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Meditation: as explained by Bhagavân S'rî Sathya Sai Baba
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"Just like a child yearns for its mother's bosom; a lost calf for its mother in a herd;
and a widow cries for her lost husband in a corner,
you too must aspire for the proximity of Sai and reap joy therefrom.""A root pest would eat away the roots of a tree and a white ant would eat away the tree itself.
Similarly, a man of evil nature would bring about the ruin of a virtuous one.
Listen! O son of Bharat."
CONTENTS
- Part 1- Part 2
- Part 3
- Part 4
- Part 5
- Part 6
- Part 7
The power of spirituality is inexplicable and infinite. The institute or individual that cannot obtain this becomes animal. The power of spirituality can transform an animal into man and man to a divine being. The paths of spirituality have sprung up to lead man from human state to that of divine. Man tries to understand everything. He has been trying to acquire many types of learning. However, he has not yet made an effort to find out his real nature. All learning is naught if it can not help one to realise one's own nature. Knowledge without practical aspect is akin to a lamp in a blind man's hand.
Just as, Narada had skill in 64 types of learning/sciences - 4 Vedas, 6 Sastras, 20 Upangas, Painting, Sculpture, Dance, Music, Literature etc. None could surpass Narada in singing. In spite of such accomplishments Narada could not overcome restlessness. Narada had mastered Gaja Karna and Gokarna which could not be mastered by anyone in the world. Seeking a solution for his restlessness, Narada came to Sanat Kumara. He expressed his restlessness. Sanat Kumara asked Narada about his qualifications. Narada explained that he had learnt everything. Sanat Kumara asked Narada if he had known about his own self. "That alone I have not learnt" said Narada. Sanat Kumara then pointed out that to be the reason for his restlessness.
Today man desires to know about everything that goes on in the world. From the moment he gets up, he desires to know the news from all quarters of the world and does not pay heed to the nuisance coming from within. If he were to understand the principle within him, he could understand the world better. In Andhra region, there is a proverb, "win over the self and win over the village." Unless one saves oneself, one cannot save others. Philosophy and learning can get you food but not liberation. "Therefore, Narada, when you desire to know yourself, you have to awaken a dormant factor within you" said Sanat Kumara. Narasimha Murthy stated that sleep played a chief role in Ramayana. Even in the Ramayana of life, sleep is very important.
Every person has to awaken the Kundalini that is asleep within one. Kundalini, Sanat Kumara taught, should be led in a proper path towards the goal to fulfil one's life. In the Bharat's Yoga Shastras, it has been mentioned that there are 7 types of lotuses in the spinal column helping people to take to right path. They are known as Naadi Mandalas/Chakras. (Nerve centres / disks) Kundalini power starts at Muladhara disk at the beginning of the spinal column. This nerve centre is situated at the place of excretion of faecal matter. It has 4 petals.
Swadhishtana is situated in the urinary excretory point. It has 6 petals. Manipuraka - Naabhi/Navel point has 6 petals. From there to Anahata near heart with 16 petals. Thence to Visuddha the power travels near throat - From there it comes to Agneya situated between the brows. It has two petals. From there it goes to Sahasrara which is situated on the crown of the head. It has 1000 petals.
Muladhara, Swadhishtana, Manipurakam, Anahata, Agneya, Visuddha and Sahasrara are the seven Chakras. Each is at a higher plane than the other. Behind these chakras, on either side of spinal column Ida and Pingala nerves keep throbbing. In the centre of spinal column there is a nerve by the name Sushumna. All these perform their duties in the prescribed manner.
