dattaswami

How to control bad qualities. It is foolish to think to get rid of the bad qualities completely. By spiritual efforts, you can control these bad qualities (Rajas and Tamas) to certain extent and this is also essential because uncontrolled bad qualities disturb the balance of the society. In such case God will punish them. Control is possible but complete eradication is impossible in the case of these bad qualities. Control is boasted as eradication. Therefore, after achieving the control by the detachment from the worldly bonds, these qualities remaining in the soul should be diverted towards the Lord. The Lord is pleased by the basic love existing in these qualities. The selfless love is like sweet milk and the bad quality is like a ceramic cup. The selfish love is like salt water and the good quality is like a golden cup. The milk is paid but not the golden cup. The sage Shuka says that if the devotion exists, the nature of the quality is not important at all. This was the answer given by the sage to Parikshit in this context (Jarabuddhyapi…., Kimutadhokshajapriyah…Bhagavatam). Here you must be very careful to understand that the already existing sin is diverted by the Lord and the Lord did not generate the sin. Wealth from waste means extraction of wealth from the existing waste. It does not mean that to extract wealth, waste must be created! Similarly, you can explain the non-vegetarian food of Jesus. People cannot be controlled to avoid the non-vegetarian food. It is already existing which is uncontrollable. Jesus tried to divert this at least towards the God. He advised that one should thank God for providing such non-vegetarian food instead of taking it directly. He showed the dry fish to God with gratefulness. Veda says that you should offer the flesh of the killed animal to God in the sacrifice (Yajna). This does not mean that Veda is asking you to kill the animal. Anyway you are going to kill the animal to eat it and you cannot be controlled under any circumstances. In such case, Veda says that you should offer the flesh to God and eat it. Shankara says that the scripture is based on the existing nature of the human being and is not generating the same nature (Jnapakam Natu Karakam). Even if Krishna did not exist, such nature is existing in Kali Yuga. Even if Jesus did not exist, such non-vegetarian habit exists in the world. God comes through a medium having the same common qualities of human beings to be close with them. By such common qualities, the Lord encourages them also to have a straight path to God from their qualities without any change. If such encouragement is not given, the sinners will go deeply in the path of sins only, since the path to God is opposite to the sin (Apichet Sa Duracharah, Apichedasi Papebhyah, Sarva Dharman –Gita). At the Lotus Feet of His Holiness Sri Dattaswami Anil Antony www.universal-spirituality.org Universal Spirituality for World Peace antonyanil@universal-spirituality.org

Even mental feeling is sin The sin comes by the feeling itself. Mind is the main reason of the sin. The inert body without mind cannot have the sin. Even though Sita was touched by Ravana through body, she was sinless as per the certificate given by the Fire god. Renuka was punished for her mental sin even though her body did not even touch the other person. In such case, can anyone say frankly that he or she is not a sinner at anytime of the life? I have to be very frank because the case that you have moved is very delicate and is of critical nature. I have to expose the facts of this case from all angles without any shy. At the Lotus Feet of His Holiness Sri Dattaswami Anil Antony www.universal-spirituality.org Universal Spirituality for World Peace antonyanil@universal-spirituality.org

Krishna Vs Jesus Christianity is represented by Jesus only. But Hinduism is represented by various forms of God like Rama, Shiva etc. Rama is equal to Jesus in all aspects. You can still remain in Hinduism by worshiping Lord Rama. Shankara was also a bachelor and preacher like Jesus. Some say that Jesus also was married. In such case Rama is like Jesus. If you say that Krishna was a sinner by dancing with Gopikas and for His illegal affairs with them, Jesus also should be a sinner because He was a non-vegetarian. The ethical scriptures say that killing a living creature is the greatest sin (Ahimsa Paramo Dharmah). If you compare these two sins, the latter is more severe. Killing a living being by force is equal to rape which is also done by force. Krishna did not rape Gopikas, where as a non-vegetarian kills the living being by force. The person who eats the flesh of a killed living being is equal to the killer in sharing the sin because the killer is killing for the sake of the eater only (Karta Karayita Chaiva…). Kapalikas eat the flesh of a living being which dies in natural way and thus there is no sin in it. I am not criticizing Jesus because Rama was also a non-vegetarian. Just for a counter argument only, I have raised this issue, because criticizing Jesus means criticism of God or Krishna or Rama only. You have to analyze properly to find out the truth in such cases of human incarnations of the Lord. At the Lotus Feet of His Holiness Sri Dattaswami Anil Antony www.universal-spirituality.org Universal Spirituality for World Peace antonyanil@universal-spirituality.org

Krishna and Jesus are like two shirts of the same person with different colours. If you are converting your religion just for the sake of your liking to Jesus, there is no objection, because liking has no reason. But if your conversion is based on repulsion to Krishna, I will not agree to it. Similarly, if a Christian is converted to become Hindu due to liking on Krishna, I have no objection. But his conversion should not be due to repulsion to Jesus. Same God exists in Krishna and Jesus. Krishna and Jesus are like two shirts of the same person with different colours. At the Lotus Feet of His Holiness Sri Dattaswami Anil Antony www.universal-spirituality.org Universal Spirituality for World Peace antonyanil@universal-spirituality.org

Concept of God and Hell People think that Nivrutti (Loving practical serive to Lord in Human form) is different from Pravrutti( Path of Justice). Politicians feel that they are doing the practical service to humanity. They feel that the spiritual preachers are confined to some theoretical concepts like God, hell, heaven etc. This is the climax of their foolishness. Without Nivrutti, the Pravrutti will crumble into pieces. In India, today, if some justice is still remaining, the only reason is the concept of God and hell. Lord Krishna preached Bhagavat Gita in the war, which is a fight to change the bad government (Kauravas) to good government (Pandavas). The main issue is only political administration of the country. The very purpose of Gita is only make Arjuna to fight for Pravrutti only. Gita goes to the deep foundation of Pravrutti, which is Nivrutti only. Similarly, Jesus was always speaking of Kingdom of God every where. People misunderstood that He was planning to change the Roman Government by a new Government. But, His issue was not limited to a particular Government of a country. He was aiming at the total reformation of the Governments of all the countries. The Bible (Nivrutti) thus stands as a deep foundation for the political administration (Pravrutti). At the Lotus Feet of His Holiness Sri Dattaswami Anil Antony www.universal-spirituality.org Universal Spirituality for World Peace antonyanil@universal-spirituality.org

Rebirth--? The same God gave the same spiritual knowledge in all religions. If we see the concept in Hinduism about re-birth, it is misinterpreted, twisted and polluted. The concept of Christianity and Islam must exist in Hinduism also since the same God gave the same spiritual knowledge in all religions. God cannot speak some thing in two religions and some thing else in one religion. Therefore, the same concept of Christianity and Islam existed in Hinduism originally. God is omni-potent, which means that He has the power to violate the rule. God can violate the rule but He violates only in a few exceptional cases. The omni-potency of God is also accepted in Christianity and Islam. If they say that the rule is never violated, it means that God is not omni-potent. We can only say that the rule is not misused but is violated in a very few deserving cases only. Therefore, the word Durlabham (almost impossible) is used instead of using Asambhavam (strictly impossible) in the case of re-human birth in Hinduism. Therefore, even in this point there is no difference between the three religions. But Hindus extended the violation power of God to every case of human being. Such extension of the point in Hinduism is wrong. At the same time the impossibility of violation of the rule is also wrong in Christianity and Islam. Those two religions were benefited by such misinterpretation that the rule can never be violated. Such misunderstanding induced real and complete fear in them. But in Hinduism, the misunderstanding of the rule of violation harmed the people. The benefit and damage were both in Pravrutti (Path of Justice) and Nivrutti (Loving service to Lord in human form with out any desires) simultaneously. If you take Pravrutti, India is not developed where as the countries of other two religions have developed tremendously. If you take Nivrutti also, Christians and Muslims are very serious about their spiritual efforts. But Hindus are very lenient. Hindus think that there is always human rebirth for every soul and so the chance is possible constantly. If you see the life of Shirdi Sai Baba, He was scolding a snake and frog by uttering their human names of the previous birth. This shows that the human rebirth for every soul is not sure. The permanent hell of the other two religions was thought as the pe

The present alive human incarnation is the presiding deity of this earth The energetic forms like Vishnu, Shiva etc., are the presiding deities of the corresponding upper worlds. Similarly, the present alive human incarnation is the presiding deity of this earth in the corresponding human generation. The energetic forms are permanent and are the various forms of God, which correspond to the souls that entered those worlds. Thus, God exists simultaneously in various energetic forms in the upper world. In the human incarnation the human body is always temporary since the five elements in the body try to separate. According to science also this is proved because the body is in higher state of free energy compared to the native state of the five elements. But, in a generation of humanity, God can exist in various human forms simultaneously in various regions or in the same region with different programs. Shri Shiridi Sai Baba and Sri Akkolkot Maharaj (Previous Human Incarnations) existed in the same region and in the same time with slight difference in their programs. Depending on the various levels of the spiritual aspirants, the liberated souls also exist in various human forms to support the main program of God.

