dattaswami

Punishment and Hell Dr. Nikhil asked: If the sins of undeserving devotee are postponed along with interest to the subsequent birth, the soul is said to be returning from the hell after exhausting the punishments before coming to the next birth. In such case, how to correlate these two points? Swami replied: The earth, hell and heaven come under the plane of materialism (Pravrutti) only. The punishment on the earth and the punishment in the hell differ just by the areas present in the same realm of Pravrutti. It is just the difference between a jail in India and a jail in Andaman Islands in the olden days. Therefore, the postponed sin along with the interest can be met with punishment in the hell or in the next birth. It is one and the same. The serious deeds good or bad will yield results in this birth it self (Atyutkataih Papa Punyaiah Ihaiva Phalamashnute..). The place and time have no significance. Only the quality and quantity of the nature (good or bad) of a deed and its subsequent fruit destined by the constitution of God are important. As the postponement increases, the interest also increases. You will receive the principle along with the interest in any online branch of the divine bank existing on this earth or in the upper world. Actually the deeds are inert actions and do not follow the soul. Only the essence of the deed which is alive in the form of quality (Guna or Samskara) follows the soul and from the color and intensity of the quality, results are decided by the divine computer called Yama for bad deeds and Indra for good deeds. Kalabhairava is the over all in-charge of super vision in implementing the results (Karanam Guna Samgosya…Gita). Sattvam is white, Rajas is red and Tamas is black. Therefore, the internal intention (Sankalpa) of the mind which is made of these three qualities decides good and bad of a deed and not the inert subsequent action. The cycle of deeds and its administration is simplified based on the specific quality and its quantity. This is the simplified picture of the system of deeds, which is followed by the judge in the final enquiry. Of course, the total network of deeds with all the minute details also exists inside the system, which can be referred if necessary (Gahana Karmanogatih…). At the Lotus Feet of His Holiness Sri Dattaswami Anil Antony www.universal-spirituality.org Universal Spirituality for World Peace antonyanil@universal-spirituality.org

Solution for your Worldly Problems My message to all the people who suffer with worldly problems (Pravritti) is: First stop suffering. Suffering is a feeling. The feeling is a wave of awareness-energy. If the water is removed along with the kinetic energy, the wave is unreal. Even if you feel that you are this gross body (matter and inert energy), the wave or feeling is unreal. Actually you are a lump of awareness, which has only one characteristic property that it is aware of itself (chit or soul). Its wave is a feeling. The lump of awareness is associated with some kinetic energy, which becomes the feeling. Separate the kinetic energy (mentally) and let the kinetic energy be added to the inert energy-lot of the gross body. The wave disappears and only a lump of awareness remains, which is the soul or yourself. Similarly, apply the same analysis to attraction, because attraction is also a feeling, suppose you are attracted to a quality. Quality is also a feeling. Suppose you are attracted to a form in the world like the beautiful form of a boy or girl. Every form in the world becomes unreal if you remove all material (matter and inert energy) from it. When beauty is unreal, quality is unreal, attraction is unreal and suffering is also unreal, then why are you disturbed? Similarly, hatred is also a feeling and is unreal. I have suffered with worldly problems, thousand times more than anyone in this world. When I explained those problems, My devotees wept. There are two ways to avoid the disturbance [worldly problems]. Either become immune to the problems by the above analysis (Pravritti) or enjoy the tragedy as you enjoy the same in seeing a movie or as you enjoy hot dishes in taking meals. This is the state of God enjoying this creation (Nivritti). The first way is ‘Atma Yoga’ which gives you undisturbed peace. The second way is ‘Paramatma Yoga’, which gives you the bliss through entertainment of both pleasant and unpleasant situations. I preferred the second way. Choose one of these two ways and avoid the disturbance which causes mental stress leading to the damage of your health and finally results in total destruction. Therefore, first stop suffering and avoid the disturbance either by self-attainment or by attainment of God. Now you are balanced and energetic to solve the problem. Try to advise other souls in the interest of their welfare and try to remove their ignorance by spiritual knowledge. If they are rigid, leave them and make some alternative arrangements owing to certain basic inevitable necessity. But in any case, do not have blind love for any soul. Love is always blind but blind love should be only for God and not for other souls. Other souls love you for their selves as long as you give happiness to them (Atmanah Kamaya—Veda). Moreover, love, which is a quality for an unreal design of matter in the world like money or beauty, itself is unreal. The mud is truth. The binding energy, which is negligible before the mud, is almost unreal and is called as Mithya. Attraction to the truth [real item] or atleast to Mithya [real but negligible] is meaningful. The design of the pot is completely unreal even during the existence of pot. Similar is the case with your attraction, which is totally unreal like the design in the pot. In Atma Yoga (Pravritti), rise above good and bad by analysis (Buddhiyukto—Gita). Thus good and bad are only conventional in Pravritti because what is sin in one religion is good in another religion. In Nivritti, the good and bad are true not by their [intrinsic nature] criterion, but they exist based on some other reason. Whatever God likes is good and whatever God does not like is a sin. Thus there is a basis of the concept of sin in Nivritti i.e. “God does not like this”. Otherwise both good and bad qualities are only feelings, which are designs of awareness and are totally unreal. Therefore good or bad is not valid by its own nature, because they are unreal. So one should avoid sins based on the reason that sins are disliked by God. Otherwise, sin is a totally unreal feeling. Therefore, ethics are also based only on God. When the sinner is beaten in hell, the servants of Lord Yama will be shouting at the sinner by saying “Why you have done that deed which is not liked by God”? They will not say “Why you have done that sin?” Therefore, the concept of sin is only that which is disliked by God. The list of the items disliked by God is given through scriptures like Dharma Shastras of Manu. Therefore, you should not do the sins mentioned in scriptures because they are disliked by God. Otherwise a sin (bad quality) or a good quality is just an unreal feeling and has no value by itself.

Worship and service to Lord should be without any expectation When you worship the Lord you should not aspire for any fruit in return. Some people sacrifice work and money but they aspire for some fruit in return. Such a service is again a waste. If you do Nishkama Karma Yoga, which is the service to the Lord without expecting anything from the Lord, then alone will the Lord come in human form and suffer for your sins. Then alone can you get rid of your sins. Other than this one path there is no alternative. Either you have to pay or your father (the Lord in human form) has to pay the fine for your sins. If you pester the Lord through the present rituals and methods of worship, the Lord will only make rearrangements to your file of Karma. He will bring the good results, which you were supposed to enjoy in your next birth, to the present. However this rearrangement will lead to a loss in value as in case of a premature encashment of deposits. You do not know this secret and you think that you have flattered the Lord and got rid of your sins. What you do not know is that your present sins are thrown to next birth with increased interest. Your future life cycle will be full of miseries from birth to death due to such interference. Therefore the Lord is cleverer than you when you adopt the ways of business with Him.

