|
DISCOURSE - posted SUNDAY 18th October 2015
ARMY D5: Divine Discourse Notes Friday 17th October 2015 | | ♥ Om Sri Sai Ram. As we pray to Bhagavan to give His message, on the very auspicious evening, I perceive Him to be seated in a yellow robe and I repeat as He speaks.
Embodiments of Divine Love. Every person has six relatives. Truth is the mother. Wisdom is the father. Righteousness is the brother. Compassion is the friend. Peace is the daughter. Forgiveness is the son. These are the six relatives of every person. Everyone who is born in this world will be born in a family. In the family there will many relatives like Father, Mother, Wife, Children, Brothers and Sisters. But all these relationships last as long as only this body is there. As soon as the body is lost we also lose all relationships. So who is the wife, the father, the mother or the son ? Before you get married, the girl whom you are going to get married to, you have no knowledge on who she is, the only thing you know is she is the daughter of somebody. You will not even think that she is your wife. As soon as you get married you enjoy all her happiness and you also share her burden of sorrow. Before the marriage, if the girl gets a fever, you dont bother about it and just think that somebody just has a fever. Once you get married, before you even ask her, you go here and there and meet a doctor to get some medicines for your wife. Before marriage who is she and who are you ? You are just separate human beings. Because of the marriage there comes the bondage. Once you give up the body there is neither wife or husband.
Again and again you are born. Again and again you die. Again and again you live in the womb of your mother. Therefore, all the kind of relationships, that you develop on this earth, they are only bondages, they are not real relationships. But there is only one true relationship, that is the relationship with the Atma. There is only one atma who is the indweller in all the beings. Ony One God dwells in the hearts of everyone.
Only when you live for God you can know that everyone is your brother and everyone is your sister. When you come to the stage you address everyone as brothers and sisters. You only just say that. Are you experiencing it or behaving like that in your life ? You talk so many things. Do you put it into practice? All these things are a kind of mere mindedness. For the broadminded people the whole world is there family. True devotion is to think that everyone in the world is belonging to you. Whom ever we salute we are saluting God Himself. We should know that whom ever we ridicule we are ridiculing God Himself. Our true relationship should be with God who is the resident in the heart of everyone. All over relationships are kind of bondage.
Once upon a time there lived a couple who loved each other very intensely. The husband had a feeling. For the sake of my wife I am ready to give up my life. The wife was very loyal to the husband and was ready to do anything for him. With so much love and affection between them they led their family life. One day, a very noble soul. came to that village. All the people of the village joined the satsangh and the couple also went there. In that satsangh the noble soul taught that life, youth, wealth, wife and children are tempoary. Only Truth and good name are permanent. This world is called Jagath because everything comes and goes. Therefore, all the relationships that we develop, amongst ourselves, are temporary and not permanent. But this husband did not like the words of the Mahatma. He said, "My wife is ready to do anything for my sake ! To call my relationship between me and my wife is wrong. We have a very deep relationship of love and fellowship. Not just attachment." Because he was arguing that way the saint called him to the stage. He called him aside and talked to him separately. "If you want to know the Truth you just do what I tell you to do. Pretend to be dead. I will teach you a mantra which will make you look dead. What ever is happening around you will be able to listen to everything." It is a state of meditation. Then you will understand the truth. He gave the mantra and sent the husband home. In those days the houses were very small. Houses were small and doors smaller. The door was so small that only one person could pass through it. Always it was a kind of one way traffic. You cant walk straight into the house without bending your head. This man was living in such a small house. So, he staged the drama of being dead. He was lying down on the cot looking dead after repeating the mantra. Now all the people got ready to perform the cremation rites of this man. Wife also was shedding tears of sorrow and was feeling miserable. Finally it was decided that the body should be taken outside of the home. As he was in a state of meditation the body became very stiff and the legs and hands could not be moved. Thus they decided that they would take the body, along with the cot, outside. But the door was so small. However much they tried the cot could not be taken out the door. Everybody thought, seeing ad though he is dead, better we smash the door to take out the cot. Young men started breaking down the door. The wife came running. "What are you doing?" They said, "This body can not be taken out this small door. we are breaking down the door so we can take the body out." The wife replied, "Why do you want to break down the door. He is dead ! Chop off his limbs and take him out ! He is dead. At least the door we can save." Immediately the mans meditation was broken. He got up and said, " I thought you loved me so much. But today I now know how much you love me." Then he thought that this bondage of family is no good for me.
I am not telling you that everybody will be like that. All worldly relationships are selfish in nature. It is only the selfish relationship of give and take. Nobody wants to live selflessly. Only God is Selfless. All the time He puts in an effort to make you happy. Yet, all the time you are worrying without thinking of God. You are making your life a funeral pyre. You are struggling so much to attain things which are temporary. You dont do anything to attain something which is pemament. Be born is a worry. Living on earth is a worry. Family life is a worry. Wealth is a kind of worry. Friendship is a kind of worry. Death is a worry. Happiness is a worry. All actions lead to worry. Difficulties are a worry. Oh my dear people, at least from now onwards think of one worry which will remove all your worries. If you worry to attain Gods Grace that is enough. When you contemplate on God you will get rid of all the worries.
Who are we? Where did we come from? Where are we going? What is the destiny of our lives? Only once when we have enquired into this Truth, and we find out the Truth, will we be very happy. There is no happiness equal to wisdom. When you get true wisdom that I am God Himself, I am the Atma, then you will get rid of all worries. Wealthfare does not mean that you have to struggle for your family earning money. It means that you have to put in the effort to attain the highest happiness or bliss. Happiness is union with God. Union with God will give you permanent happiness. Until then you will get only temporary pleasure. Thus we have to give up everything that is temporary and put in effort to attain that which is permanent - God.
Bali was born in a demons family. But he only had the feelings of a great devotee. We are born in a human family but we dont develop that kind of devotion. Our life is not reflected in our lineage but in our actions. Not by money, progeny or activity will you find immortality. Only by sacrifice will you find immortality. If you are the child of immortality you should know where you get immortality. Not by action, progeny or money ! Only by sacrifice. We have to sacrifice our selfishness, self-interest, ego and attachments. We came here empty handed. We will die empty handed. It is a waste of your effort if you want to attain all things in this world that are very temporary.
My dears, all of you should try to cultivate a good relationship with God which is permanent. All of us are temporary. The Emporer Bali sacrificed the empire itself. Till today we remember him for his nobility, sacrifice and great name. Only two things are permanent: Truth and good name. We have to put in effort and struggle for good name.
Many students desire to be engineers or doctors. That is good. There is nothing wrong in those desires. It depends upon on what you do after you become an engineer or doctor. If you become an engineer you should struggle not only to just fill your stomach but to serve the society. After becoming a doctor you should not just think about earning alot of money or good name and fame. Most importantly you should become a good person.
All the devotees, who are seated here, are enjoying listening to stories of God and many talks. But in the background many people are struggling hard to provide you with this opportunity. What kind of people are there ? Among the volunteers, there are from Bangalore, many engineers, doctors, businessmen and lawyers. You may think when they are doing ordinary service, becoming volunteers here, you may think that they are ordinary people. All those who running around here and there wearing scarves, they are serving you with great humility and obediance. All of you are servants and none of you are leaders. Even God is born to serve everyone. God becomes a Divine Incarnation with the objective of loving and serving everyone. When God himself is involved in service activities, you should also be involved in service and find fullfillment in your lives.
In order to organise a programme like this we do need the services of a lot of people. We need all kinds of people like cooks, decorators, sound system people, lighting people and drivers. In order to provide this wonderful programme prohits are not enough ! Greater than the Yagna being performed by prohits, greater still is the service being done by the volunteers. All these people are doing everything for the love of Swami. There is no selfishness, there is no ego, there is no attachment in there activities. You are all coming here and going away from here. You may not know this that is why I am telling you what is happening here in the background. I am not praising the people. They are not doing it for a good name. They have only one desire to satisfy Swami in all ways. There are many officers in high positions. They want to do service. They dont get leave but still they are doing both, their office work and service. All night they are working from home. They dont eat food or sleep. We are able to run this wonderful programme because of their good service. We have to offer our gratitude to those people. (applause).
All of you should become servants. True servants are true leaders. One who puts into practice is the real teacher. Therefore, a true servant is a true leader. When all of us become servants our ego and arrogance will be eliminated. Sometimes when we involve ourselves in service activities there may be some differences of opinion. They are not spiritual differences. They are differences in the activity. Five fingers are different in their shape and size. When all of them get together the work happens. Only when you work with unity can you achieve anything. I am conducting this programmes with the only purpose of purifying you and eliminating your ego. You have to not only do service here but back home. When someone asks for a tumbler of water here you run and give them the water. However a big officer you may be you are doing the service of giving water. But when you go back home and order your wife, "Go and get me coffee or go get me water" is not correct. What service you do here you should do there also. In fact, the service should be done at home. When you do service at home and set an ideal for your children they will also join the service activities. Children will not learn from what you speak. They will learn from your actions. It is not just speaking, you have to practice what you speak and develop a good image for yourself then everybody will look up to you.
