March 12th, 2006
“The Relationship Between the Disciple and the Master”
OM…OM…OM…
Sai Ram
With Pranams at the Lotus Feet of Bhagavan,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
By Bhagavan’s Grace, we had a very good response last week. Many of our friends have come forward with questions, and I suppose they must have been satisfactorily answered. In all humility, with no pride whatsoever, with no personal claim of any kind, I may bring to your notice that the question and answer sessions were very well received all over the United States and the United Kingdom.
Bhagavan gave me the opportunity to visit the United States twice, where I visited many of the Sai centres, and the question and answer sessions were very well received there. The same thing was true with the United Kingdom.
As I think of our Sunday sessions here in this holy place of Prashanti Nilayam, the question and answer sessions are equally encouraging. Therefore, if you all agree upon it, we will have a question and answer session once a month—or something like that—so that it will improve our understanding on various subjects. This is a mutually beneficial process. It’s a two-way channel.
My friends, the relationship between the Master and the disciple is very unique. We cannot compare that relationship with any of the relationships known to us. The relationship between the mother and child is a physical relationship—a blood relationship. The relationship between the beloved and the lover is also physical. The relationship between the disciple and the Master is not earthly, not physical, and not worldly; it is super-natural, it is transcendental, and it is permanent.
I would like to bring to your notice, my friends, that if there is any unearthly relationship, I repeat, unearthly relationship, it is the one that exists between the Master and the disciple. In this connection, we should also know, it is the Master who chooses the disciple, not the disciple who chooses the Master. The disciple, with all his limited understanding and experience, is not capable of choosing his Master. If anyone says or feels so, it is out of ignorance or out of ego.
It is the Master who chooses the disciple. And if we just go a step further, we will also know that the disciple and the Master exist as two entities with separate identities, with separate names and forms to begin with. But later on, as the disciple comes closer and closer to the Master, as the Master starts showering His grace on the disciple more and more, there comes a stage when the disciple does not exist any more.
I don’t mean that he is going to disappear physically! What I mean is that the disciple loses his separate identity. The disciple loses his identification with his name and form; the disciple no longer exists as an ego; he is no more. When the disciple is no more, there is no Master either. There is only one entity; there is only one whole; there is only one Divinity. It is the Holy merger; it is a Holy unity. It is the end of the object-and-reflection relationship. There is no more reflection; there is no objectivity; there is only the subject that remains.
Therefore, the guru— the Master—wants us to identify ourselves with Him totally, completely, so that we do not exist anymore as a separate entity, as an ego. It is certainly a long journey, it is certainly a distant goal; yet it is worth pursuing, it is worth trying. It is the spiritual path which you have to tread along; if not now, in a couple of lives to come.
What is the main teaching of the Master? What does He want to communicate? He wants us to get out of that which is not real. He wants us to get out of that which is not real, because we are in a myth; we are in that which is not totally true. You may call it untruth or falsehood, or a myth, or illusion, or delusion, or maya, or whatever. The main teaching of the Master is to take us away from this mask of myth, from this mask of that which is not true.
My friends, there are two paths here. The Holy Bible clearly says, “You shall know the Truth and the Truth shall set you free.” In our daily prayers we say:
Oh God, take me from untruth to Truth.
What is untruth and what is Truth, then? One sign of untruth, one mark of untruth, is this: That which is constantly changing is untruth. Nature changes constantly. There are different seasons, so we cannot consider Nature as Truth. Body is equally untruth, because it does not stay the same—it goes on changing year after year. All that is created goes on changing, and therefore it is untruth.
That which is changeless, that which is permanent, that which is everlasting, that which has neither a beginning nor an end, is Truth. Therefore, my friends, the teaching of the Divine Master is to deliver us, to make us free from untruth, so that we may travel towards Truth. We may repeat “Asato Maa Sad Gamaya” as lip service, as a matter of routine, in a mechanical way; but it has got all depth, profundity, vast oceanic interpretation, explanation, meaning, and application: “From untruth to Truth.”