How does one awaken the Kundalini power? All have believed it to be in the form of a dormant serpent near the Muladhara Chakra. Snakes of the world are considered poisonous. The serpent (Kundalini) dormant in man is that of worldly desires. These desires become poison. Worldly snakes eat frogs, rats etc. Kundalini serpent consumes only the life principle of man. To awaken this serpent, one has to control the intake of this life principle. When we hold breath through Yogic practices, the Kundalini power does not get food near Muladhara Chakra. In search of food, it becomes active and continues to come up. During meditation when we deny the food, it travels upwards from Muladhara to Manipuraka, Swadhishtana and comes to throat. Even near the throat food is not available for it. Then it reaches Agneya. Unable to find food even from there, it merges into Sahasrara. Therefore, to awaken the life principle or consciousness from Muladhara and let it merge in Sahasrara has been described as 'liberation' by Vedanta. Dhyana, now-a-days, both in India and abroad has taken various forms. They believe it to be concentration. But both are different. Right from dawn to dusk whatever activities we perform, they are done with concentration. To walk, to eat, to read a book, to write a letter - all need concentration. Concentration is natural for man. Why should are spend/waste time for such concentration by sitting separately. But one has to question the source from which one derives concentration. We have held a book in hand. We can see with our eyes. What has been seen is sent for enquiry to the intelligence/Buddhi. After the enquiry, mind begins to recollect/reflect upon it. It is an 'Indriya' (instrument/sense) that held a book. Again it is another indriya that saw the matter. It is yet again another indriya that reflected over the matter. It is due to the collective effort of all the indriyas that we are able to perceive the matter. Therefore, concentration is below senses. It is meaningless to call concentration which is below senses as meditation. Meditation is beyond senses. There is a border between concentration which is below senses and meditation which is beyond senses known as contemplation. Contemplation is said to be the second stage of intelligence. Intelligence is said to be the essence of Satwa. It can be best illustrated with an example to make it clear to you.
There is a rose plant. It has leaves, thorns and rose flowers. Concentration helps you to identify as to where the thorns are and where the rose flower is. In concentration, we have only rose as the objective, without touching the thorns we have to pluck the flower. "Love is flower; lust is thorn." There is no rose without thorns but we have to pluck the flower without touching the thorns. For what purpose is this cutting of rose? To cut the love (flower) away from worldly desires (thorns) is contemplation. Concentration is identifying the various locations of the thorns and flowers by looking at the tree/plant. To offer the flower so cut, to the Lord is meditation. In our body likened to that of a rose plant, we have pure love in the form of rose. It is permeated with fragrance/good smell of virtues. But right under this are the thorns of worldly desires. True meditation is to identify the thorns of worldly desires from selfless love and offer that selfless love to the Lord. From ancient days, meditation has been considered as the highest goal in Bharat. Today meditation is done as though it were a panacea akin to saridon which removes headache. Meditation that comes so easily cannot be termed as such. People such as Narada, Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanat Kumara and Tumbura considered meditation to be the process of sending the Kundalini from Muladhara to Sahasrara. During meditation, one should not join worldly desires and must reach only selfless love as the goal. The method/posture of meditation is also very important.
In the beginning, we must sit in Padmasana. Spinal column should not bend to any side. Some people bend the neck and sit. This is very dangerous. If Kundalini power were to get locked there, where many nerves are present, it would damage the person and cause paralysis. There are many who have damaged their heads/senses by wrongly adhering to Kundalini. One should not bend backwards either. One should be so straight that if a nail were to be driven down from Sahasrara, it should appear as though the whole body were wrapped around the nail. Not only that, one should loosen the garment that is around the waist prior to sitting for meditation. If the garment is tightly wound round the waist, it might, to an extent, obstruct the Kundalini. Usually people who practise Kundalini yoga are single garmented. So, waist should not be tightly bound. Vision should be centred at the tip of the nose. If one were to sit for meditation with open eyes, all those who pass by would cause disturbance to the mind. If eyes are totally closed, the goddess of sleep would envelop us. Therefore, we should have half closed eyes posture. Some believe the tip of the nose to be between the eye brows. No! It is forehead; It is the end of nose. i.e., Tip of the nose that has to be concentrated upon. Lord Krishna has also described the same.
"Kasturi Tilakam Lalaata(1) Phalake Vaksha(2) Sthale Kausthubam Naasagre(3) Navamouktikam..."
1) Refers to the eye of wisdom.
2) Lord Krishna adorned his chest with the plaque of happiness.
