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Anil Kumar's Sunday Satsang at
Prasanthi Nilayam
September 17, 2006
The Sunday Talk Given by Anil Kumar
"Becoming and Being"
September 17th, 2006
OM… OM… OM…
Sai Ram
With Pranams at the Lotus Feet of our most Beloved Bhagavan,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Somebody asked
me while I was on my way to this place, "Why don't you put aside
the prepared talk for a while so that we can ask some
questions?" OK. So, if you have any questions, you are quite
welcome to put them forth.
(Someone from
the crowd asks)
"What is sadhana chathushtaya?"
Yes. I will
discuss sadhana chathushtaya
in a lecture form. I'll make note of it and do it in one
full hour talk. Astanga yoga, sadhana chathushtaya—they
are very important topics which have to be dealt with at length,
that deserve our attention, and prepare us to proceed along the
spiritual path. I appreciate it. I'll make note of it and will
definitely do it in one full hour talk.
(To another
inquirer) Yes, please.
(Gentleman
asks)
"Define Baba in a few words, please."
In two words?
(Laughter)
(Gentleman
clarifies)
"In a few words."
Oh, you want
me to tell about Baba in a few words? (Laughter)
"Yeah."
I'll tell you
in one word—LOVE. Why few words? One word is enough—Love. Love.
That's all." (Applause) One word. (Anil Kumar laughs.)
Yes, sir.
Any other,
please? Okay. Yes?
(A lady
asks) "I am interested in your comment on the relationship
between pre-determination and pre-destination, and that Swami
knows all, and free will. Because so often they appear to be in
conflict—you may have one but how can you have the other?"
Yes. I think
all of you could follow her question. I have answered this
question many a time in the past, but since the question has
been raised right now, I don't mind repeating it, making it as
brief as possible to save time.
Free will Has nothing to do with God's will
What we call
free will has nothing to do with that which is
pre-determined. Free will is human choice; that which is
pre-determined is the will of God. Pre-determination, or the
will of God, may or may not be the same as human will or effort.
For example, I
want to be a doctor, but God's will may not be the same as my
preference or choice. Free will is human choice. It is human
preference and depends upon likes, dislikes, and the prevailing
socio-economic conditions. But pre-determination, God's will, is
quite independent. It does not necessarily coincide with my
preferential will or desire.
Human will is
a desire, human will is a choice, human will is a preference,
and human will is the determination with which you accomplish
something. Human will has got ample scope for human effort, in
order to accomplish that which one wants, and to realise that
which one wishes. Am I clear on that part? Human will is based
on choice, preference, effort, likes, and dislikes. I am clear.
Pre-determination is God's will. A few points about
pre-determination: 1) It is quite independent of our own will.
It may coincide or it may not. 2) Whatever the
pre-determination, God wills it for our own good. 3) The
pre-determination of God's will is based on the merit or
karma of the past lives. This means that God's will or the
Divine will or pre-determination or karma depends on our
deserving, more than our desiring. We may desire, but we may not
deserve. So, God's will depends more on deserving than desiring.
acceptance of the outcome is Surrender
Now, how does
one make both ends meet? Are they parallel? No. My friend, you
and I have every choice to desire. You and I have every freedom
to will, to desire, to hope, to plan, and to work. But total
acceptance of what happens finally is called
surrender—acceptance of what happens ultimately, what is kept in
store for me in future, what will materialise at the end. If it
is accepted totally and unconditionally, it is called surrender.
So, acceptance is surrender; whereas rejection or denial is a
psychological reaction to a situation that one has determined
negative, which one has not accepted.
So, spiritual
sadhana (practice) requires one to put in more human
effort while preparing to accept whatever happens at the end,
with the spirit that everything happens for one's own good.
That's how we have to link the two. Yes, any more questions,
please? Any more questions? Is that okay? Thank you.
To Live with God is a life in THE fire
Now, I would
like to share with you a few thoughts this morning. One thing is
this: It is not so easy to live with God. It is not so simple to
be in the company of a Divine Master. It is not simple. To live
in the company of a Divine Master is a challenge. To live with
God is a life in the fire. One has to live in fire without
getting burnt; one has to walk on a razor's edge without being
cut. Life is a challenge with God. Life is a challenge with a
Divine Master.
