January 15th, 2006
“Self-Realisation and Love”
OM… OM… OM…
Sai Ram
With Pranams at the Lotus Feet of Bhagavan,
Over the last two days, I met with a few friends, and they wanted the opportunity to ask some questions here today. Therefore, if you have any questions, do ask them so that I don’t feel guilty later on for not having also given you the chance!
How to recogniSe a person Who is Self-RealiSed
Q. How can we recognise if a person is realised or not? How can we recognise a person who has Self-realised? How can we know if we are Self-realised? Can one recognise this in himself or does he have to be awarded a certificate recognising him? (Laughter)
AK: So, can I recognise this on my own, or do I need it to be recognised, too? Is this what you are asking?”
Questioner: Yes.
We can identify a person of Self-realisation
There are two aspects to this that we need to understand.
First, how can we recognise a person who has attained Self-realisation?
My friends, let me be very clear. We don’t have to recognise anybody else and we don’t have to certify anybody else. It is not necessary. At the same time, however, we can identify and recognise a person who has achieved Self-realisation.
How?
A person who is Self-realised, though living in society, is also out of society, like a boat that floats on the surface of the water without the water entering it.
An example that Baba has given to us is that of the lotus flower. The lotus flower is above the water. It is not touched by the water or by the mud. It lives in water but the flower is above the water. So a Self-realised person, though he is amongst us, is also beyond us.
An example of Self-realisation
King Janaka provides us an excellent example of someone who has Self-realised. Bhagavan has told us this story of King Janaka. In King Janaka’s day, even kings used to attend schools, or what you call ashrams or gurukulas, to learn. Of course, today, to be a ruler, one should not learn at all. Today, when one stops learning, they then qualify to become a ruler; but in those days, even kings attended gurukulas. They sat on the ground and listened to the discourses of gurus, of great teachers, and they learned from these wise teachers. That was the practice in the good old days.
King Janaka was known for his eagerness to learn and acquire knowledge but, being a king, he had many responsibilities. He was not able to arrive punctually every day. Guru Suka used to wait to begin until King Janaka arrived, and the other students used to envy Janaka because of this.
“Oh King Janaka, you are so fortunate. Guru Suka would never wait for one of us before beginning, but he will not start until you arrive; yet you just come to listen as we do, so why are you are made special?” All sorts of people get these envious feelings. It always was so in the past, and it is so even today. Some of us, of course, have a higher level of understanding.
Anyway, here was a guru who gave preference to the king over the other students, some of whom started envying Janaka, and even blaming Suka. Very good, we can now point our fingers at both of them equally. But Suka, the master guru, knew the mind of his pupils. A true master knows the mind of his disciples and he understands their psychological makeup.
One day, as usual, King Janaka came in late, having had to sign papers and attend to administrative matters. Only once he arrived did Suka begin his discourse. Suka began by announcing, “Look here, the city of Mithila is on fire! It is full of flames and smoke! The fire has now spread throughout the city!”
The students immediately began to panic. “Have the flames reached my big palace? Have they destroyed the gold and diamonds that I have there? What about my property? What of my wife? How about my children?” They were so worried about saving their gold and diamonds that the students all rushed home.
They didn’t say, “Oh master, please give me permission to go.”
Nobody said, “Thank you, master. We will find time for you when we think of it.” (Laughter) They just ran away, and so Janaka was left alone with his teacher.
Then Suka said, “Look here Janaka, Mithila is your kingdom. When it is on fire, why don’t you go and rescue your people? Why don’t you go and save your queen and your subjects?”
Janaka replied, “Swami, one day or another, they are bound burn. One day or another, they will all vanish; but I have come to you to acquire that which is permanent, eternal, and immortal, that which cannot be killed by a weapon, burned by flames, or drowned in water.”
knowledge OF Self is permanent
This is said in the “Yoga of Knowledge” in the Bhagavad Gita.
“Nayanam Chinthanti Shathrani”: No weapon can break it or kill it.
“Nayanam Dahathi Baavagatha”: Fire cannot burn it.
“Nayanam Kethayam Thyapok”: Water cannot make it wet.
