Sathya And Dharma: The Hallmarks Of Humanity

30 May 1996, Summer Course 1996, Brindavan

Published English.

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Great saints like , , and and many others aspired to have the grace of the Lord and enjoy Bliss. To this end, they involved themselves in various kinds of (spiritual practices). They never desired any position or power of authority. They firmly believed that God’s grace would grant them everything that they needed. They believed that God’s love was their only property. It is the effect of the age of that, unfortunately, today’s devotees are mainly after pelf, position, and power and, in the process, have brought ruin upon themselves. They believe only in their own welfare and care not for the benefit of others. The protector is God alone. No power or position can offer any kind of protection. Discarding such a protection and relying upon other mundane means to live is a perversion.

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- the thread of God Man is spending thousands of on petty comforts and joys. However, not even a fraction of the amount goes into righteous acts, charity, or saintly purposes. When the lady of the house asks for some money to buy some flowers and incense sticks for the worship, you hesitate to spend money for this. Further, questions are asked as to what are the benefits of all these rituals! You enjoy so many comforts and pleasures. What happiness have these actually given you? These worldly, temporal, and mundane pleasures are all transitory. Charity, righteousness, and sacrifice are the qualities that are Divine.

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Human life is a long garland. One end of the garland is birth and the other end is death. In between these ends are the flowers of clashes, agitations, doubts, lack of self-confidence, and other such qualities, which are threaded together. The effect of these flowers in between is predominant. People look at, and believe, only in these negative qualities of restiveness, lawlessness, and atrocities but do not recognise the underlying truth: without the thread, these flowers cannot be strung together. That thread is the - the law of . It is the very thread of . Woven about this thread are the flowers called obstacles, pleasures, sorrows, abuses, accusations, gains, and the like.

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One time, a village woman was traveling in a train that was crossing the river . The beliefs of the villagers are very sacred. If the culture of India is surviving to some extent, it is only in the villages. The presence of culture in the towns and cities is almost negligible. When the train was passing over the river , she prayerfully offered two coins to the river and threw them below. An Indian youth was seated by her side. He saw her action and at once derided her by saying, “In our country, there is much poverty. Why are you foolishly wasting money by throwing it into the river? What is the benefit? Though she was a villager she was not short of intelligence. For that matter, the wisdom and acumen possessed by the village folks is absent amongst town dwellers. These villagers have a lot of common sense. Modern education, on the other hand, makes people living in the towns lose common sense.

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The Hidden Treasure The Divinity hidden in man is immense, but no one is making any effort to understand this. At one time, in order to make rise high in Society, came to him with a suggestion. He said, “Brother-in-law, you are wasting your valuable poetry by offering it to . You are committing a major mistake by doing so. Is providing you with food, shelter and clothing? Is He looking after your general welfare? Is He protecting your family? Far from it! Hence, offer your poems to the king. The king will shower upon you a torrent of gold. Your family can live happily.” replied, “Brother-in-law, you are mistaken. The protector is and not the king. How long will the kings survive? For how long can they foster you? My real mother is this Mother Earth. By placing my faith on this Mother and constantly chanting ’s name, I shall sanctify my life. It is futile to offer this sacred story of to the kings and feed on the crumbs thrown at me. I would rather believe in Mother Earth to protect me and my family. My poetry is the embodiment of - the goddess of learning. must be offered to alone and not to mere mortals. How inappropriate it is to offer such a holy text to these wicked kings! I cannot condescend to do such a thing.” became furious on hearing these words and conveyed all this to the king. The selfish king became livid with anger. It has been appropriately said that a king is one who is full of (emotional aspect). He dispatched some soldiers to burn down ’s house. The entire house was soon aflame. was meditating on in front of the sacred . He prayed, “Lord! You are my Mother, You are my Father. You are my Well Wisher and Trusted Friend. You are the essence of education and all wealth, You are my everything.” Soon, the entire house was burnt down. But the and the prayer room were both safe!

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Those who sincerely believe in God will never suffer any want. People are only uttering God’s name with their lips and not their hearts. This too, with only worldly desires in mind. Instead of praying with the lips, it is much better to work and render service with the hands. The same was conveyed by to . He said, “, you are indulging in only purifying your word. You must aim at purifying your mind. That should be the aim of all actions. All our actions must be performed with the aim of purifying the mind.” Today, man is only running after education, position, and power and not making any effort to learn the essence of all learning, namely, the education of the Self. Money may come and go in this world. Neither money nor secular education are permanent.

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All is Today, people quite often ask about the relationship between the external world and . Actually, both are the same! This world is the effect while God or is the cause. In this world, there is nothing except . Here is an example. You have planted a seed in the soil and it has sprouted into a sapling. Soon it grows into a tree, with branches and leaves. In the tree are flowers and fruits. Where have these flowers, fruits, branches, and leaves come from? They are all born out of the small seed. It is the seed that became the branches. It is the seed that became the tree. It is the seed that has become the fruits and flowers. You are hence seeing the same seed in various forms and sizes. That is why it has been said in the : “” (I am the seed, I am also the various shapes originating from the seed.)

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O man! You must remember and understand this truth. Wealth is essential. However, remember to use it for charity, righteous acts, and welfare of the world and learn to sacrifice. This great spirit of sacrifice is also seen in the . gave up everything. The have declared, “Neither by actions, nor by progeny, nor by wealth but by sacrifice alone can one attain immortality.” This is why the Kingdom of earned such an everlasting fame. gave up His royal robes and was prepared to go away to the forests. He gave away in charity a number of cows. He was prepared to give Himself away if need be. It is because of this quality of sacrifice that the Principle of has become immortal. He did not take anything with Him and even gave away His footwear. That is an ideal example for , or renunciation, that is born of total sacrifice.

