Develop One-Pointed Love For God

18 April 1996, Sai Shruti, Kodaikanal, TN

Published English.

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The world we see is transitory and full of troubles and travails. Man cannot get lasting happiness from this ephemeral world. Worldly happiness is temporary and fleeting; permanent and eternal (bliss) lies in the realisation that the world is the form of the Divine. But man looks at it as mere material world due to his ignorance. The mistake lies in his vision and not in God’s creation.

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All things in this universe are different combinations of atoms and God permeates every atom of the universe. There is no universe without atoms. So, everything in this universe is divine. ( is subtler than the subtlest and vaster than the vastest). Divinity permeates everything, from microcosm to macrocosm. But we can see divinity in the entire creation only when we develop divine vision.

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Different heads have different thoughts, but the truth is one. Here is a small story to illustrate it. Once four students visited a temple. Seeing the idol of in the temple, they started discussing what the idol was made of. One student said that it was made of white marble. The second student differed from him and said, “No, it is made of red stone.” The third student gave the verdict that it was not red stone but blue stone which is very rare. The fourth student commented, “It is neither white nor red nor blue. The idol is made of green stone.” Each one started arguing to prove his point of view as it is common with modern students to indulge in argumentation. When their arguments became loud, the priest of the temple came there and asked the students not to disturb the peace of the temple by making noise. One of the students then asked the priest, “, what is the colour of the idol in the temple?” The priest replied, “The colour of the idol is black. I worship it, do (ceremonial bath) and offer to it daily.” But the students were not convinced and started arguing with the priest also. The priest then took them to sanctum sanctorum and removed the glasses they were wearing to enable them to see the actual colour of the idol. Then only could they realise the truth that the colour of the idol was indeed black. Similarly, man sees the world with his distorted vision. Naturally, he cannot perceive the truth.

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In modern times, science and technology have made great progress. Man today has learnt to travel to the moon which is of miles away. But he does not travel even one inch within himself. He wants to explore the moon which is far away, but he does not look into his mind that is within him. With worldly education, man develops outward vision; he does not nurture inward vision. He travels to the moon at great expense and brings back a handful of dust. What is the use when truckloads of dust are available free on earth? Instead of exploring the outer world, man should turn his vision inward and try to know his real nature. , (the moon was born out of the mind and the sun out of the eyes of the Supreme Being), say the . In fact, the reflection of the effulgent divine principle on the mind is the real moon which man should explore instead of going to the far away moon and bringing back a handful of dust. Man does not see God who is close to him because of his defective vision, but he makes incessant efforts to see what is far away. When you see a mountain from a distance, it appears to be smooth and beautiful. But when you go near it, you see only a heap of rough stones. Therefore, man should remove his illusion, go within and know the divine principle inherent in him instead of exploring the outer world.

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Realise That You Are The What are the ornaments you require to decorate yourself?

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, , , ?

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Man should try to understand the difference between truth and untruth. Due to lack of his power of discrimination man today considers truth as untruth and untruth as truth. Divinity pervades the entire universe. There is no other cosmic form separate from the universe. This universe itself is the cosmic form and man is a form of God. When you realise this truth, human shortcomings will not arise in you. Then there will be no feelings of high and low. Each person is divine. You are not the body; you are the which means you are ancient and eternal. So, have the firm conviction, “I am God.” When you realise this truth, everything in the world will appear to you pure and sacred.

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People pray to God for His grace and blessings. But first they should earn deservedness. Here is a small example. When people travel in a bus, the person who boards the bus first sits on the first seat and the one who boards the bus last sits on the last seat. But while getting down from the bus, the person on the last seat gets down first and the one on the first seat gets down last. In this way, the person who boards the bus first stays in the bus for a longer period. Moreover, if he has a bag with some valuables in it, he gets time to gather it carefully. This is called Prapti (deservedness). A person with purity of mind has this deservedness. Hence, man should wash away dirty thoughts from his mind and fill it with sacred thoughts. Then only will he attain (vision of wisdom) which will enable him to see the universe as the shining cosmic form of God.

