The Divine Lifestyle (4a)

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I AM DELIGHTED WHEN OTHERS ARE HAPPY(Chapter 4)Whenever

Bhagavan materializes a gold chain or a ring for His devotees, the

delight that He has on His face is indeed something to admire. His eyes

twinkle and His concern will prompt Him to ask the recipient whether

he's happy with the gift or if the gift is nice. One can often see

pride swelling in His face when His students do well in studies or

games. To obtain joy from seeing happiness in others is indeed a divine

quality. To experience joy in others, we must experience joy within

first.'For

spiritual discipline one must cultivate the quality of always being

joyful, with a smile on the face. This contributes to contentment and

gives one progress on the path with a minimum of inner discord.'(Teachings of Sri Sathya Sai Baba - pg 9)In

today's world, we have forgotten the art of being happy. The slightest

problem and we sink into depression. A maths student who has never

bothered to revise his subject well will treat his examination paper as

the greatest obstacle. Each question will be seen like an ugly monster

waiting to humiliate and sink him further into oblivion. He will be

fidgety, anxious and full of uncertainty with beads of sweat rolling

from his forehead whilst facing the ghastly examination paper. If we

take a stroll in the examination hall, it will be an experience to

watch the dance of joy bubbling on the faces of the confident students.

Every question only manages to tickle him and as he summons from

memory, his revised lessons, the answers to the demanding questions

stand waiting to flow through the nib of his pen. There is joy on such

faces. No anxiety and unnecessary body movements except the occasional

raise of the hand to demand from the supervisor extra papers to write

the answers. What makes the difference?Self-confidence is the first step towards self-realization.Bhagavan

attributes everything to the possession of inner confidence. When one

is confident, there will be swelling surges of contentment and joy.

Hearts filled with satisfaction will pour out with love to others.

Hence, self-satisfaction leads to self-sacrifice which ultimately

confers self-realization. Hence, self-confidence is a very important

quality to possess for not just spiritual progress but for any progress

of any kind.'If you know what is right, don't ask. Do it. That is confidence. God Power.'(Conversations with Sri Sathya Sai Baba - pg 76)Bhagavan

attributes God power to confidence. Confidence is the platform upon

which all plays of life can be enacted and executed successfully.

Hence, confidence will breed joy in oneself. It is the lack of

confidence in oneself that make one feel unhappy at other people's

gain. When one visits his old friend, he is taken aback by the

luxurious palace-like looking house and instead of being joyous that

his friend has made it in life, he wonders how he has been able to

procure so much money. Such clouds of envy blocks the radiance of inner

joy from gushing forth.'Envy is the greatest of sins. Vanity, envy and egoism - these three are in.'(Sathya Sai Speaks Vol IV - pg 143)Our

divine literature records the consequence of the effects of envy. Sri

Rama was exiled into the forest for fourteen years only because of the

envious mother of Bharata who wanted her son to sit on the throne

rather than Sri Rama. The Pandavas became a source of envy for the

Kauvaras and hence were manipulated to be exiled also into the forest

for great many years. It is well known that the priests in the temples

were jealous and envious of the growing of Christ and conspired to have

him arrested and demanded of his crucifixion to a reluctant roman

leader. Buddha was humiliated and abused by many envious and jealous of

his growing popularity and the holy Prophet Mohamed had to flee the

city of Mecca and go to Medina because of envy and jealousy of his

growing popularity and the advent of Islam. When wealth, skills and

talents develop in an individual, the confidence levels in others

become threatened resulting in the release of fumes of envy which blind

the two eyes of reason and justice.'Envy

is a deadly poison; it will contaminate character, ruin health and rob

you of peace. Be unaffected by envy and you can subdue the Gods of

Creation, Protection and Destruction. Like a pest that destroys growing

crops, envy enters slowly and spreads quickly. So even in small

matters, you must be vigilant, do not become envious.'(Sathya Sai Speaks Vol V - pg 193)Envy

visits us like a guest, transforms slowly to a host and finally,

enslaves us completely. What has been outlined in the quote are the

deadly effects of envy. Strangely, if we carefully analyze envy is

generated only in people who know and are familiar with us. One will

not be envious of a movie star but if your own friend became one, then

his success can become a source of envy for you. Once we develop envy,

then it will be extremely difficult to feel joy for others. The boy

next door who always scores all A's for the subjects becomes the envy

of his neighbors. The beautiful car parked at the opposite house makes

the envious wife prompt the husband to buy another bigger one. Envy

creates restlessness and from such turbulent mind will issue low and

base actions.'Who

are the thieves that steal into man and steal away his peace and joy?