Whether Devotees of ISKON are the best devotees Those devotees are really the best cream because they have realized the concept of human incarnation which is Krishna. They are not much worried about the energetic forms like Narayana which are meaningful only with respect to the souls of the upper world. But from another angle they are in the lowest state. The practical aspect of worship is service, which alone has the divine fruit. The service requires a living being and not inert object. The living being can only receive the service rendered by you. These devotees are serving the idols and photos of Krishna which are inert. These idols and photos serve the purpose of development of theoretical devotion in yourself which is related to mind. But mere theoretical devotion without practical aspect is useless. The theoretical devotion should result in the practical devotion and the fruit is always associated with the practical devotion only. The knowledge and devotion are like the degree and the appointment order achieved by your self. But both these cannot get you the salary unless you work in the job. The salary is given at the end of the month for the work you have done in that month. The salary is not given to your degree or to the appointment order. The degree and the order help you to procure the work. The water and fertilizer help the plant to grow and give the fruit. The fruit is associated to the plant directly and not to the water or fertilizer. Thus, knowledge (Jnana Yoga) and devotion (Bhakti Yoga) help the achievement of the state of service (Karma Yoga). Only Karma (Work) can get the fruit directly. These devotees are not serving the present human incarnation and therefore all their service done to the statues or photos becomes waste. Some undeserving people behind the statues or photos are benefited by such service. You can worship the devotees and preachers of this cult and in such case Krishna is more pleased. The Advaitin is wrong in extending the concept of human incarnation to every human being. In this angle the Iskcon devotee is better than Advaitin because such devotee has confined this concept to a specific human being like Krishna. But when the concept of service to God comes, the Advaitin looks better than that devotee. The Advaitin is serving himself assuming that he is God. At least the living being (Advaitin himself) is served, which really receives the service. Lord Krishna Himself stated that He will come down whenever it is necessary (Yadayadahi….Gita). In such case, why these devotees are confining to the past Krishna only and why they are not searching for the present human incarnation? Do they accept Rama also as another incarnation of Krishna or not? They accept Rama as another human incarnation. It means more than one human incarnation of Krishna is accepted. Then, why not accept some other human incarnations especially when Krishna told that He will come again and again whenever required? In Gita, Krishna told that He should be worshipped. Since Krishna was preaching Gita to Arjuna, for Arjuna, Krishna was the human incarnation of that time. For other human beings belonging to other generations, Krishna means the human incarnation that is present in each generation. At the Lotus Feet of His Holiness Sri Dattaswami Anil Antony www.universal-spirituality.org Universal Spirituality for World Peace antonyanil@universal-spirituality.org

Dear Luke; I am a mere soul only. A soul can never judge himself, the judgement should from the Lord. The Lord comes in human form and He knows everybodies status. Only thing is that, one must be sincere in his spiritual effort to please Lord. Our level let Him decide, let us keep do what He tell us...

Do not ask any thing from God which is either related to present or future. When you ask some thing in present or some thing in the future, it clearly means that you are reminding Him about the corresponding reaction that is to be immediately implemented in the need. This indirectly means that God is not alert as you are. This is insulting God. Due to such sin the requirement is not answered. If you are asking to protect yourself or somebody else, it indirectly means that He is not aware of the things to be done due to the irresponsibility and this also indicates that He is not as kind as yourself. It means that God has potency to help but not kind enough to render the help. On contrary, it also means that you lack unfortunately the potency. It means if you fortunately have the potency you could have immediately responded and helped. Therefore, when ever you ask for anything it clearly means indirectly that God has some type of defect, which does not exist in your case. When you ask Him to fulfill the desire it looks as if that your desire is constitutionally justified. But God is not positively reacting due to either lack of positive response immediately or due to lack of knowledge of the constitution or due to lack of kindness to help the needy. All these points are very very subtle. But God is the most subtle and therefore, the knowledge of this analysis will certainly restrict you from asking any fulfillment of your desire. Never bring present and future before God. Confine to the past always before God. Look back at your past life. Hundreds of incidents are there where you were helped by God. Even if you dispose some incidents through the incidental probability of success or through the efficiency of your efforts, certainly there are plenty of instances in which the help from God is clearly evident. At least remember those few incidents and express your gratefulness along praise to God for His kind help that was already done. The word Krutajnata means remembering the past help. Kruta means the past help done. Jna means identifying it by analysis. If you confine to praying the Lord and thanking Him always about the past helps from Him, the Lord will be immensely pleased. Then the present and future are spontaneously taken care of by the God. But do not adopt this technique with a mind that you will be helped by God in the present and in the future by following this procedure! You should really follow this path and you should really forget the present and the future. When large number of people came to hear the message from Jesus, they were hungry by the noon. This point was brought to the notice of Jesus. He never asked God to provide food for those hungry people who came to hear God’s word. Had He asked for that, He would have insulted God. God knows His responsibility very well towards the devotees who came there to hear about Him. God has the power to fulfill His responsibility even in the last fraction of second. Had Jesus told God to bless the devotees with food, it clearly means that God is not as kind as Jesus. Jesus never asked for any thing. He came to know that there were four breads. He took them and showed to sky. He thanked God for providing those four pieces of bread. Immediately the present was responded and the four breads became four thousand breads. This application of analysis is limited to Nivrutti only. You should not extend this to Pravrutti. When you are hungry you have to beg the other souls because they are not omniscient to know that you are hungry. Pravrutti and Nivrutti should never be mixed.

Who asked you to love God? Did God ever ask you to love Him? He has created equal facilities for all the souls including atheists. He has created a cycle of deeds (karma chakra), which is the legal constitution and according to it, you will receive your rightful results. He has not done any injustice to you for not loving Him. Sometimes, I hear some people saying, “I have no time to think of God. I do not bother about God.” Well. God is also not bothered about you either. If you care a pin for God, He will not care even a millionth pin for you, because in His eyes, this entire earth is not equal even to a pin-tip. It is you, who is approaching God every time for some favor. It is you, who is always bothering Him to break the legal way and protect you. Yes. He does it. The kindest Lord pays [suffers] for your sins through His human form and protects both you and justice simultaneously. For doing that, He wants your pure and real love. You may plead that you do not have that much pure and real love. No. No. No. You have it and you show it to your children. Give at least a drop of it, proving that you really love God at least a bit; even though not equal to your great child. At least stop this hypocritical love and stop asking Him for any favor. Follow the path of justice and if you can still love Him without aspiring for any favour from Him, then that is real love or devotion. You love your child, even if he or she beats you. Don’t say that pure love is impossible. It is impossible only in the case of others, including God. First start loving and serving people who are other than your family, to get training in that path. At least do not grab the money of other people by cheating. Business is also a licensed way of cheating others. Even if you are not loving and serving others, at least do not grab their hard earned money by corruption. First, stop harming others. Then, start loving others. Then, start serving others. Now you are trained well and you are ready to love and serve God like Shaktuprastha. Money is the root knot. It catches your throat. Therefore the Veda says “Dhanena tyagenaikena…” which means that sacrifice of money alone decides your love for God. Real love can be expressed only by [the sacrifice of] money and work (karma sanyasa and karma phala tyaga). Without these two, other ways are only hypocritical. When these two also exist, the other ways get life. Otherwise, they are just dead items. ‘Guna’ is theory. ‘Karma’ is practice. Theory should lead to practice. Otherwise, mere theory is only hypocrisy. The four castes in spiritual path are decided by theory and practice only (guna karma vibhagashah—Gita). Shaktuprastha is the real Brahmana (Brahma Jnani), who sacrificed all the fruit of his work for God. Dharmaraja is a kshatriya, who could only do partial sacrifice of wealth in doing the Ashvamedha. Dhritarashtra is a Vaishya, who has good theory but is zero in practice. He recognized Lord Krishna but did not give even five villages, even though the Lord was asking. He had full power to give but nicely escaped by pleading his false incapability in going against his son. Duryodhana is a Shudra, who did not even recognise the Lord and was greedy for the wealth of even his own brothers. Thus caste is not by birth, but it is by the qualities and practice (guna karma). Swami Dayananda, who was also a human incarnation preached about this valuable concept. Every great preacher is an incarnation of God because the Gita says the same (Yadyat vibhutimat…). Buddha kept silent about God. This means that God is beyond words, mind and logic as said in the Veda. Buddha means the Buddhi or Jnana Yoga that speaks about the absolute God. Thus He is the greatest incarnation of God. If one thinks of Him as an atheist, there can be no greater fool. Mohammed showed the formless medium in which God exists, which is energy and this is presented as awareness by Shankara, because basically energy and awareness are one and the same. A prophet itself means a human incarnation. A prophet carries the message of God. The divine knowledge is in Him. Is He not greater than other human beings? The message of divine knowledge is the characteristic of God (Satyam Jnanam—Veda) and so we say God is in Him. Why do you deny it, when God is omnipresent? Then every human being should give the same message of God, since God is omnipresent. But why did Mohammed alone give it? [it is] because the power of God or knowledge of God was in Him alone. Then the power of God, in the form of knowledge is not omnipresent. In any case, you have to accept that either God or His power was present only in Prophet Mohammed. That is what a human incarnation is. You are fighting with us, without analysing the concept of the human incarnation. Thus Buddha, Mohammed and Shankara have preached the single phase [same concept], which was essential to the level of the followers at that time. The concept of a human incarnation was well established by Krishna and Jesus. You can find all three branches of Hinduism (Advaita, Vishishtha Advaita, Dvaita) in Christianity because Jesus said that He and God are one and the same (Advaita), that He is the son of God (Visishta Advaita) and that He is the messenger of God (Dvaita). The required stage of philosophy was expressed according to the stage of the people of that time. Just now, Lakshman (Mumbai) told Me that Surya told him that at least once in a life time, one should do the total sacrifice to the Lord. But Surya has already done that. One day he removed all his earnings which were in the name of his son and deposited them in the bank account of our Trust. His wife, who is a good devotee of Me, also quarreled with him for that act. He did not even inform Me about his sacrifice! Only later on, it was known from his wife. Is he not Shaktuprastha really? Unfortunately, I am not the Lord in human form. Had I been the Lord, I would have sent him to Brahma Loka. At least, I pray to the Lord to give him Brahma Loka, when he leaves his gross body in course of time as per the rules of nature. Do not bother that you are unable to practice the highest truth today itself. At least accept the truth in theory. That first step is sufficient. One day or the other, either in this life or in some future life (human life is a*sured for any one who tries constantly) you will succeed. If you accept theoretically, you have put your foot on the first step of right path. Journey and achievement of goal are inevitable. It is only a matter of time. But if you deny the truth even theoretically, you are in the wrong path. You want immediate fruit and so you want to lower the goal. You want to sleep at 8 PM and want to become IAS officer. You want 40 marks as pa*sing marks! You think that you can get the 40 marks and pa*s. But My dear friend, if you keep 40 marks as goal, you will only get five or ten marks! Actually 100 is distinction and 40 is a pa*sing mark. But we have kept it as a secret and are saying that 100 is the pa*sing mark, so that you will certainly achieve 40 while trying for 100. This is called as ‘Arthavada’ (which means a statement created for a purpose) in the Veda. It means a spiritual secret like a business secret. When you only get five marks and feel discouraged by seeing the 100 mark goal, then in your case, to encourage you, we shall say that 40 is the pa*sing mark. Therefore, the Acharyas know how to close and open the secrecy of the truth according to the condition of the student. In some context, the truth has to be opened and in some other context, the truth has to be covered. This brought the difference in the preaching of the human incarnations, which was based on the difference in the stages of different people, they faced in their times. If you realize this practical problem you can easily realize that there is only one God in all the divine human incarnations.

