Sunday Talk Given by Anil Kumar - From….To…, October 26th, 2003

[Guest guest]

“From….To…”

October 26th, 2003

 

OM…OM…OM…

Sai Ram

With Pranams at the Lotus Feet of Bhagavan,

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Let me begin my talk with greetings to all of you on this holy day of Deepavali,

and also on the occasion of the New Year’s celebration by devotees from the

State of Gujarat. May Bhagavan shower His choicest blessings on every one of

you and your families.

This morning’s topic is this: “From…To…”. You may ask, “From what to what? From

where to where?” I have chosen this to be the title of this morning’s talk as I

thought of maintaining a continuity of the same wavelength, of the same mood

with which we left Sai Kulwant Hall this morning: “Koham to Soham” was the

theme of the discipline this morning by the youth and the Bal Vikas children

from Gujarat.

Deepavali Celebration

Before I go into the topic, I’ll say a few words about the Deepavali

celebration. Deepavali is an occasion which is very important, and celebrated

in a grand gala way, with all festivity and gaiety all over the country. It is

a festival when most of the lights are lit up, and all the houses are very well

decorated with lights and lamps. These lights give us delight too. The light

always stands for delight and love.

Deepavali festival marks certain important events in history. Most of us have

come to know those points, which I could collect from Bhagavan’s discourses

earlier, because certain new dimensions are shown to us by Bhagavan.

Deepavali Should Take Us to Bliss

One point is this: Deepavali, the light, should take us to the delight and

bliss, from misery to bliss. We have to come out of the darkness of ignorance,

the darkness of misery and the darkness of grief into the light of joy, the

light of ecstasy, the light of awareness, the light of knowledge, the light of

dance and the light of music.

Seriousness, as I said, is a sign of sickness. It is not a sign of religion. A

man who is happy within himself, a man who is happy with existence, goes on

smiling and bursts into laughter. A man who is not happy within himself, can

never be happy with anybody in this world, and can never be happy with

existence. He feels himself isolated, left all alone, God-forsaken, cut off

from the pleasures and the smile of life. This is a life of worthlessness.

When life is worthless, we cannot smile. Life is almost death when we cannot

experience bliss. Life is not worth it when we cannot burst into laughter.

Where there’s no time for music, melody and dance, there’s no life at all. It

is only a stupid man and an idiot who loves money, as money cannot give you

music. Money cannot give you the outlook of the beauty of existence. The beauty

of a flower cannot be bought. The beauty of a rainbow cannot be measured in

terms of money. Money cannot measure the beautiful song of the nightingale.

Therefore, my friends, Deepavali signifies the movements of darkness into the

light. Darkness symbolises grief, misery, sorrow, ignorance, helplessness,

frustration, depression, and what not, creating suppression and repression. But

light symbolises happiness, bliss, joy, laughter, melody, music, dance, ecstasy

and bliss. That’s it.

Therefore Deepavali should make us joyful, smiling all the way, because those

who cannot smile in the Divine presence of Bhagavan will be laughed at in

society. We should laugh, but we should never allow others to be laughed at. My

friends, this is the first point of Deepavali.

the day of Rama’s coronation

The second point: When Rama left Ayodhya to spend time in exile, the whole of

Ayodhya felt that they were living in darkness. In Ayodhya, the capital city,

all the inhabitants felt that they were living their lives in darkness without

Rama. It means that without God, life is darkness. Without God, life is

lifeless, pitch dark. You can’t move anywhere. You have to grope in the

darkness.

But after killing Ravana, Rama comes back to Ayodhya with His consort Sita,

accompanied by his brother Lakshmana, back to Ayodhya where He was coronated.

The coronation of Ramachandra was a time when the whole of Ayodhya could bask

in the light of delight. So, with God, it is a life of light. Without God, it

is a life of darkness; it is a life of misery. Therefore, Deepavali is the day

of Rama’s coronation.

the coronation day of Viswamitra

Point three: History also speaks of a great king in Indian history by name of

Viswamitra. He was a great king who encouraged fine arts, particularly

literature and music. He was a great patron of Vedic literature, and Deepavali

happens to be the coronation day of Viswamitra.

Vamana put Bali into Pathala

Point four: There lived a king by the name of Bali. Bali was an emperor. You

must have heard about him at the time of Onam. It was Lord Vishnu, in the form

of Vamana, who subdued and put down Bali. Why? Bali was a king of sacrifice, a

man of truth, a man of righteousness and a great emperor, beloved of everybody.

Why did God choose to put him down? The reason was that Bali had a claim of ‘I’

and ‘mine’. Bali had a feeling that, “This is my kingdom. These are my people.”

But that ‘mine’, that sense of possessiveness, that sense of attachment are

responsible for his being sent to Pathala, the lower world. Therefore, Vamana

has put him down, meaning that the ego was taken out.

So, Deepavali is a day of celebration because it was when Emperor Bali was

relieved from the sense of ego. Onam is the day when Emperor Bali comes out of

that lower world, that lower level of consciousness, and comes back to his

people. That is Onam. Onam is coming back. He brought Emperor Bali back to

earth to meet his subjects. Deepavali is the day when Vamana put him down. I

think that I am clear. Why Bali was punished at all was because of his sense of

ego.

Therefore, my friends, Deepavali is the celebration when we are truly egoless.

