SAI BABA GITA – Part XIII – Answers for all questions

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6pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Whatever you seek, wherever you look... whether you

look for it here on earth or in the heavens or in the nether world... all that

you will ever find are the five elements, and only the five elements. In all

the worlds there is nothing else. Whatever you have ever desired, whatever you

have ever used, whatever you have ever lost, all these myriad of things are but

varying expressions of the same five elements. Embodiments of Love, Everything

in the universe, everything that has ever been created, everything that will

ever be conceived of, is made up of the gross or subtle aspects of the five

elements, namely, space, air, fire, water and earth. These

countless variations of the five elements have been and are forever changing

with time. They are all temporary, endlessly cycling from one name and form to

another. The Transitory Nature of all Things The flower which has blossomed

today will be dried up tomorrow and it will be decomposed a few days later.

Food that has been cooked today will be spoiled tomorrow and becomes poisonous

the following day. Once it has become spoiled you cannot get the fresh food

back. The beautiful form of today will have turned ugly by tomorrow. Even atoms

making up the matter in the moon may in time end up here on earth, and atoms

making up matter here on earth may go to the moon.

Every seven years all the atoms which constitute the human body undergo a total

change. It would be foolish indeed for you to think that the body and the sense

organs which are made up of the five elements are permanent, or that any object

made up of these elements has any lasting value. Only the senses will be

hankering after such external, transitory things. The Gita has shown that this

impermanent complex of five elements which we call the body, mind and senses,

consists of 24 principles. It is made up of the five gross sense organs, the

ears, the skin, the eyes, the tongue and the nose. These reach out to the sense

objects through the subtle sense organs, comprising sound, touch, sight, taste

and smell. These gross and subtle senses are inextricably related. Without the

subtle the gross cannot not function. For example, you may have eyes but no

sight, you may have ears but no hearing, you may have a tongue but no taste. The

24 Impermanent Principles In addition to the gross and subtle senses there are

also the five life energies which vitalize all bodily functions. One of these

is related to breathing, another to elimination, a third to circulation, the

fourth to digestion and the fifth to the upward flow which energizes the higher

centers. Besides the 15 principles enumerated above, there are the four

faculties comprising the 'the inner instrument'. This inner instrument is made

up of all the different aspects of what we know as 'mind'. It consists of the

thinking faculty which analyzes and reacts; the

intuitive faculty, also known as buddhi, which knows the deeper purpose of life

and discriminates between the real and the unreal; the subjective individual

expression or ego self which is associated with the personality; and the

reservoir of feelings and memory wherein the effects of past actions are

stored. All of the foregoing are contained within the five sheaths. These

sheaths can be thought of as various bodies interpenetrating one another in a

successively more subtle way, each one finer than the previous one. The

grossest sheath is the food sheath which comprises the physical body. It is

made up of physical matter. Next, the first of the subtle, intangible sheaths,

is the vital sheath. It relates to the life breath and physical energy. Then

there is the mind sheath which relates to the lower mind. The fourth sheath is

the intellectual

sheath. It is associated with the higher mind wherein the buddhi, the intuitive,

discriminating faculty, is contained. These last-mentioned three sheaths, the

vital, the mind, and the intellectual, all make up the subtle body of man.

Finally, there is the bliss sheath, the subtlest of all the bodies. It is known

as the causal body. It is beyond all aspects of mind. It is the source of all

mind stuff. Within it, only a thin veil of ignorance remains to hide the true

self, which is pure bliss. The Immortal Self - Beyond the Ephemeral Individual

Together these 24 principles comprise the individual being. The wisdom

teachings deal with these various principles.

Their purpose is to help you realize the one transcendent principle which is

beyond all these. That is the atma. It is the immortal self, the one reality

that underlies all these bodily principles, but which is in no way affected by

them. It is true and unchanging, whereas these 24 are just manifestations of

ignorance, constantly undergoing change. Together these 24 principles

constitute the illusion which makes you appear as a separate being. If you go

on spending your life depending only on these changing qualities, how will you

ever be able to attain the eternal bliss which is your true nature, and which

is not in any way influenced by these transitory things? The joys that you

experience through your sense organs, that seem so delightful in the moment,

are likely to give you sorrow later on. Such joys come and go; they are not

permanent. Krishna

strongly emphasized that you should not believe in these sense organs and be led

astray by them. However educated you may be, whatever office you may hold,

whatever position you may have, unless you gain control over your senses you

will not be able to gain peace of mind. Inner peace can be obtained only by

controlling the sense organs. Perhaps you think that controlling the sense

organs is too difficult for you to undertake, but in the Gita, Krishna taught a

number of different ways which can help you succeed in mastering them. The Noble

and the Ignoble Krishna said in the Gita that there are two types of people, the

noble ones and the ignoble ones.

The noble ones are those who follow the right path, the sacred path. They seek

the company of great people and practice their teachings. As a result, they

experience the great spiritual truths and enjoy the inner life of the spirit.

Opposed to them are those who are full of unsacred thoughts and have impure

hearts, who are under the spell of ignorance and live an unrighteous life.

Their evil behavior can be said to be the direct opposite of the exemplary

behavior of the noble ones, just as darkness is the opposite of light.

