The right Conclusion; in the Light of the Self

Though humanity has achieved incalculable progress in science and technology, the mind of every individual is still polluted with greed, envy and gross selfishness. Egotism has struck deep roots in the heart and has grown to demonic proportions. People have become puppets, yielding to every pull of the string. They crave all things that confer temporary happiness on them and accumulate things that cater to their sense of power. They examine every item from their own selfish point of view. They are therefore enslaved by the monsters – envy, pride, fear and prejudice. True knowledge alone can save mankind from ruinous downfall. Sai has reiterated the four goals laid down in the Vedas. They are Truth, Righteousness, Peace and Love. Humanity must understand the importance of these four goals as foundational pillars, accept them, adore them and practice them in daily living. Only then Divinity latent within can shine forth in all its glory.

Todays's thought for the day is an example how to deepen and how to think it over to get to a right conclusion. He mentions humanity, the progress of science and technology and that the mind of the individual is still polluted - he calls it greed, envy and gross selfishness. 

We have the ego, as long ago it was a big issue that a master had said about someone that she had a big ego, that is a warning which was neglected. We have to see it in our own life to be able to understand it. And she went on course, but after that person came back we had only problems and in the light of those words we get aware how serious it was and we wonder why it was not being seen as a warning, because it had been a warning.

Food and Sharing Experiences

Gladly share your education and wealth with your fellow human beings. God is the real owner of the wealth you acquire. Remember, the money you earn belongs to God's Trust. You are His Trustee and accordingly, make proper utilisation of your wealth. Do not hanker over money or other forms of wealth. Instead, constantly contemplate on God. You don't have to go to caves or forests or ashrams in search of Him. Wherever you are, He is with you. Develop this faith and win over your demonic qualities. Do not forget that what ultimately comes with you is not your wealth or education, but the sin or merit you have accumulated through your actions. Share at least a morsel of what you eat with others. Never forget to practice selfless love and service. Help yourself and help others, this is indeed the greatest spiritual practice (sadhana). Without following these principles, there is no peace and joy, anywhere in the world!

Swami reminds us to share everything, our education and our wealth with our fellow beings and he reminds us that God is the right owner and that everything belongs to him only and it is his trust on us and we should understand it right. 

We should make proper utilization of wealth. 

We should constantly contemplate on the divine and not hanker over money or other forms of wealth, but he as well is telling us that we don't have to go to caves or forests or ashrams in the search of Him and that is part of my experience. I was in my job working and watching and it ended with the experience of the higher self, but I went on to understand it and that was not that easy anymore in our society actually impossible to get the right answer.  

I was looking for a language or a way of understanding or thinking it over and it was a long way of finally getting to that contemplation and being able to see the experience in the light of my own experience. 
First I tried to express it with meditation and it was about truth, but it was not thinking it over and it didn't answer all the experience or insights in the dream stage and it was always about truth and even if it felt right, there was still a lot that didn't make any sense and we didn't find the answer by thinking it over. The principle about it was true, but it was not possible to use the right words and there was no thinking it over and in time the experiences didn't make any sense anymore. 

We can make the experience everywhere, we don't need to go to an ashram, but nevertheless, without the words of an enlightened master we cannot get it, we need the words and the direct experience and discrimination.

That is very clearly stated in the Patanjali sutra about correct understanding. 
He is telling us to get to correct understanding we need three things, direct perception, inference and the written or spoken words of a self realized authority. 

The Boat Across the Sea of Worldly Life

Devotion and faith are the two oars with which you can ferry the boat across the sea of worldly life. A child told its mother when it went to bed at night, "Mother! Wake me up when I am hungry." The mother answered, "There is no need child, your hunger will itself wake you up." So too, when the hunger for God comes, it will itself activate you and make you seek the food you need. God has endowed you with hunger and He supplies the food; He has endowed you with illness and He provides the medicine. Your duty is to see that you get the proper hunger and the right illness, and use the appropriate food or drug! Remember, the Lord is a Mountain of Love (Prema); any number of ants carrying away particles of sweetness cannot exhaust His plenty. He is an Ocean of Mercy without a limiting shore. Devotion is the easiest way to win His grace.

