From the most ancient times, men have been engaged in the search for God. The questions, "Who is God?" and "What is the means to realise God?", are not of today. They have been there from the earliest times and have agitated mankind ceaselessly.
A few Yogis, who comprehended the nature of the Divine and who felt that the purpose of human existence is to seek the Divine, undertook various spiritual exercises to discover how to achieve this objective. The purpose of human life is to realise the Divine. It is, in this context, that human birth becomes the rarest among all living beings. The ancient sages, recognizing this truth, pursued different kinds of penances to experience the Divine. Some of them, feeling that the task was beyond their powers, gave up the quest in the middle. Some others, recognizing that this was the sole purpose of human life persevered in their efforts with determination. When man sets his heart upon achieving anything, there is nothing impossible for him. But, immersed in worldly pleasures, man becomes a prey to weakness and forgets his Divine nature. Few care to enquire into the real value of these mundane pleasures or their ephemeral nature.
What is the difference between man and birds and beasts? Can eating, drinking, sleeping and ultimately dying, be the be-all and end-all of human life? All these are common to animals and human beings. What, then, is the difference? Although man is endowed with intelligence, discrimination and wisdom, without endeavouring to know the truth, man regards physical phenomena as the only reality, the Divine as remote from him, and forgets the main goal of life.
Ancient sages experienced the effulgent Divine
The ancient sages, however, regarded realisation of the Divine as their main goal and practised various austerities. There after, they went our into the world and proclaimed: “Oh man! Vedahametam Purusham Mahaantam" (We have experienced the effulgent, all-pervading Supreme Divine). Where did they experience Him? They declared: “We have found Him beyond the darkness, beyond the mind and the senses, in our hearts."
Man is a combination of the body, the mind and the Atma (Spirit). He is thus the embodiment of these three. But, forgetting the mind and the Atma, when man identifies himself solely with the body, he reduces himself to an animal. When he forgets the Atma and the body and identifies himself with the mind alone, he becomes a Danava (demon). When one forgets the body and the mind and adheres only to the Atma, he gets divinised.
Bhakti and Prema are synonymous
The body is the instrument of action. The mind is the instrument of cognition. The Atma is steady and unwavering. Corresponding to these three, are Karma, Upasana and Bhakti (action, ritual worship and devotion). What is the difference between Bhakti and Upasana? In both of them, Prema (love of God) is inherent. Bhakti and Prema are synonymous. Contemplating on God, forgetting the world, living in a stare of Ananda is Prapatti (total surrender to God).
Bharatiyas have been celebrating the Navaratri festival from ancient rimes as a mode of worship of Devi, the Divine, as Mother. They worship Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati during these nine days. Who are these three? They are three forms which have fascinated man. Their esoteric significance is represented by three: Shaktis (potencies). They are: Karma, Upasana and Jnana. These potencies have been given other names.
The concept of Prapatti (total surrender) is related to Self-Realisation (Oneness with the Divine). God, in fact, dwells in every human being as the Atma. The body is the sacred abode of the Atma. Hence the scriptures declare- "The body is the temple of God in which the individual Spirit dwells as the Ancient One." lust as the diamond is found in clay and not in a rock, the Spirit (as consciousness) resides in the earthly body. The body is of the earth, earthy. The Atma is consciousness. Humanness is the coming together of the mundane and the spiritual consciousness. It is a combination of good and evil. It is a mixture of the transient and the eternal.
Hence, for what is Shubha or Ashubha (auspicious or inauspicious), for Satya or Asatya (truth or falsehood), for Kshaya and Akshaya (perishable or imperishable) the prefix "a" accounts for the difference. For instance, Asatya (untruth) is that which is not Satya (true). Anitya (transient) is that which is not Nitya (permanent). By understanding these distinctions, men have sought to realise the Divine.
Misuse of the Body by Man today
The human body is precious. Man today is not realising what he owes to his body. The body that is composed of the five elements, which has been given to man to understand his true nature, to recognise the truth about his immortal Spirit, and to experience the eternal within him, is being used for the enjoyment of physical pleasures. The body surely has not been given for this purpose. The body is a Kshetra (shrine). The Indweller is the Kshetrajna (Knower). The relationship is that of Shareera (body) and the Shareeri (Indweller). Instead of recognizing this integral relationship, man is concerned with only the body and seeks to realise the Divine. How is this possible? The first requisite is for man to acquire the firm conviction that the Divine dwells in his heart.
There is no need to search for the Divine elsewhere. There is no need to go to a forest and lead an austere life to experience the Divine Who is within each one. When man turns his vision inward he can experience eternal Bliss. The source of Bliss, the Spirit, is within himself. God is nearer to everyone than one's parents, spouse or children. Kith and kin are outside one, but God is within the body Forgetting the God who is nearest and closest to them, people are trying to seek for an invisible God elsewhere "Daivam Manusha Rupena" (God appears in human form). It is sheer human fancy to imagine that God is effulgent light or that he has four arms with conch and discus, and dwells in some remote place. A man who is attached to the body can never experience a formless, incorporeal God. Only when he gets rid of the body consciousness can he recognise the transcendental Divine. Hence, as long as one has attachment to the body, one must adore God in a physical form.
