Self-Control and Self-Realization

Sri Sathya Sai Baba gave the discourse below at His Prasanthi Nilayam ashram on June 29, 1989. In the discourse, He shows the path a devotee can easily follow to experience oneness with the Divine.

All things in the cosmos are the gifts of God. They are manifestations of His will. Some of them, however, have to be used carefully. When they are used intelligently, after due inquiry, they can serve as boon companions and give you happiness. Indiscriminate and reckless use of these things may turn them into your worst enemies.

For example, take fire, a knife, and electric current. It is only when they are used in the right way that you can benefit from them. If fire is not handled properly, it can cause great harm. A knife is helpful only when it is used carefully. Electricity serves you in many ways—by lighting bulbs, running fans, etc. Because of a live wire’s multifarious uses, if you try to be friendly toward it by touching it, you will get a shock. In the same manner, your sense organs have to be used extremely carefully. When the senses are used in the right way, they are of immense help. But if you use them in the wrong way, they can cause great harm.

Control the functions of the tongue

Among the senses, the tongue is a very important organ. Each sense organ has a specific function to perform. But the tongue has two functions: speech and taste. Jayadeva [author of the Gita-govinda poem] praised the tongue as the author of all sweetness and declared that he would use it only to chant the names of the Lord: “Govinda, Damodara, Madhava [names for Krishna],” and not misuse it for any unholy purpose. “I will use the tongue only for speaking truth and good,” he said. It has also been laid down in the Gita [Bhagavad-Gita] that whatever you speak should be soft, truthful, and well-meaning. The tongue is thus endowed with sacred qualities. You have to be ever vigilant in the use of the tongue. It can be the means of liberation or bondage. Hence it has been accorded pride of place among the sense organs.

The ancient sages attached great importance to control of the senses and evolved various practices to achieve this aim. For instance, they said the tongue should not be allowed to have its way with regard to food. If you pamper it by giving it whatever it desires, ultimately it will swallow you up.

To control the palate, the ancient sages prescribed various regulations. Chief among them is the Chaturmasya vrata (ritual observance for four months). The purpose of this ritual is to impose severe discipline on the tongue. The ritual takes place each year for four months, commencing from the month of Ashadha [lunar calendar]. There is another reason for this observance. As the next three months are a season of heavy rains, it will be difficult for renunciants to move from place to place. Hence they are enjoined to stay in one place and devote themselves to meditation for four months. Living in a forest for those four months, they had to live on fruits and roots. Thereby the tongue was brought under control.

At the present time, because of perversions of the Iron Age [the age of unrighteousness], this ancient four-month ritual of austerity has become an ostentatious observance. The renunciants ask for tasty edibles. While staying in a village, they expect each devotee in turn to provide a feast. This is done as “a pious offering” by the devotee. With the change in the character of the religious observance, people’s conduct also changes.

Real purpose of religious observances

The renunciants of today should realize that the real purpose of these observances is to achieve control over the palate. How can they expect to realize the Divine without achieving mastery of the senses? If your house is on fire, you may try to escape by running out of it. But if your sense organs are on fire, how can you hope to escape from them? Currently, what is happening to spiritual aspirants is that their sense organs are on fire. Today’s renunciants and spiritual aspirants are allowing their sense organs to burn like a blazing fire.

Pigeons were being sold in a temple in Jerusalem [during the time of Jesus Christ]. Jesus entered the temple and objected to the traffic in birds in a sacred temple. The priests jointly questioned Jesus about his authority to raise such an objection. Jesus then related the following parable: A farmer had two sons. He ordered the elder son to go and keep watch over the crops in the field, but he said he could not go. Then the father asked the younger son to go, and he agreed to do so. The elder son, though he had at first declined to go, felt it was not right to disobey his father and so went to the field. The second son, despite his promise, did not go there.

