Sai Baba Gita – Part VIII – Answers for all questions

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Om Sri Sai Ram

SAI BABA GITA – Part VIII – Answers for all

questions

The Way to Self-Realization and Liberation in this

Age

IX. Desire and Anger - The Twin Evils

Only when you can still your thoughts will you be

able to overcome

desires, and only after you have controlled your

desires will you be

able to conquer anger. Therefore, the first step in

conquering

desires and anger is to become free of the thought

process.

Embodiments of Love,

Stilling the mind is an essential practice for both

devotees and

ordinary people, but, as has been taught in the Gita

chapter on

devotion, the calming of all thoughts is especially

important for

devotees. Thoughts are charged with energy and life.

They can even be

stronger than the strongest matter. You begin thinking

right from the

moment of birth. The material making up your thoughts

is extremely

subtle; it arises from the food you eat. Therefore, if

you consume

food that has been sanctified you will get only sacred

thoughts.

Use Sacred Thoughts to Destroy Dark Thoughts

When a person is filled with sacred thoughts all his

actions will

be sacred. His words will also be sacred. Such sacred

thoughts are

like a sword or a sharp knife. You can use sacred

thoughts to search

out dark thoughts, dark feelings and dark actions, and

cut them to

pieces. On the other hand, if you take in food that is

not

sanctified, dark feelings, dark actions and dark

thoughts will

flourish. Not only this, but because of unwholesome

food you will

weaken the body and lose the power of digestion, and

suffer all sorts

of bodily discomforts.

In the Gita the Lord has emphasized that for worldly

prosperity as

well as for developing the spiritual potential that is

inherent in

man, a strong and pure body is essential. For this it

is important

that only wholesome food be consumed and that it be

sanctified by

being offered to the Lord before it is eaten.

Thoughts and the thought process constitute the very

form of the

mind. If thoughts are turned towards the phenomenal

world and the

things related to it, then these thought processes

become concerned

with wealth and property, for these are the very basis

of life in the

phenomenal world. The word wealth usually refers to

your worldly

possessions and attachments, such as money, houses and

land. Another

form of wealth is your fame, your position and station

in life. But

the Gita does not consider either possessions or

status as your real

wealth. It declares that character is your wealth,

good behavior is

your wealth, and above all, knowledge of the supreme

self is your

true wealth.

Good Character, Good Behavior and Knowledge of the

Self

Worldly name and fame, property and family are all

ephemeral. They

may disappear even while you are still alive. Calamity

and misfortune

may bring about the loss of name and fame, property

and family. What

is more, none of these will have any connection with

you after your

death. But good character, good behavior and all the

noble qualities

which they give rise to, will help you not only during

your lifetime

but also when this life is over. They will remain your

steadfast

companions forever. They will be by your side to help

you gain the

knowledge of your true self, and thereby reach the

Lord and merge

with him.

Your true fame does not depend on your physical

beauty or your

charm. It does not depend on your riches. It does not

depend on your

physical strength. It depends only on your good

character. In the

scriptures, you will find the story of Vishvamitra

who, at that time,

was a powerful and ruthless king obsessed with ego and

pride in his

physical prowess. One time, he decided to take revenge

on the sage

Vashishta. Of course, Vashishta based his strength

only on divinity.

He was a very great soul who was ever established in

God-

consciousness. He wore an invisible protective shield,

the protection

that comes from being immersed in the divine

principle.

When attacked by the deadly arrows and missiles of

Vishvamitra, the

sage remained completely unruffled. The arrows that

Vishvamitra

launched towards Vashishta became utterly powerless,

as if they were

aimed at a mountain of stone. All the missiles

Vishvamitra used broke

into pieces the moment they touched Vashishta's body

and fell

harmlessly to the ground.

In fact, physical strength is really a kind of

weakness. Only power

which is based on divinity and has the strength of

righteousness is

true strength. When Vishvamitra realized this, he

undertook severe

penance so as to reach the same lofty spiritual state

that Vashishta

was always in. After engaging in prolonged

austerities, Vishvamitra

was finally able to acquire the knowledge of the

divine and have

Vashishta himself proclaim him a God-conscious sage.

