Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

Yoga is equal-mindedness. It is the best among different kinds of work. Pavitratma Swarupas: In this world, man cannot experience sacredness without an equal-minded approach. It is this equal-mindedness that is the proper sadhana which can give man complete happiness. So long as man does not try to put into practice his equal-mindedness, his life will be in a confused state. In equal-mindedness, there are five types. The first one can be referred to as equal-mindedness relating to the world. The second is equal-mindedness of a common type. The third is equal-mindedness toward work. The fourth is equal-mindedness toward devotion and the fifth is equal-mindedness related to wisdom. Our ability, by which we can control our sensory organs, is the basis for equalmindedness. In the daily world, just as we have hot and cold, we will also have pain and pleasure. If man can accept pain and pleasure with the same attitude, he will be able to lead a happy life. Under certain conditions, cold will give happiness and in certain other circumstances, heat will give pleasure. We see here that both heat and cold can give us happiness. Here we should note that, although the time is different and the path is different, the aspect of pleasure is common. In cold winter, warmth gives us happiness. In a hot season, cold will give us comfort. It appears that hot and cold are opposites of each other. It is not so. Each one has only an opposite character of the other. If there is no cold, we will not give such value to heat. If we do not know what heat is, we will not give so much value to cold. In the same manner, unless there is pain, we do not enjoy pleasure. Here, sorrow takes the form of a step to happiness. It is necessary for us to recognise the truth that happiness is contained in sorrow and sorrow is contained in happiness. It will be possible for us to have an equal attitude to both when we recognise this truth. Pleasure is an interval between two pains. It is only when pain is interspersed with pleasure that we give any value to the pleasure. It is therefore necessary for us to receive pain and pleasure with an equal mind. Such equal-mindedness is referred to as equal-mindedness relating to the world. When we can develop such equal-mindedness in worldly matters, we will be able to withstand the troubles that come to us.

Then comes the equal-mindedness relating to society. Praise and blame, loss and gain, victory and defeat are not to be regarded as opposites of each other. They follow each other. We will take praise and blame. We should go into this matter and examine the same in some detail. Both blame and praise establish man’s steadiness. They appear as if they are contradictory to each other, but, in fact, they are not. That which takes you to a respectable position will also bring you down. As you are being praised, blame will also grow alongside. When we go on digging a well, a heap of mud will also grow alongside. The deeper we go into the well, the higher will the accumulated mound be. The well will be described as a deep hole while the mound will be described as a heap of mud. We think that the hole, which corresponds to deep well, is blame while the heap corresponds to praise. But when we put the heap of mud into the well, it gets closed. In this context, the mud from the well and the mud in the heap are the same. Once we realise that this is, in fact, so, we will not be afraid of criticism or blame. We will develop an equal-minded attitude for praise and blame. If there is no mound, we cannot close the well. We should recognise the important connection which established that, as the mound grows higher and higher, the well goes deeper and deeper. Some people will look at the depth of the well while others look at the height of the mound. The correct attitude will be to look at both with the same mind. Only when man can look at both these with the same attitude, will he be able to progress along the sacred path.

We will now take losses and gains. If on the one hand, we feel happy at having secured gains, we will also have to take the trouble of protecting these gains. The same amount of sorrow that we will have before securing the gains will be there after securing the gains as well. When we feel happy that we have made a profit, we will also feel sorry that the income tax people will take away a good deal of the profit. If we can develop the attitude that earning Rs. 25 only is the same as earning Rs. 100 and paying a tax of Rs. 75, we can lead a happy life. If we can develop the attitude that we neither want the gain nor the loss, we will then be able to lead a peaceful life. In the same manner, certain attitudes connected with the society, like pain and pleasure, victory and defeat, etc., will always come together. Our first task should be to recognise our duty. We should not keep thinking whether it will lead to victory or failure. It is man’s duty to make an attempt; the success or failure of the attempt should be left to God. If we develop this attitude, we will not be troubled by success or failures. You are all students; you want to succeed in your examinations. You should recognise that the sadhana or the effort is more important than the success. More than developing the thought that you should succeed, it is important to put in your effort. You are developing the desire to secure a pass, but you are not putting in the effort that is required to pass. If you put in the right effort, you need not worry about the result. If you put in the required effort, there can be no doubt about your success. If by some bad luck, you do not secure the pass, you need not feel sorry for it, because you have put in the effort. You must develop this stability and equal-mindedness by which you neither feel elated nor depressed. If you can have this equal attitude towards matters relating to society, either the good or the bad will not unduly worry you.

Next is the aspect of equal-mindedness relating to work. In this world, consequences like success and failure for the work you do are natural. This creation consists of coming together and separating of things. Whatever is born is destined also to die. But, today human beings want to find a reason for death; but they are not wanting to know the reason for birth. We always ask why and how one has died, but we do not ask why one is born. As we do not know the cause of one’s death, we also do not know the cause of one’s birth. For superficial purposes, we think that one has died because of an accident or of sickness. This is not so. For death, birth alone is responsible. If we recognise that birth is the reason for death, we will not feel sorry for death. We should, therefore, not worry about the results of the work that we undertake. We should recognise work as natural for a human being.

The next one is the equal-mindedness relating to devotion. For one who recognises that God is the basis of success or failure, gains or losses, there will be no difference between these aspects at all. In this, we should recognise the equal attitude of God himself. Once we recognise the truth that God is omnipresent and is present in everyone, then there will be no difference between one and the other. By developing such ideas, we will be able to develop equal-mindedness through devotion.

