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Anil Kumar's Sunday Satsang at
Prasanthi Nilayam
December 31, 2000
The Main points from the Sunday Talk Given by Anil Kumar on
December 31st, 2000.
OM… OM… OM…
Sai Ram.
With Pranams at the Lotus Feet of Our Beloved Bhagavan,
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
I wish you all a happy and a prosperous New Year. May Bhagavan
shower His choicest blessings on every one of you. May Sai help us
to move along the path of devotion, service and Self-realization.
Before I mention a few of the points that I want to share with you
this pleasant morning, I want to express my deep sense of
appreciation to our brothers and sisters from overseas Sai centers.
Recently the Christmas function was held there in Whitefield at
Bangalore. Christmas celebration at Bangalore happened after
sixteen years! All these years we had it here only. All our
brothers and sisters would be happy if I tell you that Bhagavan is
immensely pleased with the Christmas carols presented by overseas
Sai devotees. He was very, very happy! (Applause) You may ask me
how I come to know that? (Laughter) I have told you a number of
times that, "In this age of BBC, British Broadcasting Corporation,
I am ABC: Anil Kumar Broadcasting Corporation!" (Laughter)
Bhagavan asked me how I liked the carols that evening itself. I
said, "Swami, very nice." He asked, "How and why?" Unless one is
ready with an answer for these two, 'how' and 'why', the mere
appreciation carries no meaning. Mere appreciation appears as if
it is flattery. But I am not of that type. I am a teacher
basically. I have justification for every remark.
I said, "Bhagavan, Christmas carols this year were fantastic,
specially composed and rendered, presented to You by overseas
devotees. Why? Number one, many of the songs have been presented
to You for the first time -new, ones which I haven’t heard before.
The second reason is this. There were certain songs that carried
the Vedic ‘dicta’, certain of the statements from our Vedic
culture, like:
Asato Maa Sad Gamaya,
Tamaso Maa Jyotir Gamaya,
Mrityor Maa Amritam Gamaya
(Lead me from the false to the
real, from darkness to light, from death to Immortality)
And they had a reference to Whitefield also included in one of
their carols!" There were also hymns ending with 'Sai' with a
beautiful melody that made Bhagavan immensely happy. All devotees
were ecstatic about it. Let me congratulate you on this choir.
It did not end there. On Christmas Day, that morning our boys also
presented their own program. I was in two minds how they would
match our Western brothers. I didn’t want them to be 'number two'
because they are children of Sai. But by Bhagavan's grace, they
also matched them, doing exceedingly well. Though later, Bhagavan
said, "Overseas presentation stands first." He is quite impartial.
(I still have got that touch of 'belonging'. What to do? I’m still
to get over those weaknesses of attachments, the sense of
belonging. I do admit my weakness. I am extremely happy about that.)
And the decoration there in Whitefield, it was taken up by all the
brothers from overseas Sai centers. But it was special and unique
this year in the sense that Christmas trees were on the dais, with
beautiful illumination, and adding to that, stars were all along
the auditorium!
Well, you are all the 'super stars' that have done such a
beautiful job that pleasant morning. Then I told Swami, "Swami,
the illumination, the entire campus building, the Trayee Brindavan,
the hostel, the auditorium, the illumination there inside, the
Christmas tree, all this speaks of the excellence of Sai devotees,
who can excel not only in the warmth and depth of their feelings,
but even excel in decoration!" So, we excelled in decoration,
apart from the spiritual depth and insight that we all had.
This morning I was just thinking what I could speak to you about,
particularly as this is a time when we are moving into a new year,
ending of the old millennium, beginning of a new millennium,
ending one year 2000, and going on with the year 2001. Let us
welcome that year. Let us recall what Bhagavan said in this
context. If you just go through "Sathya Sai Speaks", earlier
volumes containing Bhagavan discourses, you will come across two
or three occasions when Bhagavan gave Divine Discourse on New
Year’s Day. This being an occasion to think of that, let me draw
your attention to certain points.
What is a New Year? How to celebrate it? What is the significance
of 'New Year'? Why should we celebrate it? Why and how? Why and
why not? What are the implications? What is the inner significance,
the deeper meaning that we can get out of Sai literature?
Bhagavan said one point. Please try to understand what Bhagavan
meant. Seconds constitute a minute. Sixty minutes is an hour.
Twenty-four hours is a day. Thirty days is a month. Twelve months
is a year. So, 'New Year’ means we completed twelve months,
calendar months. Each month is comprised of thirty days. Each day
consists of twenty-four hours. Each hour contains sixty minutes.
Each minute consists of sixty seconds. Ultimately 'new year' means
seconds. Just like currency, it may be a five hundred rupee note
or a hundred rupee note or a fifty rupee note, but ‘naiya paise’
(the smallest unit of Indian currency) is there as the unit of
currency. Similarly, the unit of time is a second, just as the
unit of weight is a milligram. Milligram is a unit. Degrees
centigrade is a unit of temperature. So units of time is this
second.
