August 12th, 2001
"Search for Truth" (Part Two) plus
New Commandments (Part One)
Topics:
1) "Search for Truth" (Part Two)
2) An Overview of Last Week’s Aspects of the Mind
3) The Fourth Aspect of Mind Is Sleep (Dream State)
4) The No-Mind State Is Deep Sleep
5) The Conscious Deep Sleep or Samadhi
6) The Significance of Miracles
7) The Fifth Aspect of the Mind: Memory
8) Remembering and Living in the Past
9) Indifference Caused by the Past Being 10)Projected onto the Present
11)New Commandments (Part-I)
12)Codes of Conduct in the Scriptures
13)The First Commandment: Give Up ‘I’
14)The Second Commandment: Cultivate ‘We’
15)The Third Commandment: Cut Out ‘Ego’
16)Living With God is Education
17)Spirituality is Not an Achievement
Sai Ram.
With Pranams at the Lotus Feet of Bhagavan,
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
"Search for Truth" (Part Two)
An Overview of Last Week’s Aspects of the Mind
Last week we considered the various aspects of the mind. We explored how the
mind acts, how it reacts, how it receives, and how it reflects. We will complete
the remaining two aspects this morning. Then we will begin a new subject.
First, here is a bird’s eye view of what was discussed last week. There are
several aspects of the mind. The first aspect is what we call direct cognition,
prathyaksha pramaana. This is where you receive things directly by seeing and
listening. Another way mentioned of receiving information is inference, anumana
pramaana. The final way is aptha vaakya pramaana (believing in and following the
sayings of those who are close and dear to you). The mind receives right
knowledge through these three ways.
I also discussed the second aspect of the mind regarding how it is capable of
receiving wrong knowledge. The third aspect of the mind is imagination, vikalpa.
(I don’t have to say anything more of imagination to anybody because almost all
of us imagine things. We imagine our stature, image, and intelligence. We also
imagine everything about others also!)
The Fourth Aspect of Mind Is Sleep (Dream State)
The fourth aspect of the mind is sleep. In Sanskrit, sleep is called sushupthi,
the sleeping state of the mind. What is sleep? Let me speak a few words about
this. Do most of us really sleep? Do we really know what sleep is? To tell you
honestly, we have identified ourselves with our body and mind. We totally react
to the external world - the people, society, stature, class, politics, business,
and so on. Even when we go to bed, we go on dreaming of the waking state! What
happens here in the waking state is dreamt about there in the dream state. The
action is here, then the reaction comes there! The desires that are not
fulfilled here are fulfilled there. So dream is a continuity of the waking
state.
I don’t want to dream of a person attacking me. I don’t want my enemy to appear
in the dream and kick me. Yet, still my enemies appear in the dream. Why? It is
because the enmity is so deep and so intense that my enemy also wants to give me
trouble even in dreams! Am I clear? The wife nags me in the waking state and she
continues to go on nagging me in the dream state also! The son goes on
pressurizing for money. In the dream also he appears, asking for a money order
to be sent. (Laughter) Am I right? So, dreams bring forward all the aspects of
the waking state. They may be positive or negative. But, in either case they are
only concerning worldly, mundane things. For that reason, that is not (real
deep) sleep. It is dream state only.
We are both happy and unhappy in the dream and waking states. I am happy when I
am successful and miserable when I'm a failure in both of these states. The
dream experiences are the same as those of the waking state. I think I’m clear.
In other words, dream is a carbon copy, a prototype of the waking state. They
are both nothing but the different moods of the dancing mind. It is the East and
West, South Pole and North Pole, obverse and reverse. That’s all. The instrument
(mind) is the same. But the nodes, reeds, and tunes are different.
