Swami teaches... Part 2. Educate yourself through Love

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Light and Love Swami teaches... Part 2. Educate Yourself Through Love The basis of human’s life is not the transitory and ephemeral world. Human's life on the Earth is a synthesis of moral, ethical, and spiritual values. Love finds no place in the human heart, since it has become a den of desires. Desires are like luggage, which is a heavy burden in the journey of life. Less luggage, more comfort makes travel a pleasure. (All the material possessions of this world are a cause of bondage for human and so long as human is in bondage, he/she has to suffer. Human should get rid of the feeling of attachment. Nothing is ‘mine’ and ‘thine’, everything is one. Develop the feeling in your heart that all are one. Only then can you experience truth, peace, and bliss). Where there is Love, there is peace. (Inner peace is lost when the senses feed human on inflaming wants and infructuous desires). Where there is peace, there is truth. Where there is truth, there is God. So develop faith in God. Faith is way of life. The feeling of I am itself signifies faith. I am means I exist. Existence itself denotes faith. Without faith in your existence, you cannot live even for a moment in the world. Truth, sacrifice, and righteousness constitute humanness. Truth is neethi (morality), Dharma is reethi (code of conduct), and sacrifice is khyathi (reputation). The combination of all these is manava jathi (human race). Every thought leaves the pattern on our consciousness before we act. Pessimistic person speaks "I am not aware, have my ideas a success or not..." There is a glass of water on the table. A pessimist says the glass is half-empty, while an optimist perceives the glass is half-full. The pessimist sees what is outside; the optimist sees what is inside. (The value-based ecological scholarship declares the glass is half-full and gives the motivation to live in harmony with the laws of Nature and be happy in this DNA level of life). The matrix of hesitation and "no" acts as negativity and the success has veiled by it. How many times have you told yourself "yes!" today? Human's success and defeat depend upon attitude and on the process of thought. Right thoughts will manifest well-being and wrong thoughts vice versa - illness and ageing. If people fear old age, then that will be the reality. Never think about ageing; Atma - human's true reality has no age.

 

Whatsoever disease is information from within telling that not all is well. It is pictorially the request to restore harmony between body, soul, and spirit. Diseases, as a rule, caused by energy imbalance, very often they have caused by wrong thinking as Swami many times has underlined. (Medications, surgery, therapy, etc. usually remove the symptoms. The only way to heal any ailment, is to heal its source, the inner imbalance of energy and also style of thinking).

 

What we eat affects our health and thoughts. We eat by choice what is a decision of the mind. We experience fewer and fewer diseases and different problems when we take action on what mind, being under the control of intellect, is telling us. Human's mind is not an organ that can be identified physiologically; it cannot be touched or operated on by doctors or surgeons. It is an intangible bundle of resolutions and hesitations; of wishes and wants; to pros and cons. It has as warp and woof of the wishes that human entertains with reference to outward objects and sensations. It easily rushes out after external pleasures and assumes the shapes of the things it seeks. It can also be turned back into searching for inner contentment and inner joy. That is why the mind is said to be the instrument for both bondage and liberation. Allow the senses to lead it outward; it binds. Allow the intelligence to prevail upon it to look inward for bliss; it liberates. So, higher than the body and senses is the mind, and the intellect is higher than the mind. The Atma is the highest. When you understand and contemplate on the principle of the Atma, you will be free from all suffering and bondage. ( There are many beings, but the indwelling Atma in them is the same. However, there are certain people who are creating differences. Of course, one can speak whatever one likes. Boneless tongue can be twisted in any way. Stones are hurled only on a fruit-laden tree. Like a fruit-bearing tree, all noble people are subjected to many ordeals and difficulties. However, when one firmly adheres to truth, nothing can shake one). As it was mentioned above, the mind is the puppet of the food that is consumed by human. It is prompted one way or the other by the subtle pull of the food it is fed on. The quality of the food determines the direction of the desire that diverts the mental flow. That is why in the Gita as well as in all scriptural texts, sathwic (pure) food is recommended for the upward seeking individual. Mind means desire, sankalpa (resolve), something sought for. When the Formless desired Form, the Universe arose; so, mind is the creative principle, the maya (illusion), that desired the very first desire, to be many. When it is now fed on rajas - passion and emotion, activity and adventure - it gallops into the world with the plunge of desire. It brings human deeper into the morass. When it is fed on thamasic (impure) food, which dulls inebriates, blunts reason, and induces sloth, the mind is callous, inert and useless for uplifting human. Sathwic food, according to some, consists in milk, fruits,and vegetables. But, it is much more; it; may not even be these. For, the calories that one takes in through the mouth are but a small part of the intake of human. The intake by the senses is part of the food that builds the individual. The sounds heard, the sights seen, the tactile impressions sought or suffered, the air breathed, the environment that presses for attention, appreciation and adoption - all these are 'food' what have considerable impact on the individual. The vibrations determine the quality of the food that it is charged with, through the thought processes of the persons who handle it, prepare it, and serve it. The 17th chapter of the Gita clearly defines the nature and tastes of the three types of 'food': the food that promotes love, virtue, strength, happiness, and cordiality is sathwic; that which inflames, arouses, intoxicates and heightens hunger and thirst is rajasic; the food that depresses, disrupts, and causes disease is thamasic. The company in which food is consumed, the place, the vessels in which it is cooked, the emotions that agitate the mind of the person who cooks it and serves it - all these have subtle influences on the nature and emotions of the persons who eats this food. It is because the sages of India realized this that they laid down many do's and don'ts for the process of eating, as-for the different stages of spiritual progress. Our thoughts trail off in directions determined by the sounds that fall upon the ear. When the sounds convey rebuke or praise, flattery or challenge, the thoughts too react correspondingly. When the sounds instill ideas of truth, beauty, or goodness, the mind too seeks the silence of truth, the sweetness of beauty and harmony, the strength of goodness. The puja (ritualistic worship) in the domestic shrine, the recitation of hymns, the bhajan (group singing of devotional songs) that you do, all send forth vibrations that purify and cleanse the atmosphere, and so, disinfect the 'food' that you consume. The Universe ensures harmony at all levels by matching frequency of vibration. By being grateful we are sending the vibrations of gratitude back into the Universe. To be grateful does not mean saying "thank you" by means of routine behavior. True gratitude is a feeling, an emotion, a sacred vibration. Teachers! Use sathwic (pure) food and the avoidance of intoxicating drinks. It is demeaning the high role of human; it is pitiable to see a human under the influence of drink. Do not put tender minds on the path, which leads to moral and physical tragedy. Drink milk or yogurt; eat fruits and nuts. They generate constructive, virtuous spiritual thoughts. Provide to the students inspiration to understand and live by the culture of this ancient land Bharath and other countries; every country has its own ancient culture. Schools are not at present eager or willing to do this. So children grow up, dehydrated, and torn from the roots. They sing of Jack and Jill, not of Rama and Sita. They know the robin and the raven, not the crow and the peacock. Children are moving about, like cars with no brakes. Boys and girls are growing up, resentful of constraint and treating elders with contempt. A sad example from one India school years ago. Once, a district educational officer was inspecting a school. He asked the teacher to find out from one of his pupils as to who wrote Ramayana. The pupil innocently replied, "Sir, I never wrote it; perhaps you might have written it." Then the teacher found himself in a miserable plight and turned to the inspecting officer to assure that he has not done so and tried to enquire if the officer had by any chance written the work. The officer referred the matter, to be safe, to the Vice-Chancellor, who finally observed that some Brahmin must have done it and advised the officer concerned to close the issue. This means that the state of affairs in educational field today is so pitiable that our students, teachers, inspecting officers and Vice-Chancellors are all sailing in the same boat. Nobody knows about the author of a work like Ramayana. (Ignorance is leading many grants to lapse and many a good intention to evaporate into nothing).