Sometimes in
retrospection, one starts repenting, one starts regretting
having been in the company of the Divine Master. Because living
close to Him is a matter of choiceless awareness. You cannot
choose anything, you cannot opt for anything, you cannot be on
your own, and you are not independent. You are programmed; you
are designed according to the plan of the Divine Master in whose
company you yourself have chosen to live.
If I tell
Swami, "Oh, Bhagavan, life here is not interesting," His
immediate answer would be (as I can guess): "I have not invited
you to be here." (Laughter)
If I tell
Swami, "Swami, I think I'll be more comfortable outside," I am
sure He would say, "You are welcome to go."
And if I tell
Him, "To live with You is a challenge which I cannot take
anymore," He would say, "You opted for it; I never asked you."
Therefore, my
friends, living with the Divine Master is what we asked for,
what we desired, and therefore we have to take it ungrudgingly,
uncomplainingly. If not happily at the beginning, if not
joyfully initially, later we get used to it (if not immune to
it). (Laughter)
But we should
not be immune; we should not be indifferent. Indifference and
immunity are negative tendencies. There are some people here
who, if you ask, "Oh, you have been in Prashanti Nilayam; how
are you here?" Their response will be, "It is alright, getting
along." (Laughter)
It is just
indifference. If you ask somebody, "You are with Swami, so how
is life?" you may get the answer, "Oh, just like that." (Laughter)
It is simply immunity. If you ask someone, "How are you
progressing, advancing spiritually?" he may helplessly say, "He
only knows; Baba only knows." (Laughter) It is
confusion!
We do not know what we really want
If you just
ask a fellow, "When are you likely to come back to your place?"
and he says, "As Baba decides," it only means he is of two
minds. To be or not to be, that is the question.
We are all in
some stage or other. I am no exception. You may belong to one
category on the list, and I may belong to every category
I've been sharing with you thus far, because it is not so easy.
Living in the
Divine Company of a Divine Master, what happens initially? The
beginning years of our stay may be one year or two years. (For
some it may be even ten or twenty, depending upon the pace or
the speed with which they proceed along the spiritual path.) For
the first couple of years, what happens? We will be aware of all
that we have lost. If you ask somebody, "How are you?"
"Oh, I left my
very big, palatial bungalow there."
"Oh, is that
so."
If you ask
somebody, "How are you here now?"
"Oh, I was in
a very good position, big position. But here a seva dal
pushed me out."
Oh, I see.
"Sir, how are you here?"
"I am a highly
influential man, but nobody greets me here."
Oh, I see. If
you ask anybody, "How are you getting on here?"
"I am just
here with nobody, none from my workplace, none from our native
place, none from my country, none to speak to me."
Oh, I see.
"Why are you so serious, man, why are you so serious here?"
"There is
nothing to smile about, (Laughter) nothing to laugh
about, so I am serious."
If we ask him,
"Oh, you have been here quite a long time; what is it that you
want from here?" he will say, "I am yet to know, I am yet to
know."
"Well, what is
it that you wanted? Did you get what you really wanted?"
He will say,
"It takes time. I am yet to know." (Laughter)
My friends,
this is really interesting. Some of us are aimless here; some of
us are here without any idea of what we're doing; some of us
here do not know what we really want; and some of us desire only
whatever others get. Yes. "He got an interview; why did I not
get it? He got a ring; why should I not get two?" Yes, why not?
We just go by all that we see. We just want what others get. But
we do not know what we really want. Therefore, my friends, this
morning I would like to spend some time on this point because I
find many faces which have been here for quite some time.
OUR AIMS ARE DIFFERENT in prashanti nilayam
First
question: What do I want while staying in Puttaparthi? What do I
want?
Let me first
answer this question from a different perspective: There at my
native place, in Andhra Christian College, where I served, what
was it that I wanted? I wanted the position of head of the
department; I wanted the position of principal of the college. I
wanted to earn money, I wanted to be influential, and I wanted
to be famous.
So, before
coming here I had some target, I had some aims and objectives. I
could tell how far away I was from my target and how near I was,
to what extent I had achieved it and to what extent I could not;
who followed my ideals and who achieved what I could not. I had
a clear balance sheet. Out of all those ten things I wanted, say
five of them I got, while five I could not. Or two I got and
eight I could not. Or I could say, "Here are the people there
who could be one hundred percent successful." I could say that
there, outside Puttaparthi.
