Sathya Sai Geetha - IV

Discourse of Sathya Sai Baba, Prashanthi Nilayam, 30 September 1960
Published by Sri Sathya Sai Books and Publications Trust
Web posted at Oct 1, 2001

Today, Thirumalaachar read and explained the section on Jnaanayoga (divine communion through spiritual knowledge) in the Sathya Sai Geetha He has composed. No one can say what the real nature of creation is, or of Brahman for that matter. Faced with a universe which is fundamentally mysterious, which he feels must be endless and beginningless, which he feels must be infinite and the scientist has to accept it, though he cannot form a real picture of that kind of universe. He too works on faith, that is to say, believing in something which he cannot fully grasp or clearly infer or really calculate. That reality can be demarcated only by the criterion of "Not this." Brahman is posited and described by a process of negation or elimination, "nethi, nethi" (not this, not this). In this artificial world, all is an artificial mixture of name and form, which are both artificial too. To get the conviction that this created world is Mithya (a mixture of truth and falsehood) is very difficult indeed. When your head knocks against a wall, it is difficult to believe that the wall is half false, that its name and form are a fiction of the deluded imagination and that its real truth is the basic Brahma!

Seven chief Characteristics of Bhagavaan

But this Jnaana (spiritual wisdom) every one has to achieve some day or the other. It can be got through Bhakthi or Karma or Raajayoga. These three are only different names for the process of churning the milk for getting the butter which is immanent in it. Once the butter has been got and rolled into a ball, it can be kept separate and unimpaired in the liquid where it was all the time. Similarly, the Jnaani (liberated person) can continue in the world free from attachment, once he has realised that he is of the same substance as the immanent Brahman. When that Brahman is seen through Maayaa, it appears as Saguna (endowed with qualities) and is referred to as Lord or Bhagavaan.

Bhagavaan has seven chief characteristics: Aishvarya, Keerthi, Jnaana, Vairaagya, Srishti, Sthithi and Laya (prosperity, glory, wisdom, non-attachment, creation, preservation and dissolution). Whoever has these seven, you can consider as having divinity in Him. These seven are the unfailing characteristics of Avathaars, of the Mahaashakthi (supreme power) which persists fully when it has apparently modified itself with Maayaashakthi (deluding power). Wherever these are found, you can identify Godhead.

You are also of the same nature as the Aathma with Mahaashakthi, but like the prince who has fallen into a den of robbers and is growing up there, the Aathma has not recognised its true identity, that is all. Though he does not know, he is nevertheless a prince, whether he is in the palace or in a forest or in the robber's cave. Very often, the prince will have got intimations of his real status, a carving for the Aanandha that was his heritage, a call from his inner consciousness to escape and become himself. That is the hunger of the soul; the thirst for lasting joy. You are all like the man who has forgotten his name. The hunger of the mind can be appeased only by the acquisition of Jnaana.

Give your Mind strength-giving Ideas and Courage

The mind is like a Gurkha watchman; it has to be kept fully under control by the master. Besides, the Gurkha will let into the mansion only those who are friendly to the master, is it not? So, only such thoughts and feelings as are conducive to the welfare of the master should be tolerated by the mind. Manas (mind) is the chief thing for 'Manush' (man) but its role has to be slowly reduced and it should not be allowed to take full charge. Feed the mind, not on wicked desires and unworthy plans; but give it strength - giving ideas and courage. When the mind is eliminated, then Jnaana shined forth in its full glory.

After the experience of Sarvam Brahmaathmakam, that is to say, after the realisation hat everything is basically and completely Brahman, life cannot be sustained for more that 21 days. Such a person is no longer in Mithyaloka (this deluding world); so he cannot have any desire or activity. Even food and drink become meaningless. How can Brahman need Brahman and Brahman recognise Brahman as food and Brahman as drink? All the nuts and bolts will fall way; the heart will dry up ad the body will collapse. Saadhana is just holding the mirror before the self; the mirror, if it is clean and polished, reveals the self and that is Aathma saakshaatkaara (realisation of the self). All have Aathmic uniformity, the truth of every one is the same.

The company of the good men leads you on to the Lord while the company of evil men leads you on to the mire of Prakrithi (objective world). How to judge good men from bad? Those engaged in Japam, Dhyaanam, Yoga and Archana (penance, meditation, communion and worship) are Sajjanas (good persons); those who do not like these are to be avoided by aspirants who seek Jnaana and want joy that comes when the small becomes the big, when the momentary joy becomes momentously important, when the destitute person inherits vast riches. The good man is soft; he bends easily before elders, sages, and Saadhakas. 'Na ma' (not mine) is the attitude of 'Namaskaara' (prostration); it is really Na Mamaakaara, the declaration that "all that I am and have is due to your grace."

Eliminate all limiting Factors by systematic Process

Spend your time in such Sathsanga (company of good people). Brush up your brains by the brush of Viveka. I will not ask you to give up your critical faculty; evaluate, discriminate, experience and analyse your experience; and then, if convinced, accept. Bhakthi, Yoga, Jnaana - these are three doors to the same hall; some come this way, some that way, but all enter the same hall. The Jnaani sees everything as the divine substance, the Bhaktha sees everything as the Leela of God, the Karmayogi sees everything as the service of the Lord. It is all a question of aptitude and taste and the stage of development of reason and emotion.

As a result of Jnaana, Thirumalaachar said, Maayaa goes, but Maayaa does not 'come' and Maayaa does not 'go'. When a light is brought into this hall, you say that light has come and darkness has gone, but where has it gone? Put out the light, it is dark! The darkness does not come from where it had gone, suddenly, through the doors and fill the hall. It is there all the time. It did not go. Only the hall was lit and light prevailed. So also, when the grace of the Lord is won, Jnaana will prevail and the delusion of separateness is powerless.

How can that Jnaana be earned? By a slow, systematic process, eliminating all limiting factors: greed, lust, pride, envy, hate and all the snaky brood of possessive instincts and impulses; by the educative influence of Dharma, the body of rules laid down by the experience of generations for the regulation of living; by study, rumination and practice; by analysis of the experiences of the waking, dreaming and sleeping stages; by learning to be a witness of all this passing show without getting involved in its tangles; by overcoming all trends that divide and differentiate.

Vision of Oneness is the highest Reward

Prahlaadha never called upon his father or mother, as children do, when he was tortured; he did not appeal to the torturers to save him; he saw in those cruel henchmen the Naaraayana he adored. Everything, everybody, was Naaraayana for him. How then could he feel pain or suffer injury? Adhwaitha (non-dualism) in practice, the culmination of Bhakthi, Sampuurna Jnaana (fully realised spiritual knowledge), liberated him. The vision of this Ekathwa (oneness) is the highest reward the Adhwaithin (the non-dualist) seeks.

All this is a dream and you are all actors. Once in Puttaparthi, in a village play, the role of Vaali was assigned to a rich man's son and that of Sugreeva to a poor man's son. Then Vaali protested that he would not die in the fight with the poor man's son and insisted that Raama should befriend and kill Sugreeva instead! The story cannot be changed to suit your whims. When the play says Vaali should die and when he has been given that role, He should die correctly just as He has decided. Who knows whether praise and blame are not part of the play?

The Faults you find in others are in You

Ignorance of this truth is a serious fault, which has to be attended to in the early stages alone. The doctor who cures that Bhavaroga (worldly disease) prescribed remedies which have to be strictly taken; not the entire quantity in one gulp, nor neglect for months or years; but the drug as well as the regimen. Some people say they have come to Puttaparthi ten or even fifteen times, as if walking up to the hospital a dozen times is enough to cure them. Every time they may also get a bottle of the necessary mixture, but if they do not drink it as directed, what improvement can they register?

The Jnaani will not look upon Me as wearing this dress, yellow gown today or pink grown tomorrow; he will penetrate to the Thathwa (real nature) behind this form and know that this body is but a dress worn for a purpose. The coming Avathaar of this Thathwa will have another dress. You get full Jnaana by the analysis of the knowledge of the self. Unless you know yourself, you cannot know Me.

What you are now doing here is Karmamaarga (path of action); what you are uttering is Bhakthimaarga (path of devotion) and what you are revolving in your mind is Jnaanamaarga (path of spiritual knowledge). What you are experiencing at this particular moment is heaven. For you are now immersed in the joy of listening to My words; you have no thought now of the several reasons which have brought you here. If I finish My talk and go, you side into the Marthya loka - the world of passing things and fleeting desires, vacillating minds and doubting brains.

Above all, examine your own conduct and faith. See whether it is sincere and steady. When you sit in the moving train, you find that the trees are moving fast along the line; do not worry about the trees; see yourself, examine yourself and then you will find that it is you that is moving fast. So also, do not blame others and point out their faults. The faults you will find are in you, and when you correct yourself, the world too becomes correct! Jnaana is the discrimination between what promotes one's progress and what retards. Be your own Guru, your own teacher; you have the lamp with you, light it and march on without fear.

God's Grace can destroy Effects of past Karma

To reach the stage when even "Sarvam Brahma Mayam" (all is Brahmam) is realised as an understatement (because that statement postulates two entities: Sarvam and Brahman, and the experience of Brahman alone is), you have got to go long way. But do not be downhearted; the entire encyclopaedia is composed of the twenty-six letters of the alphabet and all scholarship begins with the mastery of A and B and C and D. I am here ready to help you from the first lesson to the last. Do not be weighed down by sorrow that your Praarabdha Karma is against your progress. The accumulation of the effects of your past Karma is Sanchitha and out of that store what you have selected for present consumption is Praarabdha; if wisely used and cooked, the Praarabdha can be made sweet, palatable and health-giving. Moreover, God's grace can destroy the effects of past Karma or modify its rigour. Never doubt that.

If the law of Karma is so unbreakable, then why recommend Saadhana, good living and cultivation of virtue? Praarabdha will melt like mist before the sun if you win the grace of the Lord! The grace of the Lord is needed for the dawn of Jnaana also.