Chapter Twelve

"Scientists after long investigations, have discovered that the whole universe is made up of atoms. The Vedantins, on their part, declare that everything is permeated by the Divine. The terms used are different, but the meaning is the same. Energy is Brahman and Brahman is energy. The cosmos is filled with energy. All that you see, all that you do is energy. You observe an object. You see an individual. Both the object and the individual are manifestations of energy," said Sathya Sai Baba, at a discourse on July 20th 1997.

"What is this energy?" He continues, "It is something which you cannot see or hear or conceive in the mind. Energy is energy alone. It is Divine. Every physical object has a base. There is electrical energy in man. Likewise, there is radiation energy in man. There must be a basis for all these energies. You see that in the world every object is based on some other object. God is the base for all the energies in the cosmos. The Vedantins called this energy Transcendental Energy. Scientists have termed it 'Super-power'. The names used may vary, but the substance is one and the same."

He proceeds to state that all individuals have latent potencies of which he is not aware. Scientists give different titles to different energies, ie. 'psychotronic' energy and 'bioplasmic' energy. Those who in the past have studied the ancient texts of the Vedas would give the blanket term, 'Transcendental Energy'. "How is the presence of this energy to be recognised?", He asks. "The Vedantins described the process of recognition as involving 'will-power', concentration, meditation and deep awareness. By these four processes, one can experience the power of the Spirit. This means that in the final analysis every individual, every object, and every form of energy becomes one with the Divine."

Sai Baba continues, "In this context one has to understand the implications of oneness with the Divine. One desires to merge in God and achieve liberation. How is this to be secured? God is formless. He is the source of all energy. He is effulgent. Eight kinds of potencies have been attributed to God. He is the source of all sound, all motion, all light, all speech, all bliss, all excellence, all illusion and all prosperity. How is one to realise such an omnipotent Divinity? Water can integrate with water. Air can combine with air. Fire can merge with fire. As God is formless, to become one with God, we have to become formless. What does this imply? It means that we have to get rid of the attachment to the body. This is achieved through meditation. While retaining attachment to the body one cannot hope to achieve oneness with God merely by praying for it. You have to become formless to realise the formless Divine."

Merging with our own Divinity, is the ultimate goal of all mankind. Achieving this can only be done when we move from the dualistic state; seeing ourselves separate from that source of Divine effulgence, God. The light of all our lives comes from the supreme source of all light, and that individual light should merge in the Supreme Divinity from which all other lights emanate.

The practise of external worship, such as prayer, meditation, bhajans or spiritual songs, reciting the Lord's name, or other spiritual exercises, do not promote, as Baba says, "...the exploration of the internal spirit. They are good in themselves, but they are unrelated to spirituality. Spirituality implies relationship of spirit to spirit. All actions have appropriate consequences. Every act results in its own reward. Good acts yield good results, but they do not contribute to spiritual progress. Hence the good acts should be the stepping stones for the spiritual journey."

He continues to impress upon us not to remain content with performing the rituals and other acts of worship, or to be sanguine with the dogmas of our respective religions. The spiritual journey does not finish there. We must be prepared to embark on the grand spiritual adventure; the excursion from dualism to non-dualism. To become the knower of the Absolute, you have to experience the oneness with the Divine.

Unfortunately, man today is too impressed with the technological advances he sees around him. Scientific quests into outer space, and medical discoveries, dazzle him into believing that they are all important for his future well-being. Whereas the truth exists within; that man has taken human birth to manifest the Divine within. He has come from God, and can only take the return journey when he realises that "He and I are One!" and that God is not separate from him, but dwells within his heart, awaiting contact, and the final cognition of that Oneness.

While one may desire to merge with God, and attain liberation from the cycle of birth and death, we must begin our journey by detaching ourselves from limitations of the physical body. This will release us from the range of physical desires which act as chains, binding us and restricting our freedom of spiritual advancement. This image was depicted in an ancient painting showing a man chained to a great rock, in deep water, struggling to release himself from his bonds, and float gently to the sunlight above the surface. We too are bound by our desires in the deep waters of the emotional body.

When modern man begins to accept the existence of a Supreme Reality, or God, he seeks to find Him, to hold Him, as if the Creator of All could be acquired like a piece of property: to have Him on hand in case of emergencies, or at times of need.

To have God, one must realise God. When you realise God, you are One with God, and your Spiritual Journey is at an end!

A deeper explanation of this thinking, was given in the Bhagavad Gita, when Krishna told Arjuna, "Though you are highly educated, though you have sense control, though you have accomplished great feats and have developed many skills, you are, nevertheless, experiencing many difficulties. This is because you have not been able to understand the Divinity. As long as you have not been able to understand the Divinity, you cannot be free from sorrow. If you want to free yourself from sorrow and earn the grace of the Lord, you must obey my commands."

"First of all, remember that you are not the body. These sense organs have no connection with you; they are associated with the body. Use the body for doing work, but do not identify yourself with the body or the work. You have taken birth in this body as the result of your past actions, your Karma, and you must use this body for performing Karma. So, get up! Arise, Arjuna! Do your duty. Perform actions and offer them all to me. Let me have the consequencies of your actions. Shun selfishness uphold justice, be fixed in faith! That is the Dharma from age to age. If you obey my commands, I will take care of you."

Krishna continued to advise Arjuna, "I want to tell you one other thing, the blind father of these evil cousins of yours had 100 sons, yet in the end there was not even one of them left to perform his funeral rites. What is the reason for this? All these sons were the children of God, but the blind king considered them as his. Arjuna, you are also becoming a brother to him. You are deluding yourself with the idea that this body is yours when it really is not yours at all. By thinking that you are the body, you are developing the same blind outlook. That is complete ignorance. Unless you drive away this ignorance, you will not be able to realise wisdom. You have to develop discrimination and self-inquiry in order for wisdom to enter into you."

"Within your body is the spiritual heart, and within that heart is God. Also, in your body is the individual soul. These two, God and the individual, appearing to live separately inside the body, are playing together, acting out their parts in a grand drama. They come together and go apart again, as directed by the author who has written this play. He assigns all the separate roles of good and bad, virtue and sin. But, in truth, there is only the one Divinity that plays all these parts."

"From the standpoint of the body, there is the individualised soul manifested as this particular person of body and mind, and there is God who is the indweller of the heart. As long as you have the delusion of the body, these two, God and the soul remain separate entities enjoying their play with each other. As soon as the delusion disappears, they merge into the one all-pervasive Divine Principle. When you remove the false delusion of body-consciousness, you bring about the union of the individual and God. Then you are established in Divine Consciousness and enjoy eternal bliss."

"Arjuna, always have the sense that everything which exists is one and the same entity." Krishna said, "Do not allow the senses to pull you away from this feeling of unity and equanimity. Let your heart be free from sorrow and elation, attachment and hatred. Be unaffected by censure or praise. Treat all people equally."

"When you firmly believe that everything in this creation is the manifestation of divinity, then you will become steeped in wisdom and freed from illusion. Then you will have realised the true purpose for which you have been born as a human being. Arjuna! Carry out my commands! See me everywhere! Know me to be your very self, the Atma! Realise the Atma and be forever free!"