So, when we invite a New Year, it means we wholeheartedly invite
every second of it. We welcome into our life every second of the
coming New Year because without that second there is no year at
all! That's Bhagavan's concept of New Year. It's not simply a
calendar or simply the first of January. No. It is something more
than that, something deeper. We welcome every second of the New
Year. Let every second of the New Year be sanctified. Let every
second be meaningful. Let every second be fruitful. Let every
second be purposeful. Let every second be sacred. That is Bhagavan
Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s New Year. That is Sai’s style of welcoming
the New Year. That's the Sai’s way of welcoming the New Year.
In fact my friends, what does Bhagavan say? Here's another point
for this occasion. (Being a teacher, I can only collect the data
and repeat like a parrot. Do not consider that I am more than
anybody else, more than anyone of you here. I am the least of all.
I have just been called for this occasion of teaching, given the
gift of communication, with a prolonged period of experience and
the blessing of being with Him. I know some points to share with
you. That's all. Nothing great. There's nothing special with me or
in me. Perhaps most of you excel me in several of the aspects of
which I am quite aware.)
What does Bhagavan say? The New Year is a special calling. It's a
special Divine mission. It is the one of commitment. It is one of
dedication. It is an occasion to take resolutions. Most of us take
resolutions, we resolve something or other, on the occasion of
every New Year. Later we observe these resolves more in breach
than in observance! No resolve, no decision is ever followed. No
one is an exception to this.
We think, 'with effect from 2002', 'with effect from 2003'. This
is what happens in our lives. But it does not matter. We falter
and we fumble. We are just human. But God is merciful. God is
compassionate. He grants a number of occasions to correct, a
number of chances to rectify, by always saying, "At least from now
on…".
Most of you, I am sure must have gone through Bhagavan's
discourses. Every discourse ends with a note like this: "At least
from today, practice one or two of what you have learnt." Every
discourse carries this remark with it. Bhagavan never says, "You
are useless fellows! You have not followed even one point! Better
you quit!" He doesn't say that. He never says, "I have been
talking to you for the last fifty years. There are thirty volumes
of Sathya Sai Speaks, fifteen volumes of Sathya Sai Vahinis,
fifteen volumes of Summer Showers. Why another discourse? Better
not! Go! Get lost!"
He doesn’t say that because He has got Himalayan patience. His
Love is really oceanic, as wide, as vast, as infinite as a mighty
ocean, as vast as the sky. So He can understand with all sympathy.
He has got perfect understanding. And so every occasion He says,
"At least from now on…"
Further He also says, "Past is past." Yet it is only for Bhagavan
to say it like that. How many of us say, "Past is past"? We never
say that! "In the year 1995, you have insulted me! I’ll wait until
2010 to take revenge!" (Laughter) I will never say, "Past is past."
(Laughter) "At the time of my first birthday in India in 1942, my
mother told me that you did not care to attend that celebration.
I’ll wait for an opportunity to see that I don’t greet you on your
sixty birthday!" We will never say, "Past is past." No.
We have got our own weaknesses. We have got our own pitfalls. We
have got our shortcomings, like revenge. We don’t have that
forgetfulness. We don’t have that forgiveness. Forgiveness and
forgetfulness are not known to our life. That’s the reason why
life is full of pride and prejudice. Life is full of ego. Life is
full of revenge. Better we take this first principle as we welcome
the New Year: "Past is past."
"Past is past," as Bhagavan says. This gives us another ray of
hope. I might have done something wrong, something serious. I must
have committed blunders in the year 2000. I might have denied God.
I might have gone astray from Bhagavan. I must have listened to
all dirty stuff. I must have watched certain things, which I am
not supposed to. I must have gone through certain things about
which I am not happy to tell you. Yet, "Past is past," meaning, "Forget
about it."
Did you say hope? It's a big promise, a promise not given by a
man, not by a human. But it is a kind of benediction, a sort of
blessing, a hope, a promise made by Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba
Himself. So when He says, "Past is past" it means, "It does not
matter, my dear son. Just forget." When once we forget all the
past, we’ll have something new.
Bhagavan is very fond of this beautiful example: A glass is full
of water. If you want to fill it up with milk, what should you do?
You should remove all the water. You should throw it off, and then
fill it up with milk. With the water here in the glass, you cannot
have milk there. You have to empty it first. You have to first
throw it away.
To invite the New Year, let us leave, let us throw out the rotten
stuff of the year 2000 about which we are not happy, about which
we are ashamed of on certain occasions. On certain occasions, we
might not have behaved befitting the stature of a Sai devotee. We
might have spoken in such a way not befitting the level of a Sai
devotee. Our words, our thoughts, our actions must have harmed
certain people. Some people might have said, "Is this the way, as
a Sai devotee, you behave?" Some people might have said that in
the year 2000.
Bhagavan tells, "Past is past." It is a kind forgiving with Love,
not because all the loans are written off due to an insolvency
petition. It is not like that. It's not an insolvency petition,
where all the loans or debts are just scraped. It is not like that.
This forgiveness is out of compassion. This forgiveness is out of
Love.
Lord Jesus Christ, what did he say? When a woman, who breached the
conduct, who was highly undisciplined, was brought to His presence,
everybody started pelting stones at her for her breach of conduct.
