Sri Sathya Sai Philosophy on Indian Culture and Tradition – By S.V. Giri

Sri S.V. Giri with Sri Sathya Sai

In his great book The Foundation of Indian Culture, Sri Aurobindo has pointed out that it was the spiritual quest, the vivid picture of which we get in the living pages of the Upanishads, that gave birth to what we can call the soul of India. At the same time, he highlighted that spirituality of India has not remained static or devoid of development in subsequent ages. Through his profound studies in the Indian science of yoga, he had perceived the development of a synthesis in the Bhagavadgita, which was not so amply present in the Vedas and the Upanishads. In matters of subtlety and in regard to the sounding of the depths of spiritual experience, India has constantly developed and put forth great waves of novelties, new findings, and new methodologies of realization. In the spiritual experiences described in the Puranas, Indian spirituality marks a process of stabilisation in the realms of subtle and occult consciousness through which Reality can more easily be approached. In the ecstasy of Sri Chaitanya, India finds a supreme expression of the love of the human soul for the Divine Lord the depth of intensity of which was a new manifestation in the spiritual history of India and even of the world. Sri Aurobindo’s own Synthesis of Yoga has been described rightly as an adventure of consciousness, which is focused on a new object of integral perfection and a new method which combines in a synthetic manner the methods of divine works, divine love and divine knowledge with integral manifestation of divine consciousness in physical life. But all these new developments can be understood properly only if we can recover the truths and realisations of the Veda, Upanishads and the Gita. Indeed, this recovery is indispensable for the future of India.

There are a number of contemporary problems which would need to be addressed– problems of economic stability and prosperity as also of equitable distribution and sharing of fruits of labour in a new cooperative manner; problems of political organization; social problems like education, energy, environment, population; ethnic and other types of conflict etc. There is a fundamental need to rejuvenate the springs of scientific pursuits, which had reached great heights in India’s past; the need to develop critical knowledge, which corresponds to the mood and temperament of our own times; the need to develop new forms of art and literature; and, most importantly the need to irrigate all these forms of activities relating to rationality, ethicality and aesthetics by the waters of spirituality that continue to flow incessantly from the resources of ancient spiritual knowledge.

A scientific study of the world does not give us a complete knowledge of the world. There are limits to the knowledge given by science. From Physics to Chemistry, from Chemistry to Biology, from Biology to Psychology, from Psychology to Logic, Ethics and Aesthetics, we seem to have a continuous unbroken logical chain, a series of causes and effects ending up with parliamentary governments and large universities. But the mystery of the emergence of life from a non-living environment; of consciousness from an unconscious environment; the emergence of ideas of goodness, truth and beauty from an environment which does not have them—all are blank spaces in our knowledge which cannot be filled. We cannot measure and weigh the beauty of Meghaduta or the value of saintliness. The world of truth and falsehood, right and wrong, beauty and ugliness, is different from the world of science. The world of scientific facts and the world of values are two different worlds. They belong to one whole controlled by a Presence greater than we are and is called Absolute Reality. Towards it we have a feeling of awe and humility and we should try to act in this world in conformity with the spiritual direction of the universe. Scientific progress is precarious and conditional. If we are only learned without being cultured, we become a menace to society, Saaksaro Viparitative Raksaso Bhavati Dhruvam - he who is literate, when inverted becomes a demon. Aristotle too says: “Man when perfected is the best of animals, but, when separated from law and justice, he is the worst of all, since armed injustice is more dangerous; and he is equipped at birth with arms meant to be used by intelligence and virtue which he may use for the worst ends. Wherefore if he have not the virtue, he is the most unholy and the most savage of animals.” (Referred to by Dr. S Radhakrishnan: The Present Crisis of Faith; Orient Paperback, 1970)

Service to Society

It is here that the tradition of our country is of value. We must restore the truths of spirit to their central place in the minds of men. We must train not only the intellect but bring grace to the heart of man, Tejasvinavadhitamastu. Our ideal ought to be that each individual should be able to develop progressively towards perfection and society should also be supported by the individual members in such a manner that it is constantly strengthened and perfected in terms of cohesion and solidarity. Fortunately, Vedanta and the Indian tradition of inclusivity give us a clue: if we make an attempt at a new synthesis, a more puissant synthesis, and if we can develop a new form of society that can be guided by spiritual motive that affirms and transforms life these problems can more easily be resolved.

Sri S.V. Giri as Vice Chancellor with Sri Sathya Sai, Chancellor on Convocation Day - November 22, 2001

Bhagavan Baba’s model of Integral Education, implemented meticulously in all His educational institutions, is addressed to these fundamental problems and emphasizes practical rather than bookish knowledge. Religion is right belief, right feeling and right action. It is all three. It is not mere intellectual conviction, emotional ecstasy or mere social service. It is all the three. The passage from the intellectual to the spiritual is not a quantitative accumulation but a qualitative leap. 

