Love God and Meditate on Him

23 February 2009, Shivarathri, Prasanthi Nilayam

Published English.

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(India) is the motherland of many noble souls who earned great name and fame in all the continents of the world. This is the land of valorous people who vanquished the foreign rulers in the battlefield and attained independence.

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This is the land which excelled in music, literature and other fine arts. Having been born in this great land of , oh, boys and girls, it is your sacred duty to protect its rich cultural heritage. (Telugu poem)

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We are spending nights daily ever since we are born, but not all those nights can be termed as . People meditate upon, sing, and listen to the glory of the divine name and experience the divinity of Lord . Since the whole night is spent in meditation and singing the glory of the divine name of Lord , this night is called . Not only this night, whenever you spend the entire night meditating upon the divine name, that night is also . Lord is not a separate .

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and are beyond description In fact, and (Lord and Lord ) are beyond one’s contemplation. They are beyond the physical body. Many people contemplate upon them as with a physical body and worship them in a particular form. They develop a deep urge to visualise them in a particular form. But who is it that ascribed those forms to Divinity? Surely, they did not incarnate in those forms. Some painters like who, based upon certain descriptions in the and , painted them in a particular form as per their imagination. That is all! In fact, and are not limited to a physical frame. They are beyond description. They are formless and attributeless. God is attributeless, unsullied, final abode, eternal, pure, enlightened, free, and the embodiment of sacredness ().

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God is formless and attributeless Devotees are also accustomed to contemplate upon and worship those forms since millennia. They wish to visualise God in those forms. God is beyond description and is not limited to a particular form. No painter, however great they may be, can ever paint the picture of God. How can a painter paint the form of God, who is formless? However, God assumes different forms as per the wishes of devotees. Whoever wishes to visualise God in whatever form of their liking, God manifests in that form. It is for that particular moment only. It is not permanent. All forms attributed to God are only temporary. Divinity is beyond name and form. Once Goddess came to and wondered: Oh, ! You are very young and is old; He has matted locks and wears a tiger skin; He rides a bull and is constantly on the move; He is adorned with snakes; How did you court Him?

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He has no house of His own and sleeps in the burial ground. (Telugu song) was deeply disturbed by these remarks and approached Lord and asked, “You do not have a house of your own. You do not belong to a particular caste or lineage. Further, you are androgynous (). How then can you call yourself God?” Lord replied that God is beyond names, caste, and lineage. He turned to and asked, “Oh! Mother ! Are you aware of your own husband’s antecedents? He is constantly on the move to protect His devotees and has no time for food and sleep. If at all He settles down to take food, at that moment some devotee like prays, “Oh! Lord ! I am in great trouble. Please save me.” Immediately, He rushes to rescue her, leaving His food. Thus, He is constantly on the move to protect His devotees like and . How then did you court such a Lord, who has no time even for food and rest?”

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The formless God manifests as per the wishes of the devotees then clarified that God has no name and form; He is changeless; He has neither birth nor death, neither beginning nor end; He is eternal and the embodiment of (). He also emphasised that it is illusion to ascribe a name and form to God. The formless God manifests with a particular form and name as per the wishes of the devotees, to fulfil their aspirations. God is formless and attributeless. It is the devotees who attribute some names, forms, and attributes to God and feel satisfied. All names and forms are evanescent and false (). The only eternal and true form of God is . Everything in the world may change; but the will never undergo a change. The entire universe is contained in the . This is also called divine consciousness or or . People misunderstand this eternal truth, ascribing several names and forms to it. When the formless God assumes a form, it is natural for human beings to meditate and worship that form. People derive great satisfaction and experience bliss by doing so. It is alright as long as that form remains. Once that divine form ceases to exist, what will you do? The happiness and bliss derived from the worship of a particular form of God are born only out of your illusion.

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Never consider the physical body as permanent The physical vestures last for a particular period and then cease to exist. Divinity takes different forms later. For example, you are now attached to this physical body. You worship this body and derive great satisfaction and bliss thereby. But, after sometime, this body may disappear like the earlier . Then you should not feel sad. When the divine embodied in this physical body reaches its eternal abode, it is a matter of joy, not sorrow. In the , the came. He went into exile in the forest and destroyed several demons, including the great demon king, . Finally, having fulfilled His Avataric mission, He went into the river and disappeared. The same is the case in the with Lord , who left His mortal coil after having been hit by the arrow of a hunter in the forest. Thus, the physical vestures are always temporary and untrue.

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Meditate upon Divinity, which is true and eternal The body is made up of five elements and is bound to perish sooner or later, But the indweller has neither birth nor death. The indweller has no attachment whatsoever and is the eternal witness. Truly speaking, the indweller, who is in the form of , Is verily God Himself.

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(Telugu poem) Hence, never consider the physical body as permanent. The bodies appear according to the time and circumstances. Once the prescribed time is over, they just disappear. Even the experiences gained by the physical body vanish. Considering the physical bodies as true, if you wish to have the vision () of Lord of now, how is it possible? As long as He walked in that body, He appeared in , , , , etc., and made people happy with His sight, touch, and conversation ().

