Divinity Manifests the Effulgence of Truth

Modern education develops only intelligence and does not help the buddhi (intellect) to blossom. One may acquire all types of education. But what is the use if the intellect is not blossomed? Such education has neither any value nor is of any use.
(Telugu Poem)

Ego Covers Up the Atmic Principle

Embodiments of Love!

In this world, people equate medha shakti (intelligence) with buddhi (wisdom) in their day-to-day affairs. But this is not correct. King Vikramaditya once convened a big conference to discuss the difference between buddhi and medha shakti, in which he invited many scholars, intellectuals, and learned men. Addressing them, he said, “Oh great scholars! If you tell me the difference between buddhi and medha shakti, it will make me very happy. Which of the two is greater, nobler, and superior? Kindly let me know.” All the scholars were unanimous in their opinion that buddhi was far more superior to medha shakti. They observed that medha shakti lacked the qualities of equality and fraternity which buddhi possessed. Vikramaditya was surprised to hear this as he had all along been thinking that there was not much difference between buddhi and medha shakti.

Difference Between Intelligence and Wisdom

Buddhi has five precious attributes. These are: shraddha (steadfast faith), ritam (practice of dharma), sathya (truth), yoga, mahattar shakti (Supreme Divine Power). These are actually the five powers of buddhi. medha shakti is related to worldly and physical intelligence. It does not possess the attributes of buddhi. One who is endowed with intelligence is full of doubts and lacks faith. He has unlimited ego. Ego covers up the atmic principle, resulting in the decline of the power of buddhi. Mere intelligence is not the sign of true learning. Unfortunately, in modern times, those who are endowed with intelligence are considered great and worthy of respect. But in ancient times, only those with buddhi were held in high esteem but not those with mere intelligence.

The first attribute of buddhi is shraddha (steadfast faith) which connotes yearning and steadiness. Mere yearning is not enough; you should have firm faith also. buddhi fosters ritam. ritam denotes trikarana shuddhi (purity of thought, word, and deed). When you attain the purity of thought, word, and deed, only then will you be endowed with the virtue of ritam. ritam helps one to enquire whether one’s faith is steadfast or not. After understanding the principle of ritam, when you express it in the form of speech, it becomes truth. When you develop total faith in the purity of thought, word, and deed, then all that you speak will be truth only. Speaking what you have seen, heard, and known through your senses does not necessarily mean truth. You may call it nijam (factual knowledge). There is a lot of difference between sathyam and nijam. The fourth attribute of buddhi is yoga. What is meant by yoga? There are many types of yoga that are prevalent in this world. But according to the patanjali yoga sutras (yoga aphorisms), yoga is chitta vritti nirodha (control of all mental modifications).

Yoga denotes control of speech, seeing, hearing, thinking, and desiring. It connotes mastery over all the senses and inner impulses.

Control of Senses is the First Lesson for Students

Talk whatever is necessary; do not talk too much. Speak only the truth. Do not indulge in argumentation on what is untruthful. It is sheer ignorance to debate upon something about which you have no knowledge because such futile debate gives rise to hatred. It does not promote unity. Vain argumentation will lead to enmity. Control of senses is very necessary for students because this age is very sacred and divine. You can build the royal road to your bright future only in this age. Modern youth are the future emancipators of the nation. Control of senses is the first lesson that students should learn.

Mahattar shakti is the combination of shraddha, ritam, sathya, and yoga. That Supreme Divine Power is God Himself. When you are endowed with divine power, you will have trikarana shuddhi (unity of thought, word, and deed). It is only in divinity that you find the effulgence of truth. Therefore, it is said, “Truth is God.” Not only this, shraddha is also the form of God. That is why the gita declares, sraddhavan labhate gnyanam (one with steadfast faith attains wisdom). What is gnyana (wisdom)? That is the very form of God. sathyam gnyanam anantam brahma (Brahman is the embodiment of truth, wisdom, and eternity). Therefore, sathya is God, ritam is God, shraddha is God, yoga is God, and mahattar shakti is God. As these are the five attributes of buddhi, the bhagavadgita declares, buddhigrahyamatheendriyam (the atma is beyond the ken of senses and can be understood only by the intellect). buddhi is beyond the senses. It is not proper to equate it with medha shakti.

Students should know the difference between buddhi and medha shakti. Intelligence can help you to secure high marks in the examinations, make a mark in debates, and deliver an eloquent speech. But all this corresponds to worldly knowledge and the path of pravritti (worldliness). buddhi leads you to the path of nivritti (spirituality).

