The Sea-Saw

Discourse of Sathya Sai Baba, Prashanthi Nilayam, 26 Sep 1972
Published by Sri Sathya Sai Books and Publications Trust
Web posted at Feb 17, 2002

Man is misled into believing that nature is his rival which has to be defeated and conquered; he struggles and suffers loss and pain in the process. He considers it heroic to undergo travail in what he calls conquest of nature. But, if only he feels kinship with nature, as equally saturated with divinity, and proclaiming with equal clarity the immanence of God, he can be happier and much more restful and content. When you see everywhere, on every inch of ground, in every being, small or big, the footprint of God, nature is seen in a new vesture of glory, a manifestation that demands worship, rather than exploitation and enslavement.

The ego in man sets him against all else; silence it and all becomes one's kith and kin. The ego is the first sprout from the seed of ignorance, which is not a positive acquisition, but only, the absence of knowledge. When knowledge shines, inner and outer natures are both seen as divine. There is nothing that is not 'it'. When this is experienced, love floods the heart and flows towards all. There is no independence; there is only interdependence, for all waves are equally dependent on the sea beneath. You use the word, 'my own'; who is this 'my', who owns you, and whom you own as yourself? It is the divine in you, and in all. Sveccha is the word in Sanskrit, for "one's desire", the Iccha (desire) of Sva (oneself). Since the self of one and the self of all else are the same, Sveccha should be the common factor in all desires, namely, love. Listen to the voice of God, that warns, directs, prompts, and prevents; you cannot then be wrong.

Direct all your Powers towards God

It may be said that love is a universal virtue and it is being manifested in human relations, more or less, by all. But, it is limited and poisoned by petty considerations and dried up by hatred and envy. Love must see the best in others and not the worst. Love cannot ignore the divinity in others. Blind men have the right to deny light; but, those with eyes, have no such explanation. When such men swear that they see only the many, and not the one, it is surely the fault of the vision. Try to correct it, through Saadhana (spiritual discipline).

You have three means of understanding: Icchaa-shakthi (the power of the will), Kriyaa-shakthi (the power of action) and Jnaana-shakthi (the power of Knowledge). Direct all three towards God; desire Him, serve Him and know Him. Do not let senses and the emotions run away with you on their back. Hold them in check. Set before them the goal of God. If your emotions prescribe one direction, guide them in the contrary direction; that is the way to counter their evil.

Once it happened that Krishna, Balaraama and Saathyaki who were quite little boys at that time, scarcely four or five years old, strayed into a thick jungle, all alone, when darkness fell, and there was no way of reaching Gokulam! Of course, as you must have guessed already, it was a stratagem of Krishna; even at that age, he would do nothing without a deep purpose behind it and the purpose would invariably be teaching some one some good lesson. They decided to spend the night, just where they were; Krishna put fright into them, with his descriptions of ghosts, ghouls and demons roaming in search of human prey. He proposed that two shall sleep for three hours at a stretch while the other kept watch.

Anger can be subdued only for Forbearance

It was Saathyaki's duty to keep awake and be on the lookout, from 7 to 10; Balaraama was to be vigilant from 10 to 1 a.m. Krishna was to start his part of the duty at 1 and keep on till 4. Saathyaki sat up to 10 and Balaraama and Krishna laid themselves on beds of dried leaves and slept soundly. Meanwhile a demon did actually present himself, before the little Saathyaki. He fell upon the boy, who resisted heroically dealing and receiving hammer-strokes with fists, with a good number of clawing and biting in between. The demon had to retreat at last, leaving Saathyaki badly mauled, but, happy. The two brothers were sound asleep; they had not been disturbed in the least by the noise of the encounter. Saathyaki had met blow with blow, and dealt injury for injury. At 10, he awakened Balaraama and stretched his body on the heap of leaves, as if nothing had happened. The demon invited Balaraama too for combat and had to retreat humiliated, because Balaraama too was as fierce as he, and his blows were even more terrible than Saathyaki's. Balaraama too curled himself into the bed at 1 a.m., after waking up Krishna who was to keep watch until Brahma-muhuurtha, the auspicious hour when Gods are to be propitiated, that is 4 a.m.

The demon came roaring like a wounded tiger, and advanced ferociously at the little divine boy. Krishna turned his sweet charming face at him, and rewarded him with a lovely smile. That smile disarmed the demon; the longer he came under its influence, the weaker became his vengeance and venom. At last, the demon became as docile as a lamb; when the other two woke, they were surprised at the victory that Krishna had won by the weaponry of love. You cannot destroy anger by anger, cruelty by cruelty, hatred by hatred. Anger can be subdued only by forbearance; cruelty can be overcome only by non-violence, hatred yields only charity and compassion.

Become Rulers of the inner Empire

Arjuna too once charged his eldest brother, Dharmaraaja, with callous indifference to the sufferings of his other brothers and of their queen, Dhroupadhi and her children; he flung arrows of scorn at him for his blind adherence to 'morality and righteousness', despite the heinous provocations to retaliation, that their cousins aimed at them. As a result, Arjuna told him, "Our mother lives apart from us, our wife is insulted in open court, we wander as exiles in the jungles, my son has been surrounded and done to death, and we have been defamed and disgraced beyond endurance. All the while, you have been putting up with all this ignominy, content with your clinging to virtue".

When he had finished his tirade, Dharmaraaja replied calmly, with on sign of resentment, "Patience, tolerance, love - these alone can bring success; of what use is victory, if it is gained by falsehood and ferocity? Such a war will breed wars for ever. We shall act ever as if we are in the presence of God, as if God is watching and weighing every thought, word and deed. See yourselves in all, see all in yourselves; that is the road to lasting peace and joy. Let us not seek the outer empire; let us become rulers of the inner empire. Let us not try to defy the outer enemy, leaving the inner foe to grow in striking power. We have Krishna with us, and so, who can defeat us? We shall win through winning His grace."

Do not allow Faith to be upset

Never stray from the path of right, whatever the trouble or temptation. Do not loosen the grip; do not turn back. Do not allow faith to be upset. If you attach importance to riches or children or fame or fortune, you are hereby announcing that you are devoted, not to God, but to riches, children and the rest. If you are devoted to God, how should you manifest that devotion? Let me tell you how. By manifesting divine qualities, divine virtues, divine love, divine strength. Become Sai, be Sai.

When the river Chithravathi is boisterously rolling along, we call it a flood; when the waters have receded, we call it a river. When desires, plans, wishes, and yearnings roll along, we call it the 'mind'; when they subside, we call it 'Chittha' (consciousness). When the white cloth is dirty, it is mind; when the whiteness is restored by washing, it is Chittha. When desires make you greedy to posses, it is mind; when love makes you revere and adore, sympathise and serve, then, it is Chittha. The mind can be transformed into Chittha, only through Jijnaasa and Saadhana (inquiry and discipline). Jijnaasa is the stage of studentship or apprenticeship; Saadhana is working on a job; and when you go through these two stages, you can afford to be calm, contented, loving all and being loved by all, as he old man who retires on a pension. When you give expression to your innate divinity, it takes the form of love. Raamakrishna Paramahamsa could not tolerate someone walking on grass; he felt the weight of the feet and the crushing himself.

View the Universe as the Handiwork of God

You have to busy yourselves with activity, in order to use time and skill to the best advantage. That is your duty and duty is God. The dull and the inert will hesitate to be active, for fear of exhaustion or failure, or loss. The emotional, passionate individuals will plunge headlong and crave for quick results and will be disappointed if they do not come in. the balanced persons will be active, because it is their duty, they will not be agitated by anything - failure or success. The godly will take up activity as a means of worshipping God, and they leave the result to God. They know that they are but instruments in the hands of God. The godly are following the Saathwik, but, due to sheer ignorance and the unquestioned obedience to the senses, man is suffering pain and grief; that is the sad state of affairs, not only in India but all over the world.

Try to sanctify every item of work by dedicating it to some divine end. The Universe is the handiwork of God, and therefore, meaningful and moral. View it as such and derive the utmost benefit. Without dedication, work is like a paper-flower, unfit to be offered to God; cheap, fragranceless, dry, tawdry. Offer God real flowers grown in the garden of your heart, fragrant, beautiful, and delighting. Try to see everyone as a ray of God.

Life is a seesaw, with man sitting on a plank, poised on the round log - Jnaana Shakthi, his basic nature of wisdom. When the plank comes down to one side, it is Icchaa-shakthi - Bhakthi Yoga, emotional adoration; when it comes down on the other side, it is Kriyaa-shakthi - Karma Yoga, activity to adore men as embodiments of divinity, service to man, adoration of nature by fostering love and tenderness. So long as the seesaw is based on Jnaana, one is safe. Jnaana (wisdom) is the awareness that God is all. He is the seed, the universe is he tree; instincts, impulses, emotions, passions - these are the branches and boughs and twigs; intelligence is the flower; pure unattached consciousness is the fruit; love is the sweetness in the fruit.