Total Awareness Is Wisdom

Install God In Your Heart To Experience Bliss

Hastasya Bhooshanam Daanam, 
Satyam Kanthasya Bhooshanam, 
Srotrasya Bhooshanam Shastram, 
Bhooshanaih Kim Prayojanam?

(Sanskrit Verse)

(Charity is the true ornament for the hand. Truth is the true necklace and listening to sacred texts is the true ornament for the ears. What is the use of other ornaments?)

For man, it is only charity that is the true ornament for the hand. The ornament for the neck is truth, and for the ear it is righteousness. There are no ornaments superior to these. An individual wearing these ornaments will not only be the very form of beauty, he will also set high ideals in society. The body made of five elements emits foul smell every moment. Where, when and at what point will it perish, one cannot say. For this ephemeral, transient, temporary body, the physical ornaments are not the real ones. The real ornaments for the body are those which are sacred, permanent and ever true.

Make Human Values A Part Of Your Life

Since ancient times, man has been pursuing various ways to attain peace and security in life. But he has not been able to secure peace in spite of all his wealth, education, authority and high position. Peace cannot be found outside; it is present in the Pranamaya Kosha (life sheath) and Manomaya Kosha (mental sheath) of man. So, man can attain peace only when he develops inner vision.

The value of truth lies in our words. It means that we should express truth through our words. Righteousness comes out of the body. Therefore, we should perform righteous acts through our body. Similarly, peace comes out of the mind. Truth, righteousness and peace are the very form of a human being. You don’t need to earn righteousness separately. You don’t need to go to elders for righteousness. When inner feelings are expressed outside, that is truth. Truth expressed must be practised by the body. That is righteousness. The body confers peace on the mind through righteousness. This trinity of truth, righteousness and peace is very important. It is the main responsibility of man to purify himself by putting these three virtues into practice in his life.

Then what is love? Love comes out of the Manomaya Kosha (mental sheath) and Anandamaya Kosha (bliss sheath) of man. The principle of love that comes out of these sheaths purifies the Antahkarana (inner instrument). It flows as the undercurrent of truth, righteousness and peace. Then what is non-violence? Non-violence comes out of the sheath of bliss. Satya, Dharma, Shanti, Prema and Ahimsa (truth, righteousness, peace, love and non-violence) are the five life principles, five life sheaths and five elements. But these values are absent in human beings today. Man’s words that come out of his mouth are contradictory to his thoughts and his actions are contradictory to his words. That is why humanness is missing in man today. Manasyanyat Vachasyanyat, Karmanyanyat Duratmanam (Those whose thoughts, words and deeds lack harmony are wicked). He has the form of a human being, but has no human values. That is why the world is in such a sad state today. Modern man tries to hide his thoughts and feelings. What is this hiding? It is actually obstructing truth. Not only does he obstruct truth, he also does not put it into practice. He follows untruth in life. He is habituated to see cheap movies, to indulge in mean gossip and to perform belittling actions. Because of these bad habits, man loses faith in truth. Even if he develops faith, he is not able to practise.

What are human values? Human values are those which help you to travel from Vyashti (individual) to Samashti (society) and ultimately reach the state of Soham (That I am). Enquire thoroughly how much sanctity there is in the word Satya (truth). Sat + e + ya = Satya. Sat means life. E means Annam (food). Ya means Surya (sun). Food is derived from the sun. So far as man has life, he needs food. Food is the creation of the sun. Because of the sunrays, there is greenery in the world and man grows crops. The sun is the main cause of all that we grow. Man uses the food created by the sun to sustain life.

If we analyse the word Satya, it is the combination of three letters: Sa, Ta, Ya. When we reverse the order of the letters, we get Ya, Ta, Sa. Here ‘Ya’ signifies Yamas (Ahimsa, Satya, Asteya, Brahmacharya, Aparigraha) which form the basis of inner discipline of man. ‘Ta’ means Tapas (penance) and ‘Sa’ means Satya Swaroopa (embodiment of truth), that is God. So, the word Satya connotes that man can have the vision of God by inner discipline and penance.

The first of the five Yamas (restraints) is Ahimsa. What is Ahimsa? It means not to hurt or harm anyone by thoughts, words and deeds. So, non-violence means Trikarana Shuddhi (purity of thoughts, words and deeds). Hence, do not use words that hurt anyone, do not use this body to harm anybody and do not entertain bad thoughts like hatred and jealousy against anyone in your mind. This total purity of thoughts, words and actions is non-violence. Not merely purity, the harmony of all the three. That is true non-violence.

