SAI BABA GITA - Part XVI - Answers for all questions

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TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Krishna said, "If you are a slave of your desires you will

be a slave of the entire world. But when you make desires your slave the whole

world will be yours." Embodiments of Love, Have faith in the indwelling

divinity, the atma, which is the basis of every happiness and joy that you will

ever experience in the world. People are suffering immensely because of their

erroneous belief that the joys of the senses and the delights of worldly

objects are real and will last; but these are only temporary and cannot last.

People have not inquired to find out what is the basis for the joys associated

with the sense objects and all the luxuries of the

world. The Atmic Light gets Hidden by the Impure Senses In the Gita, the human

body has been compared with a container having ten holes, within which is an

inextinguishable light. If you were to cover this container with a thick cloth,

then you would not be able to see any light shining through it. If, however, you

gradually lift this thick cloth covering the container, then you would be able

to see the light shining from each of the holes. At that point, it looks as

though there are ten lights. But when you take the container away and leave the

light, you realize that there was always only the one light. That one light

shining within the container, which is

the body, is the self-effulgent atma. The splendorous light of the atma has been

covered by the body and its sense organs. There are five gross and five subtle

sense organs associated with the human body, which can be thought of as the ten

holes in the container through which the light of the atma shines. This

container of the body, in turn, has been covered by the thick cloth of my-ness

and attachment, which obscures the pure light of the atma. First of all, you

must remove this cloth of selfishness and my-ness. This my-ness stems from

ignorance. It is a form of delusion which makes you feel separate and keeps you

bound up in duality. It arises from the cosmic illusion, or Maya. Maya can be

thought of as the outer vesture or garment of God. God has been described as

having illusion as his outer form.

This illusion veils and hides him from view. Once you take away this cloth of

illusion, then the inner light becomes revealed, shining radiantly through the

sense organs. The light which you see through your eyes is but a reflection of

the one self-effulgent divine light that is inside you. Every sensation you

feel through your skin or hear through your ears is but a reaction to that same

inner light. And every sound which you make through your mouth is but the

resound of that one divine inner light. All that you have been able to do and

experience through the senses is only a reflection, a reaction or a resound of

that one splendorous radiance which is your immortal self, the atma. But as

long as you still identify yourself with this container of the body, you will

not be able to see the one Atmic light. Only when you identify yourself

completely with the atma will you be able to experience this one Atmic light

instead of a multiplicity of many different lights. See Unity in all Diversity

Up to this time, you have been seeing diversity and separation in what is

actually unity. But now you have to correct this wrong vision. The ancient

wisdom teachings have emphasized that you will not be whole until you can see

only unity in the illusion of diversity, that appears to be around you. When

can you see and directly experience this unity? Only when you destroy your

sense of identity with the body. Then you will be able to experience all as

one. It is Maya which causes this delusory

experience of seeing diversity when there is only unity. But it is the universal

experience of the great sages and mystics that there is only the one unity to be

found within all the multiplicity of the world. This unity is the basis of

everything everywhere. It is the atma. It has to be experienced in every object

and in every being. This is the sum and substance of the Gita, which itself is

the essence of all the ancient wisdom teachings. The Gita has described the

experience of unity as yoga, the process of becoming united with and immersed

in the one divinity. You must make an inquiry, taking instances from your own

daily life, to see how you can experience this oneness within all the

diversity, and, thereby discover the divinity which is inherent in everything.

TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Take the example of some food preparations. For instance,

you can consider some different types of sweets, such as cookies, cakes,

candies, desserts, or other sweets which you might enjoy. The forms and names

of all these items are different but the inner substance which gives them all

their characteristic sweet taste is the same. That underlying sweetness comes

from sugar. It is because sugar is present in these items that there is

sweetness in all of them. Flour by itself has no sweetness; its taste is

insipid. But, when flour is associated with sugar, then you enjoy it as a

sweet. It does not matter what flour you use, whether it comes from rice or

wheat or other grains. When it is associated with sugar, it becomes sweet.

Similarly, the objects of the world are tasteless and insipid, but because the

sugar of divinity has been mixed in with them, you can enjoy so many things in

the world, considering them

desirable and sweet. You are a Human Being, not an Animal Do not waste your life

running after worldly enjoyments. Realize the truth that you did not get this

human birth for the sake of enjoying food or sleep or wasting your time on

meaningless activities or entertainment. When you look around you can see any

number of animals, birds and worms which live only for the sake of food. Why

have a human life if you use it only to enjoy the pleasures that animals, birds

and worms enjoy? What is the use of acquiring a higher education, and then

spending your time reveling in lowly pleasures that even without benefit of

higher education, the animals, birds and worms also

indulge in? What is the special ideal which has been held out for humanity? What

is the inner significance of the statement that it is extremely difficult to

obtain a human life? Human life has not been given so that you can act like an

animal. Human life has not been given so that you can act like a demon either.

