Swami teaches... Part 2. Human's intellect should follow the path of dharma

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Light and Love Swami teaches... Part 2. Human's Intellect Should Follow the Path of Dharma An empty iron box gets value when it contains jewels and valuables; then it is carefully guarded. The body is honored when it contains the jewel of an awakened consciousness and the valuables called virtues. World is a text and hridaya (heart) is your preceptor. Your life will find fulfillment if you understand this truth and put into practice. Having taken human birth, you should try to experience bliss. You have the desire to attain bliss, but you are not making the necessary effort. You cannot collect even a drop of water if you keep the vessel upside down, although there may be a heavy downpour. Some water will be collected in it if the mouth of the vessel is turned upward. If you want to attain Divinity, you have to practice dharma what must also lead to the welfare of all. This is the inner meaning of the teachings of Buddha. Once, Buddha was traveling from village to village giving spiritual discourses. One day, he felt tired and asked one of his disciples to address the gathering. He went inside to take rest.The disciple during the course of his speech said, “In this world, there has never been a spiritual master greater than our master, Buddha, and there will not be another like him in future.” The audience gave a thunderous applause. On hearing this, Buddha came out. One of the disciples told him the reason for the people's joyous applause. Buddha smiled and called the disciple who delivered the lecture. “What is your age?” he asked. The disciple said he was thirty-five years old. “How many kingdoms have you visited so far?” Buddha asked him again. The disciple said he had visited only two kingdoms. Buddha said, “You are thirty-five years old and have seen only two kingdoms. You have not understood the present completely.Then how can you say anything about the past and the future? It is meaningless to say that a master like Buddha was never born before and will never be born again. Many Avatars and sages have taken birth in this sacred land of Bharat. Many more Avatars and noble souls will be born here in future also. There are many noble souls in this world, I offer my respects to all of them.” In this way, Buddha reproached his disciple and taught him to follow his dharma. Truth endows one's life with sweetness. Loving words sweeten life. The body has to go through certain ordeals to manifest its sweet nature. These are termed: Samskara - the good thoughts, good feelings and good actions that bring about refinement. Love is essential for their refinement. Hence, Love is the means to realize the nectarine sweetness of life. Human can get limitless powers through Love of God. However, today, human is not making any effort to understand the Principle of Love. Human’s love is like an atom when compared to the Divine Love, which is infinite, eternal, and nectarine. Human should see through the eyes of Love, hear through the ears of Love and cultivate the feelings of Love. Only then, there will be morality in society. People today become scholars and acquire great wealth. Nevertheless, all that they achieve as a result is conceit - the arrogance of study and riches. People cherish the sweetness of wealth and not the sweetness of Love. There are no riches above Love. Through Love, you must develop the spirit of sacrifice. Human life should be filled with love and sweetness, which are shared with others. An insidious disease is now rampant among most people, namely, unbelief. It sets fire to the tiny shoots of faith and reduces life into cinders and ashes. You have no criterion to judge, yet you pretend to judge. Doubt, anger, poison, and illness - all these have to be scotched before they grow. Repeat the Ramanaama, whether you have faith or not; that will itself induce faith; that will itself create the evidence on which faith can be built. The sea of Samsara (worldly life) has to be crossed and all its waves transcended, with the help of Ramanaama or the other Divine name, Swami, for instance. The heart should be set on achieving the task of realizing the Lord within you, as the motivator. Buddha said, “O man, you don't need to search for God anywhere. You are God yourself.” The Avatars of the past and present incarnated in human form teach this to humanity. The Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, and the Vedas echo the same principle. The Vedas declare: Tat Thwam Asi (Thou art That). You may celebrate any number of festivals and undertake various types of spiritual exercises, but all this will go waste if there are no Divine feelings in your heart. You will understand and experience the sacred principles like Sarvam khaividam Brahma (Brahman is immanent in everything), Viswam Vishnumayam (Vishnu pervades the entire Universe), Easwara sarvabhoothanam (God is the indweller of all beings) when you cultivate noble qualities. In order to cultivate Divine feelings and noble qualities, you have to control your senses.

