Swami teaches...Paths to the source of the Divine Oneness

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Sai Ram Light and Love

Swami teaches...

Paths to the Source of the Divine Oneness

The stars appear as dots of light, for they are at a great distance from

us. So too the Lord appears insignificant or ineffective to many, because they

are keeping themselves too far from Him. If some people say there is no God, it

only means they are at too great a distance to be aware of Him.

In the Gita, the Lord has declared, "I am the seed for all beings."

Contemplate for a while on the magnificent multitude of life, all its rich

variety of strong and weak, prey and hunter, distressed and delighted,

creeping, crawling, flying, floating, walking, hanging, burrowing, diving,

swimming - all this uncountable variety of created beings have come out of God

and each of them has in its core, again God.

The same sky is over every one's head; the same earth supports every one's

feet; the same air enters everyone's lungs. The same God brought all forth,

brings up all and brings about the end of this earthly career.

People in India see God in trees, in plants, in birds and beasts; they

worship Him everywhere, in all things. Indians are treating the picture as

God, and not treating God as a picture. Worship the stone as God, not treat God

as stone. Visualise this Immanent Divinity; you become humble, wise, and full of

love.

God who is the origin and the goal can be cognised by the pure

consciousness, after cleansing of the mind is attained. God is, as the basis,

as understanding and understandability, as the source of Divine light, as'

Atma. Know that All exists, has awareness and bliss because of the Atma which

All is.

Human is the image of God and human must be aware of the image of God that

shines in society also. The tiny seed of a banyan tree does not reveal to the

human eye or to the microscope, the gigantic tree which it contains. The Divine

Energy within it prompts it to expand and become the banyan. Every cell, every

spot, every atom is Divine, full of vast destiny.

 

The entire Cosmos is the body of the Divine and therefore the term Dehi

applies to this Cosmic Consciousness. The Atma has effulgence but has no form

or name. Forms and names are sustained by the Atma.To realise the nature of

this all-pervading Atma, which is the unchanging reality, it is not enough to

seek authority from the Sastras (ancient scriptures) alone. The Atma is not

realised through Sastras. The realisation of the Self as Atma has to be

obtained on the basis of the authority of the Sastras, but through one's own

earnest Sadhana. The Vedas, Upanishads, Sastras and Puranas (ancient scriptures

of spiritual wisdom, metaphysical treatises and mythological legends) all serve

as sign-posts. They show the goal that should be sought, but the journey has to

be made by spiritual seekers.

The primary aim should be to become Masters of yourselves, to hold intimate

and constant communion with the Divine that is in you as well as in the

Universe.

People have specialised in the various methods of worshipping God; there is

a host of rites, ceremonials, hymns, festivals, fasts, vows, pilgrimages; but,

the best form of worship, the one that will bring the Grace of God in ample

measure, is to obey the commands of God. Develop nearness, proximity, kinship

withGod. Win Him by obedience, loyalty, humility and purity. Make your lives

simple; fill the daily tasks with love and mutual co-operation; be tolerant

towards the errors and failings of others; look upon them with sympathy and

understanding; be calm and without agitation, under all conditions.

 

The temples help soften the hearts. They instil the virtues of compassion

and charity. Greed and cruelty will spread in an atmosphere that has no

devotion and adoration to God. Make yourselves into moving temples.

Hoowever, all the external symbols are of the inner purpose. The ego-free mind

is the altar; offer your activities (with all trace of desire removed) to the

fire of renunciation.

Today spiritual efforts, sadhanas have been reduced to external rituals by

human in all lands. Morning and evening, and on days set aside as holy, they do

puja (ritualistic worship) with special pomp, heaps of flowers, rows of lamps

and strings of loud hymns. The impact of these rites is mostly thin and

superficial. There are many who spend all their time in preparation for the

ritualistic acts or in their actual practice. But what do they gain? They are

still afflicted by envy, pride and greed and have no loyalty to truth. They

have succeeded only in polluting their years and casting away the ideals laid

down in the Vedas.