Man has taken human birth in order to realize his divine essence. Human life

has been given to you so that you can reach the highest plane of

God-consciousness. The same thing was taught by Jesus when he said, "Man does

not live by bread alone." You have to attain an achievement which is of

extraordinary significance. You have been given life so that you may realize

the divinity which is inherent within you. Your

primary duty as a human being is to give up the things which are impermanent and

attain those things which are permanent. But today you are not aspiring for such

extraordinary qualities. Instead, you are living a wasted life, filled with

attachments. This was also Krishna's admonishment to Arjuna. He said, "Arjuna!

This body consciousness and attachment to the body is binding you. You are

wasting your life. Give up your attachment to the body now!" You have to

inquire why you develop attachment to the body. Consider this small example.

Everyone knows that it is not right to utter a lie. Many people, at some time,

take an oath resolving that they will not lie from that moment onwards. But,

the very next time they get into a conversation, they tell a lie. Or take a

businessman who knows that he should not deceive. He makes a resolution that he

will limit

himself to earning only a fair and modest profit. But the very next day, he

resorts to unfair means. Or a person decides he should not gossip or hurt

others with his talk, yet within minutes he has totally forgotten his vow and

begins to criticize someone. Man seems not to have a steady mind at all, and

without a firm and steady mind he is unable to control his actions. On a holy

day he may feel that he should be thinking of nothing but the Lord and

abstaining from taking any food. But after some time he excuses himself and

says, "Let me at least have a few biscuits with tea." When man is constantly

deviating in this way from his own firm resolutions, there must be some very

powerful entity which is working inside him, constantly defeating him. If there

weren't such a powerful instinct or urge working within him, he surely would not

have changed his

resolve and he would have been able to use his will to hold to his announced

discipline. Desire makes you Break your Resolutions So, there is some power,

some force that is hidden within man, that he is not able to control or

understand. If he thinks deeply and tries to discover just what exactly this

power is, he will find that it is related to the three worldly qualities which

are inherent in the human condition. These three attributes which comprise

worldly life characterize the mind and its thinking process. They are tthe

slothful or dull, the active or passionate, and the serene or calm tendencies.

These three attributes, in various combinations, will dominate a

person's life. They will be fostered or diminished by the quality of the food

taken in and by one's tendency towards indulging in or depriving oneself of

sleep. Of these three attributes, the first two qualities mentioned, that of

slothfulness and furious activity, are likely to encourage you to take the

wrong path. Slothfulness gives rise to dislike, repulsion and anger. An

excessively active nature gives rise to attraction, desire, or attachment to

worldly things. Desire is the most powerful urge making man give up all his

resolutions. It acts as the leader or captain of all the bad qualities. You can

plan certain programs to defeat your external enemies, but all your plans and

strategies will be of no use until you have

conquered your inner enemies. Once you have yielded to your inner enemies, how

can you hope to conquer your external enemies? When these inner enemies have

subverted your will power and defeated all your good intentions, how will you

be able to challenge and conquer your external enemies? This captain of the bad

qualities, desire, has made a hole and entered the house. The others like

hatred, anger, greed and jealousy then follow him into the house. The moment

these enemies have entered into you, you lose all your discrimination and

wisdom. The moment you lose your wisdom you also give up your resolution.

Therefore, the most important reason for not fulfilling your own firm resolve

is the welling up of desire. Let us try to understand this further. When

palaces are constructed as residences for great emperors and kings, there is

usually a fortified wall

surrounding the palace, protecting it from intrusion from outside. There will be

a number of guarded gates within this wall. Similarly, a temple is usually

situated within a compound having a protecting wall around it in which there

will be a number of gates or doors. The body can be thought of as the compound

wall enclosing God, who resides inside in the temple of the heart as the atma.

An external fortress or a temple will be constructed with the help of bricks,

cement, sand and mortar, but this temple of the body is constructed out of

flesh and blood. In this body of flesh there will be a number of gates in the

form of the sense organs. It is through these gates of the senses that desire

and the other bad qualities break in, and invade the inner sanctuary. The Body

is given to you to Realize the Indweller

Arial; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> The body gains its luster from the indweller, who is

God. As long as the indweller resides in the body, it will be full of fragrance

and full of life. The moment this indweller leaves the body, the body becomes

foul and offensive. Without the indweller the body is a reprehensible thing.

Far from being fragrant with perfume, it just emits a bad smell, moment to

moment. The process of transforming a body with such repugnant qualities into

an instrument for serving mankind and realizing the divinity can provide great

joy and inner satisfaction. But man thinks of his body only as a means for

giving him physical pleasure, and so he uses his body primarily in

self-defeating ways. Krishna admonished Arjuna that this was not the mark of a

real human being. He told Arjuna, "The body has been given in order to

understand the indweller.

Arjuna, use your body only for that sacred purpose. Animals and birds have not

been given this discriminating power." You have the capacity to experience

great things through your unique ability to inquire and engage in

self-examination. You have to use all your powers to understand the principles

which constitute human nature. First, you must understand the power of worldly

desire which makes you give up all your resolutions. Of course, there must be

some desire. Without desire you cannot live for even a moment. But you must use

all your desires for good. Your desires should be to help others. That

constitutes living as a true human being. If you do not have the welfare of the

whole society as your goal you cannot be called a human being.

FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Since you are born in society, since you live in society and

get so many benefits from society you have to serve society. In serving

society, you will be serving the Lord. Be it a small job or a big job, whatever

you do must be done for the sake of the Lord. Whatever work you do must be

converted into divine work. It must be transformed into worship. You must

question every action you undertake and ask yourself, "Will it lead me towards

the goal?" When you see the Lord everywhere in everyone, then you will be doing

everything with God-consciousness. All the lights or energies in the body

originate from the one divine light coming from God. They are all the

reflections of the inner light of the atma, which is the effulgence of the

supreme Lord. Similarly, all the lights shining in individual beings come from

that one light of the

divinity, the one atmic light pervading everywhere. You should always have this

in your consciousness. You are able to see the external body with its features,

but since you cannot directly see the atma, you have not developed the right

understanding of the infinite splendor of the Lord, who abides as the indweller

in all beings. Consider a small example for this. Everything comes from the One

Indwelling Divinity There may be a great downpour. Huge torrents of water will

be flowing from the trees, water will be coming from the roof and the

rain-gutters, it will be coming from the overhangs, it will be spilling over

from the roof of the adjoining house,

and running off from there onto your house, it will be flooding the ground all

around causing rushing rivulets and streams. The water will be everywhere and

will seem to be coming from so many different sources, but every drop of all

this water can only have originated from the sky above. Similarly, all this

speech, all this strength, all this beauty, all these skills, in whomsoever

they appear, are all coming from only the one source, the one divinity

pervading everywhere. You have to recognize the unity which underlies all these

different traits. Once you have a firm grasp of this unity, all diversity will

disappear. And once the diversity disappears, the desires will also disappear.

Then, when desire goes and the attraction to worldly objects goes with it,

there will be no more room for repulsion and dislike leading to anger.

Therefore, when you gain

divine wisdom you conquer desire and anger. It is through spiritual practice,

particularly through inner inquiry, that you will be able to realize the unity

and enjoy the divinity which is always within you. This yearning to gain the

light of divine wisdom, to see the one in the many, is expressed in the great

prayer: From the unreal lead me to the real,From darkness lead me to the

light,From death lead me to immortality.Om, Peace, Peace, Peace. Asatoma

satgamaya,Tamasoma jyothir gamaya,Mrityorma amritam gamaya,Om shanti,

shanti, shantihi. Whatever work you do, if you do it for the sake of the Lord

and offer it to the Lord, then the work takes on a sacred value. Anything that

becomes associated with the Lord, thereby becomes sacred and highly potent.

Consider, for example, an ordinary rat, which is a despicable thing. If you see

a rat inside your house, you take a stick and try to kill it, or set a trap to

destroy it. When you see it you feel revulsion. But, traditionally in India,

the rat has been associated with a particular form of the divinity, Lord

Ganesha, who is the embodiment of divine wisdom;. The rat is Ganesha's vehicle

which carries Ganesha around. Now, if you are a devotee of Ganesha and you see

images of the rat associated with Ganesha, you revere it as the sacred

instrument of the Lord. What is the reason for this? The high value that the

rat carrying Ganesha

has been able to obtain is due to its association with this representation of

the divinity. Similarly, when you come across a snake you may feel some fear

and go to get a stick to drive it away. Or you may get a snake charmer to catch

hold of it. But when the same snake adorns the neck of Lord Shiva, you worship

it and offer it your prayerful salutations. What is the reason for this? The

reason is that it has offered itself to the Lord and serves him alone.

Therefore, it has also become divine like the Lord. Even if it is a poisonous

snake, once it has offered itself to God, it acquires fame and nobility.

Association with the Divinity makes you Divine

10pt"> Once upon a time, Lord Vishnu sent a message to Lord Shiva. He sent the

message through Garuda, the eagle which is Vishnu's vehicle. Garuda came to

Shiva, flapping its wings. When the snake, which was adorning Shiva, caught a

little feel of the wind which was being produced by the flapping of Garuda's

wings, it started hissing. Although an eagle is the deadly enemy of snakes and

a snake would normally slink away when an eagle comes near, now, this snake

began hissing at Garuda. It had the courage to do this because of the great

strength it got by virtue of the position it occupied around the neck of the

Lord. When this snake fearlessly continued hissing, Garuda said, "O snake, you

are there around the neck of Lord Shiva; therefore I must excuse you. But just

come aside a little, come away from there for a moment." The instant the snake

leaves its

position, it becomes a meal for the eagle. As long as it remains in its position

it gains great strength because of its nearness to divinity. Truly, the only

I-ness that is acceptable is when you link your I with the Lord, and when you

say, 'I am one with the Lord.' If instead you give up your nearness and

dearness to the Lord and ego takes hold of you, then you become very mean and

weak and vulnerable. Even if it is just a small thing, a valueless thing, once

it takes shelter in the Lord its value will be greatly increased. An ordinary

stone may be lying in the street, but when a sculptor comes and shapes it into

a sacred form, it is revered and worshipped in the temple. You can reflect on

the extraordinary value you will gain once you associate yourself with the

divinity and become one with it.

