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Anil Kumar's Sunday Satsang at
Prasanthi Nilayam
December 9, 2001
The Sunday Talk Given by Anil Kumar Christmas Talks (Part One)
December 9th, 2001.
OM… OM… OM…
With Pranams at the Lotus Feet of Bhagavan,
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
The Four Basic Human Values Are Necessary
The society that we are living in today wants us to examine what
kind of life we are leading. We have all sorts of comforts. We
have all kinds of conveniences. There’s no dearth of resources. We
have positions indeed and lots of money. But we are denied basic
happiness. We are able to acquire everything; everything we are
able to possess. But at the same time, we do not have peace of
mind. We don’t know what bliss is.
At one time Bhagavan composed a poem, stating the following. (I
know that many of you cannot follow Telugu, so I’ll give the
English version.) "Without Truth, Righteousness, Peace, and Love,
all your education is nothing." Education is nothing without Truth,
Righteousness, Peace, and Love. Second point, "Without these four
basic values, Truth, Righteousness, Peace, and Love, whatever
position you may occupy, whatever exalted position you might hold
and the influence you might wield is all nothing. Without Truth,
Righteousness, Peace, and Love, all acts of charity, all donations,
all the trusts that you maintain are all useless."
Therefore my friends, in this poem Swami clearly explains that
more than position, more than wealth, more than charity, more than
acts of goodness, the four basic values are very necessary and
important. These values are Truth, Righteousness, Peace, and Love.
These four values are at stake now. And we are not able to
maintain a kind of balance between the world and the Divine.
Sai Way Is Moderate
There are some people who just go by the ways of the world. One
extreme is the materialists. "We want money, we want position, we
want wealth, we want to live long. We want to live for a hundred
years!" OK, wonderful! I don’t mind if you can manage to live for
two hundred years. They believe, "This world is the truth. This
worldly experience is eternal." That is the materialistic point of
view, which is one extreme. There is another extreme, which is
spirituality. Their attitude is, "I don’t want this world. After
all, this body is useless. The worldly pleasures are nothing. I
don’t want to live long. God is important." That is the other
extreme.
Where are we? We are somewhere in between. These two extremes are
to be totally dropped immediately. These two extremes are always
dangerous - the world, with materialism as the root, and
spirituality, claiming to have the fruit. But the fruit cannot
exist without the root, and the root is useless without the fruit.
So, the root and fruit should exist together. Bhagavan’s message
is just this: Live in this world, but be detached from it.
The boat that crosses the river or the ship that voyages across
the ocean, both are present on the surface of water. The water
does not get into the boat or the ship. Likewise, we should float
on top of the water, but not let any water get into the boat.
Bhagavan gives another example of a lotus flower. The lotus flower
blossoms on the surface of the water. Though it lives in water,
the water does not get into the flower. It is the same with the
boat and the ship that are on the surface of water. The water does
not get in. This is a balanced state. Neither is it totally
renouncing nor is it totally attached.
My friends, the Sai way is moderate. The Sai way is balanced. The
Sai way is equanimous. He doesn’t want you to drift to any of the
extremes. If you say, "The world is necessary and important; there
is nothing more than this", that is materialism, which is one
extreme. If we take that position, we’ll be leading a dissatisfied
life, as there's no end to that. What is the end of our human
pursuit? Where is the end of human desire? The sky is the limit.
Ultimately we will get lost in all this. All desires can't be
fulfilled. It’s impossible! No one can say, "Sir, I have got all
my desires fulfilled." No honest man can say that, not if he’s
honest to himself at least.
So desire itself cannot be satisfied. Desire is something like a
fire: whatever you put into it gets burned. Fire will never say, "Yes,
enough!" No! Always it wants more, more, and more. If one city is
burned, why not the next city? So the fire is like that,
continuing to burn. With fire, there’s never a ‘full stop’ (a
period), but only a comma. Similarly, desire is like a comma.
There also there is no full stop. It goes on consuming our life
until our life gets exhausted in this way. So this materialism,
which is one extreme, will never give us happiness, contentment,
or anything like that whatsoever.
The other extreme is carried out in the name of spirituality: "I
don’t want my relatives. I don’t want to eat. I don’t want to
live. I want to put an end to my life. What is this life for? What
is this body for?" This is another nonsensical approach. This is
also idiotic, totally stupid because life is not of my making.
Life, in fact, is not in my hands.
This body is a powerful instrument. The body is given for
realization. The body is the gift of God. Life is the gift of God.
You cannot say, "I don’t want it." Who are you to say that? You
have not received it by your choice. None of us have put in any
application, "Oh God, I want this body to be at least six feet in
height and very fair in complexion." We have not submitted any
such application. The body is God-given. Life is God-given.
Therefore, this God-given life, this God-given body, this world or
Creation cannot be denied. It should not be condemned either.
