July 31st, 2005
“Life Is a Challenge – Meet It”
Part 3
OM…OM…OM…
Sai Ram
With Pranams at the Lotus Feet of Bhagavan,
This is the third part of the topic we have taken for discussion: “Life is a challenge – meet it.” In Part 1, we dealt at length with Bhagavan’s viewpoint on life, which is two-fold, societal and spiritual. In Part 2, we considered how life is to be viewed, and how it is to be accepted as a challenge. We also answered the questions, “What is this challenge in life?” and, “Where lies the challenge?” Those of you who missed the earlier talks can download and read them from the website. The third part of the talk this morning discusses how to meet the challenge in life.
This quote, “Life is a challenge - meet it” may be an oft-repeated one, but it has so much profundity and so much insight, that we cannot simply ignore the thought behind the quote. So, how does one meet life as a challenge? What does Bhagavan say about it?
The first point to learn in meeting life as a challenge is: Develop a spirit of acceptance that life is a challenge.
We should learn how to accept life as a challenge. If I develop this sense of acceptance, nothing will shock me; nothing will trouble or disturb me. I will maintain my own peace because I know that it is an accepted fact that life is a challenge. When I accept it fully, I will not be disturbed anymore. I will not lose my state of balance. Therefore, one can meet the challenges of life by first developing this spirit of acceptance.
Let us not say at any point of time, “I did not expect it”, “I never thought it so”, or “I wonder why it is like this?” and so on. These thoughts arise when I do not accept life as a challenge. When I completely accept life as a challenge, nothing is surprising any more, nothing is astonishing; nothing will be a jolt or a push.
The second point in meeting life as a challenge is: Develop the quality of surrender.
What do I mean by ‘surrender’? People think that surrendering at His Lotus Feet means falling at His Feet. No! Surrender means having a feeling, born out of deep conviction, that whatever happens in our life is for our own good. This is surrender. Having an ungrudging, uncomplaining readiness to receive whatever comes our way is surrender.
This also means not having any expectations, and not being preferential or choosy. If I exercise my choice and I do not get what I want, then I lose the battle and end up a loser. If I expect something and do not get it, then in life’s challenge, I will conclude that I am defeated.
On the other hand, if I develop the spirit of surrender, and develop a readiness to invite, a readiness to adjust, compromise, and adapt to whatever comes to me in my life, and understand that it is all for my own good, I will understand that this is how I can meet life as a challenge.
Point three: As we discharge our duties, and proceed in a particular direction to fulfill all that we want to, we have to be skillful.
To be skillful is to do everything with all our heart, all our spirit and all our soul. As the Holy Bible says, “Thou shall love the Lord with all thy spirit and all thy soul.” Similarly, if a person, regardless of whether he is a doctor, engineer, or professor, does his work wholeheartedly, with all the skill and talent that he is endowed with then he is prepared to face life as a challenge. Skillful, talented discharge of the assignment or task given to us will enable us to meet life as a challenge.
My dear friends, people give their own interpretations to this beautiful word, yoga. Some think that yoga is physical exercise. Some think that yoga will take them to celestial heights. Some think yoga is a guarantee of a birth in heaven. No! Yoga means to have a connection between the individual soul and the super Cosmic Soul. The linking of the individual soul with the Cosmic Soul is what is called yoga.
Yoga is not just physical exercise. We don’t have to spend money to learn yoga. Newspapers advertise that one can learn yoga in twenty days for $100! I really laugh at such statements. If yoga is so cheap that you can get it for $100, why did sages and saints and maharshis spend their lifetimes in a forest? If yoga is available for $100, why should they have exerted themselves? So, yoga is not the kind of training we receive by paying money – this kind of yoga learnt by paying money is commercial yoga, business yoga. It is not yoga in the true sense. If you refer to the etymology and root of the word yoga, you will understand that it is a connecting link between the individual soul and the Cosmic Soul.
So the third point to learn in meeting life as a challenge is to discharge one’s duty skillfully. It is to perform all the duties and obligations to the best of your ability, using all the talent you are gifted with. “Yogaha karmasu kausadam,” says the Bhagavad Gita.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY ‘SELF-CONFIDENCE’?
Point four: You can meet life’s challenges with the virtue of self-confidence. A man who is diffident can never face challenges. It is impossible for him to view life as a challenge. One should be confident and never diffident.
The word self-confidence is often misunderstood. Some people think that self-confidence is physical power. Some people assume that self-confidence is a mental faculty. Some imagine that self-confidence is intellectual alertness. But true self-confidence is none of these. Self-confidence is not physical strength because, if it were physical strength, you can call it physical confidence, but not self-confidence.
