Full Minus Full

Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba endearingly walks us through steps that cultivate devotion to the Divine and help us reach our lives’ goal in this loving discourse delivered on the occasion of Guru Poornima more than three decades ago. 

That is full, this is full; when full is taken from the full, full remains—this is the Upanishadic [the Hindu scriptures] axiom. The Divine is full, the creation is full; even when creation happened, and the cosmos appeared from the Divine, there was no diminution in the fullness of the full. Fullness is the attribute, and the nature of the Supreme. The process of creation of the cosmos cannot diminish it. Why is creation also called the full? It is because it came from the full.

You go to the bazaar to purchase a kilogram of jaggery [raw sugar]. The shopkeeper brings a big lump of jaggery from his store, and slices off a portion weighing about a kilogram; he then weighs it and gives us, in return for a price , one kilogram of jaggery. We sample a piece from the big lump, and we expect that portion to taste as sweet as the original lump. When we go home, we take a little bit of it to prepare the sweet drink called panakam. The panakam is sweet; and so is the kilogram of jaggery and the mother lump. Fullness is the quality of the Divine; the same level of sweetness is found in a part or whole. Quantity is not the criterion; quality is in the visible world that has been taken from the substance of the Divine, and this quality is found equally full in all. We should not consider the world as anything less than God.

God is in the world 

Indeed there are scholars who proclaim that the world is a hollow zero, that it has no latent or potent strength, being but a dream and a delusion. This is a sign of ignorance. God is very much in the world, in and through everything in it, without any exception. In the Bhagavad Gita [the song of God] the Lord announces, “I am human among living beings, the cow among animals, the lion among beasts, the cobra among snakes, the eagle among birds, and Prahlada [a devotee] among rakshasas [demons].

No item is discarded as not worthy of God. There is no body that He does not activate, and no form in which He does not reside. He [God] is fragrance, brilliance, sweetness, intelligence, valor, austerity, fame, and contentment—all desirable and even undesirable things and qualities. One can acquire unalloyed bliss only by knowing this universal all-inclusive glory of the Lord.

There are four stages in securing the grace of the Lord: first, attaching the mind to God; second, loving His form by attaching the mind; third, installing that form in the heart; and fourth, dedicating all that one has and does to the form so installed. The great example is Ekalavya, who successfully travelled through these stages and realized the goal of life in the Mahabharatha [a Hindu epic]. Though Dronacharya [teacher of the Pandavas and Kauravas and master of archery] refused to accept him as his pupil, Ekalavya mentally recognized him as his guru (preceptor). He installed him in his heart; and finally, he offered at his feet all the skills and fame that he had won through Dronacharya’s grace.

Three grades of intelligence 

This observance of the festival of Guru Poornima has become a routine affair. On this day, the guru is adored, and Gods are worshipped, praised, and propitiated with songs and feasts. But, I ask whether these are enough. The observance can yield fruit only when the deeper significance of the day is grasped, and meditated upon.

Guru is the person who destroys the darkness of ignorance by his own illumination. Most Gurus have only feeble, borrowed light; the removal of darkness has to be complete with no trace of lurking shadows. Like the full moon that falls on this day every year, the mind of man has to be charmingly fair, cool, and full. This gift of light can come only from God, for he is self-illumined; He is the source of light for all planets, stars and beings.

In Vedantic [the ancient Hindu scripture] vocabulary, chit and a-chit are two terms set against each other, comprehending between themselves the created universe. Chit means ‘intelligent’ and a-chit means ‘non-intelligent.’ There are no two opposites like this. There are grades, slowly passing from one to the other, from the less intelligent to the fully intelligent. In fact, there are three grades, and not two.

The first is the shuddha tatwa, the second is the mishra tatwa, and the third is the vasana tatwa. The shuddha tatwa is what [Jesus] Christ referred to as the Kingdom of God. It is far beyond the reach of the mind; it is the realm of pure equanimity. The mishra tatwa refers to this earthly kingdom, alternating between repose and activity, sloth and adventure, tamas and rajas [the passive and active or passionate attributes]. While the first is spoken of as the everlasting glory of the Divine, the second is spoken of as the ever-changing ever-fresh sport of God. The third is the region of inactivity, ignorance, and inertia—the tamoguna.

The Vedantic point of view 

The universe is the field where God sports. Be aware of this fact every moment of consciousness, and you will need nothing more for a happy existence. That awareness will let you contact God in every thing through every thought at every place, and at every moment. His leela [divine sport] is evident in the smallest flower, and the most distant star. The joy that you can derive from the contemplation of these proofs of providence is indescribable. Krishna has said in the Gita [the song of God] that He is ever by the side of the joyous being. Be joyful yourself and make others share in that joy. To limit oneself to be happy only while self-centered is bad.

The third stage is called the vasana tatwa. This is where your narrow selfish will takes charge of you, and enslaves you. Vasana [tendency] is the ingrained force of eons of enslavement to the senses. You have to overpower its subtle impact and liberate your will from its hold.

Cultivate the attitude of detachment, and indifference, bypassing the urges through prayer and systematic practice. This will lead you to dharma (righteous behavior) and truth; you are then entitled to the dharma sthambha, or sathya sthambha (the pillar of righteousness or truth). This is also referred to as the Vedanta point of view. Vedanta does not mean running away from home and the company of men, and escaping into the solitude of the jungle. Home is certain to haunt you wherever you may take refuge. It implies recognition of all this (the idam) as Divinely poornam (full) and dedication of all thoughts, words, and deeds to the Divine. When you have the Vedantic vision, the place where you are will thereby be [Mount] Kailasha [the Himalayan mountain dedicated to Lord Shiva] for you.