0in 0in 6pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">There is no possibility whatsoever of any kind

of smallness finding a place in divinity. In the Rama story we have the occasion

when Sita, Rama's wife, had been kidnapped by the demon king, Ravana, and kept

captive in his palace. At that time, Ravana was suffering great mental anguish.

Even though ten months had elapsed since she had been abducted, Sita would not

yield to him. She would not even utter a word to Ravana. Whatever threats he

made against her, she remained totally indifferent to him. This fact was noted

by Ravana's wife, who went to her husband and tried to correct him. She said,

"Ravana, you have infinite powers. You have done a great deal of penance. You

are an extraordinary devotee of Lord Shiva. You have acquired extraordinary

powers to disguise yourself. You went disguised as a mendicant to abduct Sita.

You have the power to go in any disguise whatsoever and appear in any form.

Since you can take on whatever form you want, why haven't you gone to her in the

form of Rama? Then Sita would have immediately accepted you? Why haven't you

done this?" Ravana told his wife, "If I were to disguise myself as Rama and

take on his sacred form, I would not have been able to retain such lustful

desires!" When you become one with divinity, all your little mean thoughts and

ideas will vanish. They can no longer come and disturb your tranquility.

"Therefore," Krishna told Arjuna, "When you are fighting the battle, fight; but

while fighting think of me. That is the proper way of discharging your duty. In

that way you will be upholding the high ideals of protecting righteousness and

you will be setting a good example for others. You will also gain a great deal

of renown. If you offer everything to the divinity, you will be successful in

every

endeavor. To do this you must gain control of the senses. Slowly but surely you

must exercise control over your sense organs until they come under your

complete control. Then you will be able to realize your full potential as a

human being. Then, also, you will have developed equal-mindedness, and you will

be called a truly wise man. "Now you are still living with so many attachments;

when you are so bound up, how can you develop equanimity? You are keeping inner

peace far away from you. All these relationships and associations that you are

cultivating are constantly changing. They are impermanent and cannot possibly

help you in the end. Recognize the truth which is permanent. Attach yourself to

the divinity. It is ever with you. It will never leave you." XXII. The three

Worlds - The Gross, the Subtle and the Causal All the myriad objects you see in

the world are just combinations of the five elements. Everything, without

exception, is made up of the five elements and only the five elements. There is

no sixth element to be found anywhere. Embodiments of Love, There are three

types of spaces which can also be considered as universes or worlds. They are

the gross physical universe, the subtle universe of the mind, and the subtlest

and

most pervasive of all three, referred to as the causal universe. Beyond these

and serving as the basis for all three of them is the transcendental, the

divine principle, the atma, the supreme self. The five Elements, Gross and

Subtle A devotee who is anxious to know the divine principle and merge with it

should have an understanding of these three universes. The first of these, the

gross physical universe, is made up of the five great elements, that is, ether,

air, fire, water and earth. Ether, which is also called space, is the first of

the five elements it is all-pervasive and very subtle. It does not have any

specific attributes except sound. After that

comes air. Air can be felt but it cannot be seen. It has only two attributes,

sound and touch. Next is fire. Fire can be seen. It is denser than air. It has

three attributes, namely, sound, touch and form. Following fire there is water.

Water is still more dense, and like fire it can be seen by the naked eye. It can

also be tasted. Water has 4 attributes, namely, sound, touch, form and taste.