Then Jesus asked, "What is it that you do?" The people said, "My
Lord, she sinned! She sinned! So the punishment for her sin is to
be pelted at with stones. We throw stones at her. She should be
stoned to death! This is the punishment of the day."
The Lord says, "Come on! Is there anyone here who has not
committed any sin? Is there anyone who has not committed any sin
till this day? Anyone? Get up!" No one could dare to open their
mouth. Everyone had sinned. Everyone had committed some mistake or
other. We are not totally free from guilt. We are not totally free
from blunder or mistake, whatever you may say. So nobody could
come forward.
And then, when everybody left, Lord Jesus, the compassionate God,
walked slowly and majestically, beautifully blessing that lady and
said, "Look here, I have not committed any mistake. But I don’t
throw stones at you. Go forth, my dear woman. Sin no more. Sin no
more." That is compassion.
Where there is love, where there is compassion, there will be
forgiveness. When you cannot forgive anybody, it means there is a
shortage of love. There is a dearth of love. There is a lack of
compassion. There is emptiness in our life. That is the reason why
we are not able to forgive people.
This year 2001, let it be a year of forgiveness. Let us forgive
all those who might have acted against us, who might have spread
rumors against us. "Unless you settle your score with the neighbor,
you cannot enter into the gates of Heaven," says the Lord. You
have to settle any differences. Yes. You must compromise. You
cannot take the matter to the court and call yourself a devotee.
Bhagavan Baba is also the same type as Jesus. To give you one
example: Bhagavan gave an interview to two of the office bearers.
One is the president. The other is the vice-president. Both of
them were called for interview. They went into the interview room.
Calling them inside, our mischievous, beautiful Lord came out of
the interview room and closed the door, which rarely happens! (Laughter)
Our good God started moving among the devotees. After twenty
minutes, He opened the door and He said, "Since you two are
fighting there at home, I want you to fight all alone here.
Therefore I left you to yourselves." (Laughter) There in the
interview room what happened? These two, who never saw eye-to-eye,
said, "It is time that we should not fight any longer, that we
should compromise. At least in the interview room, we should not
fight." Swami told all of what they had been talking about.
So Jesus said and the Holy Bible says, You cannot fight with
everybody. You cannot be inimical with everybody. Unless you
settle your scores with your neighbor, you shall not get into the
gates of Heaven. So, this year 2001 should help us to compromise,
to adjust, to forgive all those who might have acted against us,
who might have stood in our way towards progress, advancement in
our career, in our profession, along the spiritual path, in every
walk of our life.
Bhagavan said on another occasion, " 'New Year' means what? It
stands for refinement of intellect, proper direction of the mind,
and giving enough of work to the body." There are three important
things. We should make use of this body for service. Bhagavan has
put it in a beautiful way, "Bend the body." It does not mean that
I should literally bend, because, after seventy, one naturally
bends! It is not spiritual. When the vertebral column or backbone
is weak, one bends. That bending has got nothing to do with the
spirituality. "Bend the body" means that we should work hard,
serve everybody, serve the fellowmen in society. The hands and the
feet are all gifted to serve.
Bhagavan said, "Eyes are gifted not to watch the TV and cinemas.
Eyes are gifted to see the majestic, beautiful form of the Lord.
The ears are gifted not to listen to whisper and gossip, to vain
talk and rumors. Certainly not! The ears are there to listen to
the melody of Sai bhajans." Every part of our body has got its own
meaning, has got its own definite purpose. This is what is meant
by, "Mend the senses". The senses have got to be mended, have got
to be corrected because senses have become senseless. Or senses
sometimes make us sensual. Either we are sensual or senseless, but
senses are not functioning in the way they are expected to act.
So, this New Year 2001 should help us to mend our senses.
In the first instance, we should "bend our body" to serve the
community. Number two, "mend our senses" so that we’ll enjoy the
company of the Lord. You can really enjoy Him. Some people say, "I
have been to Prasanthi Nilayam a number of times. I am not
ecstatic about it. There’s no change in me." My friends, unless we
are receptive, unless we are sensitive, we cannot expect anything
tangible, anything substantial to happen in our life. We cannot
expect the electricity to pass through our Hawaiian plastic
slippers or sandals nor through a log of wood. Electricity would
never pass through a log of wood. Similarly, when our body and our
mind are like dead wood, the electricity of Divinity shall not
pass through it. So, we have got to be receptive. We have got to
be sensitive. Allow the Divinity, the electric flow, to pass
through us so that we will be energized with the Divine energy.
That is possible only if we are receptive and sensitive.
When Swami speaks certain things, it goes deeply into our heart if
we are sensitive. I can give you some situations: People have
given up drinking. People stopped taking non-vegetarian foodstuff.
People stopped smoking. People have given up so many vices and bad
habits after listening to Bhagavan. Why? They are receptive and
sensitive. Without being receptive and sensitive, if we go on
listening to the discourses, repeating like a parrot and feeling
proud of all that, it is not spiritual. We have simply become a
tape recorder!
So my friends, the year 2001 should be the one of transformation.
Transformation is possible if we mend our senses. Bend the body in
service and mend the senses so that we can enjoy His Company, so
that we could be receptive and sensitive.
