Sai Baba Gita Reading for Today - Worship of God with and without a Form

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Sai Baba Gita Reading for Today

October 21, 2003

 

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Worship of God with and without a Form

 

In the chapter on devotion, Krishna expounds on the worship of God

both with and without a form. The Gita compares these two modes of

worship and points out which is better, which is easier and safer

for devotees at each stage of their spiritual progress. The Gita

declares that it is impossible to realize the formless and

attributeless divine principle except by going through the stage of

worshipping God with form and attributes.

 

As long as you have attachment to your body and remain steeped in

body consciousness, you will not be able to understand and reach the

formless aspect of the Supreme. You attain the necessary

qualifications to worship the formless only after you have overcome

your attachment to the body, your attachment to the world, and all

your other attachments. Therefore, as long as you identify yourself

with the body, and think that you have a particular form, then you

must also visualize God with a form. So, you start your spiritual

journey by worshipping God in a particular incarnation, having

certain recognizable divine qualities. Gradually, after following

this path for some time, you can change your practice to worshipping

the formless aspect of the Supreme.

 

In truth, the whole world is the form of God. Everything you see

everywhere is the form of God. But to begin with, you focus on a

particular form of God, one of the avatars or incarnations of God.

These divine incarnations are associated with the physical universe.

Corresponding to these physical forms there are the subtle forms of

the Lord which are in the mental or the subtle aspect of the

universe. The physical and mental domains have to do with the senses

and the mind. Transcending both the senses and the mind is the

causal universe. This causal universe is made up of the subtlest

manifestation of matter, containing in potential form the seeds of

all names and forms. This causal aspect is experienced every night

in deep sleep. Here the formless aspect of the Lord can be

experienced.

 

During the waking state the effect of the mind and the senses will

be very strong because they are associated with the phenomenal

world. During the dream state, associated with the subtle world, the

senses will not hold sway over you, but the mind will be very

active. In the deep sleep state, associated with the causal world,

the mind gets dissolved and does not comprehend the sense

impressions. It is only in such a state, when the mind and senses

are totally inactive, that it is possible to experience the formless

aspect of the divinity. But, this can be experienced even in the

waking state, when the mind becomes perfectly steady and equanimous

and the senses are maintained tranquil and inactive. Then, you enter

the causal state while awake and experience the formless aspect of

divinity.

 

Many devotees base their spiritual experiences only on God manifest

in name and form. The form and the formless are both essential for a

devotee. It is like having two legs for walking or having two wings

to fly. To reach the final spiritual goal you must have the two legs

of form and formless, putting one in front of the other, with the

one leg representing form, taking its support from the other, which

is the formless. It is important to realize that the manifestation

of the Lord with form is only transient, whereas the formless aspect

of the divinity is permanent. It is everpresent and unchanging. Here

is a small example to illustrate this principle.

 

Sri Sathya Sai Baba

 

Source:

http://www.atmapress.com/saibabagita/saigita022.html

 

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Sai Baba Gita

Compiled and edited by Al Drucker - Published by Atma Press

http://www.atmapress.com - ISBN: 0963844903

Online Edition: http://www.atmapress.com/saibabagita/index.html