Similarly, the dream carries the effect of the waking state. This is why we do
not experience non-dual bliss in dreams. This is also the reason why we find
some people shouting while they sleep, because they dream all dirty things
there. (Laughter) Some people talk so loudly that nobody in the neighborhood can
sleep! Someone very closely related to me snores very loudly while he sleeps. It
has the sound of a tractor or a bus! (Laughter) In addition to that, he adds
certain dialogues also: "Mmmmm! Mmmhhhmmm, mmmm!" A thief would not even enter
the house, hearing all this noise, as he is talking so loudly there in
dreamland! (Laughter)
So my friends, let us refer to that state of real sleep. Dreaming is not real
sleep. Real sleep should not be like the waking state. Sleep peacefully. Sleep
happily. Have a sound sleep, a sleep that is dreamless, a sleep that has no
duality. Have a sleep that is neither sweet or hot, happy or unhappy, successful
or unsuccessful, neither with profit or loss. Have a sleep with no experiencing
at all. When is it possible? It is possible only in the 'no-mind' state.
The No-Mind State Is Deep Sleep
In the 'no-mind' state, the mind does not act. The mind remains stagnate,
passive, inert, inactive, or dull. You sleep well when the mind is in that
inactive, dull state. This is called sound sleep or sushupthi. Shupthi is sleep;
sushupthi is good (deep) sleep. This good, sound sleep is possible when there is
no experience at all, neither happiness or unhappiness. Simply nothing! When the
mind is non-functional, in a 'no-mind' state, this is called sushupthi.
By God's Grace, we get that experience now and then, maybe once in a week. Very
busy politicians may have this good sleep once in a year - only annually! For
some, it is weekly; for others, it is quarterly. But in any case, sushupthi is
the 'no-mind' state.
I want to bring to your notice certain important points concerning sushupthi.
Some people ask, "Did you have a good sleep last night?" Why? Why do you put
that question? "Oh, did you have a nice sleep last night?" Does this mean that
you were not bitten by a scorpion or a snake in the dream? Does it mean that you
were not beaten by anybody or that you did not cry in the dream? No! This means
that there were no dreams at all. Yet, we did not experience that consciously,
only unconsciously.
The mind is not functional in deep sleep. You are not aware or conscious of it.
The next morning someone may ask, "Oh, how did you sleep?" (Your response:) "Ah,
wonderful! Oh, it was a fantastic sleep! So good that I feel very fresh now."
However, when you are in that deep sleep or 'no-mind' state, you are not
conscious. You are unconscious at that point in time. It is only later, in the
conscious waking state, that you are able to talk about how that deep sleep
experience was very wonderful and good. Only later you will be able to say that,
not actually during the deep sleep experience.
The Conscious Deep Sleep or Samadhi
The conscious experience of deep sleep is called samadhi. This is the
fulfillment, fructification, the objective and end of meditation. This state of
samadhi is reached when I am conscious of my deep sleep state. It is when I
experience the 'no-mind' state right now (in this conscious waking state).
Unfortunately, people have different connotations and perverted versions about
samadhi. Instead of being transcendental, it becomes mental. Transcendental and
mental are different. Transcendental means beyond. So, samadhi is
transcendental. This means that it is beyond the body, the mind, the senses and
the intellect. Many people think it is samadhi if they forget their body
consciousness. It is not.
Bhagavan joked, "If you want to have that experience of forgetting your body,
you can have a nice bottle of beer or scotch whiskey." (Laughter) Beer or scotch
whiskey is enough to take you to samadhi effortlessly! (Laughter) Do you really
think that the poor sages and saints of yore spent years and years in penance to
experience samadhi, whereas today one can get it just with a bottle of alcohol
or a sip of beer? No, it’s not so!
Forgetfulness of the body is not samadhi. Non-identification with the mind and
being free or absent from the mind is called samadhi. The whole thing is a game
of the mind. When the mind becomes a non-entity, when it becomes pacified and
cooled down, that state is called samadhi. Therefore, my friends, samadhi is not
a separate state or a separate goal. It is not sold in the market nor can
anybody give it to you.
I met a friend a few days back who said, "My guru gave me samadhi." Oh-ho! I can
give you my pen, but I cannot give samadhi. Perhaps samadhi has another meaning.
Perhaps the guru gave him some plot in the graveyard, a reservation now itself!
