SAI BABA GITA – Part XV – Answers for all questions

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TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Krishna taught in the Gita that once you acquire true

spiritual knowledge your troubles, difficulties and sorrows all disappear.

Embodiments of Love, As long as you identify yourself with your body, you will

be exposed to countless problems and sorrows. The primary reason for having

obtained your body in the first place, is to enable you to undergo the

consequences of your past actions. This is your karma, the results of

activities you have engaged in which have not yet fructified. Why did you

accumulate this karma in the first place? Why did you engage in activities

which bear consequences long into the future? The reason for karma is the

desire or attachment you have for some things and the dislike or repulsion you

have for other things. And what is the reason for this attraction and

repulsion? It is because your mind is steeped in duality. You believe that this

world is real and is filled with objects and things which are separate from you.

But, where did this false view, this duality, come from? The reason for duality

is your state of ignorance, the beclouding of your consciousness by a dark veil

that covers the knowledge of your true reality. The Light of Wisdom dispels the

Darkness of Ignorance You have forgotten the fundamental unity of all beings.

You have become unmindful of the divine basis

of all things. You have lost sight of the atma, your real self. It is because of

this ignorance that you experience so much grief and sorrow. If you want to be

free of this darkness of ignorance, you have to obtain the light of wisdom. The

only thing that can remove darkness is light. Similarly, the only thing that can

remove ignorance is wisdom or spiritual knowledge. Ignorance has covered the

knowledge of divinity and you are not able to perceive the truth. Just as the

embers of a fire are covered by ashes, your light of truth has been covered by

the ashes of ignorance and, therefore, you have not been aware of your own

reality. You may have the power of sight in your eyes but if there is a

cataract covering the surface of your eyes, you will not be able to see. It is

only after an operation is performed that you will be able to get your sight

back. Similarly, it is only after a spiritual operation is performed and the

cloud of ignorance is removed, that the sun of wisdom will shine freely. It is

just like the sun's rays beaming into a room the moment you pull back the heavy

drapes covering the window. The principle of divinity exists in everyone, so it

is impossible for any person to be completely devoid of wisdom. There is no

doubt whatsoever that, in time, the clouds of ignorance will be dispelled for

all of humanity and the full light of wisdom will shine forth. All will realize

their divine state. When human life is infinitely expanded it becomes the one

divine principle. Man plus infinity is divinity. When the human mind is

expanded to infinity it becomes the divine mind, it becomes the creative

principle which brought forth this universe. The atma, the self in man, and the

divinity

that dwells within him, are one and the same. Add infinity onto yourself and you

become the divinity itself. You will have merged into the atma. Unfortunately,

having become embodied, you have forgotten your divinity, your unlimited

infinity. You are aware only of your limited individuality. If you want to

attain your infinite reality, you must make an inquiry into the divinity which

is inherent within you. Atma remains unchanged, the Individual changes Consider

a person who has built a house for himself. From the moment he completed the

house he has been considering it as 'his' house. When he dies, the house goes

to his heir, who then starts calling it 'his'

house. Suppose, as time goes on, this new house owner becomes poor and has to

sell the house to discharge his debts. Another person buys the house and begins

calling the same house 'his' house. Now, who does this house really belong to?

Does it belong to the one who constructed it, to the one who inherited it or to

the one who bought it? There is no change in the house. In other words, the

object remains as before. There is a change only in the persons who claim to

own it. The house just continues to be there, but the claimed ownership

undergoes repeated change. In a similar way, there is the unchanging entity,

the atma, which, like the house, remains unaffected by the countless owners who

come and go. Each one claims personal ownership of this inner house which they

call I. Each one believes the I to be their own personal self, but, in truth,

it is the

one, unchanging atma. And so this my-ness goes on constantly changing, but the

atma which is being claimed as one's personal property, expressed every time

one says I, remains unaffected by all these assertions. Is there any medicine

to cure this disease of I-ness or my-ness? Both the revealed and the written

scriptures have declared that it is the mind which is responsible for this

possessive nature. It has been said that along with the five senses of

perception, the mind may be considered to be a sixth sense. But it is not just

another sense equal to the other senses. In fact, it is the master of all the

senses. The two States of the Mind, Pure and Impure If there were no mind,

neither the motor organs nor the sensory organs would be able to function at

all. For all these various senses, the mind is in the position of the

controller. It acts as the bridge to the inner life of the person. You may be

in a lecture hall and your eyes and ears may be taking in all that is

happening, but, if your mind is not there, if it were to wander off to your

home town to think over some events going on there, you would not register

anything which was taking place in the hall. Afterwards, you might question

your neighbor, "What did the lecturer say? My mind was not here." What is the

reason for your not hearing, although your ears are there? What is the reason

for your not seeing although your eyes are there? The reason is the mind.

