THE RIDDLE OF LIFE H.Srinivas
EXPERIENCES
V.N.
Murti Rao
Modern mind wants scientific proofs and laboratory
tests for the existence of God. Modern man wants everything in terms of
science. He argues in the light of science. He will not believe in anything
that is oriental. He has no faith in the sacred utterances of the ancient
Rishis of India, in the Upanishads, the Ramayana, the Bhagavata, Gita, in the efficacy
of Name and Yogic practices, Kirtan, prayer, etc., if any scientist brings
forward any theory, he at once takes it as gospel-truth, because it is
scientific. Such is the nature of the modern mind and modern man.
All secular sciences have got their own
limitations. A scientist works in the physical plane with a finite mind and
with instruments. He knows the physical energy. His knowledge is transcendental
or super-sensual things.
“Kasmin nu Bhagavo Vijnate sarvam Idam Vijnatam
Bhavati” O Lord, what is that by knowing which everything else becomes known?
It is Brahma Vidya. This is the enquiry of a student of Brahma-Vidya.
Brahma-Vidya is
the science of sciences. The knower of Brahma-vidya or the science of
Brahman or the absolute knows everything. His knowledge is full. He has the
whole experience through intuition or revelation. Take your firm seat on the
rock-bottom of the Upanishadic truths
And accept the findings of science only if they
tally with the Upanishadic truths. Otherwise reject them ruthlessly.
The mind of a scientist cannot work in higher spiritual planes. It is
gross and impure. It has out-going tendencies. It is filled with Vasanas, Rajas
and worldly samskaras. He cannot look within, introspect and meditate. He can
analyse the atoms of different elements, he cannot do self-analysis. He can
bombard atoms, watch the movement of the electrons and make discoveries in
nature.
But the mind of a Rishi or a Yogi is subtle and pure. It is free from
worldly Vasanas and rajas, selfishness, lust, hatred etc. It is equipped with
the instructions of the Srutis and sages. It is filled with Sattwa. It is free
from out-going tendencies. It is fit for divine contemplation. It is properly disciplined in a variety of ways, through rigorous
Tapas and self-restraint. The Yogi undergoes a discipline a rare discipline;
Sama, Dama, Yama, etc., which cannot be had in the universities.
The scientist observes the physical phenomena, makes experiments and
goes from the effects to the cause. The Rishi or the Yogi directly goes to the
Cause or the Source. He dives deep into the source and brings the pearl of
Knowledge of the self. The man of science sees and observes things only as they
appear to his sense-perception. The seer
perceives them as they actually are in their very essential nature. He has
direct intuition, perception of the Truth through Nirvikalpa Samadhi. Then he comes to the effect, the manifested
universe. Therefore, his utterances are
infallible. They are gospel-truths. The Srutis or the Upanishads are direct
revelations. They are Apta-Vakyas, or infallible utterances of the Seers or
sages. They are beyond questioning, or the least shadow of doubt.
When the Yogi attains Knowledge of the Eternal, he
acquires Knowledge of all secular sciences, because all sciences are hanging on
Brahma-Jnana. If you have knowledge of all modifications of clay, thread and
gold etc.
Those who have fallen into the clutches of science
dislike Sandhya, prayer and neglect study of Gita, japa, Kirtan, meditation.
Even if there is study class, discourses on Upanishads, common prayer and
meditation in the neighbouring hall, they continue their smoking, drinking,
card playing, ‘Karum’ in the next room. They are busy with the Raffe-tickets,
Ranger-tickets, and worthless talks and gossiping. What a sad, deplorable
state!
A business
man advertises about his specialties. There is a motive behind this. He wants
money and name. But the ancient Rishis had no motive in giving their precious
instructions. The Rishis cared for the well-being of the suffering humanity.
They were an embodiment of mercy and love. They lived to serve the people. They
placed their experiences for the spiritual uplift and the final emancipation of
mankind. The whole world is under a great debt of the gratitude to them. You
cannot repay the debts even in millions of births.
You are
ready to purchase shares in a company. You strive your level best to amass
money. You are ready to cross the seas to get degrees or diplomas. You spend
much of your time in hotels, clubs, restaurants, and picture-palaces. Are you
really happy now? Has science really
contributed to your peace and happiness? You have already witnessed the horrors
of the war, the horrors of the bombs, the results of scientific discoveries.
You are very restless; your life has become very complex. You cannot live
without a radio, without electricity. Living has become very very expensive. Have you realised your folly
now? You have lost the power of discrimination between the real and unreal as
you are immersed in the mire of worldliness.
O Ignorant
man! Wake up now at least! Even if you had spent a few minutes in meditation,
japa, Kirtan, study of religious books, you would have become a saintly man by
this time. Find out the way now at
least to get rid of fear of death, pain, diseases, suffering. Stop the wheel of
births and deaths. Give up unnecessary arguing. Have implicit faith in the
Upanishads and the instructions of the ancient Rishis. Move in the company of
sages. Be regular in japa, Kirtan, meditation, study of Gita. Be sincere.
