Life 46 (Aug 23 - May 24)

[winston]

What is the unfortunate plight of the modern world and how can it be fixed?

A curious paradox is now gaining force in this land: it is fraught with dire consequences.

Though the world has become a very small globe, as a result of fast means of communication and transport, man has not yet learnt the art of living together in close proximity, as brothers, as children of the One Divine.

The closer men are brought, the larger the differences appear! Thus, the little world is now riddled with problems of conflicting cultures, competing creeds and contesting ambitions.

The sorrows of one state spread fast into all its neighbours and infect the whole world. The world has become one vast battlefield.

When infectious diseases leap over boundaries and slay men without distinction, immediate steps are taken to control the havoc and relief is despatched in haste to the scene of disaster. But, the infection of greed and hate cannot be held in check so quickly by any Government.

Let us try to answer the question - "What kind of Government is the best?" The answer is: "That Government is best, which helps us to govern ourselves." Make your Conscience the ruler, do not depend on the external ruler.

- Divine Discourse, May 13, 1970.

Whether it be in a political organisation or in regard to a personal matter or national issues, you should act according to the dictates of your conscience, without any other concern.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

What is true love and how is it different from what we normally practice?

Selfish Love is like a lamp kept in a room. The lamp illumines only the room. This selfish love is confined to limited people and doesn’t extend to others.

Samanjasa-Prema is like light from the moon. This moonlight is visible both outside and inside. The light is dim and not very effulgent. This kind of love extends to a wider group but is not very intense.

Third is Parartha-Prema. It is like sunlight. It illumines both inside and outside with brilliance. But it’s not continuous such that the sun is not visible at night. But it is also not a permanent absence because the sun rises again. Likewise, this selfless love may appear to be absent sometimes, but will appear again!

The fourth one is Yatartha-Prema or Atma-Prema. This love is present always, inside and outside, in all places and at all times, in all circumstances. This is Divine Love.

It is imperishable. It is eternal. It is immanent in everyone. When this love is manifested by a person, he achieves the peace that passeth understanding.

- Divine Discourse, Jul 27, 1996.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

What is the best way to preserve the divine messages from the Masters?

Once a preceptor summoned all his disciples and told them that he was going to give them something extremely sweet which they should protect from insects and rodents.

The disciples resorted to various devices to safeguard the guru's gift. However, one of them ate the sweet, digested it and derived considerable strength and energy from it.

What is the lesson to be drawn from this story? It means that the teachings learnt from the preceptor are not to be merely preserved in safety. The nectarous message of the preceptor should be enshrined in the heart.

It should be made part of one's being. Then the recipient acquires vigour and strength.

In the same manner, whatever you see or hear or read should be taken to heart and then put into practice. Only then will you have the full satisfaction of benefiting from the teachings.

Hearing is not enough. You must take in and digest what you have listened to. It must be put into practice in daily life.

- Divine Discourse, Jul 27, 1996.

How can one expect to experience the bliss simply by preaching and not practising what he preaches?

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

What is the real fast we must all undertake? How should we balance ourselves?

Many of you misunderstand upavasa to mean 'fasting'.

Now, this fasting will not bring you nearer to the Grace of the Divine.

Upavasa means that all your thoughts and deeds and words on those holy days, must be about the Divine, that you should spend the day 'near' Him, 'in' Him, 'for' Him.

It means that eating, sleeping and other bodily avocations, must take a secondary role and meditation must take the main role.

If your body wastes away as a result of fasts, He will be blamed; so, you are only drawing the calumny of people on the Divine you adore.

They will come to you and say, ‘What! Before you started this worship, you were looking much better; now, you become so thin and frail; you can scarcely move!’. And they continue talking against the Divine in the same strain.

Do not overdo anything; be moderate and wise.

- Divine Discourse, Feb 20, 1966.

When you know that nothing happens without His sankalpa (will), everything that happens has a value added to it.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

What is the nature of pure love and what must we do to cultivate it?

"Love is beyond the scope of words." How can an ordinary man, living in this phenomenal world, understand such love? This love is an expression of Divinity.

Like the mariner's compass, it always points to the Divine wherever it may be present. As oil makes a lamp burn, love illumines life itself.

What is termed love in ordinary worldly life is not real love at all. It is only one or the other form of attachment based on human relationships in the family or in society.

True love worldly attachments are not real love at all. They are transient.

The everlasting, pure love arises from the heart. In fact, it is ever-existing and all-pervading.

How is it that man is unable to recognise such all-pervading love? It is because man's heart today has become barren and polluted.

The heart is filled with all kinds of desires and there is no room in it for pure, unsullied love to enter.

It is only when the worldly attachments are expelled from the heart that there will be room for real love to abide in it and grow.

- Divine Discourse, Jul 27, 1996.

Although inherently love is present in every cell of the human being it does not manifest itself because of the pollution of the heart.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

Why is it important to use some of the faculties gifted by the Divine with caution?

All things in the cosmos are the gifts of the Divine. They are manifestations of His will.