Bhagavan says, "Visvam Vishnu Swarupam", which means the Creation
is nothing but the reflection of the Creator. The Creator’s
reflection is the Creation. If I say that the Creation is nonsense,
it means that the Creator is equally nonsense. I cannot say that!
I don’t at least dare to say that. There cannot be a Creation
without the Creator. The word ‘Creator’ is meaningless without a
Creation. Without a son, the word ‘mother’ cannot exist. The word
‘mother’ exists because of the son. And naturally when I say, "He’s
so-and-so, the son of…" it means that there’s a mother. I think I'm
clear.
Like that, my friends, total renunciation, total detachment, and
total condemnation of the world is total ignorance. Adhering to
the world, considering that the world is everything, the be-all
and end-all, is a state of innocence. One is innocence, while the
other is ignorance. Both are equally nonsense! (Laughter) If we
exercise our common sense, acting without any nonsense, we’ll be
in the middle, bringing a kind of meeting of the two. They are
something like the obverse and the reverse of the same coin: the
world and thereafter or God, the Creator, along with His Creation.
If you say, "No, I want only this one thing", you cannot do that.
There is another good example also: If you say, "I want to walk
without a shadow", it is impossible! Your shadow will certainly
follow you! It cannot be avoided.
Sai Yoga
So my friends, the Sai way is a balanced life. Sai wants us to
lead a life that is purposeful. This life has got its foundation
here in the world, though its purpose is above and beyond the
world. The blossoms in the tree reach the sky, with the branches
spread all over, while the roots are firmly fixed in the ground.
See that! The roots are firmly fixed in the ground. So let's be
aware of this life. Let us know what it is. At the same time, let
us have full understanding of its goal and purpose as well. To
remind us of this, God appears on earth from time to time because
we often get ourselves stuck at one extreme point or another.
A simple example: Before coming here, many of us were always
money-minded, always position- conscious, always egoistic. After
coming to Bhagavan, we are aware of our weaknesses. I don’t say
that we have crossed over them all yet. I don’t say that. At least,
I am not sure about that. At least we are aware of our lapses. We
are aware of our setbacks, our pitfalls, and our mistakes. Those
points about which we felt proud in the past are no longer a
matter of pride today. I'm aware of this.
Therefore, the Sai path is a kind of central point from which we
can operate in both the ways. That is the Sai path or ‘Sai Yoga’.
‘Yoga’ means ‘discipline’. ‘Sai Yoga’ means ‘a disciplined
spiritual path, combining the world and God, the Creation and the
Creator’. It is not a case of omitting the one and choosing the
other. There is not any omission or deletion, commission or
subtraction, nothing! It is total, complete. ‘Purna Adah, Purna
Midam’. Life is total. We cannot fragment or divide it.
Christmas Season All Over
One among such great people that visited this planet, one among
the greatest of such people, happened to be the Lord Jesus Christ.
The greatest, most sublime, the noblest, totally Divine, Cosmic
Visitor who visited this planet Earth happens to be Jesus Christ.
This month of December is Christmas season, which is celebrated
all over, I know. Coming from a Christian college, I still happily
recall those days when we had Christmas celebrations throughout
this month of December. There was the family Christmas, the
college Christmas, the community Christmas, and the staff
Christmas! Christmas, Christmas, Christmas, ah! Merry Christmas! I
can understand what it is.
I really want to think of those days and share with you certain
ideas on Jesus during this and the coming Sunday, and then we will
continue with more on the following two Sundays. We shall be
thinking of Christmas, Christianity, and some of the valuable
principles that Christianity has given to mankind in relation to
Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba's message. We’ll try to learn in a
comparative way the ‘gospel’ of Sai and the Holy Bible, along with
what Baba is doing and what Baba wants us to do. I have a few
things to share with you, things most of you must already know.
Good things must be heard time and again. We often feel, "Why? I
know that already." When once I have the feeling of ‘I know that’,
it means that I do not know. Why? You may put to me that question:
"When I say ‘I know’, how dare you say that I don’t know!" I can
only honestly say "I know" when I actually experience what I know.
So long as I do not have the experience, then all that I know is
bookish knowledge or superficial knowledge. All that superficial
knowledge I gathered and stored in the computer called the human
brain, which is useless.
Therefore my friends, Bhagavan told repeatedly this example: You
take coffee any number of times. You don’t say, "Yesterday I had
three cups. I have been drinking coffee, four cups every day, for
the last 40 years! Why do I want any more? I don’t want it." We
don’t say that. Still we are after another fresh cup. Or, we wear
the same dress. We don’t say, "This kind of dress I had in the
past, so now I don’t want it." We don’t say that.
