31 July 2025
Thursday
Like the poor villager who jumped into the flood to salvage a bundle of rugs which was really a bear being carried along by the raging waters, and found that the bundle caught hold of him so tight that he could not escape, man too jumps in, to retrieve what he considers a treasure, but is himself caught and bound. That is why the saints of this land have been teaching the people that they are children of immortality, repositories of peace and joy, of truth and justice, and masters of their senses. Of course, man can have some desires, some eagerness to achieve comfort, some attempt to earn content, but it must be like the diseased man craving for medicine. Food and drink, housing and clothing must be subsidiary to the needs of the spirit, the education of the emotions, passions and impulses. They must take the place that salt and pepper take on the dining table today; uppu must be subsidiary to pappu, that is, you cannot have more salt than the quantity of dal, not even as much. So too, efforts to achieve health, comfort, etc., must be just enough for the purpose of sustaining the sadhana, not more, not less.
From Swami’s discourse of 2 October 1965
Like the poor villager who jumped into the flood to salvage a bundle of rugs which was really a bear being carried along by the raging waters, and found that the bundle caught hold of him so tight that he could not escape, man too jumps in, to retrieve what he considers a treasure, but is himself caught and bound. That is why the saints of this land have been teaching the people that they are children of immortality, repositories of peace and joy, of truth and justice, and masters of their senses. Of course, man can have some desires, some eagerness to achieve comfort, some attempt to earn content, but it must be like the diseased man craving for medicine. Food and drink, housing and clothing must be subsidiary to the needs of the spirit, the education of the emotions, passions and impulses. They must take the place that salt and pepper take on the dining table today; uppu must be subsidiary to pappu, that is, you cannot have more salt than the quantity of dal, not even as much. So too, efforts to achieve health, comfort, etc., must be just enough for the purpose of sustaining the sadhana, not more, not less.