Swami teaches... The spiritual lesson for the Navratri celebration time

[Guest guest]

Sai Ram

 

Light and Love

Swami teaches...

The Spiritual Lesson for the Navratri Celebration Time

Swami has come to guard your virtue and holiness and guide you to the Goal.

During the Navratri time the Divine energy from His Teaching is special. Swami's

Teaching are valuable not only for reading and contemplating but mainly for

obtaining the practical skill and virtue. It is experience that is the deciding

factor. Reason is rendered dumb before the testimony of actual experience. All

the arguments of logic, all the tricks of dialectics are powerless to nullify

the direct effect of that inner evidence. The true readers are all blessed as

they can follow Swami's lessons saturated with His Divine Power.

 

There was a Pandith who offered to teach a student the four great principles

of Sathya, Dharma, Shanthi and Prema (Truth, Virtue, Peace and Love). On the

first day, he expounded sathya (truth) and said, "I shall teach you what dharma

is, tomorrow!" The next day, the pupil did not put in his appearance! The

teacher went in search of him and catching him, reprimanded him. He replied, "I

am practising sathyam (truth); I shall learn the second lesson only after I have

mastered the first." He is indeed the genuine devotee. Dive into the depths; you

secure the pearls. The person who does not dive secures the foam; the person who

dives, gets the truth.

Swami seeks the quality of the spiritual effort, not the quantity. He

penetrates into the heart and examines the motive which prompted, the emotion

which urged, the feeling that shaped the effort. Swami appreciates sincerity

and steadfastness, more than paraphernalia and pomp.

A boat may be a small appliance, but, it can take you across the sea. A lamp

may be a small contraption, but, it can light your path across a jungle. What is

wanted is persistent effort, ceaseless karma, activity. The torch may illumine

only a distance of two yards and you may have to go two miles in the night.

Hold it in your hand and walk on. With every step, the torch will illumine a

few steps more and so, you can reach the goal safe.

When the Sun rises, all the buds of lotus in the lake will not open out in

full bloom. Only those which are full grown can blossom so; the rest have to

bide their time and grow. His Grace is the right of all, but it can be won by

sadhana only. Swami declares: "I have no hate or anger in My composition; My

Life blood is prema, I am the repository of dhaya (compassion). Understand Me

and My Nature right. The shadow of the Moon in the depth of the lake seems to

quiver and shake because of the waves; but look up and you see the Moon, steady

as ever. I am always steady, My Grace is ever there. To the outward eye, My

action is magic, miracle; to the inner eye, it is all Leela. Well, the Hand

that creates is the Hand that gives - there is no keeping back. It is always

for you and you alone. That is My Truth; know it and be happy."

 

Rama and Krishna and Swami appear different because of the dress each has

donned, but it is the Self-same Entity.

There was a spiritual aspirant once who called Krishna by various names,

each describing some facet of His magnificence. He prayed, "Come away from the

herd of cows that you are tending; come to me for just a moment and quench my

thirst." He was pining under a tree, shedding tears of anguish, when an old

fakir came to him; the saadhaka poured out his heart to him and prayed for his

blessings to realise his fondest desire. But the fakir told him, "God is beyond

all forms; He cannot be limited by form. He is all this and more. How can He

appear before you in the form you pine for?" This heightened the anguish of the

seeker, and he craved even more earnestly for the vision he had fixed in his

mind. Who can speak of God as only this and not that? No one can limit His

freedom. Is He bound by what the fakir thinks of Him? He assumed the form

wanted and gave him the ecstasy he deserved. Bear this in mind when you get the

urge to decry others for their faith in other forms and names. For instance,

you have faith in Rama and Krishna because of the books which describe a part

of their achievements and the experience of the sadhakas who attempted to delve

into their mystery. You have not demanded direct proofs of Divinity from either

Rama or Krishna. Have faith first and then you will get proof enough. Faith

will grant you all that you need. How can you build your faith on a mound of

sand? The deeper you dig the sandy soil, the greater the risk of the sides

slipping down and burying your faith in doubt and denial. Listen to the call

from within. The Lord too condescends to grant you the chance to develop faith.

 

In spiritual matters, faith is the basic requisite for progress. Do not

allow your faith to falter with every passing gust of wind. Your duty is to

carry on sadhana undisturbed by what others may say, holding fast to the

certitude of your own experience.

