It’s the Attitude, Not the Sun’s Course
The northward movement of the Sun starts on 14th January, and on this occasion Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba spoke about the importance of perpetual spiritual effort rather than waiting for the movements of the Sun.
Shastry [the presenter] earlier spoke in detail about the importance of the uttarayana day. The day has an outer and an inner significance, the inner having a greater value for spiritual aspirants. I do not attach much value to the outer meaning: the Sun taking a northward direction from today and hence the six months going forward being holier than the previous six which Shastry says, is better suited for sadhana [spiritual discipline]. Man’s life must be a perpetual sadhana; any day is a good day for starting sadhana, whether it falls in the dakshinayana or uttarayana (southward or northward movements of Sun). One need not wait for the Sun to turn North. The months and the ayanas (Sun’s passage toward north and south of equator) are all related to prakriti (subjective world), and so they have only relative value.
Uttarayana is a quality of the nayana (the eye); it is matter of drishti—attitude, a point of view. It is not an ayana (half‑year term). When your drishti (sight) is on Brahman, it is uttarayana; when it is on prakriti, it is dakshinayana. When you have developed pure qualities, every day is uttarayana, whatever the almanac may say. When you have fever, the tongue will be bitter; when you are healthy, you can taste everything. The bitter tongue is the dakshinayana, while the sweet tongue is uttarayana. To associate it otherwise with the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn is just a convention.
The astronomical uttarayana comes to you whether you strive for it or not; it is part of the law of nature. To achieve real uttarayana, you must make tremendous efforts. Know that there are only two entities: the substance and the shadow, (or rather, only One, and its appearance, produced by ignorance), the atma and the anatma—the seer and the seen, the rope and the snake. When this knowledge becomes part of the mental make‑up, it liberates you from illusion and you see Kailasha [the symbolic snow-capped mountain that represents purity] at the end of the uttarayana yatra (northward journey). Like Kailasha, that stage represents complete white light. The path is straight and hard, but the goal is glorious; it is nothing less than illumination. It is when people forget this goal that the Avatar comes to save them.
The Avatar comes when there is yet a remnant of good men and a trace of dharma (righteousness). Indeed, what is the use of a doctor when the patient has collapsed? When a large number of good men are afflicted with fear for the survival of goodness, then the Lord incarnates to feed their drooping spirits, and revive faith and courage. “Paritranaaya Sadhunaam” in the Bhagavad Gita does not mean the “protection of sadhus or ascetics;” it means the “protection of all who have sadhu-like virtues, and, “sadhu’ means `good.’ Good virtues might be found even in animals, insects, and worms. He (the Avatar) will guard and guide even such. He comes to promote dharma; and virtue is the foundation of dharma.
The worldly outlook will deceive you and land you in grief. You do not know which articles will satisfy your inner cravings; you try to possess whatever attracts your eye. When you crave for the thought of the Lord and the company of the Godly, then you are in uttarayana. Bhishma [the grand sire in the Hindu epic Mahabharata], too, was in that mood [craving for God] as he lay injured in the battle. He prayed, “Asato maa sat gamaya”—From this transient world of decay, lead me to the everlasting world of bliss. “Tamaso maa jyotir gamaya”—Give me the effulgence of Thy grace and illumine my soul with truth; “Mrutyor maa amritam gamaya”—Save me from the torture of birth and death, destroy the cravings of the mind that produce the seeds of birth and lead me to immortality.” That prayer and Bhishma’s yearning gave him the vision of Krishna [an Avatar] when he passed away. That was the real Uttarayana for him.
Use the body well
Individual and Divine are the two rails on which the engine of manas (mind) is dragging along the coaches of attachment to sense objects. Each coach contains specific items of luggage, viz., intellect, inner senses, etc. Atma is the driver of the engine. If the coupling with the engine is not well connected, the coaches will be left loose on the line. Faith and shraddha (trust) are the couplings; see that they are fitted tight. Remember that they cannot fit themselves. You have to use the strength and the intellect awarded to you; grace will be granted only then. Spend the shakti (energy) you are endowed with, then pray for Rama shakti. Rama or the Lord will then bless you; if you ask for one, He will grant you a hundred. This is the karmadeha (the working body) given to you; use it well for the purpose given.
I see many people here who have come in the special buses that take them round to many holy places. I shall tell them some words: When you reach a holy place, you should entertain only holy thoughts. On seeing a doctor, you remember your illness. When you see a lawyer, you wish to consult him on some problem of property or personal spite. When you see a temple, you are reminded of the force that animates the universe. Your tour should not be a travel for amusement but a travel for gaining discrimination for you. Do not use such pilgrim buses for going on picnics. Do not seek to purchase vessels, clothes, and rarities in the shops of the towns you visit. Pay attention more to the need for filling your minds with holy experiences that you can ruminate upon after returning to the quiet of your home. When you are in the holy place, think of the divine dweller of the place.
Be amidst the sacred
Load your bus with thoughts of the glory of God, not with tinsel and tin cans. Again, do not get involved with the bad traits that may be found in the places to which you go. Seek the company of the good, and move in the midst of the sacred and sanctifying. That is what you go so far for. The shelves of the hospital are full of all types of medicines: pills, poisons, powders, emulsions, lotions, mixtures, etc. You should ask not for the sweetest or the most attractively packed drug, but the drug that you need for the illness you suffer from. So, too, let the holy place have 1000 other attractions; do not run after them. Concentrate on the thing you have come for. The bhogi (enjoyer) and the rogi (the sickly) should be transformed into the yogi (contemplative saint); take only that drug from the dispensary that will make you into the yogi.
Become also fit for the vision of God that you seek in the temples. Go humbly, with love in your heart for all creation; take the hrudaya-pushpa (heart that is the flower), full of the fragrance of prema [love]; and the mano-phala (the mind that is the fruit) that is uncontaminated by the pests of greed and egoism. Become sweet in word, deed, and thought so that you can dedicate yourself to the service of God’s plan.
A person with faith in God will not be moved by panic, as some people are, at the approaching conjunction of eight planets. I assure you that the world will not face any additional danger as a result of that conjunction. No additional calamity will happen; indeed, the a‑shanti (lack of peace) that now exists will even become lower! When the Avatar has come, why fear like this? Why dread imaginary dangers?
One more thing: you will have seen the announcement that you should not bring to Me fruits, flowers etc. Some of you, I know, are sad that I have announced so. But let Me tell you: Come to Me with empty hands, I shall fill your hands with gifts and grace. If your hands are full, what am I to fill them with?
Source: Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 2
