Sathya Sai Vahini - Post 36

Chapter XIII

 

 The Avatar as Guru

 

God: source of time, creation, activity

 

The cosmos or creation, time, activity (karma) — all these are manifestations of the will of God and are bound to Him. They are considered by some as “false” and “unreal”, but how can God, who is the very embodiment of truth (sathya), will anything not true? Therefore, it can be said that these two are true, in one way. When evolution changes over into involution and the ultimate stage of merging of both the conscious and the unconscious is reached, God (Iswara) is the only One existent.

 

Time is the manifestation of the power of God, so it has no measurable beginning or end. Activity (karma) is also an important truth to be reckoned as such. God is no wayward force, unmindful of bounds and limits. 

 

He creates situations and environments strictly according to the activities in which people engaged during their previous lives. The creation, the time, and the action — all three are true in God and true along with God. They are instruments that He uses. They are bound to Him.

 

God (Iswara), though not ordinarily perceptible to the senses, becomes so perceptible to the devotee who has such deep attachment to Him that there is a yearning to merge in Him. Why? Such devotees perceive God as clearly as they perceive external objects. God is said to be formless; that is to say, He can assume or adopt any form. He has endless forms. Then, in what form does He grant a clear vision to the devotee? 

 

He manifests in the form for which the devotee yearns, the form that will grant the highest satisfaction. These forms are His Avatars. God doesn’t limit Himself when He thus manifests; He is fully present in every such Avatar; He manifests Himself with His full glory in every Avatar.

 

It is said that some manifestations are partial and others full, that some are temporary and others lasting. But these are called Avatars only by courtesy. Narada, Sanatkumara, and other similar sages are referred to in some texts as such Avatars. They don’t have all the divine characteristics, so they are not worshiped.

 

The individual soul (jiva) is by its very nature “eternal and immortal”. It has no end or beginning that can be calculated. It has neither birth nor death. It is self-illuminating. It is the knower and the knowledge, the doer and the enjoyer. 

 

Whether bound or liberated, the individual soul has all these characteristics intact. But whatever it is, it doesn’t have the freedom that God has. In every act, the individual soul has to involve the body, the senses like the ear, and the vital airs that operate in the body. All these coexist with the Divine in the individual.

 

Whatever it is, the individual soul is not a machine that has no will of its own. Just as the activities in this life are determined by the nature of the activities in previous lives, the activities of this life determine the activities of the next life. 

 

God (Iswara) decides the time and place, the circumstance, and the consequence in accordance with the nature of the activities presently undertaken. God has the power to shape the nature of people, but He does not exercise that power and mould it differently. He leaves it to the free will of the individual, which has to learn the lesson by experience.

 

God, nature, and people

 

The flake of stone that is chipped off the rock is a part of the rock, but the individual is not a part of God like that. In one sense, the individual soul (jivi) and the cosmos (jagath) are distinct and different from God. In another sense, they are inseparable. 

This mystery of separateness and identity cannot be grasped by means of reason and intellect. It can be understood only through the Vedas and their message. This is the main lesson that this “Stream of Indian Spiritual Values (Bharathiya Paramaartha Vahini)” can instil.

 

Every child arrives in the world bearing the burden of unrequited consequences accumulated in previous lives. It does not drop from the lap of nature, as a streak of lightning from the clouds. It is born in this world in order to experience the beneficial and the malignant consequences that are the products of its own acts in past lives. This is the explanation for the differences that are evident among people. This is the principle of karma.

 

Each person is the cause of their own fortune, good or bad. Each is themself the builder, the architect. Fate, destiny, predetermination, the will of God — every one of these explanations is toppled by the principle of karma. God and people can be reconciled and affiliated only on the basis of this principle of karma. 

 

When one realizes that God has no share in causing one’s suffering, that one is oneself the sole cause, that no blame attaches to any other person, that one is the initiator as the beneficiary — the cause and the effect— of one’s acts, that one is free to shape one’s future, then one approaches God with a firmer step and a clearer mind.

 

If a person is afflicted by misfortune now, it is assuredly the result of their previous acts. Accordingly, one has to believe that happiness and good fortune also lie in one’s own hands. If one decides, happiness and good fortune can be gained.

A person who is pure in spirit now is themself the cause. Without yearning, a person cannot earn. So, it is clear that the will inherent in a person is beyond all stages and conditions, all formations and transformations. The freedom that it represents is the result of one’s past acts; it is powerful, infinitely fruitful, and supreme.

 

Love.

 

We will contemplate on today’s glorious post when Avatar Himself speaks of an Avatar!!

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

Sathya Sai Vahini - Post 34

Puranas, or lore of mythology

 

Now, about the Puranas. “The Puranas deal with historical incidents, of creation and evolution (Puranam pranjali kshanam).” The incidents are chosen and narrated to provide illustrations of basic philosophic truths. 

 

The Puranas were composed to expound the teachings of the Vedas and Vedanta to the common person through interesting mythological and legendary tales. The language of the Vedas is very ancient and contains many archaic elements of grammar and vocabulary. Even great scholars find it difficult to discover the age when the verses (riks) were formulated.

