Swami teaches... Human's progress needs in internal change of mind

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Sai Ram Light and Love

Swami teaches...

Human's Progress Needs in Internal Change of Mind

You see a plane zooming in the sky; some one tells you that it is flown by a

pilot, but, you refuse to believe, because you do not see him from where you

are. Is this correct? You must go into the plane to see the pilot; you cannot

deny his existence, standing on the ground. You have to guess that the plane

must have a pilot.

So too seeing the Universe, you have to guess the existence of God, not deny

Him because you are not able to see him. People do not believe in God, but, they

believe newspapers and the news they publish about things they do not see or

cannot see.

Even if human does not attempt to seek God, he can at least seek to get

peace, joy, happiness and independence. (Atheism is not more profitable than

theism. The atheist simply transfers the burden from the head to the shoulders,

denying that there is no head. The burden has to be borne, but only with greater

hardship).

Those who deny God are denying themselves and their glory. All have Love in

their hearts, in some form or other, either towards the children or the poor or

their work or goal. That Love is God, the spark of the Godly in them. They have

ananda (bliss), however small or temporary, and that is a spark of God and the

Godly. They have peace, detachment, sympathy. All these are reflections of the

Divine on the mirror of their minds. These are all mental excellences, revealed

through an appreciation of the advantages of virtue.

 

Person differs from person, in this struggle against the inner foes. Each

gets the result that his/her sadhana deserves, that person acts in this and

previous births deserve. Life is not a mechanical formula, where 2 plus 2

always make 4. To some, it may be 3, to others, 5. It depends on how each

values the 2. Moreover, in the spiritual path, each one has to move forward

from where one already is, according to own pace, the light of the lamp which

each one holds in his own hand. The demons were too conceited to bend before

the Lord; they put too much trust in arms and number; they ignored the subtler

and stronger forces of the spirit, which could carrymountains, bridges, oceans

and annihilate the anger of the elements.

 

1. You must strive to diagnose your own character and discover the faults

that are infesting it. This self-examination is necessary to bring to light the

defects that might undermine one's spiritual career.

2, Discover for yourself your stage of spiritual development, to which class

in the school you would fit in. Ponder over your present condition, direction of

movement, capabilities and inclinations. Then determine to proceed from that

class to the next higher one. Then, enter upon the path of sadhana step by

step, so that you approach the goal faster every day, every hour, every minute.

Strive your best and you will win the Grace of God. Do not bargain or despair.

One step at a time is enough, provided it is towards the goal, not away from

it. Beware of the pride of wealth, of scholarship, of status, that drag you

into egoism.

3. Do not condemn the mind as a monkey (however, where senses where out of

own control, mind acts as monkey-mind and leads to delusion). In essence it is

a fine instrument with which you can win liberation. But it depends on how you

manipulate it. It will carry out your orders to the minutest detail. It will

lead you along the royal road, right up to the door of Self-realisation. Or it

will make you wander about in the blind alleys, where every step lands you in

dirt.

4. Consider the true nature bhoga or luxury, a thing that drags people away

into excitement and insane pursuits. All the variety in taste, colour, smell of

the multiform items of food is, when you consider it fairly and squarely, a mere

drug to cure the illness of hunger; all the drinks that has invented are but

drugs to alleviate the illness of thirst. Person suffers from the fever of the

senses and tries the quack remedies of recreations, pleasures, picnics,

banquets, dances etc., only to find that the fever does not subside. The fever

can subside only when the hidden virus is rendered ineffective. That virus will

die only when the rays of jnana (spiritual wisdom) fall upon it.

5, Life is a campaign against foes, it is a battle with obstacles,

temptations, hardships, hesitations. These foes are within and so, the battle

has to be incessant and perpetual. Like the virus that thrives on the

bloodstream, the vices of lust, greed, hate, malice, pride and envy sap the

energy and faith of human. (There are two things that draw human's mind,

hitha and priya (the beneficial and the pleasant). Prefer the beneficial to the

pleasant, for the pleasant might lead you down the sliding path into the

bottomless pit. The true doctor is interested in curing you of all illness and

so, he advises hitha to restore your health; Swami's Teaching is such a

doctor).

