SAI BABA GITA – Part XXIII – Answers for all questions

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vision, and when you constantly think of the indwelling divinity, you will not

become elated by joy nor shrink away from sorrow. It is only then that you will

become completely fearless. Fearlessness does not mean the absence of fear. True

fearlessness completely transcends fear. It is altogether different and much

higher than the mere removal of fear. The latter is a momentary experience; it

comes and it goes. For example, if you happen to see a rope lying on the ground

after dusk, you might think, in the failing light, that it was a snake. Fearing

that the snake might harm you, you would switch on your flashlight to get a

better look at it and see if it is a poisonous snake. But as soon as the light

shines on it you realize that it is not a snake at all but a piece of rope, and

with this realization your fear disappears instantly. Here you were subjected to

fear and then you became free of fear; both were just transitory experiences.

Fear is only a delusion created by the mind; lack of fear is also a delusion

created by the mind. Mistaking one thing for another leads to fear; recognizing

the mistake and rectifying it leads to the removal of that fear. But, true

fearlessness is not associated with these two at all. Fearlessness is a

permanent state where there is no question of ever experiencing any fear. When

you are imbued with fearlessness you are continuously aware of your own

reality. At that point, it would be impossible for you to become subject to

fear. You should not consider this quality of fearlessness as just the absence

of fear. When you are truly fearless you will not be aware of any second

entity, at all. You can have fear only when there exists a second object who

evokes the fear in you. But, fearlessness is always associated with unity

consciousness. It refers to non-duality, where there can be no two but

always just one. Only in the state of non-duality will you be truly fearless.

When you forget your true self you will suffer from fear. When you remember

only the world and not God, you will suffer from fear. When you are filled with

desires and attachments, you will suffer from fear. When you are deluded by

objects, you will suffer from fear. On the other hand, when you are immersed in

the transcendental reality, you will be totally free from fear; you will never

be afraid of anything. Then you will be truly fearless. Krishna said, "Arjuna,

there is only one thing you will have to develop. You need not develop further

your vision of the phenomenal world; nor do you need to further develop your

mind. You need only to develop the

vision of the one existing everywhere in everyone. If you know it, and if you

remember it, then you will not be subject to this constant cycling between fear

and its removal. So long as you have the deluded perspective that the world is

real and made up of separate objects, your vision will be clouded and you will

be subject to fear. But when you recognize the truth of the unity of the whole

creation, you will be forever fearless. A person like you should become wise

and never again experience fear." The Story of Gajendra, the Elephant You will

have to control your tendency to look outwards towards the body and its deeds

and towards the mind with its thoughts and feelings. Instead, develop the

inward vision of the sacred

self. This is the true vision, the integral vision. There is a fine example of

this in the ancient spiritual classic called the Bhagavatam. It is the story of

Gajendra, an elephant who was caught by a crocodile. This elephant, Gajendra,

had a strong ego and he was convinced that with his great strength he would be

able to fight and free himself from the crocodile. But here two facts must be

known; elephants are very powerful on land, crocodiles are very powerful in the

water. When an elephant enters the water he will not have so much strength, and

when a crocodile comes out on land he will also be less mighty than in his

natural habitat, the water. In this case, because the crocodile was in the

water he was able to exercise all his great strength. But the elephant,

Gajendra, was very arrogant; he was blown up with ego and felt that no

crocodile could ever be equal to an elephant, who was the lord of the forest.

