Embodiments or Love!

Past is past, the future is uncertain, only the present is in our hands. It is the foremost duty of man to live in the present and share his joy with his fellow beings. Truly speaking, the human being is the most fortunate among all living beings. Compared to the entire cosmos, man is very small --like an atom. And yet, he is able to comprehend the magnitude and vastness of creation, which is very startling indeed. He attains immortality by understanding the unity between the microcosm and macrocosm. As mentioned by Me yesterday, whosoever reaps the harvest of love in the field of his heart is a true Christian, a true Sikh, a true Hindu, and a true Muslim. In fact he is the true human being on earth. Man cannot exist without love. This Principle of Love is hiranyagarbha. This hiranyagarbha is situated on the right side of the human body, and the physical heart is on the left. The physical heart on the left side has to be left one day in some circumstance or other. Hiranyagarbha, located on the right side of the human body, is always right. It is immortal, eternal, and all encompassing. It is present not only in human beings but also in birds, beasts, and all other living beings.

The Vedas declare that God is present in all beings (Eswara sarvabhoothanaam), God pervades the entire cosmos (Isavaasyam idam jagat ). Love originates from the hiranya. The three principles of reaction, resonance, and reflection originated from hiranyagarbha. Unable to recognise his true identity, man wastes his life in the pursuit of temporary, fleeting, transient, and ephemeral pleasures.

As I told you yesterday, gold loses its value, effulgence, and identity when it is mixed with different metals such as silver, copper, and brass. So also, the heart, which can be compared to gold, loses its value, brilliance, and identity on account of its association with the metals of worldly desires. This is the present plight of the world. Man behaves like a demon, devil, and beast because he has forgotten his divine nature. Divine love originates from hiranyagarbha. This divine love lives by giving and forgiving, whereas selfish love lives by getting and forgetting. Such divine love is essential for man.

Here is a small example to illustrate this. After Ravana was killed in the battle, Hanuman went to Sita and conveyed the good news to her. Sita was overjoyed and started extolling Hanuman, "0, Hanuman you are the valiant one (puravarashoura ) who entered the city of tanks (Lankapura) in the sea of adversities; you are the mighty one (hadraparaakrama) who crossed the ocean in a single leap; and you are the crown jewel of the monkey clan (kapirajashikamani) who conveyed the whereabouts of Sita to Rama."

But Hanuman did not relish any of the titles conferred on him by Sita. Sita continued, "0, Hanuman, I have not seen such a virtuous one as you. There is one equal to you in this world in terms of physical strength." She also conferred the titles of Gunavantha and Balavantha on Hanuman. None of them pleased Hanuman. In the end, Sita blessed Hanuman saying, "May Rama love you forever and install Himself in your heart."

Then, Hanuman leapt in joy. He said, "0 mother, there is nothing greater than God’s love in this world. I do't crave for any title. I pray only for Rama’s love. In the absence of the love of Lord Rama, I would not be happy even if the whole world were to come under my control. My life will find fulfillment only when I am the recipient of His love."

Such an all-powerful one as Hanuman craved only for Rama's love, nothing else. Love is everything. Human quality lies in kindling love within, speaking with love, and acting with love. Based on this it is said, "The proper study of mankind is man."

Once, a priest (pundit) approached Buddha and challenged him to enter into a debate. The terms were that if he were the loser; he would know Buddhism along with his 3000 disciples and serve Buddha his whole life. But if Buddha were to be the loser ,it was obligatory on his part to be subservient to the priest. Buddha smilingly said that a true priest is one who has equal-mindedness (pundita sama-darshinaha). A true pundit makes no distinction between the dualities of life, such as pain and pleasure, joy and sorrow. A person with anger and ego is unfit to be called a pundit. In pilgrim centres such as Haridwar, Rishikesh, Badrinath, and Amarnath, you find pandas who give mantras that aim to grant liberation to the departed souls. Pandas cannot be called pundits.

Many in this world have gone through sacred texts. The knowledge of the Self cannot be acquired by mere scholarship or sitting at the feet of a guru. Many go through voluminous books, but is there a person who practises at least one teaching? Scholarship bereft of practice is futile.

