September 3^rd, 2006

“Onam 2006”

OM…OM…OM…

Sai Ram

With Pranams at the Lotus Feet of Bhagavan,

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We are meeting after a long time. I think we missed the Sunday Talks for around 3 or 4 weeks due to the Yagnam and other festivals. I apologise to you for any inconvenience.

As per the program sheet, the Onam celebrations begin from today. We may have a music programme this morning. It may be kept in waiting for the evening session. Let us hope so. There was a suggestion from our friends that they would like to have a question-and-answer session this morning. You are quite welcome to do so.

IMPORTANCE OF ONAM CELEBRATIONS

Before we begin with the questions and answers, I would like to place before you a few points regarding Onam celebrations. Onam is an important festival celebrated by Malayalees—our brothers and sisters from the great state of Kerala.

Kerala is a great state because it has the highest rate of literacy in this country. We are also proud of Malayalees for preserving the Indian culture, folklore, classical music, and dances that stand for Indian culture. God willing, we should get a chance to visit this great land.

BALI — THE EMBODIMENT OF SACRIFICE

There was an emperor by the name of Bali, a great devotee—a devotee of sacrifice and love, in the land of Kerala. He was very much appreciated and adored by the whole kingdom. People worshipped him, but God decided that he should reach a higher level of achievement. God decided that he should be a role model for the rest of the kings all over the world, and remembered by humanity for ages to come. Therefore, God enacted a drama to make him sublime, to make him historical.

God came in the form of a dwarf called Vamana when Bali was performing a yagna—a spiritual ritual. Bali was known for his sacrifice—he would give anything that you asked for; and God came and asked for three footsteps!

For an emperor, three footsteps is nothing. But Emperor Bali had a teacher, his preceptor by the name of Sukracharya. Sukracharya was a highly intelligent man, a man of vision and fortitude, who could foresee what was going to happen. He told Emperor Bali that the person who came there, Vamana, was not a small man.

He told Emperor Bali, “He is asking for just three footsteps, but He will throw you out. He is not an ordinary man. Don’t promise anything.”

But Bali said, “It is not in my nature to say ‘no’ to anybody. I will give whatever He asks for.”

But Sukracharya told him once again, “He is not an ordinary man. He is Lord Vishnu—God Himself—-who is asking for three footsteps. Don’t promise anything. You will be finished. Be careful.”

Then Emperor Bali said, “When God comes to me asking for something, His hand is at the lower level. When I am going to give Him something, my hand will be the upper hand. So when I have a chance to give something to God, what more do I want. I will give Him whatever He asks for.” 

And then he told Vamana, “OK! The three footsteps are granted.”

Vamana the dwarf then became a cosmic figure—a very huge cosmic figure. With one footstep, He occupied the whole planet; with another, the whole of the upper world. And with both worlds covered, where was He to keep the third footstep?

At this point, Emperor Bali told Him, “You can keep it on my head.”

That’s how Emperor Bali was put down, and God made the third step by keeping His foot on Bali’s head.

In this manner, God occupied all the three worlds. Very much pleased with Emperor Bali, He told him, “You were not only prepared to give everything, but were willing to bow down your head so that I could put My foot on your head. This is the epitome of service and sacrifice!”

God also said, “Your name will be remembered for eternity. You are going to be worshipped by everybody, and there will be huge celebrations in your name.”

So, that is how Onam came about. Onam is a festival celebrated in honour of, in appreciation of, in adoration of Emperor Bali, who sacrificed everything. It is a celebration of sacrifice, a celebration of truth, a celebration of surrender. You don’t find any other festival all over the country, which symbolises the spirit of sacrifice such as you find in the life of Emperor Bali. That’s why the Onam festival is so important, and observed by Malayalees wherever they are.

KERALA — THE STATE OF CULTURE

But any interpretation by Bhagavan is quite new, novel, and unique. He explains it in His own style. Bhagavan will never go by the conventional, traditional interpretation. He adds something new to that. How does Baba explain the Onam festival?

Let me share with you a few of Baba’s views on this festival of Onam. The first point that I want to share is that Baba always speaks in praise of the great land of Kerala. He praises Kerala to the sky, I tell you. He keeps all Malayalees on the top of the mountain on this day. You can refer Bhagavan’s discourses; every Onam festival, He praises those people. Why?

