SESSION 6
“What is spirituality? Spirituality is not merely singing bhajans, performing worship, visiting temples, going on pilgrimages, or undertaking any other good activity. Recognizing the oneness of all beings is spirituality.
To understand the principle of Truth and visualize the blissful form of Divinity, hidden in the objective world is true spirituality. But few are making any effort in this direction.
People sit for meditation, close their eyes and start imagining a particular form. But these forms are only reflections and not the Reality.”
--- Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai
Notes:
Most people believe that doing namasmaran, worshipping a god of their choice, visiting temples, taking bath in holy rivers, making offerings in temples, getting certain rituals done by engaging priests and such other activities constitute spirituality. Swami disagrees with that interpretation given to such activities. No doubt they are good actions by themselves and may confer temporary worldly benefits on the devotee, but they cannot be considered as a path to the achievement of the final goal of human birth.
What is the goal of human birth and what is the path to it? Swami often says that man came from the Atman, the Supreme Consciousness and he has to go back to It. The universe and all its contents, ae projections of the one Consciousness, and all have to ultimately merge back into It. This is the basic principle of Truth and Swami says that the understanding of this principle and achieving this goal is the true aim of spirituality. Of course it is not just the intellectual understanding, but experiencing the presence of that Truth or Divinity which is hidden in all the creation. Swami considers only this as true spirituality, and says that few people really make any effort towards this. Those, who do not understand the true implcations of this statement may ask, why Swami has all along been laying stress on namasmaran and certain other religious practices, to be undertaken by His devotees. He knows that few people can straight away understand the meaning of real spirituality and they have to be slowly led into it. But, most people get stuck at the religious level and stagnate. This is in reality what is known as samsara. Worship of forms should ultimately lead to the formless. Basically it should be understood that all religious practices should lead the practitioner ultimately to the realization of the Atman, residing inside himself, and that in turn should result in the feeling and experiencing of the oneness of all creation. Then he realizes that all that exists is the One Supreme Consciousness hidden in the many. Swami said on another occasion that man can attain liberation only when he realizes that there is only ONE and not two.That is to say that he should move from the dvaitic to the advaitic experience. If all the religious activities, man engages himself in, do not lead him to this ultimate realization, they will remain only as empty rituals.
A person who has realized the oneness of all creation is no longer affected by the feelings of hatred or attachments. He has then understood and realized that all that exists is the Atman only and that he himself is an integral part of that apparent multiplicity. This state is really the state of liberation or Mukhti. Swami often says that seeing oneself in everything and everything in oneself is real love. He advises that everything one does must be linked and be in tune with the functioning of the Totality.He cites the example of the functioning of our own body. Every cell in our body functions for the welfare of the whole body. The body of ours like all others is condensed energy which itself is a manifestation of the Supreme Consciousness. The manifested Universe is all energy and nothing but energy, which is partly free and partly condensed into matter.Thus the Universe is the body of God or the Supreme Conciousness and each one of us is like a cell in that body and hence all the work we undertake is part of the functioning of that universal body. When one performs all activities with that knowledge and attitude, one’s ego slowly disappears.Then the individualized consciousnes suddenly expands and becomes one with everything and with every being in the Universe. That is the state of real bliss. Swami says that nobody undertakes this type of sadhana.
The above state can be achieved only by the practice of meditation. But Swami says that very few people adopt the correct procedure in their so-called practice of.meditation. He criticizes the way people sit with closed eyes and imagine some form and contemplate on it. Imagination is a product of the functioning mind. If the mind is functioning, and focussed on any form, it is not true meditation. It is only contemplation. All imagined forms do not mean God. He says that the depiction God in a variety of forms, by people belonging to various faiths, is only the product of egoistic minds. All images are only reflections and not the original.They are all man-made gods! Meditation has nothing to do with religious beliefs. Anyone belonging to any religious group, even those who have no religious affiliations or who are atheists can undertake meditation. True meditation is on the formless consciousness which is the indwelling Atman, the Self in all. We shall discuss about this in greater detail in some of the future sessions. (To be continued)
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Sunday, November 1, 2009
study circle
Session 5
“Bliss cannot be achieved through (so called) spiritual practices which confer only temporary mental satisfaction. It is attained only by awareness of the Atma, which is true and eternal.
While singing bhajans, you may sing various songs with different tunes and beats, but your mind should be constantly fixed on the Atma.
You can never attain peace by performing rituals. Peace is embodied in love. You can develop love only when you have faith in the Self.”
--- Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai
Notes:
Most of the common people ordinarily think that worshipping some form of divinity or performing various rituals is same as spirituality. Here Swami points out that they are wrong. Religious practices are not necessarily spiritual.It is wrong to hope that external practices like religious worship and rituals will automaitcally result in inner realization. Indulging in such activities, according to Him, can confer only temporary mental satifaction and not lasting happiness. Bliss is attained only by awareness of the Atman. So all these external practices should be understood as only steps in the direction of understanding the Atman and fixing one’s attention on It. When we are travelling along a road, we find at cross roads sign-posts indicating the direction we should proceed to reach our destination and at regular intervals are fixed milestones showing the name of the place the road leads to and the distance left to be covered. Just as it is foolish to hug the post or the mile-stone and think that we have reached our destination, it is sheer ignorance to think that we have attained Atmic realization by performing these worships and rituals.
What should be our attitude when we engage ourselves in such activities? For instance let us take bhajans, which we, as Sai devotees, regularly engage ourselves in. Swami says that if even we are singing various songs using different names of the Godhead, in different tunes, ragas and beats, our attention should be rooted in the Atman. Invariably our attention is on the words of the song or on the divine forms referred to therein. The formless Atman hardly ever becomes the point of attention. This applies to all the rituals and methods of worship we indulge in.At the most our attention is focussed on the form we are worshipping or on the names and mantras we are uttering.
Swami says that we can never attain peace by performing rituals.Temporary peace and some bliss may follow ritualistic practices. But these disappear when a person is confronted with adversities in life. A person in divine bliss is neither dejected nor overjoyed under any situation. Such a bliss can be attained only when a person developes constant awareness of the Atman, present inside him. Swami says that peace is embodied in love. What is the meaning of this statement? Earlier He said that bliss is attained only by the awareness of the Atman. How do we connect these two statements? Of all the forces acting in the Universe the most powerful is that of attraction. Just as all forms of energies are manifestations of the Supreme Consciousness this force is also an integral part of It. Everything, from the electron inside the atom to the galaxies of stars, attracts everything else, to merge with itself. That is real love and not the one we humans exhibit ordinarily because real divine love, unlike human love does not expect anything in return. All the beings in the Universe are the manifestations of the Supreme Consciousness. Talking about this process of manifestation, Swami once said, “In the beginning I was alone and I wanted to love Myself. So I separated Myself from Myself so that I could love Myself.” What is the Ultimate purpose of love? It is to make the loved one part of the lover, or merge with each other. What has been separated should go back to the source. The Atman inside us, which is identical with the Supreme Consciousness is the source of this divine love, and is constantly trying to attract us back to itself. There is a constant flow of love from It. It is equated with love itself. Shiva, the third aspect of the manifestation of Consciousness, the individualized mode, is identical with the Atman and hence Shiva is equated with love. ‘Anbe Sivam’, a saying in Tamil, corroborates this truth, that ‘God is love’. We, human beings, are in essence, physical manifestations of the formless Atman. That is why, Swami often addresses us, ‘atma swarupalara, prema swrupalara and prematma swarupalara’. Swami being the exclusive manifestation of the Atman in physical form, we also hail Him as ‘Prematman’. He has already selected the name ‘Prema Sai’ for his next Avtar! Does He not say often that when He sees His devotees, love swells out of Him! Has He not said that whatever gifts He gives to the devotees are manifestations of His love for them! When a human is established in the awareness of the Atman, he enjoys eternal bliss and love automatically flows out of such a person. He develops equanimity of mind and identifies himself with the entire creation.
It is this truth that Swami enunciated in the above staterment. Without understanding this direct path to lasting bliss, we are aimlessly wandering in the wilderness of religious rituals and observances. If all our religious efforts and observances do no ultimately lead us to this ultimate goal of Self-awareness, they will remain only as empty meaningless rituals. They should be regarded only as steps in the ladder to spirituality. Means and end are not the same. Sitting on one of the steps of the ladder and imaginning that we have climbed to the top is sheer ignorance. That is what is referred to as ‘samsara’, spiritual stagnation. A question may arise here: should a person who has attained Self-awareness give up all religious practices? Not necessarily. As Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa says, a person who has climbed to the upper floor of a house using a ladder, may if he likes, kick away the ladder or keep it in place, in case he desires now and then, to come down to meet others! Then he may be in a position to give a hand to others also to come up the ladder. (To be continued)
“Bliss cannot be achieved through (so called) spiritual practices which confer only temporary mental satisfaction. It is attained only by awareness of the Atma, which is true and eternal.
While singing bhajans, you may sing various songs with different tunes and beats, but your mind should be constantly fixed on the Atma.
