Sathya Sai Vahini - Post 11

Past deeds affect the present 

Our present condition and circumstances are decided by deeds done in previous lives. In a similar manner, the conditions in which we have to spend the future are determined by what we are doing now. Between one life and another, one death and the next, the individual either progresses or regresses, expands or shrinks. Like a frail ship caught in a stormy sea, one climbs the froth-rimmed peak of some gigantic wave and, the next moment, is hurled with terrific speed into the deepest trough. The rise and fall result inevitably from good and bad deeds.

O ye children of immortality! Listen! Listen to the answer given in the message of the sages (rishis) who had the vision of the Most Majestic of Persons (Purushothama) who dwells beyond the realms of delusion and darkness:

O, ye human beings! Brothers! The only means for you to liberate yourselves from the succession of deaths is “knowing Him”. Do not imagine that you are sinners, for you are heirs to eternal bliss (ananda). You are “images” of God, sharers in undiminishable bliss. You are by nature holy, ever-full; you are indeed God moving on earth. Is there a sin greater than calling such as you sinners? You are dishonoring and defaming yourselves when you acknowledge the appellation “sinners”! Arise! Cast off the feeling that you are sheep. Don’t be deluded into that idea. You are Atmas. You are drops of divine nectar of Immortality, which know neither beginning nor end. All things material are your bond slaves; you are not their bond slaves.

These are the words of the sages (rishis). How can those who have not themselves delved into this truth appreciate this Indian (Bharathiya) interpretation? Indians are the fortunate ones who have achieved great strength in spirit by holding God as father, mother, guru, friend, and the beloved. They have adored God as dearer to them than anything or anyone, here or hereafter. How can those who are aware only of mere sensual pleasure know this supreme truth? The craving for sensual pleasure veils the truth from the inner eye. That craving manifests in multiple ways, creating more and more desires and laying down more and more urges to action. These desires and urgings hide the truth like a thick curtain.

 

Inner search for breaking out of illusion

The recognition of this curtain is a big stage in spiritual progress. This is the illusion (maya) principle of Vedanta. From immemorial times, though the truth was self-evident, this curtain has hidden it from people. This was discovered by Indians ages ago as the prime obstacle. How to remove the curtain and cognize truth? Indians knew that the solution does not lie in the objective, external world, so it would be futile to seek it there. The search in the external world, even for ages, cannot ensure success. Only inner experience can guarantee conviction.

To gain experience, Indians entered into austerities and disciplined inquiry until they “identified” the Truth and announced it to the world. They discarded the urges of the senses and the manifold attractions of active involvement in the objective world. They taught the world this lesson. The mind was the instrument for the Indian seekers to discover this secret, which is the basic principle of wisdom as treasured by them. It became imperative for them to use the mind itself and study its nature and characteristics. They realized soon enough that study of the external world led them nowhere. They diverted their attention to the internal “regions” of their consciousness. Thus, they laid the foundation for the Vedantic structure; this was the beginning of Vedantic inquiry.

Summary- Essence

Let us see how Swami beautifully takes us through an unimaginable sequence in today's post

1) First Swami warns us, revealing the essence of Karma theory. He re-iterates that what we are going through now, in this birth, is the effect of  what we did in previous births and whatever fresh actions we are pursuing now, are going to shape up our suffering/happiness in the births to come.

2) Having warned us, in case we get guilty of whatever we have been in this birth and we are worried as to  what we are going to suffer in future births, Swami pats on our back and confirms, "You are “images” of God, sharers in undiminishable bliss. You are by nature holy, ever-full; you are indeed God moving on earth. Is there a sin greater than calling such as you sinners? You are dishonoring and defaming yourselves when you acknowledge the appellation “sinners”!"

3) We start thinking, all right , Swami has assured that we are not sinners in essence and we are pure SELF?

4) Swami again reminds us that we are caught in an illusion that we are this body and we indulge in all pleasures, for gratifying our body sense. Swami says about this curtain of our illusion "The recognition of this curtain is a big stage in spiritual progress. This is the illusion (maya) principle of Vedanta. From immemorial times, though the truth was self-evident, this curtain has hidden it from people. "

5) What is the way out?

6) Swami says, what Indians did to fund out a way out. If we have not still  taken up this route, this is a reminder from our dear lord.

"The mind was the instrument for the Indian seekers to discover this secret, which is the basic principle of wisdom as treasured by them. It became imperative for them to use the mind itself and study its nature and characteristics. They realized soon enough that study of the external world led them nowhere. They diverted their attention to the internal “regions” of their consciousness."

Love.

