Develop Friendship with God

The path of karma (action) is like traveling on foot while the path of bhakti (devotion) is like traveling by a vehicle. However, the path of gnana (knowledge) is like traveling by an airplane. Sai’s word is the word of truth.
(Telugu Poem)

Realisation of Oneness is True Knowledge

Students!

Since ancient times, people have been discussing and debating about the merits of the three main paths for man’s redemption, namely, karma (action), bhakti (devotion), and gnana (knowledge). But it is just a waste of time to discuss which path is greater than the other. When you enquire with a broad outlook, you will know that there is a difference only in names but all the paths lead to the same goal.

Karma, Bhakti And Gnyana Lead To The Same Truth

Our ancients considered karma, bhakti, and gnana as triveni sangam (the holy confluence of three rivers – Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati). Karma symbolizes Ganga. All the actions that you perform with your body should be sacred. Such sacred actions will endow you with true knowledge. Bhakti stands for Yamuna which signifies purity, steadfastness, and selflessness. Just as the Ganga and Yamuna flow on the surface of the earth and the river Saraswati is like an undercurrent, similarly, karma and bhakti are externally visible but gnana cannot be seen. Karma and bhakti can be clearly seen in the achara and vichara (thoughts and actions) of people. Gnana has no form. It remains unmanifest as the undercurrent of karma and bhakti and comes only from within and not outside. Once it manifests from within, its influence is felt in all actions of man.

Karma, bhakti, and gnana lead to the same truth and the same goal. They are like flowers, raw fruits, and ripe fruits of a tree. Without flowers, there can be no raw fruits and without raw fruits, there can be no ripe fruits. Their names and forms are different but they are essentially one and the same. Without karma, you cannot have bhakti and without bhakti you cannot have gnana. What for do you perform actions? You perform all actions for the purity of your heart. Chittasya shuddhaye karmah (good deeds give mental purity). All the sacred actions that you perform with your body purify your heart and lead to bhakti. When your bhakti attains the highest state of purity, it results in gnana. This is the truth that has been propounded in vedanta. The unity of thoughts, words, and actions is called trikarana shuddhi (unity of thought, word, and deed). One who is endowed with trikarana shuddhi is a human being in the true sense. The proper study of mankind is man. True humanness lies in the unity of thoughts, words, and actions. Your words are based on your thoughts and your actions are based on your words. To experience the unity of these three signifies true humanness. Without understanding the true principle of humanness, people today are unnecessarily wasting their time in discussing the superiority and inferiority of karma, bhakti, and gnana.

Due to the absence of fear of sin and love for God, humanness has declined in human beings. This is detrimental to world peace.
(Telugu Poem)

Always Speak Truth

Man today has no control over his speech and thoughts. He has no awareness of daiva preeti, papa bheeti, and sangha neeti (love for God, fear of sin, and morality in society). If you want morality in society, you should develop love for God. If you love God, you will have fear of sin. Every word that man utters should be the word of truth.

Oh tongue, the knower of taste! You are very sacred. Speak truth in the most pleasing manner. Chant the Divine Names of Govinda, Madhava, and Damodara incessantly. This is your foremost duty.
(Sanskrit Verse)

God has given you tongue to speak sweetly and softly and utter only those words which are true. If man observes this principle, he can attain divinity by the sacred use of tongue. The Bhagavadgita also propounds the same truth. Anudvegakaram vakyam sathyam priya-hitham cha yat (one should speak only truthful and pleasing words, which are beneficial to others). You should not speak even a single word that hurts the feelings of others. Every word that you speak should be suffused with truth and should do good to others. It should not be unpalatable to others and should not be the cause of their dissatisfaction. This is how truth should be spoken: Sathyam bruyath, priyam bruyath, na bruyath sathyamapriyam (speak truth, speak pleasantly and do not speak unpalatable truth). Always speak truth. You should not utter falsehood just because the truth spoken by you may displease others. In a situation where you are unable to speak truth, it is better to remain silent than resorting to untruth.

