Guest guest Posted February 4, 2005 Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 Divine Love WE are living in a rapidly changing world. Science and its marvellous achievements have shaken our old faiths and a new vista has been opened to modern man. Material advancement .has placed modern man in an advantageous position. The forces generated by science and democracy have been operating in a variety of ways to transform human life. Our old values and the good old days are going out fast, never to return. " The age demands of our citizens an understanding of these forces, an acceptance of them and an intelligent assimilation of their values so that India may forge a new character and a new destiny for herself." Our culture is based upon Divine Love and religion. Religion has been the most vital force moulding our individual and collective life. It is so even to-day. Our land is specially fortunate to get the unerring guidance of successive sages and saints during all these centuries to keep us firm on our grounds wedded to the highest values of life, love, peace and harmony-From the birth of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa to this day, India has been blessed with Divine guidance. Sai Baba, the sage of Shirdi, has been pouring out his Divine Love to thousands and hundreds of thousands since 1845. The unending stream of devotees at Shirdi day in and day out is but a manifestation of Divine love, compassion and pity. Sai Baba did not believe in a religion which cannot feed the hungry, clothe the naked and shelter the homeless. Swami Vivekananda taught that the only way God can come to a hungry man is in the form of a morsel of bread. The sage of Shirdi opened our eyes further and demonstrated in unmistakable terms that material improvement is a condition precedent for India's spiritual and moral advancement. One is the means and the other the end. There is no conflict between the two. Visit the sacred shrine of Lord Venkateswara and witness the hundreds of millions of people adoring and worshipping the Lord. There, we find, materialism in the service of spirituality. To heal the physical and mental sufferings of humanity, material prosperity and spirituality must work hand in hand; the deficiency of the one affects the progress of the other. Religion will ever" remain the national passion in India, and the search for the meaning of life lies beyond the region of man's material desires and struggles. Modern man has been able to go round the moon in a few minutes. Nature is revealing its mysteries. Startling discoveries have been made and greater discoveries are in store for us. Civilization has advanced far. Barriers separating countries and nations have been destroyed. Man has conquered distance and the craze for further discoveries leads man to rtstless life. He feels a vacuum. There is an urge1 to know tho soul, to know God, to pierce the mystery that veils nature. This constitutes the religious impulse in man. He faces the threefold questions : (1) Who am I? (2) Whence have I come (3) What shall I do to return to my true homeland "Each soul is potentially Divine. The goal is manifest, achieve this divinity within by controlling nature, external and internal. Do this and be free- This is the “whole- of religion." Thus spoke Vivekananda, To know who you are, spend some time every day in silerice, in meditation. Sit in a silent corner away from the din and roar of daily life and meditate on the adventure of existence, Ramana's message to humanity is to know ourselves. Reflect, recollect, concentrate, meditate. The gates are opened. Haw to know God ? What is the easiest way to God? That was a question put to Mahatma Gandhi. What was the answer ? He said : " To me Seva, service of the poor, opens the easiest way to God." Let us contemplate |he way of Gandhi, the Father of the Nation. He says in one his books, " I would rather be torn to pieces than disown my brothers and sisters in suffering and pain." He identified himself with the poor and needy. Religion to Gandhi was not creed, but right life, a life of sympathy and love, of fellowship with the poor. Therefore, to know God, love is a pre-requisite. God is love itself. " The ignorant feel that God and love are separate- God and Love are One, and when once this is known they will realise that God is love." So said the great Tamil sage, ThiruvalluVar. Service of the poor is worship of God. Mark the words of Rabindranath Tagore : " What does thou do in the dark corners of the temple, chanting the hymns and counting the beads ? Open Thine eyes, God is not before thee. He is there With the tiller of the soil and the stone cutter. So work and serve the ,poor. Work is worship. Meet thy God in the sweat of thy brow," So, duty forms an integral part of Our Sadhana, It is an act that is done not under obligation, bat as a sacrifice Out of intense love for the Lord and His creation. In discharging our duties we should not commit sinful acts and harm others. Do thy duty and leave the rest to God. Feel that you are an instrument in the hands of God. Get rid of' I.' Duty is selfless