A Spiritual Educational Complex Human incarnations of various types, such as described above, form a complex of various educational institutions. In this complex, there are different levels of institutions such as school, college and university. At each level the human incarnation represents the head of that institution. There is the headmaster for the school, a principal for the college and a chancellor for the university. Various types of assisting staff to assist all the three are also present. The three levels of institutions perform their duties within their limited circles. School level: Atheist becomes a believer An uneducated person is first admitted into a school. He then goes to a college and finally to a university. The uneducated person cannot enter the university directly. Similarly an atheist should first become a believer of God by seeing divine miracles. Converting atheists into believers is the main purpose of the first type of human incarnation. College level: Believer becomes a devotee After becoming a believer in God (theist), a person should become a devotee through different types of worship and devotional songs. The second type of human incarnation works for this. The above two types (school and college) of incarnations work for the purification of the mind of the person. Only when the mind is completely freed from jealousy and egoism, is it said to be completely purified. Prayers, worship and traditional practices promoted by the second type of human incarnation, purify the mind. Thus the person becomes eligible for Jnana Yoga or the Knowledge of God. Lord Shankara has said that the traditional practices bring about the purification of mind, which makes one eligible for receiving Jnana Yoga. University level: Devotee becomes a Jnani At the university level, the devotee becomes a Jnani (possessor of knowledge). Having gained the eligibility to acquire this knowledge, he works to get established in this knowledge, in this step. This third level is the most important level. However if the mind is not completely purified, Jnana Yoga cannot be achieved. Once the person is established in Jnana Yoga, he is liberated. When you have this Jnana Yoga, you will be astonished as said in the Gita (Ascharyavath pasyathi…). The third incarnation reveals the whole true knowledge in order to convert the devotee to a Jnani. This third incarnation is called the Pari Poorna Tamavataram. The words ‘Pari’ and ‘Tama’ both indicate the superlative degree. The use of a double superlative degree is to emphasize that there can be no greater Avatara or human incarnation than this. He is God who is fully revealed. He says vehemently that He is God. Lord Krishna is the highest and fullest incarnation (Pari Poorna Tamavataram). Only He can reveal the true knowledge, which can open all the knots of your heart. All your doubts are cleared with this knowledge. Your heart is immersed in the ocean of Bliss. This Avatara reveals Jnana Yoga. At the Lotus Feet of His Holiness Sri Dattaswami Anil Antony www.universal-spirituality.org Universal Spirituality for World Peace antonyanil@universal-spirituality.org

Who asked you to love God? Did God ever ask you to love Him? He has created equal facilities for all the souls including atheists. He has created a cycle of deeds (karma chakra), which is the legal constitution and according to it, you will receive your rightful results. He has not done any injustice to you for not loving Him. Sometimes, I hear some people saying, “I have no time to think of God. I do not bother about God.” Well. God is also not bothered about you either. If you care a pin for God, He will not care even a millionth pin for you, because in His eyes, this entire earth is not equal even to a pin-tip. It is you, who is approaching God every time for some favor. It is you, who is always bothering Him to break the legal way and protect you. Yes. He does it. The kindest Lord pays [suffers] for your sins through His human form and protects both you and justice simultaneously. For doing that, He wants your pure and real love. You may plead that you do not have that much pure and real love. No. No. No. You have it and you show it to your children. Give at least a drop of it, proving that you really love God at least a bit; even though not equal to your great child. At least stop this hypocritical love and stop asking Him for any favor. Follow the path of justice and if you can still love Him without aspiring for any favour from Him, then that is real love or devotion. You love your child, even if he or she beats you. Don’t say that pure love is impossible. It is impossible only in the case of others, including God. First start loving and serving people who are other than your family, to get training in that path. At least do not grab the money of other people by cheating. Business is also a licensed way of cheating others. Even if you are not loving and serving others, at least do not grab their hard earned money by corruption. First, stop harming others. Then, start loving others. Then, start serving others. Now you are trained well and you are ready to love and serve God like Shaktuprastha. Money is the root knot. It catches your throat. Therefore the Veda says “Dhanena tyagenaikena…” which means that sacrifice of money alone decides your love for God. Real love can be expressed only by [the sacrifice of] money and work (karma sanyasa and karma phala tyaga). Without these two, other ways are only hypocritical. When these two also exist, the other ways get life. Otherwise, they are just dead items. ‘Guna’ is theory. ‘Karma’ is practice. Theory should lead to practice. Otherwise, mere theory is only hypocrisy. The four castes in spiritual path are decided by theory and practice only (guna karma vibhagashah—Gita). Shaktuprastha is the real Brahmana (Brahma Jnani), who sacrificed all the fruit of his work for God. Dharmaraja is a kshatriya, who could only do partial sacrifice of wealth in doing the Ashvamedha. Dhritarashtra is a Vaishya, who has good theory but is zero in practice. He recognized Lord Krishna but did not give even five villages, even though the Lord was asking. He had full power to give but nicely escaped by pleading his false incapability in going against his son. Duryodhana is a Shudra, who did not even recognise the Lord and was greedy for the wealth of even his own brothers. Thus caste is not by birth, but it is by the qualities and practice (guna karma). Swami Dayananda, who was also a human incarnation preached about this valuable concept. Every great preacher is an incarnation of God because the Gita says the same (Yadyat vibhutimat…). Buddha kept silent about God. This means that God is beyond words, mind and logic as said in the Veda. Buddha means the Buddhi or Jnana Yoga that speaks about the absolute God. Thus He is the greatest incarnation of God. If one thinks of Him as an atheist, there can be no greater fool. Mohammed showed the formless medium in which God exists, which is energy and this is presented as awareness by Shankara, because basically energy and awareness are one and the same. A prophet itself means a human incarnation. A prophet carries the message of God. The divine knowledge is in Him. Is He not greater than other human beings? The message of divine knowledge is the characteristic of God (Satyam Jnanam—Veda) and so we say God is in Him. Why do you deny it, when God is omnipresent? Then every human being should give the same message of God, since God is omnipresent. But why did Mohammed alone give it? [it is] because the power of God or knowledge of God was in Him alone. Then the power of God, in the form of knowledge is not omnipresent. In any case, you have to accept that either God or His power was present only in Prophet Mohammed. That is what a human incarnation is. You are fighting with us, without analysing the concept of the human incarnation. Thus Buddha, Mohammed and Shankara have preached the single phase [same concept], which was essential to the level of the followers at that time. The concept of a human incarnation was well established by Krishna and Jesus. You can find all three branches of Hinduism (Advaita, Vishishtha Advaita, Dvaita) in Christianity because Jesus said that He and God are one and the same (Advaita), that He is the son of God (Visishta Advaita) and that He is the messenger of God (Dvaita). The required stage of philosophy was expressed according to the stage of the people of that time. Just now, Lakshman (Mumbai) told Me that Surya told him that at least once in a life time, one should do the total sacrifice to the Lord. But Surya has already done that. One day he removed all his earnings which were in the name of his son and deposited them in the bank account of our Trust. His wife, who is a good devotee of Me, also quarreled with him for that act. He did not even inform Me about his sacrifice! Only later on, it was known from his wife. Is he not Shaktuprastha really? Unfortunately, I am not the Lord in human form. Had I been the Lord, I would have sent him to Brahma Loka. At least, I pray to the Lord to give him Brahma Loka, when he leaves his gross body in course of time as per the rules of nature. Do not bother that you are unable to practice the highest truth today itself. At least accept the truth in theory. That first step is sufficient. One day or the other, either in this life or in some future life (human life is a*sured for any one who tries constantly) you will succeed. If you accept theoretically, you have put your foot on the first step of right path. Journey and achievement of goal are inevitable. It is only a matter of time. But if you deny the truth even theoretically, you are in the wrong path. You want immediate fruit and so you want to lower the goal. You want to sleep at 8 PM and want to become IAS officer. You want 40 marks as pa*sing marks! You think that you can get the 40 marks and pa*s. But My dear friend, if you keep 40 marks as goal, you will only get five or ten marks! Actually 100 is distinction and 40 is a pa*sing mark. But we have kept it as a secret and are saying that 100 is the pa*sing mark, so that you will certainly achieve 40 while trying for 100. This is called as ‘Arthavada’ (which means a statement created for a purpose) in the Veda. It means a spiritual secret like a business secret. When you only get five marks and feel discouraged by seeing the 100 mark goal, then in your case, to encourage you, we shall say that 40 is the pa*sing mark. Therefore, the Acharyas know how to close and open the secrecy of the truth according to the condition of the student. In some context, the truth has to be opened and in some other context, the truth has to be covered. This brought the difference in the preaching of the human incarnations, which was based on the difference in the stages of different people, they faced in their times. If you realize this practical problem you can easily realize that there is only one God in all the divine human incarnations.

