Message of Bhagwan
Sri Sridhara Swami Maharaj
on the completion of “Chaturmasya” (
Listen ! O sons of immortality :
The sun of universal dharma, emerging out of
the
“May one and all be happy, may one and all be
healthy;
May one and all see good time, Let none suffer
sorrow.”
The Vedas declare that Dharma is the mainstay
of the entire world. By this we might also understand that knowledge of Dharma
alone will enable men to carry out wordly and
spiritual activities in the best possible way.
“Let us live without sorrow for a hundred
summers” is the vedic wish.
It is to enable men to realize this goal of health, strength and peace that the
idea of Dharma has been propounded from time to time.
The term Dharma is etymologically significant
because it means “that which sustains all”. It is clear therefore that the sole
sustaining force of the entire universe is Dharma. Its main function is to
preach what is good for the whole of humanity. The laws imposed by it shall
thus have a universal application and shall conduce to the good of humanity,
both here and thereafter.
There is also another etymological explanation of
Dharma – “That by which everything is sustained”. In this explanation, the
scope of Dharma will be restricted to that alone whose observance will conduce
to universal protection from evil and which preaches only such laws as are
conducive to the good of the whole world. Viewed in this light, Dharma can be
only for the whole world.
Dharma to be true to its name ought to possess
universal extension and validity. And in this widest range of Dharma , are of course included all men and women.
“May our minds all be one” – such is the
declaration of the scripture. It preaches in the clearest terms possible that
the human community should cultivate the spirit of unity and concord. So long
as life lasts, one has to give and take the means of subsistence in a spirit of
cooperation from others; one has to keep to the good path in a way not harmful
to others; and finally one has to find time for the quest for the Almighty and
the pursuit of spiritual exercises.
No one can escape death; nor can one avoid life.
No happiness in this world is trustworthy to the extent “joy eternal” of the Mukta. And life itself would be a waste if no attempt is
made to attain Immortal joy. Nor is it proper to make distinctions of high and
low in the one Absolute who is the ultimate destination of one and all.
What else but His power shapes and directs even
our gross bodies? Pleasure of the body for its own sake is something that
should be condemned and curbed and one should not fall prey to its temptation.
Why then this behaviour
of discord and clash between religion and religion, nation and nation, province
and province, community and community, class and class, interest and interest?
What joy can come out of this? Why do people
waste their lives in useless endeavours never caring
to know the truth? What peace can be got from all this? Only they might know!
Universal Dharma preaches the loftiest and the
best code of morality. It is also called “Sanatan
Dharma”, because it spreads everywhere the knowledge of Eternal reality. This
is indeed the distinguishing feature of Dharma. Since sensual pleasures are
sought after naturally and egoism comes instinctively to everyone with
dualities, that engender these, wherein would lie the uniqueness of Dharma if
that too preached the cultivation of these things
only?
Therefore only that deserves to be truly regarded
as Dharma which can vouchsafe the highest bliss of Atman which is super-mundane
and changeless.
Through the paths of Action and Knowledge, this Sanatan
Dharma leads the individual soul higher and higher by gradual stages and
ultimately proclaims”Thou art That”.
Deliverance is nothing but the realisation of one’s own true nature – this is the teaching
of all the crucial texts in the scriptures.
Coolly contemplate on that as waters… All this universe is
the dwelling of the Lord. Where aught else is not seen, where aught else is not
heard, where aught else is unknown, That is the
highest experience and Bliss is only that.
These are some of the texts mentioned above. This
world both physical and mental is an effect of its First cause, the triune
unity of Sat, Chit and
Ananda and it finally merges into That as it emerged
from That.
Hence self realization is possible only on the
supposition that the urge is due to That and the experience also is had by That
though it may have assumed a different form now.
One should therefore rise to the highest state by
filling the outer world and the inner world of mind with the bliss that comes
from the Knowledge of spirit. These worlds should melt away in that Self-realisation whose nature can be understood only be personal experience.
Ones self must become that highest Bliss itself wherein nothing willm remain
for him to see or hear or know, that Bliss which has no limits whatever. The
highest Truth preached by universal Dharma and its last word is that one should
seek for and achieve the state of Self-experience wherein one has perforce to
remain speechless and thoughtless even like a dunb
man after his tasting sugar. Everything is discarded as”not
This; not This” by the seeker after perfection, until
he finally loses his individuality itself and reaches the highest state of
self-realization when his ‘Silence itself becomes eloquent’- such is the
declaration of the Srutis.