God is even not equal to your son!!!! & your prayers are lies only!!! Excellent explanation of fundamentals of devotion to God and God is the ultimate decider not planets Astrologers and Priests When a policeman beats a thief with his stick he should not think that the stick is beating him. Ofcourse the stick is directly beating him, but the stick is inert and cannot beat him by itself. Only the policeman is beating him through the stick. If the thief prays the stick there is no use. If he prays the uniform of the policeman then also there is no use. Only he should pray the policeman who wears the uniform and is holding the stick. The uniform is also inert. Since the thief has stolen something from somebody, the police beat him. The judge has given that punishment. The judge became the policeman and beats the thief. Similarly, the person who is acting as judge as well as policeman is God. The thief is the individual soul (Jeeva) who has done the sin. The uniform of the policeman is the deity. The stick is the planet. Even if the thief praises the judge who is the police also, there is no use because the judge or the policeman is very strict. So there is no use of praising either the inert uniform or stick or the living being i.e., police or judge. There are three ways here.  The first way is that the thief should receive hundred beatings today itself.  The second way is that the thief can postpone the punishment by one day and he can receive hundred and twenty beatings tomorrow.  The third way is the policeman or judge will receive hundred beatings today or one hundred twenty beatings tomorrow on behalf of the thief. The second way is unnecessary because the interest is unnecessarily paid. In the third way what is the relationship you have with the judge or police i.e., God? When the God comes in the human form you have treated Him as an outsider. You have not treated Him even on par with your son. You have served your son in his childhood. When he is grown up instead of reciprocating by serving you, he started insulting you. But still you have given all your property to him only. Let us take God. You have worshipped Him. Suppose God is giving you difficulties instead of boons, if God is on par with your son you should continue to serve the God because you continued to serve even your troubling son. But you are leaving God if He gives difficulties for your worship. So God is not equal to even your son. But you are praising God that He is above all the bond and that He is more than anything and anybody. So your prayers are lies. God is treated as an outsider and your love on him is not real. Then why should He undergo the punishment on your behalf? More over you tried to fool the God with your false prayers, which are lies. Therefore, the third way is ruled out. Only the first way remains and you must undergo the punishment today itself. God is infinite Ocean of kindness. If you pester Him by weeping pitiably, He will postpone your punishment by one day and you have to pay the interest for that day. He cancelled the punishment for today only. You are misled, since you think that the punishment is cancelled forever. God can also transform the punishment from one form to other form. In that case instead of one hundred and twenty beatings, you will receive one hundred knife injuries tomorrow. In this case also the beating is transformed to the knife injury and you are thinking that the punishment by beating is cancelled. He is not only the infinite Ocean of kindness but also the infinite Ocean of intelligence. Therefore, there is no use of worshipping the deities or planets, which are inert, like uniform and stick. God is like the policeman or judge, which is the living force. The beating by stick is mechanical force, which is used and controlled by the living force. That living force is God. If you want to escape the punishment really and forever you have to catch that living force. That living force which is the judge or policeman has power to cancel the punishment. But He will not cancel the punishment. Instead, He will undergo your punishment for your sake if you can catch Him. He can be caught by true love. The love can be proved only by Service or Seva i.e., you participate in His mission when He comes down in human form. He will appear as if He is giving some difficulties to you as soon as you serve Him. He is only settling your future sins. He undergoes ninety nine percent of your future sins and makes you pay one percent only. The ninety nine percent from which you escaped is not seen by you. As you see only that one percent, it appears as if He is giving difficulties to you as soon as you worship Him. He appears like this to test you whether you can still serve Him on par with your troubling son. If you pass His test and continue to serve Him in spite of the difficulties, He will be pleased with you. Then He will suffer for all your sins by undergoing one hundred percent punishment. Your devotion to Him is so much that you will not agree if He reveals this truth to you. So He undergoes the punishment secretly. This is the only way to get rid of your sin completely. But remember that you should not aspire to get rid of your sins completely by following this path artificially. You should be prepared to suffer your sins really and follow this path sincerely. The Veda says ‘Bhishodeti’ and ‘Tasya Bhasa’ i.e., all the planets work only by His power. The Veda also says ‘Ekena Vijnatena…’i.e., by catching that one power you can catch all the deities and planets. The clue to catch that one power, which is God, is already explained above. The fans and lights are working by current only. Similarly, by the force of God only deities and planets work. The inert planets, which we see in the sky and their divine forms and other deities also, are working only by His power. These planets are the executive forces, which catch a person and pass on the results of his deeds at the prescribed time according to the judgement of God. They are bound by their duties. There is no use by performing ‘japas’ chanting. People think that the planets are giving good or bad results by their movement. This is wrong. The planets are giving only the results of your deeds. Auspicious planets give you results of good deeds and malefic planets are giving you results of bad deeds. A planet is called as ‘Graha’, which means that it catches you wherever you may be in this universe and gives you the result in the scheduled time. Similarly ‘Kenopanishath’ (The Veda) says that when the deities became proud of their powers, God appeared as ‘Yaksha’ and proved that all their powers are only His power. So the deities also cannot do anything without the will of God.

God in Human form can only change your future and save you Priests and astrologers do not know this truth and are misleading the innocent public. They have spread so many meaningless tales. They say that the planet ‘Saturn’ approached Lord Shiva to punish Him for seven and half years. These people, who have created this tale, did not have even the basic knowledge. For any punishment, there should be a sin in the background. What sin ‘Ishwara’ (Shiva) did to receive the punishment from ‘Saturn’? ‘Ishwara’ is supposed to be sinless and very auspicious. So this story is meaningless as it contradicts the doctrine of ‘karma’. ‘Saturn’ cannot punish ‘Ishwara’ as he wishes because ‘Ishwara’ is said to be the highest power as per the Vedas and the Gita. This story is not in the Veda. If anything is absent in the Veda and is present in ‘Purana’ is not valid as said by ‘Gowthama Dharma Shasthra’ i.e., ‘Sruti Smruti Virodhethu’. The third ‘Brahma sutra’ also says that the Veda is the only authority. The Vedas are protected by recitation from several generations. There is no possibility of introducing anything extra in the Vedas but several verses were introduced into ‘Puranas’, which are called ‘Prakshiptas’. ‘Vyasa’ wrote only seven thousand verses originally in Maha Bharatha. But scholars added several new verses and now the book has become one-lakh twenty five thousand verses! ‘Ishwara’ can change the positions of the planets just by His will. Duryodhana asked Sahadeva for a good ‘Muhurtham’ to start the war. Sahadeva was a great astrologer. According to his discipline, he will help anybody who asks in astrology. Therefore, he calculated and fixed Muhurtham on Amavasya day. Duryodhana wanted to oppose the doctrine of Karma and also the judgement of God given to him by using astrology. Then Lord Krishna played a small trick. One day before Amavasya, He offered water for the forefathers in the Yamuna river. The Sun and the Moon in the sky jointly came down and requested Lord Krishna not to do that because ‘Amavasya’ is only the next day. Then Lord Krishna asked them ‘What is meant by Amavasya?’ They replied that when Sun and Moon unite, it is ‘Amavasya’. Then the Lord Krishna told, ‘Now you both are united and so that, this is Amavasya! So He brought Amavasya one day before and started the war from Dharma Raja side and they won the battle. Duryodhana started the war on one day after Amavasya thinking that, that day is ‘Amavasya’ and so he was defeated. See, Lord Krishna changed the planets just by a small trick. He can also join the Sun and Moon by His force. But He did not do it, because it was not necessary. Similarly, when a Satguru who is the human incarnation of God says ‘Sarve Grahah Subha Sthaneshu Tistanttu’ i.e., let all the planets sit in auspicious positions, it really happens but now the priests also says this sentence and nothing happens. Lord Krishna and the Satguru are human forms of God who have controlled the planets. If you catch such Satguru, He can change the planets also but the Satguru should be God in human form. The deities and planets are the inert external dresses of God. The God must be only Datta. The definition of the God in the Vedas is that He is only one and He is who creates rules and destroys this Universe. This definition applies only to the form of Datta, because Datta is only one who creates rules and destroys the World through His faces of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Therefore, Satguru means the human incarnation of Lord Datta. Astrologers and priests can take even more Guru Dakshina from the public if they can keep the people in the right path with right knowledge so that people get real benefit. If they take Dakshinas and keep the people in wrong track they get sin. In wrong track the people will get punishments of their sins postponed or transformed to some other forms.