Divine Power and Physical Power

The Kauravas, the evil cousins that Arjuna and the

Pandavas had to

encounter in the great war, together were one hundred

brothers. The

Kauravas had also based their strength on military

might. In the end,

all these brothers died in the war which they had

fomented and not

even a single son was left to perform the funeral

rites for the

parents, when the parents died. What a terrible fate

that was.

Instead of seeking divine help, the Kaurava brothers

took refuge only

in physical power, in money and in the strength of

individuals. On

the other hand, the Pandava brothers surrendered

everything to

Krishna, and sought only his grace.

When Arjuna fell at the feet of Krishna and

surrendered to him,

Krishna was very pleased and lifted him up, saying,

"Get up, Arjuna.

Real power lies in faith. In the end, justice will

always triumph and

selfishness will always perish; this is the one

unchanging righteous

truth that applies in every age." He assured Arjuna on

the day of the

battle that whoever takes refuge in the Lord will win

the Grace of

the Lord, and will be successful in whatever he

undertakes. Whereas

one who refuses the protection of the Lord will not be

able to win

his grace, and in the end, will surely fail and be

destroyed.

If you aspire to earn the grace of the Lord, you

have to control

your worldly desires. All your activities in the

phenomenal world

have to do with the waking state. The results that

arise from these

activities are no more real than the results you get

in dreams. The

mansions and big bungalows you see in dreams vanish in

a flash once

you open your eyes and wake up. They are not real and

were never

real. The experiences of your dream state disappear in

your waking

state and the experiences of your waking state

disappear in your

dream state. And in your deep-sleep state they both

vanish.

The three Worlds and the Lord Beyond

Krishna taught in the Gita that there are three

worlds, the

physical, the mental and the causal. The mental world

is a subtle

form of the physical world, and the causal world is an

even subtler

form of the mental world. Of these three

inter-penetrating worlds of

your waking, dream and deep sleep consciousness, the

causal is the

subtlest. It is all-pervasive. But beyond all these is

the infinite

Lord, the supreme principle of divinity. This divine

principle is the

subtlest of the subtle, the smallest of the small, but

also the

biggest of the big. Among the mighty ones, the

divinity is the

mightiest of all. There can be nothing greater. Seek

him. Install him

in your heart and be saved. Know that that mightiest

of the mighty is

your very self. This is the truth of divinity. This is

your truth.

To reach the principle of Godhead, which is the goal

supreme, you

have to start your journey with the first stage of the

path, wherein

you consider yourself to be the servant or the

messenger of God. This

is the stage of dualism. Gradually you enter the stage

of qualified

non-dualism, the second major step on the spiritual

path. Here you

experience the divinity within yourself, in your own

heart. At this

stage you identify yourself very closely with the

Lord. You will have

the feeling, "God is within me. He is the one I truly

am. I am he. I

am he." Then, as you continue still further on the

spiritual path,

all duality will disappear completely and you will be

left with only

the I, the pure self, without any modifications or

limitations.

This whole journey is a little like the healing

process that takes

place with a wound. Initially, a protective layer of

hard skin forms

over the wound. Eventually this covering falls off by

itself as the

wound heals. When both the feeling that you are the

servant of the

Lord and the feeling that you are one with the Lord,

both of which

cover the pure I, fall off, then you will be in the

final stage of

non-dualism. Then you are immersed in the one truth, I

am I.

Wherever you look you see your One Self

When you declare, "I am he, I am God," there is

still some duality,

because there are still two entities, I and God. So,

this is still

not complete non-dualism. At the very beginning, when

you say, "O

Lord, I am your servant," the Lord is separate and the

servant is

separate, and their status is clearly different. On

the other hand,

when you say, "I am God," although there is still a

trace of duality,

the distinction is not one of separate subject and

object but more

like seeing the reflection or image of yourself in a

mirror.

Whenever people are different, when there are many

separate

entities, then there will also be many different

images or

reflections. But in the stage of qualified

non-dualism, you see only

your own image everywhere, because you are all there

is. You are the

one self being reflected as many images, just like the

one sun is

seen as separate images in a number of different

water-filled pots.

So, in the stage of qualified non-dualism, you are

alone; there is

none other. The only thing that still comes between

you and the

divinity is the mirror. You constantly perceive your

own reflection,

and so you see yourself as very near and very dear to

the Lord - face

to face with him.