(Laughter) Samadhi is not given, received, manufactured, or generated. Samadhi
is a state of having 'no-mind'. The conscious experience of deep sleep is what
is called samadhi. Bhagavan went a step further when He said, "'Dhi’ means
intellect and ‘Sama,’ equality. If you have that intellect which treats
everybody of any country, nationality, community, cadre, or race equally, it is
samadhi." What a wonderful definition that is!
Instead, we have different titles for samadhi. There are different people
talking about samadhi, so much so that we become vexed and not interested to
know more about samadhi at all. It is not like that. It is such a natural thing,
which is given to everybody. We all sleep don’t we? Yes. The one who is denied
sleep becomes weak. He cannot work. He loses his health and nears his doomsday.
Sleep is essential. We all sleep. We all enjoy a good sleep, but we are unaware
and unconscious of it. When we are aware of the experience of deep sleep, even
in the waking state, it is called samadhi. That’s all I want to say concerning
sleep.
I am talking to you seriously about these things because there should be an end
to these stories. We may want to go by these stories and experiences all the
time, but when are we going to learn serious things? When are we going to take
to sadhana, experience and comprehend Divinity, enjoy ourselves, merge and melt?
We have to merge and melt, becoming dissolved.
Here is a simple example. A drop of water is just a drop when it is in my palm.
It has a size, shape, and a taste. When I throw this water drop into the ocean,
that drop becomes the ocean. So, all the stories and experiences that we have
are like that of a drop. The drop will not last long. It is not permanent. It
will get evaporated. Similarly, the individual experiences are not the end. They
are only the means.
The Significance of Miracles
One topic was made compulsory, to be taught in all training camps for all Seva
Dal (service wing) and members of the Sathya Sai Organization. This topic is:
"The Meaning and Significance of Miracles." To many, miracles have become a
means and also an end. A miracle is a means to an end. That’s all. It is not an
end by itself.
Bhagavan Baba Himself said one thing: A mosquito rests on the body of an
elephant. The size of the elephant is so big and mighty, and the mosquito is so
small, little, and subtle. The miracles that you speak about are like the
mosquitoes and Divinity is the size of an elephant. It is very unfortunate that
we spend time with mosquitoes in the daytime and the mosquitoes spend their time
with us in the nighttime. (Laughter) Life becomes only mosquito-oriented.
'Daytime mosquitoes' are the experiences and the stories. In the nighttime,
there are real mosquito bites! One has to use Odomos mosquito repellent. How
long should this continue? Shouldn’t we go into the details?
I am not condemning anybody and I am not underestimating anything. I'm only
stressing clarity. That’s all. How many experiences do you want in order to know
that Bhagavan Baba is God? Do you want them till the last day of life, or do you
want one experience on Monday, two on Tuesday, three on Wednesdays, and so on?
What actually is an experience? If it is positive, you consider it as an
experience or a miracle. However, if it is negative, then it is considered as a
bitter experience. (Laughter) No, no, I'm sorry. We should understand that all
experiences of life are positive. There is nothing negative in this world. The
so-called negative turns positive later in life.
The Fifth Aspect of the Mind: Memory
Smriti is memory. Everything that is heard and seen, all our experiences, are
recorded in the computer of our biology, the mind. This is good. If doctors had
no memory, we would all have to be careful about our insurance policies.
(Laughter) If engineers had no memory, the bridges would solve the population
problem! (Laughter) If teachers had no memory, students would not be able to get
any degree in their lifetime. (Laughter) Ask a wife about the husband with no
memory! (Laughter)
Memory is necessary in daily, ordinary life. But memory does not work in the
spiritual experience or path. It is an obstacle, a hindrance, a bottleneck, and
negative. Why? You may say, "Bhagavan gave me an interview last week and I
remember what He said in it." Then why do you come back for darshan again? If
you remember the interview that you got last year, why do you come again? "Hey!
Past is past! I want to have another one." Right? Swami looked at you this
morning; still you want first line in the evening. Why? "That is different."
