Swami teaches... Religions, beliefs and Sai's (cosmic) religion

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Sai Ram

Light and Love

Swami teaches...

Religions, Beliefs and Sai (Cosmic) Religion

Most of humans live in dire distress, in hate and anxiety, daggers drawn,

brother against brother, just for a morsel of food. "Brothers and Sisters!" has

become just a conventional form of address when a person gets up to speak; it

does not come from the heart.

The feeling of superiority and inferiority based on possessions and material

consideration has resulted in the unrest that has engulfed the countries today.

Human is today afraid that the house in which one lives has no deep foundation

and so, it may fall any moment. The prime cause for

the increasing hatred between human beings, is the avarice that has infected

the individual. It has' destroyed contentment, created factions, brought about

splits and multiplied misery all round. Removing the head is not the remedy for

headache. Removing religion from the curriculum of life is not the remedy for

rivalry between religious communities. The spiritual is the only strong

foundation for the house in which human has to spend own life.

Religions attempt to implant holy ideals in the human heart. But human's

egoistic craving for power and competitive success has, in most cases,

persuaded to use religion as an instrument of torture and persecution. Instead

of uniting mankind in a common endeavour, it has become a system of walled

enclosures, guarded by hate and fanaticism. So each religion is an armed camp

sunk in self aggrandizement, trying to wean others into itself and preventing

defections from itself. Religion, therefore, is being condemned as the root of

chaos and conflict. In spite of great progress in many other areas of life,

religious animosity is aflame even today in many parts of the world. It has

to be emphasised that religion is not the root cause of this state of affairs.

The factional fights and fanatic hatred are due to the unruly ego that is given

free play. Religion strives to destroy just this vicious tendency. So it has to

be supported, not condemned. What has to be condemned is the narrow, perverted

attitude of hating those who do not agree with you or who hold different

opinions of the mysterious force that animates the universe.

Religious wars and conflicts breed in the slime of ignorance and avarice.

When people are blind to the truth that the human family is one indivisible

Unity, they grope in the dark and are afraid of strange touch.

It is not advisable to engage in campaigns of vilification or exaggerated

propagation of any religion with a view to draw votaries. If only each one

lives up to the ideals propounded by the founders of one's religion, unaffected

by greed or hate, the world will be a happier and more peaceful habitation for

people.

 

The cultivation of love, alone, can convince human of this truth that there

is only the caste of Humanity, and only one religion - the religion of Love.

Since no religion upholds violence or despises love, it is wrong to ascribe the

chaos to religion.

The word generally used for religion is matha; the word to indicate the

mind is mathi. Putting thetwo together it can be said that matha is primarily

engaged or ought to be engaged in straightening and strengthening the mathi.

The goal, the purpose, the key, the essence of all creeds, faiths and religions

is to purify the mind and insist on the practice of high moral virtues. But this

was soon ignored and importance came to be attached to superficial conformity

and outer purity. The craving for personal aggrandizement and power made every

sect, faith and religion, rigid and dry.

There is a great need today to discover the inner spring of all faiths, the

spring that fertilises the outer rites and ceremonies. The awareness of God,

which is the very purpose of human existence, has to happen - however long the

time taken, however difficult the process.

When a religion wants to extend its influence it has to resort to

vilification of other religions and exaggeration of its own excellence. Pomp

and publicity become more important than practice and faith. But Swami wants

that the votaries of each religion must cultivate faith in its own excellence

and realise their validity by their own intense practice. That is the Sai

religion, the religion that feeds and fosters all religions and emphasises

their common Greatness.

When life is based on the faith that all are endowed with the same Divine

Spark, there will not be fear and hatred any more, in human relations. If only

people becomes aware of his potentiality, there is nothing impossible for him.

Grace, once gained, can ensure plenty and prosperity.

