Love Is The Essence Of Divine Life

"The entire humanity wants to enjoy a trouble-free life with a high standard of living and prosperous life, but they do not have the desire for wisdom, good behavior, and devotion to God. What more can I tell this august audience of good seekers of Divinity!"

(Telugu poem)

Today, you see all over the world, a variety of forms, material objects of various types and multifarious functions, and people in different conditions.

Man Has To Conquer Himself

There is a proliferation of scientists and scholars engaged in research and experiment in several fields. There is nothing which is not subjected to investigation. The person who investigates and comprehends all external objects and happenings does not know anything about himself.

Winston Churchill (the World War II time Prime Minister of Britain) once stated that man has conquered all, but has not conquered himself. Man knows everything around him, but he does not know his own reality. What is the use of knowing all if one does not know about himself? Having attained the sacred human life, if he does not sustain himself or maintain the purity of the heart, his life becomes a waste.

If tigers and jackals enter the stable where cows are sheltered, what will happen? The human heart is a place where truth, love, and peace are reigning. If the jackal of hatred and the tiger of anger and jealousy enter this peaceful heart, what will happen to the pious cows of love, peace, and truth? Man is deprived of his natural pious disposition of peace by the intrusion of wicked thoughts. The wicked qualities of jealousy, anger, and hatred are increasing amongst men. While so, how can you expect good qualities and human values to be reflected in them?

If a person builds a house, he provides a door to facilitate the entrance of his friends and relatives. He will not like the street dogs and monkeys to enter through these doors. The body is the temple of God. It has several doors. _(_It is described as the city of nine gates – Navadvara Puri); merely because there are so many entrances, you cannot allow all and sundry to enter inside. But man is allowing the evil qualities to enter, with the result, his natural good qualities are in peril. Love is the basic human quality.

Three Categories Of Love

The love that a human being possesses can be classified into three categories. The first one is svartha or selfish love, the second one is ananya, and the third is parartha or supreme love. The first category pertains to those who think only of their own happiness, comfort, and pleasure, not in the least caring about others. The second category pertains to one who thinks of his own family and seeks the welfare of those whom he considers as his own. The third category pertains to one who wishes that everyone in the society should be happy. "Lokah-samasthah sukhino bhavantu" is the prayer of this category of people. This is the supreme love.

The first category may be compared to the light in a single room which will illumine only that room. The second one is comparable to moonlight which helps you to see things, but not very clearly. It gives scope for doubt. For example, you may see a rope and mistake it for a snake or a stump for a person in the not-so-bright moonlight. The third category is like sunlight which helps you to see everything clearly without any scope for doubt. If you have a spiritual outlook, you will not have love restricted to yourself and your family alone. Ananya love is love shown only to members of your family or relatives. In fact, all are your relatives, in the broader sense. If you follow the principle of atma, you will consider all as yours since the same atma is effulgent in all beings. All are children of God and everything happens as per the Divine command or will.

God Is The Father Of All; All Are His Children

For example, suppose an elderly person travels in a train with his children, he has the tickets for all of them, and he tells them not to get down anywhere in the middle of the journey, but wait for him to get down, when they too can do so. The children get attracted by the several eatables that are sold on the platform in some stations en route, and have a strong desire to get down and buy them. But they restrain themselves from getting down, as they may be in trouble if the train starts and they are left behind, because the tickets are not with them. The eldest of the children tells them, "As per father's command, we cannot get down as we like. The tickets are with the father and we will be in trouble if we get down, and are unable to re-enter, before the train starts."

God is the father of all. All are His children proceeding on the journey of life, God has told us, "follow My command, do not get down, anywhere you like." The pity is, one follows His commands in the world. God has the tickets. So we are facing problems. Those who travel by train would have seen goods wagons bearing a painted mark like, "Return 5-98." This indicates that the wagon should be returned to the workshop on the due date for attention. It is only the station master who knows this, and takes action. In the case of humanity, God is the Master who knows when each one has to return (it is not painted here as in the case of the goods wagon). Only the Master has to worry about it. We start worrying about our return, because of our weakness. God is the supreme authority and everything happens according to His will. But man proudly says, "I have done it," and hence he is in trouble. You must realise that nothing happens without His Will.

Cultivate Good Thoughts And Do Not Slacken Your Efforts

Those who believe in the Divine Will and carry on everything with the feeling that they are only instruments in His hands, will find life happy, while those who do not believe, will find life miserable. The former are punyatma(s) (people who earn merit) while the non-believers are to be deemed as papatma(s) (sinners). The merit or sin arises only out of our actions. When wicked thoughts enter the humans they become worse than wild animals. They will harm the soft heart, which is comparable to cows. You have to drive the wild animals of evil qualities out and safeguard the cow-like good nature that you are endowed with. There should be no delay in this. There is a saying that if there is long delay in consuming, even nectar becomes poison. The moment wicked thoughts enter, you should chase them out and cultivate good thoughts, good sentiments, and good feelings.

