Swami teaches... Education expects self-realisation. Meditation - one of methods of self-realisation

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Sai Ram Light and Love

Swami teaches...30 November 2005

Education Expects Self-realisation. Meditation - One of Methods of

Self-realisation

Humans have a great chance, this wonderful world to be used as a gymnasium

for the development of mental peace, and as a mint to transmute your base metal

into valuable currency. Even insects have this sense of gratefulness. Here is

a pictorial story about ant and bird. An ant was caught on a dry leaf that was

being carried down a flooded river and it called out from its tiny heart to God

for succour. Prompted a kite that was flying over the river to dive and rise up,

with the leaf on its beak; for He made the bird mistake it for a fish or frog!

The bird was sorely disappointed, but, the ant was delighted to land on hard

ground. God came as a kite and rescued me, it felt. I must be grateful to the

bird, to all birds, it resolved. One day, while on its morning round, it saw a

hunter aim an arrow at a bird; it bit the heel of the hunter, just when he was

releasing the mortal shaft; the aimfailed; the bird flew off, and was saved.

The ant had paid its debt.

God is everywhere, He is everything; so, it appears as if He is nowhere, and

He is not in anything. However, you cannot deny Love, or Truth or Wisdom. He is

Love, Power, Truth, Wisdom, Beauty. When you accept Love, you accept God.

Life is relatively real; until death, it appears to be real. For the

procession of the bride and groom, the father of the bride had brought an

elephant or rather the model of an elephant, correct to the minutest detail;

the model was taken by all who saw it to be alive. Then, while all were

admiring the wonderful work of art and arguing that it was alive, it exploded,

shooting forth lovely little stars and snakes of light that gleamed through the

sky. The fireworks are really beautiful. Human is like that elephant, true,

until the explosion. Before that explosion happens, human must realise

him/herself. The fireworks are desire, anger,delusion, pride and jealousy etc.,

and they now fill this artificial animal, useful only for the show. Human is

saved from such calamity by Vedanta, which is like the roar of the lion; it

gives Courage and Enterprise; it makes human a hero. It drives cowardice away;

instils the highest types of self-confidence. It is the strongest armour

against the arrows of fate. It acts like a waterproof against the hailstorms of

sensual pleasure. It is a curtain keeping out the mosquitoes of worry, which

would otherwise rob you of sleep. With Vedanta-saturated heart, you are a rock

on the shore, unaffected by the waves of temptation. Vedanta challenges your

spirit of adventure, your own reality. Get into the train of spiritual

discipline now; station by station, you will reach the terminus, which is jnana

(realisation) of you and of all this.

Though mankind has achieved incalculable progress in science and

technology, but the human's mind is still polluted with greed, envy and gross

selfishness. It has grown into demonic proportions. Person has become a puppet,

yielding to every pull of the string. Person craves all things that can confer

joy and accumulates things that cater to hi/her sense of power. Person examines

every item from own selfish point of view.

The educated are reacting with envious emotions towards those who have

secured jobs; when they are unable to get jobs, they impute motives of

nepotism, etc. and develop resentment, anger, and hatred. The system of

education is the root cause of the prevalent discontent and resentment.

Undigested food brings about illness in the body; similarly undigested

knowledge imparted by the present day educational system has brought several

illnesses in the social organism and the body politic. The disease is promoting

contrary feelings that are expressed in mutual conflicts.

The educational system and also the whole social systems of humanity must

be based on four goals/principles laid down by Swami and by the Vedas. They are

Sathya (Truth), Dharma (Righteousness), Santhi (Peace, Equanimity) and Prema

(Love). Humanity has to understand the importance of these four goals, accept

them, adore them, and practise them in daily life.

Sathya is the first ideal. It is realised by the sadhana (discipline) of the

tongue. The second, Dharma - righteous living, is realised by the sadhana of the

body and its components in relation to the society and the objective world which

affects person and is affected by person. By his right action and right conduct,

person can attain the third goal,Santhi. This can be won by discipline of the

mind. Sathya establishes itself on the tongue through Sathwik (pious) sadhana;

Dharma is achieved by the exercise of Rajasik (active) regulation; Santhi is

the consequence of Thamasik withdrawal and even inactivity. But, Prema is

beyond these three modes and beyond thought, word and deed. The Divine Prema

is not easily comprehensible. To consider it as a method of speech, an attitude

of mind or as physical behaviour is to sorely demean it. Prema has no trace of

selfishness; it is not bound by motives.