The religion of the Hindhus stressed the Unity of all creation and declared

that the diversity we experience is not a true picture. During the history

the one Vedhic religion became the parent of a number of sects and sets of

belief, like Gaanaapaathya (centering around the concept of Ganapathi),

Shaaktheya (centering around the concept of Cosmic Energy as the expression of

the Divine), Soura (centering around the Sun as the source, sustenance and goal

of spiritual achievement), Chaarvaka (centering around the concept of pleasure

and material prosperity) and Veerasaiva (centering around Shiva as the inner

motivator of all beings). Every one of these sects, and many more besides,

elaborated their own rituals and modes of worship, their own priorities in

spiritual attainment and their own body of doctrines about the individual, the

objective world and God.

Islam has the Shia and Sunni sects; Christianity has Catholics and

Protestants. But however deep the cleavage, no sect denies God and no sect

extols violence and falsehood. Names may be different, the facets emphasised

may be different, but the Almighty Providence is denoted as Absolute and

Eternal.

Buddhism analysed the vagaries of the mind which lead human into the

whirlpools of desires; he analysed the ways of reason, too and spotted the

areas where prejudice takes root; above all, he preached surrender to dharma

(righteousness), to compassion and to Buddha (the Enlightened One).

Zoraastrianism, the Paarsi religion, was founded by Zoraaster, who wanted

that human should everhave the Fire of Wisdom blazing in consciousness so that

evil thoughts and tendencies might be reduced to ashes. It has to infuse all

thoughts, words and deeds with the illumination of virtue and vigour, it must

destroy all worldly desire and render human pure for entry into the heaven of

freedom. Adoration, meditation and acts of selfless service are essential for

the dawn of enlightenment.

 

The yaaga (spiritual worship) is prescribed by the Karma Kaanda (ritual

action path) of the Vedhas, in order to sanctify Time and fulfill the goal of

human, come embodied into the world.

The sages of India laid down that all activity has to be done as a yajna, as

offerings for the glory of God, in an atmosphere of thankfulness and awe, of

humility and holiness. By Vedhas immortality is achieved, not by adventurous

deeds, not by brilliant progeny, not by vast treasures, but, only by the

practice of renunciation and sharing. Without the strength derived from

dedication and faith, and from purity of character and conduct, Dharma is

powerless to earn the Grace of God. That is the situation in which we are

today. When the ignorance that has enveloped it is removed, Dharma will shine

forth and sustain the world. By Vedhas the Vedhapurusha Jnaana Yajna what is

the sum and substance of five types* of Yajnas, is one of the means to make

Dharma shine. The Sai religion, if the name of religion in its literal sense

of binding human to God is accepted, is the essence of all faiths and religions

with different sects on the Earth, including those like Hinduism, Buddhism,

Islam, Christianity, Judaism, etc. It is truly Cosmic religion. The motive

behind the formation and propagation of all these different faiths is the same.

The founders and propagators were all persons filled with love and wisdom. None

had the design to divide, disturb, or destroy. They sought to train the

passions and the emotions, to educate the impulses and instincts and direct the

faculty of reason to paths beneficial to the individual and society. They knew

that the mind, which is the breeding ground of desire and attachment, ambition

and aspiration, has to be cleansed and properly oriented.

The holy duty of human being is to be ever aware of the Aathman (Divine

spirit) that is installed in everyliving being. This is the basis of the

brotherhood of human and the Fatherhood of God. The individual is the same as

the Universal. There is never any two; all are One, the omnipresent Cosmic

Consciousness, the Formless, Nameless, Impersonal, Attributeless Being. (The

latest discoveries of modern science have reached very close this).

When you seek joy from something outside you, remember that a far greater

joy lies in wait within your own inner consciousness. Faith in the Almighty God

is the impregnable armour that the saadhaka can wear; and peoples of all lands

are saadhakas, whether they know it or not. Pray until God relents; do not turn

away sadly if God does not shower Grace when you expect it.

