Satsangam

The destiny of man as seen by these mystics is to be a similar process of going back to his source and origin. And that source and origin is a supreme state of independence, supreme state of consciousness, transcending all vexing limitations, infinite, boundless, eternal, beyond time and space. That is the source and origin of each one of you sitting and listening to me. Within this confined, limited body house you are an immortal spark of the cosmic spirit. You are the radiant ray of this light of lights beyond all darkness. You are ever a wave of this ocean of infinite eternal existence, never apart from it, inseparable from it, always one with it, but not aware of it. You are ever a wave, a dancing blissful wave upon the bosom of this vast, infinite ocean of eternal existence. And from that state, loosing the awareness of your essential nature, you have come down to a lesser level of consciousness, what made you loose the awareness of your essential nature? It is...

We can compare this circumstance with what is happening to us in our own personalities. Our consciousness, this 'me', this 'I', this so-called 'person' is the determiner of everything that is happening in this body. The stability, the integrated formation, the organic activity of this body, is due to the central operation of the consciousness which is the so-called 'I' in us. When you say "I am coming", you do not know whom you are actually referring to. Something in an entirety is coming; that is the meaning of saying "I am coming". It is not that some part of the body is coming, like the legs. I am coming, not just the legs. It is not merely the body that is coming; the mind also is coming; the intellect also is coming. You are coming, not merely the intellect, the mind and the body. You are coming; that is what you mean by saying "I am coming". This 'I', this 'you', however you loo...

Vedanta and Raja Yoga reveal the secrets and mysteries of this thing called mind and the consciousness that is beyond the mind. Before I can think I have to exist. Descartes discovered and cried aloud :- "Cognito ergo sum." "I think therefore I am." But I think he put the cart before the horse. You are, therefore you are able to think. If you did not exist, how would the thought process be possible? Is the thinking process first or the thinker? The thinker is first, therefore he is able to think. But Descartes was not filled with that self-awareness and stumbled upon it. The thing he was doing always, day in and day out, suddenly he took a new look at it: "Oh gosh, I am thinking—that proves I am existing." He had been thinking always, but had never thought about this thinking process. That day he suddenly thought about thinking. But the ancients discovered first the existence of being, the existence of consciousness. Then th...

Have you ever asked yourself in all your life, sitting quietly, turning away from all your occupations and preoccupations, have you ever asked, becoming silent, becoming introspective and serious :-  "From where have I come to this earth-plane?"— I am intelligent enough to know that my father and mother fashioned my physical body upon the pattern of their own species, even as every father and mother, whether a bird, reptile, beast or insect, also fashion a biological gross body upon the pattern of their own species. This is within their genes, within their biological make-up. They are capable of manufacturing only a prototype of their own species. Every unit of the biological world, every plant, every flower, every fruit tree, has this capacity of duplicating, reproducing, multiplying and bringing about a prototype of their own. So upon the physical, material level the body has been fashioned. But what is that within you which says "I am"? You ...

There is a great cycle. In this cosmic existence there is a great cycle. The sun shines upon the oceans, upon the seas, upon huge lakes, upon all collections of water. And when the heat of the sun intensifies, the water begins to evaporate, it gives up its substance, its thickness and rises up as vapour and ascends into the skies, and upward winds help its ascent. Raising from oceans and seas and lakes millions of tons of water become vapour through the heat of the sun and they rise up into the higher atmosphere until they reach a level where the cold is intense and they cannot retain their vaporous nature. Once again they become form and amass themselves in dense rain-bearing clouds. And then starts the most interesting phenomena. The upper winds begin to push these clouds and make them sail towards the land. And moving across the land these dense rain-bearing clouds become heavier and heavier and descend lower and lower until they meet an obstruction like the mount...

They brought to bear all their intelligence, their logic, their thought-power, their discrimination, their reasoning, their analytical force in order to grasp what seemed to elude their ordinary thought. They put to work their concentrated mind, they pondered over it, they contemplated it, they reflected upon it, they thought deeply about it, they entered into a state of absolute, one-pointed meditation about it, and it is to their eternal credit that they did not give up their quest until they got what they were searching for. And we have to congratulate ourselves for the sacrifice of these great souls who were explorers upon the inner dimension of man, the dimension of the spirit, and we have to congratulate ourselves for their persistence, perseverance, their refusal to take a no and come back without achieving their objective. They were willing to sacrifice their entire life, the last drop of blood for this quest. And with this perseverance, with this determination to ge...