But here in
Prashanti Nilayam, can you tell me what I wanted, can I state
the aims I have had, the objectives I had, and to what extent I
realised them? Or can I say, "Here are a few people who achieved
all they wanted, which I could not," as I had done outside? If I
undertake that exercise, it is going to be futile, a total flop,
one hundred percent failure. Why?
As a person, I
know all that I lost; but I do not understand what I have
gained. I see others also in the same situation of confusion.
Some are frank enough, but some are not. The more hypocritical
one is, the more successful he or she has likely been all
down through the ages. So we don't frankly express ourselves.
Spirituality is a goal-less path
Here come
answers from great sages like Ramana Maharshi and Adi Shankara,
and from Bhagavan's literature. I think the answers provided by
these men of eminence, who belong to all times, will be able to
help us out of this muddle.
Life has got
targets, aims, objectives, plans, executions, successes,
failures, victories, defeats, losses, profits, and gains. These
are all the hard-core realities of life. Nobody outside would
say, "I have lost my promotion, thank God." Nobody would say
that. Nobody outside would say, "I am happy to be an utter flop
or a total failure." (Laughter) If anybody says this,
then there is something wrong with his mind. He can find his
place in a lunatic asylum.
In the outside
world, we have certain targets, aims, and objectives. We can say
whether we have achieved them or not. If you have achieved them,
you are successful; if not, you are a failure. It is clear.
On the
spiritual path, we will come to understand in due course of time
the naked fact, the naked truth, that spirituality is a
goal-less path. (We may understand it in the initial years of
our determination to stay here, the honeymoon period; and if
emotion brought us here, or a spiritual background, we may
understand it sooner.)
It is a
goal-less path. It has no aim, it has no goal and it has no end.
Spirituality is an endless path; it is a goal-less path; it is
an aimless path. (Don't mistake me to be a madman. I am not yet,
though anything may happen in future, after all! But right now,
I am quite sane. You can be sure of it.) (Laughter)
So, my
friends, spirituality has no aim, it has no goal, it has no end.
Take it from me. Why? If I have an aim to be an officer, if I
have an aim to be promoted to a higher cadre, the aim is
different from my present position. I am a lecturer; my aim is
to become a principal. So there is time between the two; there
is distance between the two.
My goal is to
reach J.F. Kennedy Airport, United States. It requires travel
for 21 hours, the time and distance of thousands of miles to
reach that destination, JF Kennedy Airport. Likewise Sydney or
Melbourne, or wherever you would like--Indira Gandhi Terminal,
New Delhi, wherever you want to go. So, to reach a destination
you need time and space. To achieve promotion, you need time and
effort. Therefore, all worldly targets, all worldly aims and
objectives carry these two basic elementary things: time and
space.
Spirituality is not about becoming--it is about being
The third
thing is different. A simple example: I am a lecturer now, and
when I become a principal, it is a different thing. When I am a
soldier, if I become a captain, it is a different cadre. So you
become something that you are not already. You are going to
achieve something that you do not already have. You are going to
attain that which you don't have right now. But spirituality is
not that; spirituality is not going to become.
Please
understand this point, my friends. Baba has said it many times
before, but we think "It's alright, we know it," though we do
not. Sometimes we feel we have heard something many times,
though nothing has changed in our minds. Therefore, please
underline this line, benchmark it: Spirituality is NOT
becoming, whereas life's pattern is a process of becoming.
The whole outer life pattern is becoming.
"I want to
become that; I want to become that and this."
Unfortunately the spiritual field also has come down to the
level of becoming. Therefore, it has lost its charm, beauty, and
bliss. Because in spiritual organisations, people also feel this
way: "Let me be the convener, the president of the Sai Centre,
the state president, the national president, veranda-in-charge,
carpet-in-charge, or gate-in-charge." (Laughter) Why? To
be discharged out. (Laughter) We want to be in charge of
something . . . at least let me be in charge of this table,
because I cannot live without being in charge of anything! (Laughter)
This is the tragedy which occurs even in spiritual
organizations!
we need to remember we are in a spiritual centre
Therefore, my
friends, this nasty disease—I tell you, this horrible disease,
this cancerous feeling of trying to become has affected
the spiritual field also. That is the reason why people have (to
quote Baba) "very castor-oil faces". (Baba says that, it is not
my wording. I am not capable of coining such funny words.)
Imagine, caster oil! Why are people so serious? "When am I going
to become in charge of this?" Arre, arre, arre!
