Lessons From the Sea

This is the World Teacher’s Day, named after the First Preceptor—the codifier of Vedic texts, the poet who compiled the great epic Mahabharata famous as the fifth Veda and that other great text book of devotion, the Bhagavatha—the Sage Vyasa, the Adi Guru. In fact, the world itself is a great teacher, a constant guide and inspiration. That is the reason why man is surrounded and sustained by the world. Every bird, every animal, every tree, mountain, and star, each tiny worm has a lesson for man, U’ he has but the will and the thirst to learn. These make the world a veritable university for man; it is a gurukul where he is a pupil from birth to death.

Man soaks himself with lessons from the environment, whether he is aware of it or not. That is why those interested in his future urge him to seek satsang (good company), to avoid slander, faction, pride and violence. The first guru is the mother; her example, her advice, her admonition affects man deepest and longest. The second is the father, who is admired by the child for his strength and knowledge and feared for the punishments he inflicts. Next is the teacher, who leads him and guides him into the maze of material knowledge.

But the guru alone can open the inner eye and cleanse the inner instruments of intuition. He induces you to question yourself—deham? (Am I this body or is this body only a vehicle which I am using?) and discover the answer, Naaham(Not I; I am not this body. No, I am the Seer, the Witness, the Spectator). Then the investigation starts to delve into the reality of the “I”, Koham (who then am I?) and the answer reveals itself in the purified consciousness, Soham (I am He; I am a spark of that glory; I am Divine). The gross body has its characteristics—height, weight, girth, proportion, name, case, sect, nationality; it is a pot, a container; it is devised, designed; it disintegrates; it is destroyed. It cannot be ’you’. The subtle body is like the water in the pot; that too is poured by someone. It does not originate therein; it is no essential part of it; it is not its dharma. So, it too is not ’you’. The causal body is affected by attachment [to] and detachment [from] the world and its objects, through reaction and reflection. So, it too cannot be ’you’. ‘You’ are beyond all three. You are not limited by these three containers—one within the other, one finer than the other.

There are five sheaths within which the “I” shines. Of these, the material sheath (Annamaya kosa) is the gross body. The subtle body consists of the next three sheaths, the vital (Pranamaya), the mental (Manomaya) and the intellectual (Vijnanamaya). The causal body is the bliss-conscious sheath, the Anandamaya Kosa. Even this is a limitation, a phase, a characteristic. The “I” has no such bounds or bondage. The guru who can make you cognise this “I” is your own mind. Turn it towards intelligence and Ananda, you are in the right path; turn it towards the vital, the material, you slide down the path of perdition.

The Guru Poornirna, the Full Moon day dedicated to the Teacher, is to be spent in contemplation of the path that leads to liberation and in offering gratitude to the path-finders. There are now three types of gurus available for man—those who rob the pupils of their possessions and fatten themselves, those Who rob the pupils of their individuality and intelligence and elevate themselves into despotic potentates, and those who rob the pupils of their anxieties and agonies and fulfill themselves as benefactors. Many gurus insist that their followers should treat them with showy forms of worship this day and offer special donations at their feet. Claiming and accepting such superficial forms of adoration is contemptible. The pupil has to be “Sathatham Yoginah”, perpetually ‘joined’, ever alert to be attached to higher ideals. The master has to be a supreme unflinching example in this yoga.

The guru is Poornima—full, undisturbed by any doubt, deficiency or sense of want. Like the full moon, he confers joy, cool comfort, and a sense of relief. Sit calm a few moments; you can yourself judge your attainments in this line. If you are dually minded, you are half blind still. If you see only the One, your vision is clearest; seeing double is a sign of optical disease. See only the One, the eternal, the true, the Divine. Rise up to the Divine, don’t bring down Godhead to your human and even animal levels. Do not worship God as a picture before you, but worship the picture before you as God, because God is in everything and can be grasped through every single symbol. There is nothing wherein He is not; there is no might or right, apart from Him.

The eye sees; but what is it that sees the eye, that grasps the impressions gained by the eye? It is the mind. The objective world is the drsya (the seen); the eye is the drshta (the seer); but the eye itself is drsya to the mind which is the drshta. Finally, the intellect is also drsya, for the Atma [individualised Godhead] is the ultimate Drshta which observes as a Witness this “mano–rama” or play of the mind-principle.

The mind is ever unsteady; it is “steady in its unsteadiness” as Arjuna complained to Krishna. It is fraught with disaster; it is deep-rooted and difficult to suppress, says Arjuna. Krishna agrees but assures Arjuna that it can be tamed and rendered innocuous by acquiring wisdom and by cultivating renunciation.

This morning someone from Delhi placed before me this same problem. I told him that there is one simple solution, but he responded with a sigh. He said, “I have approached many sages and every one of them has a “simple solution”. It may be simple, but for me it is impossibly difficult”. I told him, “You are already engaged in performing more difficult exercises than the one I propose to recommend. So, it will not be hard at all. Do not lose heart. You have inherent in you vast potentiality. You can draw upon that reserve strength and succeed.” Then, I gave him the example of a bumble bee. It is a small thing, judging from its size, but it bores through the toughest timber! There is a legend that it bored through the steely muscle of Karna’s [character in the epic Mahabharata] thigh! This same bumble bee settles at sunset on a lotus flower and drinks the intoxicating nectar. It falls into a stupor, overwhelmed by the elixir. While it is still on the task, the sun sets and the petals close in, to make the bloom a bud again! The bee is imprisoned in the softness; it has no strength to bore through the tender velvety veil”! I told him, “Let your mind imbibe the nectar of the Name, let it taste the elixir of the Lotus Feet of the Lord, it will be incapacitated, rendered ineffective, incapable of harm”.

You may have vast scholarship, fame and fortune. But the bee can give you a lesson on how to be free from torment. The tree can teach you forbearance and tolerance. It offers shade to all, irrespective of age, sex or religion, nationality or economic status. It helps with fruit and shade even the foe who lays his ax on its trunk! The dog can teach you lessons in faith, selfless service and the process of dedication.

Man disgraces himself by his ingratitude, even to God who has provided him with all this wealth. Today is full moon and the sea rolls and surges in great joy. It knows only the fullness of happy contentment. The sun may lift clouds of vapour from its stock of water; the sea does not whimper. The rain may fill its coffers with the rich riverine tribute; it does not exult. It teaches you equanimity—no depression, no exaltation. Watch the waves rolling one behind the other towards the shore! You will notice the waves bringing with them bits of flotsam and jetsam, bottles and twigs, logs and pieces of wreckage to be deposited on land. There is a constant struggle evident to maintain a clean face-a laudable sadhana[spiritual discipline], which man can well adopt. Again, consider the quietness of the depths, the Prasanthi [supreme peace] that reigns in the inner regions of its consciousness. On the surface, the sea appears rest-

less, and full of fury. But down below, it is established in peace. Man, too, has to be like the sea, accepting it as his guru. Accept the world as your guru on this World Teachers’ Day, the Guru Poornima.

~Sri Sathya Sai Baba
Prasanthi Nilayam 26-7-72