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Swami teaches... Part 1. Towards Integrated Spiritual Awareness

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Light and Love Swami teaches... Part 1. Towards Integrated Spiritual Awareness

Whether it is described as Chaitanya (Cosmic Consciousness), or the Kshetrajna (Indwelling Knower), or Jnana (Supreme Wisdom), or Ahamkara (I-am), or Easwara (the Supreme Lord), or Vishnu, or Ananda (Pure Bliss), or the Paramapadam (Supreme Abode), or Prakriti (Nature), or the Aadi Shakthi (Primal Energy) - all these are only different names given to the Paramatma (the Supreme Spirit) and consequently to Atma (the indwelling Divine Spirit). Originally, Paramatma, Atma had no name. You must regard the entire Cosmos as the embodiment of the Divine, the Great Oneness in It infinite diverse forms and actions.

 

The effulgence of the Atma exceeds the splendor of a multi-faceted diamond. The diamond may have myriad facets, but it is one and the same. Likewise, the Atma radiates infinite number of rays, but is only One. (What concerns to human beings, then differences between nations exist between human and human in health, education, wealth, and temperament, etc. However, fundamentally, from Atmic aspect of reality, all people are equal and should be treated as such).

 

Like the paddy-seed, which contains rice, the husk is the Maya (illusion) which covers the seed within; the rice is the jivi (individual) and the essence of the rice, the sustaining element, the anna (food), that is Paramatma. So, develop the Inner Vision, do not worry about others and their faults.

 

Meditate on the truth and you will find that you are but a sparkling bubble upon the waters; born on water, living for a brief moment on water and dying upon its breast, merging in it. You owe your birth to God: you subsist on God and you merge in God. Every living thing has to reach that consummation; why, every non-living thing too.

Everything about life is uncertain. So, march on, from this very moment, take at least few steps towards the goal, while you can. That very attempt might induce the Lord to extend your stay until you attain the goal. When a human plants a mango seed, is not sure whether human will live to eat the fruit; but that is beside the point. To plant, to nourish, to guard, to grow, that is the duty; the rest is His look out.

 

Human today is like a horseman riding two horses at the same time. Human aspires for the Divine, but also yearns for worldly pleasures. Human forgets that the creator contains the creation. Forgetting this truth, human goes after the phenomenal world, regarding it as different from the Divine. Human cries for ghee while, having milk in his hand, not realizing that ghee is latent in the milk. (A young daughter-in-law, newly come into the family, was serving dinner to the members of the household. Dinners called for ghee, butter, buttermilk, and she simplified the process of serving by giving them 'milk' instead, for she felt that milk included all they wanted).

 

Eleven organs involve human in sensual desires and drag down to worldly existence. These eleven represent the five jnanendriyas (sensory organs), the five karmendriyas (organs of action) and the mind. These eleven are governed by the eleven rudras. Beyond these, eleven is the Paramatma, the OmniSelf. When person relies on the supreme, he/she can master the other eleven.

The sacred Godavari River is carrying all the waters of all the tributary streams relentlessly to the sea. The rain falls on the mountains; as streams, it flows in the plains and the full Godavari rushes through the delta. So too, the jivi (individual) is born in Dharma marga (path of righteousness), it journeys through Karma marga (path of action), and it rushes through Sadhu marga (path of sages) to reach Brahma marga (path of Supreme Reality). The Karma marga and the Sadhu marga are discovered by the jnanendriyas (organs of perception). Keep them uncontaminated by demonic qualities and watch vigilantly lest they slip back. The karmendriyas (sensory organs) drag you into the tangle of Prakriti (Nature) itself. The cow eats grass and drinks gruel, but out of these it creates sweet sustaining milk; so too, let the experiences which are gathered by your senses help in the production of the sweetness of kindness, the purity of devotion and the sustenance of santhi (peace).

There is a natural craving in human to become one with the vast, the Supreme, the Limitless, for, in the cave of the heart, there resides the self-same Supreme. It is like the young calf pining for the cow. Each calf knows its mother. You may have a thousand calves and a thousand cows. Let loose the calves and each will find its own mother. So, too, you must know where you get your native sustenance and support. They are available only with God, from whom you came.

At a ferry on the Ganga, hundreds were waiting for the boat to come back from the opposite bank. The boat arrived; people hustled into boat and while the boatman was rowing it across, they quarreled with the fellow-passengers and the boatman were dealing blows among themselves. They were immersed in faction and fighting, haggling over the fare and demanding a few more inches of squatting space. They were unaware of the danger to their very lives. Nevertheless, one wise man among them warned them and said, "Brothers! In ten minutes, we reach hard ground, please keep quiet, and forget these petty desires, pray to God. This is the sad condition of humanity also at present. On the brink of death, people revel and waste precious moments in empty pleasures. The fault is identification with the body. The body is but a dwelling place, a vehicle, an encasement. See yourself as a resident in body and most of your grief will disappear. You will become less egocentric for, you will then feel kinship with others, who are residents in those other bodies.

Below is an example from the past concern to humans behavior what is so common today.

Vivekananda was once in a certain town, during his peregrinations. People recognized in him a great monk and a profound scholar and so, for about three days, without intermission, streams of visitors poured into his presence. Some asked about subtle points in sadhana, many argued with him on the intricacies of logic, grammar, and ethics that are found in the Sastras. Students sought to know the problems of national regeneration and the solutions he could suggest. However, there was an old woman, sitting in a corner, watching Vivekananda with avidity, who did not speak one word. She was there for all the three days, waiting for a chance to come near the monk.

