What Is Vidya?

Students!

Remember that it is only with the result of the merit which was accumulated by you during many lives that you have been able to join these Sri Sathya Sai Loka Seva Educational Institutions. What does the word student mean? It means a person dedicated to studying. He is called vidyarthi because he seeks vidya (knowledge). What does vidya mean? Vid means Light and ya means that which gives light. Of course, our eyes give us light because they are blessed by the Sun. They make things in nature clearer and clearer. Thus we have five senses which collect information about nature and place them at the disposal of the mind. The mind has got a master namely the intellect which discriminates between the good and the evil and encourages you to accept the good and reject the evil. But as the basis of the buddhi (intellect), there is the Atma (soul) which gives you the experience of the ananda (Total Bliss), whenever you are aware of truth, goodness, or beauty. Beauty is not to be mistaken for the physical charm which is temporary.

Anger Is The Worst Exhibition Of The Ego

Now you are not able to understand the Atma because your effort is not sincere and steady. You feel that there are more valuable things which can be got from the outside world by fair means or foul. But pure and lasting bliss which will not cause harm to anyone can be got only from the inner search.

Vidya means proceeding from darkness to light, that is to say, from ignorance of the Atma (Divine self) to the awareness of the Atma. People do not seek the jyoti (light) that can lead them from Tamas (inertia) into wisdom. The reason is they have no steadiness in their sadhana (spiritual effort). They pay more attention to material pleasure and the earning of money by any means to have what they hope will give happiness in the future. Any effort in these directions is simply running after a mirage. All efforts must be directed towards the realization of the truth, goodness, and beauty which are latent in us as the Atma.

When you run after temporary pleasure any disappointment or obstacle will produce anger and hatred. The angry man is blind and temporarily mad. The saint Durvasa who is the personification of anger is called so because he was full of durvasanas (bad tendencies). Anger is the worst exhibition of the ego.

In order to realize the Atma you must have faith in your success and in the fact that the Atma exists and that it can be brought into consciousness all the time. Faith is essential for success in any undertaking. However little, you can progress in education only if you have faith in your abilities. Of course, the material education you are trying to get is necessary for material ends but it cannot give shanti and ananda. When success comes your way, you become proud and uncontrollable; when defeat encounters you, you become dejected and desperate. It is only spiritual education that can tell you that both success and defeat are inevitable in life and both must be faced with an equal mind.

Spiritual Education Leads To Detachment

Material education leads to desires and attachments. Spiritual education leads to peace and detachment. Material education develops the ego. Spiritual education surrenders the ego at the feet of the Lord. The Yadavas had an egoistic attachment to Krishna. They thought of him as a kinsman specially belonging to them; as a result, they had to end their days before the passing away of Krishna, by fighting among themselves. But the gopis (cowherd girls) had surrendered their ego and merged their individuality. So their ananda was not disturbed. Here in the Loka Seva schools, you are introduced to this essential spiritual education as tender plants. You help to cultivate duty, discipline, and devotion and grow into straight and steady promoters of the spiritual culture of India.

The newborn child asks the question ‘Koham?’ (Who am I?) That is the meaning of its first cry. Of what avail is human life if the answer to this question is not discovered by man? Of what avail is an electric bulb which has no current to illuminate? Man should not live like dogs and jackals. He must realize he has God in him in the form of prema (love) which draws him to every living thing. Then he will get the answer to the question with which he was born: ‘I am love, I am God’.

You must all be disciplined and devoted. Duty is God. So attend your classes and learn your lessons and be true vidyarthis, seeking vidya (light). Have prayers to the Lord morning and evening. You have all taken great trouble with extra love to clean every square inch of this huge campus. I know how much time and energy you spent on this and I am sorry I cannot now stay longer with you. I wish I could come once again very soon and spend more time with you.

Bhagawan’s Discourse to students at Alike, April 1979