Sathya Sai Gita – part 3
In the third part of the Sathya Sai Gita, Bhagavan tells us to take what He has to say to heart, putting it into daily practice. He also asks us to keep our intelligence—through which we understand Him—free of crookedness. We need to let it be straight and sharp.
( Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 )
Vidura once asked Krishna, “Why did you take part in the killing of millions of soldiers in the Kurukshetra battle? You could have avoided all that massacre and saved yourselves a lot of bother by simply changing the mental attitudes of the chief participants on the Kaurava side: Duryodhana, Dussasana, Sakuni, and Karna.” Krishna answered, “My dear man, I have given everyone a sum of qualities and powers. I also have given each a certain amount of freedom to utilize them as they feel best. It is by functioning in this manner that each one can learn better. By toddling a few steps, a child’s balance becomes more certain and firm. Experience is the best—and hardest—school. However much you say that fire burns, unless you actually burn your fingers, you will not know what a burn is.”
You have some freedom of action. A cow, tied by a rope to a tree, can roam around that radius and eat the grass in that space. You often say, “Everything is Baba’s will.” Then why do you come and ask for this or that, or even wish or plan? You must use the intelligence and imagination you have been allotted to the best purpose. Then the giver will be pleased to give more. On the other hand, if you misuse the intelligence and turn the imagination against your master, the giver will naturally get incensed and punish you to teach you a lesson.
Prema is in all forms of devotion
I have often repeated the same advice to you, so you may get the feeling that I have only a few things to say. But a mother has to repeat the same directions to a child over and over again until the child learns to behave accordingly. The Vedamata and the Gitamata (mother of Vedas and Gita) repeat the same truths over and over in different contexts and imageries. The sign of all mothers is an overwhelming desire to reform children and to direct them along the path of progress.
Thirumalachar read the section on bhakthi yoga (path of devotion) today, and he spoke of the nine forms of bhakthi (devotion) that I generally talk about: sravanam (hearing), keerthanam (singing), smaranam (remembering), vandanam (salutations), padasevanam (touching the feet), archanam (worshipping), dasyam (serving), sakhyam (friendship), and atmanivedanam (offering the Self). In all these forms, prema (love) is the essential component. Prema thrills and fills the mind with joy and hope. Pothana, Nandanar, Jayadeva, Gouranga, Thukaram, Meera, Purandaradasa, Thyagaraja, and others were thrilled at the very thought of the Lord because they had prema in such a pure and overpowering form.
Some people laugh at all this bhajan (devotional singing) and call it mere show and exhibition. They recommend instead quiet meditation in the silent recess of the shrine room. But coming out in company and doing bhajan helps to remove egoism. One is not afraid of laughter or ashamed to call out the name of the Lord. One is inspired by the devotion of others. The company of those with kindred sentiments helps to foster the tiny seedling from being scorched by the heat of derision. A person will sweep the floor of his room with a broom when nobody is looking. But to do the same act when people are looking requires some mastery over the ego.
Do acts of prema toward all
Prema is filial piety when directed towards parents, companionship when it flows towards friends, love when it is felt towards the partner, respect when directed towards elders, and affection when directed towards children. Bhakthi affects your action in three forms: you do some acts consciously in order to demonstrate your love or give vent to the prema that animates you; you do acts as dedicated offerings to enhance the glory of the Lord in a spirit of worshipful humility, as if you are laying at His feet all that you are and all that you are capable of; and you do acts which are full of prema towards all as part of your mere existence, automatically, without any tinge of self or whiff of violence upsetting the perfume of the act. The dedicated act leads on to all activity being dedication; the ananda (bliss) makes you feel that your effort has been worthwhile. That is the end, the aim, and the inspiration.
How do you give Me ananda? By taking to heart what I say and putting it into daily practice. Deciding to move high, but attracted by the low, you betray yourself. Improve your character and conduct. When your feelings become cleansed and your impulses pure, you can see My Form in its reality. I shall tell you the thing in a nutshell: Make the intelligence that has to understand Me free from crookedness; let it become straight and sharp.