Sins cannot be cancelled simply without suffering their result The One and the Only Way The only way to get rid of all the difficulties in this world is to become a real devotee of Lord Datta. Datta means something, which is given. Lord Datta means the human form, through which the ‘God’ (Parabrahman) is given to this world. All incarnations like Krishna, Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha etc., are called Datta. God cannot be even imagined. So there is no question of worshipping the God, but such unimaginable God takes a human form and comes down to this world. Such human form is called incarnation. The human form is like a metallic wire. God is like the current, passing through the metallic wire. The current pervades all over the wire. Similarly, God pervades all over the body of human incarnation. Wherever you touch the wire the current is experienced. Similarly, the human body of incarnation is God everywhere. Lord Krishna is the human incarnation of God. When you touch the feet of Lord Krishna you have touched the feet of the God. But the human body of incarnation follows only the rules of the nature. If you beat such human body it suffers with the same pain as an ordinary human body suffers. Why this human body is not beyond the rules of nature? The purpose of the human body is to suffer with pain like any other human body, whenever the results of the sins of the devotees are taken. If the human body is above the nature, then it will not suffer with pain. Then it becomes cheating the justice. So Datta means the human body given to this world of devotees for the sake of suffering their sins. The only way to get rid of your sins is to catch Datta (The contenmproary human incarnation). In no other way your sins are postponed. You will have to suffer your sins in the future life along with interest. The cycle of ‘Karma’ is very much inevitable. The scriptures say ‘Avasyam anubhoktavyam’, which means that one has to enjoy the results of his own deeds rather good or bad. There are only 3 ways. 1) To enjoy the fruits of bad deeds now itself. 2) To enjoy the fruits of bad deeds in your future along with interest. 3) To catch Datta and transfer the fruits of all your sins to Him. Out of these three ways a scholar will not accept the second way. A devotee will never agree to the third way. A scholar and a devotee will agree the first way only and is prepared to undergo the results of the sins now itself. He will never ask God to relieve him from the results of the sin. In such a stage nobody becomes a devotee of God, because there is no benefit from God. But still one can become a devotee. Let us take the case of a fan of a film hero. The fan does not get any benefit from the film hero. Instead of getting benefit, the fan spends from his pocket and the fan is put to loss. He became the fan attracted by good virtues of the hero shown in the various films. Such a fan is ideal for the devotee. The devotee is attracted towards Datta by the sixteen divine qualities. The devotee is worshipping Datta because he is attracted by the divine personality of Datta and not for any benefit from Datta. Even if he is put to loss he will not leave Datta. He wants to undergo all the sufferings now itself. As a scholar, he does not want to postpone the suffering of his sins, because he has to pay the interest. As a devotee he does not want the suffering of Datta for his sake. Therefore, His devotee is not at all connected to the removal of his sufferings. His love (Bhakti) to Datta continues irrespective of his sufferings. The love to Datta is really proved by his service to Datta. He continues to serve Datta while suffering due to the sins. Such scholar-devotee is the real devotee of Datta. Now, Datta takes over all his sins and suffers for his sake. The devotee is not aware of this. If the devotee is aware, he will strongly object Datta. So Datta suffers for his sins secretly without the knowledge of the real devotee. This is the only way to get rid of your sins really. Except this one way there is no other way to escape your sins. In all the other ways either you have to undergo your sins then itself or if you pester God too much, your sins will be postponed and you have to enjoy those sins with interest.

Significance of Churches/Temples O Learned and Devoted Servants of God, Why is there so much rush in temples? There is only one reason. People think that if they go to the temples they can escape from the difficulties, which are the fruits of their sins. They also think that they can get some benefits (which are the fruits of good deeds) for good deeds that they have not performed. Obviously this is not true. The scriptures say “Avasyam Anubhoktavyam” which means that we must enjoy the fruits of our good and bad deeds. You cannot escape the result of your bad deeds and you cannot achieve the result of a good deed, which you have not done. One cannot escape the punishment given by the judge in the court. Similarly, you cannot escape the judgment of God. If this fact is written at the gates of the temple, nobody will enter the temple. Then what is the actual aim of the temple? One of the sixteen divine qualities (Kalyana Gunas) of God is beauty (Soundarya). For example it is said that the beauty of Lord Rama disturbed the minds of even sages. The beautiful Lord should be seen first; “Drashtavyah”, as said in the Veda. So the statue of God in the temple must be carved most beautifully. The priest should decorate the statue in the most beautiful way, so that our eyes will be fixed on the statue. The next step is “Srotavyah”, as said in the Veda. It means that after seeing the form of God, we must listen to His other divine qualities. It is the duty of the priest to explain the other divine qualities of God. The third step is “Nididhyasitavyah”, that is your minds should be filled with inspiration given by the all-round personality of God. With this inspiration you must go back home.

You must be prepared to suffer for your sins In the Hindu religion, astrologers and priests must also realize the truth. By worshipping planets and deities, the results of bad deeds cannot vanish and the results of good deeds that are not done by you, cannot be achieved. God (Parabrahma) pervading all these planets and deities internally, is Lord Datta (God, the contemporary Human Incarnation) and He alone should be worshipped. The fan cannot move without the electric current. The light bulb cannot glow without the electric current flowing through it. The fan and the light bulb are like planets and deities. The electric current is Lord Datta. In other religions, the same current is named as Jehovah or Allah. The Veda says “Bheeshodeti” i.e., the sun shines only by the energy and fear of God. The Veda (Kena Upanishad) says that the power behind all deities is God alone. So, all these astrologers and priests should be converted into Sadgurus, who preach about Lord Datta. They can also take some money (Guru Dakshina) from the people for their livelihood and there is nothing wrong in it because they are standing for the truth and are giving real help to all the people who believe them. But they should make one thing clear that only Lord Datta can really protect you by taking your sins on Him. He will undergo the punishments for your sake. Except for this way, there is no other way to escape from your sins. At the same time, you must not expect Lord Datta to take your sins. You must be prepared to suffer for your sins and still continue to worship Him without aspiring for anything in return from Him. You must prove your love by your practical participation in His service. Worship should not be done with mere mind and words. Instead of worshipping Lord Datta (Sadguru), if you worship planets and deities with selfish desires, your bad results will only be postponed to the later part of this life or your next life. You will have to suffer them later and that too with added interest. The good results that were to be enjoyed in the next life are dragged to the present life with reduced values due to your rituals and selfish worship. They reduce in value like prematurely encashed bank deposits. As a result, your next life is going to be miserable; full of difficulties from birth to death with hardly any good result.

Lord is a wonderful bank! Return the money to the Lord with love The Veda says that God is true and infinite knowledge (Satyam jnanam anantam…) and Guru Datta is the God. So Datta always speaks the truth whether you like it or not. This is the reason why Datta did not become famous. But now Datta is becoming famous since people are realizing the importance of truth. The effect of truth is permanent and real. Generally, the approach of people to God is a sort of business. If you get a problem or you want something from the Lord, you approach God and bribe Him with money. Now, people are very alert with God! They pray to God Balaji in Tirupati, “Let this work be done. Then I will do such and such worship or I will offer so much money to you”. This shows that people even doubt God to offer anything prior to the work. This attitude cracks the very foundation, which is the faith in the existence of God. Another approach to God is like a beggar praising the house owner for food. The beggar explains his poverty and pitiable condition. This approach of a beggar is similar to the approach of a devotee of God with prayer and meditation without offering any money. The inner consciousness of this sort of rich devotee will be like this, “God may exist or may not exist. If God exists, let me please Him with prayers. If He does not exist, my work might have succeeded on my own effort. Then I might foolishly attribute the success to God and offer Him money”. A poor man approaches God like a beggar. That is understood. But, a rich man also approaches God like a beggar only through prayers, because he doubts the very existence of God in his sub-conscious state. A thought in the sub-conscious state is very subtle and is not perceived by the mind. So, he does not agree to this point. But, Lord Datta knows even the subtlest thought, so He analyses it. Offering money to Lord Datta as ‘Guru Dakshina’ is really appreciable because it is the practical sacrifice, which is the real test for love. You really love your wife and children and so you are giving your money to them. If you really love the Lord, you will give the money to Him. Money is called ‘Karma phala’ in the Gita i.e., the fruit of your work. Sacrifice of that money is called ‘Karma Phala Tyaga’, which is stressed throughout the Gita. But offering money to the Lord as a bribe for getting some work is the worst aspect. ‘Ishavasyam Upanishad’ says in the very first hymn, “All this money belongs to the Lord. Take the minimum required. If you have taken extra, return it to the Lord”. The Veda further says, “Return it to the Lord with shyness and fear because you have stolen it, which was extra and not permitted by the Lord”. So, you have to offer ‘Guru Dakshina’ (money offered to the Lord) without aspiring any result from it. The stolen extra money will bring you all problems. The Veda also says, “Return it to the Lord with love (Sraddhaya deyam)”. This is the best aspect and a real permanent bond is created with God. In such a case, there is no account. You give your money to your son or daughter and he or she serves you in your old age. Are you maintaining an account for it? You never analyze, whether the money given by you, is equal to the service given to you or not. Nor does your son or daughter analyze it. You have given the money whatever you can give. He or she served you to that extent whatever he or she can serve. Similarly, offer Guru Dakshina to the Lord with love. You will have the real and permanent bond with the Lord. Whenever you need some help from God, He will do it with love to the extent required by you. When the finger of Lord Krishna was wounded, Draupadi tore the edge of her new sari and bandaged His finger. That was her Guru Dakshina and that was only required by the Lord. She forgot about the incident because she never aspired anything in return. Even when Dussasana dragged her sari, she cried loudly for Lord Krishna but did not mention about her service. Had she mentioned, that small piece of sari might have become a sari at the maximum, even if the interest was compounded. Since her sacrifice was without aspiring anything in return and there was no account in it, Lord Krishna multiplied it infinitely, which was required in that situation. Requirement is the criterion of love. So, Lord is a wonderful bank! You should offer your extra money as Guru Dakshina with love and forget about it without aspiring anything in return. When the need comes, Lord will multiply it infinitely to the extent of your requirement. One rupee offered by a poor man is equal to one lakh offered by a rich man because the requirement of your status decides the extra you have taken.