(lights turn on and off over 30 seconds)
They are putting off the lights. Probably I have to finish my discourse. (laughter). Thee are some people, you give them a mic and they will never leave it (laughter). They keep ooonn talking. Once it happened somebody was giving a speech like that. Everybody got up and went away. There was only one person who stayed back. The speaker was very happy. At least there was one person appreciating what he was saying. He asked the man, "Even after everybody has left, you are staying back. What have you understood of my talk?" The man said, " I am not here to listen to your philosphy. All these lights and tent belong to me ! I am just waiting for you to stop talking so that I can wind up all these mics and put everything away" We dont want to become such speakers. But all those that spoke here spoke very well. Their words emanated from their hearts, not from their lips. That is the language of the heart - one language.
Students have come all the way from Alike to put on a performance. We will witnessed that now and derive delight.
DISCLAIMER: Please remember these are jotted down notes, small healthy snacks to help US act as Gods (BE GOD) from the Discourse given by SUKSHMA BABA at Muddenahalli. This is NOT word for word or the full discourse. Nor do these NOTES convey the Divine Feeling or Divine Energy, in that moment, that is flowing in Abundance. If you want word for word, Heart to Heart, Divine Energy - go Within or attend these discourses. Enjoy the humble jottings. |
|
DISCOURSE - posted SATURDAY 17th October 2015
ARMY D4: Divine Discourse Notes Friday 16th October 2015 | | ♥ Om Sri Sai Ram. As we all pray to Bhagavan to give His Divine message, I perceive Him seated in this chair in an orange robe. I repeat as He Speaks.
This sacred land of Bharat has given birth to many great men and woman that have won international fame. This land of Bharat is the battle ground from where the western heros were thrown out by our Indian leaders. This land of Bharat is a land of great scholarship and also expertise in music, literature and fine arts. Having been born in this great country, Oh My devotees and children, it is your responsibility to uphold and safe guard the treasure and wealth of dharma of this great country.
Embodiments of Love, devotees, students, boys and girls. For any human being it is very difficult to gain three things which leads us to attaining Divine Grace. The first is the human birth. The second is the desire for liberation. The third is the great company of realised souls or men of wisdom. Its a great opportunity for us to be born as human beings among 84 lahks of species of life on this earth. It is not enough that we are just born as human beings. It is highly essential that we conduct ourselves as human beings.
The great goal of human life is nothing but developing aspiration for liberation - nothing else. The right path of dharma is the path on which you will aspire to realise God. There are four goals of human life: Dharma - right conduct, Artha - earning wealth and treasure, Kama - fullfilling our physical desires and Moksha - liberation. What this actually means is that you have to earn money through righteous means and then utilise it to move forward on the spiritual path and attain liberation. That is the real human life.
It is a big mistake to think that we will gain liberation only after we drop this physical body. Even when you are living, if you can give up attachment to this world and worldly desires, that is liberation. If, by any chance, in our heart arises a desire for liberation we should know that it is a great fortune conferred on us. Even if you get the human birth and also develop the desire for liberation, suppose you dont get the guidance and company of a great soul then life will become useless. When we make good use of the opportunity to be with great and noble souls, and learn the lessons taught by them, then our lives will find fullfillment.
We have another great good fortune conferred on us ! Apart from having the human birth and apart from developing desire for liberation, apart from having attained the company of God Himself, the greatest fortune is that we are born in this sacred land of Bharat. This is a Divine, sacred and glorious land. A land in which we can attain the highest goal. Even the great Divine incarnations are born in the womb of this great mother Bharat and not anywhere else. Bharat means one with the right feeling of devotion and also the right tune and rhythm. You adore God and gain Divine experience. Who is a Bharathiar? He is one who derives great joy and bliss in God. It is not the quality of an Indian, a person born in the sacred land of Bharat, to only struggle to attain worldy wealth, treasure pleasures and all the means by which we can attain essential pleasures and also name and fame. It is very unfortunate that we are born as Indians but we dont behave as Indians. A Bharathiar is one who takes delight only in God. My dear children you very very fortunate that you are born in this great land of Bharat, that you have developed the desire for liberation and also you have won the Divine presence of God Himself. You should never lose this opportunity. Having obtained the Grace of Sai dont lose it ! Make good use of it ! Once you lose it you will never get it again. It is your primary duty to see that you make good use of the opportunity given to you.
So many number of children are getting admitted to our educational institutions. It is not just enough if a boy or girl develops the desire to become a student. You need to have the right kind of educational institutions also. Apart from the right kind of educational institutions also you need the right kind of teachers. These three things are the human birth, desire for liberation and the company of the great souls. In this country of Bharat today all the education institutions should become Saraswathi Mandirs. When you ask any student, "What are you doing?" They will say, "I am purchasing education." They dont say, "I am studying education.' The boy, after after having purchased education with money, once he gets educated, what is he going to do with his education ? He will only sell what he has purchased. Nothing beyond that. When a boy, or girl, purchases their education, spending 1 lahk of rupess, the only desires they will have is to earn lahks of rupees. They will never think of the welfare of the world and service to society.
What is the use of earning that kind of useless education that leads you to only logic and argumentation, an education that does not confer upon you good wisdom. What is the use of learning an education which ultimately leads you to death. The kind of education that you should learn is the one that leads you to immortality.
Narayan Bhatt had no desires at all. He had only prayer. In a desire there is a feeling of "I" and "mine". In a prayer the feeling is "you" and "us". He always said, "Gods Will will be done and not mine." Today the educational institutions that are coming up fast in both his name and Swami's name are because of the prayers done by Narayan Bhatt. Bhagiratha prayed so that, the celestial Ganga, the Ganga in the heavens would come down to earth to quench the thirst of the people on earth. He was given that Grace by Lord Ishwara. Bhagiratha, very selflessly, in order to quench the thirst of the human beings, prayed to Lord Ishwara. Iswara Himself took upon that Celestial Ganga on His matted head. Because of the selfless prayer of Bhagiratha, even Iswara, took the Ganga on His matted head. Similarly, because of the selfless prayers of Narayan Bhatt, today God Himself has taken upon Himself the fullfillment of Narayan Bhatts desire. Thought there are crores and crores of people in the world, how many people are praying selflessly for others. It could be one or two people. Not all people. Narayan Bhatt, with great prayer of world welfare, offered all his wealth properties at the lotus feet of God. They are finding fullfillment because of the Divine Grace today. He did not even keep a single rupee for himself. He thought that if he keeps even a single rupee he will not get Divine Grace and that if he kept even one rupee with him that he didnt have faith in God. He thought, "He will give everything and he will look after me. God is looking after such a vast creation. Will he not look after me?" For crossing over the ocean of samsara, you can not do it by penance, you can not do it by going on pilgrimages and you can not do it by studying scriptures. Only by service to noble souls can you attain liberation.
Yagnas are apart of our Indian culture. Therefore we are performing this Yagna. Yagna has another name - sacrifice. True yagna is full of sacrifice. Even if you dont have the sacrificial fire it is good enough that you have a selfless thought in your mind. There is no greater sacrifice than offering ones own body, mind and soul to the service of society. Sacrifice is not giving up wife and children and going away into the forrest. Real sacrifice is sacrifice of the selfishness in your own mind. That beomes Yoga.
Today, because of lack of time I will not tell you many things, but what I have told you you have to understand it, contemplate on it and practice it. That is good enough for me. For 85 years I went on giving discourses. But how many people are there who have absorbed the teachings of Swami and have demonstrated these teachings in their own lives. Thus, I would like to tell you that just listening is not enough. You must contemplate on my teachings and practice them in your lives. Otherwise, like holding a sive to catch the water that comes from above, it will be useless. I conclude my discourse by blessing you that all of you will cleanse the vessels of your heart and fill it with pure and sacred feelings and lead a very noble life.
DISCLAIMER: Please remember these are jotted down notes, small healthy snacks to help US act as Gods (BE GOD) from the Discourse given by SUKSHMA BABA at Muddenahalli. This is NOT word for word or the full discourse. Nor do these NOTES convey the Divine Feeling or Divine Energy, in that moment, that is flowing in Abundance. If you want word for word, Heart to Heart, Divine Energy - go Within or attend these discourses. Enjoy the humble jottings. |
|
DISCOURSE - posted Friday 16th October 2015
ARMY D3: Divine Discourse Notes Thursday 15th October 2015 | | ♥ Om Sri Sai Ram. As we all pray to Bhagavan for His Divine message this evening, I perceive Him seated in this chair in an orchre robe and I repeat as He speaks.
Who ever thinks of me, without thinking of anything else, such people who are always devoted to me I will always look after their welfare.
Embodiments of Divine Love. Sri Krishna gave us His Word that who ever thinks of me, without thinking of anything else, I will always look after everyday of their welfare. Who ever thinks of me all the time, at all places I will grant him all the gifts of this world and also the other world. Welfare does not mean that God gives us all wealth and treasures, name and fame which are only worldy. All of them are related to activity and not to union with God. I will drive away all the darkness of ignorance from my devotee, grant him the experience of the Divine Self granting him the Divine Bliss.
When there is the wish fullfilling tree right in front of your home why should you look for an ordinary tree in your back yard? When you have the wish fullfilling cow, which grants you milk when ever you ask it, why should you purchase milk? When you have, right in front of you, the Meru Mountain shining with gold and silver why should you purchase gold and silver from a market? When you have God right in front of you, granting you both devotion and liberation, why should you go after worldly pleasures and experiences.