“Whatever is a product of gold shall always
remain golden; in the same way, whatever is born of Brahman shall retain the
nature of Brahman.” An ornament made of gold does not cease to be golden.
Though the outer form undergoes change, its inner essence remains the same. In
like manner this inner and outer world is just a transformation of Sat-chit-Ananda; and hence remains always Sat-chit-Ananda in essence.
Since the effect is always permeated by the
cause, Brahman alone permeates throughout the effect, viz
–the inner and outer world. Just as the undifferentiated gold alone will remain
when the golden ornament is viewed only from the standpoint of gold and both the vision and the idea lose
themselves in the object gold and not in the appearance of ornament, so also
unalloyed Bliss alone will remain when the universe which is only an ornament
of Bliss is viewed purely from the standpoint Bliss and both the intellect and
idea lose themselves in Bliss.
This state of perfect Bliss itself is called Moksha or Deliverance. “Attainment of the highest bliss is
the state of Moksha” – This is the greatest teaching of Srutis
which propounds universal Dharma.
“He who finds everywhere the omnipresence of
God alone , should not be deemed to have committed
suicide; in fact by doing so he will attain the highest state.”
“He alone sees truly who sees in all mortal
beings the highest God as uniformly stationed.”
“One whose soul is
disciplined by Yoga, sees the same in all; he sees himself in all the beings
and all the beings in himself.”
“Thy soul itself is there in the heart of one and
all.”
“The soul is imperishable, forsooth and of the
nature of bliss”
Such are the instructions of the Upanishads.
Look upon every being with aquality
whether it is “Knowers of truth, a Brahmin, who is
well read and virtous, a cow, an elephant, a dog and
a chandala” because all are identical in essence, viz Atman.
“Here and now is the bond of birth broken by
those whose mind has attained equanimity; Brahman is not tainted by flaws(like birth and death) and remains ever the same. Hence
they too remain unaffected in Brahman”.
Cultivate this equanimity. The prime object of
universal Dharma is this teaching of equanimity. The modern world, instead of
tasting this sweet morsel of food benignly bestowed by the scriptural mother ,
is now using forces of opposition to realize the equality, indulges in blood
shed and plundering to attain peace, and takes to the path of irreligion in
order to know the principles of religion.
It is breeding discontent in fact though its professes aim is the securing of universal contentment.
While professing to wipe out the distinctions of high and low, it only
strengthens them, because its efforts, are essentially
miscalculated. It is only adding to commotion instead of ushering in peace.
This exactly is Adharma. We see in the world today , just the situation which might come when universal
Dharma meant to preserve everything is totally set at naught.
“Absolute non-dualism is meant for spiritual
experience always; and never should one bring it down to wordly
activity!”. ..this is another
tenet of universal Dharma. It also states that the microcosm is like the
macrocosm and that the macrocosm is like the microcosm. Since ego-consciousness
pervades every limb of the body, one might say that ultimately the nature of
all the limbs is identical. Yet,the
functions of the different limbs always remain distinct.
Each different limb has been devised to carry out
its special function only. Life itself would become impossible if this natural law is to be
reversed. From the inner ego’s point of view, we do retain the consciousness
that all the limbs are non-different, and yet we carry on easily the diverse
functions of the individual limbs in our daily lives. The same is true of the
macrocosm also.
Diversity in this universe is the direct
result of the varying nature, quality and function of each separate unit though the ultimate
cause is non-dual. “I, the one, will become many”- by such a desire for
differentiation and plurality does the one God take the form of this universe.
Therefore this plurality and diversity in the microcosm can never be
transcended by outer actions and can be transcended only by inner experience as
vast as the microcosm itself.
Even as we
prepare food conducive to taste to taste and health from diverse ingredients
with varying tastes of sour and salt, sweet and bitter, hot and astringent, we
should secure for ourselves fitness for Moksha by a
close observance of duties laid down for different Varnas
and Ashramas by universal Dharma.
One should think of the good of all according
to his station and temperament. Universal Dharma has devised Varnas and Ashramas, codes of
conduct and conventions only with the object of securing for everyone the goal
of self-improvement and final emancipation.
Even in the body which is responsible for all the
transaction of the universe, there are limbs that perform functions low and
high. How then can the idea of high and low in mundane life be obliterated from
society since the idea springs from the fact of difference which guides all wordly
activity?
