Swami teaches... The Religion of Human is the single Religion

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Sai Ram Light and Love

Swami teaches...

The Religion of Human is the Single Religion

With the progress of science human imagines that he/she is the Almighty of

the Universe and tends toforget the Divine. The more human discovers the

secrets and mysteries of the cosmos, the more human will realise that God is

the Creator and Motivator of all creation. All that human can do is to strive

through limited intelligence and knowledge to understand the invisible and

infinite Divine and learn to worship and adore Him. Greater than all

scientific and technological progress is human being endowed with the Divine

Consciousness. By choosing to regard only the material world as real, it may be

possible to bring about the prosperity of a scientific, technological and

materialistic society for a time. But if, in the process, human selfishness,

greed and hatred develop, as they usually do, society will destroy itself. If,

on the contrary, the essential Divinity of human is realised, mankind can build

up a great society based on unity and on adherence to the Divine principle of

Love. This profound change must begin in the minds of individuals. When

individuals change, society will change. And when society changes, the whole

world will change. Unity is the secret of social progress, and service to

society is the means to promote it.

A society in which the individuals are concerned only about material welfare

will not be able to achieve harmony and peace. Even if it is achieved, it will

only be a patched-up harmony for, in such a society, the strong will oppress

the weak. Nor will an equal distribution of the bounties of nature ensure

anything but a nominal equality.

In every country today, people have become power-mad and they resort without

any compunction to self-praise, and dry declamation. They develop hatred against

others, foster envy and feed their fatal egos. They plunge the society to which

they belong in fear, anxiety and disorder. They do not know that if elevating

ideals are adhered to and practised, they could gain eternal fame; they are

content with cheap applause and shortlived publicity. They are sprawling in the

slime of self-praiser they are slaves of their egos. And, consequently, they are

never free from fear or anxiety. They also spread scandal about others, and so,

they bog themselves in sin. Though they claim the respect of others, they are

objects of ridicule and hatred. Their eyes revel only in faults. Elementary

rules of social conduct and individual behaviour, like revering parents and

elders, revering teachers and guests, speaking the truth and treading the

righteous path today are mostly disregarded as unnecessary restrictions on

individual freedom.

There are some people over the world who cannot tolerate glory in others;

some are filled with the venom of envy; some are demonic in nature and cannot

tolerate holiness and divinity; some are perverted by disappointment and cast

the blame on God; such people will indulge in abuse. If you associate with such

people and their followers, you will be contaminating your mind. Even ordinary

people will feel ashamed to cast aspersions on the great, but, these expose

themselves by their tactics as lower than the lowest.

Uncontrolled living habits, unrestrained social behaviour - these are

extolled as signs of freedom. People obey the whims and caprices of the

moment; they do not delay to discriminate.

The world of consumer-society is moving in a direction opposed to

spirituality. Unfortunately, most people are guided by the promptings of their

ego. This is the mark of the Kali Age. All are victims of egoism. So much so,

they have doubts about every word of the Divine. They don't listen even to good

counsel and therefore suffer evil consequences.

In spite of many delusions the whole world is One Single Tree; the different

countries are its branches; its root is God, human beings are the flowers.

Happiness is the fruit and the Bliss of Self-realisation is the sweet juice

therein. All are fed by the same sap; all share the same Sun; all are Divine.

Divinity is not something separate and isolated, which has to be earned by

toil. By means of some simple practices, and through some little effort, you

can tap the springs of Divinity in your hearts.

 

Inquiry and sadhana are needed to discover the Divinity latent in you and to

manifest it. This means that you must devote some time every day, regularly, for

study, and for Sadhana. Be grateful; study the culture; practise the disciplines

it lays down. Serve the poor and the helpless, and those who eke out their

livelihood by hard work.

Suurdas told Krishna, "You are eternally content, eternally full, free. Why

should I serve you? I shall serve those who are in need of service." See the

Universal in all. See all as similar waves, sustained by the same sea. Serve

others, not with the feeling that they are others, but with the attitude of

worship that you reserve for God.

Shiva once demonstrated to Parvathi that, of the many hundreds who bathed in

the Ganga and carried the holy water to the Vishweshwara Temple at Kaashi, no

one had an iota of sympathy towards a dying beggar on the street, whose wife

was calling out for a cup of water to slake the thirst of her husband. A thief

had the sympathy; he gave the water and won the grace of the Lord; not the

other pilgrims, who, keen on rituals, bathed the idol of Vishweshwara with the

waters of Ganga mumbling Vedic hymns.

 

There is no need for you to follow this person or that person in the search

for a Guru. The heart full of compassion is the altar of God. Fill yourselves

with awe and reverence at the handiwork of God, the manifestation of His Power

and Glory that is called the World. Like the reflection of the Sun in a myriad

different vessels filled with water, the same Cosmic Self is dwelling in

everyone. The reflection is one and the same, though the vessels might be

different.

