April, 13th 2008
“Questions and Answers”
OM… OM… OM…
Sai Ram
With Pranams at the Lotus Feet of Bhagavan,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Summer vacation is soon approaching, and in all probability, we may not be meeting for two, four or even more Sundays. This morning before we go on our vacations, I invite questions from you and, after that, I will share a few things.
A doctor from Jaffna, Sri Lanka, asks: “Swami tells us many a time that whatever we see or experience in this world is reaction, reflection and resound. Can you please explain what this means?”
Swami speaks of the three R’s, reaction, reflection and resound, at different levels. When He talks to students, He communicates at a certain wavelength. When He speaks to selected intellectuals and elders, He communicates at a different level altogether.
Let us see what Swami means by reaction, reflection and resound when He talks to students. Bhagavan tells students that if they respect their parents, the students will be respected in return by their parents. If they serve and please their parents, the students will be served by their children, later on in life. This is what reaction, reflection, resound means.
As is the action, so is the reaction.
As is the object, so is the reflection.
As is the sound, so is the resound.
In other words, the action that you do comes back to you in the form of a result, which is inescapable.
Bhagavan says that if you do anything good, you cannot expect anything bad to happen to you later in life. On the other hand, when you do something bad, it is impossible to get good results. He gives an example to illustrate this: If you sow the seeds of a neem tree, you cannot expect to get mango fruits from it. Likewise, if you burp after eating a cucumber, you can’t expect the burp to be that of a mango fruit. This is based on the principle of reaction, reflection and resound.
Bhagavan also makes it clear that God gives results based on one’s own actions.
A few years ago, some friends started speaking about Swami’s miracles and their experiences, and how Swami saved them from death and accidents, and so on. When they were finished, Bhagavan got up and said, “If you say that God has saved you, then when tragedy happens, you must say that God has punished you. When you say that God has saved you from death, then when death happens anywhere, you must say that God has put them to death.”
So Swami said that God neither rewards nor punishes you. Rewards and punishments come to you as a matter of reaction, reflection and resound.
Another point to note is this: according to the Holy Bible, God made men in His own image. Therefore, man is the very reflection of God. When we reflect Him, it is expected of us that we express or manifest Divine qualities. Man is at the summit of conscious evolution; we have to raise our human consciousness to the level of Divinity so that we will be a true reflection of God.
Bhagavan also made this point very, very clear. We fail to be a true reflection of God! We are masked by worldly and sensual pleasures, and by our selfishness, self-interest and weaknesses. All these are covering the latent immanent Divinity within us. This is akin to fire covered by ash. Therefore, we are not able to see or identify our own Divinity within us.
This kind of reaction, reflection and resound calls for extreme precaution in our choice of action or non-action. As we are on this topic, let me share with you something from a conversation with Bhagavan in Kodaikanal, long ago.
Baba was explaining this point: God has given freedom to man. He said, “Oh man! Do whatever you want. I will not interfere with what you do. If you want to enjoy, come on, do so.” And man was happy. Suddenly, God said, “But you have to face the consequences of your actions. You cannot escape from that!”
So, man is free on the condition that He has to face the music of life--he has to face the results of all his actions, and be accountable for whatever he does. Man cannot escape from it. This is what Baba meant by reaction, reflection and resound.
Even Avatars (the descent of God in human form) could not escape this rule. There are many, many such instances in Indian epics. Although these epics may not be familiar to all of you, I don’t think I will have the time to convince you nor give the epics their full expression. But if there is time, I will go into that aspect also.
Any other questions? Yes, please ask.
A gentleman from Vijayawada asks: “What is Love? And what is ‘Loving Bhagavan’?”
Good questions! I am happy that you gave this some thought. There are three points to note here: Love, Loving, Loveliness.
One, love as a quality: some eatables in the canteen are sweet and some others are hot. The taste of the food is its quality. Similarly, love is a quality, and vis-à-vis, so is hatred.
If I don’t love, then there will be hatred. The word ‘love’ has no meaning when there is no hatred. Love and hatred is the obverse and reverse of the same coin. Love, when frustrated or when taken to the extreme, can turn into hatred. So, love and hatred are not really different. It is only in their expression that we find them contradictory. Love is so nice to experience and enjoy, and hatred is something that we don’t want. But that hatred is born out of love.
