Swami teaches... The true education, good company, prayer and meditation

[Guest guest]

Sai Ram Light and Love Swami teaches... 11 - 13 January, 2006

The True Education, Good Company, Prayer and Meditation

All kinds of titles are conferred on people today. But the title which all

of you should aim at is that you are Children of Immortality.

Human has infinite power and infinite potentiality, for he/she is a wave of

the Ocean of Infinity. You can be aware of this, if you only dare reason a bit.

The fruit won't drop if you mumble mantras under the mango tree; you will have

to take a heavy stick and throw it at the bunch. Use the stick of intelligence

and throw it at the problem of "you and the world"; that will yield fruit.

The reality is Paramatma (Super Consciousness, Cosmic Consciousness, Atma as

the Divine Principle) only and all this manifested from It, of It, by It. For

there was nothing other than It. This body is like the earthen lamp, in which

the impulses inherited from previous births are the oil and the ego is the

wick. When Jnana lights it up, the oil is consumed more and more quickly and

the lamp burns brighter and brighter. Finally, when all the oil is exhausted,

the wick too is burnt out. The earthen lamp is then thrown away and becomes

dust. The lesson that the Atma resident in everyone is the real core of the

Universe and that It is the supreme sovereign of the Cosmos will certainly

bring together all mankind and ensure peace and harmony among the nations. Of

what avail is life when the Truth is not known? Why deprive children of this

great treasure and look on, when they lead dry fallow lives? Teachers, parents

and every person has to try to know own Truth and lead children into that

awareness.

What is happening today is quite the opposite. Parents, teachers and leaders

are inflaming the passions of young minds and encouraging them to indulge in

violent deeds. The very people who preach the message of peace, who talk of the

basic principle of child education, who harp on love, harmony and mutual love,

and who elaborate on the principles of social progress and national uplift are

themselves undermining these hopes by their example.

Children are wayward and vile, today, since they have no other examples to

follow. Learn the lessons of duty,devotion and discipline from the lips of

these children; let each child be a ray of sunshine in the home, shedding light

and love.

 

Education is a process of culture. One has to plant healthy and potent seeds

in the inner field, so that a plentiful harvest of valuable fruits can be

gained. A great deal of discrimination and preparation have to precede the

sowing. What is happening today is indiscriminate choice of seeds leading to a

harvest of disturbance - contingency that can be avoided only by rigorous

inquiry into values and their promotion. The ancients esteemed only that

system of education which promoted control of the senses. Control of the senses

is called Dhama (in metaphysical parlance). The vicissitudes of time, place and

circumstances have resulted in the term Dhama getting reversed in today's

student community into the term Madha (arrogance). The reason is the

disappearance of humility and reverence from the students.

In the old days, students who achieved self-control received a diploma in

true education called Sakshara. The inner significance of this title is that

the recipient is one who has mastered senses and recognised own inherent

Divinity. When Dhama (self-control) turns into Madha (conceit), Sakshara gets

reversed and we have Rakshasa (demonic activity) in its place. (For instance,

the advance of science and technology - as the result of education - has

enabled human to produce weapons of mass annihilation).

It is not enough if one becomes a mere scholar. Even if one has mastered all

the scriptures, if he lacks humility and reverence and has no self-control, the

ancients regarded such learning as Rakshasa Vidya (demonic knowledge). During

Vedic times, the people believed in human values, had faith in God and led pure

and sacred lives. The guidelines were prescribed by the great grandfather of a

long series of grand-fathers, the Sage Manu, the ancestral lawgiver after whom

'man'(human) is referred to as Manuja (the child of Manu). Truth sustains the

world and protects mankind. It is at the basis of justice and morality, peace

and purity, faith and freedom. It has to be revered and activated by human at

all times, under all conditions.

In order to solve many problems that arise when one practises the sadhana of

Truth, Manu directed not to speak out unpleasant truth or pleasant falsehood.

When it becomes necessary to reveal an unpleasant truth, one has to soften and

sweeten its impact by consciously charging it with love, sympathy, and

understanding.

Attention to selfish interests will obstruct the path of Truth. Note how

great persons honoured their promises and compare it with the fate of promises

today. Now, they appear as if they are inscribed on water. Students must free

themselves from this hypocrisy. The Vow of Truth should never be broken. The

person who is wedded to Truth and Love would need nothing more for peace and

happiness. When Creation is witnessed through these values, it becomes a holy

scripture, an inspiring lesson and guide.

 

Today the educational process mainly is more concerned with imparting

bookish knowledge, while education itself is sought only as a means for earning

a living. This link between education and employment should be severed.