Therefore, we can describe these two categories as that of gods and demons, or

beings of light and beings of darkness. Krishna said, "Arjuna, I thought up to

now that you were noble, that you were a true knight, but I see that you are

entering the wrong path. You are getting steeped in darkness. You are following

unsacredness. It would be wrong to call you noble. You are proving yourself to

be otherwise."

TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Krishna gave Arjuna various such admonishments in order to

encourage him to make a heroic effort to manifest the qualities of true

nobility. He told him, "The primary cause of your present grief is your

attachment, and the basis for your attachment is ignorance. It is out of

ignorance that you allow your senses to govern your actions. If you want to

free yourself from attachment and sorrow then you must control your senses. You

have to clearly understand the nature of the senses. In the journey of life

these sense organs are important; they are like the horses of your chariot

which can take you to your goal. But only when you have full control over these

horses will the chariot and the person riding in it be safe. If you leave them

uncontrolled it is inevitable that the chariot and its occupant will come to

grief. Therefore, if you want to reach the goal safely you must take charge of

these horses. In other

words, you must assert absolute control over your sense organs." The Nature of

the Sense Organs When Krishna spoke of the sense organs he mentioned that they

have the capacity to measure. For example, the tongue determines the taste of

foods, deciding whether a thing is sweet or bitter. It does this by measuring

the relative sweetness and bitterness of the food. Similarly, the ears

determine whether some music is melodious or not and the eyes discern the

beauty of objects seen. In this way, all the senses measure different

qualities. Krishna also spoke of certain limitations of the sense organs, as

ordained by God to insure their right use. For example, you can use

the nose for smelling and for breathing. If you use the nose correctly, you are

obeying the commands of the Lord and will surely benefit thereby. If, instead

of using the nose for breathing and smelling good things, you use the nose to

inhale noxious drugs, then you are not using it in the way specified by God. As

for the tongue, you have the Lord's gentle reminder, "Child, use this tongue to

talk sweetly and not to hurt others' hearts. Use words which give them joy."

