Swami teaches... Validity of Vedas and the Omnipresence Divine Energy

[Guest guest]

Sai Ram Light and Love Swami teaches... 17 - 18 December, 2005

Validity of Vedas and the Omnipresence Divine Energy

What is the inner purpose of life? Vedanta (the final part of the Veda in

which the true principle of God is described) called upon each one to discover

the truth about him/herself. Self-knowledge is the key to all knowledge. (If

you are not prepared to undertake this self-enquiry, cultivate faith, if not in

God, at least in your own Self).

Hence, through the Vedas people have to understand the sacredness of the

human birth. It is the essence of all that has to be known. The Veda enjoins

harmony in thought, word and deed.

God alone is the one eternal Reality. Do not forget this wholesome truth.

All things are happen according to God's plan. Know that plan; it is laid down

in Dharma, depicted in the Upanishads (the phylosophical sections of the

Veda's). God's hands and feet are everywhere. It is through Him that you are

able to see; your eye required His eye in order to function. It is the

reflection the Atma in the inner consciousness that activates it and makes it

flow through the senses towards the objective world.

Some examples from the past. Das Ganu who was a police officer came to

Shirdi Baba on account of his good luck. That visit transformed him. Moreover,

Baba accosted him as Das Ganu as soon as he saw him, and this stunned him. He

asked Baba that some parties that were opposed to him might be put down and

that he might get promotion in his official career. Baba invited him to remain

in Shirdi itself and escape all bother. He told him: "Do not wonder why I am

suggesting this, when you craved for something else." Later, when promotions

came, he ignored Baba and his promise to come away as soon as his honour was

vindicated by official promotion. So, Baba had to bring about circumstances

which compelled him to come at last, as per Baba's plan. He composed a number

of songs and hymns; he began performing Harikathas on Baba everywhere and he

was instrumental in bringing the news of the advent of Baba to thousands in the

land. His life was spent in and through the Lord. Upasini Baba was also a

similar personality. He was born in 1869 and known as Kasinath. He married

thrice; practised as a doctor, earned much money and lost all; after hard

penance, chanced into Shirdi, where Baba accosted him. "Hallo, Kasinath!" He

directed him to Upasana (contemplation) and guided his sadhana and so he was

called Upasini Baba. He too was a part of Baba's plan. Thus, every one must

fit in with the plan; strive to know its main principles and be equipped for

the task God allots you. Be ever vigilant in the tasks that the role involves,

that is your swadharma (one's own nature and duty).

The Omnipresence Divine Energy is dormant or latent or patent, but it is

everywhere at all times. It exists in a piece of cloth or in a sheet of paper.

It is the Truth of all that is. Everything that disintegrates loses energy;

everything that 'originates' exemplifies energy. This tumbler is a bundle of

latent energy. The Upanishads declare it has temporary form and a temporary

name. But, its reality is Sath (existence), Chith (knowability), Ananda

(capable of contributing to the joy of awe and wonder). Ananda is as light, the

source of Joy and Knowledge. Everything in the Universe is vibrant with Sath,

Chith and Ananda. We (Sath) are intelligent (Chith) and blissful (Ananda).

These three are attributes of Divinity, which is our dormant but dominant

force. Ignorant of this truth, structures are built up and paraded on other

bases. Mankind suffers from fear and hatred, on account of this fundamental

defect in their search for Knowledge.

Since Dharma is the sustainer of the entire world and the Universal Law

realized through circulation of energy regulates the Universe, Vedas have

universal validity. There are latent as well as patent forces (expression of

energy) that urge every particle or wave in the Cosmos. When they are operating

in coordination, all is well. But when they are unbalanced and operate without

equilibrium, disorder and disaster are caused. When the environment is

disturbed or distorted, danger is imminent. Science and technology boast of

their achievements in conquering the five elements - space, air, fire, waterand

land. They are dealing with them as if they are playthings amenable to their

whims. They do not deal with them as means for the peace and prosperity on the

Earth, for all its inhabitants. Their attempts to analyse and take advantage

of the five elements are resulting in fatal pollutions and natural disasters

like droughts and even earthquakes. However, today, that reverence has

disappeared in the greed for exploitation.