"Sat" is that which is changeless and is constant in all the periods of time; past, present, and future. You have to develop this "sat." This is true sadhana. In spiritual practice, you should never allow evil thoughts to gain entry into your mind. Suppose you are winding several meters of thread in a stick. As you continue to wind, the ball of thread becomes bigger and bigger. If you slacken in your action and let the thread slip from your hands, the whole thing will unwind and spread all over, making all the efforts a waste and compelling you to start the process all over again. Similarly, a little lapse in concentration in sadhana will thwart your effort. You should maintain equanimity at all times, whether you get pleasure or pain or profit or loss.

Tyaga Is Yoga

Man should practice devotion and sacrifice by which alone the country can prosper. Politics without sacrifice and devotion without love are practically useless. In order to be happy, one must pray for the happiness of all and should be prepared to sacrifice for the sake of society and the welfare of the world. The spirit of sacrifice is absolutely essential for liberation. Tyaga is Yoga and Yoga is also doing one's duty effectively. Patanjali says that Yoga is control of the mind. One should know himself first, before knowing about other things in the world.

Annie Besant said, "People say every seeker is searching for God. It is wrong. God is all pervasive. Where is the question of searching for that which is pervading everywhere? In fact, God is in search of a truly good devotee."

Who is a good devotee? One with sadachara (good character), sat-bhavana (good feelings), and sat-pravartana (good actions) can be termed as a good devotee. It does not mean that one who sings bhajan is good. Even a tape recorder, when the bhajan tape is played, repeats the bhajans. But it is lifeless and is only a mechanical reproduction. One who sings bhajans should do so with full heart. Every word should reflect love, as heart is the seat of love. Atma is prema. It is Brahman. It is within you. The whole cosmos is Brahman. Where is the question of searching for God?

Aspire To Be Good And Not Merely Great

Last evening I was telling the boys that they should aspire to be good people and not great men. If you are good, all will respect you. If you are great, only those who are selfish will seek your favor. If you are great, goodness may not be there.

Who is great and who is good? One who finds divine qualities in everyone is good. One who finds only human quality in the divine is great. Ravana considered Rama, the divine Incarnation as human. He saw only the human form and not the divinity embodied in the form. But Rama saw Narayana in all creatures. The mirror of prithvi (World) reflects the Divine in every being.

God has given the mirror or prithvi to humanity to correct themselves and perceive the reflection of divine in all. But man keeps the mirror in front of another, and sees his reflection alone. (Swami narrated a story where an innocent cowherd was sitting between two hillocks and played his flute and heard his own echo. He could not understand this and complained to his mother that another man was imitating his musical notes. His mother accompanied the boy next day and found the truth that it was only the echo of his own music that he heard).

Vision Of The True Self

Sea is water, earth is mud, and body is flesh. Everything is only reflection, resound, and reaction. This is the effect of nature. Body is prakriti (Nature). We have to control it. If you control the body, senses, and the mind you will see the atma (the true Self).

If you only see the body, you become bestial and demonic. If you see body, mind, and atma you become human. When you see only atma, you become Divine. You have all these three entities in human life. Gradually, you should give up attachment to the body and mind, so that you can realize atma, which is the goal of human life. You must have full faith that everything is Daiva sankalpa (Divine Will).

You must resist all challenges and play the game of life and come out victorious. Life is a challenge, meet it; life is a game, play it; life is love, enjoy it; life is a dream, realize it. Do not be discouraged by obstacles. Never give up your efforts, nor even slacken. If you get confused, the fuse of heart will go. You have doubt only when you do not know the truth. Once you know the truth that you are atma, there is no room for doubt at all.

Love Is The Essence Of Divine Life

All truth is contained in the essence of prematattva (Divine Love). It is the essence of all essences. It is premarasa. There is no room for doubt in this. Through Love, you can resist any challenge. Seeing good, hearing good, talking good, thinking good, and being good is the best way of realizing Divinity. Strengthen your faith. One with doubt can never progress. No one with faith in God has ever come to ruin. You should consider that whatever happens to you is for your own good and is a divine gift. If you have this full faith, there is no room for fear in your life.

Bhagawan concluded the discourse with the bhajan "Bhavabhaya Harana."

(From Divine Discourse on 28th April, 1998 at "Sai Sruti", Kodaikanal).