Swami teaches... Part 3. Educate yourself through Love

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Light and Love Swami teaches... Part 3. Educate Yourself Through Love Gopikas prayed to Krishna, Let us listen to the melody of Your Divine music so that the seeds of Love to germinate in the field of our heart, which has become barren due to the absence of Love. Let there be rain of Love in our hearts, and let the river of Love flow incessantly through it. The light of Love shines on one and all. The body may be in a particular place, but Love is universal. It is the Love, that illuminates the entire Universe. Love is the greatest gift God has given to a human being. The value of any material object in this world can be assessed; but not the value of Love. Hence, only one quality, the quality of Love is sufficient to drive away all evil qualities. You must always think, “God is residing as the Indweller in my heart. I am verily God”. There may be differences in names and forms; but God is One and One alone. In fact, God has no particular form. He will assume the form you constantly contemplate. We are visualizing Him in a particular form as per our own thoughts and feelings. You develop the feeling “God is in me, with me and is guiding me” and march on. Why it is difficult to realize the Divine Love Principle and intimately connected with it human values - truth, righteousness, non-violence, peace? Why there is so often sorrow (not joy) the true human's companion? Krishna has explained in the Gita that sorrow is the fruit of rajo guna (quality of passionate activity). He has also shown that only the person, who recognizes this truth and removes rajo guna and thamo guna (quality of sloth and inertia) from his heart, can be happy. As human has all the three gunas, (rajo, thamo and sathwa gunas) human's heart is bound. The entire world is a manifestation of the three gunas. Of these three, rajo and thamo gunas are the source of trouble. For all sorrows, grief, trouble, and problems, these two gunas are responsible. There are six attributes for thamo guna sleep, drowsiness, fear, anger, laziness and inertia. A farmer who wants to raise a crop in the field has to remove, at the outset, the weeds from his field. If different types of weeds grow, the crop will be affected adversely. Removing the weeds is an essential pre-condition for getting a good crop. In the same way, a sadhaka (spiritual aspirant) who wants to realize the joy of Atma, has to remove from the heart the various manifestations of rajo and thamo gunas in the form of malice, desire, greed, anger, hatred and jealousy. The most important cause for the three gunas is the mind. It is impossible to rise above human nature and realize Divine nature until the mind is transformed. Krishna told Arjuna, "Offer your everything to Me; offer all your dharmas (righteousness) to Me and I will take care of you and give you liberation and deliverance. Be they physical, mental, spiritual or worldly, offer all your actions to Me. Arjuna, you are taking Me as the charioteer of your chariot. Take Me as the charioteer of your life. The seat on which I am seated in this chariot is very dean and well decorated. Think how clean and how grand your heart should be to make it a seat for Me if I become the charioteer of your heart. As long as rajo and thamo gunas are there, the heart is not pure. Make every effort to remove the dirt from your heart." Krishna chose Arjuna as an ideal representative of humankind to set an example for humanity. He said to Arjuna, "I am using you as an instrument in order to make an example of you. Therefore, you must first become an ideal person."

To take another example: These days when one goes on a picnic, one takes a mirror, a comb and a handkerchief. Why do they take these things? On the way, the wind may blow their hair out of place, and they may need a mirror and comb to tidy it. When they get hot and tired, there may be some sweat on the face, so they take a handkerchief to remove wipe it. These three things help one to maintain one's looks. In the same way, if you want to correct the disturbed beauty of the mind, you have to take certain things. Whether our hair is disheveled or not, is shown by the mirror. To find out whether our mind is disturbed or not, devotion acts as the mirror. This mirror also must be clean. If the mirror is clean, it will be easy to see whether there is impurity in the mind or not. When we recognize that the mind is disturbed, we have to correct it; for this purpose, we need the comb of wisdom. The cloth with which we wipe the dirt from our heart is Vairagyam (detachment). This removes all the dirt. In the journey of life, wherever we go, we need to have devotion, wisdom, and detachment. We must try to understand the different characteristics of rajo guna. A person who is full of rajo guna will always be in a hurry. Person has a lot of anger within and develops unlimited desires. He/she cannot keep still even for a moment. If rajo guna enters the heart, it makes person move all the time. It does not merely make restless but makes the person deluded as well. Not merely does person become deluded, but he/she goes on desiring objects, desiring everything in the world, and thereby becoming more and more deluded and restless. Therefore, restlessness, desire, and delusion are the three important features of rajo guna. The three gunas are represented in the Ramayana by three brothers in Ravana's family. The embodiment of thamo guna is Kumbhakarna, of rajo guna is Ravana, and of sathwa guna is Vibheshana. These three gunas are brothers, but if you allow the first two into your heart, they will cause a lot of harm. When you enter the Kingdom of Liberation, you will have to remove sathwa guna also. Vedanta (concluding essence of the Vedas) teaches that you must transcend all these three gunas. If a thorn were to prick your foot, to remove it you do not need a knife; another thorn would be enough to help you remove it. Once you have removed the thorn, you could throw away both the thorns. In the same way, with the help of rajo guna, you have toremove thamo guna and with the help of sathwa guna, you must remove rajo guna. Before you can enter the mansion of the bliss of oneness with Brahman you have to cast off all these three gunas. That is why Krishna commanded Arjuna to transcend all three gunas. As long as you have the mind, thamo and rajo guna there will be no stillness of the body. Here is a pictorial example for this. When there is some water in a vessel, if the vessel moves, water also moves. If the vessel is steady, water also will be steady. In steady water, you are able to see your image, but in moving water, your image will also be moving. Therefore, if you want to enter into a state of meditation, you must keep your body still. The body is like the vessel, and the mind may be compared to the water inside it. If body moves, the mind inside will be agitated. Therefore, control your mind and make it steady by keeping your body steady.

