Satyopanisad Volume 2

SATYO̅PANIṢAD II

- Thus answers Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba

- how to spiritualise our day-to-day life...

By

Anil Kumar Kamaraju

Sri Sathya Sai Sadhana Trust, Publications Division

Prasanthi Nilayam - 515 134

Anantapur District, Andhra Pradesh, INDIA

STD: 08555 ISD: 91-8555 Phone: 287375 Fax: 287236

E-mail: orders@sssbpt.org

Website: www.srisathyasaipublications.org, www.sanathanasarathi.org, www.saireflections.org

© Sri Sathya Sai Sadhana Trust, Publications Division; All rights reserved.

The copyright and the rights of translation in any language are reserved by the Publishers. No part, passage, text or photograph or artwork of this book should be reproduced, transmitted or utilised, in original language or by translation, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photo copying, recording or by any information, storage and retrieval system without with the express and prior permission, in writing from the Convener, Sri Sathya Sai Sadhana Trust, Publications Division, Prasanthi Nilayam, Andhra Pradesh India - Pin Code 515134, except for brief passages quoted in book review.

This e-book is commercially licensed for you only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

We would like to acknowledge and thank Radiosai (www.radiosai.org) for the beautiful photographs of our beloved Bhagawan, which have been used in this book.

First Edition: 24th August, 2013 (24/08/2013)

ISBN: 978-93-5069-177-9

Paperback ISBN: 978-81-7208-801-9

Paperback Set ISBN: 978-81-7208-698-5

Published By

The Convener,

Sri Sathya Sai Sadhana Trust, Publications Division

Prasanthi Nilayam, India, Pin Code – 515134

STD : 08555 ISD: 91-8555 Phone: 287375 Fax: 287236

Distributed By Smashwords

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Lovingly Dedicated To Our Most Beloved Swami

Contents

Dedication

Swami & Anil Kumar

Part – III Sādhana

7. The Inner Door

8. Human values

9. Scriptures and Baba

Ramayana

Mahabharata

Bhagavata

Baba

Swami And Anil Kumar

Part – III

Sādhana

Chapter 7

The Inner Door

Q143) Swami! Good company is very essential for everybody. Is it as significant as it is said to be?

Bhagawan: Undoubtedly, good company is very important for every one of you. In fact, you should also seek the company of good people. You should run away from bad company. It is the company you join that decides your life. So, it is said, Tell me your company! I shall tell you what you are! Dust, when it is in association with the wind, goes up, but the same dust, in association with water, sinks down. Another example for you: In ten cups of milk, if you mix one cup of water, the value of water also will go up. But, on the other hand, in ten cups of water, if you pour one cup of milk, the milk will lose its value. See, this explains clearly the importance of the association or the company you keep.

You also hear in the Mahabharata about Karna, who, in spite of all his excellence in archery, intelligence, and physical prowess, because of his bad company, has come to be known as one among the ‘duṣṭa-catuṣṭaya’, the four wicked ones. Karna lost all his name and fame, because of bad company.

Q144) Swami! What is your advice to employees, who struggle to make both ends meet and wish to follow Swami?

Bhagawan: I have advised you a great many times to keep hands in society and head in the forest. You work well with both your hands. Be very sincere in your work and serve whole-heartedly. At the same time, keep God as your aim and objective. You should keep Him in your mind at all times.

Consider a mother. She may be very busy with her household work, but she never forgets her child. She knows when her child will feel hungry and needs to be fed.

You must have watched the dance programme in our auditorium. The dancer keeps two or three pots one above the other on the head and moves her head and limbs precisely, to the rhythm and the drumbeat. To the surprise of the audience, all the while the pots remain exactly one above the other on her head as they were kept just before the dance performance began. How? The answer is simple. As she dances, she constantly concentrates on the pots over her head, so that the balance is never lost. Similarly, in your life you may be doing several things. Yet, you should ever remember God and keep Him as your sole aim. Always look up inwardly.

Q145) Swami! You are unique in explaining both the components of our life, the spiritual and the physical. You alone can do it in this world. It is most necessary that we mix with people and sometimes, even intimately. We have to interact with one another in our daily life. How are we to speak and what is good for us to speak? Kindly tell us about this, Swami!

