Anil Kumar is Professor of Bioscience at the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning. He has authored many books on Sathya SaiBaba, he writes articles in Sanathana Sarathi. Anil Kumar gives a spiritual talk every Sunday in Prasanthi Nilayam. Groups from all over India and around the world often request him for extra talks.  Well known as the translator of Sathya SaiBaba’s discourses. Read more www.saiwisdom.com              

I met Sathya SaiBaba for the first time 1970. Having seen him I was very much impressed by the org. around him. I was surprised to find many of the devotees worked voluntarily helping and working for his mission. I was also very much impressed by the service activities going on all over the world in His name. Particularly I am very much pleased with His message which is Universal and in a sense it includes all religions. There after I have had a taste of His Divine love that made me hold on to Him and cling on to Him once and for all.

Om Sai Ram

Nice meeting you this morning. There must be some deep connection that makes you invite me repeatedly. Anyway am I quite glad to be here.

Let me first convey my greetings on the occasion of Maha Sivarathri. Maybe you don’t know the significance of Maha Sivarathri, but all of you must have heard of the name Sivarathri. It is a big celebration in India. It is one of the most important festivals here in Prasanthi Nilayam. It brings many devotees from far off places. I will try to simplify as much as I can and bring to your notice the significance of Maha Sivarathri. I will also leave some time for you to ask questions.

The whole universe emerges out of God, and all of it will go back to God. There are two processes here. One is creation, and the second is annihilation. I don’t say destruction, it is only withdrawn. One is projection and the other is withdrawn. God has projected Himself in the form of the universe or creation. Finally the entire cosmos becomes merged in him.

Linga in Sanskrit means symbol. It is normally a stone, oval in shape, like an egg. It symbolizes the whole universe, the creation and the Creator. Just as Om is the sound symbol of God, the Linga is the form symbol of God, Swami said.

This is what we call linga principal, which involves projection, withdrawal, creation annihilation. The projection or creation is Shrusti. Withdrawal or annihilation is Laya or Pralaya. This is the meaning of lingam. It is only a symbol.

 Let’s not take it in the literal sense, it represents both. We should also recognize another basic fact. Take for example orange fruit. It has bitter skin around which protects the fruit. When you remove the skin you will have sweet juice inside. The skin by its own is useless. The important sweet part cannot have protection without that skin. Fruit includes both, the bitter skin and the sweet juice inside.

Every festival involves celebration, every festival includes several rituals, like meditation, prayer, worship, reading of the scriptures, reciting the name or singing the glory. This is all the ritual part, like the skin of the fruit. But the sweet juice inside is God, is the Divinity. Therefore they exist together. Ritual is outer one, while the spiritual is the inner content.

Therefore Sivarathri ritual is the outer skin, while Shiva is the sweet juice. Sivarathri is the combination of the ritual and the spiritual. Lingam represents creation and annihilation. Please understand this point. It is very important that we should have this awareness.

 Life is not only a recording of miracles; life is not only a book of stories. Actually every second is a miracle. Our life itself is a miracle of miracles. We go to sleep and forget everything, who wakes you up? We are living with our eyes closed and this is the first thing to see. How did you come in to this world? Who created you? Did you create yourself? A man may say my wife wakes me up, but the question is who woke her up? Who makes you sleep, who wakes you up? The moment you wake up, you will recall what happens yesterday. How do you remember?

The hearts goes on beating once it stops it is death. What are we doing for the heart to beat or the blood to circulate? What is the main cause? Why do we breathe 21, 600 times every day? All this are miracles in life. How is it that you are here today? how is it that I am able to meet you and talk to you, this is a miracle, how we come together, how we meet is a miracle.

 How we have come to know Swami, know his Divinity, come close to him, stay for some time, it is all a miracle. Therefore my friends, in the midst of the miracle of life, there are two things. One is that what we do the other is what happens.