When we are egoistic, the same Deepavali celebration will happen, but we will

be put down like Bali. Yes, that is the fourth point, which I want to bring to

your attention.

Krishna killed Naraka with the help of Sathyabhama

The fifth point: There lived a king by the name of Naraka. The word ‘naraka’

means ‘hell’. Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon, yet he did not see hell or

heaven anywhere, or anything like that. Man is ready to go to Mars also. Man

is able to make space travel; he has become an expert on astronomy; he knows

all the planets existing in the cosmos, in the universe. But he doesn’t know

where paradise and hell are. Is it a myth or is it a story?

It is neither a myth nor a story, according to Bhagavan Baba. Paradise, heaven

and the hell, are here and now. They’re here and now! When you are joyful, it

is heaven. When you are miserable, it is hell. “It is the mind that makes

heaven out of hell and hell out of heaven,” says John Milton in Paradise Lost.

Paradise is a day of happiness, while hell is a day of misery. Therefore,

‘naraka’ stands for hell.

What is the identification nature? Identification with the body is verily hell.

When I identify myself with the body, it is hell. That’s’ all. Why? I want to

maintain my body. I refuse to age. I don’t want to be old. More so, I don’t

want to look old. (Laughter) I feel so disturbed when others tell me that I am

old. So I don’t want to know, I don’t want to be told, though it is a fact of

life. We can age gracefully. There is beauty in old age. Why not? A ripe fruit

is quite sweet. It has got its own beauty. It has got its own taste, so why

not? We don’t need to age with grudging complaints. No, ungrudgingly, happily

we can age. Why not?

Therefore my friends, Naraka the king stands for body identification. And God,

as Lord Krishna in Krishnavatar, killed Naraka. He killed him with the help of

his consort Sathyabhama. Sathyabhama is the consort of Lord Krishna.

Here we may get a doubt as to why Krishna required the help of Sathyabhama. “If

Krishna takes the help of Sathyabhama, let me worship Sathyabhama straightaway.

Why have Krishna in the middle?” (Laughter) Later, when Krishna is needed for

support, you think you can say, “Oh Krishna, thank You. I’ll seek Your support

from tomorrow onwards.” That will be our natural calculation. Don’t you think

so? But my friends, Sathyabhama is not Krishna’s wife in the worldly sense,

no. Krishna is a Brahmacharya, for your information, a celibate. How do you say

that? That will be the next talk, if you so want.

So, Sathyabhama stands for Sathya, the Truth: the fundamental Truth that you are

not the body; the fundamental Truth that you are not the mind; the fundamental

Truth that you are not the intellect. The Truth is that you are Divine, that

you are the spark of the Divine, that you are essentially Divine -- nothing

other than that. So with the help of the Truth of the Self (symbolised by

Sathyabhama), Krishna killed Naraka, who represented hell. So you can certainly

kill and vanquish Naraka, body identification, with Truth, Sathyabhama, which

was done by Krishna Himself, the individual Divine. That’s what this story is,

my friends.

So, Naraka asura is killed. ‘Asura’ means ‘demon’. ‘Narakasura’ means ‘demon

king’. Naraka has body identification, and asura, mind identification. He

identifies himself with the mind also. So if I think that I am mind, I am an

black; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">asura, demon class # 1, a VIP demon, okay?

(Laughter) We all want to be VIP’s. (Laughter) Even among demons, we would like

to be a VIP demon. Okay? So an asura, identifying with the

mind, has a demonic nature. One who has identification with the body has an

animal nature. Narakasura, identifying with the mind and the body, the animal

and the demon, two-in-one, doesn’t deserve to exist on this beautiful planet of

creation, a place so beautiful, so magnificent. Therefore, Krishna chose to kill

him with the help of Sathya, the basic Truth that one is the Atma, the spirit,

and not the body or mind.

Removal of the Planet Naraka by Krishna

And now point six: During the time of Dwapara Age, when Krishna took birth,

there was a planet by the name of Naraka. That planet was close to the moon;

but also that planet Naraka was coming closer to the earth. It led to a

situation that the two might collide at any moment, leading to calamity,

leading to complete disaster. So all people prayed, “Oh God, save us!” Then

Krishna completely removed the planet Naraka from its orbit. So also, the

removal of the planet Naraka from its orbit is the celebration of Deepavali.

Deepavali celebrates the lights in arctic zones

Deepavali is also the celebration of the period when the lights in arctic zones

are continuous, where you have light for six months (and later, there is six

months of darkness). Those who live in the polar regions will be in the light

for six months. Later, they will be in darkness for six months. Therefore this

light lights up the skies for six months in those polar regions. That is called

mithya jyothi, the ‘eternal light’. This is

12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">ananda jyothi, the light of bliss. This

is jnana jyothi, the light of knowledge. This is prema jyothi, the light of

Love. That is Deepavali.

The Inner Light

Bhagavan further says that you light the lamps outside, but you miss the inner

light. There is light always within us, but we don’t see that light. The heart

is the container. The human heart is the container filled with the oil of Love,

with the wick of the individual soul, and having the flame of wisdom. The

brilliance of the light of bliss is shed all over. The light is bliss. The wick

is the individual soul. The oil is Love. The container is the heart. That is the

inner light. But unfortunately we don’t see this inner light. We want to have

that light.

