YOU ARE GOD YOURSELF - Swami’s discourse on Christmas day on 25-12-2003

[Guest guest]

 Om Sri Sai Ram

 

YOU ARE GOD YOURSELF

Swami’s discourse on Christmas day on 25-12-2003

For the sake of young Prahalada,For the desperate elephant king,For the infant

Dhruva, steadfast in devotionFor the indigent Kuchela, prolific in family,

pauper in substance,The lotus-eyed Vishnu, extolled by the Vedas,The ever

compassionate one of manifold bounties conferred:Take all these together, the

Lord of Lords is now incarnate,The embodiment of love and compassion of all the

above,And more.

(Telugu Poem)

Embodiments of Love!

Where is God? When does He incarnate? Where does He incarnate? These are the

questions that are troubling the minds of people today. God is omnipresent. All

are the embodiments of God. Today, people attribute various names and forms to

God like Rama, Krishna and Jesus, and celebrate their birthdays. Truly

speaking, can there be a birthday for God? No. To think that God took birth on

a particular day in a year is a sign of ignorance. God is in the form of breath

in every man. 'Soham', this symbolizes the process of inhalation and exhalation.

'So' means 'That' (God), 'Ham' stands for 'I' (individual). Though there are two

words, namely God and individual, there is no difference between them. They are

one and the same. God in fact has no birth. He does not need to achieve any

goals. However, in order to instill faith in the minds of people,

He incarnates. If there is birth, there has to be death too. But, God is beyond

birth and death. He has neither a beginning nor an end. To think there is a

birthday for God is only your imagination. Devotees limit God to a physical

frame, worship Him and celebrate His birthdays. That is all a figment of their

imagination and does not correspond to the truth,

Every day, in this world, many are born and many die. What is meant by birth and

death? To assume a body is birth and to cast off the same is death. It is out of

illusion that man experiences the dualities of birth and death, whereas God

transcends both. Sarvatah Panipadam Tat Sarvathokshi Siromukham, Sarvatah

Sruthimalloke Sarvamavruthya Tishthati (with hands, feet, eyes, head, mouth and

ears pervading everything, He permeates the entire universe). It is out of

ignorance that man is caught in the cycle of birth and death. The Will of God

causes birth and death.

God is the very personification of love. He is present in all beings in the form

of the life-breath. Since ancient times, people have made concerted efforts to

understand the mystery of birth and death. One need not go that far to

understand this mystery. The body, which we have assumed, makes us experience

it every moment the process of inhalation and exhalation symbolizes birth and

death. Man is unable to understand the inner significance of this breathing

process. What is it that man is supposed to do, to escape from the cycle of

birth and death? He should develop love more and more. But, today man does not

love his fellow human beings even. That does not mean that he lacks love. There

is love in him but he is unable to experience it. He should attach value to the

principle of Love and not merely to

individuals.

When we inhale ('So), the life principle enters our body and when we exhale

('Ham') it goes out. Every moment this process of inhalation arid-halation

reminds us of our inherent divinity (I am God), SO long as there is life-breath

the body is considered to be Sivam (auspicious). Once the life-breath ebbs away,

it becomes Savam (corpse). Both birth and death are related to the body and not

to the life principle. Many changes take place between birth and death in a

mysterious way. It is God who is responsible for all these. But some people

deny the existence of God and waste their time in vain argumentation. God DOES

exist. He neither comes nor goes. He is present everywhere at all times. Man

experiences birth and death because of his body attachment. He will be released

from the cycle of birth and death only when he gives up body attachment

and surrenders himself completely to the Will of God.

Oh God, I offer the sacred heart to You which You have given me.

What else can I offer at Your Lotus Feet? I pray that You accept my humble offering.

