HE WHOM CHRIST ANNOUNCED

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professions and roles, their character and characteristics. The individual has

to start observing the limits and laws laid down, and derive joy and strength

thereby. And, then, his cleansed mind will lead the way, to higher and higher

stages. He and the society of which he is a unit will benefit thereby. It is

therefore appropriate that the birthday of Jesus, who felt the need to save

mankind and who strove to achieve it, is celebrated; but, the celebration must

take the form of adherence to the teachings, loyalty to the principles,

practicing the disciplines and experiencing the awareness of the divine that he

sought to arouse. These days, the world is deriving satisfaction in mere words,

and in witnessing clever rules

designed to cover up one's faults. The birthdays of the great are honored by

such hypocrisy and external pomp. There is no examination in the light of the

message they gave, nor, any effort to practice it and derive the bliss it

promises. The great teachers belong to mankind. It is wrong to believe that

Jesus belongs only to the Christians and the Christmas is a holy festival for

the West only. To accept one of them as one's own and discard the rest as

belonging to others, is a sign of pettiness. Christ, Rama, Krishna - they are

for all men everywhere. Man's Life is conditioned by Feelings and Deeds

TEXT-ALIGN: justify">The various limbs and organs together form a body; various

nations and communities together form the world. The sustenance given by divine

grace circulates in every part of the body, helping it to function in unison.

The stream of love, endowed by divine grace, has to circulate in every state

and community to make the world live in peace and joy. If this truth is

realised, there will arise no idea of difference. If the members of a family

are at loggerheads, the lands and other possessions of the family will be

uncared for, and be either wasted or lost. The separation of one member will

also be a big loss, for, the grace that sustains the family will diminish and

get lost. When a hand is amputated, the limb loses its function, and a great

deal of blood too is lost during the

removal. So too, the divine grace of love is lost when a country sets itself

apart; it also becomes a weak and functionless limb of the world community.

Division, difference and distinction cuts one off from the life-giving grace,

that feeds every cell of the body and every individual in the world. The world

is sustained by the selfsame grace. A tree requires for its growth, soil,

sunlight and atmosphere. But, more than these three, it requires the seed.

Man's life is conditioned by feelings and deeds, and the consequences of these

feelings and deeds. But, his existence, his very Is-ness, depends on the will

of God. Growing trees may differ, according to the nature of the soil, the

quantity of sunlight and the quality of the

soil. So too, men may differ according to the consequences of the types of

feelings and deeds that emanate from them. But, just as it is true to say hat

the seeds are he same, is one, without any difference, the variety of forms,

the variety of emotions and attitudes, the variety of communities and loyalties

are the result of man's ignoring his fundamental unity in the one divine will,

and his acting contrary to that unity. Meaning of three Statements made by

Christ The moving water of a river has the moon in its depths; the still water

of a lake has also the moon underneath; the sky has the moon up above. The moon

in the flowing river is broken and

fragmentary, it flows fast, apparently, with the floods. The moon in the lake is

calm, unmoved, undistracted. These two are but reflections of the real moon in

the sky. The moon reflected in the flood is the individual soul, engaged in

activity, embroiled in Maya, cause and effect. The moon reflected in the placid

face of the lake is the Yogi, the saint, who has attained balance, equipoise,

peace, dwelling in the one. The real moon in the sky is the eternal witness,

the absolute, the primal principle. Christ spoke of these three, when He made,

one after the other, three statements. Referring to the active individual soul,

the flickering moon, he said, "I am the messenger of God;" referring to himself

as the Yogi, who has risen beyond dualities, and attained balance, he said, "I

am the son of God". Realising that these two are but reflections, and that

the real moon is the witness in the sky, that he too is the formless, nameless

absolute, he declared, towards the end of his life, "I and my father are one".

All beings are images of the universal Atma, in the names and forms they have

apparently assumed. This is the truth, enclosed, elaborated and demonstrated in

the spiritual texts of India, which form the basis of Bharatheeya culture. The

essence of all religions and faiths then, is this: the merging in this unity.