We feed the same stomach. We wash the same face. But for some
reason, we don’t want to hear the same philosophical spiritual
Truths time and time again. That is the misfortune. The greatest
tragedy is feeling that you have known something, though it is not
truly known. That is the greatest tragedy. Bhagavan should bless
us with the clarity and with the experience that will enable us to
declare, "I know." Only then we can honestly say, "I know". Not
till then.
So let me tell you a few points about what Baba has to say, the
background of ‘Sai gospel’. This Holy Christmas season requires us
to spend time in a contemplative, meditative way.
1) and (2): The Original Name of Jesus Is ‘ Isa'
Now, what did Baba say? In one of His discourses, Baba says, "The
original name of Jesus is ‘Isa’. Swami wants us to repeat the same
word, in fact commands us to do it, practicing, ‘Isa, Isa, Isa,
Isa, Isa - Sai’! Going on repeatedly, it becomes ‘Sai’. That is
Sathya Sai Baba, do you understand? So, the original name of Jesus
is ‘Isa’ and that, when repeated time and again, becomes ‘Sai’.
Both mean ‘Eshwara’ or ‘God, the Divine’. This is the thing
Bhagavan has said.
Bhagavan also said in His discourses, "Jesus visited Tibet and
spent some time in a monastery there in Tibet. The manuscripts are
available there even today. Those manuscripts that depict his
visit refer to Jesus as ‘Isa’. The Tibetan manuscript clearly
recorded that Jesus is called by everybody as ‘Isa’." That’s what
Bhagavan has said.
Secondly, ‘Isa’, as Baba said, turns into ‘Sa’ meaning ‘Divine’ +
‘i’ (pronounced ‘e’), which is what we call ‘mother’. So, ‘Isa’
now means ‘Divine Mother’. I think I'm clear. So, ‘I’ is mother +
‘Sa’ is Divine. Therefore, ‘Isa’ means ‘Divine Mother’, as Baba
said.
And the word ‘Baba’ means ‘father’. Jesus always addressed his
father as ‘Abba’ just as we say ‘daddy’; Jesus addressed his
father, ‘Abba’. So, ‘Abba’ is ‘Father’, while ‘Isa’ is Mother.
Therefore, ‘Isa’ + ‘Abba’ is equal to ‘Sai Baba’! That’s it! (Applause)
Hence, ‘Isa’ plus ‘Abba’ is ‘Sai Baba’, and that is equal to
‘Divine Mother and Divine Father’. This is the second interesting
point.
These points are all taken from Bhagavan’s discourses. I'm telling
the source also.
(3) Jerusalem Is Very Important
The third point: The place known as Jerusalem is a very important
place. Jerusalem is very important as it is the birthplace of
Jesus, and thus it is a holy place that is so important for all
Christians. It's so important from the Biblical point of view,
which references Jerusalem as the birthplace. What does the name
mean? ‘Jerusalem’ means a ‘city of ever lasting peace’. To split
this, ‘Salem’ means ‘peace’ and ‘Jeru’ means ‘a place’. So,
Jerusalem means ‘a place where peace abides’.
What is the name of this place? ‘Prasanthi Nilayam’! ‘Prasanthi’
is made from ‘Shanti’ or peace. ‘Prasanthi’ means that ‘supreme
spiritual peace’. ‘Prasanthi Nilayam’, meaning ‘supreme spiritual
peace’ is equal to ‘Jerusalem’, meaning ‘the eternal peace’. So
‘Jerusalem’ means ‘everlasting peace’, which is the same as the
meaning of ‘Prasanthi Nilayam’. ‘Prasanthi’ means ‘eternal peace’,
while ‘Nilayam’ means ‘abode of peace’. These are all the things,
which we have to remind ourselves of time and again. Jerusalem,
‘eternal peace’, today is what we call, ‘Prasanthi Nilayam’, the
‘abode of supreme peace’.
(4) I Am Greater Than You Know
In His childhood Bhagavan declared to everybody, "It is impossible
for anybody to know Me. Even the electronic gadgets and the
technological techniques will never help you to know Me in full.
Those that think that they know are yet to know because Baba is
not to be known. Baba is to be experienced! Those that want to
analyze cannot do it because He’s not to be analyzed, but to be
realized. He’s to be realized, never analyzed. So, whatever I try
to know about Baba is not the ultimate.
When I start watching Him, Swami will be coming along this side.
We’ll have ‘cut darshan’. ‘Cut (off) darshan’, that’s what we are
experiencing now. There are holy texts in Hindu Vedanta, which we
call "Shat Darshana". There are the six classical Divine spiritual
paths leading to God. Since we are not aware of ‘Shat Darshana’,
Baba chose ‘Cut Darshana’, cutting all of us (gents) off now! (Laughter)
(Anil Kumar is referring to the fact that at present, during the
afternoon darshans, Swami is walking straight up to the Mandir
from the ladies’ side, not giving close darshan to the gents’
side.) That’s what I feel now! ‘Shat Darshan’ then and ‘Cut
Darshan’ today! Anyhow, a darshan is a darshan, whatever the
distance, so we are happy with that.