A system of education needs intelligence (flowers), devotion (thread) and

the spirit of renunciation and service (needle) to become beneficial.

Raising the standard of living must also mean raising ethical, moral and

spiritual standards. Then only can education lead to progress in human values

and harmony in social life. This is the purpose of which the foundation stone

for the school building is laid here today. Education must assume full

responsibility and enter the moral and spiritual lives of students. The

imparting of worldly information and training in technical skills are not

enough. Moral and spiritual education has to supplement them. (The idea that

a posh bungalow, with costly sofas, dining tables etc., is the ideal to be

worked for should be given up. This ideal' breeds evil. The ideal should be -

hands dedicated to hard work, heads dedicated to service, and hearts filled

with compassion).

The power of the Spirit is indescribable and limitless. All knowledge which

one acquires is of no use if it is not put into practice. It is like a lamp in

the hand of a blind man. For example, devotees love to Swami is not enough. It

does not mean much at all. What is wanted is the regulation of that love, in

the form of virtue and service. If you achieve that, then there is none to

equal you. As the seed, so the sapling; as the status, so the behaviour; as

the teacher, so the students.

At modern age one wakes up, one is keen to know all about what is happening

in the U S., Russia, London, Delhi, etc. The person who is so concerned about

the news from everywhere, is not aware of the nuisance arising from within

himself. However, it is only the person who has transformed himself that can

reform, teach others.

The sage Narada, who was a master of the sixty-four sciences and arts,

unable to achieve peace of mind, went to the sage Sanathkumaara to learn about

the means of securing tranquillity. Sanathkumaara asked him whether he had

tried to find out the truth about himself. Narada confessed that was the one

thing he had not learnt. Sanathkumaara then told him that this ignorance was

the cause of his lack of mental peace.

 

Who from us can say that he/she has obtained the mental peace what is the

spiritual base for self-realisation as realisation the Self? Probably the very

few persons can. However, without this awareness the life losses its quality

and purpose.

 

The ancient Yoga Sastras (spiritual sciences of divine communion) of Bharath

have indicated different methods of self- realisation. Today various types of

meditation are being promoted.

(There is a need to underline that many persons wrongly equate dhyana

(meditation) with concentration. There is no relationship between the two.

Concentration is a routine everyday phenomenon. Any form of human activity -

reading, walking, or eating is needing concentration what takes place at the

lower level of the sense organs).

Meditation is a process that takes place beyond the senses. Between the

concentration at the sensory level and meditation that is above the senses

there is a border line where chinthana (contemplation) takes place.

Contemplation is the second half of chith (intelligence), whose other function

is discrimination between fight and wrong. There is no rose without a thorn.

How to get at the flower of Love without touching the thorn of lust is the

problem. This is where contemplation is needed. Having plucked the flower, how

shall we use it? By offering it to the Divine.Meditation means offering the

flower of Love to the Divine. In the rose plant of our body, there is the rose

of pure and sacred Love emitting the fragrance of good qualities. Below the

rose, however, there are thorns in the form of sensual desires. The purpose of

meditation is to separate the rose of selfless Love from the senses and offer

it to the Lord. Persons (especially young persons) should concentrate on

their studies/duties and should not give their minds a free rein. They should

devote some time to meditation every morning and evening. Like the river losing

itself in the ocean, the mind must merge in the Divine. That blissful state can

be realised only through the path of Love. Realisation of the power of Love is

the true aim of meditation.

(Nowadays persons sit for meditation, considering it as a kind of pill which

is taken when one has a headache or some other pain. Meditation is not such a

simple affair).

 

By Yoga Sastras the awakening of the sleeping Kundalini Shakthi is one of

methods of meditation. The Kundalini Shakthi (dormant spiritual energy) is

aroused by the process of breath control and is gradually led up to the top

where it merges with the Sahasrara (the thousand-petalled lotus seated in the

brain). The vital force that is also known as consciousness. To merge this

consciousness in the Universal (Cosmic) Consciousness has been described as

liberation in Vedanta (the concluding essence of Vedas).

In the hoary past, sages like Sanathkumaara, Narada and Thumburu engaged

themselves in meditation as a means of awakening the Kundalini Shakthi and

leading it up to the Sahasrara. Now, meditation should be practised as a means

of cultivating pure, selfless love, renouncing all attachments to worldly

things.