A person with sincerity will make the best use of even the smallest opportunity given to him/her. For example, person can turn even a small bit of live ember into a big fire. On the other hand, a person who lacks sincerity cannot make fire even if large quantifies of live embers. Such person will turn all the live embers into charcoal.

A river should flow within its banks; otherwise, it will flood the villages causing untold sufferings. Similarly, human life, which can be compared to a river, should also have two banks with steadfast faith, and otherwise, a doubting person perishes. Only then will the river of life merge in the ocean of grace. If your river of life does not flow within its two banks, not only will your life be wasted but you will also cause harm to others.

Individual reconstruction in general is more important than the construction of temples. Multiply virtues practice what you preach, that is the real pilgrimage; cleanse your minds of envy and malice that is the real bath in holy waters. Swami has noticed by two different, but interconnected modes the inner meaning of the name 'SAI'. The first: 1.'S' in the name Sai stands for service (work), 2. 'A' for adoration (worship), and 3. 'I' for illumination (wisdom). So, the very name of Sai symbolizes the unity of work, worship, and wisdom. The second: 1. 'S' denotes spiritual change, 2. 'A' denotes association (social) change, and 3.'I' denotes individual change. Human's mind will become pure and sacred when these three changes take place. Swami as stresses that without work, worship, and wisdom there is no individual reconstruction. It is very pictorial and simple example to install the aspirants mind. You attach importance to quantity; but, the Lord considers only quality. He does not calculate how many measures of "sweet rice" you offered, but how many sweet words you uttered, how much sweetness you added in your thoughts. Offer Him the fragrant leaf of faith, sacrifice and devotion, the flowers of your emotions and impulses, freed from the pests of lust, anger, etc.; give him fruits grown in the orchard of your mind, sour or sweet, juicy or dry, bitter or sugary. Cultivate the spirit of sacrifice and be prepared to face any difficulties. Ancient sages and seers had to undergo a lot of difficulties. They had to live in the forest eating leaves and tubers. They could have the vision of God only after all this suffering. They declared to the world, "O people, we have seen God who is beyond the darkness of ignorance, shining resplendently like a thousand suns".

The poet Mallamma in Kannada described the nature of the Divine beauty. She said that to a pond the lotus lends beauty. The moon imparts beauty to the sky. For a devotee, the vibhuthi on his forehead confers beauty. Without virtue, life ceases to be beautiful. Virtue implies conduct, which evokes the approbation of others. Talk less and work more. Then will the individual, society, and country as a whole prosper. The fact is, doubt grows wild in the absence of faith. (Falsehood looks easy and profitable; it binds and pushes into perdition). Faith can be established when one grasps the inner significance of each incident and remark. People should ponder over what is their aim in life, whither they are going and what they should achieve before embarking on any activity.

 

Below are some examples by Ramayana to understand the importance of the inner significances of different behaviors and actions. 1. In this context, the Ramayana furnishes a lesson for all. Dasharatha, without any concern for the future, granted two unconditional boons to Kaikeyi in return for the help, which she rendered to him. He gave two boons saying that she could have what she wanted, whenever she might choose to ask. She chose the time and the boons she wanted. She asked for the exile of Rama and the crowning of Bharatha. The lesson to be learnt from this is that when you give your word, you must be aware of all its implications. Promises made thoughtlessly lead to grievous situations. 2. Dasharatha did not invite the king of the Kekayas for consultation along with the other leaders and princes who were called to give their opinion on the choice of Rama; in that case, subsequent events in furtherance of the Master plan would have been rendered difficult. Why, Dasharatha did not command Rama to go into exile in so many words; he only acknowledged to Kaikeyi that he had granted her two boons and that he was now helpless to back out of that grant. It was Kaikeyi who communicated the news to Rama. Silence was as good as approval and Rama had to accept silence as the command from His father. Kaikeyi had to intervene, so that the purpose of the Avatar might be fulfilled. The sense of righteousness in Rama was so strong that when he heard of the dilemma in which Dasharatha was caught, He helped him to come out of it unharmed; he insisted he would go into exile as his father had promised by implication.