3) He kept his vision fixed on the tip of his nose. Such a Krishna had two bracelets on His hand. One bracelet signifies -
"Save the righteous and punish the wicked"
The second bracelet signifies -
"One who constantly relies on me, I shall take care of all his needs".
God wears bracelets for fulfilling vows. So, Lord Krishna's vision was on the tip of His nose i.e., always meditative. We may have to observe certain physical activities. Mind is very much wavering. Knowing fully well that something is wrong, it would like to do it. We know well that to hear bad things is not good and yet we do it. We should teach it a lesson.
"O ears! Why do you go after listening to the tales of all and sundry? When the Lord's name is chanted, why don't you pay heed?"
You should teach the ears to listen to tales that would give happiness to all and such facts that would gloria the Lord.
"You go and see films, which do you no good, again and again. But you do not wish to contemplate on the Lord even for a moment. O eyes! Pay heed."
In this manner, you must teach senses lessons and control them. When mind begins to wander hither and thither, one must engage it. If mind does not have anything to do, it would roam the whole world. "By the time truth begins to wear sandals, untruth would go around the world and come." Similarly mind, if no work is assigned, would go round the world. So, before sitting for meditation, one must assign some work to the mind. What type of work? It has been a known fact that mind is a mad monkey. To make a monkey busy while he performs other feats, the street performer would plant a stick in the ground and ask the monkey to repeatedly go up and down the stick. Similarly we must assign the job of a watchman to the mind near that part of forehead where eyebrows join. By constant practice, we can make the mind stay in one place. As one constantly breaths 'Soham', the breath gets controlled. This is the great power of Yoga. There is no separate effort that one needs to make to arouse Kundalini. When all the vital air remains outside, in search of food, Kundalini would rise. Some base 'lamp' as the point of concentration. This elucidates the principle of 'Unity in diversity' and 'Many in One'. This cannot be understood by all very easily and does not confer bliss very easily. We should construe three types of pictures - imaginary, mental or one based on feeling and actualisation.
Example for the first one - you have seen Swami. If you close your eyes and begin to visualise Swami's hair and robe, then you would have picture created by imagination or 'Uha'. This picture goes away in a moment. It appears as though it has been seen but goes away the moment you begin to visualise further.
The second type of picturisation - 'Bhava' is not like this. It takes some time. You can picturise Swami from feet upwards - feet, gown, inside robe, hands, neck, eyes, nose, mouth, ears and crown of hair. Like this by the time you picturise, half-an-hour would have elapsed.
If you continuously go about doing this - picturising Swami from foot to head and vice versa - it would lead to Sakshatkara i.e. actual manifestation. Upon practising in this manner you would realise that you are able to see the form for a fraction at least before it fades away. So, this is not the goal. One should not go by imagination. One should go by feeling. One should go on painting each limb. One eye on one side and another eye on the other side-You should not think thus. Is this eye parallel to the other? - In this fashion, one must minutely paint the picture. In the process, mind would become totally engaged.
"Knower of the Brahman becomes Brahman". If you were to melt silver and pour it into the mould of Lord Krishna, the feet, hands, eyes, mouth and even hair would be that of silver. Similarly, when one concentrates and paints the mind with the form, the mind would also be transformed into the form. When you question as to where the mind is, you would get the answer - in Swami's feet, in Swami's hair, in Swami's eyes etc. i.e., mind is totally immersed in Swami's form. Therefore, meditation is that which would transform mind into the form and not vice versa.
