The Divine Lifestyle (4b)

January 29, 2008

I AM DELIGHTED WHEN OTHERS ARE HAPPY(Chapter 4)- continuation -A

teacher whilst demonstrating an experiment to his science class must be

quick to point out the precautions one must take during the experiment.

The Bunsen burner must be kept away from the face, one must add acid to

water, not water to acid, to prevent an explosion. These and many more

will come forth from the lips of the concerned teacher. Here, the

Teacher provides a practical experience on how to deal with critics.

Bhagavan Himself continues to do His duty regardless of what has been

hurled against Him. Thus, jealousy and envy has been shown to be the

cause of man's downfall. We must treat all even our enemies with love

and affection as they too are the Lord's creation. It is in the Geeta

the following verse appears :Adveshta Sarva Bhuthanam Maitria Karuna evacha Nirmamo niraham karahSama dukha sukhah kshami He

who has no ill to any being, who is friendly and compassionate, free

from egoism and attachment, even minded in pain and in pleasure and

forgiving.

The

verse is so beautiful and complete in its instruction and to all

seekers of God, this verse becomes the springboard one can jump to

higher strata of consciousness. Treat all creations of God with love.

Be like a friend to them. One will always be kind, compassionate and

caring to his friend. One will even go to the extent of giving one's

life for a friend. The advice is to be friendly to all. There are

occasions when one gives everything and trusts his friend so much, but

in return, the friend betrays or cheats. Likewise, a nagging boss, an

irritating wife, an annoying neighbor - no doubt, all are God's

creation but how can one be a friend to such people. Here the verse

continues with an instruction that to such obnoxious people, one must

pour out as a result of sympathy, compassion. Flood them with

compassion and pity for their behavior are expressions of symptoms that

they want love. Pure love can only flow from a heart unstained with

notions of 'I' and 'My'. Hence, unbiased and detached heart send out

waves of unpolluted love. Hence the verse concurs with what Bhagavan is

saying. Be alike to everyone is a call to live in the world without the

notion of 'I' and 'My'. Hence selfless acts purge these tendencies and

one can therefore be free from feelings of envy.'There is a remedy for almost every malady, but none at all for the diseases of jealousy.'(Sanathana Sarathi January 1994 - pg 4)Bhagavan's

imperative instruction to progress spiritually is to be vigilant for

the slightest trace of the fumes of such negative qualities that may

enter into our mind. Watch the mind, next time when you embrace

circumstances and situations. The dress someone else wears, the

hairstyle of someone else that you always wanted, the car your neighbor

has, the voice of the Bhajan singer you always dreamed of, the high

marks your friend obtained, the promotion your colleague recently

obtained, etc., may trigger a slight mist of envy which caused

restlessness. However, before the mist becomes a thick fog, we must

clear away with rays of feeling joy and happiness for what others have.

The Arabs have a saying : 'Grasp sand in a tight fist and it runs from

the side; hold sand in a cupped hand and it will stay.' By cutting the

chords of possessive relationships and developing interdependent

relationships, mutual love and respect confer sustainability to any

relationship.'Truly,

once you are free of jealousy, you will be able to conquer anything.

But it cannot be emphasized too strongly, that jealousy will destroy

all your good qualities. You may think that it will destroy others, but

in fact, it will destroy you, not others. It will make you sick. You

will not be able to sleep well; you will not be able to eat well. Even

if at first you were totally healthy, this jealousy will soon develop

all kinds of physical ailments and diseases in you. Jealousy is like an

inner consumption; just as tuberculosis creeps in and consumes,

jealousy will weaken you without your realizing it, it can enter into

you in any number of ways and ultimately, destroy you.'(Discourses on Bhagavath Geeta by Baba - pg 173-175)

It

is only common knowledge that Surpanaka was fuming with jealousy and

envy when she came across the hut Sri Rama and Seeta lived in the

forest. She wanted Sri Rama for herself but her attempts to win the

attention of the righteous Sri Rama fell in vain. Her attempt to even

attract the attention of Lashmana made her lose a piece of her nose.