But when you perceive only the one God who is

all-pervasive, then

where is the need for any image at all? Can there be a

place where he

is not? When the entire world is the mansion of the

omnipresent Lord,

then where should you look to find the door to enter

his mansion? If

there were a separate street and a separate house then

there would

have to be a door which opens onto the street; but in

truth, there is

no street at all. When the all-pervasive Lord is

everywhere, how can

there be any special place where you must seek him to

find him? No,

there is no special place where he resides.

Once you realize that he is everywhere at all times,

then the true

perception of the divinity is not that of an object

whose reflection

is seen in various places but the realization that

there is only you,

the one immortal self, abiding everywhere, present in

everything in

all its fullness. This all-pervasive perception of the

divinity as

the one without a second, is called non-dualism.

You are not a Sinner - You are God

As part of their religious observances, people will

sometimes say

in their prayers, "O Lord, I am a sinner, my soul is

full of sin, I

have been performing so many sinful acts." But who is

this person who

is sinning? Can there ever be anyone who is separate

from the Lord?

Can such a one exist? These declarations about sinning

and being a

sinner are not good practices for devotees to engage

in. Rather you

should think, "In truth, I am God. I am not different

from God. I am

peace itself. I am love eternal. I am pure bliss

without end."

Keeping such lofty ideas and thoughts in your mind is

the best way to

reach the goal.

In the Gita, in the list of noble qualities that a

devotee should

possess, the Lord started with, "Be without hatred

towards any living

being." If you treat happiness and misery with an

equal mind then the

question of hatred does not arise at all. If you

recognize that the

same transcendental principle is embodied in all human

beings as well

as in all creatures, then there cannot be any room for

hatred. If you

realize that the one divinity resides equally in all,

then how could

you ever hate another? Where is the other? In this

context, you might

ask for whom the phrase, "Be without hatred towards

any living being"

is intended. Is it meant for those who have realized

the one

transcendental principle which exists equally in

themselves and in

everyone else? No, it is obviously not intended for

them. This

injunction is given for the sake of those who have not

yet realized

this great truth of the unity of all beings.

The Sweetness of the Servant Path

There is an extraordinary joy which you obtain when

you immerse

yourself in the attitude of being the servant of the

Lord. You soon

become filled with delight from having imbibed the

Lord's sweetness,

and you never want to leave that happy state. You come

to the

conclusion that if ever you were to move on from this

feeling of

being the servant to the state of "I am he", you would

not be able to

continue to enjoy the consummate sweetness of the

Lord. Sugar does

not know its own sweetness. You may be concerned that

if you were to

become one with the sugar you would no longer be able

to enjoy its

sweetness. Since you partake of the Lord's sweetness

in the servant

stage, you may prefer to remain in this stage so that

you will always

be able to taste the nectarine sweetness of the Lord,

rather than

being one with him.

For example, Hanuman, the great devotee of God, had

the experience

of extreme bliss arising from his unwavering attitude

of "I am the

servant of Lord Rama". But how long can such a feeling

last? It can

last only as long as you have the grace of the Lord

and are near to

him. If you were to ever become separated from him,

then in all

likelihood you would experience extreme anguish.

In the stage of qualified non-dualism, the question

of suffering

does not arise at all, because in that exalted state

you are

unceasingly with the Lord, and there is no possibility

of

experiencing any separation or suffering. In the

servant stage there

is the possibility of separation between the Lord and

the servant,

but in the second stage of qualified non-dualism there

cannot be any

discontinuity in the bliss since no possibility of

separation can

arise.

Controlling Desires and Anger

If you want to reach the ultimate truth of your

being and be

immersed in the bliss of your own divine principle,

you need to

develop complete control over your desires. The moment

any thought

arises, you should inquire into the nature of this

thought. Ask

yourself, "Is this thought desirable or is it harmful

for my

spiritual progress?" Devotees should be extremely

careful right from

the very beginning, to see to it that dark thoughts do

not remain in

their minds. For most people, it is impossible to

remain without any

thoughts at all. But, at least, when dark thoughts

arise you can do

something about it. Do not harbor them. Give them no

shelter.

