Teachings of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba
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14 forced or persuaded to quit. The mind should be turned away from the objective world. 18 Absence of interest in the company of the worldly minded The eighteenth virtue that helps to promote wisdom is mentioned as absence of interest in the company of people, that is to say, absence of the desire to mix with people engrossed in affairs that concern the objective world. One can attain equa- nimity even in the midst of wild animals, but it is difficult to win it while among worldly minded ones. Spiritual discipline will be affected by the company you keep. Good people keep you good; bad people drag you away into badness. Of course, it is hard to find out who are good and who are bad and then settle among the good. So, it is advisable to avoid people and concentrate on spiritual discipline. The human mind is like iron; if it falls into mud, it rusts and disintegrates; if it falls into fire, it loses dross and becomes pure. Therefore, joining the company of wise people is better than being in solitude. Note how Narada, who was the son of a housemaid, became a sage because he fell into the company of good people; Rathnakara, who was a cruel hunter, got the com- pany of the seven sages, so he was transformed into the First Among Poets, the adi-kavi. Evil company is highly detrimental. A red-hot iron ball is capa- ble of causing more damage than a flame of fire; a sinful one is more to be avoided than sin itself. Aspirants have to be vigilant about the company they keep. 19 Awareness of the distinction between Atma and non-Atma The nineteenth virtue is “awareness of the dis- tinction between Atma and non-Atma.” Fix your consciousness always on the Atmic Reality, and discard the body and senses as unreal and imper- manent. Atma is the eternal, so establish yourself only in that and not in the transient non-Atmic illusions or objects. Life is a struggle to achieve victory over the illusion that haunts: I am the eter- nal Atma in you and in all. So fix the mind on Me, and engage yourself in the struggle, confident of victory.
20 Experience of Atma The twentieth and last qualification one has to earn is “vision of the true nature of That (Thath)” (Thathwa-jnana-darsanam), the universal prin- ciple of which the particular is but a shadow. It means that the spiritual aspirant should have a keen desire to visualise the universal. Of the above-mentioned twenty virtues, if honest efforts are made to earn even two or three, the rest will come naturally to the seeker. No spe- cial effort is needed to earn them. As progress is made on the path, one acquires not only the twen- ty, but even a larger number of virtues. The twenty are mentioned here because they are the outstand- ing ones, that is all. Spiritual discipline based on these virtues takes one easily to the goal. That is why Krishna emphasised these. Equipped with these, one can realise the Self; there need be no doubt on that, for they lead to the knowledge that the body, the senses, the intel- ligence, the inner consciousness—all are affiliated with the worldly (prakriti) aspect. And one who is distinct from all this is the perfect person (pu- rusha). The perfect person is the one who is aware of the body (kshetra), the knower of the body (kshetra-jna). When one is able to distinguish be- tween the soul (purusha) and nature (prakriti) or, which is the same thing, between the body and the knower of the body, one becomes the witness and is free from all touch of want or wish.
15 Ten Types of Purity Purity of Your Residence Mutual Understanding and Cooperation in the Family Pure Food Pure Water Pure Thoughts and Feelings Pure Vision Pure Reading and Writing Pure Service Pure Spiritual Discipline Pure Work To develop one’s moral and mental strength, one should engage in spiri- tual practices for disciplining the mind. For this purpose, one has to pro- mote ten kinds of purity (satwa). 16 The first is purity of the place in which one lives. It is necessary to fill the room in which one resides or studies with a satwic (pure) atmosphere. The pictures or other objects you see should fill you with peace and pure thoughts. Objects that arouse agitation and bad thoughts should have no place. The room should be clean and free from anything that is impure.
: In the family in which you live, there should be mutual understanding and coopera- tion and a sense of harmony. There should be no discord in the family that will create a bad atmo- sphere. A harmonious atmosphere will give you true peace of mind. The third need is satwic food. This means that none of the edible items should be excessively sour, bitter, or hot. You should eschew rajasic (pas- sionate) food like fish or meat. Even good satwic food should not be taken in excess. Some people consume so much satwic food that even though it is satwic, it develops rajasic qualities. It is only sat- wic when you sit for the meal with a light stomach and get up from it with a light stomach! If you sit with a light stomach and get up with a heavy stomach, it becomes tamasic (slothful). Fourth : Whatever fluids you take should also be satwic. You should not drink whatever water is available. It should be pure water. Alcoholic spirits should be eschewed.
: Satwic thoughts and feelings are of great importance. Students tend to neglect this factor. Only if your thoughts and feelings are pure, can you get the full benefit of a clean room, a good family, and pure food. Sixth : If you want to develop satwic feelings and thoughts, your vision must be pure. All sr-
only when you have wrong vision that you have wrong thoughts. You must look upon every elder- ly woman as your mother and all women who are younger as your sisters. When you are filled with such pure thoughts, you will have pure feelings. It is because you are students that you have to be told this. Imagine how offended you would feel if someone looked at your mother or sister with an evil eye. Realising this, you have to entertain pure feelings towards other women. You should not commit the sort of offences that you would not tolerate in others.