Our relationship is atmic
I have now fallen into your grasp, the very treasure that you have been searching for, because our relationship is atmic, not secular or trained. In all other places, you are fleeced because the relationship is based on the purse. In some places, it is based on caste, or scholarship, or some other incidental trait. Here, it is the attachment that the Narayana has for nara (man), the ocean for the stream, the universal for the particular. Here, everyone must become unlimited, escaping from bonds that limit.
All can become He. No one is outside the love of the Lord. A mother asks an eighteen‑year old boy to go into the kitchen, get a plate, serve himself rice and curry, and eat. The mother is not callous or unkind; she knows the capacity of the boy and treats him as he ought to be treated. She accompanies another son to the kitchen and sits beside him and serves him food. She seats a third son on her lap and feeds him with many a song in order to make the process pleasant for the child. Do not think that the mother is partial. She is only making use of her knowledge of the capacity of each of her children to make progress. That is the nature of maternal love.
There are some gurus who have so much love, even towards their sishyas (students). When aspirants go to them asking for guidance, they praise them to the skies, exaggerate their attainments and grant them titles(!) which are paraded by the unfortunate victims. In this way, the disciples are burdened by additional handicaps to spiritual advance. The gurus want money for various purposes and so they always have an eye on the purses of the disciples. They try to draw out the money by the grant of titles, or by public praise, or by promise of public recognition—all worldly bait that is detrimental to the principle of non‑attachment that they teach and stand for.
Some gurus seek rich disciples
Let gurus condemn the accumulation of wealth, and blame them for the misuse they are making of it. Let them be unsparing in their condemnation. That is the sign of the guru who knows his mission. On the other hand, such gurus ignore and tolerate evil in the would‑be donors because they are afraid any condemnation will dry up their source of income. Thus, they ruin the disciples by desisting from giving them the drastic drug they need—urgently—for their spiritual health. This hunt for moneyed disciples who can be fleeced has become a tragi‑comedy. It has been developed by some sanyasis (ascetics) into a fine art. The time has come to expose and punish such sadhus (noble souls). That will be one task in the dharmasthapana (establishment of righteousness) for which I have come. The brokers that these gurus have scattered over the country must also be broken.
Books, pamphlets, meetings, speeches, talks—all these are no good. Everyone desirous of knowing Me has to be asked to approach and experience Me. In order to understand the concept of “mountain,” it is not enough to choose a stone and say, “A mountain is a million times the size of this.” You will have to see an actual mountain, at least from a distance, to understand it. The “beyond” is very incomprehensible. Science is like the letter “C,” always with a gap in the middle—a gap that remains unfilled. Only religion has filled the gap, for it knows the reality that persists in the three stages, in the three tenses, and in the three worlds. Religion is the letter “O,” a full circle, which may enlarge as you know more and more of the glory of the Lord, but which is ever full and complete. At the end of it all, we are at the beginning again.
The miracle is but the natural behavior of the miraculous. That is why I favor you with the experience now and then, so that you may get a glimpse of the glory. I will be in this mortal human form for 59 years more (as of 1960), and I shall certainly achieve the purpose of this Avatar (descent of God on earth). Do not doubt it. I will take My own time to carry out My plan as far as you are concerned. I cannot hurry because you are hurrying.
I may sometimes wait until I can achieve ten things at one stroke, just as an engine doesn’t usually haul just one coach, but waits until a sufficient load is ready. But My word will never fail. It must happen as I will.
Source: Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. I
Prasanthi Nilayam, 1960-09-30
( Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 )
You are a part of my mission. Do not run away from me.
Due to the merits of several lives, you have the opportunity to be close to me.
If you let go of this opportunity and go away, a day will come when you will stand
at the gates of Prasanthi Nilayam and wail to get entry.
Do not give room to petty thoughts, suspicion, and desires.
~Sathya Sai Baba~
