Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

INDIA is the land where the dichotomy of 'that' and 'this,' of 'Creator' and 'Creation,' of 'energy' and 'matter,' was resolved in one grand Unity, by both theory and practice, in philosophical schools and in hermitages. The Tree of life, with its countless branches proliferating into thoughts, words, and deeds, attitudes, tendencies, and impulses, is known by the sages of India to have its roots in Heaven! So, every rule and ritual was made sacred and holy, suffused with purity, humility and love. This resulted in peace and happiness, for the individual, the family, the community, the nation and the world. But on account of the domination of exotic ways of thinking, quite contrary to Indian ideals, people have become ashamed to call themselves Hindus, as if the picture the sages drew was a caricature; as if they were being misled by their ancestors. This is a wrong and dangerous attitude; it ignores the lasting benefits that one can draw from the experience of those sages. The attractions of a free and easy life are superficial and hollow. When the wicked Kauravas were undraping the clothes of Dhroupadhi, the Pandavas sat unmoved; for they felt bound by their plighted troth; but the Lord, who loved them for that loyalty, came to her rescue! Now too, the honour of Hindu religion and culture is at stake; it is being derided and discarded by the very people who have the responsibility to foster and fructify them. Hindus are fast giving up the rites and ceremonies that marked the different stages of spiritual development. They join in the humiliating laughter of cynics who proclaim that they circled in outer space and did not find God anywhere; as if the earth under their feet and Nature around them were not witnesses enough for His existence!

Indian thought affirms that T and 'He' are one; that all is integrated in the composite whole, true, good, and beautiful, through and through. Indian thinkers have reached the dizziest heights of speculation and the clearest depths of intuition; they have found that the experience of fundamental unity is not negated by most rigorous logic. Therefore, all other faiths are but facets of this supreme Truth, this sublime experience. And, each little duty cast upon man in the Hindu Code of Morals reflects this awareness of Unity. For example, it is laid down that when a person dines without first feeding the chance guest or the hungry man at his door, he is committing theft, eating a meal of sin, partaking a feast of foulness! Dhamayanthi, deserted by her husband Nala, in the darkness of the forest, could not sleep, for she was anxious about her 1ord's welfare. Just then, she heard a herd of elephants rushing through, trampling the groups of aborigines sleeping around her; her warning cry was unheeded; they slept too soundly to be awakened. So too, India, that is to say, Vedamatha (the mother who speaks with the voice of the Vedas) has to warn the nations of the world, sleeping the sleep of sense-satiety, that wildness is rushing in to destroy them. This is the role of Bharath-, - to assert that God is a present and persistent factor in human life, in every atom, in the Universe and that God is Sath, Chith and Anandha (Existense, Conciousness and Bliss Absolute). She must nurse the tree of Dharma and garner from it, for the welfare of the whole world, the fruits of Ahladha (spiritual exhilaration), Anandha (bliss) and shanthi (calm equipoise). The preservation and promotion of Hindu Dharma is the need of the times. People who practise its principles have to propagate them, by precept and example. In every one, there is the thirst for God; only many deny it on account of false pride, some on account of ignorance, some call it by some other name, worry, discontent or despair. Some have faith only in Love, some believe only in Truth, some swear that they care only for Goodness - but, all these do not know that they are referring to God alone by these names. They too are pilgrims to the same Sacred Shrine. Prasanthi Nilayam, 7-10-196 7Man must reveal the divine qualities of love, humility, detachmentand contentment. If he does not, he becomes worse than a beastand more deadly.

BIRTH is the consequence of Kama (desire, lust): Death is the consequence of Kala (Time, the lapse of Time). The God of Desire (Kama) was reduced to ashes by Shiva; the God of Time is Kala or Yama. He was subdued by Shiva. So, one has to surrender to Shiva (God) if one has to escape the consequences of these two frightfully fatal forces. If between Kama and Kala, you take refuge in Rama, then you can escape the rigour. For Rama is the Atma and Atma (self, infinite) has no Kama and is unaffected by Kala. Nature - both outer and inner - is ruled by the Sovereign Atma, the Universal Soul, the Paramatma. So, if you earn the Grace of the Paramatma, Nature becomes your docile instrument. The body is nature; the vital air is Paramatma. Living beings are pictures moving on the screen; the screen which is unaffected by the emotions, the raging fire or roaring floods that pass over it, is the Paramatma. The worldly will be fascinated by the pictures, which through delusion, appear as if they are all real living incidents; the wise will concentrate on the screen, which is pure, white and clear. When water is poured into milk, it too takes on the nature of milk. Nature too appears to be capable of giving us stability, joy and peace; but, these are really the qualities of the Ultimate, the Paramatma. Like the water mixed in milk, these qualities do not belong to Nature at all.

