Swami teaches... In all places, His Hands, His Feet says Geetha

[Guest guest]

Sai Ram

 

Light and Love

 

Swami teaches.... (18 February 2005)

 

"In All Places, His Hands, His Feet" Says Geetha

The Cosmic consciousness illumines everything. Like the thread that runs

through a necklace of gems. All things happen, good and bad, according to

the dictates of Time as one aspect of Cosmic consciousness. Time is the cause

of all happenings in the Universe. There is none who is not subject to the sway

of Time.

It is the duty of everyone to realise the purpose of life and utilise time

in the performance ofthe duties to sanctify his existence.

The greatest cause of human bondage is the failure to know him/herself. A

person who is not aware of the true Self cannot escape from sorrow.

One source of sorrow is Asath (the unreal). The second cause is Thamas

(thedarkness of ignorance). The third cause is death. In this context the

Vedanta mentions threecategories: Prakruthi (nature), Jivaatma (the individual

soul) and Parmamaatma (the CosmicSpirit).

Let the petty wishes for which you now approach God be realised or not; let

the plans forpromotion and progress which you place before God, be fulfilled or

not; they are not soimportant after all. The primary aim should be to become

Masters of yourselves, to hold intimateand constant communion with the Divine

that is in you as well as in the Universe of which youare a part.

For that what has to be given up is Jagath-bhaavam (the fascination for the

world). The reason is the world is not different from God. "Eashaavaasyam idham

jagath" (God dwells in the Universe). "Viswam Vishnu-swaroopam." (The entire

cosmos is the embodiment of the Supreme). Disregarding this profound and sacred

truth, person is becoming a prey to grief by his worldly attachments. The world

should not be treated as merely physical, but should be looked upon as a Divine

manifestation. The Divine Master illumines the entire cosmos and the cosmos

shines in the Divine.

The second that has to be given up is Jiva Bhaava (the feeling of separate

individuality).Who is a Jiva? Jiva is God. "The Jiva (the individual self)

resides in the body. God dwells in theheart." They come together and engage in

mutual sport. The Jivaatma (the individual self)and the Divine principle are

not two distinct and separate entities. When the Divine nature of the cosmos

is understood, human being is free from the delusion of separateness. The

supreme message of the Vedas is unity as proclaimed in the manthra:

"Sahanaavavathu, Sahanau bhunakthu, Saha veeryam Karavaavahai" (May we be

protected together. Maywe be nourished together. May we work together with

great energy).

The destination that human should attain is the awareness of one's own true

Self. Hence the human's destination is the realisation of his divinity (the

original source). Thisrealisation must come through the Vedantic process of

exclusion ("Neti, neti" - not this, notthis).

God as the embodiment of Time, is worshipped by the name Samvathsara (year).

God is also known by the name Kaalaathmaka (the Time Spirit). The name

Samvathsara represents the cosmic manifestation of the Divine. The Upanishad

describes God as "Narayana who is inside and outside and pervades everything."

He is the One who willed to become the Many. Human being is all the time

seeing the universe around him and yet declares he has not seen God. What is

the form of the Cosmos? Is it not Divine? You are seeing the Divine in the form

of the physical universe. In the Bhagavad Geetha this cosmic form of the Lord is

described as Viswa Viraata Ruupa. What is Viswa ? It is the whole cosmos. The

Viswa Viraata Ruupa is the collective form of everything in the universe.

Sarvathaah paani paadham - "In all places, His Hands, His Feet" says Geetha.

The Purusha Suuktah of the Vedhas says: Sahasra Seershaa, Purushah,

Sahasraakshah, Sahasrapaadh - "The Supreme Sovereign Person has a thousand

heads, a thousand eyes and a thousand feet."

 

In the Geetha, the Lord has declared, Beejam maam sarva bhoothaanaam - "I am

the seed for allbeings." The tree is a broad spread of leaf and flower, fruit

and green. It is a fanned, out systemof trunk, branches, twigs! All have grown

out of one single small seed! And, every fruit of thattree has seeds of the

same nature inside it! So too, contemplate for a while on the

magnificentmultitude of life, all its rich variety of strong and weak, prey and

hunter, distressed and delighted, creeping, crawling, flying, floating, walking,

hanging, burrowing, diving, swimming - all this uncountable variety of created

beings have come out of the beejam (Lord) and each of them has in its core, the

beejam, again (the Lord)! Visualise this Immanent Divinity; you become humble,

wise, and full of love.

 

Person who is the embodiment of the immortal Spirit, falls a prey to worldly

desires. How can such a person be a true devotee of God? Such a person is only

a devotee of Prakruthi (the phenomenal world of Nature). If you regard even

Prakruthi as Divine, it will be a good thing. But even here, ones separate the

Paramaatma (Divine) from Prakruthi (Nature). As long as this sense of

separation exists, all forms of japa and worship, performed even over many

lives, are of no avail.

 

In general, people have specialised in the various methods of worshipping

God; there is a host of rites, ceremonials, hymns, festivals, fasts, vows,

pilgrimages; but, the best form of worship, the onethat will bring the Grace of

God in ample measure, is to obey the commands of God.

Make your lives simple; fill the daily tasks with love and mutual

co-operation; be toleranttowards the errors and failings of others; look upon

them with sympathy and understanding; becalm and without agitation, under all

conditions. God is not involved in either rewards or punishments. He is the

Eternal Unaffected Witness! You decide your own fate.

In the human body, there are two important organs. One is the heart and the

other is the head. Allthe actions in the world, all their consequences,

originate in the head. The Vedas have declaredthat all things that originate in

the head relate to the Pravritthi Marga (the External Path) andthose that arise

from the heart relate to the Nivritthi Marga (the Inward Path). All that you

think,all that you do, all your achievements, gains and losses, are all related

to the head (to thoughts)and relates to Prakruthi (the phenomenal world), grows

from it and ultimately merges in it. But, feelings like peace, kindness,

compassion, forbearance and love emanate from the heart.These transcend

Prakruthi (external phenomena). Consequently, what should be cherished in

theheart should be pure and sacred, and nothing that is sullied.

When Love has filled the heart, it has really been transformed into

Divinity. It is this Love, and the compassion that flowed from it that made the

great saints of India and of other countries, likeKabeer, Tukaaraam, St.

Francis, Raamakrishna, immortal. When someone sitting near you is sunk in

sorrow; can you be happy? No. You will get tears in your eyes in sympathy. Why?

There is an unseen bond between the two. Human alone has this quality of

sympathy; he/she alone can be happy when others are happy, and miserable when

others are miserable. Human being alone is capable of seva; that is the special

glory, unique skill. The privilege and pleasure consists in the use to which you

put your skill and time for helping others. (Reet's compilation from, Sathya Sai

Speaks. Vol.10, "A flower at His feet," Chapter 6 and "Stone as God," not "God

as stone," Chapter 8; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 25, "Manifest Your-Divinity,"

Chapter 2 and "The Head and The Heart," Chapter 9).

 

Namaste - Reet