Swami teaches... The roots of culture, social and atmic consciousness

[Guest guest]

Sai Ram Light and Love

Swami teaches... 12 - 14 February 2006

The Roots of Culture, Social and Atmic Consciousness

There was a beggar who once wailed before a rich house for a mouths; the

master, reclining in an easy chair, drove him out with harsh abuse. But the

beggar persisted. He asked for some stale food. At this, the daughter-in-law,

who was at her meals in the inner apartments, replied; "My dear fellow! We are

at present eating stale food. The fresh dishes are being cooked." The beggar

knew what she meant; he understood that the woman was pointing out that the

father-in-law by his insolence and cruelty was preparing for a miserable

future, while his present high standard of living was made possible by the

merit he acquired through charity in previous lives. We eat stale food, that is

to say, the results of the acts in past lives. We also cook our future meals.

So, by this service you are preparing for a nice banquet in the future,

whatever be the food that you are now eating as a result of past acts. The

processes of creation, survival and dissolution occur according to the

injunctions of the Divine. Whether human believes in it or not, this wheel of

creation is revolving according to the dictates of the Divine.

Enormous energy and expenses are being devoted for investigating the

mysteries of the atom. But there is no comparable concern for developing human

behaviour. In the competition for over-reaching each other, people are

immersed in selfishness and are pursuing wrong courses. Politics and economics

are bedevilled by crises. The appetite for power and position has become

insatiable. What is the reason for the divergence between scientific progress

on the one side and the social and moral decline of human on the other?

It is the absence of self-control that is at the root of all the violence

and conflict in society today. Self-control implies control over desires.

Nothing ennobling can be realised without observing restraint. There is a need

to acquire wealth for living. But excessive wealth is harmful. What people have

to aim at is not sampada (wealth) but right samskara (conduct).

(King Janaka had all the wealth he needed. Why did he resort to the Sage

Yajnavalkya? The reason is that from ancient times it was the practice of the

kings to seek the advice and guidance of sages who were the repositories of

spiritual wisdom. They realised that human can get enduring peace and happiness

only by spiritual realisation and not by any other means).

Mankind's problems today cannot be solved by science and technology alone.

Only a transformation in the character of human can serve to solve the present

crisis. People should strive to become human and progress towards the Divine.

(Human makes no effort to enquire into the concept of samatwa yoga (equality in

enjoyment). This feeling of equal enjoyment is conspicuous only among innocent

children. Only in the hearts of babes can you notice the sense of enjoyment, of

drinking the milk from the mother, rejoicing in the cool breeze and forgetting

themselves in the sweet music of the lullabies sung by the mother.

As the child grows, self-interest also grows. The world is full of powerful

people, endowed with wealth, great scholars and people with good qualities, but

there are few who have realised the Divine Atma).

Students and the whole human society should develop radical social

consciousness. It consists spirituality what should not be divorced from

culture and social consciousness. When spirituality prevails, every kind of

Dharma (right conduct) will prevail. What kind of culture is possible without

spirituality? Culture means samskruti (refinement of conduct). Samskruti refers

to that which has been refined. There can be no refinement (of conduct) without

spirituality. And without refinement there is no culture. Hence, the first step

is refinement of conduct, which can be done only through spirituality It is

not enough to acquire academic knowledge and technical skills, which are all

that present day education is concerned with. If there is no love of God, fear

of sin, and practice of social ethics, how can there be peace in the world?

Scientists and political leaders are teaching all kinds of things to the youth.

But of what use are these teachings? Students need the example of leaders and

teachers who stand up for integrity and morality.

All things in the world are perishable. But the ideals for which people live

and for which they are prepared to give up their lives last for ever. That is

the secret of immortality.

Bharat's culture has world-wide spread since it can correct and canalise the

human emotions and motives along healthy productive routes. The sages of Bharat,

charged with simplicity and sincerity, moved by the urge to expand in love to

all beings. They pointed that care of the country is as important as the care

of the body. For, happiness and misery, health and disease, pleasure and pain,

anxiety and peace are dependent on the health and disease of desha (the

nation). Half the cure is effected by kindness, softness and sympathy. Such

sacred and basic principles can establish peace and joy in the hearts of all

people, all nations. (Today most people are not aware of the pain they cause by

angry words, or even by a gesture of contempt or resentment. Always try to put

yourselves in the position of the other and, judge your action against that

background).

The Atmavaan (Self-realised person) is one who has recognised the Spirit,

who is immersed in the bliss of that awareness. In ancient times, many sages

experienced the potency, the sweetness and the ineffable joy of this Divine

bliss and gave the fruits of their experience to the world. They codified the

knowledge contained in the Upanishads and offered it to the people in the world

in the concept of Trikonam (Triangle).