The goal of all spiritual endeavor is this: the merging in this unity. The

object of all enquiry is this: to cognise this unity. But, this patent fact is

ignored, and persons create strife, anxiety and unrest for themselves and

perpetrate horrors to hold forth the support, the disunity so dear to their

fractioned minds.

justify">People today relish the very Things Religion condemned The passage of

time has clouded the splendor of the message, the fascination exercised by the

material and the worldly has drawn them away from the path, and the expansion

of science and technology has made them conceited and wrong-headed. So, people

now relish the very things prohibited and promote the very things condemned by

religion. All religions teach that one should revere the parents and evince

gratitude to them; but, ridiculing them and neglecting them have become

fashionable now. All religions lay down that the aged are to be honored, since

they are the repositories of experience and their guidance is indispensable;

but, now elders and the aged are treated as

nuisances and handicapped. All religions insist on truth; but now, the man who

sticks to truth is laughed at as if he were a fool. Cruelty and violence,

condemned by all religions, have raised themselves to the status of weapons of

progress and means for desirable ends. However, the basic truths of religion

are not affected or tarnished by the evil that men practice or the competitive

propaganda they indulge in. On Christ's Birthday, sacrifice at least a Desire

or two Only those who are not keen on practicing the message will waste their

energies in condemning other religions and glorifying their own. And, once you

enter sincerely into the path of spiritual

practice, the urge to find faults in others or publish one's own excellencies

will disappear. Such people will celebrate the birthday of the founders in a

spirit of dedication only, deepening the faith in their hearts and revering its

doctrines by more intense practice rather than by more emphatic argumentation.

If one has the yearning to reach the goal, one has to follow the path that

leads to it. When you learn to reach God, you have to observe the guidelines He

has marked out. You need not dwell on His name, or His lineaments all the time!

That may not take you far. But, walk along the path; every step will bring you

near. When you need to reach a village, you have to rise and move towards it;

it will not rise and move towards you! When you need to reach God, rise and

move, as He has directed you to. By this means alone you can make life

worthwhile. Jesus taught simple practical lessons in spiritual advancement for

the good of mankind; he manifested divine powers to instill faith in the

validity of his teachings; he marked out the path that can confer on men the

sweet nectar of Ananda. He exhorted people by precept and example to cultivate

the virtues of charity, compassion, forbearance, love and faith. These are not

separate and distinct qualities, they are only the many facets of the divine in

man, which he has to recognise and develop. Significance of the Story related to

Christ's Birth

Verdana; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">People talk of the sacrifice of Christ as evidence by

his crucifixion. But, he was surrounded and bound, and crowned by the crowd who

captured him with a crown of thorns, and later, nailed to he cross by his

captors. A person bound and beaten by the police cannot say that he has

sacrificed anything, for, he is not a free man. Let us pay attention to the

sacrifice that Jesus made while free, out of his own volition. He sacrificed

his happiness, prosperity, comfort, safety and position; he braved the enmity

of the powerful. He refused to yield or compromise. He renounced the 'ego',

which is the toughest thing to get rid of. Honor him for these. He willingly

sacrificed the desires with which the body torments man; this is sacrifice

greater than the sacrifice of the body under duress. The celebration of his

birthday has to be marked by your sacrificing at least a desire or two, and

conquering at least the mere disastrous urges of the

ego. The followers of Jesus have got broken into schisms on various counts; but,

the life of Christ is a lesson of unity. When Christ was on the cross,

ill-feelings towards the men who tortured Him troubled Him. Suddenly he heard a

voice alerting him, "All life is one, my dear son! Be alike to every one!" This

was followed by another admonition, "Death is the dress of life". As one casts

off the worn clothes and dons another set, so, the soul dons and doffs bodies.

Therefore, Jesus was warned against hate and ill-feelings, as well as the

lamentation to which man is heir. Manifestations seen when Christ was born

0in 6pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">The lives of such personalities are lived out, in

order to establish the welfare of humanity, the prosperity and peace of the

world, and individual liberation from bondage to sensual desires and passions.

This is illustrated by the strange phenomenons that occur at the time of their

advent. It is believed that when Christ was born there were such

manifestations. The ruler of the realm had ordered a census, and each had to be

counted in his own village. So Mary and her husband moved along the road that

led to his native village. Mary was with child; the pains started midway; they

knew no one in the hamlet through which they were passing; so they took refuge

in a cowshed. Joseph made ready the space between the cows, and went out into

the road at midnight, to seek some woman who could help. But, soon, he heard

the baby's cry.