It is the thieves of Desire, Pride, Greed, Infatuation, Anger and

Jealousy, who rob man of his riches. But the worst of all thieves who

inflicts the worst damage is Matsarya (envy). That is why it is said,

'You can befriend an angry man, you can sleep beside a serpent, but you

should not befriend an envious one.'(Summer Showers In Brindavan - pg 43)Bhagavan's

advice is critical to follow and one must heed this even for health

reasons. The action of man is determined by the quality and texture of

his thoughts. Once the mind has been contaminated with envy, ugly

perverted thoughts generate a low, base and animalistic criminal mind.

Such a mind divorced from his intellect will be impulsive and reactive.

The closer you mix with such people, greater will their scheming mind

plan uglier ways to degrade or demean you. Hence your life will be

forever in a danger. Therefore, the Teacher is not just warning us to

stay away from such people with envy, but at the same time, jolting our

mind never to develop such a negative tendency.'Your

life span is prolonged when you are full of joy, when you are calm and

filled with pure thoughts. When you are filled with envy, anger, hatred

and conceit, your life span gets shortened. Sleeplessness ruins the

health even more than lack of food. Envy torments a man all the time.

These troubles lead to shortening one's life... Envy drives man crazy

by depriving him of his sleep. In that condition, he cannot relish his

food.'(Sathya Sai August 1993 - pg 203)Aspiring

for excellence and leading a life noble and worthy will bring its share

of material rewards. Envy and jealousy may arise from our peers,

friends, relatives and almost everyone who watches our progress. When

such feelings arise, their perception gets blurred and understanding

colored, hence, their interactions to us may not be right. Hurt further

distorts understanding and fuels arguments, generating stress. Science

journals and books scream testimonies that stress lowers immunity and

promotes aging. Hence, scientific evidences confirms the declarations

by Bhagavan that envy and other negative emotions do cause damage to

the body.'From

time to time, many noble souls endowed with immense spiritual power,

have taken to propagate sacred teachings to the world. They struggled

hard to make the world a good place to live in. Right from birth, Jesus

had to face many trials and tribulations. When the name and fame of

noble souls spread far and wide, many people become jealous. (...) The

hatred for Jesus increased day by day. Even the priests turned against

Jesus as they became jealous of his growing popularity.'(Sanathana Sarathi January 2001 - pg 2)Here,

the Teacher gives us a clear picture of the reality. This is true of

any field of endeavor. Once a goal is reached, everyone notices us. The

true well wisher will shed a tear or two of happiness recalling our

long journey of struggle and sweat in reaching this goal. The envious

ones will be restless. They will defame or injure the person by bad

mouthing or criticizing. Life stories of this nature are reminded by

the Teacher only to indicate that the path to the Goal of life need not

be smooth and easy. Even Bhagavan has not been spared.'Today many people are jealous of Sai as His name and fame are spreading far and wide.'(Sanathana Sarathi January 2001 - pg 2)Hence,

the envious world will be critical of those who procure wealth and

fame, but the most important aspect of this should be that we should

not react with negativity. There has been no parallel in history that

one individual (Bhagavan) can do so much in such a short time. To

inspire close to fifty million people around the world is phenomenal.

The stupendous service activities done throughout the world by devotees

of Bhagavan are breathtaking. The milestone achievements in all fields,

be it education or social, is historical and yet the Teacher has not

been spared. Bhagavan too has come under shower of criticism but the

Divine Lifestyle lies in how one treats this criticism and his critics.

Hence how do we divert these negative energies when they surface?'Salute

even those who criticize you because divinity is present in all. Do not

spoil your mind by harboring the feelings of anger, etc.'(Sanathana Sarathi January 2001 - pg 6)- to continue -(From : THE DIVINE LIFESTYLE by DR SURESH GOVIND,With the consent of Sathya Sai Central Council of Malaysia)Visit : Sai Divine Inspirations : http://saidivineinspirations.blogspot.com/ Sai Messages : http://saimessages.blogspot.com/ Love Is My Form : http://loveismyform.blogspot.com/