Of course rituals and prayer are necessary in the early stages. They are the

kindergarten of spiritual education. (Prayer does not mean petitioning to God.

Prayer is an index of the experience of Atmic bliss. It is a means of sharing

this bliss, spreading it all around, being immersed in that bliss). One has to

march on from this childhood into the adult journey towards the Atma.This yajna

and these rules and regulations regarding rites, have to be transcended and

sublimated into thought, word and deed which promote universal reverence,

egolessness and equanimity. Through sadhana, samachiththa (mental equanimity)

has to be attained egoless, equal mindedness which ensures a pure mind. The

criterion of purity is love.

Remember, where there is love, there will be no room for jealousy and hatred

and where there is no jealousy and hatred, there is Ananda. There is joy what

reveals itself in beauty. It has been well said, "A thing of beauty is a joy

for ever." If you see beauty in any thing, you will derive joy from it. But

what is the beauty that one should seek which will be the source of permanent

joy? God is the embodiment of Beauty that is the source ofeverlasting joy.

Jealousy expresses itself even in the form of finding faults in the Divine.

It manifests itself in many forms. If one has earned a better name than

another, jealousy develops towards him. This is a sign of human weakness and

promotes demonic qualifies. You must learn to enjoy at another's prosperity and

happiness. This is a great virtue.

Once Buddha was approaching a village where there were a number of devotees

of Buddha. Some wicked persons confronted Him on the way and abused Buddha in

various ways. Buddha sat on a rock nearby without proceeding with his journey.

He addressed his traducers: "Dear children, what is the pleasure you derive

from abusing me?" Without giving the reasons, they continued abusing in worse

terms. Buddha sat down saying, "If abusing me gives you pleasure, enjoy at

yourselves." Exhausted by their abuse, they were preparing to leave. At that

time, Buddha told them, "I stayed here all the time because if I had gone to

the village, my devotees there would not have spared you, if you had indulged

in all this abuse before them. I am happy that I could give so much pleasure to

all of you," exclaimed Buddha. "You have derived joy from abusing me. So, I am

the cause of your joy. To bring comfort and happiness to people, many build

choultries, dig wells, or do other charitable acts. But without undertaking any

of these acts, I have been able to give great satisfaction to these evil-minded

men. This is a great achievement, indeed," observed Buddha. Buddha also

brought home to them another lesson. He asked one of them: "Child! A beggar

comes to your house asking for alms: 'Blessed mother, give me food!' You bring

some food. If the beggar says, 'This is not the alms I asked for, and I will

not accept it.' What will you do?" The man replied: "I will keep back the

offering." Buddha said: "In the same manner, you attempted to offer me the alms

of your abuse. I did not accept it. To whom does it belong? It remains with you.

So, you have only abused yourself, not me," said Buddha.

Similarly, if you criticise someone or hate somebody, if the other person

remains unaffected and unperturbed, your criticism and hatred come back to you.

Jealousy and hatred do more harm to those who entertain these feelings than to

those towards whom these are expressed.

Among bad qualities two are particularly undesirable. They are Asuuya

(jealousy) and Dhwesha (hatred). These two bad qualities are like two

conspirators, one aids and abets the other in every action. Asuuya is like the

pest which attacks the root of a tree. Dhwesha is like the pest which attacks

the branches, leaves and flowers. When the two combine, the tree, which may

look beautiful and flourishing, is utterly destroyed. Asuuya attacks a

person from inside and is not visible. Dhwesha exhibits itself in open forms.

There is hardly anyone who is free from the vice of jealousy. Jealousy may

arise even over very trivial matters, and out of jealousy hatred arises.

Once a sage was cultivating a beautiful garden growing a variety of flowers

and fruits. Even in him egoism reared its head and in its wake jealousy also

took root. When these two were present, hatred also joined the evil brood.

Seeing this, the Lord, who felt that a sage wearing the saffron robe and

claiming to have renounced all attachments, should not entertain such evil

qualities, entered the sage's garden in the guise of an old Brahmana to reform

the sage. The Brahmana saw a tree and praising its beautiful flowers and

fruits, he asked the sage who was responsible for raising such a fine garden.