0in 6pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">If your mind is absent, even if your eyes are

here, you will not be aware of who your neighbor is; even if your ears are here

you will not be aware of what is being said. The inner significance of this is

that the mind is the master of the senses. All the senses should properly be

subservient to the mind. When the mind is in a position of stillness, the

senses will not be able to function at all. The mind has two states. One is the

impure mind, which is the thinking faculty, and the second is the pure mind,

which is the seat of deepest feelings, experienced as the spiritual heart. When

the mind allows itself to be subservient to the senses, it is impure. But, when

the mind exercises control over the senses and follows the dictates of its

highest inner knowing, it is pure. In

other words, when the lower mind follows the buddhi, the higher mind, which

knows the dictates of the heart, it is pure. Impure and pure are just aspects

of the same mind. In its natural state, the mind is pure. Through the thinking

process and its association with the senses, the mind becomes impure. Consider

a small example. The nature of a handkerchief is pure whiteness. The white

color is natural to it. When you use the handkerchief it acquires dirt, and

then you describe it as being dirty. After the washerman cleans it, you again

think of it as a clean cloth. The dirty cloth and the clean cloth are one and

the same. The same cloth, having acquired some dirt, has become a dirty cloth.

Once the cloth has been washed and the dirt has been removed, it has become

pure and you call it a clean cloth. You say that the washerman has made the

cloth

white. But really, he has not made it white; whiteness is its natural state. He

has only removed the dirt. Similarly, when the mind absorbs impurities from the

senses it can be described as an impure mind. But when the sense impressions

have been removed and the mind is no longer turned towards the senses, it

becomes pure again. It is in this context that you can understand the meaning

of these two states of the mind, pure and impure. When the mind is intimately

associated with the senses it is impure. Then it is nothing but a bundle of

thoughts; it can be conceived of as the process of thinking itself. In this

process of thinking, revolving around duality and its polarities of attraction

and repulsion, the mind gets dirty. It absorbs the impure impressions of the

sense organs and becomes impure. At this point it does not have any specific

form; it is

merely the thing which thinks. Give the Mind some Peace - Turn it towards God

When the lower mind is free of the dirt and impurities of the senses and is

turned towards the higher mind, it again becomes pure. Higher mind is always

aware of the inherent divinity. When you turn your mind to the divinity, you

will be able to free it from all the troubles and sorrows associated with

impure thoughts which arise from the impressions of the sense-organs.

Therefore, you have to make every effort to turn your mind away from the senses

and towards God. This can be described as meditation or yoga, union with God.

This is the process whereby you cleanse a mind which has

become impure, and again make it pure. The mind needs a certain amount of peace.

Just as the body needs rest, the mind needs peace. How can the mind get peace?

It is only when you control the thinking process and slow the flow of thoughts

that the mind gains some peace. The mind will always try to go out through the

sense-organs toward various sense-objects. This then, gives rise to the

thinking process. If you control this tendency of the mind to go outwards, and

instead turn it inwards towards God, impure thoughts will diminish. Then you

will be using the mind properly, and giving it some rest as well. This has been

described as the yoga of constant inward-directed practice. Let us look at this

further. How to cross

the turbulent River of Worldly Life When you are traveling on a wide, powerful

river, what is the most important knowledge you should possess? You should know

how to swim. That comes first; that takes precedence over all other knowledge.