When leela entices God

The Sun cannot illumine God; God is the source of the illumination of the Sun. The waves can say they belong to the sea, but they cannot claim the sea belongs to them. The individual can say, “I am Yours” to God; he cannot say, “You are mine” to God. God is the support; you are the supported. The nitya–vibhuti [Sri Vaikuntha—the Lord’s abode] is the support of the leela vibhuti [the physical universe]; the sea is the base on which waves happen. When leela entices God, it takes eight forms: shuddha brahmamayi (the absolutely pure), characharamayi (the moving and the non-moving), jyotirmayi (the luminous), vangmayi (the vocal), nityanandamayi (the ever-blissful), paratparamayi (transcending this world and the next), mayamayi (enrapturing by its delusive charm), and srimayi (resplendent with wealth). The attributeless God assumes the mind, the intelligence and the ego, and the magnificent leela is inaugurated!

The experiences of the waking stage are laid aside when dreams start; and, dream experiences disappear when sleep supervenes. Being too is lost in becoming. Christ said, “Life is lost in dreams.” But, whatever is experienced in any of these three stages, they happen on the basic truth, that is God—just as, all the fear and anxiety, the activity to beat and kill the serpent, is based on the rope that was ignorantly mistaken for a snake.

Let your love enfold all 

So, man must endeavor to escape from this delusion and reach the state of fully- illumined wisdom. The best spiritual discipline that can help him to do so is love. Foster the tiny seed of love that clings to ‘me’ and ‘mine;’ let it sprout into love for the group around you, grow into love for all mankind and spread out its branches over animals, birds, and those that creep and crawl. Let the love enfold all things and beings in all the worlds. Proceed from less love to more love, and narrow love to expanded love. The statement, “From untruth to truth” is not right. The progress is always from the lesser truth to truth that is God.

This is a story about the Gods. It deals with the greed of men. It was a fine day in Heaven; Sriman Narayana [Lord Vishnu of the Hindu trinity] and His consort Lakshmi were busy talking, when Narada, the wandering minstrel, entered and attracted their attention. Narayana asked Narada whether the denizens of the earth were happy. Narada replied that since they worshipped Him [Narayana] and won His grace, men everywhere were quite happy and prosperous.

At this, Lakshmi (who is the Goddess of wealth) was afflicted with jealousy and anger, for Her share in conferring happiness on man was not acknowledged. She challenged Narada to prove that Narayana was more adored on earth than She was.

Lakshmi accepts a challenge 

Narayana accepted the challenge. Donning ochre robes, He transformed himself into a monk, and went down amongst the villages and towns to preach. Thousands flocked to these meetings, and listened to the enchanting oratory. They followed Him from place to place, and adored Him with effusive enthusiasm. He was carried along on a huge wave of devotion and adulation.

Lakshmi saw this and could not contain herself; She became envious. So, She too donned the robe of the sanyasi (ascetic person) and came down to the very region that Narayana had conquered for Himself. The effulgence of Her presence drew people toward Her, and many came away from the meetings addressed by Narayana to bask in Her presence.

A few invited Her to their homes for dinner. She agreed but declared that it was a vow she had undertaken, not to eat out of plates other than her own. She said She would bring Her own plate, cup, drinking vessel etc. The hosts were only too glad to comply with Her request, for that cut down their chores.

Lakshmi took with Her a plate, cup, and water-vessel made of gold when She visited Her hosts. The first host admired and adored Her the more for this display of pomp and wealth. But he was astounded and delighted, when after dinner, Lakshmi said that she was leaving the plate, cup, and vessel at the host’s home since that too was part of Her vow.

When the news spread that it was highly profitable to invite Lakshmi to dinner and to adore Her, there was a huge clamor for Her grace, and millions deserted Narayana’s discourses to hover around the giver of gold. People prayed to Narayana to go back to whence He came, for they had no time to receive Him or listen to Him. Lakshmi was monopolizing their attention.

Lakshmi came back to heaven to meet Narayana. She asked Narada, “Who is worshipped more, Narayana or Lakshmi?”

Truth prompts righteousness 

Narada replied with another question, “Whom do You worship, please?” Lakshmi answered, “Why? I worship Narayana.” Then, Narada said, “Know that it is Narayana’s grace that helps you to bestow those gifts of gold which make men worship you.”

Lakshmi’s pride was humbled, but man’s foolishness continues. Man worships mere earthly riches and not the indwelling divinity, Lakshmi and not Narayana.

Righteous activity is prompted by truth. Truth is the basic teaching of all faiths. So, too, are morality and love. Today is Guru Poornima [the Hindu festival to honor the teacher]. This morning, I laid the foundation for the pillar of truth, which supports and sustains the twin virtues of love and morality. In the Vedic rite to sanctify the spot where the pillar will be erected, you must have noticed that nine different grains that grow on the earth, and nine precious gems that are obtained from under the earth were used. These represent the nine forms of bhakti (devotion), the nine stages in man’s journey to God. Of these, the most vital is seva (selfless service) to fellow beings. I exhort you to dedicate yourselves fully to this task and live in the full cognizance of this primary duty to your own self-service.

Source: Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 13