Introduction
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|505-546 | 547-588 | 589-630| 631-672 | 673-714 | 715-756|
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From 547 - 588
547
YOU heard of the methods by which the Shastras
have asked man to pay his debt to the Gods, the Sages and the Ancestors. You
heard how Sanathana Dharma has laid down a "thornless Path" for the progress of
man, from Humanity to Divinity! Thornless or thornful, each has to tread the
path, alone and in full confidence.
548
THE mind must become the servant of the
intellect, not the slave of the senses. It must discriminate and detach itself
from the body. Like the ripe tamarind fruit, which becomes loose inside the
shell, it must be unattached to this shell, this casement called body.
549
LIBERATION is just the awareness of Truth, the
falling off of the scales of delusion from the eye. It is not a suburb of select
souls, it is not a closed monopoly of expert Sadhakas. Like the Godavari losing
its form, its name and its taste in the sea, Liberation dissolves the name and
form, aptitudes and attitudes. You are no more a separate, particular individual.
550
YOU are happy that you have come on a pilgrimage here,
but let Me tell you one thing: unless you control the stream of desire that
springs in the mind, this is just a wasted opportunity. If your wish is
fulfilled, you revere Me; if it is not, you revile Me. That is how Desire
debases you. When one wish is fulfilled, ten rise in its place. For there is no
dearth of want; the same person has come to Me seeking success at the
examination, then a job, then a father-in-law, then a child, then a rise in the
salary, a transfer to a cheaper place and a seat in the Medical College for his
son - a never ending series of wants, until at last he comes seeking My Grace
for an end to worldly pursuits and for initiation into the path of spiritual
liberation.
551
NO one can liberate you, for no one has bound you.
You hold on to the nettle of worldly pleasures and you weep for pain. The kite
is pursued by the crows so long as it carries the fish in its beak. It twists
and turns in the sky trying to last and then it drops the fish. That moment it
is free. So give up the attachment to the senses; then grief and worry can
harass you no more.
552
WHEN you know that thieves have broken into your
neighbour's house, you become extra cautious and, every night before you retire,
you examine every lock and bolt in the house. When you know that death has
carried away a victim from the house next door, why do you not examine
yourselves, whether you are equipped to meet it when it comes for you? Why do
you immerse yourselves in distractions like building houses, piling bank
balances, celebrating picnics and contesting elections. Engage yourselves rather
in things that will make you immortal and serve your best interests by service
to the World! Seek your own Reality; that is what a wise man should do.
553
DHARMA purifies the mind and leads you to God. It
creates a taste for the Name and Form of God. When you love the name and form of
Krishna, you will naturally respect and obey the command of Krishna, His Agna,
which is found in the Bhagavat Gita. Have the Name on the tongue and the Form in
the eye, and the demon called Aasa, unending desire, will fly from your mind,
leaving joy and content therein. This kind of constant dwelling on the
indwelling God will promote Love for all beings. You will then see good in
others and you will strive to do good to others.
554
REMOVE the vices of lust and hatred, and put out the
raging flames of anger and greed, then the innate Santham and Soukhyam and the
Swarupam and Sevabhavam of Man will manifest themselves unhindered. Santham is
the Swarupam, and Soukhyam is the Swabhavam of man.
555
THE very fact that man is equipped with memory, mind,
intelligence, discrimination, the ability to anticipate the future and the
desire to detach himself from the senses is an indication that he is destined
for some higher goal. In spite of this, if man craves for a lesser consumption,
he is a Papi (Sinner). But he, who persists in spite of temptations and
obstacles on the path that leads to self-fulfillment and self-realisation, is a
Gopi, for the Gopis of Brindavan were the most inspiring examples of such souls.
556
FROM birth to death, man is the slave of urges and
hesitations. One must examine these and rely more on those that lead him towards
subjective joy rather than objective pleasure. Subjective joy can be acquired by
harmony at home, mutual cooperation among the members of the family and
community, acts of service to others and concern for the welfare and prosperity
of the Society in which one is living.
557
THE body can be clean if washed with water. Speech
can be clean if it is saturated in Truth. Life can be purified if it is
sanctified by Tapas; and the intellect can be cleared of blemish through Jnana.
