Life 47 (May 24 - Jan 25)

[winston]

What should be our approach to the present moment and how can we overcome the regret about the past and worry about the future?

Man is distinguished from other animals and creatures by his capacity to judge what is permanent and what is transient, and his ability to recognise the past, the present and the future.

Man alone has the capacity to comprehend this threefold nature of time.

Man can ruminate over the past and speculate about the future. He can experience the present. However, man should not worry about what is past.

The present is the product of the past. What has happened is beyond recall. It is futile to worry about the future because it is uncertain.

Concern yourself only with the present. By ‘present’ we may be thinking only of this moment. But this is not the present as Divinity sees it.

For the Divine, ‘present’ is what is ‘omnipresent.’ This means that both the past and the future are present in what is, because it is the result of the past, and the seed of the future.

Because man has no firm faith in the omnipresence of the Divine, he worries himself about the past, the present and the future. For the Divine, these three categories of time do not exist.

- Divine Discourse, Sep 03, 1988.

What is bound to happen cannot be prevented. Hence you must regard anything that happens as a gift from the Divine.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

The proof for the existence of the Divine, stares mankind in the face every day.

People ask, "Where is the Divine?". The answer is provided by Nature.

Who is it that has created the five elements, the five life breaths, the five sheaths, the five external sense organs and the five internal sense organs, which are all ceaselessly carrying on their functions according to their prescribed roles?

The seasons in their regular cycle, are teaching a good lesson to man. Therefore Nature is the demonstrable proof of the existence of the Divine.

Nature is not under any obligation to any man, it takes no orders from any man and it operates according to the will of the Divine.

The artificial instruments produced by man, function for a time and then become useless.

Scientists today have launched many satellites in space. Sooner or later, they cease to function and drop away.

No one knows how, when and in what circumstances, the planets in Nature were created but they have been going around in space ceaselessly and unfailingly for billions of years.

These planets have been created for the welfare of mankind and not for destructive purposes. He is the creator of the world for man's good.

- Divine Discourse, Jul 12, 1988.

There can be no greater bliss than realising the truth that He is everywhere.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

What are the goals of human life and what is the best approach to attain them?

There are four goals in life - dharma (righteous living), artha (material well-being), kama (achievement of desires) and moksha (ultimate liberation).

These four can be grouped in pairs.

While artha and kama thrive in modern times, dharma and moksha have almost disappeared.

Modern man craves for wealth and sensual pleasures and neglects righteousness and salvation.

Since dharma and moksha, are like the feet and the head of a body, man today seems to be existing without these two essential organs.

These four values of life should instead be grouped as dharma-artha and kama-moksha.

In other words, wealth should be acquired for the sake of righteous living and man should aspire only for liberation.

Only such a judicious combination of these four goals shall enable man to find fulfilment in life.

- Ch 27, Summer Showers 1979.

You will lead a blissful life only when the mind is suffused with divine love. Divine love is the ultimate goal of life.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

What is the promise we must make to our Divine and how should we practice it every single day?

Always try to put yourselves in the position of the other and judge your actions against that background. Then, you will not be wrong.

Be pure in word and deed and keep impure thoughts away. He is in every one of you and so, He becomes aware of your slightest wave of thought.

When the clothes become dirty, you have to give them for wash. When your mind is soiled, you must be born again, for the cleansing operations.

The dhobi beats the cloth on the hard stone and draws over it the hot iron to straighten the folds. So too, you will have to pass through a train of travail, to become fit to approach Him.

See Him as the resident in everyone; give them all the help you can, all the service they need; do not withhold the sweet word, the supporting hand, the assuring smile, the comforting company and the consoling conversation.

- Divine Discourse, Oct 11, 1969.

The Divine has endowed man with all the organs of perception and action, not for selfish activities but to do holy deeds and help others.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

How did the One Supreme become all this diversity that we perceive?

By their penance, meditation and intuition, ancient sages recognised two things:

One is Akshara (the alphabet) and the other is Sankhya (numbers).

In the alphabet, the primal letter is ‘Om’. All other letters have emerged from the Pranava (Om).

‘Om’ is the first letter among all letters. It comprehends within itself all other letters of the alphabet. During bhajans, when the harmonium is played, the bellows are pressed and the reeds are manipulated, we have the musical notes, ‘Sa, ri, ga, ma, pa, da, ni’.

What is the source of these seven notes? It is the same air that produces the notes. That air is filled with Omkara. And it is that ‘Om’ which produces the separate notes.

Likewise, among numbers, we start with one and go to nine, ten, etc.. In all the numbers, ‘one’ is the primary number.

All the other numbers are multiple variations of one. If you take away one from nine you have eight. If you add one to eight, it becomes nine. What comes and goes is one alone. What remains is also one.

From this, the sages inferred that the beginning and the end are One, which is the Divine. They declared that this One is the beejam (seed) of the cosmos.

- Divine Discourse, Jul 12, 1988.

The Divine is present in all things as their essence like sugar in sugarcane and butter in milk.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

What is more beautiful than physical beauty and more valuable than any worldly possession?

A person may have outstanding physical beauty, may have the sparkle of robust youth, may boast of a high noble lineage and maybe a famed scholar.