There is the equal-mindedness relating to wisdom. We should recognise that God is present everywhere and that the recognition of the oneness of God is the basis of all religion. When what really exists is only One, there is no room for any difference in attitudes. The same life force that is present in an elephant is also present in a dog or in a cow. Since this life force present in all jivas is one and the same, we observe that everything is an aspect of the divine. So long as you have the feeling of ownership or so long as you keep saying, “Mine, Mine, Mine,” you will not have a chance to observe things other than yours. So long as you have this attitude you will be never able to understand what is not yours. On the day when you give up the idea of some things being yours, you will really understand this aspect of equanimity. You must reduce your attachment to things. Because through the body, some attachments come up, we talk of relationship. The bad qualities that are present in us are responsible for this. So long as jealousy and ego are uppermost in your mind, God will be at a distance from you. When you are able to get rid of these qualities, God will come close to you. To think that one has not gone closer to God, is only a symptom of his own ignorance. The same item can give you happiness at one time and sorrow at other times. For such changes, hatred, ego and jealousy are responsible.

On one occasion, the gopikas looked at the Murali that was in Krishna’s hand and they developed some jealousy. They thought that not one of them got an opportunity to become as close to Krishna as the Murali, although they were playing and living with Krishna right from their childhood. Such an opportunity did not come to the gopikas, although they were very devoted and were all the while thinking of Krishna. They were whispering among themselves why a mere stick of a murali should have such a golden opportunity. To this, one gopika said that this piece of stick was such that it had captured Krishna’s heart and was thereby having control over Krishna. Another gopika said that the stick was having itself pressed by the divine hands. Another gopika said that the Murali has the greatest fortune because the divine Lord was putting his mouth on the Murali and they both take a common breath. Another gopika said that the Murali has become very proud because it has an opportunity to sleep on the same bed on which Krishna sleeps. In this manner, while the gopikas were exhibiting their jealousy while talking about the Murali, Radha overheard the conversation and said that they should not promote such jealousy. She said that the Murali was giving happiness and bliss to many people. This great good fortune has come the way of Murali, because it has done so much good to others. The music that emanates from the Murali has gladdened so many hearts. Not only this, she asked them to look carefully at the Murali, you will see that, like us, it does not have too many desires. It is completely hollow and has no pulp in it at all. This is the reason why Krishna has accepted the Murali and plays with it. If we want to get so close to Krishna, we also must become hollow like the Murali, and we should not have any desires or thoughts. When the gopikas realised this, they felt sorry that they undertook to criticise the Murali which gave them so much happiness. They understood that they were not able to get close to the Lord because of their bad qualities. So long as such evil qualities like jealousy and ego exist in us, we cannot get close to the Lord. The gopikas prayed to the Lord by saying, “Oh Krishna, sing a song, speak with your beautiful voice to the hearts’ content of your devotees. Extract the quintessence of the Nada Brahma, and put it into your murali, mix it and transform it into a song. Sing a song! Oh, Krishna and please your devotees. Oh, Murali, what a fortunate being you are, being so close to the Lord.” The gopikas who heard Radha, felt very repentant and addressed the Murali in a very apologetic manner. They were, thereafter, training their minds to go close to the heights of surrender to which the Murali had already reached.

They were telling themselves, “Oh, mind, go to the place where the Ganga and Yamuna come into confluence.” In our concept, Ganga and Yamuna meet at Prayag; but according to the gopikas, this represents the confluence of Ganga and Yamuna which are only symbolic names for the nerves ida and pingala. The place of their confluence is the central forehead. The centre of the forehead where Ganga and Yamuna (Ida and Pingala) mix is sacred, pure and calm. The gopikas have decided that this place of confluence is also the place of Sushumna Nadi where one can get peace. The gopikas sent all their thoughts to this place, and they were concentrating on Krishna. So long as this idea of difference or duality existed, the gopikas suffered. From the day they experienced an attitude of equal-mindedness, the gopikas were happy and lived a sacred life. We should also promote such equal-mindedness and not give place to mean thoughts. Such thoughts come to young students, particularly in the context of Swami not talking to them. There is nothing wrong in developing prema and love and desire that Swami should come to you and see you, but it is not right to develop jealousy when Swami showers grace on others. You should make an attempt to enjoy the bliss even when it has come to others. You must enjoy a state of mind by which you do not hate others. We must try not to cause hurt or blame to others. This way, you can develop a sacred mind. When you develop such a sacred mind, God’s grace will be showered on you. At that time, there will be no difference between different people at all. In your young age, taking the gopikas as ideal examples, you must promote the attitude of equal-mindedness.

Talking too much hurts one’s mind and destroys one’s memory. The first thing that you have to do is to reduce too much talk. Tell yourselves, “Oh, Tongue! you know good taste and you are a sacred organ of the human body. You should always utter good words like Govinda, Damodara and Madhava.” The eye commits only one sin, that is bad vision. The ear commits only one sin, that is listening to bad things. However, the tongue commits four sins. It speaks untruth, blames others, carries tales about others and talks too much. The tongue thus commits four sins. In order to guard ourselves from the tongue committing these sins, we must make a determination to talk less. This is most important for the students. The energy that is present in you will diminish if you talk too much. It will also bring you disrepute. By talking too much, our friends will call us a bore when we approach them. Talking too much will weaken your nerves also. When your nerves become weak, you become a nervous wreck; and your tongue will also not be under control. It is because of this that our ancestors gave so much importance to silence. They observed silence over long periods of time. If the same tongue is used to talk about the Lord, it will also remain steady. However, that is the right thing to do; and if you use your tongue to talk about the Lord, it will also become sacred. To illustrate this, I will give an example. If you have a radio receiver and use it constantly, you consume 10 or 20 units of power. In that context, if the radio in us keeps on talking ever since we are born, imagine how much power is spent. We see, that to the extent we minimise our talking, we promote the intelligence that is present in us. I am hoping that by following such a path, you will be able to take your life along the sacred path.