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Sri Sathya Sai Baba Teachings |
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Meditation
As explained by Bhagwan Sri Sathya
Sai Baba

"Just like a child yearns for its mother's
bosom; a lost calf for its mother in a herd;
and a widow cries for her lost husband in a corner,
you too must aspire for the proximity of Sai and reap joy
therefrom."
"A root pest would eat away the roots of a
tree and a white ant would eat away the tree itself.
Similarly, a man of evil nature would bring about the ruin of a
virtuous one.
Listen! O son of Bharat."

The
power of spirituality is inexplicable and infinite. The institute
or individual that cannot obtain this becomes animal. The power of
spirituality can transform an animal into man and man to a divine
being. The paths of spirituality have sprung up to lead man from
human state to that of divine. Man tries to understand everything.
He has been trying to acquire many types of learning. However, he
has not yet made an effort to find out his real nature. All
learning is naught if it can not help one to realise one's own
nature. Knowledge without practical aspect is akin to a lamp in a
blind man's hand.
Just as, Narada had skill in 64 types of learning/sciences
- 4 Vedas, 6 Sastras, 20 Upangas, Painting, Sculpture, Dance,
Music, Literature etc. None could surpass Narada in singing. In
spite of such accomplishments Narada could not overcome
restlessness. Narada had mastered Gaja Karna and Gokarna which
could not be mastered by anyone in the world. Seeking a solution
for his restlessness, Narada came to Sanat Kumara. He expressed
his restlessness. Sanat Kumara asked Narada about his
qualifications. Narada explained that he had learnt everything.
Sanat Kumara asked Narada if he had known about his own self. "That
alone I have not learnt" said Narada. Sanat Kumara then pointed
out that to be the reason for his restlessness.
Today man desires to know about everything that
goes on in the world. From the moment he gets up, he desires to
know the news from all quarters of the world and does not pay heed
to the nuisance coming from within. If he were to understand the
principle within him, he could understand the world better. In
Andhra region, there is a proverb, "win over the self and win over
the village." Unless one saves oneself, one cannot save others.
Philosophy and learning can get you food but not liberation. "Therefore,
Narada, when you desire to know yourself, you have to awaken a
dormant factor within you" said Sanat Kumara. Narasimha Murthy
stated that sleep played a chief role in Ramayana. Even in the
Ramayana of life, sleep is very important.
Every person has to awaken the Kundalini that is
asleep within one. Kundalini, Sanat Kumara taught, should be led
in a proper path towards the goal to fulfil one's life. In the
Bharat's Yoga Shastras, it has been mentioned that there are 7
types of lotuses in the spinal column helping people to take to
right path. They are known as Naadi Mandalas/Chakras. (Nerve
centres / disks) Kundalini power starts at Muladhara disk at the
beginning of the spinal column. This nerve centre is situated at
the place of excretion of faecal matter. It has 4 petals.
Swadhishtana is situated in the urinary excretory
point. It has 6 petals. Manipuraka - Naabhi/Navel point has 6
petals. From there to Anahata near heart with 16 petals. Thence to
Visuddha the power travels near throat - From there it comes to
Agneya situated between the brows. It has two petals. From there
it goes to Sahasrara which is situated on the crown of the head.
It has 1000 petals.
Muladhara, Swadhishtana, Manipurakam, Anahata,
Agneya, Visuddha and Sahasrara are the seven Chakras. Each is at a
higher plane than the other. Behind these chakras, on either side
of spinal column Ida and Pingala nerves keep throbbing. In the
centre of spinal column there is a nerve by the name Sushumna. All
these perform their duties in the prescribed manner.
How does one awaken the Kundalini power? All have
believed it to be in the form of a dormant serpent near the
Muladhara Chakra. Snakes of the world are considered poisonous.
The serpent (Kundalini) dormant in man is that of worldly desires.
These desires become poison. Worldly snakes eat frogs, rats etc.
