Guest guest Posted April 10, 2007 Report Share Posted April 10, 2007 Light and Love Swami teaches... Part 3. Develop the Crucial Skill In the Treta Yuga, Sri Rama came to establish the reign of Sathya and Dharma (Truth and Righteousness). In the Dwapara Yuga, Sri Krishna came with the mission to promote Prema and Shanthi (Love and Peace). In the Kali Yuga Sathya, Dharma, Shanthi, and Prema are the purposes of the Divine Mission. When you adhere these four principles, Ahimsa (Non-violence) issues as a natural result. The Bharatiya Culture, which laid emphasis on the four Purusharthas (the basic aims of life - Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha), looked upon life as a journey to the Divine - the attainment of Moksha (Liberation). The sage Narada referred to Purusha (the Supreme person, soul, self, indweller) as Pumaan and declared that whoever realises Pumaan (the Supreme person) becomes saturated with Divine Bliss. Thus, the terms Purusha can be applied only to the Divine. (In the Sanskrit language, personality is described as pourusham - the hallmark of a purusha (perfect person, soul, self, indweller). Although "personality" and pourusham may have the same meaning, they are words pregnant with significance. People who do not know the inner meaning of these terms, use them casually). One who manifests the indwelling, invisible Divine Principle is qualified to describe as a purusha who should manifest the Divine power in him/her. The word Dharma, which is really bound up with an infinite variety of meanings, is being inadequately described by one word, duty, in modem age. Duty is something, which is connected with an individual, a predicament, or with a particular time or country. On the other hand, Dharma is eternal, the same for everyone, everywhere. It expresses the significance of the inner Atma. The birthplace of Dharma is the heart. What emanates from the heart as a pure idea, when translated into action is called Dharma. (Overall, there are two types of human beings - the degraded and the sublime. The degraded are those who seek or receive things from others and not only forget to repay the obligation, but even try to harm those who have helped them. The sublime are those whose natural trait is to go to the help of others. If they give a word, they will try to honor it whatever the difficulties and obstacles). To grasp the grand Truth of the immanence of Godhead (Sarvam Vishunumayam Jagath), and to won a right to be called purusha, the first path is bhakthi (devotion). Through bhakthi, when it is intensified, one sees in all, the form of God that he reveres. Real bhakthi is also a matter of the inner consciousness, not of the outer behavior. There are people who complain that their devotion to the Lord is limited and shaped by the worldly bonds that bind them. It is not the world, which binds them; it is they, who bind themselves to the world. Bhakthi means giving up all other desires and dedicating all actions and thoughts to God. When you offer every act of yours to God, it becomes worship. The body has described as the temple of God. You must fill yourself with the feeling that God is in you, beside you, around you, and with you, wherever you go. When youLove God with this awareness, consciousness, the Love results in Self-realization. Here is an example. Uddhava was an adept in the path of Jnana Yoga (Knowledge and Wisdom). He wanted to teach the gopikas the path of Wisdom. So, he approached Krishna. Krishna told Uddhava: "The gopikas are totally devoted to me. Their devotion is fundamental to their life and reaches My heart! Their putty and devotion are like a light that shines. You cannot understand the hearts of such devotees! I am completely enshrined in their hearts." Uddhava doubted whether ignorant illiterate gopikas could understand the Divine. To dispel the doubts of Uddhava, Krishna sent him to Repalle. Uddhava summoned the gopikas and told them: "I will teach you the path of dhana to realise the Divine." The Gopikas came to Uddhava and told him, "We are not interested in learning any sastras. Teach us one simple means by which we can realize Krishna. We are not aware of any yoga or bhoga or mantra. Krishna is everything for us, our yoga or bhoga. Please, therefore, tell us the means by which we can obtain Krishna. We do not want to waste our time on yoga. Uddhava asked the gopikas: "How can you become one with Krishna?" One gopika answered: "If Krishna were a flower, I would be a bee whirling round Him. If He were a tree, I would be a creeper twining round him. If He were a mountain, I would be a river cascading from its top. If Krishna were the boundless sky, I would be a little star, twinkling in the firmament. If He were the deep ocean, I would be a small stream, joining the ocean. This is the way I would be one with Krishna and merge with Him." Another gopi said: "If Krishna were a flower, I would be a bee which goes on sucking every drop of honey in the flower raising the nectar that is there. This is our approach to God." So, spiritual sadhana means to regard a mountain or a tree, or a flower, or the ocean, as a means of God-realization. Today the world is plunged in chaos, violence, and wickedness. It is for the young people to see that these demonic forces are routed for accomplishing any objective two things is needed: Krishi (individual effort) and Kripa (Divine Grace). The two are like the negative and positive poles of a magnet. In spite of all destructive forces, human body remains the most wonderous machine in the world. It has a bewildering multiplicity of limbs, organs, veins, nerves and cells that cooperate to maintain it under varied conditions. If anyone of these rebels or refuses to rescue another, the body is bound to suffer. So too, a society, community, or nation can be safe, secure and happy only when the individuals comprising it are mutually helpful and bound together in skillful and sincere service. The spiritual awareness of higher life depends on the cultivations of the five cardinal virtues - Truth, Right Conduct, Love, Peace, and Non-Violence. These virtues elevate