Karma is the Basis of All Sadhana

People do not understand that the goal of karma, bhakti, and gnana is the same. They are, in fact, the stepping stones to purity and divinity. Karma is the basis for the performance of dharma. Sareeramadyam khalu dharma sadhanam (body is meant to undertake righteous actions). Here is a small example. It may not be there now, but there used to be first, second, and third class compartments in trains in earlier times. Journey in the third class compartment was not at all comfortable and convenient. It was a troublesome and tedious journey because the compartment was overcrowded. In the second class compartment, you could sit comfortably but not lie down and sleep. However, in the first class compartment, you could lie down and sleep comfortably. Nevertheless, all the three compartments would take you to the same destination. There is another example to illustrate this. Suppose you have to go to Hyderabad from Dharmavaram. If your mode of journey is ordinary train travel, then you will have to get down at Guntakal along with your luggage and catch another train to reach your destination. This mode of journey is a bit inconvenient. The second mode of journey is ‘through carriage’, wherein you need not get down at Guntakal from your compartment. The railway authorities themselves will attach your compartment to another train which will take you to your destination. The third mode of journey is ‘through train’ which will directly take you to your destination. The paths of karma, bhakti, and gnana are like these three modes of travel by train.

In the path of karma, you have to face some inconvenience and discomfort. In the path of bhakti, there are some comforts as well as difficulties. But the path of gnana is without any problems. What is the reason? This is the path of unity. Advaita darshanam gnanam (experience of non-dualism is true knowledge). The path of action signifies diversity. The path of devotion signifies duality. Gnana symbolizes oneness, bhakti, duality, and karma, multiplicity. However, karma is the fundamental basis of all sadhana. It is only through karma that you can develop devotion. Without karma, no worship is possible. Therefore, karma is most important. At the same time, you cannot attain gnana without devotion. Hence, the unity of all these three signifies true atmic principle. If you observe differences between karma, bhakti, and gnana, you will lose your way and become the victim of all sorts of doubts. The body is bound by action. Karma is the root cause of janma (birth). Therefore, first and foremost, you should offer your salutations to karma. Thasmai namah karmane (salutations to action). This is the teaching of the upanishads. Why should you offer your salutations to karma? You should offer your salutation to the presiding deity of karma and pray, “Oh karma! Make me perform only sacred actions with this body and all its organs”.

The body is meant to perform actions. Karmanubandheeni manushya loke (man in the world is bound by action). The entire mankind is under the influence of karma and is bound by it. What actually karma means? You think whatever action you do with your hands is karma. It is not so. Even your inhalation and exhalation which go on without any effort on your part are karma. You keep breathing even in your sleep. Similarly, you do not require any effort to make your heart beat. It is a natural process. What effort do you make for blood circulation in your body? No effort at all. All these actions take place without any effort from your side. You cannot live even for one moment without air. Similarly, you cannot live if your heart stops beating. You cannot safeguard your body if there is no blood circulation in it. Karma is the basis of all these functions. You are protected and sustained by karma. Therefore, you should give utmost importance to karma. You should not consider karma as something insignificant.

Real Meaning of Integrated Rural Development

Karma is most noble and sublime. It is the fundamental cause and basis of everything. Karma is the fundamental basis of even the subtle process of rise of energy from mooladhara chakra (coccygeal plexus) to sahasrara chakra (thousand-petalled lotus in the head). Pragnyana (constant integrated awareness) manifests from sahasrara chakra. Pragnyana is nothing but supreme knowledge. That is why the vedas declare, pragnyanam brahma (Brahman is Supreme Consciousness). Who is Brahman? He is the self-manifesting divine principle. It is not created or sustained by any other power. It is eternal, true, and unparalleled divine principle. Today students are interested in awareness, but they do not know anything about constant integrated awareness.

Our MBA students study integrated rural development. What does rural development really mean? If you say, it is the development of villages, then what does a village mean? It is not merely a group of houses. Even human body is like a village and all its limbs such as hands, feet, head are like various houses. The various limbs of the body function harmoniously on the direction of the mind. It is only when the mind directs that feet move, hands work, eyes see and ears hear. Hence, the mind is the master of all senses. Above the physical body are the senses, above the senses is the mind, above the mind is buddhi (intelligence) and above buddhi is the atma. Therefore, buddhi is closest to the atma. That is why the Gita declares, buddhigrahya matheendriyam (the atma is beyond the ken of senses and can be understood only by the intellect). Mana eva manushyanam karanam bandha-mokshayoh (mind is the cause of bondage and liberation of man). Mind is the cause of everything. Mind is the driving force of all functions of the body. And it is the mind that experiences happiness and sorrow as a result of good or bad actions of man. Jiva (individual soul) has nothing to do with this. Karma, bhakti, and gnana are related to the physical body; they are temporary because the body is temporary. Anityam asukham lokam imam prapya bhajasva maam (as the world is temporary and full of misery, contemplate on Me constantly), said Lord Krishna. Therefore, you should contemplate on the eternal divine principle. However, karma is most important because it is the basis of devotion which leads ultimately to gnana.