The sage replied: "This garden has been created by me by indefatigable efforts,

night and day, caring for every plant like a child. Every tree was planted by me

and reared by me. All the pruning and laying out of the garden are my handiwork.

All these flowers and fruits I am growing for the sake of others," he said.

The Brahmana left and shortly thereafter a cow entered the garden and caused

havoc among the flower plants. Seeing this from a distance, the sage hurled a

big stick at the cow. The moment the stick hit the cow, the animal died.

Meanwhile, the old Braahmana returned and, seeing the dead cow, exclaimed:

"What a pity! Who could have killed the poor cow?" The sage replied: "It is all

God's Will. Otherwise, will the cow lose its life, even if someone wanted to

kill it?" Immediately the 'Brahmana said: "You reared the garden and you

made the flowers bloom. But when the cow dies, God is responsible for its

death, is it? You claim credit for all the good things, but when anything

untoward happens you attribute it to God. The Brahmana then revealed His true

form and said: "I am not a Brahmana. Iassumed this form only to remove from you

the ego that has taken root in you."

Creation is the projection of Divine Will. It is called Prakrithi (Nature).

In every object emanating from Nature the Divine principle exists. It is to

proclaim this immanence of the Divine that human has evolved. Consciousness in

Nature is not purposeless. When it is filled with ego, it gets deformed. When

it is turned towards the Atma, it becomes Divine.

In Nature everything functions according to its specific qualities.

Everything behaves according to its specific nature declares the Upanishad. It

cannot be altered or destroyed by anyone. This is the inherent attribute of

Nature. To bring out this aspect in Nature and make it manifest, all things

have been endowed with certain gunas (qualities). They are Satwa (Satwa Guna),

Rajas (Rajo Guna) and Tamas (Tamo Guna) - which represent three gunas. To endow

nature with these qualities, certain media are necessary. These have been

described as Brahma, Vishnu and Easwara (Maheswara) which are not entities

with forms.

Nature has to be understood in two ways: one, in relation to the process of

creation; the other, in relation to everyday experience. Likewise, when the

order of Brahma, Vishnu and Easwara is viewed in relation to creation, it has

to be reversed; we have Easwara, Vishnu and Brahma in that order.

To begin with, what does the principle of Easwara signify? The Gita declares:

Easwara dwells, Arjuna, in theheart region of all beings. Easwara, therefore

means the Lord of the Heart. He illumines the heart of every being. The other

name given to Easwara as Lord of the Heart is Atma. It is from the heart

that the mind has emerged. The mind corresponds to the Vishnu principle. Vishnu

means one who is all-pervasive. The mind is equally all-pervasive. The mind is

the basis of the cosmos. The mind pervades the entire Universe. Brahma is

traditionally described as arising from the navel of Vishnu. It is from the

mind that Vaak (speech) has come. Hence Brahma has, among other names, "Sabda

Brahmamayee" (Sound as Brahman).

This trinity means that the unity of speech, mind and heart represents the

Supreme Atma, which shouldbe revered as Guru. The import of the unity of the

three gunas is indicated in the Gita declaration: "My Atma is the indwelling

spirit in all beings". Forgetting this basic principle of Oneness and lost in

the wilderness of multiplicity, people are having no peace. It is on account

of the varied functioning of the three gunas that the process of creation,

growth and dissolution takes place. The three gunas are the primal source, the

basis and the life-breath of the Universe. They are responsible for the

manifestations and transformations in Nature. The permutations and combinations

of the three gunas in varying proportion account for the infinite diversity in

the Cosmos.

Three colours have been ascribed to the three gunas. The Satwa Guna is the

attribute of Easwara. In the state of Yoga nidra (yogic sleep) it acquires the

chith-shakthi (the power of Awareness) and appears as Suddha-Atma (the Pure

Absolute). Hence Satwa represents the Easwara principle. Its colour is white.