It is total ignorance to go to the wish fullfilling tree or cow and ask for coffee powder. Similarly, to go after the reflection, shadow or illusion forsaking the object, shows no wisdom. We need to put in effort and work hard to attain that which is permanent, eternal and grants us everything. Bhagavad Gita says that this world is full of sorrow and is also temporary. If worldy pleasures can give complete happiness then why is it that again and again we get subjected to sorrows. With great effort you obtain one thing and for sometime you are happy. Then that happiness disappears and you become miserable. Again, you go after something else, which you think will give you complete happiness. You attain it but even then this shows to be transient and temporary and you get subjected to sorrow. In this dual world which is full of happiness and sorrow, profit and loss, gain and pain you cannot get something that will give you complete happiness. You have to look for total infinite bliss only in a place where it is exisiting and not in a place that it is not existing.
A dog, which was hungry, found a small bone and became very happy. It was a dry bone. He thought that he was going to derive great joy from the bone and went on chewing that bone. When he was chewing that bone a small piece of bone hurt its jaw. It never experienced that its gum was hurting and went on chewing. Bleeding started from the wound in the gums. But the dog was enjoying, thinking that the blood was coming from the bone he continued to chew. It so happened that the dog thought the blood was coming from the bone not from the gums. It is total ignorance for the dog to think that the blood was coming from somewhere else when the blood was coming from the wound in his mouth. Similarly, man goes in search of joy and bliss in many places. But his very form is the embodiment of bliss. Being himself the embodiment of bliss he looks for joy and bliss elsewhere. He puts in great effort to attain that joy and all his life is wasted in that kind of effort. It is all a useless activity when you look for something not knowing where exactly it is available. There was an old woman who lost her needle. She searched for it everywhere. When the sun set she went outside and started looking for the needle outside the house. Where ever she searched she could not find it. There was a good person who saw this and asked her what she was searching for. The old woman said, "My dear son, I have lost my needle that's why I am searching." That person said that he would help her and started searching for the needle. Both of them searched for a very long time. Another very intelligent person came there and asked them, "What is it that you are searching for?" That gentleman said, "This woman has lost her needle. I am helping her find her needle." Then the intelligent person asked them, "Where did you lose your needle?" The woman replied, "I lost it in my house."
"You have lost your needle in your home and now you are looking for it on the street, how can you find it?"
"There is complete darkness in my house and under the street light I have light that is why I am looking here under the light."
"Is it right that if you have lost your needle inside your home then you go out to the street to look for it ? You will get it only when you look for it where it is."
It is total ignorance for you to look for happiness somewhere outside yourself when bliss is within you. There are alot of people that are looking for things which they have kept on their own head. It is complete ignorance to look for something that is not there. You are the embodiment of Bliss. You are the embodiment of Atma. Find it within yourself. Is it possible to find it somewhere else? We study all the scriptures and listen to alot of lectures and inspite of having all this knowledge why is it that we are unable to find it. There are three obstacles: Mala, Vikshepa, Avarana.
Mala means impurities. Selfish desires are the impurities within us. Being enveloped in body consciousness, always thinking of I and mine and developing selfish desires, that is impurity or mala. Because of impurities you are not able to see what is really existing. In a room there is a mirror. If you want to look at your reflection in the mirror first you have to remove the dust from the mirror. Only when you remove that dust from the mirror will you be able to see your reflection. Due to the dust of impurities you are not able to see your own reflection in the mirror. You are looking for your reflection elsewhere, in all different places.
The second is Vikshepa. In darkness you look at a rope and become afraid that it is a serpent. Due to the darkness you dont see what really exists. You think something exists that is not really there. When you light the lamp of wisdom in your heart you can see what temporary and what is permanent. Wisdom is seeing the unity of all creation. When you put on the light of wisdom in the room you can see your reflection in the mirror. But because there is no light you think that you see somebody elses reflection and become scared. When you put on the light and see your own reflection you feel very happy. You have removed the dust from the mirror and put on the light but still you cannot see your reflection because of the cover on the mirror. This cover over the mirror stops you from seeing your own reflection. When you remove the cover, remove the dust and put on the light you will see your reflection in the mirror and derive great joy. Ego is that impurity. Attachment is the darkness. When you get rid of body consciousness by removing ego and attachment then you will know your own truth. If we think that when we get old we can then get into good company, listen to lectures on the Truth and learn, that is a mistake. Many young people think that youth is the time to earn money, create a family and enjoy the pleasures of the world and that it is only when you get old that then it is time to get into satsanghs. Young people also say that now they are busy with their duties and activities when I get old and retired then I will get into satsanghs. But when you get old you cant see or hear properly, you cant sit straight, and because of all this you just sit at home.
There was a miserly person like this. He did not do anything at home. The roof on the house was ruined. During the rain the water leaked inside and he couldnt stand anywhere. He was in a corner sitting. Many friends came to him and told him, "Why dont you spend some money and repair the roof so that there is no leakage." He replied, "It is now the rainy season. Let me repair the roof when the rain stops." When the rainy season stopped the friends came and said, "Now that the rainy season has stopped better you now repair the roof so that you will be happy during the rainy season." But he is a miser and said, "Now that there are no rains. What is the use of repairing the roof now." When you are children you enjoy playing games. When you are young you go after worldly pleasures. When you are old nobody is interested in God. When you are young and your head, heart and hands are very strong you should utilise the time well and get into satsanghs, learn good things and derive great joy.
Many people are asking why is Swami wasting so much money on Yagnas. Should he not use that same money on service projects? Also they say that many valuable, precious things are going into the fire and wasting them. He is not giving them to the poor people. The kind of people who say that, looking at their lives Swami says, "The way you are looking at my Yagna and sorrowing over it, I feel very sad about your own lives." After having got this precious human birth and living like animals it is not the right thing.
Among all species of life human birth is very rare. Out of 84 lahks of species of life human life is the greatest and the highest. After knowing this truth you are behaving like animals and not living like humans. Food, sleep, procreation and fear are both common to animals and humans. Only wisdom separates human beings and animals. Human beings without wisdom are equal to animals. When somebody asks you the question "Who are You" and to reply with "I am Man" is only a half truth. This is not the complete truth. The complete truth is "I am Man. I am not an animal." All the animal instincts are also there in human beings like desire, anger, infatuation and jealousy. Living our lives for the sake of fullfilling these desires is animal life not human life.
In the word "manava" there is the meaning that you are not new. You are the ancient one. You dont have any beginning, middle or end. The body is born and the body dies. How can it be permanent? When you realise the Atma principle, knowing that everything else is transient and temporary, only then can you enjoy true bliss in your lives. For all the sorrows and attachments the root cause is having the sense of difference - I am different, he is different. This is a kind of ignorance. It is also a mistake to think that I am serving somebody else. Alot of students, young men and woman are here serving. To think that we are serving someone else is a mistake. The right thing to consider is that I am serving God who is in everybody - I am serving God who is in myself. When your hand puts water into your mouth that is not service. If the mouth sends the water to the stomach that is not service. It is only a duty not a service. We should know that when we do our duty, thinking that we are doing service, and become very proud and arrogant this is not correct.
Why are we serving? We are doing service to get rid of ego and attachment within us. If you develop your ego whilst doing service this is not correct. How can you judge whether you are doing this service correctly or not? We should know that only when your ego and attachment are on the decline then you are doing service properly. The prohits, who have come here, with great sincerity they are performing all these yagnas. They are not prohits. They should become paramithas - those who help others. This body is given to us to serve others. The purpose of the body is to help others. The body is the basis of all noble activities. Use the body only for service. Using it for anything else is a waste of time.
When some people think that Swami is wasting resources, putting them into the fire, looking at you I feel very sad that you are wasting your precious life. I feel very sad that when you have got the precious human birth, leading an animal life and wasting it is a matter of sorrow for me. I am arranging all these satsanghs so that you can give up all these evil thoughts and feelings and develop noble thoughts and feelings. From good company you develop detachment. From detachment you can get over bondage. When you get over bondage you can become steady then you get liberation.
What ever you do offer it to God for the Love of God. Today you listen to the story of Bhagavatha. This young man had a very high temperature this morning. He was feeling bad as to whether he could deliver his talk this evening. But only one thing he thought about was that when Swami was many times very ill and undergoing alot of pain too, Swami never said no to anybody. When alot of people did padnamaskar they were surprised at the heat and asked, "When you have such high fever why do you come and grant darshan?" I have only one answer for them. That this body has come to remove the ills of mankind. The body is the basis for all good activity. This body is given for helping others. Using the body for any other activity is not right. Having got the precious human birth it is very necessary that you put it to good use. It is also a mistake to think that even if I lose this body that I will get another body in the next life.
The body has five sheaths. Annamaya Kosha - Food sheath, Pranamaya kosha - Life sheath, Manamaya kosha - Mind Sheath, Vijnanamaya kosha - Wisdom sheath and Anandamaya kosha - Bliss sheath. The gross body is the food sheath of the human personality. Only when the life gets into this the inert becomes full of life. Otherwise it is inert and is not conscious. Because of the life sheath the food sheath can also move around. When the electric current flows the lights will turn on and the fan will move around. Similarly, when the light principle enters the body it starts working. But at death the light principle leaves the inert body and goes away. You have lost only the gross body and not the mind. The subtle body is having this Light principle, Mind principle and Intelligence principle. Even this subtle body has ego and attachments. At death what you leave is only the physical gross body. Only when you get over the gross and physical body you can look for liberation. If you want to cross an ocean you need a boat. In order to cross over this samsara you need this body. Both can move in water but water should not get into the boat. If water gets into the boat the boat will sink. You can live in samsara but samsara should not get into you. You will be happy and secure as long as this worldiness does not get into your mind.