Immediately transform any dark thoughts into sacred

ones. In the

same way, see to it that you undertake only good

actions, and take

every opportunity to transform these actions into

worship by

consecrating them to the Lord. By transforming all

thoughts into

noble thoughts and all work into worship, you will

naturally progress

on the sacred path. By controlling your thoughts in

this way, you

will also be able to control any anger that might

arise.

Quite a few people worry about anger, wondering what

is the best

way to control it when it comes on and tries to

overwhelm them. The

easiest way to control anger is this. The moment you

become aware

that anger is rising within you, just laugh very

loudly. Or go to the

bathroom and have a cool bath. You can also take a

glass of cool

water and relax in a cool place. The moment anger

comes it is most

helpful to leave the place where you are and go

somewhere else. If

with all these measures you still have not been able

to control your

anger, then stand in front of a mirror and examine

your face. After

seeing your appearance you will surely feel so much

disgust that at

once you will be able to control your anger.

One other thing you can do whenever anger comes is

to inquire into

the cause of this anger. Is it justified? Remember

that if someone is

going to be harmed in the process of your anger, you

will be

committing a sin, and that cannot possibly be good for

you. To

undertake all these methods will be quite difficult,

but it is enough

to remember not to let your tongue go into action

immediately after

you get angry and spill out a torrent of angry words.

Take some time

to think things over. In a number of ways anger

weakens a person who

is trying to undertake a spiritual practice. If you

make some effort

to control anger when it arises, these efforts will

act to strengthen

your body and purify your mind.

Attraction and Repulsion

The Gita declared that a weak person can never gain

self-

realization. Therefore, in order to acquire the

knowledge of your

true self, it is most important that you gain full

control over your

attachments and hatreds, over your desires and anger.

These pairs of

opposites arise from the primary qualities of

attraction and

repulsion which are inherent in the human psyche as

well as within

all phenomenal things and beings. Attraction and

repulsion are

responsible for everything that makes up the world.

They keep you

bound to the world, and as long as you are preoccupied

with the

world, the light of truth will not shine for you.

Therefore, this

attraction and repulsion for things of the world must

be banished

from your heart. Then the knowledge of the true self

can take root

there.

When you have the sacred knowledge of the atma in

your heart, you

will be able to enjoy peace. That fragrance of peace

will spread all

around you and affect everyone you see and touch. On

the other hand,

if you are filled with dark feelings, dark thoughts

and dark actions,

these will pollute your heart and infect others with

your poison.

Whether good or bad, the thoughts that suffuse your

heart and take

shelter there, will spread to others around you, and

these others

will soon emanate the same feelings.

Sometimes there may be some difficulty in

distinguishing good from

bad. The real distinction is not in outer appearances

and labels but

in the inner purity and intentions. If you hold a rose

in your right

hand, which in the East is considered your sacred

hand, the fragrance

of the flower will not only reach you but also the

people in the

surrounding area. But even when you take the same rose

and hold it in

your left hand, which in the East is considered the

unsacred hand,

the rose will spread its sweet fragrance to all. You

might make a

difference between right and left, but for the

fragrance there is no

distinction whatsoever. It spreads to all who are near

just as

profusely from the unsacred hand as from the sacred

one.

Likewise, whether you are a theist or an atheist,

this relates only

to your own feelings and beliefs. As far as God is

concerned, if you

have sacred thoughts and engage in good works and good

words, then

even if you are an atheist you will be dear to him.

The Lord of the

Gita declared, "Whoever he is, if he has control over

his desires and

anger, if he has subdued either his attraction or his

abhorrence to

people and things of the world, then he is very dear

to me."

Character - Not Belief is what is important

Indian philosophy has been classified according to

those who

believe in God and those who do not believe in God.

But to the

divinity, what counts are the qualities of men's

character rather

than their beliefs. Prahlada, who was the son of a

demon king, was

one of the greatest devotees of the Lord. He was put

to great trouble

by his father and his teachers who tried to impress on

him their

demonic traits. Although he was born a demon, Prahlada

always

displayed a noble and sterling character. And despite

all the

difficulties he was put to, Prahlada was able to

continuously enjoy

the bliss of his own immortal self, and know the

presence of the Lord

in his heart. Prahlada means the one who is

continuously happy. So,

if you go on thinking of the Lord continuously, these

feelings of joy

will shine forth with an effulgent splendor, and you

will become one

with God.