If you go on a great river but do not know how to swim, however educated you

may be, you run the risk of getting drowned. There is a story for this. A

highly educated scholar had to cross a wide river to attend an important

meeting. The wind and the river current were going in opposite directions, so

the journey was quite slow that day. Now, pundits have the habit of constantly

talking, whether it is to themselves, going on

repeating verses from the scriptures, or whether it is to anyone within easy

earshot. On this particular day the boatman was quietly concentrating on

steering the boat in the river. This pundit, who was the only passenger

traveling in the boat, had no one else to speak to, so he started a

conversation with the boatman. "Do you know how to read and write?" the pundit

asked. The boatman answered, "No, I don't know reading and writing.You seem

to be quite a strange person," the pundit said, "In these days in every village

the government has established schools, and you should know at least a little

bit of reading and writing."

justify">Just to while away the time, this pundit continued speaking to the

boatman. Next he asked him, "Do you play any musical instruments?" The boatman

answered, "Swami, I've had no chance to learn an instrument.Well, do you

know any of the latest popular songs?" asked the scholar. "No, I don't even

know that," replied the boatman. "What a strange person you are. In every

street there is a movie house, and there are loud-speakers all around it

playing the latest hits. And the radio broadcasts are filled with all the

current pop recordings. Shouldn't you at least take a little of your income to

buy a cheap transistor radio and listen to music?" The boatman confessed,

"I do not even know what a transistor is." The pundit replied, "If in this

modern age you don't even know about a transistor, you have wasted much of your

life; at least a quarter of your life has been dumped into the water." He asked

the boatman another question, "Do you have a newspaper with you?" The boatman

replied, "I don't have any education at all; what is the use of my having a

newspaper, Swami?" The pundit went on, "Without having an education and without

being able to read a newspaper, you've wasted even more of your life. At least

half of your life has been dumped into the water."

10pt">After a few minutes the pundit asked again, "Do you have a watch? Can you

tell me what time it is?Swami, the truth is I don't even know how to tell

time. Then what is the use of my having a watch?" the boatman answered. The

pundit rejoined, "Look at how much of your life has been wasted. If you don't

have a radio to enjoy music, and you can't read a newspaper to find out what is

going on, and you don't even know what time it is, then three fourths of your

life has been dumped into the water." Meanwhile a strong wind came up and it

quickly turned into a powerful gale. The boat started swinging from side to

side and the river was soon in full flood. The boatman could no longer maintain

control of the boat. He asked the pundit, "Swami, do you know how to swim?" The

pundit replied, "No, I never learned how to

swim." As he was about to go overboard, the boatman said to the pundit, "O

Swami, what a pity! What a waste! You don't know how to swim? Now your whole

life will be dumped into the water." When you are traveling across a turbulent

river, you should know how to swim. Without knowing how to swim, all your other

knowledge of philosophy, physics, chemistry, botany, commerce, mathematics,

political science, etc., will be of no use to you. In the journey of life, you

are traveling on a rushing, unpredictable river, and you should know how to

stay afloat and cross that river. To swim safely across the river of life, you

must have the knowledge of the atma, and you must develop a strong power of

discrimination, to know that

which is useful and that which is useless for crossing this river. If you have

not developed a capacity along these lines there will be no way for you to find

fulfillment in life. You will drown in the river of worldly life. External

Freedom and Inner Freedom As long as you base your life on wealth, property and

worldly things, you will never be able to derive any real joy. There are two

things which every person has to attain; one is external freedom, the other is

inner freedom. External freedom speaks of independence, being free of external

bonds and limitations. Inner freedom speaks of liberation from the bondage of

the senses, having them under your full control.

Every individual should realize both of these freedoms. In the external world,

as long as you are under the control of people who are unsympathetic towards

you, such as some foreign king or ruler, you will not be able to get real joy.

