Swami teaches... Aspects of samskaras for benefit of social service

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Sai Ram Light and Love

Swami teaches...

Aspects of Samskaras for Benefit of Social Service

The conflict between persons who accept God and deny Him, is never ending;

it has continued throughout the ages. Denial of the Divine cannot negate it.

Logic cannot reveal it. All the tirades now being made on the Divine are from

atheists who are opportunists. So your duty is to preserve your equanimity. Be

true to yourselves and do not waver.

The two eyes give a picture of a vast expanse of space, but they cannot see

the face to which they belong. When you wish to see your face and back, you

have to keep one mirror in front and another one behind you, so that in the

front mirror you can see the reflection of your back also. So, too, when you

desire to know your reality (face) and your future (back), you have to adjust

the mirror of 'Selfconfidence' (confidence that you are the Self) in front and

the mirror of Divine Grace behind you. Without these two, to affirm that you

are aware of your Truth or of your destiny, is sheer fantasy.

The Divine is now denoted by various words that are common currency in

limited human vocabularies. They name phenomena revealing the Divine,

'miracles’, ‘magic’, 'wonders’, etc.. Of course, human cannot contain in the

mind more than person can hold. Human cannot express in words the

in-expressible. Only those who have dived deep and contacted the underlying

principle of Love, can picture Divinity with some clarity.

The Divine has to reveal Itself through manifestations, largely shaped and

modified by the nature of the times, the region and the cultural environment.

The signs and wonders that Swami manifests are given names that do not connote

the purpose or effect. They can be called chamatkara (miracle), that lead on to

samskara (purificating right actions, refinement of character), which in turn

urge one on towards paropakara (helping others) and finally result in

sakshathkara (divine vision). Together with education Samskara is essential.

Samskaras make human life meaningful and edifying. This can be achieved only

by getting rid of all bad qualities and filling one's mind and heart with love

and compassion. A life without love is sterile and barren. Whatever one's

difficulties or troubles, one should try to help others to the extent possible.

Selfless, loving service to others, is the highest form of sadhana. It

represents true devotion - Bhakti, the love of God. Although these forms of

love are described differently, essentially love is one, Divine in its essence.

Love in different contexts is called by different names. The love between a

husband and wife is called moham (fascination). The love between mother and

children is known as vatsalyam (maternal affection). The love of relatives and

friends is described as anuraga (mutual regard). Love of anyone is a

recognition of the divinity in everyone, When we become conscious of the

omnipresence of divinity, our thoughts, speech and actions will become pure.

One should not be concerned only about one's own welfare, career and

prosperity. It is not for the enjoyment of personal possessions and comforts

that human has taken birth. Human has greater goal to achieve - oneness with

the Divine, which alone can give lasting bliss. Chamatkara is any act which

attracts on account of its inexplicability. This aspect of attraction is

Inherent in the Avatar. The very name, Rama, means 'He who pleases or causes

delight. Krishna means 'He who attracts, draws towards Himself. This attribute

of attractions is a characteristic of Divinity.

The person who has undergone samskara becomes a humble servant of those who

need help. The Vedas proclaim that Immortality (the stage when one is merged in

the Birthless, Deathless, Universal Entity), is feasible through renunciation

and detachment only, and not through rituals, progeny or wealth. Let us

consider the chamatkara, acts that attract and cause wonder. You see a flower.

You long to hold it in your hand only when its colour or fragrance is

attractive. Attraction is the very nature of the Divine

A worthless steel lump is transformed by skilful manipulation and

reconstruction into a watch that is worth several hundred rupees; this is the

result of samskara, which turned it into a useful tool for indicating time.

Thus human can also be transformed into a noble, efficient, happy and

disciplined member of society by the implanting of good thoughts, good

feelings, good deeds and good emotions.

You may be great scholars or intellectual giants. There are many Nobel

laureates. How many remember them? But the great benefactors of mankind, the

men of noble qualities, are cherished by all mankind. They have earned their

good name by their faith in God, their character, magnanimity and. spirit of

sacrifice.

How did a highwayman like Rathnakara become the immortal author of the great

epic Ramayana? By continuous chanting of the name of the lord, as taught to him

by seven great sages, his face acquired a new effulgence and he could become

the sage Valmiki, who is immortalized as the author of the Ramayana. He

composed his work to please the Lord. Take the case of Sage Vyasa. He was

the author of eighteen puranas (ancient spiritual epics). He wrote the

Mahabharata and many other great works. But it was only when he was filled with

divine fervour and wrote the Bhagavatham that he became enshrined in the hearts

of the people. Valmiki and Vyasa have become immortal through their devotion.

Pothana, the author of the Telugu Bhagavatham began writing his epic with an

invocation in which he declared: "What is being composed is Bhagavatham. The one

who inspires the writer is Ramachandhra. Pothana began composing his magnum opus

with the feeling that everything he was doing was by the will of Shri Rama.