The Hamsa (a legendary swan) has the property of separating the milk from the water and drinking the milk only. So too, Paramahamsa (realised person, who has achieved Truth) can separate the Illusory from the Real and experience the Bliss, communicated only by the Truth. Ramakrishna was a Paramahamsa; he knew how to separate milk (Truth) from the water (untruth) added to it. When he was suffering from cancer of the throat, unable to swallow food, his disciples entreated him to pray to mother Kali, that the cancer may be cured; they felt that Kali will certainly answer the prayer if he but made it. But, Paramahamsa refused to ask any such boon from God. His attention could not be diverted to any such low desire. "Why pray? If it is Her will, it will happen; if not, that too is Her will," that was the reply. There is a great deal of useless discussion and controversy about the paths to attain God; some demarcate three paths, Bhakthi, Karma and Jnana. But there need be no controversy on their relative efficacy. They are like the confluence of the three holy rivers at Prayag, the Ganga, the Yamuna, and the unseen underground Saraswathi. Ganga is the Bhakthi-marga (the Path of Devotion) - surrender, control of selfish, sensual pursuits; Yamuna is the Karma-marga (Path of ritual and ceremonial worship, of dedicatory acts) - engaging in activities, irrespective of the benefits therefrom, doing all duties as worship, eliminating all attachment, all pride of I-am-thedoer type; Saraswathi is the Jnana-marga (the Path of Knowledge; of acquiring true awareness of the Reality) - cognising that ideas of bondage are all delusion that One is ever Free, devoid of change, full of Anandha. The three Paths are like the wheels of a tricycle - the wooden push-cart, which children are given, to train them to take the first steps, while learning to walk. Bhakthi and Jnana are two wheels in one line at the back and the forward one is Karma. The child learns the steps and walks towards the "City of Freedom from Fear and Illusion."

Instead of relying upon mere enthusiasm to show the way, it is better that the spiritual aspirant receives guidance from a preceptor during the early stages. For, one has to observe the disciplines, with the awareness of their meaning. Dhyana, Upasana (worship), Pranavarecital - these are best done under proper guidance; mere text-books may lead the sadhaka (spiritual aspirant) into disappointment. The significance of each step has to be appreciated in order to ensure the co-operation of all the faculties of man in the effort and ensure success. Mere mechanical imitation or automatic repetition is of no value. Ask any one why green leaves are strung across the main entrance of the house; the reply will be, "It is the custom, since ages; every decent person does it." But, why? Few people know it; no one cares to know.

In the years gone by, every village home was stocked full of paddy bags, and so, the rats too inevitably infested every home. In one such home, they were celebrating every Full Moon Day the rite called Sathyanarayana Puuja. This required the collection of good quantity of milk and ghee, the previous night itself. The rats attracted cats and the cats often preferred milk and ghee to the rodent food they are accustomed to. So, the milk and ghee were carefully kept in places unreachable to the cats. But, during the celebrations on the sacred day, the milk and ghee had to be kept open and available for use in vessels around the shrine. That was the chance for the depredatory cat; so, the master of the house caught the cat by the neck and put it under a heavy basket, and placed a stone on it, so that it could not play any mischief with the holy offerings. This was done so consistently every Full Moon Day as a safety measure in one home that the children and grandchildren felt that, puuja or no puuja, no Full Moon Day should pass without a cat being imprisoned under a weighted basket! They started searching for a cat and bring it home, so that the 'ritual of the cat and basket' could be observed without fail.

The original meaning and purpose was lost during the passage of time and later generations were burdened with a belief that danger lurks if a cat is not dealt with, as their forefathers did! From being an insufferable nuisance, the cat rose to a new status of importance! This is blind imitation. The fundamental factor in spiritual life is the suppression of desire' the surrender of the individual will to the Divine Will, which will elevate thoughts, words and deeds into acts of worship. When Ravana fell dead, his queen Mandodhari lamented over his body, "You conquered every enemy of yours, except your own lust! You were pious, you were learned, you subdued even the most powerful foes - but, you allowed yourself to be enslaved by desire. That brought about your downfall." The magnifying glass draws the rays of the sun on a single point and can set fire to paper or grass. So too, concentration of attention can destroy the seeds of wanton desire. That is way I advise a few minutes of Dhyana every day, both in the early morning hours and in the evening, after dusk.