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Sri Sathya Sai Baba Teachings |
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BHAGAVAN SRI SATHYA SAI BABA
Discourses at Sai Sruti
Kodaikanal during April 1996 |
Chapter 3
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Contents ·
Chapter 5
4.
PURUSHA AND PRAKRITI
Embodiments of Divine Love,
We acquire all forms of wealth through our words alone.
Through our words, we develop friendships and relationships
and receive knowledge. Bad also happens because of our
words. Our words should be sacred and in accordance with the
Vedas. The nature of spirituality can be known through reading
the words of all sacred texts. Man should make every effort to
speak properly. Swami always says, "You can't always oblige,
but you can always speak obligingly." As creation is the
manifestation of the Creator, nature has all the attributes of
God. Every person has been born to reflect the Divinity in
nature. What is prakriti (nature)? It is not merely the forms of
material comforts, but it is also the form of God's wealth.
Sthree stands for the feminine, though not only in the
physical sense. The word "Sthree" can be divided into three
sounds; "Sth," "r" and "ee." "Sth" stands for satwic, "r" stands
for rajasic and "ee" stands for thamasic. Every person or being
that is born into the world is feminine, and has these three
qualities (satwic, rajasic and thamasic). Man should have the
quality of satwa comprising Divine, sacred feelings and
piousness, so that he may merge in the Divine. Thamasic does
not stand for dullness, but for obedience, humility, morality and
integrity. Rajasic does not stand for emotion, anger, arrogance,
or pomp, but for forbearance, tolerance and charity.
Who is manava the human? Man is the one with sacred
feelings at the centre. The human quality is one with perfect
harmony of sacred thoughts, words and actions. That is why it
is said that the proper study of mankind is man. The physical
world of nature has purity and man can learn from the purity
in nature. Spirituality does not consist only of penance, rituals,
meditation, etc. These aspects are only practiced to make the
heart pure and to enable one to be away from the transient
world. True spirituality is not only thinking of God but also
being away from all unsacred actions. Spirituality embodies the
eternal Truth.
Nature is the best teacher. Through the study of nature one
can learn what is transient and what is permanent. That which
is sacred in nature is Divinity. Whatever is not in the Divine
cannot be experienced in nature. You say that you are not
seeing God or experiencing God. What foolishness! You are
God. In nature everything is the Divine form. Just as in
ornaments you find that gold is one and the same, similarly in
nature everything is Divine.
Every human being has the three feminine attributes,
satwic, rajasic and thamasic. From the worldly, physical point
of view, everyone is both masculine and feminine. Birth and
death, hunger and thirst are common to all. Pleasure and pain
are common to both. The principle of unity in both men and
women is one. Equality is Divinity. Man says that females are
weak due to their feminine qualities. It is wrong to say that
women are weak, dependant, and are only for working in the
kitchen. Every human being is weak. The word for weak is
"abala. " There is only one male who is without weakness and
He is God. The feminine aspect of God is "prakriti" or Nature
and it consist of form made up of matter. Divinity is energy. It
is impossible to have prakriti without Divinity as both are
interdependent. We should not, therefore, think that anything is
evil because everything is Divine and full of sanctity. We
cannot change the creation, we must change our outlook.
Sadhana means making one's vision sacred. The Bhagavad
Geetha states that a woman has higher powers than a man and
a woman also has many titles. In ancient Bharat, women
represented the higher, nobler qualities. In the home, the
woman has been given the title Grilakshmi as the prestige of
the family depended entirely upon the standards set by the
woman. The ancient Bharatiyas had said to watch the wife
because on her depends the reputation of the family. Women
provide strength to the family and the society.
Recognizing that Divinity is the basis of all things,
everyone should reflect on his indwelling Divinity and expand
his mind. The heart should be full of sacred Love, so that all
things would be full of Love. "Hrudaya " is the word for heart.
The word when split into "hru" and "daya," means a heart with
compassion. Today, however, compassion is absent and the
heart is full of wicked thoughts, etc. Purify the heart by
thinidng of God.
"Abala" with reference to women does not mean that they
are weak. For example, in ancient times the students were very
much afraid of the school master, but today the reverse is true.
Today the teachers are very much afraid of the students. When
this teacher (of ancient times) returned from his school, he was
very much afraid of his wife. So how can men call women
weak? Take the example of a military leader. He has lots of
soldiers (100,000+) at his command, but he also is afraid of his
wife. Thus all (both men and women) are weak. Weakness is
not based on or determined by the physical body alone. Both
men and women are children of immortality.
Who is the true man? God is the only male or Purusha,
though not in the worldly sense. The body is the Pura and the
Divinity residing inside the human body as Awareness is the
Purusha. So man's reality is awareness. Based on that
Awareness, all are Purushas. So everywhere the Truth remains
as equality or unity only. All should express only the Divinity.
One should do his duty while discriminating between Purusha
and Prakriti and realize that the bodies are separate but
Purusha is one. We wear slippers on our feet, not on our heads
and we wear glasses only on our eyes. We do not do the
reverse. Similarly, we should see that in nature, every object
has a Divine base and a specific utility. The one who follows
proper procedures based on correct knowledge is a man. It is
yoga to perform one's duty. Yoga, which means unity and
combination must be practiced to realize Divinity. Where there
is purity, unity will follow, and where there is unity. Divinity
will be realized. Unity is the very life breath of existence.
