Swami teaches... Blessing to the mothers. Part 1

[Guest guest]

Sai Ram

 

Light and Love

 

Swami teaches... 4 - 5 May, 2006

 

Blessing to the Mothers. Part 1

 

The significance of the Easwaramma Day is great to all mothers. That day is celebrated as Children's Day too, a day when children are to be reminded of the ideal, a day when Easwaramma presented an ideal. On this sacred Day of Remembrance, firmly enshrine in your hearts reverence for Truth and Love, and make your lives sublime by rendering dedicated service to your fellowmen and women. Children should recognise the supremacy of maternal love, which is equal to Divine Love. Revere and love the mother. That is the meaning of Mother's Day. Children must make them happy.

 

The mother is the first teacher of speech. The first words taught to the child are Amma, Appa

(mother, father). Then the teaching of the alphabet starts. The teaching of language begins with the teaching of names of the Divine. In ancient times, the mother occupied the place of the first preceptor for the child. The ancient teachings exhorted the people "Sathyam vadha, Dharmam chara" (Speak the Truth, adhere to Righteousness). No mother taught the child to speak untruth. No mother would think of asking the child to follow unrighteousness. Today's boys and girls are the future redeemers of the nation. Hence, the parents should bring them up on right, lines so that they may be ideal citizens.

The basic things we should know are: Karma is the root cause of our birth. The root cause of Karma is sorrow. Ignorance is the cause of sorrow. Ignorance itself is the result of Bhrama (the

delusion which makes one regard the real as unreal and the unreal as real). And as long as

Bhrama persists, the Brahman cannot be recognised.

Daivapreethi (Love of God) and Papabheethi (fear of sin) are the two requisites for sanctifying

our life. You have to strive constantly to please your parents. If you do not show your gratitude

to the parents who have brought you up with so much love and labour, to whom else are you

going to be grateful?

Parental love means for the children what the Sun's rays mean for the blossoming of a flower. Wherever you may go, whatever you may achieve, whatever position you may occupy, you must always remember your mother with love, reverence and with the deepest regard. Take example from Swami who deeply adores His Mother Easwaramma. You must be prepared to make even the supreme sacrifice for showing your gratitude to the mothers. The Avatars Rama, Krishna, Swami and others, owed their advent to their mothers.

The mother bears, fosters and moulds the child into humanness and, therefore, gratitude is due to her first and foremost. The mother leads you to the father, the father leads you to the guru and the guru leads you to God. The mother and father promote the health and strength of the body; the guru reveals the Inner Reality in the body. (The person who fails to remember the mother and the motherland with affection is a veritable demon).

 

You have to live up to the Upanishadic injunctions to regard your mother, father, guru and guest as God. Your love should not be based only on the physical forms. By regarding Truth and Love as parents, as essential for your existence as the two wings for a bird.

Who are one's parents? Who are one's children, relations or friends? Who are we? What were we in our previous lives? What will be our future? Immersed in thoughts of these impermanent relationships, we are losing sight of the Divine Love that is everlasting and unchanging.

It should be understood that human birth is the progeny of Truth as father and Love as the

mother. Even if one's natural parents are absent, one should nor forget the real parents - Truth and

Love.

Truth is sacred. It is valid for all time; past, present and future. It is unchanging. Love is eternal. Can such Truth and Love beget an unrighteous and evilminded son? It may be asked whether Truth and Love have begotten only a son and not a daughter. There is a daughter, who can be identified as Santhi (peace). Hence, among many qualities wisdom should be the the more essential characteristic quality of men and among many qualities peace and serenity should be the more essentially distinguishing quality of women.

 

Pure, unselfish Love towards all living beings, considered as embodiments of the Divine, with no expectation of reward. Whatever be the vicissitudes one may face, whatever be the personal sorrows and privations one may undergo, true Love will remain unaffected.

Today, when any difficulty arises or when some trouble crops up, love turns into hatred. Love rules without recourse to the sword. It binds without laws. Like the lotus which blooms when the Sun rises, the heart of human blossoms when the Divine Love enters it. Like the glow of the flame in a fire, like the rays of the sun, like waves in the ocean, the Divine Love is the basic quality of a true human being. Ignorance is not the inherent human's characteristic. Person should revel in the ecstasy of the consciousness of the Divine Love.

Here is an episode from the Ramayana which illustrates how a devotee who seeks nothing but the Love of God is rewarded by the Lord in ample measure.

 

Rama was giving away all his possessions before leaving for the forest. An aged Brahmana, who was staggering on his feet, came to Rama seeking His dharshan. When Rama asked him what he wanted, he replied that he didn't want anything and he came only to have a look at Rama as he was not sure he would live rill Rama returned from the forest after 14 years. Rama was so much moved by the pure heart of the Brahmana that he insisted that the old man should receive some gift from him. Submitting to Rama's will, the Brahmana agreed to receive the gift. Raama then asked the Brahmana to throw a stick as far as he could. All the land covered by the place where the stick landed would be his. The old Brahmana said: "Though I have no desire I have to obey the command of my king." He threw the stick chanting the name of Rama.. It covered a large area, which Rama gifted to the Brahmana. The Brahmana, whose name was Thrijata, said: "Oh Rama, why should I have this land? My gathi (fate), sthithi (position), mathi (mind) and sampathi (wealth) are all yours only. That is why I came to see you." Rama said, "Such persons as you are the pride of our society."

