DIVINE DISCOURSES,MESSAGES FROM
FIRST OVERSEAS CONVENTION OF
CHAIR PERSONS OF SRI SATHYA SAI CENTRES
Valedictory Divine Discourse on 24-11-1998-PART 1
Maanam Hithvaa Priyo Bhavathi,
Krodham Hithvaa Na Sochathi
Kaamam Hithvaa Arthavaan Bhavathi,
Lobham Hithvaa Sukhi Bhavathi
(Sanskrit Sloka)
CHAIR PERSONS OF SRI SATHYA SAI CENTRES
Valedictory Divine Discourse on 24-11-1998-PART 1
Maanam Hithvaa Priyo Bhavathi,
Krodham Hithvaa Na Sochathi
Kaamam Hithvaa Arthavaan Bhavathi,
Lobham Hithvaa Sukhi Bhavathi
(Sanskrit Sloka)
Embodiments of Love!
As long as one is egoistic, no one will love him including his wife and children, though they may pretend to do so. So long as there is anger in an individual, grief is inevitable. Satisfaction eludes one who has desires. One with greed can never enjoy any comforts. Ego, anger,desire, and greed are the root cause for absence of peace of mind.
Man feels that happiness and peace of mind result from spiritual practices, but in reality it is not so. Mind is the root cause for happiness and sorrow. So conquer the mind. Conquering the mind will lead you to a stage of equanimity, wherein you will treat the dualities alike.
Vedanta has declared:
"Manayeva Manushyaanaam Kaaranam Bandhamokshayoh."
Mind is the cause for both bondage and liberation. Once you control your mind, you will grow beyond the dualities of sadness and happiness. Welcome sorrow just as you welcome happiness. In fact, the happiness that you derive out of pleasure is negligible compared to the happiness that results from difficulties. History is replete with examples of people who stand a testimony to this fact.
All noble and ideal people had to undergo ordeals before they experienced happiness. "Nasukhhaath Labhyathe Sukham" -- happiness is derived only from difficulties, but man wants only happiness, not difficulties. This is quite contradictory to the principles of spirituality.
Man desires good results, but does not perform meritorious deeds. He does not want the fruits of bad actions, yet he plunges into undesirable activities. The nine paths of devotion are recommended in order to experience divinity latent in man.
They are:
Sravanam (Listening),
Keerthanam
(singing),
Smaranam (remembrance),
Paadasevanam (serving the Lotusfeet),
Vandhanam (salutations),
Archanam (worship),
Daasyam (servitude),
Sneham (friendship),
Atma Nivedhanam (surrender).
Love is the life-breath of all these forms of devotion. How can one attain the Principle of Brahma? Brahma means the all-pervasive cosmic principle. According to the Puraanas, Brahma originated from the navel of Vishnu. Who is Vishnu? He is the one who is all pervasive. Vishnu and Brahma are synonymous with the Atma. Atma is derived from the root word 'Ahas,' meaning 'daytime'. Ahas dispels darkness of ignorance. Therefore, the cosmic form is described as the Effulgent One. This Brahma is not limited to a specific name and form. It is also referred to as "Brihat" meaning all-pervasive. One has to follow the truth to attain the Effulgent One "Yath Drishyam Thannasyam", all that is seen is bound to perish.
Money, youth, wife and children are all temporary. Only Sathya (truth) and Keerthi (fame) are eternal. That is why Brahma is referred to as "Sathyam." Jnanam (wisdom) emerged from Sathyam. Sathyam and Jnanam are all pervasive. That is why the Vedas have declared, "SathyamJnanam Anantham Brahma." God is Truth, Widom, and infinite. The embodiment of Truth can be experienced only by following the path of Truth. Truth transcends time - past, present and future.
Why does God incarnate? To enable man to understand and experience His latent divinity, and unity in diversity. The essence of spirituality lies in visualizing unity in diversity. This is the goal of humanlife. Atma is the same in all, irrespective of their name, country and life style. This Atma is referred to as conscience, which permeates thebody from top to toe. The goal of spirituality is to realise oneness of Atma in all. Man on account of attachment to body, is oblivious to his innate divinity and visualises diversity in unity. This is due to ignorance.
God incarnates in order to teach the underlying unity in diversity. Krishna had declared, "Mamaatma Sarva Bhoothaantharaatma" (I am the indweller of all beings). Body can be compared to a mirror. Ths mirror (body) is made of clay. This body, Mrinmaya (made of clay) has to be transformed into chinmaya (one of awareness). But you are not making any effort to realise the true nature of yours. Ash covers the neglected live ember. The live ember can be seen only when the ash is blown away. Similarly, the Atma, which is inherent in man, can be seen only when the ash of ego, anger, desire and body attachment are blown away, by chanting the name of Lord.
