Swami teaches... Unaffected, unchanging Wisdom

[Guest guest]

Sai Ram

 

Light and Love Swami teaches.... (15 - 19 July 2005)

 

Unaffected, Unchanging Wisdom

Do not seek to measure Swami or evaluate Swami. Pray or worship for your own

satisfaction and contentment. But to say that Swami will respond only if He is

called or that He will save only if He is thought of is wrong. You can hear

Swami's Footsteps, for, Swami walks with you, behind you, beside you. When you

cry out in agony, "Don't you hear my heart's plaint? Have you become so

stony-hearted?" Swami's ear will be there to listen. Ask that Swami should

protect you like the apple of the eye, Swami's eye will be there to watch over

you and guard you. Swami answers to whatever Name you use; Swami responds to

whatever request you make with a pure heart and a sanctified motive.

Pandiths (scholars)are the instruments through whom you can gather the key

to the understanding of the mystery of God; they give you the gist of the

Shaasthras in easy, simple style and interpret them in the light of whatever

experience they have earned.

So long as you are entangled in the sensual world you cannot distinguish the

real from the unreal. But, you have to discover the real, through

discrimination; there is no avoiding that responsibility; you have to do it,

now or later. Power, status, wealth, authority - these are useless in this

adventure. In Bhaarath, the discipline, to remove that attachment to the senses

and to curb the mind from running after fleeting pleasures, is clearly laid down

since ages and there are the experiences of many saints, recorded in the sacred

literature of this land. All the activities of thought, word and deed are

sublimated to this higher purpose. There is a small example.

Alexander, during his campaigns in the Punjab, was anxious to see a

celebrated sage; he went to the cave where the sage was, and expected that he

would be received most thankfully and with demonstrations of welcome. But the

sage simply asked him to move aside and go. He was not interested in the famous

world-shaker, the Greek conqueror.

 

The mind is ever unsteady; it has to be educated; its quicksilver quality

has to be curbed; it is really Chaithanya-swaruupam (embodiment of

Consciousness) and it will become steady only when it is merged in Chaithanya,

that is, the Divine. That Chaithanya has no joy or sorrow. It is ever in

perfect equilibrium "I am That" Swami is not affected by either. Swami's is

Samaadhi - intelligence which is sama (steady), unaffected, unchanging Wisdom.

Remove the cataract and the vision becomes clear. So too, remove the feeling

of inferiority that dwarfs you now; feel that you are Aathma-swaruupa,

Nithya-swaruupa, Aanandha-swaruupa (Absolute, Eternal and Blissful); then,

every act of yours becomes a yajna (sacrifice), a puuja (ritual worship).

Transform thamogunam (quality of inertia) into thapogunam (quality of

austerity) and save yourself. Practise mananam (contemplation) of what you

hear; that is the best way of showing your gratitude. You have another

advantage too. With your experience, you can understand the Bhaagavatham

better. Swami's nature is Vishwaprema (all-pervading Love), you have known, and

Bhaagavatham is the story of Vishwaprema.Swami declares that He is in every one,

in every being. So do not hate any one, or cavil at any one. Spread prema

always, everywhere. That is the best way of revering Swami. In the

Kali Yuga, one is asked to rely more on Naamasmarana (repeated remembrance of

God) for liberation. Why is it considered enough for the people of this Age?

For, other Saadhanas are fraught with difficulties. They need rigorous

discipline and much preliminary effort. Again, there is another advantage in

Naamasmarana: as soon as the Name is uttered, the owner of the Name comes into

view. When you think of the Form, the Name may not always accompany; you may

not be able to identify. There may be more than one Name and you may be

confused. But take the Name, and the Form automatically appears before the

mental eye. The Name is enough to give you all the results of every type of

saadhana (spiritual effort). This is accepted by all the Shaasthras and all the

saadhakas (spiritual aspirants) who have left accounts of their struggle and

success. Moreover, the Name is capable of being recited and meditated upon by

all, equally. Of course, the Name is a limitation of the Universal; it

identifies the un-identifiable, through one of its aspects. When you repeat the

Name, all the sweetness of the Form and its associated glory must come to

memory. Choose the Name that captivates your heart. The Lord has said that

where His Name is sung, "thathra thish-tthaami," ("there I sit"). He

establishes Himself there. He will not move from the place. So, the tongue is

enough to win Him, the tongue that speaks the language of the pure mind.

Naamasmarana is interconnected with idiol-worship. The last as complements

the first and also vice versa.

The Supreme is not squeezed into the small; the small is recognised as

symbolic of the Supreme. Through the seen to the unseen, from the drop to the

sea, from the patent to the latent - that is how idol-worship helps the

aspirant. In fact, no one can conceive of the Almighty without picturing It as

Power, Light, Mercy, Wisdom, Energy, Intelligence, Purity. And, these qualities

can enter the consciousness only through some concrete experience, as the Sun,

the Lotus, the Sky, the Ocean and the Wave etc. The name is a vocal image, the

image is a visual base. (Metaphysical lectures alone will not transform the

mind. What is learnt must be put into practice).

When the name is pronounced by the tongue, and the image is adored by the

mind, these should not degenerate into mechanical routine; the meaning of the

Name and the content of the Form must, at the same time, inspire and illumine

the consciousness. Just consider this - the form changes from age to age,

from one appearance to another. Raama andKrishna were different in form; even

their deeds were distinct. But still, people agree when you say that both are

identical. The Name has the association of all the special fragrance of the

Leela (Divine play), the Mahima (Power) and the Upadhesha (spiritual

instruction). Each one has a special attachment to one Name out of many, suited

to the temperament and the Samskaara, the inherited instincts and tendencies

shaped in previous births. Keep the Name lit on the tongue; it will illumine

your interior and also the exterior. It will cleanse your mind, as well as minds

of those who hear the Name when you recite it. Keeping it on the tongue is like

keeping a lamp lit on the door-step at the entrance to your house.