So the point I want to draw your attention to is this: Never think
that you have understood totally. "Never be under the idea that
you have known Me in full because I am not to be known." Why? The
spiritual experience is beyond explanation. The spiritual
experience is beyond comprehension. It cannot be thought over by
the mind nor can it be expressed verbally. So, spiritual
experience is beyond both vocal expression and mental
comprehension.
Therefore, what does Baba say? The Holy Bible clearly said, "I am
greater than you know." After all, understand it. So what have we
to do? "Seek Me, seek Me out and find Me." Why? "Because I'm
beyond your estimate." God will never allow Himself to be
estimated by you. It is impossible to bring Him under the
framework of our technology. No barometer, no thermometer, no
weighing machine can ever tell man about the Divine. And therefore,
the Divine is much more than what you know. What you know is not
the ultimate.
The meaning of this is very well conveyed in the Upanishads, "Nedham
Yedhide Upaasathe." Yes, this is the Upanishads sloka. The
Upanishads have got so many stanzas. One Upanishad speaks
repeatedly on this sloka. The meaning of this sloka is, "Not only
this, not only this, something more." You think you have
experience in Christ. You feel that you are living with Christ,
but no! He is something beyond this: "I am greater than you know."
"I am greater than you know" means that we should always be in
constant search. We should be always in constant spiritual
practice, with a kind of pining, a sort of yearning, a sort of
anxiety, a sort of inquisitiveness. It should be more and more day
by day. There is no saturation point in spirituality. In
materialism there is a saturation point. Once you become Prime
Minister, what higher post is there? No. After that office, only
posthumous awards can be expected. When once you reach the highest
office, there ends the matter. Even in respect to money, the
income tax people will tell you, "No more." Even in respect to
life, the doctors will tell you, "Your days are near and numbered
now." (Laughter)
So my friends, in other words, everything has got a limit or is
under certain limits in this world. All physical experiences, all
physical possessions, acquisitions, all material things have got a
certain limit. But spiritual search, spiritual experience,
spiritual investigation, spiritual inquiry has no limits
whatsoever. Why? Because it is unsaturated. It never reaches a
saturation point. One should be in an eternal search. It is a
quest and not a question.
All things of the world are matters of question: "How much should
I earn?" It is a question. "How long should I live?" Another
question. "To what extent I would grow in cadre?" More questions.
But spirituality is not a question. It is a quest. So we have to
understand that the spiritual experience is a quest, not a
question. It is an eternal search, which I want to bring to your
attention.
(5) Stop Working Psychologically
A very famous evangelist, a missionary who is known to the whole
world, started sharing his gospel with everybody all over the
world. And then God spoke from within, and He tells this pastor
and missionary, "Stop working psychologically. No, please don’t do
it. Start working spiritually." It means that we want to interpret
God in terms of theories, in terms of doctrines, and from the
point of view of sacred textbooks. A textbook, or any book for
that matter, is accumulated knowledge. Any theory is borrowed
information. All theories are borrowed. All doctrines are
second-hand information. But spirituality wants us to have direct,
first-hand perception and experience.
So let us understand that spirituality is direct. It is a quest
and not a question. As it is direct, you can have direct
experience if only you stop working psychologically. "O Lord, then
what should I do?" Work spiritually, not psychologically.
What is the difference between spiritual work and psychological
investigation? Psychological inquiry and questioning is just ego,
nothing but ego. The mind is full of ego, with the spirit of
I-ness, with the spirit of identity, with the spirit of
declaration. It always wants to achieve something. It wants to
accomplish something. The mind always wants, wants, wants,
whatever may be, even in spirituality. But, when this wanting
stops, things start coming to us. Things start coming to us when
this wanting comes to a close.
So my friends stop working psychologically. Never try to discuss
with your mind. Never try to investigate with your mind because
God is beyond the mind. One is inquiry, while the other is enquiry.
Spirituality is not mere inquiry. It is enquiry, which calls for
experience, reflection, and investigation in depth. Therefore,
stop working psychologically and work spiritually.
After all, the good shepherd Jesus Christ always worked. He always
stayed among shepherds. They didn’t have EHV degrees. They didn’t
carry computers with them. But they were all very wise. They were
all very peaceful in the company of the Lord. All the disciples of
Jesus Christ had a very nice, peaceful life, a blissful life. Why?
They did not act psychologically. They acted spiritually.
Spirituality is intuitive. Psychology is of the mind, and
therefore calls for analysis. To stop working psychologically
means to stop analyzing. So, the psychological approach requires
you to analyze, whereas the spiritual approach encourages you to
realize. So, realize spiritually, but do not analyze
psychologically. If you want to analyze psychologically, you can
never experience spiritually. However, you can realise spiritually,
leading to further God experience.