When we sit for Meditation our body should not be in contact with anyone else's body. When one works with electricity, one would done some sort of insulation (wood/cloth) to insure against shock. Similarly, meditation also is a kind of power. It also would give a shock if two bodies touch. In every body, there is current. The current goes/gets lost through nails, hair, eyes and speech. In the olden days people allowed nails and hair to grow because they did not want the current to be wasted. It is due to that current that hair and nails grow and eyes and other organs function. What is the reason for Munis to observe silence? They realised that current gets wasted through words and hence observed silence. Not understanding this we begin to conclude that in the forest the saints did not have any facilities to trim their hair and nails and hence they were unkempt. They were making efforts to convert the current in the body into Divine Power and hence their appearance. One should not have contact with another in more than necessary manner. Attachment with an object or a person might grow into a deeper relationship. They lead to certain desires. As the desires get fulfilled, ego would begin to sprout. If the desires do not find fruition, anger would develop. Therefore desires have ill-effects, either way. When the desires become many, man's sense of intelligence dwindles. This causes loss of control over the speech and unwarranted words would emanate from the person, criticising and hurting others. That would lead to abusing others. The act of abusing is a fuel to the fire of sin. Therefore, the root cause for sin is relationship. So, excess of contact should not be had in the first place.
In Rishikesh there was a choultry by the name 'Kali Kamliwala'. It was a tradition in those days to feed all those who came there. One Sannyasi got a wheat bread and since he could not find any place, went to the river Ganga and sitting on a rock, began to partake of the same. In this manner, he spent some years using the rock as his dining place. As it happened, a relation developed between him and the rock. On a particular day by the time he could procure alms, it became later than usual. Meanwhile some other Sannyasi got his alms and sat at that rock to have his meal. The older Sannyasi got his wheat bread and came to the rock. He began to have an argument - "Ai! This is my rock; you go somewhere else." They both began to have a duel. At that place, there was a saint by the name Satchidanandam. He came and enquired of the quarrelling Sannyasins as to the reason for their fight. When he became aware of the reason, he admonished them saying - "You have left behind your wives, children, parents, relatives and shaved your head and swore to lead a life of mendicancy. Now due to your attachment, you have developed anger between yourselves." Similarly, you have all come here leaving behind many things for education and Swami. Why develop unnecessary contacts? Maintain a relation akin to "Hello! Hello; How are you? Good-bye! Good-bye."
There is another incident that took place at Rishikesh. One person went from Mysore state and became a Sannyasin at Rishikesh. About 6 kms from Rishikesh is a famous cave known as 'Vasishta's cave'. Purushottamananda used to do penance there. It was near Ganges and the air was cool and serene and the area was dense with shade bestowing trees. That Sannyasi (one who came from Mysore) used to meditate under the tree and live by eating whatever bread was given to him. One day, a tourist bus came from Karnataka state. They also came to see 'Vasishta cave' and later were sitting under a tree talking. The Sannyasin who was meditating, heard them speak in Kannada. A little attachment towards the language sprouted in him. He left meditation and began to converse with them in Kannada. They told him that they came from Bangalore District. "Which village do you come from?" asked the Sannyasin who was influenced by the attachment to his own street. They said that they were in the street of Rama's temple. Affected by the attachment to his house, he asked them as to what was their house number. They said that their house number was 11. He asked the troupe if they knew his father who was in the house numbered 12. Body attachment prevailed. They said that his father passed away 3 months previously. The Sannyasin began to weep.
Why should the Sannyasin leave his meditation in the first place and enquire of the tourists various details? This attachment caused all the sorrow. It is only when you leave all responsibilities can your meditation progress. Sometimes the varied nature of Nature attracts. One should never succumb to the temptations.
To arouse Kundalini and sit in meditation is very difficult. The easiest path is pure love. No meditation can surpass/equal this.
We want to prepare Sambar. We got fresh vegetables from Bangalore in the morning. We got fresh tamarind, white, spotless salt and impeccable Dal also was procured. The cook is an exceptionally skilled one. We have made Sambar. But when it was served, it turned out to be poison. Reason? None of the ingredients were faulty nor was the cook. The vessel in which it was cooked was not clean!
Similarly, we do meditation, Bhajans - in fact we even swing during Bhajans but we are far away from obtaining peace. This is because we do not have the unsullied love in our hearts. Many wonder as to why they have not obtained peace in spite of doing meditation and Bhajans etc. It is because they have not cleaned their hearts with pure love.
