Time moves fast like a whirlwind. Each one's life span is getting reduced every moment, like a melting block of ice. Time passes even before man realises his duties in life. The human body is not easily acquired. The end of man's life should not be to waste his precious human birth without realising its primary purpose. It is the duty of every man to realise the purpose of life and utilise his time in the performance of his duties to sanctify his existence. Given the will, there is nothing that man cannot achieve in this world. But before embarking on any enterprise, man should recognise his abilities and endowments.
Today's man, who claims to know everything and engages in exploring space, is unable to experience bliss. If one acquires the ability to explore the stars or walk on the moon, but is unable to understand his own true nature, he misses his integral consciousness. This consciousness is not related to knowledge of the external world. It can be experienced only by turning one's vision inward. Only when he has Samagrata Bhavam (integral awareness) will he have the fight perception of a sage. Only such integral vision can confer bliss.
The greatest cause of Bondage
When people speak about man's bondage, what is it that binds man? Man can liberate himself only when he knows what it is that binds him. Are wife and children the bonds? No. Is it property? No. Are they sensual desires? No. The greatest cause of bondage is the failure to know himself. An individual who is not aware of his true self cannot escape from sorrow. As long as sorrow is there, bliss cannot be experienced.
What is the sorrow that envelops man? Sorrow envelops man in three ways and afflicts him in many ways. One source of sorrow is Asat (the unreal). The second cause is Tamas (the darkness of ignorance). The third cause is death. In this context the Vedanta mentions three categories: Prakruti (nature), Jivatma (the individual soul) and Parmamatma (the Cosmic Spirit). As long as man does not give up what he ought to renounce, he will not experience bliss. As long as he is not aware of what he ought to know he cannot get bliss. Bliss will elude man until he reaches the goal he should aim at.
Give up the fascination for the world
What is it that man should give up? What is it that he ought to know? What is his goal? What has to be given up is Jagat-Bhavam (the fascination for the world). The reason is the world is not different from God. "Ishavasyam Idam Jagat" (God dwells in the Universe). "Vishwam Vishnu-Swaroopam." (The entire cosmos is the embodiment of the Supreme). Disregarding this profound and sacred truth, man is becoming a prey to grief by his worldly attachments. The world should not be treated as merely physical, but should be looked upon as a Divine manifestation. It is only when man is filled with godly thoughts that he will be rid of sorrow. Hence, what should be given up is worldliness. Then alone Atmananda (Bliss of the Spirit) can be got.
The second thing that has to be given up is Jiva Bhava (the feeling of separate individuality). Who is a Jiva? Jiva is God. "The Jiva (the individual self) resides in the body. God dwells in the heart." They come together and engage in mutual sport. There is a Director who directs the play of the puppets. Both good and bad are present in the puppets. The Jivatma (the individual self) and the Divine principle are not two distinct and separate entities. Out of ignorance, man forgets the basic reality and cherishes delusions which cause sorrow. It is like a man who is seized with fear when he mistakes a rope for a snake. When the truth is known the fear goes. Likewise man, looking at the world, considers it a separate phenomenal entity - Jiva Tattva. But in reality it is Divine. When the Divine nature of the cosmos is understood, man is free from the delusion of separateness.
The Divine Master illumines the entire cosmos
And the cosmos shines in the Divine.
God and the cosmos are inseparable friends.
This is the prime dictum of Sai.
Human destiny is realisation of his Divinity
What is the destination that man should attain? It is the original home from where he came (Swasthanam) What is this original home? It is the awareness of one's own true self. It is for the realisation of this truth that the body has been given to man by the Divine. Where can one search for one's self? Can the search be made outside of you? No. Similarly, the search for God in the external is futile. "His hands and feet are everywhere. His eyes, head and mouth are everywhere. He stands forth encompassing everything in the cosmos." When the Divine is omnipresent, it is foolish for man to search for God in some place. Hence the destination for man is the realisation of his Divinity (the original source). This realisation must come through the Vedantic process of exclusion ("Neti, Neti" "not this, not this"). "I am not the body. I am not the intellect. I am not the Will. I am not the Antahakarana, the inner instrument." All these are only instruments. Man should realise: "I am the Master of all of them." When by this process of elimination man realises his true Serf, he is freed from sorrow.