There are 84 lahks species of life but there are many things that are invisible that you can not see with your eyes. They are subtle energy forms. You think that Shiva and Parvathi are in Kailasa. If you go to Kailasa can you see Shiva and Parvathi. They are all in subtle bodies. When you want to offer something to Shiva and Parvathi, who are in subtle forms, you also have to convert the material into subtle form. When you put gross offerings into the fire the fire converts this gross form into subtle form. Subtle will get into the subtle. The gross will get into the gross. The fruit that we eat today will tomorrow become excreta. But inbetween we get this subtle strength from the food into our body. Therefore, in food there is this subtle strength. Since ancient times we have been worshipping God and offering Him food. Why are you offering food to God who is not seen in the body? Are you able to see whether the God has a mouth or stomach? Can you see the food go into the stomach? The fire of hunger, in our stomach, digests the food and takes this subtle strength of the food. Similarly when you offer gross objects into the fire it transforms them into subtle energy and sends it to the subtle forms of God. He is the very form of Essence. He is actually taking up that subtle energy from every gross thing.
When you write a letter, put an address on the postal envelop, and hand it to the postman he will take it to the address on the envelop. Similarly, the fire acts as the postman. When you utter a mantra and offer a gross offering the fire takes it to the address of the God and delivers it there. What ever you offer, chanting the mantra Om Namaha Shivayah, it will reach Shiva. When you chant the mantra Om Namo Narayanaya, it will reach Narayana. These mantras are nothing but various addresses of Gods. Fire is nothing but the postman. When you utter the mantra and give the gross offering to the fire the fire transforms the offering, into the subtle essence, and delivers it to the subtle form of god. Even if you write the address on the cover, and there is no stamp, it will not be delivered to the addressee. Similarly, if you utter a mantra and you dont have love in your heart it will not reach the subtle form of God. Therefore, Love is most essential. Whatever you offer, with love, God will receive with great joy. There should not be any scope for austentation. When you offer everything with humilty and love God will definitely receive them. To think that it is getting wasted is big ignorance. All the offerings are reaching the subtle form of God. There are five kinds of Yagnas. First, the offering made to human beings, to the parents.
Secondly, the yagnas that you perform in order to please various angels and demi gods. There are Yagnas that are performed in order to please the parents that have died or the forefathers that have died. The other is Bhoota and Manushya Yagnas. Helping other human beings, birds, beasts, insect and worms is Manushya Yagna. We should perform all these Yagnas. The highest is Brahma Yagna. That Yagna we do in order to realise ourselves as Brahma and Atma.
Why are you performing all these Yagnas. It is because there is no happiness in the world. When we talk "let all the beings in all the worlds be happy", what is this happiness that we are talking about? It is not like a dog chewing a bone and getting happiness. We are not performing this yagna for the sake of worldly happiness. We are doing it for the Eternal Bliss of God. When we pray that everybody be happy, this is not worldy happiness. We are doing it for spiritual happiness. Where is spiritual happiness? Where ever it is there you can find it. You have to find Bliss within your self. Union with God is called Yoga. Merging in God is called Yoga. Ga means to go, Yo means that God. Going to Him is Yoga. Happiness is union with God. When you find union with God then you will find permanent happiness. We are performing these yagnas for the sake of attaining that spiritual permanent happiness. When you pray for the welfare of everybody, it is for the ultimate permanent spiritual welfare and not the wordly welfare.
We will find true happiness only when we get rid of body consciousness and selfishness. True happiness will come to us then. I conclude this discourse aspiring that all of you will find that kind of eternal happiness and joy.
DISCLAIMER: Please remember these are jotted down notes, small healthy snacks to help US act as Gods (BE GOD) from the Discourse given by SUKSHMA BABA at Muddenahalli. This is NOT word for word or the full discourse. Nor do these NOTES convey the Divine Feeling or Divine Energy, in that moment, that is flowing in Abundance. If you want word for word, Heart to Heart, Divine Energy - go Within or attend these discourses. Enjoy the humble jottings. |
|
DISCOURSE - posted THURSDAY 15th October 2015
ARMY D2: Divine Discourse Notes Wednesday 14th October 2015 | | ♥ Om Sri Sai Ram. As we pray to Bhagavan to grant His Divine message today I perceive him seated in the chair in an orchre robe. I repeat as He speaks.
One may attain complete scholarship over many subjects and conquer the audience whilst orating. One may be a great warrior fighting battles and winning them. One may be born as a king and rule over kingdoms. One may give 1000 crores in charity. One can count 1000's of stars in the sky. One may also name all the species in life. One may even go to the moon but can anyone control his mind and senses and become totally selfless and stay Blissful in oneself ?
Embodiments of Divine Love. Man is able to conquer external things to a certain extent. Even man has set his foot on the moon. But is he able to go at least one inch within himself. No ! It is not possible for him. Without knowing the truth all the time he is going outwards to conquer things in the world which are absolutely temporary. But he doesnt even investigate what is permanent and try to do that.
Run away from bad company. Get into good company. All the time involve yourself in discriminating between what is permanent and what is temporary. Day and night involve yourself in noble and sacred activities. Giving up those things which are eternal and permanent, all the time he is using up all his energies to go after things in the outside world that are transient and temporary.
What is the cause of this kind of total ignorance? The root cause of all ignorance is body consciousness. When one thinks that he is this body and mind he is subjected to the misery of things in the external world. Man is born into the world crying. Even when he leaves the world he goes out crying. All the time he is grieving and never enjoying. When he is born he asks the question, "Koham? Who Am I?" When you listen to the cry of new born babies they are crying "Who Am I ?" The baby is born with that question "Who Am I ?" The parents tell their child that you are "so and so" and we are your parents. They do not tell him that he is already liberated and all the time the very emobodiment of Bliss and Purity. All the time the child is being told that you are this body and that this is your family and telling all kinds of untruths, making him believe that those are the truths. The child hears these untruths so many times thus he then also thinks that these untruths are the truth. God is cautioning man all the time through his inhilation and exhilations. God is giving the answer to the question "Who am I?", that you are "Sohum - I am He". Kohum means "Who am I?" Sohum means "I am Himself".
It is said wisdom itself is God. This world itself is Atma. Tattwamasi - You are That ! Aham Brahmasmi - I Am God ! In the Vedas these great declarations are found called Mahavakyas. We dont tell our children these great declarations. Instead we tell them you are this body, this is your name, you belong to this family and this is what you have to achieve in the world. By telling these untruths we are spoiling their minds. The child is born absolutely pure and sacred but we people make the choildren unsacred and impure by speaking all these untruths. The Truth is the You are Not the body, the body is yours ! You are not the mind the mind is yours ! You are the Atma. In the Veda they declare, "I Am Atma". Even in english you can say "I Am Atma, I Am Atma". Whichever language you speak the Truth is one and the same. Since we involve ourselves with the body and the senses we are wasting out lives always believing the untruth.
There is a simple story in the Upanishads. A lion cub, at birth, was separated from its mother. It was roaming around in a forrest. Finally it found a flock of sheep and started living with them. Though it was a lion, and becuase it was in the company of the sheep, this lion cub started behaving like a sheep. Sheep are always full of fear and they move around in a group due to this. One day, when this lion cub was moving around with the sheep, it heard the roaring of a lion. Once the sheep heard the roaring of the lion the sheep started running away. The lion cub was curious to know where that roar was coming from. It had never heard such an amazing wonderful voice. It thought to itself, "I should know where that roar is coming from." Therefore he ran in the opposite direction of the sheep. The sheep had a leader. The leader of the sheep called the lion cub and asked, "Where are you going?" The lion responded, "Such a wonderful roar I have never heard. I want to know where it is coming from."
"That is the roar of a lion ! You should not go there. It is dangerous for you. Come back with us." The lion cub said, " I am not going to come with you. I want to know the source of this roar." The cub started off in the opposite direction. The sheep left lion cub to itself. After sometime the lion cub saw the lion. That big lion looked at the lion cub and was amazed to see it there. "What are you doing with the sheep?"
"I am also a lamb. I am moving around with the sheep."
The lion said, "You are a lion cub !"
"I bleat like a sheep and eat like a sheep. I am also a sheep."
The lion then told him, "It is because of the mistake of the company of the sheep that you are mistaking yourself for a sheep."
Tell me your company I will tell you who you are. If you are in the company of fools you will also become a fool. Therefore, we should get into the company of scholars and good and sacred people. That is why you should run away from bad company and get into good company. From good company you get into detachment. When the big lion met the lion cub the lion told him, "You are also a lion. Because you dont see yourself therefore you are not able to realise who you are." The big lion took the cub to a river and showed him his form. The lion cub saw its own reflection in clear water and was surprised. With little effort the cub could also roar. The lion cub then realised that it truly was a lion and not a sheep. Because we believe that we are the body, for the sake of the body we keep doing everything. In such a situation God manifests as an Avatar or an incarnation as a lion and remainds the human beings that they are also Divine.