Body attachment gives rise to ego in man. Success eludes one who is egoistic. Egolessness is true human-ness. There is no trace of ego in man at the time of birth, but it develops as he grows up. Feelings ofI and mine are responsible for man's bondage. Man will enjoy bliss only when he gets rid of ego and attachment. Bliss canot be achieved through any other spiritual practice. Spiritual practices confer only temporary mental satisfaction. Only the awareness of Atma is true and eternal. As pointed out by Bozzani, (previous speaker) each individual should question himself, "who am I?" On the contrary, each one asks, "who are you?" which is information-oriented. No gain accrues from acquiring this information. What is required today is transformation, which can be effected by questioning oneself "who am I?" Once you know the answer to this, you do not need to undertake any spiritual practice. This is possible only when you control your mind.
Sage Patanjali has enunciated the same: "Yogaha Chitta Vritthi Nirodhaha" (controlling thoughts and aberrations is true yoga) Yoga means to "unite with"Atma. There is no greater happiness than being one with Atma. But today, no one is making any effort to attain Atma, the final goal of life. The senses are above the body; mind is above the senses; intellect is above mind; and Atma is above the intellect. Man does not travel even up to the level of intellect. He travels only up to the level of mind. As man is unable to control his mind and the senses, he is subjected to confusion and depression. As a result, he forgets the Principles of Atma. Body, which is made up of the five elements is transient and may perish at any point of time. Attachment to body brings in attachment to money. Today, people value education and money more than anything else. Money and education by themselves are not bad. Good and bad lies in their utilisation. Water by itself is colourless, but assumes the colour of the container in which it is poured. Similar is the case with moneyand education; their value depends on the nature of the person who has acquired them. Good and bad are the reflections of the inner being, they do not exist in the persons around. Defects lie in vision not in creation. So purify your vision and sanctify your heart. Only thenyou can experience unity in diversity.
I have received letters from delegates to this conference seeking clarification for their doubts. What is the root cause of doubt? It is the absence of total faith (cheers). Jesus had a disciple, Thomas, who doubted everything he came across and was appropriately called "doubting Thomas." In the path of spirituality doubts do arise at times, even though one may have faith in God. One of the doubts is this:
Did Jesus really declare that He was the Truth, the path and none superior to Him?
Enquire into the truth yourself (cheers). Jesus was never egoistic at any point of time. Never did Jesus declare that He was the Truth, the Path, the Saviour and the redeemer. It was the work of the compilers of the Bible that led to the mistaken notion (cheers). Today we have five hundred different versions of the Bible. Luke, Peter, and Thomas were among the first few apostles. There was one tax collector who recorded the conversation between Jesus and the fishermen. It was during one of those conversations, Jesus assured them that He would take care of them, but at no point of time did he mention with a sense of ego that He was the only one and the ultimate One to protect them. He did this only with a view to increase their confidence and enthuse them into action. Many scholars misinterpreted this assurance and considered Jesus as the only redeemer and that He would protect them from all difficulties. At the time of the Divine Birth three wise men visited Jesus in the manger. One of them, looking at child Jesus remarked: He looks as though He was a 'Messenger of God'. The second wise man exclaimed that the child looked as though he was the 'Son of God'. The third wise man disagreed with both and concluded that He and God were one and the same. Jesus was filled with compassion at the sight of the meek and the afflicted. Paul opposed Jesus in all matters from the very outset. Once Jesus appeared in a dream of Paul and questioned him - "What harm have I done to you? Why do you criticise Me so?" This caused Paul to ponder and realise that his ignorance and ego blinded him to reality. Thereafter he became an ardent disciple of Jesus.
In every age, every noble soul had to put up with criticism. People always have mistaken notions about good and bad. If only we understand the truth in the Bible, we will come to the conclusion that there has been no fault in Jesus at all. Jesus always aspired to put people in God consciousness. At the time of crucifixion, Jesus prayed: "O Father! What sin have I committed? Why am I put to suffering thus?" Jesus never laid any claim to His association with God either as a Messenger or a Son. It is only in order that men may realise their own relation with God that such interpretation is made. When Mother Mary stood crying at the foot of the Cross, an ethereal voice was heard: "All are one My dear Son, be alike to everyone."
It may be concluded from the above incident that the relation between Jesus and God was that of Son and Father. Jesus never procalimed egoistically that He was the Path, the Truth and the only way. But every incarnation has proclaimed this Truth. Krishna declared in the Bhagavad Gita,
"Mamaivaamso Jeevaloke Jeevabhuta Sanaathanaha" ( All are sparks of My Divinity).
"Manmanaa Bhava Madbhaktho Madhyaaji Maam Namaskuru"
(Fix your mind on Me, perform rituals for Me. Pay obeisance to Me.