If you have the capacity to recapitulate, the ability to retain and reproduce or memorise, you cannot call that ability self-confidence. You can call it psychological confidence or mental confidence. So, physical strength is not self-confidence, nor is the capacity to understand, digest, memorise, and think.
Some say, “My intellect is very sharp; therefore the sharpness and alertness of the intellect is self-confidence.” It is not so. Intellectual sharpness is at the most intellectual confidence. It is not self-confidence. So, my friends, it must be clear by now, that physical confidence, psychological (mental) confidence, and intellectual confidence have nothing to do with self-confidence. Then what do you mean by self-confidence? Confidence in the Self is called self-confidence.
I cannot be confident of my body, because one who leaves home is not sure of a safe return. One who is healthy cannot guarantee the same health the next morning. We know people who are perfectly well, but suddenly fall sick. So how can you have confidence based on your physical strength? Suddenly the newspaper says that someone passed away. Yes, we met him the previous night; it is very difficult to believe that he is no more. Therefore, physical confidence is foolishness, however handsome or beautiful one may be. All of us were very handsome at one time, and it is very ugly to watch our faces in front of the mirror now. So we’d better not maintain albums at all, because every photographer of yester-year will make fun of us, saying how we were then and how we are now. Therefore, physical confidence is foolishness.
Mental or psychological confidence is ignorance. It is ignorance because, how can you be sure that you are thinking in the right direction? How can you be sure that your thought is right? How to be sure that your thought is genuine? It may be imagination, it may be hallucination or it may be a dream. I get lots of questions on dreams, from people who like to live in merry-land or dreamland. So, how are you sure of your thoughts? How are you sure of your memory? At times we give one answer for another question. Most often, we teachers do it to avoid some questions. Why do you rely on your mind, which is an illusion? Mind is non-existent. Mind is a bundle of thoughts and counter-thoughts and desires, which are non-existent. How can you say you have psychological confidence? It is sign of ignorance.
Then comes intellectual confidence. How are you confident about your intellect? The intellect is also silenced in a deep sleep state. Intellect always wants to defend your actions and your words. When I say, “You are wrong” the intellect says, “No, I am right.” And the intellect is ready with a number of points that will defend my action. I might have committed a murder, but my intellect will say, “I am not at fault.” The intellect will justify any wrong action. The intellect will justify and will give you a kind of shield or armour. It is because of your intellectual gimmicks and arguments that you are never at fault.
But there is one thing that will never go by convenience, or opportunism or escapism. There is one thing that is constant, unwavering and follows us life-after-life. There is one thing that is immortal, blemishless, spotless, unpolluted, crystal clear and non-dual. That is the Spirit, or Consciousness, or Soul, or Atma, however you may call it. This Atma, this Consciousness is unchangeable. Consciousness is unwavering and non-dual. So to have confidence in the Self is to say, “I am not the body, I am not the mind, I am not the intellect, but I am the Atma - the Spirit.” This Consciousness is called self-confidence. Therefore, my friends, to meet life as a challenge, we should have this sort of self-confidence in the Self.
Point 5: Self-confidence calls for devotion.
I can meet life as a challenge with devotion. Devotion does not necessarily mean a kind of sentimentality towards the Divine. No! Devotion means to have commitment towards our work or goal with a dedicated spirit. So, to meet life as a challenge, one should have the quality of devotion.
Devotion helps us to be humble and simple. If we meet life’s challenge with pride and arrogance, and if we fail, we will be totally frustrated. You will be completely depressed and you will turn mad and may be admitted to the lunatic asylum. (Laughter) There may be many people who are mad. Why? Because they are not prepared to accept. Let’s suppose that in a family, the wife does not pay heed to her husband, and the husband does not respond to the wife. Therefore, they try to live with each other for sometime, but later they get separated. They cannot compromise. If, by force, they have to live together, one of them prefers to be in the mental hospital than at home. Why all this?
If I am devoted, the devotion will make me humble; it will make me give a chance to the other person to adjust with me, and come along with me, but not to get away from me. One has to get along, not get away. This is possible with devotion. So devotion will help us to meet life as a challenge, such that even negative forces can be turned to our favour. Negative forces will also help us in the long run. That is devotion.
Point 5: The next quality that helps us to meet life as a challenge is fearlessness. Be fearless.
If one is totally fearful, totally afraid of people, situations and events, he will be an escapist. I asked a person, “Why don’t you do some work?”