Why is asanthi (absence of peace) harassing the world? Because of

attachment, hate and infatuation. These are born out of ignorance, which cause

delusion. Anxiety and fear have contaminated even the very food one eats.

These negative qualities are too clear expressions of unbalance the natural

circulation of energy in human society.

At the present time, there is a great deal of anxiety and agitation due to

there being a great advance in material comforts and conveniences, but no

corresponding advance in character, virtue and sense of justice. The 'material

world' is the stick which helps man to walk; but of what use is it to the

person who cannot walk? The stick is like material comfort; the primary need is

the strength of limbs, the power to walk, namely, character, virtue. For the

development of that strength of limb, spiritual discipline is essential. People

struggle for the evanescent and the unreal; but they shy away from any effort to

attain the eternal and the real; that is the tragedy.

In the old days, when a person arrived at a village, the first question was,

"Have you a temple here?" Now, perhaps, the question of the new-comer would be,

"Is there a hotel here?" or, "Is there a cinema, a theatre here?"

(Negative tendencies is caused by lack of spiritual knowledge. Things seen

in darkness cannot be clear; they are mistaken for something else. A rope is

mistaken to be a snake; a stump is mistaken to be a thief. A piece of glass may

be coveted as a diamond. This mistaken notion, this indistinct light, must go).

 

Keep the engine of the mind free from the dust and dirt of sensory yearning

and you can ascend easily the heights of spiritual progress. It is like

swimming against the fast current, this journey towards the source of Being.

The Sanathana Dharma (Eternal Religion) teaches you how to succeed in this

journey; and, due to its innate integrity, it has flourished without losing its

pristine glory, even after the onslaught of wave after wave of strange cultures.

Keep your devotion within yourself, under control, and not be led away by crooks

and self-seekers. Spend the silent hours in meditation and namasmarana

(remembering God's name) in your own homes and deepen faith. A moment of

concentrated prayer from the heart is enough, to melt and move God.

 

The Vedas laid the greatest emphasis on action, as different kinds of

physical, or/and mental, or/and spiritual energy. The Vedas tell you those

things that cannot be known by anything else. The word Veda means 'knowledge',

what cannot be acquired by the senses or the intellect or even by unguided

intuition. Adwaita (the non-dual One) is something that no one in the dual

world can understand. It is beyond the reach of even the mind. In fact,

intellect and mind must each be transcended, before one can grasp the

magnificence of that Unity.

Dwaita ( duality) is the seer and the seen, the creator and the created, the

good and the bad, the right and the wrong - this is the daily concrete

experience of every one. Prakrithi (Nature, Creation) is patently dualistic.

The Vedas endeavour to open human's eyes to the falsity of dualistic

experience, the reality of the only One,Adwaita. To describe the infinite

aspects in terms of limited words and limited experience, is not possible.The

Maharishis who were well versed in the Vedas and Mantras* realised that it is

not possible to explain and describe the aspects of Brahman in terms of words,

and they were only indicating by their silence.

You are the Cosmic Consciousness, God, the spark (holographic pattern) of

carrier the Divine energy temporarily in the role of 'I'. The bodymind-complex

is the instrument to be utilised for that role, Use it for furthering God's

purpose, executing God's will. This is the message of Rg Veda**.

The Rg Veda is primarily concerned with karma and is part of the Karma kanda

(devoted to the performance of prescribed rites to attain the Absolute). The

Karma kanda is its most important part. There are three stages in the soul's

journey to its source: Karma, Dharma and Brahma. Karma is the sincere discharge

of one's duty, as laid down in the scriptures and as beneficial to our standard

and status. Through karma done for some benefit in view, human progresses

towards karma with no benefit in view, so that he does it as a rightful

obligation, undeterred by defeat or unaffected by success. One does karma,

regulated by dharma (virtue). Then, one's consciousness is purified and

elevated and can help to become aware of own Reality as the Self which includes

all, Brahman (Omni self).