The figure of speech with regard to God O Learned and Devoted Servants of God, Lord Datta preached to Yadu about 24 teachers present in nature. These teachers are natural items like a tree, a river etc. which are similes for the natural qualities of the Lord. When there is a great deal of similarity between a certain natural item and the Lord with respect to a certain quality, we say that the natural item and the Lord are one and the same (in a metaphorical sense). For example: When a girl is red in color, we say that the girl is red like a rose (similie). When the similarities of the girl and the rose are even more, we say that the girl is a rose (metaphor). Ofcourse it does not mean one can marry a rose flower instead of the girl. Only an ignorant person will actually think of the girl as a rose. Similarly, the Lord is compared with the sun, space, life etc. The Lord moves like the sun and radiates knowledge as the sun radiates light. This does not mean that the sun is the Lord. Similarly, the Lord pervades all over the world like space. This does not mean that the space is the Lord. The Lord maintains this world as the life maintains a living body. This does not mean that life is the Lord. When there is one similarity the figure of speech used is a simile. E.g. the girl is red like a rose. When there are many similarities, the figure of speech is a metaphor. E.g. when the girl is red, bright and tender like a rose, we say that the girl is a rose. This does not mean that the girl is actually the rose or that the rose is actually the girl. Similarly, when there are many similarities between God and the Sun, we say that God is the Sun. Neither is God actually the Sun nor is the Sun actually God. Sage Vyasa, in his Brahma Sutras, spoke about these similes (Adhikaranams).

Metaphors in the scriptures The Veda has clearly told that the Sun is not God (Nedam tat). Therefore, the Veda said that no item in the nature is the Lord (Neti Neti). Such natural objects are called representatives or models (Pratika). A teacher always teaches with the help of similes and models. The Veda is the theory class in which the preaching about the Lord is done with the help of similes. The world is the laboratory in which one can observe these models with concentration and know the qualities of the Lord. Such a concentrated observation is called meditation and it reveals the nature of the Lord very clearly. Meditation does not mean constantly staring at the model. Meditation also does not mean closing the eyes and retaining the model in the mind. There is no use of such meditation, when it does not reveal the concept of the Lord. Clear knowledge should be the fruit of meditation. Keen observation of any model should give the clear concept. The Lord is like a science professor. The Veda is like the correspondence course, which the sages read. They observed the models in the laboratory (world) and understood the concepts by themselves. Gradually the sages disappeared and ordinary human beings came in their place. Some did not understand. Some scholars misunderstood and misinterpreted the Veda. The result was that the rose flower was mistaken to be the girl. The sun was confirmed to be the Lord. The models like sun, fire, air, water, earth etc., were confirmed to be God or Goddess. Each river has become a Goddess. The power of the Lord called ‘Maya’ is constantly dynamic and it moves the world. Therefore ‘Maya’ was compared to a river. But now, each river has become the Goddess. The whole Veda gives the description of several natural items as similes to the Lord and to the power of the Lord. These natural items were called as God or Goddess (in a metaphorical sense) due to many similarities. Ignorant people have misunderstood it all. Therefore, the Lord came in the human form and gave the correct interpretation. It is just like the admission in a college instead of a correspondence course. In the college, the professor teaches everything clearly. Such college professors are Krishna, Jesus, Buddha, Mahavir, Shankara, Ramanuja, Madhva etc. A model also exists, which indicates the concept that the Lord comes in human form. The students prepared this model. By the will of God, the human beings prepared the statues in human form, which indicate the incarnation of the Lord in human form. This model tells us that a particular human being alone is the Lord and not every human being. If every human being is the Lord, the statue should have been a general human being. The statues that are worshipped are of certain special human beings like Rama and Krishna. But again the same ignorance continued and people thought that the statue itself is the Lord.

Difficulty in accepting Divine Knowledge Accepting a particular human being as the Lord is very very difficult. Therefore, knowledge of the Lord (Brahma Vidya) is very complicated. The reason for the complication is not in the subject. But the reason is only the egoism and jealousy of human beings. Due to such jealousy several enemies opposed Lord Krishna in His time. Lord Rama was not opposed as much because Rama behaved just like any other human being. He never exposed His divinity and so nobody was jealous. Jesus revealed His divinity and so He was killed. Shankara revealed His divinity and He was killed. Swami Dayananda spoke the truth of Vedas and so He was killed. Even a temple is a model of the body of the human incarnation. The statue in the temple represents the Lord. Thus, a temple is a model for the body of the Lord (Deho Devalayah Proktah, Jeevo Devah Sanatanah). The outer compound wall of the temple is the gross body (Sthula Shareera). The inner temple is the inner subtle body (Sukshma Shareera). The inner most chamber of the temple (sanctum sanctorum) is the cause body (Karana Shareera). The statue represents the Parabrahma with ‘Maya’. If you take the human body of an incarnation such as Rama or Krishna, the external human body is the outer compound wall. The inner subtle body is Lord Vishnu. The innermost causal body is Lord Datta. The innermost statue is ‘Saguna Brahman’ (Brahman associated with Maya). The Nirguna Brahman (Brahman without Maya) can never be even imagined.

Illusion of Money, Shri Chakra Each Yantra (mystic designs or patterns) is a design indicating a concept of spiritual knowledge. For example, the Shri Chakram indicates the whirlpool or illusion of money. The four triangles in this pattern represent the Lord indicating Manas (oscillating/vacillating part of the mind), Buddhi (intellect), Chittam (memory) and Ahankara (ego). These four [are the four parts of the mind and] indicate the life energy or the basis of knowledge. The five triangles in the Shri Chakra indicate the five elements, which constitute the Maya or ignorance. In one type of Shri Chakra the knowledge becomes the base. In this type, the base of the four triangles of knowledge is upwards and it is called ‘Samhara chakra’ which means the destruction of the mental bond with money. In the other type of Shri Chakra, which is called the ‘Srushti Chakra’ the base of the five triangles of Maya is upward and this denotes the formation of the mental bond with money. The three circles denote the three types of bodies in both types of Shri Chakra. In the first Chakra the eight petals of a lotus indicate the eight super powers and the sixteen petals of another lotus indicate the sixteen divine qualities of the Lord. The four gates indicate the four Vedas. In the second Chakra the eight petals indicate the eight forms of wealth and the sixteen petals indicate the sixteen Kalas (phases of the moon, representing the mind). The four gates indicate the four Purushaarthas or human goals. These are Dharma (righteousness), Artha (wealth), Kama (pleasure) and Moksha (liberation). The essence of the concept indicated by Shri Chakra is only that you should come out of the influence of the Chakra (vicious circle) of Shri (money). Shri Chakram is considered to be the root of this world because the influence money is the root of all the family bonds. Without understanding the concept, ignorant people have started worshipping the Shri Chakra!

Birthday is to be Celebrated by Society The birthday celebration of your child should be later on and should be done by others and not by the parents and relatives. When this child grows and does some permanent benefit to the society, its birthday is celebrated by the society. Shri Rama Navami, Shri Krishna Ashtami, Shankara Jayanthi, Buddha Purnima, Christmas etc. are performed by the society. You should not celebrate your own birthday, which will be like self-praise. Similarly, you should not celebrate the birthday of your child which is like praising your own child. I do not understand why the parents celebrate the birthday of their child. What is the greatness of the child that is expressed in the childhood itself? Or, is it for the great act of producing a child? Even animals and birds produce children. The parents should get the real happiness of the celebration of the birthday of their child by the society in future. If this angle does not exist, you can celebrate the birthday of the child in the angle of real worship to God and getting blessings from the real devotees. One of these two angles should be present in the birthday celebrations.