So, the memory does not work on the spiritual path and in the spiritual
experience. I might have seen Bhagavan, spoken to Him, been blessed by Him, and
had an interview. Yet, I don’t allow my memory to function and just live in that
state of memory. No! I am fresh now, so let me be with Him. Let Him talk to me.
Let Him look at me, at least a smile! Do you see? I'm not over ambitious. I just
want a look of recognition. Why? Because the memory will not work on the
spiritual path.
Suppose I tell you my full bio-data today: "I worked in that institution for so
many years. Then I worked in this school for so many years." If I start to
repeat it again next week, everybody will leave the hall, except for the man in
charge of the mike. He has to stay in order to pack up the mike and get it ready
for tomorrow! (Laughter) Why do they all leave? Because I told my experiences
already! You learnt it by heart, so why do I want to repeat it again? You have
not come here to have my bio-data. My experience is different from your
experience. I cannot generalize it. If experiences are generalized, they will
lose their validity, authenticity, and credibility. We cannot generalize, but we
can share. There’s nothing wrong with that.
Remembering and Living in the Past
I cannot go on hammering about my own experiences to everybody. We find some
people who continually repeat their experiences saying, "In ’72, what happened
was…In ’89, when I came…In ’92, while I was sitting…" Why give this chronology,
these dates and non-essential facts? Please tell me something that is applicable
and useful to me also, not only your individual experiences. You are coming
here, all right? You are very serious. It is very good. You were about to die,
but Baba saved you. It is nice to know that. However, if you repeat the same
story again, I’ll have to pray to Baba not to bring you back! (Laughter)
You go on hammering to everybody about your own personal experiences, only to
express how great you are! It is a mistake! It is all vanity, publicity, and an
ego-trip. We go on trips, but this is an ego-trip! Ego-trips land nowhere. There
is no arrival, no departure, no landing. It only flies high, high, high. That’s
all. Let’s not go on ego-trips any longer.
The experiences should be universal. Shankaracharya calls this Sarvaatrika
Poornanubhava. This means 'a total experience that is applicable to all times'.
It is not that which is individual or that which is conditioned to time and
space. Can you call that an experience? No. That which has happened to you must
also happen to me. What happened to you last year must be happening to you this
year, and also happening to everybody. This is called universal acceptance.
So my friends, memory, the fifth aspect of the mind, is a block. It makes me
view everything from the past. There are some devotees who may describe to a
20-year old boy what happened forty-five years ago. One must be humble and
courteous in a place of spirituality. Etiquette requires it, even if it is a
total pretension. "Forty-five years ago? O.K., yes, Sir!" (Laughter) "Forty-five
years ago, there were no buildings. We were coming since then. We were sleeping
on Chitravati. We all used to come in a line or a queue, and Swami talked to
everybody. Everyone got a chance to garland Him also." "Oh, I see. Ah." He
continues to describe everything that happened forty-five years ago. He lives in
the past and he won’t allow you to live in the present. Thus, both of us are put
to loss, acting totally stupid, if not idiotic.
Spirituality is not the past, my friends! I can quote any scripture, any number
of statements in support of that. I'm a teacher and I cannot bluff, nor can I
imagine and interpret as I like. I am not that much of a fool as yet, thank God.
Spirituality is life in the moment, life in the present. Spirituality is
existential, experimental and experiential. On the other hand, what will happen
if I live in the past, dragging and burying you there also? Let us not live in
the past.
Those that live in the past have the aspect of the mind called memory. Memory is
good for academic and worldly purposes, but memory has no place in spirituality
at all. Spirituality is practiced from the womb to the tomb, from the beginning
till the end. Truly speaking, it has neither a beginning nor an end.
Spirituality is a pathless land. So, memory cannot be called spiritual by any
standard.
Indifference Caused by the Past Being Projected onto the Present
One may ask, "What is the harm, Sir? Why not? Why do you say that?" O.K. I’ll
tell you the harm of memory. Memory is the recording of the past in the mind,
something like a computer. What does mind do and how does mind act? The past
recorded in the mind will project onto the present. It tries to project
everything from the background of the past.
