No Mirror, No Image
Bhagawan Baba delivers the essence of the holy Shivaratri [holy night dedicated to Shiva]—the individual’s ultimate exercise to identify with the Universal—in this divine discourse nearly 45 years ago.
When the word ‘lamp’ is uttered, darkness does not vanish. When a patient is told of the properties of a drug, his illness is not cured by attentive listening. When a man suffering the agonies of penury is told of the various ways in which funds can help him to overcome it, he does not feel a bit relieved. And, a hungry man is hungry even after hearing a tasty description of a magnificent banquet. Even if Sanathana Dharma (the eternal religion) is extolled as the cure for all the individual, social, and national discontent prevalent among mankind, it will not reduce the discontent a bit. You must extol it with faith; and more so, extol it out of the depth of your experience. You have to experience it, and stand witness to its validity. Then you have to attain the state of perfect and lasting joy. Instead, you have ignored the cure, and thus heightened the disease.
Indeed, sustained attempts are made to overcome grief and acquire joy; but success eludes; and when obtained, it is illusory. Man does not reason within himself about the authenticity of his experience. Constant self‑criticism is necessary to avoid pitfalls, and devious by‑lanes. This day, Shivaratri, is ideal for this intense search. That is why I am telling you about these fundamental issues. To what end is all this effort in life? You spend great effort in inviting your kith and kin, decorating your home, preparing a feast, and entertaining with music and dance to celebrate the marriage of the bride and the groom so that they may live together happily ever afterward, isn’t it? So, too, all the earning and spending, all the yearning and sighing, and all the reading and reciting are for the individual soul to be wedded to the universal soul from which it has broken away), and enjoy eternal bliss.
Tough discipline wins God
The Universal can be cognized in the wink of an eye; [Divine] bliss is available within a flash but, you have to know the technique. You may have fresh vegetables, fine rice, excellent daal (lentil), and clean tamarind—all the requisites for preparing a good lunch; but, if you do not know how to cook, of what avail are all these? You must learn, strive, struggle, and then, success will be yours. Start the process, take the first step, listen attentively, and ruminate over what has been heard. Then try to put into practise a thing or two of what has been told.
Nowadays, you can bribe your way to success in every sphere. But, God cannot be won by tricks or through short cuts. He can be won only through hard struggle, detachment, and tough discipline. Yearn desperately for Him, cling steadfastly to Him, and fill your mind with His form, His majesty, His glory, and His grace. Man is innately divine, so the Divine comes automatically into his consciousness. But the curtain of maya (illusion) prevents that thrilling contact, and illumining revelation. This maya is also a divine artifice; it is a vehicle of the Lord.
Once, the Lord got angry with maya and wanted ‘her’ to disappear since people were being led astray by her wiles. Maya said, ‘I am the veil that You wear; I am the fog that has arisen out of Your own will; I am as widespread as You are; I am wherever You are; give me a place where You are not and I shall take refuge there.” Each one of you can tear the veil by attaining the knowledge of the reality of God, or, you can plead by prayer to the Lord Himself to lift it a little so that you may have a vision of His reality.
Learn and practise Vibhaga Yoga
Move about in the world like an actor, but be conscious all the time that you are on the way home, to be with the Lord from whom you have come. Whenever the feeling that the drama is real enters the mind, deny it firmly. Do not identify yourself with the role that you play. Such identification will retard your progress.
You must learn and practise what is called Vibhagayoga in the Bhagawad Gita [Hindu scripture]. What does vibhaga mean as (expressed) in the Gita as kshetra‑kshetrajna‑vibhaga‑yoga? Vibhaga means division, differentiation, discrimination, and separation of one thing from another. Understand the distinction between the kshetra (the body, the field) and the kshetrajna (the Knower in this body), who is aware of all that happens, who is the witness, and the dehi (the embodied) who is above all the dualities of pleasure and pain, good and bad.