 

All the texts, scriptures, and holy books referred to are grouped under the one comprehensive name “Hindu Scriptures (sastras).” It is no wonder that the people who revered and composed such a vast and valuable literature of religion and philosophy over thousands of years were, in the course of time, divided and subdivided into sects and subsets, which owed preferential loyalty to special creeds and beliefs. Some of these had broad gaps between them.

 

We have no time now to elaborate on the fact that the differences between the sects are based on attitudes born out of the freedom of thought that was authoritatively allowed by the ancients. Nor is it necessary. What we have to grasp are: the truth accepted by all and the attitudes approved by all, that is to say, the principles that a person calling himself “Hindu” has to believe.

 

People are responsible for their fate

 

What exactly is the cause of creation? What is the nature of the original substance that creation effected, and how was it effected? These questions are important not only for Indians (Bharathiyas) but for all people prone to inquiry. There can be no effect without a cause; there can be no structure without a base.

 

Well. It can be asserted that all this visible cosmos has Brahman as the root cause, but what is Brahman? Brahman is eternal, pure, ever vigilant, omniscient, indivisible, formless; Brahman is the origin of this cosmos (jagath). Brahman is shaping, evolving, and fostering this cosmos.

 

Now, a few doubts might arise in people’s minds: Why is so much partiality evident in creation? Some are born healthy; others, unhealthy. Some lead prosperous carefree lives; others toil throughout their lives in dire poverty. Certainly, it can be argued, there are signs enough of the partiality that creation or the Creator reveals.

 

It must be made clear that life thrives on death. Life is based on death: One living thing consumes another, to live. The strong trample the weak. This tale of terror continues unceasingly. It is the very nature of this world. Seeing this, people conclude that, if the world was created by God, He should be cruelty itself. Such inference appears justified from the ordinary person’s point of view.

 

But the pure stream of Indian spiritual culture (Bharathiya Paramartha Vahini) declares that this is not true at all! God is not the cause of either misery or joy, of good fortune or bad, it announces.

 

Then who brings about evil and good? We ourselves, is the answer. Rain falls equally on ploughed and unploughed land. Only the ploughed land derives benefit from it. The clouds are not to blame. The fault lies in the ignorant idler who lets the land lie fallow. The grace of God is ever at hand, it has no “more or less”, no ups or downs. We draw upon it, more or less, and use it for our good.

 

The question might arise: Why are some born in happiness and some in misery? They have done neither good nor evil, to be treated so unequally. True, they have done nothing in this life; they are only just born. But they had done good or evil in previous lives. The consequence of what was done in the previous life has to be experienced in this life.

  

Essence

 

After describing about Puranas, Swami comes to the core essence which everyone must understand very well.

 

1)  Swami starts with the question, "What is thew cause of creation". In many Upanishads, Vedantic treatise, Kapila's Sankhya yoga etc, this question has been taken up and explained and there are too many contradictions or differences in the theory of creation propounded by all of these. 

 

2) Swami answers and says, "There can be no effect without a cause; there can be no structure without a base.

 

Well. It can be asserted that all this visible cosmos has Brahman as the root cause, but what is Brahman? 

 

Brahman is eternal, pure, ever vigilant, omniscient, indivisible, formless; Brahman is the origin of this cosmos (jagath). Brahman is shaping, evolving, and fostering this cosmos."

 

3) Lord being leeladhari, He himself poses a question on behalf of human beings and places so many facts which are quote ironical and they defame Brahman and gives an image of God/Brahman as non-compassionate, rather cruel. What are all the points Swami, being Brahman Himself, poses before us??

 

-Why is so much partiality evident in creation? 

 

-Some are born healthy; others, unhealthy. 

 

-Some lead prosperous carefree lives; others toil throughout their lives in dire poverty. 

 

-Life is based on death: One living thing consumes another, to live. 

 

-The strong trample the week. This tale of terror continues unceasingly. 

 

Seeing this, people conclude that, if the world was created by God, He should be cruelty itself. "

 

Is it so??

 

Can the Lord, whom we adore and worship as "Karuna Samudra, Prema Swarupa, Prem Easwar Hai" etc. be cruel and create a world where there is so much cruelty, so much imbalance between the Haves and the Have nots???.

 

Swami clarifies all the above doubts from His (God's perspective and perspective of human beings).

 

From God's perspective

 

"Rain falls equally on ploughed and unploughed land. Only the ploughed land derives benefit from it. The clouds are not to blame. The fault lies in the ignorant idler who lets the land lie fallow. The grace of God is ever at hand, it has no “more or less”, no ups or downs. We draw upon it, more or less, and use it for our good."

 

Here, Swami clearly explains that God can never be partial / cruel and His grace and Love is available to one and all, without any Judging of their merits and demerits.

 

From Human perspective 

 

"The question might arise: Why are some born in happiness and some in misery? They have done neither good nor evil, to be treated so unequally. True, they have done nothing in this life; they are only just born. But they had done good or evil in previous lives. The consequence of what was done in the previous life has to be experienced in this life."

 

Here, Swami brings in the Infallible theory of Karma and says, " AS YOU SOW, SO YOU REAP".

 

All our miseries or pleasure, all good and bad experienced by us, are all the results of our past karma!!

 

Love.