Loving Sai Ram and greetings from Prasanthi Nilayam. One more Sivarathri has come and gone; one more time, Sai devotees here in Prasanthi, and indeed all over the world, have kept the all-night vigil. Equally, devotees of Lord Siva the world over [who have still to recognise that the Lord is right now walking on earth bearing the wonderful, magnetic, and charming human form of Bhagavan], have spent the night praying to Him for peace, prosperity, etc.
Come morning, we return to the grind and soon get sucked back into the whirlpool from which we sought temporary escape. Back to the grind we must return, for that is life; but do we continue to let life drift past us without any meaning whatsoever? That is the question we would like to place before you this Sunday morning.
For Swami’s devotees, Sivarathri has a significance much larger than what one might normally suppose, based on mythology, the famous story of Siva sucking the deadly poison Halahala, etc., though the latter too is important. That extra meaning has to do with two facts: 1) Lingodbhavam we have seen on several occasions, both in the days of old as well as in recent times [though, mercifully, not this year]; 2) The VibuthiAbhishekam, no longer seen but immortalised in the films shot by late Richard Bock and late Dr. Fanibanda. The former calls attention to the relationship between the Creator and Creation, while the latter stresses the Ultimate Purity that God represents.
Let us start with Lingodbhavam. What we physically witness is a Lingam [golden in recent years but of other types in earlier years], emerging from Swami, sometimes after a long period during which Swami’s body clearly shows signs of going through a painful and agonising experience. Where significance is concerned, the first thing we need to recall is an obvious fact really - and that fact is: Creation has come from the Creator. Three corollaries follow; the first is that since Creation has emerged from the Creator, every bit of Creation is permeated by “Divine genes” if we may say so; it is rather like the DNA being found in all the cells of the body. Incidentally, it is to remind us of this that Swami often tells us that we all are Sparks of the Divine. Corollary number two is that God is the Creator, the Sustainer and also the ultimate Dissolver of the Universe. The birth, the life and the death of the Universe have strong parallels to our own birth, existence and eventual death. The third and the last corollary is that the Creator is rather like our Divine Mother and that the Divine Mother really suffers while bringing us forth. But in that suffering is also embedded the deepest form of Pure Love and concern that only a true mother can feel. In other words, our relationship with the Divine is not a mere mechanical, clinical or causal one; it has extra-ordinary richness and meaning on account of the emotional undercurrents.
Which brings us to our next point, namely, the question that Swami often asks us to pose to ourselves, which is: “Who am I?” Swami also gives many clues concerning how we should go about seeking the answer. Let us say there is a person who is born three times, the first as a carpenter, the second time as a teacher, and the third time as a businessman. Naturally, in each birth, the person would carry a name, have a family and so forth. Now let us say this person asks the basic question “Who am I?” in each of his three separate births. In the first birth, he would probably tell himself, “I am carpenter with the following name”. It is natural to expect that he would do the same in the other two births also.
On the face of it, it would seem this is not only correct but also the only way of answering the question; some would even go further to say that there is no other answer to the question. Swami says, ‘no’. Yes, in a limited context, the question has to be answered with reference to the body, which is where the name, the profession, etc., come into the picture. However, in the larger spiritual context, in every birth the correct answer would be: “Though I have a body bearing the name such and such etc., I am really a Spark of the Divine.” In that sense, there is an uninterrupted continuity and an unvarying identity running through all births. In Spirituality that is what really counts. Why? Let us explore that next.
Once we recognise that we are indeed a Spark of the Divine and fully appreciate the significance of that fact, we become conscious of the following: 1) Our Cosmic Origin, 2) our Cosmic connection to every single entity in Creation, 3) our Cosmic responsibility not only to every entity in Creation but to the Creator Himself, and 4) our Cosmic Destiny. These “four C’s” if we may call it that, are very important for life. In what way? Basically in shaping every action of ours and thereby our life itself.
In the Gita Vahini, Swami says very clearly: “Act in the present and in accordance with the needs of the current and local situation but let the basis of your action be rooted in eternal considerations.” In simple terms, whatever we do, wherever it is and under whatever circumstances it may be, the action should never violate Sathya and Dharma; in addition it must be soaked with Pure Love, meaning, there should not be even the slightest trace of selfishness.
When devotees hear this, they shake their heads and murmur: “Too tough for me!” Sorry, there is no such easy escape! As Swami reminds us ever so often, tough the path might appear, but do not humans put up with so many difficult situations? Think of a person born blind; what a hassle life is for that person! And yet the will to survive makes that person somehow manage and get along. So it is in millions of cases all over the world. People have pulled through in spite of being devastated by war, famine, natural calamities and so forth. Where there is a will there surely is a way, and we have to find that will that would give us firm determination. That determination would develop if we learn to focus on God.
This brings us to our next point. There is no question that all devotees swear eternal love for Swami but if they were to be asked what exactly Swami means by devotion, we are afraid most would be stumped, even though Swami has described it all in incredible detail in hundreds of Discourses.
These days, there is an alarming decline in focus on the teachings of Swami. As if to compensate for this, there is a sharp increase in superficial symbolism and rituals. How many times has Swami quoted the Vedas themselves to remind us that it is not through chanting by rote, charity as a robotic routine, and so on that one gains Liberation but through sacrifice! What is it that Swami wants us to sacrifice? He has made that very clear. Indeed, the first steps we must take are quite simple:
1. We must set apart a little more time for God every day than we care to at present, pleading a busy schedule. In this context, we would do well to remember the powerful lines of BhajaGovindam that Swami often quotes, namely, when the call finally comes, nothing would save us except the Name of the Lord.