Even in sitting for meditation, certain niles have to be observed. The first

requisite is to sit in the Padmasana, lotus posture. While seated in this asana

(posture), care must be taken to keep the spine straight and steady, without

bending this way or that. Some persons bend their necks during meditation. This

is very harmful, as the arresting of the rising Kundalini Shakthi at the throat,

where some subtle arteries operate, may endanger the entire physical system.

Many have suffered mental derangement on account of misdirection of the

Kundalini Shakthi. During meditation one should not bend backwards. That is

also harmful. The cloth one wears during meditation should be tied loosely so

that there is no pressure on the waist. The eyes have to be concentrated on the

tip of the nose. If the eyes are open, they are likely to turn in different

directions and one's attention is likely to get distracted. The eyes should be

half open. If they are fully closed, one may be overcome by sleep. (By merely

closing one's eyes, one does not engage in meditation. One must feel one's

unity with God in one's inner being).

Before sitting for meditation, the mind should be freed from bad thoughts

and filled with sacred thoughts. The eyes should be told to see God. The mind

should be restrained from restlessness by making it concentrate on the

breathing process and relating inhalation and exhalation to the repetition of

the manthra, "So-Ham,So Ham" ("I am He"). By this process, the life-breath

is controlled. This reveals the great, power of Yoga. There is no need to

undertake a separate exercise for awakening the Kundalini Shakthi. The process

of breath control itself will achieve this purpose.

Some persons use a Jyothi (lamp) as a basis for meditation. The lamp reveals

the oneness that is the basis of the Unity or the Divine as well as the

multiplicity that reflects the manifestations of the Divine. In this method,

the experience of bliss does not come quickly.

There are three stages in this type of meditation: imagining the Form,

experiencing the Form and seeing It as a Reality.

For instance, if one wishes to meditate upon Swami, one first tries to

imagine with the dosed eyes the figure of Swami as seen by him earlier. This

figure vanishes within a few moments. In experiencing the figure, the process

is longer and the impression also lasts' longer. In this process, one starts

envisaging the figure from head to footand from the feet upwards. Gradually, by

this process the picture of Swami gets firmly implanted and becomes an inner

reality. While the imagining process gives only a momentary glimpse, the

experiencing method leads to the complete identification of the seeker with the

Divine Form. Awareness of the Divine results in oneness with the Divine. When

we are experiencing the Divine Form, what is happening to our mind? The mind

experiences every part of Swami from head to foot and ultimately becomes one

with the Form. It is the process of identification of the mind with the

Divine Form that constitutes true meditation. Meditation is not merging the

Form in the mind. It is merging the mind in the Form so that the mind as such

does not exist.

While sitting for meditation in a group, one should not be in contact with

anyone else. This is highly important. Meditation is like the process of

electrifying a wire. If a live wire comes in contact with something, it will

produce a shock. During meditation, spiritual energy is generated. How is

this energy lost? It is lost through finger nails and the hairs on one's body.

This was the reason why the ancient yogis (spiritually advanced persons)

allowed their nails and hairs to grow freely. Spiritual energy has to be

conserved by all possible means. The rishis (saints) practised silence to

conserve the energy lost through speech.

Do not develop too close relationship with one another. Such close

relationship results in intimate friendship which produces mutual obligations

and expectations. From these arise the sense of ego.

There is no meaning in doing meditation for two days and giving it up on

the third day. Meditation must become an integral part of one's life. Along

with it, all the knowledge and skills required for one's profession or vocation

should be acquired.

In the practice of meditation, it should be realised that all cannot

follow the same pattern or method. It varies according to the evolution and

circumstances of each individual and his or her capacity and earnestness. Some

worship the Supreme as the Universal Mother. Some look upon the Almighty as

Father. Some regard God as the Supreme Friend. Some devotees approach the

Divine as the Beloved or the Master. They did not practise meditation. They

felt the presence of God everywhere. Where could they go for meditation? Such

was their experience. To the true sadhaka evidence of the omnipresence of God

can be found everywhere. (Reet's compilation from, Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 4.

"Kaashi and Badhri," Chapter 6; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 9. "Soldiers and

Generals," Chapter 26; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 15. "Getting or giving,"

Chapter 3; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 17. "Students and Saadhana," Chapter 6 and

"The journey to God: four stages," Chapter 17). Namaste - Reet