The cycle between Hell , Earth , Heaven and Abode of God The present devotees and the present spiritual preachers are concentrating on happiness in this life which is heaven on the earth. They are concentrating on avoiding the misery (disturbance-causing factors) which is the hell on the earth. The justice gives temporary happiness and injustice gives temporary misery. Thus, this cycle is between hell, earth and heaven only (Pravrutti) and the abode of God (Nivrutti) is above this cycle. The self realization is only a sedative drug which leads to the birth of inert stones in the future, provided one stops there only. The happiness in the present life and avoiding disturbance to protect the peace of the life is only a temporary goal. The soul cannot protect itself in the upper world as the savior from the hell. Only God can protect you after this life and not your soul which is yourself only. The technique of peaceful living on this earth is certainly desirable. But it should be only an intermediate step and should not be the final goal of the life. The path of self realization gives utmost importance to the intermediate step only but is not stressing on the final goal. The comforts during the train journey are certainly important for the candidate who is attending the interview in the next station. The peaceful journey gives mental freshness which is supposed to help the performance of the candidate in the interview. But the comforts in the journey should not be the final goal. He should concentrate on the material concerned to the subject of interview while traveling in the train. He should allot a little time for looking to the comforts in the journey. But he should not spend all the time of journey in looking for the comforts only. He should not sit leisurely or sleep in the train after getting the comforts. He should concentrate on the material. Similarly after getting the peace by self realization, one should concentrate on God. You cannot do anything in the upper world to avoid the disturbance from the hell. The upper world is strictly meant for enjoying the results only (Bhoga Loka). The present human life is only chance on this earth (Karma Loka). The effort you put on this earth in this human life gives the peace here and protection in the upper world. The effort is limited only to this earth. If you follow Nivrutti directly without the self realization, it gives peace in this life and also protection in the upper world. Instead, you can follow the self realization and get peace in this life and the subsequent Nivrutti followed here will give the protection in the upper world. Whatever may be the way, the effort is limited to this life on this earth only and therefore this earth is called as Karma Loka. If you limit to self realization only, the peace in this life is certainly achieved. But what about the fruit of protection in the upper world, since no effort for it can be done in the upper world? The present preachers are drowning you in the upper world. At the Lotus Feet of His Holiness Sri Dattaswami Anil Antony www.universal-spirituality.org Universal Spirituality for World Peace antonyanil@universal-spirituality.org

Conditional Love Vs Unconditional Love The devotion is of two types, conditional and unconditional. The former is bound by area and time. Within the limits of certain area only God is honored. If God crosses those limits God is rejected. Therefore, for the devotee the limits of the area happen to be God, since those limits are ultimate for the devotee. God also follows the same rule and cannot help the devotee beyond those limits. In such case God follows the strict rules of the cycle of deeds (Karma Chakra) and acts according to justice and injustice. At the maximum, God may do some rearrangements like pre-poning of good fruits with reduced value and post-poning bad fruits with increased interest. In this case God will not transfer your sins on to Him because the conditional devotion is basically unreal. In the conditional devotion since the boundary of the area is ultimate God, God is no more God. Therefore, the approach to God is false devotion. It is time bound since the devotion comes only in difficult times. The unconditional devotion is not limited by area and time. The devotion is real crossing all the limits of areas and time. The Lord is the writer of the constitution and He knows whom to punish. Some times you see punishment of innocent person. You think that the injustice is ruling. In the kingdom of God only the justice is the ruler by the grace of God. When the innocent is punished, the punishment was of some bad deed done by him previously and the date of the punishment coincided with the present incident accidentally. The Lord will react in the same way as we act (Ye Yatha Mam…Gita). If our devotion is one kg of Gold, He will pay us its cost. If our devotion is hundred grams gold, He will pay us one tenth of the cost of the gold. But if our devotion is only bronze, even if it is one kg the cost of gold cannot be paid. Bronze is glittering like gold and it will have its own payment. The time bound devotion is totally unreal. We are using God only in difficulties as we use the fan in summer. In the winter fan is not needed. Of course, we use the fan in winter also for few minutes so that it will not corrode. Similarly, we pray God for a little time in the days of happiness also so that the touch with God is maintained. The intensity of the devotion in the times of happiness is definitely different from that in bad times. The devotion of Prahlada and Gopikas (Great Devotee of God)was having the same intensity in all the times. In such case only God suffers for the sake of devotee. All the suffering of Prahlada was taken by Lord and therefore Prahlada was always smiling during the torture. At the Lotus Feet of His Holiness Sri Dattaswami Anil Antony www.universal-spirituality.org Universal Spirituality for World Peace antonyanil@universal-spirituality.org

A Spiritual Educational Complex Human incarnations of various types, such as described above, form a complex of various educational institutions. In this complex, there are different levels of institutions such as school, college and university. At each level the human incarnation represents the head of that institution. There is the headmaster for the school, a principal for the college and a chancellor for the university. Various types of assisting staff to assist all the three are also present. The three levels of institutions perform their duties within their limited circles. School level: Atheist becomes a believer An uneducated person is first admitted into a school. He then goes to a college and finally to a university. The uneducated person cannot enter the university directly. Similarly an atheist should first become a believer of God by seeing divine miracles. Converting atheists into believers is the main purpose of the first type of human incarnation. College level: Believer becomes a devotee After becoming a believer in God (theist), a person should become a devotee through different types of worship and devotional songs. The second type of human incarnation works for this. The above two types (school and college) of incarnations work for the purification of the mind of the person. Only when the mind is completely freed from jealousy and egoism, is it said to be completely purified. Prayers, worship and traditional practices promoted by the second type of human incarnation, purify the mind. Thus the person becomes eligible for Jnana Yoga or the Knowledge of God. Lord Shankara has said that the traditional practices bring about the purification of mind, which makes one eligible for receiving Jnana Yoga. University level: Devotee becomes a Jnani At the university level, the devotee becomes a Jnani (possessor of knowledge). Having gained the eligibility to acquire this knowledge, he works to get established in this knowledge, in this step. This third level is the most important level. However if the mind is not completely purified, Jnana Yoga cannot be achieved. Once the person is established in Jnana Yoga, he is liberated. When you have this Jnana Yoga, you will be astonished as said in the Gita (Ascharyavath pasyathi…). The third incarnation reveals the whole true knowledge in order to convert the devotee to a Jnani. This third incarnation is called the Pari Poorna Tamavataram. The words ‘Pari’ and ‘Tama’ both indicate the superlative degree. The use of a double superlative degree is to emphasize that there can be no greater Avatara or human incarnation than this. He is God who is fully revealed. He says vehemently that He is God. Lord Krishna is the highest and fullest incarnation (Pari Poorna Tamavataram). Only He can reveal the true knowledge, which can open all the knots of your heart. All your doubts are cleared with this knowledge. Your heart is immersed in the ocean of Bliss. This Avatara reveals Jnana Yoga. At the Lotus Feet of His Holiness Sri Dattaswami Anil Antony www.universal-spirituality.org Universal Spirituality for World Peace antonyanil@universal-spirituality.org

The Spiritual Knowledge and Logic The spiritual knowledge or philosophy (Vedanta) is generally based on logic (Tarka). God is certainly above the logic and thus logic cannot touch Him (Naisha Tarkena -Veda). Nobody can show God by the indicating finger. Veda clearly states that God is beyond words, mind, intelligence and logic and the best way of explanation is silence about God. If that is so, there is no necessity of spiritual knowledge, because God cannot be known or imagined. Then what is the use of all these scriptures? Why are there so many discussions and debates? Lord Yama says in Veda that angels and sages are still discussing about God and have concluded that God is unknowable. Here unknowable means unimaginable even to the logic. They have not conducted such long discussions to know simply that God is unknowable because it is not the object as my friend says! If God is said to be unimaginable, what is the subject of discussions? The answer is that the logic used in long discussions is not about God but about the Non-God entities (items of creation). Certainly, we cannot know God by logic or by any other means, but we can use the logic to reject a Non-God item projected as God. When you say that awareness is God, we will use the logic and see whether awareness is an item of creation. If it is an item of creation, certainly it can be analyzed by logic. If logic fails to analyze it, certainly we will accept it as God. Similarly we shall apply the logic to several entities rejected as God and see whether any item is beyond logic. The logic is the analytical faculty supported by practical examples, which stands as experimental verification. The ancient Indian logic was developed based on practical examples like mud pot etc. The advancement in logic took place from time to time and the logic was more and more sharpened. The authoritative parameters (Pramanas) have improved in number and therefore the schools of Nyaya, Vaiseshika and Vedanta differed in the subject of logic. The number of Pramanas increased from 2 to 4 and finally became 6 in Vedanta. This shows the improvement of logic in course of time. Today science is the most advanced logic since the experimental verification was improved. Therefore if I am explaining the philosophy based on science, it means that the philosophy is more and more clear due to the advanced logic. I told you already that the logic (science) is only useful to refuse any item of creation as not God. The creator cannot be any item of the creation. If creator becomes creation, there must be some other creator for this creator to become the creation. Ad-infinitum (Anavastha) results. Science disproved some conclusions of the earlier logic and this should not be misunderstood as refusing God. God is in no way touched because the earlier logic also was dealing with only the analysis of created items. Tarka means the analysis of the items of creation, which are indicated and understood by their corresponding names or words (Tarkyante Padarthah Asminniti….). God is beyond all the words and cannot be the understood meaning of any word and therefore, logic cannot touch God. At the Lotus Feet of His Holiness Sri Dattaswami Anil Antony www.universal-spirituality.org Universal Spirituality for World Peace antonyanil@universal-spirituality.org

Fate of a soul It is a misunderstanding that the life history of every soul is written by God or destiny. God is certainly the creator of this whole world like the builder of the stage and the supplier of dress for a drama. He is responsible up to this level only. The story, dialogues and actions are written by the created self only. The self is pure awareness and is called as causal body, but is composed of several types of vibrations which are the feelings or thoughts or qualities. The various types result due to various mixing proportions of Sattvam, Rajas and Tamas. Some of these thoughts have become very strong since from several millions of births. Such solidified thoughts are like hard diamonds. The bundle of such diamonds is called as the subtle body. The soul writes its own story of drama based on the directions of these diamonds (Samskaras or Vasanas). Thus, in that way, these diamonds can be treated as destiny. But this destiny has nothing to do with God. The soul itself created its own destiny. Therefore, the theme of the drama will be uniform in any number of births of that soul. How to change these diamonds? You can change the destiny. The only way is to cut these diamonds by divine diamonds which come out from the preaching of divine knowledge by God through human form called as Satguru. Gita says clearly that God has not created anything and only the nature of the soul, which is bundle of these diamonds, is deciding the theme of the life of any soul here (Svabhavastu Pravartate). When God enters this world in human form, then only God writes His own program which is the story of His divine play. Gita says that if you recognize such human incarnation and His divine mission, you will be liberated through your participation (Janama Karmacha Me Divyam…). At the Lotus Feet of His Holiness Sri Dattaswami Anil Antony www.universal-spirituality.org Universal Spirituality for World Peace antonyanil@universal-spirituality.org

