Ones of Divinity – compiled from the talks given by Ratan Lal (1918-2006)

THE ESSENCE OF RELIGION

Vision is knowledge without the duality

of the seer the seen

Bhagavan Baba teaches us the essence of all religions. Religions are to be looked upon as different paths leading to the same goal.

Bhagavan Baba teaches that your real Self is not different from God. Rituals are different in different religions. Religions also teach that one should not look down upon nor criticize the rituals of other religions or interfere with their performance. Each one is welcome to have his religion and his rituals. The performance of rituals alone is not religion. Some custodians of religions are narrowing the vision of the followers by not correctly interpreting the highest teaching in their own religions. That is why. they cannot bring harmony among people. Without harmony, there cannot be peace. Without peace, there cannot be happiness. Permanent happiness cannot be obtained from impermanent things. In this life itself, one should try to seek what is permanent and unchanging.

In the path of spirituality, to experience the Oneness of Divinity, it is necessary to tum the mind away from the world. Transfer the attention from the world to that which sees. Vedanta is not concerned with· the theories of creation. Its aim is to make one realize the reality of the Divine Atman, the real Self. Divine Baba often says that the entire creation, including yourself, who supposes to be the seer of it, is a projection on the screen of the real Self. The projection is not as real as its basis, which is the Self. Understand this truth, then practice it.

The purpose of coming to a holy place like Prasanthi Nilayam, and to a Divine master like Bhagavan Baba, is to transform ourselves, to change our sense of values, to change our outlook in life. Make the trip fruitful. To make it fruitful, try to attend Satsang, so that one can understand what is not clear about Truth, about the real Self, about God. Self-inquiry means to turn one's thoughts away from everything external. The body is the temple of God. Religion does not mean mere rituals. However, the rituals help aspirants to tum away from the world. If one is stuck to rituals they become hurdles. As Bhagavan Baba says, "Religion means to realize" to realize one's true nature. He says, "You are as far away from God as you are from yourself," implying that your true Self and God are identical.

The intellect combines with ignorance to obtain an imaginary unity with the mind and projects itself as the world of seer, sight, and seen. Therefore, all these appearances are false. All sense objects, from the ego down to the body, are unreal, being subject to change every moment. The Self, distinct from the body, the witness of the intellect, is the supreme Self. The mind, when cleansed of the stains of the three qualities, becomes perfect, unaffected by thoughts. It will become ripe for dissolution in the Self by meditation on the Self. Therein lies the secret of achieving Oneness with Divinity. "Countries are many, but the globe is one. Stars are many, but the sky is one." Now, the object of Vedanta, or Spirituality, is to focus our attention on the Oneness–whereas the mind prefers to attend to the differences.

The essence of Vedanta can be stated in a few words, namely "Deham? - Naham. Koham? - Soham.” The first word of the sentence is a question. "Deham?” meaning "Am I the body?" The answer is "Naham,” meaning "No, I am not the body”. The question that arises then is, "Koham?" meaning "Who am I?" Th answer is simple: "Soham," meaning "I am That." B as one truly is! One is already "That." Stop imagining yourself to be what you are not.

If one asks you, "Where do you come from?" whatever you will answer, pertains to the body. Does Divinity contain differences? Names and forms are different. Some forms are handsome. Some are not handsome. The inner Divinity is One. This Divinity is our real place of origin-it is the eternal Home for the homeless mind. The essence of religion is to teach man to go back to the source he came from. Different religions may describe Reality in different ways, but the Truth is that we came from God and are going back to Him. All religions postulate three things: the world, God, and the individual. Before trying to know the world and God, try to know yourself. Seek from where the one you think you are arises it will be the answer to the riddle about world and God.

That from which we came is unchangeable, permanent, unaffected. In Hindi, they call it Atman. In English they call it the Real Self. The concept "Real Self' means that there is also an unreal self. The unreal self is our "I–sense," which makes us feel separated from our Real Self. As Bhagavan Baba often says, "God is one and the same everywhere." It is man who creates distinctions about God. Christians look upon the form and name of Christ as God. Buddhists consider the Buddha as God. Muslims consider Allah as God. Followers of Sai Baba look upon Sai Baba as God. However, God is not different. God is not confined to a human form only. The Ultimate Reality, the essence of God, is the nameless and formless Divinity that was prior to Sai Baba, which was there before Buddha, Krishna, Mohammed, and Christ. Divinity is permanent. With the arrival or passing away of a particular form of God, that Reality does not change. God, in human form, manifests upon earth for a specific purpose. Taking upon Himself a human form, He doesn't identify His essence, or His Divinity, with the mind and body. The difference between God, with name and form, and us is that we are ignorant and He is not. We take the body to be our real Self. If you give up this wrong and false identification with your body, you will realize that you also are God. However, this false identification is so strongly engraved in us that it is very difficult to give it up.

Many people, as a matter of practice, are asked to watch their breath. The breath and mind arise from the same source, which is the Self. As they watch their breathing, their mind becomes silenced. When the mind is silenced, breathing is normal. When one is mentally agitated, one breathes quickly. This indicates that the source is the same. Divine Baba mentions that we all breathe in and out 21,600 times in 24 hours. During the waking state. When you want to do spiritual practice, as you inhale say "So" and as you exhale say "Ham," meaning "I am That." The Bible says, "Be still and know that I am that I am." The Hindus say, "Shivoham, Shivoham."