Knower of Atman The old feelings in ‘chittam’ (storing capacity of mind) appear on the screen of the mind as a cinema. Resisting the mental activity through senses is Yoga as told by Patanjali (Chittavritii Nirodhah). If you resist seeing, hearing etc., the entry of external poison to the mind is stopped. But the poison was already precipitated in your chittam since several births. Thus the mental activity (Chitta Vritti) is both external as well as internal. This activity is called as ‘Sphota’. According to Sanskrit grammar, chittam has two meanings. One is the addition of poison from outside (Samjnanam) and other is digestion of already existing poison (Smaranam). The poison is the bundle of worldly matters. Resistance of mental activity is to be done by the soul, which can be affected by the poison. But a scholar (Jnani) does not resist this poison. He can digest the poison and so even takes it from outside. Both these activities are done by the subtle body (Sukshma Shareeram), which is made of qualities or mind. The gross body (Sthula Shareeram) is a composite of the senses, which do actions initiated by qualities. A ‘Jnani’ separates himself [by analysis] from these two bodies and enters the third, causal body (Karana Shareeram), which is pure awareness. He will not cross the boundaries of this third body, which is also called as Atman. Such a scholar is called Sthita Prajna. ‘Prajna’ means pure awareness. ‘Sthita’ means the person who has limited himself to pure awareness. Since he takes the decision of himself to be Atman, ‘Buddhi’ (intelligence) also becomes the pure awareness. Since he decides the meaning of ‘I’ as pure awareness, the ‘Ahankara’ [i-sense or ego] also becomes pure awareness. You must note that Prajna also means Buddhi. The remaining two internal items (Antahkaranams) are Chittam which is the C.D. or cassette of precipitated feelings and ‘Manas’ (mind) which are the internal screen. The internal T.V. show goes on and the spectator (Atman) sees and enjoys the show. His gross body is his own house, which is the cinema theatre. The whole show is the subtle body and the causal body is the spectator. The spectator has no link with the T.V. show and is only entertained. The spectator is not disturbed by the show and is only entertained. The spectator is not disturbed by the show and is called ‘Gunateeta’ by Gita (Guna Guneshu Vartante…). This T.V. show initiates the senses of the gross body, which do deeds according to the qualities of show. The Atman or spectator (I) is also separated from the gross body and so is not linked to the deeds and the qualities. The soul [Atman] is detached from qualities, deeds and their corresponding results. This does not mean that he does not receive the results of his deeds. The subtle and gross bodies did the deeds and so they enjoy the results. But this soul, which is detached from these two bodies, is a spectator of such enjoyment of the enjoyer. The soul is not the enjoyer since it is not the doer of the deeds. The wheel that constitutes the deeds and their corresponding results, (Karma Chakra) is also not affected, since it is related to the person’s subtle and gross bodies only and not to his causal body or the Atman. The subtle and gross bodies are the ‘doer’ and ‘enjoyer’, constituting a show for the entertainment of the causal body, which is just a spectator. Since the subtle body is also made of awareness, it enjoys the results through its gross body. But an ordinary human being identifies himself with the subtle body and gross body, considering them as ‘I’ and therefore becomes the doer and enjoyer. But the scholar fixes his ‘I’ to the causal body alone and de-links himself from doer-ship and enjoyer-ship. There are two vessels containing vibrated water. Both the vessels undergo stress due to the water vibrations. The vessel is the gross body and water-vibrations are the subtle body. An ignorant fellow identifies himself with the vessel and the water vibrations and so is vibrated [he feels that he is being vibrated] and undergoes stress. But the scholar identifies himself only with the water and not with the vibrations or the vessel. He is not vibrated and has no stress. He goes on enjoying the vibrations and the stress. Even if he does a sin, he goes to hell and enjoys the punishment there. The punishment is received by his subtle and gross bodies and he, as Atman, observes the enjoyment of the punishment and gets entertainment. Ramana Maharshi got a boil [tumor] on the body due to some deed. But he confined himself to the soul and so was not the doer of that deed. When the boil was operated upon by the doctor, He observed it and His subtle body enjoyed the pain [he was operated upon without anesthesia]. But he, as Atman was entertained in the operation. When the Gita says “Atmavantam na Karmani”, it means the Jnani enjoys the results of deeds but he is detached from such enjoyment. “Avashyamanu bhoktavyam…. Kalpakoti Shataih” means that one has to undergo the results of his deeds even after millions of births with interest. The doer can never escape the enjoyment of results. But in the case of a deserving devotee, the Lord comes down as a human incarnation and enjoys his results [undergoes suffering on behalf of the devotee]. Except this way, the doer has to enjoy his own results. But in the case of a deserving devotee, the Lord comes down as a human incarnation and enjoys his results. Except this way, the doer has to undergo the results. But in that path, the devotee should not aspire for such unjust punishment of the Lord and should resist it, if he comes to know of it. The Lord is called ‘Datta’ for this very reason, since He donates Himself for the sake of His devotee. When Datta enjoys such results, He also behaves like a Yogi. It means that He confines Himself to the soul and His subtle and gross bodies undergo the punishments. Therefore, a Yogi is just like the Lord in this aspect of spectatorship. The Lord has the power of creation of the world while the Yogi does not. But this difference is irrelevant during the aspect of spectatorship. Therefore, this ‘Advaita’ (state of oneness; monism) state of a liberated soul and the Lord, which was proposed by Shankara, is meaningful. This whole universe is the gross body of the Lord and ‘Hiranya Garbha’ is the subtle body of the Lord. Hiranya Garbha means the composite form of all the souls. Now, in the gross and subtle bodies of the Lord also, a number of reactions and changes are going on like a cinema. The ‘Maha Maya’ is the Atman or the causal body of the Lord, which is only a spectator. He confines Himself to this Atman and sees the show in His subtle and gross bodies. The path of Karma [worldly action or desire-motivated action] has no salvation because the soul is not detached from subtle and gross bodies (Bhunjanam Vaa—Gita). He cannot entertain himself by confining to his Atman and so he resists bad qualities and bad deeds. He is very alert about good deeds and always tries to enjoy the pleasures of heaven. But he often comes back to this world, where good and bad are mixed. He is always exposed to the risk of falling in a trap of bad qualities and sins here. He is always afraid of that and has no independence. But in the path of Jnana or knowledge, the scholar is fearless and fully independent. He is beyond both good and bad. Both give entertainment to him equally like sweet and hot items in a meal. This soul has Jnana [knowledge] of Atman, has ‘Rasa’ [love] of the entertainment and ‘Ananda’ [happiness] of the enjoyment of both good and bad equally. The Veda says that such a liberated soul is characterised by these three qualities. The Lord as Rama killed Vali and as Krishna, He enjoyed the result of that sin. But the doer and the enjoyer were only His subtle and gross bodies. They are and not the Lord, who was only confined to the Atman as a spectator. Lord Krishna could see the show at the end in which His own sons and grandsons were killed and He was entertained by the show. When Arjuna could not kill his grandfather, because he identified himself with his subtle and gross bodies, the Lord taught him ‘Jnana Yoga’ by which Arjuna confined himself to his soul and killed his grandfather and went to hell. But he was the spectator in killing and also while enjoying the sin in hell. Jains [followers of Mahavir Jain] say that Krishna also went to hell, since He was responsible for such a cruel war. Even if that were correct, the Lord would have enjoyed hell as a spectator! Therefore, such a remark on the Lord does not affect Him at all. Shankara taught about the Atman, which is the causal body in the view of ordinary human beings. When His own case comes, God exists in Him beyond even the Atman and so God is called as the Maha Karana or the Cause of the causal body. When He said that He is Shiva, this word Shiva refers to God and He confined Himself only to God, just like the Yogi confines himself to Atman. The word Shiva means auspicious and so can refer to the Atman in the case of the Yogi. The Veda says “Ubhe Punya Pape Vidhuya….”, which means that the Yogi transcends both good and bad and becomes equal to God. The Gita also says the same “Ubhe Sukruta Dushkrute”.