Realisation Realization is the stage of determination in the knowledge. The liberation is its practical consequence. The realization should be based on the right knowledge so that the liberation is really attained as the immediate consequence of the right knowledge. Suppose you are bound by a rope. Suppose you find a knife very near to you, which can be taken by your mouth and the rope can be cut. Such right knowledge gives you the liberation. The determination to use the knife leads to implementation and the fruit is liberation. Suppose the knife has no sharpness. In such case the determination, implementation cannot give the result. Suppose the knife is just made of a piece of pad, then also no liberation is possible. Thus if the right knowledge is not intensive or if the knowledge is twisted and wrong no liberation is possible. Therefore the most important thing for liberation is not the realization only but it should be the right intensive knowledge given by the Satguru. At the Lotus Feet of His Holiness Sri Dattaswami Anil Antony www.universal-spirituality.org Universal Spirituality for World Peace antonyanil@universal-spirituality.org

1) What is the aim of the birth of every soul? A) A soul is the part of creation. Veda says that the world is created for the entertainment of God only. Therefore, every soul should realize that its existence and life are for the pleasure of God only and not for the pleasure of one’s own self or his family. 2) Can we take all the human beings to be born with some purpose? A) As long as the human being thinks that the birth and the life is meant for the pleasure of one’s own self or its family, till then the life has no purpose. The reason is that as told above. The real aim of life is only to please the Lord. Therefore, the life of such human being which thinks that the ultimate aim is only to please the Lord alone has the purpose of birth. 3) What are the duties of the human being? A) The only duty of human being is the service to Lord. But, for the service, the maintenance of the body and family is essential. Therefore, the duties related to such maintenance are also part and parcel of the main divine duty. 4) What is the reason for human incarnation? A) The main purpose of the human incarnation is to clarify the doubts of the devotees in the spiritual knowledge. Apart from this, vision, touch, conversation and co-living are the four fortunes that are the available to the devotees. To punish evil forces and protect the devotees, His power is able to do it. Mainly the human incarnation is only to preach the spiritual knowledge. Therefore, the incarnations like fish, pig etc., are only forms of His power. Vamana, Parasurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha etc., are mainly for the preaching only. 5) How the family should behave to please the Lord? A) If the entire family believes the human incarnation, it will be possible to worship the Lord in human form. Since in your question the pleasure of the God is mentioned, we can observe the pleasure for our service only in the human form the Lord. In worship of idols or in the worship of formless God there is no proof of the pleasure of God that can be noted by us. Therefore, in this answer I had to limit to the human incarnation only. At least you can serve the beggars and note happiness on their faces. You will get heaven for the service though for a temporary stay. 6) Does Pravrutti lead to God? A) The duties to be performed for the maintenance of the body and family are Pravrutti. Therefore Pravrutti is the basis to reach God, but Pravrutti alone cannot lead you to God. For a drama the stage is necessary. If you prepare the stage only without the drama the spectators will throw stones. Therefore, Pravrutti along with Nivrutti only leads to God. Nivrutti means service to Lord. 7) How to practice to Nivrutti? A) Your question itself contains answer. Service to Lord in practice is the practice of Nivrutti. Nivrutti is in the form of feelings and in the form of practice. Praising or singing the Lord with words, loving God with mind and discussing God with intelligence is the feeling-form of Nivrutti. Sacrifice of work and sacrifice of fruit of work are practical Nivrutti. Nivrutti is completed when both forms exist. The drinking water is like the feeling-form and the practice is like the plate of meals offered to the guest. Then only we will get the complete grace of the Lord. Veda says the feeling-form as Asambhuti and practical- form as Sambuthi. You should not expect any fruit for the feeling-form. Even the hotel does not charge you for a cup of water! Only the plate of meals is charged. 8) If one follows justice, is there is no necessity to worship God? A) Justice is the stage and worship is the drama based on it. Even without justice the worship can be done. Kannappa is hunter. He kills the innocent animals like rabbit. But by worship he got salvation. Even without stage the drama can be played on floor. But the stage without drama is waste. The aim of practicing the justice is only to please the Lord. Therefore, whatever pleases God that is justice. Krishna asked Dharma Raja to tell a lie, but Dharma Raja did not tell the lie. Dharma Raja was taken to hell because he did not tell the lie even on the advice of the Lord. Therefore, God is more important than justice. But in the Pravrutti which is the behaviour to the other souls, justice is more important than injustice. But in Nivrutti God is more important than justice. Since the Nivrutti is the aim of life mere justice is waste. By justice one can reach temporary heaven according Gita. By Nivrutti the permanent abode of God is obtained. 9) For which purpose Worship, service and praising are done? A) All these are done only to please the Lord. Praising is like giving dinking water. Service is like offering meals. Both these are called as worship. 10) “All this is God” is Vedic statement. Does it mean that all the body of human incarnation is God or does it mean that the entire creation is God? A) The word Brahman has two meanings. The greatest item in a category is Brahman. Brahman also means God. In Gita, Veda is called as Brahman. Since Veda is the greatest among the scriptures, it is called as Brahman. Since God is greater than any greatest item, God is also called as Brahman. The inert energy is greatest in the creation. All this creation is inert energy only. If you take God is Brahman, the entire human body of the human incarnation is Brahman. If you say that all the creation is God, then the entertainment of God as told in Veda is impossible. The enjoyer and enjoyed cannot be one and the same, because the entertainment is impossible. Only the human body is equal to the world, because the nine items are common in the human body and the world (the eight items of Apara and ninth Para). The intelligence (Buddhi) exists only in the human body. Therefore, God pervaded in the body of the human incarnation can be said as God pervading the world. Therefore you can see the body of Krishna as the world but the world cannot be seen as Krishna. If the Universe is God, the soul which is a part of Universe is also Brahman. Since there is nothing other than Brahman, who gets salvation and from which the salvation is needed? If that is true there is no need of spiritual effort. 11) You told that you are every thing and you are everywhere. Then why not the soul be God? A) If you take My statement in the direct sense, then the spiritual effort becomes waste. If God is the whole Universe and if there is nothing other than God, how can the creation give entertainment to God? Veda says that the creation came to entertain God. Then Veda becomes futile. Therefore, the interpretation of God’s word must be done properly. In grammar there is statement “All this Kalinga”. Kalinga is the name of king. How the kingdom which is in the form of soil can be a human being called as Kalinga? According to grammar this means that the kingdom is under the control of king Kalinga. Therefore, you have to take my statement in that sense and so it means that all this is under the control of God. In some occasions, I tell such sentences to encourage the devotees. This indicates the affection of Satguru. In the climax of devotion where one sees only God and nothing else, this can be correlated directly. Gopikas reached that state. If this is true why are you eating food and not mud? You should not use this statement to escape the spiritual effort and feel that you are God. Such statement of the final Avadhuta- stage should not be used by every one. 12) Who am I? Am I the soul? A) You are the soul. Soul is awareness. Awareness is the special work form of the energy. Awareness is a special of form of inert energy that is generated by the Oxidation of food in the body. 13) How can I see my-self? A) The essence of the awareness is the inert energy. Awareness is proved as the form of inert energy. If you stop food and oxygen the inert energy is not supplied and the awareness disappears. In the deep sleep the awareness remains as inert energy which is its basic form. Therefore, in deep sleep there is no awareness. If you see the inert energy like Sun light, it is equal to seeing the soul. To day you can see the awareness as the basic form of energy flowing as waves in sophisticated medical electronic instruments. 14) You say that you are Datta and again say that you are not Datta. Why this contradiction? A) If some body is eligible to digest the divine knowledge, the first statement is told. If some body does not deserve, the second statement is told. Krishna never told any body in His life that He is God. Krishna told only to Arjuna during the preaching of Gita that He is God and Arjuna was close to the Lord for the past several births as Nara with Narayana. Therefore Krishna did not face any danger. Sankara also did not face any danger because He told that every human being is God. Jesus told before a group of people that He and His father are one and the same. Therefore, He was crucified. Egoism and jealousy existing in every human being oppose the acceptance of one human being as God. According to Islam there is no human incarnation. Therefore, the human beings accept either the concept of every human being as God or no human being as God. Even a great devotee will suspect the human incarnation in some time due to egoism and jealousy. Therefore, human incarnation uses these two sentences according to the context. Even in a devotee the second statement will pacify the egoism and jealousy hidden in the subconscious state. 15) What is special penance? A) Penance means the spontaneous urge in the concentration but it should be spontaneous. It is a state of madness. Such state came for Gopikas only. The other efforts need some reason. Without aspiration for fruit the madness that is reached in the love for the God is the special penance. In such penance the Lord becomes the servant of devotee. This is the higher fruit than Advaita. 16) If the doer-ship is removed can the soul become God? A) The God and soul are completely different. God is the creator and the soul is a part of creation. The Doer-ship has wide scope of range. Starting from the creatorship of universe, up to doing sins in the case of a demon, the word doer-ship can be used. The creatorship is confined only to God. If the doer-ship means the creatorship of the world, then such doer-ship is necessary for the soul to become God. In every action if the soul feels that it is not the doer and completely surrenders to God, the soul will become liberated and close servant of God. This is the maximum state of divinity that can be achieved by the soul. 17) It is said that God takes the form as per your desire. Does it not mean that He is formless? A) God is neither formless nor has form. In the creation both formless objects like air and form-full objects like earth exist. Because of this reason God is neither formless nor form-full since both are imaginable. Veda says that God is unimaginable. But God comes in human form, which is useful to the humanity in all directions. The main aim of the human form is preaching Divine Knowledge. That is why God has taken a human form which is very much useful to the humanity in various angles. You have to worship such form taken by God. He is not your servant to come in the form you desire. In Gita the Lord said that He will approach the devotee in the same path as the devotee approaches. This does not mean that He will take the form as you like. You can take any form you like which can be a representative of God (Pratika) but God does not exist in it. 18) The three faced and six-handed form(Datta) is Parabrahman. Then what about the other divine forms? A) Datta means God given to the humanity in the human form. The six hands show the six modifications in His external body and three faces show the three qualities exhibited by Him. Therefore, only Datta is the attainable form of God for humanity. All the other forms are the energetic bodies of the upper worlds. They do not belong to the world of humanity. It is the natural tendency of the human beings to neglect the available human form and to give value to the unavailable energetic forms. 19) Does every soul reach God? A) For humanity God is confined to the human form only. Even the recognition itself is very difficult. Even after recognition it is more difficult to stand on it because He exhibits the Maya of three qualities. One in millions and that too in one birth after millions of births can identify and please the God with full sacrifice and service. Like this Gita says (Kaschit mam….). 20) Does the awareness in every body is the form of God? A) When God is unimaginable we cannot say that He is form-full or formless. The awareness in every living body is only a part of His creation. This awareness is the greatest in the creation, because it has a unique property of Knowledge. Since any greatest item can be called as Brahman, the awareness (Soul) can be called as Brahman. Awareness is imaginable and hence cannot be God. 21) Should the soul not desire for the appreciation from God? A) If such desire is without egoism it is not wrong. Satyabhama was having such desire with egoism. Krishna removed it. 22) After how much time and by which means the soul reaches God? A) The possibility to reach God is only in one human birth. If you miss it you may get other human births but without that chance. The five-fold service by words, by mind, by intelligence, by sacrifice of work and by sacrifice of fruit of work can be the only path to get the grace of the God. 23) What is the reason for these atrocities in the world? A) The only reason is not having the contact with God through Satsanga that imparts the divine knowledge in the human being. 24) If God created this world like a cinema, is it only the way for us to watch the cinema? A) God has given freedom and intelligence (discriminating power) to the human beings. Therefore, each soul is creating its own cinema. The stage, dress etc., are given by the God but not the story and dialogues. Therefore, God is the creator of the Universe but He is not the creator of the life of the soul. When God comes in human incarnation, He comes down along with His servants who are the liberated souls. Then only He is the writer of the story and dialogues for that divine play. 25) Why God is tolerating the dictatorship of some people? A) In the creation every incident is the result of the three dimensional network of action, time, fruit etc., You do not know the incidents of the previous birth. The person who tortured somebody is now born as the sufferer. You see this birth only and pity that soul. In the creation of God no injustice will take place and nobody will escape. Hence, the omniscient God keeps silent. The soul with limited knowledge talks all sorts of things. 