Do Sadhana with pure Feelings

14 April 1999, Tamil New Year, Baisakhi, Vishu, Brindavan

Published English.

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Truth is your true mother and Wisdom the true father, is the true brother and Compassion the true friend; The true wife is Peace and the true so Forgiveness, These six are in fact the true relations of man. [Sanskrit sloka]

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Embodiments of Love! Life is like an ocean with waves of joy and sorrow. Spirituality is the lighthouse to the people who are traveling in the ocean of . Spirituality does not mean rituals and worship alone. Spirituality is that which demonstrates unity in multiplicity. God is love personified and is installed in the heart of every man. That is why since time immemorial, the have prayed for the welfare of all people in the world. Spirituality has a certain discipline. (Nothing noble and great can be achieved without discipline).

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Spirituality and welfare of humanity In Tamil, there is a sacred book named , which is equivalent to the . It was written by . He took to the path of spirituality, worked for the welfare of humanity, and led a disciplined and peaceful life. He used to ask his wife to keep a cup of water and a needle by his side while he ate his food. As per the command of her husband, his wife did accordingly day after day, but not even once did she find him putting them to use while having food. When his wife asked him for the reason, he replied, “I don't want to waste even a single grain of rice. The purpose of this needle is to pick up the grain of rice if it were to fall outside my plate and to wash it clean with water before putting it back in the plate. So far I have not used this needle, since I have been very careful not to spill rice grains.” (food is , the essence is , and the one who partakes of it is ). Food is called since its essence pervades the whole body and gives it strength. The prayer to is to purify the mind, so that the body may be utilised in a proper way. The Principle demonstrates how to make use of the strong body and pure mind in a proper way. God resides in the heart of everyone in the form of love. But no one is making any effort to realise the Principal of Love in the heart. There is no life without love. Love is God. God is love.

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he is becoming more and more restless. The lesser the desires are the greater the happiness will be. The teach that all the education that man acquires should be utilised for the welfare of society. The say, (man should involve himself in the service of society). (man should be a treasure of wisdom), (man should cultivate all good qualities). But today’s education does not confer these noble virtues. Modern education bestows mere bookish knowledge, which in turn becomes superficial knowledge. Today, there is no trace of practical knowledge in man.

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and Today man aspires to have the vision of , but is getting immersed in (illusion). Unity in multiplicity is and viewing multiplicity in unity is . Man has lost the vision of unity in diversity. He has become highly “intelligent”, so as to divide unity into multiplicity. Fie upon such intelligence! Man should make an effort to see the unity in diversity. That is the real (spiritual exercise).

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Practice the teachings of the to experience bliss Reading the sacred texts such as the , the , and the does not confer the vision of . had studied the four and six . He was a great exponent of the and the . In spite of all this, he could neither attain peace nor get rid of his delusion. So he approached the sages , , and and requested them to grant him peace and wisdom. asked what made him feel that he deserved to attain peace and wisdom.

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replied that he had studied the four , the six , the , and the .

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Then said, “! No doubt, you have studied the and , but have you put them into practice? It is a mistake to think that mere study of the and can confer peace and wisdom. One has to practice the teachings of the and in order to experience bliss.”

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went on to say, “, you say you have gone through the . But have you understood the first declaration of the first Upanishad: (God permeates the entire cosmos)? Have you recognised the Truth that God exists in everybody. You are chanting the (verses), but you are not trying to experience them.” leads to divinity Today spiritual aspirants are wasting their time in such futile exercises. Time is God. Time wasted is life wasted. Instead the aspirants should try to enter a path that will endow them with wisdom. There are nine paths of devotion. They are: (listening to the stories of the Lord), (singing the glory of the Lord) (contemplating on the form of the Lord), (serving the Lotus Feet), (salutation), (worship), (servitude), (friendship of the Lord), and (self-surrender). Are you putting any of these into practice in your daily life? No. You are merely mouthing words, but not practising.

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The proper study of mankind is man. What is the proper study? Your thoughts, words, and deeds must be in harmony with each other. (he is a wicked one whose thoughts, words, and deeds are not in harmony). In the modern world, you find such wicked people everywhere. But there are good people also. If there are no good people in the world, how can the sun rise? Good people are there in the world, no doubt. But, the present-day scenario is such that only the wicked seem to be prospering.

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(truth is your mother and wisdom is your father). A true father is one who imparts the knowledge of non-dualism to his son. But the present-day parents are not concerned about truth; whatever untruths their son utters to cover up his mistakes, they take that as truth! It is only because of such parents that the children are going in the wrong direction. Parents are to be blamed if the children take to the wrong path. As the parents, so are the children. If the parents themselves are found arguing with each other, the children will go a step ahead and engage themselves in fighting with each other! The condition of the country depends upon fathers and mothers. But today, the situation of the family is very unfortunate.

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Humility bestows deservedness Since ancient times, has radiated peace and happiness to the rest of the world with its power of spirituality. All the aspects of the culture of are suffused with divinity. The eyes, the ears, the nose and the hand are the different limbs of the body. Body is a limb of the society. Society is a limb of mankind. Mankind is a limb of nature. Nature is a limb of God.

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It is because of the impact of modern education that man is misusing his limbs. He has forgotten the truth that humility is the hallmark of true education. Education confers humility. Humility bestows deservedness. Deservedness will lead to . It is through that one can attain Divinity. Modern education has become job-oriented. Without , what is the use of (job)? One has to attain , which means control of the senses.

