Ananda

 

How can we acquire Ananda, Swamiji, spiritual bliss?

Ananda is not something you can acquire or procure from somewhere, outside you, or from some one other than you.  It is in you, all the time, it is your genuine nature.  You are Ananda.  That is why I address you as Anandaswaroopa. When you experience Ananda, it is Prapta-prapti (getting the already got), not aprapta-prapti (getting the not-got).  This gentleman here, with a book, needs, let us say five shillings urgently; he asks the doctor sitting by his side to lend him the sum.  The doctor agrees but even as he is saying so, he takes the book casually into his hand and turning over the pages, he finds between the leaves a five-shilling note!  He gives it back to the owner saying, "You do not need a loan now; this is yours; you had it all this while, only you did not know you had it."  This is "getting the already got".  

Ananda is got like this.  The Guru or Spiritual master or Preceptor reveals to you the treasure of Ananda which you had but which you had forgotten or neglected or discarded or never knew of.

We are trying our best, Swami, to know the source of Ananda but this Aadhi, Vyaadhi and Upaadhi do not end and we have no peace.

Do not put the three things together; for the Aadhi and the Vyaadhi affect only the Upaadhi (physical body); they cannot affect "you", who are only residents in the Upaadhi.  Aadhi means "mental pain" and Vyaadhi means "bodily pain"; both affect but the health.

How can your car be "you"?  Meditate on this truth and by practice, make that truth evident in your consciousness at all times.  Then Aadhi and Vyaadhi will not affect you.  They will pass by harmlessly.

(From the book "The Light of Love")

Youth

"Childhood, boyhood, youth and old age are stages through which the body passes in its natural course.  Each stage is short and transforms itself into the next without notice.  Do not believe that youth can be retained indefinitely, and develop a fascination for the passions it arouses.  Whenever the flesh urges you to fall into falsehood, stand up bravely; do not yield.  Stand firm against the temptation.  Keep good company.  When dust seeks the company of air, it rises up to the sky; when it seeks the company of water, it is carried into the deep hollows.  When iron keeps company with fire, it becomes bright and pure; when it joins the company of the earth, it rusts and soon becomes dust.  When the individual is strong and bold, the family is prosperous; when the villages are happy, the country is secure and strong; when countries are strong and happy, the world is prosperous and full of joy."

~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~

(From Bhagawan's speech at a Public Meeting in Kampala, 8.7.1968)

Maya

 

"When his steps are towards God, man has no reason to fear; but when they are turned away from Him, fear haunts him at every turn.  That is the source of the highest joy.  People yearn for joy and believe they can derive it through the objective world that can be cognised by the senses.  No one knows that Nature is the vesture of God; there is nothing real except He.  

When the morning sun is above the horizon and you walk away from it, towards the west, your long shadow marches before you.  That shadow is Maya which deludes and hides the Truth.  To disregard and discard Maya, you have to turn sunwards.  Then the shadow falls behind you.  

The Sun is described as the source of Reason and intelligence.  When the Sun climbs higher and higher, the shadow you cast becomes smaller and smaller until at last, when He is right on top of you, the shadow (Maya) crouches at your feet, surrendering to you and you can trample on it.  So too, when your intellect is clarified, Maya cannot harm you and cast the evil spell on you."

~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~

(Speech at a Public Meeting in Kampala - 8.7.1978.  From the book "The Light of Love".)

After Death

What happens after death to the individual, Swamiji?

The final thought of the individual decides what form the Jivi assumes, when it is born again.  Just as the fragrance of a garden of lilies is carried by the breeze, the atmosphere of gunas or tendencies and characteristics which predominates in this life is carried forward into the next.  Birth in the next form has to take place very soon but the interval may be more or less.  When you switch on the lights, light comes immediately; when you switch on the fan, it takes time for the fan to whirl fast enough to cool the air.  If it is a stove, it takes longer still for the stove to be ready for cooking.  Of course, there are many who are not born again since they merge in the Ocean of Grace.