Here is a simple example. When Swami says, "There is no trace of selfishness in
Me from top to toe. I am completely selfless," our hair should stand straight on
end and we should clap. We should be so happy and thrilled to hear that
statement! Instead, we are calm and composed, like in a chemistry lab -
colorless, odorless, and tasteless! Why are you like that? You say, "Swami said
a similar thing last year." Oh. (Laughter)
This state of indifference, of non-receptivity, and non-responsiveness is due to
the past being projected onto the present now. So that statement does not
benefit you. Please examine yourself! Some people will walk with you after
Bhagavan’s speech and they will say, "Swami said a similar thing last year or
four years ago." It is recorded in their memory. Please, don’t miss the present.
I am not calling the past false, no! But when the past is projected onto the
present, you will miss the taste, the beauty, the grandeur, and the freshness of
the present.
Here is another simple example: Let's say your wife serves you a hot, hot cup of
coffee, the first one in the morning. Amritha (the Divine nectar of Immortality)
is nothing when compared to this first hot cup of coffee! (Laughter) That is
Amritha! Instead of enjoying it and saying, "Ah! It's very nice! It's a good cup
of coffee" you say, "It was also very nice yesterday." Just watch the feelings
of your wife and then tell me this evening. You won't get coffee tomorrow!
(Laughter) Your wife will say, "All right! So it was nice yesterday. Thank you!
How about today?" So the point is, when you project everything from the past
memory, the beauty of the present is lost and the freshness is gone. Memory is a
handicap in that way.
You must have heard of Lord Buddha. He lived for forty years after the
attainment of enlightenment. (Enlightenment is also called liberation, moksha,
or nirvana.) During these forty years, he went on propagating Truth. He never
spoke or made any mention of the past. Everything that happened to him was fresh
and new.
In the evening, you may go for a walk. You will enjoy the breeze, but you won’t
say, "How about the breeze yesterday or last year or the year before last?" What
does the TV report say? "There will be a slight shower in California. You will
have a bright day in Colorado." But what about your own experience right now?
Spirituality wants you to drop the memory, bury the past and live in the present
moment.
Last but not the least there is another great danger of memory. What is it? The
past will not allow you to heed the present. So you miss the present. Memory of
the past has two bad qualities: first, it makes you an exhibitionist - one of
vanity, ego, pomp, and show. Secondly, it projects the past onto the present, so
that you miss the present. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to forget the
past.
That brings us to an end of our discussion on the different aspects of the mind,
which I started last week. I'm sorry if it has been long and drawn out. I had to
explain it like this, as these topics are ones that require deep thinking. They
need to be pondered over and reflected upon for a considerable period of time.
New Commandments (Part One)
Codes of Conduct in the Scriptures
My friends! All scriptures have specific codes of conduct. The Holy Bible says,
"There are Ten Commandments that God wants you to follow." The Dhammapada of
Buddhism wants you to lead a certain specified pattern of life. Hinduism speaks
of yama and niyama, the social code and the individual code of conduct. Every
religion has a definite text, a code, a set of rules and regulations that one
must abide by and follow. Or else, they will also threaten you: "If you don’t
follow these rules, you’ll go to hell, where you’ll be roasted and fried like
potato chips! So be careful! But if you follow all these Ten Commandments, you
will go to the heaven." What is heaven? "You may become old here, but there in
heaven, you will be ever young, an ever-green hero. People who are beautiful
will surround you. But here on earth, there are ugly as well as beautiful
people."
Oh-ho! These are all the promises attributed to heaven. They are all
imagination. There’s no heaven and hell, no! Absolutely not! They give this
description to make an ordinary person understand what they must follow. That is
all. Heaven is here now. The moments that we spend with Bhagavan, when He looks
at us or grants us an interview, that is paradise. It is even more than heaven,
if there is really any such place. When I am depressed, frustrated, lose balance
of mind, or suffer from any sort of blame or unnecessary allegation, that is
hell.
