Swami teaches... Faith, devotion, the spiritual power of women, mothers

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Sai Ram Light and Love Swami teaches...13 - 14 November 2005

Faith, Devotion, the Spiritual Power of Women, Mothers

Swami has only one desire. That is, “All humanity should be united!” You

must recognise the Oneness of the principle of Atma residing in one and all.

The Divine Energy follows thought and directs human beings towards devotion,

faith, charity and awareness of the eternal Light. Realise that you, all other

human beings and Swami are one. Bodies may be different, but they all bound by

the same Love principle what is representing the Atmic Reality.

There is something within, which is true and eternal. That is divinity. In

order to manifest this latent divinity, you need to develop devotion, which in

turn strengthens your faith. Faith becomes stronger as the devotion increases.

No name and no form can ever help you if viswas (faith) and sraddha (steadfast

devotion) are lacking in you. You need not make any special efforts to

acquire divine powers. They are immanent in you. There is only one fundamental

power, which is the very form of all-pervasive Siva-Shakti. This world has a

very significant name, Bhavan-Sankara. Bhavani means sraddha (steadfast

devotion) and sankara means viswas (faith). It is tosay that the world is based

on the twin principles of sraddha and viswas. Bhavani and Sankara are

inseparable, interdependent, and all-pervasive. So, the whole world is the form

of ardhanareswara (androgynous). It is on this basis that the terms Srimati and

Sri are used to address women and men, respectively. Srimati denotes Bhavani

and Sri symbolises Sankara.

Sraddhavan labhate jnanam (only the one with steadfast devotion attains

wisdom). It is only through faith that one can realise the divinity within.

Divinity in human is the combination of Bhavani and Sankara.

The whole world is a combination of ichcha shakti (will power), kriya shakti

(power of action), and jnana shakti(power of wisdom). Ichcha shakti is related

to the mind, kriya shakti to the body, and jnana shakti to the Atma.

You are not one person, but three: the one you think you are (physical

body), the one others think you are (mental body), and the one you really are

(principle of the Atma). God is the witness to all that you do. He is always in

you and with you. There is nothing superior to bhakti (devotion). Through

this bhakti and shakti, you get immersed in rakti (attachment) toward God and

develop virakti (detachment) from the world. Then God confers on you bhukti

(food) and also mukti (liberation). Thus, human has to travel from bhakti to

mukti.

Today people pray, Loka samastha sukhino bhavantu (may all the people of the

world be happy)! It is possible only when sraddha and viswas are fostered.

The Atma is sthiram (permanent) and the world is charam (changing). Human life

is the union of sthiram and charam.

All are the children of Viswa Matha (Universal mother). The Sun is one and

the same for all the worlds.Just as the Sun is reflected in a water tank, in a

river, in an ocean, likewise the same Divinity is reflected in the hearts of

one and all.

Women embody the aspect of Mother Nature and the ancient sages found

solutions to problems in life by recognising this truth. Human has to recognise

the significance of Love and Truth, which are fundamental to human existence.

The mother represents these two basic qualities. Nature is the manifested

aspect of Divinity. The body and the Atma, the creation and the Creator, are

pictorially interrelated through Nature. The body cannot function without the

Atma. The Atma cannot be experienced without the body.

 

According to Vedhaantha, there is room in the heart only for the love of

God. Affection for the mother and reverence for the father are necessary. But

parents, preceptor and friends are transient. God alone is permanent and

unfailing and God alone should have the permanent place in the heart.

The human body acquires its sacredness from the fact that it is the abode of

the Divine. At present age God's love should be secured by chanting the His

name. You should be grateful to your mother for endowing you with a body which

enables you to chant the Lord's name. The greatness of the Lord's name is

illustrated by the following episode.