Bhagawan: You think that worldly life and spiritual life are separate entities. They are not. Spirituality is awareness. It is total knowledge and not pieces or bits of information. You should always talk sweetly and softly. You can please everyone with your fine talk. See, when a crow sits on the wall, repeating kāv, kāv, we chase it away, but when a cuckoo repeats kuhū, kuhū, you, too, start imitating its sweet sound. Both are birds, but where does the difference lie? It is only the sound, you see! Similarly, your talk makes all the difference. The crow has not harmed you in the least, nor has the cuckoo rendered any help to you. It is only the sound that pleases or displeases you. You should speak the truth, you should talk pleasingly. You cannot always oblige, but you can speak obligingly. Is it not? Your words should never hurt or harm anyone.

One day, a hunter was chasing a deer in the forest. A sage, who was sitting there, saw the deer running fast to escape the hunter. The hunter in his search for the deer, saw the sage and asked him if he had seen a deer passing by. In reply, the sage said, Oh hunter! The eye that saw the deer passing cannot speak and the tongue that speaks cannot see. What can I say? So, nothing false was spoken.

You must have heard of the great king Harischandra. By just telling one lie, he could have easily got back the kingdom that he had lost. By adhering to the truth, his son was brought back to life and his family reunited. He did not utter a single lie. He stuck to truth only. So, till this day, his name is remembered and it has come to stay so long as the sun, the moon, and this galaxy remain. He is the very embodiment of truth. So, he is called "Satya Harischandra".

Māṭaku prāṇamu satyamu

Truth is the life of speech.

Kōṭaku prāṇamu sainyamu

Army is the life of a fort.

Nōṭtuku prāṇamu cēvrālu

Signature is the life of an IOU.

You should not talk too much or excessively. If you do so, society will call you a chatterbox, a loose-tongued man. Ati bhāṣa mati hāni, too much talk turns you mad. Mitabhāṣa ati hāyi, limited talk makes you very happy as you are not likely to tell a lie, criticise, gossip, or talk vainly.

You lose your respect, if you talk endlessly. You tend to lose your memory as well. You lose your energy. If you switch on a radio and keep it on high volume for a long time, many units of electricity are consumed, aren’t they? So also, your energy gets consumed, if you keep talking for long.

Note that it is always in the depth of silence that the voice of God is heard. If anyone greets you with a ‘hello’, respond with a ‘hello’. If anyone says, Goodbye, you also reply in the same way, Goodbye. That’s all. You talk only when it is necessary and to the extent it is needed.

Q146) Swami! Is it not a help to a person, if I point out his mistakes?

Bhagawan: Thinking of the mistakes of someone else, you also become defective. To face and to resist a bad man, you have to become even worse than him. So, it is a sin to point out the mistakes of others.

If you point out the mistakes of others with one finger, three fingers point towards you. As the saying goes, a street dog is always in search of slippers. A pig spends its time in gutters. You would also look like a pig, if you go on looking at the faults of others. In a way, a monkey is much better than a man, who finds fault with others. When a monkey finds an orange fruit, what does it do? It will take away the outer rind and then, eat the fruit. Will it not? This sort of separating the good from the bad is called vibhāgayōga. You should give up the bad, the undesirable.

In Japan, there is a city by name Kyoto. A woman was passing through a particular street, carrying with her a big bundle of clothes wrapped up in a neat, pure piece of white cloth. These clothes were all dirty and were not neat. Someone asked, What are those clothes? She said, I want to show you the good. I want you to see the good. Therefore, I have wrapped these dirty clothes in a white cloth. Finding faults in others, making fun of others, criticising others are mistakes that one should not commit.

Q147) Swami! Now, we understand that we are mistaken with regard to our knowledge. You have explained clearly what awareness is, by saying that it is complete knowledge, but not the knowledge of a bit or a piece of anything. How are we to cultivate this awareness?

Bhagawan: Spirituality is very essential for awareness. It is impossible to develop awareness by any other means. With a spiritual background, things will be very clear to you. You will then have total understanding, which is awareness. Otherwise, what you acquire is bookish knowledge, superficial knowledge, general knowledge, but not practical knowledge, which is awareness. This is possible only in the spiritual path.

A small example: You sow a seed in the ground. It germinates into a plant. But, do you expect the seed to germinate, if it is kept in a tin? Impossible. Similarly, the plant of awareness grows in the field of spirituality and not in a tin of worldly pleasures. The awareness then developed is, in fact, true awareness.

Q148) Swami! Now, it is clear that this sort of ‘awareness’ is not available in our educational institutions. That awareness is so very important for all of us. You are the incarnation of God in the present day world. Why don’t You, by Your grace, grant us this boon of awareness?