The Bhagavad Gita declares,

Kavim puraanam, manushaasi thaaram
Msnoraneeyaamsa manusmare dyah
Sarvasya dhaataaram aachintya roopam
Aaditya varnam thamasah parasthaath.

Buddha said, "I undertook spiritual practice for a long time and went through a variety of sacred texts in quest of knowledge. Ultimately, I realized that mastering the senses is essential to acquire knowledge of the Self. The five senses are the gift of God. Make proper use of them. Only then can you realize the Self. What is the use of going through sacred texts and undertaking spiritual practices without proper utilization of the five senses? I have controlled the five senses and put them on the right path, as a result of which I experience bliss."

Buddha attained nirvana by controlling his five senses and making proper use of them. What is nirvana? It is nothing but merger in bliss. A water bubble is born in water, is sustained in water,and ultimately merges in it. Likewise, a human being is born in bliss, is sustained in bliss and ultimately merges in it. Bliss can be experienced by controlling the five senses. This is true spiritual discipline (saadhana). Mere chanting of the Lord’s name will not suffice. First and foremost, the senses have to be controlled. At the time of attaining nirvana, Buddha, seeing his cousin, Aanandha, shedding tears, called him near, and said, "Aanandha, true to your name, you should experience bliss (aanandha). You should never shed tears of sorrow. You are the embodiment of bliss. All of us are embodiments of Brahma." Saying so, Buddha put his hand on Aanandha and attained nirvana.

Whoever understands this truth can experience bliss and attain divinity. When attaining liberation is so easy and simple, why do you struggle so hard for it? It only means that you are not making any effort to understand the truth. You are mixing the metals of worldly desires with your heart, which may be compared to gold. As a result the heart has become polluted and lost its true identity, which is bliss.

Ancients have said that bliss lies in visualizing your true form, that is the principle of Aathma. Proper utilization of the senses will lead to knowledge of the Aathma. Sage Patanjali said the control of senses is true yoga (Yogaha chitta vritti nirodhaha). No spiritual discipline (saadhana) is greater than this. All the spiritual practices such as chanting of the Lord’s name (japa) and penance (thapa ) will be of no avail if the senses are not controlled. You may be under the impression that it is not possible for a human being to control the senses. Here, control does not mean total cessation. Discharge your duties. But whatever you do, do it with a feeling that it is to please God (Sarva karma bhagavath preethyartham). Once you develop this feeling, all your senses will naturally be controlled.

Embodiments of Love!

You feel that total surrender (arpitham) to God is rather difficult, but according to Me, nothing is easier than this. It may be easy to make a garland out of flowers, or to remove the petals of a flower for that matter, but total surrender to God is much easier and simpler than this. You find it difficult because you do not have steady and firm faith in God. GOD IS. There is no place without God. There is no being without divinity. Each and everyone is the embodiment of God. If you have total faith in this truth, you will never have difficulties. When your faith is defective, you find it difficult to achieve anything.

Embodiments of Love! Have faith in God and love Him. Love Is God. You are bound to be successful in all your endeavors if you have faith in God. Any task, however difficult it may be, can be accomplished with God’s grace. That is what happened in the case of Hanuman. With Rama’s grace he leapt across the ocean, and found and reached the whereabouts of Sita. He returned to Rama and described the untold suffering of Sita. "O Rama, please listen to what I say. I have seen Mother Sita surrounded by demons, shivering like a fear-stricken parrot in a cage."

On hearing this, Rama and Lakshmana immediately took their bows and arrows. Rama said, "I cannot bear the suffering of Sita. Let us not waste even a moment. Let us go to Lanka." Rama didn't react in this manner  because of attachment toward His consort. Sita symbolizes nature (prakriti). God cannot bear the suffering of nature. In order to alleviate the suffering of nature, Rama decided to go to Lanka immediately.

Righteousness (dharma), wealth (artha ), desire (kaama) and liberation (moksha) are considered to be the four objectives (purushaarthas) of human life. In fact they correspond to the four stages of human life; namely, student (brahmacharya), householder (grihastha), hermit (vaanaprastha), and renunciate (sanyasa). These four don'tt correspond to four objectives in the true sense of the term. Today, people are under the mistaken notion that the term purusha corresponds to man but not to woman. But actually, purusha means Aathma or consciousness (chaitanya) or the life breath (praana) or the individual soul (jeevi). For the Aathma, there is no gender like masculine or feminine. So purushaartha means the dharma of the awareness principle or the dharma of the life principle or Aathma dharma. This is the true purushaarth, the prime objective of human life. Without understanding the true meaning of the term purushaartha, people talk of one dharma for men and another for women. Merger (saayujya) is the true Aathma dharma and is the true objective (purushaartha).

The second objective is wealth (artha). Artha does not mean money or gold. Earning money or gold is not the objective of life. Money comes and goes. Wisdom is true wealth. Seeing unity in diversity is true wisdom (Advaita danhanam jnaanam). One has to earn this wealth of wisdom.

The third objective is desire (kaama). This does not correspond to sensual desires. One should have desire for liberation (moksha kaama). One should have the desire to understand the Aathmic Principle and attain divinity. These are the main objectives of human life. Each word in Vedaanta has many meanings associated with it. Different people interpret it in different ways. Today, what people understand of the four objectives of human life corresponds to four stages of life (ashrama dharmas) such as student (brahmacharya), householder (grihastha), hermit (vaanaprastha) and renunciate (sanyasa). They do not correspond to spiritual dharma (adhyaathmika dharma). Spiritual dharma is the true dharma. Only that can confer liberation. What is liberation? It is not merely reaching God. Your thoughts, words, and actions should be one with the Divine. The rivers such as the Ganges (Gangaa), Godavari and Saraswathi have different names and forms, but once they merge in the ocean, they lose their name, form, and taste. Similarly once you merge in God, there will be no difference whatsoever. Experiencing such non-dualism is the true objective of human life.

Embodiments of Love!

Legend has it that when Shiva swallowed poison (halaahala) in order to save the world, He lost consciousness and fell down. The resultant heat affected the world. In order to cool down the world, Shiva created the Himaalayas. Then He placed the Himaalayas on His stomach. As a result, the Himaalayas absorbed all the heat from His body, and He got up. This event is celebrated as Shivarathri. This is only a worldly interpretation. Truly speaking, the whole world is contained within Him. Such Divinity has neither birth nor death. The body may undergo change, but the divine principle remains the same. Love never undergoes any change. It always remains love. The quality of sugar is sweetness. It does not change, whether it is added to coffee, tea, water, or rice pudding. That which remains changeless is referred to as being (sath). This being is within you. Love is its sweetness. We have to turn this love toward God (Visweswara), but not toward objects of perception ( vishayas). Being (sath) can be compared to sugar and divine consciousness (chith or chaithanya) to water. When sugar is added to water, it becomes syrup; likewise when being and divine consciousness  come together, bliss (aanandha) results. Being (sath) is associated with the Aathma and the divine consciousness (chith) with the body. Aathma is individual consciousness (purusha) and the body is the feminine principle (prakriti). The unity of purusha and prakriti is human life. So, every human being is androgynous (ardhanaareeshwara). The principle of Shiva (Shivathatthva) teaches the unity of individual consciousness and human life (prakriti). Forgetting this principle, man considers this physical body merely to be made up of blood, flesh and faecal matter. No doubt it has these constituents, but one should not forget the fact that divinity permeates this body. To set an ideal to this world, the body is very important.

Embodiments of Love!

The body is Paarvathi (Shiva's consort) and Aathma is Eeshvara (Shiva).

There was a spiritual aspirant who used to repeat the mantra sivoham (I am Shiva) as commanded by his guru. One day, someone asked him what the mantra meant. He said sivoham meant  "I am Siva." But when asked what his relationship with Paarvathi was, he slapped his own cheeks and said, with a tone of having committed a great sin, "blasphemy (aparaadham! aparaadham)!. If he really had faith in the mantra he was chanting, he would surely have said, "Paarvathi is a part of my own being." He could not say so, since he was attached to his body. Attachment to the body leads to dualities, because of which man suffers.