Jesus asked the priests, “Between these two sons, who do you think obeyed the father’s command?” They replied, “The elder son. He acted on his father’s command. The second son promised to go but did not.” Jesus declared, “Priests and teachers are proclaiming that they are adhering to the injunctions of scripture, but in actual practice are not following them. All of you are acting in the same manner.”

The priests got angry and leveled a number of charges against Jesus, saying that he was preaching against the established creed and promoting disaffection with the authorities.

Truth is not always pleasant

There is an old saying, “Truth creates enemies. Falsehood pleases many.” Truth is not always pleasant and hence provokes enmity. Lies and falsehood appear attractive and pleasing. Nevertheless, people must adhere to truth for its own sake. To say one thing and act differently is destructive of the self. It is opposed to the scriptures. You should try to practice at least one or two of the precepts you profess.

The ancient sages betook themselves to the forest for practicing yoga. Can you get self-realization through yoga? No, the rishis [sages] practiced yoga for the sake of acquiring control over the senses. Patanjali declared, “Yoga is control of the movements of the mind.” It is believed that by controlling the senses you can prolong life. Who should live longer? Good persons, righteous persons, kindhearted persons, if they live long, will benefit the world. It will only suffer more if the wicked and evil-minded live longer. For this reason, the ancients laid down that only selfless and dedicated persons should practice yoga for living long. Society benefits immensely from their longevity. They prescribed disciplines for this purpose. You should take note of these disciplines.

Breathing and longevity are related

The physical body is subject to certain limitations. For instance, there is the continuous process of inhaling and exhaling air. It has been found that if you slow down the time taken for inhaling and exhaling, you can prolong life. The faster the process of respiration, the shorter becomes the life span.

There are examples of how this rule operates. Elephants and humans inhale and exhale 12-13 times a minute. By adhering to this time scale, a human being can expect to live for 100 years. Snakes and tortoises breathe at the rate of 7-8 times per minute. Consequently, their average life span extends to 200-300 years. Monkeys, dogs, and cats breathe at the rate of 30-40 times per minute. Hence their average life does not last beyond 12-13 years. The rabbit breathes at the rate of 40-50 times per minute. Its life span is barely 5-6 years.

The faster the rate of respiration, the shorter the life span and vice versa. How can you regulate breathing? Breathing should be so slow that if soft powder is kept near the nostrils the powder will not be disturbed.

The practice of yoga helps to slow down the rate of breathing in this manner.

Concentration, meditation, samadhi

How do you meditate? The first step is concentration. Twelve concentration exercises add up to one meditation. Twelve meditations equal one samadhi [complete absorption in the object of meditation, beyond thought and form]. Concentration is steady viewing of any object for 12 seconds. You have to look at the object—a flame, a picture, or an idol—for only 12 seconds with total concentration, without winking. This is concentration.

Practicing concentration is a preparation for meditation. The duration of meditation is twelve concentration exercises. Meditation should last 12 seconds times 12, or 144 seconds—that is, 2 minutes 24 seconds. Meditation does not require sitting for hours. Proper meditation need not last more than 2 minutes 24 seconds. It is only after you have practiced concentration well that you can meditate well. Twelve meditations equal one samadhi, lasting 28 minutes 48 seconds (144 seconds times 12)—very much less than an hour. If samadhi is prolonged, it may prove fatal.

Such are the disciplines the yogis practiced. These disciplines are not explained in any of the scriptures. If you want to proceed correctly in the practice of these disciplines, you have to begin with concentration. Start practicing it for 12 seconds a day from now on. This practice is very important for students. In the past, yogis like Aurobindo [Aurobindo Ghose] and Ramana Maharshi practiced these disciplines. Ramana Maharshi used to go up to the terrace and concentrate on a particular star for twelve seconds. In that state, the mind was also still and steady.

By continuing the practice of concentration, you develop the capacity to perform meditation for 2 minutes 24 seconds. Continuing the practice of meditation in this way, you develop the capacity to be in a state of samadhi for 28 minutes 48 seconds.

