The Holiest Task

Whether one is a renowned scholar with expert knowledge of the deeper levels of religious lore, or a monarch revelling in the brilliance of palatial luxury, or a hero of many battles, or a miserable victim of poverty - if one has no devotion to the lord, one does not deserve homage, honour or attention.

The physical body, the senses, the mind, the intellect - these are all to be considered as the clothes we wear. We are advised to control our senses but this can be done only when their true nature is analysed and known. When that is not known, various obstacles present themselves.

The body is known as deha, which means 'that which is consumed by fire.' It is burnt on the pyre when life departs and consumed by the flames of desire when life persists. It burns on the pyre of anxiety and fear, even when alive! There is another word, shareeram, meaning 'that which wastes away', which also means the body. While living, it is afflicted by wants and wishes which rob it of peace. When dead, it becomes dust. Starting its career as a ball of flesh, it soon appears as a tender charming baby and an active child; it transforms itself into a straight, strong, attractive youth and is reduced later to the pathetic shape of old age. Hence, it is named shareeram; and person, who lives in it, is known as shareeri.

It Is Our Duty To Keep The Body In Good Trim

The body is a house taken on rent by man. We know how the owner of the house persecutes the tenant in order to compel him to vacate it when the rent is not paid, or when payment is delayed, or when the tenant does not maintain the house with care and when he damages it through negligence or sheer wantonness. Therefore it is our duty to keep the body in good trim and avoid the wrath of the owner. The owner will certainly appreciate a considerate, courteous and cooperative tenant. The tenant can win the owner's love and respect by means of his own goodness.

The human body has been secured as a reward for many lives of meritorious activity. Being valued as a boat which can help us cross the ocean of samsara (constant change), it has to be tended with grateful reverence. The Bhagavad Gita calls the body kshetra, which means, a field. One can sow holiness or sin, and gather a harvest commensurate with the particular quality. Choose the crop you need before you sow the seed. Kshetram also means 'the entire earth.' Another significant meaning of the word is 'a holy place.' We say Kashi kshetram, Prayaga kshetram, etc., to indicate that those places are sacred. The body is also a kshetram since it is a temple wherein God is installed and worshiped through thoughts, words and deeds. The temple has to be cleansed and kept healthy and pure.

Use Every Sense Organ Within Its Limits

Purity is to be preserved and promoted not by multiple baths or by avoiding contact with others condemned as 'untouchables.' You cannot be pure by the observance of the superficial taboo, 'Don't touch.' The body can be clean if washed with water; speech can be cleansed if it is saturated in truth; life can be purified if it is sanctified by tapas (religious austerity), and the intellect can be cleared of blemish through jnana (spiritual wisdom). 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 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.

Now about the indriyas (senses). They are known as matras, which means 'measures,' for each sense has the capacity to cognise a certain measure of experience. A dish of dal (lentils) must have some salt to make it tasty. The tongue tastes it and pronounces judgment whether the quantity of salt is more or less or just right. 'This face is pretty but the nose is a little awry,' pronounces the eye. 'This song is sweet, but that one was atrocious,' declares the ear. Matra also means 'limit.'

Every sense organ has to be used with the consciousness of the limitations inherent in it. Beyond the limit, it becomes misuse, the sacrilege of a God-given instrument. For example, the nose is to be used legitimately to help in breathing and for the selective enjoyment of fragrance, but many stuff it with snuff and degrade its real purpose. The tongue is polluted by using it to eat rajasika and tamasika (passion-rousing and inactivity-inducing) food and to swallow intoxicants which demean man. All sense organs are thus spoiled by man through improper, unauthorised or illegitimate use. The consequences for the man are mental distress and physical disease.

The body is an inert composite of matter. But it grows, gets weak and declines, all on account of a consciousness that operates from within. Otherwise, an inert heap of matter can undergo changes only by addition or subtraction through external agencies.

Gurus Must Meditate At Least Once A Day

Next, is the mind. Mananam manah – 'The mind is that which remembers, recollects and ruminates.' This mental activity results in the formulation of resolutions or in their dissolution— sankalpa or vikalpa. The mind has, as warp and woof, assertion and negation, do's and don'ts, sankalpa and vikalpa. It has no existence apart from these. It is ever engaged in them until sleep stops its activity. Sometimes when the resolution or the determination behind the resolution becomes too strong, the mind overleaps its limits and the man is rendered insane.