He did not know that a crocodile in the water would be more than

a match for any elephant away from land. For a long time they fought

relentlessly. Finally the elephant got tired and lost all his physical as well

as mental strength. He had placed all his confidence in his physical and mental

prowess, but having exhausted all that, he began praying to the Lord. As long as

his vision had been directed to his body he did not look towards God. As long as

he had confidence in his own bodily and mental strength, the thought of God did

not arise and the Lord's grace did not descend. When the elephant lost his

physical and mental power and turned towards God, immediately Lord Vishnu

hurled his sacred discus, and freed Gajendra from the catastrophe that had

overtaken him. Now, the discus spoken of here does not refer to a mere weapon

used by the Lord; but it refers to his grace. You evoke God's grace by turning

your vision

towards God. Then God turns his vision towards you. Turn your Vision towards God

and See your Self When will you acquire God's vision that will forever keep you

in his grace? Only when you renounce all your egocentric beliefs in your own

strength of body and mind. You gain God's grace when you turn your vision

towards God, put yourself wholly in his hands and, just as the elephant

Gajendra did, surrender yourself completely to his will. When you turn your

vision towards the teacher you love, the teacher will turn towards you. Even if

the teacher's vision were to fall on you, if you had not at the same time turned

your vision towards your teacher, you would not have been able to experience the

teacher's beneficent gaze. Now,

all your vision is concentrated on the body. The effulgence of the shining sun

may be all around you but its light will not have entered the room where you

are staying. What is the reason for this? You have put curtains and shutters on

the windows and kept the warm rays of sunlight out. Only when you break open

these dark curtains and shutters will the effulgence of the sun enter your

inner apartment. In the same way, you have covered your vision with shutters of

doubt and ego and thick curtains of body-consciousness, and so the rays of grace

are not able to penetrate through and enter your heart. You might say, "I have

not been able to get the grace of God." But how will you be able to get it if

you do not turn your gaze on him?

Roman">When you do not look to God, then surely you will not be able to see God.

