Sathya Sai Vahini Index

From Truth to Truth

Questions may be asked, and doubts expressed by many, about the state of a person after he has attained fulfilment, the fullness of awareness. His life will be saturated with unexcelled Ananda, and he will experience one-ness of thought, emotion and knowledge with all. He will be in ecstasy, immersed in the One and Only, the Eternal Divine Principle, for, that alone can confer joy during the process of living. Genuine joy is this and no other. God is the embodiment of eternal ever-full joy. Those loyal to Bharathiya culture, whatever the sect or faith which they claim as their special mould, accept this axiom, that "God is the highest source of joy". This matha (conclusion) they accept as abhimatha (dearest and most pleasurable).

Fullness means wholeness. Wholeness implies One and not two or three. There cannot then be any place for the individual. When an individualised Atma or Jivi, the particularised differentiated self, has become full and whole, there is no possibility of his return to the consciousness of the objective world. Some doubts may arise in the minds of many.

But, this line of thought is not correct. When the individualised Jivi becomes fixed in the totality or Samasthi (the whole) he loses all ideas of distinction and is ever in the consciousness of the totality, the One that subsumes the many. He will then be aware that the reality of each is the reality of all and that Reality is the One Indivisible Atma. He will not exhibit any consciousness of distinction between individuals.

The Divine that he knows, as the core of each 'thing and being' is now recognised by him as the Divine that he himself is; and, so, he will be deeper than ever in the fullness of Ananda. How can he then experience separateness? No, he cannot. The rays of that ananda illumine all regions. The sages and the great rishis became aware of the Bliss. They communicated that experience to the world in easily understandable language. The unreachable moon is made known by pointing a finger in the direction where it can be seen! So, too, they brought within the purview of men, according to the state of consciousness which each of them had attained, the Truth that lies beyond the reach of mind and speech. Their teachings were not only simple, but varied to educate and elevate all levels of understanding.

A small example:

One feels happy when one has the knowledge that this one little body is his, does he not? Then, when he knows that two bodies are his, should he not be twice happy? In the same way, with the knowledge that he has an increasing number of bodies, the experience of happiness goes on increasing; when the whole world is known to be one body, and world-consciousness becomes part of the awareness, then the Ananda will be full. To get this multi-consciousness, the limited egocentric prison walls must be destroyed. When the ego-self identifies itself with the Jivi or Atma, death will cease. When the ego-self identifies itself and merges with the Bliss of the One, sorrow will cease. When it merges with Jnana or the Higher Wisdom, error will cease. "Material individual-ness is born out of delusion; this body which creates that impression is only an ever-evolving atom of a boundless ocean; the second entity in me is the other Form, namely, the embodied Self; when the ego of mine merges with the Self in me, then, the delusion disappears, through the upsurge of its opposite knowledge". When man's thought matures in process of time, undoubtedly all schools of thought have to reach this conclusion.

A tree's value is estimated, with reference to its fruits. Take idol worship, for example. Moralists, metaphysicians, philosophers, adherents of the path of Devotion, and the foremost among the virtuous in all parts of the world have all agreed that idol-worship is highly beneficial. So long as attachment persists to the material body and possessions, worship of a material symbol is necessary. It is but a means. But, many decry it as a superstition. This is not correct. It is not the right approach. Such an attitude is just an outburst of foolishness.

Is it not a fact that the belief in one's being the body, a superstition? Can the body last for ever? Is it not a skin doll with 9 apertures, in which life is so perilously existent that a sneeze may cause collapse? Again, should we not characterise the life people lead, believing in the reality of this world, is another superstition? Is not all the self-importance assumed by people who have positions of power and a great quantity of riches, another foolish pose? But, acts done on the basis of faith in the Atma, the Reality within, cannot be dubbed as superstitious or foolish. For every opinion one expresses, if proper reasons are given, all will rejoice. But, do declare as superstitious all that one does not like, is a sign of frenzy, foolishness or egoism.

We will find it impossible to love God or adore Him, unless we meditate on some Form; this is as essential as breathing for sheer living. That is a necessary stage in the process of living. One has to accept it as such. Childhood is the father of old age. Can old age condemn childhood or teenage, as evil? To experience the Divine Principle, idol-worship is and has been a great help to many. How then can the aspirant and the practitioner of spiritual disciplines condemn idol-worship after passing through that stage and deriving benefits from it? That would indeed be very wrong, and inappropriate.