The most rudimentary thing on earth requires a maker, a certain intelligence and power. Even a crude broom to sweep the floor in some settlement of an aboriginal tribe who lives in mud huts with thatched roofs. The people pick up dry twigs and plants, gather them together and tie them with string made out of the bark of some tree. They will not take reeds or twigs that have no strength, they will not tie the thinner end, but tie the thicker end and keep the thinner end free to sweep the floor. Even for this elementary thing the principle of thought is there—what to say of this amazing cosmos which is the wonder of the greatest masterminds, the physicists, astronomers and scientists of today... it is a marvel... they stand aghast, Einstein and all these people. Therefore the secret of man, his ultimate destiny is hidden in this mysterious all-knowing cosmic mind. But then, there has been in human history the phenomenon of individuals like you and me, but endowed with s...

Thus great philosophers, great mystics, those who have entered into the transcendental experience of that supreme cosmic power-intelligence, they were silent about it. But they knew that it existed beyond the least shadow of a doubt, because this cosmos is proof positive of that great intelligence and power of the Universal Being. No other proof is necessary. This universe itself bears witness of something beyond, something imponderable. That then is the Being that can tell you something about the destiny of man. For it is your source and origin, that is your invisible support and ultimate fulfilment. In that you have come into being, in that you exist, in that you ultimately have to merge. Man—whence—where—whither? It is the Cosmic Mind that knows it. Because having come into this phenomenal existence, we are also bound by its limitations. We can only think in categories, in an objectivised way. The mind cannot think without an object, a name, a form. By its...

Great Indian sages like the Buddha went to the depth of thought and attained illumination— they said :- "The only way you can describe or define or state that thing is to be silent. "SILENCE". If you say anything you say wrongly. You cannot define it. To say anything is to limit it, for human expression, human language is limited, is finite. Therefore silence is the one and only way in which you can express the inexpressible. SILENCE. The philosopher Plotinus observed all things in this world and found them wanting. He found that they were all limited and finite, finite in time and space, limited by name and form. Nothing was full, nothing complete, something was there, something else was not there. He found that all things here were fragmentary, partial, wanting. Therefore he called the ultimate reality, that imponderable, absolute, transcendental reality "THE SUPREME PLENUM". The only thing which is all full, all perfect, not lim...

Kant, the great German philosopher, had no name for it. He called it "the thing in itself". For when nothing was, IT only was. And IT itself knew what IT was. There was no other, no second one to know it. Therefore he called it "THE THING IN ITSELF". Thousands of years ago, long before the time of even Jesus Christ, the great mystic and prophet Moses went into the wilderness, prayed, did penance and tried to attune himself to the Invisible, to the Infinite. Humbly he tried to know IT, sought ITS guidance, ITS help. And a strange power made itself manifest in response to Moses’ quest. He felt it, it guided him. And he wanted to know by what name he could refer to it, by what name he could call it. And that being said: "I AM THAT I AM". I am that I am. What else can I say? I am that being existing by itself. I alone know what I am. I exist—I know that I exist. I am that cosmic intelligence self-cognising, for in that state of ab...

So it is in a deeper sense that we want to know man’s destiny or perhaps as it has been conceived by a cosmic mind, by a supreme intelligence and power that is imponderable, that is far beyond the furthest comprehension of the human intellect, that transcends reason— that mastermind that has brought about this amazing cosmos where heavenly bodies move about in an absolutely correct, precise, systematical manner, keeping to their courses, maintaining the same rate of speed in outer space and demonstrating an incredibly predictable behaviour. Those who are masters of astrophysics and astronomy can say exactly what the movements of certain planets will be, how many years hence will Haley’s comet appear next? They are able to chart its course, calculate its speed and predict its appearance. See, from within the sight of man on earth this is not an ordinary achievement. But it is possible. Because there is a system working there with absolute precision and accuracy that make...

Blessed immortal souls, beloved children of the Divine! I am greatly blessed to spend this evening hour with you and to share my thoughts on this subject pertaining to all of us. When we speak of the destiny of man we don’t speak of a special human being or a historical person, but we speak very much of ourselves—today—here—in this world of the fourth quarter of our very troubled yet eventful 20th century. What is our destiny? Man wants to know and scans the newspapers, he listens to the radio, he views occurrences all over the globe on the television screen. He wants to know what is going on in this world, what is happening to man, what man is doing to man and where this world is heading. He tries to look ahead and to have a glimpse of what is in stall for man. But our concern today is not so much to know this in a superficial way, for what is happening upon the surface soon every schoolboy comes to know. A few years ago what was man’s destiny? Was it to rema...