Heaven and hell are two states of life, not different strata or locations. They
are not geographical. Had there been heaven, Neil Armstrong could have gone to
heaven instead of going to the moon. Why would one want to go to the moon after
all? There is only dust on the moon. But here are so many promises concerning
heaven!
So, every religion comes forward with a certain code of conduct. The most
popular and effective code prescribed and followed by people are the Ten
Commandments. They are similar in every religion. The content is the same, only
the language differs. That’s all. We say 'petrol' and you say 'gasoline'. We say
'rupee' and you say 'dollar'. Thus, only the terminology differs.
This morning I want to make a humble beginning and share with you a few thoughts
on an altogether different style, order, and nature of 'Ten Commandments'. They
are not the same as in the Bible. Not that the Bible is outdated. No, no! (I
have got the highest respect and reverence for the Bible. I am the product of a
Christian college, which I am very proud of even now. Today, if I am what I am,
able to communicate with everybody, this much committed to the Sai Baba mission,
the whole and sole credit should necessarily go to my Almamater, the Christian
College. Yes! I received training there.)
The First Commandment: Give Up ‘I’
Now I want to present to you 'Ten Commandments' of a different nature. The first
command is a one-letter word, the second command a two-letter word, and the
third command a three-letter word and so on. The number of letters of each
command corresponds to its number on the list of Commandments. I think I'm
clear.
So, what is the first command? What is the most damaging letter in this world?
(Someone says, "I") ‘I’! That's good! ‘I’ is the most damaging letter. The first
command is to give up this 'I'. We don’t follow that. (Laughter) We always say
‘I’. "I was in Australia. I was in New Zealand." 'I', 'I'! The first command is
to forget, remove, and cut off that ‘I.’ It is kept first on the list because it
is 'a must' on the spiritual path.
As long as I hold on and cling to the ‘I,’ I will have to continue to live for
some more time. The cycle of birth and death will continue eternally, unless and
until the ‘I’ is cut off. When the most damaging thing in this world, this 'I',
is cut off there will be Awareness. Then you will attain the state of
enlightenment (Nirvana) or liberation. So, the first commandment is to forget or
drop this 'I'.
The Second Commandment: Cultivate ‘We’
The second two-letter command is this: The most satisfying, most gratifying, and
'most wanted' thing is ‘we'. Cultivate this 'we'. Just yesterday in His
Discourse, Bhagavan was stressing, "The day is soon approaching when there will
be unity." That’s what He said, if I remember right. I think you can identify
me. I only am the one who translated yesterday. (The living proof is that I have
not changed my outfit yet either!)
Bhagavan asked a first-year degree student, "How many brothers do you have?" The
boy answered, "Swami, I have two brothers." (Swami:) "Two? Tsk! All are
brothers! Why do you say only two?" Happiness comes when we have the feeling
that all are brothers and sisters. He doesn’t like or approve of only 'one
brother' or 'one sister'.
Bhagavan gave this definition: "In spirituality, one should travel from the
position of ‘I’ to the position of ‘we.’" We go on giving definitions of
spirituality any number of times. We get confused and we successfully confuse
others! Many people are very successful in confusing others! Let us pray to God
to be away from such people. Let them be confused. There are psychotic centers
for them, but we are not ready to be admitted there! ‘We,’ collectiveness,
community, society - this is to be followed. This is the very highly satisfying
second command, cultivate 'we'.
The Third Commandment: Cut Out ‘Ego’
The third command involves a very dangerous three-lettered word: ‘ego.’ Some
medicines, like concentrated sulfuric acid, are labeled as " Highly Poisonous -
Be careful. Not for Internal Use". No one is supposed to take it. On the label
of certain other medicines, it is written "Poison, Be careful". Unless a doctor
prescribes it, no one is supposed to take it.
Ego is a poisonous three-letter word. You may survive after taking poison, but
it is not so with ego. (Laughter) Ego is such a dangerous thing. Bhagavan has
mentioned this again and again. Bhagavan is the best surgeon to operate on this
ego. This Avatar may tolerate anything, but not the ego.