The Vedas Teach the Principle of Oneness

At the time of birth, one is called a child. After ten years, he is a boy. At the age of thirty years, he is a man. At 75, he is a grandfather. However, child, boy, man, and grandfather are the various names and forms of the same individual. I have told you earlier also that Aham is born out of the atma, mind from aham and speech from mind. Therefore, aham is the son of atma, mind, grandson and speech, great grandson. Aham is what you refer to as I, I, I. This ‘I’ is the primordial name of God. He has no other name. This precedes even Om. Aham, mind and speech emerged from the atma. All the three belong to the family of the atma. Therefore, atmic principle is reflected in all three. It is a mistake to consider the members of the same atmic family as different from each other. It is due to the effect of modern age that man considers them different from each other. There should be unity and harmony in a joint family. When the family disintegrates and loses its unity, it becomes weak. So many threads join to make cloth. It is not easy to tear it because it becomes very strong. But if the threads are separated, then these can be easily broken even with a finger. Likewise, you have become the victims of so many difficulties because of the break up of the joint family of atma, aham, mind and speech. They have a common property. What is it? It is constant integrated awareness or pragnyana. This pragnyana is present in aham, in the mind and also in the speech.

The same truth is propounded in the four supreme and profound statements of the vedas, namely, pragnyanam brahma (Brahman is Supreme Consciousness), aham brahmasmi (I am Brahman), tatwamasi (That Thou Art), ayam atma brahma (This Self is Brahman). In this manner, the vedas teach the principle of oneness. People today talk about Brotherhood of Man, but what is the use? Even brothers are fighting with each other and going to Supreme Court. There can be differences of opinion among brothers which may give rise to hatred. Therefore, you should realize the oneness of mankind instead of merely talking about Brotherhood of Man. The same atma indwells all beings. When you develop faith in this, then there will be no scope for hatred. Man is the victim of his own delusion but he keeps on blaming maya (illusion). In fact, maya has no existence. It is your own imagination. You don’t have faith in your own Self and in your own truth. What is the reason? Lack of self-confidence has given rise to lack of faith. Apart from this, you are developing worldly and physical relationships due to your body attachment. As you are bound by attachment, you say, “my mother, my father, my brother and my sister”. When Yashoda came to know that Krishna had put a lump of clay in His mouth, she asked Him, “What have You eaten? Open Your mouth”.

When Krishna opened His mouth, she could see all the fourteen worlds in it. As she was a very simple and innocent lady, she could not believe what she had seen with her own eyes. She thought:

This may be a dream or Lord Vishnu might have cast His veil of maya; may be this is real or may be this is just a figment of my imagination. May be I am not Yashoda who is seeing all this.
(Telugu Poem)

Only God’s Love is Totally Selfless

Man today has neither faith in himself nor in others. Then how can he have faith in God? Therefore, it is necessary that man should develop self-confidence. That which develops self-confidence in you is real karma. Every action has a reaction and every sound has a resound. There is a reality which is the basis of all these three – reaction, reflection, and resound. Without reality there can neither be reaction nor reflection nor resound. That reality is changeless and eternal. That is divinity and that is pragnyana. It can be attained through only upasana (devotion).

What is devotion? There are nine paths of devotion. Sravanam (listening), kirtanam (singing), vishnusmaranam (contemplating on Vishnu), padasevanam (serving His Lotus Feet), vandanam (salutation), archanam (worship), dasyam (servitude), sneham (friendship) and atmanivedanam (self-surrender). You can follow any of these nine paths. But out of all these, friendship is most important and fundamental. God is your only real and selfless friend. There may be some element of selfishness in the love of your mother, father, and wife. But God’s love is without any selfishness and self-interest. He gives Himself to you with unconditional and total love. Therefore, you should develop friendship with God. Total surrender to God is possible only after friendship. Only after cultivating friendship with Rama with total faith, Sugriva could be successful in his endeavor. Without developing friendship with Rama, Sugriva could not have attained the desired result. That is why Rama said, “People think we are four brothers – Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata and Satrughna. But it is not so. We are six brothers. Four of us are from Ayodhya, one is Sugriva from Kishkindha and the other is Vibhishana from Lanka. In total, we are six”. Whereabouts of Sita could not be known without the help of Sugriva. Likewise, without the help of Vibhishana, Ravana could not be killed.

