Swami teaches... Renovating educationiIs a part of Swami's Mission. Part 2

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Sai Ram

 

Light and Love

 

Swami teaches...

Renovating Education Is a Part of Swami's Mission. Part 2

 

The motto:

Joy is your birth-right. Santhi is your inmost nature. The Lord is your Self and support.

 

 

The arena of life is raised on four pillars dharma, artha, kama and moksha (righteousness,

wealth, desire and liberation). They sustain and support. Each pillar must co-operate and complement the parts that the other three play. Dharma must sublimate artha, that is to say, through moral means should the means of living be obtained. Artha must be won through dharma and used in dharma. Kama must be primarily for moksha; that is to say, desire must be directed to liberation from bondage.

The first of the four, dharma, must interpenetrate and strengthen the next two, so that the fourth

may be attained. Devoid of the first and the last, mankind is reduced to the level of beasts and

birds.

Today there is fear and anxiety in all sections of the people and in all stages of life, shows that people are pursuing only artha and kama and neglecting dharma and moksha. There is one common quality present in all living beings: moha (attachment). Three forms of moha are: attachment as desire for wealth, attachment to the kin and material riches. This quality is present equally in human beings. But human being has the competence to overcome this moha and attain moksha. When moha declines, moksha becomes attainable. Liberation is the elimination of moha.

How to adopt dharma in the process of living and eliminatye moha? That is laid down by the Avatars like Rama.

The word Rama itself indicates Ananda. In every being, He is the Ananda in the innermost core, the Atmarama. Immerse yourself in the Atma as Dharmaswaruupa, as the motivator of the moral life.

Rama for you should mean the Path He trod, the Ideal He held aloft, the Ordinance He laid

down. The path, the ideal and the ordinance are eternal, timeless. Rama strove to uphold Sathya (Truth) as the main plank of dharma. Whatever the trial, however hard the travail, He did not give up Truth and dharma what are irrevocably intertwined.

Rama taught that artha and kama should not be allowed to over-rule dharma and the discipline of moksha because the objects of the world are incapable of conferring joy. There is no place where Rama is not; no being to whom He denies Grace. He does not arrive or depart; He is immanent, eternal. Rama will be remembered so long as mountains raise their heads and the oceans exist.

Many worship His Form, repeat His Name; but, ignore His Orders and Dharma.This is no real Prema (Love). Without actual practice of the discipline laid down by the Lord to purify the mind so that He may be reflected therein, all else is mere show, empty ritual.

You have to cleanse and polish the heart into a clear mirror. A mirror reflects all that is before it - the misery, the poverty, the helplessness. But if the mirror is overlaid thick with the dust of ego, it cannot reflect the sadness, yearning for relief. When the heart is clean and clear, it will receive correct impressions of the problems of society and anxieties that pester the country. Integration spirituality into whatsoever kind of education is supporting and/or directing this process.

The difference between human and demon (manava and danava) is just this human has or ought to have dharma, self-control and charity (dhama and dhaya). The demon does not have these nor does he consider them as desirable qualifications.

All people are pilgrims from demonhood to humanhood and thence, to Godhood. The pilgrims move at their own speed and with the Divine Name-Form that inspires them.

It is a rare piece of good fortune to be born as a human animal. We all agree with this statement. Human is really a holy, sublime, and beneficent role; how then can cruelty, hatred and violence pollute the heart? How has he fallen from the sathwic heights of Divinity to the depths of rajasik qualities like ungratefulness, vengefulness and vandalism?

Imagine the terror caused among the cattle when a tiger or leopard or wolf enters their shed.

They struggle in panic and undergo fearsome panic, until they are felled and eaten. So too,

rajasic traits of character relish destroying the sathwic virtues.

 

The Self and God are eternal; the Universal Principle is nirmala and nischala (pure and immovable). Brahman feels bound to Name-Form and so, it has to regain the lost awareness. This is done through dharma.

 

Samartha Ramdas (ancient sage; guru of the great King Sivaji) appeared before Shivaji, with his usual call for alms: Bhavathi Bhikshaam Dehi. Shivaji realised that the Guru is God; so, he wrote something on a piece of paper and deposited it reverentially in the alms bag of Ramadas. "For the relief of hunger how can paper suffice?" asked Ramdas. Shivaji prayed that the paper may be read. The paper recorded a gift of the entire kingdom and all that Sivaji owned to the Guru. Samartha Ramdas replied: "No, My dharma is the teaching of Dharma, instructing the people in the right way of life; Kshatriyas (protectors) like you must follow the dharma of ruling the land, ensuring peace and content to the millions under your care." Sage Vasishta is also said to have renounced a kingdom, offered him by Rama.

 

Veda is said to be the breath of God, the indestructible, the letter, the symbol for the vibration that spreads and affects the Universe for ever.. The word is valid for all times; it has become the Akshara, the visual symbol. Upon the screen of asthi-bhathi-priyam (existence-enlightenment-bliss), the film of Name-Form is projected, and you ignore the screen and pay attention to the moving gripping film, taking the fleeting as true and the permanent as nonexisting. Break the Name-Form complex and fix the mind on the screen, which is Truth.

You see a plane zooming in the sky; some one tells you that it is flown by a pilot, but, you refuse to believe, because you do not see him from where you are. You must go into the plane to see the pilot; you cannot deny his existence, standing on the ground. You have to guess that the plane

must have a pilot. So, too, seeing the Universe, you have to guess the existence of God, not deny Him because you are not able to see Him.

People want to see God. How can they do it? Are they able to see themselves? They need a

mirror to see themselves. Nature is the mirror in which the image of God can be seen. To see God in Nature, the mirror has to be coated with the mercury of love.

