Sathya Sai Vahini - Post 45

 Chapter XVI

 

Mankind and God

 

For the consummation of human evolution and the realization by people of their highest goal, religion and spiritual discipline are very essential. Religion is the link between the individual and the universe, between the individual soul and God (jiva and Deva). 

 

If the link does not exist, life becomes chaos. A cow caught on a hill, wanting to go to the opposite hill but confronted with a flooded river in between, needs a bridge between thetwo. That is what religion is. Between the hill of individual life and the region of the Universal runs the flooded river of nature, with all its confusions and complexities. It is difficult to discover where it comes from, how it accumulates all that uproar, and where it ultimately ends. But, fortunately, in every human community we have bridge builders who help people to cross.

 

Vedic religion sourced in God, non-Vedic religions in God-man

 

We may have more than one bridge, but the purpose of each is the same. The bridge built by the sages and seers of India is known as the bridge of Eternal Religion (Sanathana Dharma). It is called so because it is an eternal, everlasting bridge based on the ageless foundation of the Vedas, and it can be used reliably by all, in all countries and at all times. That is why it is sometimes called the Vedic bridge and the Vedic path, also as the Aryan Path. 

 

All attempts to trace those who have laid this path have failed. This is why people have given up the search in despair, characterizing the path as undesigned. They assured themselves that the Lord himself was the designer.

 

All religions and spiritual paths laid through the ages are indeed sacred, for they have all been designed by messengers of the Lord, chosen because they are the foremost of people. Buddha, Jesus Christ, Zoroaster, Mo- hammed — such names are known worldwide. Their doctrines, ideals, and thoughts have all become so valid for their followers that their names have been identified with their religions.

 

Doctrine of rebirth unique to Vedic religion

 

In the Christian religion, it is stated that individual beings were created as they are. It is said that Allah did the same. Even Zoroastrian and Buddhist religions describe creation more or less on the same lines. But Vedic religion has a different version. The individual is as eternal as God. He is a spark of God. If there are no beings (jivis) there is no God (Deva). 

 

This is especially emphasized in the Vedas. Followers of other religions are, in recent times, recognizing this truth. The present life of each is only an interval between previous and future lives. It is but a step toward the next. This is indicated in the Vedas. The Vedas instruct about the relationship between the previous and future births. No other religion has revealed so much about previous and future births.

 

Another point: Among the four objectives of life — right action, wealth, desire, and liberation (dharma, artha, kama, and moksha) — various religions describe the stage of liberation in various ways. Each one lays down some doctrine and insists upon faith in it. Therefore, there is no agreement or identity between the experiences they describe. 

 

The Hindu description of the experience, however, can be gained by followers of all religions. There may be agreement in the details of the descriptions in various religions, but the total experience is not described in the same manner. The reason is this: the Hindu religion, which has come down from the timeless past, is really supreme. 

 

Vedic rituals: stepping stones to God

 

In the Hindu religion, rituals and ceremonies were laid down, to be observed from sunrise to nightfall, without intermission.

But these rituals and dedicatory ceremonies were not enough, and elaborate disciplines of living were also laid down. No other religion has so many and so elaborate rules of living. Therefore, it wouldn’t be correct to declare that all religions are the same. They might have adopted a few or many of these rules of living from Hinduism, since Hinduism has laid emphasis on them from the beginning.

 

In order to carry out this heavy schedule of ritual or action (karma), one must have devotion, spiritual wisdom, and self-control (bhakthi, jnana, and yoga). Dharma is the taproot of the great tree of religion. It is the eternal source of its strength. It is fed by waters of devotion; the leaves and flowers are renunciation and other virtues, and the fruit is understanding.

 

Past actions influence future births

 

It is a great source of peace to be content with one’s present conditions because one knows oneself to be the cause and knows that doing good and meritorious deeds now can build a happy future. 

 

Vedic religion is holistic, not partial

 

Religion cannot be, at any time, a mere personal affair. It may be possible to assert so, since each one’s faith is rooted in himself and since each one expresses that faith in their own behaviour and actions. But how far is that statement valid? 

 

The works of Vyasa and Valmiki are very ancient. Such writings of past ages are aptly called Puranas. But, though centuries have flown by since they were born, age is powerless to affect them. 