Earth, the last and densest of all the elements, has five attributes, namely,

sound, touch, form, taste and smell. You can see that the last three elements,

fire, water and earth, have form. The first two, ether and air have other

qualities but no form. All things found in the physical world, are impermanent

and subject to continuous change. In time, all objects undergo complete

modification from one name and form to another, and then to still another, and

so on. In

the physical universe, everything is in constant motion. Let us inquire deeper

into the nature of physical objects made up of these five elements. Consider

the various atoms which exist in a given place and a given time. They will

comprise the various objects which appear there at that moment. As the atoms

move and change their position, the forms they make up also change. The atoms

in all the objects undergo such rapid change in position, that it is hard to

say when a particular change has taken place in an object. There is an ongoing

process of change. All the objects made up of these changing atoms will be

changing their forms continuously with time. The atoms which make up the human

body, like the atoms in any other form, change every moment, causing the body

to undergo modification. All these different changes are very much like waves,

such as the

waves you find in the ocean. For the waves in the ocean there is no beginning or

end. The drops of water in one wave get merged into the next wave. The waves in

which those drops have been merged again get merged into other waves, and so

on. This process of forms changing and merging goes on continuously. This is

the very nature of the physical universe. Life is a Series of Waves Humanity

can also be described as a series of waves; and other living beings such as

animals and birds can be thought of as other waves. Plants can also be thought

of as waves, as can the insects and crawling things. The demonic forces can be

described as still other waves, and the divine

forces are yet other waves. In nature, it is impossible to say what aspect of

any wave will merge with any other wave. Therefore, just as drops of one wave

in the ocean will mingle with and get merged into another wave, so also you may

find that a wave containing human characteristics may merge into another wave

containing characteristics of other living things. It is one continuous process

of change and modification. In this way, life itself can be described as a

series of waves. In the same way that the body undergoes change, the mind also

undergoes change. Human nature is associated with the thinking process, which

is the result of a continuous string of thoughts. These thought processes are

all impermanent. They constantly undergo change. We see that everything

comprising human life is undergoing change. Unless you are able to recognize

the six

principal types of changes which occur in life, namely, birth, growth, maturity,

decline, degeneration and death, you will be deluded into thinking that life is

permanent. The root cause of such lack of understanding is ignorance, which

gives rise to the ego and egoistic feelings of self-delusion. The physical

universe contains billions of suns, each with its own world. There are

countless planets, big and small and innumerable beings. In this entire vast

universe, the earth is smaller than even a tiny drop. On this earth, India is

just a little country. In this little country there is a small state. In this

small state is a very little district. In this little district there is just a

minor village. In this village there is an insignificant little house. And in

this little house there sits a very small body. Isn't it ludicrous to think

that such a small

body could ever feel egoistic and blown-up with self-importance, considering its

minute size in this huge universe? When you think of this world and your own

place in it, you can see that physically you are the merest speck in that vast

totality. Can such a tiny speck ever hope to understand the totality? Can a

mere little ant ever hope to measure the whole ocean? And yet, this ocean is

itself constantly undergoing change... and so does the whole earth... and so

does everything else in the physical universe. The world in which you are

living is completely temporary and transient. How can an insignificant,

temporary thing living in a transitory world try to understand the infinite,

limitless, permanent entity? To understand the permanent entity you must occupy

a permanent place within that permanent entity. Body, personality and

individuality are all

temporary. They can be compared to a mirage. Man is trying to quench his thirst

from a mirage. A mirage appears to be made up of water, but there is no real

water there. No cloth can be wetted from a mirage; no bucket can be filled

there. You can never slake your thirst there. In the same way, your body and

your individual nature can never satisfy your thirst for the true joy that you

are seeking. But for the Divine Principle, The World is totally Inert The whole

vast physical world is something like an atom in the mental world, just as your

body is like a infinitesimal atom in the universe. But this incredibly huge

mental world is itself only the size of a mere atom

in the causal world. The physical world, being made up of the five gross

elements, can be apprehended by the five senses of perception. But since

everything in the physical world is made up of the five elements and only the

five elements, this world is totally inert and insentient. Yet, the divine

principle is inherent in it. This divine principle is also to be found in the

mental world. Since the mental world is made up of the same five elements (in

their subtle aspects), this world is also inert and insentient. But just as the

divine principle, as indweller, is inherent in the inert body, activating it,

and is inherent in the inert mind, vitalizing it, so also it is inherent in

these inert physical and mental worlds, energizing and vitalizing them. This

divine principle which brings energy and vitality to the physical and mental

worlds, shines forth most

splendidly from the causal world, the subtlest of these vast universes. To

understand this process consider the reflections in a mirror. The image or

reflection has no independent existence of its own. It can shine and be seen

only when the object which is being reflected is luminous, and it can move only

when this same object being reflected, moves. All the apparent luster of the

things making up the world arises from the causal world, and is then reflected

by the mental and physical worlds, which act as mirrors. Just as the effulgence

of the sun gets reflected by the moon, the effulgence present in the causal

state gets reflected in the subtle mental state and the gross physical state.

Now suppose you wanted to decorate the reflection which you see of yourself in

a mirror. Could you do it so that it would remain there permanently? When you

see your face

in the mirror, could you paint a dot on the forehead of your image in the mirror

and keep it there? No, it would be a futile effort. If you were to paint a dot

on the mirror where the center of your forehead is on your image, then as soon

as you move, the image would also move, and the dot which was formerly in the

center of your forehead would now be over your ear. Whenever you moved to one

side, the image would also move to one side and the dot would no longer be in

the center of the image. Then, is there any way that you can put a dot on your

forehead of your image in the mirror so that it will remain there, no matter

what happens? Yes. You must put the dot on you, the object which is being

reflected. Then you can move in any direction, or even turn the mirror to one

side or the other, and the dot would not move on your image. Here is a small

story which will illustrate this principle. The Artist who tried to Capture the

Image of the Lord There was once a world-famous artist. He had an extraordinary

talent for figure and portrait painting. He came to Krishna, in his capital

city of Dvaraka, and wanted to paint Krishna's portrait. With a beaming smile

Krishna said, "Well, if you want to paint my image you can certainly do so.

Tell me what I should do." The artist requested, "Swami, if you would kindly

just sit still for an hour in the same place, I will draw an outline, and then

later on I will fill in the details." Krishna sat down on for the artist and

remained without moving. The artist made some preliminary sketches. After a

while, he prostrated at Krishna's feet and said, "Swami, I am done now."

Smiling, Krishna asked, "When are

you going to show the picture?" The artist answered, "Swami, by tomorrow at this

time I should have completed it." Throughout the night, he worked untiringly on

this difficult task of accurately painting a likeness of the Lord on canvas.

