Truth Is God And Service Is Yoga

It is only from truth that the entire creation has come. There is nothing in the world without the basis of truth. This is Shuddha Sattva (pure goodness). Behold ye people!
(Poem)

Truth Is Changeless

God is truth, and truth is responsible for creation. The entire creation merges back into truth. The unsullied truth has been existing all along. All prosperity, wealth, and comforts that you enjoy have come from truth, which is the form of Divine. Man is not realising this and is hankering after illusory worldly things.

You think that truth is just a factual expression of what you see and hear or think. This is only temporary truth. What is changeless in all the three phases of time, viz., past, present, and future is the permanent truth. This is the eternal truth.

A person may enact the role of a king on the stage tonight. The same person may walk in the street tomorrow as an ordinary one. His appearance as king today and as a common man the next day, both are true at the respective times and circumstances. But it is not the changeless truth. If you analyze the Sanskrit word "Satya" (truth) you find that "sa" relates to food, "ta" relates to prana (life energy), and "ya" relates to the Sun. This implies that prana, life, is sustained by food and food is got through the "Sun." Sun is a permanent entity representing truth while food is only temporary. Man does not understand this principle and is carried away by the falsity of the illusory world.

Control of Senses Is Penance

Sun is spoken of as intellect and Moon as mind in the Veda(s). If you analyze the word "satya" in the reverse order "ya" represents "yama" meaning discipline and control of the senses, "ta" represents "tapas" or penance. You can do penance only when you control the senses. You can bring about the unification of thought, word, and deed by Tapas. Then you will have the knowledge of "sat." It is only through the control of senses and penance that you will attain the wisdom of reality.

Though people know the significance of truth, they fail to follow the principle of truth. That is why there is so much suffering among humanity.

No Law Higher Than Truth

Truth is associated with peace. It is also associated with Dharma, righteousness. "Satyannasti paro dharmah" says the veda. There is no Dharma superior to truth. Satya and Dharma always bring success in all endeavors. When the Mahabharata war was about to commence, the Kauravas (Dhuryodhana and his brothers) approached their mother, Gandhari, and requested her blessings. She only blessed with these words "Yatra dharmah tatra vijayah" meaning "Where there is righteousness, there will be victory." She did not bless them that victory will be theirs. She knew her children were on an unrighteous path. She knew what Satya (truth) is, and she had no doubt that only Satya and Dharma would triumph in the end. The Kauravas went to their preceptor Dronacharya seeking his blessings. He said, "Yatra dharmah tatra Krishnah, yatra Krishnah tatra vijayah" meaning "where there is Dharma, there will be Krishna and where Krishna is, there will be victory."

God Is The Embodiment of Truth And Compassion

God is Satyasvarupa (embodiment of truth). You find that human nature is a combination of Satya and Dharma (Truth and Righteousness). When man is not able to comprehend his human nature, how can he know the Divine? Everyone should, therefore, make efforts to know the human nature. It is nirmala, nischala, nissvartha, i.e., blemishless, unwavering, and unselfish. God is in every human being residing in the spiritual heart which is on the right side of the body, while the physical heart is on the left. It is only a single-seated sofa and not a double-seated sofa or a musical chair. So God is close to everyone being seated on the spiritual heart. When you realize this you will have the feeling of blissful happiness. The heart is the seat of compassion and God is the embodiment of compassion. If man has such a feeling, then he cannot have hatred towards any being at all. Man has to make efforts to progress in the path of truth and righteousness.

God has no consideration for caste, age, sex, or nationality. Take the elements, earth, water, fire, air, and ether. Have these elements any distinction of caste or nationality? They are the embodiments of the Divine. You should never misuse the elements or waste them.

God has been responsible for providing great men, following Satya and Dharma, to the world whose stories are legends today. In modern times, history is written based on the author's whims and fancies without following the principle of truth.

Use Body For Service

Doing penance, meditation, yajña, and other rituals are only pertaining to the external world and should be deemed as negative. The positive one is to understand the reality of the Self which is not the body, mind, or intellect but the atma. These are all instruments. How foolish it is to identify yourself with the instruments! No doubt, the body has to be taken care of as an instrument and the container of the Divine indweller. Mind, intellect, ego are all instruments. When you realise this, attachment to the body will no longer be there.

The purpose of this body is to serve and help others and not for selfish use. There are some with weak bodies, some with bodies afflicted by sickness, and some with healthy bodies. Those with healthy bodies should make it a point to serve others. When you do service, you should do it with the right attitude as an offering to God.

