Understand The Reality Of Sorrow And Happiness

Heart Is The Centre Of Virtues

The world is full of fear and differences. There are different castes, different religions, different political affiliations, etc. Wherever you see, you find various kinds of differences. There are differences in thoughts, words, and deeds. Birth itself depends on the principle of differences. You will find differences even in twins. What is the secret?

Happiness And Sorrow Are Interrelated

The dualities of Nature such as good and bad, shadow and light, profit and loss, etc., are interrelated. Many intellectuals question why God has given sorrows and difficulties, pointing at differences in Nature. But they should know that human life has no value if there are no differences. Humanness assumes value in the light of differences only. Light has value because of darkness. Happiness has no value when there is no sorrow. Happiness and sorrow are inseparably enmeshed. Happiness does not find its distinction in the absence of sorrow. Sorrow cannot be felt in the absence of happiness. Pleasure is an interval between two pains.

Many are under the impression that human values are sustained by intellectual faculty. This is an absolutely wrong notion. There is sweet juice in a fruit. This juice is protected by the outer cover of the bitter skin. How can the juice be protected in the absence of the skin? Similarly, bad is indirectly protecting the good. Also, things like thorns serve to protect beautiful trees. In the name of science and modern outlook, all things are being interpreted in the negative sense. People are in search of thorny bushes, leaving the trees of sweet fruits. They are protecting bad and destroying good things of Nature. They lack proper understanding with regard to sorrow and happiness.

You should know that sorrow and happiness are interlinked. The end of sorrow marks the beginning of happiness and vice versa. In technical parlance, when you put the switch off, the light is gone. The darkness has not come from some other place. In reality, darkness and light are not different or separate from each other. Absence of light is darkness and absence of darkness is light. When one is present, the other is absent (not seen). During the daytime, you cannot see the stars. Does it mean that there are no stars in the sky during the daytime? No. You are not seeing the stars because of the brightness of the sun; and you see the sun’s brightness because of its closeness to the planet earth. But a blind man cannot see even the brightness of the sun. Similarly, lack of discrimination makes a man blind to his true reality.

Here is a small story. There was a lame man who could not walk. He happened to meet a blind man. As the blind man had healthy legs and the lame man, good eyesight, they thought they could help each other; and so they became friends. They started moving together. The blind man would carry the lame man on his shoulders and the lame man would direct the blind man while moving from place to place. One day, they reached a place where there was a big field of cucumbers. Having seen the cucumbers, the lame man told the blind man, “This place has plenty of cucumbers. Let us go and eat some cucumbers as we are hungry.” The blind man sought to know whether there was any fence around the field. The lame man replied in the negative. The blind man again asked whether there was any watchman present. The lame man said that no one was found watching the field. The blind man then said, “These cucumbers must be bitter and useless because no one would leave a good crop unprotected.” See, the blind man had the good sense of discrimination and reasoning even though he was visually handicapped.

Recognise Your Immanent Divinity

Along with education, one should develop the quality of Viveka (discrimination). Bookish knowledge is useless without Viveka. There was once a foolish man who was attracted by a rabbit in a bush. He was able to catch it after a long chase. Holding one of its legs, he counted the other legs – one, two, three. He then said in surprise that the rabbit had only three legs! His friend, who was watching this amusingly, said, “Look here! You must count also the leg you are holding.” And he tapped the leg he was holding in order to convince the foolish man. Similarly, people forget the Divinity that is present within their own selves and indulge in foolish acts.

Education and health are considered important in life. So, man needs both education and health. The head stands for education and the heart, for health. The head deals with mundane matters Pravritti (worldliness). Livelihood, food, job, business, etc., are all connected to head only. Therefore, all these activities of head are known as Pravritti. Qualities such as love, forbearance, compassion, kindness, etc., pertain to the heart. Heart is the centre of virtues. If head is Pravritti, heart is Nivritti (spirituality). Even Pravritti is sustained by Nivritti.

One who has no faith in God is blind indeed. On the other hand, even a blind man can recognise the existence of the world. Students today are acquiring only bookish knowledge. As the bookish knowledge is increasing, the practical knowledge is decreasing. They sit before a world map, draw a line between Argentina and Australia, and say they have seen these places. What kind of experience can they derive out of this type of knowledge? Real experience comes when they actually travel to these places. Without practice, bookish knowledge has little worth. Coordination between what we see and what we hear is real education.

The Upanishads say that differences and variations are inherent in Nature. Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita, Anityam Asukham Lokam Imam Prapya Bhajasva Mam (as the world is temporary and full of misery, contemplate on Me constantly).

A person who spends all the 24 hours in an air-conditioned room will not know its value. He will appreciate the value of the air-conditioner only when he goes out in the hot sun. So, hot sun teaches the value of coolness. Value of the heater is realised in a hill station. Current is common to the air conditioner and the heater. Machines are many, but current is the same. Capacities vary from machine to machine. Bulbs have different colours and different wattages. In one room, a bulb of lesser wattage is used, and in the other, a brighter bulb is used. But their voltage is the same. There is the same Divinity in the Ajnani (ignorant person), Sujnani (a person of spiritual knowledge) and the Prajnani (a person of divine wisdom). They are like three bulbs of different wattages, having the same voltage of Divinity. Change in mental levels is not real progress. Real progress involves change of heart. This is what is known as Nivritti. One has to use heart while applying discrimination. On one side, you have the mind and on the other, the heart. Mind is a mad monkey; body is a water bubble. Do not follow the body. Do not follow the mind as you do not know when and how it will jump like a monkey. Looking at a fruit on the other tree, the monkey tries to reach it, leaving the one in the hand.

Man today is similarly leaping outwards, leaving the immanent fruit of God’s love. The tree has shadow underneath. It is foolishness to climb up the shadow of the tree to get its fruit. The fruit can be obtained only when the tree is climbed. You must understand the reality of the present and try to broaden your heart. This does not imply the physical heart. If the physical heart is enlarged, you become a patient. It is the spiritual heart that is important.

Worldly Attachments Are The Cause Of Man’s Sufferings

There is complete unity in human body. For example, if the leg is hurt, the eye weeps. Similarly, when the body is in trouble, the spiritual heart is also agitated. While the physical heart is located in a particular place, the spiritual heart is present all over in the body. The doctors can operate and perform heart transplant. But spiritual heart is all-pervasive like the Atma. The Purusha (Atma) dwells in the Pura (town) of the body. The Upanishads say, Eko Vasi Sarva Bhutantaratma (the One is present as the soul in all beings).

All bodies are temporary like bulbs. You do not know when the bulb will get fused. But the Atma is eternal and omnipresent like the current. It has no differences of nations, castes, religions, communities or genders. You hear often people saying, “I am drowned in this Samsara (worldly life). I have become its slave and am undergoing trials and tribulations.” But the question is, is the Samsara holding you or you are holding the Samsara by your worldly attachments? The nature of the mind is like that of a monkey. The tribal people have a technique of catching monkeys. They keep some peanuts in a pot of narrow mouth. Attracted by the peanuts, the monkey puts its hand into the pot and holds the peanuts in its fist. As the monkey tries to bring its hand out, its fist gets stuck in the narrow mouth of the pot. The monkey thinks that someone else is holding its hand from inside the pot. Man is similarly entangled in troubles because of his worldly attachments.

There is no coherence between the words and actions of people today. They have adopted an artificial way of life. Follow your spiritual heart. That is the real master. Follow the Master, face the devil, fight to the end and finish the game. Real happiness lies in union with God.

– Bhagawan’s Divine Discourse in Sai Sruthi, at Kodaikanal on 22nd April 1992.