That man said, “There are many people who will criticise me if I do some work. Therefore, I don’t work.” (Laughter)
So what shall I tell him? I said, “You can expect improvement in the next life, not this life.”
If you refrain from work because you fear the possibility of criticism or negative remarks from some Tom, Dick or Harry, it is not justifiable by any standards. Because of the feeling that ‘I may fail in the examinations’, will I stop reading or not go to school? If I think that the medicine I take may not be a remedy for my sickness, will I stop taking the medicine? Such an attitude is what is called sluggishness or laziness. This sluggishness or laziness shouldn’t be there. Fearlessness is absolutely necessary to meet life as a challenge.
Next, how to be fearless, that is the question. When everybody is pushing me around, and asking me all sorts of questions, I already have a sense of fear. Seeing these kinds of people, I become more fearful. So, how to be free from fear? Everybody threatens you. Everybody shouts at you. Everybody pushes you. Everybody puts on a grim face in front of you. That’s why it is rather rare to find smiling faces on the campus. Everyone is tense. (Laughter) Those who are going for Darshan are in great tension as to whether they will get good vantage points or not. I can understand. Those who get the first line are under even greater tension, because Swami’s car may pass by or not. And those who are lucky enough to see Swami’s car at a distance are in a greater tension. Why? Because Swami may turn in the other direction! (Laughter) And those people who are lucky enough to see Swami’s face are in the highest tension. Why? Is it Swami’s face that I see, or the grade of the glass? (Laughter) That’s why we belong to different classes of tension!
I was telling some of my friends that the fellows who receive watches and rings from Swami are spoilt because of ego. They say, “Swami has given this.” So what? You are not supposed to exhibit the articles given to you. Those are gifts of grace. They are not supposed to exhibit them like that. They are not centers of self-glorification, pride, or publicity. They are signs of Divine grace. So with all these gifts, I am spoilt because I am pampered. So those who receive gifts are spoilt by pride and ego. Those who have not received are also spoiled because of envy and jealousy. “You got it, he got it, this fellow has got!” (Laughter) So, we are all equally spoiled. Therefore my friends, let us be reasonable and scientific in our thinking, so that the simple things will never divert our attention or will never pervert our thought. We should neither be diverted nor perverted, which is possible only if we are fearless.
So, the question in front of us now is, how to be fearless in the midst of frightening people? In the midst of frightening people, can I ask for one more spoon of sambar? I am not sure whether he will pour it on my plate or on my head! (Laughter) Shall I ask that man, “Sir, may I sit here?” I am not sure whether he will give a proper direction or not. He may shout at me, “I am not the man to be contacted, don’t you know that much?” So under these frightening situations, with these people who make you fear them, how not be affected by fear?
How to be fearless in the midst of fearful conditions -- that is sadhana. The real sadhana, let alone spiritual development or spiritual awakening, is to maintain a balance among imbalanced people. To be fearless while living amongst those who frighten you, in fearful situations, is sadhana. When we take it as a sadhana to be balanced, nothing will make us afraid of anybody, nothing will make us run away from anybody.
Baba mentioned the key to the solution of being fearless. All of us know that. He says, “Why fear when I am here?” (Applause) “Why fear when I am here?” is the answer. I can give you one instance. One lady was about give a letter to Swami, and Swami was also responsive. As she was trying to get up, three people fell upon her-- only three. (Laughter) Had there been two more she would not have got up for a lifetime! (Laughter) They were just jumping like frogs on her shoulders. Very good gymnastics! (Laughter) I was watching all this and our compassionate God proceeding in the car stopped, and then said, “Give Me your letter” and collected that letter. So, “Why fear when I am here?” People may push you, or pull you, but why fear when He is here. He is already there.
Some group came from Gujarat State. They were from remote villages, and were very poor people. They were twenty-five in number. They came to me and said, “Sir, we have no leader to bring the news to Swami that we are here and are prepared to stage a cultural programme, a dance programme in the Divine presence. We have no representative. What to do?”
I said, “You contacted the wrong person, because I am not a representative as yet, nor do I hope to be one.” But they insisted that I give an answer to their questions. I said, “There are no representatives to Swami, to the extent I know. There are no agents. Pray sincerely. I am sure you will get a chance.”
I am sure I didn’t have a representative throughout my career. I am just a lone traveler, all by myself, having no expectations. That’s why I am here. Someone asked me, “Anil Kumar, why are you cheerful always?” It’s because I have no expectations. Therefore my friends, those boys from Gujarat, very poor people, were contacting VIP’s and V-V-VIP’s. (Laughter) They all raised their hands in helplessness and said, “We can’t help you.” Then they started feeling very badly.