“Oh God, I am so happy with all the riches, with all the properties, with all the men around, with all my paraphernalia. Oh God, I am very, very happy.”
But the Master tells you, “No, no! All that which makes you are happy now will not remain. It will go on changing, my dear boy. That’s all untrue, that’s all myth; get out of it.” It is very painful to get out of that which we like the most. The untruth is so sweet, so delicious—much to our taste!
A dog bites a bone, and it starts bleeding heavily from its mouth because the bone is so hard. As the dog goes on biting the bone, because of the bleeding, some blood spills over the bone. The dog starts licking the blood and feels very happy about it because he thinks that the blood is coming out of the bone. No, no, no! It is out of its own body, because it hurt itself by biting a hard bone.
Similarly, we are all so happy in this myth—we are all so happy in this illusion—because we think that happiness lies in this imaginary illusion. But actually speaking, true happiness comes from within; we simply project it, experience it on the outside. That’s all. We forget the point, untruth to Truth. The meaning is this: Untruth is feeling that happiness is outside. Untruth is considering our external experiences as everlasting.
A simple example: Though I hear, the hearing capacity is inside; but the sound is outside. You may shout, you may clap, you may sing; but whatever you do, all the sound is outside, while the hearing capacity is inside. Therefore, if I enjoy some music, it is not the music that I enjoy. It is my hearing capacity—my power of audition—that helps me to listen to that music and enjoy it.
If the music outside, if the sound outside, really makes you happy—come on, bring a deaf person whose ear is not functional, who cannot hear. Make a deaf person sit there; he will go on staring at you. There will be music—pop music with a fast beat—and all the people start dancing and clapping. But the deaf man is steady. Not that he reached the state of samadhi or equanimity (Laughter)—certainly not! As he could not hear, he could not respond.
Therefore, my friends, response to music is inside, not outside. But untruth is asat (ignorance); untruth is when we say, “The music is nice.” The music is nice when your ears hear, but not otherwise. When your ears hear, then the music is nice, or else—Hari Om!—no response.
When we say, “This hall is so beautiful!” we are seeing. If your vision, your eyesight, is correct, then you can enjoy this. Suppose I am blind. I cannot see, I cannot enjoy, and I cannot appreciate. Therefore, my friends, the point I want to impress upon you is that the beauty is not in the scene; the beauty is not in the word. The beauty is in the seer. So the beauty is in the seer, and the melody is in the one who hears.
Let me share with you a wonderful experience. I tell my boys that all experiences are wonderful, provided the experiencer is active. The experiencer should be alert, the experiencer should be sensitive, and the experiencer should be receptive. If there is no experiencer, there is nothing like a wonderful experience. Therefore, it is not the experience which is wonderful, but the experiencer who is wonderful.
“Laddu or chai or doughnut or milkshake—ah, very nice!” I don’t agree with you. If you taste the same laddu as a typhoid patient, or a patient who has had a high temperature, and the tongue is not in proper condition, he is not ready to appreciate the taste because that fellow has a temperature, and now the tongue is after some lime and other things, but not sweets. Even if you serve him a sweet, he will say, “No, no! I don’t like it.” Why?
Laddu should be sweet to everybody; but when the tongue is not healthy, when you are not healthy, the tongue will not relish the sweetness of the sweet. Therefore, it is not the sweet that is sweet; it is your tongue that will appreciate, that will enjoy the sweetness of the sweet. My friends, be sure I am not confused; I hope I am not confusing you either!
One point I want you to appreciate--please join me in this effort--is this: The hearer, the seer, and the experiencer are one and the same. And that One who hears, who sees, who experiences, is Divine. That is permanent. That is Truth.
