Unity and Purity: Message of Ramzan
Bhagavan says that the truth proclaimed by all religions is one and the same. The ultimate goal of all religions is the same—to cure man of his follies and make him a real human being. All religions aim at promoting righteous conduct by transforming the mental attitude of man. [Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 22]
Whenever one speaks, the expression often begins with ‘I’ and revolves around ‘I.’ “I am walking,” “I am sitting,” “I am eating,” “I am going,” “I am listening,” “I am seeing”—‘I’ is almost always in the forefront. Man tends to believe, “I am the doer,” whatsoever the deed may be.
Who exactly is this ‘I,’ the agent, the doer? There are three aspects connoted by the ‘I.’ ‘I am this body,’ is the first; ‘I am the life-force in it,’ is the second; ‘I am the atma,’ is the third.
“I am dark,” “I am fair,” “I am short,” “I am tall,”— these are statements generally made. “I am young,” “I am old,” “I am a brahmin,” “I am a non-brahmin,”—these statements too are common. These qualities concern only the body. When a person is unconscious, in deep sleep, or dead, he is unaware of any of these characterizations regarding his body. They are extraneous to the real ‘I,’ for the attributes adhere or fall off when time elapses or when circumstances change.
Next is the jiva principle or life force. The incessantly active consciousness is constantly wayward and restless. We say, “My intelligence is not clear,” or “My mind is perplexed.” These apply to the second facet of the ‘I.’ This facet, too, is linked with the body through the objects—senses-mind-reason complex.
Lastly, the third aspect is the atma [real self, soul]: “I am sadananda, nityananda, satchitananda [always happy and blissful]! I am nirmal [pure], I am nischal [calm]. I am all. I am Brahma. Aham Brahmasmi [I am God].” The body is mortal; the jiva principle undergoes transformation; but the atma is immortal. The atma exists in unaffected glory in the waking, dreaming, sleeping, and the fourth level beyond. The gross body is active in the waking stage; the subtle I-consciousness is alert in dreams, the causal atma is dormant as ‘I’ in sleep. The real ‘I’ or atma has no exclusive affiliation to one body, one country, one nation, or one sex. It is in every being everywhere, in bird and beast, plant and tree. Each of these reveals its existence. The atma is all-pervading and immanent in India, Russia, America, England, all over the world.
All founders of religions have heard this impersonal voice of God revealing the atma that activates the entire creation. Just as the Vedas were ‘heard’ and propagated as ‘heard’ (shruti), the Quran, too, was ‘heard’ by Hazrath Muham-mad. The Quran has salat and zakat as the two eyes. Salat means prayer; zakat means charity. Those who consider charity as a high duty and elevate their consciousness through prayers and continuous meditation on God are Muslims.
Islam is a word that denotes not a particular religion but a state of mind—the state of total surrender to the Will of God. Islam means dedication, surrender, peace, and tranquility. Islam denotes the social community whose members have achieved supreme peace through surrender to the all-merciful, all-powerful God, and who have vowed to live in peace with their fellowmen. Later, it came to be applied to communities that considered themselves separate and different and hostile to the rest. Islam taught something higher. It directed attention to the One in the many, the unity in diversity, and led people to the reality named God.
Every human being has three basic needs: food, clothing, and shelter. Seeking to fulfill these needs, man has developed a variety of foods to fill his little stomach, but along the way he has ignored the purpose of eating. Clothing has to be worn to protect the body from cold. However, we are attaching enormously exaggerated value to clothing. Of course, one must have a house to live in and lay the body down to rest. The Muslim, Gibran, asks why build these gigantic dwellings then? They are erected not for oneself but to hoard one’s treasure and riches. Gibran says these mansions are tombs erected by the dead for the living.
Hazrath Muhammad announced to the townsmen of Mecca the message of God that he had heard. At that time, people did not give heed to the divine declarations. They forced him to leave the place. But Hazrath Muhammad knew that truth will win and God will prevail. He knew that insult and injury were only for the body; the atma can never be hurt.