When we think it over we have to find a way to see it in our own life to understand it, we can imagine the boat that ferries us across the sea of worldly life, but we need to experience it not just imagine it and how do we get to that experience, in listening to his words and thinking it over. 

The two oars are devotion and faith. 
How do you experience those two, devotion and faith, do you remember in your life an experience when you can relate to that boat and how you got aware of the to oars of devotion and faith. We can ask ourselves, how do we get that experience? 
What do we remember and we can make a kind of brain storming, we write down what we remember and then we see if it makes any sense and when it begins to make sense and we begin to remember it in our own life, we think it over and by thinking it over we get a feeling for it and it is not just something we read or hear, but we begin to listen and listening is more than just reading or hearing, it has to go deeper and then only it is possible to absorb it and only when we have those three things we can talk about contemplation. 

When we see it in our own life and we remember a moment in the past when it began with faith. In my life I remember I was looking for self-realization and more or less all over and I couldn't find it anymore and I had the experience of it before, but it was gone and no way it was to be found again. 
I wondered how it had that experience present of it and it was during writing, at that time it had been a diary, and it was as well thinking it over, but it was just about values and ideals and getting aware of it and enjoying of writing it down. With time I somehow didn't believe that there had been a feeling of self-realization anymore, there seemed to be no way of getting aware of it again. But it had been there, I didn't need that much faith, I had the experience of it, it was just no more present and no more part of my life and my experience and it didn't feel good. it felt holy and it was very important and therefore, even if I couldn't find it, it had been there and it was not possible to forget it. More I was looking for it less I was able to find it. 

Contemplation on the Divine

Devote your time to the service of the world with faith in the Lord, regardless of its fruits. Then you become blessed. Otherwise though the body may be inactive, the mind will be very busy, committing acts on its own. People with such minds fall prey to karma (consequences) in spite of their not doing anything! When a person has the mind fixed on contemplation of God and the pursuit of truth, though the body and senses do acts that are of service to the world, they won't be affected by them; though they do actions they are still non-doers of action. This is the lesson from Bhagavad Gita. The heart of the person who doesn't strive to cultivate the mind with holy thoughts is certain to be the paradise of evil and wickedness. Everyone who hopes to rise to greatness, who seeks one-pointedness and aspires for salvation must bear this in mind.

What should we do, we should take the attitude of being engaged in the service of the Lord in our activities, no matter what job, we should see it as service to society our mother land or the world. It has lots of advantages if we see it as service and not just as a job or when it is just about making money. It is a different way of seeing it and the mind is not busy in comparing ourselves with others constantly either seeing ourselves as more important or not good enough, whatever, it is just a service to the Lord and it is in that sense more important that we do our best in our present job than to compare it with others. It is as well a very different way to handle problems or conflicts, we have a more humble attitude and take it as it comes, instead of putting it constantly in question. It is a way of life and looking at it, and it is bright and more intelligent, as it is easier to be happy with whatever we get than to reach out for the impossible. But nevertheless, it is as well a realm of all possibilities, it builds character if we focus and doing the right thing and not how much we earn or don't earn in doing our job. It is as well a way to be happy with and self-content and to finding faults with everything. It is the way of self-realization, it is compared to a house, the floor is self-confidence, the walls are self-contentment, the roof is self-sacrifice and the living in the house is self-realization. If we serve in our job the world as a service to the Lord, whatever we have to do, it can be of benefit for us and our spiritual path, what matters it to do it in a spirit of service. 