There are a number of stories in our Indian epics to illustrate this point. For instance, it was the extreme of love that made Ravana (the Demon King of Sri Lanka) hate Rama (the King of Ayodhya and the seventh Avatar of the god Vishnu). According to the story, the relationship between Ravana and Rama is hatred and enmity; but at a deep level, it is love! Would you believe that?
The powerful and wicked Ravana dearly wanted to die at the hands of Rama. So he provoked Rama to wage war against him and all the other demons. Finally, after many fierce battles, the demons and Ravana’s brother are destroyed. Ravana is the only survivor, and he and Rama engage in a fight to the finish. Rama is triumphant and thus the mighty Ravana ends his life at the hands of Rama, the Avatar.
So love led to hatred in the form of enmity, and in such way, Ravana’s ultimate love for Rama is fulfilled. I think I am clear. As shown in the story, love as a quality is dual—love and hatred.
We now come to the second aspect—the act of loving. It is based on expectations. If I oblige you, you will say that Mr. Anil Kumar is a loving man, a loving person. So this kind of loving is a matter of obliging the other person. As long as our expectations are attended to and the relationships are congenial, understanding and helpful, we remain mutually loving.
Loving is also a temporary process. “I love you now, but I am not sure if I will love you this evening or not!!” (Laughter) So, loving is conditional, based on time, space, reason, cause and effect.
The second part of our friend’s question was: “What does ‘Loving Bhagavan’ mean?”
Bhagavan’s Love is non-dual. There is no obverse side to it, such as hatred. It is Loveliness. Loveliness is the very core of Bhagavan. So, ‘loving Bhagavan’ means the non-dual Love, the constant Love, the Love of what He is. He is not a lover. If you are a lover, you will be able to love one or two or a few. But if you are Love, it is all encompassing; all embracing, so vast. So ‘Loving Bhagavan’ is Love, non-dual and vast, eternal and Divine. Am I clear?
Any more questions, please? Yes!
A gentleman asks a very personal question: “For the last thirty years, I have been coming to Swami and doing seva (service activities.) I am a patient and have prostrate and asthma problems which frequently disrupt my seva and inconvenience those working with me. So I wish to know if I am committing a sin, or am I doing well? Do I have Swami’s blessings, or does He hate me because my ailments disturb the others? He is not curing me or stopping me from doing this seva.”
As the question is very personal, let me answer from a larger perspective.
We should choose an activity that suits us. If a person like me works in the canteen, he will end up spilling the oil on his feet, because he has had no previous experience in cooking. If you ask a man expert in cooking to do service in the hospital, instead of putting a bandage on the patient, he might put him in the frying pan or something like that (Laughter). So my friends, we should select that area of service that suits us best and in which we have some prior experience, so that the service will not be a disservice to others.
Service is a sadhana (spiritual practice) for the individual who does it. By engaging in service, you are not doing service to Swami; instead you are doing service to yourself. When you are serving for your own sake, there is no question of Bhagavan feeling happy or unhappy about your service. Whether you serve or not, He is always happy. His happiness is independent of your service. So, there is no question of Swami feeling unhappy or bad about it.
By not being able to serve to the best of your ability due to personal health problems, you are not committing a sin. No! If you think that you are being virtuous or that your service is meritorious, then there is a sin. But, when you take service as a matter of sadhana, well, sadhana is just a process, just an act. It is neither sinful nor meritorious. So, you are not at all committing a sin. Personally, I want you to enquire within yourself to know what work suits you, and what work is convenient, so that you will not get disturbed about it nor disturb others. Am I clear?
Any other questions? Yes, sir! Please, kindly come.
A person from Tamil Nadu asks: “What is the difference between ego and maya? Are they the same or are they different? How can one overcome them?”
Good questions! “Is there any link between ego and maya?” I always think that my listeners are better informed than me. This has been not only my feeling, but also my conviction and experience. What a wonderful question!
Ego and maya are not different. One leads to the other. Ego is the first step which takes us to the second step, maya or ‘illusion’ or ‘delusion’ as we call it.
Let us proceed to know more about the ego. First, we should know that ego exists within all of us. There are many egoistic people who do not know about the existence of the ego within them. We can see when someone is egoistic, but that person may not know that he is egoistic. So, one has to find out whether he has ego in him or not.
