study circle

Session 2

“You crazy ones! There is no need for a new path for you. You go back the way you came.You came from the Atma. Go back to the Atma.
Having born from the Atma, man should always contemplate on the Atma. He will become restless and face hardships if he forgets the Atma. Have faith in the Atma. Treat the Atma as the basis for your life. This is the dharma that man has to adhere to.
Every man must necessarily make efforts to realize the principle of the Atma, which is present in all. The sweetness of Atmic experience is unparalleled. This has to be realized and experienced by every individual.”
--- Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai

Notes:

The Universe and all its contents, both living and non-living have originated from one source, the Supreme Consciousness which has been designated by various names like God, Brahman, Allah, Jehova, Ahura Mazda, etc. We have seen that the same Consciousness which pervades the Universe and beyond has been automatically included inside all the objects of manifestation, since they are all being fashioned within that very same Consciousness.That individualized Consciousness inside the objects is referred to as the Atman. Since there is no difference between the Atman residing inside the beings and the Consciousness outside, it is obvious that we all came from the Atman. Why has the Atman or Consciousness projected Itself as these various forms? While various explanations have been given by scriptures, Jnanis and scientists, let us for the present discussion accept the one given by some of the enlightened scientists. The Consciousness wanted to reveal Its own unlimited potentials and wanted suitable instruments for that purpose and man, fashioned by the evolutionary process, appears to be the most suitable, at least for the present, for such a purpose. It is but logical that any person who goes out of his home for doing some business has to return home after his work is over. If, during his business, he had forgotten his home and the way back, he will have to wander helplessly and be subject to lot of unhappiness and troubles. Such will be the position of the man who had forgotten that his real home is the Atman and he has to get back to It at the end of his sojourn on the earth.
Each individual has to constantly remember that any work he is engaged in is the work of the Atman, who always leads him in the right direction. That is his ordained duty, or dharma, what is known as vyakti or individual dharma, the Atma dharma. No one can afford to forget the Atman, which is one’s real home, and one has to constantly remember this and look forward to getting back to the source. Otherwise, if he functions according to his will and forgets the Atman, he has to face a lot of troubles and tribulations in life. For knowing the Atman one need not go outside searching for the human mahatmas to learn about the path to the Atman. One has only to turn inside himself to find the ‘Maha Atman’!
This ability to know the Atman and finally merge with It, has been given only to man, and no other living being is capable of that. He is the only one who can ask the Question ‘Who am I?’ and arrive at the answer, ‘I am I’.This effort coupled with the practice of meditation, that is a constant attention on the Atman, is the only way which man can resort to, by which he can attain the Atman. All rituals and religious practices should ultimately lead us to that path. Otherwise they will only amount to meaningless exercises. Swami Himself said on one occasion that external observances cannot lead to internal realization. They can only point out the direction to the path, and are not the path by themselves. This experience of realizing the Atman, is an exhilerating one , the sweetness of which is unparelled. That realization is the duty and the right of every human being. One who is on this path, the only true and direct path, knows that he need not go about searching for other paths to attain the ultimate goal of his life. Once he progresses on this right path he goes through life with perfect peace and happiness, unperturbed by any adversities.He accepts that everything that happens is the working of the Atman.
In this context one is reminded of a story related by someone: A realized soul was living at the outskirts of a village, and people used to flock around him to listen to his teachings. It so happened that in the village an unmarried girl became pregnant. When her parents questioned her as to who was responsible for her pregnancy, she, obviously to protect her lover, told them that the saint living outside the village was responsible. The whole village heard this and people were furious with the saint and abused him for this. When he heard this, his only answer was, “is that so”. People stopped going to him for anymore spiritual guidance. Finally when the girl delivered, the parents carried the child to the saint and told him that since he was the father of the child, he only should take care of it. The saint again said “is that so” and took charge of the baby. Months later the girl who was feeling guilty, finally revealed to her parents the real culprit who was responsible for the incident. Hearing this the villagers rushed to the saint and profusely apologizing for the mistake, told him that he was not the father of the child and asked him to hand over the child back to the mother. Now again the saint said, “is that so” and gave the child back to them. On none of the occasions the saint felt perturbed and took everything as the doings of the Atman!
Every Sai devotee who takes to this path will realize that Swami guides him at every step in that destined direction. But, as Swami says, we must take the first step and then only He will take ten steps towards us! Once we step in the right direction, any adversity that we meet with in our life should be accepted as caused by Swami Himself, to test the steadfastness of our faith, to ensure that our step is not a slippery one! (To be continued)