Self-knowledge, that knowledge of your Self, cannot be killed, cannot be drowned, and cannot be touched. It is permanent, immortal nectar. Human life is given us so that we might acquire this knowledge. If we do not, we have lived our human life in vain and wasted the investment made and granted to us by God. This story of King Janaka is just one example given by Baba of a Self-realised person who, though living in society, though in a family, lived also as a Self-realised person beyond the transitory.
An Example of RENUNCIATION
There is another such story told to us by Baba about a king called Sathyajit. Everyone spoke very highly of this king, and of those living in his kingdom. What was so great about them? It was said that they were all wise, very intelligent, and that they had achieved a very high degree of detachment or renunciation, vairagya. Everyone praised King Sathyajit and his subjects.
One day, a peculiar thing happened in this kingdom. A sage, a rishi, wanted to study these people so that he might understand why this kingdom’s subjects were able to achieve such a high degree of detachment. When he arrived in the kingdom, he came upon the palace and saw the soldiers guarding it.
He told them, “Look here, your kingdom is almost lost. Your enemies have almost conquered your kingdom. You are sure to die.”
They said, “Is that so?” and then went on doing their work.
‘Oh, so my technique did not work well with the soldiers,’ he thought.
Next, he went to the ministers, “Sirs, look here, your soldiers are dying. They are being held captive by the neighbouring king. You are no longer ministers. You are going to lose your lives. You are going to be arrested.”
They said, “Oh, is that so?” and then they went on doing their job.
Then the sage went to some women were sweeping and cleaning and said to these ladies, “Ah, look here, your king died.”
They simply said, “Ah, is that so?” and kept on with their tasks. They did not request any holidays or anything (Laughter). They just continued doing their jobs and then went inside.
And so the sage went to find the King, and he said to him, “Oh King, all of your subjects have left your kingdom and your military men have run away. At any moment now, your ministers will send you off into exile. Be ready.”
King Sathyajit said, “Oh?” but he was unaffected, as calm and normal as ever.
The King’s lack of reaction addled the sage, causing him to ask, “What is wrong with you?”
The King replied, “If I don’t leave the kingdom now, tomorrow the kingdom will leave me, because if I die, the kingdom will not be there for me any longer. I am not born with the kingdom nor do I die with the kingdom. It doesn’t belong to me. It doesn’t matter.”
Then the sage saw the Queen, attired in a regal dress, calmly brushing her hair, and he told her, “Look here, the King died peacefully this morning (Laughter), so you now face the worst possible situation – you are no longer a queen. Your kingdom has left you.”
Surely he thought that she must understand the seriousness of the situation for her, but she only said in reply, “Oh, I see.”
The sage could not believe this, and he asked her, “What is wrong with you? What is wrong with you? How can you be so unconcerned?”
She calmly replied, “Look there.”
There were two logs floating on the surface of the river beyond. The river flowed continuously and the two logs of wood traveled a great distance together, closely and in parallel; but suddenly a wave came, and the logs then drifted in different directions. The two logs of wood were together, but now they had gone in different directions.
“My dear sir, my husband and I were together until now in this river of life. Because of the turbulence caused by that wave, those logs have become separated, and so now have my husband and I been separated. It was bound to happen, if not today then tomorrow. It is all vairagya.” Then the sage understood that this kingdom understood vairagya or renunciation.
This is the example given by Baba to us so that we too might understand and learn. A man of renunciation, whether he appears to be a common man, a householder, or an officer with many responsibilities, lives his life beyond the reach of the world and its events. This is the first aspect of Self-realisation that we must understand.
Self-realisation is not known
This brings us to discuss the second aspect of Self-realisation, which we must understand.
How can you know that you have achieved Self-realisation? How can I know that I have achieved Self-realisation?
First of all, Self-realisation is not known. Let us understand this well. Don’t think that I am mad, at least not yet! (Laughter) Not yet -- there is still time for that! (Laughter) So, Self-realisation is not something to be known, please understand this.
We have such a thing as fake currency notes; similarly, we have fake Self-realised people. (Laughter) They come to me and say, “I have realised…” this or that, or whatever it is they want to impress me with.