Sathya Sai Vahini - Post 10

Chapter IV

The Miracle of Miracles

The children of India (Bharathiyas) believe that they are, each one, the Atma, the eternal Self. They are aware that the Atma cannot be cut in twain by the sword, that fire cannot burn It, that water cannot wet It, and that the wind cannot dry It. 

The Atma has no bounds. Its centre is in the body, but, its circumference is nowhere. Death means the Atma has shifted from one body to another. This is the belief that every Indian has firmly in mind.

The Atma is not subject to material or worldly limitations or laws. By Its very nature, It is free; It is Unbound; It is Purity; It is Holiness; It is Fullness. 

But, since it is associated with material, inert, bodies, It imagines that it is also a product of material composition. This is the wonder, the mystery, the miracle that It manifests! To unravel this mystery and explain this miracle are beyond the capacity of anyone.

Atma is unbound, eternal, full

How could the Full (purna) Atma get entangled in the delusion that It is “not full” (a-purna), “a fraction”, “incomplete”? Some people might say that the Indians (Bharathiyas) who declare that the awareness of incompleteness itself can never arise are attempting to wriggle out of an impossible situation. 

They might say that this is but a stratagem to cover up their ignorance of the Truth. How can the Pure, the Unpartitionable, lose Its nature to the slightest extent? The Indians are simple and sincere, and their nature is seldom artificial. 

They would never attempt to wriggle out of a situation by resorting to specious arguments. They have the courage to encounter in a brave way any problem before them.

Therefore, the answer to the question posed is: The delusion cannot happen! There is no basis for the error of imputing “incompleteness” for the “complete”. The “full” entity called Atma can never imagine Itself as “wanting” or “less than full” or feel that It is limited or controlled by the material sheath whose core It is.

Everyone knows that they feel they are the body. Can anyone announce how this feeling arose and persisted? No one can offer to answer this question. 

For, to say, as some do, that it is the will of God, is no answer at all. The plain statement, “I do not know” conveys the same meaning, as the statement “It is the will of God”. 

One is no wiser at the latter statement than after hearing the first. What remains is this: “The Atma in the individual (jivatma) is eternal, immortal, full. There is no death; what appears so is the shifting of its center.”

 

Summary- Essence

If today’s portion of Swami’s writing has to be explained, then one has to take up any of the Upanishads or Vedanta treatise and write down the essence of that entire treatise.

The first part of today’s post has been elaborated in the second chapter of Bhagwad Gita

Here the unseen has been explained by means of the seen to indicate its nature. The changeless Self is explained with the aid of ever changing world which is familiar to Arjuna and others. In the world of change, objects meet their end by means of instruments of destruction like weapons, fire, water and wind.

Arjuna’s grief was based on the assumption that he would be killing the elders and other relatives by striking them with lethal weapons. Hence in order to remove his grief the Lord points out the immortality and formlessness of the soul by pointing out the inability of all the four elements of earth, water, fire and air to destroy it. The body is perishable and possessed of a form; the soul is everlasting and formless. 

Therefore, the soul can never be destroyed by the elements of earth in the form of weapons or by the elements of water, fire and air and so it is sheer ignorance to lament for it.

Continuing the import of the previous verse, The Lord says that if a thing cannot be annihilated by any means of destruction discovered by man such an object must be everlasting. Since the Self is indestructible, it is necessarily everlasting. 

That which is everlasting, or eternal will pervade everywhere. All-pervading indicates that It has only itself all around It and it is unconditioned by anything other than Itself.

That which is eternal and all-pervading must be stable meaning no change can ever happen to It. That which is stable is immovable. Mobility or moving implies the transfer of an object or person from one set of time and place to another set of time and place where they were not there already. 

Since Self is all-pervading there cannot be any place or period of time where It was not there before. As the Self is unconditioned by the concept of time It is said to be ancient.

When Swami writes the lines “The “full” entity called Atma can never imagine Itself as “wanting” or “less than full” or feel that It is limited or controlled by the material sheath whose core It is”, it takes us to the shanti  mantra of the Isavasya Upanishad

This mantra explains that Brahman is complete and whole and the universe, caused by Brahman is also complete and whole.

Brahman remains complete/Purnam, changeless, even while He creates this universe, with Brahman being the efficient, material and the instrument cause for this creation to emerge.

Thus, as Swami writes, “There can never be a delusion for the SELF to be incomplete/A purna” ever.

Love.

 

Sathya Sai Vahini - Post 9

Unity in diversity

 

Hymns (riks) arose on various deities and divine forces because the sages (rishis) knew that each person can cognize “One alone is” only from their own viewpoint and that it is different for different persons, depending on the stage reached in clarifying and purifying the vision. 

