Life 45 (Jan 23 - Aug 23)

[winston]

At times, why do we fail to see Divinity within oneself or in others? How can we completely destroy our own ego?

People create and develop in themselves an abounding variety of selfish habits and attitudes, causing great discontent for themselves.

The impulse for all this comes from power complex, greed for accumulating authority, domination and power; greed for things that can never be eternal and full.

It’s impossible for anyone to attain them to the level of satiation. Omnipotence belongs only to the Divine of all.

One might feel elated to become the master of arts, owner of all wealth, possessor of knowledge, or repository of all scriptures but from whom did they acquire all these?

One might even claim that one earned all this through their own efforts and toil. But surely someone gave it to them in some form or the other. None can gainsay this.

The source from which all authority and power originates is the Divine of all. Ignoring that omnipotence, deluding oneself that the little power one has acquired is one’s own, is indeed selfishness, conceit, and pride (ahamkara).

One who’s a genuine vehicle of power can be recognised by characteristics of truth, kindness, love, patience, forbearance and gratefulness. Wherever these reside, ego (ahamkara) cannot subsist!

- Prema Vahini, Ch 15.

Ego is very dangerous and powerful. It will ruin your character.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

What is the nature of mind and what is the secret to making it work for us?

The mind is a wonder, its antics are even more surprising. It has no distinct form or shape. It assumes the shape or form of the thing it is involved in.

To wander from wish to wish and flit from one desire to another, is its nature. So, it is the cause of loss and grief, of elation and depression.

Its effects are both positive and negative. It is worthwhile for man to know the characteristics of the mind and the ways to master it for one's ultimate benefit.

The mind is prone to gather experiences and store them in the memory. It does not know the art of giving up. Nothing is cast away by the mind.

As a consequence, grief, anxiety and misery continue simmering in it. If only the mind can be taught tyaga (sacrifice), you can also become a yogi (spiritually serene person).

- Divine Discourse, Jan 08, 1983.

Assign to your mind the task of serving the Divine and it will grow tame.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

What should we do to have a sweet, pure and blessed last moment in our life?

Of the inborn desires of life, some are stronger than the rest and stand out to the last. Life is like that; this must be learned.

The net result of all this living and toiling, is whatever comes to memory at the last moment of life.

Therefore, direct the entire current of life toward acquisition of the mental tendency (samskara) that you want to have during the last moment!

Fix your attention upon it, day and night. The feeling that dominates the moment of death works with great force in the coming life.

This truth must guide a person for the journey of this life too, for inborn desires are the wherewithal for this journey as well as the journey after this.

Therefore, from tomorrow, always keep death, which is inevitable, before the eye of memory and engage yourself in the journey of life with good wishes for all, with strict adherence to truth, seeking always the company of the good, and with the mind always fixed on the Divine!

- Prema Vahini, Ch 27.

True devotion really means installing the Divine in the heart and enjoying the bliss of that experience.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

What are the very important yet simple techniques we must practice, in caring for our mind, and in our attitude towards life, every single moment in a day?

The clock, to all, keeps on ticking away continuously. But this isn’t the case.

It’s not continuous, for, one can notice a short pause between one tick and the next. That’s the interval of rest. But your mind doesn’t have even this short interval between one thought and the next.

And in the continuous succession of thoughts, there is no order or relationship! This adds to confusion and concern.

This is the main source of ill health in man! We are planning and preparing for physical rest and recreation, and we know that even machines need hours of rest! But, we have neglected the duty of ensuring rest for the mind!

Dhyana (meditation) is the name for the period of rest we provide for the busy and wayward mind!

The heart is engaged like ticking of the clock, in beats but, a new pulse of energy is generated between one beat and another. This ensures the flow of life, regardless of past or future moments.

- Divine Discourse, Jan 08, 1983.

Prayer is for the mind what food is for the body.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

What is the surest way to enjoy peace?

Through one’s heart and blood vessels, man’s life stream is beating.

This beat will come to an end sometime. Truly birth is followed by death, and death again by birth, and so on.

We should try and understand the secret of this life. Like a man who is swimming and moving forward in a river, we should also forget the experiences we had in the past and swim forward.

Only if the swimmer throws back the water which is ahead of him will he move forward. If he does not throw back the water that is ahead of him, he will stay where he is.

As in this analogy, only if man attempts to throw back the experience which he has lived through, will he be able to move forward.