Right at the outset of your spiritual journey you

have to make

determined efforts to control your desires and anger,

your

attachments and hatred. This will permit the divine

principle to

shine forth from within you. Controlling desire and

anger is a most

important spiritual practice. It is the primary task

of every

devotee. If you succeed in controlling desire and

anger, attachments

and hatred, you will be able to justify your life and

reach your

goal. But if you allow them to remain within you, then

whatever

spiritual exercises you undertake will be wasted and

your life too

will become an utter waste.

X. Love and Sacrifice - The Cure for Desire and

Anger

Anger is born of desire and desire arises from

thoughts. Therefore,

thoughts alone are responsible for both desire and

anger. Just as you

cannot get cloth without thread and thread without

cotton, you cannot

get anger without desire and desire without thoughts.

Embodiments of Love,

In the Gita, the divine teacher has termed desire

and anger as

fire. There is danger of being harmed by fire even

when it is some

distance from you. When this is true for a fire that

is burning

outside then how much more careful you must be when

the fire is

burning fiercely in your own heart. This fire of

desire and anger has

an extraordinary capacity to destroy all your human

qualities and to

suppress the divine nature within you, leaving only

the demonic

qualities raging inside.

The Fire of Desire

Most things in the world have prescribed limits but

the fire of

desire and anger is limitless in its hunger. Whatever

fuel you give

to fire, whether it be wood, oil, or anything else, it

will never

have enough. But even the most destructive fire

eventually burns

itself out and becomes extinguished when it uses up

its fuel, whereas

this fire of desire and anger knows no such

limitation. It has a

voracious appetite that is endless. It will not

exhaust itself. It

cannot be appeased. It will never be satisfied. This

fire of desire

and anger has no contentment at all.

That being its nature, is there any way to control

it? The Lord

declared in the Gita, "You can conquer anger through

love and you can

conquer desire through renunciation and sacrifice."

Where there is

love there can be no anger. If you develop your love,

then there will

be no room left in your heart for hatred and anger to

take root. The

heart is like a chair, there is room for only one

occupant at a time.

Therefore, only one quality can establish itself

there. It leaves no

place for another to enter and occupy it at the same

time. You must

make every effort to establish love and only love in

your heart. You

must never allow your heart to become like a 'musical

chair', giving

room for love at one time and for anger and hatred at

other times.

If you want to conquer anger through your love then

you must

develop your love in a most magnificent way. Love is

always prepared

to shower itself freely and to overlook the defects

and weaknesses in

others. Love has this extraordinary quality, it lives

by giving and

forgiving, whereas the little ego-self lives by

getting and

forgetting. Where there is love there can be no room

for selfishness,

and where there is selfishness there will be no love.

Make Love the Dominant Force in your Life

There is absolutely nothing in the world which you

cannot achieve

when you shine with this principle of love. With love

you can conquer

all obstacles. Therefore, to achieve total victory

over anger you

have to fill your heart with love and make love the

dominant force in

your life. Once you recognize that the indweller of

your heart is the

indweller of every heart, that the beloved Lord whom

you worship

seated on the throne of your heart is also dwelling in

every other

heart, then there can be no possibility of hating or

being angry with

any person in the world. When the same Lord is in

every heart how can

you look down with contempt at another? Therefore,

immerse yourself

fully in this principle of love and establish it

indelibly in your

heart.

As has been mentioned before by Baba, when love is

associated with

thoughts, it becomes truth; when love is introduced

into your

activities, your actions become righteous; when your

feelings are

saturated with love, your heart is filled with supreme

peace; and

when you allow love to guide your understanding and

reasoning, then

your intelligence becomes saturated with a deep

respect and caring

for all life, and you manifest the quality of

nonviolence. Therefore,

love is truth, love is right action, love is peace,

love is

nonviolence. For all these noble human qualities love

is the

undercurrent. If your thoughts are not filled with

love, there will

be no truth. If there is no love in your actions,

righteousness will

not be present. If you do not feel love in your heart,

there will be

no peace. And if you do not base your understanding on

love,

nonviolence will not establish itself in your

intellect.