The sages announced through that statement their discovery that the One is the subject that all the sages and saints, seers and poets, hymnists and composers adored and praised in various languages, during various moods, through various styles of expression.

Thus, consequences of the highest value to the world emerged from the declaration quoted above, “One alone is; the wise speak of It as many.” 

For example, many are surprised that India is the one country where religious fanaticism is absent, and no one hinders or harms the religious observances of another. This country has theists, atheists, dualists, non-dualists, monotheists, and others; they live together in peace and harmony, without causing or suffering injury.

Materialists stood on the steps of temples (held sacred by brahmins and used by them for worship) and defamed and denied God. They called upon all to follow them. They declared that the idea of God is but an insane fancy. 

They condemned God, scriptures, codes of morality, righteousness, and guiding principles and said that they were all superstitions designed and developed for selfish aggrandizement by the brahmins. They roamed the land and propagated these conclusions. No one hindered them.

Buddhism, which systematically slighted Hindu rites and religious beliefs, was allowed to coexist in an atmosphere of respect. The Jains too did not accept the Vedas and the Vedic Gods. They asked in derision how such Gods could exist and be believed in. Examples of the spirit of tolerance rooted in the revelatory statement quoted above are innumerable. 

Until the ravaging Muslims sprang on this country, no one in this land of India (Bharath) knew what violence meant. Only when foreign hordes fell upon them and resorted to violence did the people come to know how intolerant humanity can be.

Indians (Bharathiyas), grown up in the culture of India, have deep faith in the equality of all faiths. Whether it is Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Zoroastrianism, or Christianity, they believe that no one should talk lightly of the worship of God. 

They believe that when anyone talks lightly of any one of the names of god or any of the forms of God whom others adore, they are insulting the one God. This was the message held forth by the Indian way of spiritual life. Those who have learned this truth and adhere to it are the real sons and daughters of India.

This truth is beyond the grasp of all; not all can achieve this knowledge: Who is the ruler of the Universe? Who is it that stands outside it and guides it? What is the cause of the existence of this cosmos? Whence did this originate? How did it happen? What caused this existence? The Vedas have many hymns (riks) dealing with these mysteries. Indians have probed them.

 

Differences due to past actions

 

Creation involves putting substances together; what is put together must come apart in course of time and get liberated. The individual is created, so disintegration and death will happen. Now, some are born happy; some enjoy healthy, happy lives. Some are born miserable; others are born without hands or legs. Some are born feeble minded or as defectives. Who hurt them or injured them? 

God is proclaimed as just and kind. How can such a God be so partial and prejudiced! How can such differential treatment come into the realm ruled by God? Such doubts are natural. 

But the vision of the sages of India who molded the thought of this land revealed to them that God is not the cause of these differences; they are the consequences of the acts indulged in by the individual in lives before the present one. They result in happiness and misery, health, and handicaps.

Good and bad are self-made, the effects of what was done in previous lives. Can the bodies of people and their conditions, the ups and downs people meet in life, can they not be the accumulated result of hereditary impacts and tendencies? 

When an item of work is done again and again, it becomes a habit, a skill; doesn’t it? Therefore, the skill or habit that a newborn exhibit must be due to constant repetition indulged in long ago. 

Of course, such practice must have taken place in a previous life or many lives. So, it is necessary to posit the validity of the belief in past and future lives, for all living beings. This is a basic belief in Indian spiritual thought.

 

Introspection-Summary

1)     Buddhism, Jainism- all these did not accept vedas. They asked in derision how such Gods could exist and be believed in.

2)    Materialists/Atheists denied existence of God, condemned worship of God.

3)    However, everyone existed in this great land of Bharath in peace, until the Muslims invaded our country. Swami writes, in this context, “Only when foreign hordes fell upon them and resorted to violence did the people come to know how intolerant humanity can be.”

4)    Who is the ruler of the Universe? Who is it that stands outside it and guides it? What is the cause of the existence of this cosmos? Whence did this originate. How did it happen? What caused this existence?

For all these questions, Vedas probed and concluded- “consequences of the highest value to the world emerged from the declaration, “One alone is, the wise speak of It as many.”

This “one alone” is Brahman, beyond manifest and unmanifest, as concluded in the previous post as well.

5)    Swami touches upon the theory of Karma towards the end of today’s part from the 3rd chapter and says, God can never be unkind to punish any one or cause misery to anyone. All sufferings/ happiness is on account of one’s own past action.

Swami writes, “Good and bad are self-made, the effects of what was done in previous lives.”

 

Love.