourse "Customs and Character," Summer Showers In

Brindavan, May 1972, Brindavan;

Sathya Sai Baba. The Divine Discourse "Mind'irs, Not Mandhirs, Brindavan, 8 March 1971;

Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 2. "Primers of spiritual education," Chapter 23 and

"Poornaahuthi," Chapter 46;

Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 6. "The supreme physician," Chapter 29). Namaste - Reet