So, just as sugar is the basis of all different

kinds of sweets, so

also love is the basic ingredient for truth,

righteousness, peace and

nonviolence. Love is the divinity itself. Love is God

and God is

love. Love is the divine power that activates

everything. Through

love you can easily conquer hatred and anger.

Therefore, always live

in love.

The Nature of Anger

Anger can be the source of numerous difficulties and

expose you to

countless problems. It destroys your dignity and

undermines the

principle of humanness that exists within you. Anger

first enters in

a very subtle form and gradually becomes

all-pervasive. Initially,

when it comes in, it will only ask for a small bit of

space. "Just

give me a little room to sit down in," it says. Once

it has

established itself, it declares, "Now, I'll make

myself enough space

to lie down and stay." But you must not permit even

the least room in

your heart for such bad traits. Once you let anger in,

it will be

impossible to get rid of it. Even if you make friends

with it and

give it all your wealth it will not leave you. It is a

most dangerous

poison which should not be given even the least space

to get a

foothold within you.

In a car the red tail-light goes on as a warning

before the car

comes to a stop. In the same way, before you explode

into anger, your

eyes become red, your lips begin to quiver and the

whole body becomes

hot. The moment you start having any of these

symptoms, you had best

leave the place you are in immediately and go to a

solitary spot and

sit there until peace returns. As was mentioned

yesterday, you can

also take a cold-water bath.

Once anger expresses itself in words it may lead to

endless

complications and problems later on. Even if your

anger is

justifiable and you are protecting the truth, you will

still have to

learn how to express that truth in a sweet way, in a

dear way, in an

acceptable way that would be received by the other

person without

hurting him in any way. Therefore, every devotee must

learn to

control his anger by developing and saturating his

heart with love.

Sacrifice conquers Desire

Next, let us consider how to deal with desire. To

conquer desire

you have to develop a sacrificing nature; you must be

steeped in

renunciation. Renunciation does not mean that you give

up your family

and go to the forest; nor does it require you to give

up all your

property. Once you realize the defects in any object,

once you

recognize its transitoriness and worthlessness in

helping you to

reach your goal, you will automatically stop desiring

it.

Even when living the life of a householder immersed

in the world,

you can recognize the defects and weaknesses of the

things of the

world. For example, there may be a certain kind of

food that you

enjoy very much, like a curry, for example, and you

ask your cook to

prepare a variety of dishes made with this curry. You

sit down to

eat, the meal is brought in and you are about to eat

it with great

relish. But then the cook comes running in and says,

"Stop! Please

sir, don't eat this food! I just discovered a

poisonous lizard has

fallen into the pot and is dead inside!" The moment

you hear this and

recognize the harmful nature of the food you were

about to eat, you

would under no circumstances consider eating it

anymore, no matter

how much you previously cherished that dish and looked

forward to

having it.

In the same way, you have to recognize the nature of

the things of

the world. They are ever changing and some day they

must cease to

exist. Once you know this, how can you remain

enthusiastic about

acquiring them and trying to get lasting enjoyment

from them? Food is

only medicine for the disease called hunger. How can

it ever be an

item of luxurious indulgence? When you are sick and

medicines are

given, do you refuse them if they are not tasty?

Therefore, recognize

the fact that the things you use in the world are only

medicines for

the diseases that you have.

As the disease declines, the need for medicine

diminishes. When you

are well you do not need to take any medicines at all;

but when you

are sick you must take the right medicine which will

cure you of your

illness. You cannot refuse to take the medicine just

because it is

not very tasty, while at the same time hoping to get

cured. Now you

are running after all sorts of attractive and tasty

things which

instead of curing your ills worsen them. You rejoice

that you have

discovered so many delights in the world and that you

are living a

very happy life, enjoying many things which seem to

give you a lot of

comfort and joy. But these are not real enjoyments,

for, in the

future, you will surely have to face the consequences

of all these

indulgences you are engaging in now.

The Pest of Desire and Hatred

Consider a giant tree which has a number of branches

heaped with

flowers and fruits. It is a very grand and attractive

tree. One day,

this tree begins to dry up and its flowers fall off.