Bhagawan: If everything is done by God Himself, what will be there for you to do? How will you make use of the God-given mind and intellect? Don’t you realise that these divine instruments, like the mind and the intellect that you are equipped with, will be a waste, if God does everything for you? The mother cooks and serves food. She cannot eat it on behalf of the child! When the child sustains any injury, the mother feels sad. But, she cannot bandage herself on behalf of the child!

Though you sit in front of the plate filled with potato curry and chapatti, you must also pick them up with your own hands and eat. By simply repeating, Potato, chapatti, will your hunger be appeased? The hand and the mouth should be put to work. Is it not? Similarly, you should make use of your mind and intellect.

Everything will be known to you. By your effort, you will win God’s grace. With krsi, effort, one can even become a rishi, a sage. Do your duty, thinking at the same time of the Lord. Krishna, too, said the same thing to Arjuna, māmanusmara yudhya ca, O Arjuna! Remember Me and fight! Chanting Rama’s name, Hanuman could cross the mighty ocean. So, do your duty and you can achieve whatever you want to.

Swami! Spiritual aspirants observe austerities, like upavāsa, fasting, jāgaraṇa, vigil and consider them spiritual. We request You to let us know their importance and inner significance.

Bhagawan: The traditions, rituals, and the age-old practices of Bharat have a meaning and significance. Aspirants undoubtedly get divine experiences. But, today, people are after external and pompous rituals without any understanding of their inner significance. So, they have forgotten the very goals and purposes, for which they were originally intended. Almost all the rituals have become mechanical, monotonous, and routine. There is none to explain to them lucidly. Most people are not aware of the subtleties. So, you don’t find anybody practising austerities or rituals sincerely. Man need not change. It is the mind that should change.

Suppose you are travelling to a distant place and you don’t have food to eat on the way. Can you consider this upavāsa, fasting? Will this be of any spiritual use? A patient doesn’t take normal food. Is that fasting? What do you get out of it? To feel God in you is upavāsa and not mere fasting as the literal meaning goes: Upa, near, vasa, living. In other words, upavāsa means living close to or near God. It means one should turn inward, feel God, and constantly think of Him. This is upavāsa in its true sense. Today, we notice people, who fast on the ēkādas̒i day. But, they eat double the normal quantity of food the next day. The madhvas (followers of Madhvacharya) observe Bhīṣma ēkādas̒i, on which day they fast. They don’t swallow even their saliva.

In the state of Karnataka, they say in Kannada, "Bida bedi bittu keda bedi," which means, do not give up and spoil yourself. When you give up anything, don’t pick it up again. It is a bad habit. Instead, what is happening? They get the flour ready, well grinded, and preserve the dough for three days. With this, they make nice, tasteful dōsas, south Indian tiffin. So, in Kannada, it is said, "Indu adide ēkādaśi ondu tindu nalavattu dōsa." It means, in the name of ēkādaśi, on one fasting day in a month, preparations are made for as many as forty dōsas. Is this upavāsa? No, definitely not.

Why should you observe vigil, jāgaraṇa? Why is jāgaraṇa, keeping awake throughout the night, observed? It means that you should keep off from your worldly happiness, sensual pleasures, and material comforts. You should be unmindful of all these mundane matters, but awake or vigilant to the inner core, the atma. You should be awake in respect of the inner divinity, while neglecting worldly botherations. But, what is done in the name of jāgaraṇa? They play cards throughout the night or watch three movies one after the other, throughout the night, in the name of jāgaraṇa. Watchmen, nurses in the hospital on duty, Railway station masters on duty don’t sleep in the night. Does it amount to jāgaraṇa? Certainly not! Merely skipping sleep is an external ritual. One should know the inner reality while observing these rituals. Since they are all done mechanically, they are made fun of and they look ridiculous in the eyes of others.

Q149) Swami! Some want us to do puja, some suggest dhyāna, meditation, a few prescribe pārāyaṇa, reading of the scripture, and some others assure us of good results from japa, repetition of God’s name. I am confused about what to do and which one to follow. Kindly tell me the best among these ways to be followed in my sādhana?

Bhagawan: You can follow any of them with total prēma, love, nissvārdha, seflessness, chittaśuddhi, purity of your heart, ēkāgrata, one pointedness, and śaraṇāgati, surrender to realise and experience God. You follow the path that suits your convenience. Any procedure that appeals to you and gives you śānti and ānanda can be followed. But, never imitate. Never go by other people’s words and paths. You follow your chosen path. Otherwise, you lose your own way also. Imitation is human. But,