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Swami teaches... Atma - the cause of internal and external world

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Sai Ram Light and Love Swami teaches... 24 - 26 December 2005

Atma - the Cause of Internal and External World

The Cosmos has one Source, one Support, one End. That is an eternal entity,

self sufficient, totally luminous. The Chandogya Upanishad reveals that though

we deal with different numbers as three, five, seven, nine,eleven, thirteen,

fifteen, seventeen, nineteen and twenty-one, there is only One in reality, the

Brahman. Multiplicity is how the One appears when It assumes Name and Form.

Then It becomes the Jagath, the Flux, the Cosmos, the Universe. God was alone

before the Cosmos appeared. He dissolves and draws it into Himself.

Nature - outer and inner - is ruled by the Sovereign Atma, the Universal

Soul, the Paramatma. So, if you earn the Grace of the Paramatma, Nature becomes

your docile instrument. Nature appears to be capable of giving stability, joy

and peace; but, these are really the qualities of the Sovereign Atma, or the

Paramatma. Prakruthi (Nature) is the embodiment of the Divine. Human perceives

Nature and experiences Nature, but he/she is usually unable to recognise the

Divinity in Nature. To see the external manifestations of the Divine and yet

fail to recognise the Divine is a sign of stupidity. Human sees Nature in

the form of the Universe, which is Virata-Swaroopa (Cosmic form of Vishnu) i.e.

Cosmic Form of Swami. He has not any particular form or abode. He is you and you

are He. The day you recognise this, you will comprehend God. If you want to see

the Divine in you, you have to use your Buddhi (intellect), just as you need a

mirror to see your own eyes, which are able to see everything else in the

world.

God is nearer to you than your own mother. With purity of heart, you can

experience the Divine within through your intellect. The Gita declares that

everlasting bliss can be secured by the Buddhi by transcending the senses.

Happiness cannot be derived through the senses. Person can realise this only

through the Buddhi.

One should strive to turn the Buddhi towards the Atma (the Divine). True

sadhana (spiritual striving) consists in turning the tongue towards the mind,

the mind towards the Buddhi and the Buddhi towards the Atma. (The individual as

well as the World humans percept are based on the mind. The mind is the source

of all thoughts and because different persons have different thoughts, there

are differences amongst them).

The mind assumes four forms: Manas, Buddhi, Chitta and Ahamkara. (mind,

intelligence, memory and ego). According to the function that is performed, the

particular name is given.

The same Brahmin, when he is performing in a temple, is called a priestly

poojari (Brahmin); when he is working in the kitchen, he is called a Brahmin

cook; when teaching students, he is called a Brahmin teacher, etc. In the same

manner when the mind is engaged in thought processes, it is called Manas. When

it is engaged in the process of enquiry and discrimination between right and

wrong, it is called Buddhi. The third name is Chitta, the will or the

decision-making agency. It has the function of memory. When the mind identifies

itself with the body in action it is called Ahamkara (I am the doer).

The mind, although one, displays these varied forms on account of the

different roles it assumes. The mind is the cause of all things. The whole

cosmos is a projection of the mind. "Yad bhaavam tad bhavati" (As a person

thinks so he becomes). What is the mind? It is a bundle of thoughts. The good

and bad things in the world are dependent on human's actions. What we enjoy or

suffer in this world are the consequences of these actions.

The sense organs are subtler than the body. The mind is subtler than the

sense organs. The Buddhi (intellect) is subtler than the mind. Subtler than all

of them is the Atma. They will have to come under the sway of the Atma.

In the Kathopanishad, the body is compared to a chariot, the senses to

horses, the mind to the reins and the Buddhi to the charioteer. What is the

role of the mind in this analogy? The reins (mind) are between the horses and

the charioteer. This means that the mind is between the senses and the Buddhi.

If the mind follows the dictates of the Buddhi, it will be safe. If it gives

free rein to the senses, it will be a bond-slave of the senses and as a result

experiences sorrow. What is happening today is the misuse of the body and

violence to the Atma.

Allowing the senses free rein is the Pravritti Marga (the external path).

Controlling the senses is the Nivritti Marga (the internal path).