Spirituality is not knowledge. Unfortunately, spirituality and
knowledge go together only from the standpoint of a layman. In the
ordinary world, in the field of science, technology, and the
humanities, knowledge is power. Knowledge is power. But in
spirituality, knowledge is not power. Knowledge is weakness. In
spirituality, knowledge is weakness! Why? The more we read, the
more we learn, the more we speak with authority, quoting profusely
from sacred texts, the more you are confused! (Laughter) You
become confusion confounded!
Bhagavan gives a beautiful example: There you find a number of
medicine bottles on the table. There are a number of bottles -
that syrup, this syrup, disprin, mycin, that mycin, entromycin,
streptomycin, all "cins" on the table, (Laughter) all sorts of
syrups on the table. Why? He is terribly sick, awfully sick, so he
has got a number of bottles on the table, injection syringes, and
what not. Similarly, the one whose table is full of books, he is
mentally sick. (Laughter) This is the example given by our good
Lord! (I am not capable of joking at that standard. I don’t think
so. (Laughter) You can easily understand it is Swami's, not Anil
Kumar's. I am not capable of that standard. Not in the near
future, I’m sure!)
So the point is, knowledge is not spirituality. On the other hand,
knowledge is weakness. Why? God is not knowledgeable. You cannot
catch Him. You cannot limit Him by your knowledge. What is
knowledge after all? Knowledge is never original. Knowledge is
borrowed. Knowledge is second-hand information. Knowledge is that
which is contained in the books, full of the experiences of others.
It does not help you. At twelve-thirty lunchtime, I do not ask you
to eat on my behalf, do I? No. So knowledge, which is second-hand
information, knowledge which is borrowed information, will never
help us along the spiritual path. Knowledge is even a barrier.
Jesus Christ is not the one of knowledge. Sri Ramakrishna
Paramahamsa is not the one of knowledge. Prophet Mohammed is not
the one of knowledge. Buddha is not the one of knowledge. They are
the ones of wisdom. Knowledge and wisdom are different. Knowledge
is a collection of facts and figures. Knowledge is brain-stuff.
Knowledge is full of pride and ego. Suppose you don’t greet me. If
you don’t say, "Hi" to me, I start feeling, 'This fellow does not
know that I am a man of knowledge! (Laughter) Why does he not say,
'Hi'? He is a fool and more! He doesn’t know. Ignorant fellows!
They don’t know men of knowledge.'
Knowledge is pride. Knowledge is ego. But wisdom is humility.
Wisdom is light. Wisdom is simplicity. Wisdom is innocence, not
ignorance. Wisdom is innocence. Ignorance and innocence are
different. Ignorance is very close to foolishness. Innocence is
all freshness. All that is fresh is innocent. All that is rotten,
all that is negative, is ignorance. So my friends, knowledge is a
barrier for the realization of God. Wisdom is a practical
experience.
Whatever Jesus said, it is all the pearls of wisdom. Bhagavan
Baba, who ended his formal education at the level of seventh
standard, can talk to Nobel Laureates, can talk to the highest
scientists of the day. He gives minute details of the body, of the
heart, to the cardiologist himself, so that the specialist falls
flat (in namaskar) in front of him. (Laughter) He can tell certain
special engineering skills to an experienced engineer such that,
if he is honest enough, he admits his ignorance on that very
subject.
He talks to a computer expert, telling that he is only a computer,
saying that computer is nothing but rubbish. Composer is more
important than computer. A simple thing He says is, "Come on! The
world is dictated by computers and computer technology. 'Software'
seems to be the popular word today, though one is hard at the
core! 'Hardware' - he is hard, but speaks of 'software'! (Laughter)
Better he doesn’t wear anything! (Laughter) At the core, he is
hard, but he speaks of 'software'!"
Bhagavan says, "OK. If you think that software is so important,
then come on! Stand in front of a computer and say, 'Hi, computer!
Where is my wife? (Laughter) Whom am I going to marry?' It shall
not give you any information!" So computer is the discovery, is
the invention of man. But unfortunately, his own invention is
dominating him. That is the tragedy. We are afraid of the atom
bomb. But we are not afraid of the maker of the atom bomb. See
that. This was what Swami has told. Therefore, our senses have got
to be mended so that they do not run after information. The head
stands for information. The head symbolizes knowledge.
Let the year 2001 be not of the head. Our heads are stuffed with
second-hand information, with all that is told, with all that is
heard, with all that is collected, with all that is gathered. The
head is just a big cupboard of books! The head is a computer,
giving responses based on all the information that is fed into it.
So, the head, yes! Let’s put a full stop to it.
Let the year 2001 be the 'Year of Heart', not of the head. The 'Year
of Heart', what does it mean? The Divine qualities like compassion,
truth, peace, love and sacrifice, they all emanate out of the
heart. Heart is the feet of compassion. Heart is the center of
love. Heart is the center of truth. Heart is selfless. Heart is
sensitive. If I say, "I did this wholeheartedly. I love you
wholeheartedly." No one will say, "I love you wholeheadedly." (Laughter)
We can say pig-headed, dull-headed, strong-headed. We don’t say
wholeheadedly. Do you? No country says that. It is not an idiom
anywhere. It is not the proper usage either.
