Who has Divine Vision?
(A visitor, a prince from another state of India, came to Bhagavan, offered some acres of land for a yoga center and asked Bhagavan to visit his state and use His will to avert the danger of political violence.)
Sai, to the Visitor: Swami’s love is the same for all, even for those who engage in bad actions. These suffer, not because of Swami’s anger, but because only through suffering do their minds turn inward in self-inquiry. And only through self-inquiry will they be free of the illusion that separates them from God. The only gift acceptable to Swami is the heart. Acres of land are of no interest to Him. Presently, there is great disorder amongst both politicians and students. This will continue for a time, but at a certain point Swami will step in and bring about some order.
Hislop: How about order in America and Europe?
Sai: Countries are like carriages. The engine is God. The first carriage is India. The other carriages will follow. According to the astrology of ancient times, the change in world conditions to be brought about by Swami’s influence will come in about 15 years (this conversation was in December 1968). This was predicted 5,600 years ago in the Upanishads. The coming of Baba, the Sai Avatar, which includes the three incarnations, is all forecast quite clearly. People born in this present generation may consider themselves quite fortunate.
Hislop: Is today’s world without saints who have direct and deep God experience?
Sai: There are people, even today, who have the genuine experience of divine vision and self-realization. But they do not travel here and there in the world, building up a following of disciples. They stay very quietly away from public view and do sadhana. If you were to find such a one and ask for guidance, he would not be interested in you. If the life of a ‘guru’ who is out in the world is closely examined, it will be found that he has desires and problems. His knowledge is from books and other persons and he has no full and real experience of the divine of whom he speaks. Such persons are caught in the bog of samsara, just as you are. How can they pull you to firm ground? Nowadays, God is the only genuine guru. Call on Him and He will guide you. He is in your heart, ever ready to help, protect, and guide you.
Hislop: Swami says that these are people who have divine vision. How can one achieve that vision?
Sai: Divine vision erases from the mind the seeing of that which is impermanent. Name, form, and characteristics will in time disappear. So why wait? Erase them from the vision now. Erase them from the mind now and see only that which is real. Why bother about the illusion, that which disappears? Far better to give one’s time and attention to reality. Divine vision is seeing through the ephemeral illusion and abiding in and with the reality. God is the eternal reality. He is the changeless basis of every phenomenon. King Janaka became firmly established in the divine vision. Name, form, personality, attributes had been so thoroughly seen through that they never again came into his vision during the balance of his lifetime. Divine vision is the result of practice and of God’s grace. At times, divine vision may appear to arise spontaneously, but it is because of work done by the person in a previous life.
Hislop: What is the difference between a person of divine vision and a person who is fully God-realized?
Sai: There is a difference. The God-realized person, the jivanmukta, no longer has any identification whatsoever with the body. He is one in whom only the divine vision is active. He pays no attention to the body, and it wastes away and dries up. He does not bother with food and water. They do not even come to mind. As a result, 21 days is the time that life can remain in the body under these circumstances. He has lost all body identification and neither eats nor drinks except as force-fed. The 21 days may vary a little due to the condition of the person. King Janaka retired to the forest and became a jivanmukta. Life remained in his body for 19 days. The person of divine vision is known as a raja yogi. He retains somebody identification, and thus continues to live with the body. King Janaka reigned for many years as a raja yogi. Jivanmukti is permanent God-realization. It is merging with God. There can be a temporary God-realization for a few hours or a day or so in deep meditation, or at various levels of samadhi, but that is not permanent. It is not merging.
Hislop: Sorry, Swami, divine vision is still not clearly understood.
Sai: There is a piece of clear glass. From one side one can look through and see the object on the other side. If the clear glass is plated with a silver film on one side, it becomes a mirror in which one may see himself, and objects on the other side of the mirror are not seen. Likewise, through consciousness one may see the outside sensory world. Or, with his intelligence, he may look to and become aware of that which may be found within himself. If one lives and keeps himself within the reality found within, with Godly thoughts, desires, and interests, if one keeps his life centered on the Godly side of consciousness, the consciousness becomes a mirror coated on its outer surface with the dust of the sensory world. On the pure inward surface of this mirror, on the pure mind and the pure heart, one may see the reality of himself reflected and this constitutes self-realization. That is raja yoga. King Janaka became one who lived his life in this way.
Source: Conversations with Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba
