Ones of Divinity – compiled from the talks given by Ratan Lal (1918-2006)
PART-I
MORALITY AND SPIRITUALITY
The mind should not
be allowed to wander towards worldly objects and the concerns of others.
However bad others may be, one should not bear hatred toward them. Both desire
and hatred should be eschewed. All that one gives to others, one gives to one's
self. If this truth were understood, no one would deny anything to others. To
the extent one behaves with humility, to that extent only good will results.
UNDERSTANDING AND PRACTICE
The aim of good
people
is to make tomorrow
better than today.
Creation, with all
its beings, is a superstructure on the Self. As long as one takes the
Superimposition, i.e., mind and world, for real, it is real. Therefore, the
Masters teach a way of being in the world while leading a spiritual and moral life,
so that the mind may be purified and shown the way toward liberation. A point
often quoted is the one on reflecting Gita 's (Bhagavad Gita, the Celestial
Song) is that everyday life. is also a part of spiritual exercise. He who is
active in the world and yet remains desireless and remembers his own essential
nature is a better renunciant (Sanyasi) than one who wears
an ochre robe and says he has. renounced 'the world. Imagining the spiritual
and the secular as two different spheres causes the whole difficulty.
As one looks around
the world today, the phenomenon of violence, vulgarity, and obscenity have
reached a degree that seems practically going out of control. It is the duty of
all who are trying to tread the path of morality and spirituality to spread
Bhagavan's message and to try to bring harmony and
peace in this world, so that the younger generation may be brought up in a
better way.
Bhagavan Baba
explained, in one of his Christmas Day discourses, that practically all
religions have the same code of conduct, the same moral rules. At a higher
level there is no difference among religions. Only at a
lower level do the so-called professional custodians of religions try to create
differences. God is the same everywhere. As Divine Baba says, Muslims look upon
Allah as God, Christians look upon Christ as God, Parsis look upon Zarthushtra
as God, Buddhists look upon Buddha as God, Jains look upon Mahavira as God, and
Sai devotees look upon Sathya Sai Baba as God-only the names are different! The
essence of Divinity is one and the same. Any worship to any name and form of
God ultimately reaches the formless and nameless Divinity, according to Baba.
Religions vary in their rituals and in their observances. One should respect
rituals of all religions. Each one has the freedom to worship God in his own
chosen manner.
The mind or the ego
loves to propagate, loves to give lectures and write books, even prior to
becoming mature. Therefore, Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba lays great emphasis up
on moral and spiritual practices for each one to carry out. After having
reformed oneself, one will be able to radiate greater goodness and
spirituality. Commentators on some books normally project their own egos. That
is why it is not desirable to read anything and everything, except the words of
the great Masters, for instance Bhagavan' s discourses.
When you take a
manuscript or a picture to Bhagavan Baba for blessings, Swami blesses them and
sometimes writes "Love & Blessings" on them. That does not mean
that Swami has approved your book and you must publish it. In this way
superficial things are written, projecting the author's ego, and thus people
are confused.
Great Beings like
Divine Baba descend upon earth to turn our attention towards God. This is their
mission. Some people pretend to have intellectually understood the teachings of
the Spiritual Master. In reality, however, they are still confused, because their
understanding has not become a conviction. It can only become a conviction if
the individuals practice the teachings along with reading them. Mere reading
does not go a long way without practice. Spiritual practice is like a bird. It
has two wings. One is understanding, the other is practice. Only with these two
wings can it fly. If one can understand properly, and practice properly, then
one can get the experience of the Self quickly.
If one can understand
just one discourse properly-interpret, assimilate, and practice it-that would
go a long way in improving one's moral and spiritual progress. As Bhagav.an
says, "Atman is in you, not in the books." Too much scholarship can
also be a handicap. It gives one superficial pride and becomes a hindrance to
one's spiritual practice. Preconceived ideas have to be
totally given up in order to experience Divinity. Practical knowledge is more
important than bookish knowledge. Religion is to realize one's true identity-to
realize the Divinity that is common in all.
After listening to a
few discourses many people say, "Oh, but our minds are very active. We
want to do service." Service should be done in a selfless manner without
expecting any fruits of the action. The ego becomes inflated by thinking. "Oh,
I have done this, I have done that, I have served God, I have served
humanity." This notional "I" has somehow to be subdued, if not
totally eradicated. That is the purpose of service or any spiritual activity.
Of all service, the best service is to realize one's true Self. There are many
ways in which one can serve humanity, but the best one is given in the Gita:
observe renunciation in action, not of action! Wisdom does not imply that one
should go to the forest and forget the world. Remain in the
world! Lead a moral and spiritual life. "Morality leads to Immortality;
Goodness leads to Godliness." In other words, service helps to purify,
stabilize, and balance the mind. These qualities are prerequisites for a
successful worldly existence as well as for spiritual practice.
