Sai Baba Gita – Part V - Answers for all questions

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Om Sri Sai Ram

SAI BABA GITA – Part V

The Way to Self-Realization and Liberation in this

Age

Part One

V. Find God in your own Heart

The Lord stated in the Gita, "Only when you renounce

all

selfishness and attachment, only when you treat joy

and sorrow with

an equal mind and practice forbearance in all

circumstances, will you

become my devotee and very dear to me."

Embodiments of Love,

To have an equal mind, to be free of attachments and

concern for

yourself and your family, is difficult for ordinary

spiritual

seekers. Particularly for householders, such

equanimity of mind and

detachment is almost impossible. They are able to

worship God through

the various types of spiritual practices which have

been prescribed

in the scriptures. But for them to destroy their ego

and remove all

sense of I-ness and my-ness would be very difficult.

Why is that so?

It is difficult to eliminate the ego as long as you

differentiate

your own will from the command and will of the Lord.

You have doubts

and are unable to surrender because you see others and

the world as

separate from God. It is only when you recognize that

God is dwelling

in all people everywhere, in the form of an ever

luminous light

shining in the temple of their hearts, that you will

be able to

eliminate your egoism and surrender fully to God. Once

you recognize

the all-pervasive unity of the Lord you will have no

difficulty following him. Know that the

self-effulgent flame of

God's presence which resides in all people also

resides in you. The

one who protects all people is an integral part of

your own form.

The Indwelling God

From time immemorial, the inquiry has been going on

whether or not

God exists. Once you have convinced yourself that he

exists, the next

step is to find the way to reach him. Just as was true

in ancient

times, this problem of how and where to find God has

become a

perplexing question for mankind today. To solve this

problem,

numerous sages made a determined effort to use all

their skills and

their penance to find the solution. These sages

revealed where they

searched and how they came to know about the existence

of the

effulgent Lord. They declared to the world at large:

"O citizens, we have been able to perceive the

transcendental

principle which exists beyond this visible and created

world. It will

not be found in the external world or in outer space,

but only within

your own inner self. It is there in your inner vision

within your

soul, in the sacred heart inside your deepest self. It

is there that

the blissful Lord resides."

This was their great discovery, that God dwells

within the body

itself. God is the imperishable one who lives within

the perishable

body. The body is inert; it does not know itself. In

the Gita, God

has been called the knower of the body and the one who

gives

consciousness to the body. To penetrate through the

veils of

ignorance that hide your truth, you must make a

determined effort to

discover the immortal Lord residing resplendently in

your mortal

body. Not only must you find the Lord installed in

your own body and

the bodies of other creatures, but you must also find

him installed

in every object, in every thing. He is the indweller

of all the five

elements, space, air, fire, water and earth. He is the

very basis of

the creation.

To find a diamond you must dig deep within the

earth. You will not

find it hanging outside on a tree. In the same way,

you will not find

this most valuable diamond which is the Lord, lying

around somewhere

outside, easily visible to all. With the help of the

teachings of

great souls you will have to make the effort to find

God within. The

body is not an ordinary thing. It is the temple of

God, it is a

chariot which carries the Lord. In the world, which

can be thought of

as a grand village, the Lord is being taken in

procession everywhere

in this chariot called the body.

Within the Body is Pure Consciousness

Since the body is the temple of the Lord, it is not

proper to be

indifferent towards it or to neglect it, or to use it

in an

inappropriate or unrighteous manner. The body must be

used only to

perform activities which are sacred and selfless. You

must take good

care of the body and sanctify it by using it to do

holy tasks. The

body is inert no doubt, but within it lives the

principle which is

pure consciousness. This body may be compared to a

boat which will

help you cross the ocean of worldly existence. This

body was not so

easily obtained by you. Because of innumerable merits

and numerous

births in other forms, you have been able to obtain

this human body.

To use it improperly is to waste all the merits you

have earned in

all those countless lives.

It is your extraordinary good fortune to have been

able to get this

birth as a human being. Therefore, this sacred boat

which can take

you to your destination, has to be used very carefully

so that you

can cross the ocean of worldly existence safely. In

this ocean there

are terrible crocodiles and all kinds of terrifying

creatures which

are very harmful to you. These menacing crocodiles are

the six inner

enemies of man, in the form of lust, anger, greed,

attachment, pride

and jealousy. They inhabit this unfathomable ocean of

worldly

existence at every level.