Another example. There is a mango tree. Hundreds of ripe and unripe mangos are present. You water it and put manure also. All of a sudden, one fine morning, the tree looks dried-up, what is the reason? Have you not given water and manure? What is the reason for a tree which was resplendently green the previous day to look lack-lustre the very next day? The roots have been eaten away by the pests! Similarly, we may be doing meditation, chanting rosary and attending Bhajans externally; but wicked qualities might be gnawing at the heart.
Therefore, send away wicked qualities; fill yourself with virtues; and develop love. Meditation is not something of a pose given for a photographer. It is not for others. It is for one's own self. There are certain cautions that are to be observed in this regard.
One should be seated on a plank at least 1/2 inch above the ground. On top of this, skin of an animal - preferably a docile and pure - satvic animal - deer is to be spread. In order to prevent the deer hair causing irritation, a thin cloth is advised to be spread over it. All these to be done so as not to cause any disturbance to our meditation. If kundalini were to really begin rising, the earth would pull it downward. To avoid this and to avoid any shock, this plank is put. In this manner the ancients have experienced and expressed it to us.
Instead of going for meditation and spoiling your mind, it is better you create the form you are interested in, put that picture in front of you and observe carefully. While observing deeply, close your eyes. Now, begin to paint the form that you have seen, in your mind's eye. Then your mind would be totally enveloped in the form. Gradually even when you open your eyes, you begin to see the form everywhere. That is manifestation - Sakshatkara. This does not happen if you were to do it once in a while. You should daily do this both morning, evening and at all other times also. Then you begin to see the form spreading itself in all limbs and all bodies.
Most importantly, youth's mind is most wavering. During the day the youth must spend time reading class books and assimilating them. The reason being that mind will not enter unnecessary avenues when it has a lot of work to do. We must attach ourselves to work so as to deprive mind from associating itself with outside world. Both morning and evening let the mind be immersed in Dhyana/Meditation in the aforesaid manner. Meditation is a path of obtaining sanctity. It is a process of obtaining unity; a path of experiencing divinity. Your mind must merge in the Lord just as a river merges into the ocean. Then mind as such does not exist. Then you become beyond mind. The river has a form, name and taste before merging into the ocean. After merging, it loses all such identities. This has been conveyed by Ramadas in a song form:
"There is a fortress of seven boundaries. In the fort there is a garden - one of worldly desires. If you want to find the path through the garden, sing the name of the Lord Rama. The whole Kingdom will be filled with light."
The boundaries referred to are the seven nerve-centres/chakras. This song was heard by Lord Rama. He replied:
"The essence is like oil. The Truth is like wick. When the light fades away, neither the oil nor the wick follow it. They stay there itself."
Then Ramadas got a doubt "The support is the tree and the grip is another branch of the tree. If the basis/support is left in the hope of relying on the strength of the branch and the branch also breaks then salvation is imminent."
Here, the basis is the worldly desires and the branch which would break is the society in which you live. If you leave the desires and if the world/society shuns you, you are bound to attain salvation. You need the society as long as you have not understood the true reality. Therefore, one needs firewood only as long as the cooking is being done. One does not need firewood after the food has been cooked.
Veda, Shastra, Purana, Itihasa etc. are essential only as long as one has not understood oneself. After one has realised oneself, all these become unnecessary. Hence, it is not possible to renounce/detach oneself from the society unless one has realised oneself. You have to realise yourself by living in the world. Some creatures like caterpillar, crawling from one leaf to another. In the process, it catches the leaf it would like to go to and then release the leaf it has been on. It does not leave the base before catching/obtaining the support. Similarly, we should leave world after obtaining divinity and not before. Otherwise, we would have lost both the worlds.
Do not be carried away by the term Meditation. It is not something that one does by sitting for a couple minutes or hours. It should be always at all places (the contemplation on the Lord). It should not pertain only to Mandir/meditation room. Wherever one goes, be it market or classes, one should be totally absorbed. We should be totally sacred in our feelings. This is possible only through the path of love. Speak lovingly to all people. Even such a speech should be in moderation. This is because mind begins to change as words become many.