One reason is that Kerala is a land where Indian culture is preserved and sustained. Though many Malayalees are rich enough, though they are all educated, they have got great attachment to their culture. Swami always refers to this point. It is a land where Indian culture is always preserved and sustained, where there is theism — which means people are religious.

But the funny thing is that they always had a communist government. That is the irony of life. The government is managed by communists, but the people are traditional and religious. That is the paradox of life. And Swami praises them for their spirit of hard work, industry and intelligence, which is very true. The Malayalees are spread all over the world, and are known for their hard work and intelligence.

Swami speaks very highly of Emperor Bali, because he was an ideal ruler, was appreciated by all subjects, by all people of the nation. As a matter of thanks, gratitude, and reverence for their ruler, the Malayalees observe Onam.

Point three—it is believed that Emperor Bali comes back to earth to see his people. He comes back to earth and moves about in Kerala, which he ruled at one time. He feels extremely happy when he sees people remembering him, and he blesses them all on this day.

GROWING BEYOND TIME

The next point is spiritual in depth—the spiritual significance of Onam, as viewed by Bhagavan. In fact, I have gone through some accounts of the Onam festival by different scholars, by different philosophers. But Baba’s way of looking at it is different. How does Baba explain it? My friends, I am sure you will appreciate it. Why did God demand three footsteps from Emperor Bali? When the whole world belongs to Him, when the whole universe belongs to Him, why should God ask for three footsteps? Why?

Bhagavan gives new and varied interpretations in different styles on different occasions. I would appreciate if you go through His talks delivered on Onam. Well, each time He comes forward with a new interpretation. If anyone thinks, ‘I attended last year’s Onam. It is not necessary to attend this year,’ I pity him. Festivals may be repeated, but interpretations are multi-dimensional. Yes, each time He explains in a new way. I place before you a few of them, if not all.

One: the number three signifies the three periods of time—past, present, and future. When God asks for three footsteps, He wants you to surrender all the three periods of time—past, present, and future. Surrender time to God. Time is God. God is time; He is the master of time, controller of time and beyond time. God is time and He is beyond time. Therefore, when you surrender three feet or three footsteps, it means that you are surrendering time—past, present and future. It means that you are growing beyond time. It means you are reaching a state of timelessness.

TIME IS MIND

Timelessness—what is time? Time is mind. You ask a mad man, any mad man; we have plenty of them. We are not running short of mad people. Mad people don’t have a sense of time. Of course, those that speak continuously, forgetting time, are also equally mad. Time is the mind. So, a man who is mad has no sense of time. A child, a new born baby, has no sense of time. In sleep, we have no sense of time. In deep sleep, we have no sense of time. Can you tell me when exactly you dreamt? No. Can you tell me the duration of sleep, when you had no dreams at all? No. In deep sleep the mind is passive, it is inactive; in deep sleep the mind is withdrawn.

The withdrawn state of mind in deep sleep is called sushupthi. During that state, you have no sense of time. So, going beyond time is possible for two classes of people—those who are mad, and those who have gone beyond the mind. Incidentally, I may tell you, people say that mad people have no mind. They are wrong. Mad people are full of mind. (Don’t mistake me for a mad man. Not yet, fortunately!) When I say that a man is mad, he has more of mind, he is full of mind. Why? He goes on talking to himself. He goes on doing something. He goes on fighting with somebody. He goes on smiling. He is totally, mentally engaged. Therefore, he is fully tensed, fully worked up; he is under tension; he is full of laughter, hilarious—he is full of mind. But an intelligent man is beyond the mind. An intelligent man should be above the mind. The one who is fully of the mind is mental—let us revise our definition.

Therefore, when I offer three footsteps, three feet to God, as offered by Emperor Bali in response to Vamana the dwarf, the three periods of time are surrendered to God; meaning one is going beyond the mind. Therefore my friends, spirituality is timelessness; spirituality is withdrawal of mind; spirituality is to go above or beyond time, because religion is eternal, immortal, and has neither beginning nor end. That which has a beginning and an end is within the framework of the mind. That which has a beginning and an end is within the timetable of time; but God is beyond time. That which is visualised, that which is spoken about, that which is communicated, that which is speculated, that which is interpreted, that which is expressed, that which is explained is all the game of the mind. But God is beyond the mind.