 

Manu’s code of law is unequaled

 

The Manu Dharma Sastra is unique; no text compares with it in any country throughout history. The doctrines of the Hindu faith and the scriptures (sastras) that enshrine them do not offer homage to material sciences. 

 

The scientists of today call this attitude blind faith; they want it to be discarded. They want every subjective and objective fact to be examined and put to rigorous tests. 

 

There is no need to dig up and lay bare new doctrines. Every principle and path is readily available. Understanding is the only thing we need aspire to. 

 

Love.

 

Sathya Sai Vahini - Post 44

 

Chapter XV

 

Levels and Stages

 

"The Hindu religion authorizes the worship of a variety of Gods; this has resulted in sectarian feuds and factions, which fill the land with fear and unrest. The unthinking verdict of many observers is that the insights and agitations in the country can be traced to this one basic defect. But this judgment is not correct. It is a flimsy flight of fancy, indulged in by people devoid of the faculty of reason. 

 

Sectarian conflicts within a religion

 

In the West, the inhabitants of all lands are, more or less, adherents of the Christian religion. Though all of them adore one God, they have been slaughtering each other by methods far more horrible than wild animals resort to. 

 

Don’t they wage wars in which peoples remote from the scene of conflict are wiped off the earth by merciless fire power, including innocent women, children, and the aged? 

 

Is their religion the basic cause for such heartless, disgraceful, stupid, and demonic devastation and fratricide? Of course, they belong to one religion and they adore one God, but there must be some poisonous trait lurking behind the facade of adoration, polluting the entire personality. Religion cannot be the cause, even to the slightest extent, for factions, fights, and wars.

 

Germany had no place for caste groups and sectarian conflicts. It had achieved extraordinary progress in science and technology. It shone in the forefront of nations by means of its strength, courage, and heroism. Such a nation was cut up into four bits by the four victorious powers, each bit being ruled by a separate nation! 

 

Japan, which has no problems of religious differences and sectarian conflicts, had to suffer the vengeance of the nations for some years! What was the reason? For the downfall of nations, religion alone cannot be the cause.

 

Differences are due to innate characteristics

 

No one can even imagine a world in which differences do not exist. Differences are born from the inner springs of intelligence based on the cumulative effect of impacts. The life of every being is the external expression of this intelligence and its effect. Inert as well non-inert entities are but manifestations on different levels of this intuitive intelligence. 

 

The parrot casts its eyes in a distinct way; the crow does the same, quite differently. The jackal reasons out situations differently from the dog. The nature of animals is of one type; the nature of human beings is of another.

 

Between person and person, there are differences in the knowledge gained. Even in physical characteristics and personal charm there are countless variations. Their likes and dislikes, their thoughts and feelings are shaped in diverse ways by the knowledge they have and the professions in which they are engaged. We have no need to go so far. Even twins growing together in the same womb are not often identical; they manifest different natures. What is the reason for this? The reason lies in differences in the development of the intelligence.

 

Therefore, at no time can mankind be free from differences; universal equality is an impossible aspiration; the desire to have it established on earth is a fantasy; it is a search for flowers in the sky. 

 

The animal lives with the awareness that it is an animal, the bird has the consciousness that it is a bird. A woman engages herself in the activities of the world, conscious that she is a woman; so also does man.

 

As you think, so you become

 

The consciousness one has, until sleep overwhelms, continues without change after waking from sleep. The living being continues activities as before sleep; so too, one continues in this life the activities broken off by death, from where they were ended.

 

One gives up the body at the end, remembering the feelings that moved one ever so strongly (Yam yam vaapi smaran bhaavam, thyajathyanthe kalebaram).

 

And in the Gita, One attains that status itself to which the feelings were all the while directed

(Tham thamaivethi Kauntheya, sadaa thadbhaava bhavithah).

 

The nature of the next life is in accordance with feelings that occupy the mind when one casts off the corpse. For those feelings will be in accordance only with the feelings that motivated the living days. On deeper thought, it will be evident that the basic truth is just this: everything depends on the progress attained in the sublimation of intelligence.