So, “Oh God, Asato Maa Sad Gamaya.” Asat means untruth. That which makes me feel that everything is charming, everything is interesting, and everything is beautiful, is untruth. We say, “Swami, take me from untruth to Truth—Sat.” What is Sat? That which is inside, which is unchangeable or changeless, which is equanimous, which is balanced, which is immortal: That is Truth. Therefore, my friends, our first prayer, “Asato Maa Sad Gamaya,” has got that depth, and so much meaning. It is not a routine prayer.
A simple example: Bhagavan was so merciful in Kodaikanal. Kodaikanal is a trip where one can experience many, many things. Those students who are around Him, those who are selected to go there and stay with Him, will have the benefit of having individual photographs with Swami. Individual photographs are so difficult to get. (It may usually only be possible for a Prime Minister or a President.) Each trip there will help you to return with twenty individual photographs at least—yes! Many chances.
Now, one day it so happened that during one of the trips, Swami stood like that, and He was kind enough to grant the privilege of having individual photographs taken with Him. Boy after boy was coming in line. (Boys are very intelligent. They will find out the mood of Swami. (Laughter) They know how to be silent and they know when to be noisy. They know how to be steady; they know how to dance. They watch the Divine moods, because of their long period of stay, and the Divine vibrations that will make them detect the Divine mood. So they could detect that Swami was in a good mood.) The fellows lined up—a big queue already. In fact, He called only one fellow, but all lined up. A queue formed. Now He can’t say no.
So one after another were coming there and standing by His side, and tac, tac, tac—Swami was being Divinely helpless. (Laughter) He started saying, at the end of every click, “Hmmm… manchidi. Next. Hmmm…manchidi. Next.” Helpless God. What to do? (Laughter) Everyone was happy and everyone got an opportunity to take photographs.
Then it was my turn. (Laughter) To be or not to be, that is the question. (Laughter) To go or not to go? (Laughter) If I don’t go, He may say, “You are not interested.” (Laughter) If I go, He may say, “Did I ask you to come?” (Laughter) This is a spiritual dilemma, a religious confusion. What am I to do? So without going, without stepping forward, I started stretching my neck like a giraffe (Laughter) so that I might draw His attention some way or the other. (We have got our own manoeuvring and strategy to draw the Divine attention. (Laughter) Man has got to be strategic when God comes down in a human form. As a devotee, we should also learn spiritual manoeuvring, if not manipulation.)
So I was stretching my neck, and Bhagavan watched it (Laughter) and said, “Why, come on, you also have a photograph.” (Laughter) Yes. I jumped up and stood by His side. But that’s not important. One statement He made is very, very important: At the end, He looked at me and said, “See Anil Kumar, have you noticed one thing?”
“Actually, what I noticed is boys taking photographs with You.”
“No, no! That’s not all. One boy after another is coming and going, but I am not like that. You come and go. But I have neither come, nor will ever go. (Applause) I am permanent. I am eternal. You fellows who come and go are the creation. I am the Creator,” said Bhagavan Baba. (Applause) Understand this point.
So, my friends, regarding the meaning of “Asato Maa Sad Gamaya”: Asat is that which comes and goes; Sat (Sad) is that which remains. Asat is that which changes. Sat is changeless. But here comes another point, a step above: Are there two, like asat and Sat?
We have arrived at the advanced study of philosophy, not yet experienced from the academic point of view, from the theoretical point of view. But we have studied enough. Therefore, out of curiosity, I am putting this question. Are there two—asat and Sat? Can there be two, untruth and Truth? No! I see! There are not two. It is only One that appears as two.
The same gold can be made into a ring, and that can naturally be converted into some earring. You can go on changing its form with the same gold—this ring or this earring? Ring is different, but gold is the same. Same gold is appearing as two. So when you consider the earring and the regular ring of the ring finger, there are two; but they are actually made out of the same gold. Therefore, my friends, functionally it is all gold jewellery.
A simple example: I have a leather belt, and I have leather shoes. Both are made of leather. Just because they are made of the same leather, I do not keep my shoes near the waist, (Laughter) or the belt tied up to my feet. Do I do that? Both are leather. Take the belt and tie it onto the feet? Take the leather shoe and tie it up to your waist? Madcap Number One! We do not do that.