Unity is the strength of Love. Take the example of cloth. The
threads are well woven, but if you separated each thread (by
removing it), there would be no strength.
The welfare of the country depends on the family. Man has
three responsibilities:— first, as an individual to himself; second,
to his family; and third, to his society. When the individual is
good, the family will be good, and when the family is good, the
society will be good. When the society is good, the world will
be good. So the welfare of the world depends on the individual.
What is the meaning of vyaktii We call the body or
individual vyakti. Vyakti denotes the hidden sacredness, the
Divinity within, which must always be expressed and only then
can one be called a true individual. The behaviour of an
individual should be proper, having good conduct as the main
quality. From the Divine perspective (Atma), the whole of
humanity is one and the same with no differences. There is
only one caste, the caste of humanity. Father, mother, caste and
creed have as the basis the one Atma though we have different
cultures based on the regions or environments, visions or
habits. We must conduct ourselves according to our
environment. For example, one would use a woollen coat while
visiting the cool hill-station region to keep warm whereas in a
region like Andra Pradesh (in South India), one has to wear
cotton clothing to remain cool.
Everyone should recognize that the entire creation is full
of Divinity. There are many tube lights and light bulbs here in
this room. Though their capacities may be different, the current
in them is one and the same.
Religions are many, but the goal is one.
Ornaments are many, but the gold from which they are
made is one.
Cows are many, but milk is one.
Flowers are many, but worship is one.
The paths to God are many, but God is one.
We should always use discrimination and discipline in our
lives to enable us to lead an ideal life as we may go astray
without them. Take for example the body temperature which
has discipline. The normal temperature is 98.4 F and if it rises
a little higher there would be fever and illness. The normal
blood pressure is 120/80 and an increase would lead to disease.
One's whole life and body is a limited company and should
always be kept within limits. Be yogis, aspirants, not rogis,
disease-filled. Life should be one of sacrifice, otherwise one
would become diseased. For example, the food that one eats
has to be sacrificed or else a stomach ache would ensue. Also
our breath which is inhaled, must be sacrificed or our lungs
would become damaged. The blood, too, has to be circulated;
it should not remain in one place, stagnant. This sacrifice that
we experience in our daily lives in our bodies is called "yagna."
When you sacrifice for another, you should take into account
the deservedness of the recipient.
Three disciplines must be practiced to be a noble soul:
one's thoughts, words and deeds must be controlled and in
harmony. One must have constant control over one's tongue by
using proper words, talking less, and working more. By
remaining silent, one would have more energy and intelligence
and memory would improve. All saints have observed silence,
and often did so in solitude. Today in the midst of society,
aspirants are seeing and hearing everything. What should we
see and hear?
See no evil; see what is good.
Hear no evil;hear what is good.
Talk no evil; talk what is good.
Do no evil; do what is good.
This is the way to God.
If we entertain evil thoughts, we become evil. Always
behave in society in a proper way. Coal should be near the fire
to become hot, and in close proximity both would eventually
become one. The coal would become totally transformed into
fire. You also should be not only near but also dear to God and
then only you would become identified with God. If you are
only near you are like a frog on a lotus who is not aware of the
honey, while bees come from far away to suck the honey.
In the culture of Bharat, we do namaskar. Placing the two
palms of the hands and all the ten fingers together signifies that
the five organs of cognition and the five organs of action are
animated by and offered to the one Divinity. This signifies
unity in diversity.
Nations are many but earth is one;
Beings are many but the body is one;
Stars are many but the sky is one.
In former days water had no price, but if mixed with milk
it became valuable because milk had value. Likewise, never be
in bad company because your goodness may become diluted
and removed due to the bad company. There is a saying, "Tell
me your company and I will tell you what you are." The way
to discriminate between good and bad company is to watch a
person's conduct. Spiritual aspirants should not have too much
friendship and should have less associations in life. These are
highly dangerous because he/she may be a friend today but an
enemy tomorrow. Just say, "Hello, how are you? and goodbye."
Never have too much relationship.
Many people have taken time and money to come here
(Kodaikanal) from different countries, but spend time in
gossiping. In this way not only is (Divine) energy lost but also
there is loss of memory. All of this unnecessary talk takes one
away from nearness and dearness to God. You may be good
but you do not know whether the other person is good or bad.
If you eat limited food you will be healthy but if you eat
excess you will be diseased. Likewise, have limited talk; talk
only to the extent necessary. Excessive talking is a bad quality.
Develop only satsang, the company of people who live
with God. Share Love with at least ten people everyday. To say
that "you and I are one" is wrong! It is correct to say that "you
and I are we," and "we and we are one." When we discriminate
clearly and follow the conscience we will become peaceful and
sacred. It is a waste of time to do meditation and japa if one's
mind is not steady and wanders around.
God is your Father and Mother. He is in you, above you
and around you. When He is so close, why go to the forests to
search for Him? Do you search for yourself? God is the
indweller in your heart. You are God, you are not separate.
You are given a name because of your body but you don't exist
only for the body. You have not been born only because of
nature. Nature is God and the embodiment of beauty. Service
done to anyone is service to God. Whomsoever you respect,
that respect goes to God; if you criticize anyone it goes to God.
So help ever, hurt never. This attitude and action will give you
Bliss. There is no greater happiness than that derived through
following these teachings.
Swami ended His Discourse by singing, "Hari Bhajana Bina Sukha Shanti
Nahi..."
April 9, 1996
Chapter 5
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