Breaking a Coconut

 

What can we learn from the act of breaking a coconut as an offering in a temple?

"You go to a temple and break a coconut before the idol. Now, if you try to break the nut as it has fallen from the tree, will it break? No; the fibrous cover has to be removed, and the shell exposed. The fibre protects the shell and prevents the blow from affecting the shell. Moksha (liberation) results from the breaking of the mind with all its vagaries and wishes. You have to break your mind, but how can you do it, when the fibrous armour of sensual desires encompasses it? Remove them and dedicate the mind to God and smash it in His presence. That moment, you are free. 

The toughest fibre is anger, it is the stickiest dirt. When you get angry, you forget your mother, father and teacher; you descend to the lowest depths. You lose all discrimination in the excitement; even Hanumanta set fire to the whole of Lanka when he was incensed by the demons who set fire to the tip of his tail; he lost sight of the fact that Sita was in the Ashokavanam. It was only when he had exulted in achievement for a little while that he remembered it and then he started condemning himself for his anger."

~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~

(Divine Discourse - 10.10.1964)

Anger is the main cause for man to lose his physical and mental powers. If one gets

angry, one loses the energy obtained from the food partaken over a period of three months. 

– BABA