The Bharathiya march towards the Supreme Reality is not from Untruth to Truth. It is from truth to Truth, from incomplete truth to complete Truth, from partial truth to full Truth. For, what are Sadhanas? Every effort made by men, from the remote forest-dwellers and the unsophisticated tribals, who adore the gross forms of Divinity, to those highly evolved seekers who adore the Full and the Absolute, is a Sadhana. Each such effort will take man a step forward in progress.

Each individual Jivi is comparable to a bird; it can, by longer and higher flights, rise up into the sky. And, a stage may finally be gained when it can fly right up to the full-splendoured orb of the Sun.

The basic truth of Nature is the One in the Many; that is the key to its understanding. The Bharathiyas grasped this truth; they held fast to this key. People of other countries were content to lay down certain axioms and enforcing belief in them. They insisted on the acceptance of these axioms and the observance of rules and regulations that arise out of them. They held one single coat before the individuals of the society where they lived and required every one to wear the same coat; if it does not suit the size of any one, there was no alternative coat for such people. They had to live without a coat to protect them against the chill wind.

The Bharathiya approach was quite different. For each aspect or variation of feeling and thinking, volition and action, they made available a distinct Name and Form, and provided modes of worship and ways of adoration, in accordance with the emotional needs and intellectual calibre of the aspirants and devotees. Of course, a few had no need for such special consideration and treatment. But, many took advantage of this concession, and advanced in their march towards wisdom and liberation.

For one thing, never was it laid down as part of the Bharathiya spiritual endeavour, that idol-worship is a must or that it is a stage that has to be gone through: But, there is one fact which each one must preserve in his memory, it is this: Bharathiyas may have attachment to their bodies; they may be attached to the upkeep and development of their standards of living; but, they would never yearn to cut the throats of others. The Bharathiya who is fanatic about his religion would rather immolate himself in flames raised and fed by him, rather than through hatred burn alive those who do not accept and revere his religion. Bharathiya spiritualism negated the destruction of the Atma, the One inextinguishable Truth.

For, the Bharathiya Religion fostered the faith that the Self in man is no other than the Overself or God. Bharathiya Religion directs long journeys by men and women, through varied paths, confronted and controlled by varied circumstances, but, encouraged and enlightened by various types of faith towards the goal of the splendour of God-consciousness or the Consciousness of the Divine. Though the practices and rites might appear on the surface to be crude, they are not opposed to the ultimate Truth. The seeming contradictions have to be interpreted as incidental to the need to inspire people with varied intellectual, moral, economic and social backgrounds. For example, the light that comes through a tiny piece of coloured glass is of the same origin as bigger clearer light. The extent, clarity, brightness etc. of light depends on the medium only. The source of all light is the One Truth, the Source of All, the Basis of All, the Goal of All, the Reality in All, and the Centre in All. As the thread on which pearls are strung as a rosary, God or the Overself is interpenetrative in all beings. In all beings - that is the message of Bharath. All beings everywhere, anywhere!

Examine carefully all the texts and scriptures that deal with Bharathiya culture and traditions. Find out whether in any of them there is mention that Moksha or Liberation or the Highest Realisation is available to those who are Bharathiyas only, and not to others. Can you produce a single statement on those lines? It can be emphatically asserted that you cannot discover a statement like that. Bharathiya Spiritualism has limitless vastness, and immensely high ideals; it is a full stream of sanctifying ideations, flowing along with no decline or diminution, straight and smooth to the Ocean of Divine Grace. The journey is direct, along a royal road towards the supreme Goal.

Another point: The source of all spiritual principles recognised and revered by Bharathiyas is God; He is the one supporting Pillar. Therefore, no other support is needed for faith. Bharathiya spiritualism is the very foundation of all other faiths; it stands on the very summit. It has achieved victory over many opposing faiths, confronting them with many valid arguments and theories. Bharathiyas have no need to follow any religion or spiritual discipline, besides their own. For, nowhere else can you secure a discipline or truth that is not existing herein. Other faiths have only adopted some one or other of its beliefs and principles and placed them before people as ideals to be adopted.