GOD—YOUR SUPREME GOAL
REFORMING ONESELF
THE NATURE OF GOD
1. God is the source of the entire universe, of the Vedas and everything.
2. God is the all-permeating and immortal Essence.
3. He is an embodiment of love, wisdom and bliss.
4. He gives power and light to the mind, the intellect and the senses.
5. He is in all; all things are in Him. He is all-in-all. Inside and outside He pervades and penetrates everything that exists.
6. All mortal things are shadows. God is the only real immortal substance.
7. Peace, God, Atma, Brahman, emancipation and immortality are synonymous terms.
8. Brahman is the living, dynamic Spirit, the source and container of everything.
9. Brahman is not only the efficient or operative cause of the world, but its material cause as well.
10. In Brahman or the eternal Truth you cannot have differences as so many species, or physical plurality or internal distinction.
11. The Supreme is indefinable though scholars give intellectual accounts of It, which are not absolutely true.
12. Brahman is no metaphysical abstraction. It is the fullest and the most real Being.
13. It has no expression, no sensation, no appetite, no will in the sense of desire, no feelings in the sense of passion.
14. God’s thinking is intuitive. He sees all things at once. He sees them whole.
15. The director of the mind, intellect and senses is no other than the compassionate, all-merciful Lord, the inner ruler, Antaryamin. Know Him and be free.
16. God is all-full. He is self-contained. He is eternal satisfaction.
17. God pervades the entire universe. He is the Soul of this world (Viswa Atma).
18. God is the indweller of your heart. He watches all your thoughts. Therefore, you cannot deceive Him.
19. God is the breath in your nose, the light in your eyes.
20. God is the root of all joy, strength, peace and bliss.
REMEDY FOR WORLDLY TRIALS
It was morning and the Master was giving Darshan. When he was about to start for the office, a devotee came and prostrated to him.
“How are you, sir?” the Master kindly enquired of him.
He commenced narrating his worldly difficulties and finally ended up by saying, “Swamiji, now I am like a fish out of water.”
“Then go into the water!” the Master suggested. “That is why I have come here, Swamiji. You are the ocean of mercy. Now I will become all right.”
SERVICE OF PARENTS
An old man with a young boy came and prostrated to the Master.
“Is this your father?” the Master enquired of the boy.
“Yes, Swamiji.”
“Serve your father well. Father is the visible God on earth. Obey him and worship him,” advised the Master.
The old man was very pleased with the advice given to his son.
GOD IN HUMAN FORM
It was about four in the afternoon. A stout young man was being carried and brought on a stretcher to the Sivananda General Hospital. He was seriously wounded. Blood was oozing from all over his face, and it was swollen. Two policemen, surrounded by a small crowd, were coming along.
The policemen were enquiring for a doctor. Dr Prahlad and Dr Punjabi came after a while and attended to the patient. First aid was given. His wounds were dressed. He was practically unconscious.
One of the policemen related the story of the wounded man.
“His name is D.K. Roy. He is a dacoit. He would hide among the branches of the trees on the roadside, waiting for passers-by. Man or woman, young or old—anyone who came that way alone—he would jump upon the person, frightening and threatening the individual, and eventually robbing him or her. This is his regular occupation.
“It so happened that yesterday he did the same thing to a middle-aged villager, who was passing that way. The villager somehow escaped and returned with three other persons to attack him. But this fellow, hiding among the branches, threw stones at the men and they fled. They reported the matter to the police. Then both the villagers and some policemen joined together and tried to round him up. But he somehow managed to escape and started fleeing, with the villagers and the police in pursuit.
“He couldn’t escape, and unfortunately fell into a wayside pit about twenty feet deep. He broke six teeth and suffered severe wounds all over the body.
“The villagers got down into the pit and took him out. By the time we reached the hospital here, he became unconscious.
When the policeman finished his story the crowd of curiosity-mongers dispersed and went their way.
Soon the news spread all over the place and Dilip Kumar Roy became a showroom exhibit. Each one came and saw him. Some took pity on him, others admonished him and said that he deserved the punishment, and made all sorts of remarks about the wounded, unconscious man.
It was eight o’clock. The Master emerged from his cottage and was proceeding to the Satsanga hall. The news of the dacoit was given to him. He calmly heard and proceeded. On the way he entered the hospital ward where the injured man was lying. He went next to him and stood for a while. All gathered there were anxious to see the Master’s reactions and hear his words.