The transition from Vijnana to Ananda is a leap from one orbit to another. Here comes the relevance of ‘Religion of Love’ which Bhagavan Baba passionately espouses. For Him all religions are equally valid and the core of Indian culture and spirituality can be summed up as Vyasa did - Paropakaraya Punyaya Papaya Parapeedanam: and as Swami enjoins on us: Help Ever, Hurt Never; Love all, Serve all. Bhagavan Baba stresses the social responsibility of every human being in the following terms: “The individual man (Vyashti) is part of the collective (Samashti). This collective is part of creation (Srishti) Beyond creation is the cosmic energy (Pushti). Transcending that energy is the supreme self (Parameshti). In reality, you are all these as an embodiment of the Divine. You should understand the unity behind the individual, community, creation and the Divinity. With this spirit of unity, you should live in the community and creation and finally merge in Divinity. Human beings are limbs of society. Human societies are limbs of humanity. Humanity is a limb of nature (Prakriti). Nature is a limb of Cosmic Self (Paramatma). If you consider this chain of relationships, you can see that man is related to the supreme embodiment of Bliss.”

The approach is to effect a fundamental transformation of the individual by a change of heart, manifest social concern, purposeful action – all truly inspired by Love for God and Fear of Sin. The most important instrument in this mission is education in its true sense. Baba says in pithy Telugu 'Ihamuna Sukhiyimpa Hema Taraka Vidya, Paramuna Sukhiyimpa Brahma Vidya', which means that we need material science for being happy in this world; and we need spiritual science for being happy in the other world. He exhorts students to acquire not merely Vijnana but also Sujnana and Prajnana. Vijnana is the knowledge of material sciences. Sujnana is the understanding of Consciousness. Prajnana transcends even Consciousness and takes man into the realm of the all-pervasive, all-embracing, all-transcending divine principle. This is the Advaita Jnana – the non-dual wisdom–the culmination of the journey of the spirit. Spiritualising secular activities is the key.

Human Values

Having identified purity as the single essence of all religious pathways to God, Baba has isolated and clearly enunciated five cardinal values which are common to all religions and which serve as moral and spiritual detergents to remove the impurities in man. These are Satya, Dharma, Shanti, Prema and Ahimsa. Swami has been expounding these values at two levels – the moral or human level, and the spiritual or divine level. By practising these values at a moral level, man can get rid of the residual animal qualities inherited by him from his past lives and rise to the genuinely human status. By adhering to these values at the spiritual level, he can transcend human nature and realize his inherent divine stature when the purificatory process is completed. Whether or not a person professes to belong to an organized religion, whether or not he performs the prescribed rituals, whether or not he participates in religious festivals and whether or not he recites the recommended texts etc., he would be fulfilling the essential requirements of all religions, if only he wholeheartedly practises these five cardinal values in his daily life. These constitute the core of Baba’s universal religion.

Emphasis on Practice

Swami is never tired of dinning into us the essential need for putting into practice His teachings in our daily life. He says: First do, then be, and then talk. You should not be merely 'Akara Manavas', but be 'Achara Manavas'. Knowledge that is not put into practice is like food that is not digested. Spending all the time in study, without practice, is to be condemned as Malina Vasana, (impure tendency). Mere study is a purposeless exercise, if the essence is not imbibed and practiced. The greed to read all kinds of books is by itself not a very healthy impulse.

The manner in which the daily routine is carried out in the hostels of Sri Sathya Sai Institutions is worth noting. Adoration of the Almighty commences during the early hours of the morning and it concludes at ten in the night. Barring a few hours given for sleep, day and night are utilized in the ardent service of the Maker. Communion, contemplation, meditation, prayer, singing, chanting, serving, physical labour – all these and more are the methods employed to be absorbed in Divinity. The hand, the heart and the head are entirely given over to the Source of Existence.

Rational Thinking

Indoctrination is alien to the Vedantic way of thinking. As different flower plants are grown in the same garden, all frames of mind – theistic, atheistic, agnostic, heretic, nihilistic, credulous, analytic, critical, contemplative, active and emotional have their due places in the path of Vedanta. Man is not evolving from error to truth, but from partially known truth to more clearly known truth. Study, unfettered thinking, discussion, debate – these are the methods employed for intellectual clarification. Swami is emphatic that the end of education is character. The students in the Sai educational institutions are assisted to acquire self- knowledge and gain self-confidence so that they may learn self-sacrifice in order to earn self-realisation. What a contrast to most other ‘Educational’ institutions!

There is no better way of summing up Bhagavan Baba’s approach to this universal concern than reproducing His oft-repeated quote: “ I have come, not to disturb or destroy any faith, but to conduct and confirm each in his own faith, so that the Christian may become a better Christian, the Mohammedan a better Mohammedan, the Hindu a better Hindu. I have come to tell you about the universal unitary faith, the Atmic principle, the path of Love, the Divinity of Love, the obligation of Love. …. My Love flows to all… Sai considers that the practice of discipline is much more essential than blind faith in a bunch of philosophic theories or rituals and ceremonies. …The Sai religion which unifies all faiths is raised on the four pillars of Sathya, Dharma, Shanti and Prema to transform ‘Man’ the individual, into ‘Man’, the Universal.”

About the Author

Sri Sethuraman V Giri served as the sixth and the longest-serving Vice Chancellor of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning from August 1998 to February 2005. He has been a career bureaucrat of the Indian Administrative Service (Andhra Pradesh cadre). Before his retirement, he served the Government of India as Education Secretary and later as the Central Vigilance Commissioner. He served as Director, Sathya Sai World Foundation from 2005 to 2010; and Member, Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust from 2010 to 2015.

Source: Sai Sparshan 2005 (80th Birthday Offering)