The SECOND discourse by Michael Goldstein. M.D., USA- PART - II

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The SECOND discourse by Michael Goldstein. M.D., USA- PART - II

Tue, 5 Feb 2002 13:23:25 +0530

Organization: Sai Darshan Infotech

PART-II

SENT BY: "bon_giovanni" <bongiovanni (AT) mindspring (DOT) com>

For some time SatGuru has been in receipt of two discourses given by Dr. Michael

Goldstein in Spanish in South America. Sevaks of SatGuru now offer this

translation of the second discourse into English as an offering to you.

IN VIEW OF ITS LENGTH, THE DISCOURSE IS POSTED IN THREE PARTS FOR THE BENEFIT OF

THE MEMBERS OF ‘SAI DEVOTEES WORLDNET’ GROUP

A discourse for members of the public, by Michael Goldstein. M.D., USA

Bhagawan Baba has created a healthcare system, which includes the creation of

multiple hospitals and two Super Specialty Hospitals, the Sri Sathya Sai

Institute of Advanced Medical Sciences in Puttaparthy, and the Institute of

Advanced Medical Sciences in Bangalore. They have a capacity of 300 and 400

beds respectively.

The hospital in Puttaparthy was inaugurated by the President of India almost ten

years ago, and the hospital in Bangalore was inaugurated in January this year,

by the current Prime Minister of India.

The mortality, duration of hospitalization, and the statistics of cases of

infection in the Sri Sathya Sai Advanced Medical Science Hospitals qualify them

within the best hospitals in the whole of Asia.

The results, which distinguish this health system, have important precedents:

All the medical care, including hospitalization, surgery, medical services,

medicines, are totally free of charge. Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba made it

possible that such advanced medical processes, such as open heart operations

and kidney transplants are available to the local population who do not have

means nor knowledge for obtaining this sophisticated healthcare elsewhere.

The whole health system is carried out by professionals in medicine, doctors,

nurses and others, with all the compassion, love and competent knowledge. All

of this consequently brings about the total well being of the patient.

Hence the medical institution is truly ennobled.

Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba has clearly established that the governments and

the politicians of all countries should be at the service of their electorates,

with their offices, powers and resources, to serve their inhabitants.

In the state of Andhra Pradesh, in India, There are areas of drought, where

water is scarce and often contaminated with toxic levels of fluorine and

arsenic. Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba developed a water project, which

consisted of a large network of wells, tanks, tubing, pumps, and reservoirs,

which provide pure and abundant water to approximately 1.5 million thirsty

people in one of the most needy areas of the state.

Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba is demonstrating to all the governments that they

should serve the needs of their inhabitants.

What is the most fundamental need to preserve human life?

Water is the elixir of life for the human body and faith is the elixir of life

for the spirit of man.

The state government has asked Bhagawan Baba to extend His immense and

philanthropic undertaking to hundreds of thousands of additional residents, and

now the great water project has been emulated by the government in other areas

of India.

Hence, the governmental institution is truly ennobled.

Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba has given his name to an organization of benevolent

people, men and women from all parts of the world, in more than 150 nations, who

have been moved to establish Sri Sathya Sai Organizations of service in their

own countries. These organizations constitute a genuine spiritual movement,

integrated by all races, religions and creeds.

The majority of the people with solid faith in this movement have never had the

opportunity to go to India to see this notable place and to be in his

illustrious presence. His programs are very simple, but they are very powerful,

because of the dedication and sincerity of the people. They sing devotional

songs of all religions; they study Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s

writings and the sacred writings of all the religions of the world. They are

incorporated in service programs to the downtrodden in their respective

societies, promoting and practicing a program of human values called: Sathya

Sai Human

Values, within their own organizations, communities and schools. The Prime

Minister of India refers to this program in his telegram to Sathya Sai Baba.

