Understand The Reality Of Sorrow And Happiness

22 April 1992, Sai Shruti, Kodaikanal, TN

Published English.

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Recognise Your Immanent Divinity Along with education, one should develop the quality of (discrimination). Bookish knowledge is useless without . There was once a foolish man who was attracted by a rabbit in a bush. He was able to catch it after a long chase. Holding one of its legs, he counted the other legs – one, two, three. He then said in surprise that the rabbit had only three legs! His friend, who was watching this amusingly, said, “Look here! You must count also the leg you are holding.” And he tapped the leg he was holding in order to convince the foolish man. Similarly, people forget the Divinity that is present within their own selves and indulge in foolish acts.

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Education and health are considered important in life. So, man needs both education and health. The head stands for education and the heart, for health. The head deals with mundane matters (worldliness). Livelihood, food, job, business, etc., are all connected to head only. Therefore, all these activities of head are known as . Qualities such as love, forbearance, compassion, kindness, etc., pertain to the heart. Heart is the centre of virtues. If head is , heart is (spirituality). Even is sustained by .

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The say that differences and variations are inherent in Nature. Lord says in the , (as the world is temporary and full of misery, contemplate on Me constantly).

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A person who spends all the 24 hours in an air-conditioned room will not know its value. He will appreciate the value of the air-conditioner only when he goes out in the hot sun. So, hot sun teaches the value of coolness. Value of the heater is realised in a hill station. Current is common to the air conditioner and the heater. Machines are many, but current is the same. Capacities vary from machine to machine. Bulbs have different colours and different wattages. In one room, a bulb of lesser wattage is used, and in the other, a brighter bulb is used. But their voltage is the same. There is the same Divinity in the (ignorant person), (a person of spiritual knowledge) and the (a person of divine wisdom). They are like three bulbs of different wattages, having the same voltage of Divinity. Change in mental levels is not real progress. Real progress involves change of heart. This is what is known as . One has to use heart while applying discrimination. On one side, you have the mind and on the other, the heart. Mind is a mad monkey; body is a water bubble. Do not follow the body. Do not follow the mind as you do not know when and how it will jump like a monkey. Looking at a fruit on the other tree, the monkey tries to reach it, leaving the one in the hand.

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Worldly Attachments Are The Cause Of Man’s Sufferings There is complete unity in human body. For example, if the leg is hurt, the eye weeps. Similarly, when the body is in trouble, the spiritual heart is also agitated. While the physical heart is located in a particular place, the spiritual heart is present all over in the body. The doctors can operate and perform heart transplant. But spiritual heart is all-pervasive like the . The () dwells in the (town) of the body. The say, (the One is present as the soul in all beings).

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All bodies are temporary like bulbs. You do not know when the bulb will get fused. But the is eternal and omnipresent like the current. It has no differences of nations, castes, religions, communities or genders. You hear often people saying, “I am drowned in this (worldly life). I have become its slave and am undergoing trials and tribulations.” But the question is, is the holding you or you are holding the by your worldly attachments? The nature of the mind is like that of a monkey. The tribal people have a technique of catching monkeys. They keep some peanuts in a pot of narrow mouth. Attracted by the peanuts, the monkey puts its hand into the pot and holds the peanuts in its fist. As the monkey tries to bring its hand out, its fist gets stuck in the narrow mouth of the pot. The monkey thinks that someone else is holding its hand from inside the pot. Man is similarly entangled in troubles because of his worldly attachments.

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