Swami teaches... Part 1. For the young generation

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Light and Love Swami teaches... Part 1. For the Young Generation

The motto:

Through sacrifice and love I am neither merit nor sin, neither happiness nor misery. I am none of these either--places of pilgrimage, scriptures or yajnas (sacrifices). I am not the food, the consumer of food, or the process of eating. I am the Atman, the very embodiment of Divinity. I am Shiva Himself. (Sanskrit verse) Swami's mission is to spread Ananda. Students are Swami's life breath and wealth. Setting students on the right path is one of the main Swami's interests. The following serial's "Swami teaches..." article is for the youth with the aim to put into practice the principles that Swami has taught. It is enough for Swami if student earns the approbation and regard of others. If you live up to Swami's teachings, you will be able to lead exemplary lives. When you develop the main stream of true human’s life - the human values of sathya, dharma, santhi, prema and ahimsa, you will attain exalted position and people will respect you wherever you go.

Education should be for leading a good life and not merely for earning a living. Human has a higher destiny than mere living. During the studies, students have to learn how to lead a life of righteousness. You pursue your studies with diligence and devote your nights and days to acquire knowledge. Nevertheless, what efforts are you making to earn Divine Love and Grace? Are you enquiring into the purpose of education? Do you recognize the need for Self-realization and control of the senses? Education should be for developing concentration of the mind and not only collection of facts. Your conduct will determine your destiny. Have a wide-ranging mind. (For example, sage Narada was a master of 64 sciences). You have to make a distinction between knowledge and wisdom. There is no harm in aspiring for a good job or a position of honor and fame. However, many ordeals have to be overcome to achieve them. One must develop the fortitude to face all challenges by strengthening one's faith in God. The studies may not reveal all kinds of problems you may have to face in the outside world. You have to deal with different kinds of people, workers, managers, and the public. You have to know how to understand them and how to covey to them your ideas. Engage yourselves in your duties with faith in God. Be fearless. God is with you. Proceed on life's journey with courage. Before completing education and entering the vast stage of life, students have to learn certain basic things. The most important among them is control of the mind. Only then will senses be under control. The human's mind has to be a garden of many-colored flowers, filled with various kinds of joy. (Krishna will certainly delight in dancing there and playing on the enchanting flute in the bowers of that garden). All kinds of good and bad thoughts occur in the mind. The nature of the mind is determined by the nature of thoughts. Keeping the mind away from all that is bad, you should accept only that which is good. You should give utmost importance to the mind. One who considers the mind as the basis of owns life is a true human being. You should make your mind the centre of your awareness and the basis of every aspect of your life. Fill your minds with noble thoughts. Develop the convictions that you are the embodiments of the Divine. The air around you is neither visible nor can be grasped. Can you deny its presence? Can you survive for a moment without it? Likewise, the one who denies the existence of God is denying very own existence. Human today is conscious of the Annamaya (physical) and Pranamaya (vital) principles relating to own existence. Human has not developed even up to the stage of realizing the significance of the mind. The body represents Annamaya. Activity and motion of the body are to the Pranamaya. The third element is Manomaya (the mental). The fourth is Vijnanamaya (Constant Integrated Awareness). Beyond this awareness is Ananda (the state of Supreme Bliss). In the great journey of life, human has passed, only two stations. He has not tried to go beyond them to the mental and other stages. It is after passing the Vijnanamaya stage that human can experience Ananda.

 

Human can derive Ananda (the Divine Bliss) and maintain it only through association with other human beings. To divest oneself of all contacts with others, and tread a lonely path is a sign of weakness, of fear - not of courage. Lively association alone produces morality, justice, compassion, sympathy, love, tolerance, equanimity, and many other qualities that toughen and train character, and mould the individual's personality. Whatever is born is transient. Only one thing remains forever and that is the Self. The mind, in fact, is of the nature of the Self. (Swami often have called mind pictorially 'monkey mind'. He uses this expression in the context when human’s mind is not under control and 'dances' from idea to idea or from place to place. However, really you belong to humanity and have nothing to do with monkey mind in the exact meaning of this word). There are many persons who have mastered various forms of knowledge and are engaged in mighty tasks. However, they cannot be called human beings in the true sense of the term if they have no control over their five senses. Having undertaken various types of spiritual practices for a long time, Buddha felt sad that he had wasted a lot of time without attaining the desired result. He realized that one could attain Divinity only by making proper use and control of five senses. God has given five senses equally to all, be they rich or poor. You can see the manifestation of God when you use your senses in a sacred way. Your innate nature is always pure. You pollute it because you follow the worldly path and fill your heart only with worldly feelings. The heart is always pure, steady, and selfless. Hridaya (heart) is that which is full of compassion. Instead of experiencing such eternal bliss, modern person is getting carried away by sensual pleasures. Most people misusing the senses for the sake of comforts and worldly happiness and also polluting own mind because of the evil vision. Human is subjected to hardships because of the unsacred vision what destroys person's humanness itself. (What is the use of being born as a human being if you get carried away by sensual pleasures like dogs and monkeys? A monkey also experiences the same type of sensual pleasure that you indulge in). Many people also are taking to meaningless practices in the name of Yoga. What is Yoga? Controlling the vagaries of the mind is Yoga. Without controlling the mind, if you merely perform physical exercise, it amounts to roga (disease). Society is the school where this lesson is taught to those who earnestly seek. The sages of Bharath resorted to the hermitages in the forests, and mixed with the steadfast seekers who taught scholastic discussion and disciplinary practices. They drew inspiration and instruction from each other, and learnt the Truth that this Universe is enveloped in God that God is the string on which the worlds are strung. God is the Great One, and that He is known and can be known through various namesand forms. When Divinity takes on the human form as described in the Ramayana, the Mahabharatha, and the Bhagavatha, one has to interpret the actions as providing examples and lessons, and not as human stories enacted for entertainment. For example, five Pandava brothers are five qualities in human character, all observing the norms set by the eldest, which is the noblest and the most righteous. Rama is the example of the uncompromising adherent of the principle of righteousness, whatever be the temptation to bypass it. Rama was charged with a love that transcended all considerations of advantage, of caste or creed, and extended to animals and birds, human beings. Love is the key to open the doors locked by egoism and greed. Human has all the resources he/she needs. Human can tap them by identifying them and manifesting them, and by sharing them with others. Human being is Sath, Chith and Ananda (Being, Awareness, Bliss Absolute); Human being is Shiva-Shakthi Swarupa (form of the Divine energy). When human extols him/herself, human is extolling God. Do not cultivate the conviction that you are mere people; be assured that you are destined for Divinity. When human gives up his/her conceit and becomes Nature's pupil, rather than its tyrannical master, human can hear Nature's voice advising, admonishing, and illuminating.