In order to calm the mind and keep it on an even keel, dhyana is prescribed as a sadhana. Dhyana is the process by which the positive and negative aspects of the mind are regulated out of existence. Man enjoys unlimited bliss when the stage of nirvikalpa samadhi (the highest stage of superconscious state of bliss) is reached. A taste of this is offered to man during his deep, dreamless sleep, when no wish or want, no desire or denial can disturb him. How much more satisfying should be the bliss when we attain the nirvikalpa stage through dhyana! The ananda (bliss) that fills us then is characterised as bhavatitam, triguna rahitam – 'beyond the range of imagination, without any trace of the three types of attributes.'

You, who have dedicated yourselves as Gurus to lead the children into the light, must practise the discipline of dhyana at least one session a day in order to earn this bliss and equanimity. Those who have earned the gift of ananda alone, can confer ananda on others. How can a mendicant support another mendicant? No beggar can make another beggar rich. A person rich in ananda can share ananda with those around him. Therefore, your duty as Gurus is firstly to earn and secondly to offer ananda. A life of sadhana is a must for every Guru.

The Role Of Guru As A Blessing Of God

There are three groups of sadhanas which you have to take up - personal, social and universal (vyakti, samaja and vishwa). A single flower cannot constitute a garland, nor a single tree a forest, nor a single individual a society. The individual's spiritual success, his beneficent nature and his virtues, when pooled with those of many others, become the wealth of society, the common property of all. Each one has to revere and serve all. The Divine in each is pooled into the concept of the infinite Divine.

The Guru should not give room to conceit in his heart. As the indispensable teacher of innocent, illiterate and half-blind children, the Guru should not occupy a chair of authority. Egoism is the throne which is proudly appropriated by the authority. Be humble before the children and renounce the tone of power. This is the sadhana for you. Revere the role of a Guru as a blessing of God. This attitude alone can ensure the success of the journey for the individual, the society and the world.

Buddhi Should Scrutinise All The Wishes Of Mind

Be aware of the transitoriness and the inter-relationship of the body, the senses and the mind. What is the buddhi (intellect)? It is the source of man's decision-making capacity and is known as the antah-karana (inner consciousness). It reduces confusion, calms conflict and determines doubt. When we say, my inner voice has resolved thus, it is buddhi that is referred to. Buddhi is also referred to as the antaratma (inner self). On the lowest plane of existence is the body, the physical sheath. On a higher plane is the sense complex - the five senses of perception and the five of action. The mind is on a still higher plane and the buddhi on an even higher one so that it is nearest to the core, the Atman.

When a chauffeur is sought for, the owner of the car will select a person who is an expert in the art of driving, a man of character and a person who will be obedient to his employer. In all respects, he must be a good and useful employee. When the chauffeur of the material car is expected to be so skilled and virtuous, how much more so must the buddhi, the chauffeur of the Atman, should be! Buddhi has no right to give a ride to anyone without the knowledge and permission of the Atman.

Buddhi should subject to scrutiny all the wishes of the mind. It is only when buddhi is lit by the splendour of the Atman that it can recommend the course of action to the senses, through the mind. Calamities happen only when the buddhi is not alert or is circumvented by the mind. Let buddhi take all the time it needs to sort out the pros and cons. 'Haste makes waste; waste results in worry; so do not be in a hurry.'

Haste leads to confusions and blunders which cause disappointment and anger. Anger has to be overcome by guiding the mind on to peace and equanimity, "Shantih! Shantih! Shantih!"—-that mantra (sacred peace chant) will quieten the waves of anger.

Do Your Best To Develop Balvikas

Man can have no fear when he negates his objective composition, declaring, "I am not the body, the sense, the mind or the intellect." There is no benefit if a man flees to the forest to escape attachment to the non-real. Renunciation can be cultivated without such an extreme measure. Doubts, too, will haunt a person until he cognises the truth. When doubt enters through the front door, faith departs through the back one! Doubt comes upon people like a heart attack; it overwhelms a man all of a sudden. The Gita says, "Samsayaatma Vinashyati" (the doubter is destroyed). So Gurus must enter upon their task with full faith.