Education should be the means for acquiring Vijnana (wisdom).

The world today consists of two types of persons: those who are consumed by

excessive desires and those who have no desires. The desireless person treats

with indifference all worldly things. The desire-filled person will not be

satisfied even if he is offered a mountain of gold. In the Ramayana there was a

demonic character named Kabandha, who had his head in his stomach and who used

his long arms to catch whatever object he could to fill his stomach. In the

world today, three-fourths of the people appear to be Kabandhas and not truly

educated persons. In all their actions - whether in sports or other fields -

they are concerned with selfish interests. (Person needs the body for

performing actions. But if the actions are done without using the

discriminating power of the mind, person will be behaving like an animal, which

acts on impulse. Moreover, if the mind, without relying on the eternal and

ever-pure Atma, follows the demands of the body and the senses, the actions

will be demonic).

 

If there is real faith and devotion in a human, the senses will be

powerless. Students should examine before they do anything whether it is good

or bad, fight or wrong, and act according to the dictates of their conscience.

Even in respect of the conscience, certain facts should be borne in mind. The

promptings of intellectual reasoning should not be identified with the dictates

of the conscience. The directives should come from the heart. When you dive

deep into a problem and enquire whether what you should do is in the interest

of your friends and society in general, your conscience will give you the right

answer. You should not be guided by intellectual reasoning which has a selfish

element in it. You should be guided by a concern for the collective interests

of society at large. That alone is the true voice of conscience. This kind of

broad social conscience should be developed through education. A variety of

gymnastic feats, games and sports have a value of their own in the physical

field, there is something greater than all of them. Life is a game, play it!

Treat life itself as a big game. Good thoughts, good speech and good actions

are the disciplines required in this game. When so much practice and effort are

required to achieve success in games like tennis, how much more effort is needed

to succeed in the game of life. In this game, if you wish to achieve a good

name, uphold your ideals, and realise the Divine.

 

Many students and devotees feel that it is human to err and that Bhagavan

should forgive their lapses. If they are truly human, they should not commit

mistakes at all. Even if sometimes a mistake is committed, wittingly or

unwittingly, it should not be repeated again. It is a grievous error to think

that it is natural for a human being to err. Every student, teacher, adult or

young should realise, "I am not weak. I am not an animal. I am not a demon. I

am a human being." No one should attempt to justify own weaknesses and lapses

as natural to a human being. They should be regarded as signs of mental

debility.

There are today two aspects relating to human which have to be considered.

One relates to a person's rights. The other relates to one's duties. Most

people are concerned only about their rights and engage themselves in struggles

to secure them. But they do not recognise their responsibilities. In all the

different fields - social, political, economic and even spiritual - people do

not recognise their responsibilities and duties. They want high positions and

emoluments.

 

The spiritual teacher (guru) can guide you where to go, which place to seek;

but, he cannot make you reach it. You have to trudge along the road yourself.

The teacher might take special classes and give special coaching; but, learning

has to be accomplished by the pupil himself. The Guru asks you to search between

the leaves of the book of your heart, and, lo, the treasure is there ready to

render you rich beyond compare. Professional teachers direction of teaching

students at schools, kindergardens, universities would be nearly equal with

gurus.

(The patient must take the medicine, not the doctor; the doctor only

prescribes and persuades. The aspiring disciple and student must have an

inkling already of the Truth; or else, he cannot master the secret. The

telegram is sent in the Morse Code; so the person who sends as well asone who

receives must be aware of the code).

Swami always insists seeking, and remaining, in good company, the association

with the holy. Being in the midst of such spiritual heroes, you can fight

against evil with greater chance of success.

Once when Garuda (the celestial bird of Lord Vishnu), the sworn enemy of

snakes, went to kailasa (abode of Lord Shiva), he saw the snakes that Shiva

wore round His neck, His arms, His waist and Feet; the snakes were safe now and

they hissed with their puffed hoods at the celestial bird which could not do

them any harm, since they were in such Divine Company. Garuda said, "Well!

Glide down from that Body and I shall kill every one of you!" That is the value

of being in good company, for the spiritual practitioner. For the one who has

reached success also, holy company is valuable, for it is like keeping a pot of

water inside a tank of water; there will not be any loss through evaporation.

If the spiritually advanced person lives among worldly people, the chances

of union with God evaporating into enjoyment are very great.

