Swami teaches...Part 2. Makara Sankranthi is time to transform the life

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Light and Love Swami teaches... 12 January 2008 Part 1. Makara Sankranthi is time to transform the life The ancient sages gave those who believed and acted according to the belief, the most precious treasure of Ananda and Shanthi. They helped to pull out the poisonous fangs of karma, fangs which inject greed, egoism and hate. They taught human to do karma as a sacred duty and leave the result to Gods thus avoiding two evils - the evil of pride and the evil of frustration: pride that the act was a success, frustration when it did not succeed. It also contributed some positive good; the karma was done well, as well as the individual can execute it, for all karma was transformed into worship of the Supreme. This attitude must be implanted in human. Human being has acted the role of clown or servant or an extra much too long; it is time he/she took on the role of a hero for which he/she is destined.

The sense of values has to be restored and faith in the Divinity of humans has to be restored. That is the task for which Swami has come. (Today even several pandiths who have great scholarship have no happiness; the scriptures that they have mastered are designed to confer peace of mind, contentment and unshakable joy, but, the repositories of that scholarship are a very discontented group today. They have the umbrella in their hands, no doubt, but it does not protect them against rain or shine. So, even they have to be made aware of the excellence of the knowledge they are carrying, and its curative property).

The wise have declared: "There is only the One it is called by different names." It is changeless. The Vedas have declared, "There is an effulgent, that is shining in the heart of everyone." It is because of this Divine effulgence that the ears are able to hear, the mouth is able to speak and the eyes are able to see.

Human life is an aspect of experience with purpose to obtain peace in mind and spiritual enjoy as awareness which illuminates from within everyone. It is wise to discover own unique purpose in life. Observe, how you fuse with the natural flow of the Universe, with the Divine play, life itself.

(Usually people reside in the realm that best harmonizes with their mind vibrations and spiritual awareness and spend their time among others of like mind and spirit. Swami's devotees have to be united and of one mind, free from hatred and spite, factionalism and greed). There is a reason why every green leaf of plant is unique and every person is unique. May be The Great One creates unity in forms infinite diversity in order that an infinite variety of experience may be gained. Every individual has the right to be who he/she are (Atma, God) and to follow the universal human values and code of conduct put by Swami. There are as many paths towards spiritual Oneness. Trying to force people to live and act the same, according to another person is an attempt to interfere with the Creator's principle of unity in diversity. Unity exists 'within' diversity. There is a limitless spiritual paths back to God, (Absolute, Brahman) the Great One source of all what exists.

Swami has also noted that for some individuals there is no need to seek God in a temple, mosque, or church. God is enshrined in every human heart. Ritualistic worship without feeling of Oneness is not the true mark of devotion. The essence of devotion is the feeling of identification with God.

One should give up the impermanent physical objects and realize the Atma that ispermanent. This alone is true sadhana - not various forms of worship and meditation, which are without feeling of the Divine Oneness not genuinely concentrated on God. Unfortunately many people go on expensive pilgrimages to all sorts of places, forgetting that God is the dweller in their hearts. Of course, at the same time we cannot ignore the significance of sacred places, temples, rituals, pilgrims, etc... These are for many people the pinpointers of the Divine Love, inspiration, enlightenment on the path of spiritual awareness and peace in mind exactly as Vedas and Swami's Teaching are. Through these ritualistic places and methods of worship the feeling of identification with God have to arise. Swami's Teaching is as a light. If we turn our vision on real light on our planet, we can pictorially imagine continuous glow of little bundles of energy, photons by physics. For example, a 100 Watt bulb emits a billion trillion photons per second. (Democritus believed that things were built up from irreducible pieces. Isaac Newton himself thought that light was not a wave, but rather a collection of tiny "corpuscles." Physicists have recently acquired tools with sufficient resolution to see nature's inherent graininess). Is light a particle, not a wave? The answer is yes and no. Light acts like a wave when you do an experiment looking for a wave property (like scattering through a pinhole). It behaves like a particle if you test for a particle property (like colliding with electrons). Several physicists explain the nature of waves by Bohmian Interpretation (Also known as the De Broglie–Bohm interpretation or the pilot wave interpretation). This theory postulates that every particle not only has a wave function but also exists as an actual particle riding along at some precise but unknown location on the wave and being guided by it. (How the wave guides the particle is described by a new equation that is introduced to accompany the standard Schrödinger equation. The randomness of quantum measurements comes about because we cannot know exactly where a particle started out. The theory was proposed by David Bohm in 1952, extending a theory of Louis De Broglie’s from 1927). "You get what you ask for," is a common refrain in modern quantum physics. "You get what you ask for," is a common refrain in Swami's Teaching too. No one is competent to enquire into the actions of the Divine. No one can know the origin of anything. One cannot know how the Divine is directing his/her actions in relation to his/her past. Each one should carry out self-examination him/herself. Do we exist as the Divine beings, or are we just puppets in the mirror of Maya Reality? Thousands of thinkers have trying to make sense of human behavior. Swami about 70 years is teaching the humans to acknowledge their real true Divine Nature through different methods, examples, ways, aspects and Vedic wisdom. (However, most humans still don't know 'who' they are).