Outer forms express inner differences

 

Though in outer form a certain uniformity may appear, there exist vast and varied differences in inner nature. A genus or species is decided mainly on outer characteristics, which are really the manifested expressions of the inner intelligence. An individual is primarily a form. Person, tree, hill, sparrow, fox, dog, cow, snake, scorpion — these “sounds” denote members of the species with these forms. The individuals may undergo destruction, but the species will continue. Many people die, but mankind persists. Trees may fall and be reduced to ash or dust, but the genus cannot ever suffer destruction. The living genus is eternal; total destruction can never happen.

 

If we analyze and inquire into even the small things that we experience in our daily lives, these truths will be clearly evident before us. We say that everyone in the human species has human characteristics, but when we evaluate one person, we pay special attention to their virtues and habits, present status, and future prospects.

 

Cows — all of them — belong to one species, but when we want to purchase a cow, we try to find out its parentage. We look for auspicious marks on its body. It must give us plenty of milk; it must be a pretty little quiet animal. We purchase only cows with these desirable qualities. We are not attracted by the fact that it is a cow like the rest of the species. We do not purchase a barren cow or a wild unruly cow. Therefore, though all people are more or less uniform, each is to be evaluated only on the basis of their own qualities.

 

Innate qualities designed by divine will

 

When an inquiry in depth is made into another topic, it will be clear that feelings of difference between high and low are natural reactions. Though urine and feces are uniformly unclean, the urine of the cow is treated as holy. Sanctity is not attributed to the urine or feces of other animals; these are definitely unholy. Take the instance of fire (agni). Fire is fire, whatever the form. We light lamps at home; we have fire in our hearths. We have the sacrificial fire, rising up in flames. This fire is revered and worshiped; people prostrate before it. But the fire in the lamp and the hearth are not evaluated so highly. The flame of a fire used to burn a corpse on the cremation ground is not considered pure enough for any other use. No one will bake “rotis” over it; no one will revere it or offer prostrations before it. It is treated as low, unholy, polluted.

 

Similarly, though people have the same physical form, because of the peculiarities of each body and of the other sheaths in which each is encased, as well as the nature of their qualities and activities, distinctions among them have necessarily to be made. Some must be treated as “high”, some as “low”. Electric bulbs don’t all emit the same quality of light; some are bright, some dull. There is the same current in every bulb, though some express it in full strength and others are not able to do so.

We have to accept that for the world to evolve, levels of awareness, stages of excellence, distinctions like high and low, holy and unholy, religious and irreligious are essential requisites; they are inevitable. They are designed by divine will."

 

Love.

 

 

Sathya Sai Vahini - Post 43

The earlier post in which Swami has explained the “Real I”, is so complete in itself that there are no expressions further to explain anything.

 

Still, when the content is on “I”, let us go through the following relevant extract on “I” from the writing of Sri Ramana Maharishi on “who am I”

“As all living beings desire to be happy always, without misery, as in the case of everyone there is observed supreme love for one’s self, and as happiness alone is the cause for love, in order to gain that happiness which is one’s nature and which is experienced in the state of deep sleep where there is no mind, one should know one’s self. For that, the path of knowledge, the inquiry of the form “Who am I?”, is the principal means.

 

1. Who am I ?

 

The gross body which is composed of the seven humours (dhatus), I am not; the five cognitive sense organs, viz. the senses of hearing, touch, sight, taste, and smell, which apprehend their respective objects, viz. sound, touch, color, taste, and odour, I am not; the five cognitive sense organs, viz. the organs of speech, locomotion, grasping, excretion, and procreation, which have as their respective functions speaking, moving, grasping, excreting, and enjoying, I am not; the five vital airs, prana, etc., which perform respectively the five functions of in-breathing, etc., I am not;

 

even the mind which thinks, I am not; the nescience too, which is endowed only with the residual impressions of objects, and in which there are no objects and no functioning’s, I am not.

 

2. If I am none of these, then who am I?

 

After negating all of the above-mentioned as ‘not this’, ‘not this’, that Awareness which alone remains - that I am.

 

3. What is the nature of Awareness?

The nature of Awareness is existence-consciousness-bliss

 

4. When will the realization of the Self be gained?

 

When the world which is what-is-seen has been removed, there will be realization of the Self which is the seer.

 

5. Will there not be realization of the Self even while the world is there (taken as real)?

 

There will not be.

