Swami teaches... Health is wealth for realization of life's goal

[Guest guest]

Sai Ram

 

Light and Love

 

Swami teaches... 25 - 26 October 2005

 

Health is Wealth for Realization of Life's Goal

For the achievement of the four main goals of life - Dharma, Artha, Kaama,

and Moksha (righteousness, wealth, desire and liberation), health is essential.

Without good health human cannot accomplish even the most trivial thing.

Therefore prevention of disease should be the goal. Realise the value of

health. Self-restraint is essential to maintain health. Regulate your habits

and develop good manners. The manners should be such that they confer self

satisfaction. When there is self-satisfaction there will be self-realisation.

For all these you must have self-confidence. Hence, health is wealth. However,

because of the influence of the present Kali (evil). Age, human is a prey to

all kinds of ailments and has no peace of mind despite the possession of every

conceivable kind of wealth and comforts.

In spite of the availability of so many amenities, why is human afflicted

with disease? Indeed, more than physical ailments, mental diseases are growing

limitlessly. Mental sickness caused by tension and worry gives us so many

bodily ailments. It is indulgence in excesses of various kinds. Human must

learn to moderate the hectic pace of living.

Human today is afflicted with discontent. As one set of desires are

satisfied, other desires go on cropping up. If desires are reduced, contentment

will grow. Moreover, because of the perversions of the Kali Age, the five basic

elements - ether, air, fire, water and earth - are polluted. The water we drink

is impure. The air we breathe is polluted. (All countries should, therefore, try

to reduce the use of automobiles and control the emission of harmful industrial

effluents). The food we consume is polluted. The mind as the body derives

its energy from food. Pure food is conducive to purity of the mind. The first

requirement is control of food and head (the mind). When you control these two,

there will be no room for illness.

The relationship between food and habits should be properly understood. We

should see that proper balance is maintained between the physical body and

inner feelings (spirit). Modern people are continuously not in balance and

always in hurry. It causes worry which affects the physical health. The main

cause of heart troubles may be said to be hurry, worry and curry. (Curry means

fatty foods). What is the cause of heart ailments? Many doctors say that they

are due to smoking, consumption of fatty foods, overeating and other habits.

Many doctors have made investigations in this field but the results have not

been made known widely. Heart diseases are found to be more rampant among

non-vegetarians while vegetarians are not prone to heart ailments to the same

extent. This is because of higher percentage of fats in non-vegetarian food

which increases the cholesterol in the blood.

Some people do not do any physical exercises and lead a sedentary life.

Swami advices to office-goers and students to commute by cycle at least 5 or 6

kilometers a day. This cycling exercise is very useful not only for maintaining

health but also for reducing the expenditure incurred on automobiles. Another

advantage is the avoidance of accidents. Moreover, it serves to reduce

atmospheric pollution caused by the release of harmful fumes from automobiles.

The nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide, carbon oxide and smoke form motor

vehicles and factories are continuously polluting atmosphere air and is

affecting the ozone layer above the Earth.

Trees play a vital role in helping mankind to receive oxygen from the

atmosphere while they absorb the carbon dioxide. Hence, the ancients favoured

the growing of trees to control atmospheric pollution. But today trees are cut

down indiscriminately and pollution is on the increase. /The relationship

between human and trees is indicated by the term "Vanaspathi" (herbs) employed

in Ayurvedha/.

 

There are three basic factors which are responsible for health or disease in

the human body according to Ayurvedha. They are vaatha (vital air), piththa

(bile) and shleshma (phlegm). Vaatha accounts for 36 diseases, piththa accounts

for 98 and shleshma for 96 diseases. These three factors are essential for the

human body but they should be in proper balance without exceeding their

respective limits. When they are in balance, there will be no disease.

Moderation is the golden rule for good health. For the treatment of disease

arising out of vaatha, piththa and shleshma, gingely oil, ghee and honey

respectively are prescribed as remedies. These should be taken in moderation.

The body is a gift of God and cannot be made by doctors. The body is unclean in

many ways and is subject to various diseases. But in such an inherently

unattractive abode dwells the most valuable divinity.