(Telugu Poem)

Birth and death arise out of illusion. Every day in this world, many beings are

born and many die. Birth and death happen according to the time and

circumstances. Between birth and death, man gets deluded by the physical body

and develops various relationships at the physical level. He identifies himself

with the body and gets carried away by the feeling of I and mine. This is a

grave mistake. So long as the body lasts, you are related to so and so. Once

the body perishes, what happens to your relationship? True relationship lies at

the Atmic level and not at the physical level. Prior to birth who is related to

whom? What happens after death? In fact, both birth and death are the results

of bhrama (delusion) because of which you are unable to realise Brahma

(Divinity). As we are enmeshed in this worldliness, we are unable to comprehend

the

transcendental principle.True spiritual practice lies in understanding one's

true identity. One should enquire, "Who am I"? All the spiritual practices are

meant to make you realise who you really are. Everyone uses the term 'I' while

introducing himself. It means that the principle of 'I' (Self) present in you

is the same as the one in others. But man is unable to understand this oneness.

He is carried away by the differences based on physical body. Consequently, he

is giving room to conflicts and unrest.

Embodiments of Love!

Birth and death are related to the body and not to the individual soul. Mind is

responsible for both. Everything is man's own making. Life is a dream. How can

anything that appears in a dream be true? It is all a mere illusion. So long as

you are immersed in this bhrama (delusion), you cannot have the vision of

Brahma. It is, only when you break the shackles of illusion, can you experience

the reality.

You can understand your true identity by observing your breathing process. But

man is riot interested in such an easy and simple path. He is taking to rough

and difficult paths and is ultimately getting frustrated. So long as there is a

thorn in the flesh, it hurts. Body attachment is like a thorn, which is the

cause of all suffering. Once you give up body attachment you will know your

true Self. You suffer because you identify yourself with the, body. It is but

an illusion. That is why Sankaracharya said:

Punarapi Jananam Punarapi Maranam Punarapi Janani Jathare SayanamIha Samsare

Bahu Dustare Kripayapale Pahi Murare

(From birth to birth From death to deathFrom womb to wombTarrying a whileStitch

is the sojournOf this transient life,Oh destroyer of the demon Mura,Be my

boatmanOn this turbulent oceanBy your bounteous grace)One need not undertake

intense spiritual practices to cross the ocean of Samsara. All that has to do)

is to contemplate on God incessantly though God is within, man is unable to

realise Him. In the dream state, man may experience death and feel sad about

it. When he wakes up, lie will heave a sigh of relief realising that what he

saw was only a dream. Then who was the one who died in the dream? It

was just a creation of the mind. Similarly even in the waking state whatever man

experiences is a creation of the mind. My father, my mother, my wife, my

children etc all such feelings arise out of illusion. They do not correspond to

reality It is because of illusion that man develops physical relationships and

ultimately subjects himself to suffering. When man develops, pure and unsullied

love, he will not experience pain or suffering. Love for the physical body is

false and fleeting. Love for the Self is true and eternal. In order to

understand the truth of your identity, you should enquire within.

Once Sankaracharya was proceeding to the river Ganga along with his disciples.

On the way, he found a person sitting under a tree and repeating Dukrun Karane,

Dukrun Karane. He was in fact trying to master the rules of Panini's grammar.

Sankara took pity on him and advised him to contemplate on the Lord instead of

wasting his time in the acquisition of worldly knowledge.

Bhaja Govindam, Bhaja GovindamGovindam Bhaja Moodha MatheSamprapthe Sannihithe

KaleNahi Nahi Rakshati Dukrun Karane.

(Oh foolish man, chant the name of Lord Govinda; the rules of grammar will not

come to your rescue when the end approaches.)