: Whatever books you read or what- ever you write should be pure. This is the spiritual practice relating to study—sahitya satwika. If you read or write that which is not pure, it warps your mind. A good book makes for a good mind. Any book you may study about physics or chemistry or other subjects, does not affect your character. But books that are literary are not always good litera- ture. If improper books are prescribed for study, treat them as mere textbooks and do not attach any high value to them as guides for life. Eighth : Pure satwic service. With regard to ser- vice, you have to decide what is satwic and what is
dig wells and do them all as a service to the com- munity. But the kind of service that we do should give real happiness to the people. In the name of “social work” you go to a hospital and approach a patient. This is not real service. Any person whom you wish to serve, you should regard as an em- bodiment of the Divine. Going to the help of the destitute and the neglected is rendering service to God.
TEN TYPES OF PURITY 17 Narayana has two forms: one is “Lakshmi Na- rayana,” the other is “Daridra Narayana.” This “Lakshmi Narayana” is full of wealth. He is able to help any number of people. He will be able to get many persons to serve him. But for “Daridra Na-
persons that we should do satwic service. Ninth : Sadhana. This is spiritual discipline. This must be satwa. Some people do hatha yoga. Some strive to develop the kundalini sakthi. Some invoke evil spirits to do harm to others. These forms of sadhana are not sadhana at all. The indi- vidual is Chith (Consciousness), God is Sath (The Eternal Absolute). When Sath and Chith combine, you have Ananda—Sath-Chith-Ananda. Only the
true sadhana. Where is this Sath? This Sath, the Divine, is in everybody. So, you must be prepared to serve everybody, regarding everyone as the Di- vine. You may have a normal relationship with your kith and kin. There is nothing wrong in this. You must perform sadhana in the spirit that the One pervades the many. In this process, you must cultivate the feeling of love. There is no higher sad-
Uddhava was an adept in the path of jnana yoga (knowledge and wisdom). He wanted to teach the
of wisdom. So he approached Krishna. Krishna told Uddhava: “The gopikas are totally devoted to me. Their devotion is fundamental to their life and reaches My heart! Their purity and devotion are like a light that shines! You cannot understand the hearts of such devotees! I am completely en- shrined in their hearts.” Uddhava doubted wheth- er ignorant illiterate gopikas could understand the Divine. To dispel the doubts of Uddhava, Krish- na sent him to Repalle. Uddhava summoned the
of jnana (wisdom) to realise the Divine.” The gopi- kas came to Uddhava and told him: “We are not interested in learning any scriptures! Teach us one simple means by which we can realise Krishna! We are not aware of any yoga or bhoga (sense pleasure) or mantra. Krishna is everything for us, our yoga or bhoga. Please, therefore, tell us the means by which we can obtain Krishna! We do not want to waste our time on yoga.” Uddhava asked the gopikas: “How can you be- come one with Krishna?” One gopika answered: “If Krishna were a flower, I would be a bee whirl- ing round Him. If He were a tree, I would be a creeper twining round him. If He were a moun- tain, I would be a river cascading from its top! If Krishna were the boundless sky, I would be a little star, twinkling in the firmament. If He were the deep ocean, I would be a small stream, joining the ocean. This is the way I would be one with Krish- na and merge with Him.”Another gopika said: “If Krishna were a flower, I would be a bee that goes on sucking every drop of honey in the flower tast- ing the nectar that is there! This is our approach to God.” So, spiritual sadhana means to regard a mountain or a tree, or a flower, or the ocean as a means of God-realisation.
: Your occupation or profession. What is the kind of work you should take up? It should be work that can benefit the nation, the community. The nation enables you to earn a living. You must see what you can give to the nation, in return. You must ask yourself: “What is the service, what is the help I can do for the community?” You must see that there is no untruth in any work you do, no unfairness, no fraud, no evil motive. Ensure Freedom from Birth by Present Karma These are the pure things that you have to observe in your life. If you engage yourselves in right action, you will not be bound by the con- sequences of karma. Because of past karma, you have your present life. By your present karma you can ensure freedom from birth. Through love, you develop faith; through faith and earnestness, you acquire knowledge; through knowledge, you de- velop sadhana, and through sadhana, you achieve
18 Glossary
Atma/Atmic Self; Soul. Embodied Self is jiva (the individ ual soul). Self, with no limitations, is Brahman (the Supreme Cosmic Reality). Rajas/Rajasic Passion, activity, restlessness, aggressiveness. Satwa/Satwic Purity, calmness, serenity, joy, strength, goodness. Thamas/Thamasic Dullness, ignorance, delusion, inactivity, passivity, inertia, sloth. the goal. So for practising sadhana, you require wisdom, and for acquiring wisdom, you require
you must cultivate love. So love is the means and for this you must acquire control of the senses. If you gradually reduce your desires, you will be able to bring the senses under control. You should strive to get rid of all your bad thoughts, give up all your bad traits, discharge your obligations to your parents, render selfless service to the community, and thereby redeem your lives and earn the grace of God. This is my blessing for all of you. Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume XVIII Chapter 31: Students and Satwic Purity. Love All, Serve All Document Outline
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