Introduction
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From 631 - 672
631
THE Sanyasi has to declare his death and perform
obsequies for himself and bury his past. He destroys all that binds him to the
rest and to his past, his history and his name. He avoids any reminder of his
erstwhile adventure and the pursuit of sensory joy. He flees from his friends
and foes, his habits, and habiliments, his hobbies and prejudices. But we find
men who have taken the vow of Sanyas still clinging to their long established
practices and habits. Instead they must completely break with the past. That is
why in the Gita, Karma Sanyasa and not any other types of Sanyas is prescribed.
632
GURU Nanak said that without faith in God, man is
blind; Without it, you are a moving corpse - your life might be as grand,
beautiful, and rich as the Taj Mahal but remember, the Taj is but a tomb!
Whatever the method of worship and whichever the Name or Form, it is faith that
matters; it is that which gives life and energy for higher things.
633
I LIKE the Puja that is done not for the sake of
the individual but for the sake of humanity. By all means, do Puja in order to
promote the happiness and peace of living beings. Develop that love for men
everywhere. That is My Mission too, My Resolution, My Sankalpa, and My Deeksha -
the planting of Love in every human heart.
634
IT becomes essential to cleanse the mind through
regular Sadhana, to tune the little will to the infinite will of God, so that it
becomes merged in His Glory. Scholarship or skill, however deep and varied, have
no cleansing power. They only add the alloys of pride and competition. Learned
men are not necessarily good, nor are men with spiritual powers over nature
above pride, envy and greed. Sathya, Dharma, Shanti and Prema are the hallmarks
of a purified heart, where God is enshrined and is manifest.
635
INSTEAD of transforming his heart, his home, his
village, his state, and this World into a Prashanthi Nilayam, the abode of the
peace that passes understanding; man has made the World an arena for the wild
passions of anger, hate and greed. Instead of making the senses (which are,
after all, very poor guides and informants) his servants, he has made them his
masters; he has become a slave of external beauty, evanescent melody, exterior
softness, tickling taste and fragile fragrance. He spends all his energies and
the fruits of all his toil in the satisfaction of the trivial demands of these
untamed underlings.
636
INDIVIDUAL efforts and Divine Grace are both
interdependent, without effort there will be no conferment of grace. Without
Grace, there can be no taste in the effort. To win that Grace, you need only
have faith and virtue. You need not praise Him in order to win His Favour.
637
THE character of the children must be made strong
and pure. Give them all the confidence and courage they need to become good,
honest, and self-reliant children. It is not enough if they learn something by
which they can make a living. The manner of living is more important than the
standard of living. The children must also have reverence towards their religion,
their culture, their educational attainments and their country. They must learn
well their mother tongue, so that they can appreciate the great poetical works
and epics written by the Seers of their land. This will give them valuable
guidance in the stormy days ahead.
638
LEARN to share with others their grief and their
joy, do not get jealous when others are happier or when others win prizes or
credits in examinations. Emulate their industry, pray for a higher share of
intelligence or a sharper memory, but do not give room in your hearts to envy
and malice. Envy is a deadly poison, it will contaminate character, ruin health,
and rob you of peace. Be Anasuyas, unaffected by envy, and you can subdue the
Gods of creation, Protection and Destruction. Like a pest that destroys growing
crops, envy enters slyly and spreads quickly. So even in small matters, be
vigilant to ensure that you do not fall a prey to envy.
639
THE six enemies of man are eating into his vitals,
embedded in his own inner consciousness. They are the demons to be killed. They
are Lust (Kama), Anger (Krodha), Greed (Lobha), Attachment (Moha), Pride (Mada)
and Malice (Matsarya). They reduce man to the level of a demon. They have to be
overpowered and transmuted by the supreme alchemy of the Divine urge. Then the
nine nights of struggle will become a new type of night, devoted to the
purification of the mind and the illumination of the soul, the night described
in the Gita as "the Day of the Worldly". What is clear and attractive to the
ordinary man is uninteresting and unknown to the Worldly man. This is the nature
of the topsy-turvy world.
640
THE selfishness fouling your love is veiling
divinity from your vision. What is the reason for the selfishness which is
veiling divinity from us? It is simply our attachment to the body; It is the
weakness of our mind and our enslavement to our senses.
641
USE the eyes to watch wholesome things, the feet to
proceed to the Home of God, the hands to serve the embodiments of God moving
around you as men and the tongue to soothe pain, praise virtue, and glorify God.
Do not use your eye to vulgarise your brain and your feet to stand in queue for
deleterious movie-shows.