In the inner world, as long as you are a slave of the senses, then you will

also not be able to enjoy real freedom. Even for the outer freedom,

sense-control is important. But for becoming master of the inner world, the

single most important faculty that you must develop is the control of the

senses and thereby gain control over the mind. Once you have control of the

mind you will be able to turn it away from the world and towards God. Then you

will get real joy, both externally and internally, for then you will see the

divinity everywhere. Control of the mind and control of the senses is the

victory that must be won by all human beings. Up to now you have been craving

for different types of joys and pleasures; you go on uttering prayers for

attaining happiness but you are not making any real effort to discover where

that happiness is to be found. Krishna told Arjuna, "You are deluding yourself,

believing that you can get happiness and peace in daily life. But, you won't be

able to get real joy there. Sense-objects cannot give you the joy that you are

seeking. It is only when you control your senses that you will be able to get

peace and joy." Whether you are a believer or a non-believer, you will have to

gain control over your senses. Be the master of your senses. Do not allow them

to get excited and run after sense-objects. When the senses get

excited and you follow them, you will become weak and forget the Lord. Keep your

senses under control and keep your mind firmly fixed on the Lord. Follow his

teaching and directions. Without his grace your strength will leave you, and

you will not be able to undertake any useful work. You need the Lord's Grace to

Achieve Anything Worthwhile As long as Arjuna had the blessings and the company

of Krishna, he was a mighty hero and he was able to accomplish many heroic

deeds. Once Krishna left his mortal body, Arjuna, through body consciousness

and attachment, was overcome with sorrow and self pity. He felt that Krishna

had left him, and as a result, he lost all his

valor. Arjuna, the great hero, now became weak and unable to accomplish even the

smallest tasks. When Arjuna was bringing the surviving women and children from

Krishna's household to shelter, robbers attacked him in the forest. Arjuna

tried his best to fight against them and to free the women and children from

the grip of these murderous robbers; but he could not do it. During the many

battles of the Mahabharata war, Arjuna was able to fight and defeat so many

great heroes. He was unconquerable, no matter the odds against him. But, the

same Arjuna was not able to even vanquish the robbers in the forest and rescue

the women and children who were under his protection. What was the reason for

this? Until that time, with Krishna at his side, Arjuna had felt great

strength. Not recognizing where that strength came from, he believed it was his

own valor

and his own strength that had provided the victories he was able to gain. But

this delusion stemmed from ignorance. Arjuna's strength had not been his. That

strength had been given to him by the divinity. Even though a person may be

endowed with divine strength, he deludes himself into thinking that the

strength he has is all due to his own human capabilities. So it was with

Arjuna. But, once he lost the strength of divinity, he was not able to

accomplish even the smallest thing. Man has been able to undertake many types

of activities because the divinity is inherent in him and has been providing

all his inner strength, sustenance and power. Without this divine power, man

would not be able to accomplish anything. Without the stamp of divinity not

even his smallest undertakings would reach fruition. That stamp is

all-important. Consider the following

example. Let us say that you have made a beautiful envelope out of heavy art

paper. You have written Swami's address on it in colorful decorative script,

and you have enclosed a beautiful letter, carefully written with calligraphy

and adorned with striking colors. The borders of this envelope are also

artfully embellished with many exquisite designs. You have inserted the letter

inside the envelope, you have sealed it and posted it. Yet, despite all your

great efforts and skill, the letter never reached Swami. Why is that? The

reason is that you did not put a stamp on the envelope. All your decorations

and all your beautiful handwriting could not help in getting that letter to

Swami. Even a letter which has been dropped in the

postbox at the college hostel will not reach the temple here, less than a mile

away, without a stamp. But with a stamp on it, a letter could even have

traveled thousands of miles and reached its destination. The postal department

will not look at all the decorations, the ornate letters, the striking colors

and designs. They will not pay any attention to all your beautiful art work.

They will only look at the address and check to see if the envelope has the

correct stamp. So, what was most needed was for you to procure a stamp and

properly place it on the envelope. God's Grace is earned through Purity of the

Heart As in the example just given, God will not pay

attention to all your elaborate efforts unless you have addressed your efforts

correctly and have procured the stamp of divinity and affixed it onto your

work. How do you obtain that stamp? Through purity of the heart. By bringing

all your efforts in alignment with noble values. God does not care for all your

scholarship, your accomplishments, your wealth and position. Worldly-minded

people will have their eyes on that, but not God. God only looks in your heart.

What is the use of earning many degrees and achieving great scholarship in a

particular subject if your heart has not become purified by all your education?

It is the values that you practice every day in the area of truth and honesty

which will carry you through life and be your greatest asset. That is why we

emphasize values so strongly in the system of education we have here at the

ashram.

