Swami teaches... The superior power which guides things and events

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Light and Love Swami teaches...

The Superior Power which Guides Things and Events

The very first lesson Swami gave when He declared His identity at Uravakonda

was: "Manasa bhajare Gurucharanam, Dusthara bhava sagara tharanam." That is to

say: First know that you are in this cycle of birth and death. It is the ocean

of worldly life. Resolve on crossing it fix on a Guru or the Name and Form of

God which appeals to you; lastly, dwell on His Glory, do bhajan, but do it with

all your mind. One, who is deluded by thisrelative reality is the worldly

person, one who is aware that it is only relatively real is the spiritual

practitioner (sadhaka).

By chanting of the Divine name, even mountains of sin will vanish like mist

into thin air. Human should think of God at all places, at all times, and under

all circumstances with pure love and total faith. The mantras are like the

addresses of the deities. When they are chanted with proper intonations, they

will yield the desired results.

In the Vedic tradition four types of worship have been prescribed. They are:

Sathyavathi Angavathi, Anyavathi and Nidhaanavathi. Sathyavathi proclaims

that Divinity pervades the entire cosmos. The Sathyavathi mode of worship is

based on the omnipresence of Divinity. It demonstrates unity in diversity. It

echoes the Vedic dictum: God is one, but scholars refer to Him by many names.

Angavathi refers to the worship of the five elements - earth, water, fire,

air, and ether - considering them as manifestations of the Divine. The

Bharatiyas (Indians) extol the Earth as Bhudevi (Mother Earth), water as

Gangadevi (goddess of water), fire as Agnideva (god of fire), and air as

Vayudeva (god of wind) and offer their salutations to them. Anyavathi refers

to picturing the many faceted Divinity in various names and forms and

worshipping them.

Nidhanavathi represents the nine paths of devotion: (listening), kirtanam

(singing), vishnusmaranam (contemplating on the Lord), padasevanam (service to

the Lotus Feet), vandanam (salutation), archanam (worship), dasyam (to be a

servant the Lord), sneham (friendship), and Atmanivedanam (Self surrender). The

ancient sages and seers attained supreme bliss by following these nine paths of

devotion.

Human is not simply a co-ordinated collection of limbs, senses and

sensations. Human is much more than a total of all these organs and parts -

they are but the crude image that came out of the mould. Human is all these,

governed by intelligence, sharpened by the modes and memories earned through

many births. They have to be ground, scraped, polished, perfected, smoothed,

softened, through the intellect and the higher impulses and the pure intentions

and ideals. Then, human becomes the ideal candidate for Divinity, which is

human's real destiny.

The impulses will be rendered pure and the intentions will be raised to the

higher level, if human decides to dedicate all deeds, words and thoughts to the

Lord. For this, faith in One Supreme Intelligence, which conceived, conserves

and consumes this Universe, is essential. Human's intelligence itself is an

instrument with a limited range of efficiency; there are many goals which it

cannot achieve. These can be reached only by the descent of Grace and Power of

One Supreme from above.

So the individual is concerned not only with itself but with all the Cosmos

around. It is a spark of the all-comprehensive Brahman, Atma, the all-pervasive

Om, the ever-present 'is' (Asthi).

 

When the sage Narada approached Sanatkumara for spiritual guidance, he was

asked by the Guru to relate what he had learnt up to that moment. The

credentials had to be laid bare. Narada reeled off a long list of subjects and

texts that he had mastered. He was happy that Sanatkumara was listening to him

with attentions. When he finished, Sanatkumara described the entire list as

mere 'names' of things and ideas, names devoid of substance.

He told Narada, "Speech is more meaningful and weighty than name, the mind

from which speech springs is more significant than speech; the will is more

fundamental than the mind; consciousness is the prompter of the will; both

these depend on vital energy which is derived from food. Food is grown on earth

with the help of water; the element water is a derivative of fire which itself

is a by-product of air. And air is a manifestation of space, the first

projection of the Will latent in Brahman. Therefore, unless you know Brahman,

your knowledge cannot be total and completely satisfying." This teaching of

Sanatkumara reveals that the Cosmos is Brahman, in and through and the Om is

activating as the Cosmic Sound. Matter is saturated with the Divine, every

molecule of it. Though matter is the product of Becoming, it is still a genuine

fragment of the Being that has become matter. Hence, it is that we are able to

see it, deal with it and recognise it as a whirl of energy. Energy, latent or

patent, greater or less, exists in all things. It is the Divine characteristic

in them. Just as the screen or mirror is the basis for the pictures projected

or reflected on it, Divinity is the fundamental basis for the entire creation

but is itself unnoticed.

