Sri Sathya Sai Message in Kodaikanal – April 1993 (Part 1)

Sri Sathya Sai at Sai Sruthi Mandir, Kodaikanal

April 1-26, 1993

Bhagavan left Brindavan for Kodaikanal by car on 1st April morning and reached His residence Sai Sruthi, that evening. Apart from giving morning and evening Darshans between the 5th and the 26th of April, He also gave Discourses. The Discourses were preceded by speeches by students, senior devotees and Prof. Anil Kumar. Bhagavan, in His Discourses, gave insights to many important aspects of spirituality. On the 14th April, Tamil New Year Day was celebrated at Sai Shruti. Bhagavan Baba gave discourses at Sai Sruthi, Kodaikanal, from 5th April to 26th April 1993, before a large audience exceeding 3,000 including a considerable proportion of overseas devotees hailing from U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Holland, U.S.A., Latin America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Produced below are excerpts from discourses delivered from April 5 to 12, 1993.

“Those who assemble here come for Satsang or good company so that they can advance in the spiritual path. They should shed some undesirable habits like smoking which retard their progress in the spiritual path. The fire in the cigarette is so mild that if you pile up two or three pieces of fire-wood on it that fire will be put out. But, when a huge jungle-fire is raging, it can burn even green banana plants that are thrown into it. The power of the physical body is like the fire in the cigarette tip while spiritual power is like the forest fire. Once you are advanced in spirituality even the association with evil persons may not affect you. But, when you have not developed your spiritual power you should avoid bad company just as you spit out unpalatable food even at the first taste.

From concentration to meditation

Devotees are generally confused about meditation. Just as you can't receive the radio programme broadcast from any station clearly unless you tune to the appropriate wavelength perfectly, even in meditation you will not get the desired communion with God until you attune yourself to the Divine perfectly. Some aspirants mistake concentration for meditation. Concentration is needed for every activity in your daily life such as reading, writing, walking, talking, eating, etc. Concentration is below the senses, contemplation is in the middle and meditation is above the senses.

Meditation, in fact, is transcending the senses and the mind. During meditation, the mind is actively thinking of several things of the past, the present and the future. The thoughts are running fast. Scarcely does anyone concentrate on the Divine even though one sits in the Padmasana (lotus pose) and closes his eyes. There is no need for sitting for meditation and wasting time in this manner. One can transform every act in daily life as worship of the Divine. Daily chores like making chapatis can be transformed into acts of worship of the Divine. Since the body is an instrument, you can make God happy through this instrument and enjoy happiness yourself in the process. In this way you practice meditation in your daily duties.

Three phases of enjoying happiness

Sri Sathya Sai at Kodaikanal

There are three phases in the act of securing a desired object and enjoying happiness out of it. They are Priyam, Modam and Pramodam. Priyam is the desire to experience happiness from a particular object. Modam is the initial satisfaction derived from getting the desired object. Pramodam is the experience of Ananda or happiness out of the object. It is not enough if you get the object which you desired to have, but you should experience the joy of using it. For example, you like to taste a mango fruit. The first phase is to buy it, the second is to hold it in hand (possessing it) and the third phase is to eat it. It is only while eating the mango that you derive the fulfillment of your desire. It is also described in the Bhagavad Geeta as Jnatum (knowing), Drashtum (seeing) and Praveshtum (experiencing).

For instance, you hear about Sai Baba and come to know that He is at Puttaparthi, situated in Andhra Pradesh in India. You make preparations to undertake the journey to the place and have His Darshan. The first phase is getting the knowledge about the place where He is and how to get there; the second phase is making the journey and coming face to face with Him (Seeing) and the third phase is Praveshtum, that is getting practical knowledge of and experiencing the Divinity. All the scriptures of different religions (the Bible, the Quran, the Geeta, etc.) explain how to reach the same goal but through different paths.

Here so many of you have assembled in one place though you are coming from different countries like U.K., Italy, France, Germany, U.S.A, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Madras, Delhi etc. Though all of you followed different routes to come to this place, all of you have the common goal of meeting here. You should realise that there is only one God who is Omnipresent, only one language, that of the heart and only one caste, that of humanity. You are all bound by one thing and that is Love. Love is God, live in love. The relationship with God breeds love alone and nothing but love. All other relationships with your mother, father, spouse or children are temporary. So you should have confidence only in the one relationship that is ever-lasting and that is with God.

Excerpts from Discourse on 5-4-93.

Vision should be good

The paradox of human behaviour is that, having the power of discrimination to identify good and bad, man is not able to get away from bad pursuits. This is due to the weakness of the human mind, which is in. turn the result of desire and anger. Take the example of Ravana, who was a great scholar and master of many arts. Ravana looked at Seeta with a bad vision. The eye is a sacred organ. Good vision generates good thoughts. In Ravana, the bad look created bad thoughts, which led to his downfall.