The other function of the tongue must also be attended to. Use your tongue to

take in fresh, wholesome food which is full of vitamins and proteins. On the

other hand, if you use your tongue and sense of taste for smoking cigarettes or

drinking alcohol you will be misusing the tongue. Then you will be disobeying

the commands of the Lord and you will come to harm. In this way, you should use

all of the sense organs for the specific tasks which have been assigned to them

by God. Then you will be fulfilling the purpose for which each instrument has

been given. This kind of regulated behavior will help you to achieve your

life's goal. As a result of the functioning of the senses, you may experience

joy or grief. This joy or grief that you feel does not come from the senses

themselves. It is only after the senses have come into contact with the sense

objects that you will experience these feelings. For instance, suppose you are

on a protracted visit to a friend in a neighboring town, and while you are away

something happened in your home. No matter what happened, whether good or bad,

you would experience neither happiness nor grief, joy nor sorrow, as long as

your ears had not heard the news. But once you get a phone call and came to

know what

happened at home, if the news is good you would feel joy and if the news is bad

you would feel sorrow. It is only after the senses became associated with the

sense objects that the joy or grief would have come to you. Those Bound by the

Senses are Destroyed by the Senses There are a vast number of sense objects in

the world, but you should see to it that your senses do not come into contact

with too many of these. They are all impermanent things. By becoming captivated

with small things your whole life becomes small and impure. You can see this in

a number of living beings which are victims of one or two senses. For example,

when a deer hears some melodious music, it

becomes fascinated by it and can easily be captured. Therefore, a deer is bound

by sound. A huge elephant can be controlled through the sense of touch and

therefore becomes bound by touch. In this way a number of animals can be bound

and controlled through different sense organs. Take for example a moth. When it

sees light it gets strongly attracted to it; it becomes bound by the light and

may be destroyed by it. In a similar way, a fish will swallow the bait and gets

caught because it is bound by taste. And a bee will enter a flower and be bound

by the power of smell; there it can get trapped for the night when the flower

closes its petals. Each one of these beings is bound by one of the sense

organs; but man is bound by all five of them and, therefore, he is even more

vulnerable than all these animals. Here is a small story: Once upon a time a

great sage undertook a tour of the country. He considered each one of the five

elements as his teacher. Once he happened to go to the shore of the ocean; he

was enjoying the waves and the various aspects of the ocean. As he was

watching, along came a wave and brought some debris to the shore. He noticed

that the moment any dross fell into the ocean the waves came and pushed it back

out. The sage thought to himself, 'Why should the ocean which is so deep and

vast find it necessary to throw out this little bit of filth? Could it not

allow even such a small impurity to remain with it?' Then he went into

meditation. In that meditation he understood that if the ocean were to allow

any impurities to stay in its waters, these impurities would accumulate day by

day and, in time, cover the whole ocean and pollute it. He decided that the

ocean must have resolved not to allow

any debris or impurity to come into it from the very beginning; in that way it

had been able to remain clean and pure. In the same way, right from the start,

you should see to it that impure thoughts and ideas do not enter your mind,

even in a small way. Not even the minutest impurity should be allowed to enter

your heart. Before such an impurity can establish a foothold, you must

immediately throw it out. If you give room to it, thinking that after all it is

only a very insignificant thing and it cannot really harm you, then it will

start growing in the heart. Therefore, if you understand the functioning of the

senses and learn to limit them to the right use for which they were intended,

then you will be able to benefit from them and not be disturbed by them. If

instead, you allow the senses to rule you and bind you, neither joy nor peace

of mind will be

yours. Here is another small story to illustrate this. The King who was Ruled by

his five Wives Once there was a great king who had five wives. But his wives

never listened to him. He might have been a king to everyone else, but he was

not lord over his own wives. And so he was suffering very much. He had a crown

on his head, but inside his head there were only worries. 'I have become a

slave of these wives and I am suffering very much,' he thought. 'Is there

anyone in the world who is not afraid of his wife? If there is such a one, how

does he control her? How does he manage not to be dominated by her?' To inquire

into this directly by asking individual citizens

would not have been considered proper, so he decided to hold a public meeting

and invite all his male subjects to attend. There were two stadium-sized tents

put up at the meeting-ground. One was erected on one side of the field, the

other was put up on the other side. The king announced that the first tent was

meant for people who had controlled their wives, and the second one was meant

for people who were controlled by their wives. All the male citizens of that

country started pouring into the capital; they all went straight into the

second tent. The king went there and found that this huge tent, the one that

was intended for those who were controlled by their wives, was filled to

capacity. He got a little courage from this for he realized that he was not the

only one controlled by his wives. But before beginning the meeting he saw one

lone person waiting

in the first tent which was meant for those who had control over their wives.

That mammoth tent was totally empty except for this one man. The king was

overjoyed to see him there. He went to him and told him how glad he was to see

that at least one person in his kingdom had gained control over his wife. The

king questioned him, "Tell me, good man, what is your secret in controlling

your wife?" The man, trembling with fear, replied, "No sir! No sir! That is not

how it is. I cannot control her. It is I who am being completely controlled by

her." The king said, "Then why did you come into this tent?!!" With his knees

shaking and stammering his words, the man replied, "My wife ordered me to come

into this tent. She forbid me to go into the other. That is why I am here. My

wife ordered me not to go inside the tent where the slaves of their wives are

staying.

She made me go into this one." The king got very irritated with the man and

commanded him, "You must leave here immediately! Under no condition can you

remain in this tent! Go and join the others in the second tent!" The citizen

turned white with fear; the blood rushed out of his face. He got down on his

knees and implored the king with his hands folded in supplication, "My lord,

please listen to me! You may punish me. You may do anything you wish to me. But

I am terrified of disobeying my wife. Please! Don't make me go to the other

tent!" The king then realized that there were no people anywhere in his kingdom

who were not slaves of their wives. The Mind with its five Wives, the Senses

Arial; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">This king is the mind, and he is never able to satisfy

all his wives, namely, the senses. The eye demands, "Take me to a place where

only the most beautiful sights are to be seen." The tongue demands that only

the tastiest of foods be supplied to it. The ear commands that the most

melodious sounds be played for it. The skin desires to feel only materials

which are the most pleasing to touch. And the nose wants to smell the very best

perfumes in the world. Who can satisfy all these desires of the senses? There is

no coordination and cooperation among them. If you yield to the sense organs,

they are going to give you a lot of trouble. Right from the beginning you must

find a way to bring them under absolute control. Then you will have

accomplished something truly worthwhile. The real hero in this world is the one

who has managed to completely control his senses. When the senses make their

demands do not listen to them. Instead, turn your mind towards the higher

intellect. Let it decide what is to be done. Then, the lower mind will follow

and, in turn, give its commands to the senses. This way, the senses will have

to obey. That is the proper way to curb the senses. A person who bases his life

on his lower mind and senses will come to ruin and become worse than an animal.

The wise one bases his life on his higher mind, which is his intellect, his

power of discrimination and discernment and intuition. One who follows his

higher mind becomes the most excellent of human beings. If you base your life

on your higher mind, your buddhi, it will take you straight to the final goal.

But if you base your life only on the lower mind and the senses, then every

moment new changes will come about. It will become difficult to predict what

will happen to you and where you will land. It is something like

crossing a raging river or a storm-tossed ocean in a small boat. You do not know

when your little boat will get flooded and when disaster will overtake you.

Being ever Vigilant in Controlling the Senses There was a great saint in

ancient India. He was an extremely virtuous person; a truly wise man. He had

complete control over his senses. One day it became known that his end would

come soon. All his disciples assembled there and gathered around his bed. He

was suffering from intense pain in the throat. He made heroic efforts to

transcend the pain. He seemed to want to say something, but he could not speak.