Kundalini serpent consumes only the life principle of man. To
awaken this serpent, one has to control the intake of this life
principle. When we hold breath through Yogic practices, the
Kundalini power does not get food near Muladhara Chakra. In search
of food, it becomes active and continues to come up. During
meditation when we deny the food, it travels upwards from
Muladhara to Manipuraka, Swadhishtana and comes to throat. Even
near the throat food is not available for it. Then it reaches
Agneya. Unable to find food even from there, it merges into
Sahasrara. Therefore, to awaken the life principle or
consciousness from Muladhara and let it merge in Sahasrara has
been described as 'liberation' by Vedanta. Dhyana, now-a-days,
both in India and abroad has taken various forms. They believe it
to be concentration. But both are different. Right from dawn to
dusk whatever activities we perform, they are done with
concentration. To walk, to eat, to read a book, to write a letter
- all need concentration. Concentration is natural for man. Why
should are spend/waste time for such concentration by sitting
separately. But one has to question the source from which one
derives concentration. We have held a book in hand. We can see
with our eyes. What has been seen is sent for enquiry to the
intelligence/Buddhi. After the enquiry, mind begins to recollect/reflect
upon it. It is an 'Indriya' (instrument/sense) that held a book.
Again it is another indriya that saw the matter. It is yet again
another indriya that reflected over the matter. It is due to the
collective effort of all the indriyas that we are able to perceive
the matter. Therefore, concentration is below senses. It is
meaningless to call concentration which is below senses as
meditation. Meditation is beyond senses. There is a border between
concentration which is below senses and meditation which is beyond
senses known as contemplation. Contemplation is said to be the
second stage of intelligence. Intelligence is said to be the
essence of Satwa. It can be best illustrated with an example to
make it clear to you.
 There
is a rose plant. It has leaves, thorns and rose flowers.
Concentration helps you to identify as to where the thorns are
and where the rose flower is. In concentration, we have only
rose as the objective, without touching the thorns we have to
pluck the flower. "Love is flower; lust is thorn." There is no
rose without thorns but we have to pluck the flower without
touching the thorns. For what purpose is this cutting of rose?
To cut the love (flower) away from worldly desires (thorns) is
contemplation. Concentration is identifying the various
locations of the thorns and flowers by looking at the tree/plant.
To offer the flower so cut, to the Lord is meditation. In our
body likened to that of a rose plant, we have pure love in the
form of rose. It is permeated with fragrance/good smell of
virtues. But right under this are the thorns of worldly desires.
True meditation is to identify the thorns of worldly desires
from selfless love and offer that selfless love to the Lord.
From ancient days, meditation has been considered as the highest
goal in Bharat. Today meditation is done as though it were a
panacea akin to saridon which removes headache. Meditation that
comes so easily cannot be termed as such. People such as Narada,
Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanat Kumara and Tumbura considered
meditation to be the process of sending the Kundalini from
Muladhara to Sahasrara. During meditation, one should not join
worldly desires and must reach only selfless love as the goal.
The method/posture of meditation is also very important.
In the beginning, we must sit in Padmasana.
Spinal column should not bend to any side. Some people bend the
neck and sit. This is very dangerous. If Kundalini power were to
get locked there, where many nerves are present, it would damage
the person and cause paralysis. There are many who have damaged
their heads/senses by wrongly adhering to Kundalini. One should
not bend backwards either. One should be so straight that if a
nail were to be driven down from Sahasrara, it should appear as
though the whole body were wrapped around the nail. Not only
that, one should loosen the garment that is around the waist
prior to sitting for meditation. If the garment is tightly wound
round the waist, it might, to an extent, obstruct the Kundalini.
Usually people who practise Kundalini yoga are single garmented.
So, waist should not be tightly bound. Vision should be centred
at the tip of the nose. If one were to sit for meditation with
open eyes, all those who pass by would cause disturbance to the
mind. If eyes are totally closed, the goddess of sleep would
envelop us. Therefore, we should have half closed eyes posture.
Some believe the tip of the nose to be between the eye brows.
No! It is forehead; It is the end of nose. i.e., Tip of the nose
that has to be concentrated upon. Lord Krishna has also
described the same.
"Kasturi Tilakam Lalaata(1) Phalake Vaksha(2)
Sthale Kausthubam Naasagre(3) Navamouktikam..."
1) Refers to the eye of wisdom.
2) Lord Krishna adorned his chest with the plaque of happiness.