Bhrama and Brahma are based on your mind. They are not present outside. Brahma

is within you, But as you are immersed in bhrama (delusion), you consider

Brahma (Divinity) to be a distant entity. Once you realise that you are Brahma,

you will be free from Bhrama once for all. You suffer ­because you identify

yourself with the body. Once you get rid of body attachment, you will

experience everlasting happiness.Embodiments of Love

Pleasure and pain are your own making. God does not give them. You are the cause

of your suffering, none else. Understand this truth. From the spiritual point of

view, pleasure, pain and the worldly relationships are illusory. They are not

real. Right from dawn to dusk, man is leading a life of delusion. Having been

born as a human being, man should experience the truth. The physical body grows

for a certain period and later on becomes weak and decrepit. Birth and growth

are related to the body, which is unreal. But man considers body to be real and

thereby suffers. When you see with your eyes wide open, you are able to see many

people. But, when you close your eyes, you cannot see anybody. From where do so

many people come when you open your eyes? Where do they go when you close your

eyes? You do not know. In fact, you do not know the

place of your origin and also your destination. That is why you suffer. Once you

realise that you are not the body and nothing in this world belongs to you, you

will not suffer. Everything in this world is of your own making. Nothing is

real.

Embodiments of love!

It is only, God, the embodiment of love, who is with you and in you always.

Bereft of love, man cannot exist. Love is your life. Love is the light that

dispels the darkness of ignorance. One who does not cultivate love will be born

again and again. Punarapi Jananam Punarapi Maranam. Whoever is born will die one

day and whoever dies will be born again. Birth and death are the Prabhava

(effect) of the objective world. As the Prabhava deludes him, man is subjecting

himself to Pramada (danger).

Embodiments of Love!

Worldly love is transient; it cannot be called love at all. True love is

immortal. You should cultivate such love. Physical body grows and decays. How

can you consider it to be real? In fact, nothing in this world is real. Body

attachment is the cause of delusion. Hence, gradually reduce your body

attachment. This is the most important Sadhana you have to undertake. Japa

(chanting), Thapas (penance), Dhyana (meditation), Yoga (communion with God),

etc., do not constitute true Sadhana. Whatever you consider to be real is in

fact unreal. Whatever is unreal has to be given up. This truth has to be

understood in the first instance. It is very easy to give up body attachment. I

wonder why people are not able to do so!

You can see a number of bulbs glowing in this hall. But the electric current

passing through them is the same. Bodies are like bulbs and the principle of

Atma is like the current passing through all the bulbs. Understand this oneness

and share your love with one and all. Do not consider anyone to be your enemy.

You consider the one who loves you to be your friend and the one who hates you

to be your foe. In fact, there is neither friend a nor a foe. It is only your

imagination.

Today, people perform various Sadhanas to experience divinity. Will God come

closer to you because of these Sadhanas or does He go away from you if you do

not perform them? No. It is only the bhrama that goes away from you when you

perform the Sadhanas. As a result, you become closer to Brahma. You should make

every effort to get rid of bhrama.

Give up the feeling that you are the body and you are the doer. Only then can

you be free from delusion and fear. Reduce your body attachment. That is the

Sadhana you are supposed to undertake. Spiritual practice does not lie in the

performance of Japa, Thapas, Dhyana, etc. They are done only for your mental

satisfaction and not for having the vision of God. Give up all these practices.

Develop firm faith that you are God. Remind yourself constantly, "I am God, I am

God, I am God". Then you will become God. Body is merely the vesture you have

put on. It is not your true Self. As the body attachment increases, the

suffering also increases.

Tyaja Durjana Samsargam; Bhaja Sadhu Samagamam; Kuru Punyam Ahorathram (Give up

bad company; join good company and perform meritorious deeds day and night). In

this world, you see many names and forms. Does it mean that they are all

different from each other? No. All are one. It is only divinity that expresses

itself as mother, father, brother, sister, etc. Names and forms may be

different, but the underlying truth is one. When you keep this principle of

truth in view, love will flow from you incessantly. Immerse yourself in the

river of love. Do not give up love under any circumstances. Even if someone

were to hate you, treat him as your own brother. If you were to meet him on the

road, do not show anger; greet him with love. Your love will certainly bring

about transformation in him. True happiness lies in the spirit of sacrifice.

Thyaga

(sacrifice) is the true Yoga. Man, today, does not cultivate Thyaga. On the

other hand, he seeks Bhoga (pleasure) and thereby subjects himself to Roga

(disease). When you develop the spirit of sacrifice, you will be free from

suffering. True spiritual practice is that which helps you to overcome

delusion. What is the use, if you get drowned in delusion more and more with

the advancement of age?

