Sai message for the day

[Guest guest]

God is omnipresent. There is no place or object or person without

divinity. All names as you have said are His . You have also said

that all forms are His. In such a case how are we to comprehend,

visualise and experience God.

 

Our scriptures say that God is the only one without a second. He has

manifested Himself as many according to His will. `ekoham bahu

syam,' the one becoming many, everything is divine. The plurality or

multiplicity or diversity is due to name and form.

 

You will notice that ` jnani,' the one who inquires, `jneya', the one

to be known and `jnana' knowledge are one and the same. This is

called `triputi', trinity. Everything is out of that primordial

principle of atma or consciousness.

 

The gross body, sthula, the subtle body, suksma, and the causal body,

karana, of everyone are out of the atma only. You know the tamarind

fruit. Its outer green covering, (physical, gross, sthula ), the

middle soft pulp (subtle body, suksma), and the inner hard stone like

seed (astral body, karana) are formed out of the original seed only.

It is the seed that forms another seed in the times ahead. So, all

the three are only atma.

 

I tell my students often, `You are not one, but three: the one you

think you are (physical body), the one others think you are

(individual mind), and the one you really are atma, conscience. You

are born with a question, koham ? (Who am I?) If the reply is aham

dehosmi , I am the body, it represents the first step, the one you

think you are. To the same question koham, if the answer is aham, I

am an individual jiva, it represnts the second step, the one others

think you are. But to the question koham, if the answer is aham

brahmasmi, I am God, it conveys the real truth, the third step, the

one you really are. This is your real nature.

 

It is the same atma that exists in all the three stages, jagrata,

waking, svapna, dreaming and the susupti deep sleep. Atmavaisvanara

plays all the three roles. Atmavaisvanara in the waking state

operates in association with the body, the mind and the intellect.

Atma functioning in the waking state may be called visva.

Atmavaisvanara, functioning in a dream state, monitors the mind only.

There is no body in the dreaming state as it lies on the bed. The

entire thing is the creation of your mind only and the mind creates

you when you pass through dream experiences. This atma of the

dreaming state is known as taijasa. The third stage of deep sleep

susupti also has the very same atma as in the previous two. In

susupti the body, mind and intellect do not exist. Atma remains as an

experiencer called prajna. So Atmavaisvanara left to itself is a

pure, unsullied, unpolluted, eternal and immortal truth in the state

of the ultimate turiya , expressed in the three levels of

consciousness. In the waking state it is vis'va, in the dreaming it

is taijasa while in deep sleep it is prajna. These are merely names

given to the same atma in these three states, just as you know an

actor playing three different roles. An actor by name Mallaya (equal

to Atmavaisvanara, turiya state) plays the role of Dharmaja in one

scene, visva, waking state, Arjuna in another scene, taijasa, dream

state, and Bhima in still another scene, prajna , deep sleep state,

while Mallaya (atma) remains the same basically.

 

So. in this universe everything is essentially atma. The five

elements, the five senses of perception, the five senses of action,

the five life breaths, the five life sheaths and the body constitute

one wide area or realm called bhutakas'a. The impact, influence, and

effects of all these components of the sphere of bhutakas'a (drawn

from the outer world) are contained in or imprinted on a small sphere

or field called chittakas'a , viz. the mind, citta. But then there is

atma which monitors and operates through the body, mind, intellect,

the sense of ego (I' ness) known as cidakas'a. These three are

equivalent to the gross (sthula - bhutakas'a), the subtle

(chittakas'a- suksma) and the casual (cidakasa' a - karana ) forms.

 

This is what Christ also said in his first statement, " I am the

messenger of God " .This is dualism, dvaita. The next statement of

Jesus was, " I sm the son of God. " This is qualified non-dualism

(visistadvaita).

 

Finally on the cross, Jesus said, " I and my Father in Heaven are

one " . This is non- dualism. In the Persian language too it is first

said, " I am in the light: " , which is the state of dvaita, dualism.

Later it is said, " The light is in me " , which is qualified

visistadvaita , non-dualism and finally, it is stated, " I am the

light " , which is advaita, non-dualism. We can find in all these

states unity in diversity. If you identify yourself with the body

(aham dehosmi ), it is the one you think you are or, what Jesus said,

`I am the messenger of God' or it is bhutakasa which is dualism,

dvaita. If you think you are an individual, jivi, the one others

think you are or aham jivosmi, it yields the same meaning as in

Jesus' statement, " I am the son of God, " or the Persian

declaration, " The light is in me " or chittakas'a, qualified non-

dualism. But the final experience lies in knowing what you really

are, aham brahmasmi, the same as what Christ said " I and my Father in

Heaven are one " or the Persian declaration, " I am the light " , or

cidakas'a which is non-dualism.

 

This is the one to be known and experienced. Hanuman said the same

thing to Rama, " Oh! Rama! If I think I am the body, I am your

servant; if I think I am an individual soul, jivi, you are my God,

and if I think " I am atma " , you and I are one. This is the path of

enquiry that leads to the discovery of one's true svarupa.