OFFLOAD IMPURITIES FROM THE MIND

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OFFLOAD IMPURITIES FROM THE MIND

Baba said, "When the heart is pure, there is no difficulty, whatsoever. Why

should one be afraid of any one if there be no evil thought in us?" in Sri Sai

Satcharitra, ch. XLIX.

In the olden days, a young woman was living with her 3-year-old son in a house

near the banks of a river. In the hot summer season the waters of the river had

receded and people would walk across knee-deep waters to cross the river. The

woman left her house and went across the river to gather some wood from the

countryside. When she came back to the river, to her horror, she saw the river

in floods. Lots of heavy rains in the mountain regions caused the waters to

make the river swell with water. The woman was worried about her 3-year-old

son. He could wander around to the rapidly flowing waters of the river and can

drown. The mother was getting hysterical with fear and worry.

Just then two young and well built Brahmacharis (celibate students) were passing

by and the mother, crying and begging, asked the Brahmacharis to help her go

across the river. She told them about her 3-year-old son left alone to play by

the house.

The Brahmacharis remembered the strict rules that they should not touch any

female, lest that could arouse desires. That they should not be in the company

of any females.

One Brahmachari whose name was Harshananda, reminded himself of the strict rules

and said he cannot help the young woman. The other Brahmachari whose name was

Devananda, immediately carried the mother on his shoulders and started swimming

across the strong currents of the river. He safely delivered the mother to the

other side of the river and swam back.

The Brahmacharis resumed their journey towards the Ashram where they were

staying with their Guru. Harshananda, who refused to help could not believe the

breach of the strict regulations and was constantly harping on it, muttering and

thinking about it all the way.

When they reached the Ashram, the Guru asked them how their day went. The

irritated Brahmachari Harshananda immediately spoke out in strong condemnation

about the behaviour of his companion. Then the Guru asked the other

Brahmachari.

Devananda said: I carried the mother across the river and forgot all about it

but it seems my friend is still carrying the woman in his mind.

The Guru was pleased with Devananda who used his discrimination and helped the

mother and spoke about the true meaning of hypocrisy as taught in the Bhagavad

Gita.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

A map of daily life:

Aspire each day to live a holy life. Therefore note the following:

Never speak untruth.

Always avoid slander.

Heal divisions.

Strive for harmony.

Be compassionate to all creatures.

Shun luxuries, shows, idle talk, vain arguments.

Spend some time in silence and meditation.

Abandon incontinence.

Live in perfect charity.

Sing the Holy Name.

And breathe out peace to all beings.

(Sadhu Vaswani)

Tamaso Ma Jyotirgamaya......

Question: Is it possible to speak to Iswara (God) as Sri Ramakrishna did?

Sri Ramana Maharshi: When we speak to each other why should we not speak to Iswara in the same way?

Question: Then why does it not happen with us?

Sri Ramana Maharshi: It requires purity and strength of mind and practice in meditation.

Question: Does God become evident if the above conditions exist?

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Such manifestations are as real as your own reality. In

other words, when your identify yourself with the body, as in the waking state,

you see gross objects. When in the subtle body or in the mental plane as in

dreams, you see objects equally subtle. In the absence of identification in

deep sleep you see nothing. The objects seen bear a relation to the state of

the seer. The same applies to visions of God.

By long practice the figure of God, as meditated upon, appears in dreams and may

later appear in the waking state also.