Swami teaches... The Path of Prema towards the Cosmic Self

[Guest guest]

Sai Ram Light and Love

Swami teaches... 10 - 11 December, 2005

The Path of Prema Towards the Cosmic Self

The letter A is the first step in this life-long pilgrimage to the source of

life, Light and Love, the Divine, the Truth. It is a pilgrimage that ends when

the emerged is merged in that from which it has emerged, when Thou realize that

it is That, when Thwam knows that it is Thath. The stow of billions of births

and deaths is summarised in the three words Thath Thwam Asi.

Brahman (The Cosmic Self) is described as the embodiment of Cosmic

vibrations which permeate the Universe, fill it with effulgence, wisdom and

bliss. The Cosmic Spirit is one only, though it may be called by many names and

worshipped in varied forms. True spirituality consists in this sense of

spiritual Oneness. It can arise only when the attachment to the body is given

up. When you develop the conviction that you are the Atma (the Self), then it

will be easy to give up attachment to the body. When people in general develop

this feeling, there will be a great transformation in the life of mankind.

After years of steady and impartial research, the sages of India have said

that education has as its goal the realization of the spiritual Oneness as Atma

(the Divine Self) and the manifestation of its inherent attributes of

Sath-Chith-Ananda (Being, Awareness and Bliss). When the unchanging, eternal

Divinity unites with the changing and inert Prakrithi (Nature), you have

Ananda. The Lord is experienced as Sath-Chith-Ananda. What is Sath? Sath is

Being, that which is eternally present. This means that even when an object is

not there, its qualities are present. These qualities are described as Asthi,

Bhathi and Priyam (principles of Existence, Cognisability and Utility). Asthi

means existence (the quality of permanence). This may be likened, say, to

sugar. In whatever manner sugar may be used, by dissolving it in water or

mixing it with flour, its quality of sweetness remains. It is Sath in the sense

that it has the unchanging quality of sweetness. Chith is awareness (or

consciousness). Chith is like water. When Sath (as sugar) is combined with

Chith (as water) you have neither sugar not water, but syrup. The combination

of Sath and Chith results in Ananda (Bliss). Apart from instincts, impulses,

emotions and passions which human shares with the boasts, he/she has some

unique attributes like the urge to renounce and to serve, to attach himself to

Truth, and to cultivate the qualities of tolerance, and forbearance.

The Sastras are only road map towards the path to the Divine Self; they are

guide books at best, describing the road and giving the directions for the

journey. It is the actual journey that will reveal the hardships, the delays,

the landslips and the pot-holes, as well as the beauty of the scenery

encountered and the magnificence of the final goal. No second-hand account can

equal the first-hand experience. Moreover, the Sastras might speak about a one

and the same thing in many different ways, just to elaborate it for better

understanding; even the Vedas extol a thing in ten different poetic forms, from

different angles and standpoints. You may experience the similar Swami's skill

by originals of His Works or even by present serial "Swami teaches..."

The symbols on the Sastras are interpreted differently by different scholars

according to their pre-conceived notions, predilections and pet theories. Swami

explain sastras as a Premavadhin (expounder of love). He has no conflict with

the scholars who adheres to texts or the devotee of reason. If you acquire

Prema (love), then you can dispense with the Sastras, for the purpose of all

the Sastras is just that: to create the feeling of equal love for all and to

negate egoism which stands in the way.

Swami advises to develop Ananda through the cultivation of Prema, which

begins in the home and family and spreads to all creatures. If you cannot help

another, at least avoid doing him harm or causing him pain. That itself is a

great service. Put down the sharp-edged weapon that seeks to analyse and chop

the arguments of the opponent, to cut his/her point of view to pieces. Even if

you cannot love others, do not hate them or feel envy towards them. Do not

misunderstand them motives and scandalise them; if you only knew, their motives

might be as noble as yours or their action might be due to ignorance, rather

than wickedness or mischief. Take up the sweet pudding of love which spreads

joy and wins over recalcitrant hearts. That is Swami's path, the path of Prema.

 

Treat the others in the same way as you would like them to treat you. Never

brood over the past; when grief over-powers you, do not recollect similar

incidents in your past experience and add to the sum of your grief; recollect,

rather, incidents when grief did not knock at your door, but you were happy

instead. Namasmarana is the best antidote for this and if only men and women

take up to it, the Lord will come to their rescue. That willinstil the faith

that everything is God's Will and teach that you have no right to exult or

despair.

For realization path of Prema cultivate Neti (the path of

straightforwardness) in everything. That will reveal the Atma. Neti will enable

you to overcome the three gunas. The treatment you have to give these gunas is

to grind them to a paste so that a new taste of Ananda might emerge; just as

you grind salt, chillies and tamarind together to get a tasty chutney for your

meal. No single guna should dominate; all must be tamed and diverted to fill

the lake of Ananda. (It is the internal Ananda that matters, not the external.

If the inner poise or inner equilibrium is undisturbed by external ups and

downs, that is real success). Of course, you cannot reach the peak in one jump;

it is a hard job to negate the evidence of the senses; one has to overcome the

tendencies that have grown through hundreds of births. Life one long series of

worries from birth to death. But all worries can be overcome by the Love of

God.

Do not look upon the objective world as something to be exploited; it is

something to be adopted and appreciated. Then, you can derive the maximum

Ananda out of the contact. The truth about the individual, the Universe and God

discovered by dedicated delving and announced through universal compassion can

never be tarnished or argued away. Never yearn for authority over others;

recognise the authority of God over all. Be immersed in Ananda, and in Love.

