Sunday, May 12, 1968
Inauguration of Dharmakshetra in Bombay
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| Sathya Deep: Sri Sathya Sai Residence at Dharmakshetra, Bombay |
On the sacred Vaishakha Poornima day (Buddha Poornima), 12th May, 1968, Swami inaugurated Dharmakshetra, the International Centre of His Mission at Bombay. Sri A. K. C. Natarajan played the Clarionet as Swami unfurled the Prashanti flag. At the public meeting held that evening at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Campus, Shri Indulal Shah, Chairman of Bombay Samiti, Shri P. K. Sawant and Shri Page addressed the gathering. Swami then blessed the mammoth gathering with His Discourse. He said:
"The basic teachings of Indian sages about spiritual value have been neglected so disastrously that selfish greed and cruel competition have robbed all happiness and peace from the heart of this !and. Life has been rendered artificial and anaemic, riddled with anxiety and fear. At this juncture, you in Bombay have built in your city this Dharmakshetra (the abode of righteousness)! In this age of atom bombs, you have erected an altar for Atmic bliss! This is indeed a sign of your faith and devotion, faith in the ideals of this land and devotion to the highest traditions nourished by the sages. Seeds of the search for bliss are dormant in the hearts of men. Some nurture them; some tend them, until they blossom. Many have not recognised their existence; they cultivate thorns and thistles, trees yielding bitterness and ugly hate.
Man is not merely a creature thrown up by nature in the process of an evolutionary gamble. He has a special meaning, a special mission, a unique role. He is Divinity, encased in the human frame! Lord Krishna affirms in the Geeta (Chapter XV verse 7): Mamaivamsho Jeeva Loke, Jeeva Bhutah Sanatanah (a portion of Mine in the world of life is transformed into the individual). It is He who moves and motivates man. So, man is a unit of that unity, he is a child of immortality, set in the background of this mortal world, in this mortal flame. His mission is to merge in the God from whom he has emerged. Heaven is not a supra-terrestrial region of perpetual Spring; it is an inner experience, a state of supreme bliss.
The two codes of discipline laid down for practice
When asked where you have come from, you quickly reply, "From Delhi" or "From Calcutta" or "From Thiruvananthapuram"; but those are the places from where your bodies have come to Bombay. Within the body, as its source, sustenance and support, there is the Dehi (the embodied one) distinguishable from the Deha (the body) where has it come from. That is beyond your ken. Investigate into that; discover the answer; that is the task of man. You will be released from this role only when you have overcome this colossal ignorance and realised the source, the sustenance and the support of, not only your seeming individuality, but of all the manifold million-faced sparks of that one Divine Force. Do not delay any further; the minutes are fleeing past; be inspired by the yearning to drink the nectar of the realisation of your true worth.
Knowledge is said to be acquired when you pursue the analytical method and divide things, feelings, experiences into categories, pleasant and unpleasant, harmful and beneficial, lasting and temporary. The higher knowledge however unifies, it makes one aware of the one which appears as many, it reveals the truth, on which falsehood is superimposed. To discover this truth, the classic texts have laid down two codes of discipline, one external and the other internal - the outer and the inner. The outer is Nishkama-Karma (desireless activity), activity that is engaged in as dedication and worship; or, activity that is gladly carried out, from a sense of duty, regardless of the benefit that may accrue, with no attachment to the fruits thereof. The inner is Dhyana (meditation on the splendour of which one is but a spark). Karma (activity) has to be regulated by Dharma (righteousness) then it will lead one on to Brahman (the basic truth of the Universe, including oneself).
Let the mind ever dwell on God
Of course, we have among us many who can expound these disciplines and talk very enthusiastically from platforms about them. They swell with pride that the sages of this land have explored and explained the path to peace and joy. But, exposition without experience is bound to be unconvincing; words that come from the depth of experience have the ring of sincerity which convinces. The experience of the Truth alone can foster Love; for, Truth is so all-embracing and integrating, that it sees no distinction. Truth is the current and Love is the bulb, it has to illumine. Through Truth, you can experience love; through love, you can visualise truth. Love God and you see God in every creature. Or you can start with the individual, and widen the circle of love, till it envelops all creation.
Let the mind dwell ever on God; let it see all as God. That is what is described as one-pointedness. If it is so fixed, it will give up its tendency to search for faults and foibles in others; it will not run after the foul and the frivolous; it will not accumulate the trivial and the transient. The body is as the container of the torch, the senses are the bulb and the mind is the cell, but have intelligence as the switch. Then, it will not be turned towards the undesirable. It will be used only to help man's progress towards the Divine destiny.
