Everlasting Relationship

5 April 1993, Sai Shruti, Kodaikanal, TN

Published English.

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Those who assemble here come for or good company so that they can advance in the spiritual path. They should shed some undesirable habits like smoking which retard their progress in the spiritual path. The fire in the cigarette is so mild that if you pile up two or three pieces of firewood on it that fire will be put out. But, when a huge jungle-fire is raging, it can burn even green banana plants that are thrown into it. The power of the physical body is like the fire in the cigarette tip while spiritual power is like the forest fire. Once you are advanced in spirituality even the association with evil persons may not affect you. But, when you have not developed your spiritual power you should avoid bad company just as you spit out unpalatable food even at the first taste.

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Meditation, in fact, is transcending the senses and the mind. During meditation, the mind is actively thinking of several things of the past, the present and the future. The thoughts are running fast. Scarcely does anyone concentrate on the Divine even though one sits in the (lotus pose) and closes his eyes. There is no need for sitting for meditation and wasting time in this manner. One can transform every act in daily life as worship of the Divine. Daily chores like making can be transformed into acts of worship of the Divine. Since the body is an instrument, you can make God happy through this instrument and enjoy happiness yourself in the process. In this way you practise meditation in your daily duties.

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Three Phases Of Enjoying Happiness There are three phases in the act of securing a desired object and enjoying happiness out of it. They are , and . is the desire to experience happiness from a particular object. is the initial satisfaction derived from getting the desired object. is the experience of or happiness out of the object. It is not enough if you get the object which you desired to have, but you should experience the joy of using it. For example, you like to taste a mango fruit. The first phase is to buy it, the second is to hold it in hand (possessing it) and the third phase is to eat it. It is only while eating the mango that you derive the fulfilment of your desire. It is also described in the as (knowing), (seeing) and (experiencing).

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For instance, you hear about Sai Baba and come to know that He is at , situated in Andhra Pradesh in India. You make preparations to undertake the journey to the place and have His . The first phase is getting the knowledge about the place where He is and how to get there; the second phase is making the journey and coming face to face with Him (Seeing) and the third phase is , that is getting practical knowledge of and experiencing the Divinity. All the scriptures of different religions (the Bible, the , the Gita, etc.) explain how to reach the same goal but through different paths.

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