You can never attain peace by performing rituals. Peace is embodied in love. You can develop love only when you have faith in the Self.”
--- Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai
Notes:
Most of the common people ordinarily think that worshipping some form of divinity or performing various rituals is same as spirituality. Here Swami points out that they are wrong. Religious practices are not necessarily spiritual.It is wrong to hope that external practices like religious worship and rituals will automaitcally result in inner realization. Indulging in such activities, according to Him, can confer only temporary mental satifaction and not lasting happiness. Bliss is attained only by awareness of the Atman. So all these external practices should be understood as only steps in the direction of understanding the Atman and fixing one’s attention on It. When we are travelling along a road, we find at cross roads sign-posts indicating the direction we should proceed to reach our destination and at regular intervals are fixed milestones showing the name of the place the road leads to and the distance left to be covered. Just as it is foolish to hug the post or the mile-stone and think that we have reached our destination, it is sheer ignorance to think that we have attained Atmic realization by performing these worships and rituals.
What should be our attitude when we engage ourselves in such activities? For instance let us take bhajans, which we, as Sai devotees, regularly engage ourselves in. Swami says that if even we are singing various songs using different names of the Godhead, in different tunes, ragas and beats, our attention should be rooted in the Atman. Invariably our attention is on the words of the song or on the divine forms referred to therein. The formless Atman hardly ever becomes the point of attention. This applies to all the rituals and methods of worship we indulge in.At the most our attention is focussed on the form we are worshipping or on the names and mantras we are uttering.
Swami says that we can never attain peace by performing rituals.Temporary peace and some bliss may follow ritualistic practices. But these disappear when a person is confronted with adversities in life. A person in divine bliss is neither dejected nor overjoyed under any situation. Such a bliss can be attained only when a person developes constant awareness of the Atman, present inside him. Swami says that peace is embodied in love. What is the meaning of this statement? Earlier He said that bliss is attained only by the awareness of the Atman. How do we connect these two statements? Of all the forces acting in the Universe the most powerful is that of attraction. Just as all forms of energies are manifestations of the Supreme Consciousness this force is also an integral part of It. Everything, from the electron inside the atom to the galaxies of stars, attracts everything else, to merge with itself. That is real love and not the one we humans exhibit ordinarily because real divine love, unlike human love does not expect anything in return. All the beings in the Universe are the manifestations of the Supreme Consciousness. Talking about this process of manifestation, Swami once said, “In the beginning I was alone and I wanted to love Myself. So I separated Myself from Myself so that I could love Myself.” What is the Ultimate purpose of love? It is to make the loved one part of the lover, or merge with each other. What has been separated should go back to the source. The Atman inside us, which is identical with the Supreme Consciousness is the source of this divine love, and is constantly trying to attract us back to itself. There is a constant flow of love from It. It is equated with love itself. Shiva, the third aspect of the manifestation of Consciousness, the individualized mode, is identical with the Atman and hence Shiva is equated with love. ‘Anbe Sivam’, a saying in Tamil, corroborates this truth, that ‘God is love’. We, human beings, are in essence, physical manifestations of the formless Atman. That is why, Swami often addresses us, ‘atma swarupalara, prema swrupalara and prematma swarupalara’. Swami being the exclusive manifestation of the Atman in physical form, we also hail Him as ‘Prematman’. He has already selected the name ‘Prema Sai’ for his next Avtar! Does He not say often that when He sees His devotees, love swells out of Him! Has He not said that whatever gifts He gives to the devotees are manifestations of His love for them! When a human is established in the awareness of the Atman, he enjoys eternal bliss and love automatically flows out of such a person. He develops equanimity of mind and identifies himself with the entire creation.
It is this truth that Swami enunciated in the above staterment. Without understanding this direct path to lasting bliss, we are aimlessly wandering in the wilderness of religious rituals and observances. If all our religious efforts and observances do no ultimately lead us to this ultimate goal of Self-awareness, they will remain only as empty meaningless rituals. They should be regarded only as steps in the ladder to spirituality. Means and end are not the same. Sitting on one of the steps of the ladder and imaginning that we have climbed to the top is sheer ignorance. That is what is referred to as ‘samsara’, spiritual stagnation. A question may arise here: should a person who has attained Self-awareness give up all religious practices? Not necessarily. As Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa says, a person who has climbed to the upper floor of a house using a ladder, may if he likes, kick away the ladder or keep it in place, in case he desires now and then, to come down to meet others! Then he may be in a position to give a hand to others also to come up the ladder. (To be continued)
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