Friday, July 25, 1958 to
Monday, August 04, 1958
Swami left Puttaparthi on the 25th of July and reached Gudur town on the 26th. He addressed a huge gathering of devotees at 6:30 pm that evening. He introduced Himself as a Mendicant, seeking offerings of love! Swami left for Pedur on the 27th morning. At Pedur, Swami inaugurated the Sri Ramakrishna Granthalaya constructed by the villagers. En route to Nellore, Swami visited Chinthathope, Kodavalur, Cherulopalem, Gandavaram, Vidavalur, Mudegunta, Tallupoodi and Muthukur. He spent time with the villagers, spoke to them and even sang for them.
Swami reached Nellore on the 28th. He addressed a public meeting at the V.R. College ground that evening. He said:
“Everything in its own good time, they say; the fruit has to grow and ripen before the sourness is turned to sweetness. I have been coming to this town for ten years, but it is only this evening that you, in this vast multitudinous gathering, have been able to derive this bliss of hearing Me discoursing! I am happy to meet all of you in one auspicious hour collected all in one place. All that I can tell you about spiritual disciplines have been told often before; man’s capacity, his nature, his talents are all ancient possessions, so the advice regarding how to use them is also very ancient.
The only new thing is man’s perverse behaviour — the directions in which he has been wasting his talents, misusing his capacity, and playing false to his own nature. He has been forgetting the path prescribed in the scriptures for the cultivation of his nature, and hence all this suffering; hence also My advent.
People are essentially discriminating animals, endowed with discrimination. One is not content with the satisfaction of mere animal needs; one feels some void, some deep discontent, some unslaked thirst, for one is a child of Immortality and feels that death is not and should not be the end. This discrimination urges one to discover answers to haunting problems: “Where did I come from, whither am I journeying, which is the journey’s end?” So, the intellect has to be kept sharp and clear.
Poised state is essential to reach the goal
The world today is suffering from passionate intellect rather than an inertia intellect; people have violent likes and dislikes; they have become fanatical and factious. They are carried away by pomp and noise, show and propaganda. That is why discrimination has become necessary. To reach the goal, an equanimous intellect is essential; it will seek the Truth calmly and stick to it whatever the consequence.
I have come to help all to acquire this serene, equanimous nature. You might have heard people talk about the miracles, of My “making” this and ‘giving’ that, of my fulfilling all your wants, of My curing your illness. But they are not as important as the poised, equanimous state. I appreciate, promote, and instill. Of course, I confer on you these boons of health and prosperity, but only so that you might, with greater enthusiasm and with less interruption, proceed with spiritual practice.
Eat well, so that your physical faculties might grow and the good physique will in turn develop your intelligence more fully. Devotion (Bhakti) leads to power (Shakti), and power will grant skill (Yukti). The skill will help you to fix your attachment (Rakti) on the proper objects, and your devotion thus promoted finally results in liberation (Mukti).
A certain amount of attention has to be paid to the body and its care, as well as to escape the overpowering handicaps of poverty; but be ever cautious that you are not caught in the coils and forget the transitoriness of all this. Bring your thoughts constantly back to the Atma, which is the substance of all the objective world, the basic reality behind all this appearance.
Finding fault with others comes out of egoism
The first step in enquiring about the Self is the practice of the truth that whatever gives you pain gives pain to others and whatever gives you joy gives joy to others. So do unto others as you would like them to do unto you; desist from any act in relation to others which if done by them will give you pain. Thus, a kind of reciprocal relationship will grow between you and others, and gradually you reach the stage when your heart thrills with joy when others are joyful and shudders in pain when others are sad.
This is not the kind of affection toward those who are dear to you or those who are your kith and kin. That is a sign of delusion; but this sharing of joy and grief is automatic, immediate, universal. It is a sign of great spiritual advance; then the wave knows that it is part of the ocean and that all waves are but temporary manifestations of the self-same sea having the same taste as the ocean itself.
The others are part of yourself; you need not worry about them. Worry about yourself; that is enough. When you become all right, they too will be all right, for you will no longer be aware of them as separate from you. Criticising others, finding fault with them, all this comes out of egoism. Search for your own faults instead. The faults you see in others are your own faults; the faults you see in others are but reflections of your own personality traits. Pay no heed to little worries; attach your mind to the Lord. Then you will be led on to the company of good people and your talents will be transmuted.