loving service and submission to the will of God, " Blessed is he who works with love in his heart. His work is beautiful, is radiant, because it reveals love. Does he grind the corn ? He does it in the aspiration that his beloved may bake the bread and bless it. Does he build a hut ? He does it that his beloved may some day dwell in it aad make it beautiful with his presence, Does he decorate his room with a picture of the beloved ? He does it that the beloved may bless the room with a breath of his spirit," So sang a saint. To know God and the Atman, our Sastras have prescribed threefold margas. The Gnana Marga or the path of knowledge is very difficult. It is not easily accessible to all. All cannot acquire adequate knowledge of the infinite, the endless, the in' Comprehensible one. It is the privilege of a fare few. The Karma Marga, the path of action, is within the reach of some. It is equally difficult, for to tread the path of action one must renounce all desires for fruits of action. Who can say that he has renounced desires for all fruits of action? ? Very few. The Bhakti Marga is the easiest of all. Man is weak. Love, Bhakti, devotion is the secret, which can, with less difficulty, be seized by the average man of the age in which we live. Neither knowledge by itself nor Karma-action, but Bhakti, living faith or love can draw man the quickest to God. So Sai Baba's upadesh is that we should sit before our Ishta Devata, whatever it may be, Baba, Rama, Krishna, Allah, Jesus, Siva, or Sakti and offer our prayers. When we sit in meditation we enter into the presence of God. He meets us in the depths. We Hve on the surface. In the depths When we sit in meditation we enter into the presence of God. He meets us in the depths. We live on the surface. In the depths within us move Divine Presence. Each day, then, go into silence and sing the Divine Name and rejoice in the holy presence. What is love? Love means to give all that thou hast to Him whom thou lovest so that nothing remains to thee of thine own. Conquer desire through the power of love. Love God for His own' sake not for any reward. Seek the giver, not the gift. Never forget that our goal is union with God. It is the deepest love that takes man to God. The lives of the 63 Nayanmars and the 12 Alwars are the beaconlights of this sublime love. Take the life of Kannappa Nayanar of Kalahasti. You and I visit temples and perform archanas. Thinnan, for that was the name of Kannappar, the son of a hunter king, got realisation in six days. The moment he saw Kudimbi Thevar, the Sivalingam at the top of the hills, he was moved, thrilled and he embraced the Sivalingam. He could not bear the sight of the Lord staying exposed to the Sun and shower all alone. He feeds the Lord with pork roasted in the fire and tasted by him. God takes the food and when Siva Kochanar, the Thavamuni of Thapovanam, feels shocked at the sight of bones near God and gets worried, the Lord appears in his dream and asks him to witness the love of Kannappar next day. When Kannappar saw one of the eyes of the Lord bleeding, he fell down, wept and tried all medicines. Finally, he removed his right eye and placed it in Lord's right eye socket. That was not enough to show the depth of Kannappan's love. So the Lord made his left eye bleed. What was the reaction ? Did Kannappar fail ? Certainly not. Placing his left foot on the Lord's bleeding eye, he was about to remove his left eye. Our Lord, the Love incarnate, could not bear the sight. Holding the hand of Kannappan, He said, 'stop Kannappa, stop Kannappa.' He blessed him to stand on His right side for ever. This is the Love that every one should try to have. In six days by his loving service Kannappan had God-realisation. Andal, Meera and a host of other devotees are the loud proclamations of the power of Bhakti. We can see God if we crave for it. Sai Baba repeatedly reminded us that we should cry to see God. It is this divine love that takes man to God realisation. It needs no knowledge ; all that is required is pure love from the depths of our hearts. Divine love pours out to all who love Divinity. Manifest your love by serving the poor. 'Whosoever serveth the least and the lowest they serve Me' are the words of Jesus. Truth will triumph and Dharma will reign supreme in the world of today and tomorrow when matter and Spirit work in harmony and perfect unison. Saint Sayings The sacred places are the best for doling out charity. 'Greed leads to misery, scandal to sin, and bad luck to poverty» God speaks to us in several ways, by day and by night, in silence or in sound. Over the whole earth are His mighty forces employed, and over the oceans are His ways observed. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked; whatever a soweth, that shall he also reap. “He that loveth his life shall lose it; but he that loseth his life shall find it unto Life Eternal. W. H. SWAMY KESAVAlAHJI’S SELECTIONS (Adopted from the Book Pearls of Wisdom by His Holiness Swami Kesavaiahji) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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