 I make coffee and I drink coffee, it is my doing. We are all waiting for Swami to give Darshan, it is not your doing; it is a happening. In life there are also doings and happenings. Doings is that what we do on our own, happenings simply happens; it is the will of God. If you can do something without a reason, without a motive or something in your life happens causelessly, when your action has no motive or condition attached to it, when you do something just for the love and joy of doing it, you will know what God is. Sometimes you can see that things have been taken out of your hands and are following a supernatural order. At that time, just do your best at what you have to do, and stay out of God’s way.

This awareness is seen only in the human race. No animal knows it is an animal, it is just an animal, no tree knows it is a tree, it is a tree. Only the human beings know they are human beings. How do you know you are a human being? It is because we have awareness of the past and the present. We have discrimination.

I can have a feeling Swami is coming so I run to the Mandir that is called intuition. How are you prompted by intuition, why is this intuition there? Suddenly you have an intuition to come to Puttaparthy from Russia. Unexpectedly some people come here. Why? Who prompted you to come? How does it happen? This kind of intuitive feeling means awareness.

I know what I am; I know what I want to be. This kind of awareness of what I am is called Pragna. I also know what is good and bad, right and wrong. This is called discrimination or Jnaana. This awareness and discrimination is represented in the lingam. I said what Pragna linga is. Now I will try to explain what Jnaana linga is.

The third point is; we want to be continuously blissful; please understand that we are happy for most of the time, but we do not recognize it. We only remember what bad has happened in our long life. 10 years ago I was badly treated; 15 years ago I was helpless. No! stop that nonsense. You might have been sick a number of times. You might have had a lot of problems; however, the period of happiness is longer than the moments of unhappiness.

Supposing you are eating, you find a stone in the food. You begin to complain but 99% of the food is good. Only a little stone disturbed you. We are more conscious of the bad moment and take good moments for granted. This is the tragedy of life. I have been helping you and you have been helping me and suddenly there is a moment I cannot oblige you. I remember that moment and forget about the good things; this is very miserable. In fact no one has the justification to hate someone. You have only the right to love or serve someone, or keep yourself free from him that is all.

My friends let us understand that we are happy most of the time. Our unhappiness is short-lived, momentary or transitory. Our happiness is prolonged. Meaning we are the embodiments of bliss, we are the personification of happiness.

Simple example; If one is very serious with a Shakespeare face, I may ask: Why are you so serious, what is wrong? If one is happy and smiling you do not ask why are you happy, why are you smiling. We only put that question when we are unhappy. This means that happiness is our natural original state, and we want to continue to be happy.

Sadha means continuous, Sivam means happiness, lingam means Divinity. Sadha- Shiva linga means God that gives you eternal Bliss.

The fourth one; I am an individual, I live because of food. This is what we call Anda, individual, Pinda the food. Anda- pinda linga. The individual who lives by food, what is the food for the whole universe?

The food for the individual and the universe is God himself. While the whole universe is sustained by the Divinity is called Brahmananda lingam, so Brahmananda lingam is universal Divinity Anda-pinda lingam is individual lingam.

There are two parts in Lingam, one is horizontal, and the other is vertical. The horizontal part is nature, which has three dimensions, which are the basic three qualities; Sathva, Rajas and Thamas. Satva means pureness Rajasic means desires, ambitions, Tamasic means sleep, inertia. The whole of nature runs by the three Gunas or qualities. We cannot carry on our life without these qualities.

 If you watch a fan it will have three wings, they rotate and will give you a nice breeze; it is a combination of the three Gunas. The breeze that you get is the Divinity.

Therefore the whole creation is maintained by these three qualities, all of us have these three qualities. They should be in perfect balance; if one of the three dominates it will determine your personality. Jesus maintained his calmness throughout his life. Buddha maintained his composure throughout his life. They are Satvic people. The second category of people, who are full of desires, full of temper anxiety and worry  are Rajasic and ready to fight. Drinking, over eating over sleeping this is all animalistic or inertia, Tamasic.

Now the point is that all the three qualities are present in the nature of all and when you rise above these three qualities you are Divine. When you are limited by these three qualities you are human.

In order to develop the Sathvic quality, Thamas is an accessory, and Rajas is a necessary stage. When we go beyond these two, the full nature of Sathvic quality manifests itself. To transform all the qualities, Divine Grace is the cause.  