Among Hindus, there is a trinity of Gods. The Creator of this creation (Srishti) is known as Brahma. The one who sustains it is known as Vishnu, and Shiva is the destroyer-the-destroyer of all our doubts. and ignorance. A person was once reciting "Shivoham, Shivoham!" Shiva's consort is known in our scriptures as the Divine Mother Parvathi. Some mischievous person approached him and asked, "If you are Shiva, then what relationship do you have with Parvathi? The man became quite upset and began thinking "Oh, what have I done! How can I think of Shiva's consort, Parvathi, as my wife?" Baba said that the man should have replied, "I am. Parvathi also." You are all there is. The essence of Divinity is in all. Shivoham, or Soham, means that the essence is-die· same.

In the past an effort was made to explain how to hold on to the "I-thought" in us. As we know, all thoughts come from the basic thought, which is "I." "I" has to be there in order for other thoughts to appear. Without "I," there are no thoughts. There are two ways to make the mind still: either discover the nature of that "I" or locate its support, its basis. It is suggested, as a matter of practice, to hold on to the "I-thought." Just as the moon shines with the light from the sun, the "I-thought" is a reflection of the real Self. The I–thought is able to function with the power derived from the real Self. The moon has no light of its own. So too, the mind and intellect have ·no power of their own. They are instruments, which the Divine Power uses. If you accept that the mind is a shadow or reflection of the real Self and try to hold the I-thought by thinking that I am not this "I," or by considering that the "I–thought" is outside of you, external to you, then you can hold on to that which is Eternal. You can be your Self.

Now, how can one hold on to the I-thought, which is a mere shadow? One cannot touch the shadow of one's head, can one? If you ask a child to touch the shadow of his head, he will move forward, and his head, along with the shadow, will also move forward! This explains by way of example that we cannot hold on to the I-thought. When the "I" is sought, it disappears. When the I–thought disappears, do you still exist or not? Existence is identical with consciousness. That alone remains. Spiritual practice lies in remaining in being That. Being the real Self is simple to understand, but it is a little difficult to practice; This is because of our past tendencies (samskaras). The tendency of the mind is to move outward, as if . happiness lies outside us.

The goal of Self-realization is to know one's true identity, to -realize the non-existence of the unreal shadow. Once we realize that we are not the ego, the real Self shines of its own accord. As long as the ego is there, it keeps the intuitive experience of the Divine away, just as a passing cloud temporarily covers the sun. The ABC of spirituality is to give up the "I am the body" notion. God, the Infinite, the limitless Divinity, is not limited to a particular body. Once that wrong notion is removed, the mind will automatically subside and return to its source, which is Divine Consciousness. That is the purpose of life. That is what all religions teach at a higher level.

Everyone knows that the mind, the Atman, and the intelligence have a relation. What is that relation exactly?

The mind by itself has no intelligence. Whatever little activity it has, it is able to function only with the power and the light of the Atman. When a body dies, the mind and the intellect are intact. They cannot function, because the life force, the Consciousness, has disappeared, It is no longer in that body. The mind does not like to accept the fact that it is dependent on the Divine Atman. It wants to declare its independence from any Higher Power. It even denies the existence of God. Many restless materialists even deny the reality of a higher power. At the practical level, when we are talking to each other, we have to distinguish or speak at the level of names and forms. The tree is here, its shadow is also there. The tree is real, not its shadow. In some ways, the mind is helpful in practical life in eating, listening, and speaking. It is an instrument God has given to human beings. God has not given it to birds. They function only by means of instinct. Human beings can reason, have intuition, senses, and mind. The Divine has given all these, not only to satisfy the needs and luxuries of the body, but also to make human beings realize their own identity.

Human beings suffer from the mistaken notion that they· are merely this combination of mind and body, which is subject to change, decay, and death. Whatever appears and disappears is not permanent. What is not permanent is not Real. That is the definition of Divinity in Vedanta as well as in all religions. In Christianity it is said, "I am That I am." In Islam it is said, "Aanul-Haq" (I am the Truth). The essence of "I" does not mean this body-mind combination. In Vedanta it is said, "Aham Brahmasmi" (I am Brahman). The same Truth is in all religions. At a higher level, all religions point toward the same goal. At a lower level, their rituals differ. One should not criticize the rituals of any religion. Religion teaches love and not hatred.

Where were we thirty years ago? Our forms were not there. After one hundred years will our forms be there? That which is born dies. It is not permanent. The Atmic, Divine experience, transcending the mind, is a matter of direct experience. It will reveal Itself only when one is ready.

Why then are people coming here from all over the world?

Because everyone is under the spell of ignorance, while Bhagavan is not. He is the embodiment of Purity, Peace, and Power. We want to become as Him, which we already are but imagine that we are not. He removes this ignorance. That's why people come here. History has so far not recorded of any spiritual master who had brought about international integration on as large a scale as is being brought about in Prasanthi Nilayam by Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. In Prasanthi Nilayam, one can meet peoples from practically all countries of the world. People who come here speak in Russian, Italian, Chinese-any language known on earth. Once, in an informal meeting with a group of Russians, some Russians said that for the last seventy–five years they had no culture, no tradition, no religion, no spirituality, because they were under Communist rule. So, they could not understand this religion. What Bhagavan Baba explains is the essence of all religions. That is important to know. As communists, one may not believe in God. It is for sure that everyone believes in himself or his own existence. That belief is spirituality. That belief is enough. One does not have to be a Christian, Hindu, or Muslim. One does not have to belong to any religion. Try to know thyself.