The water of this ocean of world existence which

supports all these

horrendous creatures, is made up of a mixture of

opposites like joy

and grief, attraction and repulsion. When you are in

this ocean of

life it is very difficult to say when you will obtain

happiness and

when you will suffer pain. When you are beset with so

many

crocodiles, the very best means for completing this

journey safely is

to see the unity in everything. You have to firmly

believe that the

divine principle, the godhead in the form of the

self-effulgent

flame, resides in everybody and in every thing. Once

you recognize

the presence of God dwelling in everyone, once the

unity is

recognized in all this apparent diversity, then you

will no longer be

able to hate anyone. That is why in the Gita the

injunction, show no

hatred towards any being is given first place.

The various acts of ritual worship, such as singing

devotional

songs and repeating the holy name, which at one time

may have seemed

so important to you, will seem very small in

comparison, once you

recognize this principle of God dwelling in every

heart. It is only

when you are ignorant of this great truth, that you

consider the

various devotional practices as paramount in your

spiritual life.

However, until you have mastered the art of swimming

there is a need

to use various flotation-aids for support. Once you

have learned to

swim, these aids will no longer be necessary. In the

same way, all

the various ritual practices are necessary until you

truly understand

the meaning of the Gita. Once you have comprehended

the sweet essence

of the Gita, all these rituals will appear quite

trivial.

See God in Everything

In the chapter on devotion in the Gita, the noble

characteristics

that endear a devotee to God are described. It is

emphasized there

that once the six inner enemies of man are brought

under control,

these characteristics will naturally blossom forth in

the individual.

Can this ever be done easily? Yes. These six enemies

can be readily

conquered once you recognize the truth that the one

God resides in

all of the five elements everywhere, and that it is he

who activates

all beings. Before you recognize this and experience

it, you will not

realize true satisfaction in anything you undertake.

If you keep some salt in your mouth then even if you

try to swallow

some sweet juice, you will still get the taste of

salt. First you

have to get rid of the salt and wash your mouth well,

then you will

be able to taste the sweetness. When the salt is gone

you can enjoy

the full unpolluted sweetness of the juice you have

taken in.

Similarly, it is only when you are able to conquer the

ego by

removing all the bad traits which have become an

integral part of

you, that you will be able to enjoy the sweetness of

compassion, the

sweetness of sacrifice, the sweetness of charity, the

sweetness of

sympathy and the sweetness of divine love.

To begin with, try to understand what true devotion

really means.

Devotion means an all-absorbing love for God. When you

develop

devotion and turn all your love towards God,

everything that is

necessary will be added unto you. You will develop the

capacity to

sacrifice yourself. You will expand in love. Love is

the very life

breath of a human being. Without love you cannot live.

Love is a very

sacred quality. As was referred to earlier, a great

sage in ancient

times told his wife, "All the love that you have is

really for the

sake of your higher self. Love is not for the sake of

others but only

for the higher self." But all too frequently, through

delusion, this

sacred love for the atma, the one self, is diverted

towards the body.

Everywhere in the world we find this disease of

identification with

the body.

The Diseases of Mankind

Many of the enjoyments you experience in life are

really just the

relief you feel when you temporarily soothe the pains

of a disease

you are suffering. For example, you think that taking

food is an

enjoyment, but it is really only a medicine. Food is

the medicine for

the disease of hunger. When you give the medicine the

disease is

temporarily forgotten. You cook many varieties of

delicious food and

consider the taste of these prepared dishes to be most

enjoyable, but

that is not the real purpose for which you take food.

As you know,

medicines are sometimes given in the form of a mixture

which contains

some sweetener to make it more palatable. In the same

way, to treat

the disease of hunger there will be a meal containing

a mixture of

ingredients, some of which are particularly flavorful

and pleasant to

the taste. But in the final analysis, the meal can

only be thought of

as a form of medicine to treat the disease of hunger

that afflicts

you. After you have eaten, the symptoms of

the disease disappear. Similarly, when you take some

cool water, the

symptoms of the disease of thirst disappear.