You have to recognise how close buddhi is to the principle of the atma. The senses are above the body, the mind is above the senses, buddhi is above the mind, and the atma is above the buddhi. Hence, buddhi is closest to the atma and is illumined directly by the atma. In fact, buddhi is the reflection of the atma. It is a mistake to compare such a sacred buddhi with medha shakti. medha shakti is related to the senses. It is not beyond the senses like buddhi. medha shakti is useful only to earn a livelihood. It cannot help you to experience the oneness of the atma.

Good Thoughts Originate from Buddhi

A wealthy person built a big mansion, consisting of a drawing room, a kitchen, a dining hall, bedrooms, and bathrooms. The walls between the different rooms separated them from each other. When there are no walls, the entire mansion becomes a big hall. It is the walls of differences created by men that separate them from each other. Otherwise, they can experience the bliss of the oneness of the atma which is the same in all. The head of the family is addressed in many different ways by the members of the family. His son addresses him as father, his wife addresses him, ‘my dear husband’, his grandson addresses him, ‘my dear grandfather’ and his daughter-in-law calls him, ‘my dear father-in-law’. All the members of his family have a different relationship with him, but the person is the same. All these physical relationships are related to the body only, and not to the atmic principle. All these differences will disappear when you develop faith in the principle of oneness. There is no need for any particular spiritual practice to give up body attachment. Body is negative and the life principle within it is positive which makes the body function. Its functioning is like the functioning of a clock. When you wind the clock with the help of a key, the hands start moving and the clock starts functioning. Without the winding, the hands do not move and the clock does not function. You cannot know the time unless the hands move. In the same way, in the clock of the body, the life principle is the key which is responsible for the functioning of all its parts like hands, feet, nose, etc.

The other day, I explained to you the meaning and significance of the gayatri mantra. Its first three words are: bhu, bhuvah, suvah. ‘bhu’ is related to the body which is made up of various materials like iron, phosphorous, lime, water, etc. Since it is formed by the combination of worldly materials, it signifies materialisation. ‘bhuvah’ refers to the life principle which signifies vibration. ‘suvah’ relates to pragnyana (Supreme Consciousness). It connotes radiation which is the driving force behind materialisation and vibration. That is why the vedas declare, pragnyanam brahma (Brahman is Supreme Consciousness). It is by the radiation of pragnyana that the vibration of life principle and the materialisation of the body are able to function. The materialisation, vibration, and radiation correspond to bhuloka, bhuvarloka and suvarloka (earth, space, and heaven). They are not somewhere at a distant place; they are all within you. In fact, everything is within you – animality, humanness, and divinity. In reality, the entire world is within you.

Your thoughts are the basis of everything. Therefore, you should develop good thoughts. Wherefrom do you get good thoughts? They originate from buddhi. When someone does not give expression to good thoughts in his talking, he is termed buddhiheena (one who is devoid of buddhi). Such a person is more like an animal. One who is endowed with buddhi will have trikarana shuddhi. One with medha shakti will be proficient only in worldly affairs. buddhi is beyond worldliness.

Follow the Atmic Principle

All the limbs of the body perform their functions in accordance with the rules and regulations laid down by God. For everything, atmic principle is the basis. Take the physical body, for example. When the mind thinks of going somewhere, your feet move in accordance with the thought of the mind. When the mind thinks of doing a particular work, your hands move accordingly. Similarly, when the mind gives the command to the eyes to see somebody, the eyes obey the command immediately. When the mind wants to listen to the tape recorder, your ears will act accordingly. When the mouth gets the order for eating food, it functions accordingly.

In this manner, all the limbs of the body such as hands, feet, eyes, and mouth work according to the thoughts of the mind. They all perform their respective duties. The ears which have the duty of hearing do not try to speak. Similarly, the mouth does not try to hear. The mouth performs its duty of speaking and the ears, of hearing. Your life will be in turmoil if various limbs do not perform their respective duties. Once all the senses decided to abandon their prescribed duties. They thought, “We gather all delicious food items with great effort but it is only the mouth that eats all of them without giving anything to us. Effort is ours and enjoyment is that of the mouth! The jewels belong to somebody but someone else uses them to decorate himself, as the saying goes.” Thinking in this manner, all the limbs stopped their respective duties. Then what happened? The entire body became weak. It is God who has prescribed duties for each limb of the body which they should perform implicitly.

