NEED VERSUS DESIRE

[Guest guest]

Cultivate Good Thoughts and Noble Feelings in your Heart

 

NEED VERSUS DESIRE

 

How do I stop these desires? I know that desire is not in my own

interest. How to stop it or prevent it?

 

My friends, do not mistake me when I say that desire is wrong. Needs

are different from desires. I need toothpaste. It's not a desire. I

want to brush my teeth. I want you to sit by my side; therefore I

need toothpaste for brushing my teeth. (Laughter) Is that a desire?

 

I want to have a cup of coffee. It is not a desire. Needs are

different from desires. Necessities make your life comfortable,

peaceful, and convenient. My point is that true needs will never

create a sense of fear, because we should have basic necessities in

order to conduct our lives. It is only desire that should be

controlled, please understand this.

 

ONLY SELF KNOWLEDGE CAN REDUCE DESIRE Then how do we free ourselves

from desire? There is only one secret. There is only one technique,

one answer. There is only one path to be desireless. There are not a

lot of options or choices; you cannot ask me for or suggest a second

alternative. What is the secret?

 

It is the knowledge of the Self—Atma Jnana, knowledge of the soul,

knowledge of the spirit, awareness of consciousness. Only knowledge

of the Self will help us give up desire, nothing else.

 

What is Atma Jnana? " I have enough Jnana, or knowledge, because I

read the Bhagavad Gita, the Holy Bible, or my scripture every day. I

sing bhajans. I have enough knowledge of the Self. Then what other

Atma Jnana are you talking about? " That may be the next genuine

question from your side.

 

We love Bhagavan for this reason. He explains everything in the

simplest way possible. Swami puts concepts in a single sentence,

while those same concepts are explained over several pages or

chapters in books. Swami makes them beautifully simple. Who can carry

books, particularly when books are not allowed in Sai Kulwant Hall?

Hari Om, that's all. His simple answers are highly potent, like

thousand watt bulbs, or candles, that illuminate an entire area.

 

ONLY ONE WITHOUT A SECOND What does Baba say about Atma Jnana? What

is Self awareness? He has a simple answer—to know that there is only

One-without-a-second. It means that there is only God, nothing else.

Then who are we? We are all Divine. What are trees? Divine. What are

mountains? Divine. What are animals? Divine. The same Divinity has

taken the role of an animal, of a plant, of a human.

 

" Only One-without-a-second " is the quintessence, the essence, of the

knowledge of the Self. That is what is called Atma Jnana. When we

have this Self awareness, or experience of the consciousness, when we

clearly understand and become convinced that there is only One-

without-a-second, then who can desire anyone else?

 

A simple example: I want you because you are separate from me. I can

go on saying, " I want you, I want you, I want you, " from morning to

night. We cannot say when someone becomes insane. If I am the only

one in existence, then I cannot say that I want you. So when there

are two, one can love, one can hate; one can be a friend, the other

an enemy. Two can fight or shake hands. When there is only one, who

is to shake hands with whom?

 

The awareness and understanding that there is only One-without-a-

second is called Atma Jnana—knowledge of the spirit or awareness of

the Self. When this understanding develops, there is nothing to

desire in this world. So people who have fewer desires, or want to be

desireless, must develop Atma Jnana, the knowledge of the Self. That

is the only way to end mundane, physical, worldly desires. There is

no other way, as Bhagavan has said in His discourses.

 

THE KNOWER AND THE KNOWN ARE ONE This is a simple example: there are

thousands of oysters and shells in the sea. If you are observant when

collecting them, you notice that they shine like silver. But is there

silver in the shell? No. It appears to be silver, but it is not

silver. Similarly, what we know appears to be knowledge of the Self,

but it is not.

 

Why? The knower and the known are one. That is the beauty of it. I am

the knower. I want to know the Atma, the consciousness. Ultimately I

will know that Atma, or consciousness, is not different from me. I

think I am clear. The knower and the known are one. This is the

knowledge of the Self, Atma Jnana, which will deliver us from the

clutches and bondage of desire, as explained by Bhagavan.

 

SURRENDER TO THE LOTUS FEET How to start? You should make a start

somewhere, at some point. How to become desireless and experience the

knowledge of the Self? How to be in constant integrated awareness?

What is the beginning step?

 

Surrender to the Feet of the Divine Master. Surrender to the Divine

Feet of the Holy Master.

 

Manasa Bhajare Guru Charanan

Dustara Bhava Sagara Taranam

Guru Maharaj Guru Jai Jai

Sai Natha Sadguru Jai Jai

 

Once you surrender at the Lotus Feet of God, the channel or gates of

knowledge of the Self are open to you. The knowledge of the Self will

be available to you, so that you are soaked in consciousness. That is

why a guru, or a preceptor, or a Divine Master is required.

 

How to surrender to the Divine Master? That is again a problem,

because we don't agree with the other man. How do you expect me to

surrender at the Feet? If someone says that today was a bright, sunny

day, the other man says that yesterday was brighter. (Laughter) When

we don't agree because of ego problems, the process of surrender is

not that easy. It is easier said than done.

 

CHANT THE LORD'S NAME How to surrender? Constant chanting of His name

is the path to surrender. That is why:

 

Manasa Bhajare Guru Charanam

 

Contemplate the Feet of the Lord

How?

Guru Maharaj, Guru Jai Jai

Sainath Sadguru Jai Jai

 

Sing His Glory

 

When you sing His glory, it is possible to:

 

Manasa Bhajare Guru Charanam

 

Concentrate on the Feet of God

 

Ram Chugani

Kobe, Japan

rgcjp