Removal Of Immorality Is The Only Way To Immortality

10 April 1993, Kodaikanal

Published English.

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One may be the master of all forms of knowledge, One may vanquish one’s adversaries in debate, One may fight with valour and courage in the battlefield, One may be an emperor reigning over vast kingdoms, One may offer cows and gold as an act of charity, One may count the countless stars in the sky, One may tell the names of different living creatures on the earth, One may be an expert in eight steps of , One may reach even the moon, But is there anyone who can control the body, mind, and senses, Turn the vision inward, And achieve the supreme state of equanimity of the mind? (Telugu poem) When a child emerges from the womb of their mother, one does not find any garland around the child’s neck.

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There are no necklaces studded with precious stones, like emeralds and diamonds. But there is one garland around the neck. strings together the consequences of the child’s past deeds into a heavy garland and puts it around the neck at the time of birth. (Telugu poem)

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The body is given to humans to perform actions. As the says: Your right is on actions only, not the fruits thereof ( ). It is your duty to perform actions. Duty is very important. Your responsibility is only to perform your duty; you have no authority on rights. When you discharge your duty sincerely, you will get the rights automatically. But people today forget their duty and crave authority. So, take care of your responsibility. If you perform your responsibility earnestly, you will get the rights naturally.

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Likewise, when you do your duty, you will certainly get the reward of your actions. So, perform actions without any desire for the fruits. Why? People in the world are bound by action ( ). Human society is bound by action ( ). You have to perform actions right from the time of rising from the bed in the morning till going to sleep at night. This does not mean discharging duty alone. In fact, one cannot live without action even for a moment. But does not mean merely those actions that you perform with your hands and legs. Your blood circulation and breathing also denote .

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What efforts do you make for inhalation and exhalation? You may be in waking state, in sleep state, or in dream state; you may be in a state of anger; you may be walking; you may be doing anything - your inhalation and exhalation goes on naturally. Will any fool say that inhalation and exhalation are because of their own effort? You make some effort for certain actions, but what efforts do you make for respiration or beating of your heart? It is not in your hands. These are natural actions, which happen by God’s Will. The food that you eat gets digested. Who gave you that power of digestion? This is also done by God. Lord declares in the : I am present in all beings in the form of digestive fire.

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United with inhalation and exhalation ( and ), it is I who consume the four kinds of food.

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. It is the digestive power gifted to humanity by God that digests all the four types of food that are eaten. But people, out of their ego, claim that it is they themselves who accomplished a particular task and achieved success by their efforts. However, this does not mean that a person should not make efforts to perform a task. For all worldly and mundane chores, effort is necessary. But what effort do you make for Atmic , sacred, spiritual, inner, and mystic activities? Who is the doer? It is , , , , .

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God is the only Doer Who is ? The one endowed with all (wealth) is . What do you mean by ? signifies all wealth, whether it is materialistic, scientific, ethical, or spiritual. He is the source and master of all the different forms of wealth.

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Who is ? What is ? Many Indians ( ) know. They visit and offer their hair. But what will happen out of that? Do you think God wants your useless hair? With all high desires, you offer your worthless hair and pray to God! You pray to God in that vile way! This is not the significance of offering hair in .

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Your head is the (mountain) of your body. In this head, performs its bestial dance. What is ? What is its nature and form? signifies black colour, darkness, and ignorance. This darkness enters the human head. Offer this darkness to God to manifest the white, pious, serene (sathwic ) quality. Offering worthless hair to God is meaningless. This is how our age-old good traditions have been distorted.

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The third is , the master of mankind. What is meant by ? ‘Na’ means not, ‘ra’ means ignorant. One who is not ignorant is . A person is is not ignorant - and is not sinner either.

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The next one is . What do you mean by ? means limitless, above everything. So, is one who is vast, infinite, and beyond all definitions.

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The next is : Lord , who is worshipped with leaves. There are three leaves on a single stalk. While worshipping Lord , we recite this : One leaf with three petals ( ). The three leaves represent the three attributes ( ). The heart is the basis of these three attributes. Offer your three qualities wholeheartedly to God. This is the inner significance of the worship of Lord .

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But, as it is said in Telugu, “Even a washerman ( ) is superior to an educated man.” How? Suppose you give your clothes to a and write in a notebook: two pants, two shirts, two handkerchiefs, and a towel. The washerman carries with him a large number of clothes of many people, but he does not write it down. After washing the clothes, he will return the clothes of all his customers correctly. So, what a lot of difference is there between your education and that of the washerman! What you acquire is bookish knowledge. Bookish knowledge is temporary.

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What is the second step? Each one should enquire, “Who am I”? One should say, I am a human. Should one be satisfied with that? No! Saying, “I am human,” is only half the truth. What is the other half? The other half is, “I am not an animal.” Always repeat: I am human, not animal. I am human, not animal. When we join these two halves, we have the full truth. Truth is one, but the wise refer to it by various names ( ). It is only one that exists, not the second. Truth is one, not two.