Why don’t we see the inner light? Because the inner light seems to have been

extinguished. Why? The oil is used. The oil of Love is gone. Instead there is

water, the water of sensual pleasure; therefore you cannot expect the wick to

burn brilliantly. It is impossible, as water is there, and the wick itself gets

drowned in water, being totally wet. So it cannot be lit up at all. Similarly,

worldly people, material people who are drowned and drenched in the material

world, cannot see the inner light. With all the worldly pleasures, it is

impossible for them to get up and get out of the sleep and slumber. Impossible.

 

Therefore, what should we do? Pour out the water and remove the worldly, sensual

desire from the container of our heart. Then we must dry this wick, keeping it

in the sunlight. The drying process of the individual soul is called vairagya

or renunciation. Dry it with vairagya, renunciation. Then you can light it

properly. Then it is possible to have the effulgence and the brilliance that is

there at Deepavali, according to Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba.

The Final Destination is ‘Soham’

With that note, we will go to this morning’s topic, “From…..To.” This morning

you saw a short display by the Bal Vika youth from the State of Gujarat. They

have given me this inspiration and suggested this topic to me to deal with this

morning. In fact I was very much inspired by their topic. It is the travel

from ‘Koham?’ meaning, ‘Who am I?’ to the final station of ‘Soham’, ‘I am You

Arial">. I am God.’

So, ‘Who am I?’ is the first station. The final destination is ‘Soham’, ‘I am

You.’ But we unfortunately get down in the middle, due to ‘moham’, meaning

‘attachment’. To reach New York, you purchase the ticket, but you get down at

Frankfurt, thinking you have reached the end of the journey. If you get down

there at Frankfurt, or if you get down at Heathrow Airport and think that it is

New York, well, nobody can help you.

black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">(Laughter) You have got a through ticket. You cannot

get down in between. From Koham, this Bombay airport, you’ll be going to JF

Kennedy Airport, Soham. There are some intermediate stages for refueling like

London and Frankfurt, which are like moham. So that has been the theme of their

topic.

We Are In ‘Moham’ Now

Let me change a little bit. We are in moham now. There’s no doubt about it.

Certainly the one who denies that is fully in that. (Laughter) Never believe

such people. The people who speak more of philosophy are the most worldly. I

know that. So we cannot be carried away by these words because, as the famous

quote goes, ”They will quote scriptures.” So let’s not say that. We are mundane

people, after all. We cannot deny that because we even get attached to the seat,

the place where we sit everyday. We cannot dream of

another man sitting where we are sitting. (Laughter) Yes. Therefore, if I said

that I have got vairagya or renunciation, it is the joke of the century. It

cannot be so. We are attached. We are in moham. Moham is attachment to the

family, attachment to the property, attachment to the country, attachment to

society. Attachment, attachment, yes! It hits you something like this:

We’ve got all fixed and attached, so it’s so painful when we are removed. When

children leave us, we shed tears. When we retire, we cry. When we lose our

seat, we cry and make others cry. (Laughter) When another occupies our seat, we

make him cry. (Laughter) Sure, this is what moham is -- attachment.

“KOHAM, Who am I?”

So this is the situation. Spending all the time in moham, attachment, there

comes a time in the life of every person, that this is all there is. But this

is not the be-all and end-all because, my friends, all that we see is sure to

vanish. All the property that you have shall not remain as it is. All the

friends around will not remain with you throughout. That we’ll understand.

Then comes the question, ‘Koham, who am I?’ I thought that the family, my

children, and my wife were all with me. They are mine. But the moment comes

when you cannot oblige them any longer; when they say, “Thank you.” Then you

put to yourself this question, ‘Who am I?’ When you want to give some advice

and some suggestions to your son, and your son says, “Daddy, you’re out-dated.

Please

leave me alone.” Then you’ll put to yourself the question, ‘Koham, who am I?’

When your wife does not attend on you, when your wife does not do what you want

immediately, then you put a question: ‘Koham, who am I?’ When you retire, the

subordinates and others who were serving you so faithfully until yesterday,

when the moment that you retire, they do not recognise you, then you’ll put the

question: ‘

FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Koham, who am I?’ So long as Swami talks to me, everyone

says, “Anil Kumar, Sai Ram! How are you?” When Swami starts ignoring me,

nobody will care to look at me; nobody will greet me. Then I put to myself the

question, ‘Koham, who am I?’ Right? (Laughter)

My friends, at one time or another, we are sure to put this question to

ourselves: ‘Koham, who am I? Either material or spiritual, that is immaterial.

This question we certainly have to face at one time or another. No one is an

exception.

So, ‘from Moham to Koham’ -- that is how I put it, because moham, attachment,

made us totally frustrated. Attachment made us totally depressed as nothing is

guaranteed, nothing is certain. A friend in the morning becomes an enemy by the

evening. That’s called

politics. Yes, a friend so close to you betrays you. Then there are many

families where all the love is centred around one son out of the three. Yes,

then Judas Iscariot betrayed his guru, Jesus Christ. So, when the nearest and

the dearest betray you, you will understand what life is. ‘Koham, who am I?’

The ‘Koham’ Question Will Not Come Easily

So, my friends, the ‘Koham’ question will not come so easily. The ‘Koham’

question will not come so immediately, because moham is deluding, alluring,

attracting and so beautiful. Yes, maya is the delusion.