3) He kept his vision fixed on the tip of his nose. Such a
Krishna had two bracelets on His hand. One bracelet signifies -
"Save the righteous and punish the wicked"
The second bracelet signifies -
"One who constantly relies on me, I shall take
care of all his needs".
God wears bracelets for fulfilling vows. So,
Lord Krishna's vision was on the tip of His nose i.e., always
meditative. We may have to observe certain physical activities.
Mind is very much wavering. Knowing fully well that something is
wrong, it would like to do it. We know well that to hear bad
things is not good and yet we do it. We should teach it a lesson.
"O ears! Why do you go after listening to the
tales of all and sundry? When the Lord's name is chanted, why
don't you pay heed?"
You should teach the ears to listen to tales
that would give happiness to all and such facts that would
gloria the Lord.
"You go and see films, which do you no good,
again and again. But you do not wish to contemplate on the Lord
even for a moment. O eyes! Pay heed."
In
this manner, you must teach senses lessons and control them.
When mind begins to wander hither and thither, one must engage
it. If mind does not have anything to do, it would roam the
whole world. "By the time truth begins to wear sandals, untruth
would go around the world and come." Similarly mind, if no work
is assigned, would go round the world. So, before sitting for
meditation, one must assign some work to the mind. What type of
work? It has been a known fact that mind is a mad monkey. To
make a monkey busy while he performs other feats, the street
performer would plant a stick in the ground and ask the monkey
to repeatedly go up and down the stick. Similarly we must assign
the job of a watchman to the mind near that part of forehead
where eyebrows join. By constant practice, we can make the mind
stay in one place. As one constantly breaths 'Soham', the breath
gets controlled. This is the great power of Yoga. There is no
separate effort that one needs to make to arouse Kundalini. When
all the vital air remains outside, in search of food, Kundalini
would rise. Some base 'lamp' as the point of concentration. This
elucidates the principle of 'Unity in diversity' and 'Many in
One'. This cannot be understood by all very easily and does not
confer bliss very easily. We should construe three types of
pictures - imaginary, mental or one based on feeling and
actualisation.
Example for the first one - you have seen Swami.
If you close your eyes and begin to visualise Swami's hair and
robe, then you would have picture created by imagination or 'Uha'.
This picture goes away in a moment. It appears as though it has
been seen but goes away the moment you begin to visualise
further.
The second type of picturisation - 'Bhava' is
not like this. It takes some time. You can picturise Swami from
feet upwards - feet, gown, inside robe, hands, neck, eyes, nose,
mouth, ears and crown of hair. Like this by the time you
picturise, half-an-hour would have elapsed.
If you continuously go about doing this -
picturising Swami from foot to head and vice versa - it would
lead to Sakshatkara i.e. actual manifestation. Upon practising
in this manner you would realise that you are able to see the
form for a fraction at least before it fades away. So, this is
not the goal. One should not go by imagination. One should go by
feeling. One should go on painting each limb. One eye on one
side and another eye on the other side-You should not think thus.
Is this eye parallel to the other? - In this fashion, one must
minutely paint the picture. In the process, mind would become
totally engaged.
"Knower of the Brahman becomes Brahman". If you
were to melt silver and pour it into the mould of Lord Krishna,
the feet, hands, eyes, mouth and even hair would be that of
silver. Similarly, when one concentrates and paints the mind
with the form, the mind would also be transformed into the form.
When you question as to where the mind is, you would get the
answer - in Swami's feet, in Swami's hair, in Swami's eyes etc.
i.e., mind is totally immersed in Swami's form. Therefore,
meditation is that which would transform mind into the form and
not vice versa.
When we sit for Meditation our body should not
be in contact with anyone else's body. When one works with
electricity, one would done some sort of insulation (wood/cloth)
to insure against shock. Similarly, meditation also is a kind of
power. It also would give a shock if two bodies touch. In every
body, there is current. The current goes/gets lost through nails,
hair, eyes and speech. In the olden days people allowed nails
and hair to grow because they did not want the current to be
wasted. It is due to that current that hair and nails grow and
eyes and other organs function. What is the reason for Munis to
observe silence? They realised that current gets wasted through
words and hence observed silence. Not understanding this we
begin to conclude that in the forest the saints did not have any
facilities to trim their hair and nails and hence they were
unkempt. They were making efforts to convert the current in the
body into Divine Power and hence their appearance. One should
not have contact with another in more than necessary manner.