Is it because

there is a shortage of water or manure? Has there been

some neglect

in feeding it? No, there is some kind of pest that has

attacked its

roots and is destroying this beautiful tree. Through

the roots the

pest enters and starts to eat up this giant tree. In

the same way,

once you allow these pests of desire and hatred to

enter your heart,

then one day you will quite suddenly come to ruin.

This is absolutely

certain.

In the material world you think that a rich man is a

very important

individual, but in the world of the spirit, material

wealth is of no

consequence. Charity is a quality that is much greater

than all the

possessions associated with wealth. If there is no

charity, wealth

has no intrinsic value at all. You have four heirs,

each of whom will

enter a claim to your wealth. The first is charity.

The second is the

government. The third is the thief. And the fourth is

fire. Each of

them expects to inherit your wealth, but if you were

to hand over all

your wealth to your first heir, charity, then the

others will get no

share of it. When you give freely to charity, you will

find that the

other claimants will show great respect for your

decision and will

not press their own claims.

For example, we know that the government gives you

an income-tax

exemption when you donate to charity. Even fire will

be a little

frightened of you, and thieves will leave you alone.

So, when you

give to charity, which may be considered your oldest

son and your

natural heir, then the others who would otherwise try

to claim your

wealth will respect your action and not interfere. But

if you possess

wealth and do not give it in charity, then the thief

will have his

eye on you and the government will also try to catch

hold of you and

claim your riches as its own. If these two for some

reason choose to

ignore you, then fire will come one day and destroy

your possessions.

Let all the Noble Human Qualities Shine within You

The Gita has declared that it is charity, not

wealth, which is

really important. In a similar way, in human beings,

it is not the

ability to speak well but the truth which is uttered,

that is

important. If there is no truth in your speech, then

whatever you say

will have no value at all. The Gita has also declared

that it is not

life itself but a good character that is important. A

life devoid of

good character is useless. You have to develop your

character and

earn a good name so that all the noble human qualities

will shine

forth in you.

Your most important duty is to harbor good thoughts,

to have good

behavior, to speak good words and to lead a good life.

You must be

very careful with your words and actions so that you

will never earn

a bad name. Instead of living the life of a crow for a

hundred years

scavenging off others, it is far better to live a few

moments as a

swan, with an untainted name and an unblemished

character. The Gita

extols such a sterling soul whose life is replete with

goodness.

Good actions are far more important than physical

strength. A body

that is not being used to serve others is nothing but

a dead body.

Use your body in the service of mankind, not just for

the purpose of

catering to your own selfish needs. Today, whatever

man does, thinks

or utters is primarily prompted by selfishness. In

order to overcome

this tendency, you have to constantly seek

opportunities to help

others and develop the principle of service. In this

process, by your

good actions, all of humanity will get sanctified. It

is very

difficult to obtain birth as a human being. You must

spend some time

thinking over how to properly utilize this rare life

that has been

given to you and develop good habits which will

overcome these

weaknesses of desire and anger that waste your golden

chance.

Replacing Bad Habits with Good Habits

How do you best overcome the deeply ingrained bad

habits and

replace them with good habits? Consider a small

example.

One day a beautiful dog happens to come to your

house; you do not

know to whom it belongs. It is such an attractive

thing, in order to

keep it there for some time and enjoy its presence,

you give it a

little food. Next day it comes about the same time,

and again you

feed it and enjoy having it visit you. In this way it

comes back

every day to get fed, and gradually over a period of

time, attachment

increases and this dog now regularly visits your

house, spending more

and more time there. One day you find that it will no

longer leave;

it just continues to live at your house from that time

on.

But the happiness that you enjoy in looking at

physical beauty does

not last very long. Once the beauty is no longer

accompanied by joy,

it becomes obnoxious to you. In the case of this dog,

you soon get

tired of having it around all the time, and so you

look for a way to

get rid of it.

To begin with you must ask yourself why that dog has

attached

itself to you and is now living in the house. The

reason is that

right from the very beginning you have been feeding it

regularly

every day; you have also been stroking it, playing

with it, and

paying so much attention to it. It is this repeated

daily practice

which has created the attachment between yourself and

the dog. Now

you must develop a new regular practice, which will

break this

attachment and help you to get rid of the dog. For

this the best

method is to reverse the original process that created

the attachment

and made the object so dear to you.