Moham is so attractive. Moham takes you to a state of forgetfulness. You get

intoxicated, so you get into a state of forgetfulness. You get into the state

of intoxication. That is the quality of moham, attachment, due to maya,

delusion.

So if I ask, ‘Koham? Koham?’ it is only verbal; it is only fictional; it is only

external; it is only scholarly; it is only academic. It is not born out of real

experience. Therefore, my friends, sometimes we do face certain difficulties in

our life. In our own individual families, we have certain problems.

Individually, we may have certain health problems. Family-wise, we may have

certain problems with children. We have some professional problems, some

business problems. Every one will have one problem or another. If a fellow has

no problem, the absence of

a problem will be his problem! (Laughter) So, there is bound to be a problem. If

we have no problem, that is the biggest problem! (Laughter) So, my friends, when

we have problems, when people have become problematic, there arises the question

of ‘Koham, who am I?’ -- not till then. It is academic until then. It is all

gathered textual knowledge - just collected information, that’s all. The

genuine question is born out of day-to-day life experience.

Unless the curd is churned, you cannot get the butter. “No, no, sir! Butter is

floating on the surface of my curd.” Well, it could be anything other than

butter. Unless it is churned, you cannot get the butter. Similarly, life is

like curd. The continuous churning process is going on. Only then comes the

butter, which is a question -- ‘Koham, who am I?’ That question is genuine.

Out of the genuine question, asked to one’s own Self at the right time, will

come the correct answer. The answer comes from within. Until then, the answer

that you get from books is bookish. But the answer that comes from your heart

is born out of personal experience. This is what you call wisdom. Answers that

you get from books are knowledge. The answer that you get from your own heart

is wisdom, born out of experience.

The Senses Are Enjoying You at Your Cost

So, my friends, having been drenched, having been totally drowned, having been

lost in moham, attachment, then there comes frustration. Because of all the

joys and all the pleasures of bodily comforts, naturally in the course of time,

one will develop blood pressure, and sugar (diabetic) problems will be waiting

at the doorstep: ‘Come on! Let him enjoy; and then I will enjoy him at his

expense.’ We enjoy with the senses, but the senses will enjoy us later.

Bhagavan says that people say, “I enjoy with all my senses. “

But Bhagavan said, “No, you are not enjoying with the senses. The senses are

enjoying at your cost.” Understand that. That is what Swami has said

repeatedly.

There is so much truth in it because, if you are really enjoying life with the

help of the senses, you should grow stronger and stronger day-by-day -- but we

don’t. We become weaker and weaker day-by-day. Why? It only means that the

senses are enjoying us at the expense of this food.

Therefore my friends, this question ‘Koham?’ should come to us when we are

totally frustrated and disappointed with the body, with the mind, and with the

people around; when we are disgusted and vexed with all the comforts and

conveniences. When you have no more interest in name and fame, when we’re not

here to please people, then we put to ourselves this question, ‘Koham?’ Not

until then.

A simple example: So long as we praise our fellow man, you cannot call yourself

religious. The tongue that praises God cannot praise the fellow man.

Impossible! Seek no favour; fear no man. You praise your fellow man because

of favour; you praise your fellow man because of fear. When there is no fear,

when there’s no favour, then you can praise God incessantly, continuously and

ceaselessly.

>From ‘Moham’ to ‘Soham’

At one time a grand old man came on a visit to this place.

Someone said, “Swami, he is a great scholar.”

Swami spoke to him, “How are you?”

He replied, “Fine.”

Then He spoke further to him: “Yesterday you attended a meeting and spoke in

praise of the chief minister. And today you have come here to have Bhagavan’s

darshan. What is it you are doing? “

Then Swami gave him an example: “The one who drives the car of the president of

a nation cannot be a taxi driver.”

So, the tongue that has praised God cannot praise cheap people, or men of

prestige in a position of authority. It is really a life that is meaningless.

Sycophancy, pleasing people, and seeking favours is irreligious, non-spiritual

by any standard.

My friends, ‘Koham?’ is a question that comes only at a time when you have no

more charm for the body, when you have no more attraction for the mind, when

you are no more enchanted by the greatness of your intellect, when you have no

more desire for name and fame, when we don’t have or want any favours. Then

comes this question ‘Koham?’ Otherwise, the question is meaningless, and we

don’t get any answer at all.

This is the right time, yes. ‘Oh, Lord, I don’t want all this. Enough is enough.

Enough is enough! But I want something special now.’ Then, ‘Who am I? Am I

merely the son of so-and-so? Am I merely the father of so-and-so? Am I merely

the husband of so-and-so? Am I merely the employee of such-and-such a concern?

Am I merely a citizen of the country? Am I merely a man based on my age, young

or old?’ You then call, ’Who am I?’ Then comes the question ‘Koham?’ The answer

is ‘Soham, I am You.’

‘Oh God, I am yours. You and I are One.’

So my friends, from moham, where one is totally frustrated and disgusted with

that attraction and attachment, one puts the question ‘Koham?’ We go from

moham to ‘Koham?’ to reach that state of ‘Soham’, ‘I am You.’ That is the topic

for today, “From…To…”. These are the points that I will complete in the time

left from now.

