Sri Sathya Sai Message in Kodaikanal – April 1993 (Part 2)

Sri Sathya Sai in the beautiful Kodai Hills

Continued from Part 1

Shuka teaches Vyasa

Air is all-pervasive. It is within you and outside as well. Similarly, God is pervading everywhere in the Universe. If you look at everything with the divine feeling you will not fail to see Divinity, pure and unsullied. If you see the idol of Krishna in this hall with a divine feeling, you feel you are seeing the form of Krishna.

But if you are keen on finding out the material from which it is made, you see only the bronze or other metal of which it is made and not Krishna. You can realise that what you visualise depends on the nature of your vision - Drishti is Srishti. If you look at the world with coloured glass you see everything differently and not in its real colour. The mind is the cause for feelings. If you see with the feeling that this Vishvam (Universe) is Vishnu Swaroopam (embodiment of God), it will be so!

Every object has a Swaroopam (its own form) and Svabhavam (its own nature). Man is completely unaware of his real nature, which is love and compassion. He is so much immersed in selfishness that he only does every action to further his own self-interest and accumulate possessions for himself. Even the love that man exhibits today towards other persons or objects is only with a selfish motive to gain something out of them and not for their sake.

Once Shuka, son of Vyasa, wanted to leave his home and go to the forest to undertake Tapas. Vyasa, overcome by parental attachment, entreated him not to go to the forest but to remain there and serve his parents as it was his duty to serve them. But Shuka told Vyasa: "Oh! Vyasa! you are not my' father I am not your son. We came from Bliss. Everyone wants to be blissful. I am going to seek the Bliss which is our common source. These names and forms and relationships are only ephemeral." By this he was referring to his Inner Reality which is the same in all beings.

Excerpts from Discourse on 9-4-1993.

Divine Action

Everyone should remember that the purpose of human life is to do one’s duty without regard for results, which will automatically accrue. When there is rain, water will flow in the river and one need not pray for both. It is enough if you pray for rain. Man can't live without activity even for a moment, as blood circulation and breathing are going on non-stop as long as one lives, whether one is sleeping, walking or sitting. It will be folly to attribute these natural activities to man's efforts. It is Divine action. Krishna spells this out in the Geeta: "Aham Vaishvanaro Bhutva Praaninaam Dehamashritah. Pranapana Samayuktah. Pachaamyannam Chatur Vidham." God is in every being as Vaishvanara, aiding digesting of all types of food. 

God is described as Eesha, Gireesha, Naresha, Paresha and Bilvesha. The term Eesha means Sakala Aishwarya Sampanna (master of all types of wealth). Aishwarya includes not only property, movable and immovable, but also strength, knowledge, skill, intelligence and prosperity. Eeshvara is the master of all wealth. 

Gireesha: Gireesha means master of Giri or Hill. What does this signify? People often go to Tirupati Hills and offer their hair in fulfilment of vows. The inner significance of this sacrifice of hair must be understood. God is not expecting your hair, which is of no value at all. Does He relish this lowliest of offerings? Certainly not! The head is the peak of the human body. Ignorance or Tamasic quality is supposed to be dark or black. The black hair is enveloping the peak of the human body which is the head. By removing the hair on the head you expose the white surface of the peak. This is symbolic of surrendering the dullness or Tamasic quality. This is an age-old practice, which is followed without comprehending its inner significance. Since God is the master of the light of wisdom, as opposed to dullness on the head at the top of the human body, He is termed as Gireesha.

Sai Gireesha

Naresha: In the term Naresha (master of Narah) 'Na' means no, 'Rah' means ignorant of one's sacredness. Narah means 'man' who is not ignorant. He is not a sinner. He is the embodiment of pure Atma. The Master of man is Naresha. 

Paresha: 'Para' means above all. God transcends all. He is Akhanda (limitless) and Anirvachaneeya (beyond description by words). As God transcends the three stages of time--past, present and future and transcends space, pervading everywhere, He is termed Paresha.

Bilvesha: He is termed Bilvesha - the lover of the Bilva leaf which is having triple leaves in a single stalk, Trinetra - one with three eyes and Triguna - transcending the three Gunas (qualifies of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas). His weapon is Trishul, the three-pointed Javelin. One should 'offer the three qualities to God, symbolised by the offer of the triple-leaf Bilva for worship. One should do worship with full understanding of the inner significance of the rituals. 

Excerpts from Discourse on 10-4-1993.