Put into Practice What You Study

Divine power is immanent in all. All are the embodiments of divinity. Everything and everybody is useful and valuable in this world. Even a small twig is useful and can be used to clean teeth. Then, how useful and valuable can be man who is endowed with life! You should not hate anybody. “Adveshta sarva bhutanam, maitra karuna eva cha…” (one who bears no hatred against anyone and is friendly and compassionate towards all…) You should not create disunity among individuals; develop unity among them. The principle of unity is most sacred. That is why I keep on exhorting the students to see unity in diversity. The same divinity is immanent in all human beings. Karma, upasana, and gnana are meant to realize this divinity. Bhajan, meditation, and japa (chanting of God’s Name) are some of the sacred activities which help one to achieve this goal. But today you are unable to achieve what you want to. What is the reason? You are unable to put into practice what you speak out of devotion.

You say, you are the devotees of Rama, but do you follow His ideals? Rama upheld the word of His father. Do you practice it? He demonstrated the unity of brothers. Do you follow His example? He even gave up His kingdom and went to the forest to uphold the word of His father. Is there anyone who can emulate Him? Do you adhere to truth? Do you keep up your word? No. Then, what sort of devotees of Rama you are! You are devotees of Rama only in name, but you have no partnership in the wealth of His values. When can you develop partnership with Rama? It is only when you follow His ideals and His command can you have the right over His wealth. Similarly, you call yourselves the devotees of Krishna. But, do you follow the teachings of Krishna? No. Then, how can you call yourselves the devotees of Krishna? Likewise, you say you are the devotees of Sai. But, do you follow the command of Sai? You have been coming here for so many years and listening to Swami’s discourses. There are some who are living here permanently. But, how much are they following the teachings of Swami? You do not put into practice even ¼th of ¼th of what is being taught. Then, how can you become deserving of Swami’s grace? Mere thinking or listening or saying is not important; putting into practice is important.

People study the Ramayana, the Bhagavata, and the Bhagavadgita. They do their parayana (reverential reading) also. They also recite Vishnu sahasranama (one thousand and eight Names of Lord Vishnu). But what is the use? This is mere bookish knowledge. What is required is practical knowledge. In fact, you should put into practice what you study. If you put into practice even one teaching, that is enough. When you do not put anything into practice, then it is sheer disgrace to call yourselves as devotees.

Perform All Actions to Please God

Divine proximity is of no use if you are unable to derive benefit out of it. Frog is near the lotus in water, but what is the use? Bees come from far off places and drink the nectar from the lotus. It is very important to be near as well as dear to God. You have only nearness to God but not dearness. People from far off places are not near but they are very dear. If you want to experience divinity, you have to be both near and dear to God. If you recite the sacred texts and don’t practice anything, you are no better than a tape recorder. Put into practice at least one teaching. Merely by looking at the tape of a cassette, you will not know what is there in it. Even if you cut the tape into pieces, you cannot see what is there in it. When you put the cassette in a tape recorder and switch on the power or put cells in it, you can listen to the entire text contained in it. Connect your heart with God through the current of love. Only then can you listen to the voice of God.

Surrender your will to the will of God. Only then will you be able to develop ichchha shakti (will power). It is this ichchha shakti that takes the form of kriya shakti (power of action), and ultimately leads to gnana shakti (power of knowledge). Ichchha shakti, kriya shakti, and gnana shakti symbolize karma, bhakti, and gnana respectively. Whatever action you perform, you should do it with purity of heart. Do every work with the faith that it is the work of God. Perform all actions to please God. It is the easiest path for God-realization. Karma, bhakti, and gnana are equally important. Do not think that one is superior or inferior to the other. All the three are essentially one and the same. They are not at all different from each other.

Names and forms may be different but the atmic principle is one only. Developing faith in this principle of oneness, pursuing the divine path and experiencing divinity is the right and deservedness of every human being.

(Bhagawan concluded His discourse with the Bhajan, “Govinda Hare Gopala Hare…”)

– From Bhagawan’s Discourse in Sai Kulwant Hall, Prasanthi Nilayam on 29th June 1996.