SWAMI EXPLAINS ADVAITA or NON – DUALISM

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Om Sri Sai Ram

SWAMI EXPLAINS ADVAITA or NON – DUALISM

Devotee:  Swami, what is the best way to relate to the world?

Sai Baba:  Do not think about the world.  Do not spend time thinking about the

world or about your relationships to individuals.  These are all impermanent.

 They will not last.  Pay attention to that which lasts, to that which is

permanent.  All things involving the world and human relationships have to do

only with the body.  The body is like a water bubble. The mind is like a mad

monkey.  So do not follow the body or the mind.  Follow the voice of God.  It

is the voice of unchanging truth inside you.  It will direct you toward your

highest good.

If doubts come, do not follow them.  Jesus had some doubts on the cross when the

soldiers were tormenting him.  Then he heard the voice of God telling him, "All

are one, my dear son.  Be alike to everyone."  At that point the last doubt

dropped away and Jesus declared, "I and my Father are one."  He realised the

truth of the oneness of Self and God.  This is the state of Advaita, of

complete Non-Dualism, where there is only unity. If you listen to the voice of

God inside you, it will tell you that there is no difference between you and

God. There never was a difference.  It was your imagination only.  The sense of

difference was only in your mind. There is no separate I or God which has to

become one. There never was any other.  Always there was just the one, without

a second. To reach this highest truth, do not think that you and God are

separate.  Think always "God is with me.  He is inside me.  He is around me.

 He is above me.  All there is God.  I, myself, am God.  I am the infinite.  I

am the eternal.  I am not two.  I am one, only one.  There is no one else

besides me. I and God are one and the same."  That is called self-confidence;

it is the confidence that you are Atma, the one Self.  You develop

self-confidence by thinking all the time "God is doing everything, without God

I cannot be." When you realise that God is not outside of you and separate from

you, then you gain self-confidence. Then there is love, there is peace, there is

truth and there is God.  So first there must be self-confidence and love of God.

 What are you thinking about now?  You are thinking about the body, but the body

is just a water bubble.  The body is just a dress, only a

dress.

Devotee:  Swami, you say that everything is God, but isn't the body also God? If

everything is God, then the body must also be God?

Sai Baba:  You are asking about the body.  You are thinking about the body, not

of God.  If you only think of God, then, for you, there will be only God.  But

now you are thinking of the body.  The body is an instrument; it is made of

matter; and matter is always changing.  The world also is always changing, but

God is never changing.  God is the one unchanging spirit.

Devotee:  Is Swami's body also just an instrument?

Sai Baba:  Swami's body is like all bodies.  All bodies are just instruments.

All bodies are only temporary. They have birth.  They have death.  The

indweller of the body is permanent.  That is the Atma, the one Self. That is

you.  That is the real you.  You are the immortal Self, not the body.

Devotee: Swami, how do we rise up to that highest level?  How do we become perfect?

Sai Baba:  Through love, only through love.  Develop divine love or Prema.

Divine love is completely selfless. Human love is mostly selfish.  All the time

it thinks only of this little 'I'. This little 'I' is the ego.  Ego is a bad

quality.  It sees everything as separate.  It sees everything as dual.  Remove

this ego and you will see only unity.  Where there is duality, divinity will

not be present. Think only of the basis of everything.  Think only of God.  Now

for you at present there is only desire, desire, desire: I want this!  I want

that!  Desires are just passing clouds.  They come and they go.  One moment

they give pleasure and the next moment they give pain. They cannot give

permanent joy. Desires make up the mind.  The mind is

nothing but a bundle of desires. Every thought in the mind comes from desire.

 Don't follow the mind.  Don't follow those passing clouds. Desire comes,

desire goes, but morality comes and grows.  Morality is very important.  Follow

morality; practice it.

Devotee:  Swami, should we think of God as being both father and mother?

Sai Baba:  Your physical mother is only with you for some years.  She is your

temporary mother.  Your physical father is also only temporary.  The real

relationship is different.  Truth is the real father.  Truth is permanent.

 Truth has no birth; it has no death.  Prema, divine love, is the real mother.