If you were to fix your mind steadfastly on Me, you shall certainly realize Me.) Only an Avatar can give such an assurance emphasizing on the Atmic Principle. Jesus had never said so. Hence He was considered as a Messenger of God. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna declared, "I am the protector of all, I am the basis of all and the creator of all and the basis for the four Varnas." "What is Varna?" Varna means colour, but it has been misunderstood to be caste. "Chathur Varnyam Maya Srishtam". "All the people of our varnas have been created by Me", said Krishna. Therefore, do not make any distinction based on colour. The four colours are: Black, Yellow, White and Red. The Negros and Bharathias are black in complexion. Japanese and British are white in complexion, while Chinese are yellow and the Russians are red. What God has declared is broad in nature and not narrow minded. Do not give room for any constriction of thoughts. You may be a Chirstian, A Muslim, a Hindu or a Zorostrain, but you must consider yourselves to be children of God. In the beginning evenRomans were Jews, not Christians. It is only after the advent of Jesus that the term Christians came into use. Jesus said that He was 'Persona' meaning that He was the spark of Divine. This has been translated by the British as 'Person', which has been termed as 'Purusha' by Bharathias. Therefore, 'Purusha' or 'Persona' have originated from Roman language. 'Persona' means sacredness. Since man has divinity inherent in him, he is called as a person. This, in Hindu culture, Puranas, Vedas, Sastras, and Ithihasas has been declared as "Purusha." "Yallabdapuman Ichcharamo Bhavathi Tapto Bhavathi Mattho Bhavathi Atmaaraamo Bhavathi." These are the various names of the one Divinity present in all. We experience the one divinity present in various forms. But, today, we have to realise the unity in diversity and experience the same. Consider this to be the chief goal of Sathya Sai Seva Organisations (cheers).
You should not give rise to differences/hatred of any sort. There is only One that is present in all. If you are to realise this Truth, That itself would be spirituality in practice. Practice is more important than publicity. There are two mikes in front of Me. There is one mike in front of the translator. The words that emanate from the mikes may differ, but the underlying sound principle is the same. Similarly we must experience the divinity in various names and forms. Words that emerge from heart constitute expansion talk. Some people speak only from lips in orderto suit the situation. Such words constitute "contraction talk." Such contraction talk is equivalent to death. People who indulge in such contraction talk have no connection between their speech and the heart. When all that which is in the heart finds expression in speech, that is termed as "expansion talk." Those who speak from the heart, speak the truth and whose speech does not come from the heart, speak untruth to suit the occasion. Your words should emanate from the heart. This is possible only when there is a complete confidence in the Self. The one with total conviction does not give room for doubts.
The enquiry into the fact whether that which is applicable to others is applicable to individual self also constitutes search for Truth (Sathyanveshana). One may ask why there should be a search for Truth, when truth is all-pervasive. In each human there is the dual aspect of truth, untruth, righteousness, unrighteousness, and non-violence, violence.
There is an example to illustrate this. We have pure 24-carat gold with us. After some time, you have added copper to it. Later you have added silver to it. And later aluminum and brass. As new metals are added to the gold, its true nature undergoes a change and loses its value. Today man also is undergoing such a change. When he is a child, he is pure. As he associates himself with others he acquires violence, non-violence, righteousness, unrighteousness, truth and untruth. This is the root cause for the cycle of birth and death. When you are one with the Self, there is no scope for birth and death. Body attachment, educational and monetary attachment reduce the Self to the present state of man. Man thus forgets his true nature. Man has to be cleansed by the process of Samskara (refinement) by which he will be rid of all the bad qualities and regain his resplendent pristine purity. Man has been acquiring evil qualities such as jealousy, hatred, andego. Devotees and aspirants tend to fall a prey to jealousy and ego. Due to such a tendency man destroys his very human nature. We have to foster our faith firmly. Do not let it be debased by evil tendencies. One should join good company and run away from the bad. Bad company is harmful.
Run away from bad company; join the good; do meritorious deeds day and night; and ponder over the permanent and the transient. Some may appear very pious through their words and deeds, but if you observe their behavior it would be demonic in reality. Do not have faith in such people and lose your purity. Impure gold of this nature is on the rise. You must become pure gold. Even a small quantity of pure gold is better than a mound of debased gold. Quality should be preferred over quantity. Half an acre of fertile land is better than ten acres of barren land.
Follow your own conscience- your Master.
Face the devil
Fight to the end
Finish the game
This is the goal of human life (cheers)
Since you respect and follow the words of those who have disharmony in their thought, word and deed, you tend to forget your Swami, your True Self. Follow your conscience. I never force anybody to do anything. What is the reason? The reason is one has to follow the dictates of one's source, conscience. Force connotes external imposition. Source relates to the Atma, which is verily love. So cultivate Love. This is the answer to the first question about Jesus. He never said that He alone was the saviour, that He alone was the Truth. He said, all are the embodiments of truth and purity, all are children of God. His teachings were based on such broad-minded feelings. He emphasized the need for refraining from hurting others.
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