QUE: Swami, How to win Your Grace?
ANS: Give up all the
desires and cleanse your heart. Then I will grant you all that you
require without asking for it.
QUE: Swami, What is which conceals
the Truth from man?
ANS: It is only Mind.
The clouds which originate from the rays of the Sun, cover the Sun
Himself. When a strong wind blows, the clouds get scattered and
then you can see the Sun. Just as the clouds cover the Sun,
likewise the mind covers the Atma from which it has originated.
Man today is drowned in ignorance and is cut off from peace and
happiness.
QUE: Swami, What is the Divine
meaning of purpose of the door?
ANS: To admit all
whom you welcome and to keep out those whom you do not wish to
entertain. Similarly, take care to select the impulses, the
incentives that enter your mind, keeping out the demeaning, the
debasing, the deleterious from the crucible of your experience.
Q: How to develop our Spiritual
power, Swami?
ANS: One does not
have to search for spiritual power, going around the world and
spending a lot of money. Be in your own house, develop it in
yourself, such spiritual power in you! You do not have to run for
it here and there. God is not external; God is not outside you;
God is inside you. You are not a man, your are God yourself. You
are not one person, but three; the one you think you are (physical);
the one others think your are (mental); and the one you really
are. Do not be under the delusion that God is somewhere and you
have to search for Him; God is in you.
QUE: What is the truth we have to
understand in our life, Swami?
ANS:Life is
temporary; youth and wealth are temporary; kith and kin too are
temporary; it is only truth and reputation that are eternal.
Hold on to truth at all times. It is by dint of truth alone that
you can acquire reputation. So, you must adhere to truth
throughout your life
and protect it as well.
QUE: What is the difference
between concentration and meditation, Swami?
ANS: Many people
think that Concentration is the same thing as meditation, but
there is no such connection between concentration and meditation.
Concentration is something which is below your senses, whereas
meditation is something which is above your senses. But many are
under the false impression that concentration is identical to
meditation, and they take to a wrong path. Concentration is
something which we use involuntarily in our daily, normal routine
life.
QUE: What should be the approach
of a Devotee towards God, Swami?
ANS: A devotee once
lamented, saying, "Oh God! you have forgotten me!" This is never
possible. It is the devotee who forgets that he is the child of
God, that God is his never-failing friend and guide. God is all
knowledge, all power, and all mercy. Faith in God has to be
constant and firm in the face of every challenge by fate or
fortune.
QUE: What is our role in this life, Swami?
ANS: You are only
actors on the stage before the footlights. The Director, who knows
the Play, who assigns the roles, who gives the cues, who calls you
in and puts you on is behind the curtain. You are a puppet; He
holds the strings. If He must be seen, you have to be His 'Sakhaa'
(friend) or 'Bandhu' (kinsman). Merely being an onlooker will not
entitle you to approach Him and be in His Holy Company. Cultivate
His Friendship or Kinship by the attitude of Love and Dedicated
Service.
QUE: What is the principle we have
to follow in our life, Swami?
ANS: Before pointing
to the faults of others, examine yourselves and assure yourselves
that you are free from faults. That alone gives you the right; but
the wonder is that you discover faults in others only when you
have faults in you. Once you rid yourselves of faults, all are
pure and good. Whatever you touch becomes gold; that is the Divine
Alchemy of Love, Divine Love, Universal Love and Love for Love's
own sake.
QUE: What is the significant of
giving Vibhuti, Swaami?
ANS: When you seek
to learn swimming, you will have to enter the water and struggle
with the strokes. When Bhasma (vibhuti) is given, doubt haunts
some people whether Swami is wishing that the recipient should be
a Saivite! It is a symbol of the indestructible basic substance
which every being is. All things become ash; but ash remains ash,
however much you may burn it. It is also a sign of renunciation,
of sacrifice and of Jnana, which burns all Karma - consequently
into ineffective ash. It is a sign of Ishwara and I apply it on
your brow, to remind you that you too are Divine. It is a valuable
'Upadesa' about your identity. It also reminds you that the body
is liable any moment to be reduced into a handful of ash. Ash is a
lesson in detachment and renunciation.
QUE: What is life cycle, Swami?
ANS: The journey
into the inner consciousness to calm the storms that rage is more
important than the journey to moon or Mars. The latter may be more
spectacular, but the former is more beneficial. Life without
goodness, good thoughts, good actions, and good words is like a
sky in the night without the moon or stars. It is like a wheel
without hub or spokes! No one can push a boulder away while
standing on it; you cannot be free from anxiety, while all the
entrances through which it sneaks in are open. Stop catering to
the senses and feeding the desires that haunt you.
QUE: What is principle of living,
Swami?
ANS: One of the
first principles of straight living is - Practice silence, for the
voice of God can be heard in the region
of your heart only when the tongue is stilled and the storm is
stilled and the waves are calm. There will be no temptation for
the others to shout, when you talk to them in whispers. Set the
level of the tone yourself; as low as possible, as high as
necessary to reach the boundary of the circle you are addressing.
Conserve sound, since it is the treasure of the element Akaasa, an
emanation from God Himself.
QUE: How to understand the
Divinity present within us, Swami?
ANS: Three
disciplines are essential, to become aware of the Divinity in all
and in the Avathar; no activity should be taken up with individual
aggrandizement in view; intellect and emotion must be directed to
the revelation of the resident of the Heart, Atma; and every act
should be done sincerely, with Love, with no yearning for
acquiring personal profit, fame or benefit. Above all, listen to
the voice of God within. As soon as one contemplates a wrong act,
the voice warns, protests, and advises giving up. It pictures the
shame that has to be suffered, the punishment that has to be faced
and the disgrace it entails.
QUE: What is the duty of each
individual, Swami?
ANS: If each one
does his duty, in the spirit of dedication, the light can illumine
all. But, if the doors of the heart are shut against the light,
how can darkness disappear? You cannot sit back and expect the
incarnation to bring peace and joy into you. The incarnation comes
to warn, to guide, to awaken, to lay down the path and shed the
light of love on it. But, man has to listen, learn and obey with
hope and faith.
QUE: How to understand God,
Swami?
ANS: God has four
qualities and it is only when you cultivate them that you can
understand Him. They are: Prema (Love), Soundarya (Beauty),
Madhurya (Sweetness) and Shoba (Splendor). The development of
Prema is enough to add into you the other three. When you are full
of Prema for the Divine in all creation, that stage is beauty;
when you are immersed in the sea of universal Love, you reach the
acme of sweetness; when your mind loses its identity and merges
with the universal Mind, then there is splendor indescribable.
Que: How self confidence helps in
our life, Swami?
ANS: One who lacks
faith can never understand God. Yad Bhavam Tad Bhavathi (as are
the thoughts so will be the result). How can one who has no faith
in himself trust others? What is the use of one's life if one
cannot believe anybody? So, first and foremost, develop
self-confidence. When you have self-confidence, you will love
society. One who loves society will be loved by God. If you do not
love society, how can you expect society to love you? Build the
mansion of your life on the firm foundation of self-confidence. On
the foundation of self-confidence, you can raise the walls of
self-satisfaction. On the walls of self-satisfaction, you can lay
the roof of self-sacrifice. Only then can you lead a life of
self-realisation.
Source:
http://sai_baba_2001.tripod.com/love_peace/id3.htm