Sathya Sai Vahini - Post 7

 

Eschewing dogmatism and violence

(Relevant extract)

 

The basic truth of nature is the One in the many; that is the key to its understanding. The Indians (Bharathiyas) grasped this truth; they held fast to this key. People of other countries were content to lay down certain axioms and enforce belief in them. 

They insisted on acceptance of these axioms and observance of rules and regulations that arose out of them. They held one single coat before the individuals of the society where they lived and required everyone to wear that same coat; there was no alternative coat for people it did not fit. They had to live without a coat to protect them against the chill wind.

The Indian approach was quite different. For each aspect or variation of feeling and thinking, volition and action, they made available a distinct name and form and provided modes of worship and ways of adoration in accordance with the emotional needs and intellectual caliber of the aspirants and devotees. 

Of course, a few had no need for such special consideration and treatment, but many took advantage of this concession and advanced in their march toward spiritual wisdom and liberation.

The message of India (Bharath)

(Relevant extract)

The ancient Indian religion fostered the faith that the Self in a person is no other than the Over self, or God. Indian religion directs long journeys by men and women toward the goal of the splendor of God consciousness or the consciousness of the Divine — through varied paths, confronted and controlled by varied circumstances, but encouraged and enlightened by various types of faith.

Although the practices and rites might be crude, they are not opposed to the ultimate truth. The seeming contradictions must be interpreted as incidental to the need to inspire people with varied intellectual, moral, economic, and social backgrounds. 

For example, the light that comes through a tiny piece of colored glass is of the same origin as bigger, clearer light. The extent, clarity, brightness, etc. of light depends only on the medium. The source of all light is the One Truth, the Source of all, the Basis of all, the Goal of all, the Reality in all, and the Centre in all. 

Like the thread on which pearls are strung as a rosary, God or the Over-self is interpenetrative in all beings. In all beings. That is the message of India (Bharath). All beings everywhere, anywhere!

Indian spiritualism has limitless vastness and immensely high ideals; it is a full stream of sanctifying ideations, flowing along with no decline or diminution, straight and smooth to the ocean of divine grace. The journey is direct, along a royal road toward the supreme goal.

Another point: The source of all spiritual principles recognized and revered by Indians (Bharathiyas) is God; He is the one supporting pillar. Therefore, no other support is needed for faith. Ancient Indian spirituality is the very foundation of all other faiths; it stands on the very summit. It has achieved victory over many opposing faiths, confronting them with many valid arguments and theories. 

What has to be borne in mind is this: Indian (Bharathiya) texts on spirituality are the most ancient in the whole world; they are the earliest studies and discoveries of the Atma, of personal and impersonal God, and of codes of conduct, individual and social, based on those revelations and discoveries. In no other country, among no other peoples, have such ancient teachings seen the light. 

There may be some misty ideas or brief glimpses, but they do not deserve the name “spiritual text” or “literature”. The Vedic literature pictures not only spiritual inquiries by the sages and spiritual aspirants and their results but also their lines of thought, their yearnings and aspirations, their secular struggles, and temporal problems.

Introspection

Here, Swami brings out the vastness of Indian philosophy as per the ancient Hindu scriptures, as compared to the limitations and restrictions imposed by few other religions, with the analogy of single coat with no option available as alternative coat.

Swami goes on to clarify that though, depending upon the aptitude, intellect and other attributes, there may be apparently diverse practices, rituals etc. in Bharath, when  one gets into the subtler aspect of each of them, they all point out towards only one thing- “Consciousness”. Swami describes this as “Over Self”.

Sai upholds the ancient Vedic scriptures as the most ancient scriptures when He writes, “The Vedic literature pictures not only spiritual inquiries by the sages and spiritual aspirants and their results but also their lines of thought, their yearnings and aspirations, their secular struggles, and temporal problems”.

 

Love.