They said, “Sir we have to return tomorrow. What shall we do?” I said, “Don’t worry. When all the doors are closed, a window will be open for you to jump out. Don’t worry.” Believe me or not, that evening, Swami gave them a chance. They were able to display their dance excellently. “Why fear when I am here?” So to meet life as a challenge, one has to be fearless.
The next point: In meeting life as a challenge, one has to be steadfast and sincere. In Sanskrit, it is called shraddha, a sincerity of purpose that means one is sincere in realising his dreams. He is very sincere in the act of worship. He is not worshipping for recognition, or for a favour or fear. His very sincerity of soul naturally shows the depth of his devotion. Swami will respond to it.
I told you sometime back about this, but it is worth mentioning again. When Swami went to Delhi, there were many volunteers who were making chapattis for visitors and devotees. Ten thousand Sathya Sai seva dals were on duty in those days. And those seva dal people who were on duty in the kitchen had no opportunity to see Swami physically or listen to His discourses. It was impossible for them to do so, because lakhs of people attended Swami’s discourses every day. And the kitchen was not just a kitchen, but more or less a big industry with lakhs of chapattis coming out of it. So seva dals working there were very busy.
Swami was proceeding to a school to give a discourse, followed by a motorcade, a number of people and a convoy. Suddenly Swami said, “Not that way. Let’s go this way.” All the police people and seva dal people had already sped ahead. They never knew Swami wanted a diversion. Swami said, “Go this way.” Those fellows went in one direction and Swami went in another direction – totally the Divine style. (Laughter)
So He went another way, and where did He go? He went straight to the kitchen and met the people who were working there. And what did He tell them? “When lakhs of devotees have come to see me, I have come to see you!”
That’s what Baba said. (Applause) Why? What made them earn that special blessing? What made them blessed souls? It was their sincerity of purpose. The sincerity in their duty made Swami go all the way to those people. See that. Devotees sometimes equally match God Himself. When Swami went there, nobody looked at Him. They were busy making chapattis. (Laughter) Maybe they see Swami in a chapatti, an example of non-dual Advaita!
Swami said, “Swami is here, stop rolling chapattis.” Then they started looking at Him. They were so sincere that Swami arrived there. That’s what is required my friends, to meet life as a challenge - the quality of sincerity, steadfastness, or shraddha.
The next quality that we need to have is doubtlessness. To meet life as a challenge, one should be doubtless.
For example, some people think, “Tomorrow I want to go to Prashanti Nilayam. Is there a Darshan?” What else do you have here? (Laughter) Some people ask me, “Sir, I am coming from Bangalore. I will be reaching there at 3:30. Will there be Swami’s Darshan?” With that question mark, if you come here, there will be no Darshan! Yadbhavam tat bhavathi: ‘As is the feeling so is the result.’ If you think of a human being there, you will be there. If you think of the devil, you will possibly run away. Mind plays all these gimmicks. Never entertain any doubt in order to encounter life as a challenge.
If I have to meet life as a challenge, I should be doubtless. Why doubt? Bhagavad Gita says “Samshayatma Vinashyathi”, meaning “Those who doubt shall perish.” It is an unconditional, straightforward, bitter statement. It’s a very bitter statement, very difficult to take – “Those who doubt shall perish.”
Unfortunately, we have no doubt as far as the world and worldly people are concerned; but we doubt God! That is the tragedy of life. When I go to a doctor, I am sure of the cure. When I go to a goldsmith, I am sure he will make a good piece of jewellery. When I go to a garment shop, I am sure of the cloth. But when I go to Prashanti Nilayam, I doubt whether I will get Darshan or not! This is the tragedy of life. There is no doubt as far as ephemeral, transient, and mundane worldly things are concerned. Doubt peeps in and raises its ugly hood in the relationship with God. That is the tragedy. We can never meet life as a challenge if we entertain doubts. We should be doubtless.
Thirty years ago, a poor lady, ignorant and innocent, asked, not out of arrogance or pride, “Will Swami talk to me? I am a villager and I am illiterate. I don’t have diamond bangles. I don’t have diamond earrings. I don’t have a costly silk sari. So will Swami talk to me?”
Then I asked her, “Why do you doubt it?”
She said, “I saw Swami talking to these people only.”
Oho! It is news to me. I never thought so. Believe me or not, I shall show you the lady; she is in Prashanti Nilayam even right now.
That evening Swami looked at her and said, “I will talk to that lady wearing a silk sari. I will certainly talk to the lady with gold bangles and diamond bangles. And I will talk to you also, because all are the same to Me. I don’t go by gold or diamonds. Why do you doubt it?”
