Swami teaches... Part 1. Human's intellect should follow the path of dharma

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Light and Love Swami teaches... 25 - 27 April 2007 Part 1. Human's Intellect Should Follow the Path of Dharma Today, human reads sacred books to attain bliss, but all these books have their own limitations. One cannot get infinite bliss by studying scriptures. One must study an infinite book in order to experience infinite bliss. This world itself is an infinite book. There are so many things to be learnt from this world. It is with the help of the friend, who is God, that you will be able to study the infinite book, the world. When one studies this infinite book, one has to put into practice the five important teachings of Buddha. They are samyak drishti (right vision), samyak bhavam (right feeling), samyak sravanam (right listening), samyak vak (right speech), and samyak karma (right action). Truth, righteousness, and sacrifice should be the way of life. Buddha said that buddhi (intellect) should follow the path of dharma, and dharma should be fostered in society. Buddha was born in this sacred land of Bharath. Buddha’s mother, Mayadevi, passed away when he was just 8 days old. His stepmother Gautami brought him up. That is how he got the name Gautama. He was christened as Siddhartha at the time of his birth. Buddha was the Crown Prince and had the entire kingdom under his control, but he sacrificed everything and tried to control his senses. He came to be known as Buddha because he developed buddhi (intellect) and discrimination power. Discrimination is of two types: individual discrimination and fundamental discrimination. Individual discrimination arises out of selfishness, whereas fundamental discrimination is concerned with the welfare of one and all. One should discard individual discrimination and have only fundamental discrimination. This was the teaching of Buddha to Ananda, son of Gautami, before he attained Nirvana. Buddha made a concerted effort to control his senses. Meditation and penance confer only temporary happiness. Eternal happiness results from control of the senses. He declared to the world, "Ahimsa Paramo Dharma" (nonviolence is the greatest dharma). Love will be fostered only when nonviolence is practiced. When love is fostered, there will be peace in the world. When there is peace in the world, human will naturally take to the path of Dharma and will attain Truth. If you love others, you will be loved in turn. If you utter harsh words, they will come back to you as resound. Your heart should melt with compassion when you see the poor and needy. Hridaya (spiritual heart) is that which is filled with daya (compassion). When you practice truth and righteousness, you will be successful in all your endeavors. That is why the Vedas teach, "Sathyam Vada, Dharmam Chara" (speak truth, practice righteousness). Buddha undertook penance for several years, met many noble souls, listened to spiritual discourses, and studied various scriptures. Nevertheless, he was not satisfied. Human aspires for bliss, but how can he attain it? The path of spirituality starts with faith and ends with bliss. Bliss cannot be attained from materialistic pleasures or people of the world. It can be experienced when the five senses are put to proper use. True ideal is to give practical knowledge of dharma to others. "There are two modes of knowledge, through argument and experience. Argument brings conclusions and compels us to concede them, but it does not cause certainty nor remove doubts in order that the mind may remain at rest in truth, unless this is provided by experience" (Roger Bacon,1268). One should be a hero in practice, not merely in preaching. This was the ideal of Buddha. Once, Buddha entered a village along with his disciples. A lady approached him and requested him to have food in her house. Buddha blessed her and accepted her invitation. Seeing this, many villagers, including the village headman, warned Buddha, saying, “O Buddha, you are one of wisdom and have renounced everything. She is not a woman of good character. It is not proper for you to have food in her house.” Buddha smiled and asked the village headman to come forward. Buddha, holding the right hand of the headman, asked him to clap. The headman said, it was not possible for him toclap since one of his hands was in Buddha’s hold. Buddha said, “True, it is possible to clap only when two hands come together. Likewise, this lady cannot turn bad by herself unless there are men of bad character in the village. The men of this village are the root cause of her bad character.” The villagers realized their folly, fell at Buddha’s feet, and sought his forgiveness. Through such practical (pictorial) action, Buddha instilled sacredness and wisdom in people. For saplings to grow soil is essential; for ideals to get implanted, knowledge of the struggles and successes of saints and sages is essential. These experiences are not uniform; each sadhaka has a different story to tell, depending upon his/her equipment and enthusiasm. So, the vision and the glory are different, though all are divine. The mansion of India's glory is built of charming stones, each block being the hardy thapas of some sage or other. No one sage can be neglected, for if his attainment is ignored, the wall of the mansion would be so much the weaker. All Avatars and noble souls led their lives in the most exemplary manner and helped people to experience Divinity. The Avatar behaves in a human way so that humankind can feel kinship, but rises to superhuman heights so that humanity can aspire to those heights. The Avatars all play a drama, within the drama of this Universe. The entire Cosmos, consisting of animate and inanimate objects, is dependent on God. The Divine is governed by Truth, that Truth is governed by noble beings. Every human being is inherently noble. The Atmarama (Eternal bliss; Divinity, Rama in the heart) in every one prompts to stick to truth and to the moral code; you have only to listen and obey and get saved. Some hear even its whisperings; some listen only when it protests loudly; some are deaf; some are determined not to hear. But, all have to be guided by it, sooner or later. Some may ascend a plane, others may travel by car or board a bus, some may prefer a train journey, others may like to trudge along - but, all must reach the goal, some day or other. When Buddha was on the verge of attaining Nirvana, Ananda started shedding tears of sorrow. Then Buddha consoled him, saying, “Ananda, why are you unhappy over my attaining Nirvana? I have been craving this state of Nirvana for the past many years. Why do you shed tears of sorrow when I am experiencing supreme bliss?” From the earliest times, the sages of Bharath looked upon human life as madhuram (sweet). This life is associated with Madhava, the Divine and not anything else. To experience this sweetness the spirit of sacrifice is essential. This nectarine sweetness is the outcome of thyaga (sacrifice). As the Vedas declare: "Not by deeds, or progeny, or wealth is immortality gained. It is realized only through sacrifice." Whatever good deeds one may do, whatever wealth one may acquire, without sacrifice the Divine cannot be experienced. It is out of the feeling of sacrifice that the nectarine sweetness arises in human. Krishna is extolled as "Madhuradhipathe! Madhuram! Madhuram!" (Lord of Madhura, who is all sweetness). When the Lord is described as the "Master of Madhura," what is this sweetness? The heart is sweet, the feeling is sweetness. The Love (one feels) is sweet. The action (of the devotee) is sweet. The Ananda (bliss) is sweet. The Atma is sweet. This bliss filled sweetness pervades human from head to foot. Bharatheya culture contains illustrations of this sweetness. There is nothing in the world sweeter than the love of a mother for the child. For the well-being of the child, the mother is ready to sacrifice her all, including her life. Such nectarine sweetness is manifest only in the mother who is the embodiment of the Divine. Hence, the Upanishadic injunction: "Maathru dhevo bhava!" (Esteem the mother as God). Likewise, the heart of the father who fosters the child, and develops his personality, is also sweet. The Upanishad, therefore, enjoins everyone to treat the father as God. Mother and father are equal to God. Therefore, at the outset, one has to honor one's parents. The mother is the visible manifestation of God. If ignoring the divinity of the mother, who is visible and adorable, one seeks to worship what is invisible, it must be regarded as a sign of ignorance. God is subtle form. He is invisible and is infinite and immeasurable. The mother is a visible and tangible proof of Divinity. When a child is born, the first person it beholds is the mother. The mother bears patiently much travail for the sake of the child. It is sweet to love such a mother. You may have love for God. Nevertheless, if you have no love for the mother who is physically present before you, how can you love the invisible Divine? Love is the primary source of sweetness for human. There is nothing greater in this world than the Divine Love. Life acquires sweetness when one reveres one's father and mother.