The campus on which the building Sathya Deep (lamp of truth) has been inaugurated today is named Dharmakshetra; it is a very appropriate name, for a place from which the message of Satya, Dharma, Shanti and Prema (truth, righteousness, peace and love) will reach the lands parched with thirst for these pure, pellucid waters.
Victory is always for righteousness, not for greed
The word Dharmkshetra is the first word in the Geeta. In the very first verse of that Song Celestial, the Kurukshetra (field of action), on which Mamakah (my people as the blind Dhritarashtra designated them, through fond attachment and egoistic delusion), that is to say, people motivated by greed and passion, and Pandavah (the other people, the good and righteous, the sons of the fair one, the progeny of the pure) is spoken of as already transmuted into Dharmakshetra (field of righteousness)! For, victory is always for righteousness and not for greed and passion, which blind man. For the Lord is on their side; He is the charioteer, chosen as such and willing to serve as such. The word Dharmakshetra is a reminder, a warning, a lesson, an inspiration, a light. You must accept that name in your hearts, for, there too the forces of righteousness and covetousness are locked in combat and the forces of righteousness are helped by the Lord to succeed.
The Himalayas are the head of Bharat; Kanyakumari is the feet; Bombay is the stomach; Prashanti Nilayam is the heart. The stomach receives food and distributes strength and stamina to all parts of the body. Your responsibility is great; if you neglect it, the entire land and all that it stands for will suffer. You have undertaken the responsibility of the World Conference of Sathya Sai Organisations to be held here next week, and it is a great chance for the expression of love and brotherliness. The Seva Dal (Service Organisation) of young men and women which you have trained and organised will be an inspiration and an example to all the states in India. If properly guided, the youth of India can be saved from imitative adventures, reckless wanderings into realms of fantasy; they can be led into constructive activities saturated with love and sympathy, where their enthusiasm and skill can be best utilised."
"The basic teachings of Indian sages about spiritual value have been neglected so disastrously that selfish greed and cruel competition have robbed all happiness and peace from the heart of this !and. Life has been rendered artificial and anaemic, riddled with anxiety and fear. At this juncture, you in Bombay have built in your city this Dharmakshetra (the abode of righteousness)! In this age of atom bombs, you have erected an altar for Atmic bliss! This is indeed a sign of your faith and devotion, faith in the ideals of this land and devotion to the highest traditions nourished by the sages. Seeds of the search for bliss are dormant in the hearts of men. Some nurture them; some tend them, until they blossom. Many have not recognised their existence; they cultivate thorns and thistles, trees yielding bitterness and ugly hate.
Man is not merely a creature thrown up by nature in the process of an evolutionary gamble. He has a special meaning, a special mission, a unique role. He is Divinity, encased in the human frame! Lord Krishna affirms in the Geeta (Chapter XV verse 7): Mamaivamsho Jeeva Loke, Jeeva Bhutah Sanatanah (a portion of Mine in the world of life is transformed into the individual). It is He who moves and motivates man. So, man is a unit of that unity, he is a child of immortality, set in the background of this mortal world, in this mortal flame. His mission is to merge in the God from whom he has emerged. Heaven is not a supra-terrestrial region of perpetual Spring; it is an inner experience, a state of supreme bliss.
The two codes of discipline laid down for practice
When asked where you have come from, you quickly reply, "From Delhi" or "From Calcutta" or "From Thiruvananthapuram"; but those are the places from where your bodies have come to Bombay. Within the body, as its source, sustenance and support, there is the Dehi (the embodied one) distinguishable from the Deha (the body) where has it come from. That is beyond your ken. Investigate into that; discover the answer; that is the task of man. You will be released from this role only when you have overcome this colossal ignorance and realised the source, the sustenance and the support of, not only your seeming individuality, but of all the manifold million-faced sparks of that one Divine Force. Do not delay any further; the minutes are fleeing past; be inspired by the yearning to drink the nectar of the realisation of your true worth.
