Be Human

You can master all knowledge and win loud applause; 
You can be hailed as a king and rule over the realm; 
You can pile vast wealth, donate gold and land; 
You can count all the stars that shine at night; 
You can name without a doubt each living thing on earth; 
You can teach the eightfold skill to all who aspire; 
You can reach the distant moon and proudly walk thereon. 
But you cannot be the master of the five senses in your body; 
You cannot turn your face inward and still your wayward mind.

We consider a combination of body, mind, intellect and senses as a human. This is not correct.

The mind is something we possess; the body is something which we carry about; the intellect, too, is ours, and the senses are dealt with by us. We are not the body, mind, intellect, or senses. They are ours; we possess them. They are manipulated by us, we are distinct from all these. The day we recognize this differentiation and live on that knowledge, that is the day from which we become aware of our reality and our goal.

Education Is The Gaining Of Illumination

Is this body inert or conscious? Of course, it grows, declines, acts and undergoes destruction, just as the sweepings of your home, if daily thrown into a heap at one spot, grow into a mound. So, too, when food is daily provided, the body grows, and when food is stopped, it declines. So the body is basically inert matter. The body is consumed by fire when life leaves it, and it becomes a corpse. It is also consumed by the flames of worry, fear, and anxiety every day of its existence, from the moment of awakening at dawn to the moment of sleep at night. The body is also called shareeram, which means that which undergoes destruction. It is also praised as a temple where God is installed. And the word kshetram, usually applied to holy spots, is also used to indicate the body. Therefore, the body must be used to further Divine purposes and to demonstrate the glow of the Divine that is installed therein.

The body is cleansed by soap and water, but true cleanliness can be achieved only from within. The cleansing of the body may keep physical illness away, but the ashanti (disease) of the mind requires inner cleanliness. Perfume applied to the body might please the company around, but good thoughts and sweet conversation will please them more and for a longer time. As soap is for the body, truth is for speech; both have a high cleansing effect. The mind has to be cleansed by proper education in the crucible of renunciation. The intellect has to be purified by a universal vision conferred by wisdom. Education does not merely mean the study of books, nor the capacity to write books.

Education is the gaining of illumination; it is the light that dispels ignorance and doubt. It scatters the fog of ego. It confers humility and discipline. The manas (mind) must also be subjected to the process of tapas (rigorous discipline). The highest discipline is to bring about unity in one’s thought, word and deed. Tapas does not mean escaping into the forest and meditating in loneliness on God.

God is not an alien living in far-off lands
God is close to each, in the heart He shines; 
Sin is not an act or fact in far-off lands
Sin is in your mind, polluting word and deed.

Each Sense Organ Has A Legitimate Purpose

God and the devil, good and bad, are denizens of one’s own heart. Where God is, there the devil cannot be. It is like a game of ‘musical chairs’, and only one person can occupy the chair. Seat God forever in the heart, after ridding it of other occupants. Let this inert body be activated by Divine consciousness. The secular curriculum that you master in this college is important so that you may be self-reliant. But this education cannot be the final goal; the resident of the heart should be given due reverence and homage.

Next, the senses. They serve to provide awareness of sound, tactile feeling, form, taste and smell. They should not be allowed to contribute to the ill-health of the body and mind. Each of them has a legitimate purpose, a limited area of operation which should be respected. The tongue knows the measure of salt that can make a dish tasty. In the Upanishads, the senses are called matras (measures). Each one is a measure that can operate only up to a limit. The tongue has to speak softly and sweetly; the eye has to seek and see symmetry, harmony, and beauty, the glow of Divine ecstasy and the splendor of Divine charm. The uncontrolled tongue indulges in four sins - lying, scandalizing, vain gossip, and wanton fault-finding. God resides in everyone. The Lord has declared, “Mamaivamsho Jeevaloke jeevabhutah Sanatanah” (all living beings are a part of Me). They are all a part of His Sanatana (Eternal) Self. So everyone is an embodiment of the Divine.

Be Engaged In Developing The Good In You

When any person is ill-treated or harmed, it is God who is the target of that sacrilege. We declare that truth is God, and in the same breath, adore falsehood. Resorting to falsehood is a demon that possesses and overpowers the weak. Indulging in unnecessary talk, talk for its own sake, is a morbid habit. It is also a waste of energy. It disperses company, for no one likes to listen to a bore. If he is tolerated for a minute, he will stick to you for days. There are others who spread rumors and gossip and spoil your peace of mind by poisoning the springs of love. You must be engaged in developing the good in you, weeding out the bad and heightening your purity and holiness.