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Treasure The Wealth Of Divine Thoughts Scientists say that everything in the universe is a conglomeration of atoms. Long ago, ancient sages of Bharat said, “” (everything is filled with principle). They declared that the entire universe is divine. So, there is difference only in name. While the sages call it the divine principle of , the scientists say, the universe is made of atoms. The culture of Bharat is very sacred. Many divine principles and mysteries are enshrined in this great culture. These lofty principles should form the basis of everything in man’s life. But modern man wants only worldly pleasures. He seeks pleasure in his business, his profession and everything he comes across in life. But this is not true happiness. That is what sage said when he sang, “Oh mind! Tell me whether happiness lies in wealth or proximity to God.” What is happiness? What is freedom? Only thinking of God can give true happiness. This is (supreme bliss). Nothing is more blissful than this. You envy others that they have enormous wealth and their life is full of pleasures. But they have both (pleasure) and (disease). You should feel happy that you are free from . Moreover, you possess the wealth of divine thoughts. This should give you happiness and satisfaction in life. Treasure such divine thoughts in your mind. But people today are very much dissatisfied and follow the wrong path. What is the reason? The reason lies in their (evil tendencies) from their past lives. Your mind will be purified if you remove these .

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Listen with full attention to what is being said. Do not follow others and do not act foolishly. Chant the Name of . Listen to the good words He speaks. Why do you refuse to listen to His words? People nowadays are all attention to listen to bad things but they do not pay heed to anything good. Why has tongue been given to you? The tongue has been given to you to sing and chant the Name of God. Why have eyes been given to you? Have eyes been given to you to see anything and everything? No, these have been given to you to see God. Do you know why God has given you legs? Have legs been given to you to roam about in lanes and bylanes? No, these have been given to you to circumambulate the temples. Similarly, hands have been given to you to serve others. Offer all your limbs to God. Use your hands, legs, tongue, eyes, and ears for God’s work.

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Realise that you are God. (I) is the first name of God. Inquire deeply, who am I? We say, I am Swami, I am a man, I am a woman, I am a , etc. When I say, I am Swami, I comes first and Swami comes next. When you say, I am a woman, I comes first and woman comes next. When you ask someone his name, he may say, I am or . Here also I comes first and the name next. When once God appeared before a devotee in answer to his prayer, the devotee asked, “Who are You?” Then God replied, “Son, I am God whom you worship.” So, even God says I first. Hence, I is always first. Know that I means or which conveys that the real nature of man is divine.

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Ego And Attachment Are The Cause Of Man’s Miseries But people use I in worldly sense which denotes ego and attachment. This is the cause of man’s unlimited miseries. When you say, my house, my car, my mother, you develop attachment with them. Suppose, you have a house and someone sticks a cinema poster on its wall, you immediately become angry and quarrel with him, saying this is my house. But after you sell your house, you are not worried even if a bomb falls on it. Similarly, if you sell your car, you do not worry if it meets with an accident. Why? You are not worried because the car now does not belong to you. So, you have no attachment with it. An industrialist used to get worried when there was a strike in his factory. He would not move out of his house during the period of the strike lest someone should cause harm to him. He would also arrange police protection. After he sold away his factory, he did not bother what happened to it. Why? Because then the factory was not his. So, the cause of all your worries in life is your attachment. So long as you have the sense of I and mine, you will have attachment. When you think (mine), you have a lot of trouble. You have no trouble when you think Na (not mine). You say, Na . In Telugu it means ‘my body’. But ‘Na’ also means ‘no’. Then Na would mean “I am not the body”.

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, Tvameva bandhushcha sakha tvameva, Tvameva vidya dravinam tvameva, Tvameva Sarvam mama Deva Deva.

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( brought His Discourse to a close with the “ …”)