The Divine Lifestyle (5a)

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WHATEVER I DO, I DO FOR THE HAPPINESS OF OTHERS(Chapter 5)A

father, once while walking in a park with his son hugged him and said,

'Son, do you know you are born to serve others?' The son quickly

replied, "Oh yeah, then what are others born for.' The conversation

sums up the state of the world today. Each man for himself.'Man,

however, is dominated today by selfishness. His thoughts, his looks,

his words and actions are all tainted by selfishness. He is a slave of

his senses. In short, humanness is in ruins...' (Sanathana Sarathi August 1994 - pg 198)Time

has become scarce and competition has become stiff for anyone these

days to enquire the welfare of others, leave alone make others happy if

a need arises. In the pre-historic days when the sense of security was

threatened, man needed to create a boundary and hence, fenced himself

against the wild beasts and other tribes with the notion of 'I' and

'My'. Animals, too, in order to survive, prompted by the sense of

security and safety cordoned themselves from other predators. Even in

the animal kingdom, we see the mother monkey looking after its own

child. The maternal instinct confers protection and nourishment to the

offspring. Dogs will lick their litter. Cats will suckle their own

kittens. Rarely do we see a dog extending its love to a litter born to

another dog. A mother monkey will rarely reach to protect a progeny

born from another monkey. Love in the animal kingdom is restricted and

confined. Evolution has not blessed them to have increased capacity for

love and yet we see and hear stories of animals performing feats such

as rescuing a child from a disaster or other extra-ordinary stories

that almost borders to miracles. This is ample testimony that love has

the potential to expand from its limited orbit that it is used to.

There are pictures of dogs licking their arch enemies, i.e., cats. If

animals demonstrate such compassion and love, it is strange that the

two legged animal called man, in the name of love of an ideal, kill,

murder brutally innocent children, destroy homes, rape and rob the

innocent, loot and hijack aeroplanes and performs deeds that are alien

in the animal kingdom.'The

intense selfishness has resulted in the total decay of human values.

The monster of selfishness has pervaded every field of human activity -

the physical, the social, the economic, political and moral fields.

Hence the primary endeavor of man today should be to shed selfishness,

develop spirituality and realize the Divine.' (Sanathana Sarathi May 1996 - pg 113)This

fabric of society is being unconsciously torn down by this bug of

selfishness. Never in history have we heard of some countries passing

the bill in parliament that parents can sue their respective children

if they refuse to look after them when they are old. Centuries of

tradition and culture crumble as man heads towards the millennium

chanting the slogan, 'My Life... My life.' The notion of 'I' and 'My'

has resulted in many youth returning home with a degree, after spending

their parent's entire earnings but only to drive them in an expensive

car to an old folks' home. The tendency in recent years is a growing

lifestyle towards safe guarding self interest. Widening relations at

every strata of society is because of the epidemic of the disease

called selfishness. The gaps between generations widen as each thrust

their views against each other with little understanding.Disharmony

is only seen in the kingdom of the crown of creation (humans) and not a

faint sound and sight of unrest in the kingdom of animals.'For

the benefit of others alone, trees give fruits, rivers carry water and

cows yield milk. Likewise, the human body is given for rendering help

to others. But not recognizing this truth, man uses his body for

selfish purposes. Man today behaves in a more degraded manner than

trees, rivers and cows...' (Sanathana Sarathi June 1996 - pg 157)When

nature is observed, it will become obvious that all components of

nature work and interplay with each other with precise orchestration

resulting in perfect harmony. Nature has been spared by this epidemic

and hence for as long as the earth has been in existence, it has

continuously only demonstrated the art of giving. Trees, rivers and all

animals just give. In fact, giving is the signature of nature. Every

component of nature helps and supports each other to a point that the

rhythm of harmony never breaks off. Man too is part of nature but has

departed from this natural tendency. To re-educate man to this art of

helping, all religions teach man to love and serve one another but

today, ironically, when viewed through fanatical spectacles, this

perception is blurred and from perverted minds springs forth hatred and

animosity.'It

is qualities like kindness, compassion, forbearance and sympathy which

differentiate human beings from animals. But man tends to forget these

inherent qualities out of absorption in selfish, mundane desires. Those

wearing the glass of selfishness can only see selfishness all around

them. A defective vision produces an apparent defect in creation. There

is nothing wrong with creation. Every defect is related to defective

vision....'(Sanathana Sarathi December 1993 - pg 313)In

disease control, surveys and surveillance are vital to detect the

source of the infection. If an organism is implicated, it becomes

imperative to understand how it is transmitted to man. Proper studies

and careful planning with proper drug treatment can interrupt

transmission and thereby control the disease. In man, if selfishness

prevails, it must proceed from a source. Eradicate the source and the

waves of such self-centered activities cease. If the fire of the source

is extinguished, the smoke naturally must clear.'This

is the time when science and technology has made tremendous progress.

In spite of this progress, today man is suffering from a particular

disease for which there is no medicine. This is happening not only in

this country but also everywhere else. For some people, the disease may

be in advanced stage. For a few others, it may be midway in its

deterioration. For others, it may be in the preliminary stage. What is

the disease? This disease is egotism.' (Divine Discourse 1987 - pg 140)Here

Bhagavan points out that it is the ego which is the cause of the

disease. When one organ malfunctions, it is common knowledge that all

normal physiological processes and other pathways in the body gets

disrupted. In the same way, once ego is formed and transactions take

place through this entity then we can expect endless troubles.'Ego plays all kinds of tricks, in order to get unholy pleasure...'(Sathya Sai Speaks Vol VIII - pg 43)The

ego is the culprit that is responsible for providing a false identity.