 

There was a famous painter who approached Krishna and arrayed before Him all

his masterpieces and all his titles, medals and trophies. He offered to paint a

portrait of Krishna, an offer which was gladly accepted. Sittings were granted

and the portrait was ready; but it was discovered by all that looked at it that

the picture was somehow different from the Krishna who gave the sittings. The

painter was graciously given a few more chances, but every time his picture was

found quite off the mark, for it depicted a figure which all agreed was not that

of the Krishna who gave the sittings. The pride of the artist was pricked fiat;

he hung his head in shame and left the City utterly humilated. Narada saw him

on the outskirts of the city and hearing his plight, the sage told him, The

Lord has a multitude of forms; indeed, all forms are His. So, you cannot fix

one form on Him and succeed in painting Him. I shall advise you how to proceed

and took him aside. The next day, the painter appeared at the court with a

big framed 'picture' covered by a white cloth; the Lord asked him to uncover it

and when he did so, it was discovered that he had brought only a mirror. Lord!

You have a thousand forms; in this picture, all forms are clearly and

instantaneously depicted, he said. Cleanse your heart and make it a clear

mirror; the Lord's glory will then be reflected therein.

 

The influence of the Divine is such that while you are contemplating it, all

traces of envy and greed will disappear from the mind. Here is an example. The

boy Krishna had entered a gopee's house and was just standing beneath the pot

of curds when she discovered Him. Krishna ran out into the street and the gopee

(cow-herd girl) pursued Him, and wanted to catch Him soon, for she was so pained

that the boy was running in the hot Sun. She never worried about the loss of

curds or milk or butter, but the very thought of Krishna's tender feet walking

over the hard stones in the Sun was something she could not bear. The Divine

love that Krishna showered, made every one forget everything else. The

illiterate simple gopees, the old revered warrior and persons of all types,

grades and professions found in Him their chief source of wisdom, grace and

inspiration. That is the characteristic of Divine Incarnations, at all times.

 

In one of his speeches Nehru had to acknowledge that there is a destiny

that shapes events, irrespective of individual efforts. Everyone has to come to

that conclusion, sooner or later, for, there is a limit to the capacity of human

to control events. Beyond that, an unseen hand takes over the wheel of events.

You may call it destiny, another may call it providence and a third call it

God. Names do not matter. It is the humility and purity of heart that matters,

the wonder, the sense of awe that matters.

 

Faith in God is the best reinforcement for spiritual victory. When you revel

in the contemplation of the splendour of the Lord, nothing material can attract

you; all else will seem inferior; the company of the godly and the humble alone

will be relished. Spirit can only be awakened, realised through individual

discipline and the Grace of God. These two can be won through Love, purity and

service to others.

While life persists, do good things, speak soft and sweet, never injure or

insult another, serve those in need and keep the image of God ever before the

mind's eye.

Do not serve for the sake of reward, attracting attention, or earning

gratitude, or from a sense of pride at ,our own superiority in skill, wealth,

status, or authority. When you succeed, ascribe the success to the Grace of God

who urged you on, as Love within you. When you fail, ascribe the failure to your

own inadequacy, insincerity, of ignorance.

This is the age of a novel civilisation. Science and technology have

expanded vastly today. Their gifts have made life more comfortable and

pleasant. But they have brought with them grief and fear, loss and calamity in

far greater degree. More than all, they have bred domination and concentration

of authority.

The emergence of discordant notes has silenced the call of the Divine from

within human. Human is eager to make own life a merry-go-round but it is

turning into a painful tangle of troubles. Person does not try to discover the

cause of this contradiction. Instead, one wastes years in empty ephemeral pomp

and pretense. Person is caught in the coils of speed and splash - films,

planes, radio, video, television etc. Person is restless and has to encounter

countless worries. Fear of imminent war or famine has gripped human. Fear,

while alone at home, fear while on the street. When insecurity prevails, how

can human being be happy?

What is the meaning of the expression "human progress"? It means raising the

level of moral life and brightening daily lives with goodness and godliness.

Life has to be an incessant process of repair and reconstruction, of discarding

evil and developing goodness. The individual is valued only on the basis of

thelevel of transformation he has attained. Human's freedom is independence

from externals. Perfect freedom is not given to any human. Lesser the number of

wants, the greater is the freedom. Hence perfect freedom is absolute

desirelessness.

Close friends of worldly desires are closely connected greed and

miserliness. Which may be is the result, when ones follow their impulses tells

a story-parable below.