6. You must learn how to know others and more than that, how to know

yourselves. You are most curious about others. But, you do not know your own

lineage, property, your heritage and status. You are Manuja, born of Manu (the

first earthly creature created from Brahma), the person who laid down the moral

code which is your property. You have the Lord installed in your heart and so,

you are essentially Divine.

The Divine can be known only by those who know the signs, the

characteristics, the special excellences, by a study of the scriptures. There

is a special science relating to that. Simply because you have a tongue and

canwag, do not cast aspersions against the path of God or against the Divine.

There was a great Pandith well versed in Sanathana Dharma and deeply attached

to its practice. He sent his son overseas for higher education. He took him to

the temple of his family deity, Kalimaatha, and with tears of gratitude in his

eyes, he showered on his head the sacred prasad of Kalimaatha. He wrote to him

often, pleading that he should keep up the rites of worship, even in the

strange lands to which he had gone.

After some years, the boy returned by plane, in outlandish clothes, but the

pious father believed that his deeper convictions had not altered. He took him

first to the temple of Kalimaatha, for he felt that he had returned safe and

strong as a result of Her Blessings. He begged the son to pray. He was shocked

to hear the boy address the Goddess, "Hello, Mrs. Shiva! How do you do?" The

old man's heart broke at the discovery that his son had cut himself away from

the sustaining principles of Sanathana Dharma with its cardinal principles are

sathya, dharma, santhi and prema (truth, virtue, peace and love).

 

Human's progress depends on strength of mind and purity of feelings. His

mental condition and the actions which rise from feelings, these two decide

whether one will be bound or free, happy or miserable, rising or falling. These

sankalpas (thoughts) motivate the senses and initiate activities that reveal

their real nature. When a pebble is dropped into a well, the ripple causes

further ripples and the entire surface is affected. So too, when an intention

enters the mind, the waves it causes envelop the body and prompts many

activities.

When the will is pure, activities are also pure. So, one has to be vigilant.

As soon as an intention is formed inthe mind, examine it to find out whether it

deserves to be put into action or whether it is unworthy to be acted upon. The

intellect must be called in to conduct this examination.

Evil company is easily secured; good company has to be sought and struggled

for. To fall is quite easy; to climb requires strength of will. Therefore,

human is tempted to choose the easier path. The objective world is an image, a

reflection. When you take a shave standing before a mirror, you do not apply

the razor to the image. You apply it to the actual face. God is reflected in

the mirror (the objective world). You can see His image in human and beast and

bird, in plant and tree and grass, in every cell and atom. But human is

enamoured of the mirror and of the reflections, not knowing the original which

is imaged therein.

 

Being extraordinary, human is now descending to levels which are below

ordinary. Like the animals of the desert, human is running towards the mirage

to slake his thirst. He claims to have mastered the senses and all low desires

but they sprout at the first chance, like grass after the first shower after

summer.

Why must human live for years - a burden on earth, so much of rice or wheat

consumed year after year, with no return in joy or peace to him/herself or

others? Unable to grasp that Supreme Power, and to understand its

manifestations, human envelopes in doubt and delusion. Pain puts a stop to joy;

joy is but the absence of pain.

Human does not realise that the end of this cycle of birth and death is in

own hands. The tree came from the seed and the seed from the tree and so on,

from the beginning of time. You may not know which came first, tree or seed;

but, you can easily put an end to the cycle, by frying the seed.

What exactly is the aim and purpose of all the Sastras (scriptures), the

Bhagavatham (containing tales about Avataras of Vishnu), the Puraanas

(mythological tales), these discourses, and other sacred texts? It is to tell

human the truth about him/herself. That is not the desire of the sages who

wrote down these annals and their own experiences. You know only the present,

what is happening before your eyes; you do not know that the Present is related

to the Past and is preparing the course of the Future.

Vidhya (knowledge) as the truth about him/herself must awaken the latent

consciousness and become aware of the Atma that underlies all its levels.

How can one earn Vidhya? Of course, human's present situation and status are

determined by acts and thoughts in the past. The dog has to lap water with its

tongue, even if it tries to quench its thirst at a flooded river. It cannot

drink deep mouthfuls. Human has to formulate plans, respecting the limitations

he/she has imposed. Whether in a holy place or in vile surroundings, whether in

an urban complex or in a rural homestead, attitude and behaviour will only be

in accordance with the bent of mind one has earned already.

On the vast ocean, countless waves are continually forming and disappearing.