God Is Pure, Peaceful And Changeless

Then, what is truth? Trikalabadham Satyam (Truth remains unchanged in the three periods of time - past, present and future). Similarly, God remains changeless in all the three periods of time. So, we call God as the very form of Sat, Chit and Ananda. Sat means being, Chit means awareness. The combination of Sat and Chit is Ananda (bliss). Sat is the changeless form of God. God is attributeless; He has no attributes whatsoever; He has no aberrations whatsoever. His nature is changeless. There may be change in words and actions, but not in the heart. Sometimes, Swami may pretend as if He is scolding boys, but there is no anger in His heart.

Basing on your feelings you interpret. To the one with steady mind, the Self (Atma) appears pure. How? When water is still and there is no wind, you see the reflection of the sun in water very clearly. When there is movement in the water due to the wind, the reflection of the sun in it also appears to be moving. Similarly, to those whose minds are wavering, God also appears to be moving or changing.

Know that God does not move or change. It is only the reflection that has movement, not the sun. Does the sun move? No, it appears to be moving by the effect of the wind. It is the wavering mind of man which sees change in the changeless God. Moreover, if the water is dirty and full of mud, the sun also appears to be dirty in it. Is there dirt in the sun? No! There is total purity in God. The dirt lies in your heart. As your heart is filled with bad thoughts and wicked feelings, you see impurity in God. God is always pure. God is always steady. God is always peaceful. You see impurity or unsteadiness in God because of your own impure and unsteady mind. The one who does not change in all the three periods of time is God.

Then Chit. Chit means total awareness. You say, “I have read many sacred texts; so, I am a great scholar. I am a man of wisdom”. What is this knowledge? What is it that you call wisdom? You consider that wisdom lies in knowing the essence of all sacred texts. But sacred texts give only minimal knowledge. So, man cannot say he has acquired total wisdom by reading the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Brahma Sutras. Out of the infinite wisdom, you get just a little bit. This is not full wisdom. This is not full awareness. When you know what is awareness, you will understand that it is total knowledge, total wisdom.

(Swami holding a handkerchief and showing just a little tip of it). When I hold the handkerchief like this and ask you, “What is this”? you will say, “It is a piece of cloth”. You become egoistic just because you have come to know that it is a piece of cloth. That is not awareness. What is this? This is handkerchief. When I unfold it and ask, “What is this”? you will say, “It is a handkerchief”! Out of that big handkerchief, if you know just a small bit, can that be called full knowledge? No, try to acquire total wisdom.

Only God has total wisdom, none else. It is something like infinite space or sky. What is the sign of infinite ocean and infinite sky? Sky is infinite, ocean is fathomless. What is their colour? Their colour is blue. One is infinite, the other is fathomless. That is why they appear to be blue in colour. So, God is described as having blue colour complexion. What do you mean by blue? If He had blue colour at the time of birth, He would be kept in exhibition. That is not what is meant by blue colour. None can understand God’s capacities and potentialities, none can fathom His depth. Yato Vacho Nivartante Aprapya Manasa Saha (whence the words along with the mind rebound in futility without comprehending Him). So, God is beyond the word for description, beyond the mind for comprehension.

Combination Of Sat And Chit Is Ananda

God is eternal and endowed with total wisdom. When we combine these two divine qualities of eternity and wisdom, we get permanent bliss. What do you mean by eternal bliss? It remains as it is; it never declines. To have such bliss, we should install God in our heart who is the very form of Sat (truth). Then we will have blissful thoughts. Awareness of the divine form of God is Chit. When we combine these two, bliss will emerge quite naturally. How? Sat is like sugar. The quality of sugar is sweetness. Whosoever may taste it, he will find it sweet. A person suffering from malaria may not be able to relish its sweetness. But every healthy person will testify to its sweetness. You mix sugar with anything, that preparation will taste sweet. If you mix it with rice flour or any other flour, it will impart its sweetness to it. The rice flour is not sweet but its association with sugar will make it sweet. The love present in everyone is sweet like sugar. Wherefrom do you get love? It comes from God. It is the reaction, reflection and resound of God in everyone. The nature of love is sweetness. This is Sat. Whatever you may do, it will never change. Its sweetness remains as it is. That is Sat.

Next is Chit. What do you mean by Chit? Though it has no taste of its own, it will have the taste of that with which it is mixed. It is like water. If you mix salt in water, the water will become saline. If you mix sugar in water, it will be sweet. If you add anything bitter, it is bound to be bitter. Water has no quality of its own. Water always remains as water. Because of the substance with which it is mixed, its taste changes. If you associate Chit with worldly feelings, you are bound to lose peace, face troubles and difficulties and suffer losses. No, no. Never associate Chit with worldliness. Associate Chit with Sat. Then only will you experience Ananda (bliss). Here is sugar and here is water. Sugar is sugar, water is water. But when you mix both, it is neither sugar nor water. It becomes syrup. Similarly, when Sat and Chit are combined, it becomes Ananda (bliss). That is the divine quality of Sat-chit-ananda. How do you get this bliss? You get by the combination of Sat and Chit. It is not worldly happiness. It is divine bliss. Then everything in your life will have divine bliss. So, God has these three qualities which are permanent: Sat, Chit, Ananda.

