Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

When you eliminate all the impurities in the mind, Fill it with supremely pure thoughts, And acquire the effulgent Vision of Wisdom, You will find the entire Cosmos illumined by the Divine. What need is there for penance for those who know the Truth ? To the votary of Truth, what is the need for Sadhana? To the one free from falsehood and deceit, Where is the need for rituals? This is the path of Truth declared by Sai. STUDENTS! Embodiments of Divine Love! Birth and death are incidental to life. Bhargava, who had sought to understand the mystery relating to birth and death and the truth about the Uttarayana and Dakshinayana (Northward and Southward journeys of the Sun) and the nature of the Sukla Paksha and Krishna Paksha (bright and dark fortnights in a month), satisfied with the knowledge he had acquired from the sage Pippalada, respectfully bowed to him, expressed his gratitude and stood blissfully before the sage.

Then the fourth disciple Saurayani, of Gargi lineage, approached the sage and asked: "Swami! When living beings are asleep, who is it that sleeps? Who is it that is awake in that state? Who is it that is oblivious to the mind, that is immersed in bliss, forgetting life itself, and is one with that Entity? Please reveal the mystery about these and confer peace of mind on me. When a living being is asleep, what happens to all the qualities of Prana (the Life-Force)?" Pippalada replied: "Just as when the sun sets, the sun's rays are withdrawn into his Tejas and are effulgent again the next morning, when a man is asleep, all the activities of the sense organs are merged in the mind. Because of this, man is unable to see the external world, is not able to speak or hear, or think. The reason is all the operations of the senses are merged in the mind. However, in this sleeping state, the Pancha Pranas (Prana, Apana, Samana, Vyana and Udana - the five vital breaths) are active in the form of Panchagnis (five internal fire-principles). In that state, the processes of inhaling and exhaling go on, with the help of the Prana (breath) and the Samana (vital air). Hence, what are awake in the sleeping state are the "five fires" corresponding to the Pancha Pranas (five vital airs). In the sleeping state it is the Jiva (the individual spirit) that enjoys the rest and the bliss of that state. The occurrences in the past and the present, the things seen in the past and now, past and present experiences, all these are experienced by man in the form of dreams. Moreover, the consequences of activities in previous lives, which have become part of his spirit but are not known to him, are also experienced in dreams.

Hence, in the sleeping state, what is experienced relates to the panchabhutas (the five physical elements). It is the Jiva who experiences the calmness and happiness of the sleeping state. In the dream state, he creates all that he experiences, including himself, and enjoys self-created experiences. For all these, the mind is the root cause. The mind is responsible for the experiences in the waking state and in dreams."

While Pippalada was giving this explanation to Saurayani, the sixth disciple, Sibi, approached the sage and asked him: "Swami! The scriptures declare that the one who utters the pranava (Om) at the time of death, attains the Akshara state (immortality). Is this possible?" Sage Pippalada replied: "Dear Sibi! The entire cosmos is filled with Pranava. Pranava is a manifestation of the Paramatma (Supreme Spirit). The Pranava - constituted by the three sounds A+U+M pervades the three worlds represented by the terms: Bhu, Bhuvah (which is above the Bhu-loka) and Suvah (the top-most of the three worlds). The three Vedas Rig, Yajur and Sama - have emanated from the Pranava. The three Vedas in their hymns glorify the Pranava. Thus, the Pranava is the all-pervading primordial sound. The Pranava is also described as the embodiment of the eight forms of Aiswarya (divine wealth): Sabdabrahmamayee, Characharamayee, Jyothirmayee, Vangmayee, Nithyanandamayee, Paratparamayee, Mayamayee and Srimayee. This means that all the sounds in the world are echoes of the primordial Om.