 

/For meditation, it is very important to keep the back straight. The Kundalini power travels from the Moladhara (at the base of the spinal column) to the Sahasrara (thousand-petalled energy centre) in the crown of the head. Therefore, you must be steady. Head, neck and body have to be straight; there should be no bend. This is extremely essential for students and sadhakas engaged in meditation. There are many different systems of meditation including, but not limited to Concentration, Mindfulness, Zen, Visualization, and Devotion. The best style of meditation is the one that feels right for you)/.

The sounds, the sights, the impressions, the ideas, the lessons, the contacts, the impacts - all must promote in the enlightened one reverence, humility, balance, equanimity and simplicity. If the impressions are rajasic, the mind will get agitated, vengeful, fanatic, and fearsome. If they are thamasic, the mind will not even be aroused into the awareness of its own innate handicaps. It is only the sathwic 'food' that will keep the mind on an even keel, fully concentrated on the Atma on which one must contemplate in order to attain peace. Once upon a time, King Janaka sent round a message inviting scholars, sages, and yogis to teach him the knowledge of Atma. He announced, "In the time it takes me to climb on to my horse, one should be able to give me full Brahma jnana (knowledge of the Absolute)." The sages and scholars were worried, as they felt "This is going to be a severe test for our scholarship and learning." No one dared come and offer to satisfy the King's demand. Meanwhile, the sage Ashthavakra entered the kingdom. While he was nearing the capital, he saw the scholars and rishis assembled there. They were looking worried and despondent. He asked them, "What is the cause of all your worries?" They explained their situation and he said, "Why should you be scared about such a small thing? I can solve this problem." So saying, he entered the court of King Janaka. He said to the King, "King! I am ready to teach you the knowledge of Atma, but it cannot be taught in this palace, which is full of rajo and thamo gunas. First I must take you to a sathwa area." They took a few horses and soldiers and left the palace. On reaching a lonely spot, Ashthavakra told the king, "I am now going to teach you the knowledge of Atma. I am the preceptor and you are the disciple. Are you ready to accept this relationship? If you agree to this, then you have to make the offering the shishya (pupil, student, disciple) has to give to the preceptor. Only after you have made your offering will I start my teaching." King Janaka told Ashthavakra, "I want to attain Brahman and I am therefore prepared to give you anything you want." Then the Guru told the King: "I don't want anything except your mind." King Janaka answered: "I offer it to you; fromnow on, it is yours." Then the Guru brought a horse, made it stand, and asked the King to sit down on the ground in the middle of the road of his kingdom. He left the king there and retired into the forest to sit quietly under a tree.King Janaka completely submits himself to the Guru. The soldiers waited for a long time for the return of the king but neither the king nor Ashthaavakra came. They wanted to know what had happened to them, and one by one, they went to find out. They found their king sitting in the middle of the road with a horse standing nearby. The king had closed his eyes and was absolutely still. Ashthaavakra was nowhere to be found. They were rather afraid a that this Ashthavakra had cast some magic spell over the king, making him lose his consciousness. They went to the prime minister and brought him to the king. The prime minister called the king, "Maharaja, Maharaja, Maharaja," but the king did not open his eyes or respond in any way. They were wondering what to do. Left with no alternative, the prime minister sent the chariot to bring the queen, thinking that if she called the king, he would respond to her entreaties. The queen came and pleaded. However, the king remained unmoved.

 

Meanwhile, the soldiers went in search of Ashthavakra into the forest. They found him sitting under a tree in total peace. They took hold of him and brought him to the place where the king was sitting. Ashthavakra said, "The king is saved, he is all right. You may see for yourself." The ministers, the queen and others told Ashthavakra: "He has not opened his mouth or eyes." Ashthavakra went close to the king and called him, saying, "Maharaja." Immediately the king opened his eyes and replied, "Swami." Ashthavakra told the king, "The ministers and the queen have come; the soldiers and many others have come and all have tried to talk to you; why did you not answer them?"

 

The king replied, "Thoughts, words and deeds are associated with the mind. As I have offered my mind entirely to you, first I need your permission before uttering a word. What authority do I have over my mind? I have offered it to you; it is yours. I won't do anything without your permission and command." Then Ashthavakra said, "You have reached the state of free from mental limitation. " He asked him to place his foot upon the stirrup to mount thehorse. By the time he had climbed the horse and placed his other leg over the horseback, he got the experience of Bliss of Divine self. King Janaka was able to get liberation when he offered his mind and three types of activity, thought, word and deed, to Ashthavakra. The essential meaning of this episode is that one should become Amanaska (blissful state of realization when seer realizes that entire creation is created by Self; mindless; free from all mental activity), to realize unity with the Divine. As long as you have a mind, there is duality. Cold and heat, day and night, sorrow and joy, loss and profit - all these pairs of opposites come about only when you have a mind. If you want to learn to treat all these things equally, you have to offer your mind to God. Spread the Divine Name of Swami in every nook and corner of the world. That will lead to manifestation of Divinity within everyone. The closer you come to Swami, the Divinity within you should become more pronounced. (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; http://www.sssbpt.org/Pages/Prasanthi_Nilayam/adilabad_discourse 2007.html ). Namaste - Reet