The Body is one side of the triangle. The second side is the mind. The third

is the Atma. Realise the unity of body, mind and Atma. The Vedic declaration:

Tath-Twam-Asi (That thou art) reflects the truth about this integrating process.

Human does not understand the truth about the unity of "This" and "That." Tath

means "That," referring to something remote. "This" refers to something that is

near. From what is "That" far? From what is "This" near? "That" refers to what

is far from our sense organs. "This" refers to what is proximate to our sense

organs. The body, which is nearest to the senses, is connected by "This."

"That" which is beyond the senses is the Atma.

The role of the mind is to bring together the body that is close to the

senses and the Atma that is far from them. Asi in Tath-Twam-Asi refers to the

role of the mind in integrating the body and the Atma. (It is the architecture

of the mind that matters). "Tath-Twam-Asi" is an aphoristic declaration calling

upon everyone to realise the integral unity of body, mind and the Atma and

thereby experience the Divine. The concept of Triangle was explored from

another point of view, namely, the Jiva (the individual), God and Nature (the

phenomenal universe, Prakriti). The essential nature of these three was

described in the terms: Rakti, Bhukti and Mukti. Rakti represents the cosmos.

Bhukti (enjoyment) represents the body (which seeks enjoyment). Mukti

(liberation) represents Atma. Another triad that has to be noted consists of

Sthoola (gross), Sukshma (subtle) and Kaarana (causal) bodies. The triple

concept also contains in the Upanishadic aphorism is that of Past, Present and

the Future (the triple aspects of Time). In these different ways, the sages

sought to popularise the idea of oneness of body, mind and Atma.

When we breathe in, there is the sound "So" When we exhale, there is the

sound ham. Together, "So" and "Ham" contain the Pranava mantra "Om.So-Ham"

("He is I") conveys the same message as "Tath-Twam-Asi."

Sage Aruni told his son Swethakethu to seek to know That by knowing which

all else is known, by having a vision of which everything else can be seen.

Thus, there is only one thing which human has to recognise, by knowing which

human can understand all other things. That one thing is the Atma-Tatwa -

(Atma-Principle).

There is one of the path's to enlightenment, to the Divine where is no need

to perform any spiritual exercises. (These are mainly undertaken to secure some

mental satisfaction. All these exercises are performed through the mind. How

can such exercises control the mind? Can a thief catch himself? Likewise the

mind cannot undertake to control itself. The mind has to be negated freedom

from thoughts. As thoughts are minimised, the mind loses its power). When

one wants to develop faith in the Self, the potencies of the body, the mind and

the Buddhi (intellect) should be diverted towards the Self. Whatever thought

arises in the mind, it should be turned towards the Atma. This is real Saayujya

(attaining oneness with the Divine). In this mergence, there is the realisation

of unity and the feeling of diversity disappears.

That is the import of the Upanishadic saying: "Brahmavid Brahmaiva Bhavati"

(the knower of the Brahmam becomes Brahmam Himself). When all one's thoughts

are merged in the Atma, one becomes integrated with the Atma. An example.

When you go to a pilgrim centre and look at the form of the deity in the

sanctum, you are conscious only of the form. But when you think of the material

from which the idol has been made, you recognise only the stone and not the

form. Today you are looking at the world in terms of the names and forms of the

objects in it. Hence you see only the hills and dales, mansions and huts,

forests and rivers, and so on. But when you try to look at the basis of all of

them, you realise the One that underlies all of them. All these are different

manifestations of the five elements (ether, air, water, fire and earth). These

five elements find their unifying factor in the Atma. Once, therefore, the Atma

concept is grasped, the nature of all other objects becomes intelligible. This

principle of unity was the perennial message of the ancient sages.

The another example: In the waking state one sees innumerable objects, goes

through various experiences. But in the dream state, all the objects are

creations of the mind by the dreamer. The pleasures and pains are also

self-created experiences. The entire world in the dream state is a self-created

mental phenomenon. But when one passes into the deep sleep, all these are

absent, person forgets everything and is in a state of Samadhi. The experiencer

in the waking state, the dream state and the Sushupti state (deep sleep) is one

and the same person. It is this basic unity of the Atma that is conveyed by the

dictum: Tath-Twam-Asi. This means that in all the three states, in all the

different experiences, the experiencer is one and the same.

 

The Lord of the Universe permeates the Cosmos and shines in it as the

invisible Atmic Consciousness. This is the quintessence of the Upanishads. The

truth about the vast Universe of moving and motionless objects is contained in

this single pronouncement. Divinity is latent in everything like fire in wood

and oil in sesame. Enlarging on this concept, the sages declared: "Isaavaasyam

idam Jagat" (The Cosmos is pervaded by the Divine). This all-pervading

principle is illustrated by the example of sugar dissolved in water. After the

solution, the sugar is not visible and cannot be taken out. But its presence

can be experienced by tasting the syrup. By this simple illustration from real

life, the ancient sages sought to convey the great truth about the

all-pervading nature of the Divine and the unity that underlies the apparent

diversity in the Universe. Only the One abides. But it assumes many forms.