2. Which automatically means that we must get into the habit of calling to the Lord by chanting His Name more frequently that we care to at present.
In the classical style of Indian music, whether it is of the North or the South Indian type, the Tambura or the drone is a must. This simple looking musical instrument has four strings and when plucked in succession, they create a sound that is almost like the chanting of AUM! This, by the way is no accident, but we cannot get into musical wonders of the Tambura at present. Rather, what we would like to call attention to is that every single participant in the concert, be it the vocalist, or the one playing the violin, sarangi or whatever, and the person playing the percussion instrument [be it the tabla or the mridangam], must be in perfect tune with the Tambura. One refers to this internal harmony by saying that every participant must maintain or adhere to the sruthi, meaning the reference drone provided by the Tambura. Deviation from this basic sruthi is referred to as apasruthi [meaning musical disharmony]
Believe it or not, all this has deep meaning and implications for our daily life! It is interesting that the word sruthi which, in music, means the basic or reference tone or drone produced by the Tambura, also occurs in Spirituality. In the latter context, it means the Vedas. Thus, where Spirituality is concerned, deviation from Sruthi, means going against the spirit of Vedic teachings; in short, Adharma is the apasruthi of life!
The question now becomes: “How to be tuned to the spirit of the Vedas all the time?” There is a simple formula for it and Swami has actually taught it to us any number of times. The formula is: “Chant My Name as frequently as you can; if possible, continuously, making it automatic, almost like breathing. Any Name would do, as long as it is chanted with love, feeling and devotion.”
The importance of this formula cannot be overstressed. These days, there is almost a conspiracy to constantly distract our attention. Tune in to TV and it is choked with all sorts of advertisements and messages, indeed many on the same screen, a horror unknown until recently. Try to do a search on the internet, the first thing one gets are the ads. And so on it goes. If man’s attention is tuned to becoming totally fragmented, how can one drive safely, how can one do complex surgery calling for intense focus? What goes in the name of market promotion 24/7 is dangerous to society. More than anything else, it makes getting distracted a habit. And when we acquire that, we would find it very difficult to focus on the meaning of the Avatar and His Message.
Vivekananda once declared that mediation is nothing but constant remembrance of the Lord. And the importance of constant remembrance has been stressed by the Lord Himself in the Gita. In a critical sloka that comes right in the middle, the Lord gives the assurance that if the devotee constantly thinks of Him, then He would take care of all the needs of the devotee and give him full protection.
A word now about how critical and crucial this sloka is. These days, violence and terrorism is something of concern not only to governments but even to ordinary individuals. You go for a walk in the early morning, you might be kidnapped. You send your child to school, and that child might get shot at. You go to office riding a scooter, and truck driven by an unlicensed driver who is also drunk might hit you and paralyse you. Who can give comprehensive protection against all this? Is not the answer clear?
These days, there is far too much emphasis on finding “worldly” solutions to problems like terrorism and so on. If we think deeply, somewhere or the other all these problems start because of poverty of Love. No matter how much one might try, the problem of violence cannot be fought merely by deploying more violence. Individual acts of terror cannot similarly be eliminated by state-sponsored military tactics, which too often degenerate into a kind of legalised terrorism.
Insanity, it has been said, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting new results. Or as long as one can remember, violence has been sought to be contained with more violence; it has not worked. Hate can never vanquish hate; only Love can. And, as the Bhajan we all sing proclaims, Prem Ishwar Hai, Ishwar Prem Hai [God Is Love And Love Is God]. If we connect to that eternal source of Pure Love, then not only violence and terrorism can be contained, but indeed all problems that originate from Poverty of Love [as indeed so many problems confronting humanity do], can be solved.
Going back to a critical sloka in the Gita to which a reference was made earlier, the Lord declares in Chapter 9 verse 22: “Those who worship Me, constantly think of Me and remain steadfast in their love for Me – to all such I proclaim that I shall entirely bear the burden of their welfare.”
While Krishna’s statement is often interpreted as an assurance given to individual devotees, Swami goes further and tells us that if we serve mankind in the firm belief that we are serving the Omnipresent God, then He would indeed help us in our global objective to spread peace and harmony everywhere. If we may put it a bit tersely:
THE ANSWER TO 9/11 IS 9/22!
Clear, is it not? One last word. Bringing the Sivarathri function to a close, Swami said our actions decide the consequences – there is absolutely no escape from it. In practical terms, we cannot, as many naively believe, expect to achieve good using questionable methods. The end does not, as Swami’s words clearly imply, ever justify the means. These days, there is far too often a tendency to engage, invoking Swami’s Name, in actions that are not desirable – in some cases actions explicitly discouraged by Swami; like, worshipping people who claim they represent Swami because they “have” miraculous powers, collecting money saying Swami has authorised it and so on. All these must be avoided.
Sivarathri is a reminder that our birth in human form, our existence with all the powers that the Creator has given us via the body and the mind, are together meant to achieve one goal: To lead our lives such that we are never born again. That Swami makes it very clear in the Gita Vahini.
If we are serious about Swami, then we should become equally serious about the meaning of His teachings. We appeal to all our readers to find time to go through Swami’s teachings [starting with Sai Inspires messages which comes to you so conveniently every day], in some depth and digest the full import of the message.
Sorry to have taken so much of your time, but then, Sivarathri does not come every other day, does it?
Jai Sai Ram.