We have previously discussed the six inner enemies

of man: lust,

anger, greed, attachment, pride and jealousy. They can

also be

described as desire, hatred, possessiveness,

infatuation, arrogance,

and envy. These are the most deep-seated diseases of

mankind. It is

only when you engage in practices which serve as

medicines to

counteract these diseases, that they will diminish and

disappear.

During your whole life you have been deluded into

thinking that you

are enjoying different types of pleasures, but in fact

you are

afflicted with these diseases. Until you recognize

that the resident

of the body is God, you will continue to be burdened

by these

diseases and the sufferings they bring.

Seek the Lord inside your own Body

All spiritual practices can only be done with the

help of the body.

All the education that you have acquired has been

obtained by means

of the body. The magnificence and extraordinary

characteristics of

God have been learned through the facility of the

body. Taking the

body as the basis, you have to make an all-out effort

to see the Lord

inside it. Do not keep thinking that God resides

somewhere, in

another world. He actually is present in the body

itself. Sin does

not exist in some distant world far away; it depends

upon the actions

that you perform with your body. Both your merit and

demerit are the

result of the actions you performed with the help of

your body. You

have to make an incessant search, a serious attempt,

to find God

inside your own body.

Only when you knock at the door will the master

inside open it.

Even your own mother will serve you food only when you

ask her for

it. Therefore, you will have to ask and go on asking,

knock on the

door and go on knocking, search and go on searching,

seek and go on

seeking. If you search for God within you, with all

earnestness, you

will surely be able to find him. If you go to a room

where a great

number of articles are stored, it is only if you

search carefully

that you will be able to find the particular article

for which you

are looking. Without searching you will never find the

article you

want. Therefore, it is said, 'Seek, seek, and it shall

be found;

knock, knock, and the door shall be opened.'

Perhaps you feel that you have already been knocking

at the door

for a long time and it has not opened for you. But

find out if you

have been knocking at the right door. Are you knocking

at the door of

liberation, or are you knocking at the door of

attachment? Are you

knocking at the door where God is residing or are you

knocking at the

door where the devil is dwelling? Whom are you

approaching? In whom

are you taking shelter? Are you asking the most

merciful one, the one

who comes in human form and holds out his own life as

an example? Are

you asking the mother of the universe? Are you asking

for food from

her, or are you asking for food from the devil?

You may even be looking at the Lord, but you are not

asking for the

divinity itself. No doubt, you are praying to God, but

you are asking

for petty material things and worldly things. You are

at the wish-

fulfilling tree and you are asking for trivial coffee

powder. You

have to pray for the wish fulfilling tree to grant you

the

transcendental principle which will fill you forever

with eternal

bliss.

Your devotion must go on increasing and progressing,

keeping in

mind the firm belief that God is residing inside your

own body. If

you want to seek and search for the Lord who is

residing inside you,

you have to turn your vision inwards. How should you

aspire for the

Lord? You have to cry the way a calf cries for its

mother who has

left it and gone off with the herd. You have to cry

like a chaste

woman who has lost her husband and wails in pain at

the separation.

You have to cry in the way that a childless couple

implores and

pleads with God for a child. This is how you should

pray to the Lord,

full of devotion, longing to realize his presence

within you.

Harmonize all your Thoughts, Words and Deeds

But today, most of your prayers are filled with

pompous words,

devoid of feeling. Inside the mind there is one thing,

on your lips

there is something else. It is only when you

synchronize the thoughts

in your mind with the words in your mouth, that your

words can turn

into prayer and become effective. Then you must put

your prayers into

practice. When your activities in daily life are

coordinated with

your thoughts and words then your prayers can become

worship; and

when you achieve full unity in thought, word and

action then you

become a great soul.

You have to examine yourself to see whether you are

following this

path of harmony in thought, word and deed. When you

examine yourself

honestly you may find that most of the time these

three, thought,

word and deed, will be going off in three different

directions,

without any unity between them. When thoughts are

different, words

are different and actions are different, you have the

characteristics

of a demon, not of a saint. Such disharmony will not

benefit you nor

endear you to the Lord.

Forbearance, the Primary Spiritual Quality

Whatever thoughts you have, they will bring you the

corresponding

results. Whatever you are feeling will be reflected in

your way of

talking and acting. In the very first place, you must

endeavor to

purify your feelings. You have to make your love pure.