Equanimity is the fruit of meditation

What is the inner meaning of samadhi? It is not a state of unconsciousness or some other kind of consciousness. It is nothing of the kind. The correct meaning of the word is “sama-dhi” is the state in which the intellect has achieved equanimity. Whether in pleasure or pain, in praise or blame, in gain or loss, in heat or cold, to be able to maintain an equal mind is samadhi. That is the real fruit of meditation.

This is a sacred day on which you can begin this yogic practice, which will enable you to sharpen your mind and develop the keenness of your intellect. I have not revealed all this to anyone before.

Likewise, meditation is an extremely easy process. Samadhi is even easier. But because of improper understanding of the methods, spiritual aspirants get involved in difficulties. Many imagine that meditation merely calls for sitting in the lotus pose. But they do not know where their mind is wandering at the time. A mosquito sitting on their nose disturbs their concentration. When the mosquito repeats its attacks, they lose their patience and defeat the entire purpose of the meditation.

To maintain your calmness and concentration during meditation, unaffected by any disturbing elements, you have to practice concentration. Through it, you also achieve control of the senses. You secure purity of mind. Through mental purity, you experience the Divine.

Practice concentration and meditation and experience the results. Your joy, your purity, and your brightness will be enhanced beyond measure. Now, you look sickly because you have all sorts of impurities. There is no shine on your faces. It is purity that imparts effulgence to the face. When there is purity in you, your face shines brightly. You lose your brightness because of impure thoughts. The more you develop your purity, the more youthful you will be. No illness will affect you. Purity is what you should aim for. And you should achieve it through love.

Meditation is absorption in thought

Meditation in these days is often confined to the prayer room. As soon as you emerge from the shrine, you are filled with all sorts of mental agitations. Hence, it has been declared, “Be established in yoga all the time.” This does not mean giving up all worldly affairs. Pursue your studies. Fulfill your duties. But in all these activities, use your power of concentration. In the process, you develop your power of meditation.

Meditation means single-pointed contemplation. Even in daily life, when you are in a reflective mood, people ask you, “What meditation are you doing?” Meditation also means absorption in thought. It should be centered on only one specific subject. This is described in Vedantic parlance as salokya. Commonly, this word means concentrating your thoughts on what you desire, whatever it is. “Sa” comprehends every aspect of Divinity, so in Vedic terms Salokya means “absorption in the thoughts of the Godhead.”

Through meditation, you have to achieve a sense of oneness with the Divine. The various types of meditation practiced today are concerned with the trivial. Through these methods, you cannot realize the Divine. The very first requisite is controlling the vagaries of the mind. Only then can meditation be effective.

Creeds vary, but spiritual process is one

You must first practice concentration. You may choose any object for the purpose of concentrating on it—a picture or other physical object. There is also an internal method of practicing concentration. When you close your eyes, a small dark spot appears before the inner eye. You may concentrate on this spot for 12 seconds without letting it move. By this practice, you can develop the power of meditation.

The practice of meditation leads you to proximity to the Lord. This nearness takes you to the next stage, experiencing the vision of the Lord. You may compare this process to a river’s arrival to merge in the ocean. At first, the ocean repels the advance of the river. After repeated attempts of the river to merge in the ocean, the latter allows the river to pass under its waves. Spiritually, this process in which the individual soul becomes one with the Supreme Self is described as mergence in the Divine.

The first stage in the process is continuous contemplation of the Divine. Think about the Lord whenever you act. Then you will achieve nearness to Him. When you come nearer, develop closer relations with Him. In due course, you will attain the state where you have the vision of the Lord. Next, the realization that “you and I are one” dawns. Finally, you will experience mergence in Him—complete oneness with the Divine.

You will find this fourfold approach to the Divine in any philosophy or religion. The creeds may vary, but the spiritual process is one.

Source: Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 22