Great intellectuals may go on speaking nonsense, and may go on thinking that they can explain everything. No they can’t, because that which is given to expression, that which is given to explanation, that which is given to interpretation, that which is communicated, is within the frame of the mind. But God is beyond the mind. And what is the mind? Mind is time. Time is the mind. Therefore, when I offer three feet to God on Onam day, when Emperor Bali sacrificed three foot steps to Vamana — he surrendered time. He surrendered the past, present and future and he has grown beyond time, beyond eternity. That is one explanation that Baba gave on one of the Onam festivals.

YOU ARE THREE

At another time, He gave another interpretation.

“You are not one, but you are three: the one you think you are, the one others think you are, and the one you really are.”

The one you think you are: everyone thinks that he is so-and-so. It is better we don’t think of that, because what we think we are, we are not. We think we are intelligent; the one who thinks that he is intelligent is dumb. We think that we know everything; it means that we are ignorant. We think we are handsome, and we are ugly. So what we think of ourselves is what we are not, to be very honest. You think that you are so-and-so. You are not, because you are so-and-so today; but, tomorrow you may not be. You are so-and-so today; a few years back, you were not. You are a post graduate today; ten years ago, you were just a high school student. Today, you are an officer; good, next year you will be retiring, out of office. So what you think you are, you are not—very clear. We think we are quite energetic—good; next year arthritis is waiting at the door step; blood pressure is very anxious to hug you. So you are not that. All the activities, all the dynamism, all the intellectuality, all the positions of authority, the range of influence, all that you think you are you are not, because it goes on fluctuating. We see people being honoured one day and dishonoured the next day. We find people being garlanded, and then the next day the public pelt stones at him. Honour, dishonour, respect, disrespect, esteem, humiliation; it goes on fluctuating. So you are not what you think. Who knows what is going to happen? And that’s what life is.

And the one who others think you are, you are not. Others may think you are a virtuous man and a great devotee, and you may not be. Others may think that you are a role model. When once they start living with you, they will understand what you really are. All that glitters is not gold. We think that he is a great devotee, but when you observe him from close quarters you will understand that he is not. You may think that he is an honest man, but as there is no one to bribe him, he is honest. If there is anybody to bribe him, he will be more dishonest than anybody that you know.

People say, “I am very honest.”

“You are very honest, but who wanted to bribe you?”

“Nobody.”

“If there is anybody to bribe you and you say no, then you are an honest man.”

Yes, so what others think you are, you are not. ‘You’ includes me here. Maybe I am the first one. So there are three: the one you think you are, the one who others think you are, and the third one—the one you really are. The one you really are, which means the Self, the consciousness, the spark of Divinity. So Bali offered these three, meaning the three levels of awareness, the three levels of consciousness. One: the one who you think you are. Two: the one others think you are. And the third: the one you really are. When these three are offered, when the three are sacrificed, then what remains is that which is universal. The individual consciousness, the individual spark of Divinity is very much same as that which is universal, that which is cosmic. You are a spark of that Divinity. So when you cross these three, when you go beyond these three, you are basically Divine.

As J. Krishnamurthi (people called him Krishnaji or JK) always said, “You are the world; you are the world.” It sounds very silly but it is true—you are the world, because you are the consciousness. You are Divine; there is nothing more, nothing less than that; this is “cognise”, this is “recognise”. This is what is felt once we offer these three: the one you think you are, the one others think you are and the one you really are. This is one interpretation that Bhagavan has given, on one of the Onam festivals.

THREE AKASAS

On another occasion, Baba explained it this way—the third interpretation. There are three levels: one of them is the whole thing that you see, the whole gamut of creation, the five elements, the five senses, the whole nature, the animal world, the plant world, the human society, the mineral matter, the mountains, and the valleys; all that you see comes under one title. What is it? Bhoothakasa. All that you see, all that you experience, all that you perceive, all that you conceive comes under Bhoothakasa. All that is visualised, all that is seen is one subject, Bhoothakasa.

When you close your eyes, the whole thing can be imagined. The mind is a small camera; it can click any big scene. The scene may be very big; the mountain may be very big. The camera clicks; yes, you can have the photograph. Similarly, all that you have seen, all that you visualise, all that is conspicuous, all that is apparent—all these are simply felt and imprinted in the mind. It is the mind that grasps; it is the mind that understands; it is the mind that accumulates, it is on the mind that it gets imprinted; that is what you call Chitakasha – Chitta is the second one. The first level is Bhoothakasha. All that you see that is imprinted in the mind is called Chitakasha, which is the second level.