"Wholeheartedly", "heartfelt" - Heart stands for sincerity. Heart
stands for steadiness. Heart stands for commitment. Heart means
surrender. So my friends, let the year 2001 be not of the head, of
the knowledge. Let it be the 'Year of the Heart', which is really
the one of compassion and love. That is "mending the senses", the
second requirement, the second decision, the second resolve that
we have to take this New Year's Day.
The third one is "End the mind." What do you mean by "End the mind"?
We know the phrase, "Never mind". For example, I ask, "What do you
mean?" You reply, "Never mind." OK. But I don't mean that. "End
the mind," means what?
Bhagavan gave a number of discourses along this line. In fact, we
don’t need to go anywhere. Someone asked Baba, "Baba, Swami, are
you God?" Do you know what He said? "Yes, I am God. And you are
also God." To those who have no idea of this, it might look very
funny. How can there be two Gods? He says He is God and He says
you are also God. Everyone is God. There’ll be competition among
the gods! (Laughter) A struggle for existence! What is all this?
The realization of the Divinity, the experience of God within, the
knowledge of the Divinity within is possible if only we reach that
'no-mind' state. 'No-mind' state is a guarantee. It is the only
path to feel the Divinity within. Mind is the biggest stumbling
block, the bottleneck, or the 'iron curtain'. Why? A simple
example: The mind creates everything. Today we are frustrated. We
are disappointed. We are eager. We are anxious. We are not relaxed.
The modern generation (all of us) do not know what relaxation is.
We know what tension is. Our life is full of tension. Our life is
full of fear. Our life is always one of speed, speed, running
fast. We find people running, running, running. If you ask, "Why?"
Their style is like that. Their style of life is like that. They
are always in a hurry, hurry, hurry - H-U-R-R-Y. Life should not
be one of hurry. Life should be one of Sri Hari - H-A-R-I, God. It
is not hurry - H-U-R-R-Y. It should be H-A-R-I, Hari, the name of
God.
Let the year 2001 be not one of hurry. Let it be one of Sri Hari.
For this, relaxation is much required. When Bhagavan goes round
for darshan, we find faces… really, if we watch our face in front
of a mirror, we feel very badly about it! Some faces are seen so
serious, though Bhagavan is passing by. Why is the man so serious?
He doesn’t enjoy the thrill nor the beauty of the Lord. He thinks
of his family, his loan, his bank account, his return flight
ticket, his return journey and the leave that is getting exhausted,
the number of people who will pull at his collar, the promotion
that he is likely to get or not, and the alliance that is kept in
waiting, confirmed or cancelled. These are his thoughts! With
these thoughts, while looking at Swami, what kind of face do you
expect? There's no thrill! Afterwards family members ask, "Did you
meet anybody?" He simply replies, "Ah, Swami came for Darshan." Is
that all?
You can enjoy Swami only in a state of 'no-mind'. 'No-mind' state
means silent mind. When the mind starts working, how does it
function? Have we ever examined our own mind? We say, "There is no
time, no time." We have time for everything else. But we take no
time for our own selves. "I have no time to spend for me. I have
got all the time to spend with you. I have got all the time to
spend with my family. I’ve got all the time for my profession. I
have got time for every gossip, TV watching, everything. But I
have no time to spend with my real Self. I have no time left to
examine myself. I have no time to feel absolutely relaxed, left to
my Self." Life has become full of tension and ambition. Therefore,
we are never relaxed. We don’t even know what relaxation is.
So, in spirituality, in a 'no-mind' state, we can enjoy Swami.
Here is a simple example. Let us see Him. Be happy. But when the
mind starts working, how does it receive Swami? It applies with
everybody. I am no exception. (I repeat a number of times, again
and again, that I am no exception in any manner. With any point I
make, we are all sailing in the same boat. Every lecture, every
talk, is an opportunity to think together, to share together, to
investigate together, to explore together, to enjoy together. I am
not a person speaking from a rostrum or a pulpit either. It is not
so. We are just thinking together.)
Now, when my mind starts acting during darshan time, how does it
conduct itself? How does it make me a monkey? Swami says, "Mind is
a mad monkey." We don’t know that we are monkeys! But we are very
happy to call others monkeys! (Laughter) And we’ll be very happy
to watch the real monkeys because it is just a reflection of the
inner being! (Laughter)
So, when the mind starts working during darshan time, what will be
our state of experience? 'To whom is He giving padnamaskar?' (Laughter)
'Who is called for interview?' (Laughter) 'Who received vibhuti?'
(Laughter) 'Who received a ring?' (Laughter) 'Oh, He smiled at the
person! Ah-ha.' (Laughter) 'Oh, He took his kerchief!' (Laughter)
These statistics won’t help you. (Laughter) 'If the other man
receives vibhuti, it does not benefit me.' 'If so-and-so gets
padnamaskar, it won’t make me happy. It won’t help me.' Because of
the mind, one goes on collecting the data, 'Who got namaskar?' 'Who
does it?' 'Who did it?' And so on like that. It doesn’t say, 'Oh
fool, you did not get it!' (Laughter) It does not say when you
will you get it. It will never say, 'Change yourself.' It doesn’t
say, 'Transform yourself.' It doesn’t say, 'Be cheerful, my boy.