God Realization

You are all embodiments of Divinity, which is within you. God is in the form of Vaishvanara to digest your food. You listen to such teachings many times but don't practise. Instead of having tons of knowledge an ounce of practice is enough. Sadhana is essential to realise divinity. Saa means Daivatvam (divinity). Dhana means wealth. The acquisition of the wealth of divinity is Sadhana. Salokyam is entering the world of God; Sameepyam is going nearer to God; Saroopyam is acquiring the feeling that you are part of God and Sayujyam is final merging with God.

You know there is butter in milk. But you have to subject it to the process of turning into curd and then churning it to get butter. Similarly, in the pot of the body there is the milk of Divinity. You have to chum it using Buddhi as churning rod and Bhakti as the rope. Out of the churning, comes butter which is Self-realisation. You got it from what is already there inside you. 

You should never divorce spirituality from worldly life. The cloth in my hand (a kerchief) is spirituality. It is made up of threads which represent worldly life. The cloth is there only because of the threads. If you segregate the threads there will be no cloth. ‘Tvameva Mata, Pita Tvameva.’ We say, God is father, mother, friend, relative, knowledge, wealth and all. God is the energy which drives us to action. We should not waste our energy on useless things.

Excerpts from Discourse on 11-4-1993.

Senses and Values

The five values of Satya (Truth), Dharma (Righteousness), Shanti (Peace), Prema (Love)and Ahimsa (Non-violence) are related to different inner instruments of the body.

The value of Truth is expressed through speech or words. The value of Dharma is expressed through the body. This is related to the Annamaya Kosha (physical sheath). Shanti can be experienced only in the mental plane - Manomaya Kosha (Mental sheath). For Satya, Dharma and Shanti one has to purify the instruments of speech, body and mind. This is called purity of ‘Mano, Vaak, Kaayam’. Prema (Love) comes out of Anandamaya Kosha (mental and bliss sheath). Ahimsa (Non-violence) comes from Bliss sheath. Prema flows as an undercurrent in all the inner instruments and purifies them. So all the five values are having relationship with the five sheaths.

Now these values are mostly absent in human beings. Thinking in one way, talking in another way, and indulging in action not related to the talk or thought is the mark of a wicked person. He may be in human form but he is to be deemed to be a demon only. Because such people are in abundance, the world is in turmoil. Sathya is full of sanctity if one deeply enquiries into this value. Sat means Praana (life force). Ya means Aharam (food). "M" stands for Sun. It is a combination of life, food and sun. For life, food is essential, and food comes from the sun. The greenery in the world subsists because of Sun's rays. It is the duty of man to make use of the food created by the Sun to sustain life. If you analyze this word Satya in the reverse order Ya stands for Yama, Ta stands for Tapas and Sa stands for ‘Sarveshvara’. It conveys the truth that by practicing Yama and Tapas one can realise the Almighty. Yama is not the God of death but is the five-fold discipline one should maintain. They are Ahimsa, Sathya, Brahmacharya, Asteya and Aparigraha (Non-Violence, Truth, Celibacy, Non-stealing, and Non-covetousness).

God is said to be of blue colour. It does not mean that His skin is bluish! He is Jnana Bhaskara (the embodiment of wisdom or shining with the light, of wisdom). He is also Ananta - endless like the sky or fathomless like the Ocean. Since both are of blue colour God is also described as bluish. He is not born with blue-coloured skin. He is infinite and fathomless. 

The heart of the human being is like the sky in which the 'Self' is the sun shining constantly. Just as passing clouds obstruct the vision of the sun temporarily, attachment to world and worries and troubles will obstruct the vision of the Inner Self but once the clouds clear, you can have vision of the Inner Self which is resplendent within. By means of Dhyana Shakthi and Prana Shakti, you can experience Divinity in the Bliss sheath, which fosters the five human values.

Shanti from Manomaya Kosha.

Sathya from Vijnanamaya Kosha.

Dharma from Annamaya Kosha.

Prema from Pranamaya and Manomaya Kosha.

Ahimsa from Anandamaya Kosha.

In these five sheaths are encased three types of bodies: Sthula (Physical), Sukshma (Subtle) and Karana (Causal) Shareeras (bodies). Annamaya Kosha represents physical body. It is like the tyre of a lorry. If you increase intake of food it grows and the weight of the body increases. Divinity is there in all the sheaths of the body. It is Constant Integrated Awareness in different forms in speech, action and feelings.

Excerpts from Discourse on 12-4-1993.

Source: Sri Sathya Sai Digvijayam (1986-2005) and Sathya Sai Speaks Volume 26