Render Service With Divine Awareness

God shines with effulgence in the universe and the universe shines in God. This is the friendship between the creator and the creation. This fact is being made known to you people.

(Telugu poem)

Universe, A Manifestation of Divinity

The universe is the effect and God is the cause. No one can fully understand the relationship between the creator and the creation. The whole world is a combination of cause and effect. The universe is a manifestation of Divinity_._ All the animate and inanimate objects of the world are Divine (Vishwam Vishnu Swaroopam). Though the forms are multifarious, all are essentially Divine. We are not able to understand Divinity, as we are carried away by the external physical appearances.

Because of unlimited desires, man is suffering from unnecessary anxiety and gets disappointed due to unfulfilled desires.

Divinity is the mixing of positive and negative. The world is positive and man is negative. What the modern man wants is good results, having done bad deeds. How can you get mangoes while you have sown the seeds of lime? As is the seed so is the tree, as is the tree so is the fruit. When a child is born there is no chain of gold or diamond or gems around the neck. But Brahma provides the invisible chain of results of past actions good and bad (Kantha Maala) though no one may be aware of this. Human quality has become rare amongst people now; and animal quality is predominant. Man is wasting the precious gift of human life in unworthy pursuits.

Cultivate Human Values and Firm Faith in the Divine

Many people undertake spiritual sadhana in order to realise Divinity_._ If they do not understand human qualities all these efforts become exercises in futility. Without learning the alphabet, how can one pick up the meaning and usage of words, phrases, and sentences? Develop human values and unflinching faith in the Divine. The basic alphabet is to know the human quality. Only after mastering this can you do other sadhanas. Even great saints, poets, and seers do not understand Divinity and tread on the wrong path. They subject themselves to selfish pursuits and blame God when their aspirations are not fulfilled.

Even the great saint composer Tyagaraja, when he was once subjected to misery and suffering, doubted whether the shakti or power of the Lord had diminished. On reflection, he realised that the defect was only in his devotion and not in the power of the Lord; who had helped even a monkey to cross the ocean, the army of monkeys to build a bridge across the sea, and Lakshmana to serve Rama for 14 years, and Bharata to worship Rama’s Divine sandals (padhukas). People should understand that there is no pleasure without pain and pain is only an interval between two pleasures. Whenever you get a painful experience, you should have the firm faith that it is the foreboding for something good which you will be enjoying in the near future. (Swami narrated the story of Manickavasagar, a minister with the Pandiyan King who was sent on a mission to buy horses but was influenced by a saint to turn his attention Godward resulting in his spending time and money in renovating a Shiva temple. When the king summoned him back and put him in prison, Manickavasagar was not at all sorry but started composing poems on Lord Shiva which was appreciated by the Lord Himself and is still shining as “Tiruvachakam,” the most famous prayer to God sung even today in all Shiva temples of Tamil Nadu).

Speak the Truth and Practise Righteousness

When you spend your time thinking of God, chanting His name, you will never come to grief. Follow the dictum “Satyam vada, dharmam chara” (speak the truth, practise righteousness), you are bound to have success always. Truth is common to all countries and all times. If you follow truth which is God, you will invariably do only righteous work. Divine love will flow to such persons. This will ensure your doing sacred work. There cannot be love without Dharma and Dharma without love.

God is in your heart. Wherever you go and whatever you do, it is known to God, even if you think no one has noticed it. People start worrying about petty temporary things which are passing clouds and sometimes falter in faith and devotion. This is not correct. You should never give up devotion. Your good work will beget God’s grace without fail. The sin or merit comes only from your own deeds not from the outside.

Gayatri Mantra, Universal Prayer for Peace

God is in you only in the form of conscience. Follow the conscience. Some do not do so because of bodily attachment. Gayatri Mantra starts with ‘Om Bhur bhuvah svah.’ Bhu – represents materialisation-body. Bhuvaha represents vibration – prana (life force). Svah – represents radiation – prajnana or atma. All these three-radiation – vibration and materialisation are in the human body itself. Prajnanam is constant integrated awareness. You are all Brahman.

(Swami narrated the episode of Sage Vyasa and his son Shukha – when Shukha went out in pursuit of Brahma jnana, science of Supreme Reality, Vyasa despite all his spiritual scholarship, was overpowered by attachment to his son that he asked him to return. But Shukha said, “I am not your son, you are not my father. Both of us are Brahman.”)