3. Sugriva, (monkey-king, brother of Vali; with his army of monkeys headed by Hanuman, assisted Rama in defeating Ravana) forgot his plighted word and indulged himself in the newly won revels of the court; he ignored the fact that the jagath (mundane world) is based not on dhana (wealth) but on dharma (virtue); so, Rama prodded the snake Anantha, to raise its angry hood and hiss furiously. That is to say, he reminded Lakshmana of the ingratitude of Sugriva and made him furious. An ungrateful king is as worthless as an ungrateful subject is. The death of Vali (a great monkey-king; brother and enemy of Sugriva) gave him the throne. But, remember, it was not Vali alone that died. His ajnana (primal ignorance) also died with him. He saw Rama with all His Divine glory, as filling the entire Universe, which is but a fraction of His personality.

 

There are four types of human beings. The divine, the demonic, the human and the animal are present in human beings in varying degrees.

1."Brahmaratho Dhaivah" (A human being who is Divine). This implies that the human who is wedded to truth, who performs righteous actions, who renders help to others, who thinks about the well-being of others, who indulges in acts of charity and beneficence, is filled with Divine qualities and is immersed in the knowledge of the Brahman.

2. "Sathyadharmaparo marthyah" ( A human being who adheres to Truth and Righteousness). A true human being should uphold truth and right conduct. If truth and righteousness are safeguarded, the nation will be safe and secure. It is not the army or bombs that will protect the nation, Truth and Righteousness will protect the nation.

 

3. "Madhya paana ratho dushtah" (A demonic human being revels in intoxicating drinks). Eating meat and drinking liquor are demonic vices. Those indulging in drink lose all sense of propriety, have no compassion or love, and become demons.

 

4. "Jnanena shuunyah pashubhis samaanah" (One who lacks wisdom is equal to an animal). Jnana (wisdom) is the capacity to discriminate between right and wrong, the permanent and the transient. Animality in human is indicated by the absence of this jnana. A human being has to have the power of discrimination. He should know what to say, when and to whom, and he should know how to behave towards elders, towards friends and different kinds of people. Jnana, in its deeper sense, means Atma-Jnana (knowledge of the Self). This is mainly absent in modern human being. One who is selfish and self-centered is manifesting the animal nature. It is a pity that people today are not aware of the supreme greatness of sacrifice, faith, and devotion. There is sacrifice in every aspect of life. The joy to be derived from sacrifice is incalculable. For instance, one has to learn the supreme value of sacrifice from one's own parents who sacrifice so much for the sake of their children. It is your duty to keep your parents happy as long as they live.

In path of spirituality, have the determination to face any constraint that you may come across. You are determined to achieve something, do not give up until you achieve what you want. You have desired for something, do not give up until your desire is fulfilled. You have asked for something, do not give up until you get what you have asked for. If wealth is lost, nothing is lost. If health is lost, something is lost. If character is lost, everything is lost. This is the teaching of the culture of Bharath. But, for the modern human, everything is lost if wealth is lost; something is lost if health is lost and nothing is lost if character is lost. It is through pain pleasure is gained. Darkness enables us to appreciate light. Death teaches us to love life. Diseases that torment human are many in number; of these, hatred, envy and egoism are the worst. (Even doctors cannot cure them). One should develop equanimity and serenity, if one desires to be free from these diseases. These diseases are imprinted, like a carbon copy, through the senses in the heart. (Reet's compilation from, Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 3. "Griha or guha?" Chapter 6 and "A drama within a drama," Chapter 9; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 9. "Seaworthy boat," Chapter 21; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 15. "Good health and goodness," Chapter 21; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 27. "Cherish the sweetness of sacrifice," Chapter 18; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 32. Part 1. "Control Your Senses," Chapter 15). Namaste - Reet