Third, the mind is functional because of the consciousness behind. The fan is rotating; the fan is revolving at a high speed. We are feeling the breeze, okay. But the fan is functional because of the supply of electricity. It is the power supply that makes the fan revolve. Similarly the mind is functional because of the spirit behind — that which you call the Atma or consciousness. That is called Chidakasha.

So my friends, there are three levels now: Bhoothakasha, all that you see; all that is conceived by the mind, Chithakasha; and the third, the mind is functional because of consciousness or the spirit behind it, Chidakasha. So, Bhoothakasha, Chithakasha, Chidakasha are the three levels that have to be surrendered to God, as signified by the Onam festival. On Onam day, the Emperor Bali submits or surrenders these three: Bhoothakasha, Chithakasha, and Chidakasha. He surrenders these three: past, present and future. He surrenders these three: the one you think you are, the one others think you are, and the one you really are.

GROSS, SUBTLE AND CAUSAL

Then there is another interpretation. Baba interprets in different styles on every Onam occasion. That is why we run after Him. Yes. He gave another interpretation. There are the other three. What are they? One is Sthoola, the gross body. Is it enough if you have this gross body?

There are a number of dolls, teddy bears that you see; a number of toys, big cloth shops keep beautiful idols there; they are more beautiful than those that are alive. Most often we think they are alive, but they are lifeless. So the gross that you see, Sthoola, is only external. But there is present inside the life. You don’t find life outside. There is a wire outside; the current is inside. Am I clear? Similarly, there is life inside.

Where is life? (Come on, let us take the body to the anatomy theatre or the medical college; dissect and it is gone. Where is life? I don’t know.) One scientist wanted to know what life was. So, he caught hold of a dying man, a man who would die any moment. He kept him in a glass case and he was observing where life was, and how it escaped. As he was observing, he realised that the fellow had left five minutes before. Death and birth happen, they are not done. They happen. When they happen, nobody can say, “Where is life?” This fellow had become lifeless. And then he understood that life had escaped, without his noticing.

Therefore life is subtle—sookshma. The body, sthoola, is gross. The second, sookshma, is the life. The third one is cause, karana. So what is the cause for life? The causal body or the consciousness. Therefore, sthoola is gross; sookshma is subtle; and karana is the causal body. People also call it the physical, astral, and causal, or gross, subtle, and causal. So, all the three are surrendered to God. That is what is meant by the Onam festival, when three footsteps are offered to God by Emperor Bali. This is one of the explanations given by Baba.

BEYOND ATTRIBUTES

Next, on another occasion He said, “When you offer three footsteps to God, what does it mean?”

Everyone has three qualities. What are they? Sathwic, rajasic, and thamasic. Thamas is the animality, the inertia, dullness, laziness, extra sleep, and continuous eating; these are thamasic qualities. The second is the rajasic quality—emotion, passion, desire, anger, hatred, ambition. The third one is sathwic—piousness, calmness, peace, equanimity, equality, tenacity. These are all pious qualities, or sathwic. 

So, when Emperor Bali offered all these three, rajasic, thamasic, sathwic, the inertia, the emotion, and pious qualities to God, what does it mean? It means you go beyond the three attributes—you become guna atheeta. Guna means attribute. The three attributes are tamoguna, rajoguna, and satwaguna. When you offer them to God, you are attributeless or guna atheeta, beyond attributes. God is beyond gunas; God is beyond attributes. In fact the attributes are functional because of God. The mike itself is not functional; it is functional because of the current. Light by itself is not functional; it is functional because of the power supply. Similarly, trigunas are active, trigunas manifest, trigunas express because of a current behind i.e. the Divinity. So once I offer all these three attributes to God, it means that I become the current, the gunatheeta, the power supply. Transcend gunas, go beyond the gunas to be attributeless, and become gunatheeta. So Onam signifies that one should go beyond the three attributes.

BODY, MIND, AND INTELLECT

On another occasion, Baba said this about another three: body, mind and intellect. It is the body that is an effective instrument. Some people say that the body is useless. Some people say, “What is there in the body?” But you find him going to the canteen. Why? What is there in the body? Why should you go to the canteen? Why? To have a cup of coffee. This is useless, meaningless talk. Everybody has a body. Nobody can say they have no body. Body is there. Body is an effective vehicle of transport. Body is an effective instrument. We should be thankful for this body, the body that is quite active, the body that is quite smart, the body that is quite interactive. We have got to be grateful for this body. This beautiful gift of a body is given to us by God Himself. Body is the gift of God and we have no right to disrespect the body. We have no right to end the body by committing suicide, or torturing the body. Some believe in torturing the body. No, no, no. We have no right. Therefore, first the body has got to be preserved and well maintained. It should never be neglected.

