Unity Is The Very Life-Breath Of Humanity

Where There Is Purity, There Is Divinity

We acquire all types of wealth through our words alone. We develop friendship and relationships through our words. Something bad can also happen to us by the words we utter. Our words should be sacred and should contain the essence of the Vedas and scriptures. We acquire the knowledge of spirituality through words. Man should therefore make every effort to speak only appropriate and proper words. Swami always says, “You cannot always oblige, but you can speak always obligingly”.

Consider Nature As Divine

As Nature is the creation of God, it has all His attributes. Nature is not merely the source of natural wealth, but it reflects God’s wealth. Man should therefore consider Nature as divine and revere it. The relationship of Nature with God is called Prakriti and Purusha. Prakriti is feminine while Purusha is masculine. Though it is feminine in nature or Stree, there is no difference between Prakriti and Purusha in the physical sense.

Stree stands for feminine but not in the physical sense. What is the real meaning of Stree? The word Stree has three syllables, ‘St’, ‘R’ and ‘I’. ‘St’ stands for Sattvika, ‘R’ stands for Rajasika and ‘I’ denotes Tamasika. Every person whether masculine or feminine has three qualities. ‘St’ signifies divine sacred feelings and piousness, so that everyone may merge in the Divine. ‘I’ does not stand for dullness but for obedience, humility, morality, and integrity. ‘R’ does not denote emotions, anger, arrogance or pomp but forbearance, tolerance and charity.

Who is Manava (human being)? Manava is one who treasures sacred feelings. He should have the human qualities and entertain sacred thoughts, words, and deeds. The real human quality is harmony of thoughts, words, and deeds. That is why it is said, “The proper study of mankind is man”. Nature has all the purity. Man should learn from Nature and develop complete purity. Spirituality does not consist only of penance, rituals, meditation, etc. All these practices are meant to make the heart pure and to enable one to keep away from the transient, evil world. It does not mean merely thinking of God but also being away from all unsacred actions. Spirituality embodies eternal truth. Nature is the best teacher. Through the study of Nature, man can learn what is transient and what is permanent. That which is sacred in Nature reflects Divinity. Without Divinity, Nature cannot exist. You say that you are not seeing or experiencing God. That is sheer foolishness. In Nature, everything is Divine. You are experiencing Divinity in Nature, yet you want to see God! Just as gold is the same in all the ornaments, everything is Divine in Nature.

From the worldly point of view, everyone in the world is masculine or feminine. But both masculine and feminine have the same qualities. Birth, death, hunger and thirst are the same in all. Pleasure and pain are also common in both. The principle of unity in both men and women is the same. Equality is Divinity. Many people wrongly think that women are weak, dependent, and fit for working in the kitchen. Every human being has some weakness or the other for that matter. There is only Supreme Being who is without any weakness.

Make Your Vision Noble And Sacred

The feminine aspect of God is Prakriti or Nature which is in the form of matter. But God is energy. It is not possible to have Nature without God and God without Nature as both are interdependent and interrelated. We should not think that anything is bad in the world because everything is Divine and full of sanctity. We cannot change the creation, we have to change our outlook. Sadhana envisages that man should make his vision noble and sacred.

From the physical point of view women are considered weak. But they are not really weak. The Bhagavad-gita states that women are endowed with higher powers than men. In ancient Bharat, women represented higher and nobler qualities. In the home, woman was called Grihalakshmi as the prestige and reputation of the family depended entirely on the standards set by the woman. Women are the great strength of the family and society.

Recognising that Divinity is the basis of all things, everyone should reflect on his indwelling divinity and broaden his heart. When it is narrow, you cannot call it Hridaya because Hridaya is full of love and compassion. The word Hridaya consists of ‘Hri’ and ‘Daya’ which means a heart with Daya or compassion. Unfortunately, man’s heart is bereft of compassion and full of wicked thoughts and wicked feelings. In order to purify his heart, man should always contemplate on God.

Everyone Should Manifest His Divinity

Many people use the word ‘Abala’ with reference to women. But it does not mean women are weak. They are mentally very strong. It is by their innate strength that they impart strength to family and society. Therefore, we should not measure their strength by their physical body. Truly, both men and women are the sons of immortality. Who is truly man? God is the only Purusha or man though not in the worldly sense. The body which moves from top to toe is the Pura, and the Divinity residing inside the human body as awareness is the Purusha. So, the reality of the human being is awareness. Based on that awareness, all are Purushas. The truth remains as equality or unity in all. So, everyone should manifest his divinity. However, everyone should discharge his duty with discrimination between Purusha and Prakriti, realising at the same time that though the bodies are separate, Purusha is one. We wear our slippers on our feet, not on our head, and we wear our glasses on our eyes, not on our ears. We do not do the reverse.