(6) What Saint Paul Said
Then the sixth point is about Saint Paul and what a beautiful
thing he said. Most of you must know his words. As Baba said, "All
religions teach good things only. If our minds are good and sound,
which religion is bad? Oh son of Bharath, listen to this." It is
in this context that I want to tell you now what Paul said. You
yourselves know very well. What did Paul say? "The day of the Lord
will come like a thief in the night." That’s what Saint Paul said.
Let us think about this beautiful statement. (Anil Kumar starts
singing a bhajan.)
Bada Chitta Chora Brindavana Sanchara,
Gopala, Gopala, Hey Murali Gopala!
‘Bada Chitta Chora’: Who is ‘Chitta Chora’? (Bada = big, Chitta =
heart, Chora = thief) I'm writing here for those who are
interested. ‘Chitta Chora’ is not an ordinary Chitta Chora! ‘Bada’
Chitta Chora means a big robber, a senior robber, highly
experienced at the continental level or the intercontinental level,
even at the cosmic level! Bada Chitta Chora means ‘first class’,
‘number one’! (Laughter) ‘Brindavana Sanchara’ means this big
thief moves in the ‘garden Brindavan’. ‘Brindavan’ is the garden
of human heart. Brindavan is the garden, which is the human heart,
not Brindavana of Mysore Gardens! I'm sorry. It’s not geographical.
Brindavan is the human heart. ‘Bada Chitta Chora’: He’s a big
thief who moves about in the garden of the human heart, in the
midst of the flowers of jasmine (courage) and roses (virtue or
good character). There are beautiful flowers, fragrant flowers. ‘Govardhanadhara’:
God dwells there in the human heart. That’s what it means. Then
too, He comes like a thief, ‘Bada Chitta Chora’. No thief comes to
you by first sending you his visiting card! (Laughter) So too,
‘bada’ means big - a big, experienced man.
Just let’s examine ourselves. How is that we have Bhagavan
residing in our hearts throughout, all the time? The moment we go
home, immediately we feel like coming back. The moment we are here,
all our responsibilities, commitments, and obligations take us
away from here. Here we see Him; there we think of Him. But here
or there, Swami is everywhere. Here and there, Swami is everywhere!
Here we see Him physically, whereas there at home we experience
Him psychologically and spiritually. There we experience Him in
our hearts, unnoticed by others. We do not need to tell anybody
about this inside experience.
"O Lord! It’s long back that I came to Puttaparthi. Bhagavan, I
have been missing You a lot. I made every attempt to be here, but
the current situation, the present condition, forces me to stay
put. I cannot move out of this place." The good Lord appears in
his dream and tells him, ‘My dear child, I am here! Why fear when
I am here?" Thus He appears. But when you want Him in the dream,
He will never appear. On the other hand, you may dream of certain
things about which we are not proud of or even frightened of! So,
Bhagavan will never appear because you want Him to appear in the
dream. He appears when He really wants to, in an unexpected and
unnoticed way. He appears in this unexpected, unnoticed way
because He’s ‘Thief Number One’! (Laughter)
A thief always comes to you in an unnoticed way. When all of us
are talking, a group is called for an interview. We are very
anxious to go to the canteen for morning breakfast. As we have
been sitting over there since 5 o’clock or 4.30, our stomachs are
empty, and the Vaishvanara (God, who digests food) inside says,
"Come on, get up! Pizza is waiting for you!" So, really we want to
get up. But the moment when all of us get up, Bhagavan comes out
of the interview room again! Hari Om Tat Sat (an expression of
finality)! We have to be seated again! (Laughter) At a time when
we really want to go, that’s the moment when Swami comes out of
the interview room. So all want to sit again. Why? Because He is
‘Bada Chitta Chora’.
Without Seeing You, He Cannot Avoid You
Swami doesn’t give a specific time for His darshan. There is no
timetable because He loves keeping people on their toes. So any
time between 7 and 7:30 is morning darshan. Actually any time
between 7:30 to 10 o’clock He may be seen giving darshan. There is
time to go and have your breakfast and return. However, we are
always anxious, particularly with our good Lord. Why? He registers
our absence and ignores our presence. He ignores our presence, but
registers our absence! When you are not there, He will ask
somebody, "What happened to this man?" When you are there, you are
non-existent, a non-entity. (Laughter) So, Bhagavan’s treatment of
a devotee is so mischievous and unique.
I tell my friends, "Those of you who feel sorry that Bhagavan has
not spoken to you, that He has not walked along the line where you
are seated, please remember that He has not come along that line
because He has already seen you! Having first seen where you are
seated, He has carefully avoided you! (Laughter) Without first
seeing where you are, He cannot avoid that side. So, He avoids
those whom He sees first, and He goes along the line of those whom
He sees next. So those who are fortunate enough to have Bhagavan
walking along their line are seen secondly.