Ego is identification with the body, the mind, and the intellect. In other words, the consciousness within me that gets identified with the body is ego; the consciousness within me that gets identified with the intellect is ego.
So, the consciousness in identification with these three, body, mind, and intellect (BMI) is ego. But when the consciousness does not identify with BMI and remains separate as a witness, it is in a state of egolessness.
Egolessness means non-identification with the body, mind and intellect. The consciousness is a witness to all these three. How is such a state possible? It is quite possible.
When I feel “I am the body”, my actions and attitudes are different. When I consider the body as an instrument in the hands of God, my actions and attitudes are different again. So, egolessness will help you to consider the body as an instrument, while ego will identify itself with the body, leading to maya. So at the physical level, we can be non-egoistic by considering the body as an instrument.
In the realm of the mind, at the psychological level, one can be non-egoistic. How? By observing the mind, like this: “My mind is thinking like this. My mind has this thought. My mind is tossing about. My mind is confused.”
When I observe like this, I know that I am separate from my mind. I know my thoughts, and I am different from my thoughts. I am a witness to them. So, when I am a witness to my mind and its thoughts, I am egoless.
But when I am identified with the mind, I am totally egoistic, as in the following conversations:
“Sir, you are a great man!!”
“Oh! Is that so? Aah! Ah!”
“Sir, I am not too happy with you.”
“I see! We must meet another time then.”
“Sir, you are a precious gift of God to us.”
“Oh, I see! May I know where you come from, and perhaps we can meet again?”
So, our reactions are different when we identify with the mind. We want everybody to agree with us. That is the tragedy. Why? Why should I expect that you should agree with me? You also expect that I should agree with you. Why should I want you to always say “yes, yes” to me? I am not a puppet in your hands. Why don’t you dance according to my tune?
You are as independent as I am. You are as free as I am. This has to be recognised, but an egoistic man will never accept it. He goes on hammering you until you say “yes” to his words. So, instead of wasting time, we say, “All right! Thank you, you are correct.”
Avoid such a man. Some people are not worth arguing with. If your mood is disturbed in their company, it is ego at play. In fact, our moods should be happy; we should be smiling. If you come across a situation that makes you sad, helpless or miserable, then it is ego at work.
All extremes are egoistic, my friends. I am up in heaven—it is ego. I have no alternative than to commit suicide—it is ego. Both extremes are in the field of ego. Elation, jubilation, frustration—all these extremes are egoistic.
But the centre of balance, equilibrium, is non-egoistic or egolessness.
You might say to me, “I am an intellectual.”
“How do you know that?” I ask you.
You reply, “Well, haven’t I read all the books in my library?”
“But, almirahs (cupboards) also have a number of books. If they could read, they would be greater intellectuals than you, since they hold so many more books!”
So, mere reading is not a sign of intellectuality. No! If anyone says, “You know, I am an intellectual,” his situation is hopeless! Intellectuality is not a claim. It is an expression; it is an attitude. So, if you claim that you are an intellectual, it is again ego at play. To say that you are a great intellectual is 100% ego! No, no, no!
I know only one thing—the intellect is a mirror in which the reflection of God is seen. You don’t see the reflection of God in the body or the mind. So the intellect is a pure mirror; it reflects God, egolessness.
My friends, I hope I am clear in explaining ego and egolessness. It is ego that is the cause for maya. Therefore, egolessness is the remedy for maya.
When ego is absent, there is no maya. Let’s take a simple example. It is dark now. But when there is light, there is no darkness. So the appearance of light is the absence of darkness. When I put on the light, I do not have to say, “All darkness, please leave the hall.” The appearance of light is the absence of darkness, that’s all.
Well, the next thing we need to know is how to get out of ego and maya. Let me tell you this clearly, so that we will have no further doubts on the topic.
Let us enquire, “Where has this ego come from?”
It has come from ‘I’ ness—“I am so and so”. This “I” ness is ego. It has come from the primal basis, out of the totality. ‘I’ ness has come from the Atma (spirit), the consciousness.
The consciousness has given birth to this ‘I’. When it identifies with the body, 50% of ego is reached. If it then identifies with the mind, the remaining 50% of ego is reached, leading finally to maha-maya or supreme illusion.