"Who am I?" What happens after death and what is birth, what is death? Do not worry about rebirth because that is not in your power. Strive to ensure that your end is pure and sacred. That calls for sadhana. Many imagine that the quest for God is sadhana. There is no need to search for God. When the God is all-pervading, inside and outside, where is the need to search for Him? The only sadhana one has to practice is to get rid of the An-atma bhava (identification of the self with the body). An-atma is that which is impermanent. When you give up the impermanent, you realize what is permanent and eternal.

Swami explains the art of Being and puzzles of existence in easy words. This truth has been spread across millennia by Vedic and other ancient sages what Swami has entwined pictorially into His Teaching. One example. By legend ancient disciples have many questions to the great sage Pippalada. One of them asked, "What happens when one is asleep? When a living being is asleep, what happens to all the qualities of prana? Pippalada explained to the disciple Saurayani that just as when the Sun sets, the sun's rays are effulgent again the next morning, when a human is asleep, all the activities of the sense organs are merged in the mind. Because of this, human is unable to see the external world, is not able to speak or hear, or think. However, in this sleeping state, the pancha pranas, five vital breaths (prana, apana, samana, vyana and udana)* are active in the form of five internal fire-principles. In thatstate, the processes of inhaling and exhaling go on, with the help of the prana (breath) and the samana (vital air). In the sleeping state it is the jivi (the individual spirit) that enjoys the rest and the bliss of that state. The occurrences in the past and the present are experienced in the form of dreams. Moreover, the consequences of activities in previous lives, which have become part of spirit but are not known to person, are also experienced in dreams. Hence, in the sleeping state, what is experienced relates to the pancha bhutas (the five physical elements). It is the jivi who experiences the calmness and happiness of the sleeping state. In the dream state, jivi creates all that he/she experiences, and enjoys self-created experiences. The mind is responsible for the experiences in the waking state and in dreams. While Pippalada was giving this explanation to Saurayani, the disciple Sibi approached the sage and asked, "Swami! The scriptures declare that one who utters the Pranava (Om) at the time of death, attains the immortality. Is this possible?" Sage Pippalada replied: "The entire cosmos is filled with Pranava, a manifestation of the Paramatma (Supreme Spirit). The Pranava constituted by the three sounds A+U+M pervades the three worlds represented by the terms: Bhu, Bhuvah (which is above the Bhu-loka) and Suvah (the top-most of the three worlds). The three Vedas Rig, Yajur and Sama have emanated from the Pranava. The three Vedas in their hymns glorify the Pranava. Thus, the Pranava is the all-pervading primordial sound. The Pranava is also described as the embodiment of eight forms of Aiswarya (divine wealth): Sabdabrahmamayee, Characharamayee, Jyothirmayee, Vaangmayee, Nithyanandamayee, Paratparamayee, Mayamayee and Srimayee. This means that all the sounds in the world are echoes of the primordial Om. Those who chant the Pranava (Om) as a physical sound will get only physical benefits. The scriptures declare that those who recite the Om with concentrated mind, reach the Chandra-loka, the region presided over by the Moon-god. (The Chandra-loka does not mean the Moon as conceived by the Americans and the Russians). Makara Sankranthi is a perfect time to recite the Om with concentrated mind and transform it to illuminate in the light of Atmic Reality.