The base metal of modern civilization has gotten mixed up with the gold of Sanathana Dharma, and so the vibhaga (separation) has to be done in order to get the pure gold. When some one is shot up into space, and starts revolving around the earth or racing to the moon, you acclaim the feat. You do not realize that men on earth are being starved of resources by this costly adventure, and that it is at the same time, tainted by hate and pride. One single rocket costs as much as the total budget of all the universities of India for twenty years! The net result of all this ‘progress’ is just this: mankind is living precariously on the brink of a holocaust and is terror‑stricken. Indeed, man startles at the echo of his own steps.
Be eager to rescue others
Man feels that he is the master of the universe, and that the universe exists only under his sufferance. How then can he have peace? This conceit will bring about his fall. Instead, man must be humble and realize that he knows so little even about himself. Without the knowledge of his own self, what is his brain worth? Make yourself humble, pure, and useful to others. Therein lies peace and joy.
Today is Shivaratri. Take the ideal of Shiva [one of the Hindu trinity]. When the devastating halahala poison emerged from the ocean, life on earth was threatened with immediate and total destruction. Shiva offered to drink the poison, and save the world. His throat has been blue ever since. Be eager to serve, help, and to come to the rescue of others. For this, one must cultivate sahana (fortitude, equanimity). Otherwise, life will be as miserable as resting in the thick shade of a tree infested with red ants! If impatience, anger, hatred, and pride overcome a person, of what avail are other accomplishments? In the firmament of the heart, the names of God must shine as stars, and the confidence arising out of the knowledge of atma [soul] must shine bright like the full moon.
This is a critical time for the people of India when the self‑confidence arising from self‑knowledge is mandatory. Both men and women have to earn this knowledge and treasure it. Men should give up the attitude of putting down women. They are not servants to be lorded over; they too have self‑respect and individuality. In fact, women have devotion, sympathy, spirit of sacrifice, fortitude, and other virtues in greater measure than men. But yet the feeling prevalent among men is that if their advice is taken, it is somehow demeaning. This must be given up. Pay respect to spiritual excellence and intellectual discrimination wherever it is evident. Yearn to reach the stage of perfect bliss.
The highest awareness to which all spiritual effort leads is: “Brahma satyam, Jagan mithya”—”Brahman is real, the world is mythical.” Every atom and cell is a bundle of energy, expressing the Divine will. Matter and energy are not really separate. It is all one will concretising, pervading, prompting, and continuing. To experience the world as such, one must transcend all dual categories and reach the unique, unitary base, identifying It, and establishing oneself in It. When the eye is filled with jnana (vision of God), the world will be seen as Brahman (the eternal absolute). Then the world and the entire complex of being and becoming will assume one color, the Brahman colour, and you will have perfect equanimity.No mirror, no image! Yearn to reach that stage of perfect unshaken (divine) bliss.
This stage (of bliss) can be known and appreciated only when you strive to be in the company of sadhakas (spiritual aspirants) and saints. When a sandalwood tree is felled by an axe, the axe too smells of the sandalwood! That is the nature of the good: they bless even those who harm or malign them. Do not pay attention to the cynical laughter and cruel criticisms of the worldly‑minded. When a kinsman lands at your door, if you rise to welcome him, and speak words of welcome, he will enter and stay; but if you do not cast a look of recognition at him, he will be so hurt that he will turn back and go. So too, do not heed the comments of the foolish. They will then revert to those who indulged in them.
I am also the target of such comments! People do not understand the ways of God. How can they know why a particular event takes place at a particular time in a particular manner? He alone can know. But, people try to sit in judgement and talk ill, when, for example, some one dies of illness at this place! How can any one escape death? Even Avatars (Divine incarnations) cast off the physical form when the task for which they have come is over. It is the height of foolishness to lose faith in God when someone you cared for dies. The sentence that he earned is over, and he is released. No one is born and allowed to live for the sake of another. Do not therefore allow any circumstance to affect your faith in God, who is your strength and solace.
So, I advise you to utilize every moment of your lives in the most beneficial manner. Serve your fellow man to the best of your capacity, cultivate love toward all mankind, and give up hate and malice. Believe that you are God; the (Divine) form that you revere, is in everyone; sanctify every act as worship of that form. The (Shivaratri) bhajan [singing of holy songs] will continue throughout the night; share in it, and fill your mind with the thoughts of the glory of God, the glory that you yourselves are.
Source: Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 7