Not only that, He does the surgery today on the ego which you might develop ten
years later. You may become egoistic next year. So, He will do the surgery this
year itself in order that you’ll never be egoistic again in this lifetime! Those
who are physically close to Bhagavan and the residents who have been living here
for a number of years know pretty well how Bhagavan acts as a very successful
surgeon. Bhagavan will understand how egoistic you are by the way you walk
toward Him after He calls you. Your sitting posture and your mode of talking
will also certainly indicate your ego.
Once Bhagavan was asking everybody in a nice way, "Do you know driving? Do you
know how to drive a car?" When He asked me I answered, "Well, I don’t know
Swami." I am most successful and happy when I ride my bicycle without falling,
let alone drive a car! Finally He repeated the question to one gentleman. This
gentleman answered gruffly, "No, no!" Swami stepped away, again returned and
said, "What?" This man replied gruffly, "No!"
Couldn’t he have said politely, "No Swami, I do not know"? Is he an Alsatian dog
or what? (Loud laughter) The way you talk and express yourself will certainly
indicate if you are egotistic or not. Ego will certainly find some expression or
another. "What’s the time now, Sir?" Someone answers gruffly, "Eleven o’clock!"
Wow! (Laughter) He has got a Ph.D. in 'Ego' - 'Dr. Ego'! Or, "Sir, when is the
darshan time this afternoon?" Again, the response is spoken rudely, "I have no
time! Move along!" Ah-ha! That is the ego personified.
A devotee asks humbly, "Sir, are there any chances of Swami calling me?" 'Sir'
replies rudely, "You ask Him!" (Laughter) A final example: "Can I sit there?"
(The rough response:) "No! Push him from that place!" We see some people who are
violently devoted! That means their devotion is violent! (Laughter) They express
their devotion by harassing other devotees. (I don’t understand them.)
The ego will not keep quiet. It will find some opportunity or other to express
itself, even in ordinary words. Supposing I am a new man, a freshman, and I have
come here to Puttaparthi for the first time. I say, "Wow! I had a thrilling
experience with Swami! I had very nice darshan this morning." Another man may
answer gruffly, "So! Every day there is a nice darshan. Why do you say, 'It was
a nice darshan this morning?' " That fellow’s ego is affected. He is not able to
tolerate seeing me happy.
Some people are happy when others are unhappy! However, we should be happy when
others are happy. We should be delighted making unhappy people happy. Our
presence should make everybody smile. Please. Yes! If anyone puts on a long face
as if some surgeon is about to come to take him into an intensive care unit for
surgery, if his presence creates all tension and anxiety, may God help us to be
away from him!
Your presence should make everybody smile. The moment they look at you, they
should happily say, "Hi! How are you?" On the other hand, your presence should
not cause others to think despairingly, 'Oh, he’s coming. Let me avoid him.
(Laughter) He’s a trouble-shooter. Let me go this other way in order to avoid
him. Let me look that way, so that he may not identify me.' This is a tragic
experience, a life that is not worth living at all. A life that gives comfort to
all, making everybody laugh and smile as they enjoy your happiness and learn
certain things from you, this is a life worth living.
Living With God is Education
When Bhagavan gives His darshan, observe how He talks and moves about. This is
an education. If we are prepared to observe and learn, every gesture, every
posture, every conversation, every smile, and every movement has a message. If
you are really receptive, you can continue to learn because living with God is
education.
This morning you must have noticed that the whole verandah, the whole campus,
and the whole day were entirely busy due to the visit of the Vice-President of
India and his family. Bhagavan was positively very busy. The Vice-President had
to go to Bangalore just now. Perhaps he is in Bangalore, visiting the Super
Specialty Hospital right at this moment. He was in a hurry to go and Swami was
in a greater hurry to send him. So, we can understand how busy Bhagavan and
these people are.