To do so you

have to develop forbearance, which is a serene

patience and self-

restraint under all circumstances, giving good to all,

even to those

who may want to harm you. There is nothing greater

than having this

quality of forbearance. Forbearance is equivalent to

truth itself,

forbearance is the heart of righteousness, forbearance

is the very

essence of the ancient wisdom, forbearance is

nonviolence in

practice, forbearance is contentment, it is

compassion. Truly,

forbearance is everything in all the worlds. Only when

you have

developed patience and forbearance will you be able to

obtain the

Lord.

Now, over minor insignificant things you lose your

temper and

become ridden with tension. Anger and temper are

dangerous. They can

ruin your life. If you suffer from anger you will not

be able to

achieve anything worthwhile. You will be looked upon

with disgust and

derision. You will lose your wealth. All the honors

you have enjoyed

will turn to ashes. Your anger will even separate you

from those who

are closest to you. Because of anger people lose

everything, and

their life becomes a waste. Therefore, in the Gita,

Krishna taught

the principle of love and the need to cultivate love

to counter

hatred, jealousy, anger and all the other bad traits

that cause so

much harm to you.

Love knows no hatred.

Love is free from all selfishness.

Love is far removed from anger.

Love never takes; it knows only giving.

Love is God.

You can experience God through Love alone

If you want God, you will have to develop this

sacred quality of

love. Only through love will you be able to experience

him, who is

love itself.

If you want to see the moon there is no need to use

a candle or a

torch light. The light of the moon is enough to see

the moon. If you

want to see God you need only to immerse yourself in

love. Fill

yourself with love and you will surely succeed in

acquiring God. But

as long as this love has not yet become clearly

established, there is

a need for spiritual practices such as devotional

singing, repetition

of the name of God, and other forms of worship. Once

pure love has

developed these spiritual practices are no longer

necessary.

Yet, even when the moon shines brightly, you will

not be able to

see it if your eyes are closed. In the same way, if

your eyes are

still closed to the loving presence of God within you,

then good

actions, including the various spiritual exercises,

will help open

your eyes and clarify your vision, so that you can see

and enjoy the

Lord. That is the import of Krishna's teaching in the

Gita.

Only when you listen to such great words, and only

when you

understand them clearly, and only when you practice

them, will you be

able to reach your divine goal. Set aside at least one

hour per day

to study these teachings and incorporate them in all

your daily

activities. In so doing you will be using your time

wisely and you

will be sanctifying your life.

VI. The three Stages on the Spiritual Path

Fill your heart with one-pointed devotion and God

will reveal

himself within you. Then you will see him as he truly

is. In time,

you will merge with him and become one with him.

Embodiments of Love,

There are three principal stages that you must

follow on the

spiritual path in order to reach your spiritual goal.

They have been

described in a number of different ways in the Gita.

At the end of

the 11th chapter, wherein Lord Krishna gives Arjuna

the vision of his

cosmic form, you will find the three stages presented

as follows:

 

First, you must know that God is here.

Then you must have a direct vision of him.

Finally, you must merge with him.

These three steps will lead you to liberation.

Know that God is here then experience God directly

In the first step, you learn through the words of

the scriptures or

a teacher, that God really exists. But merely knowing

this truth does

not give you unlimited joy. You discover that God is

here, but you

also realize that you and God are separate. This

feeling of

separation can serve as the basis for subsequent steps

on the path,

but in itself it does not provide much lasting

satisfaction.

Gradually, the anguish of separation from God moves

you on to the

next step. The desire develops in you to gain the

direct personal

experience and vision of God. You feel, "I want to see

you, dear

Lord. How can I experience you directly?" But, you

find that it does

not happen so easily just by wishing for it. You must

deeply pine and

yearn for this vision; you must constantly aspire to

see him.

Whatever form or aspect of God you have come to love

in your

devotion, you must now yearn for it with all your

heart and wish to

see it directly. If your yearning is sincere, then

after some time he

will make himself known to you in a most personal way,

and give you

this sought-for vision of himself. Here is a small

story to

illustrate this.

