Love Is The Key

Man is so designed that he can derive Ananda and maintain it only through association with his kind. To divest oneself of all contacts with others and tread a lonely path is a sign of weakness, of fear—not of courage. Lively association alone produces morality, justice, compassion, sympathy, love, tolerance, equanimity, and many other qualities that toughen and train character and mould the personality of man. Culture is the consequence of the comingling of hearts and heads. A group of individuals who are charged with hatred or contempt of each other cannot produce any beneficial effect on any of its components; a common outlook, or rather, a common inlook, is the essential factor, Sama-chinta—the sameness of beliefs, opinions, and attitudes—is the prime factor. This Sama-chinta must result in a flood of Ananda (divine bliss) that envelops and enthuses the entire group. If the individual knows he is divine and that all else is equally so, that consciousness is the best bond for society, that Ananda is the best atmosphere to sustain society. How can a person who knows that all are divine keep away from the God he recognizes? “I am He, He is I, both I and He are kith and kin in Him.” This awareness is so thrilling, so satisfying, so uplifting, that such society is the noblest Satsang (holy company) man can ever come into.

This Universe Is Enveloped in God

Shutting yourself in a room and offering incense and flowers to a picture or image of God, singing or reciting His glory are very poor substitutes for the discipline that will liberate you from ignorance. All beings are images of God; all men are His pictures; then, why shut yourselves in? All creation is marching on a pilgrimage to Him; why then behave as if you are trekking it alone? You believe that the time spent in a church or temple or the domestic shrine in adoration and in ritual worship is devoted to God and the rest is spent for other purposes. But, you cannot demarcate and delimit the realms of God and man like that. God is ever with you everywhere. Vasudevah sarvamidam—“All this is God.”

Society is the school where this lesson is taught to those who earnestly seek. The sages of this land resorted to the hermitages in the forests and mixed with the steadfast seekers there in scholastic discussion and disciplinary practices. They drew inspiration and instruction from each other and learnt the truth, I_savasyam_ idam jagat—“This Universe is enveloped in God”—that God is the string on which the worlds are strung. When a man gives up his conceit and becomes nature’s pupil, rather than its tyrannical master, he can hear her voice advising, admonishing, and illuminating.

Man has all the resources he needs in himself. He can tap them by identifying them and manifesting them, and by sharing them with others. He is Sat, Chit, and Ananda (Being, Awareness, Bliss Absolute); He is S_hiva-Sakti_ Svarupa (Form of divine-energy). When a man extols himself, he is extolling God. Do not cultivate the conviction that you are mere men; be assured that you are destined for divinity. When divinity takes on the human form as described in the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, and the Bhagavatam, one has to interpret the actions as providing examples and lessons, and not as human stories enacted for entertainment.

Mind of Man Has to Be a Garden of Flowers

The five Pandava brothers are five qualities in human character, all observing the norms set by the eldest, which is the noblest and the most righteous. Rama is the example of the uncompromising adherent of the principle of righteousness, whatever be the temptation to bypass it. Rama was charged with a love that transcended all considerations of advantage, of caste or creed, and extended to animals and birds, human beings. Love is the key to open the doors locked by egoism and greed.

If you allow your behavior towards others to be contaminated by contempt, scorn, cynicism, or hatred, then you are spoiling the fair name of India; its culture and tradition will not tolerate it. It has proclaimed that God is one, and that He is known and can be known through various names and forms. It has declared that God is installed in the heart of every being. Look at the emblem of the Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation! It tells you that the Hindu, the Muslim, the Parsi, the Buddhist, and the Christian are all adoring the same God for the same consummation. The mind of man has to be a garden of many-coloured flowers, a Nandanavana. Krishna will certainly delight in dancing there, and playing on the enchanting Flute in the bowers of that garden.

A heart saturated with love of God can never entertain thoughts of violence. It is sheer hypocrisy, to kneel before God and then force men to kneel before you. God is love, God is peace; God is strength. How can a person be in contact with God, and yet, be proud and acrimonious? Agitated and angry? Weak and vacillating? His claim to be in contact with God is only a laughable foible; it cannot be true. A tree is judged by its fruit. Leaders of peoples have to develop this universal feeling of love, not limited to political boundaries which change from decade to decade, or religious labels which are affixed and erased to suit temporary needs. The prayer that rose from millions in this country from all its temples, yajnashalas, Tirthas, holy seafronts, shrines, and altars for centuries has been Sarve janah sukhino bhavantu—“Let all the peoples of the world be happy and prosperous;” samasta lokah sukhino bhavantu—“May all the beings of all the worlds have peace and prosperity.” So, pray for all humanity, for the welfare and happiness, the peace and progress of Russia, China, Africa, Pakistan, all countries of the world, and all beings everywhere.

Hyderabad, April 1973.