Reduce Your Desires

24 May 2002, Summer Course 2002, Prasanthi Nilayam

Published English.

1

2

3

Love, , , I - these are all synonyms of the same entity. Every person commonly uses the word 'I'. It means he is revealing his true identity of being the . (This entire creation is Divinity). Whatever you hear, see, or experience is all alone. is yet another synonym for 'I'.

4

Einstein once said, "There is no matter in creation, it is all energy and energy has no form". He discovered this truth in this age, after a number of investigations. A few thousands of years prior to this, the seven-year-old came to the same conclusion with out any kind of experimentations. He stated, "It isn't possible to decide that God is present here and not present there. He is everywhere, and there can be no doubt about it. You can find Him wherever you search for Him".

5

How did the young lad have such an experience? His own father, , tried to have him killed by the bite of poisonous snakes. All did was to chant the Lord's name, "!" and lo and behold, the serpents turned into garlands! then ordered that be chopped into pieces. Several swords were used, but kept chanting, "", and the swords couldn't make a scratch on the boy. They then decided to make him drink poison. kept repeating, "!" He didn't have any other name or thought in his mind. As a consequence, the poison changed into nectar. Seeing the futility of these procedures, they hurled the boy from the hilltop into the ocean below. kept chanting the Divine name, "!" and smilingly fell into the ocean. The deity of the ocean rescued the boy and brought him to the shore.

6

The inner significance of these events is that faith is highly essential. It is the basis. Without this faith, any number of times the Lord's name may be chanted, but it will prove ineffective. It is the same as a tape recorder repeating God's name. was tuned into the primordial sound of , which originated from his navel.

7

Man's body is a powerful dynamo . The entire limbs and the body constitute a generator. There is a steady supply of current from the body. Everything in man is Divine power . experienced this current and therefore firmly believed that God can be found wherever He is looked for.

8

9

10

11

12

When born, man when was without any desires. At such a time he was in a pure and pristine state. He was steady and peaceful. All the strengths of man were at their highest intensity. In the eyes of every man, thirteen of light receptors enable him to see. His tongue has thirty of taste buds. A further fifty lakh cells in his ears help him in his hearing. The entire body of man is a divine experience itself. It is said, " (The creation is entirely alone) ."

13

14

Sage was the first one to initiate the chanting of in the sense that he contributed eight letters: . In these eight letters originated the entire because these letters were used as the basis to form syllables and words. Man hence developed his vocabulary. He first created eight names, glorifying God as the embodiment of eight essential features. These eight names are , , , , , , , and . These eight names describe God as the embodiment of sound, movement, light, speech, eternal bliss, eternal strength, illusion, and prosperity, respectively.

15

The entire came up using just the eight letters given initially. The sages explained, "O Citizens! We have visualised the divine form shining like a brilliant sun beyond ."

16

17

The answer came "", which means that He is there inside, outside, and everywhere. He can be seen wherever He is looked for. Divinity is therefore all pervasive. A consequence of this all pervasiveness was that the (sages) would not travel around. They would remain seated at one spot and spent their time contemplating on the Lord. It was their constant worry that if they traveled about, they would stamp upon this all pervasive God! They did not wish that Divinity come in contact with their feet. Such was the sacred feeling with which tasks were carried out by the sages of yore. Such sentiments were responsible for the highly idealistic characters developed by the people of the yore.

18

19

What are the forms that God's strength assumes? The of the yore gave these strengths certain names. The first is "". What does this statement mean? It praises God as follows, "Wherever I see, it is your divine form and your sacred sound."

20

Gradually, as the power of investigations improved, a second name was given to God. This name was "". This means divine power. None can touch this power in its absolute form. However, you can feel a fraction of it in yourself. Just hold your own hand while you are walking and you can feel it. Such divine power was experienced, enjoyed, and shared amongst one and all in those days.

21

22

23

24

25

26

How old was ? He was just 6 years old. He was emboldened by the humiliation he had suffered at the hands of his stepmother. He took his mother's blessings saying, "Mother! I shall obtain the grace and blessings of the Lord and only then return." He selected a spot that was totally deserted and isolated. It was a totally peaceful and silent locality. There, the forest was so thick that one could not even take a step on clear ground. Moving about was out of question. At such a place, little stood on one leg and carried out a determined penance by chanting, "! !"

27

The lord appeared and asked him, "Child! What do you want?" The intelligence of the child cannot be matched even by the grown ups and educated lot of today! replied, "I am a small boy. I am here in a totally isolated area, and yet you found me. It is only you who could have known about my presence here. You who know where I am will definitely know what I want."

28

The Lord replied, "Son! . You must become a noble person by synthesizing your thought, word, and deed. You have determined in your mind to do penance and obtain the Lord's grace. Accordingly you commanded your body, came and did severe penance. Your thought and your action are hence in cohesion. But your words are yet to be ascertained and have not been expressed yet. This is why I am asking you what you need."