Attachment with an object or a person might grow into a deeper
relationship. They lead to certain desires. As the desires get
fulfilled, ego would begin to sprout. If the desires do not find
fruition, anger would develop. Therefore desires have
ill-effects, either way. When the desires become many, man's
sense of intelligence dwindles. This causes loss of control over
the speech and unwarranted words would emanate from the person,
criticising and hurting others. That would lead to abusing
others. The act of abusing is a fuel to the fire of sin.
Therefore, the root cause for sin is relationship. So, excess of
contact should not be had in the first place.
In
Rishikesh there was a choultry by the name 'Kali Kamliwala'. It
was a tradition in those days to feed all those who came there.
One Sannyasi got a wheat bread and since he could not find any
place, went to the river Ganga and sitting on a rock, began to
partake of the same. In this manner, he spent some years using the
rock as his dining place. As it happened, a relation developed
between him and the rock. On a particular day by the time he could
procure alms, it became later than usual. Meanwhile some other
Sannyasi got his alms and sat at that rock to have his meal. The
older Sannyasi got his wheat bread and came to the rock. He began
to have an argument - "Ai! This is my rock; you go somewhere
else." They both began to have a duel. At that place, there was a
saint by the name Satchidanandam. He came and enquired of the
quarrelling Sannyasins as to the reason for their fight. When he
became aware of the reason, he admonished them saying - "You have
left behind your wives, children, parents, relatives and shaved
your head and swore to lead a life of mendicancy. Now due to your
attachment, you have developed anger between yourselves."
Similarly, you have all come here leaving behind many things for
education and Swami. Why develop unnecessary contacts? Maintain a
relation akin to "Hello! Hello; How are you? Good-bye! Good-bye."
There is another incident that took place at
Rishikesh. One person went from Mysore state and became a
Sannyasin at Rishikesh. About 6 kms from Rishikesh is a famous
cave known as 'Vasishta's cave'. Purushottamananda used to do
penance there. It was near Ganges and the air was cool and serene
and the area was dense with shade bestowing trees. That Sannyasi
(one who came from Mysore) used to meditate under the tree and
live by eating whatever bread was given to him. One day, a tourist
bus came from Karnataka state. They also came to see 'Vasishta
cave' and later were sitting under a tree talking. The Sannyasin
who was meditating, heard them speak in Kannada. A little
attachment towards the language sprouted in him. He left
meditation and began to converse with them in Kannada. They told
him that they came from Bangalore District. "Which village do you
come from?" asked the Sannyasin who was influenced by the
attachment to his own street. They said that they were in the
street of Rama's temple. Affected by the attachment to his house,
he asked them as to what was their house number. They said that
their house number was 11. He asked the troupe if they knew his
father who was in the house numbered 12. Body attachment prevailed.
They said that his father passed away 3 months previously. The
Sannyasin began to weep.
Why should the Sannyasin leave his meditation in
the first place and enquire of the tourists various details? This
attachment caused all the sorrow. It is only when you leave all
responsibilities can your meditation progress. Sometimes the
varied nature of Nature attracts. One should never succumb to the
temptations.
To arouse Kundalini and sit in meditation is very
difficult. The easiest path is pure love. No meditation can
surpass/equal this.
We want to prepare Sambar. We got fresh vegetables
from Bangalore in the morning. We got fresh tamarind, white,
spotless salt and impeccable Dal also was procured. The cook is an
exceptionally skilled one. We have made Sambar. But when it was
served, it turned out to be poison. Reason? None of the
ingredients were faulty nor was the cook. The vessel in which it
was cooked was not clean!
Similarly, we do meditation, Bhajans - in fact we
even swing during Bhajans but we are far away from obtaining peace.
This is because we do not have the unsullied love in our hearts.
Many wonder as to why they have not obtained peace in spite of
doing meditation and Bhajans etc. It is because they have not
cleaned their hearts with pure love.
Another example. There is a mango tree. Hundreds
of ripe and unripe mangos are present. You water it and put manure
also. All of a sudden, one fine morning, the tree looks dried-up,
what is the reason? Have you not given water and manure? What is
the reason for a tree which was resplendently green the previous
day to look lack-lustre the very next day? The roots have been
eaten away by the pests! Similarly, we may be doing meditation,
chanting rosary and attending Bhajans externally; but wicked
qualities might be gnawing at the heart.
