Unity is Divinity
At a Divine discourse on India’s Independence day this year, Baba drove home to us the importance of unity through a very simple and striking example. He asked how it was possible for England, a country so much smaller than India in population and land size, to conquer and rule India for so many years. The answer was simple⎯lack of unity on the part of the Indian people.
Baba has been trying to make us understand the deeper significance of unity on the spiritual path for many years now, going so far as to say that unity is divinity. He also encourages this feeling of unity through emphasizing unity among groups who come to Prasanthi Nilayam, and speaking often of the Sai family and the one caste⎯the caste of humanity. He speaks of love as the highway to God⎯love in the form of service to humanity.
The word yoga itself means to unite the individual soul with the universal spirit (Paramatman). The word religion comes from the Latin roots “re” (again) and “ligere” (to link) signifying the “relinking” of the soul with God. What is God but all of life, including humanity? Thus it seems that there must be two types of unity: vertical unity with the higher aspects of one’s Self and God, and horizontal unity with the people, nature, and the world around us. It seems that the spiritual unity that is already a reality at the level of the one pure universal consciousness (chit) must gradually be manifested in the lower vehicles of mental, emotional, and physical bodies of humans and between all the various bodies that are simply manifestations of that one consciousness. This has been the goal of every religion and spiritual philosophy since the beginning of time. This will create the real heaven for man on earth, unity with his higher Self and with others.
There seem to be two basic forces operating in the universe: one is involution of spirit into matter and thus into greater and greater separateness and involvement into matter. This involution into matter reaches its culmination in the development of the human ego as the most evolved form of matter. This can be understood by comparing a two‑meter bin full of separate cells to a man two meters tall. Let us say that a man has 35 billion cells (I have no idea how many he has) and that the bin also has 35 billion separate cells. They are the same number of cells, but do they have the same abilities in the physical world? Can the bin of cells walk, dance, sing, build houses, create in various ways, think, philosophize, pray, love or discriminate? What is the difference?
In man there is a unity between the cells. They are functioning together for a common goal: the health and happiness of the whole being. The cells are guided by the sub‑conscious of the man in each of their functions. They do not live for themselves as the 35 billion cells in the bin do. They live for the good of the whole and thus the whole, man’s sub‑conscious, looks after them. Each cell is provided with its needs through the work of the other cells, but all cells are guided in their function by the man. There is unity and thus there is health, strength, and happiness for the man and for the cells. If some of the cells should cease to cooperate with the organism for a while then they would constitute a sickness in the organism such as cancer or leukemia. When a man’s mental, emotional, and physical forces are not united, then a small group of foreign cells can easily invade and conquer his body as the English did to the Indians.
Involution has taken place, and man’s body and ego are exquisite tools for the expression of this power of the spirit in the physical world. Now the process of evolution must be tended to so that spirit can evolve out of matter again. In order for this to happen, the ego must undergo the same process the cells did during their development into human body. The ego must be united into the service of the body of humanity in the same way that the cells of the body, at some point in their evolution, had to give up functioning for themselves and start to function together with other cells for the sake of the large organism.
We find ourselves now in a time and place where the Incarnation of this universal consciousness that is wanting to manifest itself as the one body of humanity, is telling us, “Dear cells of My own body, please come together and cooperate in your functioning. Work together for the good of the whole body. And in that way I can provide for all of your needs as cells of My own body.”
A recent scientific experiment may help us understand this. Kirlian photographs (which show the aura or the energy field) were taken of fertilized eggs on every day of their development. After some days, the energy field of the embryo of the chicken-to‑be appeared clearly on the photos. But when the egg was cracked open to see what was inside, the physical embryo had not formed. From this we could infer that the mental and energy bodies of the chicken form first and are present before the eventual development of and taking position of the various cells in the physical embryo.
We might imagine a similar situation in terms of the body of humanity. The causal and subtle bodies are there. They represent a united functioning between all beings on earth. The sankalpa [divine will] for the creation of that body has taken the form of Sai Baba, who represents that universal consciousness on the physical level so as to encourage us and quicken and facilitate the formation of the body of God as united humanity. But the cells have not yet taken their positions and started functioning in harmony with the universal consciousness. Rather there seems to be a great resistance on the part of most of us toward this process of giving up our personal interests and serving the whole with full faith that we will be completely taken care of. This promise of support and protection from God has been promised by Krishna, Christ, and today by Sai Baba, but we don’t yet believe it; we cannot take the leap.
How might we attempt to move toward greater unity and get in line with the functioning of the universal consciousness and the body of humanity? Baba has given us much advice on this subject. A few aspects of His advice follow.
First we must realize that we will gain on all levels. There can be no harmony on any level of our existence without unity. All levels, including economic, social, national, religious, cultural, and even the production of various modern comforts, depend on the cooperation of various members of society. When this cooperation is not there, we will all suffer physically, emotionally, and mentally. This unity is practical for all of us. We will all have more and no one will have less health, happiness, or harmony.