Be blissful, my boy. Be playful. Be happy!' It doesn’t say that.
It goes on thinking of everybody else. That’s the reason why you
are unhappy.
Mind thinks of the outside. Mind always is outward, ‘pravritti.’
Therefore, we know how many people got interviews. And the moment
we come to know that so-and-so is close to Swami, so-and-so is
spoken to, we are quite jealous of them. That’s the next reaction
of the mind: 'That fellow never attends nagarsankirtan. That
fellow never attends any single service activity. Am I not a man
of service? Why don't I get interview? Why not? Why he gets it?
Why not I?' This is the gimmick of the mind, with the result that
we don’t enjoy Him.
And not only that, when once Swami comes close to us, I am always
conscious of the letter in my pocket! When to give it to Him? 'Let
me see Him. Let me be happy. The letter, after all, I can post it!'
Baba has said a number of times, "The moment you start writing, I
get the news. I know what you want, the moment you start writing.
You don’t have to give it to Me." But we want to have the
satisfaction of giving it to Him and the joy of been watched by
others while giving it, which is more important! (Laughter) If
Swami stops His car on the road, when nobody is watching, and then
He takes the letter, there is no excitement. But in the auditorium
when He takes the letter, 'Great!' because everyone knows that’s
my letter. (Laughter) This is the ugly state of the mind. We are
all guilty of this. No one is an exception.
So, 'no-mind' state does not care for publicity. It does not care
for pomp and show. It does not indulge in self-praise. It always
shares. I can enjoy Swami, if I am not bothered about the letter
in my pocket. Let the letter come later! Let the letter not bother
us all the time! This is 'no-mind' state. Let us not question Him.
Let us not try to analyze Him. Let us try to realize Him. God is
not an experiment. God is an experience. God is not one of
analysis. He is the one to be realized, not analyzed.
Our life is full of too much analysis. It is a simple thing to
love Baba. But some people ask me that question, "How to love
Baba?" I answer, "You never asked me how to love my son. Please
put that question first." No one asked me how to love my son. No
fool would ask this question, "How to love my wife?" No one. Is
anybody asking you, "Please tell me how to love my wife"? If they
were to ask, then we’ll say, "This is not the place for you."
Psychiatrist's address we’ll give! (Laughter) So, we never ask
anybody, "Please tell me the way to love my wife. Please tell me
how to love my son." But, "Please tell me how to love Baba."
Equally foolish, equally foolish! Horribly foolish. Terribly
foolish. Why? Because Baba is closer than your near and dear.
The near and dear may be away on certain occasions, at certain
moments. When you are in the office, you are not close to your
children. If you are close to your children and make your home the
office, you’ll have to be on the street tomorrow. (Laughter) You
can’t concentrate on your job! So there are certain occasions when
you are on duty, you will be away from your family. When you are
on a trip, you will be away from your children. But Bhagavan
always says this, "I am with you, in you, above you, around you,
below you." He says like that. Now, who can say how to love Baba?
When He is with you, when He is in you, there cannot be any
question like this, "Would you please tell me how to love Baba?"
It only means that he is ignorant. He is ignorant! His ignorance
makes him put that question. You cannot but love Him.
You love yourself. Is there anybody who says, "I don’t love myself"?
Oho, good. Then whom do you love? If you cannot love yourself, you
cannot love anybody. If you cannot respect yourself, you cannot
respect anybody. So, who will say this? Is there anyone here who
will say, "I don’t love myself"? Would anybody say that? No. So,
when I love myself, it means I am loving Baba in me because Baba
is in you.
Likewise if you say, "I respect myself" it means, "I respect
Swami." "I love myself." It means you love Baba equally. Because
of false identification with the body, because of this misnomer
that you are the mind, because the superposition with the sense of
ego, we don’t get the truth. This ego is playing, making all the
havoc. Or else you would experience the real entity, the core of
your being, the existence, which is the spirit or Atma.
Therefore my friends, 'End the mind' means 'no-mind' state - no
analysis, no experimentation, no reasoning, no rationalization. It
is only simple experience. When there is a cool breeze during
winter season, Christmas season, a beautiful season of the year,
is there anybody who will put these questions, "Why is there cool
breeze now? How long the cool breeze will be there? To what extend
are you going to enjoy it? Is that beautiful?" You will say, "Please,
sorry Sir, we’ll meet next year! (Laughter) "Sorry. Please leave
me alone here." (Laughter)
So you cannot rationalize cool breeze. You cannot go on
questioning, "Why cool breeze? Why enjoy? What is the beauty of it?"
The beauty of it lies in the experience of it. The taste of the
pudding lies in the eating of it. Similarly, you enjoy the cool
breeze. That’s all. You don’t rationalize it. You enjoy the
sunrise, a beautiful sunrise. (Some of you must have gone to Cape
Cameron, Kanya Kumari. It is a beautiful sight to see the sunrise
there.) Nobody would go there and say, "Sunrise - When? What? Why?
How long? What is all this?" "All right! Please go back. Leave me
all alone!" (Laughter) Sunrise is beauty. The stars do glitter.
The moonlight, 'Oh, moonlight! Beautiful moonlight!' So, certain
most valuable things are not given for reasoning, are not given
for rationalization, are not given for laboratory experimentation.
No. They are there to be experienced.
In summer, particularly in India, mangoes are available, mango
fruits. Oh! People love them a lot. When a ripe mango fruit is
brought to me, I don’t ask the man, "Wherefrom did you get it?
Please take me to the tree that has yielded this fruit. Allow me
to meet the gardener." (Laughter) Terrible! That man will
understand from your remarks that this fruit is not for you! (Laughter)
"I thought you were a sane man. (Laughter) Now I have understood
you are sufficiently insane! (Laughter) Let me be on my own guard
so that you don’t bite me now!" (Laughter)
So the point is, you start tasting the mango fruit. You are not
bothered about the cultivation of mango trees, the kind of
absorption, the strain of the tree, and what kind of manure you
have to apply to them as a grown mango crop. No. You enjoy the
fruit, don’t you? Similarly, fruits, moonlight, sunrise, cool
breeze, pine trees, mountaintops, the snow, morning dewdrops,
they're to be experienced. They are not to be analyzed. Another
example, the smile of a babe… As a baby smiles, you don’t ask, "How
long does he smile? (Laughter) Why the child smiles? (Laughter)
Does he expect anything from me - a few dollars at least? (Laughter)
Or some loan from international monetary fund? How terrible to
think this way!
So, the smile of a babe is to be enjoyed. The blossoming of a
flower is to be enjoyed. The morning flowers, the roses, the
sunflowers…as each flower blossoms, we enjoy the flower. These
things, these most valuable things, are not to be analyzed. They
cannot be put within the framework of reason and season. You are
lost in appreciation of the beauty of Nature. That is what is
called 'living in existence'. Let us live in existence. Let us
live in the moment.
'Oh Bhagavan, I am grateful to You that You have given me this
body, that I am able to be with You in this moment. I enjoy every
moment. I’m grateful to You for this existence.' That is spiritual
life. The spiritual life is not of the past. The spiritual life is
not of the future. The spiritual life is right here in this
moment.
Some people say while Bhagavan gives us His beautiful darshan, "I
may have to go next week." When you have to go next week, why
should you cry this day? (Laughter) One has to go some day or
another, either from one place to another place or to the other
planet! (Laughter) So there is no reason to cry. Enjoy this
moment. Experience this moment. Be happy!
Let this year 2001 give this 'life of existence'. Let this year be
a life of moment after moment, each second of life appreciated.
Let us enjoy the existence, the creation, and the beauty. And let
us identify ourselves with Nature, which is existence. You should
see Bhagavan standing in the midst of flowers. Whenever, He visits
Kodaikanal, oh, there are a number of plants, beautiful plants,
beautiful flowers! Perhaps flowers also pray and wait for the
Lord! Flowers are also happy.
My dear friends, I’m not speaking anything irresponsible. I am a
student of botany. There are recent discoveries about plants. It
seems that a plant that is watered by you personally thrives. You
water that plant located in the backyard. You attend to that. You
stand by that. You are happy with it. Meanwhile there is another
plant that you neglect. The sewage water is supplied to that. All
the dirty water is supplied to that. It is connected to the
bathroom and it gets its water from there. You watch the growth of
both the plants. The plant that has been watered personally
flowers earlier than the plant that received the restroom water.
The plant that receives your personal attention flowers earlier
than that the plant that is neglected.
So a child that is neglected suffers from obsession in life,
suffers from inhibition in life, becomes a psychological wreck or
mentally retarded. So children should be cared for. Children
should be caressed. Children should be fondled. Similarly, let us
identify with existence. Let us love plants. Let us love animals
because all existence is one.
All are one, my dear son. Be alike to everyone.
Existence is Divine. Life is Love. And the principle of life is
one and the same in the entire existence. When once we start
loving the existence, life will be one of Truth, Beauty and
Goodness, Sathyam Sivam Sundaram. When I am happy with Nature,
Nature is happy with me. When I am happy with myself, I am happy
with everybody. When I am so satisfied, contented in my life, my
life will be so smooth.
So, let the year 2001 be the year of existence. Let it be the year
of refinement of our intellect. Let it be the year of the
blossoming of our own inner core, the real Being, the center of
our life. Let it blossom to whatever extend possible. Let the year
2001 say 'goodbye' to the year 2000. There is nothing to look back
on. 'I don’t look back. I am not proud of the past nor am I
depressed over the past nor am I accountable to the past.' Nor
need I feel guilty of the year 2000. No.
Guilty feelings, guilty conscience, are more dangerous than the
guilt itself. Let us not feel guilty about anything because the
feeling of this guilty conscience makes you obsessed with the
guilt. It makes you feel inferior. It makes you feel a slave. Let’s
not be like that. No guilt. Nothing doing. Therefore we don’t need
to feel a guilty conscience about anything. 2000 - Past is past. I
don’t need to feel proud of it nor do I need to feel guilty about
it. I enter into the year 2001 with all its freshness, with all
its novelty, with all its beauty. That gives us ample opportunity
to live in existence, moment-to-moment.