642
THOUGH the World has become a very small globe as a
result of fast means of communication and transport, man has not yet learnt the
art of living together in close proximity as brothers and as children of the One
God. The closer men are brought, the larger the differences that appear. Thus,
the little World is now riddled with problems of conflicting cultures, competing
creeds and contesting ambitions. The sorrows of one State spread fast into all
its neighbouring ones and infect the whole world. The World has become one vast
battlefield.
643
MOST of you are leading a double or triple life:
Yogam in the morning; Bhogam the rest of the day; and Rogam at night. You seek
Ananda outside you and suffer from the ulcer of desire inside you. You utter one
thing with the tongue and carry out the opposite with the hand. You claim to be
the seekers of Jnana but you are attached to the delusion that you have
cultivated. You have a ticket for Calcutta but you are traveling in the train
headed for Bombay. With the body, which is your ticket and Vigna and Vairagya
your luggage, you are traveling not in the train which goes God ward but in the
train leading to Prakruthi. This is a pity.
644
THE Atma has an eternal festival. It is
Anandaswarupa. It is beyond time and so does not calculate the passage of time.
Let me ask, how can man celebrate a festival when he is afflicted by
Dehabhranthi, Manabhranthi, Indriyabhranthi, and Lokabhranthi? He believes the
falsehoods that are called the body, the senses, the mind and the world. He
pursues them and tastes joy and grief, and when a certain number of years have
passed, he celebrates a festival.
645
INDIA is the Moolasharam of Sathya, Santhi and
Prema and she has been holding forth these ideals and emphasising their practice
since centuries. Bharath means the land that has "rathi" or attachment to "bha"
or Bhagavan; it means that the people here are God-loving, not so much
God-fearing. If you love God, you have to love Man also. This teaching, that
Sathya is the basis of Dharma which lays down individual and social duties and
obligations, and that Sathya is also the root of Prema and Shanti, is the unique
feature of Bharath. Sathya is enough, no other God needs to be worshipped.
646
THE task now is to install Dharma in every heart,
to shed light on every road, through the revival of Vedanta. The World is like a
famished person waiting for a feast; it is like the parched land waiting for
rain. I have seen and felt the atmosphere of this land surcharged with
discontent and dishonesty. I have seen it from Kanyakumari to the Himalayas:
that is the reason why thousands, like you seek Dharsan, Sparsan and Sambhasan.
I am only surprised that thousands are denying themselves that chance.
647
IT is best you stay away from companions who drag
you to such distractions that weaken and worry you; spend a few minutes every
morning and evening in the silence of your own home, spend them with the highest
of all powers that you know of; be in His Elevating and Inspiring Company;
worship Him mentally; offer unto Him all the work you do; and you will come out
of the silence, nobler and more heroic than when you went in.
648
JUST consider - do you come out of the cinema more
peaceful, more heroic, purer and nobler than when you went in? No, your passions
are aroused, your animal impulses are catered to and your lower nature is fed.
Nothing else can give one that rich reward which Silence and Prayer and
Communion with the Master can give, not even a decent bank account, nor a string
of degrees, nor the muscles of a prize fighter.
649
LIVE upon the Ananda that you derive when you sing
the Name and glorify the Form of the Lord That is My Food and My daily
sustenance. So, I have no need to talk to you; it is sufficient if I sit here
and draw in the Ananda that you feel when you do Bhajan.
650
THERE are certain dire possibilities which I want
all social workers to guard against. First cleanse your own minds and then start
advising others. Earn mental peace and strength for yourself and then try to
secure them for others. Learn the secret of lasting happiness yourself and then
endeavour to make others happy. Seek the real limb not the artificial limb. Get
the doctor who will assure "hereafter you will not fall ill" and not the doctor
who gives some relief only for the present attack.
651
THE greatest instrument by which success can be
ensured for all your efforts is Bhakti. That will give health, wealth and
prosperity too, for it will eliminate hatred and faction and give more power to
your elbow when you plough the land. A man with Bhakti will do every act as
worship of the Lord and so the act will be done better and more efficiently,
without any maligning or insincerity. It will also win the Grace of the Lord,
and so, a Bhakta will be able to raise more crops and enjoy greater health and
mental happiness.
652
WE light many candles with the flame of a single
candle. But remember only a burning candle can light other candles. An unlit
candle cannot light other unlit candles. Only one who has earned wisdom can
enlighten others who are in ignorance. One who is himself unillumined cannot
illumine others dwelling in the darkness, Maya. One must light his own lamp from
the universal light of love and thence forward he can transmit illumination to
all who seek and strive. All lamps shine alike since they are all sparks of the
Param-Jyothi the Universal Luminosity, that is God.