There is only one Atma and it is resides in the hearts of all beings. This whole world is enveloped in God. All that you see and do is Divine, that is what the Divine incarnation teaches. As is the feeling so does it happen. Dust you think, dust you are. God you think, God you are. When dust gets into the company of water it sinks. It cant come up. But dust in the company of wind goes upwards. When you have good company you also have good thoughts. Thus the ABC of life is Avoid Bad Company and Always be Careful. If you are always careful you will Always be Cheerful. Therefore good company is important. I have organised such a big function so that all of you will be in good company. From good company you develop detachment. From detachment you give up all bondage to the world. When you give up all bondage to the world you will be steady in your mind. From there you gain liberation. But my dears, just giving up bad company is not enough. It is not enough if you just listen and get into good company. It is necessary that you contemplate on what you have heard. Your contemplation is not enough. You must also practice and experience. If you dont practice it is useless. I have been always been telling you that You are the Embodiment of God, You are the Embodiment of Love, You are the Embodiment of Peace. Only when you develop love for God can you control your body and sense.
In a satsangh a man was expounding Bhagavantham. All the people, hearing the stories, were very delighted. An old woman was shedding tears. Looking at the tears of this old lady the man who was expounding the Bhagavantham was very happy. He saw the old lady crying and thought that she was a great devotee who was shedding tears of joy listening to his exposition of the Bhagavantham. In those days books were different. The Bhagavantham was written on palm leaves and tired with black thread. This Bhagavatha went to the old lady and ask her about her tears of joy for the Bhagavantham. That old lady said, "Master, I dont know what is Bhagavantham or the stories of Bhagavantham. I have lost my husband recently. When I saw the black thread on the palm leaves I remembered the black thread on the waist of my husband. That is why I am crying."
What is the use of going to such satsanghs. Satsangh means not just listening and forgetting what we have listened to we need to contemplate and practice what is heard. Starting with good company we can reach the ultimate destination of liberation. When you change your company your thoughts will also change. Whether it is Athi Rudra Maha Yagna, Navarathri Homa or Duga Puja all of them are responsible for giving you satsangh or good company, there is no other purpose. All the five sense should merge into the programme. When all five senses are focused in this programme they will also get merged into Divinity.
1. Listening: you are listening to the sounds of Veda chanting and talks.
2. Touch: the kinds of offerings you put into the fire or doing prostrations all this leads to sense of touch
3. Seeing: looking at such a beautiful Yagna itself is vision.
4. Tasting and Tongue: enjoying the taste of Bhakthi Rasa (taste), not just of the prasad that are given, and drinking the nectar of devotion.
5. Smell: fragrance. The fragrance that arises from the Yagna gets into our body and purifies our mind and body.
It is my purpose, when you come to a yagna, that all the senses get purified and become sactified as all the focus is on Divinity. Therefore, you come here to enjoy the preence of the yagna butkeeping your mind somewhere else is not correct. Where ever the body is there also should be the mind and heart that is what is concentration. From concentration you go to contemplation. Finally we go from contemplation to meditation. When you make your mind steady and purify it only then you can see God. Where there is clear and steady water you can see your reflection very well. But in moving dirty water you can not see anything. The big lion took the cub and showed him his own reflection in the clear waters, then he realised the truth. The mind is like the water. When the mind is steady and pure even the sky gets reflected in that. Only in that reflection can you realise that you are not this body. You are Atma. Due to worldly desires the clear waters are getting polluted. The body is also is moving hither and thither thus the mind becomes fickle - you cant see your own reflection. In the muddy waters, that are always moving, you can not see your own reflection.
Everyone is all the time asking me that they should be able to see and talk to me. What is the effort that you are putting in to realise your desire? In the same way as the sky gets reflected in pure and steady waters, in a pure and steady mind God gets reflected. The whole world may be there but a blind person can not see anything. Due to worldly desires mind becomes blind. Dual mind becomes half blind. If you want both world and God together it is impossible. When somebody like Prahlada prayed to God "I want only God" he obtained the world also. If we get God it is good enough. God is object. God is real. The world is its shadow. Depending on the position of the sun the shadow keeps diminishing or growing but the object remains the same. Subjected to the constraints of space, time and causation the world keeps changing all the time. Only God is eternal and permanent.
Suppose I come here and call all the people to listen to my discourse. How many people will come ? When we perform Athi Rudra Maha Yagna people want to see and enjoy. That is why nobody joins here. We are doing this Athi Rudra Maha Yagna to get rid of this misery. Body consciousness is responsible for attachments. We are arranging this programme so you can get rid of attachment and develop devotion. Attachment to God is good. Attachment to world is not good. One who destroys this misery is Rudram. Where is this misery? It is in our attachment. Attachment is responsible for all our sorrows. Mind has to get attached to something or the other. If the mind gets attached to the world it cant get attached to God. In a dessert there can be water and air both can not coexist. When your mind is filled with God you will not have body consciousness. When you have body consciousness you cant have Divine consciousness.
All of us have gathered here in order to learn the art of how to control the body and the senses and make the mind steady and pure. In a steady pure mind God will manifest. When you offer all your selfishness and desires into the sacred fire and develop devotion that is the goal of this Yagna. There are eleven rudras, 10 senses and 1 mind. We have to offer all of this into the sacred fires of the Athi Rudra Maha Yagna. Only then can we get rid of body consciousness and develop Divine consciousness. We all should utilise this opportunity and derive Bliss.
My blessings are there bountifully on everyone. Even for arranging this Yagna one family has sacrificed so much, they are selling their properties. One must understand this sacredness and purity of this action. They dont want any properties, they want only proper ties! They are doing all of this to develop the proper relationship with God. The main priest of this Yagna, his daughters heart surgery is taking place. Even the surgeons are waiting because of the blood pressure. It is a by-pass surgery. Now what I have done is passed the surgery itself ! (applause). Because of the sacred he has made, and the merit that has been earned, his daughter will gain good health. Due to the sacrifice that he has done he will get Yoga - union with God. Happiness is Union with God. Because of service and sacrifice definitely the Yagna will find its fullfillment.
We are participating in this Yagna and we should know that we are very fortunate. We need to realise that the one who is doing this offering is Brahma, sacrificial fire is Brahma, the one who enjoys this is also Brahma - everything is God. I bring the discourse to a close by blessing you that all of you should realise only God is the eternal Truth and this world is an illusion and derive Divine Bliss.
DISCLAIMER: Please remember these are jotted down notes, small healthy snacks to help US act as Gods (BE GOD) from the Discourse given by SUKSHMA BABA at Muddenahalli. This is NOT word for word or the full discourse. Nor do these NOTES convey the Divine Feeling or Divine Energy, in that moment, that is flowing in Abundance. If you want word for word, Heart to Heart, Divine Energy - go Within or attend these discourses. Enjoy the humble jottings. |
|
DISCOURSE - posted WEDNESDAY 14th October 2015
ARMY D1: Divine Discourse Notes Tuesday 13th October 2015 | | ♥ Om Sri Sai Ram. As we all pray to Bhagavan to give His Divine Message I perceive Him seated in the chair, in an orange robe, and I repeat as He speaks.
In the same way as the reflection does not stick to the mirror, in the same way that the drops of water do not stick to the lotus leaves, sins will not stick to a man or woman with devotion. Both birth and death are behind you all the time. This heart of creation, vehicle of creation, runs on the two wheels of birth and death. If one of these wheels falls away the creation itself would stop. That is the secret of this creation.
Embodiments of Divine Atma. For every man who is born on this earth death is inescapable. Birth and death live together and that is what drives this universe. In the same way as night follows the day and day follows the night, death follows birth and birth follows death.
The world is nothing but reflection, reaction and resound. For every action there is a reaction. Whatever we think, say and do definitely there will a reaction for that. If you want to cross over this law of karma, action and reaction, you have to transform all your actions as yagna. Oh man, is it possible for you to cross over this action and reaction? Whether you study many scriptures, or go to the forrest to do penance, is it possible for you to cross over this law ? If you take a vessel, a small well or the ocean the quantity of water you can carry is limited. Is it possible for us to cross over this law of karma ? Definitely there is a consequence for every action that we are involved in. In this land of action we do keep involving ourselves in many kinds of activities. If you want to attain liberation is it possible? Because action and reaction come one after the other, all the time, it is very difficult for us to cross over this law. Because of one action there is one reaction. Because of the reaction another action starts. The whole life we lead is because of this action and reaction.
If we dont want any reaction for our action what is that that we have to do? When you transform all your actions into karma yoga only then the actions will not earn reactions. Yoga is perfection in action. Whatever you do, if you do it perfectly, that action will not create any reaction.
What is Karma Yoga? If you perform all your actions for the love of God all your actions will turn into karma yoga. Whatever actions you are involved in, whatever yagna you are perform, whatever you eat when you offer everything to me then the Karma Yoga will come - if you offer it to me ! When we do all our actions with love for God then our actions will not haunt us.
