The Turn of the Key

Discourse of Sathya Sai Baba, Dhronaachalam, 8 December 1963
Published by Sri Sathya Sai Books and Publications Trust
Web posted at Jan 13, 2001

The task now is to install Dharma in every heart: to shed light on every road, through the revival of Vedhaantha. The world is like a famished person, waiting for a feast; it is like the parched land waiting for rain. I have seen and felt the atmosphere of this land surcharged with discontent and dishonesty; I have seen it from Kanyaakumari to the Himaalayas. That is the reason why thousands like you seek Dharshan, Sparshan and Sambhaashana (sacred sight, touch and talk). I am only surprised that thousands are denying themselves the chance.

Man is daily growing more and more greedy to know more about the lives of others, more extrovert, in fact. He wants to escape from himself, by interesting himself in others. He does not want to worry about the details of his own life, or the problems of his own rehabilitation. Of what benefit is all this burden of information that you seek to carry in your head, this knowledge of the various regions of the world, without a knowledge of the region of your own self, the centre of all the interest that you evince? It is no good wandering all over the world, contacting men of various races, and getting engrossed with earning and spending without being able to know your own identity!

To win Bliss, Saadhana with Vairaagya is essential

The tree of the human body finds its fruition, when it yields Prema. That sweet gift is the reason why it grew and had to be fostered. It drew its substance from the earth and the sun. What does it give in return for the gifts it got from both these as well as from the human community Prema. The fruit is sweet, but the rind can afford to be bitter. For the rind of anger, malice, envy, greed has to be peeled off, before it is put to use. Use the bitterness in you to preserve and develop the sweetness within yourself.

From the experience of saints and sages, you can realise that the joy got from the external world is infinitesimal when compared with the bliss won through spiritual discipline. To win that bliss, Saadhana (spiritual effort) full of Vairaagya (detachment) is essential. When boring is done to draw water from the bowels of the earth, the pipe has to be kept free from air so that the water could rise up. If the air enters, the water will not rise. So too, be sure that attachment to worldly things does not mar your Saadhana. Prema will not well up, if sensual pleasures and personal pride invade the Mind.

So long as life persists, you will be caught up in heights and depths, good and bad, rights and wrongs. Duality is inevitable. It is even necessary. A hero shines against a background of villains; Prahlaadha's faith had to be tested against the background of Hiranyakasipu's denials; the Paandavas demonstrated the strength of meekness only when they faced the savagery of the Kauravas. A city has pipes for the drinking water, as well as for sewage. Man has a system of arteries as well as veins, for the circulation of pure and impure blood. Both contribute to the health of the individual.

Yoga is often turned into Roga

The fault is: You know that a thing is improper, but still you continue to do it, curbing your conscience and suppressing the nobler impulses. The world is all set for profit, as the quickest means of attaining joy. High profit, quick profit, easy profit - why, when measuring or counting, you don't start with "One," but say instead, "Laabham" (Profit). The next one is two, of course, but, the idea with which you start is "Laabham," not Service!

The problem should not be how to live glamorously so that you make others envy you, but how to live glamorously or better still, how to die gloriously! - so gloriously that you are not put to the humiliation of dying again. What do you take with you when you die? Mahamud of Ghazni instructed his Vazir to take his corpse to the burial ground with both his hands raised, so that people should see that he came with empty hands and went with hands as empty as when he came, though he had plundered the wealth of a hundred cities.

Saadhana has to be taken up under the direction of an expert, who knows your health and temperament well. Over-enthusiasm and irregularity are both to be avoided. If Viveka (discrimination) plays false, Saadhana (spiritual practice) is a snare; a little forgetfulness of the limits of heating may spoil kiln of bricks; a few extra handfuls of washing soda will ruin a bundle of clothes in the wash; a few extra words with the neighbour regardless of time, and a whole potful of rice is overboiled and wasted. Vigilance, care, circumspection - these are very important for the Saadhaka. Yoga is often turned into Roga (disease), for lack of continuous self-examination.

Attach yourself to the larger Self

A man weeping, because he has been bitten by a cobra in his dream, can be cured by just being woken up! No doctor is needed. So, too when Arjuna who was suffering from Ajnaana (ignorance) was given Jnaana (spiritual knowledge), he recovered and did his duty. The pain and the snake will both disappear if the dreamer is awakened. He is only imagining that a snake bit him.

When you invite a blind person for dinner, remember that you have to lay two plates not one for one guest only. For, he will be certainly accompanied by a guide. The blind man is Arjuna and the guide is Sujnaana. Sujnaana (good knowledge) will lead him aright. Both are in the same person. Only, Sujnaana has to take charge and lead.

Turn the key to the right, it is unlocked. Turn to God and righteousness, the lock opens, the chain falls away. Turn it to the left, you become bound; the bolt falls in; the chain holds fast, it is just a question of the point of view - outlook or inlook? Out-query? In-query?

For all this, the prime need is Faith. Faith in yourself! You can move mountains in the social level, if you conquer your mind in the individual level. Curb your powers and make them run along useful channels; that will result in Joy for you and others. To get that faith, know your truth. To know that, attach yourself to the larger Self, of which you are a part, by constant Naamasmarana.