God is the indwelling Spirit in all beings
It is a waste of time to try to secure in one way or other a direct vision of God. God is manifesting Himself in the heart of everyone. "Ekatma Sarvabhoota-Antaratma" (The One Supreme Spirit is the indwelling Spirit in all beings). The Sat (Absolute Reality) is One only, through the wise call it by many names. We have to endeavour to experience that Divine.
The significance of Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati has to be rightly understood. The three represent three kinds of potencies in man. Ichha Shakti (Will power), Kriya Shakti (the power of action), and Jnana Shakti (the power of discrimination). Saraswati is manifest in man as the power of Vaak (speech). Dhurga is present in the form of dynamism, the power of action. Lakshmi is manifest in the form of Will power. The body indicates Kriya Shakti. The mind is the repository of Ichha Shakti. The Atma is Jnaana Shakti. Kriya Shakti comes from the body, which is material. The power that activates the body that is inert and makes it vibrant is Ichha Shakti. The power that induces the vibrations of Ichha Shakthi is Jnana Shakti, which causes radiation (of energy). These three potencies are represented by the manthra: "Om Bhur-Bhuvas-Suvah." Bhur represents Bhuloka (the earth). Bhuvah represents the Life force also means Conscience in man, Suvah represents the power of radiation. All the three are present in man. Thus, Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati dwell in the human heart.
Physical forms of subtle potencies within man
Men are prone to exhibit Rajasic qualities like anger and hatred. They are the menacing manifestations of Durga. The extolling of the Divine in song and poetry and the pleasing vibrations produced by them indicate the power of Saraswati. The pure qualities that arise in man such as compassion, love, forbearance and sympathy are derived from Lakshmi.
When people worship Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati externally in pictures or icons, they are giving physical forms to the subtle potencies that are within them. The unfortunate predicament of man today is that he is not recognizing the powers within him and developing respect for them. He goes after the external, attracted by the physical forms. The relationship between the material and the subtle has to be understood.
The remedy for man's ills is contained within himself. But man seeks remedies from outside. Here is an illustration of what happens in the world. A hotel and a drug store are adjacent to each other. When a hotel server gets a headache, he goes to the neighbouring drug shop for a pill to cure his headache. When the drug storekeeper gets a headache, he goes to the hotel for a cup of coffee to cure him, instead of taking one of his own pills.
Turn the vision inwards to experience the Divine
Likewise, people today tend to ignore the divinity within them, but hanker after many external objects. There is no need to go in search of the Divine. Men must develop firm faith in the Divinity within them. All that is needed is to turn the vision inwards to experience the Divine within.
Men engage themselves in many outward Sadhana (spiritual practices). These must be internalised. All scholarship is of no avail if there is no realisation in the heart. The scholar may expound the texts, but lacks the internal experience. One who has mastered the Vedas may be able to explain the words, but cannot recognise the Veda Purusha, the Supreme Person hailed by the Vedas.
When a person goes to a temple, he doses his eyes in front of the idol, because what he seeks is an internal vision of God and not a sight of the external form of the idol. God is Omnipresent as proclaimed in the Geetha. God is One, though names and forms may differ. All education today is related to the physical world. It will not serve to reveal the Divine. It was this which impelled Shankaracharya to teach a Pandit who was learning by rote Panini's Grammar that at the moment of death only the Lord's name (Govinda) will save him and not the rules of grammar.
Though this teaching has been propagated for centuries, very few practise it. Many read the Ramayana as a daily ritual. But how many carry out the commands of their fathers? How many practise the virtue of fraternal affection and love proclaimed in the Ramayana? Is there anyone standing for the gospel of Dharma as upheld by Shri Rama? Of what use is it endlessly to listen to discourses without putting anything into practice? The Geeta is being read and expounded all the time. Is a single precept from it being put into practice? Not at all. The Geeta shows the path to God realisation. But simply reciting the Geeta is valueless. Follow the Geeta and tread the path indicated by it. Only then you will reap the reward.
Love is God. Get immersed in that Love
What is meant by practice? Direct your sacred love rewards God. There is no need for any severe spiritual exercise. Love is God. Live in love. Get immersed in that Love. What should be pure love has been polluted today by all kinds of attachments. Pollution today is all pervading and has spread to the hearts of people. Purity has become scarce. Prema (Love of God) is all-powerful. Prahlada demonstrated this all conquering power of love for the Lord. He survived every kind of ordeal by his faith in Narayana.
Embodiments of love! Though people live in the phenomenal world and carry on their activities, they should perform all their actions as an offering to please the Lord. What is it you should do during these ten days of the Navaratri festival? Convert your Ichha Shakti (Will power) into a yearning for God. Convert Kriya Shakti into a force for doing divine actions. Convert your Jnana Shakti into the Divine Itself.
"Satyam, Jnanam, Anantam, Brahma" (The Divine is Truth, Wisdom and Infinite), proclaim the scriptures. These three are in man. You can experience the entire cosmos within your heart. The marvellous powers in man, the power of sight, etc. are all derived from God.
Human birth has to be redeemed by contemplation of God. Man today is misusing his precious body. Instead of filling it with the nectar of love, he is filling it with worldly trash. Man should be the master of his senses, instead of being their slave.
Source: Divine Discourse on October 9, 1994 at Brindavan
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