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Then you should question yourself, who am I? In this way, when we question ourselves in ordinary matters in daily life, we will be able to understand the eternal truth that is Divinity. When you understand that you not the body, you are not the mind, and you are not the senses, then who are you? You should say, I am I. That thou Art ( ) is non-duality. But when you say, I am ( ), it is not non-duality because I and are two. Two is not truth. That is dualism. So, you should say, “I am I.” That is non-dualism, meaning you are you.

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The body is like a water bubble, the mind is like a mad monkey. Don’t follow the mind, don’t follow the body, follow the conscience. That is the spiritual practice you should do. Follow your heart ( ) on the path of spirituality. does not mean physical heart. It is spiritual heart. Where is it located? It is present everywhere.

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God is in search of a true devotee What do you mean by body? The body is a temple and the Indweller is God ( ). Body is the temple of God.

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What type of temple is it? It is a moving temple. Wherever your body moves, there is God. So, where is God? He is everywhere. You cannot say God is here and not there. The also declares: With hands, feet, eyes, head, mouth, and ears pervading everything, He permeates the entire universe ( ). Wherever your feet go, there is God. God is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient. Because your vision is narrow, you are not able to understand this truth. You say that you are put to suffering by the world. But it is not the world that puts you to suffering; rather, you are making the world suffer. The Bible also propounds this truth. It is said that the devotees are in search of God. This is not correct. What is the necessity for a devotee to search for God when God is everywhere? Where do you search for God, who is present at all places? This is not right. In fact, God is in search of a devotee. Where is a real and true devotee with steady faith? When we enquire like this, we find that it is, in fact, God who is in search of a true devotee. To say that the devotee is in search of God is untruth; it is false. So, we need not search for God. He is the indweller of your heart. He is all-pervasive. He is present within you, around you, below you, above you. That all-pervasive God is present within and without ( ).

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It is not enough if you think that you are God. You should develop divine feelings and perform divine actions. If you say, “I am God” and indulge in demonic acts, then your saying is meaningless. Always remind yourself, I am human, not animal. Anger, jealousy, hatred, and greed are animal qualities. Truth, compassion, love, and sacrifice are human qualities. Develop human qualities. Then only can you call yourself (man).

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The word has three letters ma , na, va . Ma means ignorance, na means without, and va means one who conducts themself. So, means the one who conducts themself without ignorance. That is the true meaning of the word .

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People should know God as long as they has the body. This sacred human life is gifted only to realise divinity. One can make one’s life worthwhile by developing divine qualities. What are the divine qualities? God is attributeless, unsullied, final abode, eternal, pure, enlightened, free, and embodiment of sacredness ( ). Not only this, other attributes of Divinity are: embodiment of sound, mobility, and immobility, light, speech, eternal bliss, perfection, delusion, and wealth ( , and ). Out of so many divine qualities of God, do we have even one? You don’t need to put into practice all that is said. Practise at least one teaching of . But you listen and go. Once, a sculptor brought three idols in King ’s court. said to his minister, “Minister, judge which is the best of the three.” The minister pierced an iron rod into the ear of one idol. The iron rod came out through the other ear. This idol was kept aside by the minister. He examined the second idol. When the rod was put into one ear, it came out through the mouth. The same reply ensued. Now the minister put the third idol to test. The iron rod went into the ear but did not come out. The minister said, “Oh king, this idol is most valuable.” “What is the reason?” asked the king. The minister said, “The first idol represents a person who hears with one ear but lets out information through the other. This is not good. The second idol symbolises a person who listens with one ear but leaves out the information through the mouth. No value. But the third idol stands for a person who receives information through the ear and treasures it in his heart.” So, whatever good thing you hear, treasure it in your heart. If you put it in your heart, it may develop at one time or other. It is like the negative of a photograph. When you have the negative with you, you can make any number of copies at any time. What you take into your head, it is like a Polaroid picture. You cannot make any copies out of it. Keep good things safe in your heart like a negative so that you can put it into practice. Many teachers teach spirituality to devotees in many different ways, leading to confusion for everyone. They teach for their selfish ends and to earn name and fame, not for the welfare of society. Aspirants who put in great efforts to learn spirituality should not be misled.

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Self-confidence is the basis of Self-realisation God is one, and He is present in everyone. What is the way to God? First and foremost, try to know what is the best way. The best way is through removal of immorality. In fact, removal of immorality is the only way to immortality. Not only this. The best way to love God is to love all and serve all, because God is present in everyone. There are many such subtle truths, but these easy paths are not being taught today. That is why devotees are confused. They have lost their confidence altogether. Confusion also gives rise to doubts. Because of doubts, faith declines. There is no scope for doubts in spirituality. So, never allow doubts to shake your faith. Consider faith ( ) as your life breath ( ). Just as a person becomes a dead body without breath, they are spiritually dead without faith. First and foremost, develop self-confidence. Self-confidence leads to self-satisfaction. When you have self-satisfaction, you will do self-sacrifice. Where there is self-sacrifice, there will be Self-realisation.

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Self-confidence is the basis of love. You cannot achieve anything without love. ( brought His Discourse to a close with the “ …”)