The Sri Sathya Sai Organization is a spiritual movement. It is not a business

entity. There are no payments, there are no quotas to be a member, nor requests

for donations, nor obligatory purchases of books nor material.

This Sri Sathya Sai Organization is not a cult. Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba has

said: “I am not your master. Your own conscience is your Guru and your

master. Follow the dictates of your own conscience.”

This Sri Sathya Sai organization is not a religion. Sri Sathya Sai Baba says

that there exists only one religion, the religion of love. People from all

faiths find the programs of the organization compatible with their own

religion. The organization is a spiritual movement. Spirituality is not being

solely occupied with spiritual rituals. Spirituality is leading a noble and

virtuous life.

Ladies and gentlemen, God is omnipresent and he has provided us with the

perpetual flow of love and wisdom of discovery and inspiration. The access to

this internal flow can be found in the heart of every man and woman. The Lord

Jesus Christ said, “Seek and thou shalt find”.

I must tell you that every man and woman, all of us, are spiritual seekers. All

of us, consciously or unconsciously, are seeking the purpose of our human

lives. That makes us spiritual seekers because human life was created by God.

The purpose of human life, is given by God. The resultant divine grace of our

faith is given by God. Grace allows us to realize and achieve this divine

purpose of human life.

On one level we are a collection of molecules integrated by atoms and sub-atomic

particles in constant movement with interaction of one with another.

On another level, we are a form, which is constantly changing, ageing and

interacting with its environment.

On another level we are minds conscious of its form, of the forms of others and

of the environments in which they function. These minds have thoughts and

emotions, and are conscious of their interactions with others and their

environments. They have the capacity of memory.

Is it this that the philosopher Descartes wanted to transmit when he said in

Latin. “cógito ergo sum”, I think, then I am. This “I

am” refers to a collection of molecules which integrate the physical form

and which creates the mind, which then gives origin to consciousness. If it is

only as such, then what a deception is this “I am”.

Moses achieved communication with God and asked the Lord, “Who are

you?” and the Lord answered, “I am who I am”.

This is the real and divine “I am”. This is the “I am”

with which we should identify ourselves. This is the “I am” which

resides within us, in our heart of hearts. This is the “I am” which

we really are.

Recently, in the last 10 or 15 years, people’s interest in the profound

search of the significance and purpose of their lives has increased. There are

a lot of “best sellers” which deal with these things. Lots of books

have been written about the nature and significance of spiritual principles, and

our interior lives.

What do all these books have in common? Why are there so many people interested in them?

These books constitute a beam of the glory of Divinity. They go deep and

transmit, in different degrees, the universal perspective, reality and

spirituality.

These books try to provide us with an ample perspective of life, which allows us

to find the purpose and establish goals and priorities. We begin to make sense

of what we are doing here, and how we can, consciously, lead a life of

realization and with significance. We begin to discover the universal reality,

the divine nature of our lives.

As we evolve spiritually, we begin to see ourselves, others and the world, with

a divine vision, ample, without egoism, instead of with the narrow and egoistic

vision of our egos. Let us consider this spiritual adventure to which we

refer…. Each one of us is occupied in the adventure, which we ourselves

are constructing, and at the same time, we are acting the rôle, which God gave

us in this universal drama of human life. It is as though God had made a

formidable motion picture, an epic film of divine proportion.

This film is a major achievement of interwoven parables and secondary plots

which fit together in the most beautiful and intricate model imaginable. We are

all actors in this film. It is the epic of human life.

It is as if every one of us were a separate film and the Lord has integrated

these separate scenes to form a major work which demonstrates unity in the

diversity of creation.

Let us now consider this perspective, the reality, and the spirituality of this

divine film of human life.

The perspective of our film is defined by the basic relationships of human life,

the relationships of our bodies, minds and spirits. Our bodies and minds are the

tools which God gave us, which transport our spirit and allows us to navigate

in this world and interact one with another. We are the spirit, the

manifestation of the God within, the inner voice, the conscience. This is our

true self. Sathya Sai Baba is the Embodiment of Human Consciousness.