All Selfish And Worldly Attachments Are Negative

When you utter words with Satya and do your service in accordance with Dharma, you are acting positively. All selfish and worldly aspirations are negative. Positive is that which is divine, auspicious, and sacred. You may say that you love God, but you should inquire within to know whether God loves you. It is just like a registered letter which you may send to an addressee. The proof of it being received by the addressee is the acknowledgment you get back. If your love of God is not backed by good feelings, it is negative and may not be reciprocated by the Lord. Nature is a mirror. The individual is the reflection in the mirror. Whatever the individual does, its reflection will be seen in the mirror of nature. If you have pleased God, you will see the positive reflection in the mirror. The whole world is full of reflection, resound, and reaction.

Names And Forms Vary But Atma Is One

Names and forms are many but the Atmic principle is one. You should understand this. This is the fundamental law of nature. Though names and forms vary, there are some common features in all. Hunger is common to all though the types of food are many.

In a hospital, there are different types of patients. All are not given the same food. For instance, diabetic patients will not be given sugar or sweet preparations. The world is a hospital. Humanity is suffering from different diseases, physical, mental, and psychological. What is the treatment needed? It is only "Daiva chintana," filling the mind with the thought of God. You should never separate God from you. A man with a dual mind is half-blind. We should practice the principle of oneness. There is only one God, who is spoken of as many. Unity in diversity should be comprehended.

Anger And Jealousy Are Deadly

Human quality should reflect divinity. You should curb animal thoughts and breed divine thoughts. There are two types of persons, the one with “animal-human” qualities who always show hatred, jealousy, greed, and anger. The other type with “human-divine” qualities will always be happy, peaceful, and full of love. They will always adhere to truth. Without such qualities, spiritual pursuits will be of no avail. You should always say to yourself, “I am a human and not an animal.” Jealousy is rampant to a considerable extent amongst people today. This is the root cause for anger, hatred, and other evil qualities.

If a person owns a car and travels in it, do not be jealous. Satisfy yourself that you have your legs to walk. If one is in a big house, do not get jealous. Be contented and happy with the small dwelling place you may have. You should thus kill jealousy. Jealousy is “_Asuya_”, which means one with negative qualities. “_Anasuya_” means one without such qualities. That is why the great Anasuya, wife of the sage Athri, was able to make the trinity Brahma, Vishnu, and Maheshwara (creator, sustainer, and annihilator of the world) as her child naming it “Dattatreya.” Jealousy is contrary to human nature. It is artificial and not pertaining to the heart, which is natural.

Observe Discipline In Life

Virtues and vices are reflections of your good and bad thoughts. The physical heart is on the left side while the spiritual heart is on the right. This will help you to proceed in the right direction. It is compassionate. But man breeds desire which contaminates the heart. They should be checked and restrained to the limit. The body and all the sense organs have limitations like the temperature, blood pressure, capacity to see, hear, etc. The veda says, “Nashreyo niyamam vina.” We should observe discipline in life.

Limitation should be observed in everything. If you have enough minimum resources, like food, shelter, and raiment, you should be satisfied. To maintain good health and to get enough energy for your day-to-day activities, you should take food. You should not overeat, which will result in indigestion. If you exceed the limit in anything, it may lead to dangerous consequences.

If you realise that God resides in your heart, you will never dare to indulge in base activities. The evil qualities are only acquired and are not in you. You are the embodiment of love and compassion. The bad influences are just like passing clouds, which obstruct the vision of the Sun. Though the vision is blocked, the Sun is always shining.

When clouds clear, you can see the Sun in its full effulgence. Similarly, the veils of ignorance covering the heart must also be cleared.

Cultivate Patience And Detachment

One should cultivate patience, which is not commonly done in present-day life. Haste makes waste, waste begets worry. So one should develop patience to avoid worry. Our mind is compared to the moon and when bad thoughts arise it is eclipsing the real nature just like the moon is eclipsed by the shadow of the earth. If you keep the heart pure without the malaise of evil qualities, you will have no worry at all. You should not allow wicked thoughts to stick to you. In a pond, along with the lotus flowers that bloom, you have leeches also thriving, which suck your blood. The lotus cannot sustain without water. So also human life cannot sustain without love. But you should not let the leeches of worry breed in your heart of love. You can travel in a boat on the surface of water but should not allow water to enter into the boat. You should not allow the attachment to worldly objects to enter into your boat of life.