When you love, you will have no fear
Be a bee, drinking the nectar of every flower, not the mosquito drinking blood and distributing disease in return. First, consider all as children of the Lord, as your own brothers and sisters; develop the quality of love, seek always the welfare of humanity. Love and you will be loved in return, hate will never be your lot if you promote love and look upon all with love. That is the one lesson I teach always; that is my secret too.
If you want to attain Me, cultivate love, give up hatred, envy, anger, cynicism, and falsehood. I do not ask that you should be a scholar or a recluse or an ascetic skilled in recitation of holy Name and meditation. “Is your heart full of love (Prema)?” That is all I examine.
Parents have to be respected and worshipped
I shall not tell you very complex matters; I shall give only simple remedies for the ills you are suffering from. I find here a large number of students. Well, what are they studying for? What is the goal? How are we to judge that they have studied well? By the salary they are able to get, or the cadre they are able to secure? No. Education must result in the development of wisdom and humility. Educated people must be able to distinguish between the momentary and the momentous, the lasting and the effervescent. They must not run after glitter and glamour but must seek instead the good and golden.
They must know how to keep the body in good trim, the senses under strict control, the mind well within check, the intellect sharp and clear, unhampered by prejudices and hatreds, and the feelings untouched by egoism. They must know the Atma, too, for that is their very care; that is the effulgence that illumines their inner and outer selves. This knowledge will ensure joy and peace and courage for them throughout life. Students also must cultivate the art of avoiding the infliction of pain on others.
I must also tell the students that they must be grateful to their parents, who give them all the facilities they now enjoy at great sacrifice. In fact, the parents have to be worshipped as visible representatives of the Godhead; they are responsible for your very existence and for all this joy and adventure in the physical and spiritual spheres. For this reason, they have to be tended and respected and worshipped.
A boy was begging in the streets for food so that he could keep his bedridden mother and two little sisters alive. One night, when he clamoured in front of a rich man’s house, the master got enraged at his piteous cries. The boy was very unlucky that day and had collected only a few morsels; the hour was nearing nine. So he cried most pathetically, and it aroused the ire of the rich man inside the mansion. He came out and kicked the boy into the gutter. He was already very weak, for he was starving himself to feed his mother and sisters, so when he fell, he breathed his last, wailing, “Mother! Here is a little food for you.” His hand held the bowl firm even when it had become lifeless!
Parents must set good examples to children
Such is the devotion that the mother invokes and that she deserves, for all the pain she endured and all the sacrifice she bore so that the son might be healthy, happy, and good. Show that gratitude to the parents, boys; remember them and pay them the tribute of at least a tear on the anniversary of their passing away. Do it with faith (Shraddha), that is why it is called a religious ceremonial offering to the dead (Shrardha); not that the offerings you make reach them or that they are waiting for them in some other world. It is a tribute that you should offer in gratitude for the great chance they gave you for this sojourn in this world with all the wonderful opportunities it offers for self-realization.
Parents too must encourage children when they evince any interest in spiritual advance and study. They must also set them good examples. Among the children who are before Me here, there may be many a Vivekananda and many a Thyagaraja. Children must be given every facility to develop the divine talents that are in them. Parents must feel that they are servants appointed by the Lord to tend the little souls that are born in their households, just as the gardener tends the trees in the garden of the Master. They must arouse the latent goodness in these tiny hearts by telling stories about the saints and sages of the past. They must see that children do not develop fear and become cowards, afraid of walking straight.
Give up the delusion you are this physical body
And lastly, about Myself. No one can understand My Mystery. The best you can do is to get immersed in it. It is no use your arguing about pros and cons; dive and know the depth; eat and know the taste! Then you can discuss Me to your heart’s content. Develop truth (Satya) and love (Prema); then you need not even pray to Me to grant you this and that. Everything will be added unto you, unasked.
Man (Nara) and God (Narayana) are the two wires, the positive and the negative, which combine to bring electricity through. Nara will cooperate with Narayana and become the vehicle of Divine Power if Nara has acquired two qualities: truth and love.”
Swami granted an interview to the press representatives of Nellore on the 29th of July. Swami reached Venkatagiri on the 1st of August, and on the 2nd delivered a Discourse to the devotees gathered.