If one follows such a path, one will find that in man’s life there is no place for anger, no place for jealousy, and his life will move on pleasantly.

- Summer Showers in Brindavan, 1977, Ch 17.

Remember the lessons from the clock – always move forward, leave the past behind.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

If we are tired from failures, disappointments or are simply fatigued, what can we do?

A time may come when one becomes tired and weak but one should then pray thus: “Divine, things have gone beyond my capacity. I feel further effort is too great a strain. Give me strength, O Divine!”.

At first, He stands at a distance, watching one’s efforts, like the teacher who stands apart when the student writes out answers to questions. Then, when one sheds attachment to sensual pleasures (bhoga) and takes to good deeds and selfless service, He comes encouragingly near.

Like the Sun, He waits outside the closed door. Like the servant who knows their master’s rights and their own limitations, He doesn’t announce His presence or bang on the door but simply waits.

And when the master opens the door just a little, the Sun rushes in and promptly drives darkness out from within.

When His help is requested, He is present by a person’s side, with hands extended to render assistance. So what is wanted is only the discrimination (viveka) to pray to the Divine and the spiritual wisdom (jnana) to remember Him.

- Prema Vahini, Ch 11.

One’s blemishes of the heart must be washed by a moral life and by doing one’s duty.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

As many in India celebrate the arrival of spring festival today, what lessons can we take home?

The Sun, in entering on its northward journey, hailed the Himalayas in the north as the beauteous abode of the Divine.

The heart should be regarded as the abode of His and the vision should be turned to experience the Divine.

The human heart itself symbolises the Himalayas as the abode of purity and peace. The Sun's northward journey is a pointer to the path man should take to realise Him.

The Sun is the supreme example of selfless and tireless service. The world cannot survive without the Sun. Life on earth is possible only because of the Sun.

The Sun teaches man the lesson of humble devotion to duty, without any conceit. The Sun is the supreme example for everyone that one should do one’s duty with devotion and dedication.

Doing one's duty is the greatest Yoga, as pointed out in the Scriptures. Let your actions and thoughts be good. You will then experience the Bliss Divine.

- Divine Discourse, Jan 15, 1992.

As soon as you find a moral intentions surfacing in the mind, contemplate on the Divine to nullify their effect.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

What is the role of devotion and wisdom, in this journey to the Divine?

Devotion and wisdom, are like the pair of bullocks for the cart. Both have to pull in unison. Each must keep pace with the other and help the other to drag the weight quicker.

Wisdom has to help the increase of devotion; devotion has to contribute to the growth of wisdom.

Now, the essence of devotion as well as wisdom is peace, the highest type of peace, the supreme peace.

Supreme peace (prasanthi) leads one on to the glory of spiritual effulgence, and hence, to the super effulgence of the highest revelation.

Wisdom is a concomitant of devotion, its component part. Love fixed on Him is most beneficent. It produces the greatest good.

It will not bind people to the earth. It will take them by the hand along the road to liberation.

- Prema Vahini, Ch 27.

One who is nourished by the nectar of Bhakti will have no desire for anything else.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

How can we fill our hearts with the Divine and reach the ultimate goal of life?

The Divine breaks our identification with the body and leads us on to Himself, by signs and signals that He provides all around us.

These signs are ever present in the Nature around each one of us, in the beauty of the rising Sun, the ecstasy of the rainbow, the melody of the birds, the lotus-spangled surfaces of lakes, the silence of snow-crowned peaks - in fact, since He is Rasa (sweetness, essence), all Nature which is but Himself in action is sweet and ecstatic.

With or without Form, It is Ananda or bliss. Welcome It into the heart and live all your moments with It, offering It your meditation, worship and contemplation. That will open the doors of wisdom and of liberation.

- Divine Discourse, Aug 16, 1968.

When the identification of the Self with the body goes, action which may seem to be done for personal enjoyment, can be converted into actions of dedication to the Divine.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

What is the essence of all spiritual practices or sadhana?

When man turns towards the Divine, detaching himself from the bondage to the world, he will no more suffer from greed and discontent.

Between the two embankments, ‘attachment to the Divine’ and ‘detachment from the mundane’, the stream of life can flow unimpaired in speed and direction, towards the Ocean of Divine Grace.

See yourself as Divine; see others as Divine. Turn away from all else in you and in others. That is the essence of sadhana (spiritual practices).

- Divine Discourse, Aug 16, 1968.

One who wishes to realise the Divine should cultivate contentment.

Source: radiosai.org