But it is possible if the attitude is
broadened and grounded on the inner experience of unity just as from the point
of sustaining individual lifeevery limb has its equal
place and the function of every limb has its value, though the function may be
high or low from another point of view.
If one has the goal of higher living now and
final emancipation hereafter, since these goals are common to every religion on
earth, each can continue in its own way without a clash, conscious only of the
commonness of the goal.
The scriptures that lay down Sanatana Dharma have brought home this point by the
metaphor that Brahman sprang from the mouth of Absolute Parmatman,
Kshatriya from the arms, vaisya from the thights and
sudra from the feet. The metaphor distinguishes
clearly the different kinds of conduct and duty meant for members of the
different Varnas.
Nations are seen to differ in dress, diet and
pursuits of activity; but nothing prevents them from living together most
harmoniously. In the same way, diversity in dress or diet, conventions or
customs cannot stand in the way of social welfare or spiritual discipline.
There is no scope at all for any loss of love.
Even in an army fighting for liberty, there
are bound to be distinctions of high and low office, like the
Commander-in=chief and the foot-soldier. No nation can exist if the very
distinction of the person to command and the person to obey is totally
obliterated.
In every department of state and every court of
law, there are bound to exist distinctions of high and low office, degrees of
power and varying degrees of efficiency. Even in assemblies started to wipe out
distinctions, in communist states and nations ,swearing
by equality, distinctions like president & vicepresident
do persist. Their powers and their relations are certainly those that admit of
distinction in to high and low.
The one that was in the beginning has Himself
become all this universe. When we count, we begin with
‘one’. This hints to the fact that everything was ‘one’ in the beginning. What
was one at first assumed the two forms of Purusha and
Prakriti and thenn became
many. All numbers are nothing but accumulations of number ‘one’ only. All is
thus one. Many is only the extension of one. “All this
is verily I”.
In every body ego-consciousness takes an
identical form ‘I”. It is therefore logical also to think that this common “I”
has assumed the form of many by its own free will. Since this consciousness of
“I” is common to man and woman, it is clear that man and woman are but the two
forms of one absolute assumes by a single will. “Everything should be deemed
one; the many does not ever exist”. This is the lesson of the Vedas which teach
universal Dharma.
Though it is not possible to wipe away the
scene of duality or manifoldness totally, though it might appear improper to
unify all the duties and works of varied persons from the standpoint of social
welfare, it is quite possible and feasible to see oneness everywhere from the
inner spiritual plane in this diverse and manifold creation.
“That knowledge is the purest which grasps
undivided and unchanging oneness in all the manifold and distinct objects or
beings.”
Universal Dharma holds that this knowledge
leads to Moksha. Its lesson is that Oneness is to be
seen in the manifold and manifoldness, which cannot affect its oneness in the
one, if individual and national life is to be lived most harmoniously. If such an equality becomes the shining goal of life, it will be
easy to discharge one’s duty for one and all; mutual harmony and good feeling
will grow; and the present disharmony will disappear. This is the only means to
cure the inner disharmony of man.
Correspondence in matters external like diet and
dress cannot bring about inner harmony. If they could, why do children of the
same parents brought up in the same environment of dress, diet, etc quarrel with one another? It would be good, if men in lo
state emulated the example of men higher than themselves and served them to
reach high status themselves. But when the great ideals themselves are ignored
even by the supposed great, what shall remain for emulation to the lower men?
Ones mind shudders to conceive that everyone
will be a fallen soul in the wake of negligence of ideals bearing in mind, the
teaching of Psychology that forces of environment alone will shape one’s
personality. Even as water flows from a higher level to a lower level, it is
the mind’s nature to flow towards evil rather than towards good. May God forbid
such a state. May the world be happy.
The Vedas which are the scriptures of universal
Dharma declare that the universe was created out of bliss. They teach that it behoves us to experience that natural state of bliss and find
unity with that pure and incomparable bliss, which originally was and is always
ours if we try.
That is why they proclaim: “That thou art”,
Even as desired by universal Dharma. May the entire world be filled with peace
and harmony, doing its duties with self-content and immersed in self-ecstacy!
By the grace of Sri Guru and God, may all your
lives become divine!
May all become one with joy; let not anyone
suffer sorrow.
May good attend on all; May pure Knowledge spread
forth! Amen.
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