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Feelings depend on possessions There is a tendency to confuse renunciation with totally giving up everything. Renunciation actually means attaining a state of perfect equanimity. People may criticise you or they may praise you; take them both with a sense of equanimity. One may try to harm you while another may try to do you a good turn; treat both situations with equanimity. In one business venture, a loss might be incurred, while a profit might be made in another; treat them both alike. Equanimity is the hallmark of . That provides true safety and security for our lives. To the extent possible, one must make efforts to protect and foster those who have none to help them. If this sense of sacrifice has to be developed, divine feelings must first be developed within. All other feelings are useless if divine feelings are absent in the heart.

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Feelings depend on our possessions, be it arms or wealth. once told , “Lord, these animals living in the forest have done You no harm. Is it not a great sin to harm these creatures when they have not disturbed You in any way? The (demons) are moving about in the forest. None of them have crossed Your path. Then why have You taken upon Yourself to harm them? These thoughts of killing and harming them are fostered in You because of the weapons You carry. If You put these weapons away, such thoughts would also not occur. In You are present Truth and Righteousness, but there is also the quality of violence that appears to negate the good qualities. Keep violence at a distance. You will then become an embodiment of non-violence.” illustrated this point with a good example. once saw a sage meditating. He wanted to test if the mendicant was in deep meditation or was just pretending superficially. He transformed himself into a soldier and appeared before the sage with a huge, sharp sword. He said, “O sage, I am going on an urgent mission. This sword is highly valuable. I propose to leave it in your custody. I shall collect it upon my return. Please keep it safe until then.” The sage agreed and gave his word to guard the sword. From that moment, his entire mind was only on the sword. He had to take the sword along with him wherever he went. This was because he had given his word to protect it. However, because he had the sword with him, certain violent thoughts started invading his mind. Gradually, the good effect of all his penance was diminished. What is the reason? It is the effect of the object.

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Secular education is needed no doubt. It is for that purpose that this Institution has been established. But your education must also be directed towards helping the needy. It must be utilised for the prosperity of the world. It must be put to good use for the welfare of the Society. This is not to say that one must neglect oneself. The senses that have been given to you must be utilised not merely for selfish but also selfless purposes. It is only when man lives with both the feelings of the selfish and the selfless that he deserves to be called a man. The has propounded truth and righteousness throughout its chapters. When these two qualities are absent, one loses the right to be called a man. When fire loses its capacity to burn, it is called a piece of coal; nobody would call it fire anymore. Fire, when touched, burns. Coal, on the other hand, will only make you dirty. Fire becomes coal when it has lost the faculty of burning, and it blackens.

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When the values of truth and righteousness disappear, a kind of dirt begins to form within. The main cause for man’s heart to become maligned and soiled is the destruction of his natural qualities. Humanity or humanness is the confluence of the mind, speech and body. The same is also termed . It may also be looked at by saying “The proper study of mankind is man.” Without the unity of the three, he cannot be called as man. You must, therefore, develop the unity of the thought, word, and deed. If you do so, honour and glory will come searching for you not only in your house, but also in society, in the country and wherever else you may go.

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God must acknowledge your devotion You need not go in search of Truth. Be pure, and truth will come searching for you. Righteousness also need not be looked for. Going in search of it is a sign of weakness. They must come searching for us. That is strength. God must come searching for you. If you go looking for God, it is a mark of foolishness. This is because God is present everywhere. If He is present at some particular spot, one may carry out an investigation to ascertain if He is there or not. How do you search for the Omnipresent God? Annie Besant once remarked, “Today, devotees are all on the lookout for God. This is not true devotion. It is God Himself who must come looking for His devotee. Making God do that is real devotion.” There is no point in proclaiming yourself to be a devotee of or . It is God who must declare you to be His devotee. This point has been well illustrated in the . You may consider yourself to be My devotee. That is not proper. From God must come the reply, “You are mine.” You have posted a registered letter to your friend. Your friend must send the acknowledgement that he has received your letter. That acknowledgement is the sign that your letter has reached your friend. Similarly, if you wish to ascertain that your prayers have reached God, you must make God declare that you are His devotee. Only then can you know that your prayers have reached Him.

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This endless process is for one who knows not both the addresses. In your youth, the mind is subjected to all kinds of bumps and jumps. You must realise that this stage of youth is transient. It has not come with you during your birth and it will not remain with you at the time of death. Sage declared:

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What is this pride of youth? Your entire life passes away in such a short span. Why then be so arrogant and proud about this transient phase? Why this ego? When ego is destroyed, happiness develops in you. God has a very good name: . It means one who has killed the demon called . Who is this ? means sweet like honey. What is sweet for man today? Ego and pride! You will not find anybody in this world who is free from desire and ego. Man wants to become famous and wealthy overnight. Man desires things that have no meaning. God is one who destroys that sweet ego. Hence, He is called . The names of Gods have tremendous inner significance associated with them. No one is reading the sacred texts. Instead, people hanker after stupid books and novels. Consequently, their lives also become nonsensical.

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Wherever you may go, the Lord is always behind you. No friend on earth will ever be able to keep up with you like that. The gives an illustration. In the battlefield, fainted. then began to lament, “Oh ! One may be able to find a wife like and a mother like . But it is impossible to find a brother like you! I do not want to live without you. I also would like to embrace death. , , , and - you may all return to . If does not regain consciousness, I shall drown Myself in the ocean.” Such a bond of friendship exists only between the soul and God.

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The Vice-chancellor said that is God and is the human soul. is divine as well. All are divine. There is nobody human.

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