How can the knowledge of the good and bad in others help you in this task? Talkative persons easily slip into scandal-mongering. Too much talk and a tongue addicted to scandal are twins; they work together and in unison. A poet addressed his tongue thus, “O tongue, knower of taste, relisher of sweetness, always prefer the truth and God.” Even when speaking the truth, one should not inflame passion, diminish enthusiasm, or inflict injury: “Satyam bhooyat Priyam bhooyat_” (Speak the truth, speak pleasantly). “Na bhooyat Satyam apriyavam” (If unpleasant, do not speak the truth). “Priyam cha Na anritam bhooyat” (though it may be pleasant, do not speak falsehood).

Practise Speech That Does Not Offend

The Lord has said in the Geeta: “Anudvega karam Vakyam Satyam priya hitam Cha Yat” (Speech that does not offend, that is truthful, pleasant, and beneficial, has to be practised). Such speech sanctifies the tongue. It knows and respects the limits. The ear cannot tolerate a false or discordant note. Every one of the senses responds within its own limits of tolerance and protests when that limit is exceeded or disregarded. You must be vigilant that they are put to use with proper attention to those limits. When they stray from the path or overlap their boundaries, reason hides its head and makes you inhuman.

You can master all knowledge and win loud applause; 
The crowds that gather may praise and proclaim, 
“Ah, what a wonderful lecture he gave!” 
You can be hailed as a king and rule over the realm, 
You can pile vast wealth and donate gold and land. 
But what is the benefit gained?

Karna gave away the earrings he wore and even sliced off his Divine suit of armor and gave it away in charity. Wherein lies the key to greatness? Whereto does renunciation lead? The question is, does it purify the heart? Does it help the divinity within to manifest Itself?

Three Kinds Of Tapas Man Should Practise

The manas (mind) is known as antah-karana (inner sense organ). The manas is always engaged in manana (recapturing, remembering, recalling, reflecting). As a result, it receives and rejects wishes. Even when you are alone and silent, the mind may be on a spree - wishing, desiring, planning to do or not to do. And it keeps the tongue busy until sleep silences it. There are no standards which are kept in mind while looking, talking, or acting. Since these are done as soon as the thought arises or the will command, the power of discrimination becomes weak. One must try to stay a while in order to examine and judge. Develop the quality of fortitude, the strength not to yield to the opinions of others unless you find them to be right and the courage to bear criticism and face slander.

As regards tapas (penance), there are three kinds - the tapas of the mind, of the body and of the speech. Let me remind you that the tapas of the body involves a few disciplines, The first is the process by which you revere and adore elders, teachers and God, serve them and honor their commands, put those commands into practice and earn their grace. The second discipline is cleanliness, inner and outer. Outer cleanliness includes the cleanliness of the area surrounding you. The third is brahmacharya. This does not mean merely desisting from marriage. It means becoming soaked in holy love for the Divine, through transparent sincerity, unselfish will, pure consciousness, and holy thoughts.

The True Meaning Of Brahmacharya

You all know that Hanumaan is described as the eternal brahmachaari (bachelor). He was married to Sri Vatsala, yet he earned that description. How? Brahmachari means ‘He who moves in Brahman.’ Hanumaan had no other thought than Rama (who is Brahman) and so was ever moving in Brahman, living in Brahman. Your thoughts, feelings, desires and activities must all move in Brahman (the Universal Absolute). That is to say, whatever is spoken, whatever is seen, must be recognized as Brahman. That is the real brahmacharya stage, not merely observing certain disciplines to control the senses and the mind.

The next discipline is ahimsa (absence of violence). It does not mean merely not injuring a living being. You should not cause hurt even by a word, a look or a gesture. Tolerance, fortitude, equanimity - these help you to be steady in ahimsa. They will remove all chance of your causing pain to others. This is called sahana (forbearance) or kshama (forgiving). Assess the worth of whatever others do to you or say about you, and cultivate fortitude and the understanding to appreciate their behavior and pardon their faults. This capacity is as invaluable as truth, righteousness, wisdom, non-violence, renunciation, delight, and compassion. It is all that one need possess for spiritual advancement.

Living becomes a glorious experience only when it is sweetened by tolerance and love. Willingness to compromise with others’ ways of living and cooperation in common tasks, these make living happy and fruitful. Certain modes of behavior have been laid down and proved beneficial by centuries of practice. These have to be observed with modifications to suit the conditions of today. We are developing in each department of life, but pity it is that we are not developing the unique qualities of human beings. Develop the atmic awareness, the consciousness of the Divine, the acquisition of Divine attributes. Expand love and understanding. When students consciously and steadily strive to develop these distinct human qualities, education will give them valuable experience, and they shall be equipped to transform society. The nation and all mankind will derive benefit therefrom.

Sri Sathya Sai College for Women, Anantapur, 17-2-1980