When the lady finally got the chance, she asked him, Son! Shall I bring you something to eat? These people never gave you anything, nor did they give you even a few minutes to go and beg food from the town. Tell me, I shall run and bring you food and drink. Vivekananda was overjoyed at the tender heart of that mother; he said, "You are indeed blessed. What can mere scholarship or mere earnestness to serve do, to save man? Sympathy, service, putting yourselves in the place of your neighbor, and trying to assuage pain and sorrow - that is what wins Grace." The world is the manifestation and expansion of the five fundamental elements. Its innate nature is duality - the entity and the result, the cause and its effect. This duality is evident in the alternating experiences of joy and grief, praise and blame, victory and defeat, profit and loss.

The Buddha once said at Buddhagaya that good and bad, fame and ill fame, praise and calumny, are as the two feet; one cannot move without either of them. (Food and offal are both inside human. A city has pipes under it for bringing drinking water and for taking away the drainage). These are the consequences of the right and wrong we indulge in. It is not wrong, if you slip into wrong; repeating the wrong is the thing to be condemned. One must learn lessons from the mistake repent and resole not to commit it again.

There is in every one a spark of truth; no one can live without that spark. There is in every one a flame of love; life becomes a dark void without it. That spark that flame is God, for He is the source of all Truth and all Love. Human seeks Truth; seeks to know the reality because his/her very nature is derived from God.

Consciously or unconsciously, all human being seek Love, to give it and share it, for his/her nature is of God who is embodiment of Love. Swami shares with devotees the gift of Prema (Love) that He has brought. Have full faith in God and in yourselves, engage always in good deeds, beneficial activities; speak the truth, do not inflict pain by word or deed or even thought. That is the way to gain santhi (peace, equanimity, serenity, tranquility); that is the highest gain, which you can earn in this life.

 

When human has even a glimpse of own Divine essence as true reality, human becomes free from ego, free from pride and despondency, so that praise does not please him/her or abuse sadden him/her. Human is rendered stable and secure, like a mountain peak, which no storm can shake. Like the screen in the cinema, the fire of calumny or the rain of extolment does not affect hall, human.

 

A nasthika (atheist) came near Buddha and challenged him in violent language, abusing him, casting aspersions on him and his associates, exhibiting foul manners of the most reprehensible kind. Buddha listened to him but did not react at all. The poor fellow's tongue got exhausted and he became mad with anger. He went out of the presence, in great huff. When asked the reasons why he did not speak a word in reply, the Buddha said, When some one comes to your door with intention to be your guest, the slightest indication that you have become aware of his coming, a word like 'Hello' or 'when did you come? Is enough to make him settle down in the house? But, if you do not notice him or react to his talk, he will return without much ado."

 

Some devotees are pained by the calumny that some papers are indulging in regarding Swami. Many are urging that something should be done about it. Swami holding every one back, for, that is the best way to deal with both praise and blame. The ocean knows no overflowing or drying up. It is ever full, ever majestic, ever unconcerned. Swami is advising to do good to others, to make others happy, to help others live comfortably. This is called sath karma (beneficial acts). Have full faith in God and in yourselves, engage always in good deeds, beneficial activities; speak the truth, do not inflict pain by word or deed or even thought. That is the way to gain santhi and it is the highest gain, which you can earn in this life. The actions that live on falsehood are able to scrape together a little money from people with low tastes. Some people, who spread different absurdities, knowing them to be false and knowing that they are manufactured by their own brains, get joy out of this exercise. Do not stop them from it, give them this joy. Let them revel in their own mud. Joy is what one derives form one's own mind; when the mind is vicious, it derives joy from vicious things. Hiranyakasipu ( a demonic person, wicked father of sage Prahlada, killed by the man-lion Narashimha) declared that God is nowhere; his son Prahlada said that God is now here. The father suffered humiliation and destruction. The son rose to the heights of blessedness. The son knew that all this is God appearing as many and varied. Swami wishes that you to learn the art of so living in the midst of people that you do not grieve nor make others grieved. Learn to make the best of life, this chance offered to you to sublimate your instincts, impulses and vaasanas (impressions left on the mind by past actions) and rise higher and higher in the moral and spiritual plane. Make the best out of opportunities like this and derive Ananda (Bliss) from every hour, garnering all the profit you can. To get a taste for that kind of effort, you must keep the company of great and good people and take delight in good thoughts. By whatever means available, increase the stock of your Ananda and improve the quality of viveka (discrimination), and try to store as much of these two as possible, so that you can draw upon the stock whenever the need arises. Do it now; take the first step, purify the heart, sharpen the intellect or at least begin the recital of the name of the Lord. That will give you all the rest in due time. Above all, cultivate Love towards all. That will destroy envy, anger, and hatred. Rama (God) and kama (desire) cannot co-exist in the same heart. Trust begets trust and love begets love. Love makes the whole world kin. It is the greatest instrument of concord. The ryot plants the seedling and watches over it with great care; he removes the weeds, he destroys the pests, he lets in water as and when necessary, he spreads manure and awaits the day when he can reap the harvest and fill his granary. So too, you must nourish Love and pluck out the weeds of hatred and envy. (Reet's compilation from, Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 1. "Aanandha through dedication," Chapter 13; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 6. "Love the source of love," Chapter 5; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 17. "The malaise and the cure," Chapter 18; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 18. "The Victory," Chapter 17; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 24. "Goodness is Godliness," Chapter 3). Namaste - Reet

 

 

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