From ancient times, this sacred Bharat has been proclaiming to the world the universal prayer “Lokah Samastah Sukhino bhavantu” – let the people all over the world be happy. Just as the same electric current passes through all electric gadgets of various types and sizes, so also the atma is common in all beings. Stars are many, sky is one; cows are of many colours, milk is one; jewels are many, gold is one; beings are many, breath is one; countries are many, earth is one. Therefore, you should comprehend the one in many, the unity in diversity.

Follow the Conscience; Fill the Heart with Love

You should stop worrying. Discriminate between good and bad. Do not harm anyone. Then you can have peace. Follow the conscience. That is the Divine in you. You are endowed with the precious gift of body with the sense organs and limbs. It is given to you to discharge your duties in the world. You have to do good deeds (sat karma) only. You should do things that are acceptable to God and not to please humans.

“Sat” means God. You should have the company of God or proximity to God. “Chit” is awareness. The combination of “sat” and “chit” gives ananda – Divine bliss. “Sat” is the sugar and chit is water. If you mix them, the names of sugar and water go away and you get syrup. “Sat” is atma and “chit” is body (deha) and both combine to make up the person. “Sat” is Shiva and “chit” is Parvati_;_ so the combination is Ardhanareeshvara – half male and half female. Every one of us is Ardhanareeshvara.

Fill up the tank of heart with love. This will flow through the taps of all sense organs as also the five pranas (vital airs). We refer to humanity as mankind. Does this not imply that as humans you should radiate kindness?

Seeing Many in One Is Sin; Seeing Unity in Diversity Is Merit

Sage Vyasa gave the essence of all the eighteen Puranas as “Paropakarah punyaaya, Papaya parapidanam.” In this dictum we generally mean paropkara as helping others. It is not fully true. ‘Para’ means God; ‘upa’ means near, ‘kara’ means do, make efforts. The import is, that you should make efforts to be near God. It is meritorious. “Papaya para pidanam” means to see the many in one is sin. How can you avoid this? You have to see the one in many or unity in diversity. This is the correct thing to do. That is to say – Help Ever; Hurt Never perceiving the atma in all. If you are not able to do any help, sit down quietly and do not harm. See the Divinity in all and do sacred activities. Do not waste the elements, nor misuse them. Being bound to the world, with attachment to worldly objects is a negative approach. Make a positive approach by turning towards Divinity. The difference lies only in turning your mind. Turn to world and you get bound, turn to God and you get liberation.

God is the one without birth and death and is an eternal witness; you must strive hard to earn the love of God. One who receives the love of God will be earning the love of all. If you realise that Love is God, you will not get attached to worldly things. No one can take the wealth of the world with him when he dies. This is a truth, which we have seen throughout the history of mankind. Many great kings, emperors, saints, and seers have left without taking anything. When you are born you do not bring anything with you.

Render Service in Divine Awareness

In order to lead a fruitful and meaningful life, render service to mankind which will take you nearer to God. (Swami cited the example of a football game where six players on either side go on kicking the ball till it is sent to the goal). The goal of life consists of two posts, secular and spiritual. You must be careful so that the ball does not go beyond the posts. It should be hit within the two posts. You are born as a human so that you would not be born again. You must live within the frames of secular and spiritual pursuits. Only then you can attain liberation. The six bad qualities, lust, anger, greed, desire, pride, and jealousy (arishadvarga) are on one side and good qualities truth, right-conduct, peace, love, non-violence, and sacrifice, on the other side. The game is between these two teams. Another lesson we learn from this game is that the football is kicked as long as it is inflated with air. If it is deflated, you take it in your hands.

You should say to yourself, “I am not Man, I am Divine, I am not body, I am atma. The body is like a dust bin of all foul matters and flesh and bones. You are “awareness” or Chaitanya. The instruments are negative; they work through positive Divinity. Tread along the divine path so that you can get Peace. Let us experience Peace and share it with others. Then we will be liberated and the world will be happy.

Bhagawan concluded the discourse with the bhajan “Hari Hari Hari Hari smarana karo.” (Remember God again and again!)

(From Divine Discourse on 18th April, 1998 at “Sai
Sruti”, Kodaikanal).