Second level is mind. What we have to be cautious of here is that body is important, but body is not the all-in-all. We should not consider that body is the only thing. No, the body is the main thing, but not the only thing. We eat to live but we don’t live to eat. Is it not? So, the body is important, but the body is not the only important thing. The second is the mind. The mind has got to be channelled. The mind is something like a steering wheel; the mind is a director. The mind should not be diverted; the mind should be directed. Mind diverted is perverted, whereas mind directed is correct, is the right thing that we have to do. We should not blame the mind.

Some people say, “It is a dirty mind. My mind is like that.” Oh no! The mind is not dirty, you made it dirty. Mind takes form in the way you like it. Just try it, my friends. You start taking from some people. You feel like taking everything, because the mind is like that. Sometimes, you start giving, you feel like giving everything. So the mind acts in the way that you direct it. We should never blame the mind. Therefore, the mind is to be directed, while the body is to take action. The body acts according to the mind, and the mind thinks according to the intellect. It is the intellect that controls the mind. Therefore, Baba said this on one of the Onam occasions, when Emperor Bali offered all the three—meaning body, mind and intellect. All these three are surrendered to God.

BABA IS CONSCIOUSNESS

I really wonder how Swami goes on explaining the same three feet, three footsteps offered by Bali to Vamana in so many ways. That is what Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba is. Why do people run after Him? It is because of this originality, the creativity, the multi-dimensional approach to every event of life, every situation.

Therefore, on this day of Onam celebration, let us remind ourselves of what Bhagavan said about Onam, and meant by Onam. As a teacher, I beg your pardon if I am repeating things—it is because old habits die hard. On this Onam day, let us remind ourselves that we have got to be timeless; that we have to go beyond the three attributes; that we have to go beyond the body, mind and intellect; that we have to understand bhoothakasha, chithakasha, and chidakasha; that we have to transcend sthoola, sookshma, and karana.

These are the different interpretations given by Bhagavan for the observance of the Onam festival. Baba is not the physical body as we see Him; Baba is not the mind as we understand Him; Baba is not an intellect. Baba is very Consciousness.

I AM GOD -- I AM NO DIFFERENT FROM GOD

On this day of the Onam festival, I should remind you, my friends, of the time when Adi Shankara, hailing from that great land of Kerala, approached his guru. His guru asked him, “Who are you?” Adi Shankara never introduced himself as, “I am so-and-so.” He never introduced himself by producing any introductory letter or identification marks. Nor did he allow himself to pass through the security check or immigration.

Adi Shankara introduced himself like this: “I am eternal, I am immortal, I am Divine.” That is how he introduced himself to his guru. Please go through his biography. Adi Shankara introduced himself as a son of immortality, as the one of eternity, as one who is totally Divine.

While He was a boy, Baba in one of His poems said, “I am God. I have no beginning; I have no end. I have no afflictions, I have no worry, I have no anxiety. I am eternal. I am Truth.”

That was in Telugu. I am making an in-depth study of Baba’s poems, because every poem contains the summary of the whole message meant for the day. When I am just going through those poems, around 800 in number, I get lost in reading them. I forget where I am. The greatest things are explained in the simplest way. That is possible only by Baba. In one of the poems, He has introduced Himself like that:

“Nenu Daivambu Tat Dinnamu Yemi Kaanu.”

“I am God. I am not different from God.”

“Ye Vyadhayu Ye Keshambu Nannu Sprushimpabhovu.”

“No pain, no afflictions can ever be around Me.”

“Akanda Satchidananda Parabrahmamaudunenu.”

“Akanda, I am that infinity.

Satchidananda, I am that eternity.

I am the peace, I am the bliss.”

“Ullama ! Palkumu Om Tat Sat.”

“O Mind, repeat that, Om Tat Sat.”

“Hari Om Tat Sat.”

“I am That. I am That.”

That is what Baba said. That is what Adi Shankara said.