The ideals of the Balvikas (child development) movement are the highest. The task of fulfilling them is the holiest of tasks. Knowing this and yet not doing one's best, is indeed treason to oneself. Mere talk cannot go far. Man is concerned with the Moon that is hundreds of thousands of miles away, but he is not concerned with his nearest neighbour. Do not instruct or instil in children magnificent ideas and colossal thoughts. Teach them small, practical ideas and simple modes of behaviour through your own example and loving exposition.

Only the teacher of teachers can direct the Balvikas Gurus. That is to say, only he who has mastered the process and problems, the significance and secrets of education, can so direct. He must be able to correct the Gurus and convince them. It might happen that State Presidents may not all have these abilities, though their abilities might well be great in other aspects of the organisation. They might have specialised in other fields of service. So my suggestion is that the State President should not be related in any way with the Balvikas. He has to organise, supervise and give guidance to the Bhajan Mandali, the Seva Samiti, the Sevadal and other service units. The Balvikas Gurus will benefit more through the very apex of the organisation.

Gurus Should Not Indulge In Jealousy

Women in charge of the Balvikas are easily moved by excitement or dejection, so it is better they do not immediately carry their problems to the State President; by the time they communicate with the central authority, the emotion would have cooled down. They can be directed more firmly by the centre and they will follow the directions more willingly if they emanate from the centre. So they have, hereafter, to write to 'The Convenor, Balvikas Gurus, Prasanthi Nilayam', for advice, direction and redress, and send a copy of the letter to Indulal Shah, the Secretary, World Council. I shall look into all these letters myself.

Of course our Balvikas Gurus should not indulge in jealousy or fault-finding. They can undertake the task of teaching only after they rid themselves of such traits. If Gurus talk ill of other Gurus and promote misunderstanding and factionalism, the children can never improve. So resolve now to adhere to the right path. If two Gurus quarrel or become unfriendly, both will be removed. No inquiry is necessary; we condemn both for having been involved. One poisonous insect can destroy an entire crop. Since we have not been very strict all these years, we find the number of Balvikas pupils is very low even with such a large number of Gurus.

Teach Children Equal Validity Of All Faiths

Each Guru must serve at least a hundred pupils in one year, only then can we have at least a hundred thousand or more getting the benefit. There are nine crores and twenty-six thousand children in our country, boys and girls, aged below ten. Those below sixteen are twenty-two crores and six hundred thousand in number. At the rate at which we are training the children, when can we teach the crores? The present tortoise speed will not help.

The aspirations and ambitions of youth are being inflamed at great speed, and you have to canalise them at equal speed. Only then can a balance be secured. The rains fall profusely; the water seeps in and is stored underground. But man pumps the underground water faster and in greater quantity than it is collected below the soil, and so drought intervenes. Therefore go fast, but be steady and sure about your work.

Another point: You have to teach the equal validity of all faiths. Teach them through quotations from the Bible, the ideals of Christianity. So, too, use the sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Islam, etc., to acquaint them with the ideals held aloft by those faiths. Also, tell them the stories contained in the scriptures of all religions. Do not belittle any one religion or give predominance to another. There was a suggestion that children must be taught the entire Gita. That is a mistaken view. Of course, if they desire to do so through their own ardour and enthusiasm, do not stand in their way. But what we have to do is to place before them in a sweet, simple style, the teachings of all faiths. The Sai religion is the harmonious blending, through love, of all religions. Though some followers of other faiths feel that the Sai religion is contrary to theirs, we should not entertain similar feelings. Ours is the totality, the Sun. So we should not limit or restrict our vision.

Lead the children along the joyous path of truth. Let your faces ever shower smiles, springing from the bliss, you earn from seeing the happy faces of children. Do not fall into the traps of anger, jealousy and pride. You can avoid this through steady and sincere attention to the task you have undertaken. May the children you serve become heroes in the revival of the ancient glory of their motherland!

Fourth All India Balvikas Gurus Conference, 21-11-1979