Therefore lingam has two parts. The lower triangular part represents the nature or the creation bound by three qualities. But our aim of life is to grow beyond these three. To know more and more, the experiencer, and not the experience is upward and lingam is upward and the lower part is horizontal. This is present in everybody, the body is the horizontal part, and the self is the lingam within you.

The awareness of the lingam within you is Sivarathri. For example it is all dark now, once there is light, darkness is dispelled. Similarly darkness is ignorance, light is knowledge, where there is light the ignorance is gone. This is called Jyotir lingam, Jyotir means light.

So my friends we could know all these forms of lingams, all meaning one; the awareness of the self. By this information I hope you will enjoy Sivarathri in true spirit. It is better to know what it means, what we do, what we get, why we should.

You know the rivers flow, the wings blow, seasons change, stars glitter, flowers blossom, children smile; all this is the cosmic dance of the Divine Master. What we call Shiva Tandara, or Celestial  Dance. Your paradise experience is nothing but the whole creation working in perfect harmony and order.

I thank you for having listened to me with such great attention. So many Russian are here today. It might mean that Russia is growing more and more spiritual day by day. You have undertaken the journey from the body to the soul, from the material to the Divine. You have as a nation, investigated time and energy by your science and your technology, now you are trying to understand the Creator. Therefore your understanding will be total and integrated.

So my friends by this brief notes I leave you time for spiritual questions.

    There are three Gods; Brahma the creator. Vishnu the protector and Shiva the destroyer. Why is Lingam always associated with Shiva?

My friends let us understand, they are not three people or three Gods. For example I am here as your friend, at home I am the husband, at the college I am the professor; in the Mandir I am a devotee. It doesn’t mean there are four Anil Kumars. I am all in one. Therefore the creative quality of God is Brahma; the maintainer and sustainer is Vishnu, and the withdrawal or annihilation is Shiva. There are not three Gods fighting for their powers. It is the same God with three aspects; birth, growth and death, past, presence and future.

      There was a thought of the day; Swami mentioned that there is not a universe as we think; it is it is only an in breath and an out breath of the creator. I would like to know if there also is an individual will, or an impulse of the individual self?

Both are related, the will and the breath are interrelated. All life is interdependent. If we only take a hard look at the facts of life, we will know that really, nothing is in our hands; not even are hands are in our hands. Nothing is in our power. Then what is the meaning of saying “I” and “me” and”mine”? Everything is happening and happening together. It is an organic whole.

Simple example; as you breathe, watch your breath, inhalation and exhalation. If you do that for some time you will agree with me that the thought process slows down. Breathing and thoughts are interrelated. Controlling the thought process by breathing is called Pranayama. Now when you say God breathes, it is very much the same as his will.

    Why is it just this date 6 of March we celebrate Sivarathri?

Every month has 30 days. The first part is the brighter period and it ends with full moon. The second part is the dark period and it ends with no moon. You will not see the moon at all. This cycle repeats and it is based on the movement of the moon. The moon is the head of our mind. Lunar is the moon, lunatic means mad. On the full moon and also on an empty moon day, the mind can grow wild.

Sivarathri falls on the empty moon day, the darkest period of the moon cycle. At this time, the mind has also the highest potential to be empty, and withdrawn. So the mind, by singing Bhajans throughout the night can have the opportunity to be passive, and inactive. The mind which is the centre of thoughts, cause of pleasure, pain and delusion is inactive at that very moment. Once it is withdrawn you are Divine. The person, who accepts things without judging them, without naming them, immediately enters the state of bliss. It is the mind that makes you feel separate; it is the mind that turns you egoistic. When you, I, and He are one that is a Divine Blissful experience.

    Everyone who is coming here to celebrate Sivarathri likes to see Swami materialize a Lingam. Why is that so important?

Take it as an act of observation, The Lingam emanates from His stomach in form and comes out of His throat, collects in His mouth, and comes out as a solid linga.  It is a wonder, a miracle. No one can analyze these miraculous events applying mundane sciences. Linga is the simplest sign of emergence and mergence.