There is nothing divorced from Divinity. Although everything is Divine, people

do not look at the world with the Divine insight but with the worldly vision.

As long as one sees with this corporeal vision, the spiritual Reality cannot be

understood.

The Vedas declare: "Dooraath doore anthike cha" (Farther than the farthest

and very near too). This statement means that the Lord is as far from you as

you consider Him to be, and as near as you feel His presence. It is your own

feelings which account for the distance. The remoteness or nearness should not

be attributed to the Divine, who is Omnipresent. He is present in the subtlest

atomic particle and in the vastest object in creation.

The Upanishads have explained in very simple terms the profoundest and most

complex ideas. They have indicated to ordinary people how to experience the

highest spiritual bliss by simple practices.

Intellect, subconscious mind and heart - these are the three centres in the

individual where reside jnana, karma and bhakthi - wisdom, action and devotion.

 

Below is an example of simple, sincrere and deep devotion.

Once, Krishna pretended to be suffering from headache. His eyes were red and

He was in evident distress. The queens rushed about with all kinds of remedies

and palliatives. But they were ineffective. At last, they consulted Narada and

he went into the sick room to consult Krishna Himself and find out which drug

would cure Him. Krishna directed him to bring the dust of the feet of a true

Bhaktha! In a trice, Narada manifested himself in the presence of some

celebrated bhakthas of the Lord; but, they were too humble to offer the dust of

their feet to be used by their Lord as a drug. That is also a kind of egoism.

"I am low, mean, small, useless, poor, sinful, inferior" - such feelings also

are egoistic; when the ego goes, you do not feel either superior or inferior.

No one would give the dust wanted by the Lord; they were too worthless, they

declared. Narada came back disappointed to the sickbed. Then, Krishna asked

him, "Did you try Brindhaavana where the gopees live?" The queens laughed at

the suggestion and even Narada asked in dismay, "What do they know of bhakthi

(devotion)?" Still, the sage had to hurry thither. When the gopees heard

Krishna was ill and that the dust of their feet might cure Him, without a

second thought they shook the dust off their feet and filled his hands with the

same. By the time Narada reached Dhwaraka, the head-ache had gone.

Do karma which is approved by the higher wisdom, not karma which is born of

ignorance. Then, all karma will be Shivam (auspicious, beneficial, blessed).

The experience of that Shivam is what is called Sundaram; for it confers

Ananda. That is why Swami's Life is named "Sathyam Shivam Sundaram." Do

karma based on jnana, the jnana that all is One. Let the karma be suffused with

bhakthi; that is to say, humility, prema, karuna and ahimsa (love, compassion,

non-violence). Mere jnana will make the heart dry; bhakthi makes it soft with

sympathy and karma gives the hands something to do, something which will

sanctify every one of the minutes that have fallen to your lot to live here.

This is why bhakthi is referred to as upasana, dwelling near, feeling the

presence, sharing the sweetness of Divinity. The yearning for upasana prompts

you to go on pilgrimages, to construct and renovate temples, to consecrate

images. The sixteen items of honouring with which the Lord is worshipped

satisfy the mind which craves for personal contact with the Supreme. All this

is karma of a high order; they lead to jnana.

At first start with the idea, "I am in the Light;" then the feeling "the

light is in me" becomes established. This leads to the conviction, "I am the

Light." That is the supreme wisdom. See yourself in all; love all as

yourself. A dog caught in a room whose walls are mirrors sees in all the myriad

reflections, rivals, competitors, other dogs which must be barked at. So, a

dog tires by jumping on this reflection and that, and when the images also

jump, The dog becomes mad with fury. The wise human, however, sees him/herself

everywhere and is at peace: human is happy that there are so many reflections

all around.

In the human condition, as long as it is identified with the body, the

human level alone is recognized. People are conscious only of the physical

human existence, but are not aware of the human qualities. The foremost thing

that people today have to recognise and understand are human values. Whatever

position one may achieve, whatever one's scholarship or status, the primary

requisite is comprehension of what it means to be human. This humanness will

grow only in a spiritual, ethical and righteous atmosphere. (Reet's compilation

from, Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 3. "Protection of the devotees," Chapter 16 and

"Building or begging?" Chapter 26; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 9. "House and

home," Chapter 13 and "Counsel for the chosen," Chapter 19; Sathya Sai Speaks.

Vol. 24. "Bhagavan's call to students," Chapter 7 and "Three-in-one," Chapter

9).

Namaste - Reet