A pictorial example. The coconut chutney has four ingredients: salt,

chillies, tamarind and the kernel of the nut. To procure all these, clean and

pure, in the required quantities, is karma, the path of action. To put them

together and press them into a paste is also karma, part of the Path. Then, you

put a little on the tongue to discover whether it tastes aright, as the genuine

chutney. This is the Path of dharma. When you find that if a sprinkle of salt

would make it authentic, you add it, at this stage. Or, if it is more, you mix

with it some more saltless paste, until it is just right. And, you derive

delight, as a reward. That is the stage of joy, of contentment, the end of

desire, Brahman. Being born, brought up and grown in age is karma; we

realise that to live for oneself is not the way to happiness. We take to the

path of dharma or virtue, sacrifice, service. But we discover that involvement

with problems does not give lasting joy. We turn towards the ever-lasting

Source of Peace, Harmony and Delight - Brahman, God.

The hymns of the Rg Veda have been used down the ages to sanctify widely

different events and experiences of human, spiritual and apparently secular.

The distinction is artificial, for all of life has to be spiritualised. When

the boy is initiated into Vedic studies or the recitation of the Gayatri and

other mantras**, when some one has to be blessed on some happy occasion, when a

wedding has to be ceremoniously performed with the invocation of God, and when

the body is buried or burnt after the soul has left, the Rg Vedic hymns are

chanted. They have great potency and arouse beneficial thoughts on reciters and

listeners.

Rg Veda poined to the significant role of serenity. Serenity is a divine

virtue, as somekind potency of the Divine energy.

 

All the Vedhas are intent on helping human to become aware of Divinity

within and all around him/her. Picture for yourselves the peace that seers

gained by that awareness, and yearn to learn the lessons the Vedas treasure,

for all mankind irrespective of caste, creed, race or nationality. For

example Dasaratha should not be regarded as merely the emperor of Ayodhya.

Allegorically, the name symbolises the human body, endowed with the five sense

organs and the five organs of action. Rama, Lakshmana, Bharatha and Satrughna

represent four Vedas. Rama, who is the embodiment of Dharma, represents Yajur

Veda. Lakshmana, who revels in reciting the name of Rama, represents the Rg

Veda. Bharata, who rejoices in singing the name of Rama at all times,

represents Sama Veda. Subduing the internal and external enemies and carrying

out the commands of his three elder brothers, Satrughna symbolises Atharvana

Veda.

Rama and his brothers are said to belong to the Surya Vamsa (solar race).

The Sun exists as an objective physical phenomenon. The Earth has come from the

Sun. The Moon has come from the Earth. Both the Earth and the Moon have come

from the Sun. They are fragments of the Sun. When you enquire deeply, you will

realise that without the Sun the world cannot exist; there can be no birth or

death. Nothing can exist without the Sun. Elements of the Sun are present in

every human being. Everyone has originated from the rays of the Sun. The light

within each one is derived from the Sun. As the Sun's light is present within

us, we are a fragment of the Sun.

Please do not be under the delusion that God needs light and that He requires

illumination. He is the Divine Light personified with the splendour of a

thousand suns; He is the Force which makes light shine; and He is above and

beyond the thejas (lustre) that Nature can supply. It is the temple that you

are carrying about with you, the body, that must be fitted with lights. The

body is said to be the temple, and in that temple is installed the Jivi

(indweller) who is the "timeless" God. The inner motive Force is God, and when

tie is dwelling in the heart of human, He is called Jivi. So, the lights have

to be switched on in the inner consciousness of individual, rather than in the

house where the image of the Lord is installed and worshipped. But today people

attach value to the body and not to the Jivi within. It is like placing the cart

before the horse. Likewise, human is carrying on life's journey placing the body

in the forefront and giving a backseat to the Spirit.