Man's most precious and sacred gift from God is Buddhi (intelligence). The intelligence that should be used for seeking the Atma (Spirit) is being used by man today to seek Annam (food). When you are given a mirror to recognise your face, if you turn it in the reverse direction, how can you see your face? Use the mirror of Buddhi to recognise your true self. That is known as Sakshatkaram - direct vision of one's true Self.
Unfortunately man today seeks to know everything except his own true nature. He asks everyone: "Who are you?" but does not put the question, "Who am I?" One who does not know himself, what right has he to seek about others? Such an enquiry proceeds from ignorance. Without the awareness of his own true self, man can never attain bliss.
God contains everything within Himself
It is to set men on the path of such self-enquiry that the celebration of the New Year is intended. God as the embodiment of Time, is worshipped by the name Samvatsara (year). This name also means that God contains within Himself everything. God is also known by the name Kalatmaka (the Time Spirit). God incarnates on earth for revealing to man his divine essence. Man has been endowed with intelligence (as Dheemanta) so that he may use it for discovering the Divine within him.
The name Samvatsara represents the cosmic manifestation of the Divine. The Divine displays four kinds of glorious potencies (Vibhutis) as the Supreme Omni-Self. As such, He is called Chaturatma. This means He is the Self that embodies three potencies. The three are: Vasudeva, Sankarshana and Aniruddha. When these three Vibhuthis are understood the fourth one, Pradyumna becomes intelligible.
The meaning of the four potencies of Divinity
Vasudeva indicates that the entire cosmos is the Lord's dwelling place. It also means that He is the Supreme Master of the Universe. This means that the Divine resides in all beings as the Indwelling Spirit. Moreover, He pervades the entire Universe. The Upanishad describes Him as "Narayana who is inside and outside and pervades everything."
Sankarshana refers to the divine's capacity to attract and transform all beings. All beings, moreover, have emerged from Him. The name is also associated with His power to transfer any object from one place to another. The child that was in the womb of Devaki was transferred to the womb of Rohini (another wife of Vasudeva) and for this mason the child got the name Sankarshana (another name for Balarama, the elder brother of Sri Krishna). The name Sankarshana also means one who attracts what is pure. Sam (pure) Karshana (attracts).
Aniruddha is one who is beyond the control of anyone. He can be swayed only by His grace and not by any other means. This term applies to one who is all-pervading, all-powerful and all-knowing.
Pradyumna refers to one who possesses Aishwarya (infinite wealth). He confers by His grace all prosperity and happiness on those who adore, worship and love the Lord. Aishwarya includes not only material wealth, but every kind of wealth such as health, knowledge, intelligence and virtue.
Another name of the Divine is "Bhagavan." The term "Bhaga" represents six attributes: Divine wealth, righteousness, power, fame, detachment and Supreme Wisdom. The Lord is called "Bhagavan" because He has these six attributes.
Thus every name of the Lord is related to specific attributes and not an expression of the devotee's feelings or fancies. Because of the Divine's myriad attributes, the sages hailed Him as "Om Samvatsaraaya Namah." As the Creator of the Universe and as the One from whom everything emerged, God is also called Yugadi (The initiator of every Yuga or Aeon). He is the One who willed to become the Many.
The one Atma that has different names and forms
What is the unity that prevails in the multiplicity? This is illustrated by the example of a huge mansion within which them are rooms and halls for different purposes. When all the dividing walls are removed, only the main mansion remains. All beings in the world have different names and forms as embodied beings. When the embodiment is taken away only the one Atma in all of them remains. The sense of separateness is a creation of the mind. When this feeling, born of ignorance goes, the Godliness in man will shine.
Every man has within him a Kalpataru (wish-fulfilling tree). But around it there is a wild growth of bushes. When you clear away the bushes, the tree can be seen. That tree is the Self within each one. This Self is covered by man's sensory desires. When the desires are removed, the Self is recognised. Although the Self is in man, no attempt is made to realise it. How can a man who is involved in external pursuits realise his inner Reality? The fight method has to be adopted to attain the desired objective. The first requisite for the purpose is faith. There must be an unshakeable faith in God. Man's beliefs today are liable to be blown away like dried leaves. Man should strive to experience the Divine with firm faith, through weal and woe.
Man is inherently Divine
Man who is the embodiment of the immortal Spirit, identifies himself with his body and falls a prey to worldly desires. How can such a person be a true devotee of God, even if he calls himself a Bhakta (devotee)? Such a man is only a devotee of Prakruti (the phenomenal world of Nature). If you regard even Prakruti as Divine, it will be a good thing. But even here, men separate the Paramatma (Divine) from Prakruti (Nature). As long as this sense of separation exists, all forms of Japa and worship, performed even over many lives, are of no avail.