The Cowherd Boy

There was a poor cowherd boy, who had a great deal

of faith and an

intense yearning to see God. One day, in the village

where this boy

lived, a preacher came to deliver some spiritual

discourses. The

preacher would gather together an audience and sing

the glories and

exploits of the Lord. It was not possible for this

cowherd boy to

give up his work and come to all the meetings, because

all day long

he had to attend to his cows. But in the evenings he

would bring the

animals into a sheltered place and then go to hear the

preacher give

his talk. The cowherd boy would listen with great

earnestness and

care to all that was being said.

The preacher was a follower of Lord Vishnu, and so

he related the

characteristic features of God in the form of Vishnu,

or Narayana, as

he is also called. In the course of the discourse the

preacher

repeatedly described the traditional image of the Lord

as one who was

dark complexioned, who wore a white mark on his

forehead and rode on

a white eagle. The preacher also explained that Lord

Vishnu was

always prepared to go to the rescue of those who

sought shelter in

him, and that he would accept as an offering anything

that was given

to him with full faith and love.

As the preacher repeatedly described these

characteristics of the

Lord, they made an indelible impression on the heart

of that boy. The

preacher also said that God is a great lover of music,

and that he

could be won by directing one's prayers to him in

song, sung most

reverently from the heart.

Well, this cowherd boy used to carry some food with

him for his

noontime lunch. Daily he would offer this food to God

with all

sincerity and devotion, praying to the Lord to partake

of it. He

began his prayers by singing this song, "O loving

Lord, You ride on a

white eagle, so I have been told. Come. Please come to

me and accept

this food." The boy went on praying like this to the

Lord for one

whole week continuously. He never touched his food

because it was not

shared by the Lord. By the end of the week he became

extremely weak.

Anguished Yearning for the Lord's Presence

Besides his weakened physical condition, he was also

suffering from

extreme anguish because he felt that he wasn't singing

properly and

therefore the Lord did not respond. He was sure that

it was because

of his own shortcomings in his songs that the Lord did

not come to

partake of his food. And so with great determination

and devotion he

continued to practice his singing, thinking that in

the end he would

surely win the grace of the Lord.

In his weakened condition he reached the forest. He

was feeling

extremely exhausted but he was determined not to eat

unless his

offering was accepted by the Lord. Now his prayerful

song poured out

of him in a most melodious and sacred way. The boy

just kept on

singing and singing all the time, imploring the Lord

to come down and

accept the food and drink that he was offering with so

much yearning.

When there was perfect harmony in the feeling, in the

tune and in the

content of the song, the Lord descended. How did he

appear before

that cowherd boy? He came as a boy of the same age,

wearing the

simple ochre cloth of a saddhu, a mendicant holy man.

The young cowherd asked the boy he saw standing

before

him, "Please, dear friend, may I know who you are? Are

you a traveler

passing through this forest?" The holy boy answered,

"I am the Lord.

I am Narayana. You prayed to see me and so I have come

to give you a

vision of myself." Remembering that the Lord liked the

sweet sound of

music, the cowherd boy continued his questioning in

the form of a

most melodious song, "But you don't conform to the

description given

of the Lord, who is dark complexioned, who wears a

white mark on his

forehead and who rides a white eagle. The preacher

said that is how

we can know the Lord. But it doesn't seem to be true.

O, dear one, if

you are really the blessed Lord, please resolve my

doubt and let me

see you in your true form."

The Vision of the Lord

The boy had heard a description of the Lord; now he

wanted to see

and experience him directly, exactly as he had heard

him described

and come to believe in him. But God doesn't have any

specific name or

form; he has a thousand eyes, a thousand ears, a

thousand hands and a

thousand feet. Yet in order to please and satisfy his

devotees who

are aspiring to see him, he takes on the particular

form which has

been earnestly prayed for. To satisfy this cowherd boy

the Lord

revealed himself by taking on the lustrous form of

Vishnu, and

accepted the food and drink so lovingly offered by the

boy. This is

the second stage when one yearns for the vision of the

Lord. Even

when that vision comes, it will still not be the true

form of God but

the one chosen through the prayers of the devotee. God

loves sincere,

heartfelt feelings, and therefore, in keeping with the

feeling of his

devotee, he will give his vision in the form which

pleases the

devotee most.