What do you mean by Yagna? Is it just an offering into the fire? They are only external activities that you involve yourself in. In fact, they can not cleanse your heart. If the activies, that we undertake, do not cleanse our heart then it becomes useless. Purity of mind is important. It is Yoga which grants us purity of mind. Therefore, whatever we think, say and do when we offer it with love for God that will become Karma Yoga. Spirituality is not complex or complicated, it is very very easy. Whatever you do you offer it for with love to God and give up the desire for the result of the action. That becomes Karma Yoga. On one hand you offer all the activities with love for God and on the other hand you just sacrifice the desire for the result of action. When you do all this sincerely the actions will not end in reaction. Whatever we want to offer to God naturally we want that activity to be perfect. We are not going to offer rotten things to God. We offer to God only that which is very pure. When you write an address on a letter the postman will only deliver it to that address similarly on all your actions you address them to God, Krishna, it goes to Krishna. But many people, who are narrow minded, the try to escape from the reaction when they do wrong things. When they do good things they take the credit saying "I am doing it" yet, when they do wrong they offer it to God.
Once there was an argument between a husband and wife. Their son, having obtained great expertise in sports, won some awards from a match and brought the prize home. The father came home from the office. The son went to tell him that he won a prize. The mother also followed him. With great pride the son told the father that he had won a great prize. The husband said very proudly, "Look at this, my son has won a great prize. Because he is my son he was able to win all these prizes!" The wife told the husband, "You are telling that the boy has won prizes in sports because he is your son. Have you looked at his progress report? He has secured zeros's in every subject!" Then the husband told the wife, "It is because he is your son that he has secured zeros in his subjects! You dont have a brain and your son doesnt have a brain !"
Look at how, because of selfishness, a person changes his voice. If somebody does good things and achieves good results they tell I have done this good act. But when they do something wrong they say it is Gods will that this has happened. It is a kind of treachery. Only a sincere person will get wisdom. When you do something with insincerity and austenation God will not accept your offering. When you make all your actions sacred and offer them with love to God then Karma becomes Karma Yoga.
These Yagnas are very essential. It is our culture. Even if a boy has a birthday he will go to the parents seeking blessings. Parents will bless their son with gifts which he likes. They do this in order to demonstrate their love for the son. Such customs and traditions we do practice. In Indian culture Yagnas are very noble activities. What we think exists really does not exist. What we think does not exists really exists. What exists is God everywhere at all times. This is the word of Sai, the path of Truth.
Energy becomes matter and matter becomes energy. It is written in an Upanishad that from Space came the Wind, from Wind cam Fire, from Fire came Earth. All these five have subtle relationships. Akasha does not get translated properly when you call it "space". It is not "space", it is vibration. The primordial vibration that eminated is called "AUM". It is also referred to as the Nada Brahma. Due to the vibration of the sound of God, that is AUM, the breeze started blowing.
We have seen a music programme here with a veena. The melodious music that comes forth is due to the vibrations. When the vibrations happen in the akasha there comes the wind. There is an inseparable relationship between wind and fire. If there is no wind there can not be any fire. If you see a fire that means wind is also there. That is why fire came from the wind. From fire came water. When you heat water it gives up its form and becomes vapour. When the water vapour loses its heat then it becomes water again. Because of fire water becomes vapour and vapour becomes water. That it is why it is said that water emanated from fire. Fire means heat. When water became still cooler it became earth. That is how from Akasha earth evolved. In every human being there are these five elements therefore whatever happens in the akasha that will effect the other four elements too. Akasha is full of vibrations. When you chant a mantra the whole akasha will be filled with vibrations. These vibrations pervade everyone present there and make the sacred feelings emanate in their personalities.
Vibrations do not have any weight or mass. Heavy matter can move only a little distance then it stops. But vibrations that do not have any weight they can move anywhere. We chant the mantras here and the vibrations will pervade the whole universe. Veda mantra has such power. Todays Indians have forgotten their own culture. We are rejecting our own culture. We are not trying to protect this sacred culture except we are acccepting alien cultures into our country. All cultures are no doubt good. We have to accept only good things in our culture and reject the bad things. In our culture the place of God is very very high and important. Its is also a mistake on our part to say that God has a name and a form. He is Formless ! The Formless God manifests with many names and forms to move amongst His devotees.
Sweets are different but sugar is one and the same. Some children might like mysore pak and some children like gulab jamum. All these sweets may have different forms but the sweetness is one and the same. Whether you worship Rama or Krishna or Shiva, all are equal. In the same way as there is sweetness in all the sweets One Divine principle is there within all the names and forms of God. We cant call it a religion. It is a way of life. That is the ancient Dharma.
Sanathana Dharma does not have a beginning, middle or end. Sanathana Dharma is the Atma dharma. Atma is the eternal that is never born or dies. But we are sacrificing, giving up, this oneness of all creation and we are dividing ourselves into religions castes and languages. God manifest again and again in order to restore dharma. That is why I aspire that we will have this Yagna and also teach you the basics of Sanathana Dharma.
Ramayana and Bhagavatha are very sacred scriptures. Our children should learn all of them. Bhagavathamu means we will become good. If you study Bhagavatha you will become good. Bha means Bhakthi, ga means widsdom, va means detachment, tha means the fundamental principle Tatwa, mu means mukthi. When you study Bhagavatha you will get all these five. Children should listen to all this with sincerity, contemplate and practice. When you try to understand these divine principles your efforts will find fullfillment. Our school children are very very sincere. Whatever is said to them, with great sincerity they will try to understand and practice. In another school a teacher was teaching the Ramayana to the children. The school inspector came into the classroom. He asked the children what they were studying. All of them said together, "The Ramayana." The inspector asked, "Who wrote the Ramayana ?" A boy was frightened and said, "Sir, I did not write the Ramayana. Maybe the teacher knows." Teacher was also afraid and said, "I did not write the Ramayana. Principle commanded me to teach the Ramayana. Probably he wrote the Ramayana." All the three of them approached the principle and asked the question. He replied, "I did not write the Ramayana. It was probably the education depatment that did." We have forgot the great scriptures of our own land and are subjected to total ignorance. But our children are not like that. The students and teachers are getting together in order to rejunvenate the Indian culture.
From Kali Yuga we are getting ready for Sathya Yuga. What is this Kali Yuga. Kali Yuga is selfishness. Selflessness is Sathya Yuga. When you give up your selfishness and self interest then Kali Yuga will change into Sathya Yuga. Sacrifice is not giving up your wife and children and going into the forrest. Real sacrifice is giving up your selfishness. We when give up selfishness and self interest we ourselves are getting transformed into men and woman of sacrifice. Due to the obtacles of Kali Yuga practicing spirituality is a problem. In Sathya Yuga, if you want to practice spirituality it will become very easy for you. In a classroom all the children are very quiet and disciplined and the teacher will be able to his work perfectly. But on the other hand if the students are moving here and there without concentration then the teacher can not help. In the Kali Yuga there are alot of disturbances. What ever is said the students can not follow. Even if they wish to practice correctly there are many obstacles on the path. When the Kali Yuga ends, and Sathya Yuga, comes everybody will be able to develop and practice spirituality very easily and derive Divine Bliss. The programme has been developed to End Kali Yuga and bring in Sathya Yuga. Only when you give up your selfishness and self interest you can definitely enjoy the benefits of Sathya Yuga. There may be sunrise but if you are still sleeping there is still night for you. Even if Sathya comes and you do not give up selfishness and self interest you will still continue to live in the Kali Yuga. I bring my discourse to a close aspiring that all of you will develop sacred feelings, give up wrong feelings, and welcome this Sathya Yuga and enjoy the benefits.
DISCLAIMER: Please remember these are jotted down notes, small healthy snacks to help US act as Gods (BE GOD) from the Discourse given by SUKSHMA BABA at Muddenahalli. This is NOT word for word or the full discourse. Nor do these NOTES convey the Divine Feeling or Divine Energy, in that moment, that is flowing in Abundance. If you want word for word, Heart to Heart, Divine Energy - go Within or attend these discourses. Enjoy the humble jottings. |
|
DISCOURSE - posted TUESDAY 13th October 2015
Divine Discourse Notes Sunday EVENING speech 11th October 2015 | | ♥ Om Sri Sai Ram. Swami is seated in His chair in an orange robe and I repeat as He speaks.
When their is the wish fullfilling tree in your yard why should you look for an ordinary tree in your back yard? When you have the wish fullfilling cow with you why should you purchase milk? When you have, right in front of you, the Meru Mountain shining with gold and silver why should you look for gold and silver elsewhere? When you have God with you, conferring on you both devotion and liberation, why should you enter into the worldly plains.
Embodiments of Divine Love. Man is an aspirant of Bliss. From birth to death man involves himself in so many activities with the sole objective of experiencing bliss. When people eat very delicious food they say that they experience Brahma Ananda. All these pleasures are very limited and they are not infinite like Divine Bliss. When man is hungry he eats food he becomes satisfied and then experiences some kind of joy. When he eats tasty food he will experience some kind of Joy. But all of this is temporary. After the food that he eats is digested then he wont be joyful anymore. When hunger arises in the stomach you lose your joy and you are subjected to hunger which is sorrowful. In order to get rid of hunger again you eat food. Only after eating food do you experience a temporary joy again. After sometime again you feel hungry and lose all joy. This joy is a temporary pleasure and not permanent bliss. Thats why I keep saying that pleasure is an interval between two pains. When pleasure goes you get pain. When pain goes you get pleasure. It would be a huge mistake on our part if we struggle for pleasures.
