Chapter 16  ·  Contents  ·  Chapter 18

17. SACRIFICE AND WISDOM ARE BOTH NEEDED TO REACH DIVINITY

Embodiments of Divine Love,

In childhood one is engrossed in playing with friends. In mid-life one is busy earning money. In old age one is sad for all the things he is missing. Thus throughout life, one does not find the time to think of God. What is life? For who's sake should we live? If every person inquires in this way most would be unable to supply the appropriate answer. One may say that he lives for his own self, but the very same person under different circumstances may say he lives for his family. Each one is truly living for his own sake. When two people are sleeping on the same cot, each dreams a different dream because each person is living a separate life for himself. But supposing that when a person is taking his meal he receives the news that his son has met with an accident; he will immediately lose his appetite and rush to the hospital. Therefore man does sacrifice for his own sake and his family. The same individual rises to the occasion when there is a problem in the village because he considers himself as part of the village community; he is able to understand that he also lives for the welfare of society. Firstly, he lives for himself; secondly he lives for his family; and thirdly he lives for society. He understands individual welfare depends on the welfare of the society.

Man is a limb of his family; the family is a limb of the society in which he lives. The society is a limb of nature and nature is a limb of the Divine. Prakriti is a limb of Paramatma. Man today has forgotten the Divinity inherent in nature and therefore he is full of anxiety and is having unsacred thoughts; as a result Bharat's (India's) wealth is on the decline. This word of Sai shows the true path.

Where do thoughts come from? The world provides the basis for thoughts and the world is the result of the Will of God. Since God embodies the Supreme Will, all thoughts come from Divinity. When you develop this cosmic feeling you will live in Bliss. Man considers himself separate from the world, but the world is not separate from God. We use the term Divine Master when referring to God or the Satguru and we also use the terms headmaster, stationmaster and postmaster. When we say Divine Master, we are inferring that the Divine is separate from the Master in the same way that a post-office is separate from the postmaster. When we say Divine Master there is a contradiction because in Truth, Divine is not separate from the Master. The Divine is the Divine; therefore the use of the word master is redundant and foolish. Those who do not fully understand this aspect should listen, recapitulate and practice.

There are three steps one should follow to develop understanding and wisdom. They are sravanam (listen), mananam (reflect), nidhidyasanam (practice). It is not enough to merely listen; one should also reflect and practise what is heard. For example, the prepared food should be taken from the kitchen to the dining hall and then eaten; then only one is satisfied. In this example sravanam is compared to cooking the food, mananam to taking it to the dining hall, and nidhidyasanam to eating it. We must pass through these three steps to obtain satisfaction from listening to the Discourses of noble souls and studying the scriptures, etc. What is the use of studying and listening if we do not reach anywhere and still remain dissatisfied and unfulfilled? What is the reason for this dissatisfaction? It is because we do not put into practice what we have heard and read that we take birth again and again. What is life, youth, middle age and old age? They are all passing clouds. Man is not understanding his true value, his Divinity. All the yogic practices such as meditation, japa, namasmarana, performed without purity are a mere waste. Adi Sankara (a great sage)had said that human pride based on knowledge, wealth and youth will ultimately vanish. Immortality is gained though renunciation and sacrifice. What do we sacrifice in our lives? What do we need to sacrifice? We are not able to sacrifice our habits like coffee, tea, smoking and snuff which keep man very weak. When one cannot give up simple habits like these, how can one sacrifice his ego to attain Divinity? Man has become frustrated in his life due to holding onto feelings of "I and mine." Developing in oneself the moral values leading to purification is essential for the development of spirituality. To enhance human values one must develop Divine thoughts and sacrifice the worldly thoughts. Man must travel through the animal nature to the human nature and to the Divine; but most have not progressed even an inch in this direction.

What is a mantra? The word mantra can be split into man-tra; "man" is "mind" and "tra" means change. The function of a mantra is to transform one's mind. What we repeatedly think; is mantra. Human life is for attaining Divinity but unfortunately i human beings have not been able to realize Divinity though it is latent within them. What is human nature? It is human life coupled with Divinity. Sugarcane with it's thick outer covering has sweet juice within; in the same way the human body houses the Divine. God Himself descends to earth in a human form to show mankind that the human being is Divine, but still we do not understand this Divinity. What permanent happiness is there to be acquired in this world? It cannot be found anywhere except in union with God. When we cannot understand the world how can we understand God? To understand God and the world we should consider the body, mind, intellect and senses all as Divine. To live as a human being is a rare gift so make the best use of this gift by living in close proximity to God. When the Ganges is flowing nearby, the foolish man is dying of thirst. Likewise, human beings living today are not able to understand that Divinity is continuously pervading from top to bottom in our bodies. Why does one forget about this Truth? Today man cannot distinguish Truth from untruth. Creation has emerged from Truth and it will merge back into Truth; this unsullied Truth pervades everywhere. Just as the water bubble has come from the water, the human being has emerged from the Divine and will merge back into the Divine. The water from which the bubble has emerged is the Sath Chit Ananda (Being, Awareness, Bliss), that is the nature of God. Do not follow the mind and the body which is like a water bubble, follow only the basis, Sath Chit Ananda, this is Atmic Love.

Make an effort to know and recognize the nature of Atmic Love. Every undertaking one takes in life should be for the sake of knowing Sath Chit Ananda, which is the goal and purpose of life. Do not waste your life on meaningless thoughts and activities. Life is highly valuable and sacred so it must be surrendered to the Divine. Destroying the mind is the true diamond (diamond = die - mind) and will reveal the Divine. One must inquire why one has been born and the manner in which one should conduct one's life. Today, a human being having been born, is only living for himself and his family but he must consider also the welfare of the society in order to live a Divine life. One should recognize that the cardinal principles in spiritual life are Truth, Righteousness, Peace, Love and Non Violence and that one has been born to experience Divine Bliss.

Swami ended His Discourse by singing "Sathyam, Jnanam, Anantham, Brahma."

April 22, 1996

Chapter 18