The Vedanta taught as follows: "Birth and death are common to all. Hunger

and thirst are equally common. Joy and sorrow are equally common to all." If

you go deep into these three statements, you will realise that whether one is a

millionaire or a pauper both are born from their mothers' wombs. Though kinds of

food are different for rich and poor, the object of eating is to appease hunger,

which is common to both. The same applies to thirst. If in this manner people

examine what is common to all mankind, they will realise the unity that

underlies the diversity in mankind.

Do not move towards God, through the world around you. Confirm in your faith

that you are the Atma, which is the Divine Spark in you, and then, move into the

world as heroes whom success cannot spoil or defeat cannot dishearten. It is not

my intention to turn people towards God; for they have already God residing in

them. There is no need to proceed towards Him, or call on Him to come from

somewhere outside you. Become aware of Him, as your inner motivator. Travel

outward, with the conviction that you are the Atma; then, you will adore the

world and not exploit it.

You must realise by constant contemplation that the world is the Body of

God. And, you are a cell, in that Body. The prosperity of the world is your

prosperity; feel so, act in that spirit; think in those terms. The spiritual

aspirant cannot cut away from the world and escape into solitude, for, the

world will follow into the deepest cave or the darkest forest.

Everything and every being are but waves on the surface of the vast

unbounded timeless ocean. Waves belong to the ocean and depend on it for their

individual existence; but, the ocean has no need of waves. Therefore, you are

bound inextricably with all else and all others. The world will inevitably

react on you; it will reflect your thoughts and plans: it will resound with

your cries and creeds. Your thoughts, words and deeds will shape others, and

theirs, will shape you. That is the way to make the world good, and be yourself

good. On the other side your virtue is your shield; your vice is the weapon

that inflicts wounds on you. Happiness and misery are but the reflections of

the good and bad which fill your heart and shape your activities.

The whole of mankind belongs to one Religion - the Religion of Human. For

all people God is the Father. As the children of one God all people are

brothers and sisters. Those who are ignorant of this basic Truth develop pride

and ego because of their own religion. Such people are creating great confusion

and chaos by fragmenting Divinity. To confine and divide the Infinite Divine

into such narrow compartments is treason to the Divine. Whatever one's

religion may be, everyone should cultivate respect for other faiths. One should

try to see the essential unity of all religions. Conflicts on the basis of

religion should be totally eliminated. To divide people on grounds of religion

is a crime against humanity.

The basis for a spiritual, Godbased life is the indwelling Spirit - the Atma

(Univesal Divine soul).

(In the golden chalice of your heart, God is the Wisdom that fulfils.

Closing your eyes to this fact, you are spreading your hands outwards to snatch

it.

When people build big mansions they allot a small corner for the worship of

God. God pictorially says: "What sort of room is it for me? Your heart is my

abode." Meerabai declared: "Krishna! My heart is your temple." Treat the heart

as the temple and consider the entire mansion as His).

Life in society should also conform to this spiritual basis. Mankind has to

realise that both individual and society are manifestations of the Divine Will

and that the Divine permeates the Universe. Society should not become a cockpit

of selfish individuals, but a community of divinely guided Individuals.

 

Does one need a lamp to see the light from another lamp? And yet, human who

has the light of wisdom in heart goes in search of wisdom elsewhere. To acquire

Atma-Jnana (knowledge of the divine Self) Prakrithi (Nature, Mother Earth) has

herself conferred on her children the keys to this knowledge for their

protection.

Every human is a child of Mother Earth who is teaching many lessons to her

children. She calls on her children to learn everything from herself. "Scholars

and intellectuals are cutting me to pieces to acquire knowledge and conduct

their experiments," laments Mother Earth. "They are subjecting me to great

suffering by their diggings and blasting. But I am not worried about all this.

Learn this spirit of forbearance from me. This is the highest knowledge."

In lap of Mother Earth is water. The lesson that water teaches is: "Child!

By nature I am pure, sweet and cool. Purity, patience and perseverance are three

good qualities you have to cultivate." Agni (Fire) is another of Nature's

preceptors. It tells: “My child! I make no difference between good and bad. I

do not gain by burning one thing or lose by not burning something. I treat all

alike whatever comes into my orbit. Learn to see the Divine in all things. This

is the way to gain knowledge of the Self."

 

"Immortality can be attained, not by wealth, by ritual deeds, nor by birth,

but only by sacrifice and renunciation". This is the declaration of the Vedas.

The seva (service) into which people are initiated is the first step in the

training for this sacrifice.

Cleanse your instruments of Consciousness, devote yourselves to service so

that you might weaken the forces of Ego and strengthen the forces of Social

Unity and cultivate Japa and Dhyana (repetition of Lord's Name and meditation)

so that you might rise towards Godhood - these are the steps by which you can

earn and establish yourselves in Ananda. Engage yourselves in your duties as

intelligently and as devotedly as you can; but, carry out your duties as if they

are acts of worship offered to God, leaving the fruit of those acts to His Will,

His Grace, His Compassion. Do not be affected when the results you anticipate

are not produced; do not anticipate at all, but, leave it to Him. He gave you

the time, the space, the cause, the material, the idea, the skill, the chance,

the fortune, and you did but little of your own. So, why should you feel as if

you are the doer? Do your duty, as a sincere Sadhana.