One sage came from the Himalayas and declared that he had conquered anger. He met his friends and told them that he was totally at peace and that he had no anger in him at all. One came and asked him - "Sir! Have you conquered anger?" "Yes! I have controlled" came the guarded reply. That person reiterated, "Sir! You of all the people! Have you really conquered anger?" "Yes, it is true" came the gruff reply. "What sir! It is really impossible to believe. How could you conquer anger?" Asked the man for the third time. "Ai! Can't you understand when I have said so?" Came the hot reply. "Sir! When this is the case, how could you have conquered anger?", asked the man for the fourth time. "Are you out of your senses? I told you that I have conquered". So, while saying that he had conquered anger, due to repetition of words, he lost control over anger. If words were not expressed, anger might cooled down. But as he expressed them, anger grew. Due to lack of patience, anger emanates. There is no other remedy for anger. Only cultivation of patience is the answer.
Today man is bent upon conquering/vanquishing/controlling anger. This is wrong. He must inculcate patience. Then anger will automatically subside. If darkness has to be expelled, light has to be brought. Similarly, to expel anger, patience has to be fostered. So, make efforts to develop patience. Patience or sanctity can be attained only through love. There is nothing that cannot be attained with love. One can attain all with love. Everything is dedicated/subordinate to love. Hence it is said LOVE IS GOD; LIVE IN LOVE. If the concept of love is perfectly understood, it in itself becomes Meditation. Meditate on love. But the love should be selfless. It should be dedicated to the Lord. Any kind of love once offered to Lord becomes sanctified.
We have made sweet pongal at home. We call it sweet pongal and eat it. The same sweet pongal once it is offered to the Lord in a temple, we call it 'prasadam' / blessed food. The moment you offer it to the Lord, it becomes prasadam. All defects - defects of the ingredients, cooking and the vessel would get removed after such an offering. For the sweet pongal made at home, there may not be cleanliness of the vessel, ingredients or the cooking process itself. In order to remove all defects from the food cooked - we do not know wherefrom the vegetables have come; may be they were stolen; may be the intention of the seller was not good. We assemble all food items and pray to Lord that everything be blessed. Then it all becomes prasadam and all defects run away from the same.
There is a small clause in meditation. All cannot do the same type of meditation. Meditation changes from person to person depending on their state of evolution/capacity. All doing one type of meditation is not proper. Each has his own form to worship and the way he goes about it may also differ. Some worship God as Mother of the Universe; some consider Him as Father of the Universe while others consider God to be their friend. There are those who worship God as Master/husband. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Gauranga are examples of this nature. Jayadeva and Gauranga had not done any meditation. They felt no need for meditation as they could see God everywhere.
There is a small anecdote. This happened to many great men in all the yugas. Gaurangada entered a small village called Nava Dweepa. He could not find a place to live. If he were to go the streets to do bhajan, mischievous boys would throw stones at him. They troubled him in numerous ways. To avoid all this, he entered the temple of Lord Eshwara. Keeping his legs on top of the Lingam - image of Lord Shiva, he lay down to sleep. In the morning the chief priest arrived. Considering him to be a mad man, the priest beat him. "O fool! How dare you put your feet on top of the Lord's image? Could you not find any other place to keep your feet?", asked the priest. Then Chaitanya replied - "Sir! Please show me the place where Eshwara does not exist and I shall gladly place my feet on that spot." Saying that he would show him, the priest dragged Chaitanya by the feet and dropped him aside. Due to his merit, even there the image of the Lord appeared. The pujari dragged him all over the mandir, wherever Chaitanya's feet fell, Eshwara's image was seen to emerge. Then the pujari realised his folly. God pervades the universe. How then can anyone define a place to be devoid or filled with God? For a true aspirant God's insignia are seen everywhere. Since God pervades the creation, there is nothing that is unsacred. But there is bound to be a change in the way we utilise the same. Therefore, we can make some changes in the society, house and people with whom we deal. Then alone can we obtain peace of mind. It is not meditation if one were to close one's eyes/sit in lotus posture/sit without movements. The most important factor for meditation is to fill the heart with love. That love is verily God Himself. Along with this love you must also sit in the lotus posture and in the manner described earlier to awaken the kundalini power and thus give more meaning to your lives.
