XVIII Convocation of Sri Sathya Sai University - Divine Discourse 22-11-2009

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Posted at 21:53:43 Hrs. IST on 27 Nov 2009 In an unusual gesture, towards the end of His Divine Benedictory Address on the occasion of XVIII Annual Convocation of Sri Sathya Sai University, Bhagawan had asked His students to sing a song in unison. Reciprocating to the Divine Command, the students sang in chorus the song “Hum ko tum se pyar kitna ...†Receiving the love of the students, Bhagawan declared that their song had given Him immense happiness.

Calling students from the university 'good' compared to other students Bhagawan exhorted them to earn good names for themselves, parents and for the institution. Read on for Bhagawan's precious pearls of wisdom as delivered during the XVIII Annual Convcocation of Sri Sathya Sai University on 22nd Nov 2009.

BE GOOD, DO GOOD AND SEE GOOD

Bereft of truth, righteousness, peace, and love, the value of all your education is zero; bereft of truth, righteousness, peace, and love, the benefit of all your acts of charity and kindness is zero; bereft of truth, righteousness peace, and love, the utility of all your positions of power is zero; and bereft of truth, righteousness, peace, and love, the result of all your good deeds is zero. Sathya, dharma, santhi, and prema (truth, righteousness, peace, and love) are verily the pillars of the mansion of Sanathana Dharma. What else is to be conveyed to this assembly of noble souls. (Telugu poem)

In spite of his education and intelligence, a foolish man will not know his true Self and a mean-minded person will not give up his evil qualities. What is the use of acquiring education that cannot lead you to immortality? Acquire the knowledge that will make you immortal.(Telugu poem)

People pursue education and obtain high degrees in different disciplines. But, in their day-to-day life, their behaviour is totally at variance to the principles they learnt. In spite of their high academic qualifications, they woefully lack knowledge about the essence of education. What they acquire is only worldly, evanescent, and unreal education.

There are millions of students and highly educated people in the world. They obtain all sorts of degrees starting from A to Z. But, of what use are their degrees? What is their contribution to the welfare of the world? Do they help the poor and forlorn at least to a small extent? They earn crores of rupees; but they don’t give even a penny in charity. They are too selfish. They do not at all control their desires. One who controls his desires can work wonders in the world. People are not at all satisfied with their earnings. They accumulate huge amount of wealth and still crave to earn more.

The Vedas declare Na karmana na prajaya dhanena thyagenaike amrutatthwamanasu (immortality is not attained through action, progeny, or wealth; it is attained only by sacrifice). People do not at all strive to attain immortality. Wherever you see and whomever you come across, you find selfishness, selfishness, and selfishness alone. Of what use is the education of such selfish people?

No doubt, education has to be pursued and some activities have to be undertaken in the world for leading a comfortable life. One has to take care of the worldly needs for oneself and one’s family, like food, clothing, and shelter. But to what extent? These are all activities that one undertakes for the sake of oneself and one’s family, not for others.Modern education is breeding selfishness. It is for acquiring goods and services for one’s own comfort. These are worldly pleasures. The qualities of kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, and matsarya (desire, anger, greed, delusion, pride, and envy) drive man’s efforts in pursuit of worldly pleasures. No doubt worldly education helps to provide comfort and joy in the objective world, but it does not at all contribute to inner bliss.

Only the five human values of sathya (truth), dharma (righteousness), santhi (peace), prema (love), and ahimsa (nonviolence) confer inner bliss. A person who cultivates these five human values will always be happy. The five senses of action provide external pleasure; but the five human values confer inner bliss. Education helps to obtain various conveniences for external pleasure, whereas inner bliss can be experienced only by Educare. There is a lot of difference between Education and Educare. Education involves reading of books written by someone and listening to the lectures delivered by someone. Educare, however, has nothing to do with books. It has no form at all! It is Truth that has no form. The Upanishads ordain

“Sathyam vada, dharmam chara†(speak truth, practise righteousness). Truth has to be spoken and righteousness has to be practised. But, nowadays, people lecture about these values but do not follow. This is not correct.

Love is one quality that is common to all human beings, nay, animals, birds, beasts, and even insects. Every living being loves its progeny. And, love is divine. Whoever cultivates love, God manifests in them. It is only the divine quality of love that saves us from sorrows, difficulties, and calamities. Unfortunately, people do not cultivate love and instead go after transient things. “Love is God, live in love.†Worldly possessions give momentary pleasure, but love confers eternal bliss. Real love manifests from the depth of one’s own heart. One has to attain such divine love. Wherever you go, whatever activity you may undertake, let your heart be filled with love. Such a person, wherever he is, whether in the town or in the forest or in the sky or in a deep sea will surely be protected. Divine love neither grows nor diminishes. It always remains the same.

Ekameva adviteeyam Brahma (God is one without a second). To attribute various names to God such as Rama, Krishna, Govinda, etc., is only your imagination. That which has neither birth nor death is one and only one. It has no beginning and no end. That is Brahma. Hence, whenever someone enquires, “Who are you? What is your name?â€, reply with “Aham Brahmasmi†(I am Brahman). There is nothing real and eternal except Brahman. Hence, do not waste his time in pursuit of transient things. What is the use of acquiring such objects? No doubt worldly education is necessary. However, always remind yourself that it is all temporary.

Brahman is ONE without a second. Zero gains value only when it is placed after the digit one. Likewise, the zero of samsara (worldly life) will have value only if it is associated with the ONE that is Brahman. We are going after the impermanent and transitory things forgetting the ONE.

We think that the qualities of anger, envy, jealousy, pride, etc., are God-given, but it is not true. God does not make any distinction between people by granting positive attributes to some and negative qualities to others. All these differences are man-made. God has nothing to do with them. When our wish is fulfilled, we praise God. On the other hand, if something goes wrong, we attribute our failure to God and blame Him. God is only a witness to everything that goes on in the world, good or bad. He neither gives nor receives anything. All our sorrows and difficulties are of our own making. The thoughts that flow from our mind are expressed through speech. Hence, mind is the source for our speech. This mind has its origin in our breath (inhaling and exhaling). Therefore, the inhaling and exhaling (soham) is Brahman verily, and the mind represents Vishnu.

It is said, Manomoolam idam jagat (the world is a projection of the mind). Our vak (speech) represents Shiva. Hence, we need not go in search of the Trinity (Brahma, Vishnu, and Maheshwara) somewhere in a distant place. God is in us, with us, above, below, and around us. In fact, you are God. Your mind alone is responsible for your joy or sorrow. We think these are thrust on us by someone from outside. No, all these experiences flow from you only. You are responsible for everything. If you realize that these experiences emanate from your own mind and think that you are God, you will become God. On the other hand, if you identify yourself with the world and think “I am so and so,†you will remain separate from God.

Do not cultivate excessive desires. “Less luggage, more comfort makes travel a pleasure.†Hence, reduce the luggage of your desires. It is natural for people to have some desires, but one has to enquire which one of those desires is good for one and which causes harm. Unfortunately, this sense of discrimination is lost in present times. All these desires, which are the result of kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, and matsarya (desire, anger, greed, delusion, pride and envy), have their origin in the mind