When I hear this, however, I say to them, “Now I’ve realised that you are a fool!” (Laughter)
My friends, I can know only what I see, what is watched by me, the knower. The watched is what is known by me, as I am the knower. I am the knower, and the watched is the known, right? Therefore, if Self-realisation is to be known, it must be separate from you. Anything that is known is something different from you; but when you are the Self, who is going to know whom? (Laughter)
If I say, “I know that I am Anil Kumar”, then you say, “Sorry, sir, we thought it was another man speaking to us this morning, not a madcap-lunatic of your stature!” (Laughter)
What is THERE to be known when the Self is everything?
If you are the Self, who is the knower, then what is there to be known when the Self is everything? Sun and sunlight are one and the same. The sun and sunlight are not separate. Moon and moonlight are not separate. Gold and its shine are not separate. The flower and its smell are not separate. The Self and knowledge are not separate. Knowledge is the Self and the Self is knowledge. Please understand that. You are none other than your real You, so Self-knowledge is not to be known.
I can hear you say, “Uh-oh, if it is not to be known, then why should I bother? (Laughter) There are enough things to know and there are enough things to do, so why should I seek to know that which cannot be known?”
So what you need to know now is that it cannot be known! (Laughter)
What is to be known now? The only thing to be known is that Self-realisation cannot be known.
Why?
Self-realisation is an experience
The Scripture says that Divinity cannot be comprehended by the mind. Divinity cannot be expressed by words, yet it is spoken about in verse. They say that you cannot imagine It, but you can sing about It. They say that you cannot express It, but still the Bhagavad-Gita, the Holy Bible, the Koran, all these books, they all speak about God.
What do they say? That He cannot be known. (Laughter)
What do they say? That you cannot speak of Him.
What do they say? That you cannot express Him totally.
Therefore, my friends, Self-realisation is not an expression; Self-realisation is an experience. Self-realisation is who you really are.
THE Obstacle To Self-realisation
We may believe and even say that we are Self-realised; but unfortunately, in saying this, we have strayed off the track -- something like an airplane that has been hijacked and, instead of landing in New York, the hijackers instead land the plane in Moscow. My plane, this human body aircraft, is often hijacked by sensual pleasures and worldly pursuits, thereby missing its goal, its destination. The plane is flying high and on course until suddenly the hijacker says, “Get down! We will land here instead!”
So we are unfortunately left not flying high today, due to our inner hijackers, our desires for sensual objects and sensual pleasures. Indeed, there may be no bodies to be recovered afterward (Laughter) because our desires can commandeer us right to our end. To end our lives in our attachment to sensual pleasures and worldly objects is similar to a plane crashing and leaving no survivors.
So what can we do?
This plane, our body, is hijacked; but yes, the hijackers will allow the plane to land once they have collected all of our money and all that we have stashed away in our pockets. Similarly, once we have given up all of our attachments, all of our desires, all of our belongings, the hijackers then say, “Get off! Fend for yourselves now!” (Laughter) Once you release these attachments, you can enjoy a safe flight to your destination of Self-realisation. So what is the obstacle?
The obstacle is that these hijackers, your own desires and attachments, have already diverted the plane! This is the situation for those of us traveling the worldly path instead of walking on the eternal path, Sanathana Dharma.
We all have a tendency to make claims. Some people are very fond of doing this. In fact, most of us are so. I am not blaming anybody. We are all in the same boat. Perhaps I am the worst among all of us. Yes! I am no exception! Maybe we like to claim, “I have been coming here for 10 years.”
There is no service register that records our first visit here, or the number of visits, but still we like to make these claims. There are people who say that they have had many interviews. Does this interest us? There are the people who show us the rings given them by Baba. There was one gentleman speaking on the dais recently who said, “This is the chain given to me by Baba.” Oh, very good.
Another fellow said to the speaker afterward, “He gave you the chain, not me. How can you expect me to be thrilled?” Why did the speaker say this? Why was the other fellow displeased? Because they both want to claim that they are more thought of by Baba than others.
Some people say to us, “Swami talks to me every time.”
“Oh, you don’t say! And what did He say to you today? He must have given you a heavy scolding!” (Laughter)
So, our mind, our ego, is always after an extra claim, something that sets us apart from and above others; and these serve as our main obstacles to achieving Self-realisation. This ego and its extra claims create the main obstacle. A person would never make any kind of claim at all if he were Self-realised.