26) Why the present rulers are not following the rule when they punish the innocent people? A) Again you are committing the mistake to think that the punished person is innocent. The innocence cannot be judged by either you or present ruler. Not only in the previous birth even in this birth he committed several sins which are not only known to you or even to himself. Therefore, the real judgment is given by God. The judge may give a wrong judgment. He gave like that because his enquiry is guided by God. You are criticizing the judge. The judgment given by him by mistake is correct because it is given by God. Anybody in this world who harms you is just instrumental. Without the enquiry and decision of God nothing will happen in this world. The God is punishing not with revenge but to transform the soul. This entire system of Universe is created and run by God only. 27) What is the essence of justice? A) Justice is the divine system created by God, to maintain the balance of the society so that the spiritual aspirants can do their efforts with peace. The justice is related to your colleague soul. The essence of Dharma is not to hurt anyone in anyway because the law and order is in the hands of God. At least you should not harm any devotee. But punishing the students for their welfare is exempted because the welfare of the student is the main aim. 28) What is injustice and immorality? what is the punishment for this? A) You may hurt your colleague souls in several ways. All these ways are injustice and immorality. For example by corruption you are hurting your colleague souls. At least you are not exempting the poor and devoted people. If you do corruption in the case of unjust rich people, you should spend it for divine purpose. If you spend it for your self or for your family, all of you will be completely destroyed. 29) When shall we speak truth and when shall we not speak truth? A) If innocent and devoted souls are hurt, you should not speak truth. To hurt a soul is the highest injustice. Kauravas harmed Pandavas who were innocent devotees. Krishna asked Dharma Raja to tell a lie in the war. There it is justified. The final aim is to destroy the evil people. Ends justify means. In the case of God all the justice should be thrown up. Because in Nivrutti the real justice is to please God. The final aim of the soul should be Nivrutti. 30) Between duty and God which is more important? This depends on your stage in the spiritual path. There is nothing to decide here. An ordinary human being will do the worldly duties only. Even if you advice to leave such duties, he will not leave because he cannot leave. For Sankara even though His mother asked him to do worldly duties, He left them and dedicated Himself to God only. Therefore, the soul does according to its spiritual state and inherent interest. Finally the interest decides the selection. Therefore you cannot have universal selection. 31) God is giving every thing to all the people. What the necessity of the service to Him? The absolute reality is that God does not require any service and sacrifice from any soul. In this state the creation does not exist it self. But He created the universe for entertainment. He gave independence and intelligence to all the souls. God has removed the knowledge that this entire universe is His wealth only. He imposed ignorance on Himself and on the souls. In the state of this ignorance only, through sacrifice and service the love is proved. Such love only gives happiness to heart. There can be no better entertainment than this. You are bringing out this point to escape form sacrifice and service. Such over intelligence arises due to your blind love on family and your selfishness. If you go to that absolute state of reality your self and creation disappear. If your point is correct, don’t ask God for anything. You want Advaita when you give something to Him. You need dvaita when he has to give some thing to you. If you do not aspire anything from Him do not give anything to Him. In fact the highest devotion is to give every thing to Him without aspiring anything from Him. But you are reverse to this. Apart from this, you show over intelligence! 32) What is the sequence of spiritual effort? How is it done? A) Knowledge, devotion and service are the sequent steps. Service is the real proof of devotion. These three steps are indicated by Sankara, Ramanuja and Madhva who came in sequence. The practice of these three steps depends on your love to God. When the divine love exists, your practice is spontaneous. When such love does not exist, the question “how to do?” comes up. 33) When the soul gains completeness? A) The soul attains perfectness in the one-way traffic service to God. If the service is there, devotion is there. Hanuman, perfect in the service, is the perfect devotee and scholar. 34) Why do not all see God? A) No body sees God. God is not touched even by imagination. How can we see God? God enters some medium and becomes visible through that medium. Through that medium also you are experiencing only the existence God. Only experience of existence is possible. There is no any way to see God directly. The current cannot be seen directly. When it flows in a wire only its existence can be experienced. 35) What is the fruit of service to God without aspiring His love in return? A) As I told, you should attain the perfectness in the one-way traffic in your service to God. You should not aspire any fruit including His love. When you are not aspiring even love what is the point of another fruit? Love is theoretical and can be easily given and the other fruits are practical. When you are not aspiring even theoretical fruit, how can you aspire other practical fruits? 36) What is the aim of spiritual institutions? A) The propagation of the divine knowledge should be the sole aim of spiritual institutions. If the knowledge is perfect, devotion will be strong and the service will be complete. The duty of Guru is only to propagate the correct knowledge. That is sufficient. The spiritual institutions should take the place of Guru. 37) Which form of God should be worshipped? A) Lord Krishna has given the essence of all the Vedas. In Gita He told that He is in the form of human being. In fact, He is in the human form only. In Gita everywhere Krishna asked to worship and serve Him only. Any human being can perfectly serve God in human form only. An offering can be really eaten by Krishna. Therefore, such service is only real. You cannot do real service to formless God or Statue. Only Krishna could preach and clear all the doubts. You can see the response of your service in the form of pleasantness in the face of Krishna. Here again the devotees slipped. Krishna told that He will come again and again. Therefore, the service to the present human incarnation is the perfect spiritual knowledge. If you take statue of Krishna, again the above defects are repeated. 38) In this time of kali, which human incarnation is to be worshipped? A) Suppose you have identified some human forms as incarnations. Now the problem comes; who is the real human incarnation among these? Suppose you have worshipped all so that the risk of missing the real human incarnation is avoided. Suppose you have taken one form and it may not be real human incarnation. Even then, you need not be worried. Such human form may not be God but certainly he must be a very close devotee of God. Since your filtration is to such high level, the other forms must be exceptional devotees of the highest level. Suppose you have taken such a strong devotee as human incarnation. I assuredly tell you, that you are more lucky than the person who serves the real human incarnation. The reason is that God is more pleased if such strong devotee is worshipped, because God loves such strong devotee more than Himself. Therefore you will receive a better fruit in quicker time. Apart from this there is also the possibility of the same God coming in different forms in the same time. For example, Parasurama and Shri Rama and AkkalKota Maharaj and Shridi Saibaba were simultaneous human incarnations. 39) In Gita both males and females are given equal importance. This is stated by Swami. Is it true? A) The soul is neither female nor male but the word Jeeva or Atman is in masculine gender in Sanskrit. In Sanskrit the gender is only for word and not for the meaning. In fact all the human beings are made of the same items externally and internally. The five elements make the external body. The Jeevatman is made of awareness which is in the form of four Antahkaranams (ParaPrakruti and APara Prakruti) or three qualities. In Gita, only Prakruti and Purusha are mentioned. Purusha is God and Prakruti is human being. If you take five elements as Prakruti and jeevatman as Purusha, then also every human being Prakruti and Purusha. When you take like this, God will become Purushottama. Meera exhibited a doubt to Tulasi Das that whether Purusha exists in souls. The basis for this question is that she is in the first type of clarification (Prakruti and Purusha). Accordingly Veda says that only Lord is only Purusha. Veda also says that all the human beings are females and are also the wives of God. The word wife means that is maintained. The word husband means maintainer. In Gita it is said that God is Father who means creator. If all are the children of God, then all the human beings are brothers and sisters only! you should take the meanings in the root sense here and not in your sense. In Gita it is told that even women will get salvation. This does not mean that so far Gita was preached for males only. To deny this misunderstanding that is Gita is so far confined to males only; Lord said like that. This means that whatever is told so far applies both males and females only. 40) God said that the sex which does not oppose justice is divine. Is there any limitation to that? a) The sex is meant for the reproduction of the souls who are coming from the upper world. The sex is placed in the four Purusharthas. In Veda also it is stated that you should marry and produce children. In the same Veda it is stated that you can leave every body and every thing for the sake of God at any time. The first statement is for those who are incapable of the sanyasa. But a doubt comes whether one cannot take sanyasa after becoming the house-holder. The second statement is most powerful and rules out the first statement. Therefore, not only Sankara, a house-holder like Buddha took sanyasa. Therefore, within the limits of the state of the soul, Gita said like that. Within such limits it is better to marry than to move freely in the line of sex. The earth is respected with respect to the lower patala but with respect to sky the earth cannot be respected. 41) How to reach God and how to recognize Him? A) Reaching God means reaching the medium in which God exists. No body can reach unimaginable God directly. You cannot catch current but you can experience current through the alive wire. The essence of Gita is to recognize and serve the present human incarnation. 42) What should be known form Satguru? A) It depends on your state. If egoism and jealousy are in climax, He will say that you must search for human incarnation. This is also stated by Guru. The reason is that Guru is not human incarnation. If those two exist in lower level, He will say that the power and grace of God exists in Himself. This is also stated by Guru because it is true in his case also. Such Guru is the incarnation of power of God (Amsavatara). If those two are completely absent in you, Satguru says that He is the human incarnation. Therefore, Satguru preaches according your state. 43) If Satguru is God, how can he show God? A) When you attain such maturity, Satguru will show Himself as God. Krishna told like that. Really the Satguru is showing the medium only in which God exists, because God is invisible as He is unimaginable. Such medium should be taken as God. The alive wire can be only taken as the current. If the Guru is liberated soul, who accompanied the Lord in this earth, he will show the Satguru whenever you deserve. 44) People of which state can see God? A) When the egoism and jealousy are removed, which are the layers covering your eyes, you can see God through Satguru. 45) Which is great between Knowledge and devotion? A) Without Knowledge devotion is not generated. When Rukmini came to know all the details of Krishna (Knowledge) from Narada, the love on Krishna was generated. Since Krishna is God such love is called as devotion. Devotion leads to God according to Gita. The real proof of devotion is service. Rukmini attained the Lord through devotion and then served the Lord by pressing His feet as Maha Lakshmi. The knowledge should exist along as long the soul exists. Till you reach house, you must have the torch light. Even after reaching the house, the light should be there in the house. As the knowledge is lost, even devotees like Narada and Sudarsana have fallen by egoism. Knowledge without devotion is waste. Devotion without service is only cheating. Sankara told that knowledge and devotion are one and the same. In Gita the Lord gave highest place the both the knowledge and devotion, which means that both are one and the same. 46) After receiving knowledge should one keep silent or propagate it? A) Knowledge at any level without propagation is the greatest sin. Shastras say that such scholar will become the intensive demon (Brahma Rakshasa). When you propagate, your knowledge becomes more and more stabilized. Therefore propagation is useful for your upliftment also. But you must be sure that the knowledge which you propagate is correct. If you propagate the wrong knowledge it is again sinful. Therefore you propagate the true knowledge spoken by your Satguru only on his command. If the propagated knowledge was spoken by Satguru, there is no need of His command also. 47) It is said that God sees every body with equal attitude, then what about the punishment of sinners? A) When ever you ask a doubt it should be supported by scripture. If you say “it is said”, that has no authority. If what said is true, then in Gita how Krishna told He will destroy sinners. 48) How the people are maintained by God and how they are protected by God? A) This entire world is based on His will and not based on Himself. Therefore all the affairs of the world do not touch Him. When you do not aspire protection from Him as the fruit, then you will get the protection from Him in real sense. 49) Why the saints worship the Lord in temples, when they claim themselves as Lord? A) Even the human incarnation worships God in order to show the path practically to the people. Krishna did penance for Lord Shiva to get a child. Hanuman Himself is Lord Siva, and need not serve any body. But He served Lord Rama in order to show the practical path to the world. 50) Why do you object the normal worship done by humanbeings? A) The sense of question is not properly expressed. Worship is of two types. One is theoretical and the other is practical. The theoretical worship has least value. The practical worship has immense value. Worship means service. The goal of the service is very very important. If the goal is a statue, you are exploited by other human beings who receive the fruit of your worship indirectly. If your goal is formless God all your worship is waste. When your goal is the present human incarnation, that is the final step of the spiritual knowledge. Hanuman and Gopikas are the best examples. 51) What is the reason for doubts? A) The reason for your doubts is basically your ignorance. Another strong reason for this is the incomplete and inefficient explanation of the preachers. Only the efficient knowledge of Satguru is the final solution to clarify all your doubts generated by the above said reasons. 52) How the mind is destroyed? A) Mind is created by God. You have not realized the divine purpose of the creation of mind. Mind is the basis of devotion. If mind is destroyed the devotion is destroyed. Then the total spiritual path is destroyed. You have to divert the mind from the world to God. Suppose you are going in the opposite direction by a horse. You have to divert the horse to the right direction but you should not kill the horse. The horse is created by God and given to you so that you will quickly reach the right goal in right direction. The mistake is in your wrong knowledge that showed the opposite direction and not in the horse. You should kill your wrong knowledge with the help of the right knowledge-sword obtained from Satguru At the Lotus Feet of His Holiness Sri Dattaswami Anil Antony www.universal-spirituality.org Universal Spirituality for World Peace antonyanil@universal-spirituality.org