Being in company of the holy is like the bit and bridle for the wanton

steed, the anicut and canals for the raging flood. The value of holy places,

consists in just this; kindred spirits congregate there and contribute to the

deepening of spiritual yearning. If in any place, you do not find such an

atmosphere, avoid it and move on, until you secure it.

Prayer and meditation are too the true helpers to obtain the value based

education under the guide of spiritual art. Prayer makes you a supplicant at

the Feet of God; meditation induces God to come down to you and inspires you to

raise yourselves to Him. It tends to make you come together, not place one in a

lower level and the other on a higher. Dhyana (meditation) is the royal road to

liberation from bondage, though by prayer too, you earn the same fruit.

Meditation needs concentration, after controlling the claims of the senses. You

have to picture before your inner eye the Form on which you have elected to

contemplate. You can elect to meditate on a Flame, a steady straight Flame of

Light. Picture it as spreading on all sides, becoming bigger and bigger;

enveloping all and growing in you, until there is nothing else except light. In

the glory of that all-enveloping Light, all hate and envy, which are the evil

progeny of darkness, will vanish.

If you have Swami as the object of meditation, sit in a comfortable pose,

which is neither irksome nor flopping, let your mind dwell for some time on

some good hymns or incidents from the sacred stories, so that the senses

escaping into the tangles of worldly worries may be quietened and subdued.

Then, with the Name on the tongue, try to draw with the brush of your emotion

and the hand of your intellect, a picture of Swami, slowly, from the cluster of

hair to the face and neck downwards, spending time in contemplating each as it

is getting drawn and when the picture is full, start from the feet up to the

head again, so that your attention is never for a moment diverted from the

Form. (Do not change the pose in which you have started picturing; do not draw

today Swami sitting and tomorrow Swami standing or walking or talking).

Convince yourselves that the light within you is spreading all around you,

encompassing all, lighting millions of lamps in all lands and climes. Remove

the hardness, the imperviousness that hides and smothers the lightinside you;

that is the most difficult and the most essential task for the aspirant. The

Light of Self will shine only when the false idea of body is absent.

When you have finished your meditation, do not get up all of a sudden.

Loosen the tension slowly, massage the joints a little if necessary, after you

have got rid of the tension, sit quietly at the same place and recall to your

mind once again the thrill of Dhyana and repeat Om, Shanthi (peace), Shanthi,

Shanthi, feeling the Peace within you.

The word Shanthi is pronounced three times at the end of every prayer, ritual

or offering.

The first Shanthi means: "May we enjoy peace for the body." It means that the

body should not get heated by feelings of jealousy, hatred, attachments and the

like. Whatever news you receive about any event, you should receive it with

calmness and serenity. The second Shanthi pertains to the mind. You should

not get worked up when someone says something about you which is not true. You

must simply dismiss it as something which does not concern you. If you get

angry or irritated, you are losing your peace of mind.

The third Shanthi refers to peace of the soul. This peace has to be realised

through love. This world has to be brought back on to the rails and it is love

and peace alone which can achieve this. Fill your thoughts, actions, emotions

with love, truth and peace.

Shanthi is the flagrant flower which is born out of pure Love. It is the

fragrance which is delved as a result of one's good deeds.Shanti is something

which swells from within you.

Saint Thyagaraja proclaimed to the world in his song that there can be no

happiness without peace. Such a peace can be got only through achieving

equal-mindedness on all occasions, whether one is subjected to pleasure or

pain, praise or blame, gain or loss. One should not be affected by criticism

arising out of ill-will, envy or hatred. Reacting to such criticism in a like

manner will destroy one's peace of mind. We should ignore baseless criticisms

motivated by ill-will or jealousy. We should be true to our own good nature and

maintain our equanimity. The ancient sages divinised their lives by control

of the senses, by observing spiritual discipline and by successfully carrying

on their daily avocations. These are the means by which men and women can

transform themselves into sages. Spiritual education is greater than all other

types of education. This was declared by Krishna in the Gita. Rivers are

distinct in their names and forms, but when they merge in the ocean, they

become one. Likewise, all kinds of studies and practices, when they are merged

in the ocean of spiritual knowledge, become one. (Reet's compilation from,

Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 5. "The sun at your doorstep," Chapter 2; Sathya Sai

Speaks. Vol. 7. "Lamps lit from the same flame," Chapter 3; Sathya Sai Speaks.

Vol. 13. "Give them their due," Chapter 7; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 18. "Truth

and Love - the goals," Chapter 26 and "The quest for peace," Chapter 27; Sathya

Sai Speaks. Vol. 25. "How To Be Near and Dear To God," Chapter 3).

 

Namaste - Reet