Four kinds of devotees come to God. First is Arthi, the one who has bodily kinds of afflictions or other kinds of afflictions he prays to God. Also, people perform yagnas and any other kinds of adorations in order to gain good health and wealth. For getting longevity, a longer span of life, people perform isha homas. All these things are done for the body and not for the Atma.
The second is Artharthi. Definitely there is some kind of solution for people from afflictions but for the artharthi, who are greedy for getting more wealth, there is no solution at all. If you want to make a peaceful man restless just give him 99 rupees. Then for the sake of only one more rupee he'll be subjected to all kinds of difficulties. He will not be happy having 99 rupees as he will be thinking about how to make one more rupee to make it one hundred. For such people there is no solution at all.
The third is a spiritual aspirant - Jijnasu who has questions. The spiritual aspirant prays with the intention of knowing something which will grant him permanent joy and not temporary pleasure. In order to know the Truth many sadhanas are performed. He only does to know more and more things.
But the highest kind of devotee is the Jnani, a man of wisdom. He believes that God exists. He knows that God exists in everyone - One Atma in all the beings. He has only one desire, that he wants to experience and realise only God. He wont have ego and attachments. Like a lotus flower, though it is born in water, it is not immersed in water. Similarly man lives in the world but out of it. He cultivates descrimination and detachement. His sole desire is to experience God. All these devotees come to God and God gives them whatever they ask for. "Yes, yes, yes" God tells to those who believe in Him. He says "No" to those who dont believe in Him.
God is always ready to satisfy all your desires for whatever you ask. But all these desires should be confined to the four goals of life. Life is to aspire to attain realisation, earn money through Dharma and utilise it for service and attain liberation. There is no mistake in earning money through dharma. To the extent that it is possible for us we can earn money. But it is a sin to earn money whilst giving up the path of Truth and righteousness. Swami keeps telling us that what we need He will give us but He will not satisfy our greed as greed has no limit. More and more your greed will keep growing. When you go to God and ask for material things it is like going to the wish fullfilling tree and asking for coffee powder. One day a wife told her husband that his mother and father-inlaw were coming home so go and get some good coffee. He went to every shop and they were closed. He was frightened to go back home without the coffee. He did not want to make his wife upset. Then he prayed to the Lord to solve his problem saying , "If I can not get the coffee powder my wife will get very upset with me. What greater problem could there be for me !" See, when there is problem you think of God. He went on praying sitting. Then he saw a great sage walking by. The sage asked the gentleman, "Why are you praying? What is the problem?" He explained, "My wife asked me for coffee powder but all the shops are closed. I dont know what will happen to me if I go back home without the coffee powder. " The sage said, "My dear, I do understand your problem. Good wife is life. Bad wife is knife. Because of this I developed vairagya. I did not became a sanyasi because of love for God but for detatchment from these kind of worldly ambitions." The hermit told the husband that you are very fortunate as you are sitting under The Kalpavriksha Tree - the Wish Fullfilling Tree. "What ever you desire and ask for the Kalpavriksha will give you." The man was very happy. The husband then asked the tree that if you are really the Kalpavriksha Tree please give me 1 kg of coffee powder. Immediately 1 kg of coffee powder fell into his hands and he was very joyful. This is what the present situation of man is. People go near God and dont ask for God, they ask for the world only. When you attain God himself will you not get the whole world ? Gaining the proximity of God, who can grant you anything, and just asking for worldly desires is not correct. We are not performing this Yagna for selfish purposes. With the desire for the welfare of everybody in all the worlds we perform this Yagna. People involve themselves in all kinds of adorations to the Gods for selfish purposes. But very rarely you find people who aspire to attain the world welfare.
The peace has disappeared, Truth has vanished and the fear of weapons is on the rise. The cause for this trajedy is greed and selfishness. This is the Truth that I am telling you. People generally pray for their own selfishness, they dont pray for everybody. They are all Bhogi's. A yogi is one who prays for everybody. He's knows that everybody is God. He wont have any sense of difference between himself and others. There is space in a pot and outside the pot, you may think that they are different. When the pot of the selfishness breaks both the spaces become one. A yogi prays for the welfare of everybody because he knows that they belong to him, are one with him.
What is the difference between Kali Yuga and Sathya Yuga ? Kali Yuga is full of selfishness. Selfless time is Sathya Yuga. We pray to God to lead us from untruth to Truth. The greatest untruth is to think that this body and selfishness are the truth. When you pray for everybody that is Sathya Yuga. Asath means Kali Yuga. Sath means Sathya Yuga. When you get rid of body consciousness and attain Divine consciousness then only Kali Yuga ends and Satya Yuga starts. Moving from selfishness to selflessness is moving from Kali Yuga to Sathya Yuga. When all of us come together and perform this Yagna, with praise to God and for all the people in all the worlds to be happy, that is when Kali Yuga will end.
Where is happiness? Happiness in not in worldly pleasures. They are only pleasures not happiness. Happiness is union with God. True happiness occurs when everybody attains their Divine nature and attains bliss. That is why we are performing this Yagna. All of you come and participate with broadmindedness and enjoy divine bliss.
DISCLAIMER: Please remember these are jotted down notes, small healthy snacks to help US act as Gods (BE GOD) from the Discourse given by SUKSHMA BABA at Muddenahalli. This is NOT word for word or the full discourse. Nor do these NOTES convey the Divine Feeling or Divine Energy, in that moment, that is flowing in Abundance. If you want word for word, Heart to Heart, Divine Energy - go Within or attend these discourses. Enjoy the humble jottings. |
|
DISCOURSE - posted TUESDAY 13th October 2015
Divine Discourse Notes Sunday SEVA DAL speech 11th October 2015 | | ♥ Om Sri Sai Ram. As we all pray to Bhagavan for His Divine message and guidance, I perceive Him to be seated in an orange robe. I repeat as He speaks.
God and nature are always together. Their relationship is inseparable and of Oneness. This is the word of Sai, the path of Truth.
Embodiments of Divine Love. The relationship that exists between creator and the creation is something which can never be separated. Where ever there is an object there is a reflection also. Where ever there is an action there is also a reaction. Where ever there is a sound there is also an echo. God is the object. Nature is the reflection of God. Therefore, there are only two things that exist. The first is the Truth, that is the object - God, and His reflection which is His creation.
The world exists because of the combination of God and Nature. Originally God is Formless. In order to start the work of creation God separated His power and strength into the form of a Goddess. This Goddess is the consort of God. This creation happened because of the combination of God and this Goddess. In the same way as a child is born from the womb of a mother, in the same way God and Goddess get together to give birth to this creation in the form of Hiranyagarbha.
The relationship between God and Goddess is not physical but spiritual and subtle. God and Goddess created the Hiranyagarbha and from there emerged this universe. The Hiranyagarbha is also know as the Golden Linga. There is also meaning with the shape of the Linga. This Hiranyagarbha Linga is nothing but One which has no beginning, no middle or end. The Hiranyagarbha Linga looks the same from any angle or direction that you look at it. Therefore, you can call it the perect shape. From that perfect Linga the Hiranyagarbha has originated all this universe. Scientist have conducted many investigations in order to find the origins of this universe. The truth is that it has emerged from the Hiranyagarbha Linga. It is only a kind of energy. It is not physical. It is unseen, without a shape or form. That energy gets into the Hiranyagarbha Linga.
Depending on that we do worship to God and creation, Purusha and Prakrithi. Shiva Shakthi gave birth to this Hiranyagarbha and hence the universe. The universe also has the shape of a Linga. That is why human beings keep worshipping the Linga. To think Shiva is only there in the Linga is a mistake. In the lingam there are both Shiva and Shakthi. This Yagna is that about Shiva Shakthi.
In the same way that there are various departments in the Government like roads, electricty and water department, God has created many departments in order to run this vast universe. There are three main areas of importance: creation, sustenance and destruction. We name these three functional heads as Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara. In the same way as the primordial God created His power, the formless into a formless aspect of the Goddesses, similarly Brahma, Vishnu and Parameshwara also had separated their powers into the feminine forms. In order to manifest this physical universe from the subtle fundamental basis the same thing happened.
Suppose you want to build a building first you have to call an architect and plan the building. The architect knows the requirements of the building. The first creation happened in the mind of the architect. That is the subtle form. Similarly, if you want to transform this subtle Hiranyagarbha in the physical universe you also need people like engineers and others.
First, Brahma, who is the creator. The creator should have great intelligence and wisdom. He should know exactly what he is going to create. That intelligence was transformed into Saraswathi. That is the power of intelligence. We imagine that Brahma had a spouse by the name of Saraswathi but actually it is the power of Brahman Himself. The power of knowledge, of Brahma, is Saraswathi.
Vishnu is one who sustains. He has to manage. First comes Generation, creation, then organisation or management. For that the power of illusion is also required. The power of illusion makes you see what is not there and has you forget what is really there. The power of Vishnu is therefore manifested as Lakshmi. Its a kind of ignorance to think that Vishnu and Lakshmi live in Vaikuntha. In fact, Lakshmi is nothing but the power of Vishnu. That is the power of Illusion.