Two brothers were famous for their miserliness; the elder was the worse

culprit. One day, he had to go some distance to another village. Half way

along the road, about five miles off, a doubt arose in his mind whether his

younger brother had put out the oil lamp at home as soon as he left. So, he

returned fast and asked the brother inside. He said, "Do you doubt my

intelligence? I put it out as soon as your back was turned; but, pray, why did

you walk back? Consider how much your chappals have worn out by these extra

five miles!" The elder brother replied, "What? Do you doubt my intelligence? I

have tucked the chappals under my arm; I walked back barefooted."

But, do you know the result of their miserliness. The younger brother was

stung by a scorpion in the dark;the elder was bitten on the bare foot by a

cobra on the road.

 

Education must reveal the path which enables human to tap the dormant spring

of Divinity within, without getting entangled with the mass of created objects.

It has to lay stress on spiritual transformation as more fundamental than even

moral uplift.

The real sign of an educated person is the attitude of sameness towards all.

Education does not lead from nature to the all pervading Atma. It leads human to

study nature, with the unifying Atmic outlook. When the powers of Nature are

harnessed to narrow selfishness, they recoil on him/her as plagues. When they

are revered as revelations of the Atma, they become beneficial. (Education

equips human with this insight. The process by which human foregoes his/her

freedom and is bound in the net of desire can never be education).

Education has to make a person the concrete embodiment of the higher Reality,

that is the basis of the material universe, of life in the world, of the

expanding dominions of the mind, and of the human community. Individual is the

mirror which reflects the Divinity inherent, evident in every expression of

character. The process of education has to inspire to discover the Truth,

seeking it through the study of the objective world. Fulfilment lies in the

awareness of that Truth which, when once known, does not need correction or

modification or revision.

 

Below is a parable for contemplation. Enjoy how the sage Narada respects the

Lord's contemplation and the Lord respects the devotee and serves him/her, as He

indwells in devotee's heart.

Lord Vishnu asked Narada which among the five elements was the greatest.

Narada replied earth is the greatest. Vishnu remarked, “Three-fourth of the

earth is enveloped with water. In such a case, which among the two is greater?”

Narada agreed that water was great. Vishnu said, “But the sage Agastya drank up

the ocean in asingle gulp. So, is Agastya greater or water?” Narada replied,

“You are right my Lord, Agastya is greater than water.” Vishnu asked again,

“But this Agastya is a tiny star in the sky (akasa). Now is this star greater

or the sky?” Narada replied, “It is the sky that is greater.” The Lord agreed

and said, “Your understanding is correct.The sky indeed is greater. In His

incarnation as Vamana, the Lord asked for three steps from king Bali. And in

the course of taking the gift of three steps, Vamana assumed the form of

Thrivikrama and covered the entire earth in one step, and the space from the

earth to the sky in second, and there was no room for the third step. King Bali

had to offer his head for the third step. So, now, is God great or the sky?”

Narada replied, “Swami, when the mere foot of the Lord covers the entire sky,

how much greater His full form would be? God indeed is greater.” “God, who

envelops the entire cosmos, dwells in the heart of His bhakta (devotee). So

now, is the heart of the devotee greater or God?” asked Vishnu. Narada replied,

“Indeed, the devotee is greater than God.” God is Bhakta Paradheena, He is the

servant of devotees. There is none superior to a devotee in this world.

God is asking to come near, but very often person are drifting away from

Him. Such person is pictorially as an old man who was warned when he proposed

to go through a narrow road that there was a cobra on the road side; but, he

said that he had not seen it and so, he was not prepared to believe it. He had

to believe it when it bit him, but then it was too late to benefit by that

knowledge.

Never forget that you are the Infinite, Cosmic Consciousness (Atma); with

that consciousness, you can play any role on the world stage. The Om remembers

you it in every second. The Om indicates the Omniself, the Paramatma, the Cosmic

and Trans-Cosmic Consciousness. Every moment, in every cell, in every atom, the

Om resounds, reverberates, activates, energises, sustains and fills the

Universe. The Vedas assure: "Ayam Atma Brahma" (This Atma - Soul - is Brahman).

(Reet's compilation from, Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 4. "Names do not matter,"

Chapter 2; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 6. "Krodha and kaama," Chapter 8 and "Make

the mind a mirror," Chapter 9; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 19. "The fourfold

exhortation," Chapter 26 and Vol. 26. "The primary principle," Chapter 30;

Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 32, part 2. "Devotion — the supreme yagna," Chapter

11).

Namaste - Reet