Social Life and Atmic Sadhana
In the following discourse Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba explains that divinity is fully emminant in everyone so a spiritual aspirant cannot say that social life and spiritual effort should be placed in different compartments. He says, that one cannot function without the other.
What have sociology or the social sciences to do with the science of the spirit or the inquiry into the human spirit? This is a question that is commonly raised. Many people also ask: what does the sadhaka [spiritual aspirant] have to do with society and its problems? It must be said that both these attitudes are wrong.
No society can find its fulfillment, no social ideal can fructify, without the blossoming of the spirit of man. Mankind cannot realize the Divinity whose expression it is, without careful and constant attention being paid to the cultivation of the spirit. How else can this Divinity express itself other than in and through individuals? We can only perceive the jagat, [world]—this moving, inconstant, fantasia; we cannot see, hear, smell, taste, or touch the director of the fantasia, God. In the same manner, we perceive the individual, but not the entity named society. For society is not a separate, distinct complex formed out of elemental components, but is divine proliferation produced by the supreme will.
Man is mortal; dust he is and to dust he returneth. But the atma [spirit] shines in him as a spark of the immortal flame. The atma is not just a term invented by Vedantists [proponents of the scriptures]. The atma is the only source and sustenance of every being and every organization of beings. The atma is God; the particular is the universal. Therefore, recognize each being, each person, as a brother, a child of God, and ignore all limiting thoughts and prejudices based on status, color, class, ethnicity, and caste. Sai is ever engaged in warning you and guiding you so that you may think, speak, and act in this attitude of love.
Society cannot justify itself by planning to divide the spoils gained from nature either in equal or unequal shares. Society has to be inspired by the establishment and elaboration of the knowledge of the one universal atma in every social act and resolution and the bliss that that knowledge confers. Sai does not direct, “The atma has no death; therefore, kill the physical sheaths, the bodies.” Sai does not encourage wars. Sai directs you to recognize the atma as your closest kin, closer than the members of your family, your relatives, and your dearest descendants. When this is done, you will never stray again from the path of righteousness.
Familial attachment operates even against the performance of one’s legitimate duties. But, attachment to the Divine fills that duty with a new dedication that ensures both joy and success. It activates man as nothing else can; it confers the highest wisdom on him during the process of doing his duty. Hence the advice: do not enter the objective world (prakriti [nature]) in the hope of realizing the atma but enter it after becoming aware of the atma. Then you see nature in a new light and your very life becomes a long festival of love.
Many people use their scholarship and intelligence, even Vedic scholarship, in dreary debate and competitive display. They are enamored of their petty triumphs and declare that society is an arena for winning such triumphs. But Sai calls on you to seek and strengthen another type of society, where there is no room for such trivial desires.
Disputative Vedic scholars crave for the fruits of their endeavors and rituals. Nature does not crave this. The clouds bring rain as homage to God who is their Lord. But, some Vedic scholars attribute it to the efficacy of their rites and use it to inflate their egos. They play among the far‑spreading branches of the tree of desire. They are entangled in the coils of the three ‘ropes’ —the tamasic [slothful], the rajasic [passionate], and the satwik [pure].
You have to go beyond the three ropes, the bonds. You always have to be in the unchanging eternal truth. You must be established in the one, as the one, with no trace or taste of two. Earning and garnering should not interest you, neither should you be caught in the pursuit of yoga and kshema [protection of what you have], for you are complete already and have no wants.
The ideal of a high standard of life, instead of a high level of living, has played havoc with human society. A high level of living insists on morality, humility, detachment, and compassion. The competitive greed for luxury and conspicuous consumption therefore receives no encouragement and will be destroyed. Currently man is the slave of his desires and finds himself helpless to conquer the thirst for pleasure and luxury. He is too weak to keep his nature under control and does not know how to arouse the divine consciousness that is latent in him.
Mere moral practices or instruction cannot help you to achieve this. It can be done only by spiritual sadhana, for it is a fundamental transformation. It involves the elimination of the mind, which is the arch-obstacle in the spiritual path. If invoked and won, the grace of God can endow you with the power to do this. This grace is available within you, awaiting the call.
Man must give up reliance on the vagaries of the mind. He must always act in the consciousness of his innate divinity. When that is done, his three‑fold nature (composed of the gunas [qualities]—tamasic, rajasic, and satwik will automatically express itself through only holy channels.