The third is the destroyer, that is destruction. Therefore G.O.D is generation, organisation and destruction. All three together lead to creation, sustenance and anhilation. That which is born has to die. Therefore, the final function is Lord Shiva. To think that Maheswara is the ultimate God is also ignorance. When we say Shiva Shakthi they are referred to as the primordial God and His power and not Shiva and Parvathi. Shiva and Parvathi are only departmental heads. They are not the primordial God and Goddess. The primordial God is the formless God. In order to carry on the function of destruction you need Shiva and Parvathi. In fact the power of Shiva is Parvathi.
In an office their is an officer who has a secretary. The secretary is more powerful than the one who she is working for. If you want to meet the officer you need to meet the secretary to make the appointment. If you want to worship God you first go to the priest. Therefore, in order to obtain parameshwara first you need to go to parameshwari or the Goddess. Apart from Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara their powers manifest themselves as Saraswathi, Lakshmi and Parvathi. These relationships are inseparable and are subtle, spiritual and not physical. Thus, the primordial Formless God created these three functional heads and gave them the necessary powers in order to do their functions.
The worship and adoration, that we are going to do now, is for the primordial God and Goddess, that is Shiva and Shakthi, not the Shiva and Parvathi that are of the deparment of destruction.
God is not born, does not die and is there as Atma in everybody. The worship that we do to the linga is to the original Hiranyagarbha. In the Arthi Rudra Maha Yagna also we worshipping that primordial Hiranyagarbha. Along with that we are also doing Navarathri Homa. For the sake of this world this physical, mental and spiritual power is very important. When all the three powers come together you can achieve anything. In order to do a small task all these three powers are required. The physical power, prowess, is Durga. The mental power is Saraswathi. The spiritual power is Lakshmi. In order to know our real nature their Grace is very important as well. That's why I keep telling you .... Bend the body, Mend the senses, End the mind ! In order to move these three things you need the three powers. Even if you want to do good things like service you need energy and good health. It is not enough to have physical strength, you also need mental strength.
A king had a servant. What kind of servant was he? He looked very strong yet had no brain. One day the king told the servant, "I am going to have a sleep. Make sure no one disturbs me." The serant took a stick and stood guard. Yet, it wasn't a stick but a sword. He was having a sword to frighten people away. One fly came to the room. It was going here and there. With the sword he wanted to drive it away. Finally, the fly landed on the nose of the king. In order to kill the fly he cut off the nose of the king. When you have such a brainless servant that is what is going to happen. With physical strength one needs also mental strength. Therefore intellect is also important. Saraswathi grants us that mental power. Saraswathi represents the wisdom of God. Physical strength is not enough even wisdom is required. In order to do any kind of service you need intelligence.
What for are you doing this service? If you think that you are serving somebody else this is a mistake. God is there in everyone. We have to think that when we serve others we are serving God Himself. God is there within you. We should not think we are serving someone else and thereby develop our ego and attachment. If you need to have that kind of discrimination you need to have spiritual power also.
There is only one Atma who is the indweller in everybody. There is only one Truth and scholars call It by different names. So in order to develop that kind of discrimination we also need the Grace of that which grants Moksha over Illusion. In order to remove the illusion we have to pray to Lakshmi. Only god is Truth. In order to get out of illusion in this creation we have to pray to the Goddess Lakshmi. We are worshipping the Hiranyagarbha and we going to identify ourselves with the same primordial Hiranyagarbha but that is NOT enough. Only when we have to gotten rid of the ego and attachment then we can realise God. Also we need to do selfless service to get rid of ego and attachment. In order to do service all the three forms, physical, mental and spiritual are required. Thus, it is necessary to worship all these Goddesses. We are performing all these Yagnas so everybody can have the opportunity of doing service, know the ultimate Truth and identify themselves with God. With the Grace of the Goddess we should gain all these three powers and finally realise our Onesness with the Hiranyagarbha.
The body is given to us to help others. It is our duty to do service. That is our very nature. Helping others is our real nature. "Para" means God. "Upa" means near. "kara" to go in the proximity. That which makes you nearer to God is Paraupakara. Where is God? God is within you. That which takes you nearer to your own Real Self that is Paraupakara. That is merit. The sin is that which takes us away from our true nature. That is why it is said that helping others is merit and hurting others is sin.
All of you have gathered here with great enthusiasm to do service. Just enthusiasm is not enough you should have the requisite strength also. Definitely it is good merit for you to take part in the service activity. If I had not willed none of you would have come here. You should know that because of My Will all of you have come here ! Coming here you have to put the opportunity to good use. Look after everybody with great love. After having spoken soo much philosophy about the Hiranyagarbha being God you criticise others by your side, that is not correct. This is only theorectical knowledge not practical knowledge. If you can not love the people around you how can you love God who is "far" away. Therefore, you have to love God who is in everybody and that loving salutation goes to God. If you hate anybody that also goes to God. Sometimes you may get into some difficult situations. The mind also may also trouble you at that point in time. In those situations you have to remember what Swami has told you and do what Swami has told you. A.B.C - Always Be Careful. A.B.C also means always be cheerful. If you are careful you can be cheerful. If you love everybody and serve everybody with love they will also be cheerful and so you will be too. Everybody has ego and attachment. In order to give it up we have gathered here. We should not develop our ego and attachment. The three departments God created in order to carry out the three functions. Even today we find people who worship Shiva and hate people who worship Vishnu and vice versa. Similarly those people who work in the transport department should not hate people who work in other departments. All of us are here together to carry out the Will of God and not our own wishes. So, what ever you do follow your heart. Heart is same and equal for everybody. The heart is always selfless. The mind thinks in different ways in different situations. We should give up the mind and follow the heart.
ARMY is there to fight with external things and not within. The enemy is our own attachments, likes and dislikes. Shiva has the snake. Parvathi has the cow. Easwara has the bull. Gowri has the cow. That is why she is called gow-ri. The Karthigeya has the peacock. Ganapathi has the very small rat. The Shakthi has the lion. Various kinds of animals are there associated with the family. If you dont look after the snake properly it will swallow the rat, the peacock will kill the snake, the lion will kill the peacock. They are all enemies if you look at them separately. Yet, together, in Gods family, they are all friends. The kind of ego and attachment we have is the animal quality. In order to give up our animal qualities and develop Divine qualities we getting this opportunity. In days gone by animals were being sacrificed. It is a great mistake to think that by sacrificing animals you will get the Grace of God. We have to sacrice our own animal qualities. Yagna means sacrifice. We have to first sacrifice our ego and attachment.
I am very happy that all of you have come here with great enthusiasm but you have to share your joy with everyone. You are the limbs and organs of the God with one body. Sometimes the hand may create trouble with the eye. And may times because of the teeth the tongue may be hurt. Just because the hand created some trouble with the eye, are you going to cut off you hand? The same hand you apply the medicine you require for the eye. When you eat sometimes the teeth may hurt the tongue. Should we break our teeth because of that ? When we know that everybody is the limb and organ of the same body we are not going to hurt anybody. Sometimes there may be some minor differences, but when we know that we are all the children of God we can forget those differences. We do not know how much delight others may derive out of this yagna but first we must derive delight. What ever you do do it delightedly and with pure faith. Dont have narrow minded differences amognst yourselves. To think that this is my department and I am confined to this department is wrong. Where ever necessary you can go anywhere and do the service. Accept your responsibilities properly and depending on your capacities you disharge your services.
The day on which Shirdi Baba shed His mortal body was Vijayadashami. This Vijayadashami is the transition from Sathya Sai to Prema Sai Avatara. Through Prema Sai Avatar the Golden Age will come. This is the first ray of the Golden Age. Kali Yuga full of darkness and ignorance will end. Sathyayuga which will be effulgent and will start. In a short time there will be many changes in the world. In the same way when the seasons change some plants will die and new plants will come up. When this transition happens between the Kali yuga and Sathya Yuga only those people who are worthy of the Sathya Yuga will continue to live, others will have to go.
Many people are asking when will Sathya Yuga begin. I want to tell you from this Vijayadashami Sathya yuga will begin. It is not just enough that the Golden Age dawns, your heart must also transform into Sathya Yuga. Teachers may teach many lessons yet if the students sleep in the class it is of no use. It is not right for you to think that when the Sathya Yuga dawns your heart will be full of love. In Sathya Yuga if you want to develop noble and good feelings then it will be easy for you. Negativity will reduce and positivity will increase. When you give up bad company and get into company it will be easy for us to develop good feelings. Thus, in Sathya Yuga it will be easy for us to attain our Divinity. Your own effort is still required. If you put in your effort, and My Grace also joins that, then you will acheive your goal. You were born for this purpose. The ultimate goal is Self Realisation. When the road is good you can go fast. When the road is bad you go slowly. During the day you can go fast. In the night only slowly. In Kali Yuga the road is bad and in the dark. Sathya Yuga means light, with a good road. With these two you can go very fast
DISCLAIMER: Please remember these are jotted down notes, small healthy snacks to help US act as Gods (BE GOD) from the Discourse given by SUKSHMA BABA at Muddenahalli. This is NOT word for word or the full discourse. Nor do these NOTES convey the Divine Feeling or Divine Energy, in that moment, that is flowing in Abundance. If you want word for word, Heart to Heart, Divine Energy - go Within or attend these discourses. Enjoy the humble jottings. |
| |
|
ENGLISH: OCTOBER Discourse Selector
Entradas
No hay comentarios :
Publicar un comentario