Those who chant the Pranava (Om) as a physical sound will get only physical benefits. The scriptures declare that those who recite the Om with concentrated mind, reach the Chandra-loka (the region presided over by the Moon-god), The Chandra-loka does not mean the planet moon as conceived by the Americans and the Russians. Students should not make this mistake. The Vedas declare that the Moon emerged from the 'mind' of the Virat-purusha (Cosmic Person) and the Sun from the 'eye' of the Cosmic Person - "Chandrama manaso-jathah. Suryo chakshorajayatha." The Moon in the Vedic sense represents the mind-principle. Likewise, the Sun represents the illumination in the eye. When the vision encompasses the creation, the eye becomes a sacred instrument (for the understanding of spiritual truths). The scriptures are not some isolated writings. Whatever the eye perceives carries an authenticity of its own. This is called Pratyaksha Pramanam (proof by direct perception). The Sun is the basis for this type of proof. For Anumana Pramanam (proof by inference), the mind is the authority For Sabda (proof on the basis of the spoken word), the authority is Vak (the deity presiding over speech). When man acts on the authority of these three kinds of proof, he can realise the Divine.

For the world of external phenomena, the presiding deity is called, Viswa (Viswudu in Telugu). The deity presiding over the internal organs is known as Hiranyagarbha. What is the reason for the difference between the external and the internal? It has to be recognised that the mind represents a highly sacred principle. When the mind, filled with agitations, contemplates on God, it achieves inner peace Hence, the seers have declared that man proceeds from peacelessness to peace, from peace to illumination, from illumination to recognition of the Supreme Effulgence, which is the Brahmam (Absolute). The Mind-principle has been described as Hiranyagarbha. (At this stage, Bhagavan materialized a golden egg-shaped Linga, which He showed to the gathering). Hiranyagarbha is located in the heart of every person. You can see from where you are that the whole world is contained within this Linga. All the countries, India, Germany, etc. can be seen on it. "Hiranyagarbhaya Namah" (Salutations to Hiranyagarbha) is one of the forms of prayer. Hiranyagarbha means One who is pregnant with gold. A characteristic of gold is that it remains unchanged. Gold remaining buried in the bowels of the earth for millennia remains unchanged and undergoes no decay. Likewise, however long it may remain on earth, the Hridaya (heart) is not subject to change. This is not a reference to the physical heart, but to the spiritual heart. It has infinite potentialities. The divinity in man is beyond words. The Hiranmaya principle resides in the heart in twelve forms. These forms are also called Aditya Brahmas. The twelve Aditya Brahmas preside over the twelve months of the year. The Sun in his golden form, rises and sets every day. From the scientific point of view, there is no sun-rise or sun-set. It is a process without a beginning or end. The phenomena of night and day are not caused by two suns.

Pippalada taught these truths to Sibi. The sage went on to explain that there are two different paths which may be pursued by the earnest aspirant. One is Bhava and the other is Sadhana. One who meditates on the pranava with Bhava (intense feeling) may not be able to realise his divinity. Even if he has some glimpses of the Divine, they do not last long. The one who pursues the path of Sadhana, reaches the Surya-mandala (realm of the Sun) and proceeds from there to the region of Brahmam. By the term Brahma, you may consider him as a four-faced deity or in some other form. But Brahmam essentially means that which is allpervading. To acquire Brahma bhava (the awareness of Brahmam) means being aware of this infinite vastness. Today's science is engaged in trying to explore the infinitesimally minutest particle in matter. But spirituality pursues a different goal. It is concerned with exploring the Infinite - Mahatho Maheeyan - what is vaster than the vastest. It is concerned with "expanding" the consciousness. Brahmam means the Infinite. Chandra refers to the mind. Surya refers to the eye- -the faculty of vision. Only the person who is able to understand the Vedantic meanings of these terms can comprehend the nature of spirituality.