That’s what Baba said. So let us not doubt, because doubt is something that will take us away from our goal, our spiritual path. A doubting Thomas can never attain liberation. If I go to the shop doubting whether I will return or not, or if I doubt the purchases I make, will I be able to buy anything? It is impossible. What will happen if I doubt everyone who comes to see me – that he may carry a revolver or bombs with him, thinking that he may try to kill me? So, you cannot doubt everybody like that. Therefore, to meet life as a challenge, one should be doubtless, which is a fundamental requirement.
What other noble quality will equip us to win this battle of life? What quality should we cultivate so that the challenge finally turns out in our favour? That quality is the spirit of sacrifice.
As we meet life’s challenges, we should have a spirit of sacrifice. For the army, protecting the borders of the country and its frontiers is their very life, and they meet this challenge with a spirit of sacrifice. To meet the enemy at any point in time, to defend this country, they are prepared to sacrifice their life. The mother sacrifices her life for the child. The wife sacrifices for the welfare of the husband. Life as a challenge calls for the spirit of sacrifice. When I do not sacrifice, it is selfishness. When I sacrifice, it is an act of love. It is an expression of love.
Life is a challenge, so meet it. Most of you naturally must be experiencing this. Many of you, who are used to a comfortable, luxurious or extravagant life of conveniences and comforts, are here. And you face all kinds of challenges here. The immediate challenge is mosquito bites! (Laughter) The second challenge is spicy foodstuff. The third challenge is to walk barefoot. The fourth challenge is to sit for hours and hours in uncertainty. And the last challenge is that you do not know where you are allowed to sit, and where you are allowed to stand!
Somebody asked me, “Sir, when I am standing they say, ‘Don’t stand there.’ And so I sit. When I am sitting, another person says, ‘Don’t sit here.’”
So I told him, “Move about. Start roaming and vagabonding.” Go on moving about, so that people cannot say why you are sitting or standing. Go on moving. This is another challenge. We are already facing all these challenges successfully. But the challenge in front of us is our experience with the Divine.
To experience the Divine, what sacrifices should we make? We should sacrifice all that we consider important, because when we turn our attention towards God, we have to sacrifice some of our interests. I want to see movies and films. When you have to attend bhajans, you have to sacrifice all films and movies. Towards the weekend, you have some plans to visit Las Vegas. Las Vegas - oh! A good centre for the weekend. But the Sai centre suddenly announces a sadhana camp. You have to sacrifice. So to meet life as a challenge, we need to sacrifice our resources, our time, our choices, and our entertainment. All these should be sacrificed for a higher goal, for a greater purpose, and for a better realisation, a better understanding. That is the next quality required for life as a challenge.
Lord Krishna says to Arjuna, “Fight without passion.” If I am passionate, I will be emotional. Passion takes you to emotion. Emotion takes you to failure. Therefore Krishna tells Arjuna to fight dispassionately. Therefore, as we meet life as a challenge, we can meet it without passion, without emotion, without reacting, without getting tense, without getting worked up, without being biased, without being prejudiced, without being one-sided and without being unilateral. So let us be dispassionate as we face life as a challenge.
Bhagavan says, “Face life as a challenge, thinking of Me continuously.” I will give you references towards the end of my talk. What I have spoken about so far is not my imagination, or any stretch of my intelligence. I have only collected facts and placed them before you; that is all. So here it is clearly said that we should face life as a challenge, thinking of Him continuously. Why should we do so? Because, when I think of Him and face life as a challenge, it is His duty to see me successful. If I fail, He is the failure. If I am successful, the credit goes to Him. That’s the reason why, when we pray in the name of our God the Saviour, we can never grab the credit or be discredited. On the other hand, chanting His Name, singing His Name, will serve as a sort of an additional boost, “like a Calcium Sandoz injection,” to quote Swami.
What did Krishna do to Arjuna? He gave a discourse on the battlefield. All the words of Krishna acted as a sort of Calcium Sandoz injection, to make this weak fellow Arjuna strong, effective, brave, courageous and full of valour. Similarly, when we think of God constantly, and face life as a challenge, He will take us to success. You are bound to be successful! So that’s what is required to face life as a challenge.
And the next point that He tells is, “When you think of Me and do actions in My Name, there is no question of failure.” Does this mean that there will be no grief, there will be no bad states, and that we will have no failures in life? No! To face failure with courage is enough of a success. Being successful and yet egoistic is enough of a failure.