the individual as well as the society of which he/she is a part. Connected with these virtues moral education is the primary requisite in life for every student, for every person. If you engage yourselves in right action, you will not be bound by the consequences of karma. Because of past karma, you have got the present life. By your present karma, you can ensure freedom from birth. Through Love, you develop faith; through faith and earnestness, you acquire knowledge; through knowledge, you develop sadhana, and through sadhana, you achieve the goal. So, for practicing sadhana, you require wisdom, and for acquiring wisdom, you require Sraddha (earnestness and faith) and for Sraddha you must cultivate Love. "The integral Knowledge is something that is already there in integral Reality. It is not a new or still non-existing thing that has to be created, acquired, learned, invented or built up by the mind. It must rather be discovered or uncovered, it is a Truth that is self-revealed to a spiritual endeavor: for it is there veiled in our deeper and greater self; it is the very stuff of our own spiritual consciousness, and it is by awaking to it even in our surface self that we have to possess it." Aurobindo, “The Life Divine.” Every generation has to receive education and training in such intelligent cooperation and service. The institutions, which ought to have been temples of Saraswathi (the Goddess of transformation through learning) have become in all lands temples of Lakshmi (the Goddess of wealth). The ideal held before the tender, innocent, unselfish children is lucrative job rather than a life of peace, contentment, and love. Narrow loyalties, contest, and competition are polluting the minds of children. Parents, teachers, and all interested in the progress of mankind have to take note of this situation. The value of the teaching process lies in raising the level of consciousness of the learner, in heightening the sense of wonder and awe and in emphasizing the unity of one with all. The destiny of a country is decided by the ideals implanted by the teachers in the minds of the boys and girls entrusted to their care. Education can claim success when it results in the student gaining awareness of the Divinity inherent in him/her and others. No academic degree can confer as much self-confidence and self-satisfaction and lead human as quickly and gladly to self-sacrifice and self-realization as that awareness. It has to be transmitted by teachers who have it through a sense of duty and in a spirit of love. It has to be accepted by students who have cultivated faith in the teacher and reverence for teacher's role. If the teacher has the responsibility to inspire and illumine, the student has the responsibility to respond to the Love and Light, discarding all contrary thoughts. Thoughts that arise from the region of the pleasant (Preyas) cannot co-exist with those, which arise from the tough challenges of higher life (Sreyas). The student must be equipped to prefer the latter to the former. Every person, young and adult should possess shanthi (peace), sathya (truth), nirahankara (absence of egoism) and absence of asuya (envy). Suffusing all the four is Prema (Love). These qualities are not got through studies, from a teacher, or as a gift from someone. They can be acquired only by one's own effort. These noble qualities have to be developed from childhood itself. If from the beginning you learn to speak thetruth, you will find it easy. However, once you take to lying, to return to the ways of truth is very difficult. When teachers do their duty in this spirit, they will be imbuing the children with the spirit of Universal Love. Only if you fill their hearts with love will the world have genuine peace. "Sathyameva Jayathe", says the Upanishad. (Truth alone triumphs). Truth is adherence to what is true in thought, word, and deed. Often many untoward situations arise which render such adherence difficult. (Children, for instance, out of fear of punishment or scolding by parents or teachers indulge in prevarication or falsehood and avoid admitting the truth. This tendency results in due course in vitiating their entire life by making them lead double lives). You should not give up truth, whatever difficulties you may encounter, whatever troubles or trials may come your way. This is the lesson to be learnt from the inspiring story of Harishchandra, who won undying fame because of his preparedness to sacrifice everything for upholding truth. Material prosperity or positions of authority may come and go. But the reputation for truth and integrity will last for ever. Cultivate forbearance. Forbearance endows you with the strength to face "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune." Together with truth and forbearance, you have to cultivate freedom from envy what is like the pest that attacks the root of a tree. It can destroy one's entire life. We may be enjoying many things in life - knowledge, wealth, position, power and the like. But if the virus of envy enters our minds, it can pollute everything. To be free from envy is a divine quality. It makes you feel happy over others' happiness or success. You should learn to make sacrifices for the sake of others in need. Sacrifice means going to the help of others to the extent of your capacity. If you are not in a position to help others, you must at least refrain from doing any harm. Even that is a form of sacrifice (giving up the tendency to do harm to others).(Reet's compilation from, Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 6. "Which is real? This or that?" Chapter 44 and "The cleansed heart," Chapter 45. Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 16. "Be exemplars of Sai ideals," Chapter 31; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 18. "One God : basic truth of all faiths," Chapter 30 and "Students and Satwic Purity." Chapter 31; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 19. "The teacher and tomorrow," Chapter 29). Namaste - Reet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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