Sai Baba Gita - The vital Difference between Human Beings and Animals

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The vital Difference between Human Beings and Animals

"Human beings have the power and also the authority to conquer maya and totally

free themselves from delusion. If man takes the trouble and makes the effort,

he will be able to directly experience the atma and, thereby, know himself as

the divinity that he truly is. With the help of spiritual exercises he can

reach nirvana and be immersed in supreme bliss. In the interest of truth, I

have to point out that you animals do not have these powers and potentialities

with which human beings have been endowed." The sage added, "Dear children, in

the English language, human beings have been collectively called mankind, using

the generic term m-a-n. The same is given in Sanskrit as manava. The inner

significance of m-a-n is that human beings can separate and remove this

illusion, maya; they can get the vision of atma, and immerse themselves in

wisdom and joy in the state that is called nirvana. This, then, is the meaning

conveyed by these

letters m-a-n, where 'm' stands for 'maya removed', 'a' stands for 'atma

realized, and 'n' stands for 'nirvana attained'. Attaining nirvana means that

man becomes one with joy and bliss. So, a true human being is one who has

removed the ignorance of maya, who has had a vision of the atma and who has

become merged in the supreme state of bliss."

When the sage had finished, all the animals bowed their heads and there was a

deep reflective silence as they mulled over the words the president had spoken.

They had to agree that these were three possibilities, which they, in their

present forms, could never hope to achieve. But then a question was raised by

one bold buck, "Have all human beings been able to attain this?" The sage

responded with a resounding "No!" He said, "Only very, very few people care at

all about these extraordinary treasures which are their birthright. Most people

fritter away their lives, never pursuing these invaluable opportunities of human

life. Their pursuits reek with selfishness and they treat each other much worse

than animals. Although humans have this great capacity for wisdom and bliss,

they do not develop themselves in this direction and, so, they have not been

able to derive any real joy from their lives."

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Sai Baba Gita, Compiled and edited by Al Drucker - Published by Atma Press -

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

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