Regain the
lost Kingdom of Eternal Bliss and Supreme Peace! Attain immortality through purity, devotion, self-analysis,
enquiry and meditation. Never delay a moment.
BY
SRI SWAMI RAJESWARANANDAJI
(President-founder Upanishad vihar, Kailasgiri, Kalahasti)
Sanctity is
no more artificial cleanliness. The act of sanctification is in tasting the
essence of spiritual life. Spiritual sanctity cannot be forced on any one. It
is a holy gladness that shines forth spontaneously in thoughts, words and deeds
of an individual. It is a spiritual refinement and order. The power of sanctity
makes the sense of Divine ever stronger and vividly real. A sanctified soul sacrifices self-love and
self-esteem and communes with the Infinite Absolute Self, expressing bliss of
Truth of Bliss. A sanctified soul baptizes another through the touch of the
Supreme Self with its lasting influence. Sanctity and spiritual bounty go together
making life fertile, tender and sweet.
Each day in
the morning you hurriedly arise, make bodily preparations speedily, rush to the
breakfast table, run over the headlines of the morning papers and so on and so
forth. You get everything ready and the day begins. You get busy. But the start
you make in the morning cannot pave the way to real success and in the long you
will be the sad loser, because the most important of your make-up ….. your
spiritual power…… you miss. Spiritual power is the true strength of your life.
Rising from bed early in the morning take time to get in the tune with Truth,
realising Its Divine touch everywhere. And this shall be the spiritual
preparation for the day, quickening the dawn of your awakening to infinite
life.
Beauty is
the saving principle and grace of the world. Beauty is the true apprehension of
the harmonious order pervading even in the midst of confused states of
humanity, chaotic thinking and these very hours of the world’s anguish. Beauty touches
the source of Truth and pronounces it ever new. Beauty is the one universal
hope of mankind. Beauty is the balm to heal woes of the world, making humanity
renounce the lie of hatred and live the truth of Love. Beauty is Divine
Eflation. Beauty does definitely penetrate even the consciousness of the
average man. Beauty is the immediate and infinite indication of Eternal
Existence, transcending worldly experience. Beauty is the implication of
immortal Art. Art is the simple communication unto the Tat (That) in man……..
Sat-Chid-Anand.
Humility is
gentleness or meekness or mildness. It is always victorious in the long run.
Though silent is its voice, it sounds loud in every land. It is not
self-depreciation but spiritual reverence. It rests on God’s mightiness and on
man’s littleness. It sees the best in others and makes its possessor forget
himself. It cannot coexist with egotism in the same breast. It turns its gaze upward and not downward. It recognizes
the fading of worldly glory, the diminishing of worldly gains and the ceaseless
evaporation if all creation. It points out practically that he who lives by the
sword shall perish by the sword. Humility is not self-condemnation or
self-praise as both of them are not free from pride. Humility is rooted in
divinity and has a command of subtle power (not material force) ‘that can
pierce the strongest armour and blunt the sharpest weapon’. Humility is not a superficial quality. It
is deeper and rises from the inner depths.
BY
H.Srinivas,
Journalist, Calcutta.
So long as
there is death, we cannot rest content with our present conditions. The life
Eternal and its insistent silent call may be ridiculed. Nice arguments may be
put forward to prove that there is nothing beyond the perceptible
universe. Arguments may be met by
counter arguments. There is no conclusion or conviction that way. Grim Death is
there. Is destruction the end of everything. Our whole soul revolts against
this idea of annihilation. Continuity of existence is the most cherished desire
of our heart. It is on the assured truth of that hope that we build our entire
life. There would be no meaning in our present activities, in our moral
efforts, in serving suffering humanity and in the pursuit of knowledge if there
were no past-mortem existence.
What is the
standard by which we are to judge right and wrong and determine duty? If we
assume tentatively that there is an aspect of being, in the realisation of
which lies our greatest happiness and fulfillment of purpose and work on that
basis, we don’t find a purpose and meaning in our present life. We find that
which hampers the realisation of the Eternal is wrong, and that which helps, is
right.
How do we
know that death is not the end of everything? Where is the certainty that there
is existence beyond death? It is up to us gradually to solve this mystery. No
inferential proof will do. We must become immortal we must realise. That alone
will convince. And to become immortal we must renounce and transcend the
finite. Here is the mystery of the Soul’s progress. There are, as it were,
continual layers of being, each of which contradicts and apparently overrides
the others plane appearing non-existent. It is useless to try to harmonise; we
have to deny continually.
If then we are to realise our immortal being, we must deny our
mortal aspect. We have to renounce the mortal life and its relations. We must die to live; this is the Truth. Renunciation is the key; even to
substantiate our present life, we must taste immortality! But
he who has tasted immortality can he
feel any enthusiasm for the relative world is Divinity itself, and that the
Divine One, as it were, has to put on
the garb of Name and Form, and is appearing variegated. To us, ordinary
mortals, The Divine substance is now hidden. As our spiritual vision grows
clearer, we begin to perceive the Divinity within the Names and Forms. And then
with the growing spiritual perception, the underlying unity of all things
becomes more and more patent. The Names shadow-like, and quite unlike the
divinity existing by itself as the sole real.