 Devotion is the real brother.  Wisdom is the real son.  Peace is the real

daughter.  For all of these relationships there is no change; there is no

birth, there is no death.  They make up your permanent relationship, your

relationship with God.

Devotee:  Swami, if Divinity is my permanent relationship and all these others

are only temporary relationships, then do I still have to take care of my

family at home?

Sai Baba (very firmly):  You must!  That is your duty.  Do your duty.  Take care of your family.

Devotee:  Even if it takes me away from God?

Sai Baba:  No!  No!  No!  No!  Do not abandon your family.  You must take care

of your husband and your children.  Do your duty.  Duty is God.  Work is

worship.  Do not forsake your duty.

Devotee:  But Swami, not even when God calls?

Sai Baba (laughingly):  God is in you.  He is with you.  He is above you.  He is

below you.  He is around you. He is not calling or sending for you.  He is

always with you.  He is you.  You, yourself, are God.  Always think like that.

"I am God.  I am God.  I am Atma.  I am everything."  Think like that and do

your duty at home. God is not sending for you or asking you to come from

somewhere.  You are God.  He is always with you.

Devotee:  Swami, is everything predetermined?  Is the time we take to merge

already mapped out?  When we finally merge and get realisation, is that moment

already written on our foreheads?

Sai Baba:  For Atma there is no time and there is no space.  It is beyond time

and beyond form.  In this Self all are one.  Remember that unity.  Live in that

unity.  Make that your goal.  All are one.  Be alike to everyone.

Devotee:  Then Swami, what is the relationship between the Self and the individual?

Sai Baba:  Where is Self?  It is everywhere.  How do you know?  You do not know.

 You have no experience of it, so do some Sadhana, some spiritual practice.

 Experience it.  Practice it.  Live it.  Realise it.

Devotee:  But Swami, what I wanted to ask is "Do I have an individual higher

Self?  Is there an individual higher Self that is specifically related to me?"

Sai Baba:  The individual exists only in your imagination, in your mind.  It is

just an illusion.  It is not real. When the one Self is everywhere, when it is

one without a second, then where is the individual?  It is only in your

imagination. The Self-alone is real.  Realise it.

Devotee:  Swami, is there really no higher being related uniquely to this body,

judging me or guiding me?

Sai Baba:  You are still in one hundred percent body consciousness.  Do not stay

with this body-consciousness.  Remove it.  Take it away.  What will remain will

be God-consciousness.  Then there will be no anger, no hatred, no envy, no

jealousy, no desire, no ego, only pure joy, only complete bliss, only bliss,

bliss, bliss.

Devotee:  But then what is reborn?   When we reincarnate, what is born?

Sai Baba:  The body is born.  Birth and death only have to do with the body. Ego

relates only to the body. Reincarnation relates only to the body.  Do not think

of the body, think of the Atma.  It is one.  It is unchanging.  For that one

Self there is no incarnation; there is no reincarnation.

Devotee:  Swami, do I, as an individual, exist at all?

Sai Baba:  I!  I!  I!  Always this I.  First you must ask, "Who is this I?  Who am I?"

Devotee (persisting):  But Swami is there no individual anything?

Sai Baba:  When you realise the Self, then there is no separate individual. You

can think of individuals as different light bulbs.  There will be differences

in wattage.  There will be differences in age, in colour, in form, in name.

 One is a tube light and another is a bulb light.  There will be differences in

shape, but everywhere the current that powers them is the same.  That current is

you.  You are not a bulb that appears different from any other bulb.  You are

the current, the one current that is found in all the bulbs.  That is who you

are.

Devotee:  Swami, is there any difference between God and me?

Sai Baba:  You are God.  You are not the ego.  You are God!  You are God!

Devotee (incredulously):  I am God???

Sai Baba:  Yes!  Yes!  You are Atma, the one Self.  You are permanent.  The

physical body is not permanent. The physical is not the Self, but you are the

Self, not the physical.  You are God.  Think like this always.  Do not think

about the body.  Think about God.  The body comes and goes.   For the body

there is birth and death, but you are not the body.  The body is just rust and

dust.

Devotee:  Swami, I do healing and I wanted to ask...