After the Lord left the boy thought to himself,

"First I heard a

description of him, and then I prayed for a vision of

him. Now he has

come down and I have seen him directly. But, how can I

reach him and

be ever with him?" By merely knowing that God exists,

a devotee will

not be satisfied. Nor does he get full satisfaction by

just having a

vision of the Lord. Having had the vision, he yearns

to be fully

merged with him. It is only then that the devotee will

be in unending

bliss. In the case of this boy, the Lord had given a

vision of

himself, and then disappeared. But from that moment on

the boy kept

the picture of the Lord as he had just seen him, in

the form of

Vishnu, continuously imprinted in his heart. With that

lovely form in

his mind's eye, he now began inquiring and thinking

only of how he

could reach him and merge with him. This is the third

stage.

Beyond Dualism

In the same way, by either listening to learned

people or by

reading and studying the scriptures you can get some

idea of what God

is like. But ultimately you will not be satisfied and

happy with just

this. It is still only a stage of dualism, for in this

stage you and

God remain separate. Therefore, you will make an

attempt to go beyond

the stage of dualism to the next step, which is

qualified non-

dualism. This refers to the deep aspiration to see and

experience God

directly. How can you get a vision of him? By

picturing in your own

heart the form of God you heard described, and then

continuously

thinking and contemplating on that form. Whatever you

do, whatever

you say, whatever you see and whatever you listen to,

you have to

become one with that sacred form.

The specific form of God you have pictured becomes a

thought form

in your mind. The thought form should then become

saturated with the

feeling of devotion so that it becomes a feeling form

in your heart.

Gradually, gradually, these feelings will deepen and

strengthen until

one day you will have a real vision of the Lord. So,

first the Lord

is heard of and thought of, then he is sought through

intense

feelings of devotion and yearning, and finally he

reveals himself in

form and can be directly experienced. In other words,

the thought

form turns into a feeling form, which then becomes

transformed into

real experience. That describes the second stage on

the path. Not

only do you get the personal vision of the Lord, whom

you have

aspired to see, but you also get the chance to

converse with him face-

to-face.

After seeing the Lord thus and talking to him

directly, you gain a

little more satisfaction. But if you are a true

devotee, even this

golden opportunity will not give you the full joy you

long for. Now

you want to reach God and merge with him. You think,

"I have heard...

I have seen... now I must reach him and be one with

him." In the

first stage, when through reading and hearing you come

to know that

God exists, you feel that God is separate and you are

separate. This

is the state of dualism. But in the second stage you

see the Lord and

get the feeling that you are part of him. This is the

state of

qualified non-dualism. Finally you move on to the

feeling, 'The Lord

and I are one and the same'. This is the stage of

complete non-

dualism. Here you think, 'Either I must get merged

with him or he

must become one with me.' Then there is complete

unity.

Becoming One with the Lord

So long as there remains a separate river distant

from the ocean,

which is its source and its goal, then the river will

retain a

separate name and have an individual identity. But

once the river

merges into the ocean it gets the taste of the ocean,

it gets the

form of the ocean, and it takes on the name of the

ocean. If you want

to become one with the Lord, you have to acquire the

feelings of the

Lord, you have to acquire the form of the Lord and you

have to

acquire all the sacred characteristics of the Lord.

Only then will

you be one with him.

You have to feel that all the attributes of the Lord

must manifest

themselves in you. Affirm to yourself: "The

broadmindedness of the

Lord is within me. All the selfless feelings of the

Lord are within

me. The unbounded love of the Lord is within me." When

you faithfully

live this conviction then you eventually attain the

realization that

you and he are one. Then there is perfect unity.

You must continuously strive for this feeling of

unity. You must

make every effort to gain it. Then you will reach that

fulfillment

one day. This is the ultimate goal of human life. It

is only when you

reach that place, the place from which you have

originally come, that

true fulfillment will be yours.

The three Stages in Secular Life

Even in your secular life you can recognize these

progressive

stages necessary for reaching a goal. Consider the

following example.

Suppose some mangoes have arrived in the market place

and that

mangoes are fruits which you love immensely. There may

be one

particular type of mango which you especially favor

and relish. Now a

friend comes to you and informs you that they are

selling these

particular mangoes that you enjoy so much. The moment

you hear this

you get a certain amount of satisfaction; you are

happy just thinking

about these mangoes, even though you have not acquired

them and

tasted them.

The moment you get the news you rush to the bazaar

to find out

where those mangoes are and whether there are any

still available.