What would a Self-realised person say if somebody asked him, “Are you a devotee?”
He would say, “I am trying to be a devotee. It is for Baba to say if I am or not. Who am I to claim that?”
He would never say, “Oh, you put this question to me now? You should have asked me 30 years ago. I have been a devotee for 30 years at least, rendering great service all the while; but please do not make any mention of it!” (Laughter)
So, we are not aware of these claims we make, or how we become a laughing stock due to them. In a Self-realised man, the extra claim of the ego is never there.
SCRIPTURAL KNOWLEDGE is not Self-realisation
A Self-realised person never loses his balance. A devotee was telling me about the Gita and Swami’s discourses when she suddenly became stern and asked, “Why don’t agree with me? Don’t you know that I know about these things better than you do? Don’t you even know that?” (Laughter)
Then I said, “I know that it is time for me to leave here.” (Laughter)
In that, we can see that scriptural knowledge, spiritual information, does not constitute Self-realisation. If you lose your temper, if you are full of fury and anger, then you have not realised that you are Divine. You have not realised that you are a human being. It is the animal that easily gets angry like a street dog. Street dogs feel that they own the street. If a dog from a neighboring street comes to its street, it barks and barks to inform the interloper that, “I am the king of the street! Know that and be gone!” (Laughter) It is just part of the dog’s animal psychology to lose its temper in that way. The loss of temper, a state of anger and fury, is an animal quality, not a human quality; so you have not realised that you are a human being if you lose your balance and fall into this trap.
How then can we recognise a Self-realised person?
If you praise a Self-realised person, he will not be affected.
“Oh, you are great.”
“Oh, is that so?” It is news to him.
If we tell him, “You are really great. We love you.”
“Oh, is that so?“ It is news to him.
“You are a hopeless burden in this world.” (Laughter)
“Oh I see. Is that so?”
Anything said about him is news to him. This is because he does not become involved or identify with things that are only of concern to the ego. That is the quality of a Self-realised man. His talk and his thought are centered in the Self. Please be careful -- self-centered here is different from being centered in the Self. If one is centered in the Self, in the Atma, he talks about it and he thinks about it, but there is no discussion of comparison or evaluation of quality. His constant thought is on the Self only. That is the quality of a Self-realised man. That is how we can recognise him, how we can see him.
Otherness does not exist for THE Self-realised man
He doesn’t see ‘others’ because, “There is only One.” He doesn’t see anybody as different from him. Otherness does not exist for the Self-realised man.
You or I might say, “Oh, I am from Andhra Pradesh.”
“I see. Andhraas sit there.”
“Oh sir, I am from Guntoor.”
“Are you? Sit in the front row. (Laughter) And your neighbor? Sit there too!” Laughter)
The man who evaluates or judges or groups or connects others because of geography or language is silly indeed. He is not even acting like a human being, let alone demonstrating that he is Self-realised or liberated. So we cannot be connected or attached or linked on the grounds of geography and language. The Oneness, the vitality, the vital force, the Divine energy that flows in us all, that is the One that unifies and connects and links us together, not the language, or the body, or the name. The Self-realised man understands that.
there is Only one that exists
If we unite, seeing that we are all connected, it is through the current Avatar. Look at Swami. You may be from Belgium or Argentina, you may be from any country, but He smiles at everybody. He speaks to everybody! He doesn’t say, “Easterners on this side, and Westerners to that side.” No, He never says that. He finds no difference in anybody. A president or a peon, from the East or West, all are alike to Him.
Why?
He sees Himself in all. We are all mirrors and He sees Himself in every one of us, and He loves Himself. This is the secret of creation. This is the secret of the Creator.
Baba said in one poem, “God decided to split Himself into many so as to love Himself.”
Therefore, a Self-realised man does not think of the other because there is only the One that exists. “Ekamaeva Vithayam Prabha”. Only One without a second.
What IS the Current Condition of Baba?
Q. What is Baba’s current condition?
Oh yes, here our good friend wants us to come down to ground, to reality! Thank you for a very sensitive question. I can only give you some probable answers as I cannot say for certain. I can only say what is probable, what may be possible. That’s all! I cannot say this is certain nor can anybody else. If anyone says, “This is what it is…” then please avoid him. Please don’t believe him. We can only speculate.