The disciples were very eager to find out what message their

master was trying to give them during his last moments on earth. The disciples

tried to help him in every way and implored him, "Swami you want to tell us

something. We are eager to hear your message." Summoning his last bit of

energy, the sage found his voice and said, "My dear children, I have been

followed all this time by maya, the power of illusion. Illusion told me,

'Everyone else has become my slave, no one has succeeded in becoming free of

me, except you. You have been able to completely control your sense organs and,

thereby, you have been able to conquer me.' Then I replied, 'Maya, I may have

conquered you up to now, but you know and I know that I have not fully

conquered you yet. There is still a little life left, and a few breaths are

still to come. Until my very last breath has been taken, I will not relax until

I have conquered

you totally.' My dear children, until now I have been able to control the senses

and conquer maya, but I do not know whether I will continue to succeed until my

last breath. During these last few moments, in order to free myself from maya,

I have been thinking only of God and praying to him with all my heart." Then he

fell silent, and thus he consummated his life. As this story shows, you must be

careful until the very last breath of your life not to yield to the sense

organs. To realize the immortal self you must control the outgoing senses.

Therefore, sense-control is an integral part of the path of wisdom, as taught

by Krishna. Once you gain full control of the senses, you will easily be able

to master the spiritual path.

FONT-SIZE: 10pt">In the beginning you may be subjected to a certain amount of

difficulty. When you learn to drive, you first have to go to an open field and

practice there. It is only after you have learned to control the car and have

mastered the art of driving that you can take the car onto the main

thoroughfares and the narrow streets of the city. If you try driving in city

traffic before that, it will not only be difficult for you but also dangerous.

Similarly, once you have mastered the senses and are unaffected by the

allurements of the world, then you can face any situation without concern or

problems. Victory over the Senses through Self-Inquiry To master the

senses you should develop a broad view. Enter into the spirit of inquiry and

find out who is the true self and who is the false self. After developing this

discriminating power you can safely move in the world while continuing to keep

your sight steadily on the goal. The wavering senses can never give you

permanent joy. Only when you gain the knowledge of the true self, the immortal

self, will you experience true joy. All other knowledge and education will only

help you to eke out a livelihood. Knowledge of the self alone is true education.

With that you will be able to enjoy the unity of all existence. Once you

identify yourselves with the divinity that is in everything then there can be

no further clashes arising from any sense of difference. When you experience

everything as God and see the whole world as God, then even the practice of

discrimination

falls away. Once everything is seen as one then there is no further need for

discrimination. As Baba has mentioned before, the senses can be very dangerous;

they can be like horses running wild. If you do not use the reins to control

them, they will run away with the chariot and go wherever they like. Rein the

senses in with the help of your mind. Let your taste, your smell, your sight,

your listening, your touch, all the various sense impressions come under your

control. A number of times Swami has been telling you that you should not see

or hear too many things. It is only when you see a thing or hear about it that

you start thinking of it. Once you think of it you develop an attraction

towards it. Then you want to possess it. Once you talk about a particular thing

then you think of its form. Therefore, whatever may be the object, the first

thing you

should ask yourself is, 'Does it have any defects or flaws?' When you realize

its flaws, that it will not last, that it is ephemeral, then you will not

develop any attachment for it. If you want to reach God, you must be free of

false vision, false speech and a false attachment to any sensory impressions.

Control of the Tongue, the first step in Sense-Control Spiritual practice

begins with control of the tongue. The reason for this is that the tongue has

two functions. The eyes have only the one function, that of seeing. Similarly,

the ears have only the one function, that of hearing. And the nose has only the

one function, that of smelling. But the tongue has two

functions; it can speak and it can taste. Therefore you must make a special

effort to control it. You have no right to criticize others. You have no right

to think badly about others. It is far better for you to think of your own

shortcomings. See the good in others and remove the unreal in yourself. If you

have not even developed the power to inquire into your own true self, then how

can you assume the power to look into others? First get fulfillment in your own

life. It is only after you have saved yourself that you can become an instrument

to save others. Therefore, you should not use harmful words or give

condescending looks or think impure thoughts towards any other person. Spend

your time only in good thoughts, in good listening and in good talk. In order

to exercise self control you have to do some spiritual exercises. Constant

practice and

detachment are essential for gaining control over your senses. If you understand

that all things are impermanent, you will be able to gain control over your

senses and develop detachment. Your true nature is nobility. You are not base

and ignoble. Enter into good paths and develop your own innate sacredness. Only

when you have the light of wisdom shining inextinguishably within you, will you

be able to help others through your good thoughts, good sight and good counsel.

Those who do so are veritably gods. Those who display the opposite traits are

demons. Demons seek only darkness. But you must resolve to give up darkness and

fill yourself with light. If you choose the path of light, then whatever has

been your past, the Lord will accept you and shower his grace upon you. The

Pure Brother of the Impure Demon King

Arial; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> The brother of the lord of the demons surrendered to

Rama and fell at Rama's feet. Seeing him, the generalissimo of Rama's army

warned Rama, "He is the brother of Ravana. Like his evil brother he is a demon.

He loves darkness. Just because he has had some quarrel with his brother and

left him, you should not trust him and give him shelter. Even though he now

proclaims himself to be an enemy of his brother, it is still dangerous to

believe him." Rama smiled patiently and told his commander, "Brave warrior, I

accept him not because he has opposed his brother, but because he has

surrendered himself to me. I will give protection to whoever comes to me and

says, 'I am yours'. I do not care who he is." The

commander then said to Rama, "You have given this demon your protection, and

assured him that when this war is over and his brother, Ravana, is overthrown,

you will make him the king of Lanka. But suppose this evil Ravana came to you

now and surrendered himself at your feet. What kingdom would you give him?"