Therefore, my friends, functionally it is jewellery; but in reality, in letter and spirit, it is non-dual (all gold). Therefore, it is said, bhava plus advaita is bhavadvaita—meaning, in feeling, in content, in spirit, in reality, it is non-dual Truth. But kriya-advaita: in action, functionally, it is dual.
Let me be very clear. A simple example (how ridiculous it will be if I confuse the two!): I tell my students in the Institute there, “God is one, not two. Only one God has taken so many forms.” I will give a lecture.
One student has understood very well, and the moment the bell rings, he says, “Sir, when God is One, when you and I are One, why do you teach and why should I hear? (Laughter) Why do you teach, and why should I hear? Come on, you sit here; I go there. Why should I be examined; why should you be an examiner? (Laughter) Let me examine you!” You can’t say that.
As an officer, you go to your office and the peon heard your talk. The helper there in the office, he comes and says, “Sir, your lecture was fantastic yesterday. Quit your chair. Let me sit on the chair and you sweep with the broomstick.” Can you do that? No! So this statement on Truth and untruth has got certain implications.
Untruth is practiced for a functional purpose; Truth is the reality behind. Truth is the electricity, but untruth is to feel that the wings of the fan are simply moving on their own. Truth is electricity; to feel that the mike is making the sound is untruth. So, Truth is One, while that which expresses as untruth is many. I think I am clear.
Energy is One. You may take solar energy or hydro-power, or heat energy; whatever you may say, energy is One, but you express it in different ways. So as the Truth expresses outside, you find plurality, multiplicity, and duality. That is untruth. Electricity will help to keep this drink very cold when kept in the refrigerator. The same drink kept on an electric heater will make it very hot. Electricity heats in a heater; electricity cools in a refrigerator. It’s the same electricity. So the expression of electricity is dual, while electricity is non-dual.
Therefore, my friends, what is Truth? Truth is non-dual. What is untruth? That which is dual. Which is necessary? Both are necessary. With full knowledge of Truth, in full awareness of Truth, in full cognisance and recognition and experience of Truth, I move about functionally; I discharge my duties in society, I establish my relationships with everybody, and I carry on my life in a dual way, multi-dimensional direction. How is it possible? Why not?
There in the classroom, you function as a teacher; at home you function as a father; outside you function as a friend. You do not expect your friends to call you Daddy, do you? You are not that old, (Laughter) quite young enough! And we do not expect our children to say, “How are you, sir, this morning? Good morning!” (Laughter) We do not expect it. Likewise, you do not expect your college students to climb upon you, “Appa!” You are Daddy? No!
You are only One, but there you are a teacher; at home you are a father, and outside you are a friend. So, functionally, you are three, four, and five—why not? Sometimes a politician, sometimes a physician, sometimes a hypocrite, sometimes a businessman—why not? The actor is paid for the money he receives, for his action on the dais. But we are all actors in our own way. All of us are actors, because we know how to smile though we cry within; we know how to stay fine though we are not fine. We are actors in our own way. Yes, that is how we have to live.
So, my friends, this duality and this multiplicity are untruth, which is necessary for functional purposes, for the regular routine. Supposing I have stomach-ache, and I have a doctor from Japan. If he comes to me, I do not expect the devotee doctor to tell me, “Who is suffering from stomach pain? Who is to give you medicine? What is medicine? This pain is your bhrama, your illusion; but Brahma is Truth.”
If he goes on lecturing like that, I will tell him, “Doctor, either you consume poison, or give me poison, or let us take poison together!” (Laughter)
So for functional purposes, he is a doctor and I am his patient. That is all. But, in reality, the ‘I’ in him, and “I’ in me, and the ‘I’ in you is one and the same. It is God Himself. It is Divine, non-dual, eternal, and everlasting—that is Truth.