The bleeding nose angered her brother, Ravana, whom she ran to tell of

the incident. The jealous and envious Ravana who wanted Seeta for

himself kidnapped her which triggered the bloody battle between both

Sri Rama and Ravana.The legends and stories in all cultures

will extol the repercussions of possessing qualities of envy and

jealousy. We must detect these weeds and pull them out before the

entire garden of virtues gets destroyed. Empires have fallen, kings

dethroned and history gets rewritten when people with these negative

qualities continue to exert their influence. A beautiful quote of

Jennifer James goes like this - Jealousy is simply and clearly the fear that you do not have value.

Jealousy scans for evidence to prove the point - that others will be

preferred and rewarded than you. There is only one alternative -

self-value. If you cannot love yourself, you will not believe that you

are loved. You will always think it's a mistake or luck. Take your eyes

off others and turn the scanner within. Find the seeds of your

jealousy, clear the old voices and experiences. Put all the energy into

building your personal and emotional security. Then you will be the one

others envy, and you can remember the pain and reach out to them.Bhagavan in one of His speeches said,'Drishiti (vision) creates Shrishti (creation).'What

we see is not as important as how we see them. Eyes are most important

and the art of seeing the world if developed will enable the right

creation of circumstances and situations. If we look with eyes of

concern and love, the response from even the most condemned or the most

uninterested will be positive. Our eyes must reflect positive state

with intense joy. Helen Keller was blind and deaf. She was most

difficult to handle when she was a child but due to the 'drishiti' of

her teacher, Helen Keller realized her inner potential and talent

(shristi). Hence it is imperative that we see everyone with love and

understanding that in each, divinity resides. As it goes, Christ was

crucified as he was seen with eyes of negativity! The world is only a

projection of the mind, and if colored with envy and jealousy, we will

create very negative images. These negative feelings will harm us more

than the people on whom we cast a negative eye. Medical Science is

quick to agree to what Bhagavan has said. Experiments have shown that

negative emotions such as anger, hatred and jealousy stress us and this

causes ill health to the body. Often, Bhagavan has said,'I reside in all.'And

therefore, when envy or jealousy develops, we must quickly superimpose

the image of Sai or any other God form in the heart of the one whom we

are envious of jealous of.Bhagavan explains that the only way

to overcome jealousy is to love more and more. The prescribed service

activities for the poor and the underpriviledged help to extend the

periphery of our love orbit. Loving everyone more and more with greater

and greater intensity dilutes the ego which breeds attachment. The mind

will cease wavering and confidence will naturally be restored. Who can

forget the famous lines of Shakespeare :Trifles light as air Are to the jealous confirmations strong As proofs of holy writ. O! beware, my lord,of jealousy;It is the green-eyed monsterwhich doth mock The meat it feeds on.

'The

purpose of life is to grow in love, expand that love and merge with God

who is love and this is best done through service. There is no

discipline like service for the eradication of ego.'(The Embodiment of Love - pg 227)THE KEY TO REMOVE ENVY AND JEALOUSY IS SERVICE!Only

then can we experience joy and be happy at others' fortunes. If we make

a resolution in our lives that we are here to give happiness and to see

that all are happy, our lives immediately transform to a bubbly and

cheerful disposition. The cheer becomes more and more intense with

greater participation in service activities. Hence the next time we

become envious or jealous, we must learn to transmute such low and base

emotions to love by saying that in the person whom we are jealous or

envious of resides our Bhagavan too. May Bhagavan in him or her be

happy. The practice ground for this attitude to develop happens only in

the field of selfless service.'Joy derived through service reacts on the body and frees you of disease.'(Discourses on Bhagavath Geeta - pg 259)Medically,

it has been proven that the state of joy releases endorphins, a hormone

that confers greater health, immunity and slows aging. Great comedians

like Bob Hope and George Burns have lived long, probably due to the

ability to create laughter, joy and make people happy. Bhagavan,

despite his 79 years of age, still looks very youthful. This in one of

His speeches He declared was due to His purity and bliss. Hence the

attitude of being happy for others is one of the nine capacities to

develop if we want to live a divine lifestyle. Here, apart from all

other grace and benefits, Bhagavan is quick to assure us that such a

lifestyle confers us health and wealth.(From : THE DIVINE LIFESTYLE by DR SURESH GOVIND,With the consent of Sathya Sai Central Council of Malaysia)

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