When the picture was done the next morning, the artist was extremely pleased

with his work. He covered the painting with a beautiful cloth and brought it to

Krishna. But when the cloth was removed, it was seen that in the intervening 24

hours the form of Krishna had undergone a remarkable change. The artist put the

portrait directly alongside Krishna. He looked at the picture and then looked at

Krishna. He realized that there was very little resemblance between the two.

Krishna also looked at the painting and pointed out, "My dear fellow, there

seem to be a number of defects." The artist said, "Please forgive me, Swami.

Please give me another chance. Let me try again and I will do better." It went

on like this for ten days. Each day the artist did his work over again, but it

was impossible to get a proper picture. Now the artist began to feel ashamed.

He decided it would be best if he just disappeared from there, and so he

hurriedly left the city. On the way, sage Narada happened to meet the artist

departing from the city. Narada asked the artist, "You seem quite disturbed.

Tell me what is making you so unhappy." The artist explained to him all that

had happened. Narada told the artist, "Well, Krishna is a master actor and a

master director. He is enacting this whole drama. Using your methods you will

never be able to get a true likeness of him. But if you really want to succeed

then listen to my words and follow them implicitly. The artist agreed to do

exactly as Narada instructed. He returned to Dvaraka, and the very next day

went to Krishna, carrying with him a picture covered with a fine cloth. He told

Krishna, "Swami, I have finally been able to bring you your exact picture.

Please have a look. This will always give the correct likeness of you. Whatever

changes come into your expression and form, the image that is seen here will

show all these changes faithfully." Then he got ready to remove the covering

cloth and said, "Please accept this as my best picture of you." When the cloth

came away, it revealed a clean mirror. If you want to paint a portrait of the

Lord who is permanent with temporary materials like brushes, paint, etc., you

will not be able to succeed. In the physical

universe everything is temporary. All forms are constantly undergoing change.

Such transient forms cannot give a proper vision of the permanent Lord. If you

want to have a clean and unchanging vision of the Lord, you will be able to

obtain it only in the clean mirror, which is your own purified heart. To Reach

the Permanent, Go Beyond the Impermanent Trying to know the Lord through the

changing forms found in the gross physical universe, is a type of delusion. The

permanent unchanging entity cannot be known through impermanent, changing forms.

Whatever knowledge you get this way will be impermanent. Whatever joy you may

derive from trying to know him in this way will

only be temporary. The basic nature of these five elements is that they are

constantly undergoing change. To reach the state of the permanent, you have to

go beyond these five elements and their changing forms. Suppose you go on a

pilgrimage to a temple to have a vision of the Lord. Coming there, you may have

had to undergo a great many difficulties. Then, when you finally arrive there

and have a chance to go into the temple, you stand before the likeness of the

Lord with your heart filled with yearning. You look at the sacred image, but

immediately you find yourself closing your eyes as you experience the intense

feelings of being in the divine presence. Spontaneously, you close your eyes

and turn your vision inwards. Having gone to so much trouble to get there to

have a look at the holy image, why, once you are there, do you close your eyes

and look

within yourself? What is the inner significance of this? You turn your sight

inward because you realize that in order for you to get a permanent and true

vision of the Lord, you have to look inside your heart. You know intuitively

that the pictures taken in through your eyes will remain fleeting impressions,

superimposed on impermanent thoughts. After having registered these visual

images in the thoughts, they must be fixed so that they can become unchanging

impressions in the heart. Although you cannot get a direct experience of the

divinity in the physical universe, the indirect vision of the divinity that you

can get there will give you some sacred experiences. Just because the physical

world is transient and changing you should not renounce these feelings of

connectedness with the divinity, even though they may be short-lived. These

feelings will give

you some temporary joy. First, you will have to secure this temporary joy and

then slowly and gradually make the journey towards permanent joy. This journey

will take you through the three worlds, the physical, the mental and the

causal, going from the grossest to the most subtle. It is only in the causal

that you will find the image of real truth. The causal arises from the

transcendental state, which interpenetrates these three worlds, and is beyond

them. That transcendental source which illuminates the causal is the unchanging

light of the atma. You are not just One but Three You can get some understanding

of all this by contemplating the statement that

Swami has often made, 'You are not one person but three... the one you think you

are, the one that others think you are and the one you really are.' The one you

think you are, the body, is ephemeral and untrue. Whatever life you are living

today, whatever experiences you are having today, they are all transient. Both

the body and its activities, are temporary and associated with the physical

world. Now, when others think of you, they do so not only in terms of your

physical makeup but also in terms of your personality and character traits.

Theirs is a more mentalized image of you. Therefore, the one that others think

you are, relates to the mind and the mental world, which is also changing and

untrue. But, the one you really are, is the atma, the unchanging truth, shining

in the causal state. A piece of ice in your hand will start melting until it

becomes water again. Why is this so? Because melting is the very nature of ice.

Similarly, changeability or transitoriness is the very nature of everything

that appears in the physical world. Even while you are trying to understand the

gross physical universe, you have to think of the finer, subtler inner worlds.