Therefore, send away wicked qualities; fill
yourself with virtues; and develop love. Meditation is not
something of a pose given for a photographer. It is not for others.
It is for one's own self. There are certain cautions that are to
be observed in this regard.
One should be seated on a plank at least 1/2 inch
above the ground. On top of this, skin of an animal - preferably a
docile and pure - satvic animal - deer is to be spread. In order
to prevent the deer hair causing irritation, a thin cloth is
advised to be spread over it. All these to be done so as not to
cause any disturbance to our meditation. If kundalini were to
really begin rising, the earth would pull it downward. To avoid
this and to avoid any shock, this plank is put. In this manner the
ancients have experienced and expressed it to us.
 Instead
of going for meditation and spoiling your mind, it is better you
create the form you are interested in, put that picture in front
of you and observe carefully. While observing deeply, close your
eyes. Now, begin to paint the form that you have seen, in your
mind's eye. Then your mind would be totally enveloped in the form.
Gradually even when you open your eyes, you begin to see the form
everywhere. That is manifestation - Sakshatkara. This does not
happen if you were to do it once in a while. You should daily do
this both morning, evening and at all other times also. Then you
begin to see the form spreading itself in all limbs and all bodies.
Most importantly, youth's mind is most wavering.
During the day the youth must spend time reading class books and
assimilating them. The reason being that mind will not enter
unnecessary avenues when it has a lot of work to do. We must
attach ourselves to work so as to deprive mind from associating
itself with outside world. Both morning and evening let the mind
be immersed in Dhyana/Meditation in the aforesaid manner.
Meditation is a path of obtaining sanctity. It is a process of
obtaining unity; a path of experiencing divinity. Your mind must
merge in the Lord just as a river merges into the ocean. Then mind
as such does not exist. Then you become beyond mind. The river has
a form, name and taste before merging into the ocean. After
merging, it loses all such identities. This has been conveyed by
Ramadas in a song form:
"There is a fortress of seven boundaries. In the
fort there is a garden - one of worldly desires. If you want to
find the path through the garden, sing the name of the Lord Rama.
The whole Kingdom will be filled with light."
The boundaries referred to are the seven
nerve-centres/chakras. This song was heard by Lord Rama. He
replied:
"The essence is like oil. The Truth is like wick.
When the light fades away, neither the oil nor the wick follow it.
They stay there itself."
Then Ramadas got a doubt "The support is the tree
and the grip is another branch of the tree. If the basis/support
is left in the hope of relying on the strength of the branch and
the branch also breaks then salvation is imminent."
Here, the basis is the worldly desires and the
branch which would break is the society in which you live. If you
leave the desires and if the world/society shuns you, you are
bound to attain salvation. You need the society as long as you
have not understood the true reality. Therefore, one needs
firewood only as long as the cooking is being done. One does not
need firewood after the food has been cooked.
Veda, Shastra, Purana, Itihasa etc. are essential
only as long as one has not understood oneself. After one has
realised oneself, all these become unnecessary. Hence, it is not
possible to renounce/detach oneself from the society unless one
has realised oneself. You have to realise yourself by living in
the world. Some creatures like caterpillar, crawling from one leaf
to another. In the process, it catches the leaf it would like to
go to and then release the leaf it has been on. It does not leave
the base before catching/obtaining the support. Similarly, we
should leave world after obtaining divinity and not before.
Otherwise, we would have lost both the worlds.
Do not be carried away by the term Meditation. It
is not something that one does by sitting for a couple minutes or
hours. It should be always at all places (the contemplation on the
Lord). It should not pertain only to Mandir/meditation room.
Wherever one goes, be it market or classes, one should be totally
absorbed. We should be totally sacred in our feelings. This is
possible only through the path of love. Speak lovingly to all
people. Even such a speech should be in moderation. This is
because mind begins to change as words become many.
One sage came from the Himalayas and declared that
he had conquered anger. He met his friends and told them that he
was totally at peace and that he had no anger in him at all. One
came and asked him - "Sir! Have you conquered anger?" "Yes! I have
controlled" came the guarded reply. That person reiterated, "Sir!