It will confer wrong and unhealthy relationships with the world which

in turn will cause greater and greater sorrow. Ego is known to impose

serious handicaps in development of insights and higher values. It

creates joys on success; sorrows on failures and stress. Ego

miscalculates inter-personal relationships, prevents understanding,

hampers critical evaluation and prevents development of even mindedness.'The

self is known as Sath-Chith-Ananda (existence-consciousness-bliss).

This triple nature of the Self is expressed in the individual as the

triple desire : Desire to exist Desire to know Desire to have a joyous natureThese

are three desires which every 'I' cannot escape from. I must live, is

the first. The will to live is over-powering and paramount. This is the

urge for immortality. The desire to know is the second. This, too, is

unquenchable thirst and is an indication of the omniscience of which

'I' is the inheritor. The desire for joy is the third, prompting man

behind the senses into the outer world for pleasures. This evidence

shows that deep in the core of the 'I', there is a spring of Bliss

which seeks its mate and its fulfillment.'(Baba the Breath of Sai - pg 267)Once

a disease is identified, a curious patient will ask the doctor how he

came to acquire the deadly sickness. The doctor will slowly educate the

patient possible sources from where he could have acquired the disease

to prevent transmission. Here, Swami explains that the basic nature of

self is sat chit ananda. Existence - consciousness - and bliss is the

life's blue print or the DNA, i.e., the basic nature of self. Hence, if

one is connected to the SELF, he would experience a constant surge of

bliss, immersed in wisdom of knowledge (consciousness) and rooted in an

embodiment that lives and expresses the ideal of truth eternal.

However, from a steady state of this nature, the mind tempted by the

external sense objects slowly peeks out in search for three things.

Mind exists because it wants to or because it needs to know or merely

flows out sensuously to enjoy. The motive for the existence of mind is

clearly spelled out. These desires slowly crystallize and lend an

identity, the lens through which the self acts and interacts with the

world. When the thought rays enters through the prism of the ego, there

would be a further splitting of light and hence, the world begins to be

seen in fragments and pieces.'Here

is a piece of burning charcoal. If you take proper care of it, it will

keep burning. But if you neglect it, it will soon get covered up with

ashes. In the heart of every human being, there is a fire of wisdom.

That fire signifies a pure heart. Today, we are not able to see that

fire because the heart is enveloped by the ash of worldly desires. When

the ash is blown away, the fire will be visible.'(Sanathana Sarathi August 1994 - pg 210)Hence

from the womb of ego arise thoughts. Thoughts are born from three

sources... 1) I want to exist 2) I want to know more 3) I want to

enjoy. These three prompt the energy to flow outwardly into the world.

These three pull the mind to grab, wrestle and grapple every passing

sense object. The lusty and greedy passions after satisfying one moves

on to another sense object, leaving behind ashes of anxiety,

frustration and pain. This blankets the inner light of discrimination.

The thicker the ash screen, lesser the sharpness of the intellect and

blurrier the judgment of all decisions resulting in profitless

experiences. Wind of grace can blow away the ashes which were blocking

the effulgence, reinstating the light of wisdom.'The

senses exist and function in relation to the objective world. They

produce desires, impulses, feelings, emotions, etc., which go

collectively, to form the mind. Based on the desires and impulses, the

mind builds an image or a picture of oneself which forms the ego. Thus

the mind and the ego depend upon the senses for their existence. They

feed continuously on the sensations produced by the senses.'(Sathya Sai Amirtha Varshini - pg 26)The

mind will desire an object, it will want to enquire and it would move

towards enjoyment or pleasure. From Bhagavan's explanation, it can be

seen that the ego confers identity. From then on, all activities will

be generated to selfishly maintain that image or identity. The next

time one gets insulted, he must utilize the experience to understand

the mechanisms of how the ego gets crushed. The ego gets affected only

if the insult has wounded what he is dearly attached to, e.g.,

position, status, name, family, etc. It is like a parasite, once

allowed into a human system, it lives on the host and finally deplete

existing nutrition, ultimately conferring ill health and disease.

Hence, the desires push the mind outwards into the world developing

attachments. These attachments in turn sustain an identity which lends

a reference point of how one perceives the world.The Teacher provides one easy way to decrease attachment...'There

should be no scope for ego. You think that you are great? What is the

reason for this ego? For example, in a world map, India is small. Even

smaller is Madras. Kodaikanal is smaller. In Kodaikanal is your house.

What are you? So why is this entire ego? If you are egoistic, you are

foolish.'(Kodaikanal Discourse April 21 1996)The

ego lends identity and inflates false evaluation of one's self. When

identified with your own family, there will be hundreds of problems,

many too challenging to meet and many still providing ample reasons to

worry. Here Bhagavan gives a simple way on how we can dilute the

intensity of the problem. Increase the scope of the identification from

a family consciousness to society and nation, our problems compared

with many will appear too paltry to worry about. The house you live in

is so small when compared to the size of the country. If living's

motive is to fatten the bank balance, the anxiety to procure and

maintain profits will induce stress. The slightest breeze of a problem

will bring its share of groans and moans. The goal of any individual if

focused on higher ideal like serving the nation or God, every boulder

of a problem that stood like a monstrous obstacle is converted to a

tiny pebble easy enough to be kicked away. Hence if ego is to be

sublimed, we must begin to serve others apart from self and derive

happiness from satisfying the hunger and pain of the poor and needy.- 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/