Vertical unity
Vertical harmony with higher levels of our own being and ultimately with God can be achieved through the paths of jnana [knowledge] and raja yoga. Through wisdom and self‑control, we can bring the lower vehicles of the mind, energy, and body into harmony with the higher will and ultimate truths. Through raja yoga one learns to discipline the senses, body, behavior, and thoughts so that they all serve one goal; the realization of the one universal consciousness behind all creation and the mergence with that consciousness. Thus, universality and unity take place through disciplines such as fasting, observance of non‑violence, and various techniques for purifying the mind.
In jnana yoga, we continually bring the truth to our mind in every situation, wherever we may be, whatever we may be doing. The truth is that there is only one being, only one consciousness. Whatever we see, including our own bodies and thoughts, are simply manifestations of that one consciousness. We are all cells in that consciousness, but we have not yet tuned ourselves to it consciously.
And how can we tune to the one consciousness consciously? Swami says [we can do so] through the conscience. The conscience, He says, is the voice of our inner self that guides the functioning of all our cells simultaneously. When we can liberate that tiny voice of the conscience from under the hundreds of loud voices of desires, attachments, fears, programming, and expectations, then we will be attuned to the One Being and we will serve it and will be served by it. “Take one step toward Me, and I will take ten toward you.”
Through these two yogas (raja and jnana), a proper hierarchy is created between the spirit, soul, ego, and body. Unity also requires a proper hierarchy or system of control. We cannot have our stomach making decisions or our brain digesting food. Nor can the mind serve the desires of the body or the soul be guided by the mind. Through gradual self‑control, wisdom, and the corresponding detachment and discrimination, the body learns to serve the mind and the mind the soul, and they move in unison toward oneness with God. Energies are not lost in other directions, or simply for the fulfillment of the ego desires.
Gradually there will come the realization that we are not cells at all, but that we are in truth the one consciousness that is existing in all the cells and in which all the cells (beings) are existing. That each of us is, in truth, the One being consciousness who is appearing as all of these bodies.
This vertical unity is also achieved through careful attention to perfect consistency between the conscience, thought, word, and deed. Otherwise, there cannot be unity with the being. Certain portions will be in conflict with others. There will be no peace, and of course, no unity with others.
Horizontal unity
Horizontal unity is promoted by bhakti and karma yoga. Through love of the One being who is in all beings, we learn to accept and love all beings in our lives. This love for them allows us to cooperate with them, help them, serve them, and to want them to be happy, healthy, and successful in life. We will feel them as our family members and will help all in a spirit of love, cooperation, harmony, and unity. Our love will be expressed toward that One being in the form of service to all the cells that make up Its’ body. Each will do his dharma, offering what it can to the whole, realizing that in truth he is serving himself in the end.
If the cells in the body do not serve each other, then they will all remain unprovided for, unprotected, stranded without food, oxygen, and surrounded by their own waste products. Exactly this has happened to mankind. Because each person is living for himself and there is no cooperation or love or unity, each is much more vulnerable, and it is much more difficult for him to provide for his own needs.
Thus through love and service to all the other cells in our body of humanity, this universal body will start to take form, and in truth we will all have what we need to live in health and happiness. There will be an atmosphere conducive to peace and spiritual growth. All of our needs will be fulfilled.
What we need now are brave cells who are ready to believe God’s message, that He will care for us if we just give up our self-interest and love and serve all beings. We need beings who can believe that in truth we are the consciousness of the body of humanity (Paramatman) and not the individual cells. Thus, it is obviously in our interest to promote the development of our real body, which is the body of humanity and not our physical body. Sri Sathya Sai Baba has indicated that He experiences us all as cells in His being and Himself as the consciousness in our beings. We, too, must start identifying with that one consciousness and take that brave step, giving up our self‑interest and feelings of separateness and fear.
We, who have had His blessings, heard His words, experienced His love, and felt His bliss, are in a better position than others to take this step. Let us give up living for our houses, our cars, our living rooms, and our possessions. Let us give up living for our limited families only and start identifying ourselves with the larger family of all beings. Let us all try to open our hearts toward all beings and serve in every way we can. Let us give up television, movies, magazines, leisure time, and vacations. Does He take vacations? Does He take time off from His mission? Each of us can move gradually toward this self‑sacrifice. No one will lose his talents, abilities, or his unique qualities. A body needs all kinds of cells in order to function harmoniously. Our abilities and joy of creation and production will be enhanced. They will be directed toward the benefit of the whole, which includes us.
We can pray to Him (using any name that suits us) to help us see Him in every being we meet, to love all beings at all times, and to become instruments of His love, wisdom, and peace here on the earth. Thus we will gradually become transformers of spiritual energy into words and actions that will facilitate the manifestation of this spiritual oneness onto the physical plane.
Oh God help us to surrender everything up to you and to become merged into you.
~R.N., Prasanthi Nilayam
Source: Sanathana Sarathi, Oct 1985