And, last but not the least, where God is worshipped every day, there the whole house becomes blessed with the highest prosperity. All joy, all blessedness, all prosperity comes to that house where God is worshipped regularly. Say thanks when you get up in the morning, for your health, for your body, for a clean mind, for energy in the body to live a life of usefulness to yourself and to all, and in the evening thank God again for the bounty of a good day, for clear weather, fresh air, good health and energy, opportunity to serve and be useful to yourself and to others. If every day there is thanksgiving and you always worship God in your home, there is bound to be prosperity. Where there is worship, in that place, there is the tangible presence of God, and where there is this tangible presence of the Deity, what to say of prosperity ? Everything that is good, everything that is blessed, will pervade that house, will fill that house. Where God is, all auspiciousness, a...

Thirdly, for the womanfolk themselves, modesty is the magnet of prosperity. For a woman, modesty is the highest ornament. The ornament of a woman, the beauty of a lady, is not in the jewellery she wears or in the type of material or the dress she wears - no, that is not beauty. After all, what is the beauty of the body? The moment you take leave of the body, it is just a useless thing here. So the true beauty and grace of a woman is modesty. If a woman is modest, if she is chaste, she becomes worshipful; and prosperity becomes the servant, the handmaid of that family where women are adorned by the ornaments of chastity, modesty and gracefulness. Sometimes it is very pitiable to see women getting unsexed in some of the modern, high-born societies. They are losing their feminine quality. After all, the thing that makes a woman a woman is her feminine quality - her tenderness, her grace, her kindness, her forgiving nature, her forbearing nature. These are the thing...

I have four or five things which, as a Hindu, I wish to tell you. Where elders are respectfully honoured, there prosperity prevails; and where elders - father and mother, grandfather and grandmother, uncles and aunts - are treated with contempt, with harshness, with scant respect, there is no prosperity. These things are not known. So when people are miserable, when people are unhappy, when people lack prosperity, it is not known why it comes about that way. It is brought about by oneself by a total breaking of these laws. And then you try find out the consequences of the bad situation by looking at the diary, or statistics, or expenditure and income account. Perhaps you blame economic conditions. But, no - you create your bad conditions by breaking the spiritual laws. Where elders are treated with respect and honour, are treated with reverence, there, in that family, in that house, prosperity will abide. In the life of that person who honours his elders...

4.UNDERSTAND THE CHILD’S PSYCHOLOGY Even a problem-child can be moulded properly if your approach is the right one. The problem-child is essentially a creation of the parents. Obstinacy should be met by firmness spiced with love; ignorance should be met by knowledge coated with compassion; idiocy should be countered with intelligence coupled with kindness. Let the child’s heart know that you are sincere, eager and earnest in your attempt to mould him into an ideal citizen, a glorious manhood dedicated to the good of the world. You will succeed. It is for the parents to adapt with the child; not for the child to adapt with the parents. In most cases, disharmony between youth and the parents is a direct result of torturing and shocking the mind of the child or the adolescent by arbitrary behaviour of the parents. In many cases the child receives no real love from the parents, except mere attachment grown out of constant association. The parents think that they love...

3. COMBINE DISCIPLINE WITH LOVE This does not mean that you should dote over the child. When the child grows into a boy or a girl, when it has learnt to walk, to talk and to play, you should mix discipline with love. Even then do not frighten the boy; nor should you instill any kind of negative emotion into him. Lovingly and intelligently you should try to maintain discipline, and you should make the boy understand the glory of a disciplined life. If your earlier training has been good, you will find that even in his boyhood your son needs no chastising. He will readily obey you. And, if you take care to see that he chooses the right type of companions, you will have no problem at all. The very first words you teach the child should be the Lord’s Name. The very first idea that you put into the boy’s mind should be spiritual and moral. When the child is able to sit up and talk, you should train it to sing divine hymns with closed eyes at the family altar. T...

2. BE HELPFUL TO THE YOUNGSTER The child has an inquisitive nature. It wants to know. All knowledge is acquired by man only through this inquisitive nature. Its mischievousness is also a manifestation of this inquisitiveness only. It wants to find out; it wants to know. When the child is awake at night, it goes on asking various questions. You get annoyed! No : you should take immense delight in answering the questions intelligently so that the child will know, and satisfy its curiosity. Of course, you could always keep away subjects that are forbidden, in an intelligent manner. The baby may not understand the sublimity of your words, but you should always sing the most sublime lullabies, entertain it with inspiring stories, and avoid all negative thought, word and action in its presence. You should always be positive and spiritual in your approach towards the baby. The parents must never quarrel or speak ill of anybody before the child. The child mu...

1. INTRODUCTION If the child is trained from the very beginning, then you will have very few problems later on. You will have very few occasions to chastise the child. All good Samskaras (impressions) should be implanted in the child since it learns to talk. When the child is born, the parents should feel that the Lord has graciously entrusted to their care the greatest treasure on earth. No sacrifice is too much if that would enable them to mould the child properly. When the child is somewhat mischievous, as all children are, the mother frightens it. “Oh, ghost will come”, she tells the child if it does not sleep quickly. This is not proper. Any type of fear element must be kept away from the child as virulent poison. The child must not know what fear is. Next : 2. BE HELPFUL TO THE YOUNGSTER SRI SWAMI SIVANANDA To be continued  ...

