Uprooted and Getting Aware of it

All have faith in the power of love. But how is this love to be fostered and developed? This question may arise in the minds of many. When people ask, "How can we develop our love for the Lord?" The answer is: "There is only one way. When you put into practice the love in which you have faith, that love will grow." Because you do not practice what you profess, your faith gets weakened. A plant will grow only when it is watered regularly. When you have planted the seed of love, you can make it grow only by watering it with love every day. The tree of love will grow and yield the fruits of love. Often people today do not perform those acts which will promote love. When you wish to develop love for the Lord, you must continually practice loving devotion to the Lord.

Baba (thought for the day)

This thought for the day is about the power of love and I had faith in that power of love, but I thought it would be able to change something, but that it didn't. It didn't change anything in my environment, it just changed my life. With the insight it got better or I found the reason why I didn't feel home anymore and when I began looking for it I was that cut off and uprooted I had no idea what the problem was and why I felt like that.

That was a problem to not feel home, even though I had a parent's house and they had a business and they worked a lot and were always at the same place, they were present, but it was nevertheless no home, at least not for me.

Action Done under Compulsion and Freedom

In three situations, you do not have freedom: the discharge of duties (karthavyam), actions done under compulsion (nirbandham) and obligatory actions arising out of certain relationships (sambandham). If a poor man, unable to get food, resorts to stealing, he cannot claim that he is exercising his freedom to appease his hunger. Even if, for his own selfish reasons, he may try to justify the stealing, his conscience will tell him that he is committing wrong. Any action performed against one's conscience is not an act of freedom. True freedom happens only when one is free from the impulses of the mind. Freedom (Swechcha) is made up of the words: Swa + ichcha. 'Swa' means Atma. Only when the will of the Atma prevails can there be real freedom. God and you are not separate. This oneness should not be a mere intellectual concept. It should be a living reality. Then you will experience true freedom - the freedom of the Spirit.

Baba (thought for the day)

If we think love alone does it, what we have to look at here in those words? What can we get in the meaning if we do think it over? Baba mentions three different situations and actions in those situations. We have no freedom if we have to discharge duties. So how do I see that in my own life to get a feeling for it or to understand it?

I have a job and work contract and that is a commitment to be there and to do it, if I like it or not, that is not the question. I signed the contract and now it is my duty. That is the first type of duty.

If I am lucky I like my job and it will be much easier, but I have to do it anyhow.

The next action is done under compulsion. Let's try to see it in our own life.

Knowing we don't Know and still Drowning

The external is the creation of the internal. Brahmam manifested itself as the Universe. God created the world; the world conferred the glory of 'Creator' on God. Through his yearning, imagination and intensity man endowed God with a form and name, and a bunch of attributes from which he hopes to benefit. But, God is above and beyond human traits and characteristics known as Gunas. Krishna told Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita, "I have no need to engage Myself in any activity. But yet, I am busy acting, in order to promote the well-being of the Universe." The Gita refers to its chapters as Yoga. Yoga means union of the Self with its source. How do the eighteen chapters, each Yoga, help man to fulfill his destiny? The Gita provides the answer: "Samathvam Yogam Uchyathe" (Yoga is being in a state of equal-mindedness or equanimity).

Baba (thought for the day) 

The problem is if we do not have the experience of it, we cannot really talk about it.

As it goes beyond the mind and it is 'bigger than the biggest and smaller than the smallest' and it is too big and too small to be imagined as it goes beyond the mind. Everything we perceive is in the mind and not beyond the mind. There is no way we can get the experience on the mind level, but we have to get it anyhow and how do we do it?

We get to the insight with Tapas, spiritual work. We take the insight and think it over in the light of his words, whatever is coming up in the mind in listening to his words and we see it in our own life and that is how we make a connection between the wisdom and our own experience and doing that we have to go on no matter what obstacles are there.

Listen, think it over and absorb and Baba's words, not our words.

He is the knower, we are in the mind and have to think his words over to get it and it takes some time to absorb, but if we do it regularly we will understand the insight 'I am that' and we get to the insight 'I am the one'.

Divine Dwellings

The Supreme Lord can assume countless forms including that of the entire cosmos. Hence scriptures declare, "The entire cosmos is God's dwelling. All are forms of the Divine." Seeing a Divine Incarnation people doubt whether God has such miraculous powers while He has the same body as themselves. People who find it difficult to perceive their oneness with the Self (Atma), fail to recognize the Avatar. Such people reviled Lord Krishna as a philanderer and a thief. Such accusations, born of delusion, will never undermine His greatness. Lord Krishna's leelas were intended to reveal His Divinity. People make the same mistake about themselves; forgetting their inherent Divinity, they identify themselves with their bodies. Lord Krishna's Avatar is to teach mankind to transcend their body consciousness.

Baba

How do we see the 'Supreme Lord' (that is an entity) assume the countless forms and also that of the entire cosmos? If you have the 'insight' of 'I am the One', you know that he is inside in you and in everything, because the 'one' has to be in everything, there is only 'one'. It is kind of easier to think that he takes all forms, we can imagine that with the 'intellect' and that the 'I' is taking form and is present everywhere, but to talk about it is much easier after you had that 'insight' of 'I am that One'. There is a way to get to that 'insight'.

It is called Tapas, spiritual work. The wisdom is only in Baba's words, because he is 'divinity', he has realized it, he knows it and we do not know it.  

We need words to express it, without words we are in the mind. Words are the instrument the intellect uses to tell that 'I am God', it is the upward direction, there is no other way than using words. Silence is only for a self-realized person.

He is 'that' or 'I am that' and by that he lifts everybody in his presence up to his level, it changes the direction of the mind in an upward direction by Baba's presence, it is like meditation.

Alter the Harm Done

Naxalites (terrorists) are not merely the people who hold guns and pistols. Anyone who hurts others in thoughts, words and deeds is a naxalite. Three important things that all of you must pay attention to are your thoughts, words and deeds. When there is a thought, the word follows and then the body acts. In the arena of thoughts, never think evil of others. Next is word. Never use harsh words, do not humiliate others and never try to deceive others with your words. If one is killed with a knife or a pistol, they die immediately. But if you hurt a person with words, he or she will be pained till their death. Medicines exist for all external injuries, however no medicine or doctor can heal the wound or injury inflicted through words. Therefore the harm done by words is more dangerous and takes a long time to heal. Spiritual ways alone can alter the harm done by thoughts, words and deeds.

Baba

Those Baba words were like a revelation to me. My father had been in prison because of some story with a young neighbor girl. It was always difficult to talk about it, but not only because of what had happened, but because of the family.  First they didn't tell us what he did as we were considered too young and I just began with school and soon I had to listen to the others in class telling me what he had done, they all knew better than I did. And when he came back it was difficult and it was again not allowed to talk about it, it was something like taboo. So everybody else could talk about it but us. Only when I was much older a teenager I was told what he had done and my mother told me and at the same time warned me if he would try something.

It was like a shock to listen to that and I was awfully scared around him and when he was present alone I always felt uncomfortable.