Sathya Sai Vahini - Preface & Chapter one

[Guest guest]

Sathya Sai Vahini

 

Preface

 

Dear Seeker!

 

Bhagavan has announced Himself as the Divine Teacher of Truth, Beauty

and Goodness. By precept and example, through His writings and

discourses, letters and conversations, He has been instilling the

supreme wisdom and instructing all mankind to translate it into

righteous living, inner peace and universal love. When the Ramakatha

Rasa Vahini, the uniquely authentic nectarine stream of the Rama

story, was serialised in full in the " Sanathana Sarathi " , Bhagavan

blessed readers with a new series which He named " Bharathiya

Paramartha Vahini " (The Stream of Indian Spiritual Values). While

these precious essays on the basic truths, that foster and feed

Indian Culture since ages before history began, were being published,

Bhagavan decided to continue the flow of illumination and instruction

under a more comprehensive and meaningful name, " Sathya Sai Vahini " -

the Ganga from the Lotus Feet of the Lord - " The Flow of Divine Sai

Grace " . This book, therefore, contains the two Vahinis that have

merged in one master stream.

 

Inaugurating these series, Bhagavan wrote, for publication in the

Sanathana Sarathi, " Moved by the urge to cool the heat of conflict and

to quench the agonising thirst for 'knowledge about yourself' that you

are afflicted with, see, here it comes, the Sathya Sai Vahini, wave

behind wave, with the Sanathana Sarathi as the medium between you and

me. " With infinite compassion, this Sathya Sai incarnation of the

Omniwill is giving millions of persons in all lands freedom from

disease, distress and despair, narcotics, narcissism and nihilism. He

is encouraging those who suffer gloom through willful blindness to

light the Lamp of Love in order to see the world and the Lamp of

Wisdom to see themselves. " This is a tantalising true false world;

its apparent diversity is an illusion; it is One, but is cognised by

the maimed multiple vision of humans as Many " , says Bhagavan. This

book is the twin Lamp He has devised for us.

 

Lord Krishna aroused Arjuna from the gloomy depression into which he

led his mind, at the very moment when duty called on him to be

himself - the far famed warrior, ready and eager to fight on behalf

of right against might. Krishna effected the cure by reminding him of

the Atma which was his reality and of Himself being the Atma he was.

Bhagavan says that we too are easily prone to get caught " in the

coils of cleverness and the meshes of dialectical logic. The key to

success in spiritual endeavour (and, what is life worth, if it is not

dedicated to that high endeavour?) is philosophical inquiry and moral

advance, both culminating in the awareness of the Atma, the source

and sum of all the energy and activity that is. " We are all motivated

by fear, doubt and attachments as Arjuna was. We are all hesitant at

the cross-road between the This and That, the wave and the ocean.

 

But, as created by Him, we are " the miracle of miracles " . Bhagavan

says, " Whatever is not in man cannot be anywhere outside him.

Whatever is visible outside him is but a rough reflection of what

really is in him. " " The Atma is free. It is Purity. It is Fullness.

It is unbounded. Its centre is the body but its circumference is

beyond the beyond. " Man has been endowed with a superintellect that

can recognise the existence of the Atma, strive for bringing it into

his awareness and succeed.

 

However, very few are human enough to seek to know who they are, why

they are here and wherefrom, and whither they go from here. They move

about with temporary names, encased in evanescent ever-changing

bodies. So, Bhagavan accosts us, " Listen! Children of Immortality!

Listen! Listen to the message of the Rishis who had the Vision of the

Most Majestic Person, the Purushothama, the Foremost and the First,

who dwells beyond the realms of Illusion and Delusion. O ye Human

beings! You are by nature ever full. You are indeed God moving on

earth. Is there a greater sin than calling you 'sinners'? When you

accept the appellation, you are defaming yourselves. Arise! Cast off

the humiliating feeling that you are sheep. Do not be deluded into

that idea. You are Atma. You are drops of Amrith, Immortal Truth,

Beauty, Goodness. You have neither beginning nor end. All things

material are your bondslaves; you are not their bondslaves, as you

imagine now. "

 

Bhagavan says, " Through the unremitting practice of Truth,

Righteousness, and Fortitude, the Divinity quiescent in the individual

has to be induced to manifest itself in daily living, transforming it

into the joy of truly loving. " " Know the Supreme Reality; breathe It,

bathe in It, live in It, then It becomes all of you and you become

fully It. " A material object is not self-expressive or swathah-

prakaasa. It depends wholly on the capacity for knowledge or chith-

sakthi of the individualised Atma for its manifestation or prakasa.