Here is this Lingam. Is it to be found within the physical body? In Vedanta, it is described as Angushtamathram (the size of the thumb). The reference to the Hiranyagarbha in the Hridaya is considered as a reference to the physical heart. Not at all. In the spiritual sense, the Linga is one that is golden-hued, absolutely immaculate (untainted by any pollution), gloriously resplendent, containing within it the entire cosmos. There is an illustration for this. You might have been to Badrinath, Kedarnath or other places. Where are these places which you have seen? The moment you recall the visits, all the places are in your mind. If you close your eyes and think of your visit to Badrinath, the entire scene - the temple, the Himalayas, the Alakananda river and everything else - appears before your mind's eye. All that you have seen and experienced in life will appear before you in your mind, the moment you try to recall them. This means that the entire universe is within you. All that you see is "a reflection of the inner being." All that you speak is a reflection of inner thoughts. All that you do is a reflection of inner action. Hence, to act according to your inner impulse is Dharma. To speak what you feel inside is Sathya (Truth). To contemplate on what you experience in your heart is Santhi (Peace). To understand properly the promptings of the heart is Ahimsa (Nonviolence). Consideration for all emanating from the heart is Prema (Love). Sathya, Dharma, Santhi, Prema and Ahimsa are reflections of feelings emanating from the heart. Manavathva (humanness) means the complete harmony of thought, word and deed. If there is divergence between thought, word and deed, what is the outcome? Fruitless action.

What, then, is the meaning of Dharma? It is to express in words what you think, and to act according to your words. This unity of thought, word and deed is Dharma. Today there is no such unity in the conduct of people. The result is that the heart becomes a lump of clay. Why should the heart that is Chinmaya (enveloped in Consciousness) become a lump of clay? It is the selfishness and self-centredness in man that is the cause. This self-interest should be turned towards the unsullied, the effulgent, the blissful and eternal Divine by worshipping Hiranyagarbha (the Lord seated in the heart) with the prayer: "Hiranyagarbhaya Namah." This means that your vision should be turned towards that which is unchanging. All the things of the world are transient and perishable. That is why, Krishna declared in the Gita: "Having taken birth in this impermanent and sorrow-ridden world, worship Me!" The entire universe is subject to change sometime or other. It is not permanent. Only the consciousness in the heart is permanent and real. What is done wholeheartedly by that consciousness leads to immortality. The achievement of oneness with the Hiranyagarbha is like the shedding of its slough by a snake. All that is mundane drops off and only the consciousness remains. The body is impermanent. The Hiranmaya- principle is the Reality This reality is covered by Maya (delusion) like the slough which encases the snake. This delusion is not something distinct. It is created by the individual. It arises out of ignorance. You mistake a rope for a serpent in twilight. The mistake is due to the absence of light. When you see it with a torch, you realise that it is not a snake but a rope. The rope was there before you turned the torch on it and what you saw was the rope in the light of the torch. There was no snake there earlier or later. The appearance and disappearance of the snake were caused by delusion. The one unchanging reality was the rope.

The wise have declared: "There is only the One it is called by different names." It is changeless. Hence, the Vedas have declared: "There is an effulgent, golden-hued Divine substance that is shining in the heart of everyone." It is because of this Divine effulgence that the eyes are able to see, the ears are able to hear, and the mouth is able to speak. If that effulgence is absent, the eyes cannot see, the ears cannot hear and the mouth cannot speak. The physical scientists have no faith in these truths because they have made no effort to enquire into them. They are concentrating all their attention on the physical and the phenomenal world. The researches of yesterday have become obsolete today. Science is caught up in this constant process of rejecting the old and discovering the new. But in the realm of spirituality, there is nothing like old or new. It is everfull, ever-whole.