The Rajo Guna manifests itself in likes and dislikes. It is a quality associated

with Vishnu. Vishnu has been depicted as a deity bearing a conch, the discus,

the mace and the lotus. Vishnu has also been described asone who is embellished

by decorations. Vishnu also bears the name Viswambhara - one who protects and

rules over the Universe. As a Raja (ruler), he has the Rajo Guna. The colour of

Rajo Guna is red. Then, there is Brahma. Brahma represents Tamo Guna. Tamo

Guna is associated with irrationality andthe darkness of ignorance. It is

filled with the sense of possessiveness and attachment. These two impulses

account for creation. If there were no sense of 'I' and "Mine," the creative

process would not go on. These two are the insignia of Tamo Guna, which is

represented by black colour. White, red and black are the most important

colours. Likewise, there are in the world, people with Satwa Guna, Rajo Guna or

Tamo Guna and are distinguished by one or other of the three colours.

 

What is the way to bring about unity in diversity of colours? The ancient

sages, after deep enquiry, have indicated five different paths for achieving

this objective. They are: Sathyavathi, Angavathi, Ananyavathi, Nidhaanavathi

and Swarupaatmaka-jnanam.

1. Sathyavathi sadhana. This sadhana reveals the presence of the Divine in

the subtle form everywhere, in everything, in the same manner in which butter

is present in milk. The sadhana provides the proof for the view that God is the

Universal Indweller abiding in all beings.

2. Angavathi sadhana. There are the five elements: space, air, fire, water

and earth. The Divine is present in each of these elements in a specific form.

The potencies present in the five elements: Sabda-shakthi (the potency of

sound, space), Jiva-shakthi (life-sustaining potency, air), Jaagrata-shakthi

(the awakening or warning potency, fire), Prajna-shakthi (Integrated Awareness,

water) and Chetana-shakthi (Consciousness, earth). They all are all different

forms of the Divine power. Those who are engaged in the Angavathi sadhana

regard the five elements as manifestations of the Paramatma (Supreme) and offer

worship to them. 3. Anyavathi sadhana. In this sadhana the Divine is

worshipped on the basis of certain insignia in a particular form like that of

Vishnu or Shiva. Shiva, for instance, is envisaged as a deity with the trident,

the damaru, three eyes and is worshipped in this form. Similarly Rama is

pictured as one bearing the Kodanda bow and Krishna as the Lord with the flute,

wearing a peacock feather on his head. In this manner each deity is

distinguished by certain special insignia for purposes of worship. 4.

Nidhaanavathi is the common type of sadhana practised by most people today. It

comprises the nine types of worship practised by devotees: Sravanam, Kirtanam,

Vishnusmaranam, Paadasevanam, Vandanam, Archanam, Daasyam, Sneham and

Atmanivedanam. 5. Swarupaatmaka Jnanam. This sadhana aims at achieving the

realisation that every individual is the embodiment of the Divine. The Gita

declares: “All feet are His; all eyes, heads and mouths are His." That means,

all human forms are Divine.

What is the use of all the sadhanas you are doing? Only when the underlying

unity of three gunas is recognised can you experience the bliss of

Self-realisation. Do not imagine that the Divine comes from somewhere to give

you darshan. What need is there for One who is Omnipresent to go from place to

place? The Divine is beyond coming and going.

There is only one Guru. He is God. That Guru is within you. You are seeking

the Guru all over the world. Your gunas (qualities) are in you in the form of

Brahma, Vishnu and Easwara (Maheswara), and can protect you, elevate you or

ruin you. When you act righteously and pursue the right path, they will protect

you by their Vishnutva (Divine potency). The human filled with good qualities

like truth, love, absence of jealousy, ego and hatred, can see God without

searching for Him. He becomes a Jnani (a human of spiritual wisdom).

(Reet's compilation from, Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 10. "Stone as God," not

"God as stone," Chapter 8 and "The positive and the negative," Chapter 11;

Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 14. "Mine and thine," Chapter 35 and "The Truth,"

Chapter 44; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 17. "Asuuya and dhwesha : the deadly

vices," Chapter 19; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 21. "Three In One," Chapter 21).

Namaste - Reet