However, today, human has forgotten this and is getting deluded by the worldly, ephemeral pleasures. Sathya (truth), dharma (right action, truth in action, righteousness, morality, virtue, duty, the dictates of God, code of conduct; dharma defies a simple translation into English), santhi (peace), prema (love), and ahimsa (non-violence), right are verily human's five life principles. Losing sathya amounts to losing one part of his life-breath. And when one loses all four, viz., sathya, dharma, santhi, and prema, one loses four parts of the vital life breath. As a result, human is confronted with sufferings and violence from all sides. People tend to worship stones, but do not revere living beings. Worship of inanimate idols has been in vogue from ancient times. However, people are forgetting to revere their living parents. To experience the love of your parents you should show your gratitude to them. This is a debt you owe to them. Nevertheless, in this Kali age children show no regard for the parents. This is the disastrous sign of modern times. One's first and foremost obligation is to revere one's parents who are in flesh and blood, who are verily your life itself. Here is an example from the Ramayana. Immediately after Rama broke Shiva's bow, Emperor Janaka declared that he would offer Sita in marriage to Rama. Janaka brought Sita to the assembly hall. Rama, however, without any hesitation, but in sweet firm words, declared that he would not agree to the wedding without the approval of his parents. Rama said that he owed his body to his parents and that he would abide by their wishes. He declared that until his parents arrived (in Mithila) he would not even set his eyes on Sita. Before leaving for the forest, Rama approached his father, Dasharatha, and said, "I am not sorry I have to go to the forest. Not does it pain me that you have given this command to me. I am to uphold your plighted word. Of what use is a son who does not uphold the word of his father? I derive the greatest sweetness from carrying out my father's word of honor." In another episode in Ramayana, sage Vasishta (one of the greatest sages of ancient times; priest of the solar race of kings; revealer of several Vedic hymns) accompanied Bharatha to meet Rama in the forest. Intervening in the argument between Bharatha and Rama (over the issue of Rama's return to Ayodhya), Vasishta said, "It is your right and duty to role over the kingdom. You are the eldest son of Dasharatha. You are well versed in the scriptures relating to Dharma. You have won the affections of the people. You are committed to the well-being of the people." Vasishta appealed in this manner to Rama to assume the reins of rulership. Speaking sweetly, eschewing harshness of any kind, Rama replied; "Guruji! Without honoring the plighted word of the father, if I disobey the command of my deceased father, I will be rendering my life worthless. My primary duty is to carry my father's injunctions. I may even transgress the command of the preceptor, but I will not go against the command of my father." Thus, carrying our the commands of his father, Rama spent fourteen years in exile and demonstrated to the world the joy and fulfillment to be derived from such an exemplary life.

Human life should be sweetened by honoring one's pledged word. Sweetness in life consists in setting an example in righteous living to those around one. There is sweetness in doing a good turn to one who has done you a good turn. Gratitude is sweet. You should be grateful all your life to one who has helped you. Injustice and discontent are spreading everywhere due to this one fault in human: saying one thing and doing the opposite, the tongue, and the hand going in different directions. Human has to set him/herself right and correct food, recreation, method of spending the leisure as well as his habits of thought. All Swami's Works are directed to the transformation of human's mind and senses. Human’s real nature can be transformed into the Narayana Thathwa (principle, truth, essence, real nature of God), for both are basically the same. Only, you have to switch on to the particular wavelength. Know it, adjust correctly and the all-pervading will be grasped clearly with no distortion. (Reet's compilation from, Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 3. "Griha or guha?" Chapter 6 and "A drama within a drama," Chapter 9; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 9. "Seaworthy boat," Chapter 21; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 15. "Good health and goodness," Chapter 21; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 27. "Cherish the sweetness of sacrifice," Chapter 18; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 32. Part 1. "Control Your Senses," Chapter 15). Namaste - Reet