The relative world of objects is dependent upon the relative

consciousness of the jivi or individualised Atma. When the object is

further scrutinised and the true basis of the Plurality is grasped,

Brahman or the Oversoul as the First Principle is acknowledged as a

logical necessity. Subsequently, when sense control, mind-cleansing,

concentration and inner silence are achieved, what appeared as a

logical necessity dawns upon the purified consciousness as a Positive

Permanent Impersonal Will (Prajnaanam Brahma), whose expression is

all this.

 

Sathya Sai Vahini reveals to us in unmistakable terms that the self in

man is 'no other than the Overself or God'. We are told that this is

true not only of mankind but of all beings, everything and anywhere!

In fact, " Will causes this unreal multiplicity of Cosmos on the One

that He is. He can by the same Will end the phenomenon. " " Being (God)

is behind the Becoming and Becoming merges in Being. This is the

eternal Play, " says Bhagavan.

 

As Bhagavan writes, " the supreme end of education, the highest purpose

of instruction, is to help us to become aware of the universal

immanent Impersonal. " Sathya Sai in His role as the Teacher of

Teachers is instructing us herein for this supreme adventure of the

soul. Seekers proceeding on this pilgrimage have in Him a

compassionate guide and guardian, for He is the embodiment of the

very Will that planned the Play.

 

As we are led through the valley of this Vahini by Bhagavan who holds

us by the hand, He exhorts us to admire, appreciate and adore the

seers and sages of many lands who have pioneered into this realm and

laid down limits and bounds, preparatory disciplines and practices,

to smooth the path and hasten the discovery of Truth. He writes of

the Vedas and later spiritual texts, of the Forms of Worship that

have stood the test of centuries of loyal acceptance, and of the

Disciplinary Codes laid down for the four stages of human life and

for humans with pronounced inborn characteristics - the vertical

uplifting Sathwic, the horizontal expansive Rajasic and the dull

declining Thamasic. He clarifies the role of Karma and its

consequence. " Like a frail ship caught in a stormy sea,

man climbs up a gigantic wave and reaches its froth-edged peak. The

next moment, he is hurled into the trough, only to rise again. The

rise and fall are both the consequences of his own deeds. They design

the palace and the prison for man. Grief or joy is the resound, the

reflection or reaction of one's own actions. The Jivi can escape both

by cultivating the attitude of a witness, not involved in the

activities he has to do. " Bhagavan writes of 'Yoga' as the process of

the " coming together of Jivatma and Paramatma, the Self and the

Overself " and He elaborates on the path of Love (Bhakthi), of

Selfless Activity (Karma), of mastery over the mind (Raja), of

sublimation of Consciousness (Jnana). Bhagavan analyses the rights

and responsibilities of the individual and society and reveals to us

that they have the one underlying purpose of spiritual fulfilment.

 

To sum up, the Sathya Sai Vahini is the Geetha given to us by the

Person who, as Sanathana Sarathi, eager and ready to hold the reins

of our senses, mind, consciousness, ego and intellect, and guide us

safely to Prashanthi Nilayam, the Abode of Supreme peace, the Goal of

all mankind.

 

May we all be blessed by His Love and Grace.

 

N. Kasturi

 

Chapter 1

The Supreme Reality

 

The process of living has the attainment of the Supreme as its purpose

and meaning. By the Supreme is meant the Atma. All those who have

grown up in the Bharathiya culture - the Bharathiyas - know that the

Atma is everywhere. But, when asked how they have come to know of

this, some assert that the Vedas have taught them so, some others

quote the Sastra texts, and some others rely on the experiential

testimony of the great sages. Each of them bases his conclusion and

proves its correctness according to the sharpness of his intellect.

Many great men have directed their intelligence towards the discovery

of the omni-present Atma and succeeded in visualising that Divine

Principle. In this country, Bharath, they have evidence of the

successful realisation of the goals placed before themselves, by

preachers, pundits, aspirants and ascetics, when they tried earnestly

to pursue them. However, among millions of men, we can count only a

few who have been able to visualise the Universal Atman.