So let us define success and failure. Success is to be able to face difficulties with all the courage and faith. To face a failure with courage is success. To be egoistic, to feel proud of one’s own success, is a failure. Therefore, Lord Krishna says, “There will be no grief and no sadness when you think of Me.” Why? “It’s because I will make your attitude, your temperament, and your spirit such that you will be a man of steady wisdom – sthitha pragna.”
FOR YOUR REFERENCE
Therefore, these are some of the points that I thought I should draw your attention to, though there are many others.
Here, I am concluding the third part of my talk, “Life is a challenge - meet it.” In the first talk, we dealt at length with how Bhagavan looks at life. In the second talk, we discussed sufficiently why and how life is to be viewed as a challenge, and in this morning’s talk, we collected some precious sayings from Bhagavan’s discourses, and the methods and qualities to be adopted and cultivated to meet life as a challenge.
Just for your reference:
· Bhagavad Gita - Second chapter, third sloka, wants you to be fearless.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
That brings us to the end of the topic, “Life is a challenge - meet it” (a talk which was spread over three talks on three consecutive Sundays). Within the short time left, I have a little homework to do. I think you will bear with me just for some time. I received quite a few questions by email from all over the globe. We completed some questions last Sunday, and some questions are still remaining. Let us try to answer them within the stipulated period, and if not possible, reserve some for next Sunday also.
And for your information, from next Sunday onwards I want to do a little more homework. We clarified doubts or answered some questions, about a hundred or even more in the past. But we get the same questions time and again. All these questions and answers are available on the website. Therefore, if I get a question that has already been answered, I shall let you know the number of the question for your reference, and we can save time, avoid repetition, and invite fresh questions. So, we have triple benefits this way. I think you certainly will appreciate this.
The first question put forward by a gentleman is this: “My inner conscience tells me that it is time for me to let go of all worldly matters and settle at His Lotus Feet.” And he goes on to say, “My conscience is asking me to leave everything behind….. I am forty years old with a family.” Abba! Bombshell! (Laughter)
He is aged forty with a family, and he wants to run away and settle at His Lotus Feet! Life is a challenge, meet it. What is the challenge? You have a family and you want to settle at His Lotus Feet. What is the challenge in running away, or remaining here? My friend, where are His Lotus Feet? Please give me the address of His Lotus Feet. Please give me the phone number of His Lotus Feet, or the cell number. (Laughter)
His Lotus Feet are spread all over the world. His Lotus Feet are spread all over the universe. So why do you think of settling at His Lotus Feet, as if His Lotus Feet were present at a particular locality, under geographical limitations.
No. ‘Sarvathaha panipadham tad sarvathochi shiro mukham.’ His heads are everywhere, feet are everywhere, and ears are everywhere. So you don’t have to run away to settle at His Lotus Feet, because His Lotus Feet are everywhere. Where are they? In the Avatar of your heart. The Feet are with you. Can you run away from yourself?
If I ask anybody, “Sir, where is Anil Kumar?” they will say, “I met this gentleman half-an-hour ago. He was alright then; but what happened to him now?”
They will ask, “Is something wrong with you?” (Laughter)
I cannot search, looking for me. So, similarly, thinking that settling at His Lotus Feet is sadhana is ignorance. It is ignorance. It is illusion, because His Feet are installed in your own heart. For that, you don’t have to run away. Can you run away from yourself? What you have to do is look within. When you are sitting in front of me, can I turn my back and look there? I should look at you.
So, the Lotus Feet are installed in the Avatar of your heart. Look within; you cannot run away. He is not far; you cannot get away from Him. He is within you. And taking care of your family is your sadhana. To a doctor, practicing medicine is his sadhana. To a professor, teaching is sadhana. To a businessman, business is a sadhana. So when you want to run away from the family, it means that you are giving up your sadhana and this is something that God will never endorse nor appreciate.
There are thousands of cases where Bhagavan asked people to go back and join their families. And Sanathana Dharma will never allow a husband to run away like that, without prior permission of the wife, which no wife will ever give. (Laughter) Without the wife’s permission, one cannot be a renunciate or sannyasin. Why do they say that? Because she won’t give her permission. So that is the answer I can give.
“I am not fit for service physically, but I feel that Swami is telling me that service and Namasmarana should go together. So what path should I follow?”
Swami time and again reminds us that our birth is a burden on earth if we do not know the purpose of birth. You say that you are physically unfit to do service. I do not know what you mean when you say ‘fitness’. I do not know what you mean when you say ‘service’. An encouraging word, a comforting word or a few words of solace is service. Don’t you think they are acts of service? A gentle look, a smile, is that not service?