But if the person lacks the virtues that spiritual discipline can ensure, the person is to be reckoned only as a beautiful flower with no fragrance.

When quite young, Mohandas Karamachand Gandhi witnessed along with his mother a drama on Sravana and his devotion to his parents, and he resolved that he must also become Sravana.

He witnessed a play on Harischandra and it impressed him so deeply that he resolved to become as heroically devoted to virtue as Harischandra himself.

These transformed him so much that he became a great soul (mahatma). Gandhi had a teacher who taught him the wrong paths. But Gandhi did not adopt his advice. As a consequence, he was able to bring freedom to the country.

In this land of Bharat, there are thousands and thousands of prospective great souls. The examples we have to hold before them are the men and women who have learned and practised spiritual education (Atma-vidya).

- Ch 7, Vidya Vahini.

The king is honoured only inside his kingdom. But the virtuous man is honoured and adored in all countries.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

Why is it important to show our gratitude to Nature?

Mountains help man to build houses by using stone slabs quarried from them. Trees provide the timber for constructing houses and also firewood for domestic use.

Among animate beings, every creature, from an ant to an elephant, is of assistance to man in one way or another. Cows provide nourishing milk to man. Bullocks are useful for ploughing the fields and helping to grow food crops. All other creatures like birds, fish, sheep and others are serving man in different ways.

Seen in this light, it will be clear that all things in creation are helpful to man in leading his life. ​​Thus, man is deriving innumerable debt from Nature.

But what is the gratitude he is showing to Nature? What gratitude is he offering to the Divine? He is forgetting the Divine who is the provider of everything. That is the reason for his becoming a prey to various difficulties and calamities.

While he is receiving countless gifts from Providence, he is offering nothing in return to Nature or Him.

When we are enjoined to return good for evil, how unbecoming is it to fail even to return good for good?

- Divine Discourse, Jul 12, 1988.

Man is not learning the great lessons Nature is teaching him. The foremost lesson is doing service with no expectation of return.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

What is our only permanent asset and how can we preserve it?

Everything is subject to change and decay in this world. Whether it be physical objects or individuals, all are transient and impermanent.

Nothing is lasting. Only your purity is permanent.

Purity is the essential nature of man. But if man leads a polluted life, he is degrading himself.

Man's purity is manifest when human relations are based on heart-to-heart and love-to-love.

Love has the form of a triangle with three arms. Prema (divine love) does not seek any return. Where an individual offers love in expectation of a return, fear overtakes him.

The one who loves with no expectation of any return is totally free from fear. Love knows only to give, not to receive. Such a love is free from fear.

For true love, love is its own reward. Thus, love seeks no return, is free from fear and is its own reward. These are the basic features of true love.

Love today is based on desire for a return benefit. It is filled with fear and anxiety. Thus love is motivated.

When love is based on a desire for transient and perishable objects, life will be futile. Love must be its own reward.

- Divine Discourse, Jul 12, 1988.

It is only by fostering love you can win the grace of the Divine.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

If we aspire for peace, how should we work on ourselves?

Resolve this day to cleanse the mind of impurities so that you can imbibe the inspiration!

Aspirants for mental peace must reduce the luggage they have to care for; the more the luggage, the greater the bother.

Objective possessions and subjective desires, both are handicaps in the race for realisation.

A house cluttered with lumber will be dark and dusty and without free movement of fresh air, it will be stuffy and suffocating.

The human body too is a house; do not allow it to be cluttered with curios, trinkets, trash and superfluous furnishings. Let the breeze of holiness blow as it wills through it; let not the darkness of blind ignorance desecrate it.

Life is a bridge over the sea of change; pass over it but do not build a house on it. Hoist the Flag on the temple, that is your heart.

Follow the prescription it teaches - subdue the six enemies that undermine natural bliss in man, ascend the Yoga stage when agitations are stilled and allow the splendour of the Divinity within to shine forth, embracing all, at all times!

- Divine Discourse, Oct 12, 1969.

Search for the pearl, not the shell; the gem, not the tinsel.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

Where can we find the manifestations of the Divine Mother in our daily lives?

Maternal love is akin to that of the Creator who projects and protects this infinite cosmos in countless ways.

There are several notable examples in daily life of the divine quality which motherhood represents.

The cow converts its own blood into nourishing milk for man to sustain his body. The cow is the first example of the Divine as Mother.

Like the Divine, the Earth bears man in her bosom and takes care of him in many ways. Hence, the Earth also is the embodiment of the Mother.

In the human body, the Divine flows through all the limbs as rasa (essence) and sustains them. This Divine principle is called Rasaswaroopini (Embodiment of Divine Essence).

These Divine principles that permeate and sustain the physical body should also be worshipped as mother goddesses.

Then there are the great sages who investigated matters relating to good and evil, right and wrong, what elevates man or degrades him and as a result of their labours and penances, gave kind the great scriptures, indicating the spiritual and mundane paths and how humanity can redeem its existence. These sages have also to be revered as Divine Mothers.

- Divine Discourse, Oct 14, 1988.

If a man cannot respect and serve the mother, who has borne him for nine months, brought him forth into the world and reared him over the years, whom else is he likely to respect?

Source: radiosai.org