(When you find a person behaving wrongly, viciously, how it is possible to

serve and love him/her? In such a situation consider one thing: Who is it who

committed that wrong? What is it that prompted the act? Who did the deed? The

body did it. What prompted the body? The mind. Why was he forced to do it?

Through the influence of karma, the cumulative effect of his/her activities and

attitudes through many lives in the past. The Atma in him/her is unattached, to

any deed or motive. That Atma is Divine; love that, serve that, revere that.

Why should you pay attention to person'a wrongs and vices? Your duty is to

serve, not search for faults. Serve with all your heart, serve with pure

undefiled love. That is Swami's answer).

Human cannot reap the full fruits of life here below if he only gathers

riches, or collects popular votes, or loads head with tons of tomes. He has to

cultivate and practise virtues too. He has to adhere to Dharma. The Sacred

texts direct that human has to earn just enough for his/her upkeep by honest

means and use the rest of time and skill for the general good Dharmaartha.

Earn artha (wealth) through Dharma (right conduct, righteousness). The right

conduct without compassion impossible, but, compassion must be regulated by

intellect* (more exactly by intelligence*, pictorially, as intellect in

actions).

A compassionate man once brought home a fish he found struggling on the

bank of a river in full flood; he placed it between the folds of a warm blanket

and poured hot coffee down its throat. He thought it wassuffering from a fit of

cold. The hot coffee killed the poor thing. He could have saved it by throwing

it back into the floods. He lacked the intelligence which would tell him what

to do. (Many leaders at the present time have compassion, but, possess no

intelligence. They do not know how to solve the distress that they see and

sympathise with. Any success won by adopting wrong means will only be trivial

and temporary. Peaceful means alone, means that are wrought out of Love alone

can ensure lasting benefits and real Peace. Fear not; frighten not. Brutes

fear; beasts frighten. Human has to be above both the weaknesses. Have faith in

Truth and be fixed in Morality. You need not fear any one, for God will be on

your side. You will not frighten, for all will be seen by you as Divine).

Human's intellect has to be unwavering and steady. Human fails to use this

discriminating power properly and fully because of qualities of Raaga and

Dhvesha (attachment and aversion), obliviousness to inherent divinity and

preoccupation with mundane desires.

The intellect is the highest among human's endowments starting with the

body. Above the body are the senses. Subtler than the senses is the mind. The

intellect is subtler than the mind. Above the intellect and much more subtle is

the Atma (Self).

The way to avoid these external impressions is to turn the senses inwards.

To effect this change in the use of the senses, the power of discrimination

derived from the intellect should be employed. The intellect should be used to

determine what impressions should be kept out and which should be let in. The

intellect should determine what kind of company one should keep, what kind of

food one should cat, what are desirable practices and what are undesirable. It

is by the right use of their intellectual judgement that the ancient sages

achieved spiritual eminence.

 

Do not attach yourselves too much with the world, for, it is ever changing

fast and furiously. Be ever ready to fall into the hands of death, gladly and

gracefully, with gratitude for the chances afforded while alive. Never grieve,

for God is resident in you as your Truth what knows no defeat, no fear. It

marches on heedless of acclamation or declamation. Use the days allotted to

journey towards Love, Joy and Peace. Contemplate on the vastness of time, of

its speed, of the short span of time which we share, in this life of yours, and

which has to be put to the best use. Contemplate on the beginning of things, of

nature, of life, of human, of the heart - all emanating from God and journeying

towards God. Dwell on the grandeur of thisprocession from birth to Liberation,

through life after life. Become aware that you, Nature and all that is, was and

will be, are God.

To attain this awareness, Love is the surest means. Control your passions,

emotions and impulses, especially, anger, envy and greed. They thrive on the

ego and make it a dangerous weapon. The hero is who overrules mind and curbs

impulses. Do not allow faith to falter when failure comes into your door. Meet

it as a new challenge, and triumph. If faith is one full continuous stream,

Grace too will be showered on you in one full continuous stream. (Reet's

compilation from, Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 7. "Not Loka but Lokesha," Chapter

5; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 12. "Pretenders," Chapter 2 and "Bypass the bylane,

" Chapter 8 and Vol. 12. "The year named Aanandha," Chapter 9; Sathya Sai

Speaks. Vol. 16. "Unity is Divinity," Chapter 29; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 30.

"Recover the spirit of sacrifice," Chapter 22 and "Vital role of the Buddhi,"

Chapter 27).

 

* Intellect - power of the mind to reason, contrasted with the feeling and

instinct.

* Intelligence - mental ability, the power of perceiving, learning,

understanding and knowing.

Namaste - Reet