Teachers and educationalists have to well listen to spiritual discourses from learned and experienced people. They can give you the secret of equipoise, the ways of acquiring balance and peace of mind and the means of enjoying unadulterated bliss.

What is the state of human today? Person is overjoyed when he/she has wealth and grief-stricken when he/she loses it. Person indulges in pomp and show and loses everything in the process. He conceives of dubious ways and means. Just as the Earth revolves around the Sun, the most persons revolve around money. No doubt, money is necessary, but it should be within certain limits. What the world needs today is not destruction of natural environment, arms and ammunition. It needs to uphold dharma. If you protect dharma, dharma will protect you in return. Only the Divine Love and Grace, not weapons can protect nations. Fill your hearts with Love. There is no wealth, no dharma, and no meditation greater than Love. Swami expects all people live in unity like brothers and sisters. If you will become embodiments of Love, you will become Divine. Brahmavid Brahmaiva Bhavati (the knower of Brahman verily becomes Brahman).

Students are the long-journey passengers, traveling in this train of society. All the elders are bound to get down soon. Therefore, it is the paramount duty of students to develop sacred Love. Do not love God for the sake of worldly desires. Love Him with spiritual outlook. Who is God? Truth is God. Truth is unshakable. Sathyannasti paro Dharma (There is no dharma greater than adherence to truth). Dharma leads human to peace. Without peace human cannot live. Saint Thyagaraja said, “One cannot have happiness without peace.” When you attain peace, you will experience love and bliss. Truth is the origin of bliss. Non-violence also emerges from truth. Sathya (truth), Dharma (righteousness), Santhi (peace), Prema (love), and Ahimsa (non-violence) are like human’s five life-breaths. These are the prime qualities of a human being. The need of the hour is to develop these human values. Education does not mean mere knowledge of books and acquaintance with them. In olden times, only those who secured hundred per cent marks were allowed to pass a test, but now, thirty-five out of hundred will enable a person to get through an examination. The duty of each student to attain hundred percent perfection in knowledge. Also let every teacher demonstrates to the young the joy one can derive through service, let them learn the technique of timely service and be eager and ready to speed with service, wherever it is needed - in times of flood, fire, famine, and festivals where the sick and the old require special care. Money spent for training youth for this kind of loving service is well spent. Let teachers explain to students that meditation is a central way to transform and heal ourselves. When we meditate, we allow the swirl of ideas and thoughts to slow down to the point where we find a calm and positive connection with ourselves. The purpose of meditation is to transform the state of our hearts and minds nearer to the awareness of the Self. Although meditation is an ancient art dating back many thousands of years, modern scientific research now confirms what ancient wisdom discovered long ago. Study after study shows that meditation brings about improved perception, focus, memory, and creativity. In general, education with all its wings of teaching should lead one to humility, which in turn equips student with all the eligibility. Eligibility provides student with necessary material wealth, which again enables to do some charitable deeds. Remember that the end of education is character and the end of knowledge is Love. (Reet's compilation from, Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol.11. "Love and serve," Chapter 7 and "Forms of food;" Chapter 8; Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 13. "Thirty-five and sixty-five," Chapter 10; Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 15, "Light and warmth," Chapter 10; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 17. "Charioteer of the heart," Chapter 23; Vol. 19. "The ways of the Divine," Chapter 6; Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 21. "Earn God's Love," Chapter 4; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 32. "Power of Love," Chapter 2; Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. "Service to Society is Service to God, "Divine Discourse on 23rd November 2006). Namaste - Reet