Today our sense of
values has totally changed. Baba sometimes mentions that.in the past people
knew that, "If a person lost wealth, nothing was lost. If health was lost,
something was lost. If character was lost, everything was lost." Today, it
is the opposite! If wealth is lost, we feel that everything is lost. If health
is lost, we feel that something is lost. If character is lost, we feel that
nothing is lost.
The modem individual
wants quick results. A leading advocate of a foreign country said that in order
to experience bliss, there should be a push-button. He was asked, "Sir,
how long did it take you to become what you are today – one of the leading
advocates of your country?" He said, "Twenty years." Then, he
was told, "If it took you twenty years to become a leading advocate, you
should not expect Self–realization which is a much greater
achievement, and requires severe austerities and practice, to be handed over to
you by God in a silver platter in a trice.
In this direction,
also, one has to do some practice. Only then can one experience the inner
Divinity. It does not matter whether association with God or a guru has been
going on for many years. What matters is one's readiness, one's past and
present tendencies. If the tendencies are good, with sincere
interest and zeal, then the teachings can be understood in a short span of
time. If the tendencies are worldly and materialistic, it is impossible
to comprehend the teachings.
We see some people
wearing ochre robes in this country. They parade as gurus and most of them
promise quick results and powers to their followers. Today's man gets thrilled
more by the powers than by the peace radiated by a great being such as
Bhagavan. Peace is far more important than power. Power is always there with
God, and it will work through a realized person if he chooses to have them. The
true meaning of renunciation (sanyasa) is the surrendering of one's
sense of individuality. The "!"-notion is the greatest upholder of
the sense of separation from Divinity. That is why the ego must be eliminated
by continued practice. In this connection, the following story will be of
benefit.
A wise spiritual
aspirant (sadhu) had been doing penance for twenty years in a forest,
sitting on a particular stone. In the morning he would go to the river to
perform his ablutions. One day when he returned from his morning ablutions, he
saw a stranger sitting on the stone he used to occupy. The sadhu could not
control his anger. "How dare you sit on my stone?" he burst out. The
stranger replied, "Sir, you have been doing penance for so long, and you
still haven't given up the feeling of 'mine' and 'yours'! Do you still consider
this stone to be yours? Is this the result of your penance?"
What has to be given
up is the feeling of "mine" and "thine"! What has to be
given up is not the world, but the habit of clinging to the objects in it. That
is detachment. Things come to you, and you use them. You cannot give up everything,
because you need certain necessities of life. Attachment to them must be given
up.
Many people wonder as
to what is the difference between free will and karma. We must
understand that Atman neither accepts nor rejects anything. Absolute freedom is
when you have realized the absolute being, the Atman. Since we perceive
ourselves as limited beings with limited minds, we can have only limited
freedom. Consciousness is there all the time. In moments of time when thoughts
are not there, you as the real "you" are not absent. That means you
are different from the body and mind. Why should we identify ourselves with our
instruments? If one says, "I am the car," will you not laugh? So
also, why don't you laugh when one says, "I am the body?" This
"I am the body" notion has to be given up, and there are only two
direct paths for doing this. Service is done to purify the mind and make it
steady. After it is made pure and steady, one has to either surrender lovingly
to God, the guru, or to inquire into the true nature of oneself. These are the
two direct paths!
Somebody asked a
question, "How can one recognize a realized person?" First of all, a
person who is realized will not demand or require anybody's certificate. He
does not need a title added to his name that suggests he is a realized person.
Second, when a person is a realized soul, he is no longer a person. He becomes
totally impersonal. That which is speaking through the body is not a person but
the voice of God! The power that enables the speaker to speak is the same power
that enables the listener to listen. That is Divinity! That is Atmic
power!
Genuine seekers of
Truth sometimes want to measure their spiritual progress. The test lies within
oneself! It lies in one's interaction with the world. One's reactions will
change when one's practice and understanding become mature. In the course of
time one will have no reaction whatsoever! No reaction at all amounts to
abiding in the Self. That is the test of one's progress. It is not merely going
and sitting alone in a forest. When there is nobody around to disturb you, you
can say, "I am happy. I am in a state of Bliss." That is not real
Bliss. Real Bliss should be experienced while living in the world itself.
An uncle asked his
nephew, "Do you enjoy going to school?" The nephew replied, "I
enjoy going to school, and I also enjoy returning from school, but I do not
enjoy what happens in between." I hope you do not feel the same way about Satsangs.
Interest and attention have to be there in order to achieve something, whether
in worldly or in spiritual life.