>From Ignorance to Wisdom

We should travel from ignorance to wisdom. “No sir, who said that I am ignorant?

I am a PhD -- don’t you know that? (Laughter) I’ve been serving as a professor.

Are you not aware of it? I have attended many international conferences. I have

contributed a number of articles.” Please, keep quiet. All that you can claim is

Himalayan ignorance, because that is all borrowed information, collected

information. Books collected there, lying fast asleep in racks.

So, if you cannot claim all that is in the books as your own, it is ignorance.

The one who quotes, the one who speaks of others, not born out of experience,

is the very symbol, the very personification and the very metaphor of

ignorance. We must go from ignorance to wisdom, my friends. I’m telling you out

of my personal experience. My friends, I am sharing with you out of my personal

life. It is not somebody else. It is what it is, from ignorance to wisdom.

Ordinary Science -- Nothing Extraordinary

Secondly, we know how the body functions. Medical sciences speak of the

functions of the body, the physiology and the anatomy. We also know the

material sciences, the properties of matter like heat, light, sound, magnetism

and physics. We know the different branches like chemistry. We know social

sciences, humanities. We know fundamental sciences. This is all ordinary

science.

So, there is nothing extraordinary about ordinary science, as you are studying

that which is already in existence. You have studied that which is already

present. There is nothing new, my dear fellow. You have not brought anything

new. There are only five elements. Have you discovered a sixth element? Please,

let me know. (Laughter) There’s no sixth element. Water is H2O. “No, no, make

it H3O, if possible.” Carbon dioxide is CO2. “Make it CO3.” You cannot do it.

You are only studying what is already in existence. So, it is ordinary science.

FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">

Out of the Ordinary, the Extraordinary Should Be Born

Out of this ordinary science, you should go to higher science. That’s why Swami

named this university: “Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning”. That’s

why Swami named the super-speciality hospital as the “Sri Sathya Sai Institute

of Higher Medical Sciences”. It is something higher, something deeper, because

out of the ordinary, the extraordinary should be born. So it is a higher thing,

from lower thing to higher. That it is what we call from matter to energy; from

matter to the electronic level. At the ionic level, that is what is higher

science -- from jnana to vijnana.

Jnana (Anil Kumar is referring to ordinary, objective knowledge here – vishaya

jnana.) is just understanding. Jnana is just that which is perceived. Jnana is

that which is collected. Jnana is that which is

understood, which is comprehended. But vijnana is that which is discriminated;

vijnana is that which is digested; vijnana is that which is assimilated. If I

go on repeating like a parrot, it is only jnana.

from vishaya jnana to Vijnana

Suddenly Swami says, “Anil Kumar, you speak the day-after-tomorrow.” I prepare

some papers, go on repeating it through the night, all the twenty-four hours,

and repeat (give) the talk successfully, get some claps and go back to my

place. It is jnana (vishaya jnana – ordinary knowledge) because it has no

spontaneity; this kind of jnana is not instantaneous, not fresh. This kind of

ordinary jnana is preserved, old stuff.

But vijnana is born, vijnana is fresh, vijnana is spontaneous, something like a

fountain, something like a waterfall. It is always fresh. So, we travel from

jnana to vijnana.

>From Dynamic Life to Changeless Life

Next, we go from dynamic life to changeless life. Dynamic, yes, we all want to

be dynamic. Nobody wants to be static. To be dynamic is the quality of a

leader. He goes on changing. He is a dynamic man, ready to rise to the

occasion, ready to face the challenges of life. He is a man of dynamism. He is

a man of leadership qualities.

But you go from dynamism to the changeless because That (Atma) which is in you,

the spirit, is neither dynamic nor static. It is changeless. A simple example:

While I am talking to you now, that spirit in me is there. When I go to sleep

at night, that spirit in me continues to be there. That ‘I’ is uniform. That

‘I’ is a continuous thread throughout, in all the three levels of

consciousness. In the waking state, the dreaming state and the deep sleep

state, that ‘I’ is the continuum. The only difference is the change depending

on time and space.

Therefore, dynamism is temporary. Dynamism is only one phase. You cannot be

dynamic all twenty-four hours. While in sleep, can you be dynamic? No. Well all

right, you can be dynamic if you snore, OK. (Laughter) So, I am dynamic while in

sleep. Oh yes, I do understand. No one would like to sleep by your side because

of the disturbing sound. (Laughter) So, dynamism is temporary. It is only one

phase. But the spirit (Atma) is changeless. So, you go from dynamism to a

changeless state,

from personal to impersonal.

We all look at everything from the individual point of view. Suppose I say this

and that, but you are not ready to hear me, as all that is said is focused from

my understanding, from my experience, from my background. Thus we make

everything personal. Suppose I come and say, “Sir, Swami spoke to me. I was

very happy. Swami gave me vibhuthi.”

You’re not prepared to hear me. You’ll stop me in the middle and say, “Ten years

ago, He gave me this ring. Five years ago, He gave me this chain. Last year,

He gave me this watch.” What nonsense you are speaking. Is that right?

(Laughter) Because of an ego problem, everything becomes personal.

If I say, “Sir, I started yesterday and reached this place”, you’ll say, “Is

that so? I started day-before-yesterday and reached here one hour before you

came. Is it okay?” (Laughter) Even spiritual matters we make personal. That’s

why we’re not happy.