Our conscience is the reflection of our spirit. Our spirit is the divine spark,

which cannot be extinguished. This spark gives life to our bodies and minds. It

does not depend on them for its life. It remains illuminated forever,

independent of the destiny of the human wrapping. In this sense, each one of us

is truly eternal. Our real self is a manifestation of God. It is not affected by

the death of our bodies and minds which we love so much today.

Now, we have established the perspectives of our film defining the basic

relationships of the body, mind and spirit. Let us consider the reality, the

totality, the story or script of this divine drama, this incomparable film,

written, directed and produced by God Himself.

God alone could produce a film, which combines the small and separate epics of

our individual lives, which unravel simultaneously. Each one of us is living

his or her little drama, a diminutive thread in the weave of the divine

creation. Each one of us corresponds to a small star in our own and isolated

story. The whole can only be completely understood by the Lord Himself.

Although, we have been given the ability to understand our role in this

monumental drama.

The story is as follows: each one of us is born in this world. We develop

entities and relationships, which are functions of our genetic inheritance and

our experience. Where and when we are born, as well as the other circumstances

of our birth are governed by our past. Truly we reap what we have sewn.

We have come into this world unconscious of our true nature. We do not believe

that we are divine and that we have taken a walk on this Earth. As our story

unravels, we have various experiences provided by God. That brings us to become

aware of our true selves. The cycles of pleasure-pain and

happiness–sadness repeat themselves till we recognize that our mundane

experiences are merely passing clouds.

Instead of reacting to fleeting clouds, which come and go, let us focus on the

sky, which is always there. Let us learn to transcend the temporal and mundane

and discover who we really are. The experience of our own and profound reality

fills us with incomparable bliss.

Whereupon, we are no longer involved in conflicts. We are above anger and frustrations.

Whereupon, we will not be motivated by egoistic desires. We will be beyond

hedonism and egocentricity.

Our true nature, our inner voice, our conscience governs our lives. We are

happy. We are at peace. We are full of love. This is the great film!

Now we have considered the perspective of our film, the relationships of the body, mind and spirit.

We have considered the reality of our film, the little individual stories that

are all part of the drama, in which we learn to appreciate who we are and

experience the bliss, the peace and love which represents our true nature.

Now, let us consider the significance of the story. This is a divine drama. The

significance of our story is the significance of spirituality.

The initial paragraphs of the classic novel “David Copperfield”

written by Charles Dickens, say the following: Whether I end up being the hero

of my own life or that this work be done by another, these pages must be shown.

Exactly from the beginning, David Copperfield aspires to being a hero, but, what

is heroism? It is nobility of character. What is nobility of character? It is

the result we obtain when we transcend our fascination of I and mine and our

egoistic desires and mundane obsessions.

We become heroes and heroines when we have courage and determination to follow

the dictates of our conscience in everything, in every moment.

The meaning of the divine drama is that life is an opportunity to undo the ego

and frivolity which are created by our egos, our desires and our ignorance.

We must fight to recognize our role in the drama of life, becoming heroes and heroines.

How can we become true heroes and heroines in the divine drama, instead of being

incidental characters in a secondary plot of relative insignificance?

To be or not to be, that is the real question. Is it not?

To answer this question is to define spirituality. Sathya Sai Baba teaches us

the meaning of spirituality, the meaning of our film-- it is because this

creation is a great fountainhead of God’s Love.

The lord has allowed himself to take a form so that this great love manifests

itself. We are one with the Lord. We are drops and He is the ocean. We are the

sparks and He is the fire. We are He and He is us.

The meaning of our film is that God has given us life so that we recognize these

truths and then that we love all and serve all, in such a way that we get closer

to realization itself. The film cannot end until all the actors become aware of

their divine inheritance. It is a great film!

[TO BE CONCLUDED IN PART -III]

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