Many Voices and The Voice
This discourse was given by Swami on the occasion of Guru Purnima, in 1974. This year, Guru Purnima will be celebrated on July 16.
Of the many billions of living beings, man alone has the privilege of being entitled to investigate the truth of the universe and to merge in the bliss of its realization. But man is lost in the pursuit of wrong goals; he is struggling in the fog of doubt and divisive loyalties. He is frittering away energies and time in activities that bind him still further in the tangles of material wants. This type of activity called moha karma, (attachment/ desire-oriented activity) flows from delusion. Man must outgrow this tendency, and turn towards dharma karma–moral activity, idealistic activity, activity that sublimates lower instincts and impulses and transforms every deed into an act of dedication. When this attitude is confirmed and consolidated, all karma (action) becomes brahma karma (dedicated activity). Man, merges in the universal and loses the inhibiting individuality. That is the karma which the atma (soul) craves and delights in.
Even in the first stage of moha karma, man should endeavor to charge it with prema (divine love). Divine love will correct the karma imperceptibly into the path of righteousness and lead systematically, into further stages of human progress towards divinity. What then is prema? lt cannot be earned or acquired, it is the natural endowment of man. It cannot be refused or thrown away. It cannot be taught or learned. If directed toward sensual objects, it may well spell ruin: if directed away from them, it can well ensure salvation.
Yearning for sublimity is Prema
Prema, or love, is a much-misused word. Any positive response or attraction is called love; any feeling of attachment, however trivial or transitory, is characterized as prema. We must coin new words or identify specific words to indicate the different forms of love. The attachment of parents to children or of children to parents is affection. The response to the attraction of sex can be described as fancy, fascination or moha (delusion). The feeling of kinship or comradeship evokes dearness. The pleasure one gets through a sense of possession, especially of material objects, can be known as satisfaction. The yearning to reach for the sublimity that lies inherent in truth–this alone is entitled to be called by that holy word, prema. That is the sweetest, the most charming, the most satisfying possession of man.
Prema is strong and steady enough to leap over all obstacles, confront with equanimity all changes of fortune, and defeat all attempts to delay or deviate. It does not judge one incident as good and another as bad; it does not ascribe them to different agencies. Just as the same sun causes both day and night, the same divine will causes joy and grief; so the devotee does not wince or exult when ill or well.
The fault lies in man’s fascination for the ‘many’, instead of the ‘one.’ He pursues the diverse and forgets the unity in the universe. Really speaking, the ‘many’ are but different vehicles for the expression of the ‘one.’ Take the example of electric current. When the fan whirls, we say that the current is flowing; when it stops whirling, we note the absence of the current. When the bulb is on, we notice its presence, when the bulb is off, we notice its absence. The current by itself is invisible; it is niraakaara (formless). It activates various things and so we recognize it.
So, too, divinity is in all things and behind all activity. To understand it and to recognize resident it, we need instruments.
The eyes see, but can the organ ‘eye’ see by itself? It cannot function without prompting of the divine atma within. The brain thinks, but can the cells perform the process all by themselves? No. They must be activated by the divine within. The ‘one’ is the basis, the cause, of the manifestation in the many. Through prema alone can the inherent, the immanent One, be recognized, for the divine is prema, more than anything else. All is enveloped by and activated by the Lord. All is One. The One appears as many, to the prejudiced eye. Clear the eye of the cataract of ignorance, and it cognizes all as One. In fact, you see with your eyes, only yourself, everywhere. You talk only to yourself, to whomsoever your speech is addressed. You are pleased with yourself; you hate yourself; you harm yourself. There is no other!
Even when divinity comes down as avatar, man is unable to pierce the veil and revere the divine. Lord Krishna says that people are unable to recognize the divinity that is He because they deem Him merely human. Only those who are aware of the current within, the atma, can identify the source of power.
Listen to the voice of God within
Three disciplines are essential to become aware of divinity in all and in the avatar. No activity should be taken up with individual aggrandizement in view; intellect and emotion must be directed to the revelation of the in the heart—the atma; every act should be done sincerely, with love, with no yearning for acquiring personal profit, fame or benefit. Above all, listen to the voice of God within. As soon as one contemplates a wrong act, that voice warns, protests, and advises giving up. It pictures the shame that has to be suffered, the punishment that has to be faced, the disgrace that the act entails. It would appear that there are two personalities inside you. the one that prompts and the one that prevents. The warning signal, the timely advice, is given by the jangam (the spirit of right) in the angam (the physical body). It reminds you of the absurdity and the danger inherent in the identification of the self with the body, it encourages you to discriminate between right and wrong; it is God, enthroned in every heart as the highest wisdom, the prajnana (consciousness), the eternal witness, whom you can contact easily in the depths of dhyana (meditation).