Lord comes in Human form to preach and uplift the human souls The Lord is giving experience to us in every walk of life about His existence. But, such experiences become weak in course of time due to the petty minds of the human beings. The human mind always takes logic and interprets such experiences as mere accidental situations. Therefore the faith of the theists is not strong. The human preachers are unable to answer the doubts of these human beings and this further weakens the faith. Therefore, the Lord comes down in the form of a human being as the divine preacher. Thus, there is a bare neccesity for such incarnation. Veda says ‘Yat Saakshat Aparokshat Brahma’, which means that Brahman comes down before the eyes of the human beings. Gita also says ‘Maanusheem Tanumaasritam’ which means that Brahman comes down as a human being. But the human body follows the rules of the nature and is not different from any other human body. The shirt of a king is not different from any other shirt. It can be cut with the help of a blade like any other shirt. The speciality is in the king but not in the shirt. If the Lord wishes, He could take the human body, which has neither birth nor death. It can be a divine body, which appears before all the human beings at different places and preaches, in different languages in the sametime. But, such creation of divine body means that the Lord is going beyond the rules of the nature, which are created by the Lord only. The Lord has such divine power, which can go beyond this nature. Such divine power is called ‘Maya’ and the Lord who is the possessor of such Maya is called ‘Mayee’ as said in Gita “Mayinam tu Maheswaram”. But no sensible administrator will break his own rules when a work is possible within the set up of the administration. There is no need of doing that work by breaking the adminstration. The Lord can achieve the same result by taking several human bodies at a time and from generation to generation. In such way, the administration is not interferred. Therefore, the Lord comes in several human incarnations at a time in each generation and the Viswarupa represents this. In Gita, the prayer on the Viswarupa mentions about several feet, faces and also several stomaches (Aneka Baahoodara Vaktra Netram). Therefore, the present picture of Viswarupa is wrong. It means only the photo of a group of preachers existing at the same time. The word “Udara” (stomach) is not justified in the present picture of ‘Viswarupam’, which is again another mis-perception leading to misinterpretation. Therefore, it is very very clear that Datta means only the human incarnation that came down to preach the true divine knowledge. But, due to natural egoism and jealousy the human beings do not recognize the Lord in the form of a human being. Only very few believed Krishna as Lord. Only very few believed Shirdi Sai Baba as God. When Sai was alive there were few devotees only and no body thought of a temple for Him. Even Butee wanted to build a temple for Krishna only who was a past incarnation. Now there are millions of devotees and lakhs of temples for Sai baba because He is no more a present incarnation. He who wins over the three types of egoism caused by the three qualities (Trigunas) is called as ‘Atri’. He who conquerred jealousy (Asuya) is ‘Anasuya’. Such a devotee only can capture the human incarnation. This is the sense of the statement that Atri and Anasuya attained Datta. At the Lotus Feet of His Holiness Sri Dattaswami Anil Antony www.universal-spirituality.org Universal Spirituality for World Peace antonyanil@universal-spirituality.org

God do not get modified into human body when He comes in Human form I know that you are worried that the Lord perhaps gets modified into the human body and thus the unchangeable Lord undergoes a change. Do not worry about this point, because the Lord is never modified into the human body. He only enters into the human body. The word ‘Ashritam’ in the verse of the Gita “Manushim tanumashritam” means the entry of the Lord into the human body and not the modification of the Lord into a human body. This is clarified by Lord Krishna in the Gita in the verse “Avyaktam Vyaktimapannam”. When a person says that he was sent by God as a messenger and that He has brought the message of the Lord, again the same problem appears. When God is giving the message to that person, nobody has seen it. That person is the single witness. Now the only alternative left in order to believe that the knowledge was given by the Lord Himself, is that we have to test the knowledge. Had we seen the transfer of the knowledge from God to that person with our eyes, we need not have tested that knowledge. It must definitely have been the divine knowledge. If we have to believe a statement of that person without the simultaneous universal perception, then we have to believe even a fraud person who utters the same statement. If you give us a piece of metal and say that is gold, since it was given by God, we cannot believe it. Either we must have seen God giving it to you or we must analyse the metal. Moreover the knowledge is not like the piece of metal, which will not change by transfer. When a teacher explains a concept to somebody and asks him to deliver it to his students, it cannot be transferred as it is. The transfer of knowledge consists of not only the concept but also the explanation. The concept might have been transferred but nobody other than that original teacher can give the same way of explanation of the concept by which the concept pierces into the heart. Therefore to propagate the divine knowledge, the Lord Himself comes down in a human form. Arjuna said the same in the Gita “Tvadanyah…” which means that except the Lord, nobody can preach the divine knowledge and clarify all spiritual doubts. At the Lotus Feet of His Holiness Sri Dattaswami Anil Antony www.universal-spirituality.org Universal Spirituality for World Peace antonyanil@universal-spirituality.org