Knowledge is said to be acquired when you pursue the analytical method and divide things, feelings, experiences into categories, pleasant and unpleasant, harmful and beneficial, lasting and temporary. The higher knowledge however unifies, it makes one aware of the one which appears as many, it reveals the truth, on which falsehood is superimposed. To discover this truth, the classic texts have laid down two codes of discipline, one external and the other internal - the outer and the inner. The outer is Nishkama-Karma (desireless activity), activity that is engaged in as dedication and worship; or, activity that is gladly carried out, from a sense of duty, regardless of the benefit that may accrue, with no attachment to the fruits thereof. The inner is Dhyana (meditation on the splendour of which one is but a spark). Karma (activity) has to be regulated by Dharma (righteousness) then it will lead one on to Brahman (the basic truth of the Universe, including oneself).
Let the mind ever dwell on God
Of course, we have among us many who can expound these disciplines and talk very enthusiastically from platforms about them. They swell with pride that the sages of this land have explored and explained the path to peace and joy. But, exposition without experience is bound to be unconvincing; words that come from the depth of experience have the ring of sincerity which convinces. The experience of the Truth alone can foster Love; for, Truth is so all-embracing and integrating, that it sees no distinction. Truth is the current and Love is the bulb, it has to illumine. Through Truth, you can experience love; through love, you can visualise truth. Love God and you see God in every creature. Or you can start with the individual, and widen the circle of love, till it envelops all creation.
Let the mind dwell ever on God; let it see all as God. That is what is described as one-pointedness. If it is so fixed, it will give up its tendency to search for faults and foibles in others; it will not run after the foul and the frivolous; it will not accumulate the trivial and the transient. The body is as the container of the torch, the senses are the bulb and the mind is the cell, but have intelligence as the switch. Then, it will not be turned towards the undesirable. It will be used only to help man's progress towards the Divine destiny.
The campus on which the building Sathya Deep (lamp of truth) has been inaugurated today is named Dharmakshetra; it is a very appropriate name, for a place from which the message of Satya, Dharma, Shanti and Prema (truth, righteousness, peace and love) will reach the lands parched with thirst for these pure, pellucid waters.
Victory is always for righteousness, not for greed
The word Dharmkshetra is the first word in the Geeta. In the very first verse of that Song Celestial, the Kurukshetra (field of action), on which Mamakah (my people as the blind Dhritarashtra designated them, through fond attachment and egoistic delusion), that is to say, people motivated by greed and passion, and Pandavah (the other people, the good and righteous, the sons of the fair one, the progeny of the pure) is spoken of as already transmuted into Dharmakshetra (field of righteousness)! For, victory is always for righteousness and not for greed and passion, which blind man. For the Lord is on their side; He is the charioteer, chosen as such and willing to serve as such. The word Dharmakshetra is a reminder, a warning, a lesson, an inspiration, a light. You must accept that name in your hearts, for, there too the forces of righteousness and covetousness are locked in combat and the forces of righteousness are helped by the Lord to succeed.
The Himalayas are the head of Bharat; Kanyakumari is the feet; Bombay is the stomach; Prashanti Nilayam is the heart. The stomach receives food and distributes strength and stamina to all parts of the body. Your responsibility is great; if you neglect it, the entire land and all that it stands for will suffer. You have undertaken the responsibility of the World Conference of Sathya Sai Organisations to be held here next week, and it is a great chance for the expression of love and brotherliness. The Seva Dal (Service Organisation) of young men and women which you have trained and organised will be an inspiration and an example to all the states in India. If properly guided, the youth of India can be saved from imitative adventures, reckless wanderings into realms of fantasy; they can be led into constructive activities saturated with love and sympathy, where their enthusiasm and skill can be best utilised."
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| Sri Sathya Sai with Shri Morarjee Desai, Deputy Prime Minister of India |
Swami stayed at Sathya Deep, His residence at Dharmakshetra, from the 12th onwards. Swami blessed 65 students at a youth camp with His guidance on 13th. Swami addressed the Lions Club members on the 14th. Swami granted audience to the delegates from U.S.A., Mexico, U.K., Holland, Norway, France, Hong Kong and Australia for a whole week and held discussions with them at Dharmakshetra. Shri Morarji Desai, the Deputy Prime Minister of India, had an interview with Swami at Dharmakshetra.
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| Sri Sathya Sai with devotees at the meditation room in Sathya Deep, Dharmakshetra |
Swami lit a perennial flame (Sathya Sai Jyoti) at Dharmakshetra on 18th May in answer to the fervent prayer of Ms. Indra Devi of Mexico. About 30 special newspaper correspondents interviewed Swami at Dharmakshetra on 21st May. On 22nd, Swami addressed the Seva Dal members. Swami gave Darshan to the mammoth gathering at Dharmakshetra and sang Bhajans for them on the 23rd.
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