Part 2- PRASHANTI DIARY - 26th June -21st May 2006 - CHRONICLES OF HEAVEN ON EARTH - A SPECIAL REPORT FROM SWAMI’S ABODE IN BRINDAVAN

[Guest guest]

April 27TH 2006: A STUDENT SPEAKS TO THE CROWD

It was the first Thursday after Swami had returned from Kodaikanal. An expectant crowd had collected to sing bhajans and spend this holy day in the divine presence. After listening to the bhajan singing for a few minutes Swami blessed Sri Sanjay Mahalingam, a student pursuing his Ph.D. in Management in the Prashanti Nilayam campus of the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning (SSSIHL) to address the crowd.

Sanjay Mahalingam addressing the crowd

Singing "Paiyo ji maine ram rathan..."

Sri Sanjay opined that only God can give us true, absolute and unsullied love. The love that knows only to say “Yes, Yes, Yes”. He said that to seek God is the only purpose of life and to attain God is the culmination of life. A wise man has only one desire to become one with God. Raising the question “Who is God?” - he answered that the only God that ever exists is our own, true self. We should hence pursue who we are till we attain the realization that we are the subject and not the object. Quoting extensively from the shastras, Sri Sanjay showed that all problems stem from false identification with the body.

After this brief but well received speech, Swami blessed some of the students of the Sai Mirpuri College of Music to sing some Meera bhajans. The boys sang three haunting bhajans for the crowd: Mere to Giridhar Gopal, Payoji maine Ram rathan dhan payo, and Krishna, Krishna darshan dijo aaj pyaare. They ended this concert with the popular group song Hum ko tumse pyar hai.

MAY 2ND: A DIVINE DISCOURSE

Unexpected and inexplicable are the ways of the Lord. Seeing the devotion with which the people of Bangalore had received Him on his return to the city, the Lord felt moved to address them. So an announcement was made a day prior that Swami would be addressing everyone on the evening of May 2nd at 4 PM. A very big crowd had collected to listen to this unexpected but very welcome benedictory message from our dear Lord.

Swami first blessed Sri Sanjay Sahni, Principal of the Brindavan campus of the SSSIHL, to address the crowd prior to His Divine Discourse.

Sri Sanjay Sahni said that coming to Bhagavan is like a homecoming. The greatest adventure in life is to seek God, and the greatest fulfilment in life is to attain Him. Just as we mark our progress in a journey by the milestones we pass, in the spiritual journey of life too we have several milestones, milestones that Bhagavan has beautifully elaborated as Salokyam,Sameepyam, Saroopyam and Sayujyam.

Sa means divine. Hence Salokyam refers to the divine loka (planet). Sri Sahni said that once the late Dr. Hislop asked Swami what the 14 lokas are. Swami replied that the 14 lokas are the 14 levels of thought – 7 levels of thought towards the divine and 7 levels of thought away from the divine.

 

Sanjay Sahni addressing the crowd

Sri Sahni further added, “If we think of Bhagavan, we are in His presence. How much of our thoughts we give to Him? In the beginning even 10 minutes may take a lot of effort, but with persistent practise soon our thoughts flow naturally towards Him”. He then said that the next stage is Sameepyam or proximity of the Lord. If you want to have sannidhi (nearness) of the Lord, you must participate in His mission. The third stage is Saroopyam, the stage of dearness to the Lord when you acquire His characteristics. This was the stage reached by Bharatha, who contemplated so deeply on the Lord when Sri Rama was in exile for 14 years, that He looked just like Him and the people of Ayodhya could not differentiate between them. In conclusion, Sri Sanjay said that even Saroopyam is duality. The last stage is Sayujyam or merger with the Lord. This final stage is attained only with the Lord’s Grace.

Swami in His Divine Discourse chose to speak on a topic dear to His Heart – the 4 Human Values of Sathya, Dharma, Shanti and Prema. He said that the result of attaining high levels of education, the value of noble and charitable acts and the reward for all kinds of good deeds all come to naught if man is bereft of these 4 human values of Truth, Right Conduct, Peace and Love. These 4 values are the pillars which support the mansion of Sanathana Dharma (the Perennial Philosophy), He asserted.

He next touched upon the meaning of the descent of the Avatar. The descent of God is the act of coming down to the world with love for man, and He becomes one with him. God comes down to earth in order to set ideals for mankind and to lead them on the righteous path. And to achieve oneness with man He chooses to come down in a human form. For any achievement in the world, wealth and property is required as nothing can be accomplished without worldly instruments and implements. God however, is beyond the desires of the body and the mind and free of qualities like anger. Everything He does and says is only for the redemption of man.

The Divine Discourse

Swami next emphasized that all of us are divine. He said, “If somebody asks – Who are you? – then you have to answer, “I am I” and not with the name given to the body”. He further said that except for the entity ‘I’ in everyone, everything else is imaginary. God resides in all and He is the one that has become the many. The ‘I’ exists in everyone; society itself is a conglomeration of individuals; the individual is God and God alone and hence society itself has emerged from God. He said that God is in our own heart and by practising the 4 human values, we can recognize God. First and foremost we have to understand that we are God. Till we attain this divine experience, we will be unable to give up body identification.

On a cautionary note, Swami said that God Himself has prescribed limits for every man. In this world everything is limited and it is only when we cross these limits that we undergo difficulties. It is because of a lack of control that we have no limits for our desires. He exhorted all to reduce sensual desires and to cultivate patience and courage. “Whatever may change, Truth will never change”, He said. He further added that Truth and Love are both within you. So by developing Love we will always be peaceful. Swami ended His discourse by singing the bhajan - “Prema mudhitha manasa kaho….”

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source:radiosai.org