Service Without Aspiration The highest stage is not to aspire for anything from the Lord. The Lord does everything according to His judgement and your deeds. When you desire something, it cannot bring any reaction in the Lord. Some devotees cry with a very loud voice and do several actions for help from the Lord. The crying too will not bring any trace of reaction in the Lord. Draupadi cried for help from the Lord. The Lord did not respond because of her cries. Draupadi had torn her sari to apply a bandage to the finger of the Lord when it was cut. It was this deed that made the Lord to help her in her time of need. The Lord would have helped her even without her cries. The Lord was watching the situation and was ready for the correct moment to act. The point of merit in the cry of Draupadi was that she believed Lord Krishna to be omnipresent and did not confine the Lord to His limited body. Therefore, she cried in the court itself, even though the Lord was in a far away place. Devotion without any aspiration is the best. The next middle level devotion is to believe that the Lord is omnipresent and pray at any place. The lower level of devotion is to try to inform the human incarnation personally. This is an insult to the Lord because you do not believe the Lord in human form is atleast omnipresent. If you think that the Lord is not omnipresent how can He help you as omnipotent? The devotees who have firm faith in Me as the human incarnation often phone Me and submit their requests for protection. I advise them not to do so. By telephoning, they limit Me to this human body only and thus I cannot become omnipresent. If I am not omnipresent, I cannot be omnipotent to help them. Above all this, the main point is whether the devotee requests for anything or not, the protection from the Lord comes only based on the selfless service offered by him to the Lord without aspiring for any fruit in return. When such service is absent, the Lord cannot do any help merely based on their requests or prayers and crying. Therefore, there is no need of prayer or request or crying to the Lord if selfless service is absent. There is also no need of prayer, request or crying to the Lord if selfless service is present. Therefore, a devotee should always concentrate on the selfless service to the Lord without aspiring for any fruit in return and the prayer should be only in the praise of the Lord and not for asking any boon or protection because even if you ask, there is not even a trace of use.

Master of World, Family, Body and Soul The Lord is the Master of this world, your family, your body and your Self. You are the pure awareness (causal body) if you are a scholar and you are the waves of the awareness (qualities) or the subtle body if you are ignorant. In any case you are just a part of your composite body, which consists of all the three bodies. Thus you are in your body. Your body is in your family and your family is in this world. The Lord being the Master of this world, He is the Master of your self, your body and your family. You cannot control yourself or your body or your family or anybody in this universe. Indra became shocked like an inert stone when he was stared at by Lord Shiva. In that state his pure awareness was like an inert stone and he had no feeling at all. What does this mean? The Lord controlled the causal body and the subtle body of even Indra [king of gods and angels]. After all, what are you before Indra? Certainly you (causal body or subtle body or both) are controlled by the Lord. The hand and the total gross body of Indra became stand still by the sight of Lord Shiva. This happened when Indra tried to hit Lord Shiva who was in the disguise of Avadhuta. This means that every part of the gross body is also under the control of the Lord. The Pandavas were great heroes. But they could not protect their wife when she was unclothed by force in a full courtroom. This means you cannot protect anybody in your family. The parents of Markandeya could not protect him from death. In both these cases only the Lord protected the devotees. Duryodhana could not control his grandfather Bhishma and his friend Karna. Bhishma gave the secret of his death to the Pandavas, which was against the will of Duryodhana. Karna gave a boon to his mother that he would not kill any of the Pandava brothers except Arjuna. This boon was against the will of Duryodhana. Therefore, his own kith and kin went against his will and thus he could not control his own family members or friends. Arjuna could not defeat the hunters who stole away the wives of the Yadavas right before of his eyes. The Pandavas could not defeat Saindhava even though they fought with him for a whole day. All these examples show that you cannot control anybody in your family or anybody in the world. This proves clearly that you are not the controller of anybody or anything including your self. You must always remember that you are always a zero and never a hero. You must surrender to the Lord in every step and in every fraction of a second, meditating upon the Lord as the Master of the world, as the Master of your family, as the Master of your body and as the Master of yourself. In a nutshell, you must understand that the Lord is the Master of everything and everybody including your self and surrender to Him completely as said in Gita “Tameva Saranam Gachcha Sarvabhavena Bharata”, which means that you should surrender only to the Lord by all means. On this auspicious day, I give these five Mantras to all of you to chant every minute with full realisation of their meanings. These are: • Om Jagadishwaraya (Master of the world) Namah. • Om Kutumbeshwaraya (Master of the Family) Namah. • Om Deheshwaraya (Master of the Body) Namah. • Om Atmeshwaraya (Master of Self) Namah. • Om Sarveshwaraya (Master of Everything and Everybody in this world) Namah. These five Mantras will sweep away the dust of egoism from your self. These five mantras act like the bomb to smash the precipitated hill of egoism from several previous births. Kala Bhairava, the main practical assistant of the Lord has a broomstick in one hand and a vessel of fire (bomb) in the other hand. They indicate the sweeping of the temporary day-to-day egoism and smashing of precipitated egoism-hill that has formed from several millions of births.

Suicide Is Not Solution For Difficulties O Learned and Devoted Servants of God, [Dasara: Day-10 October 2, 2006] Today Shiridi Sai Baba left His divine body due to a disease transferred on to Him from His devotee. Such decease is like the poison taken by a person who commits suicide. Does this mean that Baba committed suicide? It was not the natural death. The death of Himself was executed by Himself. This point should be clarified to the people who commit suicide in the world. The person is committing suicide by the disturbance created by the illness that entered the body or by some other stress in the external world. This disturbance or stress is the fruit of his own sins and he himself is responsible for his own sins through his own Samskaras. But the illness in the body of Baba was not of that type. Sometimes a person may compare himself to Baba since he is committing suicide to remove the problem of his beloved souls as you see in the Titanic cinema. Such sacrifice is foolish because his sacrifice is limited to the Pravrutti (Behavior of a soul with other souls). After the suicide, the fellow is going to hell (Asuryaa Nama…The Veda) for spoiling his precious human life meant for achieving the grace of God. The soul for which he committed suicide does not even recognize him after this birth. He is not benefited in any way by such sacrifice. He should think that his life is as important as the life of the soul for which he is committing the suicide. He thinks that the main aim of his life is only the other beloved soul and not the beloved Lord. Gopikas jumped into fire for Krishna and they were granted the top most world by the Lord for such suicide which is in the field of Nivrutti. But the beloved soul cannot do anything for this fellow who is going to hell. You may say that the sacrifice of this fellow should be appreciated. The sacrifice becomes appreciable only when the sacrifice is done to a deserving person. A person wrote the story, directed and produced the cinema. After seeing his own cinema, he is upset and runs out of the theatre. When he goes into the world he will face more serious situations. Therefore, running away from the theatre is not the solution. He should have written the story of cinema properly. Still, even after the show he can censor the film and modify the picture. That is the solution. For such modification he can take the help of the senior producer. I heard that a cinema which ended with tragedy in love was censored after the show, since the reaction of the public was very serious. I am explaining the case of a person who is upset in his life and commits suicide. When he leaves this world (theatre), he will enter the hell which is very very harsh. Let him take the guidance of Sadguru and change his Samskaras so that he can censor his life and regenerate the life in modified form. Becoming inert to the life with the help of Atma Yoga (Self attainment) is like taking sleep tablets in the theatre so that he avoids seeing the picture. Such a person will be born as inert object so that he will not have any possibility of producing any cinema forever. I heard that there was an advertisement about a medicine that cures the pain of teeth. The advertisement says that the pain of the teeth will be permanently cured since the medicine will remove all the teeth forever! The philosophy of Advaitin resembles this. Please note that I have told that this is the philosophy of Advaitin but not as the philosophy of Shankara. Ramanuja always says that He is criticizing the philosophy of the followers of Shankara but not Shankara (Yaduchyate Shaankaraih...). Therefore, forced death is not at all the solution.

