*********************************************************************
Date : 10 May 1998 Occasion : Message on Buddha Pournima Brindavan
*********************************************************************
Merging Consciousness Into Conscience
-------------------------------------
Jnana comprises the experiential knowledge of oneness of the individual with the group.
Embodiments of Love!
True faith never fails. The lack of it fails. There are instances of people who are ruined due to the absence of faith. From immemorial time, sages undertook sadhana (spiritual practice) to please God. They aimed at Brahmajnana (knowledge of God) and atma-jnana (knowledge of the self). They visited great people and listened to their teachings. The knowledge in books is not jnana (true knowledge). The knowledge of the entire world comprising of mobile and immobile entities is not jnana. What is jnana? But today man does not know his human nature. How can he then recognise God in him? In spite of this man has failed to change his attitude despite the passage of ages. Atma-jnana or Brahma-jnana cannot be taught by the books. Great people cannot give it to us. Even great teachers will fail in this. Jnana is invisible in the world of the senses. It has no proof to be recorded in books. Jnana should flower in one's own heart. Jnana being inside one's own heart cannot be located outside in the world. To believe that jnana can be found outside is ignorance.
Buddha searched for jnana for twenty six years. He studied many books, visited great people and heard their discourses. That did not give him jnana. It was within him unrecognised. How could others teach it? He practised locating it in himself. He directed his senses inwards from their habit of constantly flowing out to the external world. Gradually atmajnana started revealing itself. He declared "Buddham sharanam gacchami, (Seek the refuge of the Buddha). Sangham sharanam gacchami (Seek the refuge of sacred society). Dhammam sharanam gacchami (Seek the refuge of religion)." He unveiled the jnana in himself through his intellect. He used the jnana so derived for the society. He made use of it through dharma (harmonised societal and individual codes of righteous action). So man cannot gain jnana through books. These waste most of the time. Atmajnana (self knowledge) is possible only through a pure heart. Power cannot do it. A domestic life cannot help in achieving it. Sacrifice and penance are also of no avail. Man's happiness is not in reading, not in penance, not at home nor in sacrifice. Man has unknown powers. Man's body is a great generator. Man's heart is a great magnet. His thoughts are power. All these powers are in man.
What did Buddha decide? He believed that we have to make proper use of the five jnana senses and karma senses. He started with samyak drishti (properly integrated sight). What we see (scene) gets imprinted on our heart. We should not see bad scenes. We should always see sacred things. Drishti (sight) decides srishti (creation). We should develop samyak drishti. If evil scenes are imprinted on our heart they cannot be wiped off. Samyak drishti is made possible by samyak sangam (good company). Samyak sangam guarantees samyak karma (properly integrated deed). If we are in bad company we ruin our lives. Keep away from bad company. Join good people. Do good things. Think about the eternal.
Satsang (company of truth) should be cultivated first. What is satsanga? It is beyond the three tenses. It is not just the company of good people. Sat means permanent. It never changes under any circumstance. That is divinity. Divinity is called sat (truth), chit (consciousness), ananda (joy) or satchidananda. This leads to samyak bhava (properly integrated emotion) which in turn leads to samyak karma. This is humanness. The proper study of mankind is man. What is this? Sacred thoughts, sacred deeds and sacred words constitute the trinity of senses. Our thoughts, deeds and words should be good. The unity of these three paves the way to the discovery of divinity in man. Buddha realised this and acquired divine bliss a little before his nirvana (final deliverance). His mother Mayadevi died nine days after his birth. His stepmother Gouthami brought him up. She was very affectionate. Buddha became Gouthama as the result of his foster mother.
Buddha created everything in his conscience. He came to the conclusion that books and teachers cannot give the right direction. Many teach self knowledge. But no one practises it. Mere information is of no use. Books are of no use. You must follow your conscience. That is your true nature. That is your teacher. Buddha knew all these things. At the time of nirvana he found his brother Ananda shedding tears. He said "Ananda! many people weep on the death of their relatives and friends. They are not conscious of the consequences of death. I know the truth. I am merging with it. You are not justified in shedding tears. You appear to be unhappy about my sacred end. You should not shed tears. Nara means water. Nayanamulu means eyes. You should shed tears only for Narayana (God) and not for anything else. They should be tears of pleasure (for God). Tears of pain do not befit man."