Are you in
charge of yourself? You are not in charge of yourself in the
first place! No. If you are in charge of your Self, you will
never die. If you are identified with your Self, there will
never be moments of misery or sadness. If you are one with your
Self, you will not dominate anybody. If you are your Self, you
will always be happy. But are we so? No.
"I am in
charge of you! I am in charge of you—of making you miserable!" (Laughter)
"I am in charge of you, of pushing you out!" "I am in charge of
you, so I can shout at you!" Thus we can make others miserable
and sad, shouting at every person, being in charge.
But we are not
in charge of our own Self. We are only getting by in life, in
misery and sadness, even in a spiritual centre. This is because
our parameters happen to be the same as if we were in the
outside world. Only the canvas has changed. But the painting is
the same. The canvas is the world outside; the canvas is the
spirituality here. But the painting of caster oil faces is the
same, really! Or else we should be very joyful here; we should
be smiling, blissful, welcoming, friendly, lovable, and
respectable. There should be one hundred percent brotherhood
here.
Why are some
of us not like that? Why? "If you happen to sit at the place
where I sit, you are going to be my bitterest enemy." It is as
if that place belongs to me!
Therefore, my
friends, first we have to be clear about the fact that we are in
a spiritual centre, a spiritual place where the state of
becoming is non-existent. The feeling of becoming is
foolish, while the effort to become is an act of
ignorance. The thought of having to become is a
reflection of ignorance. So ignorance and foolishness alone
prompt us to make every effort to become; to become
in charge of that or this, to become influential, to have
VIP status, and so on. These are all transitory states of
becoming.
You are a VIP
this morning, but by afternoon you may be a ‘very insignificant
person'. Who knows? Who knows? We have seen many VIP's
like that--very important in the morning and next, very
insignificant in the afternoon. We have seen that happen here.
Therefore, my friends let us be clear that the concept of
becoming has NO relevance, has NO application,
and is most insignificant on the spiritual path.
Then, what is
the spiritual path? It is not becoming; it is one of
being. It is one of being.
However, one
might say, "Arre, what is this?" There is some charm in
becoming; there is some incentive in becoming;
there is some glitter, glamour, allure, illusion, and attraction
in becoming. So what is it that happens in being?
If I become someone, I can at least allow you sit in the
front row. If I become someone, I can at least push you
back. So in becoming, there is something there for me.
But in being, there is nothing!
Therefore, we
want to become and we don't want to know what charm there
is in being.
Some points about being and becoming
So let us
learn. I'll spend a couple of moments differentiating
becoming and being.
-
Being
is what you are in the ever-present present; becoming
is something future-oriented, something to happen in the
future.
-
Being
is not an achievement; it is not attained. It is who you
are. Becoming is an achievement; it is attained. It
is something separate from you.
-
Being
is not about recognition; it is about realisation.
Becoming is about one who seeks recognition. Becoming
is recognition, while being is realisation.
-
Being
is beyond time and space. Becoming is within
the limitations of time and space.
-
Being
is eternal, immortal. Becoming is fleeting,
ephemeral, momentary.
-
Being
is changeless; becoming is changeable, like
governments. (Governments come and go with no conscience. We
do not know the names of some ministers because their
portfolios go on changing. By the time I begin to remember,
there may be another man in that place, or the government
may have fallen.) Becoming is changeable, goes on
changing. Being is changeless.
-
Becoming
is variation, variety, multiplicity, plurality, duality. One
is a collector, one is an ambassador, one is a judge, one is
a professor, and another is a minister--variety. Variety is
part of becoming. Being is uniformity,
homogeneity, simplicity. So complexity and variety is
becoming, while simplicity, unity and uniformity are
being.
-
Becoming
is worldly; being is spiritual.
-
Becoming
is individual; being is cosmic and universal.
Becoming is individual, while being is Divine.
-
Becoming
is a drop; being is an ocean.
-
Becoming
is a jewel; being is gold.
-
Becoming
has got two points—name and form; being is nameless
and formless.
My friends!
What a world of difference there is between becoming and
being! One is earth; the other is sky. If we want to live
in a place where being is as important as the aim of
becoming, I don't think we will find that place, as there is
no relationship, coherence, integration, or trace of synthesis
between the two. Water and fire cannot go together. Water
extinguishes fire. Similarly, being and becoming
cannot go together. Becoming is worldly, while being
is spiritual. This is a spiritual centre, so being is
important, not becoming.