The physical world is at the gross level. You experience it during the

waking-state. The same thing in a subtle form is associated with the mental

world, which you experience in the dream-state. In the waking state, you are

able to see objects because of the light emanating from the sun and the moon.

But the sun and the moon of your waking state are not present in the

dream-state. It is only the light which emanates from the mental world which

helps you to see the objects of that world. The moment you push aside the

gross, the subtle light becomes

evident inside. During the day you are not able to see the stars. But just

because you cannot see them does not mean that they are not there. Stars

continue to shine even in the daytime, and yet because the sun's effulgence is

so great, you cannot see them. As the light of the sun becomes dim at dusk, you

begin to see the shining stars. Behind the Gross the Subtle, Behind the Subtle

the Causal Behind the outer, grosser experience lies the subtler, finer

experience, from which the outer has sprung. And within the subtle can be found

the template for the gross. Even in the childhood of a great spiritual teacher,

you can see the mark of one whose mission it is to bring

light to mankind. And when you apprehend this underlying subtle quality of that

being, you clearly see how it has shaped every aspect of that life through all

its outer manifestations and through every major period of life. There is

another state that transcends both the gross and the subtle. That is the

causal. The causal state does not have any movement; it does not undergo any

change. Within it is to be found the self-effulgent light of the atma. It is

because of this all-pervasive light of the atma shining in and through the

causal state that you are able to experience the mental and the physical

worlds. If there were no subtle mental world there could be no gross physical

world for you. But, if there were no causal, there would be neither subtle

mental nor gross physical worlds for you. To realize your divine state, your

journey has to

take you from the physical through the mental to the causal. Your truth is

rooted in the causal. You must use the physical to reach the mental and the

mental to reach the causal. Ultimately, it is the light of the atma, the

indweller, which activates and vitalizes all of these states of experience. The

atma is the source and the substratum of all three worlds. In the ocean you will

find waves and swells and foam on the surface, large-scale currents below the

surface and the stillness of the deep ocean regions, far below. The waves and

foam, the currents, and the deep ocean waters are not different. Water is the

common element which interpenetrates all of them. But, it appears as if the

waves, the currents and the deep ocean are different.

Arial; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">In the phenomenal world also, you have to discover the

common element that underlies all experience and unifies the physical, the

mental and the causal worlds. You can associate these three universes with the

three states of consciousness. You can think of the waking state as the

physical, the dream-state as the mental, and the deep-sleep state as the

causal. Beyond these three states, interpenetrating them and common to all of

them, is a fourth state. That is the super conscious state, the transcendental

state. The unconscious state of deep-sleep is associated with the causal. It

has a very profound quality of peace. But by itself, the deep-sleep state will

not provide you with a permanent experience of real bliss. The bliss is there

but you are not conscious of it. It is only after you come back to the

waking-state from deep sleep that you remember the serene feeling of total rest

you were enjoying. However, in the super conscious state, you will be able to

enjoy eternal peace and bliss, and be fully conscious of it always. Samadhi is

Equal-Mindedness The experience of that bliss has been referred to as the state

of Samadhi. What is the meaning of Samadhi? Samadhi is ordinarily mistaken to be

an emotional state in which a person acts abnormally, as if in a state of high

excitement or trance. You may think that Samadhi is something different from

the waking, dream or deep-sleep states. But, truly, Samadhi is something common

to all three states. The meaning of Samadhi is inherent in the word itself. Its

root syllables sama or equal, and dhi or mind, together mean

equal-mindedness. To be equal-minded in cold or in heat, in profit or in loss,

in praise or in censure... that is Samadhi. Therefore, a person who is immersed

in Samadhi, whose mind is in equanimity, will always be in a state of bliss,

whether he is in the waking state immersed in his every-day life, or whether he

is in the dream-state or in the deep-sleep state. Everyone yearns for such a

beatific state. To attain it, a great deal of spiritual practice is necessary.

You also have to earn the grace of the Lord by living a life replete with the

virtuous qualities that are pleasing to him. After describing the noble

characteristics of a truly wise man, Krishna told Arjuna, "Arjuna, there is no

value whatsoever in your basing your actions only on considerations involving

the body. Follow my commands! Discharge your duties while all the time

thinking of me. Then you will be able to experience and enjoy the divinity that

is everywhere. This divinity is the unity which underlies all the diversity in

the world. Base your actions on that. Constantly concentrate on that divinity.

I am that divinity and you are very dear to me. When you concentrate on me,

then I will be fully concentrated on you." For a wise man, whatever be the

state he is in, his thoughts and feelings will not undergo any change. He will

have developed an unwavering attitude, being focused at all times on the divine

principle within. Who will be surprised to hear that fire is accompanied by

heat? Burning is the natural state of fire, just as cold is the natural state

of ice. So also, everyone who is born will die. This should be considered as

totally natural. Anyone who recognizes this truth will not be subjected to

sorrow. In all

places and in all circumstances, develop an equal-mindedness. Whatever happens,

always keep your mind firmly fixed on the divinity, which is your true self. In

order to develop this ability to think of the atma, your divine nature, in all

places and at all times, you will have to gain a deep understanding of the

characteristics of the three worlds, the physical, the mental and the causal.