 

Once, Hanuman's mother Anjana, went to Kaushalya because her son was a great

devotee of Rama. Kaushalya did not know Anjana and so she asked Anjana who she

was in a sweet tone. Anjana was proud about her valorous son. She replied:

"Mother! Have you not heard about me? Hanuman is my son. He leapt over the

ocean in one jump. How is it that you did not know about my son?" Kaushalya

replied in a soothing tone, "Dear mother! I now know that Hanuman is a really

great hero."

While the two were conversing in this fashion, the mother of the sage

Agasthya came there. Kaushalya made kind enquiries about her. She replied: "I

am the mother of Agasthya. Don't you know that my son drank in one gulp the

ocean over which Hanuman merely leapt? Are you not aware that I am the mother

of such a pious saint's son?" Then, Kaushalya addressing the two ladies

said: “For your son's leaping over the ocean and your son's drinking the ocean

in one gulp, it is the name of my son that enabled them to accomplish these

exploits. Because they remembered his name they could do these marvellous

deeds." By then, Rama arrived on the scene. He told his mother: "This body

of mine was given the name of Rama. However, the greatness of the name Rama

enabled Hanuman to leap over the ocean and Agasthya to drink it one gulp. The

power of the name is at the root of their achievement." Thus, the power of

the Lord's name is incalculable. Everything in the Cosmos arises from love,

grows by love and merges in love. It is wisdom. It is righteousness. It is

wealth. It is Truth. Every human being is born from the mother's womb. He is

fostered by the mother's love and enjoys many things in life because of the

mother. There is no higher divinity than the mother. But this divinity relates

to the body what is derived from the Sun. Without the Sun human's life

impossible.

This world, with its movable and immovable objects, is nothing but the

Cosmic Dance of Siva (Siva Thandava). This blissful Siva Thandava is full of

awe and wonder and is beyond human comprehension. The dualities of night and

day, pleasure and pain, birth and death are endless. Just as birth and death

are natural, so also is the existence of dharma and adharma (righteousness and

unrighteousness). When dharma is on the rise, adharma is on the decline, and

vice versa.

 

In this world, there are many types of relationships, but none equals the

relationship that exists between the mother and the child. One’s own language

is called mother tongue, not father tongue. Your blood, your food, your head,

your money are all the gifts of your parents. You do not receive these gifts

directly from God. All that is related to God is only indirect experience. It

is only the parents whom you cansee directly and experience their love.

By ancient story once Mother Parvati and Easwara saw a person sitting on the

branch of a tree, which was about to break. Then Mother Parvati pleaded with

Easwara to save him. Easwara teasingly remarked, “Why should I protect him? You

have seen him first. It is your duty to save him.” She said, “How can I protect

him without your grace. I am negative and you are positive. Unless you shower

your grace on him, he cannot be saved. Then Easwara replied, “Is it not his

duty to call Me for help? How can I go to his rescue without being called?

Parvati, out of her motherly compassion, wanted to protect that person at

any cost. So, she said to Easwara, “If that person, when he falls down, cries

out Amma (mother). I will go to his rescue and if he cries out Appa (father),

you should protect him.” Both of them eagerly waited, but the person fell down

crying Ayyo! (alas). The words Amma or Appa did not come to his lips as he

never respected and revered his parents in his lifetime.

Children should revere their parents, who account for their physical

existence. But they should realise what they owe to God, who is the basis of

all life. Recognising this double obligation to the mothers and to the Divine

they should redeem their lives by purposeful living. There are greater things

than even life itself. The supreme achievement is God-realisation. It is the

summum bonum of human life.

The Bhagavad Geetha says that a woman has seven qualities, whereas a man has

only three. So, never look down upon women. They are most virtuous. They are the

very embodiments of nature. Some women may think that they would have enjoyed

greater freedom had they been born as men. This is a wrong notion. In fact,

women are more powerful than men. With all the sacred feelings in your heart,

respect women and be respected.

People may say that women are weakminded. But, in fact, women are highly

courageous and when it comes to sacrifice, women stand first. You may be under

the mistaken notion that women are weak in body and mind.

 

By Geetha during the Mahabharata war, on a certain night, Aswatthama, the

son of Dronacharya, slaughtered the Pandava children while they were asleep.