Similarly, we should see that every object in Nature has a specific utility. One who follows the proper procedure based on correct knowledge and performs his duty with earnestness is a true human being. Discharging one’s duty in this manner is Yoga. Yoga means unity. Man should practise Yoga to realise divinity. Where there is unity, there is purity. Where there is purity, there is Divinity. Unity is the very life-breath of human existence. Unity imparts strength to love. For example, when threads are woven into cloth, the cloth will have strength. But if you separate the threads, there would be no strength. Everyone has duties to perform for himself, for the family, and for the society. When the individual is good, the family will be good, when the family is good, the society will be good. When the society is good, the whole country will be good. So, the welfare of the country depends on the individual.

We call a human being Vyakti. But it does not denote human form alone. A Vyakti is one who has innate sacredness and divinity, which he should manifest. Then only can he be called a true Vyakti or individual. Good conduct is the main quality of such an individual. From the divine perspective, the entire mankind is one because the same Atma is present in all. There is only one caste, the caste of humanity. Man should recognise that the same divinity permeates the entire creation. There are many tubelights and bulbs in the room. Though they have different capacities, the current in all of them is one and the same.

Religions are many but goal is one.
Clothes are many but yarn is one.
Jewels are many but gold is one.
Cows are many but milk is one.
Castes are many but humanity is one.
Beings are many but Atma is one.

(Telugu Poem)

We should always use discipline and discrimination to lead an ideal life. We may have to suffer if we do not observe discipline. Take for example the body temperature. The normal temperature is 98.4°F. If it rises a little higher, there would be fever and illness. Similarly, the normal blood pressure is 120/80; any variation in it may cause disease. One’s whole life is a limited company and should always be kept within limits. Be it Yogis (spiritual aspirants) or Niyogis (those engaged in spiritual contemplation), all should follow the principle of renunciation in life. If we do not excrete the food we eat, we will get stomachache. The breath that we inhale has to be exhaled, otherwise our lungs would be damaged. The blood in the body, too, has to be circulated; it should not stagnate in one place. The renunciation and sacrifice that we experience in our daily life is called Yajna. So, we have to practise sacrifice in our life. But we should take into account the deservedness of the recipient if we sacrifice for another person.

Become Near And Dear To God

A noble person is one whose thoughts, words, and actions are under control and in harmony. One must have constant control over one’s tongue by using proper words, talking less and working more. The more we remain silent, the more can we do work. Ancient saints observed silence and often did so in solitude. What will happen if we observe silence? We will have more energy, good intelligence, and good memory. But today people want to see and hear everything. What should we see and hear?

See no evil, see what is good;
Hear no evil, hear what is good;
Talk no evil, talk what is good;
Think no evil, think what is good;
Do no evil, do what is good;
This is the way to God.

If we entertain evil thoughts, we become evil. We should always behave properly, have good thoughts and good company. When coal is brought close to fire, the coal will also become fire. You should also become near and dear to God. Then you will also become one with God. You should both be near and dear to God. If you are only near God, you are like a frog who sits on the lotus flower but is unaware of the honey in the flower while bees come from far-off places and suck the honey.

In the culture of Bharat, we do Namaskaram to elders. We bring ten fingers of both our hands together to do Namaste. Bringing ten fingers together signifies that we offer our five senses of cognition and five organs of action to God. It denotes unity in diversity.

In unity, there is Divinity. Do not associate with wicked people. If you have bad company, you will also become bad. Tell me your company, I shall tell you what you are. How can you discriminate between good and bad company? When you watch the conduct of a person, you will know whether he is good or bad. Spiritual aspirants should not associate with too many persons. If you associate with all types of people, it can be dangerous. You may consider someone a friend but he may turn out to be an enemy. You should just say, “Hello, how are you and goodbye”. Never have too many relationships. You should always observe limits. Many people have come here (Kodaikanal) from different countries spending a lot of money. But they are wasting their time in gossiping. By this, they lose their energy. When energy is lost, there is loss of memory. Unnecessary talk takes one away from nearness and dearness to God. Talk only to the extent necessary. Excessive talking is a bad quality. You may be good, but you do not know whether the other person is good or bad. So, be always in good company. Have friendship only with good people.

Share your love with at least ten people every day. To say that you and I are one is wrong. To say “you and I are we” and “we and we are one” is correct. When we discriminate clearly and follow the dictates of our conscience, we become sacred and peaceful. It is a waste of time to do Japa and meditation if our mind wanders around. God is not separate from you. He is in you, above you, and all around you. Why search for God and go to the forest when He is within you? You yourself are God. You have a name because of your body. But you do not exist for the body. Service done to anyone is service to God. Whomsoever you respect, it goes to God; whomsoever you criticise, it also goes to God. Therefore, do not hurt anyone. Help Ever, Hurt Never. When you develop this principle, you will experience bliss. There can be no greater bliss than this.

_(_Bhagawan brought His Discourse to a close with the
Bhajan, "Hari Bhajan Bina Sukha Shanti Nahin…")

– Bhagawan’s Divine Discourse in Sai Sruthi, Kodaikanal on 9th April 1996.