653
IS the Universe real? Is it relatively unreal? This
problem has been agitating man since ages in all lands. The realists and the
idealists have argued on their explanations for centuries. The scientists or
realists believe that the Universe is a conglomeration of atoms in varying
patterns which have assumed manifold forms and names. But this is only partially
true. The Vijnana Vedins (the spiritually oriented) point out to the Dhoatik
Vedins (the materially oriented) that a firm base is essential for all these
transformations to happen. The Universe must have a basic force or energy or
phenomenon, as basic as clay is to the pot. That fundamental principle is,
according to them, the Atman.
654
THE human body is a temple-chariot; the Atman is
installed therein and is dragged by emotions, impulses, passions and urges,
along the streets of desire. Success and failure, joy and grief, gain and loss
are the dancers who accompany the procession of life. Here, too, many pour their
attention only on the chariot, its height, its decoration and its progress. Many
others are concerned with the dance of durabilities. The pain and pleasure due
to that is part of the procession. Few pay attention to the Atman, the crown and
consummation of human existence.
655
WHY is man so pathetically afflicted today with
fear and anxiety? Are we to search for the reasons outside us or do they live
within us? The reason lies in the false emphasis we have laid on things of the
material world, ignoring things of the spirit. The body that man bears is
essentially the receptacle of God. It is a temple where God is installed and
where God is the Master. It does not deserve all the attention you now pay to
fulfill its whims. It is equipped with very valuable instruments which can help
you in the journey but which you seldom use.
656
MANY are affected by the problem of what caused the
Cosmos. How did it come into being? They advance various theories and lay down
many opposing hypotheses. But there is no need for seekers to beat about the
bush so much. Just as a dream results when one is cut off from reality in a
state of sleep, the Cosmos is a result of being cut off from Reality by Maya, in
a state of ignorance. It is difficult to discover laws that explain or govern
its infinite mysteries.
657
WE find individuals and groups trudging to
Badrinath, Kedarnath, and Haridwar in search of peace and prosperity. They also
go to Tirupathi and Kashi. Have they jettisoned even a few of their animal
propensities? That is the test; that is the justification for the money and time
they have spent and the troubles they have undergone. When the animal is
conquered and Godhead is felt within reach, man can assert that all these
pilgrimages are within him. He has no need to travel from temple to temple. And
without achieving this victory, you have no right to claim that you are a
devotee of Rama or Krishna or of another incarnation of the Lord.
658
GOOD deeds like Puja, Japam, Dhyanam, the
observance of vow, etc., are "steps". Good thoughts like prayer for greater
discrimination and more chances to help others, also help. Slowly and steadily
cleanse the mind; sharpen the intellect, purify the senses, and win grace.
659
IT is because you feel the urge to use the body
with which you have been endowed, and for this higher purpose you are here in
Prasanthi Nilayam. The kinship among you and all of you with Me, is ageless; it
is eternal; it is not based on a worldly relationship; it is based on the
aspirations of the heart. It is Prasanthi Nilayam that is the abode of Supreme
Bliss.
660
THE Lord is described in the Purusha Suktha as "thousand-headed".
It does not mean that He has just a thousand heads, no more, no less. It means
that "the thousands of heads" before Me now have just one heart, which gives
life and energy to all, and that heart is the Lord. No one is separate from his
neighbour, all are bound by the one life-blood that flows through the countless
bodies. This is the special teaching of Sanathana Dharma, which the World needs.
661
THE Lord has endowed man with the body, and so,
every limb and every sense is worthy of reverent attention. Each must be used
for His Glory. The ear must exult when it gets a chance to hear the wonderful
tales of God. The tongue must exult when it can praise Him. Or else, the tongue
of man is as ineffective as that of frogs which croak day and night sitting on
the marshy bank.
662
THE human body has been given to you for a grand
purpose: realising the Lord within. If you have a fully equipped car in good
running condition, would you keep it in the garage? The car is primarily for
going on a journey, to get into it and go. Then only is it worthwhile to own. So
too with the body, proceed and go forward to the goal. Learn how to use the
faculties of the body, the senses, the intellect, and the mind for achieving the
goal and march on.