Some of them, however, have to be used carefully. When they are used intelligently after due enquiry, they can serve as boon-companions and give us happiness.

Indiscriminate and reckless use of these things, may turn them into our worst enemies.

For example, there are objects like fire, a knife and electric current. It is only when they are used in the right way that you can benefit from them.

If fire is not handled properly, it can cause great harm. A knife is helpful only when it is used carefully. Electricity serves us in many ways - by lighting bulbs, running fans, etc. Because of its multifarious uses, if one tries to be friendly towards it by touching a live wire, he will get a shock.

In the same manner, man's sense organs have to be used extremely carefully. When the senses are used on the right lines, they are of immense help. But if they are used in the wrong way, they can cause great harm.

- Divine Discourse, Jun 29, 1989.

As the senses are Divine-given gifts, abuse of the senses by excesses, will not only mean transgressing the divinely ordained limits but will also lead to many harmful consequences.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

Why should we strive to have better control over our own lives?

Now this country is pursuing priya (pleasant) instead of hita (beneficial) and that is the reason for all this distress and discontent.

Our Culture has always emphasised the hard way, the beneficial way; but people are now after cultures that cater to the senses - the outer, external, frill and fancies, the mirages and the momentaries!

Our culture advises the control of the senses, not catering to them!

The car is driven by means of a wheel which is inside it; when that wheel is turned, the outer wheels move.

So also, the inner wheel has to be turned in man, so that he may progress. Trying to move the outer wheels is a sign of ignorance; it is a waste of precious energy.

Inner concentration is to be developed in preference to outer distraction. Cultivate quietness, simplicity and humility, instead of noise, complexity and conceit.

Of the twenty-four hours which comprise a day, use six for earning and spending, six for contemplation of the Divine, six for sleep and six for service to others.

You are now spending not even five minutes in the contemplation of Him and you are not ashamed. What a tragedy!

- Divine Discourse, Mar 16, 1966.

The ladder must be as tall as the height you want to reach; your sadhana (spiritual practice) too must continue until the goal is attained!

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

What should our destination be? And how can we transform where we live into the path leading to that destination?

The river must reach the sea, not desert sands; waters must merge into the sea! That’s the consummation.

To keep that goal ever in focus, have the wavering mind continuously on leash!

When the Sun is in the sky, the Moon is blazed out of sight. Buddhi, sharpened intellect, is the Sun; pale satellite, waxing and waning, the Moon, is the Mind! So, give intelligence full prominence; let the mind subserve the dictates of reason, not of passion! Become the ruler of the senses, not their slave.

Senses drag you into the jungle of nature; so, what use is it for you to flee into the jungle, with senses wild with hunger?

Why did sages go into the jungle? To sink their minds in the silent calm of the forest; to dwell ever in thoughts of Him whose voice is heard when all other voices cease.

If you close the windows that bring in other voices, then, your home also can be transformed into a forest of freedom, a hermitage of penance!

- Divine Discourse, Jan 30, 1965.

Play your part in every field of public life, keeping your heart pure and unsullied.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

What is most essential to develop our humanness and progress towards Divinity?

Good company makes you sacred and divine. On the other hand, bad company gives rise to bad feelings and bad thoughts, which prompt you to perform bad deeds. Therefore, it is essential for you to join good company and develop your humanness.

Good company can elevate one to the level of Divinity, whereas bad company can degenerate one to the level of an animal.

The animal level is below the human level, and Divinity is above; the human level is in between these two. You should make efforts to rise above the human level.

No effort is needed for your downward fall. To become bad is easy. But it is difficult to attain the higher level.

Though it may be difficult, you should still make efforts to reach higher levels. But unfortunately, people today associate with bad company, because of which good feelings are turned into bad feelings and good actions into bad actions - ultimately one’s life becomes miserable.

Your thoughts are the root cause of everything. Therefore, you should have only noble, sacred, pure, and meaningful thoughts.

- Divine Discourse, Jul 08, 1996.

Good company leads you to detachment and by detachment you will achieve self-realisation.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

What is the exercise we must indulge in incessantly, to spiritualise our lives?

Winnow the real from the apparent. Look inside the event for the kernel, the meaning.

Dwell over on your Atmic (Inner-Self) reality; you are pure, you are indestructible; you are unaffected by the ups and downs of life; you are the true, the eternal, the unchanging Brahman, the entity which is all this.

A mere five-minute inquiry will convince you that you are not the body or the senses, the mind or the intelligence, the name or the form but that you are the Atma Itself, the same Atma that appears as all this variety.

Once you get a glimpse of this truth, hold on to it; do not allow it to slip. Make it your permanent possession.

As a first step towards the acquisition of this wisdom and detachment, enter from now on into a discipline of Namasmarana - the incessant remembrance of the Divine through His Name.

- Divine Discourse, Jan 30, 1965.

Namasmarana is an exercise that can be practised at all times and places by all, irrespective of creed or caste or gender or age or economic and social status.

Source: radiosai.org