Miti and Gati

Jonnalagadda Sathyanarayanamurthy thrilled you so much since he spoke soft and sweet in his charming style. He has returned from Russia, where there is too much rush, to this quiet place, this Nilayam of Prashanti. This is a function connected with physical ills and their cure and prevention, and so, I must also confine My remarks to them.

Man has two varieties of troubles: the physical, due to the imbalance between the three humors - vata, pitta, and shleshma (wind, bile, and phlegm) and the spiritual, due to the imbalance of the three gunas - Satva, rajas, and tamas (qualities of purity, passion, and inertia). Sathyanarayanamurthy gave some pathetic instances of the suffering caused by resorting to indifferent and ignorant doctors. I also agree that it is wise to adjust one’s living so intelligently that there is no need to approach any doctor.

Illness is due to the neglect of some simple rules of healthy eating and drinking and due to the damage caused to the system by evil habits and stupid cravings. Man ruins himself by greed and lust, worry and fear; he falls an easy prey to his insatiable thirst for a happy life. He does not know the source and spring of happiness, which lies within himself; he believes he can get it in plenty and in quick time, by running after the mirage of fashion or fancy, excitement, or entertainment. He thinks that floating on the roaring, raging torrent of the world will help, but that only gives him unbearable tossing and nausea.

Joy is a subjective feeling; it is not inherent in the objective world. You are the witness, separate from the scene; you are the seer, not the seen - drashta, not the drik or the drishya.

Purified Inner Vision Gives Unfailing Health

The screen is the Satya (truth), and the images that flit across it are mithya (false); when you see the film, you do not see the screen as a screen; you forget its existence, and you think that there is just the picture and nothing else as its base. But, the screen is there all the time, and it is only the screen that makes you experience the picture. Narayana is the screen, and prakriti (objective world) is the film; when the play is on, the screen is the adhara (base), and prakriti (objective world) becomes Narayana-mayam (God all-pervading). The screen is Satyam; the story is samsaram (worldly life), for it has only some saram (essence).

Surdas, the blind singer, had as his ardent listener, when he sang, Krishna Himself, sitting in front of him as a cowherd boy humming in appreciation. Surdas took Him to be a cowherd from the villages around, though he sang that all beings are His forms. One day, Krishna revealed to him that He was the Hero of his heart. He touched his eyes with His divine fingers, and He could be seen!

From His lips, he could hear the selfsame strains of the flute, which he was hearing all along whenever he started meditating on the Lord. As a matter of fact, he was only trying all along to put that music into verse. He then declared that he did not care to see other things with the sight vouchsafed to him; he said the inner eyes were enough. The purified, inner vision gives lasting joy and therefore, unfailing health.

To purify the Antahkarana (inner, psychosomatic equipment), Vedas and shastras prescribe the proper processes; some people dismiss the Vedas and shastras as so many shackles on thought and action, but they are ‘bunds’, which regulate the flow of feelings, emotions, and instincts along safe channels.

Sadhaka Should Be Careful About Food - A Short Story

Coming to the more direct topic of physical ills, I must tell you that you must practice moderation in food, drink, sleep, and exercise. Good food taken in moderate quantities, at regular intervals, that is the prescription. Satvika (pure, wholesome) food promotes self-control and intelligence more than rajasika (passion-producing) and tamasika (impure food). So, for spiritual aspirants, satvika food is very necessary.

In one of the jails of this state, there was once a very pure soul devoted to spiritual ideals, carefully practicing Sadhana (spiritual discipline). He had advanced very far in dhyana (meditation) and dharana (holding on to it). One day, however, when he sat for dhyana, he felt very savage emotions surging up in him and was shocked to find that he could not, in spite of the tremendous struggle, suppress the hateful and murderous thoughts that took hold of him. He was rocked in agony, and his Guru too was upset at the turn of events.

The Guru probed into the history of the disciple rather deeply, but could not find any valid reason for the tragedy. At last, he found that a certain fanatic murderer had acted as the cook in the jail kitchen, the day previous to the calamity and his hateful, homicidal thoughts had pervaded the food cooked by him, which the sadhaka had consumed. There are subtle, invisible thought-forms that can pass from one person to another by such means. Here, one has to be very careful about food, especially where one is proceeding Godward through the steep path of yoga.

Sleep too should be regulated and moderate; it is as important as work and food. Remember also that dress is primarily for protection against heat and cold, not for vain display even at the cost of health. Virtuous conduct also ensures mental peace and that in turn, saves you from many a physical and mental illness. If you overstep Miti (bounds), you miss your Gati (progress).

The Habit That Rehabilitates The Fallen

Above all, do every act as an offering to the Lord, without being elated by success, or dejected by defeat; this gives the poise and equanimity needed for sailing through the waters of the ocean of life.

It is the mind that builds up the body, strong and shiny, or wastes it to skin and bone. For Manushya (human) to be strong, the Manas (mind) has to be strong. Live always as the servant of the Lord within you, then you will not be tempted into sin, or fall into evil. Get into the habit of living in the light of God. It is the habit that rehabilitates the fallen. Have the attitude of Sharanagati (seeking refuge at the feet of the Lord), or else your destiny will be shara-gati (movement of an arrow). That is why Krishna said, “Manmana bhava!” - “Let your mind be absorbed in Me.”

You may ride in a smart car of your own, but you are entrusting daily, without a second thought, the car, yourself, and your family to the skill and presence of mind of your chauffeur. However, when advised to entrust your affairs to the Lord, Maya-shakti (power of world-illusion) hesitates and declines! It refuses to surrender to Maha-shakti (divine power). What are we to say about such absurd conceit! If you have Sharanagati, you will be ever content and ever so happy and healthy. Then, this hospital can be closed for want of patients; it can well be used for accommodating devotees and giving them lodging!

You Are All Certain To Win

All that you eat, all that you see, all that you hear, all that you take in through the senses make a dent on your health. There are three types of reactions you usually have from the outer world and three types of men, in whom one or the other predominates: the cotton, which gets soaked in whatever it gets immersed; the stone, which escapes from getting affected; and the butter, which is changed by whatever it comes across, even a little warmth. The ‘butter’ men are moved by instant sympathy, either at another’s joy, or at his grief.

Do not, like some people with a mental health condition, be always worrying about some little ailment or another. Have courage, that is the best tonic; do not give up before you have to. It is not long life that counts; if you live on and on, a time may come, when you have to pray to the Lord to take you away, to release you from travail. You may even start blaming Him for ignoring you and blessing other luckier people with death! By all means, worry about success or failure in achieving the real purpose of life. And then, you will get as many years as are needed to fulfill that desire. Yearn, yearn, yearn hard, and success is yours. Remember, you are all certain to win; that is why you have been called, and you have responded to the call to come to Me.

What other task have I than the showering of grace? By darshana, sparshana, and sambhashana (seeing, touching, and conversing), you share in that grace. When that melts, and this melts, the two can merge. Treat Me not as one afar, but as very close to you. Insist, demand, and claim grace from Me; do not praise, extol, and cringe. Bring your hearts to Me and win My heart. Not one of you is a stranger to Me. Bring your promises to Me, and I shall give you My promise. But first, see that your promise is genuine, sincere; see that your heart is pure; that is enough.

Sathya Sai Hospital Prasanthi Nilayam 10-10-1961