You of all the people! Have you really conquered anger?" "Yes, it
is true" came the gruff reply. "What sir! It is really impossible
to believe. How could you conquer anger?" Asked the man for the
third time. "Ai! Can't you understand when I have said so?" Came
the hot reply. "Sir! When this is the case, how could you have
conquered anger?", asked the man for the fourth time. "Are you out
of your senses? I told you that I have conquered". So, while
saying that he had conquered anger, due to repetition of words, he
lost control over anger. If words were not expressed, anger might
cooled down. But as he expressed them, anger grew. Due to lack of
patience, anger emanates. There is no other remedy for anger. Only
cultivation of patience is the answer.
Today
man is bent upon conquering/vanquishing/controlling anger.
This is wrong. He must inculcate patience. Then anger will
automatically subside. If darkness has to be expelled, light
has to be brought. Similarly, to expel anger, patience has
to be fostered. So, make efforts to develop patience.
Patience or sanctity can be attained only through love.
There is nothing that cannot be attained with love. One can
attain all with love. Everything is dedicated/subordinate to
love. Hence it is said LOVE IS GOD; LIVE IN LOVE. If the
concept of love is perfectly understood, it in itself
becomes Meditation. Meditate on love. But the love should be
selfless. It should be dedicated to the Lord. Any kind of
love once offered to Lord becomes sanctified.
We have made sweet pongal at
home. We call it sweet pongal and eat it. The same sweet
pongal once it is offered to the Lord in a temple, we call
it 'prasadam' / blessed food. The moment you offer it to the
Lord, it becomes prasadam. All defects - defects of the
ingredients, cooking and the vessel would get removed after
such an offering. For the sweet pongal made at home, there
may not be cleanliness of the vessel, ingredients or the
cooking process itself. In order to remove all defects from
the food cooked - we do not know wherefrom the vegetables
have come; may be they were stolen; may be the intention of
the seller was not good. We assemble all food items and pray
to Lord that everything be blessed. Then it all becomes
prasadam and all defects run away from the same.
There is a small clause in
meditation. All cannot do the same type of meditation.
Meditation changes from person to person depending on their
state of evolution/capacity. All doing one type of
meditation is not proper. Each has his own form to worship
and the way he goes about it may also differ. Some worship
God as Mother of the Universe; some consider Him as Father
of the Universe while others consider God to be their
friend. There are those who worship God as Master/husband.
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Gauranga are examples of this
nature. Jayadeva and Gauranga had not done any meditation.
They felt no need for meditation as they could see God
everywhere.
There is a small anecdote.
This happened to many great men in all the yugas. Gaurangada
entered a small village called Nava Dweepa. He could not
find a place to live. If he were to go the streets to do
bhajan, mischievous boys would throw stones at him. They
troubled him in numerous ways. To avoid all this, he entered
the temple of Lord Eshwara. Keeping his legs on top of the
Lingam - image of Lord Shiva, he lay down to sleep. In the
morning the chief priest arrived. Considering him to be a
mad man, the priest beat him. "O fool! How dare you put your
feet on top of the Lord's image? Could you not find any
other place to keep your feet?", asked the priest. Then
Chaitanya replied - "Sir! Please show me the place where
Eshwara does not exist and I shall gladly place my feet on
that spot." Saying that he would show him, the priest
dragged Chaitanya by the feet and dropped him aside. Due to
his merit, even there the image of the Lord appeared. The
pujari dragged him all over the mandir, wherever Chaitanya's
feet fell, Eshwara's image was seen to emerge. Then the
pujari realised his folly. God pervades the universe. How
then can anyone define a place to be devoid or filled with
God? For a true aspirant God's insignia are seen everywhere.
Since God pervades the creation, there is nothing that is
unsacred. But there is bound to be a change in the way we
utilise the same. Therefore, we can make some changes in the
society, house and people with whom we deal. Then alone can
we obtain peace of mind. It is not meditation if one were to
close one's eyes/sit in lotus posture/sit without movements.
The most important factor for meditation is to fill the
heart with love. That love is verily God Himself. Along with
this love you must also sit in the lotus posture and in the
manner described earlier to awaken the kundalini power and
thus give more meaning to your lives.