Spiritual Workshop is better than Suicide People think that one can become peaceful after death. No no. The soul has to face unimaginable stress in the hell and also in the future condemned births. The self attainment through the spiritual workshops is some what a better solution. To become stone is better than going to hell. But in both cases the human rebirth is ruled out. The best solution is to enjoy the picture consisting of happy and tragic scenes alternatively. Such state is the state of God and can be obtained only by the grace of God. Once he goes to hell or become stone, there is no control and there is no possibility of any further change. You have the advantage of control and possibility of change only during this human life. Even angels of the upper world always try to take human birth because in the upper world, only the fruits are enjoyed and there is no freedom to change the fate. You must realize the logic of the necessity of misery in this world. Without misery the world will bore you with continuous happiness like a cinema without tragic scenes and like sweet meals without any hot dish. In KrutaYuga, God created only happiness. The continuous happiness bored the souls. The very boring process itself is misery. Thus, the birth of first misery is only from continuous happiness. In KrutaYuga, the justice in the form of cow was having all the four legs, which means all good deeds are only done due to predomination of Sattvam. Afterwards, since misery was required to avoid continuous happiness, the legs of the cow were broken gradually in the subsequent Yugas. This means that subsequently Rajas and Tamas predominated gradually. If you learn to enjoy the misery in the life, it is the philosophy of life. Such philosophy can be achieved if you realize the unreality of Maya with respect to yourself and matter. By the grace and the divine knowledge of Sadguru you can achieve such divine state of God. Sadguru is God in human form who came down to guide you by preaching this concept. Lord Krishna was entertaining Himself by seeing the mutual killing of His kith and kin including His sons and grandsons at the end with sweet smile on His lips through out the cinema. The same smile continued when He was bleeding by the shot arrow. Jesus carried on His own cross with a peaceful face even though the spectators were weeping. Jesus asked them not to weep for Him and suggested to weep for themselves and for their children in view of the future hell. God is defined as He who takes even the most serious issue as a joke. Soul is defined as he who takes even the joke as the most serious issue. The simple reason for this difference is that God (or a realized and liberated soul) realizes the unreality of Maya (forms of matter created by God like beauty or created by self like a house and all the thoughts of the soul), whereas the soul is not realizing this unreality.

Command of Swami to His Devotees I advise all My closest devotees who participate in My divine mission of spreading the divine knowledge all over the world. The most important instruction to you is that you should spread the divine knowledge without any fight with the people who discuss with you. There should be no point of success or defeat in propagating the knowledge. Love towards all the human beings to uplift them spiritually should be the basis of the devotee. Before starting the discussion you must instruct other side about these points and you must constantly often remind the other side regarding these points during the debate. He is co-operating with you to develop the subject. Both runners and winners are equally awarded. The circuit of current is complete only when both positive and negative poles exist. There should be no superiority or inferiority on any side at any stage of discussion. Both of you are mutually helping each other in finding out the truth. Shankara and Mandana Mishra argued for about a month day and night. Shankara is the incarnation of Shiva and Mandana is the incarnation of Brahma. Both Shiva and Brahma are one and the same. The arguments given by Mandana Mishra helped Shankara to project the subject in various angles. Their debate is the vast subject of finding out the truth from Vedas. Both are responsible for the constitution of knowledge. Shankara argued with a saint who was Vyasa in disguise. Vyasa was incarnation of Vishnu. The debate between them never ended. The debate constituted the subject of spiritual knowledge to unimaginable heights. A cobbler argued with Shankara to show that practice is the real test of theory. Shankara fell on the feet of cobbler. The cobbler was Lord Datta. Shankara defeated Mandana and Vyasa in theoretical knowledge. But Shankara was defeated by Datta in the practical aspect of divine knowledge. Here the point of success and defeat is only a drama. The main point is bringing out the truth. Even if you are defeated by the other side, you must thank the other side with gratefulness since the other side has taken so many pains to let you know the truth. The other side was strained without any benefit. But you are benefited by your strain since you have come to know the truth from that moment onwards. Therefore, the defeated person should feel happy for the benefit and should not have any unhappiness or tension. The person who succeeded in establishing the truth is strained without any benefit, since he already knows the truth. But the winner should also feel happy since the truth is projected in several new directions due to the opposing arguments. If you are propagating the divine knowledge based on these instructions, God will be pleased with your excellent service. You might have won in several points in several places. But if you are convinced with a new point, you must immediately fall on the feet of that person like Shankara. He did not see the status of the cobbler who was very low by habits, education, caste etc. Shankara was never bias and prejudiced that He was a great saint and that He should not fall on the feet of a street cobbler. If your point is true, stand like Shankara with Mandana or Vyasa for any long time. But if you find that your point is really wrong and if the point of the opponent is the truth, accept it at once by falling on his feet and thanking him for taking so much strain to preach the truth to you.

The Lord said that if one is always associated with His service, He will take care of both the worlds It is sheer foolishness to think that the worldly affairs get spoiled if you are involved in devotion. You are thinking that God can help you only in the upper world. You have forgotten that He is the Lord of the both the worlds. His help to you in the upper world is sure if you are helped here. If you are not helped here, you will not be helped in the upper world also. If He is furious, you are neither helped here nor there. If He is pleased, you are helped here as well as there. Tyagaraja was completely devoted to God. He had one daughter and she attained the age for marriage. He was not having a single paisa. He was not worried about the crisis. God appeared before a rich devotee who has a good son. The Lord ordered Him to go to Tyagaraja to get his son married with the daughter of Tyagaraja. God also ordered him to perform the marriage with his money only. Everything went on well as per wish of the Lord. If God is pleased with you, even the cause of the stress is removed. But in Atma Yoga, such possibility is ruled out because the self has no trace of super power. Everything and every body in this world is on the finger tips of the Lord. The works which are giving lot of stress to you will be done either with your little effort or even without effort. Tyagaraja did not apply even a trace of the effort in the case of the marriage of his daughter. Even if you put hectic effort, you cannot change even a trace of the fruit of your deeds. Therefore, Nivrutti (God) is not against to Pravrutti (Self). Instead, Nivrutti includes Pravrutti. The Lord said that if one is always associated with His service, He will take care of both the worlds (Yoga Kshemam Vahaamyaham…Gita). The welfare in the upper world is called as Yoga and welfare in this world is called Kshema.

Definition of Sin A soul is beaten in the hell and the servants of Yama say “why have you done this deed which is not liked by God?” They will not say “why have you done this sin?” Anything that is not liked by God is a sin. By itself a sin is not a sin, because it is a feeling, which is a wave of awareness and is completely unreal. Hurting any soul, especially a believer in God is the basis of sin according to God. Punishment with an attitude to change the soul is exempted from this concept. There should be no trace of revenge in punishment. If the soul is realized and changed, do not think of revenge. Jesus told that if you punish others for their sins, God shall punish you also for your sins. Punishment of a student by a teacher is not a sin, because it is for his change and upliftment only. The same aim exists when God punishes the souls. The Lord says in the Gita that the divine Knowledge alone pleases Him (Jnaya Yajnena…). He says that it is greater than Svadhya yajna and Dravya yajna. Svadhyaya yajna means simple recitation of hymns without any enquiry into their meaning. Dravya yajna means sacrifice of wealth. But the Gita praises that sacrifice of wealth or fruits of work (Karmaphalatyaga ...) is highest (Dhyanat Karmaphalatyagah…). There is no clash here. Dravya yajna represents sacrifice of wealth to undeserving or improper receiver or putting wealth in fire which is foolishness as stated by Kapila in Bhagavatam. Donating to temples based on the statues is climax of foolishness because the priests and management are not even the scholars of the Vedas and Shastras. The priest is for his livelihood like a labourer and the management spends for unnecessary items and wastes the wealth due to lack of complete spiritual knowledge. The Government is taking that wealth and is using for social services, which are to be done by the public revenues only. The statue is not enjoying even an iota of your wealth. The temple should be a place of propagation of divine knowledge and devotion. The scholars and devotees should be maintained by such donated wealth to prorogate about God. But theses temples have become business-centers to solve the problems of devotees. Ofcourse, it is inevitable in the beginning stage (Sarvarambhahi…Gita) but the propagation of right divine knowledge should be the main program of temples, which should be run by scholars only.