Yes, they are there. Now you get a good look at them.

This gives you

still more satisfaction. But even then you are not yet

fully happy.

So you put some choice mangoes in your bag and pay for

them. Then,

until you reach home you go on thinking about those

fruits,

reflecting on your good fortune to find such nice

ones, and looking

forward to eating them. Why do you spend so much time

thinking about

them? Because you have an extraordinary liking for

these fruits, and

your actions in going after them and getting them are

proof of this

strong love you have for them.

You can get a lot of joy when a feeling that you

have been

experiencing strongly inside you, takes on a form

which you can see

externally. In truth, whatever you see outside of you

is always only

a reflection of your inner thoughts. When you have a

strong enough

desire, you will manifest externally what you wish for

so strongly

internally. Your desire for the mangoes brought you to

the market.

Now you have bought them and brought them home. You

wash them nicely

and peel them. Then you start eating them with great

relish and

anticipation. As you consume them, you blissfully

enjoy the nectarine

juice of these lovely fruits. Soon, the juice is no

longer something

outside of you, but it will have become part of you.

With that you

get immense joy; you feel complete bliss.

Knowing, Seeing and Becoming One with the Divinity

What is the reason for such great joy? Let us

recapitulate the

process. First you came to know that the particular

fruit you love

had become available in the bazaar. That is knowing.

After hearing

about it, you didn't get discouraged but developed the

intense desire

to get them and enjoy them. You went to the bazaar

with great

intensity of desire, yearning to see the fruits there.

Finally, you

found them and got a good look at those fruits. That

is the stage of

seeing. After seeing the fruit, you acquired them and

ate them. This

is the stage of entering into and becoming one with

the object of

your desire.

Do you have such intense feelings for God? That is

the one desire

you really should develop. After listening to a number

of discourses,

after reading many scriptures, after knowing that God

exists and

after having spent much time in worshipping him, you

will have to

develop a strong yearning to see him; otherwise, all

your efforts

will be in vain. You have to fervently strive, making

an all-out

effort to get a direct vision of the Lord.

A student, after having entered a particular grade

and spent the

year studying the subjects at that level, will not get

any

satisfaction in remaining in that grade for the next

year. He will

aspire to progress to a higher grade. If a student is

in the same

class for two years he develops a sense of despair and

despondency.

Not only does he get discouraged but he is also put

through a lot of

ridicule by his fellow-students. In the same way, you

will be poorer

in the eyes of other devotees if you continuously

remain in the first

stages of dualistic worship, without moving on in your

spiritual

development. Other devotees will say, "Look at this

person. He has

been attending so many discourses over a long period

of time and he's

read all the great scriptures, but what is the use of

all that? There

doesn't seem to be any progress in him."

This unfortunate process of remaining stuck in the

first stage, is

the characteristic feature of the slothful quality of

inertia and

laziness. You have to remove this quality and go on

from the

dualistic state to the next state of internalizing the

Lord. In this

state, through the continuous contemplation of the

Divinity inside,

you try to gain a direct vision of God in the

particular form you

choose. With intense desire you will get that coveted

chance to see

the Lord, converse with him and serve him.

Reaching the Abiding Peace of the Immortal Self

But even then you should not be satisfied. You

should strive to

reach the final and highest state. There should be no

rest, no peace

of mind or contentment until you reach the state of

complete mergence

with God and the realization of his oneness. These

days you are only

aspiring to obtain rest for your body and trying to

get a little

peace of mind. But this is not good. You have to reach

the abiding

peace of the atma. This is your true self, the

immortal self, the one

universal self. When you become reunited with it, you

become peace

itself. Your individual self has to merge with the

universal self.

Then the long journey is complete and permanent bliss

is realized.

A river is born from the ocean and ends in the

ocean. But how did

the river originate? Initially some of the water of

the ocean turned

into clouds. Once the ocean water becomes a cloud

there is separation

and duality. Clouds are separate; ocean is separate.

The water of the

ocean is saltish. After it turns into a cloud it

becomes sweet. But

now the water which has become a cloud comes in the

form of rain. You

can say it is a rain of love, because this rain water

becomes a river

and with great enthusiasm rushes to rejoin the ocean.

This may be

compared to the state wherein a great anguish and

aspiration develops

to get nearer and nearer to the final goal.