The power of faith is illustrated by the pictorial example. There was a

Pandith who led a disciplined life, sticking to a pre-arranged time-table; he

woke up from sleep in the early hours of the morning, recited the Pranava (OM)

and later, after ablutions, drank his cup of milk at 7 a.m. exactly. Some days

the milkmaid arrived late, for she lived on the other bank of the river and had

to catch a ferry to cross over with the milk. The ferry boat either started a

little to soon or at times reached her bank too late, when she brought the milk

late, greatly to the annoyance of the Pandith. One day, he lost patience and

chided her for upsetting his time-table. "Why do you depend on that horrid boat

to take you across? Do you not know that if you only repeat the name of Rama

that you can walk across without coming to harm? Rama will see that you do not

get drowned." Next day, the maid repeated Rama-naama and just walked across.

Yes, her faith gave her the strength. She did not tarry for the ferry. The

Pandith was flabbergasted, for he did not believe that it could ever be

possible for Rama-naama to work this miracle.

 

There is another ancient story about poet Kaalidaasa. It is said that the

other poets and scholars in the court of Emperor Bhoja were green with envy at

the quick rise to fame of Kaalidaasa. So, they poisoned the ears of the Emperor

against Kaalidaasa and when he challenged Kaalidaasa to disprove the allegations

he was alone and helpless against his traducers. Kaalidaasa could appeal only to

his other patroness, Mother Kaali. He told the king that they could all come to

the temple of Kaali and when he prayed to Kaali, to stand witness to his

integrity, they could hear the answer that the Goddess would give. He had such

faith in his Mother. The entire court was present next morning at the

Temple; Kaalidaasa prayed. Then, in the tense silence, they all could hear a

Voice..."Kavirdhandee, Kavirdhandee, Bhavabhoothisthu pandithah" (Dhandi is a

poet, Dhandi is a poet; Bhavabhoothi is a Pandith). That was all. No reference

was made to Kaalidaasa, when all that was wanted was a judgement about

Kaalidaasa and his merits. Naturally, Kaalidaasa was enraged. He forgot himself

in his rage and shouted Koham rande? (Who am I, you slut?"). Kaali kept calm;

Her temper was not roused. After a moment she replied, 'Thwamevaaham,

thwamevaaham, thwameva aham, na samshayah" (You areMyself, I am thyself,

undoubtedly"). That identity is the destiny of human.

Human being alone can attain the status of the Conscious Divine Person, by

recognising the reality. No beast or bird can reach that height of realisation.

Also human is neither a picture, nor a sculpture, which are both lifeless and

have no aspiration of their own. Human has activity, attainment, a hunger for

expansion, for immortality. But, it is tragic that instead of valuing the

chance and utilising it, human dies without seeing the light. Usually human

does not dedicate own life to the Divine, searching comfort and cosy living.

Human being is endowed with manas, buddhi, chiththa and ahamkaara (mind,

intelligence, reasoning faculty and ego), all four, in an integrated

personality, whereas the birds and beasts and all other species have mostly

ahamkaaram (ego) alone. The lives of the later are centred round the aham and

its desires and demands. But, human has the capacity to follow sathya, dharma,

shanthi and prema. It is true, that these powers are limited by human's

experiences, knowledge and awareness. Individual is just a part, while God is

whole, the Force pervading the entire Universe. (This statement is in accord

with the theory of modern science about holographic Universe).

Each one has the tremendous Shakthi (Power) of the Atma (Infinite

consciousness, Cosmic consciousness) within. Some are able to draw upon it;

others just know it is there; others are unaware of the methods of tapping it

or even of its existence. It all comes in time, through steady sadhana. The

sadhaka rises step by step towards the highest Bliss by adhering to the

instructions of Swami.

But it is important to notice that Atmashakthi (power of the Soul) can

function only when prompted by Mayashakthi (power of Illusion). If Maya is

absent, how can the Cosmic drama be put on? Maya has to announce the arrival

and the identity. Ashanthi (lack of peace) of some kind or the other brings you

to this place, naturally; but having come, do not concentrate on objective gifts

only; gather also the valuable advice given for inner development. You should

pray: Asatho maa sath gamaya - From the unreal lead me to the Real.

Do not condemn yourselves as weak, sinful, conceited, wicked, outlawed,

mean, etc. When you so condemn yourself, remember you are actually condemning

Swami, who is your Inner Self. Live, so that with every breath and step, you

come nearer and nearer to Swami.

Until the mind is cleared of doubt, you have to cleanse it by moral conduct

and spiritual discipline. Then the Truth will be reflected in it, clearer and

clearer as the process is continued. The appetite for worldly goods must be

blunted; it must fade and fall, as the petals of a flower grown old. The noise

of the market place should give place to the silence of the altar; then only

can the secret whisper of the conscience be heard.