POWER OF PRAYER

It is Adi Shankara who did a miracle in his life. One day, around 12 o’clock in the afternoon, while Adi Shankara was passing by, he noticed his aged mother carrying a pot full of water. She fell down because it was very, very hot that day. She was unconscious. Adi Shankara noticed his mother like that.

He prayed to the Mother Goddess Sharada and said, “Oh Mother, why should my mother fall on the ground like this? Why should my mother walk along to fetch a pot full of water? I want that river to come to me. Let my mother not go to the river, but let the river come to my mother.”

That was the prayer of Adi Shankara. What happened? Next morning, the river started flowing by the side of his residence. (The name of the river is Poorna. The place where Adi Shankara was born is Kaladi, in the state of Kerala. Even today the Poorna River passes by the house of Adi Shankara.) Adi Shankara could direct the river. Sathya Sai Baba could direct the river to go around 700 villages in Anantapur district today, as drinking water supply, just imagine.

Not only that. It was Adi Shankara who went to the house of an old lady asking for food. That old lady cried, “Swami, what can I give? I don’t have anything to give. I have got a small gooseberry, a small fruit. I don’t have anything else.” And, she gave it to Adi Shankara.

Adi Shankara held it in his palms and prayed to the Mother, “Oh Mother! Help this lady.” At once, there was a shower of gold coins (Kanakadhaara). Then Adi Shankara started composing the Kanakadhaara stotram.

What happened in the life of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Baba? A person came to Him, in total loss of Rs. 2 crores of money. He cried in front of Swami.

Swami said, “I can’t help you.”

But that man said, “You can’t say that Swami. You should help me.”

Then Baba said, “If you so believe in Me, you will have the money. Don’t worry.”

I will give the address and house number of that man. I am a student of science. I am not speaking cooked up stories or fictitious ones. I will give the address and you can go and talk to him. In six months, all his debts were cleared, and he was able to have an extra income. He purchased a car and came here and presented that car to Swami.

Swami said, “I don’t want cars.”

“Swami, You should take it.”

Swami said, “I don’t want.”

He cried and cried. Ultimately Swami said, “Come on, give it to Me.”

He took the keys of the car and said, “This is My car now, understand? Yes, you be the driver and maintain my car safely.”

That man’s name is Sanjeeva Rao of East India Tobacco Company.

Kanakadhaara Stotram — it was Adi Shankara who showered the rain of gold coins, blessed that old woman who had nothing, while Baba showered money here. That’s what Swami is.

I AM  I

 Adi Shankara speaks of non-duality. Aham Brahmasmi — “I am God.”

 Aham is I. Brahma is God. Aham Brahmasmi means, “I am God.”

Aham Brahmasmi. I am Brahma. I, here; Brahma there. I am Brahma.

Baba goes a step further! (The latest Avatar, you know; an improvement over Adi Shankara, because the present Avatar cannot lag behind. The Avatar also has to update His agenda, with the latest technology!) And what does He say?

“I am I; Aham Aham.”

There is no question of Aham Brahmasmi. Aham Aham — “I am I.” That’s all — it is special Shudda Advaita.

 

Advaita (non-dualism) says, “Aham Brahmasmi.” Shudda Advaita says, “Aham Aham”, or “I am I.” It goes a step further. If you go through the teachings of Adi Shankara, and the explanations given by Bhagavan Baba, if you read the compositions of Adi Shankara, Aparokshaanabhooti, Vivekachoodamani, against the background of Sathya Sai literature, you will understand. You forget the similarity, that’s all.

Baba said at one time, “One should have three.”

What are they? One: the hands of Janaka, meaning the hands that serve. One should have that. Second, one should have the heart of Buddha. Buddha’s heart melts; Buddha’s heart responds; Buddha’s heart is highly receptive, responsive and compassionate. So, one should have the heart of Buddha. Third: the head of Shankara; what does it mean? It means the head of discrimination, the head of enquiry, the head of discretion, the head of judgment, the head of vision, the head of eternity.

Therefore, as Swami speaks of Adi Shankara and Advaita philosophy, naturally we are extremely happy. Because when you think you are limited, you are narrowing yourself down. “I am unlimited.” It is there in the declaration of Jesus, when He rose from the dead on the third day. Jesus rose from the dead on the third day. Why? Because He was not the body; He was not the mind; He was not the intellect.

Therefore my friends, with fraternal greetings and Happy Onam to all of you, I conclude this morning session. Hopefully we will be meeting next week, same day, same time. 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