When you are in that state you yearn with all your

heart to reach

the native land from which you have become separated.

In the case of

the water in the form of a river, it is impelled to

merge back into

the ocean from whence it came. Only then will it have

reached its

goal. Such is the pure non-dualistic state of total

mergence with the

source.

You are born as a human being and you have lived

part of your life

as an ordinary human being. But you have chosen to

take up the path

of spiritual life. You find yourself seeking out the

company of

spiritually-minded people. You find yourself listening

to the great

scriptural stories describing the sacred

characteristics of the Lord.

But now, you find that this is not enough. You yearn

to have a direct

vision of the Lord. Even then, you are not satisfied

with just that.

Merely having had the opportunity to see and talk with

the Lord you

still do not find that your happiness lasts. But when

you finally get

fully merged and united with him, then you gain the

complete

fulfillment you have been seeking. Then you are one

with the unending

peace and bliss that is the Lord. This was the

teaching that Krishna

imparted to Arjuna on the battlefield.

The Sacred Names of Arjuna

In the Gita, Krishna used a number of names to

address Arjuna. Even

Even in worldly life, a number of titles and names may

be conferred

on people. In the Gita, it was the embodiment of

divinity, Lord

Krishna, who conferred the different names on Arjuna.

Krishna told

Arjuna, "O Arjuna. You are not a child of mortality.

You are the

divinity itself. You are the son of immortality." In

his life Arjuna

found himself in a number of trying circumstances in

which he

acquitted himself heroically. As a result, he was

given various

titles. To obtain his bow, which was a sacred weapon,

he performed

severe penance and faced a number of difficult

problems. But

throughout he persisted with a great deal of faith,

courage and

conviction.

His determination in the face of all obstacles was

ultimately

rewarded by gaining the grace of Lord Shiva and

winning the bow

directly from him. In the process of getting this

celestial weapon

even the elements of nature went against him, but

nothing could deter

him from his firm resoluteness and purpose. Because he

was able to

win that bow, the Lord conferred on him the title, the

victor of the

bow.

From a worldly point of view, Arjuna could also be

thought of as

the one who was victorious in gaining wealth. There is

a story for

this. The oldest of the Pandava brothers, Dharmaraja,

who was the

king, decided to undertake a great ceremonial

sacrifice, performed

only by reigning kings. At that time the Pandavas were

opposed by the

wicked Kauravas. The treasury of the Pandavas was

completely empty.

They had no money available at all. In the face of

such obstacles it

would have been nearly impossible to proceed with such

a grand

ceremony. Still, Dharmaraja insisted on going ahead

with the

ceremonial sacrifice. He said to Arjuna, "Brother,

this occasion will

require a very heavy expenditure of funds. We will

need a great deal

of wealth. How might we raise this money?" Arjuna

replied, "Dharmaraja, why worry about money when we

have with us the

wish-fulfilling tree in the form of Krishna? Why

should we be afraid?

Once Krishna blesses us we will be able to get any

amount of money."

Arjuna went around to the different kings ruling

over the

surrounding areas to inform them of Dharmaraja's wish

to hold the

great sacrifice. As soon as these kings heard that

Dharmaraja was

planning to perform the ceremony, they offered to

support Dharmaraja

with their own treasuries, and so Arjuna brought back

wealth in such

huge quantities that it took dozens of elephants to

carry it. There

were great heaps of gold, silver and jewels. Krishna

who had prompted

all this, came and acted as if he didn't know

anything. He asked

Dharmaraja, "Wherever did you get so much wealth?

Where did it all

come from?" Dharmaraja, out of ignorance and fraternal

pride,

replied, "It is because of my brother Arjuna that I

got all this."

From that day on, Krishna addressed Arjuna as the

conqueror of

wealth, in this way concealing his own role and

announcing to the

world that it was Arjuna who was able to gather so

much wealth. There

were many other names given to Arjuna, such as son of

the earth.

These names were not intended for Arjuna alone. As you

hear these

various names you can start applying them to yourself;

each contains

a deeper meaning and shows how the Lord showers his

grace on his

devotees. Make them part of you; fully live them by

striving to

understand their deeper meaning and by putting them

into practice in

your daily life.

TO BE CONTINUED

 

Source:

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