THE value at a spiritual center is found in Being
When one wants
to become here, or becoming grows important at
this centre, what nonsense it is! What Himalayan confusion it
is! When people are serious, when people are mad after power,
when people are mad after influence, when people are mad after
positions, when people are mad after what you call control,
domination, ego, they will necessarily be sad and miserable at a
spiritual centre.
Rupees
do not matter in America. In America, it is dollars, whereas in
India, it is rupees. Rupees do not matter in
America because their currency is dollars. Likewise, the foreign
exchange value in a spiritual centre is being. The
‘foreign exchange' there in the world is becoming.
How can you have this dollar (being) in exchange
for rupees (the process of becoming)? It has no
value.
Therefore my
friends, if we really want to smile wholeheartedly, if we really
want to enjoy this place, if we really want to be blissful, if
we really want to be friendly, if we want to make our life
meaningful, purposeful and joyful; if we want to make our life
music and dance at a spiritual centre like this, let us have
this description, this eternal theme, of being and
not becoming.
being means learning how not to do
This being
is not the one of effort—no. For becoming, you have to
put in a lot of effort. You have to polish; you have to please
your boss. Yes, sometimes you have to compromise; sometimes you
have to sacrifice your values; sometimes you have to kill your
conscience in the process of becoming. Plus effort is
always necessary. But in being, silence is enough. In
being, meditation is enough. In being, withdrawal of
the mind is enough. No effort, nothing; just, let me remain
silent.
Somebody asked
Ramana Maharshi, "Swami, what shall I do to attain immortality (moksha)?"
Ramana
Maharshi said, "The only thing you have to do is not to
do." (Laughter) "The only thing to do is not to
do." Arre, what is this man speaking? He is almost naked.
His answers also are the naked truth. He is not only naked
physically, but all his words are naked, true facts.
Somebody asked
him, "Swami, what is that you said? You want me not to do?"
Then Ramana
Maharshi explained that whatever you do is prompted by the mind;
whatever you do is your thought-process in action.
Thought in
action is done, dharma. You do that which is prompted by
your thoughts; and mind is the centre of thought—something like
a generator, a centre of energy, a centre of electricity. Mind
is the centre of thoughts, and these thoughts are translated
into action. Whatever you do--worship or circumambulation around
the temple or pilgrimage--they are all acts, actions prompted by
thoughts, originated out of the mind. So not
doing—meaning withdrawal of your thoughts, withdrawal of your
mind, absence of mind, the thoughtless state—is liberation.
the very being is what you already are
Therefore my
friends, the very being is what I am; the very being
is what you are. But we have forgotten about it. I am what I am.
Sadly, I want to be something different—what I am not.
A simple
example: If I behave like a doctor right now, I'll be the best
instrument in solving the population problem because I am not a
doctor. (Laughter) So in becoming, you lead an
artificial life. In becoming, you will be a failure at
one time or the other. In becoming, you have to receive
shocks, bumps, jumps, lashes and slashes, sighs, and smiles.
But in
being, there is neither a sigh nor a smile; there are
neither bumps nor jumps; there are neither jolts, nor
promotions, nor reversions because the very being is what
you are already--what you have been, what you are, what
you will continue to be.
In becoming,
there is some tension, there is some fear. Now I am in charge of
that, but tomorrow I may be removed, tomorrow I may be reverted,
tomorrow I may be suspended, tomorrow I may be dismissed. In the
state of becoming, you are always unstable; you are
always in a state of disturbed mind. In becoming, you are
always comparative and competitive because there is another man
behind you who is ready to occupy your position. Becoming
is a rat-race. Becoming is a struggle, a strain,
laborious, tedious, and ultimately makes us weak.
We have seen
in life how people are vexed, how people are tired by trying to
become. When they don't become what they want, they are
frustrated, they are depressed, they are rebellious, they are
negative, and they are retaliatory. Sometimes they turn
anti-social, or become irreligious, non-spiritual, losing their
faith because becoming is always shaky, this way or that
way . . . whereas in contrast, being is stability.
Being is equanimity, being is equality, being
is immortality, being is permanent, everlasting—your
birthright.
we don't know why we are so serious
When such a
thing as this is there on spiritual path, what is the need to be
serious? Some people don't have reason to be serious.