You may go anywhere and do anything. But your heart must be filled with pure love. Gaurangada, Tukaram, Nammalwar etc., have lived in this manner. If purity of heart is one's property, one can question the Lord's ways as a rightful gesture. After a lot of merit, we have acquired the birth of a human being. If we do not make good use of it, it would be a sheer waste.
Gems in the ocean are not easily available. With a great difficulty if one were to dive deep and brave the attack of sharks, one could manage to obtain rare pearls hidden in the womb of the ocean. The pearl that is got after such a strenuous effort, if one were to lose it, one would not get it back however much one may pine.
"Sway! Lord Krishna! I have obtained with great difficulty the pearl of Krishna from the deep ocean of samsara. Please shower your grace that I may not lose it", prayed Meera. Since her prayer was such, Lord Krishna also granted her that wish. She loved and pined for Krishna so much that her anguish at the separation from the Lord turned into penance and she merged into the Lord. Every human who would like to turn the energy in him to divinity must participate in prayers. Prayer for mind is as essential as food is for body. Good food strengthens the body. Stale food brings about ill-health. Similarly, if we participate in prayers, our heart becomes pure. If, on the other hand, one were to participate with pomposity, ego and show, it would be like the bad food harming the mind. Therefore youth must travel from slumber and inactivity to penance. Whatever we may do, we must do with determination. One should not stop meditation after having begun, in a span of 2 days. Whole life should be transformed into meditation. We have come essentially for that purpose. We must discharge our duties. Along with this knowledge we must seek worldly education also. One must accept the basis of the worldly education. I have told many a time. I am repeating, observe the message carefully.
There are many metals in the earth - Iron, steel etc. As they are deep inside earth, due to heat, they are available in the form of liquid. Due to this heat even iron would be in a liquid state. This we call as Chemistry. As we gradually come to the surface, the materials solidify as the temperature decreases and we call it as Physics. As dust and other particles join this, plants begin to sprout in it. The study of these plants is called Botany. Insects and birds come from everywhere to these plants. The study of these birds and insects is called Zoology.
What is the basis for Zoology? Botany? The foundation of Botany is Physics which in turn is based on Chemistry. So, for Chemistry also there must be some foundation. Isn't it? There is water in this tumbler. For the water to stay, there must be a container in the first place. If there is no vessel, how can liquid stay put? Therefore the source of sciences - Chemistry has its foundation in divinity. Therefore, all the sciences have stemmed from the root of Divinity. So, for all subjects Divinity is the primal basis. If we were to catch the vessel, Divinity, all the contents, subjects, would easily become ours. Today we are ready to catch the creation and investigate but have not ever thought of investigating the nature of the creator. Even those that harm us become friendly in the presence of the Lord.
Serpent adorns the neck of Lord Shiva. Since it is around the neck of the Lord, we bow down to it also. Same serpent if seen in the bazaar would die due to the blows received from us. Though it is a poisonous snake, since it adorns the neck of the Lord, it becomes worthy of worship.
Once Lord Vishnu sent Garuda to Eshwara with a message. Eshwara's body is very peculiar. His body is smeared with vibhuti/ash. He has moon as his crown jewel and serpents as his other ornaments. To such Shiva when Garuda flew and landed, the breeze created by his wings disturbed the sacred ash of the Lord which fell into the eyes of the snake adorning His neck. The serpent, in anger, hissed at Garuda. Garuda replied, "O snake! Since you adorn the Lord's neck you are saved. Had you been in the bazaar/market place, I would have snatched you with my feet and torn you to shreds. Since you are in the proximity of the Lord you have earned the right to be forgiven."
Similarly, since you are enjoying Swami's proximity, people praise you. The moment you leave Swami and go, people do not care a fig for you. Wherever you go, you must absorb whatever has been taught here and keeping the discipline as your shadow and Swami in your heart must create peace around you. Once in a while to recharge your batteries, you can come to Swami. In this way, you can enjoy Swami's Love and Grace.
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