The reality which sustains the Cosmos and the Cell is one one, the

all-pervasive Consciousness, named Brahmam. When this infinite vastness is

spoken of in relation to Cosmos (Jagath, the Superflux), It is the Paramatma

(the Overself) and it is the Atma (the Self) when it is conceded as the core of

individual beings. All three are one entity, but they 'appear' different and

delude the short-sighted. This characteristic is known as Maya. The Reality is

Sath (Existence, Is-ness), Chith (Knowledge, Awareness, Consciousness) and

Ananda (Bliss). The appearance or the power of diversification uses the three

gunas or modes to embody itself differently. The gunas are satwa (serenity),

rajas (activity) and tamas (inertia). The gunas urge human towards either

knowing or desiring or working.

When the "urge to become," namely Maya impels Brahmam to project itself, it

appears as Eswara or God when associated with satwa guna, as Jivi (human and

living beings) when associated with rajo guna and as Prakriti (Nature) when

associated with tamo guna. Brahmam is the basis of all three.

Maya is the mirror in which Brahmam is reflected as Personalised God, Human

being and Nature. We are able to know Brahmam, through Nature, which is

saturated with it or identifiable with it. God is above and beyond human traits

and characteristics known as gunas.

Faith in Atma (God) can grant wisdom, which is knowledge of the Highest.

Now, seekers of knowledge are concerned only with what they think they are and

what others think they are, ignoring the genuine quest of what they really are.

They are caught in the coils of anxiety, fear and misery. They are fascinated

by the trivial tinsel that they see. Pasu (animal) is the name given to such

beings who put faith in pasyathi (what is seen).

This faith in God can ensure equanimity and balance. Knowledge must develop

into skill, which must be directed and regulated by a sense of balance. Or

else, skill degenerates into 'kill'.

The Samathvam (equal-mindedness, equanimity, sense of balance,

unaffectedness) is the awareness of the unity of the river and the sea, the

indvidual self with the Omniself, the Atma with the Paramatma. Reaching the

Source is the Destiny; desire to flow steadily and straight towards the Source

is Devotion. To make a cup of coffee, it is not enough to have decoction in one

cup and milk in another. You have to pour one into the other and mix well. Mix

the decoction of the sense-control, detachment with the milk of devotion,

steadfastness. And you will get the drink that satisfies.

 

Though education by itself cannot confer Atmaananda on you, you have to

acquire education, in order to serve the world. The process of teaching and

learning should not be reduced to vomitting what the teacher has learned and

the student consuming what has thus been vomitted. It has to be creative,

positive, productive. Produce, put your knowledge into practice and produce

things that can fulfill essential, elevating needs - domestic furniture,

agricultural implements, school accessories, home building materials, clothing

fabrics, etc., etc. Expand your heart; let your love enfold more and more of

fellowmen.

The scientist investigates all that is perceptible by the senses. But, the

saint travels beyond the realmof the senses, the intellect and even the

imagination, into the regions touched by rarefied intuition. You must try to

understand both realms and appreciate the value of both disciplines.

Briefly about Vedantic philosophy of ancient India what is an essenttial

part of Sai's cosmic religion.

 

There are three streams or spiritual understandings, which define Human's

relationship with God. They are known as Adwaita or Non-Dualism,

Vishishtadwaita or Qualified Non-Dualism and Dwaita or Dualism. In deep essence

they are one and the same, but expressions of human's relationship with God are

in different level directed to the people with different state of spiritual

development.

According to Adwaita the Ultimate Reality of everything is Brahman, the

non-dual pure consciousness. The Universe of beings and things is merely an

appearance of Brahman in time and space as it was mentioned above. The

individual soul and Brahman are absolutely non-different. The liberation is

union with Brahman attained through Self-knowledge. This is the highest path

that human beings can follow.

Adwaita philosophy did not encourage or inspire devotion to a Personal God.

There was no room for surrender to a master figure. However, Adwaita was an

experience not easily accessible to ordinary people.