“I am not the body, nothing is mine." This is what you should know. Question

yourself, "Who am I"? You will get the reply, "I am I". When you understand and

experience this truth, nobody can cause any suffering to you. You cannot escape

from suffering so long as you are immersed in the dualistic feeling that you

are a mere mortal and God is separate from you. The feeling that "I am separate

from you" is your own imagination. When 'I' and 'You' are joined together, it

becomes 'we'. However, 'we' + 'He' (God) becomes only 'He' who is changeless.

'I' and 'you' change constantly.

Embodiments of Love!

Many people do Sadhana like Japa and Dhyana, but they are not of much use.

However, they lead to some change in due course of time. They may confer

temporary results but they cannot grant eternal bliss. You should not worry for

temporary results. The feeling of 'I' and 'mine' is the root cause of worry. You

will be haunted by worry so long as you don't realise Hari (God). You are

worried because you identify yourself with the body. Once you identify yourself

with the Self (God), you will be free from all worries. Hence, you should make

every effort to realise your true Self. Under any circumstances, do not shed

tears of sorrow. One will be free from sorrow when one gives up body

attachment. In order to be free from worry and fear and to attain everlasting

peace, you should realise that "I am 1". When you have firm belief in this

statement,

nothing can shake you. Do not develop undue attachment to the body and material

possessions. You will be redeemed only when you lead your life with a spirit of

sacrifice. What you should achieve is Thyaga and not Bhoga. To consider

something as yours ('rnine') is Bhoga. To realise that nothing is yours ('not

mine') is Yoga. This Yoga bestows on you the true strength.

Jesus performed various types of Sadhanas and ultimately realised this truth.

Once Mary and Joseph took their child Jesus to a fair in Jerusalem. In the

crowd, the parents lost trace of Jesus and searched for him everywhere. All the

while, Jesus was sitting in a comer of the temple and listening to the sermon of

the priest. The parents were searching for him outside the temple. Mother Mary

ultimately found him in the temple. She rushed towards him and affectionately

embraced him saying, "My son, what happened to you? Where had you gone? We have

been in search of you." Jesus told her, "Mother, I have not stepped out of the

temple. I have been listening to the sermon of the priest. Why should you have

any fear? Those who believe in the world will have fears. But, why should

anyone believing in God, fear at all? I am in the company of my

Father, why do you fear?"

Forgetting your innate divinity, you are in search of God in the external world.

You are God yourself, Is it not foolishness to search for yourself in the

outside world? Look within, only then can you find God. It is very easy to

understand this oneness. However, you should have firm faith to begin with. You

should believe that God is not separate from you. On a deep enquiry, you will

realise that God is in you and also outside.

Embodiments of Love!

Turn your vision inward and search for your true Self. Self-enquiry leads to

true Sakshatkara (vision of God). Once you have Sakshatkara, you will be free

from all worries. It is a mistake to say that you have not experienced God. He

is present in you. A person kept a ten-rupee note in a book and forgot about

it. He was carrying it all along. One day he was in need of ten rupees. He

asked his friend to lend him ten rupees. His friend readily agreed. But before

giving the money, his friend wanted to see the book he was carrying. As he

opened the book, the ten-rupee note fell from it. He was happy that he had the

required amount with him and that there was no need to borrow it from his

friend. Likewise, today man is in search of God, as he has forgotten his innate

divinity. Man can realise God only by

self-enquiry.

Embodiments of Love! Students!

You are making various efforts to experience Divinity. Do not search for God

outside. He is in you. Everything is in you. All that you see outside is

illusory. Do not be carried away by the illusory world. Only then can you

attain peace and ultimately realise the truth "I am I". To know this simple

truth, you need not go through various sacred texts. Keep the texts aside.

Enjoy the taste of divinity within. Develop inner vision and visualize your

true Self.

(Bhagawan concluded His Discourse with the Bhajan, "Bhaja Govindam ... ")

Sent with Sai love,

Sai brothers – ‘’

 

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