This is the Yajna (sacrifice) which every human has to do every moment of

life. Yajna does not mean merely performing a ritual sacrifice with priests and

offering oblations in the fire. The evil tendencies in human are the result of

differences based on physical distinctions. The mind is the villain; it is

another name for desire; the texture of the mind is just desire; both warp and

woof are desire and nothing else. If desire goes, the mind disappears and the

divinity that is present in everyone will be recognised. Liberation is attained

when the Atma shines in its own glory; it is not a colony or a suburb where

aristocratic residents have secured good sites in paradise. It is the condition

of the Jivi which has shed delusion.

Action cleanses the mind and makes it fit for spiritual knowledge. When you

are simply listening, quietly receiving without responding, you are just dull

(thamasic); when you turn it over in your mind, attempting to assimilate it,

then you are active (rajasic); when you are sunk in the sweetness of experience

in Dhyana you are having pure exultation (sathwic). It is only through action

that devotion can be deepened. Detachment is a kind of spiritual/mental action

what leads to the recognition the Jivi within.

 

There was a man from Puttaparthi who lived in a solitary hut on the banks of

the Ganga, some miles above Haridhwaar. He was engaged in severe thapas (ascetic

practices) and was greatly admired by other monks. One day, while bathing in the

river, he overheard a party of pilgrims who had alighted from their bus at that

site, talking among themselves in Telugu. His attachment to the mothertongue

dragged him thither; he asked them where they came from. They were from

Penukonda Thaluk, Puttaparthi itself. So, that monk was very happy; he asked

them about his lands, his family, his friends and when he was told that a few

of them had died, the poor fellow started weeping like a fool. All his years of

sadhana had come to nought. They broke down before the onslaught of

language-attachment. He was so bound to his mothertongue. Practise

detachment from now on; practise it little by little, for a day will come

sooner or later when you will have to give up all that you hold dear. Do not go

on adding to the things which bind you to them. Bind yourself to the great

liberator, God.

As we see, the state of Bhakthi*** is very difficult to acquire. It is even

more difficult than Jnana (spiritual knowledge, wisdom), for it means complete

surrender, full contentment whatever may happen.

There is no need to fight against the fundamental delusion of attachment to

body with overwhelming force and argument. The delusion will disappear only if

one sits quietly for a minute and analyse the world and his/her experience of

the world. Jnana (spiritual wisdom) that is acquired, like gifts by some one,

of money that the donor had, but which the recipient did not have. It is like

some one giving you a ten-rupee note which you had kept between the pages of a

book you were reading. You had lent him the book; when you needed a loan, you

asked him for a tenner; and he gave you back your own note. That is how Jnana

reveals to you your own glory. For, like the body which passes through

childhood, boyhood, adolescence, middle age and old age, Bhakhi too has stages

in its growth. The tender fruit is love, the grown one is devotion and the ripe

fruit is surrender. There is a type of karma which will melt the heart of the

Lord. It is the type which does not inflict pain on any one. (Reet's

compilation from, Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 2. "Light the anthahkarana," Chapter

12; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 4. "The I behind the Eye," Chapter 27 and "The bond

that unbinds," Chapter 35; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 15. "The teacher-learner

team," Chapter 43 and "For all mankind," Chapter 48; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol.

22. "From the animal to the Divine," Chapter 32).

*Mantra means "words that save those who meditate on them." So, whatever is

uttered with such intention becomes holy, charged with love for fellow-men, for

the world, for the elements.

**The Rg Veda (Rig Veda), the first among the four, has come down to us in

exactly the same way that it was recited in the past. It is a far-spreading

tree, with many branches. Of the 25 that once existed, only two are now

available.

**** Bhakthi - reverent adoration, devotion. Adoring the Supreme with the

greatest possible Love.

Namaste - Reet