Yesterday one
boy was looking like that (he makes a sad expression)
into the empty air while I was teaching in the class. (Laughter)
I told him, "Look here, what happened to you? You are, after
all, a first-year degree student, about just 15 or 16 years.
What family problems have you? How many children have you? (Laughter)
Are you having any income tax problems or any professional
problems? Why are you so serious?"
That fellow
says, "Ah, no sir, no problem."
"Then why are
you looking like that?" He didn't know.
Our upbringing
is such that we don't know why we are so serious. If you just
look at some people sitting there on the verandah or sitting
somewhere else, they are very serious in the name of
spirituality. (Laughter)
I feel like
going to them and saying, "Why don't you consult some physician
or a psychiatrist preferably?" (Really, we don't need to go for
humor anywhere; we don't need to joke with anybody. We can joke
with our own selves. We have become the best jokers of the day
with our own selves.)
"Why are you
serious?"
"I don't
know."
"Why don't you
smile?"
"I don't
know."
"What do you
want?"
"I don't
know."
Then this is
enough of a joke for the century! (Laughter)
We are like a rat caught in a drum
My friends, we
are like this because we are not definite about our concepts. We
are not sure of our path—this way, that way. Baba said, "It
seems a rat is caught in a mridangum (a drum)." In drums,
a rat can get caught. If a fellow beats the drum this way (indicating
the left side), the rat runs towards the other side. If you
beat that way (indicating the right side), the rat will
run this way." So if Swami looks at me—appa!—I am highly
spiritual. When He ignores me, totally non-spiritual.
The convener
in charge is highly faithful, fully loyal, quotes scriptures,
and quotes Swami. When once he is out of that convener position,
discharged out of being in charge of the carpet at least, we
begin to question his spiritual path. It is something like a rat
caught in the drum, as Baba puts it.
ONCE WE UNDERSTAND BEING, WE HAVE NO WORRIES
Therefore, my
friends, we are not sure of our path and we are not definite of
our path because we are not clear in our concepts. Once we
understand, we begin to jump in joy and we begin to dance. We
will not have any regrets; we will not repent or have any
worries. We will not be anxious anymore. In fact, there are none
to compete; there are none to feel jealous of; there is nothing
to feel egoistic about. Why? Because we are in a field of
realisation, of being.
Once you are
in the field of realisation of being, there is nothing to
feel envious about. There is no jealousy, none to compete with,
none to dominate, no reason to be serious or to cry or shed
tears. There is every reason to be bubbling with joy. There is
every reason to have our face appear in a floodlight of smiles.
Why not? I have nothing to gain; I have nothing to lose. Because
I was, I am, and I will be that being. No one can rob, no
one can steal, no one can dethrone, no one can use up, and no
one can substitute that state of my being. So there is no
threat of losing that being. There is no chance of losing
that being because I am what I am. The moment I am away
from that, there is tension. The moment I am away from my
being, there is tension, and there is pretension for lack of
attention.
So, when I run
away, when I am away from my being, all the states of
duality appear. What is the centre point of my life? The centre
point of my life is my very being. When I am at the
centre point of my life, becoming is only peripheral;
becoming is only at the circumference, even if the
circumference or periphery becomes bigger and bigger, wider and
wider, larger and larger. In fact there is only one centre. At
the peripheral level, we are all different. But the centre, all
are one. That centre is our very being.
Therefore my
friends, our stay in any ashram, our stay in any temple,
our stay with any guru, our stay with any spiritual
master is only for the realisation of, the experience of, the
identification with this being. It is our job to
constantly contemplation on and meditate on our being.
All this is only possible when we forget becoming.
Let us enjoy life
That is the
reason why, my friends, my constant job is to always make a
person smile whenever I meet him and look into his face. I don't
leave him until I make him smile. I don't leave him; no, no, he
should smile! Let us enjoy life.
Once one man
said, "All through my life, I died to attain some position.
Throughout my life, I died to raise my family; I died to build
up properties and buildings. But at the time of death, I
realised that I never lived, that I had never lived."
Therefore my
friends, let us live our lives. We don't live our lives. If at
all we live our lives, we should be smiling, we should be happy.
See the flowers: no flower complains. Flowers smile. But we
don't smile. We may doubt, watching some faces, whether they
have teeth or not. (Laughter) It doesn't matter even if
they have lost their teeth. The dentist would have done a better
job by removing all their teeth because their teeth are not
useful to them or to others if they don't smile. (Laughter)
So life means
joy, life means bliss, life means smiles, life means music.