Naamasmarana is the best saadhana; it is the most beneficial sath-pravarthana.

That is the highest japam, the most profitable thapas. Fill the Name with your

Love, whenever you repeat it; saturate it with devotion. That is the easiest

path for all of you. A mere Five-minute inquiry will convince you that you

are not the body, or the senses, the mind or the intelligence, the name or the

form, but that you are the Aathma Itself, the same Aathma that appears as all

this variety.

Each life is like a day's march in the pilgrimage; make the fullest use of

your talents and march forward to pitch the tent nearer the goal when darkness

falls. Live in the Presence, in fear and humility, in love and service. Life is

a pilgrimage, where human drags the feet along the rough and thorny road. With

the Name of God on lips, a person will have no thirst; with the Form of God in

his heart, a person will feel no exhaustion. The company of the holy will

inspire him to travel in hope and faith.

Remember that with every step, you are nearing God; and God too, takes ten

steps towards you when you take one step towards Him. There is no stopping

place in this pilgrimage; it is one continuous journey, through day and night;

through valley and desert; through tears and smiles; through death and birth,

through tomb and womb. When the road ends, and the Goal is gained, the

pilgrim finds that he has travelled only from him/herself to him/herself, that

the way was long and lonesome, but the God that led him/her unto it was all the

while in him/her.

God is to be recognised in all that exists, all that is charming, or

suffering, blooming or drooping. He is Intelligence in the insect, Faithfulness

in the dog, Latent Energy in the rock. Vivekaanandha announced at Chicago that

Hindhuism uncovered the body encasement and sought the inner core of the Divine

in all things, animate and inanimate. If you know the road and the goal, then

you can discover whether you are progressing or not; otherwise how can you? The

goal is to enlarge your vision, your sympathy, your love to the extent that God

has spread His Love, His Compassion and His Grace. So, be ever watchful to see

that you strive to take in more and more of God into you. This is God's world;

all beings are His. He loves them all, as the Moon sheds coolness on all.

 

Everyone seeks and strives to be at peace with him/herself and with society

(the community in whichhe has to live) and find his fulfilment. How then can

human achieve peace? Only through Love. Shaanthi (peace) is the fruit of the

tree of life; without it, the tree is a barren stump. The fruit is encased in a

bitter skin, so that the sweet juice may be preserved and guarded against

marauders; you have to remove the skin, before tasting the sweetness within,

and strengthening yourself. The thick rind is symbolic of the six evil passions

that encase the loving heart: lust, anger, greed, attachment, pride and hate.

Those who can remove the rind, attain the peace what is everlasting,

unchanging, overwhelming. Passion, violence, and cruelty create more

problems, without solving any. The work of each is essential and valuable, so

far as one share of the responsibility extends. You cannot declare one item of

work as high and another item as low. That will only engender malice and hate

and is not correct.

Each limb must act effectively at the exact juncture to meet the duty

entrusted to it and accepted by it, so that the body may live in health and in

tip-top efficiency, alert with all its skills and potentialities. Each one must

resolve to use his skill and intelligence for the discharge of his obligations.

Human has not come into this world to strut about for a while on the stage,

consuming food and gaily gallivanting. Human comes into the world so that he

may bask in the Presence of God, through the exercise of love and the

cultivation of love. The Earth is a great enterprise, a busy factory, where the

product is love. By means of Saadhana (spiritual practice), it is possible to

produce love and export it to millions and millions of people, in need of it.

The more it is shared the deeper it becomes.

The nature we have around us and with us is the vesture of God. We have

evidence of His Beauty, Goodness, Wisdom and Power, all around us, wherever we

turn our eyes. But, the art of recognising Him is strange to us and so, we deny

Him, and live on in darkness. We have all around us in the atmosphere the music

emanating from all the broadcasting stations of the world, but they do not

assail your ear at any time. You are not aware of any station. But, if you have

a receiver, and if you tune it to the correct wave-length, you can hear the

matter broadcast from any particular station; if you fail to tune it correctly,

you will get, instead of news, only nuisance. So too, the Divine is everywhere,

but you have to obtain awareness and experience to recognize it. This leads to

wisdom. Wisdom means the recognition of the immanence of the Divine in every

being.

By means of love, one can approach God and stay in His presence, for God is

love, and when one lives in love, he is living in God. If you deny God angrily,

you are drying up the strings of love in your heart. If you declaim that God is

nowhere, you are installing night in your heart and making it ready for dark

schemes and misdeeds.

Arjuna told Krishna, "I came into this battlefield a dheera (brave person).

I have now become, a dheena (a man in distress) for I am but an instrument in

your hands." Arjuna was a Chinmaya muurthi (embodiment of divine

consciousness), not as he imagined, a Mrinmaya muurthi (mud filed body). He was

suffused with Divine Consciousness, not earthly inertia. Only, he was not aware

of It. Arjuna had the Lord Himself for company. Finally Krishna transformed

him into a saathwik (noble, pious) hero, fit for the dharma yuddha (war of

righteousness) that he was to wage.

Contemplate, how many millions modern Arjunas (alias true devotees) has

Swami, whose Teaching as sows the seeds of the Divine Consciousness into their

mind. They all too have the Lord Himself for company. (Reet's compilation from,

Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 3. "Shivam, not shavam," Chapter 13 and "Thamo gunam,

thapo gunam," Chapter 22; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 8. "The true tablet" Chapter

9; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 11. "Nut and bolt," Chapter 1).

 

Namaste - Reet