 

The classic medicine (allopathy) is based on external knowledge and

experimentation, while Ayurvedha is based on inner knowledge and experience of

ancients. There is gulf of difference between experiment and experience. The

Allopathic system came much later. It is based on an objective, external

approach while Ayurvedha is subjective. Since Ayurvedha is subjective it is

more efficacious than the Allopathic system. There is a superior artistic sense

in Ayurvedha. Both have to be coordinated for better results.

There is the distinction between subjective and objective approaches. The

latter has an external outlook while the former has an inner view. The object

is a reflection of the subject.

Because of the difference between the subjective and objective approaches,

in course of time, Allopathy resorted to the use of antibiotics to deal with

various diseases. But, in the process of curing a disease they give rise to

adverse side-effects.

Allopathic doctors experiment with matter. They do not take the mind into

account. Medical science should recognise the role of the mind in causing

sickness.

(Today human has to understand the true relationship between matter and

mind. Only when one understands the nature of the mind can person recognise the

true nature of humanness. What is the mind? It is not something negative. It

represents the power of the Atma, the power of Sankalpa (Will). It can travel

any amount of distance in space. It is capable of exploring the powers of the

atom. The mind is capable of recognizing the truth that is valid for the three

categories of Time - the past, the present and the future. It is the source of

all human's strength).

For every human two things are essential: good health and bliss. Health for

the body and mind and bliss for the spirit. With these two wings you can soar

to any height. You need both the things, for which you must secure God's grace.

To get God's grace, you have to engage yourself in sacred action. Bear in mind

the three P's - Purity, Patience and Perseverance. With these three you are

bound to acquire good health and bliss. To acquire God's grace you have to

cultivate the love of God. Love has become today a kind of show. Genuine love

should emanate from the heart. If you develop love, disease will not come near

you. As a lump of sugar sweetens every drop of water in the cup, the eye of love

makes every person in the world friendly and attractive. So fill your mind with

the desire to see God, be with Him, praise Him, glorify Him, and taste the Glow

of His Majesty. There is no bliss higher than that.

Love expresses itself in many forms in relation to different persons, but

is essentially one. Today love is tainted by selfishness, whether in relation

to the mother, the spouse or the children or others. Attachment to others is

natural. But there should be a limit to it. When this limit is exceeded, it

becomes a disease. This is true in every case. Because of human's excessive

desires, he/she is prone to diseases of every kind.

Human is seeking happiness from birth to death. The search starts with

education. But education does not confer happiness. Human desires a job, but

that does not make him/her happy. Human then seeks marriage as the means to

happiness. Happiness eludes person because the wife/husband claims equal

rights.

Where is this Aanandha (bliss) to be found? Today, inspite of all wealth,

human is unhappy. Ego and desire have enveloped happiness and peace. When the

covering is removed, happiness and peace will manifest itself. Follow your the

conscience. Human will discover that the body, the senses and the mind are all

the important instruments and he/she is their master. You are-the Soul. Make it

the basis for all your actions. The first requisite is to realise human

values: Truth, Righteousness, Peace and Love. For a bulb to burn, you need a

connecting wire, a switch and electric current. For human, that current is

Truth or God. It is energy. This divine energy has to flow through the wire of

Dharma (Righteousness) reach the bulb of Shaanthi (Peace) andproduce the light

of' Prema (Love). The prompting inside human to love mother is an

expression of the Divine Nature. A person who loves is atheist, whether he/she

goes to a temple or church, or not. You have to proceed from the known to the

unknown. Then the love expands in ever widening circles, until it covers all

nature, until even plucking a leaf from a tree affects you so painful that you

dare not injure it. The green vitality of the tree is a sign of the Divine

Will, which sends its roots deep into the soil. The roots keep the tree safe

from storms, holding it fast against the violent tug of the wind. So too, if

the roots of love in human go down into the spring of the Divine within, no

storm of suffering can shake and crash person into disbelief.

Remember too that there is a law of cause and effect; every karma has a

consequence, whether you like it or not, whether you anticipate it or not.

Birth is the result of the karma done before death. This is no religion of

despair; it is a religion of hope, of assurance, of encouragement to lead an

active, useful, beneficent life. For the future is in your hands; tomorrow can

be shaped by today, though today has already been shaped by yesterday. That is

the reason why the biggest section of the Vedhas is called 'Karma Kaanda' and

deals with various types of Karma, calculated to induce detachment, to canalise

the desire towards eternal and universal ends, to transmute all acts into acts

of worship, to offer adoration to the Devas (Gods) who preside over every force

of Nature, every energy of human.

