Insight derived from the Inner Vision

People suffer because they have all kinds of unreasonable desires and they pine to fulfill them and fail miserably. They attach too much value to the objective world. It is only when attachment increases that you suffer pain and grief.
If you look upon the world and all its created objects with the insight derived from the inner vision, the attachment will fade away; you will see everything much clearer, with the Divine glory suffused in its Splendor.
Close your external eyes and open your inner eyes – see what a beautiful grand vision emerges from within you, as you go through your daily life. Attachment to the world has limits, but the attachment to the Lord that you develop when your inner eye opens has no limit. Enjoy that Reality, not this false picture from your external eyes.
Baba (thought for the day)

There is a difference between the subjective and the objective world.
Even if we see everything as God as the first mantra of the Upanishads tells, there is subjective experience and knowledge and an objective world and a gap in between. How can we experience that subjectivity to know the difference?
Everything conceptual is on the objective world level. That what cannot be conceptualized is on the subjective level, therefore, it can only be experienced. But we can experience it as reflection.
Atman reflects, reacts and resounds. (Baba)

Hence, the first mantra of the Isavasya Upanishad says, isavasyam idam sarvam yat kim ca jagatyam jagat: "All this that you perceive, see, or contact through the sense organs is enveloped by God."
I have tried to explain the meaning of this word 'enveloped', which is very intriguing, and deep connotation and significance are involved in it. "Knowing this, be happy." Merely by knowing this, you will be happy. Are you not happy merely by knowing that you are alive? Will you be happy by knowing that you will not be alive? The greatest happiness is in the feeling that you are hale and hearty. And if you are not hale and hearty, any kind of possession is not going to make you happy. Even in ordinary daily life you will realise that your being itself is a source of happiness. "I am perfectly secure, hale and hearty; it makes me happy. However, if I am not that, then put all gold and silver on my head. Will I be happy? Crush me with the weight of a load of silver; what is the good if I am not hale and hearty?"
Happiness is the condition of Being, which is you. Happiness is not some consequence or result that follows from accretion of objects into your so-called personality. This mantra is very difficult to understand.

Upanishads

It is not about possessions, that is all on the level of objectivity only. And Swam Krishnananda explains it very clearly and it gets easy to understand.

Do not be greedy. Do not be possessive. Do not say "I want, I want, I want." You require nothing, finally. Even the richest people do not sleep on ten kilometers of land. They require six feet on which to sleep. Do you think a millionaire requires a longer, lengthier bed, several furlongs long, to sleep on? Will a rich person eat two quintals of food because he is rich? He will perhaps eat less than what you eat. These are confusions in the mind. Wealth and possession – accretion of objects, imagination that one has everything in this world – "I am the ruler of this earth" – these are rank illusions in the mind, and you will know this when the time comes. When everything goes, you will realize that you made a mistake in thinking that you had everything. You never brought anything when you came to this world.

 My ex had once a Baba dream and he said in the dream, 'give, give, give, I will not give. I need a psychic, I will give'. As it turns out it feels like greed and the psychic seems to be someone who is able to read his dreams, because he is that far away in his attitude of mind, he cannot understand it.
I must have been greed, because give, give, give, seems the answer to want, want, want, but we have to see it right.

Are you trying to possess things which you did not bring? How did you earn this property of the world when you did not bring it with you when you came? Actually, if you have earned this property, you could take it when you go. Why do you not take it with you? You have so much wealth that you have earned through your profession; take it with you when you go. Can you? If you cannot bring anything and if you cannot take anything either, how is it possible for you to possess anything in the middle? The logic is: that which is not in the beginning, and not in the end, is also not in the middle. It is a total delusion, which is hard to understand and difficult to appreciate. A bitter pill is this knowledge. But this is the truth, and this is what the first mantra of the Isavasya Upanishad says.

The first one is the fundamental, philosophical doctrine – the basic philosophy, not merely of this country, but of humanity as a whole. It is possible to thrust all religions into this one single verse of the Upanishad, i.e., the first verse – isavasyam idam sarvam…, as one can thrust things into a hold-all. All philosophies, all religions, all doctrines go into the hold-all of this one verse of the Isavasya Upanishad. Well, that is wonderful. This is the metaphysical foundation of philosophy and the highest peak of human thought.

'All are one, be alike to everyone'. (Baba) The oneness of all religion, it is all based in that first mantra of the Upanishad. That is wonderful indeed, if we understand it right. But the Upanishad doesn't end there.