Do not use emotional slogans in spiritual path…. An atheist should not become a theist just for food, money, the job offered by you or the professional education offered by you to get a job. Such conversion is not real and permanent. Do not kindle emotions by showing or explaining the story of the crucifixion of Jesus. Do not kindle the attraction towards the physical appearance by showing the beautiful pictures of Krishna etc. Such means used for conversion are not real and permanent. The conversion of mind or heart is not real and eternal. Do not attract a person in problems by offering solutions through prayers and songs or by using the super powers of God for solutions. The faith developed by such ways will not stand forever because God will not always answer the prayers, songs and crying with tears. People become addicted to such ways. The child will weep every time for a chocolate, since it is habituated to that path. The child intensifies the process of weeping if the chocolate is delayed! Initially the child is attracted by chocolates to go to the school for some days. The child has become young person but did not cross the first standard of the school, because the child concentrated only on the art of weeping to get the chocolates. The person became a postgraduate or even a Ph.D. degree holder in the course of begging and weeping for chocolates. The person became an exceptional scholar and developed several talents in praising the Lord, crying for the Lord, singing and composing music on the Lord, doing meditation and concentration on the Lord with his mind, chanting the Lord’s name millions of times, writing the name of Lord millions of times, chanting some letters (Beejaksharas or mantras), drawing some design or diagrams on metallic plates (Yantras), doing worship following certain special ways of [occult] technology (Tantras) and so on. These discoveries and developments are tremendous and as many as the developments in science and technology! Ofcourse, all these are good psychological ways of solving or treating certain psychological problems in patients with fixed notions to give mental relief from stress and gain confidence. All these ways are good, if the person is free from aspiration of any fruit from God in return [for such actions]. Such love is real. But the real love is expressed in terms of the sacrifice of work and the sacrifice of the fruit of work as seen in the case of your love for your children. If such practical expression exists, all the above theoretical expression of love through words and mind can be associated as a plate of meals is associated with a glass of drinking water. Therefore in propagating the divine path, you should appeal to people only through knowledge, logical analysis and a systematic scientific approach. Avoid all the above means, which are theoretical and political ways of exploitation of one’s weakness. God is certainly above science and logic, because He is beyond creation and nature. But God always follows the ways of nature, which are logical and scientific, following the path of justice. In a rare and exceptional case, He uses His superpower, which is also not against justice. He suffers for your sin and thus the justice of the wheel of deeds is always upheld by Him even in the exceptional case of the use of His superpower.

Lord is the Greatest Scientist Maya is Deeper & Deeper Logic If you observe the logical design and scientific management of this creation, you will say that He is the greatest scientist. He will never violate His own rules of nature and science which is His very psychology. The superpower (Maya) is also a deeper stage of science (Prakriti) as said in the Gita (Mayamtu prakritim…). A wonderful design with a logical plan (Maya) beyond our imagination exists as the basis of this nature, which is understood by us superficially (Prakriti). When you go deeper and deeper into science, the logic continues but at a stage, your capacity to understand it fails. That does not mean that logic vanished at the deeper level. The capacity of your intelligence to grasp that deeper logic alone has vanished. Maya is not the failure of logic but it is a deeper and deeper subtle logic, which can be understood only by God, who is the greatest scientist. Logic and science continue in a more and more subtle way but the limits of the grasping power of humans end at that level. A schoolboy cannot follow quantum mechanics or wave mechanics which is dealt at the postgraduate level. The schoolboy says that the subject is beyond logic. According to a foolish student, there is no logic in that topic at that level. This is not true. His capacity to understand the logic of that level failed. That does not mean that the subject dealt at the postgraduate level is without logic and that all postgraduate students are beyond logic! More and more revelation of divine knowledge comes out from God, as your capacity or grasping power increases. God will not reveal the higher knowledge if your grasping power is low, because you will then say, that God is beyond logic, which means that God is mad. You should say that God is beyond your level of logic. God is quite logical at His level. The gap between your level of logic and His level of logic is called ‘Avyaktam’ or unimaginability of logic, which is the unbreakable ignorance. The Veda says the same “Avyaktat Purushah Parah…”. The Gita also says the same “Maam tu veda na kaschana...” Scientists say that they will reach the level of logic of God (Maya) by tomorrow, but that tomorrow always remains as a tomorrow. Scientists are egoistic due to their jealousy at this point, because they cannot accept God as greater than any scientist. When Einstein presented his paper on the Theory of Special Relativity, no scientist understood it except Einstein himself. But all of them respected Einstein. Then, why don’t they accept and respect God? A miracle done by the Lord is only a demonstration of the existence of a deeper level of science or logic. Just like conservative religious followers discard other religions, conservative scientists discard the miracle as magic or illusion, because [according to them] nothing should exist beyond their level of logic. For a school student of physics, a sophisticated electronic instrument is also magic or an illusion because he cannot understand the level of science pertaining to that instrument. The uncertainty of Heisenberg should also be magic or an illusion in that case. All the great scientists believed in God, because of their lack of egoism and jealousy towards a greater concept. Therefore, you should convince anybody only through logical and scientific analysis. That alone, can bring out the true interpretation of all the universal scriptures; any other emotional or exploitative methods can never do that. Only then invite people to participate practically in this divine mission, which alone can please the Lord. My dear devotees! I love all of you from the deepest level of My heart. I also like to wash the feet of all of you, as Jesus did on His last day. I would like to wash the feet of all of you with My tears of love and gratefulness for your faith that you have shown on Me. Never fall into the clutches of egoism. Aspiration for fame is also a partial effect of egoism. People will praise you as Gurus. Immediately pass on all the credit to God and take the defects onto you. God will be pleased with you.

Asking Lord for Devotion Some people pray God to grant them with eternal devotion. You think that such people are greatest devotees. But I say that they are the cleverest. If the devotion is eternal, the subsequent protection from all the problems is inevitable. They show the climax of intelligence in asking such boon. They like to have the Railway engine which is linked with the whole train. In this boon, I am unable to understand one keen point. The devotion, development and maintenance of the devotion are responsibilities of the devotee only. God can never interfere in that. Will a girl ask a boy “Make me to love you”? It means that the love does not exist. Will the girl say “See that my love on you continues without failure”? It means her love is not real and fears in its failure. A real lover loves God spontaneously and retains it under any circumstances. The love should come from the side of the devotee. God cannot give the devotion so that a soul loves Him. Then it looks like a politician bringing public by paying them to clap during his lecture! God will not put His finger in devotion. Instead, God opposes your devotion to see its strength. God gives knowledge which is the generator of devotion like the fertilizer for the sprout from seed. The knowledge also acts as pesticide to kill the bacteria and worms which are the doubts. But the knowledge given by God is also in the form of general concept only. Satguru will speak about the importance and identification of the human incarnation, but will never say that He is the human incarnation. Devotion is based on personification. Krishna can say that one should find out the real form of God to worship. But He cannot say that He is the real form of the God and that He should be worshipped. He never told like this to anybody in His lifetime. Ofcourse, He revealed Himself to Arjuna, who was an exceptional devotee being His closest associate (Nara) during several previous births. Even to Arjuna, He said this only once, during the time of preaching the Gita, which was a necessary occasion. Even Jesus told that He and His father are one and the same. But He disclosed this to a very few deserving devotees only, who were as good as Arjuna. The devotion should be generated when the knowledge is complete. Similarly the answer in the examination should be generated if the study was perfect. If you are asking devotion from God, it is just like asking the answer from the teacher in the time of examination. If you get devotion and if it is proved real through service, the grace of God falls on you spontaneously. Similarly if your study is perfect, you must get the correct answer and if it is proved correct in the valuation, the degree falls on you. Some people always aim at the attainment of eternal bliss as the final goal of all the spiritual effort. In such case, they are not the real spiritual people. If ordinary human beings are like small thieves, they are the big robbers. An ordinary person desires for a materialistic boon, which is certainly temporary and gives a drop of bliss. But this fellow wants the entire ocean of bliss. The Advaitin wants to be God so that he can enjoy the eternal bliss. He does not mind to leave the Lordship on the world. He knows that anything is only aimed to get bliss. He says that he is simple awareness. But the simple awareness is not having bliss. In the meditation, simple awareness without any thought is possible. Such state is giving peace but not the bliss. Only the service to God is giving the real and eternal bliss. But the service of God is full of sacrifices which are like thorns in the path. In such sacrifice also, the bliss continues in the heart of a real devotee. Such divine service is the aim of all the spiritual efforts and not the bliss which is the climax of selfishness.