The Master stood calmly for a few minutes and then said, “Let us now chant the Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra for the health and speedy recovery of Dilip Kumar Roy.”
So saying, he commenced chanting.
After the chanting was over, the Master called someone to bring a tin of biscuits from his cottage. This was brought, and the Master placed it near him.
“Lord Narayana has come in this form. Please give him the biscuits in the morning with tea or milk.”
The Master then calmly proceeded to the Satsanga hall.
REFORMATION BEFORE PREACHING
After the night Satsanga, Sri Atmaram was asking someone about the whereabouts of a certain Swami, who was touring all over the country, collecting money from devotees for his American tour, which was the only ambition in his life.
The Master, on hearing the conversation, made the following remarks, “Nowadays, this has become a disease in aspirants. They take Sannyas, learn something from the Upanishads and Gita, study some pages of psychology and science, and fly to America for preaching. This is their only ambition in life. They think that they have achieved everything by doing so. They are not concerned about developing their inner personality, and are not bothered to gain inner spiritual strength. They are not interested in reforming themselves in spirit before reforming others.
“The result of this excessive movement in society is that they lose even the little aspiration that they possessed at the beginning of their spiritual career. Their words become like empty bullets. Mere words do not have the capacity of transforming man unless they come from the heart, from true experience. Therefore, aspirants should nip this kind of ambition in the bud itself, otherwise the path they walk will only lead to destruction and nothing else.”
INDIA’S HERITAGE
It was a lovely evening. The sun was lingering over the western hills to catch a glimpse of an epoch-making event.
Dr K. N. Gairola, Health Minister of the Tehri- Garhwal State, was addressing a mammoth gathering on the Ganges bank. The local community had erected a flagstaff just in front of the Ashram, and had invited the minister to hoist the national flag.
Even during the course of his inevitable political speech, Dr Gairola made touching references to the Master, to the glory that the presence of saints like him brought to the entire state, and to the profound spiritual influence that the Master exerted on the people. After concluding his speech, Dr Gairola requested the Master to give his message.
As the flag went up, the Master roared, “Om, Om, Om.” The entire gathering joined him and it looked as though the powerful current of the Pranava-chanting raised the flag up!
Vande Mataram, Vande Mataram, Vande Mataram, Jai Hind Jai Hind Jai Hind Jai Hind, Jai Jai Jai Jai Hind.
The Master sang and the multitude echoed his Kirtan. Then he began to speak: “Glory to Mother India! No other nation in the world has produced such heroes as India. No other nation in the world can claim to have given birth to such illustrious saints and sages as India. No other nation in the world has had amongst her children such mighty intellectuals and mystics, who could rise to such great spiritual heights, who could display such intuitive wisdom, and who could leave behind such a rich heritage of unsurpassed philosophical treatises. No philosopher in any other land has been able to solve the riddle of creation, the mystery of birth and death, and the problem if life itself, so effectively as the sages of India have done.
“Such a spiritually mighty nation has achieved her political independence also in an unprecedented manner. Thanks to the apostle of Ahimsa—Mahatma Gandhiji—India has conclusively proved to humanity that there is an indescribable power in non-violence. Gandhiji has demonstrated to the world that love is power, that love conquers. Such a demonstration of spiritual power would not have been possible in any other nation in the world. The national leaders of the West should now sit up and think; they should learn the lesson of non-violence and abandon at once violence in all its forms. The path of violence leads to destruction; the path of love leads to peace, plenty and prosperity.
“Our national leaders are all trusted lieutenants of Gandhiji. They have sacrificed their all in the cause of the liberation of the Motherland. Even though they have not embraced Sannyas formally, they are true Sannyasis at heart.
“Patriotism is the first step to universalism. Love of one’s own nation in due course leads to cosmic love or love of God. The important thing is to crush one’s low, mean-minded selfishness. A selfless servant of the nation soon becomes a selfless servant of humanity; he transcends his individual ego quickly and realises God.”
The Master then went on to sing the Maha Mantra Kirtan. He thanked Dr Gairola for giving him an opportunity of singing the Lord’s Name. The ministerial party was later led to the Ashram and entertained with tea.
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