Sri Sathya Sai Baba

 

Truth Is The Lamp That Dispels Darkness

 

What Avatars re-established on firm foundations is Sathya (Truth). For, as the Vedhas (sacred scriptures) announce, there is no Dharma higher than Truth. Truth gets hidden, appears distorted, is declared as failing, so, the Avathar (divine incarnation) asserts its validity and value, once again.

 

God wears Truth; the good seek Truth; the bad are rescued by Truth. Truth liberates; Truth is power; Truth is freedom. It is the lamp that illumines the heart and dispels doubt and darkness. The effulgence of God is Truth. Welcome God in your heart. Install Him there as a result of Yearning. Be always concerned with Brahman; then, you are entitled to be known as a Brahmin; if you are concerned with the skin and all that it contains, that entitles you only to be known as a Chandala, who works on leather and skin!

 

There was Kanaka, born in a low caste. He was an ardent devotee, yearning in unbearable anguish to see Krishna. So, he went to Udipi, where there is a famous Krishna Temple, established by the great sage, Madhwacharya himself. Being of low birth, he could not enter the temple and see the charming idol of Krishna. He stood before the outer door, but the idol was hidden by the Flag- post in front of the shrine. He went round the outer wall and sought some crevice amidst the stones through which he could earn a faint glimpse. He saw a stone was loose: with his fingers, he scooped out the mortar and he made a narrow chink, and when he looked eagerly through it, he saw only the back of the idol. But he was overcome with delight! He danced in ecstasy, singing the glory of Krishna. Just at the moment, the idol turned towards him and Krishna granted him the full vision of His Charm and majesty.

 

Yearning was rewarded with Grace. Yearning leads to surrender, and surrender gives the highest joy. Leave everything to His Will, accept whatever happens, whether pleasant or painful.

 

 

Divine Discourse

29 July 1969

Sri Sathya Sai Baba

 

The Rama Principle Is the Atma, Source of All Joy The Name Rama was once indicated by Rama Himself (the son of Dasharatha, hero of the Ramayana, the incarnation of the Lord in the Thretha Yuga) as a potent liberator.

When Rama was passing through the forests with Sita and Lakshmana, the hermits who recognised Him as Divine gathered around Him with a prayer that they be initiated by Him and be given some mantra (sacred formula) that they could repeat for spiritual uplift and victory. Rama replied that He was a prince in exile wandering in the forests and so He could not presume any authority to initiate hermits into a spiritual path. He moved on along the jungle tracks.

Watching Him walking fast, with Sita immediately behind Him and Lakshmana following behind, an aged hermit exclaimed, “Friends! See! Rama is initiating us! He is awarding us the mantra! God is leading. Nature (His constant companion, His shadow) is following; the jeevi (individual), part of the Lord, the wave of the ocean, is in the rear; he can see the Lord only if the deluding Nature is propitiated or by-passed. This is indeed a silent lesson in sadhana (spiritual discipline). Ra is God; ma is the individual, who has fallen behind. Aa is Prakrithi (Nature); Rama, Rama is the mantra He is vouchsafing so graciously. Take it and save yourselves. For me, there is no other course.”

 I am emphasising Rama-Nama (the name Rama) because the Rama principle is the Atma. Rama means that which is pleasant and which pleases. Now, the Atma is the source of all joy; its nature is bliss. Moreover, as Thyagaraja discovered, Rama is the Name that worshippers of both Narayana (Vishnu) and Shiva can adopt. The syllable Ra is the key syllable of the Narayana mantra (Om Namo Narayanaya) and the syllable ma is the key syllable of the Shiva mantra (Om Namashivaya).

                                                                                                                                Divine Discourse

                                                                                                       World Conference of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations

                                                                                                        May 17, 1968 

Yoga Vasishta - Post 39

RAMA  asked: Holy sir, does a yogi's physical body then become an ethereal body?

VASISTHA replied:

The ethereal body alone is: by persistent fancy, it appears to be linked to a physical body. Just as  when an ignorant man (who thinks he is the physical body) dies and the body is cremated, has a subtle body, even so the yogi on being enlightened while living, has an  ethereal body.

The physical body is only the creation of one's ignorant fancy, and is not real. There is no difference between the body and the ignorance. To think they are two—this  indeed is samsara (repetitive history).

VASISTHA continued:

In the meantime, Sarasvati restrained Viduratha's  jiva  from entering into the body of king Padma.

THE ENLIGHTENED LILA  asked Sarasvati:

O Goddess, from the time I sat here in contemplation till now, how much time has elapsed?

SARASVATI replied:

Dear one, it is a month since you entered into contemplation. During the first fifteen days, your body, on account of the heat generated by pranayama, became  vaporized. Then it became like a dry leaf and fell down. Then it became rigid and cold. The ministers then thought that you had died of your own accord and cremated that body. 

Now, on account of your own wish you appear here in your ethereal body. In you there are no memories of past life nor latent tendencies brought forward from previous incarnation. For when the intelligence is established in the conviction of its ethereal nature, the body is forgotten, even as in youth one forgets life as a  foetus. Today is the thirty­first day and you are here. Come, let us reveal ourselves to this other Lila.

When the second Lila saw them before her, she fell at their feet and worshipped them.

SARASVATI  asked her: Tell us how you came here.

THE SECOND LILA  replied:

When I fainted in the palace of Viduratha, I did not know anything for some time. I then saw that my subtle body rose to the sky and was seated in an aerial vehicle  which brought me here. And, I saw that Viduratha  was lying here asleep in a garden of flowers. I thought he was fatigued from battle and without disturbing him, I fan him.

Sarasvati  immediately let Viduratha's jiva enter the body. The king at once awoke as if from slumber. The two Lilas bowed to him.

The king asked the enlightened Lila, "Who are you, who is she, and from where has she come?"

The enlightened Lila replied: "Lord, I am your wife in your previous incarnation and your constant companion, even as a word and its meaning are. This Lila is your  other wife; she is my own reflection, created by me for your pleasure. And, she who is seated on yonder golden throne is the goddess Sarasvati herself. She is  present here on account of our great good fortune."

Hearing this, the king sat up and saluted Sarasvati*. Sarasvati blessed him with long life, wealth and so on, and enlightenment.

Continued…

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