>From Search to Quest

Spirituality is impersonal; the world is personal. So we go from the personal to

the impersonal, from search to quest. Search is: “I lost my friend. I’ll search

for him, and I’ll find him sometime or another.” Or, “I lost my book. I’ll go

on searching for it. I will find it.” But quest is a continuous process. Quest

is continuous, while search is periodical. Search is accidental; search is

incidental; search is momentary; search is for that which is lost.

Quest is for that which is already present, but unknown. Unknown, the Atma, the

spirit, is in me. I do not know that Atma or spirit is already there. I am not

aware of it. So, to know that which is already in existence is a quest.

Articles are lost or found because of a search. But that which is already

there, the Self in me, is a quest.

So it is a journey from search to quest. All that we have today -- social

sciences, humanities, fundamental sciences or technology -- you can call it all

material knowledge, aparavidya. Aparavidya is the material knowledge, the

worldly knowledge, but the spiritual knowledge is called paravidya. Paravidya

is spiritual knowledge, while aparavidya is secular or material knowledge.

from apara-bhakthi to para-bhakthi

Next is this point: We have devotion; nobody can deny that. Devotion is neither

imported nor exported nor generated. Devotion is there, but we need devotion.

We are devoted when we are in difficulties, not until then:

‘Oh, God, I’m fine today. I’ll think of You later.’ But when your promotion is

stopped, when the doctor says that there is something wrong with your ECG and

that your blood pressure has gone up, when the doctor says, “You had better be

careful from today -- just a caution”, then you will understand. Only then you

will know the need for bhakthi, devotion, as your BP has shot up -- not until

then. (Laughter)

So, the usual bhakthi we have -- the ceremonial, traditional, customary,

conventional type of devotion -- is what you call apara-bhakthi, meaning

conditional and seasonal. “Oh! Tomorrow is

Christmas. Is the sacrifice ready? Get a cake ready tonight, OK? Thank you.”

Then we wait for the next Christmas. So this is what we call apara-bhakthi,

conditional and seasonal.

On the other hand, Para-bhakthi is supreme devotion. It means that I think of

God and do my work, with ‘constant integrated awareness’. ‘CIA’ is a favourite

term of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. ‘Constant integrated awareness’ means

discharging one’s duties with the constant thought of God. That is Para-bhakthi

or supreme devotion.

>From ‘Adheya’ to ‘Adhara’

Next, we see this beautiful building. We have the tallest building there, and we

have the bookstores there, Chaitanya-Jyothi over there, plus beautiful

buildings of architecture, engineering skills of excellence. We are very much

attracted. We are all in praise of them. For your information, for the

beautiful constructions in Prasanthi Nilayam, the builders received

international awards -- 20 lakhs or 15 lakhs, something like that. Did you know

that? Many buildings won international awards and recognition, by the

international organisations attached to the United Nations. Fine, fine! We all

look at the buildings.

They are beautiful, but how about their foundations? We don’t think of it. We

don’t see the foundation. We don’t know where the foundation is. We see the

building above, but not the foundation below. Therefore, what we see, this

whole building is adheya, while adhara is just the reverse. Adhara is the base

foundation. We see and think of the adheya. From adheya we should go to

adhara. The building is adheya,

while the foundation is adhara. So we go from adheya to adhara. That is another

journey “From…To….“

>From the Attributes to the Attributeless State

Then, from saguna, attributes, we should travel to nirguna, the attributeless

state. A simple example: With rice flour, you can make a sweet. With wheat

flour, you can make another sweet. It may be wheat flour or rice flour or some

other flour, but the same sugar is added.

black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Am I not right?

Another example: Whether it’s tea, Ovaltine or coffee, the same milk is used, is

it not? So, milk is the same; but when you mix it with the coffee powder, you

call it coffee; with the tea powder, you call it tea; with Ovaltine powder, you

call it Ovaltine, and so on. In all, milk is the same. Similarly, the gunas or

attributes are different, but God is nirguna, without attributes.

So, let us understand the fundamental principle of electricity. The electricity

is neither light nor sound. But electricity is the basis or the undercurrent

for both light and sound. Similarly, nirguna or the Divinity will make us

experience all of these gunas. (AK proceeded to sing about gunas.)

The gunas are manifested. Because of gunas, we experience in this world. Every

guna attribute is functional or operational because of the guna. So the

attributeless God is responsible for all these attributes. It means that the

electricity, which has no shape and form, is responsible for the light. It is

responsible for the sounds. Therefore, from saguna, the attributes, we travel

toward nirguna, the attributeless.

from lust to love

Then, in this world we say, “I love you.” “You love me.” “Love you!” Love, love,

love everywhere! It is all lust. What are we saying? In fact, true love is

never spoken.

It is very funny when I find three people telling me, ”I love you; I love you.”

I don’t know. (Laughter) Do you say that? Should I wait like a newspaper, or a

TV broadcast every morning, “I love you, my son. I love you, my daughter.”

They may say, “So, if you don’t love me, whom else are you going to love?” (Laughter)

It is rather funny to me. So, if I say to my son, “I love you,” that is not

love; at least, I don’t think so. I don’t think so because true love is not

spoken. True love is never said. True love is experienced. Love is not an outer

_expression.