So what we have to do is find out the origin of this ego, the ‘I’ ness, which is consciousness.
Once a water bubble merges in the water, there is no longer any trace of the water bubble. Similarly, when this ‘I’ ness is merged in the consciousness, the ego is no more. So, how to merge into the consciousness? That is another question.
At one level, it is bhajans (devotional singing). No one can sing bhajans with a feeling of ego. If anyone is singing with a feeling of ego, it can no longer be termed bhajan.
Musical or cultural programmes are not bhajan as they are a presentation for the public. Bhajan is for the Self. Therefore in bhajans, no one feels ‘I’ ness or ego. That is one way of sinking into the consciousness, of merging the ‘I’ ness with the consciousness.
The second level—the higher level—is meditation. In meditation, ‘I’ ness is lost. How do you know that in meditation, ‘I’ ness is gone? In meditation, there is no “I” active. If someone says “I have meditated, I achieved this, and I know this” then he has only meditated on his ego.
In true meditation, nobody is there to claim the benefits of meditation.
A simple example: here is a glass of water. I mix some sugar in it. Where is the sugar now? The sugar has dissolved totally in the water.
“No! Sugar, sugar where are you? Is there no sugar?”
“Yes, it is here! Come on, taste it.”
“Show me the sugar!”
“It has dissolved.”
“Oh, sugar! Please stay so I can see you.”
“Yes, sir, I stay!”
No, the sugar does not claim its presence. The sugar does not say, “Here I am!” because it has totally dissolved in water. That is the end of meditation.
So, the end of meditation, the litmus test of meditation, is that the “I” ness in you is totally lost in consciousness so that you are left with nobody to explain the process, or to claim the benefits of meditation. Am I clear?
Any more questions, please? Yes, sir! Please come, sir.
A person from Nagpur asks: “I wish to understand what is ‘Narayana Seva’ (a service to feed the poor). Swami says that we should do Narayana Seva once a fortnight. We collect two types of food from the Sai devotees and go to the Shirdi Sai Mandir nearby where there are 10 or 12 permanent beggars. But the beggars want roti (flat bread, like a chapatti) and subji (a vegetable dish). So we told the devotees to provide that particular food. A few did but others who come from South India give rice, curd, dal (pulses) and sambar (made from chickpea flour). Some beggars ask for money instead of this food. I want to know whether this is true Narayana Seva, like Swami said. If not, then how should it be done? Does giving to beggars amount to true Narayana Seva?
Good, sir! Thank you.
I think all of you could follow the question. This has become a technical problem now! (Laughter) And also a matter of dietary habits—northern and southern. That’s why we have two canteens, the North Indian canteen and the South Indian canteen (and also one for the Westerners.) So it is a question of dietary habits, which is a secondary concern. Before I go into that, let me speak on Narayana Seva first.
In the early years, somebody asked Swami, “Swami, shall we do ‘poor feeding’?”
Bhagavan said, “Don’t say, ‘poor feeding’. It has the meaning of low quality food. Say ‘feeding the poor’.”
Feeding the poor is when you serve food to poor people. But poor feeding is when you give poor quality food to the poor.
Another point is this: feeding the poor is carried out by service organisations and philanthropists, and in many places like temples. However, Bhagavan’s concept of feeding the poor has a different approach.
You are not feeding anybody. You are feeding God Himself. When you serve food, the food is served to God. It then does not amount to feeding the poor; it becomes Narayana Seva. Narayana means ‘God’, Seva means ‘service’. Therefore, service to God, serving food to God, becomes Narayana Seva.
So, the lowest level is poor feeding; the middle level is feeding the poor; the highest level is Narayana Seva, which is spiritual.
In fact, our prayer says:
The food is God.
The one who serves is God
The one who receives is God.
You cannot say because you are the one serving, you are higher than the one being served. You cannot serve them left-over food. No! Understand that you are feeding God and that the food that you are serving is God.
Aham Vaishvanaro Bhutva,
Praninam Deham Ashritaha!
I, the Supreme Spirit, abiding in the body of living beings as the Fire (Vaiswanara) in their stomach, digest the four types of foods (solids, fluids, semi-fluid and liquid) which they eat.
That is the kind of feeling with which we should serve food.