Therefore, the “Asato Maa Sad Gamaya” prayer means what? “Oh God, I am in asat, in duality. Oh God, I experience this dual world, my dear Lord, and though I have varied experiences—good and bad, pleasure and pain, and dualistic experiences in this untruth which is going on—it is helpful to know the Truth behind this, which is the One-without- a-second.” Truth is only One-without-a-second.
Whenever I translate, Swami makes this point: Truth is One, not two. You must have noted that point. Truth is One and not two. Swami says it again. It is not enough if He says Truth is One. You may say One here, but the moment you get up, you may say why not two, why not twenty? Truth is One, not two. That is what is said in:
Ekameva Adviteeyam Brahma.
Ekam is One; eva is ‘only’; adviteeya means ‘there is no second’; Brahma is God. God is One; there is no second God. There is no third God. Nothing doing—only One. Therefore, from untruth to Truth, “Asato Maa Sad Gamaya” means: “Oh God, I may go to Benares or Kasi; I may go to that holy temple at Varanasi and see Vishweshwara there. I may go to Tirupati and see and worship Lord Venkateshwara; I may go to Shirdi and see Shirdi Bhagavan there. But definitely, in different forms and with different names, let me know that You are One and the same. You are One and the same, though with different names and forms. Let me know that.” That is Sat.
So, asat is variety, while Sat is uniformity. Asat is diversity, while Sat is unity. Asat is duality, while Sat is non-duality. Therefore, both are there in this world: “Let me know that You are One and the same in different names and forms. Let me know Sat.”
So asat is variety; Sat is uniformity. Asat is diversity; Sat is unity. Asat is duality; Sat is non-duality. Therefore both are there in this world. We should be in one to understand the other. Is that possible? Why not?
I have got one hundred rupees in my pocket. I go to the stores, and I go on buying this and that with the understanding that there are only one hundred rupees, that is all. With the understanding of the money you have in your pocket, you can buy a number of items in the stores.
Similarly, with the understanding of Sat, you may move about in this asat. Understanding of Sat is the money in your pocket; your movement in this asat is the market. You are buying different objects. Therefore, understanding that the Reality is non-duality, Sat, while functioning in asat in this creation—that is the full meaning, the totality, which is conveyed in our prayer, “Asato Maa Sad Gamaya.”
When I am talking to the students, they say, “Sir, is there so much meaning?” This much I know. There may be still more beyond this. No one is the ultimate. There is still more beyond.
We have known after all, like Sir Isaac Newton said, “I am like a child, collecting pebbles along the seashore.” When Isaac Newton collected pebbles, he did not say that he could hold the ocean. I am not that mad as yet! Only to a small extent could I share with you this prayer, “Asato Maa Sad Gamaya,” and its meaning about Sat.
Baba gave one example. Some people may say, “Do not speak of Sat and asat—it is all science.”
Don’t you know that we are living in the age of science and technology, computer technology and space sciences? We know how to make a spaceship. The body is nothing but the combination of different organs. The protoplasm is nothing but the combination of different ingredients, components, organic, and inorganic. That is all.
A scientist may say, “OK, sir, this is the question: A leg is cut off, the hand is cut off, and different parts of the anatomy are cut off, and kept at different places. Come on, assemble them. Hands are kept here, legs are kept there, and the head is kept there. Come on. Where is the life?”
Life is the combination of parts, plus something extra. Please understand that. Life is a combination of different parts, plus something extra. What is that extra? A scientist does not know. He will say that, after all, the body is the combination of hands and legs and all. “Okay, boy! The hand is there near Ganesha. Please bring it. The leg is there near Gayatri; please bring it here, and the head is there near the stores; the stomach is there near the canteen. (Laughter) Come on! Collect them, and keep them here on the table.” How about the life? Will parts be able to function when they are assembled? No! Please understand: This is the vital point, my friends.