Sai Baba (interrupting):  Healing comes from God.  Think of God.  God is

everything. He will always do what is needed.  Think only of surrendering to

God.  You may say, "I am healing others", but this is just your ego speaking.

Healing cannot come through the ego.  Thinking that you are doing healing is

very harmful.  You are not the one who is doing the healing.  You are only the

instrument.  God does everything.  Think only of Him.  Love Him.

Devotee:  Swami, how can we love something we don't understand?

Sai Baba:  Develop self-confidence, then love will follow.  It will come

naturally, from within.  In that way the love will be pure.  Your journey

starts with self-confidence and ends with the realisation of the Self.  That

Self is you; it is God.  This is who you really are.  Self-confidence is

unwavering love for the divinity within.  What will help you to develop this

confidence?  Be equal-minded.  Be satisfied with what you have.  Don't hanker

for anything outside.  Be happy!  The secret of happiness lies not in doing

what you like but in liking what you have to do.  That is a great truth.

 Always have complete faith in God, Who takes care of everything. True

greatness can only come from faith.  Now there is no confidence in you.

 Without confidence your faith will be shaking and wavering.  Then where is

there room for grace to come in?  Where is the room for the Divinity to come

inside?  If you shut the door, how can the spirit be revealed?

Devotee:  Lord, I want to merge with you.  What do I have to do?  I am ready.  

Sai Baba:  Through love, only through love.  Love is everything.  Love is God.

Live in love.  Start the day with love, spend the day with love, fill the day

with love and end the day with love.  That is the way to God.

Devotee:  Swami, how do we develop this selfless love?

Sai Baba:  Only through God's Grace.  Prema, divine selfless love, comes only

through God's Grace.  Without Grace you cannot do anything.  First do your duty

and think about God all day, from morning until evening. See everything as God

and be happy.  Think to yourself "O Lord, you are my everything.  You are my

goal. You are my breath."  Do not think that this is mine or that is mine or

that this is not mine.  Instead, think, All is you, Lord. All is yours." Think,

"I am beyond the body.  Mind is just a mad monkey.  I am the Self.  I and God

are one."  Think like this "Before this body was formed, I was there. After

this body goes, I will still be there.  I am omnipresent.  I am the all."  To

reach this truth you have to do some

spiritual practice.

You have to inquire: What is God?  Who is God?  Who am I?  The first step in

self-realisation is to always think of God and after some years you will know

that you are one with God.  Jesus spent twelve years in the desert before he

realised this fact.  In the beginning you can think that this whole world is

just like a stage and you are only an actor.  God is the director.  All of

Humanity are actors.  God is directing everything.  But do not stop there.

 Move on and identify only with God.  Think God.  Be God.

Devotee:  Swami, shall we go out and tell these things to other people?

Sai Baba:  Do not talk so much.  Do some spiritual practice.  First do.  Then

be.  Then you can talk, but only a little.  Do some meditation.  Do everything

with love.  Be good, see good and do good.  After you develop self-confidence

and love for God, you can share with others, but it is a good rule not to talk

too much.  Talk very little, even about God.  In spiritual practice there will

always be internal talk with God.  You will give up all attachments and attach

only to God.  For this, purity of the heart is very important.  Where there is

no purity, there is no unity.  Without unity, you cannot attain divinity.  Then

your whole life is just a waste.  First purity, next unity. Then you

realise divinity.

Devotee:  And purity comes from service, Swami?

Sai Baba:  Yes, purity comes from selfless love, from doing selfless service.

All are one family, so serve all, not just the Sai family, but the whole world

family.  All are brothers and sisters.  All are one.  Be alike to everyone.

 That is unity, the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God.

Devotee:  Swami, even in a country like Germany, where there is not much spiritual feeling?

Sai Baba:  Germany, Japan, America, Italy, France... the countries are all

different but the heart is the same.  God is everywhere.  Everywhere you can do

service and develop your love. Wherever you are, do everything with devotion and

love.  You have Swami's blessing.  Know that, always.

"You are divine, that is the truth.You and the Universal are one.You and the

Absolute are one.You and the eternal are one.You are not the individual, the

particular, the temporary.Feel this.  Know this.  Act in conformity with this."

Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Source: http://www.ehv.org/ 

 

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