One may say, “If one has to give up the desire for comfort, luxury, and pleasure, why should one be embroiled in society?” This presupposes the belief that society is justified only by the provision of such worldly joys. But what kind of society can one build on such slender foundations? It can be a society only in name; it will not be bound by mutual love and cooperation. The strong will suppress the weak. Social relations will be marred by discontent. Even attempts to divide the resources of nature equally among all, will bring only superficial cordiality. It will not be spontaneous. We can limit the resources available, but we cannot limit greed, desire, and craving.
Desire involves seeking beyond the limits of possibility and has to be plucked out by the roots. Man must give up the desire for objective pleasure, based on the illusion that the world is many, manifold, multi‑colored etc, and realize the truth that the world, nature, all creation, is one. When one is conscious only of the one, who desires what? What can be acquired and enjoyed by the second person? Atmic vision destroys the desire for objective joys, for there is no object distinct from the subject.
This is the true function of society—to enable every member to realize this atmic vision. Men and women bound by mutual interests in a society are not merely families, castes, classes, groups, or kinsmen and kinswomen, they are one atma. They are knit by the closest of family ties—all mankind is one. The shastras [holy scriptures] declare that Vasudaiva kutumbakam—the whole world is one family. This unity must be experienced by everyone.
Natural resources and wealth are now being misused to boost one’s ego. But when the atmic unity is realized, a new way of life through love will be promoted. What is now mercy or legally enforced mutual help, will then be transformed into divine love that purifies the recipient and the giver. This consummation is beyond the reach of common politics, ethics, or economics that cannot transform the receiver and thrill the giver. They do not have the same appeal or power to sustain. The equality they establish will be haunted by a shadow, the shadow of the ego. This shadow can disappear only when all persons know and feel their identity as one.
It may be said that not all desires are wrong. The rajasic ones that harm and exploit others can be condemned, but why renounce the satwik desires? But, desire is desire, though the object may be beneficial and pure. The fruit of effort, the mind that seeks it, the vitality that activates the mind, life itself—every one of these has to be turned toward the Lord, with devotion born out of the vision of the one.
Those who argue that the spiritual path is for the individual only, and that society should not be involved in it, are committing a great mistake. It is like insisting that there should be light inside the house, and that it does not matter if there is darkness outside. Devotion toward God does not go with hatred toward fellow men. Fellow men and the world must be always be seen in the mirror of sat‑chit‑ananda [being-awareness-bliss]. Only the kinship based on this recognition will last. That is the Sai kinship. When you deepen that kinship, the true presence, the constant presence of Sathya Sai will be yours. Do not be led away by your fancies into the jungle of words and feelings. Be firm and true to your innermost nature.
The concepts of good and evil are based on the reactions of individuals; they are not inherent in things or events. Vedanta or atheism is accepted or rejected when one likes or dislikes it. They do not depend on logical acceptance or rejection. Only experience can establish their validity. Who can delineate Godhood as such and such? Those who do that are indulging in a futile exercise. They have no authority to declare it. Any people who claim that right are conceited and relying on their limited intellects. Divinity is fully immanent in every one; it is patent for the eyes that can see clearly and deeply. Whoever denies this is only cheating himself of his reality. He cannot dismiss it by denial, either from himself or others.
Therefore, it is the duty of men to see the expression of Divinity in society, and to use all his skill and effort to promote the welfare and prosperity of society. Men must cultivate (1) this expansive feeling (2) this inclusive thinking, and (3) this intuitive vision. Without these three, man is but an inert being. If he derides these three, he loses his title of ‘human.’ The spirit of renunciation, adherence to virtue, the eagerness to co‑operate, the sense of kinship—these are the true characteristics of man. Life that considers these as encumbrances cannot be valued as life.
The brotherhood of man can be translated into life only on the basis of the atmic vision. All men thirst for peace, happiness, and bliss. This precious heritage is their right, for they are God’s treasure. It can only be earned by recognizing the bond that knits man to man. All men are of one lineage that is divine. All men are cells in the one Divine organism, in the Divine body. That should be your faith, your fortune, your fort, and your fullness. It is only awareness of this that gives you the right to call yourself a man. Learn to live as men. This is the sadhana; this is the message of Sai.
Source: Sanathana Sarathi, April 1974