He said:
“I had no idea of speaking to you this evening, but of course, I need no “preparation”. My Resolve and its fulfillment are instantaneous. Sri Subbaramaiah spoke just now of some important guiding principles of life, like the cultivation of virtues, the development of character, the control of hatred, etc. Advice such as this is being given from a hundred platforms every day, and people listen and depart. But they do not practise what they have heard, so things remain where they are. This is because those who give advice do not follow what they preach; they must themselves be examples of the value of what they teach. Like the blind men who described the elephant, they describe the advantages of acquiring virtues and the benefits of controlling hatred more out of hearsay than out of experience.
There is deep-rooted unrest today in every individual, because there is no harmony within. The social and spiritual rules that have come down from ages prescribe one type of conduct; the books that one reads recommend another type; experience gives conflicting advice. But peace depends on the mind and its awareness of the secret of poise. The body is the caravanserai, the individual soul is the pilgrim, and the mind is the watchman. The mind seeks happiness; it feels that happiness can be got in this world from fame, riches, land, and property, from other individuals or relatives; further, it builds up pictures of heaven where there is more intense happiness for a longer time. At last, it discovers that eternal undiminished happiness can be got only by dwelling on the Reality of one’s own Self, which is Bliss Itself.
Yielding to despair worsens the problem
The life principle is like the grain covered up in the husk of delusion (Maya), as the rice is enveloped in the paddy. The delusion has to be removed; the life principle has to be boiled and made soft and assimilated so that it might add to health and strength. The softened rice can be compared to the Supreme Soul. The mind has to be used for this process. It has to be fixed in truth and the everlasting. To remove the husk of delusion, discrimination is an instrument.
Seek the light always; be full of confidence and zest. Do not yield to despair, for it can never produce results. It only worsens the problem, for it darkens the intellect and plunges you in doubt. You must take up the path of spiritual practice very enthusiastically. Half-hearted, halting steps will not yield fruit. It is like cleaning a slushy area by a stream of water. If the current of the stream is slow, the slush cannot be cleared. The stream must flow full and fast, driving everything before it, so that the slush might be scoured clean.
Liberation can be achieved by subtle means
I shall talk to you of these first steps only, for they are the most important for spiritual aspirants, and you all are all or are bound to be spiritual aspirants. “Moksha lies in the Sukshma,” they say “Liberation can be achieved by subtle means.” Treat the others in the same way as you would like them to treat you. Never brood over the past. When grief overpowers you, do not recollect similar incidents in your past experience and add to the sum of your grief; recollect, rather, incidents when grief did not knock at your door but you were happy instead. Draw consolation and strength from such memories and raise yourself above the surging waters of sorrow.
Women are called “weak” because they yield to anger and sorrow much more easily than men, so I would ask them to take extra pains to overcome these two. Repetition of the Name is the best antidote for this, and if only men and women would take it up, the Lord would come to their rescue. That will instill the faith that everything is God’s Will and teach that you have no right to exult or despair.
When you go to a doctor, you must take the prescribed medicine and follow the advice and instructions. There is no use blaming the doctor if you default. How can the doctor cure you if you do not drink the mixture or stick to the restrictions imposed or regulate your diet according to the advice? Do as I say, follow My advice, and then watch the result.
It is a sign of foolishness to brood over mishaps and mistakes once committed and punish oneself for them by refusing to take food. It is a childish way of correction. What is the good of ill-treating the body for the sake of correcting the mind?
Even if you cannot love others, do not hate them or feel envy toward them. Do not misunderstand their motives and scandalise them; if you only knew, their motives might be as noble as yours or their action might be due to ignorance, rather than wickedness or mischief. Pardon the other man’s faults but deal harshly with your own.
The holy culture of this ancient land has been spoilt by just one impurity: intolerance of another’s success, prosperity, or progress. If you cannot help another, at least avoid doing them harm or causing them pain. That itself is a great service. What right have you to find fault with another or to talk evil of him? When you say that nothing can ever happen on earth without His Will, why get annoyed or angry? Your duty is to cleanse yourself and engage in your own inner purification. That endeavour will bring you the cooperation of all good men, and you will find strength and joy welling up within you.”
Swami returned to Puttaparthi on 4th of August after showering His grace on thousands of devotees during His 10-day tour.
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