The next point is about the North Indian food and South Indian food. The solution is to serve whatever we have to those who relish it. A simple example: if I visit your house and you serve me chapattis, naturally I will eat them somehow, but not with pleasure. I am from South India and we want rice, sambar, rasam (lentil soup with chilli, peppers, spices, tomatoes, etc.), and Andhra chutneys (condiments). Yes! Very necessary! (Laughter)
On the other hand, if you go to North India, and serve the people there rice and sambar, they will not relish it. “See you tomorrow,” they would say. (Laughter) They want chapattis and rotis (flat breads with various fillings).
Therefore, serve people what they want because they are God, and the food is God. That is true Narayana Seva.
Then again, we cannot serve whatever is demanded. A service rendered is received; whereas, to comply with a demand is not a service. No, no!
Someone might ask, “Sir! Instead of serving me food, please give me Rs.100/-.” It is not service to give money on that basis.
Finally, to make it really practical, please select people according to the food available. Don’t go by numbers. “I want food to feed twenty people. I have enough sambar for five and enough rotis for fifteen people. Fifteen plus five is twenty servings, but the people here only eat sambar. What can I do?”
Let us not make it an auditor’s or accountant’s problem. No! Find out what they eat and what is available. Even if only a few can receive the food, it does not matter. Serve it with pleasure and love—that is Narayana Seva.
A person from Hosur has two questions: “My first question is this: Swami says, “You cannot come to Prashanti Nilayam unless I will it.” On another occasion, Swami says, “You need not come to Prashanti Nilayam; you can experience Me wherever you are.” I do not know how to understand these two different statements.
The second question is this: “The Sri Sathya Sai Organisation is founded by Bhagavan Himself. But many times Swami has said, “I have no connection with this Organisation. I am connected directly with My devotees, and nothing can come between Me and My devotees.” In this case, is it necessary to become part of this Organisation?
Good questions. I will answer them in two stages: the first concerning the two statements by Swami which appear contradictory, and the second about Swami and the Sri Sathya Organisation. Since I am a product of the Organisation and also have had over thirty years experience here, I think I am a little competent to speak on the questions asked.
Well, Bhagavan’s first statement is: “No one can come here unless I will it.” The second statement is: “You don’t need to come here.” They seem to be mutually contradictory, but not so. Not so, my friends.
“No one comes here unless I will it.” What does this mean? When does He will it? This year or next year? Why did He not will it years ago? Why should He will only some people to come, and not others? How many times should He will you to come? For the first or second visit, or for an infinite number of visits? These are all the questions that come to our mind.
Now, Bhagavan’s will depends upon our prayer and our yearning. That is what Baba said.
Krishi Vunte Krupa Vuntundi.
Krishi means effort, and Kripa means Divine will, Divine way.
When there is effort on your part, there will be Divine Grace from the Lord.
Am I clear? So, Bhagavan will wish it when I am prepared—prayerful, spiritual, yearning for the Lord. Then comes the call. Swami wills it because of your effort, sincerity, and devotion.
Then there is the point, “Why do you come here?” (This being the other side of “You don’t need to come here . . . you can experience Me wherever you are.”)
You come to Prashanti Nilayam to have your batteries charged. After your visit, you go back fully charged, and you can serve efficiently with all your skills and talents.
Swami brings you here so that you get some extra kind of energy, some extra multi-vitamin tablets and treatment. So, “I will” implies that you should be admitted into the Outpatient Department—the Sai Kulwant Hall—of the Divine Hospital!
So we need to get ourselves charged, that is how I look at it.
While speaking about charging batteries, everyone has a cell-phone these days, and now the cell-phone gets charged!
Yesterday I saw a young one girl sitting at the doorstep of my home. She asked, “Please, would you call my mother out?”
I said, “Where is she?”
She said, “She is cleaning utensils in your kitchen. Please call her.” (Meaning, this girl is the daughter of the servant maid.)
I said, “Okay! Please wait.”
Suddenly, I heard her cell-phone ring, tac-tac-tac. (She is better than me as I don’t know how to handle a cell-phone.)
Many people ask me, “Mr. Anil Kumar, do you have a cell-phone?”
I say, “Why one cell-phone, I have millions of cell-phones. (Laughter) My body is full of cells!
So, everyone knows about getting cell-phones charged. When the charge is over, you have to charge it again. So similarly, we come here to get our own batteries charged, and we do not have to come again until the battery is run down.