All the senses perform their prescribed duties, but the mind of man does not perform its assigned duty. On the one hand, the mind tells you that something is bad, and on the other hand, it makes you do the same. Is it proper for the mind to make you do something which it itself considers as evil? That is why the mind is called a mad monkey. The body is like a water bubble; nobody knows when it will burst. Therefore, do not follow the body, do not follow the mind, follow the conscience. Follow the atmic principle. Only then will you experience all that is good. Man is caught in a state of turmoil because he is not performing his duties and is following the wrong path. Not only are the individuals today in a state of restlessness, they are causing unrest in the world also. Everybody should perform his duty diligently. That is why it is said, work is worship. Every work should be treated as service to God. But man today is not adhering to this principle. On the contrary, he says one thing and does something else. Manasyekam vachasyekam, karmanyekam mahatmanam (Those whose thoughts, words, and deeds are in perfect harmony are noble ones). Of the five attributes of buddhi, Supreme Divine Power is the highest. How can man attain this power? He can attain it by developing unity of thought, word, and deed. Man today has become evil because he does not observe unity of thought, word, and deed. Manasyanyath vachasyanyath, karmanyanyath duratmanam (Those who lack harmony of thoughts, words, and deeds are wicked).

You Can Achieve Everything with Devotion and Faith

Shraddha, ritam, sathya, yoga and mahattar shakti are the five attributes of buddhi. The words dhiyo yo na prachodayat in gayatri mantra convey the prayer for the blossoming of buddhi. Just as the darkness that covers the world is dispelled by the light of the sun, in the same way, one’s ignorance is destroyed by the light of buddhi. What is the source of the light of buddhi? It is the faith in the Self. Therefore, develop faith in the Self. You cannot perform even a small task without faith in the Self. People today have lost faith in themselves. Life itself will become meaningless and chaotic without faith in the Self. Man should develop faith that he is divine.

The upanishads declare that one who is endowed with faith is a real human being. Man today has no faith. An animal has faith in its master. Even a dog looks at its master with love. But man today has no faith in his fellow human beings. When man has no faith in his fellow human beings, how can he have faith in narayana (God)? Only when he develops faith in his fellow beings can he have faith in God. You should lead your life with faith in God. In order to develop faith, you should first develop shraddha. shraddha has two aspects – aasakti (yearning) and sthiratwam (steadiness). When these two qualities combine, shraddha manifests there. You may have the yearning to attain God, but it should be constant and steady. Only then can you attain God.

Students! There are many things for you to learn. I have told you the difference between buddhi and medha shakti. Similarly, you should know about the mind and its vagaries. Mind is very pure and sacred but it becomes unsacred and dirty by evil thoughts. It is like a white cloth which is totally clean and spotless. But it becomes dirty when it is put to misuse. You give your dirty clothes to the washerman for washing. He removes the dirt and gives back clean clothes to you. What do you say then? You say that the washerman has made the clothes clean and white. The washerman does not have the power to make your clothes white. Whiteness is the original color of your clothes. The washerman has only removed the dirt. In the same way, the mind is totally pure. You make it dirty by indulging in evil practices. The washerman removes the dirt of the clothes by hitting them repeatedly on a rock. Similarly, the dirt of the mind can be removed by the constant repetition of God’s Name. This develops shraddha. In this manner, you should develop shraddha and vishwas (faith). If you have both devotion and faith, there is nothing that you cannot achieve in this world. You can even reach the sun and the moon. Here, the sun does not refer to the sun which shines in the sky. Your vision itself is the sun. As the vedas say, chandrama manaso jataha chaksho suryo ajayata (the moon was born out of the mind and the sun out of the eyes of the Supreme Being). You can have the sacred vision when you have both shraddha and vishwas. This sacred vision is termed as ‘su-darshan’, which means good vision. As described in the bhagavata story, when Gajendra (king of elephants) was caught by the crocodile, he prayed to Lord narayana wholeheartedly, “I have lost courage and strength. I am tired and totally exhausted and I am about to lose consciousness. Oh Lord narayana! Come and protect me.” Here Gajendra is not an elephant. One’s pride is the elephant. After giving up his pride on his strength, Gajendra turned his vision towards God. Then Lord narayana also cast His benevolent look towards him. That look itself became sudarshan chakra (Lord Vishnu’s discus) which saved Gajendra.