The Thaittireeya Upanishadh takes the student from the gross to the subtle,

step by step, in its effort to teach him the Divine Principle. When Bhrigu, the

son of Varuna, approached his father, saying, "Teach me Brahman," he was told in

a general way, "Brahman is that from which all this originates, that in which

they live, and that in which they enter when they depart," and he was asked to

investigate it through meditation himself. Bhrigu declared that 'Food was

Brahman,' and when asked to proceed with the investigation, he proceeded to the

next hypothesis, that Brahman was Praana (life); later, he found that Manas

(will, sankalpa, ichchaashakthi) was Brahman; then he reached the stage when he

could declare that Brahman was Vijaana (intelligence); the next step was reached

when he identified Brahman with Aanandha (bliss); thus the Upanishadh teaches

the subtle, supreme, non-dual Bliss, hidden in the cave of the heart. From the

material to the spiritual - that is the process of Upanishadhic teachings.

The first step to it reflects a story about a Guru and a pupil. The pupil

prayed that he may be given some advice to make the pilgrimage to God easier

and faster. The Guru sat silent for a while and then told him, "Go. Light that

Lamp." The pupil tried his best, but he could not light it. It was filled with

water, not oil. So, the Guru asked him to pour the water out squeeze the water

from the wick, dry the wick, wipe the lamp clean, fill it with oil and then

light it. The water is 'desire,' the Sun that can dry the wick is

'renunciation' and the flame of the lamp is 'Wisdom.'

But human still believes that Aanandha can be got from the external world.

Person hoards wealth, authority, fame and learning, in order to acquire

happiness. But he/she finds that they are fraught with fear, anxiety and pain.

The millionaire is beset by the tax-gatherer, the cheat, the donation hunter,

the house-breaker, and his sons and kinsmen who clamour for their share.

Struggle to realise the Atma, to visualise God; even failure in this struggle

is nobler than success in other worldly attempts. The dull, activity-hating

Thaamasik persons cling to the ego and to kith and kin; their love is limited

to these. The Raajasik (active, passionate) persons seek to earn power and

prestige, and love only those who will contribute to these. The Saathwik (the

pure, the good, the equanimity-filled), love all as embodiments of God and

engage themselves in humble service.

There was a king once, who questioned many a scholar and sage who came to his

court, "Which is the best service and which is the best time to render it?" He

could not get a satisfying answer from them. One day while pursuing the forces

of a rival king, he got separated from his troops, in the thick jungle; he rode

a long way, exhausted and hungry, until he reached a hermitage. There was an old

monk who received him kindly and offered him a welcome cup of cool water. After

a little rest the king asked his host the question that was tormenting his

brain: "Which is the best service?" The hermit said, "Giving a thirsty man a

cup of water.And, which is the best time to render it?" The answer was,

"When he comes far and lonely, looking for some place where he can get it."

The act of service is not to be judged, according to the cost or publicity it

entails; it may be only the offering of a cup of water in the depth of a

jungle.

Serve people with no thought of high or low; no service is high, no service

is low, each act of service is equal;

it is the readiness, the joy, the efficiency, the skill with which you rush to

do it that matters. Train yourselves to serve God by serving man, in whom

there is God installed in the heart. Convince yourselves that the service of

man is worship of God. The fire of detachment will fry the seed of desire, down

to the last trace of life in it. Detachment has to be supplemented by the

knowledge of the hollowness of the objective world. In the old days,

Imperial Princes, who studied in the hermitages had to seek alms and live on

what they collected thus. This is for the removal of silly egoism. As pilgrims

yourselves to the holy temple of sath-karma (righteous action), keep away your

luggage (egoism) and enter the shrine, to purify the heart. Deposit your

luggage in the vaults of "surrender" (sharanaagathi). Remember the persons whom

you serve are temples, where God is installed. (Reet's compilation from, Sathya

Sai Speaks. Vol. 7. "Lead or Gold," Chapter 23; "Moving Temples," Chapter 31

and "The wet wick," Chapter 39; Sathya sai Speaks. Vol. 26. "Integral approach

to human ailments," Chapter 4; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 28. "Health, diet and

Divinity," Chapter 16).

 

Namaste - Reet