Sathya Sai Speaks 1982 · Refrain from asking

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Refrain from asking
12 August 1982, Prasanthi Nilayam
Professor Kasturi's English.
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Heaven is not on high, beyond your ken. It is very much here, in the world of men: Deny the ego, deep-hid in you; And, you are 'there' in Heaven on Earth. For liberation, O man, why plead before Three of Gods in despair? Deny the ego, deep-rooted in you - And you are free, no pleading therefore. The attainment of the Absolute or is not the end result of a course of spiritual effort. The (individualised soul) is the . - - " The is the Eternal Godhead." Even when involved in worldly activities, the individual cannot discard this Reality of his. His belief that he is just a man arises from delusion. The ocean may be known by many names in many areas through many ages, but its nature is unaffected thereby. So too, however many forms and names he assumes and adopts, the -principle persists in him and remains the goal of awareness. "," says in the . "The eternal I, a part of Me, has manifested as all individuals." This is what that statement implies. "" is what Mother declares to all the worlds. Since a person is limited by a body and entangled in the senses, he is bound by ignorance and led to believe that he is a mere man. He is a child of Immortality.
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Mind affected by desire is polluted Ignorance is caused by attachment. Attachment results in identification of the I with the body, senses, mind, etc. Attachment leads to desire; desire results in anger; anger blinds reason and promotes ignorance; ignorance breeds dualities of mine and thine, good and bad, etc.; these lead to activities to make gains, and avoid losses, etc.; these produce consequences of merit and demerit; they have to be consumed in this life or future lives; so one has to go through suffering. (suffering) is caused by (life) which presupposes suffering. is due to belief in (duality). is the result of (igonorance), the product of (anger). is the child of (affection) and (attachment)is the parent of . Even , the greatest bowman and warrior of his age, became a victim on the battlefield itself of this insidious, false, and enfeebling attachment. The mind obeys the senses and defiles man. It is well-nigh impossible for man to master the mind and turn it away from the objective world. confessed to Lord that the mind was uncontrollably way ward and could not be stilled. The mind has two phases: the unpolluted and the polluted. The mind affected by desire () is polluted; when it is unaffected by desire, it is unpolluted. For liberation from bondage to desire, the mind is the only instrument available to man. Turn it towards the objective world, you are bound; turn it towards God, you are on the road to liberation The mind refuses to be calm even for a fraction of a second. When a continuous shower of stones is falling on the waters of a lake, how can the surface be calm and unruffled? So too, man is throwing stone after stone of desire on the , the calm lake of the or mind.
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- indeed all (those who seek to manifest their inner Reality) - should therefore prevent the stones (desires) from disturbing the equanimity of the mind. The fly rests one moment on the sacred food-offerings on the altar of God and the. next moment on filth. The mind seeks refuge in holy thoughts and things; the next moment, it revels in some fearsome foul ideas. The mind is like the elephant. The gives it a nice bath, he scrubs it clean and chains it to a shady tree. But, it gathers dust with its trunk and scatters it all over itself! Man too, urged by the senses, pours into his own mind dust and dirt.
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Senses are servants of mind, not master In fact, the function of the mind is to act as controller of the senses. The role of the-senses is to serve the. mind, the fight relationship is for the servants to obey the master and for the master to rule over the servants. But when the master falls into the hands" of his servants, he becomes the victim of all varieties of loss and grief. The provides a fine illustration for this danger. , the queen, was the mistress; was her servant, her maid, but since the queen was subservient to her maid, a whole series of tragedies happened. came from a famous Royal dynasty; she was the favourite consort of a famous emperor; she was the mother of a son, , famous for his dutifulness and righteousness; she loved her stepson as dearly as her life-breath; yet, despite her own virtue, learning and authority, since she gave ear to her attendant, , she drew upon herself eternal infamy from everyone. She landed in a situation where her beloved son came to despise her. Even the names and have become obnoxious. The lesson is: we should not allow the senses, who are only servants, to lord over us. If we do so we invite the fate of . Wherever you are, however rich, learned or powerful, when you advise some one to do wrong, you invite on yourselves the fate of . Since men yield to the blandishments of the senses, they are becoming and losing the Divine Nature, the quality of the Master.
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Specific role and purpose of mind The waters of the flowing river are stored by us in reservoirs. But, one has to take care to close the sluices before the water is let into the reservoir. Or else the water will flow out through the sluices and cannot be stored for use. Likewise, the (the Inner Soul Force), has to be let through the (intellect) channel into the reservoir, (mind). But, that force can be utilised by us for our benefit and for promoting world prosperity and peace only when the five sluices, the outward bound senses, are closed tight. The closing of the sluices is the process which the of Sage describes as - preventing agitations in the mind.