This is possible in the mechanical world. In asat, it is possible; but in Sat, it is impossible. I shall explain a little further. There are some Japanese companies, Honda and Hitachi, and they manufacture so many things. All the spare parts are assembled here. You do not get the car straightaway from Tokyo to Delhi. No, no, no! The spare parts are assembled here and the car is ready for sale. So in the mechanical world, every part functions when assembled; then it can function totally. But in life, every part cannot function when it is cut off, unless it is in the whole. Please understand this point.
A simple example: I am moving my hands. Alright! I will cut off my hand. Let the hand lie there. No! Why not? So parts cannot function without an organic whole, in an organic entity. Organic means vital, organic means life, organic means dynamic. So life is organic; life is an organic whole and all these parts function when they are holistic—when they are with the total. But when they are cut off, they cannot function.
In a mechanical world, there are parts and functions; in the organic world, there is nothing like parts. This is what we call an organic whole entity. This is Sat. The understanding of Sat means that there are no parts, that there is one whole Totality and when separated, it cannot function. This is Sat.
And then what is asat? It is the feeling, the idea that makes you sometimes mistake that functional part with the whole. “Oh! How nicely the hand is moving! The hand is moving nicely.”
“Alright, please give me your hand. I can keep it here. Let it move nicely.”
So asat is the feeling, is the imagination, that the parts are independent. But with Sat, there is nothing like parts. There is only one organic whole. That is the meaning.
That is the prayer we recite because we are used to repeating things. We repeat verbally, mechanically; but once we understand Poornamadha Poornamidham—“This hand is as full as the whole body; this leg is as full as the whole body, because I belong to the Totality, the whole of the universe.” My friends, Sat means ‘universal identity’. Feeling one with the universe is Sat.
I think there is a long way for all of us to go to reach that level. I do not feel one with the universe. I feel one with my country; I feel one with my place; I feel one with my kith and kin; I feel one with the language I speak. So, because of these considerations, I am alienated, I am cut off from the Truth.
So Sat becomes asat because of these obstacles; because of these barriers, which are of my own making, which are my own creation, which are my own imagination. They make me distant from Sat. Nobody has pushed you out of Sat into asat. Nobody pushed you. I myself, when I have feelings of caste, when I have feelings of community, when I have feelings of political ideologies, when I have feelings of gender, when I am narrow-minded, I am in asat. The moment I am beyond these considerations I am Sat.
I do not know whether I said this earlier or not. I must have said it, because I do not have the temperament to keep everything within. Unless I share, I can’t sleep. Any book I read, any thought I have, any good things I hear—unless I share with ten people that day, I cannot rest. What to do? That is my temperament. It may be a curse or a boon, I do not know. The future will have to decide.
Once I said to Swami, “Swami, our people have come for Your darshan.” I meant devotees from Anantapur district. I said, “Our people have come” because there are people of different places there, from different cities, from different countries; so to distinguish them, to identify them, to make my job simpler, I said, “Swami, our people have come.”
Baba immediately said, “Why do you include Me?” (Laughter)
I did not understand. “Swami, what do You mean?”
He said, “Why did you say ‘our people’?”
I said, “Swami, they are from Anantapur district.”
He said, “So what? You may belong to that place, but I don’t belong to that place.”
And here is the beautiful statement, a very interesting statement: “Never identify Me as an Indian, or as an Andhra. No, I belong to all places—I belong to all countries—because all are Mine,” said Bhagavan Baba. (Applause) “Never say, ‘Your people, our people,’ chi! What a shame it is.” I got two extra points also. (Applause) Naturally, one has to pay the price for everything.
So my friends, Bhagavan Baba is the best example. His universality, His cosmic consciousness, His identity as the One, as the whole, is Sat. To feel that I am regional, national, and linguistic-oriented, that is asat. So my prayer should be, “Take me from asat to Sat, so that I will understand that Oneness.”
