www.saibaba.ws
Sai Baba Sri Sathya Sai Baba

    Home  Thought for the Day  |  Sai Inspires 

 
    Articles | Avatar | Bhajans | Experiences | Messages | Miracles | Prayers | Quotes | Stories | Service | Teachings

 

Sri Sathya Sai Baba Teachings

  Vedas, Upanishads, Sutras, Sastras - Eternal Light of Wisdom

Article by Dr. Reet Priiman

Light and Love
 
    Swami teaches...(17 December 2004)
 
   Vedas, Upanishads, Sutras, Sastras - Eternal Light of Wisdom
 
    The Vedas are A-pourusheya: they have no identifiable human authors. They have emerged from God Himself and they are 'heard' by sages attuned to the Voice of the Divine. They communicated the Word to their pupils and they in turn taught them to their disciples. This process of imparting the Vedas and the Wisdom enshrined in them has continued through generation after generation of gurus and disciples up to our own times.
   The Upanishads are the very core of the Vedas, the very essence of their teachings.
   Sutra (aphorism) enshrines, in a few words, vast expanses of meaning, vast depths of fundamental significance. The Brahma Sutras build up the science of Vedanta. They gather multicoloured flowers from all the Upanishads and string them together to form an enchanting garland.
   The Brahma Sutra is also known as Saareeraka Sastra and Vedanta Darsana. Sareera means the Body. Saareeraka means all the components of the Embodied - Atma: Ego (Jivi), Senses etc. Sastra implies "examining the nature of all these to the greatest possible degree". That is to say, the Sastra establishes that the Brahman (the Cosmic Self) is the basis on which all else is imposed, that one's Reality is Ananda itself.
    About the name Vedanta Darsana: Darsana means 'sight'. Darsana promotes the sight or experience of the Truth.
     All the Sastras derive their value and validity from their source - the Vedas. They lay down modes and norms in consonance with the principles and purposes defined in the Vedas.
 
    Acquisition of the Higher knowledge alone can fulfil the main purpose of human life. Such knowledge makes one aware that he is not the inert non-sentient body, etc., but that he is Consciousness itself manifesting as the embodiment of Sath-Chith-Ananda, Existence - Awareness - Bliss. When this Truth dawns and is experienced, man is liberated; he is freed from the fog of ignorance, Ajana, even while life endures till its term ends. He becomes a Jeevan-Muktha. 
 
    The Jagath (the objective world) is unreal, non-existent; the misunderstanding that it is real has to be renounced. The understanding that the idea of jagath is a superimposition by our mind on the Reality is the Jnana. Though the jagath appears real, one must be aware that it is deluding us so. And as a result, one has to give up the yearning for deriving pleasure from the objects that appear and attract, both here and hereafter. The Ajnana or false knowledge can be destroyed only when one knows the Atma Principle. When the false knowledge disappears, the sorrow produced by one's involvement in the ups and downs of Samsara or the World of Change, also gets destroyed.
 
    Ajnana and Duhkha (sorrow) cannot be destroyed by rituals and rites (Karma) - this is the lesson the Upanishads teach us. In fact, what is happening now is Man has forgotten his real nature. He believes that he is the body, the senses etc.  He deludes himself that he can secure Ananda by catering to the body and the senses.
    The awareness of Brahmam cannot be won by the accumulation of wealth or even by the giving away of riches. Nor can it be achieved by reading texts, or rising to power, or acquisition of degrees and diplomas or by the performance of scriptural sacrifices and rituals.
    So, man needs to be directed towards the right means to attain Ananda. Wherefrom can one gain Ananda? It does not inhere in external objects.
    The body is an ant-hill which has inside the cavity, the mind. And the mind has hidden in it the serpent named Ajnana (Nescience). It is not possible to kill the serpent by resorting to satisfaction-orientated works (Kaamya Karma). Jnana is the only weapon that can kill it.
    "Sraddhaavaan labhathe jnaanam". That person alone who has sraddha can secure jnana. And Sraddha means steady faith in the statements laid down in scriptual texts (Sastras). 
    The Brahma Sutra, the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita - the Three Source Texts - clarify the Truth that you are the very embodiment of Ananda. These three sources stand on one to help man attain the highest wisdom. (A tiny compilation and extracts from: Sathya Sai Baba. "Sutra Vahini," pp. 1 - 5).
 
    Namaste - Reet

 


Source: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/saibabanews/message/5357

 

Best Resolution 1024x768 -- Copyright ? 2004-2015 SAIBABA.WS. All rights reserved. Please read Disclaimer.