I watched Him very closely yesterday morning, and again in the evening and once again this morning. The radiance on His face remained one and the same. There is no change in the brilliance of the light He shines. There is no change in His joy, to the smile on His face. Please believe me, I watch him very closely.
His body was visibly weak yesterday morning. He allows the body to be weak, yet you must have seen how He wants to communicate, how He wants to talk. He has managed to go beyond the body in His seriousness and sincerity of purpose. His determination to avoid getting bothered about physical inadequacy or weakness is very visible. In the course of His talk, He mentioned, “Though I am weak, I am discharging My duties as usual.” That’s what He said.
Of course, these are all only possibilities, only speculation about his condition on my part. That’s all. They are assumptions and hypotheses, not scientific truths or laws. Even scientific laws can change in relation to temperature and pressure. Nothing is substantive.
pain or pleasure is non-existent to an avataR Incarnation
OK. I enjoy life, and I suffer in my life. These are consequences of my karma, reactions linked to my past lives. Karma, the effect of past lives, will manifest in this present life in the form of pleasure and pain for all of us. This is karma. But then there is the case of the Avatar incarnation, and so-called pleasure and pain. Why do we say ‘so-called’? It is because both are, in reality, non-existent to Him. We think that He is suffering, or that He appears to be happy. It appears so only to us.
Some people say, “What a nice darshan I had.”
Do you mean that yesterday was not a nice darshan?
“Baba is really happy today.”
Do you think that He was unhappy yesterday?
What we see in Him is only our own reflection. The so-called pain and pleasure in the case of an Avatar incarnation is not dependent upon karma. It is not due to any kind of action in a previous life. Please believe me! You don’t have to believe, but just observe and you will come to the same conclusion.
Can a human being bear suffering as does baba?
A fracture in the pelvic region gives terrific, unbearable, horrible, excruciating pain. Ask anybody. Baba has had two falls, two fractures, and has been suffering for the past three years. I put to you the following questions:
First, can any human being bear that sort of suffering for more than two years?
Impossible!
Second, if it is real suffering, could anyone move like He does, giving darshan morning and evening, granting interviews, smiling, giving vibhuthi (sacred ash), materialising gifts, giving talks, His routine undisturbed? Could any human being do all of that under these conditions?
Impossible!
Third, He has never taken a holiday because of His condition. No postponements, nothing.
Then is it serious?
If you have a headache, try smiling. Just try it! (Laughter) That fellow looks weak. Why? He ate only half of his meal last night. When we eat two mouthfuls less food than that which we are accustomed to, our face shows it! (Laughter) So how can we smile like Him under these conditions? Please try. Impossible!
Why should this happen to baba?
Yes, many certainly ask, “Why should this happen to Baba at all?”
My friends, the answer is this: When I suffer, it is a result of my karma, and when I enjoy, it is a result of my karma. But in the case of the Avatar, it is a message. It is a message for humanity, a lesson about the reality of life.
What is the lesson?
In this human body, difficulties are bound to arise, pain and pleasure in equal proportions. You cannot choose one of the two. Pain and pleasure alternate. Both happen to the human body.
Acceptance is the lesson. God has accepted the present state so that we may learn from Him to accept whatever is given to us, unconditionally, ungrudgingly, happily, and willingly, smiling all the while.
When my son says, “Daddy, I won’t do it”, I tell everybody as if it is a British Broadcast Corporation news item (Laughter). If my son disobeys me, I am upset for 24 hours, but Bhagavan is not bothered at all by His travails. He carries on. It is a lesson for all of us to not place too much importance on bodily suffering. We should not share our unhappiness with everybody. We should make everybody happy. We should contain the pain and grief within. We should discharge our duties as usual, as before.
Baba’s present situation has a message for all of us, and that is that nothing has happened to Him. He is okay. Nothing has happened to him.
We receive all sorts of news about our friends while He is like this.
“That fellow who was so ill in bed, but has gotten up and he is moving around now.”