Then I may express tomorrow: “My son, I don’t like you. I don’t love you any

longer these days because you are not hearing me. How many times can I send you

money orders? You want money from me. How long can I send to you? So, I don’t

love you, my son. Okay? Stop asking and then I’ll start loving you again.”

(Laughter)

So, all that we say is love is not love. It is just lust. We should move from

lust to love. We are already happy with all the objects around. We should know

that all matter does not matter, but we want God. It doesn’t matter -- no more

of matter. We have had enough of it.

from matter to god, from seen to unseen

We have enjoyed all the comforts and conveniences in life. Now it is time to

think of God. Yes, now is the time to find our refuge in Him. It is time to

find our identification with Him. It is time that we enjoy Him, so let us move

from matter to God, from the seen to the unseen.

“Swami, all people love me; all people respect me. Why? Because of You.” Yes, I

see everybody respecting me, but Swami’s blessing behind it is unseen. Yes, I

am selected; I am promoted. It is seen. But Swami’s blessing behind it is

unseen.

Therefore, the unseen hand of God behind everything that happens in our life

should be experienced, moving us from seen to unseen. “For means of living,

yes, I go on earning money. I do two to three jobs. Even after retirement, I

want to work on, superannuation. I don’t want to retire.” I want to go on

earning, earning, earning because that should take me to burning later!

(Laughter) Yes, there’s no limit to this earning. So my friends, from means of

living or earning, earning -- yes, stop it! It should take me to that

situation when I know, when I begin to understand the goal of life. I should go

from the means of life to the goal of life.

from instant to Constant

Then, I want everything immediately -- instant food, instant coffee…instant

moksha also, if possible, instant moksha! (Laughter) However, instant moksha is

not possible. We should understand that ‘instant’ is applicable to the world,

but that God is constant.

So, our travel is from the instant to the constant, from darkness to light --

Thamaso Maa Jyotir Gamaya, from the temporal to the eternal, from the sentient

to the insentient, from the ephemeral to the permanent. All this external

world is temporal.

black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">All this is changing. We must go from untruth to Truth.

What is the Truth? The only Truth is God. That’s all. Sathyam, Truth is God. God

is Truth. “Live in Truth,” says Bhagavan. Everything else is untruth. Yes, God

is Truth because He has taken on a myriad of forms. The same God has put on so

many forms. (Anil Kumar chanted parts from the Veda here.) This is a chanting

of a Veda that you must be hearing every day. You must have been hearing all

that. Who are you? All of us are sparks of the Divine. We consider ourselves

separate. We consider ourselves different, but we are not separate. We are all

one. That is what we have to understand. The Truth is that we are One. That is

what Swami says quite often: “All are One, my dear son. Be alike to everyone.”

 

from Death to immortality

And finally comes, “From death to Immortality”: Mrityur Maa Amritham Gamaya.

Asato Maa Sad Gamaya,

Thamaso Maa Jyotir Gamaya,

Mrityur Maa Amritham Gamaya.

Led us from untruth to Truth,

Led us from darkness to Light,

Led us from death to Immortality.

After all, Bhagavan has said many times that death is the dress of life. (Anil

Kumar sang the sloka.) One season after another season, we go on changing our

dresses -- evening dress, sports dress and nightdress. When I change my dress,

I don’t cry. While changing the dress, if I cry, there is something wrong with

me. I should consult the psychiatrist. So, changing the body from one to

another body is equal to changing our dress or moving from one room to another

room. That’s all.

One season gives place to another season, summer, winter, rainy season, and so

on like that. Seasons come and go. But we don’t cry, “Oh God, I know summer is

passed. Okay, is it over? No, no, I want summer throughout the year!” Nobody

would say that, particularly in Puttaparthi! Do you say that? No. (Laughter)

So, seasons come and go. It is the same for this body, moving from death to

Immortality. Really, there is no death at all, spiritually speaking.

Spiritually speaking, the word ‘death’ is totally wrong. But from the worldly

point of view, we use the word ‘death’ because we use the word ‘birth.’ Where

there is birth, there is death. When there is no birth, there is no death.

Actually, there is no birth at all. There is only the dress that has been taken

up now. The wave is born on the ocean. Then the wave gets merged back in the

ocean. The water bubbles are born; the foam is collected over the waves. And

then the foam and the waves get merged back in the ocean. They have no

separateness whatsoever. Therefore, my friends, that Immortality, that

eternity, that Oneness is the Divinity, which is the main message of Deepavali.

May Baba bless you. (Applause)

Questions - - October 26th, 2003

We have one or two questions. We will complete it quite soon.

Q. I am a devotee of Swami and have been for the past four years. Does Swami

know about me? Does He know of my love and devotion for Him?

Good. The answer is quite simple. Bhagavan Himself said, “Nobody can be here

unless I will, unless I decide.” So, you have been here for four years, not

because of your choice or because of your preference. No, no, no! We are all

here because He wants us to be here, not necessarily that we wanted to be here.

(Applause) Let us be very clear, because I can also put it this way if you’ll

excuse me. We are here in spite of us! (Laughter) This is not a city. This not

a place of comfort. This

is not a place of luxury. This is not a place of entertainment. Five star, super

star hotels are not available here, no entertainment, nothing. This is not Las

Vegas! (Laughter)

Then why are we here? My friends, we are here because He dragged us or brought

us, and kept us here. (Silence) That’s all. (Applause) He silenced all of our

emotions. He silenced all of our desires. He has switched off

our mind, and made us live comfortably with the fellow mosquitoes all around.