The Ramzan [Muslim festival] month is set apart for the holy task of bringing into memory and practice the teachings that Hazrath Muhammad conveyed, and attaining that stage of unity and purity that is truly divine. Islam gives importance to the moon which regulates the months. Hindus consider the moon as the deity presiding over the mind. With the darshan [sighting] of the new moon, the Ramzan fast begins and when the new moon is seen again, the fast ends. ‘Fast’ does not consist in merely desisting from food and drink. The fast starts at sunrise, is broken only after sunset, and is observed most rigorously.
Waking as early as 3 a.m. or 4 a.m., in the Brahma muhurta [auspicious early morning hours], prayer is started: and throughout the day the constant presence of God is sought to be experienced. This is the meaning of upavasa or fast. Also, during the Ramzan month, rivalry is avoided, hatred is suspended, husband and wife live apart though in the same home, mother and children both follow the same spiritual regimen, and an atmosphere of brotherhood is maintained. The body, the senses, and the mind are subject to rigorous discipline.
Periods of fasting comprising a month are prescribed in all religions. The Hindus observe it in Magha and Shravana [11th and 5th month of the Hindu calendar months]. Zoroastrians and Christians have allotted for themselves months for the same purpose.
The Quran teaches that all men should cultivate the sense of unity, of interdependence, of selfless love, and of the immanence of divinity. Generally, all men nourish their bodies with food or drink five times a day—an early cup of coffee in bed, breakfast two hours later, a heavy lunch at noon, tea at four, and a full dinner at nine. Islam prescribes food for the spiritual nature of man and directs that it be practiced five times a day, as prayer. For the arousal of the atmic consciousness, for earning spiritual joy, and for promoting the manifestation of atmic illumination, prayer is prescribed as many as five times a day, from the dawn of discretion up to the moment of death.
Prayer, in Islam, is also a congregational activity. Prayer in a group produces beneficial vibrations. Islam promises a greater flow of ecstasy when God is adored by a huge concourse of yearning hearts. All of them bow low at the sight of the Masjid [holy place where Moslems pray]. They sit in rows on their bended knees and lean forward until their palms and foreheads touch the ground in humble submission to God’s will. Misunderstanding, conflict, and enmity should not disturb the serenity of the occasion.
Thus Islam emphasizes the One in the many, the urge for God that manifests in various degrees in various minds. Unity is the basic teaching of every religion. Faith in unity is cardinal. Without it, no system of belief and conduct can be a religion. God is one and the teachings in all faiths that exalt Him are based on love, compassion, tolerance, and sympathy. The tragedy is that neither the Mohammedans nor the Hindus or the followers of other religions are practicing these qualities in daily life.
Islam teaches that God’s grace can be won through just and righteous living; wealth, scholarship and power cannot earn it. Holy love alone can please the Lord.
This is the message of every religion. But mankind has ignored this crucial point. This type of negligence is happening in every religion. The followers adopt the rules they like and break those that they find exacting. So, they become narrow-minded and crooked and they rationalize their defects and justify their failings. They have become habituated to this practice of self-deceit. Ramzan brings together in bonds of love, kith and kin, near and far, friend and foe.
Since Islam means surrender to God, all who in a spirit of surrender and dedication live in peace and harmony in society subscribe to Islam. Islam insists on full coordination between thought, word, and deed. Muslim holy men and sages have been emphasizing that we must inquire into the validity of the ‘I’ that feels it is the body, and the ‘I’ that feels it is the mind, and reach the conclusion that the real ‘I’ is the self yearning for the Omni self, God. The Ramzan month, the fast, and the prayers are designed to awaken and manifest this realization.
Whatever the religion, its emphasis is on unity, harmony, and equal-mindedness. Therefore, cultivate love, tolerance and compassion, and demonstrate the truth in every daily activity. This is the message I give you with My blessings.
Source: Sanathana Sarathi, August 1983