Because Swami’s avoiding me (or else why doesn’t He come my way?),
so I congratulate myself for making the Lord take diversion, a
bypass road, very good! (Laughter) And Swami Himself said, "You
know why I avoid? You know?" "Swami, I want to know. Why?" He says,
"Along the highway, there will be a signboard: ‘Road under repair
- Take diversion.’ (Laughter and applause) Therefore, when does He
take a diversion? The lorry driver or the truck driver will come
up to the signboard and, seeing the board, they will take a
diversion. The signboard is happy that it is noticed. Don’t you
think so? The signboard is noticed and read, and caution is
exercised. Therefore, the truck driver has taken a diversion.
So He sees everybody. There’s nothing like a group being avoided.
It is impossible. Why? The ‘Big Thief’ knows how to manipulate and
manage. He knows, He knows! And further, He just looks in such a
way so as to find out your reaction. He stands there, talking to
another, but watching you from there. That man is happy that
Bhagavan is talking to him. Ah, ah, what a Divine formula there is!
(Laughter) He only knows this Divine formula. Supposing He doesn’t
want to talk to you and He wants to avoid you. What does He do? He
goes to the other extreme: He’ll be asking someone, while looking
the other way, "When did you come? How are you?" Hey! That man
whom You are talking to is right in front of You. So why do You
look to that other side? The ‘wanted man’ is over there. Please
let us understand this.
And not only that. Suddenly He’ll walk across the verandah, stand
there and talk to that person. About what? Not about spiritual
matters! No, nothing to do with sadhana (spiritual practices)! "What
did you eat in the morning? What did you eat at lunch?" Why? So
that all people can have His darshan. So He is talking with one
person, while giving darshan to many.
Bhagavan’s actions and His words are multi-dimensional and
multi-purposeful. When He says, "When did you come?" ten people
say, "Only today." To whom that question is put, we do not know. (Laughter)
But all are students, answering the same question of the same
Teacher. So He’s ‘Bada Chitta Chora’, a big thief, and He knows
how to manage things, according to Saint Paul. Paul also says, "You
be watchful. You be ready for when God will pick you up. He’ll
catch you when you’re not aware." He’ll certainly look for you
when you’re not ready. Why? Because God is a ‘big robber’!
(7) The Book of Revelations, Verses 11 to 16
Then the Book of Revelations from the Holy Bible, verses 11 to 16,
conveys certain very important statements, pertaining to Swami in
particular. We are making a comparative study. Fortunately enough,
we are not dogmatic. Luckily enough, we are not fanatic. Blessed
we are because we’re after synthesis and understanding. We are
doubly blessed because we have got an approach that is impressive.
It is unity in diversity. We find out what is common, what is the
same, in all of the religions.
What does Revelations say? "I saw a man whose name is Truth," says
the book of Revelations. Who is that man whose name is Truth?
Sathya Sai Baba! ‘Sathya’ means ‘Truth’. Therefore, the book of
Revelations already indirectly indicated the Advent of Bhagavan
Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Provided one has got a little open
minded-ness, he can certainly understand Sathya Sai Baba is being
referred to there.
And further Revelations states, "…crowded with many crowns." What
is that? Where are those? "…crowded with many crowns." I don’t see
even one, but the Book of Revelations says, "…crowded with many
crowns". The crown is an old-fashioned ornament. The crown is
outdated. No one wears a crown today. Therefore, He is "crowded
with many crowns" means that there is a halo or a crown of hair
all around! As Bhagavan walks giving darshan, when the wind blows,
His beautiful hair tosses like the golden daffodils along the
Milky Way of William Wordsworth. How nicely and beautifully our
good Lord adjusts His hair, ah-ha! It is a sight for the gods.
"The crown of crowns" refers to the halo of hair all around His
head!
"…Whose eyes could sometimes be a flame of fire." Yes, the
compassionate eyes, the eyes that are so graceful, could sometimes
be a flame of fire. When it is a matter of declaration, when it is
a matter of policy, when it is a matter of expression of the
Divine, when it is a question of declaring His Advent to the
entire world, you will find in His eyes a flame of fire.
You could notice that flame of fire particularly when He says, "There
is no iota of selfishness in Me from top-to-toe!" You should see
how His eyes are then, just like a flame of fire. Or when He says,
"I am everywhere. I'm always happy. You don’t need to greet Me
saying, ‘Be happy, Happy Birthday!’ No. I'm always happy. I have
no discontentment. I have no dissatisfaction. I have no desire."
What a declaration! In this matter of making emphatic statements
or declarations to the entire world, particularly with regard to
His Advent, you will see this flame of fire in His eyes.
"He wears red robes." Well, this needs no explanation. We see red
robes all the time. "And He rides on white horses." Where are the
horses? There are no horses, but in their place we find white cars!