Engaged in Service

You consider helping people in difficulties is service. No. It is not as simple as that. Your body should be constantly engaged in serving others. The human body consists of several limbs. All these limbs are meant to be engaged in serving your fellowmen and not for other activities. Unfortunately we are forgetting this basic fact. Every limb in the body has been granted by God for Karmopasana (worshipping God through service). Karmopasana is the only means by which the human life can be sanctified. We are building several temples. We are undertaking various spiritual practices. But all these sadhanas can give us only temporary satisfaction, not eternal joy. Our ancient sages have been able to achieve eternal joy through a conscious effort. Therefore, you must develop firm faith in the truth that nothing can provide eternal joy, except service to humanity. Undertake service to the suffering humanity. Service is not merely confined to health services. Service encompasses every possible help to fellow human beings. 

Swami is talking about service and it its not just about ashram life, but about our life in society. And that we think to help people in difficulties is not as simple as that. 
In our society everything is institutionalized and it is very difficult to go and help, if the help is not wanted we shouldn't even try to do it. 
If he mentions the body and it should be engaged to service t others, body is different from the Atma or our higher self, therefore, he calls it the body that should be engaged in service to others. It can be also of service if we just think it over and contemplate on his words. If we just read it, we think, that's it we know we have heard it before or something like that and it needs an effort getting into it seeing it in our own life and getting a feeling for it and that is what contemplation is, it is not just reading and forgetting it and next moment we don't know anymore what we have read. We must make it experience, we should feel it and when we see it in our own life, it is just about that. When we hear that a conflict should be always brought to the point otherwise it expands, we even think we know, but the next moment it is forgotten and when we have a conflict in our life, we don't know what to do about it. It is a sign that we have not absorbed the wisdom. 

Celebrate the Day

It is indeed foolishness to single out a particular day in a year and celebrate only that day with great joy. Everything in this objective world is impermanent and unreal. Hence we must contemplate on the eternal truth and reality. We should not waste our time brooding over the past or anticipating the future. It is great foolishness to worry about the future or the past, forgetting the present. The present is only real. Past is past, you cannot get it back, however much you pray for it. The future is hidden in the womb of time. Unable to internalise this truth, people worry about past and future. Hence, from now, give importance to the present. It is important that you consider every minute of your every day and celebrate it with new joy! Indeed, for a true devotee, every day is new; every day is a festival day!

Every day should be a new day to celebrate and we should do it with even great joy. What is around us is the impermanent and unreal world and we should contemplate on the eternal truth and reality. We had been living in the US and when coming back here I began to remember that I am not this and not that, it was a kind of constant contemplation on what is not real. 

When driving to work in the bus not matter what was coming up I was just thinking, 'not that' and with time I began to notice that I forgot it and I noticed when I forgot it, it was really forgotten. It felt nearly like becoming invisible, I was not present when I thought, 'not that' or I was present, but it was not the mind, not the body and a different level. And with time I began to enjoy it. 

Every Action has Consequences

You should realise that for every action there is a consequence. The results of each action depend on the nature of the action, just as the nature of the tree depends on the seed which is sowed. The consequences of one's actions are inescapable and it is for this reason that the Emperor Manu laid down that all should observe Dharma. The consequences of actions may appear sooner or later but they are bound to occur. When you constantly think of God and perform all actions with Divine feelings, you will experience the full blossoming of the human qualities. Consider every action as dedicated to God. You cannot avoid actions. You must transform work into worship. You have to perform work in this spirit. You cannot substitute prayer for work. You have to combine both work and worship.

Swami speaks here about action and that every action has an effect and the result of action depends on seedling being planted, just the nature of the tree depends on the seed which is sowed. 
The consequences are inescapable. We can get aware of it in thinking it over. 

The Quality of Love

Develop the quality of love. Do not hate anyone. Develop the faith that whatever happens to you is good for you. Think that whenever you encounter any difficulty or suffering, you alone are responsible for it. On the other hand, if you insult anyone knowingly or unknowingly, that someone else may punish you some day. Pleasure and pain are the products of your own making. The merit or sin you commit, follows you like a shadow always. Many today give sermons to others, without they themselves following what they advice. What value will your advice have? Whenever you read or listen to a noble thought, it is of no value to you until you practice it assiduously. Help your fellow human beings at least in a small measure. You will be helped in return when you need it most. Never blame others for the difficulties you face. Never abuse anyone. Love all and treat everyone as your brothers and sisters.