The final stage of the entire divine knowledge is expected to be the practical service to the Lord who comes to this earth in every human generation, without aspiring any fruit for such service and sacrifice rendered by you. The complete example for this is Hanuman. You must understand the Philosophy of Hanuman which should lead you in recognizing the present human incarnation on this earth and to participate in His service without aspiring any fruit in return. If this philosophy of Hanuman is not understood, there is no use of the temples of Hanuman and various methods of worship of Hanuman. Of course, they serve the purpose of giving you the inspiration to fix your concentration on Hanuman. But what is the use if you have not gained the real guidance from Him in the spiritual path? You are going to the school regularly in time. You have the uniform and all the books. You have good teachers in the school. But what is the use of all this when you do not learn the knowledge from the school? The entire life of Hanuman is only sacrifice and selfless service to the human form of the Lord. You shall be ashamed of your entire path of worship. You are asking all types of boons with very wide range starting from this world to the upper world. Initially He has fulfilled some of your desires which are proper because the health, mental peace and wealth are necessary as the basis for spiritual effort. But you are not satisfied with the basis and you are proceeding in to the wrong line from the basis, in which you are desiring for more and more worldly comforts which in excess are called as luxuries. After achieving the basic needs you must travel in right line by learning the philosophy of Hanuman. He got a job under the king Sugriva and settled Himself with the basic needs. Then He searched for the human incarnation and He was waiting in Kishkindha for the Lord in the human form. What have you done? Did you search for the human incarnation? He was not worshiping the statues in the temples with all the unnecessary extra rituals, which are manipulated by the priests for their benefits. Of course, the statues and shrines serve the purpose of inspiration about God and seeing the statues and photos (Darsanam) is sufficient. Of course, the extra rituals which are the various methods of worship to the statues in human form also serve the purpose of removing egoism and jealousy towards human form provided you are suffering with egoism and jealousy. But Hanuman was not at all having such egoism and jealousy. He never remembers His strength and feels Himself as zero. But what about you? You never remember the defects and limits of your little strength and always feel yourself as a hero. You are not at all searching for the Satguru who is the human form of the Lord that exists in your generation. The Lord is impartial to any generation and so comes in every generation in human form. The human form of Lord came to Hanuman and He recognized the Lord in the very first sight it self. In your case even if the human incarnation comes to you and shows some proof to you, you are not recognizing the Lord. You will say that all the proof is only illusion or magic. After recognizing the Lord, Hanuman used Himself for the work of the Lord. In your case, even if you recognize Him, you try to use Him for solutions of your personal problems. Hanuman never discriminated the social service and personal service of the Lord. He simply did the service according to the will of the Lord. His aim was always to please the Lord by His service to the Lord in whatever way the Lord wished. In your case even if you enter in to the service you will start criticizing the Lord, if He involves you in His personal work. You will immediately say that He is not the God since He is selfish. Hanuman never criticized Rama even in His mind when Rama told Ravana that in case, Sita is returned, He will go back. If you are in the place of Hanuman you will immediately say that if Rama returns after getting Sita what will happen to the society that is suffering by the cruel deeds of Ravana? Such question never rose in the mind of Hanuman because the aim of the spiritual effort is only to please the Lord and nothing else. In fact, He does not need your help either in His personal work or in the social work. His family and this entire world constitute the divine drama meant for His entertainment only. He is testing your attitude towards Him and the basic strength of your recognition. If the recognition is determined without any doubt, such doubts will not come to your mind. Hanuman did not ask for any vision or for any miracle. Arjuna called as Nara representing yourself (Nara) asked for the highest vision from Krishna as a proof. Hanuman believed Rama without any such proof. He is the blessed soul as per the statement of Jesus “Blessed are those who believe Me without proof”. At the Lotus Feet of His Holiness Sri Dattaswami Anil Antony www.universal-spirituality.org Universal Spirituality for World Peace antonyanil@universal-spirituality.org

Sankara gave a lot of importance to knowledge. He said that if knowledge is complete, the goal is achieved (Jnanadevatu Kaivalyam). You may think that the knowledge cannot give the fruit directly and it should give devotion which leads into service. But if knowledge is complete, the devotion, the service and pleasing God are automatic spontaneous consequences. Rukmini got all the information about Krishna from Narada which is the stage of knowledge. Then she developed attraction to Krishna which is the devotion. By the devotion, she could attain Krishna. Gita said that one can attain God by devotion. But achievement is not the final goal. Pleasing the God is the final goal. For her devotion, the aim was to serve Krishna and not to become queen of Dwaraka. The devotion of most of the devotees is only to attain some fruit. That is not real devotion. The real devotion expects service. Service to God itself is fruit and there cannot be another fruit for the fruit. Rukmini being the incarnation of Maha Lakshmi sat at the feet of the Lord and pressed His feet. That was the aim of Her devotion. The Lord made Maha Lakshmi as the deity of the infinite wealth which is this entire universe. Generally, even with little wealth, the eyes come up on the head. But being the possessor of such infinite wealth, she sits at the divine feet of the Lord and acts as a slave. She is giving us message that the fruit of the devotion should be service to Lord and not attaining the wealth. Service is the proof of devotion which is the practical philosophy. The importance of knowledge (Jnana Yoga) is that if the knowledge is intensively complete, the determination and the subsequent service are spontaneous. Therefore there is no gap between the complete knowledge and practice. If the realization is complete, practice (service) is a spontaneous consequence. There is no time gap and there is no need of any effort. When the knowledge is intensive and complete, such state is said to be realization. If the knowledge is not deep and not complete, we should not use the word realization. Often people think that knowledge and practice are different. It is not correct. If the knowledge (Jnana) is complete, devotion (Bhakti) is spontaneous effect. Such devotion is also intensive and complete. The immediate consequence of such devotion is service. Sankara says that knowledge and devotion are not separate (Paramartha Jnana Lakshana Sampannam Bhaktim). Therefore it means that complete knowledge means complete devotion. The proof of devotion (love) is only service as you can see in the case of your children. Your love on them is expressed only through service to them. In their case, there is no theoretical love. You are not chanting the name of your child, you are not singing about your child. All these forms of false devotion appeared only in the case of God. I say it is false because there is no sacrifice or service as found in the case of children. Therefore devotion itself means service Therefore knowledge; devotion and service are the three alternative words for the same meaning. Sankara preached about knowledge. Ramanuja preached about devotion. Madhva preached about service. This means that Sankara, Ramanuja and Madhva are the three incarnations of the same Lord Datta. Thus if knowledge is intensive and complete, you have reached the goal as said by Sankara. The Lord praised the knowledge at the very outset in Gita. Therefore concentrate on the divine knowledge and propagate it so that all other souls also reach the goal along with you. At the Lotus Feet of His Holiness Sri Dattaswami Anil Antony www.universal-spirituality.org Universal Spirituality for World Peace antonyanil@universal-spirituality.org

What is the difference between knowledge, devotion and Sadhana? ================ The knowledge is the information about God, about yourself and about the path through which you can please the Lord. You must know the actual form of God and His correct address. You must also know that you are not God. If you are already God (as Advaita philosophers say), there is no need of Sadhana because if you are God, every human being is God. When you are the goal already, what is the need of any spiritual effort? Then what is the real path to please the God? The answers for these three questions (Triputi) about the three items that is God, yourself and the path to please God consist the knowledge or Jnana Yoga. When you get more and more details about the goal, you develop more and more interest on the goal and such interest is called as devotion. Rukmini got full information about Krishna from the sage Narada. The information inspired her and she was fired with love on Krishna. This love on the Lord is called as devotion. The word love is used in the case of any one or anybody other than God. To distinguish the love on God, a separate pious word “Devotion” is used. The devotion is at two levels. One is theoretical and the other is practical. The theoretical devotion alone is fraud. However, it is valid if it is associated with practical devotion. The practical devotion (service) must be associated with the theoretical devotion just as the plate of meals is associated with a cup of drinking water. Service should be according to the requirement of the Lord. Some devotees think that the service for the welfare of the society should be the aim of God. But God is above the society. God is not for the society, whereas the society is for the God’s entertainment. His wish or desire is the guiding light for your line of service. If you think that God is for society, He will ask you to do His personal service. Ramayana is only personal service to God. Killing of Ravana became inevitable and was not the main goal. If killing Ravana is the main goal, Rama would not have asked to return Sita so that He will go back from the war. Therefore if you have confirmed the Lord, you should not apply logic, and you should become His slave (Dasa) like Hanuman without logic. The aim of your service should be to please God and not to please the society. In fact your family is a very important part in the society. You should not sacrifice your family for the sake of society. You need not also sacrifice the family for God if your family consists of devotees. Only in the extreme case of opposition, you can sacrifice the family for the sake of the Lord. It is a very rare case but still such rare case is not ruled out. God in human form and the devotees are to be served. Among the devotees, the liberated souls who are recognized by their firm faith and continuous service and sacrifice are the best. Such liberated souls are more than God because God treats them more than Himself. At the Lotus Feet of His Holiness Sri Dattaswami Anil Antony www.universal-spirituality.org Universal Spirituality for World Peace antonyanil@universal-spirituality.org