 

In all countries of the world, there are good and bad people, scholars and illiterates, the affluent and the destitute. The one thing that is common to all of them is their inner essence - Sath, Chith and Ananda. All the scriptures have described the Divine as Sath-Chith-Ananda. Every object, every being, and every individual in the phenomenal world have these triune attributes. (However, in the inert objects only the first two - Sath and Chith can be recognized. Only in animate beings can this quality be found manifest. This bliss however, is of a transient nature). There are two categories of bliss in the world Sadhana-Janya Ananda (Acquired bliss) and Swatas-Siddha Ananda (Self-generating bliss). Acquired bliss is associated with sensory objects. It arises and vanishes from time to time. It does not endure. For instance, when hunger is appeased, there is happiness for the moment. Nevertheless, it ceases after a time. This applies to all objects in the world. What is experienced when they are enjoyed is evanescent. This type of joy has described as acquired or derived happiness. As it is got and lost by human effort, it is not true bliss.

 

Human, however, seeks lasting Ananda. Human being is filled with Bliss and is the embodiment of Bliss. Why, then, does human not experience it? This is because, even though human is the embodiment of Bliss, unaware of his/her true nature human is obsessed with the external world and fails to experience the Self-generating bliss. Human imagines that the source of joy lies in Nature (the phenomenal world). The Bliss that is all pervasive in the cosmos is also within human. Nevertheless, as in the case of butter that is present in every drop of milk but which can be seen only after the milk is curdled and the buttermilk is churned, this inner Bliss can be experienced only after the right effort is made. Buddha understood that all we experience through the senses is useless and leads to bondage. Ultimately, he realized Atmic unity and attained the state of Nirvana. Today human aspires to attain mukthi. What is mukthi? It is not the attainment of a heavenly abode. Mukthi means freedom from suffering. You need to have mukthi at three levels - body, mind, and soul. For example, you are hungry. When you eat food, your hunger is satiated. This is also a kind of mukthi. You are suffering from a disease. You take a medicine and get cured. This is also mukthi. All this is related to the body. At the mental level, mukthi means controlling the vagaries of the mind. However, true liberation lies in understanding the principle of the Atma, which neither comes nor goes. This is termed as Nirvana. People aspire to attain Nirvana. In order to attain Nirvana, one should have a pure heart. True Nirvana lies in having love for God, fear of sin and morality in society.

You have to discover the unity that subsumes the diversity in the Universe. What is this unity? It is the mentioned above Sath-Chith-Ananda. Sath is Being, 'that' which exists. Chith is Awareness, the quality that enables cognition. If a thing did not exist, it cannot be cognized. If it cannot be cognized, it cannot: be experienced or enjoyed. Here is the cosmos. How do you know about its existence? You can see the things in it, hear the sounds, have impressions in the mind about them and be moved in your hearts by them. How can you deny their existence?

 

You have to understand the relation between existence and experience on the different levels.

For instance, on the body level, you feel hungry. You take food and the hunger is appeased. If food did not exist in the world, hunger would be out of place. If hunger did not exist, food would be unnecessary. In this context it may be asked, which comes first: hunger or food? You may consider that hunger comes first. However, food came into existence first, and then hunger was caused. Human is able to protect the body because of the existence of food and hunger. It is said: food is for the protection of the body. Hence, you should regard food as necessary for living and not live for the sake of food. From this aspect, students should recognize the value of good health. PS: Mere age does not make a person young. The great Mahabharata warrior, Bhishma (the guardian and patriarch of the Kauravas and Pandavas, remarkable for his wisdom and unflinching devotion to God) fought on the battlefield when he was 116 years old. (Reet's compilation from, Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 5. "The pleasant and the profitable," Chapter 5; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 12. "Love is the key," Chapter 15 and "Friends you need," Chapter 18; Satyhya Sai Speaks. Vol. 22. "Become ideal citizens," Chapter 3; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 33. "Attain God’s Grace," Chapter 9; http://www.sssbpt.org/Pages/Prasanthi_Nilayam/easwaramma_dd_2007.html Namaste - Reet