Seriousness is death, misery is death, unhappiness is death,
complaining is half-dead, competition is half-dead. Satisfaction
is life; love is life. I can love anybody.
If someone
says, "I can love people only of my standard," know that he has
no standards. (Laughter) If they say, "I can love people
only of my stature," understand that they have no stature.
Love has no
stature, love has no standard, and love has no levels. Love is
ethereal. Love is nectarine. Love is oceanic! Love is vast
space. Love is a cool breeze. Love is beauty! Love is fragrance!
Love is aroma, aroma.
Therefore,
when our lives—when your life—is full of love, there is nothing
to ask for in this life. Even if there is anybody to give you a
billion dollars, you will say "Choddho (Leave it), I
don't want it." Because a million dollars will be followed by a
million punishments. A million dollars will be followed by a
billions tears, repentances, worries, and anxieties. Plus your
enemies will multiply limitlessly.
True love wants you to love everybody
So, if you
want to buy enmity, run after power. If you want to buy enemies,
come on, run after positions. If you want more people to hate
you, come on, be in charge of something. But if you want to win
friends, if you want to be happy within yourself, if you want to
be comfortable with yourself, if you want to be blissful, there
is only one currency--LOVE. That love makes you move freely with
everybody, irrespective of cadre, class, position, dignity,
status, knowledge, scholarship, community or caste. These are
all cheap, mean things.
True love
wants you to love everybody--a cat, a scholar, a monkey, a
scientist, a flower, a union cabinet minister. A fruit vendor or
a flower vendor on the street is as important as the prime
minister of this country. That's how I feel about it.
Whenever I
talk to my friends at the college gate, such as the watchman (I
want this to go on record, it doesn't matter), that watchman at
the gate will always smile and say, "How are you, sir, how are
you?" I see on his face joy a million times more than a
billionaire. I see joy on his face more than on the face of the
richest man, a man occupying the highest position.
I tell him,
"God bless you with this smile throughout. If at all I have to
copy anybody, you are the man I want to copy, not anybody
else."
Therefore, my
friends, I do not know why my thoughts are flowing in this
direction even though I have written something else to talk to
you about today. (Laughter) This is the miracle of Baba.
Some people ask me, "Anil Kumar, can you tell us the latest
miracle?" This is the latest miracle: I wanted to talk to
you about one thing, but I spoke to you about something
different. (Laughter) But anyway, you can have the
caption for this morning's talk: "Becoming and Being".
May Bhagavan
help us to realise the real state of our being--what we
were, what we are, what we continue to be eternally. May God
bless you! May Baba shower His
choicest blessings in our
sincere attempt to realise ourselves—not anything foreign, not
anything alien, not anything new, not anything outside, but that
which is within.
Sai Ram! (Applause)
there
is no death and there is no birth
(A
gentleman from the audience asks :) "Will death also be
afraid of me, when I find my being?"
Death is not
true; death is totally false. Birth is just as false as death.
Birth and death are totally false. The appearance of the body is
birth; the disappearance of the body is death. But you
are permanent; we as being-ness are
permanent. You have taken the body--that is your birth date. You
will withdraw from the body—that is the so-called ‘death'.
You actually never die because you (as being)
were never born. You are eternal. You were never born and you
will never die.
People say,
"Ah, let me die."
When people
say, "Let me die," they are referring to their impermanent name
and form, not to their eternal being. "Let me be born
again" refers to the next transient name and form, not their
eternal being. Therefore, when we realise our being,
there is no death, because there is no birth. We have no
beginning and no ending. It is a beginning-less, endless,
eternal, sweet, beautiful, continuous journey. The journey
of life is in our very being—that is our reality. That is
Sat-Chit-Ananda, Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba.
Sai Ram!
(Applause)
(Anil Kumar sings the bhajan, "Jai Jai Prabhu
Giridhari Natavara Nandalala.")
OM…OM…OM…
Asato Maa Sad Gamaya
Tamaso Maa Jyotir Gamaya
Mrtyormaa Amrtam Gamaya
Om Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu
Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu
Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti!
Source:
http://www.saiwisdom.com/sunday/English/2006/17.09.2006(E)central.htm
© Anil Kumar Kamaraju 2006 - Here
reproduced for personal use of the devotees for the purpose of
seva.
Anil Kumar website:
http://www.saiwisdom.com/
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