The five sense organs subject human to different kinds of troubles. In the

case of animals each sense perception affects only one animal. For instance,

the deer is affected by sound. On hearing certain sounds the deer gets

frightened. The elephant is influenced by touch. The touch of the mahout's goad

makes it obey him. The moth is a victim of sight. It is attracted by a flame and

falls in the fire. The fish is a victim of taste. Attracted by the taste of a

worm it swallows the bait and is caught. The bee is attracted by smell and

falls a victim to this temptation. Each of these is subject to the power of one

of the five sense perceptions. But human is a victim to all the five

allurements. No one tries to find out what is the base for the senses. Nor

does one seek to know who is the enjoyer of the pleasures derived through the

senses. Is it the body or the senses or the Atma which derives pleasures from

consuming food, or seeing a beautiful sight or smelling a fragrant object? It

is not the body, much less the sense organs. It is the Atma, which fosters,

presides and rules over all of them, that is the root cause. The Atma is the

basis for the external world and is the motivator of the internal world. When

the cardinal role of the Atmais understood as the root cause of everything, the

temporary and transient sense organs will cease to have dominance over us.

When the senses are associated with worldly objects, they can give rise to

pleasure as well as pain. For instance someone outside is abusing you; as long

as the abuse is outside the range of your sense organs, you are not affected by

what is said. But if the abusive words reach your ears, you get excited and

enraged. What is the reason for this excitement and anger? As long as there was

no contact between the external happenings and the sense organs, the individual

was unruffled.

To take an opposite example: some one is praising you, expatiating on your

great qualities. As long as the words of praise have not reached your ears, you

derive no joy nor do you feel a sense of endearment. But once you have heard the

words of praise, you rejoice in them and develop a love for the speaker.

(With a small flame we can kindle a big fire. For instance, the power of

speech is like the flame. With its fire we can do many things. By controlling

speech you can acquire the capacity to master the world. Speech can be employed

for blessing one or blaming one. "A slip of the foot may not cause much harm.

But a slip of the tongue may take you to hell," says a proverb. When the tongue

is used recklessly, it can cause great pain to the heart. There is no doctor who

can heal the wound caused by a harsh word).

What is the reason for disliking one or loving another? It is the contact

with the things in the external world. In the alternative, if the individual

is able to treat good and bad, the pleasant and the unpleasant, with

equanimity, he will remain unaffected by the impressions received by the

senses.

 

Human should seek the bliss that is real and lasting and this can be got

through the Buddhi. The Thaitthireeya Upanishad has expounded the nature of the

Buddhi in detail. Comparing Buddhi to a bird, the Upanishad has described its

head as Sraddha (earnestness). The two wings of the bird are Sathya and Ritha

(unity in thought, word and deed). Yoga is its tail. The body is

Mahath-Thathwa. The five constituents - Sraddha, Sathya, Ritha, Yoga and Mahath

Thathwa are parts of Buddhi. Among these Sraddha comes first. Human cannot

accomplish any undertaking without Sraddha (earnest endeavour). All daily

actions like eating and walking are prompted by Sraddha. Nor is that all. The

Gita has declared that Sraddha as well as Buddhi are forms of the Lord. It is

associated with Sraddha, Sathyam (Truth), Ritham (the Cosmic Order), Yoga and

Mahath (the Supreme Principle). Without Buddhi, with its five important

associates indicated above, all mental faculties are useless like a fruit

without juice, a tree without fruit, a temple without a lamp. Most

intellectuals today, not realising the supremacy of the Buddhi and relying only

on their intelligence, are ignoring their inherent divinity. Buddhi is the

divine element in human, which is shining effulgently always.

What passes for the intellect today is divorced from the Divine and is not

Buddhi in its real sense. Thisintellect is limited in its capacity and is

motivated by Self-interest. Hence the Buddhi's power of discrimination is used

by human for selfish purposes.

Instead of paying attention to God, Nature and Human, in that order, people

today are concerned most with themselves, more with Nature and very much less

with God. From birth to death, from dawn till night, human pursues fleeting

pleasures by the exploitation, the despoiling, the desecration of Nature,

ignoring the truth that it is the property of God the Creator, and any injury

caused to it is a sacrilege which merits dire punishment.

All the days of life, people are active in worshiping their bodies and

minds, catering to the senses, submitting to the clamour of carnal desires,

earning the wherewithal to feed themselves. They have no time to spare for

meditation on God and adore the beauty of Nature. How can people secure peace

of mind, when they have no contact with the Vast, the Timeless, the Almighty

Providence?

Society is the expression of Divinity into manifold phases, with its love,

its ardour, its eagerness to comfort and console. A chance conglomeration of

humans does not become a society. It has to be welded into a unity by the

consciousness of kinship of God, by the sharing of each other's joys and

sorrows, and the cultivation of Samarasa (empathy). The individual has to

manifest through word and deed, the Ananda (Divine bliss) inherent in him/her

and in society.

When you separate yourself as an individual, envy, resentment, jealousy and

pride start defiling you. Love alone can weld you into kinship with all. You

are Shivasakthi - the latent-patent, positive-negative, inert-alert principle.

Be ever cognisant of this secret truth about yourself.