 

 

You may be a scholar or a wealthy person, or very clever and intelligent. But all these do not help you to secure God's Grace. Saint Tukaram sang: "Oh Swami! I am not endowed with knowledge. I am incapable of performing yajnas and yagas or doing severe penance. Here is one easy path that I

know to win your grace. That is the path of Divine Love. It is the royal road that will lead me to

the presence of Rama." Tukaram declared emphatically that Rama cannot be realised by any

other path except the path of Love. This is the inner meaning of the statement: Love is God and

God is Love.

 

Human delves many kinds of benefits from animals, birds, plants and trees. Human enjoys these benefits without displaying any sense of gratitude. Today human not only does not help others but even harms him/herself by own actions. There is, therefore, a compelling need for youth to develop the true spirit of Love through the service and sublimate their life.

(For example, in Bharath and over the world there are many helpless women who have no means of livelihood. They should be taught some occupation like tailoring to enable them to earn an income. Slum dwellers should be helped to keep their huts clean. The environment also should be cleaned to help the children grow in a pure atmosphere. Proper housekeeping should also be taught to those people).

Experiencing temporary relationships, the nature of Divine Love should be understood. Human birth implies the existence of parents. But the relationship between a child and parents is corporeal. The parents are instrumental for the birth but they are not the cause. However, even as instruments, elements of the Divine are present in them. The parents are living symbols of God.

Parents must aspire to make their children good persons (those who see God in human) and not great persons (those who see human in God). It is well known that a great person has no peace and is always worried while a good person is peaceful wherever he goes. So, not even in a dream should a person aspire to be a great person. A person becomes good when he/she is respected as such in society. Mostly goodness is a natural quality of a woman while greatness is that of a man.

 

This visible Universe is made up of three gunas (Sathwa, Rajas and Thamas). This is the reason

for describing the Cosmos as Sthree. The term Sthree has three components: "Sa", "Tha" and

"Ra". "Sa" signifies the Sathwik quality. This comprises qualities like forbearance, compassion,

and love. "Tha" signifies the Thamo guna which includes qualities like modesty, bashfulness,

fear and patience. "Ra" signifies the Rajo guna represented by such qualities as courage, sacrifice

and the adventurous spirit. Every being born in the world has only feminine qualities. Merely on the basis of the physical form, a distinction is made between men and women. The three qualities in the term Sthree are to be found both in men and women.

The term Sthree should not be treated lightly. The Gita lists seven attributes to the feminine principle fame, wealth, speech, wisdom, intelligence, fortitude and determination. The Mother principle, which embodies these seven potencies, is highly sacred. Wherever you turn, you will see manifestations of the feminine principle in Nature. The mother stands out as the reflected image of Prakrithi (Nature).

 

(Despite the evidences of recognition of the greatness of the feminine principle, women have

been described as abala (the weaker vessel). This appellation is applied to women because of the

secondary status accorded to women in the performance of yagnas (sacrifice) and other rituals,

though participation together with men was permitted. Women could not perform sacrifices and

rituals by themselves. Even charitable and religious acts could be performed by women only in

association with their spouses).

Though the term abala is applied to women in this specific context alone, women are not weak at

all in terms of strength or ability. We have innumerable examples of the strength displayed by

women in the world. As against three potencies attributed to men, women are said to have seven potencies (according to the Gita).

There are any number of heroic women in recorded history. Though physically women may

appear weak, in reality they are full of strength. As the embodiment of the three gunas, women

are endowed with exceptional strength. Even in the spiritual field women display their boundless

capacity.

Some examples from ancient scriptures. Can you call as weak Savithri, who made the Lord of Death restore to life her dead husband? Can Anasuuya, who transformed the Divine Trinity Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva into three babies and played with them, be called a weak woman? Sumathee was a great lady who stopped the Sun from rising, because her husband was predestined to die the next morning. Could she be termed as week? Can Sita, who shared with Rama all hardships of life in the forest and achieved ultimate victory, be called weak? Can Gargi, who could carry on the debate with the Raja yogi Janaka is a dauntless spirit, be called a weak woman?

 

 

It is in her role as mother that there is the highest expression of a woman's strength. Every child

that is born owes its existence to the mother. The mother is the first teacher of her child. (In general, even compared to male teachers in school, the teachings of women teachers are better assimilated by students because the latter teach from the heart with love).

The mother is the symbol of the Universal mother and father of the Dime Lord. (Nature is the mother in whose lap mankind grows. Though Mother Nature draws attention to God, the children seldom pay heed. How can they, who do not love the mother that fosters them with affection and zeal, adore the Master of Nature)?

 

A married lady has many great titles like Dharma Pathni (Righteous wife), Griha-Lakshmi

(Goddess of the house), Illalu (Lady of the house) and Ardhaangi (equal partner of the husband).

These titles have more value than socially recognised titles like Padhma Bhuushan and Padhma

Vibhuushan given by the Government. A lady must look after the home first and then work outside, if necessary. A house without a mother is like an empty choultry. She can study, get degrees, enter politics or do any other work but she should not neglect the home, which is the very foundation of her life. Husband and wife are both equally responsible for establishing harmony at home.

 

PS: The acronym MAN (in the meaning as human being) stands for Maya, Atma and Nirvaana. The teaching contained in this term MAN is firstly Get over Maya, secondly see the Atma, and thirdly attain Nirvaana.

(Reet's compilation from, Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 16. "Revere the mother," Chapter 11 and "Problems of the saadhak," Chapter 12; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 18. "Revere Truth and Love," Chapter 10; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 27. "Sacred role of mothers," Chapter 13; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 29. "Heroic mothers and noble sons," Chapter 13; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 30. "Women's role as Mothers," Chapter 30).

 

Namaste - Reet