Four Purusharthas (Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha) are regarded in common

parlance as the purposes of human life. They are given a worldly meaning. But

their real meaning is spiritual. The foremost purpose of the four Purusharthas

is to make human realise that the primary duty is to transform from Man (Human

being) to Madhava (God, the Lord of the Universe). The word Purusha does not

signify the masculine gender as is commonly assumed. It refers to the Atma, the

Supreme Consciousness, which has no gender and which is immanent in all beings.

(The real meaning of Purusharthas is to make use of the time and the

circumstances as they arise for making one's life meaningful and sublime. We

have to effect a remarkable spiritual transformation in the world today. When

we bring about a great spiritual transformation, then there will be real

peace).

The true Dharma of every human being is to make every endeavour to realise

the Divine. The process by which this consummation can be reached constitutes

Dharma. Dharma should lead to Self-realisation. Similarly, Artha does not mean,

as commonly understood, the accumulation of property and wealth. The real wealth

that the human should acquire is the wisdom that is related to the Divine. The

word Kama is generally associated with worldly desires and sensual pleasures.

But, when it is considered as the Purushartha, it relates to the yearning for

God and not to mundane desires. The term Moksha is generally understood as

referring to themeans by which one reaches God or Heaven. But Moksha in the

true sense refers to a state in which nothing is lacking and there is no

incoming or going out. It is a state without name or form. It is not a specific

place to go to. It is the attainment of unity with the Divine.

For every human being, the first task, among the four Purusharthas, must be

to determine what is permanent and what is transient and seek the eternal

Madhava. The second objective is the acquisition of the Divine Wisdom as the

real wealth. The third is to develop faith in God and yearn for realisation of

mergence in God. The fourth is Moksha, the state of Self-realisation in which

there is no change and there is no movement.

The supreme virtue in a human is to forget the individual differences with

others and move with them in a spirit of equality and harmony. Fulfillment in

life is not attained by physical health and strength alone. Even when the

stomach is full, the mind must get satisfaction. When both the mind and the

body are hale and well can one experience happiness. Human is endowed by

Divine grace with physical, mental and spiritual potencies of many kinds. The

mind is the source of all powers. Only when the mind is subdued can man realise

the Divine.

There are many ways in which the basic human values which are interrelated

-Truth, Righteousness, Peace, Love and Non-violence - can be practised in the

day-to-day conduct of business. There are, for example, different aspects of

management such as marketing, finance, industrial relations, etc., but the most

importantaspect is "man-management." With regards to Truth, it is often said

that to be truthful in business will result in loss. This is not so. Though

initially there may be some difficulty, in course of time integrity and honesty

will bring their own reward. Running a business honestly must be regarded as a

form of social service and spiritual sadhana. In the practice of Dharma,

marketing practices should be fair to the consumers and there should be justice

in the dealings with the workers. Prema must express itself in the business

world by the executives developing the feeling that all engaged in the business

- managers, workers and others - are members of one family. They must develop

fraternal feelings towards all. With mutual love and regard, industrial harmony

can be achieved.

As regards Ahimsa, in the context of industrial management, it has a wider

social meaning than merely avoiding causing harm to others. The avoidance of

pollution of the atmosphere or of natural resources like rivers is one of the

ways in which an enterprise practises Ahimsa.

 

For achieving anything, strong determination is necessary. It is comparable

to a kind of electrical energy. You must ensure that your vision is pure,

sacred and pleasing. Do not taint or pollute your sight by looking at

undesirable objects. Do not look at anything with bad thoughts. Then you have

circulating in the entire body a magnetic/electromagnetic energy. Although this

energy is present throughout the body, its presence is conspicuous in the hand.

Swami directs the young generation to make use of their education for public

welfare.

There are no doubt to take up a job for earning a living. See that the work

you do justifies the emoluments you get. It is treason to the nation to receive

thousands by way of salary and do hardly a few hundred rupees worth of work.

Today such disloyal employees are, increasing in numbers all over the world.

High salaries and poor turnout are the rule today. Discharge your duties

according to your conscience. There is nothing wrong in receiving a high salary

provided you do the work to deserve it.

(It is not easy to bring back the glorious days of the past. Young people

cannot be aware of the times when a bag of rice could be got for four rupees,

when people could go about without any fear of attack and houses could be left

unlocked. Today fear stalks the country. No one is safe. For all these evils

the insatiable craving for money is responsible. The craving for wealth has led

to many other evils like jealousy and pride.The similar problems are in all

countries).

God can never give up the devotee. It is the devotee who gives up God. God

can never forget the devotee. It is the devotee who forgets God. God is never

away from you. Only the devotee is away from God. You thinkthat God is moving

away from you. Not at all. Your own feelings are reflected in your utterances.

Develop your own good qualities and share them with others and dedicate your

activity to social service. (Reet's compilation from, Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol.

13. "Signs and wonders," Chapter 25; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 18. "World needs

spiritual transformation," Chapter 1 and "Unity : key to rural progress,"

Chapter 6; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 23. "Human values in business management,"

Chapter 3; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 29. "Learning a lesson from a child,"

Chapter 2).

PS: Spelling the names as I have already mentioned , by Vahini org. Glossary

 

http://www.vahini.org/glossary/m.html

Namaste - Reet