Living beings are as pictures moving on the screen; the screen which is

unaffected by the emotions, the raging fire or roaring floods that pass over

it, is the Paramatma. The worldly will be fascinated by the pictures, which

through delusion, appear as if they are all real living incidents; the wise

will concentrate on the screen, which is pure, white and clear.

But, the Universe around is a pleasant garden full of charming patches of

many-hued flowers filled with fragrance and nectarine elixir - each flower-bed

being a Religion, which attracts the loyalty of millions of seekers. The garden

too is God; God dances in that garden at His own handiwork, gladdening the

flowers with the magic melody of the flute. If you utter "God, God," and

inflict pain on human, you will be spumed as a cheat. You need not cry out God,

God! But, if you confer joy on other human, God will respond with His presence,

though uninvited.

Expand yourselves; do not contract into your own tiny individuality. Expand

into Universal Love, unshaken equanimity, and ever-active virtue. That is the

Path which will bring out the Divinity in you to the fullest.

 

There is a great deal of useless discussion and controversy about the paths

to attain God; some demarcate three paths, Bhakthi, Karma and Jnana. But there

need be no controversy on their relative efficacy. They are like the confluence

of the three holy rivers at Prayaag, the Ganga, the Yamuna, and the unseen

underground Saraswathi. Ganga is the Bhakthi-marga (the path of devotion) -

surrender, control of selfish, sensual pursuits; Yamuna is the Karma-marga

(path of ritual and ceremonial worship, of dedicatory acts) - engaging in

activities, irrespective of the benefits therefrom, doing all duties as

worship, eliminating all attachment, all pride; Saraswathi is the Jnana-marga

(the path of knowledge; of acquiring true awareness of the Reality) - cognising

that ideas of bondage are all delusion that One is ever Free, devoid of change,

full of Ananda. The three paths are like the wheels of a tricycle. Bhakthi and

Jnana are two wheels in one line at the back and the forward one is Karma.

Instead of relying upon mere enthusiasm to show the path to attain God, it

is better that the spiritual aspirant receives guidance and explanations from a

preceptor during the early stages.

Here is an example. In the years gone by, every village home was stocked

full of paddy bags, and so, the rats too inevitably infested every home. In one

such home, they were celebrating every Full Moon Day the rite called

Sathyanarayana Puja. This required the collection of good quantity of milk and

ghee, the previous night itself. The rats attracted cats and the cats often

preferred milk and ghee to the rodent food they are accustomed to. So, the milk

and ghee were carefully kept in places unreachable to the cats. But, during the

celebrations on the sacred day, the milk and ghee had to be kept open and

available for use in vessels around the shrine. That was the chance for the

depredatory cat; so, the master of the house caught the cat by the neck and put

it under a heavy basket, and placed a stone on it, so that it could not play any

mischief with the holy offerings. This was done so consistently every Full Moon

Day as a safety measure in one home that the children and grandchildren felt

that, puja or no puja, no Full Moon Day should pass without a cat being

imprisoned under a weighted basket.

They started searching for a cat and bring it home, so that the 'ritual of

the cat and basket' could be observed without fail.

The original meaning and purpose was lost during the passage of time and

later generations were burdened with a belief that danger lurks if a cat is not

dealt with, as their forefathers did. From being an insufferable nuisance, the

cat rose to a new status of importance.

 

Doing, awareness and being are the three important aspects of human. Body,

mind and Atma havedifferent names and characteristics, but it is their joint

role which helps human to divinise. Their alienation from each other degrades

human to the animal level.

Two things are vital in a human's life: Sathya (Truth) and Ritha (Unity in

thought, word and deed). In most people today, this triple unity is absent. One

reason for this is that people have allowed their intellect to be polluted, as

in the case of a lamp in which the chimney is covered by soot from the flame

inside and dust from outside. In the case of the Buddhi (intellect), the soot

comes from Ahamkara (ego) and the dust from Mamakara (mine-ness). These two

reduce the effulgence of the intellect.

Before undertaking any action, one should utter the prayer: "May my actions

be holy. May my speech be helpful to others and not cause any pain to them. May

all my thoughts be sacred, godly and purposeful." The rulers and people in

ancient days used to sanctify their lives by such prayerful actions. (Reet's

compilation from, Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 7. "The tricycle," Chapter 35; Sathya

Sai Speaks. Vol. 12. "The garden of God," Chapter 16; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol.

18. "God, Nature and Man," Chapter 16; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 23. "Royal road

to realisation," Chapter 13 and "The human chariot," Chapter 14; Sathya Sai

Speaks. Vol. 25. "Let Your Buddhi Shine," Chapter 33).

 

Namaste - Reet

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