The second mantra says: "Everyone has to do something." Knowledge of the Supreme Being does not mean idleness of personality. This is something even more difficult to understand than the earlier mantra. You will say: "If God alone is, why should I do anything? I will keep quiet." Here, in saying so, you make the mistake of having a wrong notion about yourself. "I will keep quiet." Which 'I' is keeping quiet? Is the body 'I' keeping quiet? Is the mind 'I' keeping quiet? What is meant when you say: "I shall keep quiet because God does all things and He is all things"? It is a consciousness of a peculiar condition of your personality that makes this statement. Here you have made a blunder. Your statement that you need not do anything implies your acceptance of your being an individual nevertheless, a body-mind complex, in spite of your theoretical and intellectual acceptance of the omnipresence of God. This is something very interesting, which may also look very difficult; but if you remember this, you may not have to learn anything else afterwards. (Swami Krishnanada)

I don't interfere, means who is 'I'? Is it the body or the mind? Who is that 'I' not interfering? 'I' don't interfere because he does all those things and he is everything. What in our personality makes us think like that? If we think about it, we can only get to the conclusion that it is a blunder. In the moment I am here and tell, I don't interfere and I need not do anything, because he does, I am actually different from him.

It is a wrong notion of yourself that makes you conclude that one can keep quiet without doing anything because God does all things. Then how do you come into existence as an idle person, if God exists everywhere and God is all things? Do you believe that you have also negated yourself, and your existence is abolished? If you really feel that God exists and He is all things, it is wonderful. If you are convinced that you do not exist and you have melted into the Cosmic Being, why should you feel the need to say that you need not do anything? In making this statement, you have made a mistake due to a wrong concept of your individuality that has crept in, even as you appear to be making a correct statement from your point of view.

I guess that is also the reason that my ex said after we left, that he goes the path of least effort. In his mind as God does everything, he doesn't need to do anything, he makes that separation between him, small guy, just leave it to God, he is big and he can do everything and that God guy will take care of it, whoever that is and that is how he took advantage of it, more or less he left it to Sai Baba. That is the tamasic and topsy-turvy way such people understand spirituality, thinking it is only for them to be pleased.

These are about he biggest hypocrites I have ever met. The others guys I had met before had at least an engagement, but these so called devotees have no engagement at all, if they are engaged it is just to their ego.

The concept of the Absolute is the subject of the first mantra. The concept of individuality is the subject of the second mantra. What are you, in the light of this conclusion that God pervades all things and God is everything? If you are cautious enough in exercising your thoughts in this context, you will be compelled to conclude – and feel, too – that you cannot exist at all. You do not any more exist. It has gone. Your so-called 'me' has gone into the Universal 'I'. Such a feeling, intellectually, is appreciable and conceivable. Practically, you cannot accommodate yourself to this consciousness because you can feel this hard body when you touch it with your fingers. So the Upanishad says: "Do not be in a hurry. Go slowly. Do such things as will gradually widen the concept of your personality, or individuality, and make it commensurate with the supreme universal personality of God Himself. This is done by the duty which is to be performed."

It is about the concept of duty. Duty is the work done participating in a a larger whole – an organisation, a family circumstance, a national setup or even the universe itself. Actually, work in a spiritual sense is not something that is done in some way, for some reason. "I am doing something" – that is not the point. The work that we do as a duty becomes valuable – and actually can be called duty and as work that has that a value in it – only if it is a sacrifice on your part by way of a participation in the welfare of a larger whole to which you belong.

I see it as my duty to take care of the study circle, because I said I would do it, I said yes and I agreed to it, that means I have to take care of it. That is duty. However I feel, I do it. That doesn't feel like a very heavy duty to me. My daughter is a duty, I had to be there for her. What was no issue for her father, even though he thinks he is a devotee. He didn't understand it and liked to give it to me, probably if I took care, Baba took care, so I was in the role of Baba or God. 

He didn't even see a duty to look after the family. He wanted me not only to look after the child, take care of him as well, but also my family should take care of all of us. As he didn't like to do an effort, he had the idea that my family should take care instead of him. He was nothing but a burden and finally, it turned out that I took care of the child and she was my duty without expecting the family to take care of us and he went to his sister and she took care of him. I guess that guy never grew up. 

But there was that 'give, give, give, I will not give, you need a psyche, I will give' (Baba). After I don't know how many years we finally understand it.

If you are in a family with five people, ten people, each member has to contribute something by way of a sacrifice of his personal interest for the welfare of a larger organisation, which is the group of individuals called the family. If each one sticks to his own guns, there will be no family. It will disintegrate. A family is a consciousness; it is not a bundle of people. It is an awareness of oneself belonging to a total whole, which is what is called a family. It is a conceptual entity, not a physical body. So is an organisation; so is a nation. You cannot see the nation with your eyes. You see only mountains, rivers, trees and the ground. Nation is a concept, a consciousness of a totality of values to which you belong as a citizen thereof. When you say, "I am a citizen of this country," what is it that you actually mean? You are a citizen; it means you are a person, an entity that belongs to a total whole, which is not visible to the eyes. You have to participate in the welfare of the whole.