(Laughter) Sometimes every one of us begins to wonder how we are able to live

here. (Laughter) We don’t meet people with a smiling face. Nobody will greet

us. “Why are you here? Get up. Go there.” If you go there, “Come here.”

(Laughter) What is all this? (Laughter)

My friends, we are still able to get along. (Laughter) We are here. We are still

able to bear all this. Why? Sathya Sai, the spirit, is responsible, not the

people around here. I’m very much sure about it. So, my friends, when you say

that you are here for the last four years, that is enough of a guarantee to say

that you are chosen, you are selected, not by your own will, but by Bhagavan

Baba Himself. (Applause)

COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">

Q. The thought for the day of the 18th September, 2003 revealed: “Man has been

given a hundred years of life and plenty of work to fill the years with, but

you fritter the time with playful games, founding and fostering a family.”

What does Baba mean, ‘We fritter the time in founding and fostering a family?’

Is there something wrong in founding and fostering a family?

Good question. Swami will never say that to lead a family life is wrong, no.

I’ll put it this way. “Be in the world, but not of the world.” Be not worldly.

Swami gave an example: A boat is on the surface of the water, but the water is

not in the boat. If the water is in the boat, it will be in the next day’s

newspaper: ‘Fifty Fellows Drowned’. (Laughter) Am I not right? Similarly, we

are on the surface of the waters of family life, but above it, over it. So you

can be in the world, but yet out of the world.

Another example: The lotus flower is born in the mud, surrounded by water, but

the flower is above the surface of the water, untouched by the water and mud as

well. That’s the exemplary example that Bhagavan has given all of us. Be in the

world, yet above the world. You can be in the world, but you cannot be of the

world. That is what Swami said. Condemnation of life, negativity about life is

not spirituality. Spirituality is life affirmative. Spirituality is life

positive. It is not life negative, no!

Q. “What does Baba say about Vastu? Vastu Sastra is a special science that

speaks of the engineering constructions, where such a building has to be

constructed in the north or something like that.”

I don’t have enough information about what Baba has said about Vastu. I have no

information, but the experts and experienced people tell me that all the

constructions here totally agree with the science of Vastu. Vastu is a science

that tells where

the kitchen should be, where the dining hall should be, where the bedroom should

be. People say that all the Prasanthi constructions are in perfect agreement

with Vastu, but I have no knowledge to quote Swami here right now about what He

has to say about this particular topic.

Q. “Sir, we all agree that all human beings, irrespective of cast and creed, are

in search of the so-called unknown in the physical world, which is peace or

universal Love, or Self- realisation. We also agree that Swami has incarnated

in the world for this very purpose, to help or lead of us on the path so that

we can reach the destination. Now, sir, you are in the proximity of the

physical form of the Avatar, and also on constant physical talking terms, more

than anybody else in the world. Do you feel that you have come to the end of

the search, or feel that you have

accomplished the task of this life, or do you feel fulfilment can be attained in

the near future? What exactly is your inner feeling? Sorry, sir, for asking a

personal question, but this is out of curiosity. (Laughter)

The answer is this: You and I are very close to Swami. We are talking to Him

every day. Does it mean the end of the search? Does it mean that we have

accomplished what we should do? Should we declare that we have reached the end

of our journey? No sir, because when I say, “I achieved,” ‘I’ is the barrier.

Until ‘I’ is gone, ‘I’ am yet to go. (Laughter) So as long as ‘I’ is there,

there is still a long way to go.

If you say, “I have come to the end of the journey”, no, you have made but a

beginning, because ‘I’ is still there. You have not come to the end. In fact

you are still at the beginning. (Laughter) If you say, “I have accomplished”,

you have not! You are yet to accomplish. You are here to know what is to be

accomplished because, my friends, when once this ‘I’-ness is gone, there’s

nothing to be achieved. There is nothing to be accomplished, because it is

already here! It is already here.

There is a curtain there, but the board is here. The curtain is there just in

front of it. Because of the curtain, you are not able to see the board. Because

of the curtain, you are not able to see the letters. Now, remove the curtain!

Take it off. You can see the board.

Similarly, there is the spirit, the Divinity, the Prajnana, the awareness,

within you. The curtain of ‘I’-ness, of ego has got to be lifted, that’s all.

It is not the beginning of the road or the end of the road, because this road

is the beginning and the end. It is the beginning and the end, because it is

already there. I do not know. When I begin to see that is the beginning, when I

experience that it is the end, it is the beginning and the end, too. (Laughter)

The only thing is it is unknown at one time and known later.

I really appreciate those who have put those questions. Thank you very much. May

Bhagavan bless everyone in your families on the happy occasion of sacred

Deepavali. Thank you very much. (Applause)

OM…OM…OM…

Asato Maa Sad Gamaya,

Thamaso Maa Jyotir Gamaya,

Mrityur Maa Amritham Gamaya.

Om Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu

Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu

Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti

 

Source: http://www.internety.com/anilk2003/english%202003.htm© Anil Kumar Kamaraju

 

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