It is worth extracting information from the Divine. We may get one or two ‘bangings’ (chastisements or corrections), but it’s still worth it, because then I will have a subject to share with everybody, and to enjoy myself. I like it. I invite trouble also, sometimes. We have some other occasions (Laughter) when I invited trouble; but try to learn from these and apply my lessons at least. (Laughter) A wise man learns from others’ experience! (Laughter)
“Swami, whatever You may say, science is nothing but Truth.”
He said, “No, no, no! You have ‘no sense’ first, leave alone science. Science does not speak of Truth.”
“I am a lecturer in botany. Do You mean to say that I am speaking untruth there in the class? If I tell my boys, ‘Today’s lesson is on the DNA molecule which is untruth,’ (Laughter) they will say, ‘Sorry sir, thank you. We have come here to know what is Truth, not that which is untruth.’ Swami, what is all this?”
Bhagavan said this: “You see, science speaks of facts, not Truth. Fact is different from Truth. A fact goes on changing. Today the temperature is low; tomorrow it may be high, and day after tomorrow higher. So temperature goes on changing. Today’s temperature is the fact of the day; yesterday’s temperature is the fact of yesterday; tomorrow’s temperature is going to be the fact of tomorrow—so facts change.”
Oh, I see! We know the tact, but not the fact. Facts go on changing. Pressure goes on changing—pressure, moisture, temperature, humidity—they all go on changing. But a fact is what you observe at that moment of time. A fact appears as truth, based on your observations at that moment of time, because facts are governed, are controlled by time and space. Temperature, if it were the same, should be the same temperature in the USA, in the UK—everywhere. It is not so. Temperature is high; temperature is low, or terrific, horrible or terrible—that is clearly not so. The fact is that it is high there, while it is low here. Am I clear? That is how Baba explained it.
Really, if you are interested in these spiritual matters, Swami is ready to speak for any number of hours. But we are not interested, because we are interested in our family problems; we are interested in our health problems; we are interested in our prospects. Therefore, He says, “Manchidi, chaala santhosham—very good.”
“Swami, my grandmother died.”
“Santhosham, very good! (Laughter)
“My son failed.”
“Santhosham—very happy.” (Laughter)
We get one-word answers from Swami on physical problems, worldly problems. If you ask spiritual questions, you watch it and face it, my friends—I am not joking. When once we ask some questions relating to philosophical religion, you watch His face. Or speak something of your cataract, or spondylitis or arthritis, and watch His face.
He says, “Some arthritis, manchidi—good.” Why good? For you it is good, because you won’t wander around hereafter at least. Enough is enough!
“Cataract? Chaala santhosham—very happy.” Why? You do not see all the things which you have been seeing so far. At least some censorship is there now! (Laughter)
“Swami, someone’s grandmother died.”
“Chaala santhosham—very happy.”
Why should she carry on this life so long -- be helpless, have a sickly body, can’t hear, can’t walk, can’t remember—why? Chaala santhosham. She will have the next body, fresh. We don’t wear the same clothes every day. (Laughter) Fresh clothes, perfumes—more presentable, don’t you think so? (Laughter) More presentable—chaala santhosham. When I wear a new dress, should I cry? No, no! I should be happy.
So for all these mundane, worldly problems, His answers are all one-word answers. But, if you go on pestering Him, He may say, “Nenu choosukuntanu.” (“I will take care of it.”) Whether you ask or not, He has been taking care of you; whether He tells it or not, that is His duty.
Whether you ask or not, the sun sheds light, sunlight. You don’t say, “Oh sun, it is time for you to shed light.”
“Shut up. I have been doing it forever, whether you asked or not.” (Laughter)
Similarly, Baba does it. You don’t have to ask. But we are humans, so we like to ask and get these things granted. So He says, “Yes! Manchidi santhosham.” (Laughter) But, if you ask some spiritual questions, some provocative question that irritates Him spiritually (physically, if you irritate Him, you should have your return tickets in your pocket. (Laughter) Be ready with return ticket and then irritate)—but spiritually, if you irritate Him—you will get a discourse. But you have to pay some price for it, initially banking that you are a fool, that you do not know anything, that you are horrible, and you have not learnt anything being here with Swami for so many years. Then He will start talking. It’s worth it. (Laughter) Instead of being called a fool by every damned fool, why not be a fool in front of God? So to be a fool is my option. Yes, this is my choice, because then I can extract some more information from Swami.