 

That is the level of Baba, the country. That is why he talked of the sacred Bharat (India) and took always country groups in the interview room. With TM it was the TM-movement people worked for and scarified their lives for it. With the Hare Krishnas it was also the movement, they also sacrificed their lives for the movement.

There are various wholes. The body itself is a whole. You have to take care of it, not torture it and kill it. The body also is an organism; it is an organisation. The family is an organism, an organisation. So is a state, a nation, an international setup, the United Nations organisation or the whole universe of creation. In each one, in each level, you have to be a participant and not be in opposition. You should not belong to the opposite party always. You should be a participant in the welfare of the whole to which you belong. This is the duty that you have to perform. Do work as long as you are alive in this world. There is no retirement from work of this kind. There may be retirement from office work, from industrial work and so on, but there is no retirement from duty because you retire from duty only when you cease to exist as an individual. As long as personality persists, duty continues. You may live for a hundred years, if possible – satam jivema. What will you do for one hundred years? You will be doing duty. What is the duty?

That means on the level of Baba it is about him and the Sai movement, that is our duty and not gold or some other objective reason. Why not, because it is the objective level and Baba and the Sai movement is the subjective level. There is no retirement from work of this kind, because it is duty to him only. Everything else is wrong understood. And he tells us why just now.

A person who has not understood the meaning of the first mantra will not understand the meaning of the second mantra either. 

They go together as associates, like the right hand and the left hand. You will not be able to understand what duty is, in the sense of this self-sacrifice for the welfare of the whole, unless you know what the whole is. I gave you a traditional list of several wholes. The ultimate whole is the Absolute Being. All these lesser wholes are determined by the Supreme Whole. In every case you ought to be a participant. You have to participate in every way necessary for the welfare of your bodily and mental health. You should not destroy your mind and body. So also it is with your family, and so also with all the things that I have enumerated just now.

As it seem most of people already don't understand the first mantra and don't know how to deal with the fact that he is everything and that there is only one truth and the unity in it and as that first mantra of the Upanishads is not understood, the second one is also not understood.

Therefore, you can be a very happy person by belonging to something, not by possessing something. The moment you belong to something, that something to which you belong will take care of you. Hence, privileges follow automatically from duties. However, these days people cry only for rights, and want no duties. "I have no work; I will sit outside. Bring my salary." This is against the law of the cosmos. You cannot expect remuneration without doing anything. If you understand what I said, you will be very happy.

That was Baba's question in the interview room, the question 'about belonging' and I spoke about it and met a guy who interpreted it on a personal level and that I belonged to him only, and it was all based on a dream.

He didn't want only a relationship, he also wanted lots of money and anything he probably could want in that life..., probably whatever was available. 

We belong to a family or we belong to a group. TM was also like that, not long ago the inner self got me divorced from them, it was still disturbing in the background with all the hidden and lost relationships. There was no husband, but there was marriage, we were bound, but we didn't know to whom. It felt very strange to me. 

I always had troubles with that. We didn't know who was 'husband' and the leader was the only one who had a master relationship and therefore, he was the level of invincibility and it was nearly impossible to go beyond that, it was based on hierarchy. 

On Baba's level we belong to a certain country, and that is why he said inside, 'I am in Africa', in the West we should look for him in Africa, in the East it is India. 

It was a good time belonging to the Hare Krishnas, that was actually a very good time. 

With TM everything went upside down and it was topsy-turvy and nothing was right and as it should be, it was all adapted to the West, the master not there, only for some and that were leaders and they were invincible, because only them had a master contact, the others not. That was not that great. 

But the others couldn't go beyond it, as it was based on hierarchy. 

But I knew the leader too good and that whole structure collapsed, but it was that difficult to understand. 

It was a higher purpose with the Hare Krishna movement. We were young. But I had the self reflection in the dream as inner view years before, and I looked for answers and a way to go inside. The Hare Krishna time was based on service for divinity. 

But as I couldn't see a way to understand the higher self and to go inside, therefore, I was looking for a way to go inside and began with TM. 

But the divine structure and the higher ideals of renouncement and human values were present and that took care of us. After all, it was good and we were happy as it seems just because of that reason, it it seems it was even better than having lots of money. We had to take care of the natural duty in being part of the whole and belonging to them, that seems to be the real reason for happiness, we just didn't realize it.  

If you look upon the world and all its created objects with the insight derived from the inner vision, the attachment will fade away; you will see everything much clearer, with the Divine glory suffused in its Splendor. 
Close your external eyes and open your inner eyes – see what a beautiful grand vision emerges from within you, as you go through your daily life. Attachment to the world has limits, but the attachment to the Lord that you develop when your inner eye opens has no limit. Enjoy that Reality, not this false picture from your external eyes.