More often Swami rides in gray or white cars. (The red car is just
for occasional glimpses.) But earlier He used to use only white
cars. So the ‘horses’ (meaning cars here) are white in color.
Out of His Mouth a Two-Edged Sword
And then Revelations says, "Out of whose mouth proceeds a
two-edged sword." Yes! Most of us have experienced this. I'll
explain to you: "Out of His mouth proceeds a two-edged sword."
Those who have long experience with Swami know that clearly.
"Swami, I want to come here." "Not necessary, I am there." OK.
Then, "Swami, I am there." His response, "You should come here now
and then to charge your batteries." Both answers! So, what shall I
do? This is a two-edged sword. "Swami, I'm highly educated." "What
is the use? You don’t serve anybody. Without service, your
education is useless." "Swami, I'm uneducated." "You’re almost an
animal." (Laughter) "Without education, you’re almost animal."
I'll give you another example in a lighter vein. In the past, Sri
Kasturiji came, "Swami, I want You to visit my residence."
Bhagavan said, "Not now. Later." After four months, Kasturi again
asked, "Swami, I request You to visit us, to be with us at our
residence." His response was the same, "Later, not now." This went
on and on. He was postponing indefinitely. After two years,
Bhagavan asked him, "What do you want, Kasturi?" He said, "Bhagavan,
we all pray that You should be with us and spend some time at our
residence." Bhagavan said, "Oh! OUR residence? Is it YOUR
residence?" "No, no, Swami, it’s not OUR residence. It is YOUR
residence, actually speaking." His final reply, "Oh! Then why
should you invite Me to come to MY own residence?" (Laughter and
Applause) "If it is MY residence, who are you to invite Me? It is
already My residence."
So, what a double-edged sword! Then as well as now, the Divine
policy is the same. We only are the unfortunate fellows who do not
understand the Divine mechanism. That’s all! We have not
understood His Divine mechanics and so we get confused like that!
Sometimes He will say, "I brought you here, expecting that you’ll
do so much work." So, the administrators will think that they
should do so much. When they start doing everything, suddenly He
will call them and say, "You are useless people! Where else can
you find a Chancellor available like this, 24 hours a day, 365
days a year? Why don’t you consult Me? If you continue to act as
you like, I’ll throw you out!" Oh, I see. Earlier He had said, "I
want you to do it all." Now He says, "Why don’t you consult Me?"
What shall I do? Do or consult? Hari Om Tat Sat! (Laughter)
Suppose if I go and ask, "Bhagavan, I want to have some program in
the college. I want Your permission." He will say, "Oh, do you
take My permission while you go for breakfast? Do you take My
permission when you are preparing to have a bath every day? You
don’t take permission for all those things, but for these things
you take permission! It’s all a show!" On the other hand, suppose
I have prepared one program there in the college and we go ahead
and do it there. Bhagavan will say, "I don’t know what is
happening? You never invited Me! (Laughter) Will such a thing take
place anywhere?" That’s what He will say.
There are a number of examples, you know. Suppose we say, "Swami,
thank you very much!" He may say, "Why do you thank Me? I am not a
third person. You and I are One!" Oh, OK. (Laughter) Very good.
Then at another time He will say, "You’ll thank everybody who
offers you a cup of tea or coffee. If anyone picks up the
handkerchief that might have fallen down on the ground, you’ll say,
‘Thank you!’ But do you ever say, ‘Thank you’ to God?" So, what
shall I do? Shall I thank Him or be thankless? (Laughter) That is
it. Now you can understand. Whenever He speaks for any length of
time, out of His mouth proceeds a two-edged sword!
Surrounded By Armies of Heaven
Then Revelations says, "He’s surrounded by armies of heaven", not
the armies of earth with rifles and guns, no, no, no! "Wearing
white linen, white and pure dress": all Seva Dal, all students,
the staff, most of the people (gents) who are here are in white
dress. The Book of Revelations says, "He’s surrounded by armies of
heaven, wearing white and pure dress." What a declaration it is!
If only we have got clarity of mind and open-mindedness, we’ll
find the declarations coming through with clear meaning right now
today.
Bhagavan said at one time, "If you want to attain God, to realize
God, you must first understand that God-realization is not an
attainment, no. If you want to refer to it from the worldly point
of view as an achievement, it is not so. If you view realization
as an accomplishment, it is not so. If you want to give it a name,
you have to follow the footprints of God." Sathya Sai Baba: Sathya
means Truth. You can realize Him by following the path of Truth
only. By being untruthful, by speaking blatant lies, falsehood, we
can never be anywhere around Him. It is impossible. So, the path
to follow is only Truth. That is clearly described and stated.
(8) God Is Spirit, and
Those Who Worship Him Must Worship Him
In Spirit and Truth
Furthermore, Bhagavan also says, "Our connection is solely
love-to-love, heart-to-heart, Bangaroo!" It is only the connection
love-to-love and heart-to-heart that is important. It is not any
verbal communication or any postal communication that is important,
no. Our connection is wholly love-to-love and heart-to-heart."