Above all, the conviction that you are not the body but only a resident of the
body has to grow in you. If you identify yourselves with the body that you carry
about with you, you are inviting sorrow and suffering to overwhelm you instead
of the joy and peace which are awaiting to bless you.
558
WHEN the Gita directs you to give up all Dharmas (Set
codes of morality), it does not ask you to also give up all Karma (activity);
that is to say, you have to do Karma, and when you do it for God, through God
and by God, the Dharma of it does not matter; it has to be acceptable and it is
bound to benefit you. The statement is not an invitation to licentiousness or
complete inactivity. It is all for dedication and surrender to the highest in
Man, viz. God.
559
WEAKNESS, vacillation and despair bring dishonour on
Him who conferred on you the honour of "Amirthesya Puthraah". You are "Bala-Swarupa",
or the Nature of strength. Whenever accosted, you must declare yourself so and
not otherwise. Do not bend and cringe and barter your self-respect. Do not
believe that you are a little lump of body. You are the indestructible immortal
Atma of the same nature as Brahman itself.
560
DO not admit into your mind the demon of Asanthi.
Direct all your cleverness and all your intelligence to the successful execution
of the great Drama, in which all of you are taking part at present. It is His
Drama. He is the Director, you play a role, an actor carrying out His Will,
speaking the words that He put in your mouth and making movements as directed by
Him.
561
THE experience of this one life must be enough to
show you that there is no joy unmixed with grief, that both grief and joy are
short lived and they both depend on the mind and its control. You do not require
the experience of a series of lives to grasp this patent fact. This World is
keeping you in bondage; it is a prison from which you must get released; and you
should not plan to return to it again and again.
562
THE eye which is scarce two inches long can see
millions of miles into space but is incapable of seeing itself! Man too is as
shrewd and as weak as the eye. He can analyse others "motives, count others "faults
and map out others "skills and capacities but, he is powerless to analyse
himself, his feelings and his emotions. Unwilling to discover his own faults, he
cannot assess his innate skill and realise his inner reality! But the power can
be acquired if you keep company with Sadhakas (aspirants for spiritual
progress), not otherwise.
563
DO not imagine yourselves as Hindus for the reason
that you are born in Hindustan. You are too entangled in the rules of Caste, the
Ceremonial of rituals, and the coils of Astrology to grasp your own inner
Reality. You do not realise the spark of Divinity in you and try to raise it
into a flaming fire of Divine Splendour, reducing your pretty "I" into ashes.
Sanathana Dharma tells you about that spark and teaches you how to foster it and
develop it. When you ignore this Dharma and allow Science to entice you, you are
bringing disrespect to your culture and disowning your country.
564
TO spend some time in the Divine presence is a
fortune which is a reward for past merit. You are here, going through Sentences
from Courts for delinquencies. Let me tell you that all men are undergoing
Sentences for long or short periods with simple or hard labour, to atone for
misdemeanors and crimes done by them in their past lives. Every fall makes a
dent; every fault has to be corrected; and every sin has to be cleansed.
Everyone is a prisoner.
565
INSIST that you are the body, the mind, the senses
and the intelligence. It encourages you to care for the strengthening of the
body and its beautification; to cater to the fancies that attract the mind; to
pursue the fleeting pleasures of the tongue and eye; it tells you that reason is
the only instrument for measuring Truth and decries intuition and experience.
"Mine" teaches you to grab, acquire and possess, merely for the joy of
possession and the joy of depriving others of things of value. But the mind can
also be used for Liberation from these two shackles, I and Mine. Let it be fixed
on God; they will both disappear.
566
MAN thinks that he knows everything, but when asked
about himself, he hangs down his head in shame. Man knows the news of every land
but he is ignorant of the nuisance that he is to himself and others. He is
moving in darkness but yearning for Ananda. He does not know the means of
securing Ananda: Prayer, Seva, Study of Spiritual Texts, Meditation and Silence.
He has no faith that he is Ananda and that Ananda is his own nature. He is blown
away by calamity, for he has no strength to withstand the blow. Faith in the God
within is the toughest shield against the thrusts of Fate.