Arjuna took a vow that he would behead Aswatthama. He tracked down Answatthama,

tied him with ropes and dragged him before Droupadi. Will any mother forgive the

one who has mercilessly slaughtered her children? But what did Droupadi do?

Instead of cursing the evil doer, she fell at the feet of Aswatthama and said:

It is at the feet of your father, Dronacharya, that my husbands have learnt all

that they know. Being the son of Dronacharya, was it proper for you to kill my

children? How could you have the heart to kill them, who were unarmed, young,

quietly asleep, were not having any grudge against you, and were not

contemplating any harm to you?

Consumed with fury, Arjuna was about to attack Aswatthama. Droupadi raised

her hand and asked him not to kill him. She said, “Arjuna, today I am crying

over the death of my children. If you kill Aswatthama, just imagine what would

be the plight of his mother! One should never cause grief to a mother. So,

restrain yourself fromkilling him.”

Though the Pandavas were highly virtuous and brave, the spirit of compassion

that Droupadi possessed wasnot found in them.

 

Today’s society is polluted because there is no encouragement for women to

cultivate such high ideals. (However, woman’s prayer is often more powerful

than a thousand prayers of men because women are more pure and tender-hearted).

 

In modern times the ways of life are so perverted that evil thoughts, evil

feelings and evil behaviour rule the roost. If the women come up in society,

the whole world will turn more pure and sacred. The Organisations of women have

achieved many great things, but men do not recognise their good work. Women are

capable of ruling the nations and even the whole world if they make up their

minds. Men should not consider women as mere slaves.

There is nothing in this world that women cannot achieve. Recognising the

nature of such women we must encourage them and give them equal opportunities

in society. As a rule, no such encouragement is being given today. Most men do

not tolerate women joining together for a good cause in an Organisation.

Because of their own selfish interest, men are unable to recognise the good

that women can do to the society.

 

What is the reason for chaos in the world today? As there are no ideal

parents and often no respect to women, to mothers today at home, there are no

ideal children also. Since time immemorial, it is the mothers who brought up

the children. The lap of the mother is the child’s first school. In olden days

mothers initiated their children into studies by chanting sacred words at a

very early age, these sacred words got imprinted in the hearts of children.

Modern youth do not care for the mother. They think they are highly

educated and that the mother does not know anything. Probably it is caused that

today’s parents initiate their children into education, not by chanting holy or

sacred names of God, but by rhymes like ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep.’ It is a

great mistake.Through love and sincerity mother should put the children on the

proper path. She should aspire that her children be good, they need not be

great.

Due to the impact of the Kali Age, modern women are often found lacking in

the spirit of love. But eventoday, there are many women of virtue and

character. The progress of a nation depends on its women.

Treat all elderly women as your mothers and the younger ones as your sisters.

The country will remain safe and secure only when men have such noble feelings.

Swami has proclaimed November 19 as Ladies Day, which is very auspicious.

The importance of this day lies in propagating and realising the sanctity of

motherhood, which is founded on the principle of selfless love. This day will

be celebrated by posterity for aeons.

All people must learn to respect the society because we are born, brought

up and remain a part of the society till we die. Consider your country as your

own mother and work for its progress. Vyashti (individual) has emerged from

samashti (society), samashti from srushti (creation), and srushti from

Parameshti (Creator). Only when you understand the principle of creation, can

you understand the Creator. So correct your vision; the world will be

corrected. Reform yourselves; the world will be reformed. (Reet's compilation

from, Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 30. "Mother's Love and Divine Grace, Chapter 12;

Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 32, part 1. "Women Symbolize Sacrifice," Chapter 14 and

Vol. 32, part 2. "Importance of mother’s grace, Chapter 13; Sathya Sai Speaks.

Vol. 33. "Prayers Of Mothers Sustain The World," Chapter 8 and "Good Mothers

Are Nation’s Pride," Chapter 19).

 

Namaste - Reet