10pt">Would a hungry man have his hunger satisfied if you just showed him some

different types of delicious food? Would a poor man be freed from poverty if he

merely heard stories of great wealth? Would a sick man be cured if you just

described to him the various medicines that could make him well? No. And in the

same way, if you merely listened to the great teachings of the Gita you would

not be able to derive much benefit from them. You have attended many discourses

and you have heard many great truths expounded. Now you must put into practice

at least one or two of these truths. Then you will be able to experience real

joy. For your efforts to succeed and be truly worthwhile you need the stamp of

divinity. Purity of heart will earn for you that stamp. This means practicing

the noble values that the Gita has been teaching. But even before

these values can be put into practice you will have to control your mind and

turn it one-pointedly in that direction. This can happen only if you master

your senses. Therefore, the crucial lesson in all these teachings is the

control of the senses. Krishna told Arjuna, "Arjuna, if you want to accomplish

anything truly worthwhile in this world you must gain control over your own

sense-organs." The same thing was said by Prahlada to his father, the

demon-king, "Father, you have been able to conquer so many worlds but you have

not achieved the real victory. You have not been able to conquer yourself!"

There are many Beings but only One Underlying Divinity If a person

has not conquered his own mind and senses, how will he ever be able to taste the

sweet nectar of divinity? To achieve control of the mind and senses, it is

important for you to know the deeper reason for all your efforts. The ultimate

goal of your life is to realize the one divinity that underlies everyone and

everything. You must become established in the one atmic principle that exists

in every heart. The sun is one for everyone. There is not a separate sun for

different beings and for different species in different parts of the world.

There may be thousands of different vessels all filled with water, standing on

the ground. Some will be earthen pots, some will be brass vessels and some will

be silver or copper ones. Above them in the sky is the one sun, reflecting

itself in all of these vessels. From the many reflections it would appear that

there are many suns, but even though the vessels are all different and the

reflections are many, the sun which is being reflected is only one. The values

of the vessels will also be different; the silver vessel is very costly

compared to the earthen one, nevertheless, the sun which is being reflected is

one and the same. Similarly, right from the highest scholar to the most

ignorant dullard, right from the wealthiest man to the poorest beggar, from the

greatest emperor to the humblest citizen, the bodies and the apparel in which

they are clad will be different, but the one who is the resident of all these

bodies, the atma which is reflected in all these bodies, is one and the same.

The clothes that you wear and the jewelry with which you adorn yourself may be

very expensive. A poor person would not be able to have such costly things.

But, these are

just like the differences in the value of the vessels. The divinity inside all

these bodies is only one. Once you become aware of this truth and recognize the

unity in all beings, you will be able to exercise sense-control quite easily.

Instead of seeking to control others you will seek control over yourself.

Instead of correcting others you will take charge of your own mind and senses.

Defects and faults abide in everyone. Then who is to exercise power and

authority over whom? If a person has committed some mistake it may be your job

to show him the right way, but your main focus should be to correct yourself.

Discharge your duty, do your assigned work but always remember the one divinity

resident in everyone. Only Wisdom can

conquer Ignorance Ignorance is very deep. It covers your inner truth. It is

impossible for you to remove this thick layer of ignorance by encountering it

head-on. In the early morning at 7 o'clock, although you may be only 5 feet

tall, your shadow will be 50 feet long. How can you reduce the length of this

50-foot shadow? Is it possible to fight with it? If you admonish it, will it

listen to you? If you criticize it, will it be reduced? Whatever you do, its

length will not come down. But as the sun goes on steadily rising, the length

of the shadow diminishes automatically. Once the sun occupies the position

overhead, the shadow, by itself, will have come down to your feet, obliterated

itself and disappeared from view.

justify">You may be 5 feet tall but your ignorance is 50 feet long! Therefore,

you have to develop inner inquiry so that your wisdom will grow. As long as the

sun of wisdom goes on rising, ignorance will go on diminishing. In this way,

your ignorance can be totally destroyed. This is one method. There is still

another method for dealing with this shadow that is 50 feet long. You realize

that you cannot conquer it by turning towards it and trying to run over it. You

realize that by facing it, your shadow will not get any shorter or disappear

from view. But, if instead of turning your face towards your shadow, you turn

your face towards the sun, then your shadow will automatically be behind you,

and however big it is, you will not be aware of it anymore. It will

continuously remain out of sight. Therefore,

instead of thinking of this ignorance, always think of the sun of wisdom. That

way you keep the ignorance behind you and the sun in front of you, and you will

not be affected by this shadow anymore. This means always turning your vision

towards God. Both methods should be employed. Always turn your vision towards

God and use your intellectual and intuitive faculties to increase your wisdom.