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Take the example of an electric bulb. Each bulb has separate wattage, which remains for a limited period of time. The are also like these electric bulbs. Over a period, God has incarnated as several . You should not be attached to the physical form of a particular ; rather you should be attached to Divinity as the formless, attributeless Supreme Self (), which manifested as different in different ages. You were born as a child and grew up as a boy, youth, and an elderly person. All these different stages in life are for a limited period only, but you, the individual, are there in all the different stages. come, fulfil their mission, and disappear. Therefore, you must meditate upon Divinity, which is true and eternal. There are three aspects in spiritual practices: concentration, contemplation, and meditation. At the moment, you are fixing your gaze on this form; that is concentration. When this form moves away after sometime, you still look at this form with your mental eye; that is contemplation. As a result of this exercise, this form gets imprinted in your heart permanently. That is meditation. As you go on meditating thus, the form remains in your heart permanently. At present, you are confining your spiritual practice to concentration and contemplation only. These two stages are only transitory. It is true that the first step in your spiritual practice is concentration. Concentration has to be transformed into contemplation and later into meditation. In this final stage of meditation, you will continue to visualise the form of God even if you close your eyes. The ancient sages adopted this form of meditation. That is why God manifested before them whenever they wished, talked to them and fulfilled their desires. The formless, attributeless Supreme Self () is changeless and eternal. It represents the ultimate reality. It is known by different names like , , , etc. Do not make any distinction between the names, for it is beyond names and forms. Install that ultimate reality on the altar of your sacred heart and constantly meditate upon it. Some people tend to misinterpret the and to suit their convenience and selfish ends. A small story. Once an impostor posing as a renunciant stood before a house and begged for food saying, “I am hungry, please give me food!” The housewife heard his plea and came out. She told him, “Sir! Please go to the river and have a bath and come back. Meanwhile, I will keep the food ready for you.” The impostor quoted a line from the , “constant chanting of the name of is as good as taking a bath ().” The housewife immediately realised that the person standing in front of their door begging for food was not a true renunciant and replied, “Dear Son! Constant chanting of the name of is as good as a meal (). You may go.” It is said that the face is the index of mind. It reflects our inner thoughts and feelings. If the so-called renunciant in this story really believed in the glory of the divine name, he should have taken a bath before asking for food. He was lazy. He wanted food to satisfy his hunger but was reluctant to take a bath before the meal. Never believe in such impostors.

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A small example: you may have scored first class marks in the half yearly examination, but you will not be eligible to get a degree. It is only after passing the final examination that you become eligible to receive a degree. Contemplation and meditation are comparable to the half yearly and final examinations. Thus, spirituality represents a higher stage in life. Today, people are engrossed in the pursuit of physical and worldly objects, forgetting moral and spiritual goals. How then can they attain spiritual progress? If one wishes to have a spiritual experience, one has to acquire the necessary strength to face the final examination. To say that this is my body, my house, my property, etc. represents the physical aspect. When you say, “this is my body,” it means “my” is separate. That is, you are separate from your body. Similarly, when you say “my mind, my intellect, my subconscious mind,” etc., it means they are all separate from you. Hence, your true nature, “I”, is separate from all of those. You have to sacrifice all the fruits of your actions (). That means that you have to “perform all actions in a spirit of surrender to God ().” Only then will you become immortal.

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If you wish to attain the true and eternal state, you must realise the Principle (). Only the delineate on the Principle extensively and not the epics like and . The same Principle, that is, the Supreme Reality, incarnates from age to age to restore whenever it is on the decline, as stated in the : Oh ! Whenever there is a decline in and rise in , I incarnate from age to age for the establishment of . . (Sanskrit verse)

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Peace brings love Install God on the altar of your sacred heart and meditate on Him constantly. In spite of sorrow, difficulties, calamities that you may encounter, hold on to Him firmly. They trouble your body, not you; for, you are separate from your body. The body is like a box in which the mind, intellect, subconscious mind, and senses are packed. We cultivate qualities like anger, jealousy, envy, pride, etc. due to our contact with the outside world. Only when we get rid of these qualities do we enjoy peace. We have to start our spiritual practices with truth () and righteousness (). When truth and righteousness go together, peace () will reign. Peace brings love. Where there is peace, there cannot be hatred. When we develop hatred against someone, it means the spring of love is dried up in our heart. When there is love in our heart, we do not get angry, even if someone accuses us. Normally, we do not care for anyone when we are angry. Many people speak ill of Me, accuse Me, and even heckle Me, but I am not disturbed. I am always happy and blissful. That is real love. Where there is anger, hatred, and jealousy, it means that there is no love. Hence, we should always follow the motto of “Love All, Serve All!” The basis for following this principle is truth and righteousness. Always speak truth and follow righteousness. As against this principle, people are now lecturing so much about without themselves treading the path of . cannot survive in such circumstances. It is said, “There cannot be a greater than speaking truth ().” and are like the two hands, two legs, and two lips in a human body. Only when the two lips work together can a human being speak. Similarly, only when and go together does peace reign. Where there is no , there love cannot be. Thus, and are the basis for all other values like peace (), love (), and nonviolence (). ( sang the song, “ …” and continued His discourse.)

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