You may go anywhere and do
anything. But your heart must be filled with pure love.
Gaurangada, Tukaram, Nammalwar etc., have lived in this
manner. If purity of heart is one's property, one can
question the Lord's ways as a rightful gesture. After a lot
of merit, we have acquired the birth of a human being. If we
do not make good use of it, it would be a sheer waste.
Gems in the ocean are not
easily available. With a great difficulty if one were to
dive deep and brave the attack of sharks, one could manage
to obtain rare pearls hidden in the womb of the ocean. The
pearl that is got after such a strenuous effort, if one were
to lose it, one would not get it back however much one may
pine.
"Sway!
Lord Krishna! I have obtained with great difficulty the
pearl of Krishna from the deep ocean of samsara. Please
shower your grace that I may not lose it", prayed Meera.
Since her prayer was such, Lord Krishna also granted her
that wish. She loved and pined for Krishna so much that her
anguish at the separation from the Lord turned into penance
and she merged into the Lord. Every human who would like to
turn the energy in him to divinity must participate in
prayers. Prayer for mind is as essential as food is for
body. Good food strengthens the body. Stale food brings
about ill-health. Similarly, if we participate in prayers,
our heart becomes pure. If, on the other hand, one were to
participate with pomposity, ego and show, it would be like
the bad food harming the mind. Therefore youth must travel
from slumber and inactivity to penance. Whatever we may do,
we must do with determination. One should not stop
meditation after having begun, in a span of 2 days. Whole
life should be transformed into meditation. We have come
essentially for that purpose. We must discharge our duties.
Along with this knowledge we must seek worldly education
also. One must accept the basis of the worldly education. I
have told many a time. I am repeating, observe the message
carefully.
There are many metals in the
earth - Iron, steel etc. As they are deep inside earth, due
to heat, they are available in the form of liquid. Due to
this heat even iron would be in a liquid state. This we call
as Chemistry. As we gradually come to the surface, the
materials solidify as the temperature decreases and we call
it as Physics. As dust and other particles join this, plants
begin to sprout in it. The study of these plants is called
Botany. Insects and birds come from everywhere to these
plants. The study of these birds and insects is called
Zoology.
What is the basis for Zoology?
Botany? The foundation of Botany is Physics which in turn is
based on Chemistry. So, for Chemistry also there must be
some foundation. Isn't it? There is water in this tumbler.
For the water to stay, there must be a container in the
first place. If there is no vessel, how can liquid stay put?
Therefore the source of sciences - Chemistry has its
foundation in divinity. Therefore, all the sciences have
stemmed from the root of Divinity. So, for all subjects
Divinity is the primal basis. If we were to catch the vessel,
Divinity, all the contents, subjects, would easily become
ours. Today we are ready to catch the creation and
investigate but have not ever thought of investigating the
nature of the creator. Even those that harm us become
friendly in the presence of the Lord.
Serpent adorns the neck of
Lord Shiva. Since it is around the neck of the Lord, we bow
down to it also. Same serpent if seen in the bazaar would
die due to the blows received from us. Though it is a
poisonous snake, since it adorns the neck of the Lord, it
becomes worthy of worship.
Once Lord Vishnu sent Garuda
to Eshwara with a message. Eshwara's body is very peculiar.
His body is smeared with vibhuti/ash. He has moon as his
crown jewel and serpents as his other ornaments. To such
Shiva when Garuda flew and landed, the breeze created by his
wings disturbed the sacred ash of the Lord which fell into
the eyes of the snake adorning His neck. The serpent, in
anger, hissed at Garuda. Garuda replied, "O snake! Since you
adorn the Lord's neck you are saved. Had you been in the
bazaar/market place, I would have snatched you with my feet
and torn you to shreds. Since you are in the proximity of
the Lord you have earned the right to be forgiven."
Similarly, since you are
enjoying Swami's proximity, people praise you. The moment
you leave Swami and go, people do not care a fig for you.
Wherever you go, you must absorb whatever has been taught
here and keeping the discipline as your shadow and Swami in
your heart must create peace around you. Once in a while to
recharge your batteries, you can come to Swami. In this way,
you can enjoy Swami's Love and Grace.
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