In the evening you take your food and shortly afterwards you go to bed. Soon

after that you are asleep and get a number of dreams. Many things happen to you

in your dreams but after getting up nothing remains of the dream state. In the

waking state you engage in many different activities and have numerous

experiences, but then later on, when you go back to sleep again all these

activities of the waking state are superseded by the events in the dream state.

We see

that so many changes come about in just 24 hours. You Alone are True There are a

number of striking differences in your experiences of the dream-state and those

of the waking-state. Considering this, what should you believe and what should

you not believe? You may ask, 'Which is true, which is not true? Am I the one

who experiences all these various happenings in the waking state, or am I the

one who experiences all those other happenings in the dream-state?' The wisdom

teachings give the answer, 'You are neither this nor that. You are not the one

experiencing the waking-state, nor are you the one experiencing the

dream-state, nor are you the one asleep in the

deep-sleep state. You transcend all these. You are the transcendental reality

itself.' That which you think exists really does not exist. That which you do

not believe exists really exists. When you acquire wisdom you realize that

there is only the One which really exists and is eternally true. That is the

atma, the transcendental principle. But this principle of atma is not easily

accessible to ordinary people. All that you read, listen to and experience are

merely attributes of the physical state. Starting with this you have to reach

out and try to achieve your goal. From the form you have to progress to the

formless, from the changeable you have to progress to the changeless, from the

attributeful you have to progress to the attributeless. Beyond all these,

transcending all attributes and going even beyond the attributeless and

formless,

is the unchanging and unwavering super conscious state. This is the goal of all

spiritual aspirants. One who has become immersed in this state is described as

a wise sage. You may wonder if Arjuna achieved this state. Yes, Krishna himself

conferred this state on Arjuna. Krishna transformed Arjuna into an instrument of

the divine and thereby turned him into a truly wise being. If a wise man does

not engage in activities he will not be able to set a good example to the

common people. In schools you will find a director of physical education and a

drill master. The drill master takes his orders from the director. During the

calisthenics drill, the director will keep quiet, but the drill master will

call out, '1..2..3..!' and perform all the drill movements. He has to set the

example. Only then can the others be expected to follow him. Similarly, the

wise man,

while taking his orders from the inner director, sets an example so ordinary

people will be able to follow. When Krishna gave Arjuna the Gita he transformed

him into an ideal man. Krishna told him, "I will turn you into my instrument to

do my work, so that you will be an example to all of humanity." What is the

deeper meaning of Krishna doing all this for Arjuna? Arjuna means the one with

a pure heart. Arjuna was always living in Krishna. A number of times Krishna

referred to Arjuna as 'the one who lives in the effulgence of God'. All the

deeper aspects of the relationship of Krishna and Arjuna can be gleaned from

the names that Krishna gave to Arjuna. Arjuna's only duty was to implicitly

follow Krishna's commands.

10pt">The Qualities of the Truly Wise Arjuna said, "Swami, I will obey your

commands, whatever they may be. Whatever you ask of me I will do. I will not

undertake anything on my own, anything that is outside of your directions."

This is the true attitude of a sage. He will not have the feeling of I and

mine. He will not have any egoism or attachments. His every action will destroy

any traces of ego or possessiveness. He will accept and follow only the commands

of the Lord, who is no different than his own inner director. Because these

noble qualities are so important for spiritual unfoldment, the characteristics

of a wise man are explained at great length in the second chapter of the Gita.

But, just describing the qualities of a wise sage would not have been of much

use, so Krishna began by explaining the qualities of the three states and the

different aspects of the three worlds. Arjuna had the intellectual capacity to

grasp the true significance of this. After being given the vision of the cosmic

form of the Lord, he immediately understood its deeper meaning. He realized that

it meant the union between the physical, the mental and the causal. After having

had the vision of the cosmic form, whenever Arjuna closed his eyes thereafter,

he would continuously see Krishna as an indelible impression on his heart. He

realized that what he had seen with his eyes wide open was in the physical

plane. Then, after closing his eyes, whatever still registered in his mind and

was being seen by him internally, was in the mental plane. The indelible

impression of this vision that remained in his heart was in the causal plane.

It is

something like print on paper. Once a picture is printed, it is impossible to

separate it again from the paper. In this way, the cosmic form of Krishna

became a permanent impression in Arjuna's heart. Arjuna was the ideal man. Yet,

in order to serve as an example for all of humanity, he undertook all kinds of

common activities just like an ordinary person. Inside, within himself, he

always kept his mind firmly fixed on Lord Krishna, who was the formful

expression of his own true self, the atma. Arjuna knew that this physical body

was for the sole purpose of obeying the commands of the inner director,

manifested for him in the divine form of Krishna. In the Gita, Krishna held out

this quality of inner surrender as the ideal mark of a truly wise man.

right">TO BE CONTINUED With Sai love from Sai brothers – ‘’

Source: http://laluni.helloyou.ws/askbaba/saibabagita/

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