Though this is a jocular explanation, the spiritual implication is this: we come to see Baba in His physical form (Sakara), with attributes (Saguna). You see Baba in a definite form with all the attributes, with all the Divine qualities. This is the way Lakshmana (half brother and especial friend of Rama) worshipped Lord Rama, Sakara-Saguna.
Then the other point: “You don’t have to come here”. What does this mean? Bharata (half brother of Rama) worshipped Rama without seeing Him in the physical frame. It was formless worship. Rama was in the forest. Bharata lived in the town of Ayodhya, but he still worshipped Rama. So, Bharata worshipped Divinity without form (Nirakara) and without attributes (Nirguna).
So, “You don’t have to come here” means that you are at a higher level of worshipping the nameless, formless, attribute-less Divinity that is everywhere. “You see Me in everyone” is what is meant by “You need not come to Prashanti Nilayam.”
This level of worship arises from the beginning stage, the worship of Divinity in the physical form and all attributes, Sakara-Saguna. One leads to the other.
I will now answer the second part of the question concerning the Sri Sathya Sai Organisation.
The founder of Sathya Sai Organisation is Bhagavan Himself. There is no doubt about it. It is established in His name.
The Organisation carries a matchless holy name and thus has credibility, accountability, name, fame, and reputation. All these things are there because of His name.
If you remove “Sathya Sai” and retain only the name, “Seva Organisation”, everybody questions you, everybody doubts you, and they want the accounts examined. But, when you say, “Sathya Sai Seva Organisation”, yes, there is that credibility. Nobody will doubt you.
Then, Bhagavan wants you to be perfect in the Organisation so His name won’t be spoiled. If I do silly things—if there is corruption, exploitation, ego—well, I will be spoiling His name. Therefore His matchless name, that status, dignity and decorum has to be maintained by all members.
But the same Bhagavan has said, “I have no connection with the Organisation.” That is the trouble with our philosophy. (Laughter)
Sakara on one side, Nirakara on the other; Saguna on one side, and Nirguna on the other! Do it, don’t do it—all are there! But, when we look into these paradoxes, we will see that there is a kind of connection between these ideas.
“I have no connection with the Organisation,” Baba has said. Why? Baba has many Christians as devotees. They continue to be Christians and devotees. There are many Muslims, and they continue to be Muslims and devotees.
You may be a member of the Organisation; you may not be a member of the Organisation. You may be a Hindu or a Muslim or a Christian. As a devotee, you and Swami are one—there is a direct connection. Therefore, He said, “I am not connected with the Organisation.”
“I have no connection to the Organisation” means the Divine belongs to all.
God is beyond religion, God is beyond the Organisation. The Sathya Sai Organisation is established for us so that we may take to service activities. It is there for us to mutually draw inspiration and work for the common goal towards perfection. That is all. But He is not the Organisation.
A simple example explains this: some people do service in the name of Jesus Christ. We may say that they do not have Baba’s blessings. If you think that only service coming through the Organisation has Baba’s blessings, well, Baba says “I have no connection to the Organisation.” To repeat: “The Divine belongs to all.”
But doing service as a member of the Organisation, you have the duty to see that the name is upheld and the flag flies high, and that the expectations of those in the community are not disappointed because it is established in His name.
Am I clear? If there any doubts in connection with this, you can still ask.
Anybody, please? Yes, sir!
A person from Mumbai asks: “I didn’t want to ask a question. But sir, I thought of a doubt that I have had in my mind. Bharat came to Nandigram and there he said, “Good-bye, I will remain here.” Everyone used to come in the evening, worship the sandals and then go. We hear about the problem in Nandigram, Calcutta. Is this the same Nandigram mentioned by Bharat or is it some other Nandigram?”
(The ancient story is that Bharata vowed to live humbly in Nandigram, a small village near the capitol of Ayodhya, until the exiled Rama could return as the rightful king of His realm. Bharata refused to become king as that would be unrighteous. Therefore, Rama gave His sandals to Bharata for the citizens, Brahmins, ministers etc. to adore as the Presence of Rama, Himself.