The chief exponent of Vishishtadwaita or Qualified Non-Dualism is Ramanuja.

He interpreted the basic texts religious scriptures from a new point of view

and discovered that human can realise God through worship, using the gift of

Nature as instrument. God is the kernel, the shell is human and the fibrous

stuff is Nature (as in the coconut). They are intimately intertwined, as limbs

in the body, parts with their own peculiar characteristics. Human, Nature and

God are One without a Second (Adwaita) in a special and unique sense

(Visishta). So Qualified Non-Dualism maintains that Brahman, though non-dual

pure consciousness, transforms Itself into God. God is the whole and the

individual soul is the part. The masses who longed for the removal of an inner

thirst had to be led, step by step.

Ramanuja interpreted the basic texts religious scriptures from a new point

of view and discovered that human can realise God through worship, using the

gift of Nature as instrument. God is the kernel, the shell is human and the

fibrous stuff is Nature (as in the coconut). They are intimately intertwined,

as limbs in the body, parts with their own peculiar characteristics. Human,

Nature and God are One without a Second (Adwaita) in a special and unique sense

(Visishta). Ramanuja's philosophy is named Qualified Non-Dualism.

Ordinary people would put their faith in a compassionate, all-knowing, all

powerful God to whom they can pray and offer life and love following the

directions of Dwaita or Dualism. This spiritual stream believes that God is a

personal being who creates the Universe and the world of souls. The creation is

real and the created beings and things are different from and dependent on God.

The chief exponent of Dualism is Madhva (whose original name was

Ananadatheertha). He declared that human is totally distinct from God, that

human is neither God nor Divine. Human's highest destiny is to serve God.

Longing for the service, yearning to see and fill one's eyes with the beauty

and majesty of the Lord - that is the most potent Sadhana. This process of

devotion and dedication is the royal road, the smoothest path, to spiritual

success. Human believes that he/she is real, Nature is Real and God is a

figment of the imagination. But God is the seed which has expressed itself as

Nature, of which the human body is a part. Just as in every fruit that the tree

yields, the primal seed is evident, Paramatma (the Cosmic Consciousness) is the

core of every being too.

* These five types of Yajnas has explained in previous "Swami teaches..."

several months ago. Here they have repeated in short.

1. Dheva Yajna (Yajna for the Gods). This means the surrender of all one's

acts at the feet of God; it means that one dedicates all his thoughts, words

and deeds for the glorification of God. 2. Pithru Yajna (Yajna for the

manes). The offering of food or consecrated water in the name of the deceased

ancestors who are addressed as identifiable with Gods (Vasu, Rudhra and

Aadhithya). Offering the tribute of gratitude is the essence of Pithru Yajna.

3. Brahma Yajna (Yajna for the sages and spiritual lore). This is to be

performed by the study of the different sacred texts and scriptures.

4. Manushya Yajna (Yajna for mankind).

5. Bhuutha Yajna (Yajna for living beings).

These five types of Yajnas to make human approximate to God. For these,

there is no need to have intermediary priests, or costly materials, or

elaborate ceremonies. Every householder can perform these. (Reet's compilation

from, Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 10 "Whom to serve?" Chapter 20 and "Light, love,

joy," Chapter 22; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 13. "The Sai Religion," Chapter 23;

Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 18. "The Royal Road to God," Chapter 18 and "The Yoga

of Samathvam," Chapter 19).

PS: The great teachers of Hinduism are Sri Rama (of the Ramayana), Sri

Krishna (of the Bhagavad Gita), Sri Sankaracharya (A.D. 788-820), Sri Ramanuja

(A.D. 1017-1137), Sri Madhva (A.D. 1199-1276), Sri Chaitanya (A.D. 1485-1533),

and in modern times, Sri Ramakrishna (A.D. 1836-1886), and Swami Vivekananda

(A.D. 1863-1902).

 

Namaste - Reet