 

God offers you in return manifold what you offer to Him.

By ancient legend this is what Kuchela told his wife. He went to Krishna to ask for many material gifts. But on seeing the Divine face of Krishna, he forgot all desires. On return to his native village he found that big mansions had sprung up at the spot of his old dwelling. Kuchela looked at everything and said to wife: "I did not ask the Lord Krishna for anything. Is it necessary for me to say anything to the omnipresent, all knowing Lord?"

Narada wanted to teach Sathyabhama (one of consort's of Krishna) the supreme greatness of some human qualities of which she was not aware. He brought about a situation in which Krishna was to be weighed in a balance and reacquired by Sathyabhama by offerings in the other balance. All her jewels and wealth could not tilt the balance in her favour. Ultimately she prayed to Rukmini (chief queen of Krishna) to come to her rescue. Rukmini came, prayed to Krishna, saying that "if it is true that God submits himself to a devotee who offers with love a leaf, a flower, a fruit or some water, let my thulasi leaf turn the scales against Krishna."

The esoteric meaning of this prayer is that the body should be considered as a leaf, the heart as a

flower, virtue as fruit and the tears of joy flowing from the devotee's eyes as the water offered to

the Divine in a spirit of complete surrender.

Narada told Sathyabhama: "The Lord will not succumb to wealth. He will yield only to goodness. Rukmini is a supremely good woman. Follow her example." In this manner Narada humbled Sathyabhama's pride.

 

Today the devotee behaves differently towards God. He goes with a mountain of desires to the

temple and offers a small coconut. This is not what you should offer to God.. What you should

offer is a pure, unsullied heart. If you offer little, God gives you much in return. This means that

some kind of offering should be made to God.

 

Dhraupadhi offered a grain of rice to Krishna with devotion and Krishna, in return, appeased the

hunger of thousands of Dhurvasa's disciples. This tablet teaches true devotion should be firm and unwavering, unselfish and free from any expectation of reward. Devotional activities should be unaffected by any kind of troubles and tribulations, by censure or praise. That alone is bhakthi (devotion)..

 

Human has two essential organs: head and heart. Interest in the external arises from the

head (the mind), while interest in the internal arises from the heart. What we are witnessing is an excessive growth of thoughts arising in the head. This means that involvement with the external world is growing from minute to minute. But at the same time internal feelings are not developing with steadiness and purity.

The proverb says: "When troubles come, think of Venkataramana (God)." Similarly many think of God when they have troubles, but forget Him when the troubles are over.

 

What you have to offer to God is your heart. What God seeks is a heart filled with love. There is nothing greater in the world than such a heart. What is the inner significance of describing God as Hridhayavasi (Indweller in the heart)? He resides in the form of dhaya (compassion) in the heart.. If there is no compassion it is no heart at all.

The Gopikas prayed for proximity to Krishna in whatever form He manifested Himself - as a flower, or a tree or a mountain or the sky. They were totally innocent of spiritual exercises of any kind. They dedicated all their actions to Krishna. Developing such love in your hearts, you should sow the seeds of love in the hearts of people who are bereft of love today.

The first, second and third languages are love, service and sadhana (spiritual discipline). There is also much talk of progress - helping progress, measuring progress, achieving progress, etc. Do we really progress in securing peace of mind, in harmoniously living together, and in removing ignorance

of higher values? No. Today we value many-storeyed building as a sign of progress. Persons who spend their time in airconditioned rooms breathe their own breath over and over and are polluted thereby. Their feet never touch the ground. Sunlight seldom warms their skin. Boots for the feet, pants for the legs, coat for the chest and back, hat for the head and a tight tie round the neck. This is the pitiable plight.

In earlier times, the world's population was around 100 crores (one billion). At that time the

number of persons engaged in spiritual pursuits or in the quest for liberation was sizable. Today

the world's population has grown, the seekers of liberation have dwindled. With the growth of

population, spirituality should also grow alongside.

Today spirituality and its qualities equanimity, compassion, forgiveness, etc., is often treated as a some kind of hysteria by the persons who are spiritually deaf and blind.

 

Here is an ancient story-parable as an example. Once an ochre-robed person, was going in a bazaar. School boys and college students followed him, talking flippantly about him. He took no notice of them. He was proceeding from one village to another. The students indulged in all kinds of abusive language with a view to provoking the mendicant. But the mendicant walked on and sat under a tree on the outskirts of the village.

The students went on railing at him and exhausted all their stock of abuse. As they were silent

the mendicant asked them, "Children, have you any more words to be used against me? Come

out with them even now, as I have to go to the next village." One insolent youth among them

asked: "What will happen when you go to the next village?" The mendicant replied' "Child, I will

do nothing. Praise or blame attaches only to this body and not to my Self. But, there are in the

next village a large number of people who have high regard for me. If you indulge in your abuses

of me there, the villagers will trash you. To save you from this experience I am informing you in

advance." On hearing this, the students had a change of heart. They felt: "In spite of all the

abuses we levelled at him, this noble being was totally unaffected, did not lose his temper and

taught us the right behaviour." They prostrated at the feet of the mendicant and craved for his

forgiveness.

Forgiveness is a quality that every person should possess. It is the supreme virtue in this world. It is the task of value-based education by Swami's Teaching to promote this awareness far and wide.People should remain unaffected by what others may say. Whoever aspires to win the grace of God should cultivate at the outset the quality of forgiveness. (Reet's compilation from, Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol.1. "Shikshana," Chapter 16; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 5. "The immortal guide to immortality," Chapter 29; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 10. " Recognise your Self." Chapter 25; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol.. 14. "Why this College?" Chapter 28; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 28. "Fill your hearts with love of God," Chapter 10).

 

Namaste - Reet