What a wonderful statement it is! "You can only worship the Lord
God in Truth and Spirit," declares the Holy Bible. God is Spirit,
not the body.
If God is a body, you should find Him at a particular place, at a
particular time, as we do find the (Hindu) gods in their temples.
Gods in temples are very convenient. You can go anytime and they
will not be angry with you. They’ll be happy if you visit them
once a week and say, "Hi!" Good. But Bhagavan is a living God!
Wow! It is very difficult to manage and move with Him. This loving,
caring God, living and moving amongst us, can be realized by
following the path of Truth in Spirit. So, God is Spirit. Those
who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and Truth.
These are all things taken from the Bible. That’s what it said
according to Saint John’s Gospel, 4th Chapter, 23rd and 24th
verses. Saint John and Bhagavan always say, "God is the Spirit."
He always says in His discourses, "Ask yourself, ‘Who am I?’ You
are not the body. You are not the mind. You are not the intellect.
You are the Spirit. You are that eternal Spirit. You are not the
body, which falls down with the passage of time. Body is a water
bubble. You are not the mind because the mind is a mad monkey.
Then, who are you? You are the Spirit. You are the Conscience. You
are All."
So you can communicate with God at the level of the Spirit, not at
the level of the body. You can establish Holy Communion, as I was
telling you sometime back. Communication is a link between two
humans. Communion is the link between man and God. So I can
establish Holy Communion with God at the level of Truth and Spirit.
Thus, in Spirit as Atma, as the Conscience, I can establish
contact with the Divine Consciousness. Conscience is the Spirit or
the soul that has its link with the Divine Consciousness, which is
Cosmic and all pervading. That’s what the good Lord has said.
(9) Lamedeer’s Statement
Lastly, I have a statement to share with you before I take leave
of you. There’s a Native American visionary by the name of
Lamedeer. His statements are recorded in the Washington Post,
which is published in New York. There is mentioned a particular,
interesting statement, which I want to share with you. Lamedeer’s
statement is as a visionary of this 20th century from the United
States of America.
What did he say? He made a beautiful statement. He was a Christian
by faith. What did he say? "There is a light man." You can
understand it in both the ways: a man of light and a man who is
light in weight. In both the ways, it is applicable to Bhagavan.
He’s so light in weight, and He’s a Light unto Himself, giving us
that delight all the time. He sheds light to the entire world.
So Lamedeer said, "There is a light man coming, bringing a new
light. There is a light man coming." Yes! Long ago he could
foresee the Advent of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba in the 20th
century itself! Further he said, "New light, before this century
is over." Please understand this. "There is a light man coming and
bringing a new light before this century is over." That is
important - "before this century is over."
Furthermore he stated, "The light man has the power and will to do
good things. A man is going to be born with the power and will to
do good things." Bhagavan says, "None can stop Me. When I decide
to do something, none can stop Me. Let all the seven seas be
united! None can shake Me. Even if the whole world were to turn
against Me, you cannot shake Me." Why? Because He has got the
Divine Will and Power to do many good things, being absolutely
Divine and totally selfless.
We should stop all atomic powers. Bhagavan’s call for peace, for
non-violence, His insistence on Truth, and His adherence to the
path of Truth is the message that is most needed today, more so
than ever before. Similarly the visionary said, "There is going to
be a person who is going to come and visit us, who will establish
peace on earth."
Then as the Holy Bible declares, "You shall know by their fruits."
This is the Holy Bible’s statement. "You shall know by their
fruits." Bhagavan says always, "The greatness of the tree depends
upon the fruit it bears." So, Avatar Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba
is judged, is assessed, is evaluated, and is viewed in terms of
the beautiful magnificent, stupendous, unparalleled, unbeaten,
unrivaled projects that He has undertaken. The projects in the
field of education, the projects in the field of medicine, are
such magnificent, mighty projects that no one else could ever do
them. So, "You shall know Him by His powers." God, Bhagavan Sri
Sathya Sai Baba, is known by His powers as we see them today.
The rest of my talk will continue next week.
Thank you very much!
(Anil Kumar closed his satsang by leading the bhajan,
"Sai Narayana, Narayana...")
Om Asato Maa Sad Gamaya
Tamaso Maa Jyotir Gamaya
Mrtyormaa Amrtam Gamaya
Om Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu
Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu
Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti
Jai Bolo Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba Ji Ki Jai!
Thank you, well done!
Sai Ram,
Thank You!
© Anil Kumar Kamaraju 2004 - Here
reproduced for personal use of the devotees for the purpose of
seva.
Anil Kumar website:
http://www.internety.com/anilkhome/ -
http://www.internety.com/saipearls/
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