 

6. Why?

The seer and the object seen are like the rope and the snake. Just as the knowledge of the rope which is the substrate will not arise unless the false knowledge of the illusory serpent goes, so the realization of the Self which is the substrate will not be gained unless the belief that the world is real is removed.

 

7. When will the world which is the object seen be removed?

When the mind, which is the cause of all cognition’s and of all actions, becomes quiescent, the world will disappear.

 

8. What is the nature of the mind?

 

What is called ‘mind’ is a wondrous power residing in the Self. It causes all thoughts to arise.

 

Apart from thoughts, there is no such thing as mind. Therefore, thought is the nature of mind. Apart from thoughts, there is no independent entity called the world. In deep sleep there are no thoughts, and there is no world. In the states of waking and dream, there are thoughts, and there is a world also. 

 

Just as the spider emits the thread (of the web) out of itself and again withdraws it into itself, likewise the mind projects the world out of itself and again resolves it into itself. When the mind comes out of the Self, the world appears. Therefore, when the world appears (to be real), the Self does not appear; and when the Self appears (shines) the world does not appear. When one persistently inquires into the nature of the mind, the mind will end leaving the Self (as the residue).

 

What is referred to as the Self is the Atman. The mind always exists only in dependence on something gross; it cannot stay alone. It is the mind that is called the subtle body or the soul (jiva).

 

9. What is the path of inquiry for understanding the nature of the mind?

 

That which rises as ‘I’ in this body is the mind. If one inquires as to where in the body the thought ‘I’ rises first, one would discover that it rises in the heart. That is the place of the mind’s origin.

 

Even if one thinks constantly ‘I’ ‘I’, one will be led to that place. Of all the thoughts that arise in the mind, the ‘I’ thought is the first. It is only after the rise of this that the other thoughts arise. It is after the appearance of the first personal pronoun that the second and third personal pronouns appear; without the first personal pronoun there will not be the second and third.

 

10. How will the mind become quiescent?

 

By the inquiry ‘Who am I?’. The thought ‘who am I?’ will destroy all other thoughts, and like the stick used for stirring the burning pyre, it will itself in the end get destroyed. Then, there will arise Self-realization.

 

11. What is the means for constantly holding on to the thought ‘Who am I?’

 

When other thoughts arise, one should not pursue them, but should inquire: ‘To whom do they arise?’ It does not matter how many thoughts arise. As each thought arises, one should inquire with diligence, “To whom has this thought arisen?”. The answer that would emerge would be “To me”. Thereupon if one inquires “Who am I?”, the mind will go back to its source; and the thought that arose will become quiescent. With repeated practice in this manner, the mind will develop the skill to stay in its source. 

 

When the mind that is subtle goes out through the brain and the sense organs, the gross names and forms appear; when it stays in the heart, the names and forms disappear.

 

Not letting the mind go out, but retaining it in the Heart is what is called “inwardness” (antarmukha). Letting the mind go out of the Heart is known as “externalisation” (bahir-mukha). 

 

Thus, when the mind stays in the Heart, the ‘I’ which is the source of all thoughts will go, and the Self which ever exists will shine. Whatever one does, one should do without the egoity “I”. If one acts in that way, all will appear as of the nature of Siva (God).

 

12. Are there no other means for making the mind quiescent?

Other than inquiry, there are no adequate means. If through other means it is sought to control the mind, the mind will appear to be controlled, but will again go forth. Through the control of breath also, the mind will become quiescent; but it will be quiescent only so long as the breath remains controlled, and when the breath resumes the mind also will again start moving and will wander as impelled by residual impressions. The source is the same for both mind and breath. 

 

Thought, indeed, is the nature of the mind. The thought “I” is the first thought of the mind; and that is egoity. It is from that whence egoity originates that breath also originates. Therefore, when the mind becomes quiescent, the breath is controlled, and when the breath is controlled the mind becomes quiescent. 

But in deep sleep, although the mind becomes quiescent, the breath does not stop. This is because of the will of God, so that the body may be preserved and other people may not be under the impression that it is dead. In the state of waking and in samadhi, when the mind becomes quiescent the breath is controlled.