29

replied, "When I started out, I desired a cheap trinket of a glass piece. But now I have got a priceless diamond instead. Once I have got this diamond, why should I desire the glass piece? I had come to do penance with a great desire that I become a prince and sit on my father's lap. Now I don't have any such desires. I want only you."

30

31

Obeying the Lord's command returned home.

32

What a high degree of intelligence was there among the children in those days! Such sacredness in their thought! What a noble path they chose to tread! was a great devotee of the Lord. He had a steady faith in Lord . He didn't rely on his own father or mother. He knew that mother and father are related to him through desire. He used to say, "Lord is related to me without any attachments. The Lord doesn't relate to me with some desires in mind. His only aim is to cause my emancipation. Hence, I desire only He who has no desires in him. I should express my desires only to He who Himself has none."

33

34

35

36

37

38

Make it a point to follow the Master. You will then receive His abundant grace. You have been worshipping for several years with devotion. You take ritualistic bath and sing unfailingly. Has at least an iota of dirt in your mind been wiped out? On the contrary, it is increasing day by day. Are you able to experience at least a moment of bliss wholeheartedly? Definitely not! If yes, why then have you so many desires? What do you gain by desiring progeny? To some extent this desire is essential. It is a duty to be discharged by you. Certainly do it. But once done, God will take care of the rest. You need not entertain worries on that count. Today, you are indulging in looking after their welfare. What is the result? Is it not much better to offer the responsibility to God and let Him handle it? You will be happy and so will they.

39

40

When earth was first formed, there was only pitch darkness everywhere. Nothing was visible. At such a time, everyone prayed. As a result, it rained heavily for of years thereafter. It is an effect of this deluge that the oceans formed. After the rains, the clouds cleared. Gradually the stars appeared. The sun shone and showered its rays on the earth. The light enabled man to go about his daily life, grow crops, and eke out a livelihood. When there was total darkness, man had no desires. As light gradually appeared, so did man desires, because he could now see the creation. Today, his day begins with desires! However, during the night he is not assailed by desires. Hence, darkness appears to give no scope for desires. On this count at least one should welcome darkness!

41

At the time of 's birth, for fifteen days there was no sunshine. It was darkness all around. Consequently, the moon was agitated. It lamented, "Alas! I am unable to have a glimpse of Lord !" After the passing of fifteen days the sun itself was curious to see . He gradually started rising. Consequently, the moon started its lunar phases. The sun and the moon started executing their assigned tasks. This caused day and night to appear on earth. If you investigate the mystery of nature, you will find that man plays no role anywhere in it.

42

How will you visualize and merge into ? I shall explain it in detail later. In this world, several scholars and experts explain Divinity quite extensively. However, Divinity that can be explained is not true Divinity! These are only descriptions and pointers to Divinity. They can easily make you happy or even delude you. But you must go beyond these and aim to see the reality that is "". " (Thou Art That)." "Thou" means "this". "That" is "". Both should therefore become one.

43

Today, man is inventing medicines to control the population. Such a thing is not possible through medicines. When desires go down, automatically the mind is turned toward God. What is first required is sense control. Tomorrow, we shall see in more detail the story of .

44

This day, people from several countries have gathered to spread the message of Lord to the world. You must all listen to the nature of and use it to control your mind. Today, controls are being exercised on everything except the mind and desires. It is the desires that must first be controlled. This will give you a great deal of peace. You will be surprised to see so much peace in yourself. Peace is natural to man and will arise on its own, once desires are controlled.

45

Peace is everywhere. Truth and love are everywhere. You are the very embodiment of the love. You are the embodiment of peace and truth. You are the embodiment of God. Realise this truth first. Truth is not at some far of place. Truth is here itself! Where there is truth there is God. We chant (peace) three times. Outside what you will find is only pieces. Peace is God's property and is available only with Him.

46

47

48

We need not set out to search for God. Wherever there is truth, God appears. Where appears, his consort , the goddess of plenty and prosperity, also appears. Hence, if you want wealth, you have to take the first step! When you succeed in installing Lord in your heart, goddess follows her Master into your heart.

49

50

There is plenty of grace that God can give you. But it is at a depth! Some effort is required to obtain it. If you need to fetch water from a well, you need to tie a rope to a bucket, lower it into the well, and draw the water out. You are neither tying the rope to the bucket nor lowering the bucket into the well, so water is therefore not reaching you. The rope to use is that of devotion. This rope must be tied to the vessel of your heart and lowered into the well of God's grace. What you receive from the well, when the water is drawn out, is the water of pure bliss. The well is that of God's grace () and not that of anger () or jealousy ()!

51

52

53