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The mind is designed for a specific purpose: achieving the four goals of human existence, , , and , the attaintment of a happy life through righteous means ( through ) and the cultivation of (desire) for (liberation). It has not been designed to promote greed and hatred, pride and possessiveness. This truth has to be believed. The wind gathers clouds and equally swiftly, scatters them. The mind can create conditions of bondage or of liberation. So, one must slowly loosen the bonds of attachment to the physical body and its components, the senses. The senses rob us of physical and mental strength. Are all who live in the body and move about with the body attached to it and to the senses, etc., that go along with it? For, God too comes with a body, as , and when He moves about, He seems to be only human as far as one can see. But, there is a fundamental inner difference. The incarnate God, the , in unconcerned. He has (indifferent to results). The ordinary man with the body has (yearning for the result). (minenessprinciple) is human; (-principle) is Divine. You cannot discern the distinction, even when you look or listen. You can understand only by experience. The has no wants. He has no egoism. He is ever alone in the . Look at a record or tape It is blank, silent, same! Activate it with a sound box It sings and speaks with fluency.
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with body and the ordinary man The appears as any other human being, equipped with body, senses, mind, etc. But, consider the vast difference in thoughts, feelings, emotions, etc. The is the total, the allcomprehensive, the (Full). The human is partial, narrow, negative. But, in the human, the Divine exists as the core and can manifest as Bliss. We pay all attention to the external trappings of knowledge; we do not transform the deeper instincts and impulses inherited from animal ancestors.
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Place jasmine garlands, around a monkey's neck, Dress it in shiny silken clothes, And seat it on a gem-set throne. Can it forsake its apish tricks? Once it was a (monkey); now, it is a (man). And as man through many lives, crookedness and cruelty have struck deep roots. These cannot be destroyed soon. It is a very difficult task indeed.
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This is the reason why God assumes the form and decides to award mankind the power to discriminate between right and wrong, between truth and falsehood. The does it through precept and example. The scriptures teach that life is unfortunately short. So, the advises man to appreciate three facts: (1) To be born as a human being is a precious opportunity; (2) To yearn to realise God is another precious piece of good luck; (3) The greatest good fortune is the chance to be in the Presence of God, to be immersed in the service of God and to be engaged in fulfilling Divine commands.
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God responds to unadulterated devotion , in her pride, imagined that her Lord could be appropriated by her if jewels and gems were presented. She piled them on one pan of the balance which was weighing Him. But this was of no avail. had effaced herself and knew only the -principle. So, when she placed a single leaf with her prayer on the pan, could be weighed and the pan with rose up. Unadulterated devotion, total renunciation - these alone can help us to achieve the awareness of our Divinity. was the headman of a village in the days of . His other name was . He revered , the of (qualified nondualism), the great Master of Vaishnavism, as his . He renounced his riches, lands and home in the village and proceeded to the holy shrine of on the River. His wife accompanied him. They had to walk through a thick jungle when night fell. The wife asked him, her voice tremulous with fear, "Are there robbers around?" He. replied, "Why should we fear? We have nothing with us for them to rob." The wife confessed that she had with her a small gold cup, which she had brought along to serve water to her husband. did not approve of her action. He asked for the cup and threw it far into the jungle, and they proceeded in peace.
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God gives unasked what the devotee need. They lodged in a , near the temple at . was far too' exhausted. He had no food throughout the three-day long trek. The wife heard the temple bells ringing to announce the "Presentation of food offerings to Lord ." She cried out to the Lord, "Your servant is stricken by starvation. How can you, O Lord, feast on the offerings, knowing how he suffers?" In a few minutes, a procession from the temple reached the . A band of pipers and drummers led the long line of priests and . The Lord had commanded them to take the food offerings to his devotees at the . They brought silver plates and vessels full of a rich variety of dishes.
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rose and sat up. He protested "I did not pray for f d. The Lord should grant me what I need and pray for, He cannot give me what I did not ask for! How can this ask the for something to fill the stomach?" Because the temple priests pressed him to partake of the (food offered to idols), he tasted a little and gave a little to the wife. Then he questioned her, "Did you commit the mistake? Did you pray for food?" She replied, "Lord! I did not ask so. I only had a feeling in my mind, How could you, O , accept those offerings when your servant is starving'?"
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God, Giver of All, is the only treasure you need He who gives when asked and what is asked, is the . He who gives unasked, what one needs is the . means a Lord, means the Cosmic Ruler. We should not use the to acquire what we feel we need most. This is the reason why the poet has sung' Refrain from asking, O mind! The more you ask; the deeper it plumbs And the longer it takes for the answer to rise. Did He not, without being asked, Fulfil 's anguished wish ? Did He not bless the bird Who died for Him,
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Asking for nought instead? Thus, instructed his mind and earned peace. Every seeks to raise humanity to the level of Divinity by laying down such paths of devotion and holding forth such examples of surrender.
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