If you see it only as a scene or a happening, it is only an interest in curiosity, inquisitiveness. It does not serve any purpose. Baba has clearly said many times that lingam is presence in anyone. The one Baba brings out is to show you that such a Lingam is inside everyone. Because of His Divinity it gets concretized in Him, because of the heat at the moment it takes the form of a Lingam that emerges out of His mouth.

Swami said; “do not exaggerate the creations and manifestation of the Linga. It is only the manifestation of an atom of My majesty. In Me who can create worlds and fill the universe, there are things more worthy of adoration, universal Love, the teachings of Dharma, the revival of Vedas, the fostering of the good, the benediction on Sadhakas.”

    Please recommend how to behave during the festival and also how to behave afterwards?

The best way to behave is to join the Bhajans throughout the night. If you do not know the words in the songs, just close your eyes and listen to the sounds and feel within. That is what we do. Try to make your mind empty and fill the mind with Bhajans and Divine thoughts; that is the main aim of the Bhajans.

Afterwards you begin to recapitulate; you begin to recall what was happening. When you are back in Russia you remember your stay in India and your days in Prasanthi Nilayam. You remember Baba’s Darshan. What you see here you recall there. The whole day and the whole night with collective Bhajans, meditation and prayer has a tremendous Divinizing effect on the individual devotee and it has a subtle effect of spiritualizing the entire world.

    We have heard that those who are fortunate to witness a materialization of a Lingam is freed from all sins and will have liberation in this lifetime, please comment on that.

  This is one part of information that is in circulation. My friends, what do you mean by liberation? How to be liberated? When to be liberated? Why to be liberated?

Simple example; when I am bound by chains I should be liberated out of this bondage. So the problem of liberation comes when you are in bondage. Who said you are in bondage? It is your mind which makes you feel you are in bondage. In reality you are not in bondage. When the mind understands this and is withdrawn you are liberated.

For example; here is a pot made of earth which contains peanuts. The monkey has placed his hand into the pot and got hold of all the peanuts in there. His grip is tight and the monkey cannot take his hand out of the pot. It goes on thinking that someone is holding his hand inside the pot. What to do? Leave the peanuts and make your hand straight so your hand can come out of the pot. So the hand being tight in the pot is because of your grip of the peanuts.

So peanuts are the worldly pleasures, thought is the world; hand is what interferes with the worldly pleasure. Grip is the bondage. Make this grip of bondage free by dropping the peanuts of any desires. You can easily take out your hand from the pot. So who is in reality in bondage, which is to liberate you? You have yourself invited bondage.

Do not think that liberation is a heavenly process, limited to a day, special day or festival. Bondage is of our own making. We should work out our own liberation. It is significant that the word bliss or Ananda in Sanskrit is without an opposite. Moksha, freedom or liberation, has no opposite; it is the state of bliss and liberation which means that happiness and misery are equally accepted, one without a second. Is this clear?

    By making a lingam, Swami is very much suffering I have heard. And last year there was no lingam materialized during Sivarathri because many dark forces were around and a fight was going on at a subtle level. Please comment on this information.

Well, I feel he appears to have suffering. Because of the size of the Lingam He looks as he is suffering. For the last years a Lingam has not been materialized, because all have prayed to Swami, that it is not necessary for Him to bring out a Lingam. We know that He is God. Whether he materializes a lingam or not He is Divine. How many times should he prove Himself that he is God? If you have seen a miracle in 2002 you want Him to prove Himself in 2003 also!

 All devotees in one voice prayed to Him not to materialize a Lingam last year. In response to our desire then he did not produce a Lingam. He materialized a lingam in the past, in response to our desire now, He stopped. Swami is beyond everything.

I pray Baba to bless you all and that you all will enjoy your time during the Sivarathri celebration. I also pray you will recognize in yourself the awareness, the knowledge, the Jnaana Linga. And that you all will be eternally blissful, Sadha-Shiva Linga and that you will experience the oneness with the entire universe; Aatma Linga or Brahma Linga.

My Bhagawan be with you forever and ever. Thank you once again.

“Belief in the Creator, the Designer, the Supporter and the Disintegrator is necessary equipment for the pilgrim on earth.” Baba

Sai Ram