These are two major yogas or spiritual paths, the path of devotion and the path

of wisdom. If you do not turn towards God and increase your wisdom, but continue

to turn towards the world, then as with the shadow and the setting sun, your

ignorance will go on increasing and you will get lost. "Therefore," Krishna

warned Arjuna, "use your Buddhi, your highest intelligence, to increase your

wisdom. That way your ignorance will get destroyed. The moment your

ignorance is destroyed, duality will vanish. When duality goes, your attraction

or repulsion to sense objects will also disappear. And, once these attachments

or revulsion to objects disappear, your body consciousness will also disappear.

If there is no body consciousness then there is no sorrow." Develop Wisdom

through Inner Inquiry We have seen that if you want to overcome

body-consciousness, you must first overcome your attraction or repulsion to

sense objects. Once this goes, duality will be destroyed. And when duality

disappears, ignorance will vanish. This will all happen when you develop

wisdom. Therefore, the Gita has declared that it is through wisdom

that you will be able to destroy ignorance and reach your ultimate reality. What

is this wisdom that you should develop? Can it be gained by acquiring secular

knowledge in the world? No. It does not deal with external phenomena at all. It

deals only with internal experience. It is only when you have developed

self-confidence, confidence in the indwelling atma, that you will be able to

develop a strong confidence in the Lord. If you do not believe in your self,

you cannot truly believe in God. When you have faith in yourself, then you can

have faith in God. To develop such a firm belief in yourself, to realize the

indwelling divinity which is the same in everyone, you need to constantly

engage in the practice of self-inquiry.

10pt">From the moment you get up in the morning until you go to bed at night you

go on saying I, I, I, and myself and mine. But even when you say I, do you know

who this I really is? You say 'this is my body', 'this is my intelligence',

'this is my inner feeling', 'these are my senses', but do you ever ask

yourself, 'Who am I ?' If you never inquire into your own truth what good is

all the education you have acquired? If you will not make the effort to inquire

into your truth, then who else will come and remove the writing that is on your

forehead? Who will remove the karma that is imprinted there? Instead of

engaging yourself in self-examination, you just allow impure thoughts to enter

your head, and so all your thinking becomes dull and null. You should realize

that when you

say, 'this is my handkerchief', the one who is the you, is different from the

object which, in this case, is the handkerchief. You say, 'this is my body'.

You do not say, 'I am this body'. When you say, 'this is my body' you are

declaring that you and the body are different and separate from each other. If

you then inquire who is this you who is saying this, then you will be led to

the indweller. You must inquire who this indweller is, in other words, who is

owning all these things. Only when there is an owner can there be any meaning

in saying 'this is my property, this is my land'. Only the master who owns the

property has the right to say 'this property is mine'. For the body-mind this

master is the indweller. This master will not undergo any change. He will never

leave you. Therefore, by means of inner inquiry, you should try to discover and

recognize this unchanging indwelling divinity which is your true

reality. Every spiritual aspirant should take up inner inquiry. In all your

spiritual practices that you engage in, you should spend three fourths of your

time on self-inquiry. Then you will get the full results. Only by using your

time properly, by sanctifying your body and by sanctifying all your actions,

will you be able to reach the goal. The most important reason for all these

sorrows you are prone to, is the weakness you develop because your senses are

not under your control. Use the strength you have to keep your senses under

control. Put your mind on the right path and develop a firm resolve. You will

gain great strength thereby. The Gita declared that you should control the

senses, not that you should destroy

them. The Gita does not say that you should renounce action, but that you should

renounce the fruit of your action. Therefore, you have to do your work. Although

there is no need for the Lord to perform any particular work, you will find that

he is working all the time. If he is working constantly, should you not be

working also? Perform your work and use all your senses correctly. Use them

within the proper limits for the purposes for which they were intended. Do not

ever use them in the wrong way. This is the message of the Gita. TO BE

CONTINUED

white; TEXT-ALIGN: right">With Sai love from Sai brothers –

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

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