But population does not decrease!  That is because animals and other beings earn the human birth and come in, for the great chance.  Perhaps that is the reason why men are behaving like animals!

Why should you argue that animals, beasts and birds are bad?  Do not talk in an irresponsible manner.  Each animal is treading its Dharma, it does not overstep or undermine.  They have greater co-operation and mutual love than even men.  Each has to be judged from the point of view of the equipment and the opportunity.  Man can live better, if only he learns from animals.  He is degrading himself even lower.  When the Lord incarnates, He has as one of His tasks, "parithranaya Sadhoonam", the protection of sadhus, of beings with quiet innocent natures.  Among animals, there are countless sadhus, remember.

(From the book "The Light of Love" 

 An account of Bhagawan's trip to East Africa)

Study of the Sastras

 

Can the study of the Sastras help?

They can, to some extent.  They are like signposts.  They indicate the direction and perhaps the distance to be covered.  But they cannot give you an idea of the ups and downs which you will have to encounter when you go along.  Only actual journey will reveal them to you  Engage yourselves in karma in a dedicatory spirit, then you realise that He is omnipotent and omnipresent and the spirit of adoption and surrender becomes well established in you.  At last, you will realise that you and He and all else are but One.  Thus, Karma leads to Bhakti and Bhakti to Jnana.  A cow is tied by a rope to a post; it can graze all round the post, within the radius of the length of rope.  When it has grazed that area, the master will untie it and take her to another post or he might lengthen the rope, so that she can graze over a further area.  But first, the allotted area must be grazed, otherwise there can be no gift of Grace.

(From the book "The Light of Love")

Many Previous Births

Is it true that we have had many births previous to this?

Of course it is true.  The Sage Markanda once asked Narada, "I have been practising austerities since sixty years but I could not win the boon of God-realisation.  That boy, Dhruva, a mere six year old child, spent just five months in austerity, and God appeared before him and granted his desires.  This is very unjust."  

But Narada replied, "A slab of stone breaks into two, when a child gives a hammer stroke.  The same slab did not break for twenty hammer strokes from a hefty hand, administered just previous to the twenty-first.  Why?  The slab broke as a result of the cumulative effect of all blows, 20 then and one now.  So, too, Dhruva had years of austerity then, in previous births and just five months of it in this birth.  But you may ask, "If we had lives previous to this, why do we not remember the events?"

Do you remember the events of this life, at least?  All the events?  Krishna asked Arjuna, "Ten years ago on the Full Moon Day of the month Magha, where exactly were you?"  Arjuna could not recall the place.  For it had no significance for him.  He could, however, recall the date when he married the sister of Krishna, for that was a happy event he would not forget. 

There are no significant events in the past life and so you do not remember any.  But God is concerned with all, so He remembers all.

(From the book "The Light of Love")

Vibhuthi

 

Siva is described as having  ash smeared all over His body; You are said to be an Avatar of Siva; how is it that you do not wear it but only give it to all?

You do not know the meaning of the word Vibhuthi that is used to describe the ash that Siva is supoposed to have on His body.  You take the meaning that suits you.  Vibhuthi means Glory, Splendour, Magnificence, Superhuman faculties.  Siva is enveloped in that Vibhuthi - that is what the Vedas say, not that He has ash smeared all over Him!  And when I give Vibhuthi or Ash, it is a reminder of the Ultimate, the Final and Unchangeable Thing into which everything reduces itself.  All things become Ash and ash becomes nothing else.  Produced by Vibhuthi, it is also useful to convey a lesson.

(From the book "The Light of Love")

Surrender

 

What are we to surrender, Swamiji?

"Surrender the "I".  The cobra is dreadful, because it has two poisonous fangs.  Man too has two poisonous fangs: "I" and "Mine" - Ahamkara and Mamakara.  Pluck the fangs out and you can handle the cobra as you like, go about as a snake-charmer and earn a livelihood thereby.  So too, when "I" and "Mine" are removed, man is no longer harmful to himself and others.  Vivekananda said that he did not want to become sugar (merge in Brahmam); he desired to be the ant that consumers the sugar (the Janani who revels in the inexpressible sweetness of Brahma-consciousness).  The Gita speaks of Mokshasanyasa, the renunciation of even the desire, Liberation.  Be born, do good, be good, serve God and Godmen.  That is a commendable desire.  Use the talents you are endowed with: intelligence, discriminating faculty, moral sense, a warning  conscience, ability to stand apart as  witness, with no attachment."