567
NESTS laboriously built by birds are torn away by
storms; the fragrant petals of flowers are felled by rain. Defeat and victory
are the obverse and reverse of the same coin; when you welcome one, you have to
willy-nilly welcome the other, too. Forbearance, compassion and incorruptible
virtue are the three pillars of a happy life. Only such a life can be called
civilized; the rest is barbarian existence.
568
PRAYER for some benefit or gain should not be
addressed to God, for it means that God waits until He is asked! Surrender to
Him; He will deal with you as He feels best and it will be the best for you. God
does not dole out Grace in proportion to the praise He receives!
569
WHEN you pray for a thing from God, you run the risk
of condemning Him, if for some reasons the Prayer is not answered the way you
want it to be or as quickly as you want it. This contingency arises because you
feel that God is an outsider, staying in some Heaven or holy spot, far away from
you. God is in you, God is in every word of yours, every deed and every thought.
Speak, do and think as befits Him. Do the duty that He has allotted to you to
the best of your ability and to the satisfaction of your conscience. That is the
most rewarding Puja.
570
WHEN you stand before another, his image is in your
eye and your image is in his; have you not observed this? You are in Him, I am
in you: that is the Truth this phenomenon proclaims. When you believe in this,
and when you cultivate Love, Humility, Reverence for Life and Tolerance, you are
on the Right Path. When you are not on this Path, that is to say, when you are
traveling left, you are certainly left out when it is a question of sharing
Divine Grace.
571
WHEN you do not accept the insult someone casts on
you, it goes back to the person who indulged in it first; a registered letter
that is not accepted returns to the sender. Do not damage your mental peace by
receiving the letter and reading the contents. Refuse to receive it. You have a
chance of correcting the wrongdoers too; accept it and pin the gang of mischief
makers. So be warned!
572
I KNOW many parents who dote on their children and
admire them when they learn the bad habits of gambling or drinking! They do not
curb them when they swagger about in the bazaars, teasing and bullying those who
pass by. They do not instill into the young minds the attitude of reverence
towards property belonging to others. As a consequence, their children land
themselves in trouble and, then, the parents repent and curse themselves for
their unpardonable foolishness.
573
IF the parent is a drunkard, a gambler and a cheat,
no amount of textbook ethics can cure the sons. I like children and the young
innocence. I will not allow them to be blamed. The fault lies wholly on the
shoulders of the elders, the parents, and the leaders who shape the norms which
they imbibe.
574
CLEANSE your emotions, passions, impulses, attitudes,
and reactions. That is the essence of spiritual discipline as laid down in all
Faiths. Examine your mind, your thoughts; do not seek the fault ridden person.
Seek only purity; speak ill of none. Do not humiliate anyone; respect him for
the good in him. Their grief at your behaviour will haunt you during your last
moments.
575
LIFE is a mosaic of pleasure and pain - grief is an
interval between two moments of joy. Peace is the interlude between two wars.
You have no rose without a thorn; the diligent picker will avoid the pricks and
gather the flower. There is no bee without the sting; cleverness consists in
gathering the honey nevertheless. Troubles and travails will haunt you but you
must not allow them to deflect you from the path of duty and dedication.
576
IF you feel you must have something to be happy, pray
to God: "God, you have the responsibility to keep me healthy, happy, good and
intelligent; give me this thing which I believe is necessary for my happiness;
but, if you think I am wrong, give me whatever you think best". God will never
desert His obligation. He will feed you and foster you.
577
HAVE patience; do not, in your hurry, enjoy cheap
joys, fall into error and unrighteous deeds. Have faith that God will add unto
you all the joys that you desire and deserve. People ask men for favours; they
extend their hands towards others and plead "Dehi" (Give). But, "Dehi" means
also, "He who dwells in the 'Deha' or Body; which is God". So, do not humiliate
that "Dehi" by calling out "Dehi" before others. Say "Dehi" to the Dehi; He will
respond generously and graciously.
578
WOMEN preserve the culture of this country with
greater tenacity and faith. They keep men on the moral path and inspire them to
follow spiritual discipline. Their hearts are tender and full of compassion for
the hungry and the distressed. That is why in this land, women are adored and
revered.
579
ELDERS quote the Shastras that say that the home,
where the floor is soaked by the tears of a woman, can never see prosperity. Sri
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa took great care to see that Saradamani Devi did not take
his simple jokes and ridicules too much to heart, for then she might shed tears.