 

Breath is the gross form of mind. Till the time of death, the mind keeps breath in the body; and when the body dies the mind takes the breath along with it. Therefore, the exercise of breath-control is only an aid for rendering the mind quiescent (manonigraha); it will not destroy the mind (manonasa).

 

Like the practice of breath-control. meditation on the forms of God, repetition of mantras, restriction on food, etc., are but aids for rendering the mind quiescent.

 

Through meditation on the forms of God and through repetition of mantras, the mind becomes onepointed. The mind will always be wandering. Just as when a chain is given to an elephant to hold in its trunk it will go along grasping the chain and nothing else, so also when the mind is occupied with a name or form it will grasp that alone. 

 

When the mind expands in the form of countless thoughts, each thought becomes weak; but as thoughts get resolved the mind becomes one-pointed and strong; for such a mind Self-inquiry will become easy. Of all the restrictive rules, that relating to the taking of sattvic food in moderate quantities is the best; by observing this rule, the sattvic quality of mind will increase, and that will be helpful to Self-inquiry.

 

13. The residual impressions (thoughts) of objects appear wending like the waves of an ocean.

When will all of them get destroyed?

 

As the meditation on the Self rises higher and higher, the thoughts will get destroyed.

 

14. Is it possible for the residual impressions of objects that come from beginningless time, as it were, to be resolved, and for one to remain as the pure Self?

 

Without yielding to the doubt “Is it possible, or not?”, one should persistently hold on to the meditation on the Self. Even if one be a great sinner, one should not worry and weep “O! I am a sinner, how can I be saved?”; one should completely renounce the thought “I am a sinner”; and concentrate keenly on meditation on the Self; then, one would surely succeed. 

 

There are not two minds - one good and the other evil; the mind is only one. It is the residual impressions that are of two kinds - auspicious and inauspicious. When the mind is under the influence of auspicious impressions it is called good; and when it is under the influence of inauspicious impressions it is regarded as evil.

The mind should not be allowed to wander towards worldly objects and what concerns other people. However bad other people may be, one should bear no hatred for them. Both desire and hatred should be eschewed. All that one gives to others one gives to one’s self. If this truth is understood who will not give to others? When one’s self arises all arises; when one’s self becomes quiescent all becomes quiescent. To the extent we behave with humility, to that extent there will result good. If the mind is rendered quiescent, one may live anywhere.

 

15. How long should inquiry be practised?

As long as there are impressions of objects in the mind, so long the inquiry “Who am I?” is required. As thoughts arise they should be destroyed then and there in the very place of their origin, through inquiry. If one resorts to contemplation of the Self unintermittently, until the Self is

gained, that alone would do. As long as there are enemies within the fortress, they will continue to sally forth; if they are destroyed as they emerge, the fortress will fall into our hands.

16. What is the nature of the Self?

 

What exists in truth is the Self alone. The world, the individual soul, and God are appearances in it. like silver in mother-of-pearl, these three appear at the same time, and disappear at the same time. The Self is that where there is absolutely no “I” thought. That is called “Silence”. The Self itself is the world; the Self itself is “I”; the Self itself is God; all is Siva, the Self.

 

17. Is not everything the work of God?

 

Without desire, resolve, or effort, the sun rises; and in its mere presence, the sun-stone emits fire, the lotus blooms, water evaporates; people perform their various functions and then rest. Just as in the presence of the magnet the needle moves, it is by virtue of the mere presence of God that the souls governed by the three (cosmic) functions or the fivefold divine activity perform their actions and then rest, in accordance with their respective karmas. God has no resolve; no karma attaches itself to Him. That is like worldly actions not affecting the sun, or like the merits and demerits of the other four elements not affecting all pervading space.

18. Of the devotees, who is the greatest?

 

He who gives himself up to the Self that is God is the most excellent devotee. Giving one’s self up to God means remaining constantly in the Self without giving room for the rise of any thoughts other than that of the Self. Whatever burdens are thrown on God, He bears them. Since the supreme power of God makes all things move, why should we, without submitting ourselves to it, constantly worry ourselves with thoughts as to what should be done and how, and what should not be done and how not? We know that the train carries all loads, so after getting on it why should we carry our small luggage on our head to our discomfort, instead of putting it down in the train and feeling at ease?”

 

Love.