We also feel then, that we are separate from the sheaths of body and
mind, that we are pure spirit, one with the Divinity.
So we go on
and on in our pursuit of the Eternal, and “Let the dead bury the dead”. Let us
forget the world and with one-pointed devotion, meditate on the Eternal Lord.
That is the only thing worth doing or having. We know it is difficulty to deny
the present life. What are we to do? Just as our nightly sleep is the denial of
our feverish activities of the day, so let one part our mind denies the worldly
preoccupations of the other part. Let one part of our energy and time be
devoted to the denial of our worldly pursuits and to the meditation on the
Absolute. We must continue this from day to day, from year to year and we must
try to give more and more energy and mind to God than to the world, until God
engulfs our whole time and being.
Many have
charged Religion (on account of its preoccupations with the Eternal) with
responsibility in part for India’s downfall. The writer feels like retorting:
what does it matter? Are we to judge everything by material prosperity and
political freedom? If there is truth to Religion, Religion must be practised in
spite of India’s downfall and seeming degeneration. If there is the Eternal
which is the Soul of our Soul, should we seek material prosperity at all? They
know little of the secrets of the Soul who believe that human nature can be
attached permanently to temporal pursuits; they know only the surface. Great
depths are unknown to them. The writer shall not retort that way. He wants to
point out that preoccupation with God is not harm full even to national work.
It is useless to try to convince those who do not communion with Eternal,
stultify themselves and are self-deluded. They will only move on the surface.
The deep powers of the Soul are hidden from them and they cannot bring them to
bear on their work. If they want to produce lasting results, unblemished by
vicious errors, they must abide a long time every day with God in the silence
of their Soul, and then their vision will be free from error purer and
stronger.
By
V.N. Murti Rao, Basavangudi, Bangalore.
For about 17
years from my 19th year, I was a victim to fits. I had recourse to
all kinds of medicines and charms, but it was all of no avail. Many people who
knew my trouble began their conversation with me in friendly and sympathetic
attitude only to play upon my credulity and to rob me of hundreds of rupees.
There is no exaggeration if I should say that I had wasted nothing less than
about Rs.1500 on all these treatments and charms, and that I derived no benefit
there from. On the other hand, sometimes, I was in a worse state of health
after the treatments an would wish that I might resume my previous state of
health.
At last
about two years back an old friend of
mine gave me a little of Sri Sai Baba’s
Udhi and advised me to leave off all useless medicines etc,. and casting the entire burden of anxieties
and worries that was troubling me on to Sri Sai Baba, to worship Him to release
me fro my troubles. Immediately I began to offer worship to Sri Sai Baba. I
must admit here that it was not with any real faith in Sri Sai that I did so,
but only with the hope that I might be released from my trouble.
But, though
Sri Sai knew the actual extent and nature of my faith in Him, out of his
everlasting mercy, He controlled my trouble from the very first. He saw to it
that I would get the attacks only while at home or at the office, and never on
public roads and other dangerous places. The attacks became milder and milder
and they had no such after-effects such as the previous attacks used to create.
On several occasions, when time admitted my putting a little of the holy Udhi
into my mouth on feeling the previous symptoms, the attacks would vanish and
would never trouble me.
However;
though I am quite content to be cured slowly, my mother and brothers at home
were anxious on seeing that I was still having the attacks. On two occasions,
without consulting me; they went to some persons who were advertised as having
great ‘mantrik’ powers to cure such complaints. Simultaneously with the
consultation, my trouble was aggravated though I was unaware of the cause for it. For days
together after each of the consultations I had several attacks, and
began to behave like an imbecile. When I was in such a condition, Sri Sai came
upon me and told my mother “Am I not here to look after him? Why did you go
elsewhere? Never has any devotees been thrown into despondency. He is never
having any of the previous attacks that he used to have. Within other three or
four months, he will be completely alright. Do not do anything now which may
make him worse. Be content at having the complaint cured slowly.” Immediately I
decided never to go to anyone in future, and to rest my entire faith on Sri Sai
Baba. I am perfectly happy now. These incidents may suffice to convince anyone that Sri Sai is most
anxious not only to relieve us of our
burdens, but to see that after once we pray to Him, we do not take any false step an thus ruin our
chances of an easy relief. How well He has realised the troubles of poor
mortals like us and how anxious He is to make everyone happy can never be described
in full.
Devakotta
Sai Samaj
12-3-45:
Special Pooja and Bhajana at Sri R.R. Venkatama: crowded audience.
Bapatla: The
Sai Bhakta Samaj at Shroff Bazaar is arranging to stage a Telugu Sai Drama at
various places in aid their building Fund.
On 17-3-1945, the author drama read out the same to B.V.N.Swami and Sri
M. Kalidasu, etc the drama is in ornate prose and has many songs. It is likely
to have wide popular appreciation.
B.V.N.Swami’s
Propaganda Tour.
Chirala: On
18-345. Swami addressed a gathering at the local Sai Samaj premises.