We honour the land where we are born as our "Mother Country", the language we
learn on our mother's lap as "mother tongue", and the Scripture that teaches us
Morality as "Mother Veda". In this way, every Indian has four mothers, including
the mother who gave birth to him. According to Indian Culture, all these have to
be adored as Divine.
580
THOSE who deny God, the Supreme Will or the First
Cause, can give no real satisfactory justification for their stand; nor can
those who assert that there is God. Both have to rely on their own experience.
After all, how can sweetness be denied by one who refuses to taste sugar? How
can one be convinced that sugar is sweet until one tastes it? We have to feel
the great marvel of energy, manipulating both, the minutest atom and cell and
the vastest, most distant star. How else can we understand the Omnipresence and
Omnipotence, except by accepting God as the Architect of the Cosmos?
581
FOLLOW the call of the Divine arising from the hearts
of all living beings. Serve them in an attitude of worship, not expecting
something in return. Do not even accept gratitude, having dedicated all your
acts to the indwelling God. This will purify you, so that you shall be able to
listen to the "Soham" that your breath repeats every moment. "Soham" transmutes
itself into OM when the distinction between He and I has dissolved itself in the
process of "Samadhi".
582
MAN is born for the attainment of Joy, not for sheer
eating and reveling. Real and lasting Joy can be won only by a life led along
the path of Dharma which makes the inherent Divinity of Man shine forth;
Illumination is the purpose of life; of the recurring sequence of birth and
death. Man has in him the spark of Divinity which is Omnipresent, Omniscient,
Omnipotent and immanent in the entire Universe. In order to become ever aware of
this innate Reality, man must learn the technique laid down by the Scriptures
revealed by the same Divinity.
583
THE very first lesson of the Primer of the spiritual
text is "Control of Speech". Speech is the armament of man; other animals have
fleetness of foot, sharpness of claw, fang, horn, tusk, beak and talon. But man
has sweetness of Speech which can disarm all opposition and defeat all the
designs of hatred. Sweetness makes you "Pasupathi" - Divine; harshness makes you
"Pasu" - bestial. Mere outward politeness or sweetness is hypocrisy! Sincere
speech must flow from real sweetness of heart, a heart full of love. Remove all
evil from the Manasarovar, the pellucid lake of your Mind, and, make it a fit
abode of Godhead.
584
START from today a new Chapter in your life, the
Chapter of Japam and Dhyanam, Japa- Sahitha Dhyanam or Dhyana Sahitha-Japam. In
the Tretha Yuga, the Name was Sitharama; in the Dwapara, it was Radha-shyama;
and in the Kali yuga, it is Sarvanam, that is to say, all Names of the Lord; you
can select any one that appeals to you.
585
EVERY man desires to acquire Ananda. From where can
Ananda be acquired? Faith alone can win Ananda. Peace can be gotten only through
Faith; Faith is the spring of Joy. But now we see Sorrow, wherever we cast our
eyes. Why does this happen? Because man has lost Faith. He has no Faith in
himself. How then can he acquire Ananda? How can a person, who has not enough
Faith to live happily for a few days, win the Grace of God?
586
NAMASMARANA is the process by which this dedicatory
attitude can be cultivated and confirmed. When confronted by calamity, you must
attach yourself to this Sadhana even more firmly, instead of losing faith in it
and getting slack. The drug should not be given up when it is most needed. The
pity is that, when the first disappointment faces you, you lose courage and
confidence and give up Rama or Krishna or Sai Baba.
587
MANY of you have problems of health or mental worry
of some sort or other. They are mere baits by which you have been brought here,
so that you may contact the Grace and strengthen your faith in the Divine.
Problems and worry are really to be welcomed as they teach you the lessons of
humility and reverence.
588
BHARATHVARSHA knew that the secret of Peace lay in
Service and Love towards all beings. The Culture of this land proclaimed that
the best form of Service is to foster the practitioners of the good life; the
Sages and the Sadhakas. Do not decry the servants of God; do not obstruct the
charity of the generous; do not discourage the study of the Scriptures, even if
you cannot positively promote any of these; that is the lesson taught in this
land.
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