Each wave has its own form and shines in many colours. But none of them is

separate from the ocean. Likewise, all the myriad beings in the world have

their different names and forms but are all tiny droplets from the infinite

ocean of Sat-Chit-Ananda (The Cosmic Being-Awareness-Bliss). All beings are

akin to the Atma declare the Bharatiya scriptures. They have affirmed that the

Atma principle isimmanent in all beings as sparks of the Divine. Our sense

organs are not the Atma. Through the senses, things can be seen or touched. But

Atma is separate from the senses. Only the divine Spirit - Atma possesses all

the potencies of the senses.

The Atma has been described as "Sathyam, Sivam, Sundaram" Truth, Goodness

and Beauty. From a worldly point of view, these three qualities appear to be

different from each other. But there can be no Sivam (Goodness) without Sathyam

(Truth). Without Sathyam (Truth) there is no Sundaram (Beauty). Beauty imparts

effulgence to an object. Truth reveals its real nature. The unity of these

three aspects reveals the Divinity of the Atma. That Atma is the embodiment of

Bliss, of Peace, of Love but, without knowing that all these exist in oneself,

human seeks them from outside. The Atma is the source and spring of all joy and

peace; this has to be cognised and dwelt upon.

By ancient Wisdom the knowledge of the Atma is the Light which will

disperse the darkness as well as the doubts and diversities which it creates.

Without this knowledge, human is lost in the wilderness and behaves as if one

has lost all memory.

By pictorial expression it is the Atmic Sweetness that illumines the world.

This Beauty, Sweetness and Bliss are all within you. When you turn your mind to

God, the whole Universe will wear a new aspect. Without this internal

change, all changes in the external physical world are of no avail. Only when

the individual changes, the world will change. Through knowledge, you acquire

humility. Through humility you become worthy of responsibility. Through

responsible positions you get wealth. Through wealth you must practice

righteousness. Righteousness ensures your well-being in this world and the one

beyond it.

The kings in ancient times had for their counsellors great sages, men of

virtue and wisdom, who gave the right advice to the rulers. The sages were

adepts in the practice of mantras and yantras. Pursuing Brahma-Vidya (the

knowledge of the Spirit), they acquired great powers through mantras. They were

endowed withthese powers because they knew how to use them for righteous

purposes. The yantras (weapons) which they wielded were surcharged with the

potency of mantras and hence had tremendous power. These weapons were used for

the good of the world.

Just as the times have changed and conditions of living have changed, the

rigours of sadhana have also to be modified. Doing severe thapas (penance) was

a great and rare achievement in those days; now, repeating the Name of the Lord

(Namasmarana) is becoming as difficult a thapas.

Hence, it is said that Namasmarana (remembrance) is enough; that can be done

along with all other activities of living. It is the inner purity that matters,

not the outer movement of the lips. To evoke the Divine in you, there is no

better method than Namasmarana. You can limit by name and form that with Form

and attributes for the sake of visualising it. Then, by slow stages, you will

find that particular Form enclosing all beings and therefore assuming a

Universal nature. It will gradually drop its boundaries of time and space and

like the blueness of Krishna, pervade the sky and sea and become a symbol for

the depth of Eternity.

This is an exercise that can be practised at all times and places by all,

irrespective of creed or caste or sex or age or economic and social status. It

will keep you in constant touch with the Infinite.

Without surrender, there can be no liberation. So long as you cling to the

narrow "I," the four prison walls will close in on you. Cross out the "I" and

you are free. How to kill the "I?" Place it at the feet of the Lord and say,

"You", not "I" Associate always with the vast, the unlimited, the Divine;

dream and plan to merge with the Absolute; fill your ears with the call from

the beyond and the boundless. Transcend the walls, the bars and bolts, the

locks and chains. You can do so easily by fixing your mind on your own

infinity. (Reet's compilation from, Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 2. "Mahaashakthi,"

Chapter 1 and "The prison walls," Chapter 38; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 6.

"Please man; please God," Chapter 4 and Vol. 6. "The inner wheel," Chapter 7;

Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 4. "The Mani Mantapa," Chapter 5; Sathya Sai Speaks.

Vol. 15. "Two kingdoms with one king," Chapter 36; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 22.

"Power of the spirit," Chapter 22).

Namaste - Reet