Rama replied, "If Ravana had such fine ideas and were to surrender himself to

me, I would ask my own brother Bharatha, who is ruling the kingdom in my

behalf, to step down. And I would make Ravana the king of my capital city of

Ayodhya. I have never asked anyone for anything; asking for favors is not my

way. But if Ravana were to have such good thoughts, I would ask Bharatha to

give up his throne." Throughout the ages, divine incarnations have been

espousing sacred thoughts and broad ideas such as this. In that way, they set

an example for the whole

world to follow. The point of this story is that whatever your past, whatever

impure and unsacred environment you may have been brought up in, if your

resolve is pure and you surrender yourself fully to God, he will take you in.

Start by mastering your senses. This is the first step in leading a noble life

and getting closer to your divine source. Sense-control is the basis for all

sacred action and for enjoying a worry free life. Krishna said, "Arjuna, there

is nothing that you will not be able to achieve once you have gained complete

control of your senses. You will be master of the world. But, if you are a

slave of the senses and get caught up in desire, you become a slave of the

world. Therefore, master your senses. Make the senses your slaves. Only then

will you be able to function as an instrument in my mission. Arise, Arjuna!

Learn to control your

senses! Do not get elated by joy or dejected by grief. The primary reason for

this grief of yours is ignorance. You do not know the difference between truth

and illusion, between reality and appearance, between the true self and the

false self. Begin now to discriminate between them. Practice discrimination and

your senses will come under control. Then all will be yours." XVIII. You are the

Indweller - You are not the Body or Mind Krishna said, "Arjuna, I am your very

self. Focus your mind steadily on me, and with your mind fixed on me do your

duty." Embodiments of Love, If you do your work, being aware of your own

reality, you will accomplish great things. Actions performed with the awareness

of the atma, your true self, are free from bondage. To carry on your work while

at the same time, being fully aware of your identity with the atma, requires

perfect control over the senses. Sense-control is an essential precondition for

being illumined. Once you enjoy complete control over your sense organs you can

be described as a person imbued with the highest wisdom. When you consider all

the pairs of opposites, such as joy and sorrow, heat and cold, profit and loss,

honor and dishonor, with an equal mind, and are established

in your true reality, then you have gained the characteristics of a wise man. It

is the nature of the wise to treat everything equally. Once you recognize the

nature of the senses, it will be easy for you to follow the path that leads to

true wisdom. But if instead of identifying yourself with the atma, you continue

to identify yourself only with your body-mind complex, then it will be

impossible for you to obtain that exalted state. You are the Atma, You are God

Krishna told Arjuna, "Always remember that you are the indweller, not the body.

You are the one who wears the cloth; you are not the cloth itself. You are the

resident of the house; you are not the

house. You are the witness, the knower of the individual, you are not the

individual. But now, Arjuna, you are mistaking yourself to be this limited

individual. Enjoyment of impermanent things can only give you impermanent

happiness. Eventually, all these momentary pleasures and enjoyments will only

turn into sorrow. Keep your mind steady and discharge your duties, remembering

the atma. Do not think or worry about birth and death, or the joy and sorrow

which accrue to you. Birth and death are relevant only to the body. They do not

refer to you. You are not the body. You are the permanent entity which is free

from birth and death. You have neither a beginning nor an end. You were never

born and you will never die. Nor will you ever kill anyone. You are the atma.

You are all-pervasive. Verily, you are God. Your very self is God and God is

your self."

FONT-SIZE: 10pt">After realizing that it is in the nature of fire to produce

heat, would anyone grieve over the fact that fire burns? Would anyone suffer

from sorrow after learning that ice cools? The very nature of fire is to burn

and the very nature of ice is to cool whatever it comes in contact with. In the

same way, everything which is born will some day die. This is natural. Whatever

is free to come must also be free to go. Therefore, you should not brood over

things which are natural, like birth and death, joy and sorrow. Recognize the

inherent defects and weaknesses of all things. One day or another, everything

existing in the world will have to undergo change. The same five elements which

are to be found everywhere in the world are also to be found in you and in

everyone else. Whatever things you desire, whatever things you are seeking,

even if

you pursue your search for them into the farthest corners of the world, you will

discover that you are really just seeking the five elements. These five elements

are all you will ever find in any of the things of the world. But since they are

already part of you, what is the point of seeking them in the things outside? It

is natural for you to seek and aspire for something which you do not have. It is

unnatural for you to seek and aspire for something which you already have. There

is only one entity which transcends the five elements. That is the divinity.

That is what you should aspire for. Keep the Atma in View and Nothing can Harm

You Wisdom is seeing the one

everywhere. That all-pervasive unity is the atma. Seek out this unity and keep

it constantly in view. When all your actions are based on the atma, they become

sacred and pure. When all your activities are performed for the sake of the atma

or for the pleasure of God, then you become sanctified and filled with spiritual

wisdom. A number of sages, right from ancient days, have made heroic efforts to

attain this supreme state of being immersed in the highest wisdom. Once upon a

time, the King of Greece, Alexander, reached the banks of the great river on

the north-western border of India. He intended to enter India, to conquer and

plunder it. For this purpose he had come with a mighty army. In those days

there were no royal roads; the few roads that existed were more like footpaths.