/However, so long as you are in Avidhya (ignorance), so long as you are

untrained and lacking in knowledge, you cannot taste the Bliss; you cannot

attain it. You are still bound by the threecorded rope - the black cord of

Thamas (inertia), the red cord of Rajas (passion) and the white cord of Sathwa

(equanimity). Deny that you are bound; the rope falls away. Hence, regulate

your life in such a way that you do not harm your inner nature. That is to say,

live in the constant contemplation of your kinship with others and with the

Universe. Do good to others, treat all nature kindly, become a child devoid of

envy, hate and greed; when your ego crosses the threshold of your family or

group and takes kindly to those beyond, you have taken the first step to cross

the threshold of Maya/.

You are born as a consequence of the activities you were engaged in, in past

births. When a bus is speeding along, a cloud of dust follows it; when it halts,

the passengers get the dust all over. But, how far can you travel without

bringing the bus to a halt? The one consolation is: you need not always speed

along the mud road; better roads are in store. The mud road is the Karma marga

(road of activity), the metalled road is Upasana marga (road of worship,

contemplation) and the asphalt road is Jnana marga (road of divine knowledge,

wisdom). The roads are different. The goal is one and only one.

Many people do not understand why to practise image worship. But those who

do worship idols have the faith that the Omnipresent Almighty is present in the

symbol before them. For them, sacred image or idol is a part of the inner

mechanism of devotion and faith. If all the worship is done in the full

confidence that the image or idol is alive, saturated with consciousness and

power, then image worship can bestow the realisation of God. It is the one road

(Upasana marga) to reach near to the Divine reality. (Another roads are noticed

above).

A pictorial story about essence of idol worship. There was once a spiritual

seeker (sadhaka) who approached a guru for guidance. The guru gave him an idol

of Vishnu and instructions for daily worship. But the sadhaka found that, even

after some months of meticulous puja, he did not get any spiritual reward or

elation. So, he reported his dissatisfaction and the guru gave him another

idol, this time of Shiva and asked him to have another try. The disciple came

after another six months demanding another idol, because even Shiva had failed

him. This time, he got a Durga idol, which he duly installed in his domestic

shrine. The two previous idols were standing, dust-ridden and neglected, on the

window sill. One day, while Durga-puja (ritual worship of Goddess Durga) was

going on, the disciple found that the perfumed smoke from the incense-stick was

being wafted by the breeze towards the idol of Shiva on the window sill. He got

wild that the ungrateful stone-hearted God who was deaf to his powerful

entreaties should get the perfume intended for his latest idol. So, he took a

piece of cloth and tied it round the face of Shiva, closing up the nostrils

that were inhaling the perfume. Just at that moment, to his immense surprise

Shiva appeared in His splendour and Glory before the sadhaka. The man was

dumb-founded. He did not know how the ill-treatment had induced Shiva to give

him darshan.

But, what had really happened? The sadhaka for the first time believed that

the Shiva idol was alive, conscious, and it was that belief which forced him to

tie the bandage to the nose. The moment he realised that the idol was full of

Chith (consciousness), he got the Realisation he was struggling for. Therefore,

the sadhaka should see, not the stone which is the material stuff of the idol,

but the Power that is inherent in it, that is symbolised by it, the same Power

that is inherent in his own heart and that pervades and transcends all

creation. The same Power was experienced by Uddhava, when he came among

the gopees, he discovered that Krishna was 'roaming' in their hearts without a

moment's respite. Radha, the greatest devotee, saw all foot-prints as Krishna's

own, including even herself too. Really, is there any one who is not He? Any

Form that is not His? Any Name that does not connote Him? Uddhava exclaimed, "I

have no need of Naaraayana; I am content with this Vision of the Glory of the

Bhaktha." The same phenomena is today: see Swami in all. That is the truth.

What is the conclusion of present part of "Swami teaches...?"

If you stare at the Sun for a second and then turn your eye to other things

around, you will find that there is a dark patch over them and you cannot

recognise them. Similarly, once you get a vision of the God, who is more

effulgent than a thousand suns, you can no longer recognise the multiplicity

called Prakrithi (Nature). The world is black, it is blocked; indeed, you can

no longer recognise or deal with variety once you have had a vision of the

basic Unity. (Reet's compilation from, Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 2. "Experience,"

Chapter 5; "Sarvathah paani paadhah," Chapter 18 and "Vision of the Purusha,"

Chapter 19. Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 6. "The zenith of creation," Chapter 15 and

"Three types of road," Chapter 16. Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 8. "Inspiration, not

imitation," Chapter 40 and "That plus and this minus," Chapter 42).

Namaste - Reet