663
MAN must proceed ever towards "Balam" strength; he
should not take to untruth, wickedness, and crookedness, all of which denote a
fundamental fatal trait of cowardice, "Balaheenam". "Balaheenam" is born of
accepting as true a lower image of yourself than what the facts warrant. You
believe you are the husk. But really you are the kernel. That is the main
mistake. All Sadhana must be directed to the removal of the husk and the
revelation of the kernel. So long as you say "I am", there is bound to be fear,
but once you say and feel "I am Brahmam", "Aham Brahmasmi," you get
unconquerable strength.
664
I WANT that you all should build new houses for
happy living and install the Lord therein. I do not mean houses of brick and
mortar, but houses of good thoughts, good words, good deeds and good company,
where you could live calm and collected. Invite Me for the Grahapravesam of such
houses and I shall most readily agree. In fact, then the house is Mine already
and I do not need even an invitation to come and enter it. These houses are for
worldly comfort; that house is for spiritual joy. And My place of Residence is
the pure aspiring heart.
665
YOU are going about with a temple where God is in
the innermost shrine. The body is not a mass of flesh and bone. It is a medicine
for Manthras-Manthras which save when they are meditated upon. It is a sacred
instrument, earned after long ages of struggle, equipped with reason and emotion,
capable of being used for deliverance from grief and evil. Honour it as such;
keep it in good condition, so that it might serve that high purpose; maintain it
even more carefully than these brick houses and always preserve the conviction
that it is an instrument and nothing more. Use it for just the purpose for which
it has been designed and given.
666
IT is urgent that every one should inquire into the
true, the pure and the permanent; for there is at present a delusion about
values. Even the leaders of people are hugging the false hypothesis that
happiness can be had by means of wealth or health, housing or clothing, or the
cultivation of skills in handicraft and manufacture. The bird sits upon the
bough that sways in the storm, confident of its wings, not confident of the
bough on which it sits. So, you too should feel strong because of the wings, the
wings of Sraddha and Bhakti, not because of the bough of the objective World on
which you have perched.
667
YOU know from the experience of the Cauvery floods,
neither status nor castes nor wealth nor even health can help unless you know
the simple art of swimming. Need I say that crossing the ocean of Samsar,
reaching the other shore of the sea of Birth-Death, is similarly possible only
for those who know the art of Spiritual Sadhana. Those who are trying to build
the seaman community on a foundation of "Dhana", are building on sand; those who
seek to build it on the rock of "Dharma", are the wise.
668
DHARMA Moolam Idam Jagath. Dharma is the root of
this World. Obey it and you are happy. The evil man is a coward, haunted by fear.
He has no peace within himself. Respect for the parents who started you in life
and brought you into this World, together with the vast and varied treasure of
experience, is the first lesson that Dharma teaches. Gratitude is the spring
which feeds that respect. It is a quality that is fast disappearing in the World
today. Respect for the teacher, for the elders and for the wise is on the
decline. That is why Dharma is fast disappearing and losing its hold.
669
JUST as the body is the house you live in, the
World is the body of God. An ant biting the little toe of your foot is able to
draw your attention to the spot; and you react to the pain, making an effort to
remove the tiny enemy. You must similarly feed the pain, misery or joy or
elation whenever it is evinced in the entire land; you must make an effort to
protect the land from the enemy, however remote the place may be where the enemy
has presented himself. Be kin with all your kind. Expand your sympathies, serve
others who stand in need, to the extent of your skill and resources. Do not
fritter away your talents in profitless channels.
670
THE entire epic Ramayana hinges on two women and
two passions. Manthara representing Krodha (anger, resentment and vengeance) and
Surpanaka representing Kama (lustful passion). Manthara plotted to send Rama
into exile and Surpanaka caused the abduction of Sita and the destruction of the
Rakshasas as a consequence. The two women are insignificant characters in the
story; but the roles they play are key-roles, for they sparked off, by means of
the passions they represented, strong chapters of pain and grief. Krodha and
Kama are more destructive than atom bombs; but when Rama is installed in the
heart, they just fizzle out.
671
WELCOME the epic Ramayana as you welcome an
efficacious drug; it can cure deep rooted illness of the mind, the disabilities
of the inner senses, and the defects of the inner consciousness. It can clarify
your vision and make you strong and steady on the path towards God.
672
SANTHAAKAARAM Bhujaga Sayanam is one of the ways in
which the Divine is described. Bujaga is the cobra, the poisonous snake. Its
visha (poison) is the symbol of the evil influences of vishaya (Worldly desires).
The Lord is said to repose on the bhujaga, the evil filled multiplicity of the
World. Yet, the description says: He is Saanthakaaram (in absolute peace,
unruffled in the least). The Lord is unaffected, though He is immanent in the
Universe. Man too must be in the World, but not of it.
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