(From the book "The Light of Love")

Effects of Past Karma (2)

 

Can we modify the effects of Karma?

You can, by using your intelligence, Karma or Acts of past births are accumulated and heaped as a big burden called Sanchita; out of this accumulation, a portion is taken for consumption at a time, this is called prarabdha (that which is being spent out).  With a little intelligence, you can consume it in a manner that conduces to your welfare and promotes your progress  You may have to cook and consume a certain quantity of rice; nothing prevents you from making tasty dishes out of it, and guarding your health in the process.

Can anyone escape Karma?

No; breathing itself is an action.  God Himself assumes Karma, though He is sovereign over all.  And why should you escape it?  Doing  work in a dedicatory spirit gives such joy and contentment, that once you start that type of Karma, you will never like to give it up.  Have the attitude that you are but an instrument in His hands, behaving  as He dictates, as He wills.  Then you have escaped Karma, for, you are not the doer, it is He who does all the acts.  This is the "surrender" that the Gita teaches.

(To be continued)

(From the book "The Light of Love")

Effects of Past Karma

 

Swamiji, it is said that the Darsan of Mahatmas rids one of the evil effects of past Karma; is that true?

When the consequences of Karma are wiped off, evil effects as well as good effects will disappear; the fire of Jnana will not distinguish the good from the bad; both are to be transcended; both are binding and transitory.  And by Darsan is meant, adoration, obedience, acceptance; it is to be followed by pariprasna and seva: inquiry and service.  Why, one can get rid of the effects of past Karma, if Karma or Action is done, with no sense of "I" or "mine".  

Once a man beat off a cow that strayed into his well-tended garden and ate off a few plants; the blows were so severe that the cow died and when people charged him with the crime, he said, "I did not kill it; it is God's will that it should die, as a consequence of the blow.  How could I help it?"

The next day, God himself entered the garden as a visitor and asked him, "This looks lovely; who planted these and tended them so lovingly?"  The man came forward and said, "I planted them; I watered them; I tended; I fostered".  I, I, I.  When it is something praiseworthy, "I" did it; when it is something blameworthy, God did it!  You must be consistent; say I for both or God for both.

(To be continued)

(From the book "The Light of Love")

Meditation

 

Which is the best time of the day for meditation, Swami?

The best time is from 4.30 a.m. or 5 a.m.  You are refreshed by sleep; all will be quiet, around you.  These will be no tension, in the body and the mind.  Or you can select 7 p.m.  Your day's work will then be over; you will not have a heavy stomach, for you have not had your dinner.  If the day's work is not exhaustive or if it is of a more or less routine nature, you can start meditation about 7 p.m.

Can a person having high blood pressure take up meditation?

Oh, yes.  He can.  In fact, meditation will cure him; it is soothing and calming.  One must continue Dhyana or meditation until one realises that all is suffused with Divinity.  In the beginning, during meditation, a person might naturally experience some visions and sounds, which spur him on to greater intensity.  Later, they become not so prominent and so enthusiasm should not be allowed to flag.  But why this insistence on a definite time?  Wherever you are, whenever you get the chance, you can recite the Name of God.  When you walk to office and walk back again, have the Name on the tongue, and the glory in the mind.

How then are we to use the rosary, Swami?

No rosary is needed.  Counting the number of times you utter the Name may be a source of encouragement in the beginning; but after a time, it is unnecessary; it is a needless distraction; it may even cause pride or dejection.

(From Swami's Discourse at the gathering of Sadhaks and spiritual aspirants, Kampala, 9.7.1968, as published in the book "The Light of Love" by N. Kasturi)