The body, the Sense organs, the mind and the intellect are the instruments

for a human being. Only the person who understands the secret of these

instruments will be able to comprehend the Atmic Principle. If a person cannot

understand the vesture he/she is wearing, how is possible to understand the

mystery of the Infinite Indwelling Spirit? The body at the beginning is a

lump of flesh (as foetus). Then it acquires an attractive form. Youth confers

on it special charm. In old age it develops deformities. The Scriptures declare

that human is endowed with a body primarily to lead a righteous life. The body

should be regarded primarily as an instrument for the realisation of the Divine

through the nine forms of devotion. All organs are able to function because of

this divine energy. The Gita declares that both the body and the Atma are

divine.

If you live on the level of the body and the individual, you will be

entangled in food, fun and frolic, in ease, envy and pride. Forget it, ignore

it, overcome it - you will have peace, joy and calm. In the Divine Path, there

is no chance of failure; it is the Path of Love alias Path of Prema

There is deep-rooted unrest today in every individual, because there is no

harmony within. The body is the caravanserai, the individual is the pilgrim and

the mind is the watchman. The mind seeks happiness; it feels that happiness can

be got in this world from fame, riches, land and property, from other

individuals or relatives;further, it builds up pictures of heaven where there

is more intense happiness for a longer time; at last, it discovers that eternal

undiminished happiness can be got only by dwelling on the Reality of one's own

Self, which is Ananda Itself. The the life principle is like the grain

covered up in the husk of maya (delusion), as the rice is enveloped in the

paddy. The maya has to be removed; the life principle has to be boiled and made

soft and assimilated so that it might add to health and strength. The softened

rice can be compared to Paramatma (Supreme Soul). The mind has to be used for

this process. It has to be fixed in the Sathyam (truth) and the Nithyam

(everlasting). Toremove the husk of delusion, viveka (discrimination) is an

instrument.

Budhi (intellect) revels in discussion and disputation; once you yield to

the temptation of dialectics, it takes a long time for you to escape from its

shackles and efface it and enjoy the bliss which comes from its nullification.

You must all the while be aware of the limitation of reason. Logic must give

way to Logos and Deduction must yield place to Devotion. Budhi can help you

only some distance along the Godward path; the rest is illuminated by

intuition.

However, your feelings and emotions warp even your thought processes; and

reason is made by them into an untamed bull. Very often, egoism tends to

encourage and justify the wildness, for a person is led along the wrong path by

very reason, if that is the path person likes. You very often come to the

conclusion you want to reach. The Rudras, in association with the Budhi (the

intellect), enter the minds of people and cause them various types of

difficulties and worries. Of these difficulties, three types are predominant in

the world. They are Adhibhhautika Adhyatmika and Adhidaivika.

Adhibhhautika refers to difficulties caused by the five elements (ether,

air, fire, water and earth) and the five sheaths (relating to food, life, mind,

awareness and bliss). These sufferings are caused by human beings, animals,

insects or other creatures. Adhyatmika refers to sufferings caused by Vatha

(wind), Pitha (bile), and Kapha (phlegm). Adhidaivika refers to the

calamities caused to human by floods and drought, storms and earthquakes and

similar natural disasters. Of all the sufferings endured by human beings,

those coming under these three categories are most prominent. All other

calamities are encompassed by these three. For all these sufferings the eleven

Rudras are the cause. The whole world is permeated by the Rudras. Only

Adhidaivika has an element of security. Whatever emanates from Rudra is

fraught with fear. The name itself testifies to the dangerous power implicit in

it. Rudra means that which induces fear. The eleven Rudras are dreadful in form.

These dreadful entities enter the minds of human beings and subject them to all

kinds of afflictions.

Therefore Indriya nigraha (control of the senses) is not that easy. Even if

evil impulses coming from external sources are controlled, those arising from

within cannot be easily controlled.

(If people cannot give up petty addictions to coffee or betel leaves, how

can they acquire control over the senses? In Svaami's view, giving up is

easier than holding on to things. It is easier to give up a handkerchief than

to hold it in the hand). While the Rudhras are inflicting sufferings on

mankind in various ways, by the control of the senses, if humans turn their

minds towards God and devote themselves to Godly pursuits, they will find their

path to Moksha (liberation). Moksha means getting rid of Moha (the delusions

relating to the physical). Truth and Righteousness are expressions of the

promptings from the depths of one's Conscience. Todaypeople are prone to

disregard the voice of conscience. Today, people imagine that God can be

propitiated by the offer of money. However, money has a useful role to play in

the service of worthy causes. God has no part to play in this. People try to

influence the Divine by some kind of force. God cannot be secured by "force."

He is amenable only to the "Inner source." However, many good deeds are being

done all over the world. People should participate in good activities, render

help to others and regard them as spiritual exercises.

 

Three times Santhi, Santhi, Santhi - the prayer is for peace of the body,

the mind and the Spirit. Without this triune peace human cannot have real

peace. And this threefold peace can be conferred only by God. This means that

spirituality is essential for the health of the body, the peace of the mind and

the bliss of the Spirit. (Reet's compilation from, Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 1.

"Tolerance," Chapter 12 and "Neither Scriptures nor Logic," Chapter 20; Sathya

Sai Speaks. Vol. 11. "Thou and That," Chapter 39 and "My People," Chapter

41;Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 27. "God realisation by sense-control," Chapter 9;

Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 30. "From the corporeal to the Divine," Chapter 24).

Namaste - Reet