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did penance () for many years in order to attain . Ultimately, attained (liberation). But, today, people are ruining themselves because they are immersed in (dullness). laid emphasis on , , , , and . This can be interpreted as:

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made proper use of the five senses, experienced bliss and shared it with others. But, today all five senses are being misused. Actions are based on thoughts. So, man has to cultivate noble thoughts. (heart) is the temple of God. Thoughts, words, and deeds will be pure, steady and selfless only when man has a pure and noble feelings. Purity, patience, and perseverance are very essential for mankind. Without firm faith, man cannot achieve anything in life.

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Man should purify his mind with pure thoughts Today we find pollution everywhere. The air that we breathe, the water that we drink, the sound that we hear, the food that we partake of, all are polluted. The root cause for all this is that the mind itself is polluted. It is because of evil feelings in the mind that everything appears evil. (the whole world is based on the mind). Even if man dies, mind will not die. So, man should purify his mind with pure thoughts. Pure thoughts can be cultivated only by chanting the divine name.

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Cultivate noble qualities in New Year Embodiments of Love! You have been celebrating the New Year Day year after year. But are you cultivating new and sacred qualities? No. You are unable to give up bad qualities. With each New Year, new and noble qualities should be cultivated. Desires have to be controlled. The lesser the desires, the lesser your sorrows. Excessive desires lead to the ruination of will power (). Decline in will power leads to loss of power of action (). Develop unity of , , and (power of wisdom). Will power will increase only when desires are reduced. Happiness is eluding man due to limitless desires. Excessive desires spoil health and cause depression in the mind. Reducing desires amounts to reducing the burden on the mind. Less luggage, more comfort makes travel a pleasure. Life is a long journey. How can you enjoy the journey if you are carrying heavy luggage? Go on reducing your luggage. The same message is conveyed in the too. (immortality can be attained only through sacrifice; neither wealth nor progeny nor good deeds can confer it).

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Have fear of sin and love for God. Only then there will be morality in society. If you do not have fear of sin and love for God, you will not be respected even by your own mother, wife, and children. If you have fear of sin and love for God, the whole world will love you. Sage has given the essence of the 18 in the dictum, (to help others is merit; harming others is sin). Help ever, Hurt never. If you cannot render help, at least restrain yourself from hurting others. That itself is a great help.

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Master the mind and be a mastermind The sacred land of is the birthplace of many great saints and sages, who undertook many spiritual practices with great determination and led noble lives of peace and happiness. They gave up body attachment and developed love for the . But, today, man is developing attachment to the body more and more, forgetting the Principle of the .

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The body and the mind are negative; only the is positive. You say, my body, my mind, my intellect, my senses, and so forth. When you say, my handkerchief, the handkerchief is separate from you. Similarly, when you say, my body, my mind, etc., you are separate from them. Then who are you?

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On the spiritual path, and are not that important. Purity of mind is most important. You do not need to undertake spiritual practice. Love everyone. Do not limit your love to you and your family alone. Do not spend your life in narrow-mindedness. All belong to the same universal family. All are one; be alike to everyone. Divine love is pure, selfless, attributeless, and eternal. He is a sinner who tries to find faults with divine love. Worldly love is negative and full of selfishness. Man can attain Divinity only when he gives up selfishness.

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Worldly friends are such that they say hello to you only when you have money and power. Hello becomes hollow once you lose both. As long as there is water in the pond, thousands of frogs gather there. Once the pond gets dried up, not even a single frog will be seen around. Same is the case with worldly friends. But God’s friendship is not like that. He is with you at all stages and in all situations. Love him from the depth of your heart. Take refuge in Him. He will definitely protect you. Did He not come to the rescue of , who surrendered to Him completely? (as is the feeling, so is the result). God will come to your rescue if you have total faith.

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God is love, so He always gives only love Some people, when faced with difficulties, think that God is punishing them. It is a mistake to think so. God never punishes anybody. It is only the king who gives punishment, not God. God is love, so He always gives only love. The punishment you suffer is the result of your own actions. God neither punishes you nor protects you. You are punished by your own sins and protected by your own good deeds. You may utilise light for writing wrong account or for reading the holy . But, the light is not affected by what you do. Similarly, God is the eternal witness. He is like the light, not affected by what you do, be it good or bad.

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Spiritual practices and purity of mind Embodiments of Love! Many New Years have come and gone, but what is that you have achieved? You may have participated in any number of times. But, you still continue to be immersed in negativity. Put a question to yourself what have you gained by participating in . should develop positive feelings in you. Any (spiritual practive) done with noble feelings will yield good results. You may be doing a lot a spiritual practices for many years without any result. But, never give up any spiritual practice. Continue your . One day or the other, you will get the reward.

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You think that you have attained (independence). means . So, the true independence lies in following . Body is like a water bubble. Mind is like a mad monkey. So, do not follow the body; do not follow the mind. Follow the conscience. Your conscience always gives you the right prompting. It is a sin if you do not follow the dictates of your conscience. Conscience is your master.

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Embodiments of Love! On New Year day, it is a practice to mix sweet, sour and bitter things and eat them. It is to indicate that joy and sorrow have to be treated with equanimity. It is the tongue that tastes the delicacy and it is the heart that tastes love. The taste of love is peerless. It is sweeter than even nectar. Love alone can match love. God is love, love is God. Live in love. Whatever you sing, sing with love. God is . He sees your feelings, not the rhythm or tune. If your feelings are pure, God will take care of everything.