Man Is The Repository Of All Virtues

These divine qualities are changeless, eternal. Only name and form are subject to change. Who gave you the form? Your parents gave you. Who gave you your name? Your parents named you. It is not your name at birth; it is given to you after birth. God created clay and water. The potter mixed clay with water and made pots of various names and forms. Similarly, parents create your form. But the form gets Chit Shakti (consciousness) from God. That consciousness in you is divine. The pots may break, names and forms may change; they are not permanent. The body may perish. But the divine consciousness in it is imperishable. Names and forms are not permanent. God is permanent. His name is Satchidananda. Then how can you attain Satchidananda? You can attain it only when you know your value and follow the right path. Your speech should express your inner feelings honestly. Do not hide or cover them to deceive anyone. When you hide your inner feelings, they rot inside you. So, feelings must be expressed by speech. And that which is expressed must be practised. That is truth, righteousness and peace.

Peace relates to the mind, righteousness relates to the body, and truth relates to the speech. Truth is the very breath of man. This truth is the source of light. It should illumine your heart like brightness of the sun. Sometimes, there may be clouds in between. But do not change your vision because of these clouds of delusion. The sun is shining brightly. Because of thick clouds in between, you do not see the sun. Can you deny the existence of the sun if you cannot see it? These are passing clouds, not permanent clouds. Once the clouds move away, you can see the sun again.

Your heart is the sky. The Atma is the sun which is shining. Your feelings and thoughts are clouds. Sometimes, the clouds are very thick. Because of thick clouds, you do not see the sun. Then you think that there is no sun. Wait for some time. Do not be in a hurry. If you make haste, your entire future will be filled with darkness. So be patient. Do not be hasty. Haste makes waste. Waste makes worry. So, do not be in a hurry. Never make haste. Wait patiently and peacefully. Do not change your objective; keep your focus on it and concentrate. Develop Prana Shakti (life force) and Dhyana Shakti (power of meditation). Then you will have unwavering vision. Concentrate on the Atma. As the clouds of delusion move away, you can see the sun of the Atma. Just because clouds have appeared, do not look down and lose concentration. Without changing the vision, experience everything in creation with divine feelings. Then only will you have peace and security. The values of truth, righteousness, love and peace are not to be acquired from somewhere else. They are all present in Annamaya Kosha (food sheath), Pranamaya Kosha (life sheath), Manomaya Kosha (mental sheath), Vijnanamaya Kosha (wisdom sheath) and Anandamaya Kosha (bliss sheath) within you.

Shanti comes out of Pranamaya and Manomaya Koshas. Satya comes out of Vijnanamaya Kosha and Dharma comes out of Annamaya Kosha. Love is experienced through Manomaya and Anandamaya Koshas and Ahimsa comes out of Anandamaya Kosha. Man has three types of bodies: Sthula, Sukshma and Kaarana (gross, subtle and causal). The physical body is gross. It is formed of Annamaya Kosha. Body is like a lorry tyre. If you pump it, it will be inflated. If you eat a lot, your weight will increase. If you reduce your food, it loses weight. But you may have doubt as to how this inert body grows. You may say that it is not inert because it has got the power to enlarge. That is not correct. Here is a small example. You sweep your house daily. If you go on accumulating the dust in a pit, after a month, this dust would collect into a mound. It has increased because you are putting the dust there daily. So, body is also like a pit. You fill it with Idli, Sambar and all types of food. If it increases in weight due to too much eating, it is not because of Chaitanya Shakti (power of consciousness). So, Sthula Deha is formed by Annamaya Kosha. The next is Sukshma Deha (subtle body). It is formed by Pranamaya, Manomaya and Vijnanamaya Koshas. What is Kaarana Deha (causal body)? That is formed by Anandamaya Kosha (sheath of bliss). It is the witness of everything.

So, truth, righteousness, peace, love, and non-violence cannot be imported or exported. They are within you. If you make sincere efforts, they can manifest in your life on their own. There is nothing in this world which is not present in a human being. Everything is within him. Divinity also is within him. But man should develop the awareness that divinity is present in him in many forms. It is present in gross body, subtle body and causal body. This is Constant Integrated Awareness which is changeless. That awareness is Chit. This awareness is there in our words, in our actions, in our feelings and every part of our body. Without awareness, you cannot live even for a moment. That awareness is the very form of God. If you understand and investigate these spiritual principles and put them into practice, you will have divine bliss.

– Bhagawan’s Discourse in Sai Sruthi, at Kodaikanal on
12th April 1993.