In fact, when you examine your mind, you will find not one but many Counselors with their contrariness, causing confusion. For example, no sooner have you planned to come to Puttaparthi to take the darshan (sight of a holy person) of Swami than these counselors start playing their games. One voice advises you to start only after ascertaining whether Swami is actually present there. Another voice suggests that you can put through a call to ‘so-and-so’ and discover whether Swami is in Bangalore or Puttaparthi. A fourth lays before you alternative routes and means of transport, and causes a good deal of headache. This is the group of voices that play around the spirit of right, trying to distract it.
Cultivate the vision directed inward
Another voice might say, when the others have finished, “Well, my dear man! Consider from all points of view, this desire of yours. You may go there, putting yourself to a lot of expense and bother; think of this possibility also—you may or may not get an interview with Swami.” Another voice might intervene and say, “O! Considering all the wrongs done and all the faults committed, it is very doubtful, if Swami will grant you the interview.” In the wake of this voice another will begin its argument of assurance. It will comfort, saying. “No! Swami is the very embodiment of compassion. He will certainly pardon all errors.” This principle that guides and guards you along the spiritual path is the Iingam (symbol of the formless), that is in the center of the group, clustering around the spirit of right.
The lingam is in the very core of the heart of man, as the sole purveyor of bliss, power and illumination. Cultivate the vision directed inward, so that the lingam might grant you these three. The mind will then be illumined with the cool comforting light of love and wisdom. That is why the mind has as its presiding deity the moon. Hence, the celebration of the day of thanksgiving for all gurus (spiritual preceptors) and the prime guru—Vedavyaasa, is done on the full moon day.
Unless you cleanse the mind with love, the full moon of spiritual wisdom cannot shine therein. The recital of the name, the observance of vows and vigils, of fasts and festivals, may scintillate on the inner sky of the mind, as stars stud the sky; but until the lamp of love is lit, the darkness will not vanish.
Guru means remover of ignorance
This day is a day set apart for the worship of the guru. Who is the guru? How can a person who has not reached the goal guide you toward it? When he himself is groping in the dark, how can he illumine your path? Most gurus who profess to lead are themselves not quite sure of the road or quite convinced of the rightness of their path. Gu means darkness, or ignorance; ru its removal. So, the guru must know the process by which ignorance can be removed in another. How can he do it when he has not done it for himself? The blind cannot lead the blind.
Guru has a further meaning too. Gu means gunaatheetha (beyond the three strands of energy of which the cosmos is composed) and ru means ruupu-rahitha (devoid of any particular form). Now, no mortal has transcended the guna (quality) and rupu (form). God alone can be described as unaffected by these. And God is the guru, right in your heart, ready to lead and enlighten. He is all knowing, all-powerful, all-pervading.
Scatter the dark clouds of ignorance and egoism that cover the face of the sun shining in the sky of your heart. Your parents might disown you; your kinsmen might desert you. Your friends might give you up, your treasured possessions might be lost. But God will be ever near, ever dear, ever ready with counsel and courage. People will gather around you so long as you have pelf and power; you will be left alone, when you lose them. They are like swarms of frogs that infest a full lake, croaking flattery, but disappearing, when the lake is dry.
Guru worship can be done all days of the year
You rush here for the Guru Purnima festival; but there is no need to await this annual event for revering the guru. People spend this day in worshipping the guru and seeking his directives. This can be done all days of the year! Selecting a special day smacks of superficiality and exhibitionism. I desire to discourage this attitude of yours; I want you to cultivate not these external ceremonies and festivals, but the internal sadhana, (spiritual discipline) the inner vision, the spiritual longing.
I do not claim that I am a guru; or consider you as disciples or pupils. When I am all that is, who can be separately specified as guru and who as disciple or pupil? Ignorance of the One leads one to this dichotomy. Realization of the truth will end this distinction. None need teach, none need learn. All are fundamentally chith (awareness). This is the reality.
The teacher should not feel superior; the pupil should not feel inferior. Both are atma in reality. There is no high and no low. All are waves in the ocean of bliss. When your body is healthy, charming, fully content, consider how happy you are! Now, know that the bodies of all beings are you–really speaking. And when all those other bodies are happy, healthy, strong, and full, calculate how much bliss you can cherish in your heart! The vision of the viraat (the Cosmic Form), is given for those who surrender their ego and take refuge in the Lord (as Arjuna did) and who imbibe with care the song sung by the Lord in silence. God is omnipresent; He is the inner motivator of every particle in the universe. To declare that He is amenable only to your style of worship, that He will answer only to the name that you have learned to use, is to insult His omniscience and His glory. See Him in all, serve Him in all. Revere Him in all. Pray, “Let the whole world prosper; let all mankind be happy.” This is the special message I give you on this day.
Source: Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. XII
Real inquiry into the truth calls for an inquiry into both the nature of the branches and roots and of the tree as a whole. The scientist looks only at the branches. But a student of the roots is a vedantin (student of Vedanta). Whether one is a scientist or a vedantin, the pursuit of truth calls for a study of the branches, the roots, and the tree integrally.
~Sathya Sai Baba