The king crossed the banks of the river and entered the

forest with his army. The scouts preceding the army found a yogi lying under a

tree, with his legs spread out across the path, deep in sleep. This yogi had

attained the stage of enlightenment; he was a truly wise man. One soldier went

up and awakened the yogi and commanded him to move out of the path. But the

yogi was totally indifferent to the orders given by the soldier. He did not

move. The Greek soldier started threatening the yogi and boasted that the great

emperor of Greece, Alexander, was coming with his army and that this emperor had

decided to invade India and plunder the entire nation. While the soldier was

shouting at this yogi, Alexander arrived on the scene. The Greek soldier

was enraged to see that even after the emperor had come, this yogi remained

completely unconcerned. The yogi was not paying the proper respect and courtesy

due to the emperor. At this, the soldier threatened to cut off the yogi's head.

The moment the yogi heard that the enraged Greek soldier wanted to cut off his

head, he started laughing and stood up. On the yogi's face there was no trace

of fear. He was amused, but at the same time he remained completely serene. The

emperor saw the great effulgence on the yogi's face and spoke to him. "My

soldier has just threatened to cut off your head and yet you seem very happy

and unaffected. If you were an ordinary person you would immediately fall at

his feet, beg for pardon and try to save your life. But you are only smiling.

What is the meaning of your behavior?" The

yogi replied, "I am the eternal truth. I am pure awareness. I am infinite bliss.

I am forever free. Your weapons cannot harm me. Fire cannot burn me. Water

cannot wet me. Wind cannot blow me away. I was never born and I will never die.

I am the immortal atma, the one true self. I am indestructible. Thinking that I

am just this body, your soldier is threatening to destroy me by cutting the

head off this body. Isn't that ludicrous? Hearing this provoked me to

laughter." When the emperor heard these words he was astounded. He thought to

himself, 'It is natural for people to get frightened when someone threatens to

kill them and they are about to face death, but rarely will anyone laugh and be

so happy when they are about to die. In India there are people who have attained

such a high spiritual state that they are not even afraid of death. How

can I conquer a nation such as this? No, I won't succeed here with my weapons.'

Having concluded that India could not be subdued by him, he turned his army

around and penetrated no further into India. Sense-Control is easy when you

Understand the Senses From times immemorial, great beings such as this yogi

have existed in India, and, in the way in which they conducted their lives,

taught other nations the highest truths about spirituality. They showed the

spiritual heights that could be achieved through control of the senses. People

who do not know the method of controlling the sense organs get lost and stray

onto the wrong path. But, actually, controlling the

senses is quite easy. When you do not understand the fickle nature of the

senses, all attempts to control them are fraught with difficulty. But once you

understand their limitations controlling them becomes easy, because you realize

that all the pleasures and enjoyments you gain through them are filled with

sorrow. The first step in controlling the senses is to investigate the defects

and problems associated with the various objects of the world. For the sake of

temporary joys and pleasures you are subjecting yourself to many difficulties

and problems that will hound you long after the little fleeting joys are

forgotten. A person who has a disease may take some food items which are not

prescribed in the diet and feel temporarily happy. Having ignored the diet and

taken food which is prohibited, he may experience some temporary joy; but in a

short period of

time he will experience the unhappy consequences of his acts. It may even lead

to a dangerous situation. In the same way, man, yielding to temporary joys,

will suffer a great many problems in the long run. How many powerful kings have

there been who have created huge mansions and palaces, enjoyed luxurious

comforts, eaten a variety of luxurious foods, traveled in luxurious cars and

indulged themselves in countless vanities, all the while thinking that they

were enjoying all the great pleasures available on the earth? What has happened

to them in the end? Ask yourself, 'Is a king who indulges himself like that

really enjoying the luxuries or are the luxuries enjoying him?' You will have

to conclude that it is the luxuries which are enjoying him. It is he who is

being enjoyed by the sense objects. They are literally eating him up. Soon he

becomes weak, he

becomes diseased and gets old. If the king were really enjoying the sense

objects, then he should have attained unbounded health and strength from them.

But, as he is the one who is being enjoyed by the sense objects, he loses all

his health, and his life span gets reduced. Not recognizing this truth he

temporarily experiences some happiness. He fixes his vision on these transient

sense objects without realizing the dire consequences which ultimately must

come his way because of his indiscriminate desire to enjoy the senses. Realize

the Transitoriness of all Sense Objects A certain man went to a palmist who

told people's future by reading the lines on their hand. The man showed the

palmist his hand. The palmist told the man that there was a line on his hand

which signified that he would become very wealthy. The moment the man heard

this he was overjoyed. After looking at his hand some more, the palmist told

him that the line also showed that he would get a lot of honors. The man felt

even more happy. Then, after examining the hand still further, the palmist

said, "You are going to occupy a very high position." The man felt so happy, it

was as if he had just been told that he would become prime minister that very

day. After a while, the palmist told him that he was going to have many

children. Joy was now heaped on joy. Then after telling him all these things,

the palmist said,

"But your life span is going to be very short!" The moment the man heard this,

all his joy left him; he got totally dejected and shrank down in despair.