If we develop the quality of love, we get aware that whatever happens to us is good for us or we think it is Karma and therefore, there is a reason for it. That is what I usually thought when things didn't feel right and there was no way of questioning it. If it didn't feel right, it was not a problem, but only my problem and that is what I had learnt when I was still a teenager and my mother didn't wanted to be bothered about it. 

But that way of thinking made me get into inquiry, even if I didn't wanted to. First we began to meditate and by regular meditation hoped everything would get okay and answered and no problem and for a while it really looked like that, if we don't ask question, we don't need to get an answer, but it didn't change the situation in the parent's house that things were avoided. 

Mother is God

Mother is not just an ordinary woman; she is verily God. Scriptures give mothers an exalted position in the Universe. Worship her and attain her grace. Once you have the blessings of your mother, you can achieve anything in this world. Never disobey or displease her. Never cause displeasure to your mother. Never hurt her feelings. Then God will help you in all your endeavours. Even today, there is no dearth of noble mothers. They feel pained to see their children straying away from the right path. They leave no stone unturned to correct them. A woman's prayer is more powerful than a thousand prayers of men because women are pure and tender-hearted. Never look down upon women. Treat all elderly women as your mother and the younger ones as your sisters. The world will remain safe and secure only when men have such noble feelings.

It was that ideal of mother is God in holy scriptures or books that got me on that path, at that time years ago it seemed easier to idealize mother than to find faults and to always be pushed back by her way of seeing it and the impossibility of reaching that what had been the mother once in her. As a teenager at a certain point my life went nuts, and I didn't know what it was. I had been in a relationship with a neighbor and everything seemed fine until that was over and no matter what I said, it resulted in explosion and it never got okay again. I went abroad and after coming back, it was never the same gain, my mother or my parent's house were no more a home, it was just disturbing the way I felt and as I didn't like it I began to look for the reason, but it was impossible of talking to them.  

Difficulties are no Hindrance

The more you grind the sandalwood, the more it yields sandal paste. The more you crush the sugarcane, the more it yields sweet juice. As the gold is heated more and more, it becomes purer and shines with added brilliance. Likewise, the good qualities in a noble person blossom more and more as one passes through the vicissitudes of life. Embodiments of Love! The difficulties of life do not cause any hindrance to a person pursuing a noble course of life. In spite of these, he always remains at peace and contemplates on God constantly. Of all the living beings, to be born a human being is the rarest occurrence (Jantunam Narajanma Durlabham), so this life that you are gifted with is indeed a great good fortune. Having been blessed with such a human birth, you should develop noble thoughts and experience bliss within. Only then will you be truly fortunate.

We had an interview together with people from the same country. In one of those interviews he said, 'follow the master, fight to the end, finish the game'. Even when he spoke individually to people in the room, we usually remember only what was for us. After the interview I began to wonder, how I could follow the master and how to fight to the end and how to finish the game.
When something came was there and it was not clear or for some reason or for some reason it seemed it had been avoided in that past, now it began to come and it following the master I began to address it usually it was by some unknown reason in the dream.
After I went to Swami I was staying at the ashram as long as possible, without that I had to go against the rule, it was limited by the visa and by the time we were allowed to stay at the ashram. Swami moved always from time to time to Whitefield and his other ashram near Bangalore and when coming back it was possible to start new again.


There was a reason why I wanted to leave on the spot again when coming back here, because it usually didn't feel good, it was like I had not roots in my county and I didn't know what I was doing here. As long as he was near and in Swami's presence, things felt great and okay, but when coming back I didn't know what I was doing here, it was like cut off and a few times it said in my dream, when we don't know the source, we cannot understand it. The question was, what was that source, it was unknown and why. The source is as well mentioned when it is about the divine, with him we were at the source, the question was rather, what else we didn't know?