Lessons from the Sea
This is World Teacher’s Day, named after the first preceptor, the codifier of Vedic texts, the Poet who compiled the great epic Mahabharata, famous as the Fifth Veda, and of the other great text book of devotion, the Bhagavata—the Sage Vyasa, the Aadi guru (First or Primary Preceptor). In fact, the world itself is a great teacher, a constant guide and inspiration. That is the reason why man is surrounded and sustained by the world. Every bird, animal, tree, mountain, star, and each tiny worm, has a lesson for man if he has but the will and the thirst to learn. These make the world a veritable university for man; it is a gurukul (sacred commune of preceptor with disciples) where he is a pupil from birth to death.
Man soaks himself with lessons from the environment, whether he is aware of it or not. That is why those interested in his future urge him to seek satsang (good companionship), to avoid slander, faction, pride, and violence. The first guru is the mother; her example, her advice, her admonition affects man deepest and longest. The second is the father, who is admired by the child for his strength and knowledge and feared for the punishments he inflicts. Next is the teacher, who leads him and guides him into the maze of material knowledge.
But the guru (spiritual preceptor) alone can open the inner eye and cleanse the inner instruments of intuition. He induces you to question yourself, “Deham?” (Am I this body or is this body only a vehicle that I am using?) And discover the answer, “Naham” (Not I; I am not this body. No, I am the seer, the witness, and the spectator). Then the investigation starts to delve into the reality of the I, koham” (then who am I?) and the answer reveals itself in the purified consciousness, “Soham” (I am He); I am a spark of that glory; I am Divine.
Turn the mind to intelligence & ananda
The gross body has its characteristics—height, weight, girth, proportion, name, caste, sect, nationality. It is a pot, a container; it is devised, designed; it disintegrates; it is destroyed. It cannot be I, ‘you’. The subtle body is like the water in the pot; that, too, someone pours. It does not originate therein; it is not an essential part of it; it is not its dharma. So it, too, is not ‘you.’ Attachment and detachment, the world and its objects, through reaction and reflection, affect the causal body. So, it, too, cannot be ‘you.’ ‘You’ are beyond all three. These three containers that are one within the other and one finer than the other do not limit you.
There are five sheaths within which the ‘I’ shines. Of these, the annamaya kosa (the material sheath) is the gross body. The subtle body consists of the next three sheaths, pranamaya (the vital sheath), manomaya (the mental sheath), and vijnanamaya (the intellectual sheath). The causal body is the anandamaya kosa (bliss conscious sheath). Even this is a limitation, a phase, and a characteristic. The ‘I’ has no such bounds or bondage. The guru who can make you cognise this I is your own mind. Turn it toward intelligence and ananda [bliss], you are on the right path; turn it toward the vital, the material, you slide down the path of perdition.
See the One for clear vision
The Guru Poornima, the full moon day, dedicated to the teacher, is to be spent in contemplation of the path that leads to liberation and in offering gratitude to the pathfinders. There are now three types of gurus—those who rob the pupils of their possessions and fatten themselves; those who rob the pupils of their individuality and intelligence to elevate themselves into despotic potentates; and those who rob the pupils of their anxieties and agonies to fulfill themselves as benefactors. Many gurus insist that their followers should treat them with showy forms of worship on this day and offer special donations at their feet. Claiming and accepting such superficial forms of adoration is contemptible. The pupil has to be “Satatam Yoginah” (in constant divine communion), ever alert to be attached to higher ideals. The Master has to be a supreme unflinching example in this Yoga.
The Guru is Poornima—full, undisturbed by any doubt, deficiency, or sense of want. Like the full moon, he confers joy, cool comfort, and a sense of relief. Sit calm for a few moments and judge for yourself your attainments in this line. If you are dual-minded, you still are half-blind. If you see only the One, your vision is clearest; seeing double is a sign of optical disease. See only the One, the eternal, the true, and the Divine. Rise up to the Divine; don’t bring down Godhead to your human and even animal levels. Do not worship God as the picture before you, but worship the picture before you as God, because God is in everything and can be grasped through every single symbol. There is nothing wherein He is not; there is no might or right apart from Him.
The eye sees, but what is it that sees the eye, that grasps the impressions gained by the eye? It is the mind. The objective world is the drshya (the seen), while the eye is the drshta (the seer). But the eye itself is drshya to the mind that is the drshta. Now the mind is also drshya, so long as the intellect is drshta. Finally, the intellect is also drshya, for the atma is the ultimate drshta that observes as a witness this “manorama” (play of the mind-principle).
Learn lessons from the bee, the tree, and the dog. The mind is ever unsteady; it is “steady in its unsteadiness” as Arjuna complained to Krishna. It is fraught with disaster; it is deep-rooted and difficult to suppress, says Arjuna. Krishna agrees but assures Arjuna that it can be tamed and rendered innocuous by acquiring wisdom and by cultivating renunciation.
This morning someone from Delhi placed before Me this same problem. I told him that there is one simple solution, but he responded with a sigh. He said, “I have approached many sages, and everyone of them has a ‘simple solution.’ It may be simple, for me they are impossibly difficult.” I told him, “You are already engaged in performing even more difficult exercises than the one I propose to recommend. So it will not be hard at all. Do not lose heart. You have inherent in you vast potentiality, you can draw upon that reserve strength and succeed.” Then, I gave him the example of a bumblebee. It is a small thing judging from size, but it bores through the toughest timber! There is a legend that it bored through the steely muscle of Karna’s thigh!
This same bumblebee settles at Sunset on a lotus flower and drinks the intoxicating nectar. It falls into a stupor, overwhelmed by the elixir. While it is still on the task, the Sun sets and the petals close in to make the bloom a bud, again! The bee is imprisoned in the softness; it has no strength to bore through the tender velvety veil! I told him, “Let your mind imbibe the nectar of the Name, let it taste the elixir of the lotus feet of the Lord, it will be incapacitated, rendered ineffective, and incapable of harm.”
Sea teaches you many lessons
You may have vast scholarship, fame, and fortune. But the bee can give you a lesson on how to be free from torment. The tree can teach you forbearance and tolerance. It offers shade to all, irrespective of age, sex, or religion, nationality or economic status. It helps with fruit and shades even the foe who lays his axe to its trunk! The dog can teach you lessons in faith, selfless service, and the process of dedication.
Man disgraces himself by his ingratitude, even to God who has provided him with all his wealth. Today is full moon and the sea rolls and surges in great joy. It knows only the fullness of happy contentment. The sun may lift clouds of vapour from its stock of water; the sea does not whimper. The rain may fill its coffers with the rich riverine tribute; it does not exult. It teaches you equanimity—no depression, no exaltation. Watch the waves rolling one behind the other toward the shore! You will notice the waves bringing with them bits of flotsam and jetsam, bottles and twigs, logs and pieces of wreckage to be deposited on land. There is a constant struggle evident to maintain a clean face—a laudable sadhana, which man can well adopt.
Again, consider the quietness of the depths, the prashanti (serenity) that reigns in the inner regions of its consciousness. On the surface, the sea appears restless and full of fury. But down below, it is established in peace. Man, too, has to be like the sea, accepting it as his guru. Accept the world as your guru on this World Teacher’s Day, the Guru Poornima.
Source: Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 11