So, this so-called science does not speak of Truth; it speaks of facts only, which go on changing. So, asat is science, while Sat is spirituality. Asat is matter, while Sat is energy. Asat and Sat are the combination in our life. It is something like the inner current that flows through the wire—the wire is asat, while the current that flows is Sat.
“Sir, I do not want wires at all.” Then you are a fool. Whenever there is a power cut, a simple wire without power supply is useless. That’s what we experience. So, experience all, with full awareness of Sat. Therefore, this is the proof, what Baba plans for us. (Laughter)
I wanted to talk to you on a different topic, with questions and answers, after extensive preparation; but I do not know…Swami wanted me to talk to you on asat and Sat, and the combination of the two.
One will not exist without the other. One is essential, the other is non-essential. One is positive, while the other is negative. One is the foundation, the other is the mansion. One is the support, the other is the supported; one is the basis, the other is best.
Therefore, in “Asato Maa Sad Gamaya,” Sat is visualised, is experienced by people in different ways, depending upon their level of comprehension, depending upon their level of spiritual practice, depending upon the intensity of their meditation, depending upon the concentration with which they carry on their spiritual path. Therefore, the same Sat is experienced at different levels. As we grow higher and higher, we will be achieving, we will be learning in greater and greater—wider and wider—dimensions. That is why we say, “Annamacharya”:
Enthamathramu Evaru Thalachina, Anthamathrame Neevu.
“God appears, God manifests, God is known to you, according to your estimate.” If you estimate this much, that much -- if you think so much, He is so much. He is directly proportionate to your estimate. Enthamathramu Evaru Thalachina, Anthamathrame Neevu.
Therefore, my friends, asat to Sat is a course of evolution, is an eternal journey, because Truth is not to be analysed. Science can be analysed; water is analysed: H2O. Yes, you can analyse. C6H12O6, C2H6OH: methyl alcohol, sugars, and formulas. But Truth cannot be analysed. Truth has to be realised.
Asat is subject to analysis, while Sat is for us to realise. Asat can be expressed: I can tell you oxygen’s properties, its uses, formula, nitrogen occurrence, botany family, distinguishing features, diagrams— all that I can tell you. So, asat is given to expression. I can express anything about asat. Speaking about the atom bomb, I can tell you how many people died because of that missile. I can speak anything about it. Asat can be spoken about; it is given to expression. But Sat cannot be expressed; it has to be experienced. So, expression is asat, while experience is Sat.
“Asato Maa Sad Gamaya” means from expression to experience, from analysis to realisation. Asat wants you to know part-by-part, one after another—the digestive system, the nervous system, the circulatory system, system after system. But Sat is a whole entity.
So asat is learnt part-by-part, while Sat is the totality. Sat is one whole, cosmic universe. Asat is understood by learning, by teaching. I teach; you learn. But Sat is experienced by inquiry; Sat is experienced by meditation. Asat is picked up by learning, by studying from teachers.
“Asato Maa Sad Gamaya”: From study to inquiry, from learning to inquiry, from books to the heart, from head to the heart, from memory to the Self, from the body to the Self, to the spirit. Therefore, “Asato Maa Sad Gamaya” conveys all these aspects.
I am sure still more can be discussed, as we go through His literature, as we draw inspiration from His limitless, infinite, boundless Grace and Divine blessings. Thank you very much for listening to this talk with rapt attention. (Applause)
(Anil Kumar sings the bhajan “Nanda Mukunda Sainatha.”)
OM…OM…OM…
Asato Maa Sat 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