Steady Practice is the Key to all Accomplishments in

Life

In the case of the dog, if no food is given for some

days and

everyone is indifferent to it, paying no attention to

it whatsoever,

then soon, of its own accord, the dog will go away.

Therefore, it is

the practice that is important. It is through practice

that you have

developed certain attachments and undesirable

qualities, and it is

through practice that you can change them. The Gita

has said that for

everything practice is the starting point. In the 12th

verse of the

chapter on devotion, it says, "Through practice you

will be able to

get knowledge, through knowledge you will be able to

develop

meditation, through meditation you will develop

sacrifice, and only

when you have sacrifice will you obtain peace of

mind." Therefore, it

all starts with steady practice.

For many births, you have been enamored with beauty

and you have

engaged yourself in desire and anger until these

passions have struck

deep roots in your heart. Now you have become a slave

of your

desires. Mere words will not be enough to get rid of

them. After

having practiced attachment for so long, these

negative qualities

have developed such strong roots, that even if you

were to cut them

off at the surface, they would sprout up again and

again. When

desires have become an integral part of you, it is

only by reversing

the process and practicing detachment and renunciation

that you will

be able to get rid of these deeply ingrained pests.

In the beginning, desires are extremely attractive

and sweet. After

some time you develop a disgust for them; but then it

is already

quite difficult, in fact, almost impossible to get rid

of them.

Therefore, it is best if right from the very beginning

you develop

renunciation and detachment as part of your nature and

give no place

or importance to desires. Unless you have such an

attitude of

sacrifice and a capacity to resist desires, you will

not be ready to

receive the grace of God.

A bullock or a horse which cannot be controlled, a

car without

brakes, or a life which is not based on control of the

senses, are

all dangerous. Control of the senses is very

important. You need to

tightly control the tendencies of the mind to go off

in all

directions, running after desires. Mind and senses

must be kept in

check within limited bounds. Even happiness which

exceeds certain

limits can be harmful. For everything there is a

limit, there is a

range of healthy functioning.

Keeping the Senses within their Normal Limits

The normal body temperature is 98.6 degrees

Fahrenheit; if it goes

up even one degree there will be a disease in

progress. Only when it

is within the appropriate level does it indicate a

healthy body. In

the same way, your blood pressure is normal when it is

120 over 80.

If the blood pressure goes up to 150 over 90 it

indicates an abnormal

condition in the body, which may be indicative of an

illness.

Similarly, the heart beat should be around 75; if it

increases an

ailment will be in progress.

The same is also true for your senses. There is a

range of light

that is appropriate to healthy functioning of the

eyes. If the light

is too bright the eyes cannot see and will be harmed.

This is true,

as well, in the case of the ears; there is a proper

range of sound.

If the level of sound exceeds that range, such as may

happen close to

an airplane, a train or a loudspeaker, the hearing

will become

impaired. Like this, all the senses are limited to a

normal range of

operation.

We see that life functions a lot like a limited

company in the

business world. If you want to carry on unlimited

business with this

limited company then you will be subject to a great

deal of distress.

Therefore, you have to impose restrictions on your

behavior, and

spend your life acting always within certain

prescribed limits. This

can also be called discipline. Discipline is

particularly necessary

for the spiritual progress of an individual. Without

discipline a

person is likely to become nothing but an animal. But

discipline,

too, has to be exercised within limits. There is even

a need to

regulate your discipline if you are to enjoy life. You

see that for

everything there is a limit and a boundary. If you

stay within these

limits you will not be troubled by life.

The Gita has taught that desire and anger are the

primary obstacles

to liberation, so it is vitally important that they be

curbed. You

need to take proper notice of these two dreadful

enemies of man and

develop complete control over them. These enemies are

not external to

you; they are your inner enemies. If you are defeated

by your inner

enemies, how can you ever hope to conquer your

external ones? Once

you keep desire and anger under firm check you will be

able to defeat

your outer enemies quite easily. The Gita has shown

that the way to

conquer desire and anger is by saturating your life

with

renunciation, sacrifice and love.

TO BE CONTINUED

 

Source:

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