You are all embodiments of God. God is all-pervasive. You cannot classify some as divine and some others not divine. All are reflections of the same atma, which is common in all. This atmic principle is also the sun principle and truth principle (suryatattva and satyatattva). When one follows Satya, Prema or Love will be the reflection. When you walk on the road, your shadow may fall on bad patches like drains, garbages, etc., but you are not affected by it. You should proceed unmindful of the path of the shadow. So also you must follow your heart with good feelings unmindful of the obstacles that may appear to come in the way. You should practice truth.

Maintain Purity Of Heart

You should be grateful to a person who came to your rescue in times of crisis. You should not forget the help done by others. There are two things that you should forget. Forget the harm done by others to you as you will then be harboring vengeance to retaliate. Secondly, forget the help you did to others as that will make you expect a reward from them and result in disappointment when it is not forthcoming. By observing these two norms the purity of your heart will be maintained without affliction. The atma in everyone is the same. The forms may vary. There may be several types of electrical gadgets like, bulbs, tubes, mike, etc., which are different in form but the current passing through them is the same. “_Ekatma Sarvabhutantaratma_” is the declaration of the shruti (veda). The spiritual heart is on the right side of the body and leads one to the right path. When you enter a new house, you put your right foot. When you do something auspicious, you do it with the right hand. Right is positive and left is negative. When you are on the right path negative things cannot enter your mind.

Give Up Worldly Attachments And Turn Godward

Adi Shankara said “there is no mother, father, relatives, and friends. The only reality is you. Therefore be careful and be awake to the reality.” You should not worry about the family as these are passing clouds. Vyasa was a great sage who gave the eighteen Purana(s), Itihasa and Brahma Sutra (Epics, History, and Divine Aphorisms). But when his son Shuka left the house in pursuit of Brahmajnana (supreme spiritual knowledge), Vyasa ran after him shouting “Oh, son! Stop. Do not go away.” Shuka stopped and told his father, I am not your son, you are not my father. I am atma; you are atma. Why are you under illusion?” So, you must gradually give up all attachments and turn only to God. Having love in your heart, when you put on the divine glass, everything will be divine. With the eye of love, putting on the glass of jnana, you will find everything is divine.

Truth Is God And Service Is Yoga

You are filled with worries throughout your life. Birth is a worry, life itself is worry, family, child, failure, sickness, old age, death, misery are all worries. They are all imaginary and psychological. You say “my body, my mind, my hand, and my worry.” Does this not mean that you are separate from worry? It is your own creation. You are only one. You are atma, the truth. Truth is God. There is only one God who is described in many ways. Everyone should realize this truth by spiritual sadhana. This involves sacrifice. Veda(s) declare that you can attain immortality, not by any means other than sacrifice. You have to develop the spirit of sacrifice. Tyaga (sacrifice) is Yoga. Doing your duty efficiently is Yoga. You should always do your duty without aspiring for results. When you give something to others, you should have the attitude that you are not the giver and the other is not the receiver. It should be considered as an opportunity that was offered by the Divine.

Develop love. Follow truth and right conduct (Satya and Dharma). You will shine as the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Maheshwara. You should not feel that you have no powers. You should have self-confidence which will lead to self-satisfaction, which in turn encourages self-sacrifice resulting in self-realization. You must ensure that your self-confidence is unshakable. What is self-confidence? Self is atma. This is conscience. Because of senses, it is not realized. It should be associated with consciousness and not conscious which pertains to the senses. Man is unable to realize the supreme height of consciousness. The lack of peace in people is due to passing clouds of ignorance.

Consciousness is uniformly present in all; it is "Chaitanya." When people are turning towards the worldly objects which are transient they are pursuing the negative path; when they turn towards the Self it is the positive path.

Body is termed as materialisation. Life energy is vibration. Prajñanam is radiation. The Veda(s) declare Prajñanam Brahma; Ayam Atma Brahma; Tattvamasi; Aham Brahmasmi. (Total awareness is Brahman; This Self is Brahman; Thou art That; I am Brahman). We have to make efforts to realise these Vedic injunctions which constitute truth.

Swami concluded with the bhajan song "Premamudita Manase Kaho.” (Sing with love in your heart).

(From Divine Discourse on 16th April, 1998 at “Sai
S_ruti”, Kodaikanal)._