Swami's Teaching is pictorial and (by my experience) creates different imaginations which are as real and often causes some concentration in mind what is difficult to explain with words. "Imagination is everything; it is the preview of life's forthcoming attractions" (Albert Einstein). "Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will" (George Bernard Shaw). There have been famous scientists in the past who would place themselves into deep state of concentration and depth of thought that they would reach to their maximum inspiration and creativity. This has resulted in many important inventions and theories. For example, it is said, the "special theory of relativity" was postulated by Albert Einstein in the state a deep concentration. The scientists are concentrating all their attention on the physical and the phenomenal world. Many researches of yesterday have become obsolete today. Hence, there is no absolute certainty regarding scientific findings. What is considered true today may turn out to be incorrect tomorrow. But spirituality stands for what was true yesterday, what is true today and what will be true for all time to come. In most cases science is caught up in this constant process of rejecting the old and discovering the new. But in the realm of spirituality, there is nothing like old or new. It is ever full, ever-whole.

 

All scientific investigations are based upon the intellect. All spiritual explorations are based on the heart. In the spiritual field, human alone is supremely important, not the machines. As a rule, scientists put their faith in machines. The spiritual seekers place their faith in mantras. One is a scientist, the other is a saint. The saint believes in purnatva (fullness). The scientist is content with half the circle. Spirituality represents the full circle. The beginning and the end meet in the full circle. But when scientist's intellect turns to the spiritual wave, the collaboration is possible. Many modern scientists have demonstrated a new outlook concern to the Universe, objects, processes and events in It. However, some wings of modern 'scientific' technical progress largely has damaged environment and also humans minds. We cannot deny this fact. We all know about climate change, ruin of forests, animals, pollution of waters and even the cosmos with many out of date satellites near the Earth, etc... The cause of all is consumer society's unharmonious with laws of Nature activity. With the growth of science needful for consumer-society, morality is declining. Of what use is science in such a context? What good is from science of making money, get easier riches and manipulating with other human beings without codes of morality, without the duties of the individual, the obligations of the individual and his/her moral responsibilities before humanity? Everyone has many examples in his/her country's social structures and activities. Put your faith in the natural brain. Even the computer as a needy mighty communicator of information is operated by the human brain. (But instead of putting our faith in the brain that produced the computer, faith is being placed in the computer). The scientist puts into the computer what he/she knows. However, computers are easily destroyed with bad-does, viruses, spy ware, etc... Did human nature has developed during the last tens thousand years of history? During this time of humans' history has increased the capacity of 'information' of technical progress to vast, huge amount. Are 'information' and technical tools are open the core of human nature? Has human's nature evolved together with more information and more technology? The answer is No!

 

There is considerable progress today in various fields - scientific, economic, political and so on, but all human's actions are motivated by selfishness. Human being has become a plaything in the hands of own selfishness. There is no unity among people. Unity can come only through thyaga (sacrifice), not through the pursuit of desires and comforts. You must cultivate chatty, which does not mean giving some money to a person in need or to an organization. Chatty calls for the removal of all evil thoughts that are within you and development of a largeness of spirit. Chatty will confer purity, and through purity, unity will be achieved. (Reet's compilation from, Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 3. "The day they got the light," Chapter 28; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 18. "Equality through Love," Chapter 28; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 26. "Sanctify sports and games," Chapter 2. Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 31. "Promotion of unity: Students’ duty," Chapter 2; Sathya Sai Baba. Discourse at the Summer Course in Brindavan, on 28-5-1991. at Brindavan, on 30-5-1991).

* explanation of words in previous parts of serial or : http://www.sathyasai.org/refs/vahiniglossary/pentries.htm Namaste - Reet