Sathya Sai Vahini - Post 35

Swami continues,

 

"About the theory of creation, we can arrive at two conclusions on which all sects of Hinduism are agreed. The Buddhists and the Jains also accept these two. Every one of us has the firm belief that life is eternal. It could not have originated from nothing. That is impossible. If it had come out of inert slime or mud, it would have been inert and inactive. All things put together will disintegrate. All that is bound by time will end in time. 

 

If life started only yesterday, it cannot last beyond tomorrow. If the tree has roots, the roots shall go dry and it cannot survive forever. Life must have existed ever since the Cosmos has been in existence. It does not require argument to understand this truth. Do we not see that all modern sciences tend to confirm more and more assumingly and clearly the revelations made in the texts and scriptures of India? This too has to be accepted someday.

 

Triple texts of highest spirituality

As authoritative texts of the basic beliefs of Indian culture in the spiritual field, the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutra, and the Bhagavad Gita — the Three Sources (Prasthana Thraya) — have to be reckoned. 

Many in India feel that only the doctrine of non-dualism (advaitha Vedanta) is correct, but this attitude is not correct. The Upanishads are the very voice of God. The Brahma Sutra is the supreme embodiment of the principles and doctrine propounded by Vyasa; it is the most important of the texts that depict philosophic doctrines. 

It harmonizes the entire body of philosophic beliefs; though it is based on earlier texts and dissertations, there is no conflict between the earlier and later. In the aphorisms of the Brahma Sutra, each conclusion attains fulfilment and reconciliation. The Bhagavad Gita acts like a commentary provided by God, for Vedanta.

All sects of Hinduism that claim to be authentic and orthodox accept the Three Sources as their basic texts — whether they are dualists, qualified non-dualists, or non-dualists. Whoever desired to propagate a new interpretation or a new attitude or theory — Sankara, Ramanuja, Madhwacharya, Vallabhacharya, or Chaithanya — had to propagate it through commentaries from that standpoint on only the Three Sources. Therefore, to assert that Vedanta can be used only with reference to the Upanishads and the doctrines that they teach would be a great mistake.

All conclusions drawn from the Three Sources are genuine and deserve the name Vedanta. Qualified non-dualism as well as dualism have as much claim to be known as Vedanta as non-dualism. This unity in diversity, this harmony of difference, is the core of the current Indian (Bharathiya) thought.

There is milk in the body of the cow. The milk has ghee (clarified butter) in it, but the cow cannot derive any strength through it. The milk has to be taken out of the animal, it has to be boiled, and a little sour curd has to be poured into it to curdle it. After the milk is transformed into curds, it has to be churned, and the butter has to be separated and rolled. Afterward, the butter has to be melted and clarified to get the ghee. The ghee thus prepared can be fed to the cow, and then it would be rendered stronger.

So too, consider: God is omnipresent, but He isn’t amenable to people unless they do spiritual practice (sadhana)."

 

Love.