Desire is all right as long as it is within reasonable limits. For example, if you feel thirsty, it is a reasonable desire to seek water to quench the thirst. Not satisfied with water, if one seeks cool drinks it is tantamount to excessive desire.

To illustrate the disastrous consequences of excessive desire. I will narrate a story. Once a wayfarer, who was making a long journey by foot in the hot sun, was feeling tired and sought the shade of a tree to rest for a while. It so happened that the tree was a wish fulfilling tree. Sitting under its shade, he wished for a cup of cold water for quenching his thirst. To his astonishment a cup of water was placed before him. After quenching his thirst, he felt that it would be good if he could get a bed to recline on and enjoy a siesta. Immediately a bed was provided from nowhere. Then he thought how nice it would be if his wife also was there. In a flash, he found his wife there. At this stage, he had a doubt in his mind as to how his wife, who was far away at home could come there and thought that it might be a demon in her form which might even devour him. As he thought in this manner, the woman turned into a demon and devoured him! This is the result of excessive desire, which is the enemy within you.

Excerpts from Discourse on 6-4-1993.

Will-power and Meditation

Sri Sathya Sai playing cymbals at a picnic with students in the Kodai Hills

Developing good thoughts fosters the Ichha Shakti (will-power). Ichha Shakti fosters Praana Shakti (life principle), Medha Shakti (intellectual power), Grahana Shakti (power of understanding), Nirnaya Shakti (power of determination) and Vaak Shakti (power of speech).

One who uses one’s will power in the right manner shines as a virtuous person, but one who uses it in the wrong direction becomes wicked. The will power increases as and when one reduces desires. When excessive desires are entertained, the will power declines. By reducing just one of your several habits like smoking or coffee addiction, you can experience an increase in your will power and intellectual ability. When the will power is weak, even when one sits in meditation he cannot steady his mind and it will only be a waste of time. One should reduce desires to progress in spiritual Sadhana.

Excerpts from Discourse on 7-4-1993.

Ignorance is the cause of ego

Man is bound by seven types of ropes. They are (1) Deham (body); (2) Kamam (desire); (3) Krodam (anger); (4) Ahamkaram (ego); (5) Karma (fate); (6) Ajnana (ignorance) and (7) Aviveka or Avidya (lack of discrimination). Ignorance is the cause of ego, which breeds Raga and Dvesha (attachment and hatred). For getting liberation one has to get rid of the ego, ignorance and attachment. The ego gives rise to Raaga (desire) which plunges man in Karma which, in turn, causes Janma (birth).

Ego is like an inflated football. When one is inflated with the air of ego, both the good and bad qualities kick the body. The moment ego is gone, the kicking stops and one attends to his legitimate duties with the feeling that he does not do anything but is only an instrument.

In spirituality, experience is the method of gaining wisdom while in science it is experiment. When you put some sugar in a glass of water you can't see it or touch it as it gets dissolved. But you can find out its presence by tasting the water. Similarly, you can realise Divinity, which is present in every being and within you, only by experiencing Bliss by Sadhana.

When fire on a piece of charcoal is left unattended for some time, you find that ash is covering the fire. This ash came out of the fire only because of negligence. If you blow off the ash you can see the fire. You are not bringing it afresh from outside. Similarly, Jnanaagni (the fire of wisdom) in you is covered by the ash of Maya (illusion) which obscures it from your vision. Just blow off the ash of Maya, covering the fire of wisdom, by Vairagya (renunciation or sacrifice), you can realise the wisdom within you, which is constant integrated awareness.

Everyone is busy in protecting, decorating and painting the chariot of the body but does not have any concern for the charioteer. How do you expect it to move without the direction of the charioteer? The senses are the horses of the chariot of the body, the mind is the rein to control them. 

Sri Sathya Sai at a devotee's residence in Kodaikanal

The way to realise the Divinity that is in everyone is to cultivate love, which is the only divine trait. There are three sides to love forming a triangle. They are: (1) Love gives and never receives; (2) Love is fearless; (3) Love is changeless. The love that develops between a mother and child or a husband and wife is subject to change as it pertains to the body. It is only Bhrama (illusion). You should become Brahman shedding Bhrama. The divinity in you is changeless, blemish less, without beginning or end. Just as a Dhobi removes the dirt in a cloth and restores its original whiteness by washing with soap beating it on stone, man should try to regain his vision of the pure effulgent Atma by washing his heart in the water of love with the soap of Shraddha (earnestness) on the stone of Tyaga (sacrifice). This is the way to realise one's Inner Reality, which is Sathyam, Jnanam, Anantam and Brahma.

Excerpts from Discourse on 8-4-1993.

Continued in Part 2...

Source: Sri Sathya Sai Digvijayam (1986-2005) and Sathya Sai Speaks Volume 26