So, service does not mean physical exertion. Physical exertion and physical strain is service, but it is not the be-all and end-all. Every word and every gesture, any letter or any look is an act of service. So never consider that you are physically unfit. You may tell somebody, “Do not worry, my dear young man, I suffered like you; but good days are ahead. Am I not happy now?” If you say some soothing words like that, it is service. When you say, “Sir, don’t worry that you have problems. Here is vibhuthi, come and take it.” That is service. Don’t you think so?
Therefore, our idea of service should be totally different. Service does not mean five or six hundred people going somewhere. That is a seasonal activity. It is community activity. As an individual, you can serve the community as service is not seasonal or incidental. It is not accidental. It is one of continuity to eternity. We should go on serving people throughout our life, either by thought, word, or deed.
Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavanthu. Praying for the peace of everybody is a service. That’s what I love very much about Christians, because they often say, “Please remember us in your prayers. Please pray for me.” Wonderful idea! Beautiful idea! Excellent idea! That is enough service.
“In my profession I have to commit some sins. What shall I do?”
I don’t know which profession wants you to commit sins. I don’t know sinful professions or professional sins or professional sinners. I do not know. But this brother has substantiated his statement with an illustration: A police officer has to beat another man; is it not a sin? A soldier has to shoot at his enemy; is it not a sin? No. It is swadharma, it is his duty. A soldier cannot invite an enemy for dinner (Laughter) or for a tea party. A policeman cannot give a hug to a thief or a robber. No. To punish him is his dharma; to kill the enemy is the job of a soldier. It is not a sin. But if you kill another fellow and rob his money, that is a sin. If you know that he is guilty and is a thief, yet you don’t punish him, then it is a sin.
Therefore, our thought process should be correctly motivated. It should be directed along the right channel, so that we know what a sin is. A doctor cuts open the abdomen; what a sin it is! Can you cut my body like that? The doctor is not a sinner, because our life is saved in surgery. Can the doctor shed tears? “How can I cut? It is a sin!” (Laughter) He is the worst sinner if he thinks so. So it is the motive that decides whether he is a sinner or not -- not the act itself.
“I could not participate in yagna because of some inconveniences. What shall I do?”
Yagna means sacrifice. Let us understand this. Yagna does not necessarily mean sandalwood, ghee, trees, and mantras. That is all outer yagna. Breathing is yagna; work is yagna. To follow the command of the guru is yagna. To serve our parents is pithru yagna. To follow the command of the scriptures is rishi yagna. To worship God’s deities is deva yagna. So, yagna does not mean only a ritual in a temple. If it is inconvenient to go to a temple, do yagna at home by thinking of God, by praying to Him, by listening to His cassettes. That’s also equally a yagna.
QUESTIONS ON DREAMS
I have three questions on dreams. My friends, I may get many more, because a dream is a very convenient state, as all that I cannot do here, I can do there. Yes, I can stay there in a five-star hotel or a seven-star hotel, without having to pay a single rupee! I can beat all my enemies there. Here I can’t face you, but that’s a different thing. So it is convenient to dream.
However, Swami appearing in a dream is not a dream; it is a vision. I gave a talk long ago on visions and dreams. I want you to go through that talk, collected from Swami’s teachings, which is available on the website.
“We want to construct a Sai school in the western countries. Should the building be constructed facing towards east or west?” (Laughter)
It is a western country, so should the building be turned to face the east or west? My friends, it is really a bothering question. I am reminded of what my teacher said long ago: “Whether the cat is made up of mud or wood, still it must eat the rat.” (Laughter) So whether the building faces east or west, let there be a building first! (Laughter)
Let there be a Sai School first, but we have to follow the tradition of the land. Some people say, “In our country, a building facing east is auspicious.” All right! Follow that. “Sir, in our country, if the building faces west, he will prosper.” Thank you. Let it face west. But when the earth is round, there is neither east nor west, so it doesn’t matter. (Laughter) Earth is round, and for a circle, there is no east or west. But for those who are traditional, who are ritualistic, we honour the just law of the land.
At this moment, I am reminded of an anecdote. There was one great European by the name of Sir Arthur Cotton. He is remembered to this day, because that gentleman was responsible for the construction of a bridge across the Godavari River, which supplies water to thousands and thousands of acres of land today. India should ever be grateful to Sir Arthur Cotton, whose bridge construction is stronger than some of the bridges constructed these days, which collapse the next day. (Laughter) Sir Arthur Cotton’s bridge is still strong today.