justify">And, the story says, there was a star in the sky, which fell with a new

light, and this led a few Tibetans and others to the place where the savior was

born. This story is read and taken on trust by many, though stars do not fall

or even slide down so suddenly. What the story signifies is this: There was a

huge halo of splendor illuminating the sky over the village when Christ was

born. This meant that he, who was to overcome the darkness of evil and

ignorance, had taken birth, that he will spread the light of love in the heart

of man and councils of humanity. Use and Misuse of Wealth and Wisdom

10pt">Appearances of splendor, and other signs to herald the era that has dawned

are natural when incarnations happen on earth. Jesus was to shatter the darkness

that had enveloped the world and the aura of light was a sign that announced the

event. The masters arrive in answer to man's prayer. "Thamaso Maa Jyothir

Gamaya" (Lead us from darkness unto light!). If each one does his duty, in the

spirit of dedication, the light can illumine all, but, if the doors of the

heart are shut against the light, how can darkness disappear? You cannot sit

back, and expect the incarnation to bring peace and joy into you. The

incarnation comes to warn, to guide, to awaken, to day down the path, and shed

the light of love on it. But, man has to listen, learn and obey with hope and

faith. There is a tale told of old that wisdom and wealth once quarreled loud

and long, about their relative importance. Wealth argued that without it, the

body will be weak, the brain hazy and wisdom a will-o'-the-wisp. Wisdom

retorted that, without it, man cannot even distinguish wealth from non-wealth

or know how to earn it or use it. The soul intervened and told them that they

were both equally important, but, only when properly used. Wealth without

wisdom becomes an instrument of exploitation and tyranny; wisdom without wealth

becomes mere fantasy and a bundle of blueprint. Use makes them worthwhile;

misuse makes them disastrous. It is like the knife in the hands of a maniac,

which becomes an instrument for murder; in the hands of a surgeon, it becomes

an instrument, which saves a life! Are you doing good with

wealth? Are you benefiting others by means of wisdom? - that is the test. This

day, Christmas, when we celebrate the birth of Christ, resolve to lead the

lives of loving service to the weak, the helpless, the distressed, and the

disconsolate. Cultivate tolerance and forbearance, charity and magnanimity.

Hold dear the ideals he laid down and practice them, in your daily lives. The

best Way of celebrating the Birth of Christ The ways in which Christmas is

being celebrated now, show, how far men have moved away from those ideals, how

much ignominy they are heaping on his name! The midnight hour is revered;

illumination is arranged; the Christmas tree is set up;

and then, the night is spent in drinking and dance. It is a day of holy Ananda,

but, the Ananda is reduced to the level of the poisoning excitement of

intoxication! Drink is so pernicious an evil habit, that when man puts the

bottle in, he himself gets into the bottle and cannot escape! First man drinks

wine, then the wine drinks more wine; and finally, the wine drinks man himself!

He is sunk and drowned in drink. Liquor destroys the humanity in man! How then

can it develop the divinity in him? One must dance in divine bliss; instead,

sensual dance is indulged in as a deleterious substitute! Make your hearts

pure, your activities holy, and your feelings beneficial to all. That is the

best way of celebrating the birth of Christ.

10pt">There is one point that I cannot but bring to your special notice today.

At the moment when Jesus was merging in the supreme principle of divinity, he

communicated some news to his followers, which has been interpreted in a

variety of ways by commentators and those who relish the piling of writings on

writings and meanings upon meanings, until it all swells up into a huge mess.

Christ's Announcement of the Advent of Baba The statement itself has been

manipulated and tangled into a conundrum. The statement of Christ is simple:

"He who sent me among you will come again!" and he pointed to a lamb. The lamb

is merely a symbol, a sign. It stands for the voice

- "Ba-Ba"; the announcement was the Advent of Baba. "His name will be truth,"

Christ declared; Sathya means truth. "He will wear a robe of red, a blood-red

robe". (Here Baba pointed to the robe He was wearing). "He will be short, with

a crown (of hair). The lamb is the sign and symbol of love." Christ did not

declare that he will come again. He said, "He who made me will come again".

That 'Ba-Ba' is this Baba and Sai, the short, curly-hair-crowned red-robed

Baba, is come. He is not only in this form, but, he is in every one of you, as

the dweller in the heart. He is there, short, with a robe of the colour of the

blood that fills it. The great axioms of Bhaaratheeya culture found in the

Vedas - "Ishwarassarvabhuuthaanaam,

Isaavaayamidham sarvam, Vasudhevassarvamidham" - "God is the inner motivator of

all beings. All this is enveloped in God. All this is Vaasudheva, the divine" -

are to be in every one. This is the inner mystery of incarnation, God

incarnating in all! All are one; the one is all. There is only one God; He is

omnipresent;There is only one Religion, the Religion of Love;There is only one

Caste, the Caste of Humanity;There is only one Language, the Language of the

Heart. With Sai love from Sai brothers – ‘’

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