All scientific investigations are based upon the intellect. All spiritual explorations are based on the heart (or the consciousness). In the spiritual field, man alone is supremely important, not the machines. Scientists put their faith in machines. The spiritual seekers place their faith in Mantras. One is a scientist, the other is a saint. The saint believes in purnatva (fullness). The scientist is content with half the circle. Spirituality represents the full circle. The beginning and the end meet in the full circle. When this circle is divided by half, you have a half-circle resembling the letter C. The 'C' is science. It starts at one point and ends at another. Between the points there are endless doubts. Hence, there is no absolute certainty regarding scientific findings. What is considered true today may turn out to be incorrect tomorrow. But spirituality stands for what was true yesterday, what is true today and what will be true for all time to come. The spiritual truths are inherent in man. But he is forgetting them and is gloating over the achievements of technology and the machines created by it. This is totally wrong. Men are more important than all the wealth in the world. There is a big computer, for instance. A man puts the question to the computer: "It is about to rain. When shall I reach home?" The computer answers: "Take an umbrella before going out." Now, was this reply given by the computer as its own answer or was the reply built into the computer programme? The touching faith in computers is misplaced. Crores of rupees are being wasted on computers.

Put your faith in the natural brain. Even the computer is operated by the human brain. Instead of putting our faith in the brain that produced the computer, faith is being placed in the computer. What is it that the computer does? If you place wheat in a flour mill, you will get wheat flour at the bottom. If you place rice in the grinder, you will get rice flour. This is also how the computer behaves. You get from it what has already been put into it. If it can answer a question by itself, ask the question: "When will I die?" Will it be able to answer that query? No. It cannot give the answer, because even the maker of the computer does not know the answer. The scientist puts into the computer what he knows. The scientist is the subject and the computer is his image. Man lacks faith in himself, but relies on the image emanating from him.

Dear students! Self-confidence is highly essential. Develop confidence in the Atma (Self). There is nothing greater than the Atma. The Atma is the combined expression of Vak (speech), Manas (mind) and Prana (the life-force). Of these three, Prana is most important. There is no end to Prana, though there is an end to the body in which Prana remains. It is this Prana that is reflected in all beings as the image in a mirror. But Prana alone is not enough. All the three are necessary. It is from these three - Vak, Manas and Prana - that the Atma arises. Many of you know that in a chemical laboratory when three chemicals are brought together, an altogether new product emerges. In everyday life, you know that the combination of the brown betel nut, the green betel leaf and the white chunam produce a reddish compound. In the same way when man's mind, speech and vital breath come together, the Atma emerges. This is the true sign of mankind. Our lives have to be made meaningful by the unity of these three.

Everything exists in the human heart (mind) and not in the external world. Based on this, the one that is in the Sushumna state is hailed as Hiranyagarbha ("Hiranyagarbhaya Namah"). In that state lies unbounded bliss. Take a simple example. We don't derive much joy from finding a piece of copper, iron or silver. But we are extremely happy if we find a piece of gold. Gold thus has the capacity to give some kind of joy to the heart. What is this gold? It is also a piece of earth. But as earth is available freely everywhere, it is treated as of no value. But as gold is found somewhere within the bowels of the earth, it is accorded special value. If gold is available everywhere, it will have no value. In the human body, there are flesh, bones, blood, etc. which are found in everyone and hence no value is attached to them. But the heart is regarded as precious as gold. Hence, when we refer to Hiranyagarbha, we refer to the one who confers value on the human condition, who endows it with brilliance, who inspires man with idealism and ensures the humanness of the human being. He resides in the heart and is equated with the heart. Dear students! The exposition of the Prasno-panishad must have proved quite taxing for you. From tomorrow I shall deal with matters relating to duties in daily life. The Upanishads are beyond the comprehension of even great scholars. It is not therefore easy for studentswith a smattering of English to understand them. Today people seem to value Anglabhasha (the English language) more than Atma-bhasha (the language of the Spirit). It is natural for you to have difficulty in understanding the teachings of the Upanishads. You can understand only that which is appropriate to your intellectual level. Hence from tomorrow onwards the discourses will be concerned with the role of science, the duties of the individual, the path of action, the obligations of the individual and his moral responsibilities. With the growth of science, morality is declining. Of what use is science in such a context? People talk about progress of education in the country, but what we are witnessing is only a general decline in morals and the growth of ingratitude, irreverence and selfishness. Education must bring about improvement in general conduct including qualities like gratitude and respect for parents.