Why I want to tell an anecdote from his life is because Sir Arthur Cotton decided to construct a dam. The work started. On the day of the commencement, an old fellow, a casual labourer died. Immediately all the people came and said, “Let us stop constructing the dam because the fellow died.” Somebody said, “In the Godavari River, until now, the water flowed towards the ocean and all the water went to the sea. By constructing this dam, you are not permitting the river to go to the sea. Therefore, the poor fellow died.” (Laughter)
Sir Author Cotton had to take the trouble to visit every useless fellow of this nation, and convince him that the river water should not be allowed to flow easily and merge in the ocean. If the river water is kept in a dam, it can be used for irrigation. He had to convince many people. So, whether eastern-facing or western-facing, somehow we have to turn our face to get away from such people.
Somebody said, “I am very much worried about scandals and conspiracies about Swami.”
Swami can take care of Himself. (Laughter) Don’t worry. You be worried about the scandals that are being spread about you, and the conspiracies that might arise any time. Somebody asked, “Swami, people write so many things against You, and broadcast and telecast so many things. What shall we do?”
Baba said, “You hear so many bad things because you have ears. You are helpless.” When some fellow goes on digging into your ears, helplessly you have to hear, praying that the fellow will eventually run away.
Baba said, “As you have ears to hear, I gave you feet to get away from that place.” (Laughter) God gave you ears to hear, so you are complaining that you have to hear all the nonsense. But know that you are given feet also to run away from there!
“HOW CAN WE RAISE A CHILD WHO WILL BE A PILLAR OF SAI PHILOSOPHY”
A very good question…the answer is straight. The Sri Sathya Sai Seva organisation, under the Divine direction, has gifted us Bal Vikas to train children. After completing Bal Vikas, as the child grows older, he will pass through the training in Education in Human Values. And as he comes to the college level, he will be given training in Educare. That will make him the pillar of Sai philosophy. To sum up, Bal Vikas, Education in Human Values, and Educare are the three wings of Sathya Sai philosophy that will make you a worthy instrument in the Divine Hands.
Another question, “What are your views about astral travel?” (Laughter)
Worldly travel itself is tiresome. Sometimes, we get the reservations cancelled; plus visas and passports are highly expensive. When this travel itself is a bore, why consider astral travel? Whether it’s astral travel, or physical travel, earthly travel --- travel is travel. Astral travel is possible to some people in deep meditation, and to those who take to penance. To travel, you don’t need to do any penance as there are cars and flights.
Somebody came to Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and said, “Swamiji, I did penance for three years.”
Paramahamsa said, “Good, very nice meeting you.”
This man said, “Swami, after three years of penance, you know what I got? I can generate fire here. I can produce fire here!”
Paramahamsa laughed and said, “If you have a matchbox, that is enough! Why three years of penance?! (Laughter) Why three years of penance? Use a matchbox!”
Similarly, why travel? Astral travel or earthly travel or heavenly travel -- travel is not necessary. Sit and meditate. Travel within, not without. Therefore, travelling inward is meditation; travelling outward is a journey. Travelling within is spiritual; travelling outward is tiresome. Travelling within is blissful; travelling outside is disgusting and vexing. Travelling within is certainty; travelling around is uncertainty.
Next question, “Didn’t Lord Krishna cheat everybody in Mahabharata?”
Very good! That’s why He is Bada Chittha Chora. This man says that Krishna was a successful cheater. He cheated Karna and He cheated Dharmaraja, by asking them to do all that was not true. How can God cheat everybody?
My friend, Swami gives a good example, which is there in Satyopanishad. If you follow Satyopanishad, two volumes of which are available in the bookstall, all these questions are answered. The same question was put to Swami.
What did Swami say? “When the thief is running away from the main door, you have to run and follow him. When the thief is escaping through the back door, you cannot say, ‘I will go through the main door.’ You are the owner of the house. If thieves go and escape by the back door, the owner goes through the same door.” Therefore to meet this challenge, Krishna adopted that means. It is not that He is a cheater.
The next question is with respect to translations available all over the world. This brother feels that there is a deviation from the original thought.
I can tell you that the print-out booklet, given to you on the second or third day after the Divine discourse, is made available in the bookstall only after Divine permission and sanction. Therefore Swami’s speeches, which are available for sale in the bookstall, have prior approval of Swami. So we don’t have to doubt it, as it has got the ‘reserve bank stamp and signature of the governor’, so it is genuine currency and not a fake note!
That’s all for the day. Thank you very much.
OM…OM…OM…
Asato Maa Sad Gamaya
Tamaso Maa Jyotir Gamaya
Mrtyormaa Amrtam Gamaya
Om Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu
Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu
Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti