The Higher Role

Discourse of Sathya Sai Baba, Ananthapur, August 1974
Published by Sri Sathya Sai Books and Publications Trust
Web posted at Jun 20, 2002

"Eakam sath; vipraah bahudhaa vadhanthi" - "The one alone exists; wise men call it by many names." This is the harmonising unifying truth that India teaches through the ages. Another lesson that Indian culture embodies and Indian thought emphasises is: When the process of living revolves around the body, it is steeped in misery; when it revolves around the Aathma, the divine spark within, it is resplendent with joy.

When the years of life are spent and man has not discovered at least who he is, surely, such a life is a stupid waste. Search for the reality, for the witness within, the divine that animates; this is the first duty of man to himself. Indian culture calls on all to discover for themselves the special nature of his 'isness' and its sacred consequences and to shape his activities and attitudes accordingly.

"Ayam Aathma Brahma" - "This Aathma is Brahma." The individual is the universal, 'pretending to be separate!' The individual exists, cognises and is cognised, delights and confers delight, because it is the universal. The tiny flame of a candle can light a thousand other candles and yet burn with undiminished strength. The other flames have to acknowledge that they have with them only the flame of the first one. The one has lit the many; the one is shining in and through the many; the one is many. "Ekoham Bahusyaam" - "the one decided to be many," to enjoy its own manifoldness. The one appears as all this diversity. That is the truth.

Seek the Knower behind the Knowing Process

Air which is but one, appears as storm, whirlwind, breeze, simoom, assuming various forms by change of speed in movement. The names too differ from form to form. The insistence on the fundamental unity of all creation is the special feature of India thought. It is faulty vision, to see variety as variety, the world as composed of disparate elements and forces. In spite of this great heritage which Indians have come by, they are today disparaging it and devaluing it by their behaviour and beliefs.

The beliefs of man must be free from Asuuya (jealousy), as the Geetha declares. Asuuya is the evil nature that cannot tolerate the happiness and prosperity of another, that prevents man from loving his neighbour, from serving the distressed, and seeing, in all, the same divine motivator that he himself has, as his inner charioteer. It makes man eager to pick holes in the activities of others and renders them blind to their virtues and excellences.

This is a college, an institution that imparts education and prepares the rising generation to be better women and better citizens. Education must open the eyes and enable them to recognise the one behind the many. When that one is known, the many can be known easily and clearly. Pursue the vast, the cosmic, the all-inclusive truth; do not be satisfied with paltry partial scraps of information; seek the knower behind the knowing process. That is the real victory.

Education must promote Peace and Happiness

Educationists must concentrate on methods by which unity will be imparted and distinctions relegated to a subordinate role. But, unfortunately at the present time, in the name of individuality and the sheer fancy for distinctness, every encouragement is given to idiosyncrasy and adventurism, foppishness and flippancy. Parents and elders have to hang down their heads in shame at the vagaries of their children.

Education must promote peace, security and happiness. But, as a result of the educational process through which they have passed, youth is causing anxiety, fear and unrest in the society of which they are a part. Neither have they any peace or joy or security. The Kaurava brothers sought for power, fame, selfish gain and competitive victory. They loved separatist divisive policies. Their thirst for power could be quenched, as Krishna said, only by a rain of arrows which wiped them off the face of the earth. In order to remove the terror that stalks the land from end to end, an immediate reform of the educational system is called for.

Roots hold the tree firm; the foundation keeps the building from collapsing. Awareness of one's responsibilities, detachment from entangling bonds, confidence in one's own sense of righteousness - these have to be fostered in colleges. Integrity, sincerity, and the desire to use one's skills and intelligence, for the service of one's fellowmen are essential in youth.

At present, educated people are wanting in the grit necessary to act according to their convictions; they know a thing is right but lack the will to carry it through. Teach the students to discriminate in a detached manner and arrive at right conclusions, and encourage them to put their faith into practice fearlessly. Now that the cultivation of the spirit is in the name of secularism, beyond the ken of the system, teachers who are themselves unaware of higher values are leading youth into less and less firm grounds, into fear and fickleness. How can such people, who have no inner strength, no vital faith in themselves, lead others? What can the country expect from this method of bringing up the young, this foolish and futile round, where the blind lead those unwilling to open their eyes in series of fallow circles?

The God within does not fail to warn, to counsel

"Naayam Aathma Balaheenena Labhyah" - "The soul cannot be won by the weak." That is the pronouncement of the Vedhas (sacred scriptures). Without the awareness of the source of all strength, the Aathma, man is basically weak and he can only lead men into further weakness.

There are many who swear that they have infinite confidence and faith in themselves, but, they assert they have no faith in God. How then could they have faith in themselves? For, who exactly is I? Is I a bundle of bones and muscle? Is I the name?

No. The reality of I is God; the I is a wave of the ocean of divinity, endowed with the same sublimity, the same taste, the same depth. How then can defeat descend on I?

Man has to be continually examining every desire that emerges in his mind, so that he may suppress or destroy or by-pass or obey. He must learn, from parents, elders, teachers, friends and the leaders of the land besides the books written by wise men of his own as well as of other countries, the standards by which he can test his desires. He has to accept them or reject them. There are some who are wilfully wicked, who attempt to justify by specious arguments the inequities they perform. But, even then, they know that they are on the wrong path. The God within does not fail to warn, and to counsel.

Become Instruments to re-establish Righteousness

Students! If you are drawn into evil in pursuit of momentary pleasure, you will have to suffer misery a thousand-fold as a consequence of the impulse. Wicked thoughts, wild schemes and frolicsome escapades might give pleasure for the moment but in the long run they are sure to land you in irretrievable ruin.

Your role is something far higher. You have to correct and transform those who behave like blind men though they have eyes; those who move about as lame men though their legs are strong and straight; those who behave like insane men though they are equipped with bright minds; such men are in all fields now. There are hypocrites who talk 'peace' and practise 'war'. Your task is to expose them and educate them back into normalcy and virtue. Become instruments in the great effort to re-establish righteousness throughout the world.

This college has not been established just to prepare you for earning degrees. The main purpose is to help you to cultivate self-knowledge and self-confidence, so that each one of you can learn self-sacrifice and earn self-realisation. The teaching of the university curricula and the preparation for presenting you for the university examinations and the award of university degrees - these are only the means employed for the end, namely, spiritual uplift, self-discovery and social service through love and detachment. Our hope is that by your lives you will be shining examples of spiritual awareness and its beneficial consequences of the individual and society.