What is Srishti (creation)? Srishti is an expression of the will of God. This is called Prakruti. Everyone who emanates from Prakruti should have divine qualities. That which has emerged from the Divine should have divine qualities and not the traits of an animal or a demon. A human being without the feeling of compassion or love is not human at all. Every human being should manifest his inherent divinity. He should make himself a "messenger" of God. Instead, he behaves like a "miss-inger of God," as one who has "missed" what he should know about himself.
When man realises his true nature and his role in life, he becomes one with God. This is described in Vedanta as the Turiya Avastha -the fourth state of consciousness in which the individual Spirit is one with the Universal. It is a transcendental state which is beyond the body and the mind--beyond the waking, dream and deep sleep states.
What do we understand by the term Vyakti (individual)? This term is applied to one who manifests the unmanifested Divine Power hidden within him. It is meaningless to apply it to anyone who does not manifest the Divine with him.
The Cosmic form of Divinity
Manifesting one's inner divinity does not mean producing something new. Divinity is inherent in man. It is called Swabhava (one's true nature) - the Atmic nature. It is the Atma that confers all powers on man. Those who bemoan their weakness are not aware of their inherent potential and are not putting it to fight use. The first feeling which one has to get rid of is the identification of his physical form with his real self. Those who ask, "Where is God?" do not realise that all they see in the cosmos is a manifestation of the Divine. That is why the scripture declares, "Pashyannapi Cha Na Pashyati Mudho" (Even while seeing, the foolish one does not see). Man is all the time seeing the universe around him and yet declares he has not seen God. What is the form of the Cosmos? Is it not Divine? You are seeing the Divine in the form of the physical universe. In the Bhagavad Gita this cosmic form of the Lord is described as Vishwa Viraata Roopa. What is Vishwa? It is the whole cosmos. The Vishwa Viraata Roopa is the collective form of everything in the universe.
No attempt is made to understand the inner meaning of such expressions as Vishwa Viraata Roopa. The intellect is used to misinterpret words and create confusion. What is needed is understanding through the heart. Even a highly evolved person like Arjuna confessed to Krishna that the mind is ever wavering and fickle. Are the intellectuals of today, with all their degrees, greater than Arjuna? Not at all. Above all degrees and intellectual attainments, one needs the grace of God. Krishna recognised Arjuna as His devotee. That is the supreme accomplishment.
The abode of the Lord is the heart
When you earn from the Lord the epithet of Bhakta (God's devotee) you will be equal with Arjuna. God is not calling you as His devotee. It is not enough if you style yourself a devotee of God. God should hail you as His devotee. It is only when your devotion is acknowledged by the Lord that you can call yourself a devotee. If you have not received the acknowledgement, it may mean that you have given the wrong address in your devotion. The correct address of the Lord is Hridayavaasi - the Indweller in the Heart. This means that you must continue with your devotion to God untill your own conscience is satisfied. To achieve this satisfaction you have to purify yourself constantly. This means that you have to get rid of your bad qualities, bad thoughts and bad actions.
Body is an instrument for realisation of Dharma
Realise that the body has been given to you for the service of others. How is this service to be rendered? Through righteous and pure means. The body is an instrument for the realisation of Dharma (Righteousness). This truth is allegorically conveyed by the example of the Pandavas in the Mahabharata. The Pandava brothers (Bheema, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva) and Draupadi representing Prakruti (Nature) followed Truth and Righteousness as represented by Dharmaraja (the eldest of the Pandavas) and sanctified their lives.
This applies to every human being. It is only when he adheres to Truth and Righteousness that he can realise the Atma. Worship of the Divine must stem from the heart. When devotion flows from the heart, the voice of the Divine can be experienced in silence - Shabda Brahman (sound of the Supreme Spirit). This was the experience of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. He observed perfect silence awaiting the voice of God at any moment. Can the Divine voice be heard in the cacophony of daily sounds? No. Devotees must practice reticence. When speech is restrained, the voice of the Spirit within makes itself heard. That is subtler than the human breath.
It is only through Prapatti or total surrender, that the Divine can be experienced. It is an experience that can be had every moment of your life.
Source: Divine Discourse at Prasanthi Nilayam on January 1, 1992.
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