This morning I got a phone call from my daughter in Dallas, Texas. She underwent an operation for bleeding in her ear. It seems that she wrote a letter to Swami and then she started recovering. She said to me, “I am fine today. On the day I wrote to Swami, I started on the road to recovery.” That was the phone call I got this morning. You can go to my home and check this with my wife (Laughter). I am not bluffing. I don’t believe in telling false stories. Is this true, or is what happened yesterday when we had an indication that Baba’s condition is deteriorating true? My friends, Baba is doing His Divine mission as before, regardless of His condition.
we are more spiritual now
Miracles are happening now more than ever before, and people are more spiritually-oriented than ever before. Never before have so many people asked, “How is Baba?” Never before have so many people asked, “What is happening with Baba’s condition now?”
Up to now, people always asked, “What is the quietest period in Prashanti Nilayam? When is it least crowded? Is there a better possibility of getting the first line then? How many groups are being called for interview?” We made plans and had strategies about when to be here to see to it that we got the front row. These questions of ours were all self-centered.
Our questions are now instead centered in the Self. Bhagavan Himself says that we are more spiritual now, believe me or not. People have forgotten their problems. People have forgotten to write letters to Swami. People are praying, “Swami, please be healed,” instead of asking that He grant them their self-centered wishes, instead of asking for interview.
Before, we were praying for our own gain. In the name of His pain, we now are praying to Him for His gain, for His healing. We pray to Him now for His benefit. We are more spiritual now.
Lessons to humanity
All that happens in relation to the Avatar is totally spiritual and beyond our understanding. It is transcendental. Jesus on the cross, Socrates drinking hemlock, Prophet Mohamed running away from Mecca to Madina, and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa suffering from cancer are all occurrences designed to teach a lesson to humanity, and these are in no way painful to the Avatars. How else can you explain Ramakrishna Paramahamsa preaching until he breathed his last breath? How else can you explain Ramana Maharshi jokingly speaking to his body? When he had an operation on his arm, he would say to it, “Oh, are you hurting? Is there pain there? Don’t worry. It’s all right. No problem.” He used to talk to his body as if it were a young kid, and he would say to everybody, “See how the cut part is shining like a diamond.” (Laughter) He made fun of his afflictions.
One day Baba was shivering in Kodaikanal. His temperature was 104º. He asked for the doors to be closed and the fans switched off. Then came the time for His discourse.
I came slowly to Him and said, “Swami, let Yourself have some rest today.”
He said, “Come on then. You go instead.” (Laughter)
“Swami, we can do bhajans.” (Laughter)
“Ah, let’s go.”
“Swami, let’s have no discourse today.”
“No discourse today? You can speak instead?” (Laughter)
“Swami, if I speak, I’ll be done the next moment (Laughter). They have all come here to listen to You, not to my speech. Swami, please?”
“I don’t want to disappoint anybody. Come what may, I will speak.” He went in and gave a speech just as He had planned.
And what about the fever? What about the body shaking? What about the 104º degree temperature? I do not know. That’s what Baba is. He can be this way, and He can be that way, any way He wills, any way He chooses. His choices and His actions then become a demonstration to everybody, a lesson, a message to everybody.
Exploitation of Nature by Man is the cause of disasters
Q. Is there any message behind the increase of natural and man-made disasters? I am asking about things like climate change, the ongoing warfare in the world, and the like.
Thank you. That is a nice question. To answer you, my friend, there is a relationship between the earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and tsunamis, and what we call the exploitation of Nature by man. Man has never before exploited Nature to such a degree.
In one of His discourses entitled ‘Ceiling on Desires’, Baba taught us the following.
Do not waste water, water is God.
Do not waste food, food is God.
Don’t waste time, time is God.
Don’t waste energy, energy is God.
But how do we conduct ourselves regarding our use of these today?
We misuse every one of them. Baba has said that a vacuum is created by our drilling into the earth, our digging deeper and deeper into the ground for metals and for oil. When we do this, the earth then loses its balance and naturally earthquakes occur. Even so, we go on extracting oil from the depths of the ocean, and so then what happens? The tsunami is the result. Therefore, what we experience today in these disasters of Nature is Nature’s reaction to our own exploitation of it. Nature is not angry with us. It’s just a natural reaction. We exploit, and therefore it reacts in these ways. Baba said this a long time ago.