If I am standing directly in front of you and you are standing directly in front

of me, and we are looking at each other, what is it that we will see? Who will

you see in my eyes and who will I see in your eyes? We will see each other, in

each other's eyes. When we stand face to face, I can see my vision in you and

you can see your vision in me. But if you stand behind or turn away, how can I

see my vision in you, or you see your vision in me? It would be impossible. In

the same way, if you want your eyes to meet the eyes of God, you must come and

be directly in front of him and concentrate your vision on him. When you do, he

will turn his benevolent gaze upon you, and you will see a vision of your higher

self. When the sight of the elephant, Gajendra, was turned towards God,

God's sight met with it, because God's sight then turned towards him. Once that

happened, all problems were automatically solved. The Elephant of Arrogance and

the Crocodile of Attachment Who is this elephant? This proud elephant is

arrogance and pride. When a man is full of arrogance and pride, he develops

desire. Desire may be compared to thirst. When this proud man develops thirst,

he goes to the waters of the world to drink. Even before he enters these waters

completely, attachment catches hold of him. Attachment and possessiveness are

the powerful crocodile that robs you of all your strength and makes you cry so

pitifully. Before entering the waters of the world, before having gained so

many attachments, you will have

only rarely cried. For example, before marriage, a young man will feel free and

unencumbered. But after marriage there will be a continuous growth of

attachments. Then one has to take care of wife, children, parents, in-laws and

quite a few other relatives, and soon it feels like the whole world has laid

hold of him and is pulling him down under the waters. Once you develop egoism

and pride then desires follow. Soon attachments come, and from attachments all

these bonds develop. When bonds develop, you will be so distracted you will not

be able to turn towards God and see him. Only when you look towards God will you

be able to see him. Then he will look towards you, and you will be able to

perceive your own true image. "Therefore," Krishna cautioned, "do not become a

victim of this bondage, Arjuna. Keep your mind clear and pure. Always look

towards the

immortal self, the universal principle. It is the one divinity existing in all

things. Cultivate such sacred vision in your mind. Do not allow the weeds and

shrubs of ego and body-consciousness to develop in your heart. Instead, grow

the tree of God's grace in your heart. Turn your sight towards God. Let this be

your objective. Make that your goal." XXX. To Become Free - Surrender your Mind

to God The entire world is made up of three qualities. These qualities

constitute illusion. They can be spoken of as density or inertia, action or

reaction, and balance or harmony. Although their effects are very different,

all three qualities befog your understanding. As long as these qualities reside

in your heart you

will remain in bondage. Embodiments of Love, Among the three qualities

enumerated above, the first two, namely inertia and excessive activity, are

responsible for all the sorrows, grief, troubles and problems that you

experience. Whenever torpor, laziness, drowsiness or sleepiness manifest, or

whenever unconscionable fear or rage or hatred take hold of you, then you are

overwhelmed by the quality of inertia or density, which in Sanskrit is called

tamas. Whenever strong desires, frenzied activities, impatience, passion,

emotional and self interested actions of all kinds predominate, then the second

quality, which in Sanskrit is called rajas, holds sway over you. When these two

qualities are in control, your real human

nature is forgotten. They bring out the animal nature and the demonic nature in

human beings. Therefore, to begin with, these two qualities of tamas and rajas

will have to be expunged from you. Root Out the Weeds of Tamas and Rajas A

farmer who wants to gain a good crop starts by removing the weeds from his

field. As long as the weeds cover the field, depleting the soil of nutrients

and energy, the crops will not have a chance. Therefore, the removal of this

unwanted growth is an essential precondition for raising a good crop. In the

same way, if you want to gain enlightenment, if you want to realize the bliss

of the eternal self, if you want to abide in the unending joy of the atma, you

will have to

remove from the field of your heart the weeds of tamas and rajas. They have

rooted there in the form of desire, anger, greed, delusion, pride and jealousy,

the baneful inner enemies which must be conquered. These inner enemies are the

children of tamas and rajas. They keep you locked up in delusion. As long as

these weeds remain within you, you will not be able to reap the bliss of the

atma. The first chapter of the Gita is filled with Arjuna's anguish and

wailing. The two qualities tamas and rajas had taken over his heart and were

responsible for Arjuna's grief and sorrow. Krishna taught Arjuna, that in the

first place, he had to root out tamas and rajas from his heart, so that he

could fully express his human nature. But, to express his true divine nature,

even the third of the three

qualities that make up illusion, the one which in Sanskrit is called satva and

which is characterized by a balanced peaceful manner, had to be transcended. It

is also a limitation which covers your divine nature, although with a very fine

veil. All three qualities keep you locked into the individual personality and

prevent you from fully realizing your divine self. Krishna told Arjuna, "Offer

all three qualities, tamas, rajas and satva, to me. Then you will be free of

timidity and sorrow, and you will be able to achieve victory in the world."

Clean your Heart thoroughly to Welcome God there If you are inviting a great

spiritual being such as a sage or a revered teacher to your house, there are

certain preparations which you will have to undertake in cleansing, adorning and

decorating your house. You will have to clean inside and out and bring order to

the surroundings before the guest arrives. Great people will not enter a house

which is full of dirt and which lacks sacredness. In the same way, when you

have invited the governor or a high official to your town, you clean the roads

and decorate the paths and keep everything ready and fit to receive the

distinguished personage. Even though this person holds only a temporary

position, you will still take great care to clean your house and make many

preparations to welcome the honored guest to your place. When you make so much

effort to receive a worldly official, then how much more effort and preparation

should you make to invite the very creator and protector of the world to come to

your house?

Clearly, when you welcome God into your heart, you must cleanse your heart

thoroughly. Only when you purify your heart will God be pleased to enter it.

Krishna said, "Arjuna, up to now you have been taking me only as the charioteer

of your chariot, but you must take me as the charioteer of your life! The seat

on which I am seated in the chariot is clean and well decorated. Now, think of

how clean and grand your heart must be to make a seat for me there, if I am to

install myself as the charioteer of your life." If you go to a park and decide

to sit down on the ground, you put down a mat, or a newspaper or a large

kerchief and sit on that. When you take so much care about the seat for this

body, which, after all, is just temporary and full of impurities, how much more

care should you take when you are inviting God into the inner sanctum of your

heart? As long as the two qualities rajas and tamas are in your heart, your

heart will remain impure. These two qualities continuously pollute and dirty

the heart. As long as it is dirty, the divinity will not enter your heart; you

will not be able to perceive the divine presence there. Therefore, you must

first remove the quality of density and inertia, the tamas quality, and having

done that, you must remove the rajas quality. Then the satva quality will shine

in you, and you will become a self assured human being, in touch with your

divine source. Start now by making every effort to remove every bit of dirt

that has accumulated in your heart. There is a small example for this.

Devotion,

Wisdom and Detachment will keep you Pure When ladies go out, they frequently

take along a little mirror, a comb and a handkerchief, to make sure that they

will present a neat appearance. Why do they take these three particular items?

During the journey, it is quite likely that their hair will get disturbed. To

put their hair back in order they take the comb. To see if their hair is

properly in place, they take the mirror. And to wipe their face they take the

handkerchief. If they leave any one of these behind, they will not be able to

achieve perfection in their appearance. So, a comb, a mirror and a handkerchief

are necessary to help maintain facial cleanliness and a neat appearance. In the

same way, if you want to correct the

disturbed beauty of your heart, you have to take certain aids for that too.

Whether your hair is disturbed or not is shown to you by the mirror. Whether

your heart is disturbed or not is shown to you by your devotion, which acts as

the mirror. This mirror must be pure. When the mirror is clean, you will be

able to see if your heart and mind are pure or if they have become covered by

impurities. When you recognize that your heart is disturbed, you have to

correct it. And for this purpose you need a comb, namely, the comb of wisdom.