Let us understand that life is not mechanical. If you ask somebody,
"How are you?" He answers, "Pulling on." I feel like pulling the
fellow actually! (Laughter) How do you say you 'pull on your life'?
No! Are you simply a railway wagon to be pulled? Or are you a
tractor to be pulled? It is a mechanical, dead life! Let’s not say,
"Pulling on. Somehow or other, yes, it is just going on." It’s not
like that! My friends, life is a celebration. Life is a festival.
Life is dance. Life is music. Life is Love. Life is ecstasy!
Life is ecstasy. It is not excitement. Excitement and ecstasy are
different. Excitement changes. Ecstasy is matured experience.
Children are excited by watching toys. It is not that kind of
excitement we want. We want ecstasy, where we are lost in the
beauty of it, where the individuality, the personality, the name
and form do not exist. That is ecstasy. In the state of ecstasy
your name, your form, your ego, your authority, your knowledge,
your qualifications, your nativity, your profession do not exist.
That is the state of ecstasy. When you say, "I am Ph.D.", you are
excited but not ecstatic. When you say, "I am six feet tall and a
champion," OK. Be excited. You are not ecstatic. Ecstasy is
spiritual. Excitement is physical.
Let year 2001 be ecstatic. Let us not have this excitement any
longer. You cannot be excited. When you are excited for every
simple thing, you will develop blood pressure and hypertension. (Laughter)
Ecstasy!
So my friends, life is music. Life is music - a silent, silent
music. As the flowers talk, as the leaves move along with the cool
breeze, there is the music of life. As you find running brooks,
the rivers and the waters as they flow unceasingly, there is
music. As the raindrops fall, yes, there is music. See the morning
dewdrops, as you notice here on a lotus leaf. With the morning dew,
as the dewdrop falls into the water around, there is music. Life
is music. The heartbeat has got a rhythm. It has got music. If the
heartbeat has no rhythm, has no music, we become heart patients! (Laughter)
There is music in our heartbeat. There is music in our blood
circulation. Life is music! Life is rhythmic. Life is dance, a
celestial dance.
Watch Bhagavan as Aarati goes on. He goes on moving His body in
time to the beat. He doesn’t stand like a military man. No. Life
is dance, a dance celestial. Life is a song celestial. Life is
music celestial. Life is a moment from terrestrial to celestial,
from mundane to the spiritual. Life is fun. Life is humor. Life is
fun and frolic. Life is joy. Life is never burdensome.
Unfortunately, in the name of spirituality, we made even religion
burdensome and heavy. (Laughter) "I have to do my morning
meditation." "Oh-ho. Is that serious? (Laughter) You seem to be a
surgeon, ready to go into the operation theatre to operate, maybe
for appendicitis, that calls for your immediate attention!" (Laughter)
No. So, it's not seriousness. It is not one of tension. Moreover,
life is bliss. Life is a challenge, the challenge to face all
problems in life, all kinds of negativity, and to maintain
composure and equanimity.
In all humility, on behalf of all Sai devotees, with all reverence
and respect to all Sai brothers and sisters, who have been so
gracious to assemble here this morning, I offer my prayer. I am
sure that all of you would join me in praying to Bhagavan to give
us this spirit to enjoy life. Enjoy because we are contemporaries
of God! This opportunity is not given to everybody. This is not
given to everybody every time. This is the biggest benediction,
nay, a blessing. Let us enjoy this blessing of being in company
with the Lord. Let us enjoy this blessing of listening to Him. Let
us enjoy this special opportunity and the privilege that is
uniquely given to us to see Him morning and evening. Let us
rejoice, enjoying and singing in praise of our Bhagavan!
Let the year 2001, be a year of celebration, of rejoicing, of
ecstasy, singing His glory, such that as the morning dewdrop falls
into the river, it forgets. It loses its name and form. It becomes
one with the water. So long as it is on the surface of the leaf,
it is a bubble. It is a drop. When the drop drops into the ocean,
it becomes one with the ocean.
Let this 2001 help us to drop this 'drop' of ego, help us to drop
this 'drop' of pride, help us drop this 'drop' of individual
personality so that we can become one with the ocean through
devotion, one with the Infinite, one with the vast, one with the
boundless. There lies the real state of bliss. That is the real
attainment in life, not a few increments, not so many more bank
accounts! That is no achievement.
Spirituality is not an achievement, let me tell you. Spirituality
is not an accomplishment. Spirituality is not a trial.
Spirituality is one of immediate experience, right here and now.
May Bhagavan bless you!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
SAI RAM.
(Professor Anil Kumar ended his talk by chanting, "Rama Krishna
Hari Narayana".)
Thank you very much.
Asato Maa Sad Gamaya
Tamaso Maa Jyotir Gamaya
Mrityormaa Amritam Gamaya
Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.
Loka Samastha Sukino Bhavantu.
Loka Samastha Sukino Bhavantu.
Loka Samastha Sukino Bhavantu.
Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti
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