When they were seated there on the verandah, waiting for His call, our beautiful
God silently moved towards the Primary School children. (Laughter) He called one
little boy and asked him, "What did you eat for breakfast?" (Laughter) Is that
more important than the Vice-President of India? Bhagavan started pinching the
boy’s cheeks saying, "Ah! What did you eat? How many idlies (a South Indian
breakfast of rice cakes)?" Baba wanted to know the idlie 'score'! (Bhagavan is
very happy if anyone eats a large number of idlis.) "Oh, eight? Why not ten!
Come on, eat!" (Laughter) Bhagavan was pinching his cheeks and enjoying his
smile, while the Vice President and other dignitaries were there waiting on the
verandah!
One can afford to do this if one is totally free from 'I'-ness or ego. Such a
one is free with everybody at all times. On Monday, a worldly man says, "I have
an appointment from 10 to 11AM, you can see me at 11:15." A businessman says, "I
cannot see you on Monday because I have got some business meeting. So let’s meet
on Tuesday." The one with no 'I'-ness, with no ego, is prepared to interact and
mingle freely with everybody at anytime.
I know one incident that I cannot forget. One time Bhagavan visited the Chowdaya
Memorial Hall in Bangalore. It is a beautiful building, built in the shape of a
violin. There was a music concert and all Central Government Ministers,
Governors, and other top people were seated there. Somehow they were good enough
to show me some chair, as my services were required. (But if I went today, even
the watchman would not allow me inside. I know that.)
Instead of talking to the Central Government people there in the front row, our
God Bhagavan climbed up the steps. He started talking with someone 85 years old,
seated in the 15th row! "How are you? You are not coming to Puttaparthi these
days. How is your health? Perhaps you’re not keeping fit? How are your children?
I remember you visited Puttaparthi ten years ago." Would you do that? If I know
one VIP, I will not be able to look at the faces of others around. Why? After
all, who is a VIP? In front of Bhagavan, who is a VIP and who is not a VIP?
I’d like to quote V. K. Gokak's famous quotation. He was second to none in
scholarship. He used to always say, "This Mandir verandah has seen so many
people sitting and then going. (Laughter) After all, you are someone today, but
someone else the day after tomorrow." How can one feel like a VIP here? Who is a
VIP? Can there be any VIP for God? No! All are equal. Why consider ourselves
important? It is nothing but ego to think, "I want to be known and recognized. I
want to achieve." This idea comes because we have a wrong notion of
spirituality, believing that it is an achievement.
Spirituality is Not an Achievement
My friends, we don’t need to learn anything at all. It is enough to bear in mind
this one sentence: Spirituality is not an achievement or an accomplishment.
Spirituality is a reminder. It is a constant remembrance of who you are,
recognizing the Divinity within. We consider ourselves as achievers because we
think spirituality is an achievement. When there’s no achievement, how can there
be an achiever? Where is there success or failure? No! Failure and success are
worldly. You are spiritual.
Bhagavan always says, "You are the embodiment of Truth, Peace, and Love. You are
God." When Baba said this, I asked Him, "Swami! How am I to believe it? How am I
to accept it?" He answered, "Then, consider yourself as a he-buffalo!" The
Scriptures say that you are Divine. Even the Holy Bible declares, "God made man
in His own image." Who can help us if we say instead that we are in the image of
a buffalo or a monkey? We should know the basic Truth and fact that we are the
Self.
The Self is eternal existence, immortal, pristine and pure. Bhagavan uses the
words, "Nithya, suddha, buddha, mukthi." This means that Self is eternal, ever
vibrant, ever radiant, ever effulgent, ever new and non-polluted. You are that
Self. This awareness is what we call spirituality, which is possible only if we
give up this three-lettered dangerous word, 'ego'.
So, this morning we covered the first three commands: Give up the one-letter,
‘I.’ Cultivate the two-letters, ‘we.’ Cut out the poisonous three-letters,
‘ego'.
Next week we will cover the rest of the new commandments.
Om Asato Maa Sad Gamaya
Tamaso Maa Jyotir Gamaya
Mrityormaa Amritam Gamaya
Om Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu
Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu
Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu
Om Shanthi, Shanthi, Shanthi!
Once again, thank you very much!