Wisdom clarifies the heart and returns it to a state of order and beauty. Then,

just as you have a cloth to clean the dirt that has come on your face, you have

to remove the dirt that has entered your mind with the cloth of detachment.

With the help of detachment you can wipe off all the dirt that has accumulated

in your mind.

Roman">Just as ladies take these three things, the mirror, the comb and the

handkerchief, along with them whenever they go out on a journey in the world,

so also, in your journey of life, you have to take devotion, wisdom and

detachment to keep your heart and mind pure. The Characteristics of Rajas We

have already considered the tamas quality which binds you to your lower nature.

Now, let us examine the characteristics of the rajas quality, which also locks

you into the lower realms of being and keeps you from expressing your true

human potential. A person who is filled with rajas will always be hasty in

everything; he will have no patience or forbearance. He cannot be steady for

even a moment. And he

will exhibit a great deal of anger. Not only this, he will also have unlimited

desires. These are all characteristics of the rajas quality. This becomes clear

when you go to watch animals in a zoo. Be it a cheetah, a tiger or a fox, they

will not be quiet and steady for even a moment. The reason is that they are

filled with an excess of rajas. When rajas enters your heart it makes you

unsteady in body and mind; you will be restless all the while. Not only does it

make you unsteady, it also keeps you in delusion. When you are deluded, you have

strong desires for the objects of the world. As these desires manifest in your

heart, you take action to procure these different things for yourself. In that

way, delusion leads to desire, and desire leads to action. These three,

delusion, desire and action are the powerful qualities which are the

characteristic features of rajas. It is because of rajas that you constantly

move about. For example, when you sit in a particular place, you find you will

not be steady for very long; some part of the body or other will always be

moving. This may be compared to the aspen tree. Even if there is no breeze or

wind, the leaves in such a tree will always be moving. The same applies to a

horse. The word for horse in Sanskrit refers to that which has no steadiness.

Whenever you see a horse, whether it be the head, the tail or the legs, some

part of it will always be moving. That is why in ancient times, a sacrifice

called the sacrifice of the horse, was performed as a symbolic ritual to elicit

the help of the gods, in the practice of steadying the mind.

justify">Remove all three Qualities and Gain Liberation The exemplar for the

rajas quality is Ravana, the king of the demons. The exemplar for the the tamas

quality is another well known demon in ancient lore, who slept for decades at a

time. There was still a third demon whose heart was good and who surrendered

himself at the feet of Rama. He is the exemplar for the satva quality he chose

the side of good, but nevertheless, he was a demon. All three of these demons

are brothers. If you allow the first two into you heart, they will lead you

into endless harm and grief. If you let the third one dominate you, he will

lead you into activities and ways of living that are good. But, nevertheless,

he will also keep you immersed in delusion and forgetful of your true divine

nature. If you want to enter the kingdom of liberation, you must remove all

three of these demons from your heart. All three belong to the same demonic

family. That is why the Vedanta has been teaching that you must transcend the

three qualities and offer them to Lord Shiva. He will watch over them with his

three eyes and render them harmless with his three-forked trident. What is the

best way to remove these three qualities? If you are out in the wilds and a

thorn were to enter your foot. You need not take a big sharp knife to remove

it. You just take another thorn and remove the first with the second. Once that

has been accomplished, you throw away both thorns, without making any

distinction between them. In the same way

you have to remove the tamas quality with the help of the rajas quality. Then

you have to remove rajas with the help of satva. Finally, you give up satva

also. Before you can enter into the kingdom of God realization, you have to

cast out all three of these qualities that keep you bound up in delusion. That

is why Krishna directed Arjuna to transcend all three qualities. He warned

Arjuna that he would have to make a maximum effort and take great care to

permanently rid himself of these three qualities. After having taught Arjuna to

recognize these various qualities, Krishna showed him how to rise beyond them.

In that way, Krishna transformed Arjuna into a truly wise man. The primary

cause of these three qualities is the mind. It is impossible to transcend this

human nature and realize your divine nature until your mind

loses its wavering nature and becomes still. Therefore, the best way to

transcend these qualities is to offer your mind to the Lord. After you have

offered your mind to him completely, God will take care of you in all respects.

Here is a small story to illustrate this. TO BE CONTINUED With Sai love from Sai

brothers – ‘’ Source:

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

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