Every element is Divine
It is for this reason that Sanathana Dharma (the Eternal Wisdom) says that every element is Divine. Earth is much more than just matter. It is Bomatha, Mother Earth. Air is not just what we breathe. It is Vayu Deva, the Wind God. Fire is not simply that which burns in your hearth. It is Agni Deva, the Fire God. Rain is not just water, simply H2O, dropping on the ground. It is Arma Deva, the Rain God. The yagnas and yagas, the prayers and ritual sacrifices, are all performed as acts of gratitude, in thanks to Nature. Recently, we have forgotten to be thankful, we have forgotten gratitude, and Nature is now reacting. That’s what Baba has said.
Love is God
Any more questions please?
Q. What is love? How do we develop love?
Ah, two questions. Yes, I would like to answer these very important questions.
Swami refers to Love in every talk.
Some ask Baba, “Swami, why do You speak of Love every time You give a discourse?”
Baba simply replies, “Since you do not have it, I have to speak about it.” (Laughter)
Over the years, He has always spoken about two things, Devotion and Love. The reason for this is that we have not got them, even today.
What is Love? Love is Divine. Baba has given us this beautiful definition:
Love is God,
God is Love,
Live in Love.
Selflessness is Love
Here is another beautiful definition given by Baba:
Love lives by giving and forgiving,
Self lives by getting and forgetting.
Selflessness is Love,
Lovelessness is Self.
Not even a professor of English can give as beautiful a definition as does Baba (Laughter). Baba gives us these definitions and He then elaborates further.
If you love your children, it is affection. If you love people of your age group, or your colleagues, it is friendship. If you love elders, it is respect. If you love a man or woman, it is infatuation. If you love your property, it is attachment. If you love God, it is devotion.
That’s what Baba has said. So love is expressed in many forms.
So that is love, but how do we develop Love?
It is not necessary to develop love. Love is already there. Nobody told me how to love my wife. Nobody told me how to love my children. My mother never told me how to love her. My father never told me how to love him. Love is natural, spontaneous and instantaneous. It is an immediate reaction to a situation. Love is condition-less, not a business. Love is effervescent, not a binding shackle. Love is beyond time and space, nationality and gender.
“I love you as long you are in service, but after retirement, no thank you.” That is not love. I never say to my wife, “I will love you as long you are a good homemaker.” Even if she does nothing, I will continue to love her.
So love is not obligatory, contractual, or time-bound. Love is Divine. Love is nectarine. Love is immortal. Love is God.
love of God develops when life is in danger.
How can you develop Love? You are born with it. However, we don’t love God as much as we love our family. We don’t love God as much as we love our property. Love has therefore to be directed.
Who will direct it? Nature will direct it. Yes, when there is arthritis, diabetes, blood pressure, or a heart problem, those conditions cause you to love God more (Laughter). After retirement, when you are ignored, you will go to admire the face of God (Laughter). When your heart beats too slow or too fast, you pray to God to make it is healthy again. So love of God develops when one’s life is in danger.
But why should our life have to be in danger at all for us to love God? This is getting off the track, but I asked a physician friend of mine to please tell me some of his experiences so that I might use them in our Sunday talks here. He said to me, “I can tell you how a dying devotee was saved, cured miraculously. I can tell you about how Swami asked an ill devotee, ‘Do you want to die or do you want to be saved?’ I can tell you about an experience where a patient had cancer and Swami said ‘Cancer cancelled!’ Do you want hear about those experiences?”
we should be God-loving and not God-fearing
All this can be summed up in one statement: We have learned to be God-fearing and have forgotten how to be God-loving. We should be God-loving and not God-fearing. Once we love Him, once we are happy, we say, “God, thank You for this help. Thank You for this family. Thank You for this peaceful life.” Yes, why can’t we always do that, loving Him with gratitude, rather than living afraid and only turning to God when we feel that we need to be saved?
Therefore, contentment, a kind of prayerfulness, a worshipful mentality, a positive attitude, surrender, these are the things that we should cultivate and that naturally help us to grow more and more in devotion. This is how we can develop Love for the Divine.
Am I clear, sir? (Applause) Thank you very much.
OM…OM…OM…
Asato Maa Sad Gamaya
Thamaso Maa Jyotir Gamaya
Mrtyor Maa Amrtam Gamaya
Om Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu
Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu
Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti