Aathma calling Paramaathma

Discourse of Sathya Sai Baba, Prashanthi Nilayam, 23 October 1961
Published by Sri Sathya Sai Books and Publications Trust
Web posted at Sep 1, 2001

There is no paucity of books promising to help man to discover himself; there is no dearth of discourses to guide his steps to the goal. Bhadhram is only one among a thousand whom you will have heard already. You have read much and listened to many more discourses. The body grows and even starts declining but the mind gets more complex and difficult to control; it waxes in restlessness; in spite of this, Saadhana is either not taken up or even when started, remains stationary and fitful. Vedhana (suffering) can be overcome only by the Aa-vedhana (yearning for the Lord). You must yearn to be free, to be rid of the chains that are binding you now; the iron chain of poverty or the golden chain of riches. Yearn as helplessly as a baby which cries for its mother, as desperately as a calf mooing for the cow, as pitifully as a starving beggar prays for a morsel of food. Let the cry come from the depth of the heart, a heart that cannot bear the chain of attachments any longer. The Lord will not be drawn by noisy pomp or empty show. He will yield only to the claim of kinship, the call of Aathma to Paramaathma (the individual soul to the supreme soul).

In south India, in the Thamil country, there was a certain Adigal or Dhaasa (servant of God), in a village, Thangalur by name. He had heard of the spiritual grandeur of saint Appar and developed great admiration for him. So he built rest-houses in his name; named his children after him so that they might grow up in the halo of his glory; he donated lands and houses all in the name of the saint he had not seen. See how faith preceded experience here. There are others who require experience before they fix their faith. The first path is more thrilling and lasting.

Seek a Guru who will see that you do not sink

Have faith in the doctor and the drug, then the medicine will cure; do not wait till the medicine cures the illness to develop faith in the drug and the doctor. If you wait until you learn swimming to get into water, how can you get the thrill of a hearty swim? Plunge boldly and start beating around with the arms and legs - or have a dry gourd or inflated tyre to buoy you up. That is to say, seek a Guru who will see that you do not sink.

Well, one day by chance Appar himself walked into Thangalur, for he had missed his way and had to deviate. He noticed everywhere in the town Appar rest-houses and Appar charities, and wondered how his name had preceded him. Then Adigal ran forward to his Guru and took him home and prepared a grand feast for him. When his eldest son went to his garden to cut a few plantain leaves for the dinner, a snake bit him and He died on the spot. Adigal, however, was not affected in the least; He covered up the corpse, heaping dry leaves upon it, and proceeded with the formalities of hospitality for the long-sought Guru. The Guru, however, insisted on all the children of Adigal sitting around him during the meal, and He ordered the father, "Go call every one here." Adigal did as he was commanded. He called and the dead son rose. He too came and sat for dinner with the rest. When he knew what had happened, Appar said, "Your faith is greater than my Shakthi."

When a house is to be certified as habitable, the engineer tests the foundations. The Lord too tests the foundations whether faith is true and deep. Shiruthondar, a devotee of Shiva was also similarly tested by Shiva who came as a Jangama (ascetic). When Shiruthondar showed that He had no attachment to the world, Shiva revealed Himself and said, "Worship Me as your own self." Then Shiruthondar demands, "Reveal to Me your immanence in all creation and then I shall worship Me, for then I can know that I am really You." Shiva blessed him and He saw all as light. The vision was the finale of his career in Maaya. He merged as light merges in light, without noise and without announcement. Even his body became a streak of light which rose up into the depths of space.

The Limited cannot know the Depth of the Unlimited

You clamour for further experience of My divine nature and ask that your faith might be strengthened thereby. To know the taste of sea-water, putting a drop on the tongue should be enough; there is no need to drink the whole lot. It is your waywardness, your egoism, your pride that make you doubt and deny what you have once tasted. Is not one experience enough? Well, let Me ask: how can the limited know the depth of the unlimited? How can the ant delve into the mountain? It is beyond you to know how or why I create things in My hand. Or consider this: you have no patience even to put up with the problems of a single family, though the responsibility is obviously yours. Imagine then what My patience must be, to listen to, tackle and solve the problems of tens of thousands of families, with a Prema (love) that is rare even among parents. No. You are incapable of gauging Me. You can never grasp the strength of this super-worldly bond that ties you to Me.

The experience of that bond will come to you unawares. Your duty is to await the moment. Believe and be blessed. You are now worshipping Shiva or Naaraayana or Raama or Krishna, is it not? Tell Me how you got started. What experience did you have, before you began, of Raama's Dhaya or Shaantham or Prema? Or of Krishna's Karuna or Prema?

"Your Faith is not steady yet"

When this Mahaashakthi decided to leave the previous body in 1918, Kaaka Saheb Dikshit was told that in 8 years' time this will take birth again. Abdul Baaba was also informed that in 7 years this will appear in Madras state. Three months after the Samaadhi, (burial) appearing before a house at Kirkee, the declaration was made in answer to a query that the body had passed away, "The body has gone, but I will appear again." It was said 6 months after the Samaadhi, when there was an appearance at Dwaarakaamaayi with familiar tin can. Word was sent to Das Ganu and Mahlaspathi. The statement made to Kaaka Saheb was that the manifestation will take place after 8 years, not "as an eight-year-old-body." It was recorded so, because Kaaka Saheb relied on his memory and wrote it down only much later. The figure 7 came true; for this body incarnated in 1926 after spending ten months in the womb. So even the statement of 8 years made to Kaaka Saheb is true.

Your faith in what you have seen and are seeing is not steady yet; you allow your ears to listen to all and sundry and they tempt you to deny the evidence of your eyes. What a pitiable state this is! While painting a picture of a thing you have not seen, you have every freedom to draw it as the whim directs you; but try to draw a picture of a peacock, a bird you have seen; then you will realise that it is a very hard job; so too, it is difficult to get a true idea of Me, whom you see, although you are adepts at imagining Raama and Krishna to be of this form or that.

There are hundreds of images and idols and pictures of the previous Shareeram (body) that are abhorrent caricatures, for you have no correct picture in your minds. Even while faith has sprouted as a tender sapling, some one whispers a story and doubt attacks the plant like a deadly pest; for the mean and the small see everything as mean and small. They relish only the small and the mean! Search for the good, the noble, the elevating - and you will see only those things around you. Do not seek like the crow for carrion and offal. If you have faith, the Lord who is the core of your being will manifest Himself; He is within your grasp, provided you extend your hand. Do not try to cover up your faults or hide your vices under a cloak of religiosity. Be sincere yourself. Be aware of Him, who is the eternal witness; He sees and knows all.