One version of the story says that the holy sandals were installed on the throne at Ayodhya and the empire governed from there. Another version has the sandals with Bharata, and so during the 14 years of Rama’s exile everybody went to Nandigram for guidance The present Nandigram is a rural area 70 km south-west of Calcutta, West Bengal. The ancient city of Ayodhya is thought to be situated in the state of Uttar Pradesh.)
I do not know if it’s the same Nandigram or not! I do not know, sir. Nandigram in West Bengal has a big problem, I think. (There were protests over government appropriation of land. There was loss of life in the villagers’ clash with police, March, 2007.) Well, I do not know because, as with Ayodhya, it is full of problems.
You know Ashok, the singer and president of Viswa Hindu Parishad—the World Hindu Council—came to Swami and said, “Swami! There is a lot of fighting going on, particularly at Ayodhya, the birth place of Sri Rama. Could You tell us anything? Where was Rama actually born? Muslims say that there is a masjid (mosque) there. But we say that it is the birth place of Rama. Please clarify it for us.”
Swami said, “According to Me, Rama’s birth place is the womb of Kausalya (His mother).” (Laughter)
Oh! We cannot hold conversations with Him on things like that. Impossible! (Laughter) Thank you, sir! Thank you very much.
I have some more information to share with you today. Tomorrow we are going to celebrate Sri Rama Navami, the birthday celebration of the incarnation, Sri Ramachandra.
As I see that many people are not familiar with this story, I will not narrate it fully. That is not necessary, and the time is limited. But I will touch upon the elementary points for those who are quite new to this.
There are five points.
One: Rama is an incarnation of the Divine Himself—an Avatar!
Two: the purpose of Rama’s Avatar is to establish Truth (Sathya) and Righteousness (Dharma) so that everybody may practice them.
Three: the Rama Avatar is a demonstration to all humanity about how one should behave as a son, as a husband, as a ruler, and as a brother. It is a clear demonstration of all the ideals that God has lived and wants us to follow.
“I fight with my brother. What should I do?” Rama will immediately reply, “I don’t fight with my brother Bharata, so how can you fight?” Finished!
So, for all our problems, whether at the family, social, or national level, Rama’s life is a demonstration of what to do. The ideal life that He led is the best example we have for all of us to learn from and emulate.
Four: the story of Rama, the Ramayana, was first written by the composer, Sage Valmiki. The story is full of stories, episodes, and most interesting things.
Five: though outwardly it is a story, it has an undercurrent of spirituality. The spiritual implication of Ramayana was written by another composer, Veda Vyasa. It is called the Adhyatma Ramayana. ‘Adhyatma’ means ‘the spiritual significance’.
So Valmiki wrote the narration or story aspect, while Vyasa wrote about the spiritual dimension.
Baba is a combination of both Valmiki and Vyasa. How can I say that? If you read the Rama Katha Rasa Vahini in two volumes, and another book, the Atma-Ramam, you will find Bhagavan’s discourses on the Ramayana.
While speaking about the story of Rama, He also speaks of the spiritual dimensions of the story. If you read these three books, you don’t have to read anything else on Ramayana. And if you read them, you will understand Swami.
The books are full of descriptions and poems. As He describes the Holy wedding of Rama and Sita, He excels Valmiki! As He goes deeper and deeper into the spiritual aspect, it is wonderful! Vyasa! So, He is a combination of Vyasa and Valmiki. Now, is He a Valmiki? No! He is Vyasa also. Is He a Vyasa? No! He is Valmiki also.
The next point is this: Bhagavan Baba in His own life demonstrates all the features of Lord Rama. Because of the lack of time, I cannot speak to you about all these aspects, but you can hear them in the Telugu broadcast of Radio Sai, where they were kind enough to give me a chance to talk on this topic, “Lord Rama and Baba.”
In Baba, we find all the features of Rama. He is a man like Rama, yet He is a God like Rama. If I am tempted to talk about this, you may have to skip your lunch, which I do not want! And there is a very good promise of Bhagavan talking to us this afternoon.
I wish you a happy, meaningful celebration of Sri Rama Navami tomorrow.
Thank you very much for being here. May Bhagavan bless you for ever and ever.
My sincere thanks to all our friends who have come forward with their questions. The whole session owes its success to them only.
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
Jai Bolo Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Babaji ki Jai!
Jai Bolo Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Babaji ki Jai!
Jai Bolo Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Babaji ki Jai!