Divine Power is the Basis of All Powers

One’s eyes signify the splendor of the sun. It is the combination of the external light and the light of your eyes that makes you see. Even if the sun is shining brightly, you cannot see anything if you close your eyes. What is the reason? The sun in your eyes should combine with the sun outside. Only then can you see the world. You cannot see anything when you are in a dark room. What is the reason? There is no external light. Without sunlight or any other light, your eyes cannot see. When the light of your eyes combines with the light outside, then only you are able to see everything. It means your eyes should be open, and there should be light outside. The unity of both is necessary for you to see. Eyes by themselves do not have the power to see. Similarly, ears have no power of their own to hear and the tongue has no power to speak. It is the divine power which makes them function. Suppose a person is dead. He does have eyes, ears, and tongue but they cannot function. What is the reason? The reason is that he has lost his innate divine power. People today have eyes and ears. But they can neither see nor hear what they are supposed to see and hear. What is the reason? The reason is that their mind is polluted.

Once Lord Krishna manifested before Surdas and said, “Do you wish to see Me? I will restore your eyesight.” Then Surdas asked, “Oh Lord! Are all those who have eyes able to see You? People have ears which are as big as winnowers but they cannot listen to the sweet music of Your flute. Similarly, people have eyes, but they are more like cotton seeds. They cannot see Your divine form. I want those eyes with which I can see Your divine form. I want those ears which can listen to the sweet music of Your flute. I don’t require physical eyes and ears which are of no use to me.” This is real knowledge. This is real renunciation.

Oh Lord! In spite of having eyes, people are verily blind as they do not yearn to see Your auspicious form. Though they are endowed with ears, they are deaf to Your teachings. Though God is immanent in them, they have drowned themselves in worldly life.
(Telugu Poem)

You should understand the principle of buddhi if you want to develop such divine feelings. You can attain everything with the help of buddhi. Divine power is present in everyone. But people have no faith in the divine power. Whatever they do, they think that they are doing it with their own power. This is not only their ignorance, but also their foolishness. Divine power is the basis of all other powers. To know such a divine power, you should have yearning and steadiness in the first place. You should develop love and affection for God. Your love should not be like a leaf that flutters in the wind or the pendulum of a clock that keeps oscillating. It should be steady. Only then can you become deserving of divine grace.

Happiness is Union with God

There are so many things that our students should know. Many people think, Swami is repeating the same things again and again. Yes, things have to be told again and again till you can learn and put them into practice. Are you not filling the same stomach every day? When you have eaten in the morning, why do you again eat in the evening? “I ate yesterday. Why should I eat today?” Why don’t you think like this? It is because whatever you eat gets digested. That is why you are filling the same stomach again and again. You wash your face again and again. Then why should you not hear what you have already heard? If you have derived bliss by practising what you have heard, then there is no need for you to hear it again. But until you put it into practice, these things have to be told again and again.

Here is a small example. You teach A, B, C to small children. When they reach first standard, you teach them the spellings of words. If you have to learn the spelling of the word ‘milk’, you have to keep repeating ‘m-i-l-k’ many times. It is only when you repeat again and again can you remember the spelling of the word milk. Until you learn the spelling and the meaning properly, you have to keep repeating. However, every time I repeat something, there is something new in it. You have to recognise this truth. I have told you the meaning of gayatri mantra many times. But every time I tell, there is a new meaning of this mantra. This is the greatness of Sai. The interpretation I give is ever new. It is not only My words, even My form is ever new. That is the sign of divinity. Divinity is ever new. You should also be ever new. You should never give room to old and rotten feelings in your heart. You should always be happy. That is the reward for being in the presence of God. Where is happiness? Happiness is union with God. Look at the faces of those who do not think of God. They may sport an artificial smile on their face like in a cinema, but in reality, they have a ‘castor oil’ (melancholy) face. Those who have become the recipients of divine grace have an effulgent face. Those who live in God-consciousness radiate divine effulgence. That is the mark of divinity. As the rays of divine grace fall on them, they shine with brilliance.

Shraddha and vishwas are necessary to attain divine grace. The ladder of divine grace has vishwas as support at its lower end and shraddha, at the upper end. You cannot climb the ladder unless it has support at both its ends. If you have both shraddha and vishwas, you can achieve anything in this world. Wherever you may go, God is in you, with you, around you, above you, and below you.

God is your sole refuge wherever you may be, 
In a forest, in the sky, in a city or a village, on the top of a mountain or in the middle of deep sea.
(Telugu Poem)

Develop such divine feelings.

– From Bhagawan’s Divine Discourse in Sai Kulwant Hall, Prasanthi Nilayam on 21st June 1996