 

No other living being has been endowed with intelligence and

discriminative faculty, heightened to this degree, in order to enable

it to visualise the Atma. This is the reason why man is acclaimed as

the crown of creation, and why the Sastras proclaim that the chance

of being born as man is a very rare piece of good fortune. Man has the

qualifications needed to seek the cause of Creation; he has in him the

urge and the capacity. He is utilising the Created Universe for

promoting his peace, prosperity and safety; he is using the forces and

things in Nature for promoting his happiness and pleasure. This is

approved by the Vedas themselves.

 

The Vedas are the authority for the faith of millions. They are the

very words of God. The Hindus believe that the Vedas had no beginning

and will have no end. God speaks to man. They are not books written by

authors. They are revelations conferred by God on many inquirers, of

the ways of earning the Supreme Goal. They existed before they were

revealed as valid paths; they will continue valid even if man forgets

the path. They did not originate at any period of time nor can they

be effaced at some other time. The Dharma which the Vedas allow us to

glimpse is also without a beginning or an end. For, it refers to the

Supreme Goal.

 

Of course, a few may argue that, though it may be conceded that the

Dharma relating to the supreme goal has no ending, surely it must have

had a beginning. The Vedas declare that the cycle of Creation -

Dissolution has no point where it begins and no point where it ends.

It is a continuous wheel. And, there is no change in the quantum of

the Cosmic Energy - either increase or decrease; it is ever the same,

ever established in Itself. The Created and the Creator are two

parallel lines, with their beginnings unknown and their endings

incomprehensible. They are moving at equal distances from each other,

ever and ever. Though God is ever active, His Will and the Power

behind it are not clear to the human intellect.

 

The Supreme, according to the Bharathiyas, (inheritors of Indian

culture) is Vastness Itself. It rises to the high skies and roams free

in that expanse. It was declared in clear terms, long prior to the

historical period. The study of the concept of the Supreme and the

propagation of this concept suffered serious setbacks in the course of

history. But, it has confronted each of these with success and is

today asserting itself alive and alert. This is proof of the innate

strength of this revelation. The conceptions of the Supreme Goal as

laid down in Judaism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism endeavored to

subsume into their categories the Bharathiya concept and transfuse it

as part of themselves; still, it did not accept an alien status in

its own 'birth-place'; on the other hand, it clarified to those

religions themselves their own concept of the Ultimate and emphasised

the Unity of all view-points, and established cordiality on the basis

of the absence of difference. While the stream of knowledge regarding

the Supreme Goal discovered by the Bharathiya saints flowed on the

concepts of the other faiths remained as pools beside it.

 

In India (Bharath) itself many sects were born like mushrooms from out

of the main faith. They tried to pluck by the roots or to cause mortal

damage to the basic concept of Hinduism regarding the Reality, the

Supreme. But, as in a terrific quake of land the waters of the sea

recede only to return with thousand-fold fury roaring back upon the

shore it had seemed to quit, this stream of Bharathiya wisdom was

restored to its pristine glory, when it rose above the confusions and

conflicts of history. When the agitations subsided it attracted the

varied sects that distracted the mind of man, and merged them into its

expansive form. The Atma principle of the Bharathiyas is all

embracing, all-revealing, all-explaining and all-powerful.

 

Developing faith in the Atma Principle and loving it earnestly - this

is the real worship. The Atma is the one and only Loved One for man.

Feel that it is more lovable than any object here or hereafter - that

is the true adoration man can offer to God. This is what the Vedas

teach. The Vedas do not teach the acceptance of a bundle of

frightfully hard rules and restrictions; they do not hold before man

a prison-house where man is shut in by the bars of cause and effect.

They teach us that there is One who is the sovereign behind all these

rules and restrictions. One who is the core of each object, each unit

of energy, each particle or atom and One under whose orders alone the

five elements - ether, air, fire, water and earth - do operate. Love

Him, adore Him, worship Him - say the Vedas. This is the grand

philosophy of Love as elaborated in the Vedas.

 

The supreme secret is that man must live in the world where he is born

like the lotus leaf, which though born in water floats upon it without

being affected or wetted by it. Of course, it is good to love and

adore God with a view to gain some valuable fruit either here or

hereafter; but, since there is no fruit or object more valuable than

God or more worthwhile than God, the Vedas advise us to love God,

with no touch of desire in our minds. Love, since you must love for

love's sake; love God, since whatever He can give is less than He

Himself; love Him alone, with no other wish or demand.

 

This is the Supreme Teaching of the Bharathiyas. Dharmaja, the eldest

of the Pandava brothers, as depicted in the Mahabharatha, is the

ideal of this type of Lover. When he lost to his enemies his vast

empire which included all India and had perforce to live in caves

among the Himalayan ranges, with his consort Droupadi, she asked him

one day, " Lord! You are undoubtedly the topmost among those who

follow unwaveringly the path of Dharma; yet, how is it that such a

terrible calamity happened to you? " She was stricken with sorrow.

 

Dharmaja replied, " Droupadi! Do not grieve. Look at this Himalayan

range. How magnificent! How glorious! How beautiful! How sublime! It

is so splendid a phenomenon that I love it without limit. It will not

grant me anything; but it is my nature to love the beautiful, the

sublime. So, here too I am residing, with Love. The embodiment of

this sublime beauty is God. This is the meaning and significance of

the love for God. "

 

" God is the only entity that is worth loving. This is the lesson that

the agelong search of our Bharathiyas has revealed. This is the reason

why I am loving Him. I shall not wish for any favour from Him. I shall

not pray for any boon. Let him keep me where He loves to keep me. The

highest reward for my love is His love, Droupadi! My love is not an

article in the market " . Dharmaja understood that Love is a Divine

quality and has to be treated so. He taught Droupadi that Love is the

spontaneous nature of those who are ever in the awareness of the Atma.

 

The Love which has the Atma as its basis is pure and sublime; but,

since man is bound by various pseudo forms of love, he believes

himself to be just a Jiva, isolated and individualised, and deprives

himself of the fullness and vastness of Divine Love. Hence, man has

to win the Grace of God; when he secures that Grace, the Jivi or the

individual will be released from identification with body and can

identify himself with the Atma. This consummation is referred to in

the Vedas as 'Liberation from Bonds' (Bandhavicchedana), or 'Release'

(Moksha). To battle against the tendency of body- identification, and

to win the Grace of God as the only means of victory, spiritual

exercises have been laid down, such as philosophical inquiry, besides

sense-control (dama), and other disciplines of the six-fold Sadhana.

The practice of these will ensure the purification of the

consciousness; it will then become like a clean mirror that can

reflect the object; so, the Atma will stand revealed clearly. For

Jnanasiddhi (the attainment of the highest wisdom), Chitthasuddhi

(the cleansing of the consciousness) is the Royal Path. For the pure

in heart this is easy of achievement. This is the central truth of

the Indian search for the ultimate Reality. This is the very

vital breath of the teaching.

 

The Bharathiya approach is not to waste time in discussions and

assertions of faith in dogmas. They do not delight in the sight of

empty oyster shells thrown upon the beach. They seek to gain the

pearls that lie in the depths of the sea; they would gladly dive into

those depths and courageously seek for pearls. The Vedas show them

the ideal to follow and the road which leads to the realisation. The

ideal is the awareness of the supreme Truth that lies beyond the

knowledge gained by the senses of man. The Vedas remind man that the

non-physical Atma is in the physical 'him', that embodiment of Truth

is the Supreme Atman, the Paramatman. That alone is real and

permanent; the rest are all transitory, evanescent.

 

The Vedas took form only to demonstrate and emphasise the existence of

God. The Hindu siddhapurushas (those who attained the highest goal of

spiritual Sadhana) have all travelled along the Vedic path and carried

on their investigations according to Vedic teachings. The Sastras

contain authentic versions of their experiences and the bliss they

won. In the Sastras, and in the Upanishads, they assert, " We had the

awareness of the Atma " . Hindus do not aim at confronting a dogma or a

theory and scoring a victory over it; they aim at testing that dogma

or theory in actual practice. Their goal is not mere empty faith; it

is the Sthithi (the stage reached), the Siddhi (the wisdom won). The

life-aim of the Bharathiyas is to reach fulfilment, through constant

Sadhana, the fulfilment that comes from the awareness of one's

Divinity. Mergence with the Divine is the attainment of fullness.

This is the Supreme Victory for the Hindu, the Bharathiya.