Last Part-9. It's never too late to mend. There should be a resurgence of essential religion, real religion, which is one. There are not many religions. there is only one religion: man's path back to God, the individual's ascent to the Universal Reality, the cosmic phenomenon of the human being once again linking himself to his Divine source and abode. This is religion. And now, the unified religious policy of global humanity must seriously engage itself in undoing what it has done by losing its direction and take on this new role as pro-claimers of oneness, pro claimers of harmony. All religions, therefore, exist and prevail in order to raise up the human spirit towards its essential divine status, godly status, so that man's nature becomes filled with the godlike qualities of love, compassion, kindness, purity and with everything that is sublime, beautiful, holy and sanctifying. Man's heart is the right field for the play of these sublime, godly...

Part-8. And until religion becomes what it is meant to be, the fate of humanity will always be clash and conflict, hatred and disunity, discord and disharmony. Only sorrow can come out of it, not joy, not peace, not prosperity. Religion must now assume a different role, its true authentic role. Until now it has lost its direction, it has gone off at a tangent, it has become derailed. Whereas everything else seems to proclaim the differences in God's creation, religion is the one phenomenon which is supposed to proclaim the truth of our oneness. We are non-different. We are children of the One Being. Essentially, we are all one. But it is a matter of great regret that up till now religion has failed in its global mission of unifying man. It has emphasized the wrong factors, the changing factors. It has emphasized the non-essentials of religious forms. It is the Spirit that has to be emphasized, not the form. Form cannot affect the essential unity o...

Part-7. This is what requires to be recognized. This is what requires to be lovingly preached. This is what requires, with firm faith and conviction, to be brought to the knowledge of the masses. And it is the great onus, the responsibilty, and the supreme duty to man as well as to God and one's own honesty, of all learned ones who are the custodians of the various religions, not to preach difference, that we are different from one another, but to rather proclaim this inner, essential spiritual oneness that is the one and only fact of the phenomenon of man upon this planet earth. Then alone humanity will gradually become one. All the supreme heads of the religions should sit together. They must recognize that a new chapter is opening up for global mankind and that the part that religion has to play is not the part that it has played up till this moment. It has to undo the follies of the past religious history of the world. It has to make ammends for a...

Part-6. Even within the context of the Vedic religion, all these different approaches, the different paths of Yoga - one through feeling, one through reasoning, one through concentration, one through active service, although being apparently different, are recognized as being one. All lead to that oneness. Even so, all the religious systems that prevail and exist in this world today are directed towards the adoration of one Supreme being who is non-dual, Who is the identical, same Being, call Him by a hundred different names. All religious systems ultimately are ascending movements in the direction of the one, supreme, non-dual Cosmic Reality that is the source and origin of countless billions of universes, known and unknown. All religions move in that direction and have but one self same objective :- to once again bring the individual, the human monad into direct contact and permanent relationship with the cosmic Universal Being. This o...

Part-5. All religions have come into existence in global human society, in this phenomenon of man, in order to take man back to the eternal source of his being, and not only take him back, but bind him back, bring about a firm relationship. How ? Either by love of your heart, through devotion, prayer, adoration, glorification; or by the penetrating analysis of the intellect, constantly dwelling upon it, inquiring about it, analyzing it, trying to approach it, to grasp it through understanding it from all various facets; or by concentrating all the scattered rays of your mental powers into one powerful, single unified ray and focusing that unified mind upon the concept of that one supreme, non-dual Divine Reality to the exclusion of all other ideas through the inner, mystical process called meditation; or trying to approach it by feeling the presence of that Being pervading and prevailing everywhere, now and here, and directing your entire life, love a...

Part-4. In a home there are so many different items such as bedsheets, pillowcases, table cloths, shirts, towels, handkerchiefs, napkins, etc. But one who sees a little beyond says that they are all cotton only, no matter what shape, form or color they may be. A lady may wear a variety of ornaments such as a necklace, bracelets and rings. We see many things, each one different from the other, but the goldsmith sees only one thing - gold. In a pottery factory you can see innumerable different items of pottery in all shapes and sizes. We see the great variety, but the owner of the factory knows that they all consist of a single element-clay. So, even as various kinds of cloth of different sizes and shapes and colors are constituted of but one material, namely cotton, even as different types of gold ornaments worn on various parts of the body are made only of gold, and even as different kinds of pottery are but one material, clay, even so, the entire universe of innume...