Eeshvara and Paarvathi are present in every individual. The combination of these two aspects constitutes mankind (manavathvam). Manava refers to a human being. Ma means ‘not’, nava means ‘new’, so mankind is not new, it is ancient and eternal. But you are unable to understand this truth.

Here are the three letters: Ma-na-va. Ma means illusion (maya), na means without, va means to conduct oneself (varthinchuta ). He who conducts himself without being under illusion is a true human being. But today, man acts in a contradictory manner. At least from today, try to understand the truth. Your body (dheha) and country (dhesha) can be compared to object and reflection. Just as you safeguard your body, keep in mind the welfare of the nation. Understand the true meaning and inner significance of Shivarathri.

(Showing the Hiranyagarbha lingam to the devotees, Bhagavaan continued...)

This is present in everybody’s spiritual heart (hridaya) and is on the right side of the body. The principle of hiranyagarbha is spread all over the body. It assumes a form when I will it. Whoever saw this lingam at the time of its emergence will not have rebirth. One should see its form as it emerges. In order to sanctify your lives, such sacred manifestations have to be shown to you every now and then. Only then can you understand the divinity in humanity. This lingam will not break even if it is dropped with force from a height. It is immortality (amruthathvam). It is changeless. You cannot see such a manifestation anywhere else in the world. It is possible only with Divinity.

(After singing the Bhajan, "Shiva, Shiva, Shiva, Shiva Anaraada", Bhagavaan continued.)

For the past 20 years, devotees did not have the privilege of witnessing the emergence of a lingam (lingodbhava) The reason is the following. Lakhs of devotees used to gather in the Poornachandra Hall to witness this grand spectacle, and since the Poornachandra Hall cannot accommodate large gatherings, there used to be stampedes. As a result, devotees were put to lot of inconvenience. In order to avoid this, lingodbhavam was discontinued. Not only this, three types of lingams emerge. They are bhur, bhuvah and suvaha. Bhur refers to materialization (body), bhuvaha refers to vibration (praana) and suvaha refers to radiation (Aathma). I often say that you are not one but three:
 

The one you think you are (physical body), the one others think you are (mental body), and the one you really are (Aathma).

On every Shivarathri, all three lingams would emerge. Even now, the other lingams started to emerge, but I prevented them, because there are many things to be told to you. In the future, you will be witness to many more manifestations of Divinity. Understand that this bliss can be experienced only in the proximity of the Divine and nowhere else.

Don’t get deluded just because I talk, laugh, walk ,and eat like you. Don’t get deluded by the body feeling. All My actions are selfless, selfless, selfless. There is no trace of selfishness in Me. Have firm faith in this truth. If you have total faith, wherever you are, all your desires will be fulfilled without your asking. Only those who don’t have total faith suffer. Develop self-confidence. That is the first spiritual discipline (saadhana) you have to undertake.

Truly you are all most fortunate. Today Is Monday (Somavaaram), very endearing to Somasokara (Eeshvara). That is why Shiva is extolled as someshwara and somasekara. This body was also born on a Monday. In every Shiva temple, special prayers are offered on Mondays. Hanumaan is worshipped on Tuesdays (Mangalavaaram). When Ravana was killed in the battlefield, Hanumaan rushed to Sita to convey the good news. Sita was overjoyed and blessed Hanumaan profusely saying, "Hanumaan, I don’t know what day it is, but since you have just conveyed the much awaited auspicious news (mangalakara vaartha), this day shall be called Tuesday (mangalavaaram). May you be worshipped on this day."

In the Threthaa Yuga, the names of the days, such as Monday and Tuesday, were not in existence; they are of recent origin. Therefore, in the culture of India (Bharath) each term has an inner significance. But Indians (Bhaaratheeyas) themselves do not make any effort to understand them and go along the wrong path. The culture is important, not caste. We have to uphold the culture.