Whatever may be your property and wealth, whatever position you may occupy,

whatever honors you may get and however many children you may have, if you only

have a finite life span, then what will be the use of all these things in the

long run? If you are not going to be alive then how can any of these things be

of lasting value to you? How many kings and how many emperors have lived? In

what circumstances have they left this world? In the history of India, there

once was an emperor who ruled over all the hundreds of kingdoms comprising this

huge land. He was most powerful, but

did he not have to leave this world? In ancient times, there was an even

mightier emperor who ruled over the entire world; could he take even a handful

of earth with him? King Rama built a magnificent bridge spanning the ocean from

India to Lanka; where is that great bridge now? So many kings have come and

gone. Not even one person can carry a handful of dust with him. If you think

and reflect over the past history of mankind, you will be able to understand

how impermanent this world really is. Therefore, two important defects to be

noted about the worldly pleasures: They are impermanent and they are harbingers

of misery. All that you see in the external world is but a reflection of what is

inside you. There is only one thing which is real and true and all-pervasive.

That reality, that truth, is always within you. It is eternally true, it is

eternally

auspicious and eternally beautiful. Make every effort to realize that permanent

truth. Live in that auspiciousness. Be one with that divinity. It is the very

embodiment of all beauty. Focus on the Divinity, Your True Self, and Do Your

Duty After explaining the qualities of a wise man to Arjuna, Krishna directed

him to enter the battlefield and fight. Krishna told him, "Keep all your

attention on me. Concentrate on me alone. Obey all my commands and do your

duty. This body has been given to you for the purpose of discharging your duty.

It is because of your actions in the past that you have gotten this birth. Now,

you must use your actions to sanctify this

life." The only light in this world which does not get extinguished is the light

of the atma, the light of the immortal self. As long as there is electricity,

the electric bulbs will burn. The moment the power goes off, the bulbs do not

shine. Only as long as there are batteries in the flashlight, the flashlight

will function. In the same way, when the senses are not receiving any power,

they will cease to function. Even the sun and the moon, which do not need

either oil, batteries or electricity, will lose their effulgence in the end.

When the sun and the moon are likely to lose their light, what about you? When

this is true of these mighty mountains, then what about this small pebble that

is you, deluded as you are, with

body-consciousness? Krishna told Arjuna, "Because of the grief arising from your

attachment to relatives and friends, you are getting drowned in ignorance. You

are being washed away by the tears from your own eyes. Arise! Awake! Do not

stop until the goal is reached!" Thus Krishna rescued Arjuna and put him on the

right path. Intellect Surpasses all your Senses The sun and moon shine in the

world but they cannot illuminate God. The light shining inside the house can

illuminate the objects inside but it cannot illuminate God. How do you know

that the sun and the moon shine and that fire burns? On what basis can you

declare that these things are bright and luminous? It

is because of your eyes that you can recognize their brightness. If you did not

have eyes the radiant light of the sun and moon would not be seen by you. But

as for these eyes, what is it that helps them to see? Even when you are

sleeping or when your eyes are closed there is an unmistakable radiance shining

in your awareness. It is your highest intellect, your intuitive faculty, your

Buddhi. Therefore, you can conclude that even more effulgent than your eyes is

your intellect. There is a small story to illustrate this. There were two

friends, a blind man and a lame man;. They would go begging together from

village to village. The blind one had good legs and the lame one had good eyes.

The lame man sat on the shoulders of the blind man. So, with the help of each

other they were able to go from village to village. Once, on their way, they

came across

a beautiful field of melons. The lame man said to the blind man, "Brother, there

are some very fine looking melons in this field. Let us go into the field and

eat some; afterwards we can take a little rest and proceed on our way." The

blind person said to the lame person, "Brother, be careful. There may be some

watchman keeping an eye on the field." The lame man said, "No, there is no one

there." The blind man went on, "Please tell me if there is a fence or a gate

around this garden." The lame one said, "There is neither a gate nor a fence.

We can go and have our dinner." The blind person immediately said, "Brother,

these melons must be very bitter and inedible, otherwise why is there no

watchman, no fence and no gate to protect them?"

10pt">A person may not have eyes to see, but if he uses his intellect he is

greater than the one who sees with his eyes. Therefore, it is really the

intellect which lends a shining quality to the eyes. But from where does the

intellect get its power? The intellect is shining because of the atma.

Therefore, because of the atma the intellect is illuminated, and because of the

intellect the eyes shine and can see, and because the eyes see, the effulgence

of the sun and the moon can be perceived, and because of the sun and the moon

the whole world shines. We see that the ultimate source that illuminates

everything is the atma. Therefore, it is the atma which you should worship. A

Wise Man never forgets the Atma

TEXT-ALIGN: justify">It is only when you keep the atma constantly in view, in

everything you do, that you will be able to reach the stage of true wisdom. A

wise man is sometimes thought of as having something to do with worldly people.

This confusion comes about because it has been said that, 'When everyone is

awake, the wise man is asleep, and when he is awake all the other people are

sleeping.' According to such a definition, you would conclude that those who

work nightshifts, such as the night watchman and the station master, who are

awake at night when others are sleeping and asleep during the day when others

are awake, are all wise men. But, obviously, this is not the correct meaning of

the word. All those people who base their lives on this impermanent world, will

be fully awake to this world

and its objects. The wise man on the other hand, will be asleep and indifferent

to worldly objects. Ordinary people will not be alive to the beauty of the

atma; they will be sleeping through that. But when it comes to this world and

its sense objects they will be fully alert and awake. Therefore, a wise man is

one who is asleep to the principle of the world and who is fully awake to the

principle of the atma. A wise man is not one who has renounced the world and

gone to the forest. Krishna said, "Do your work in the world. Live in the midst

of the things which are necessary for your daily life. But keep your attention

and concentration constantly on the atma. That way you will gain abiding

wisdom." Here, a doubt may arise. Why does such a wise person need to work at

all? He will have no interest in work nor have any ambitions regarding

work. And yet for the good of mankind he will take up work. If a wise man had

the attitude that he did not need to work, then he would not be able to inspire

others to work. The sage has to set an example for ordinary people so that they

will be able to follow him. "Therefore, Arjuna," said Krishna, "Become an ideal

human being. You are very close to Krishna. You are his relative and you are

very dear to him. Keep the inner significance of all these teachings in your

heart. I want to raise you as an example to the world. I will use you as my

instrument. You will be my instrument in doing many great things in the world."

Whatever Krishna has said is for the welfare of the entire world and for setting

an ideal example for mankind. All avatars undertake activities which are

absolutely sacred, but ordinary people will not be able to recognize these

activities

as divine activities. In this context, Krishna told Arjuna, "Arjuna, I have not

accepted the job of being the driver of your chariot because I like this task

and want it so much. It is not for the sake of my love of horses either that

I'm doing this. Don't you think that I have chariots and horses of my own? Do I

need to drive your chariot and your horses? This body-consciousness that you

have saturates your whole being. It is in your blood. I am enacting the entire

play and I have taken on this task of driving your chariot in order to see to

it that you become permanently cured of this disease of body-consciousness."

God does not wish to be Praised by Anyone Arjuna

frequently addressed Krishna using an affectionate phrase that referred to

Krishna as his closest and dearest relative, the light of his heart. Krishna

once told Arjuna when they were sitting on the banks of a sacred river,

"Arjuna, I do not like to be revered by you as your dearest relative, without

reason." In the world many people will freely praise God, using terms of great

respect or familiarity, but God will not accept such adulation. Praises will be

very common for people to utter in order to gain favor. It is as if they were

going to some government officer to get into his good graces. But, praise which

has no real basis, is like perfumed water. It can be smelled but it cannot be

taken as nourishment. You will hear all manner of flattery but it will not

touch your heart. God accepts only true feelings that come sincerely from the

depths of your

heart. Krishna said to Arjuna, "I don't want to ask you to give up calling me

your closest relative, and yet you are saying it out of praise rather than

because it is really true. Therefore, I want to become your relative so that

you can say it sincerely, knowing in your heart that it is true." Shortly

afterwards, Krishna offered his sister in marriage to Arjuna and became

Arjuna's brother-in-law. Krishna's brother Balarama did not approve of this

marriage, and would not even come to the wedding. Instead, he went off to a

forest. From that time on, Balarama did not feel much love for Krishna. But,

for the sake of harmonizing thought, word and deed, Krishna was willing to risk

his relation to his own closest kin, his older

brother, who as a divine being had taken birth for the express purpose of

assisting Krishna in his mission. This trait that we see here in Krishna, of

putting principles before considerations of kinship, is truly extraordinary.

His actions were always commensurate with his words. Unity of thought, word and

deed is the very nature of divinity. It is also the true nature of man. Whatever

you think must be in harmony with what you say, and whatever you say, that you

must do. This harmony of thought, word and deed is the deeper meaning of

Swami's often repeated statement, 'The proper study of mankind is man.'

Krishna told Arjuna, "I want to make an example of you to the whole world, that

is why I am teaching you here on the

battlefield the qualities of an enlightened being. First, I will turn you into a

wise man and then, through your example, I will teach others. To begin with, you

must understand this most important principle, which is that you are not the

body; you are the indweller. When you understand that, you will no longer be

bothered by body-consciousness. The body is temporary. God is eternal and

permanent. You are not the cloth but the one who wears the cloth. The body is

the temple of God, but the indweller is God himself. This world is impermanent

and full of sorrow. There is no use taking refuge in it. All the people you

know will change. God is the only fixed entity. He is the one lamp which does

not get extinguished. Take shelter in him. He is the supreme light. He is the

light of the soul. He is the undiminishable light of pure consciousness. He is

the one

light, without a second." Through such inspiring words, Krishna transformed

Arjuna's heart which had been filled with impurities. By explaining all these

noble principles to him, Krishna made Arjuna's heart bright and pure. Krishna

turned Arjuna into a true wise man, one who manifested all the divine

qualities. TO BE CONTINUED With Sai love from Sai brothers –

‘’

TEXT-ALIGN: right">Source: http://laluni.helloyou.ws/askbaba/saibabagita/

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