When we find somebody weeping we crowd around him and ask for the reason for his unhappiness. But we don't ask the happy man why he is happy. It means happiness is natural for man. We have been giving scope for grief and weakness over a number of generations. One who believes in God has no grief. If he weeps he is unable to know the principle of God. God is one. He appears in various forms and names. But God is one.
We worship God as Allah, Rama, Krishna, Buddha. These are names given by us. These are not true. These are transitory. Don't be proud of youth or money. They burn out in no time. We should not yield to these pleasures and therefore, the consequent pains. The body is like a water bubble. What can be its tenacity?
Bliss is possible only for the man who knows all. Happiness is union with God. You cannot have it in the external world. Nobody can give it to us. We have to cultivate it ourselves. Seeking it from others is in vain. It is ignorance. Buddha felt unhappy for this ignorance. He decided to see the bliss in himself at Gaya. No external agency is involved in this. No one can give it. It is not available anywhere. We forget the bliss within ourselves and search for it everywhere. Man's heart is the abode of God. One should endeavour to develop this consciousness of God within oneself. Buddhism failed because of man's inability to cultivate this. We say something but do another. All religions failed because of this discord. We say a million things but fail to do even one and hence the fate of the world today. Divinity need not be searched. It is there in the body, in the heart. Sin is not divisible from the deeds.
All religions speak of the welfare of people. If the hearts are good no religion would be bad. If you say a religion is bad it means your heart is bad. You must make your heart sacred. It must be in samyak drishti. It should have samyak bhava. There should be samyak sravanam (properly integrated hearing). Buddha talked of five deeds: samyak drishti, samyak bhava, samyak sravanam, samyak vakku (properly integrated speech) and samyak karma. These five ensure the proper working of five senses. This is real sadhana (spiritual practice).
We misuse the God-given mind, status and opportunity. We become slaves to desire, anger, pride and jealousy. They are the characteristics of animals. We should be sacred. We should speak the truth, talk about pleasant things. We should not speak unpleasant things. Truth is the origin of all creation. It takes back all creation. There is no territory beyond Truth. This is the truth.
In all religions Truth is the basis. Truth is God. Dharma is a shadow. Man has all powers in himself. He can have bliss if he realises it. Unfortunately none of us do.
The external vision is the vision of the animal. We should conquer this. There is nothing mightier than God. Divinity is related to the sacred nature of heart. It is eternal. It comes and grows. Others come and go.
Embodiments of Love! You came from long distances for Buddha Pournima. This travel is unnecessary. Buddha is the form of your mind. Your mind should be set right. So many sadhanas are of no use. They waste our time. The real sadhana lies in the cultivation of good character. Give up your bad qualities. The body is a water bubble. The mind is a mad monkey. Don't follow it. Follow your conscience. We follow the conscious. This is not right. That is our real power. It is the atmasamrajya (kingdom of self). This is the real nirvana. What is nirvana? It is deliverance. We should achieve it through our efforts. It is the bliss at the end.
Man has no discretion between what has to be retained and what has to be given up. We should forget the people who offend us. We should forget the help we render to others. We should remember the help others rendered us. These three are very important. We should not aim at rewards for our deeds. All deeds performed in the name of God are good. All deeds are for the pleasure of God.
We have to cultivate samyak drishti. We have to see good things, listen to good things, think about good things, speak of good things. This should be the endeavour of our life. See no evil. See what is good. Hear no evil. Hear what is good. Talk no evil. Talk what is good. Think no evil. Think what is good. Do no evil. Do what is good. This is the path of God. This is the path of Buddha. Samyak drishti, sravanam, bhavam, vakku and karma ensure victory over the five senses. This is true deliverance (moksha). This is the sacred nirvana. Nirvana is dissolution of man in peace. It is the peace of hridaya (heart). Hridaya must be full of compassion, love and kindness.
Embodiments of Love! God is within us as love. There is nothing better than love. Love is God. God is love. If you keep God as the target your vision becomes samyak drishti. You do not have any enemy. It is only your feeling. All men are brothers and God is our father. All are our sisters. There is no difference. Differences lead to qualities like jealousy. If you feel that all are the various versions of yourself, you will not be angry. This is not easy. You can control it through practice.
We run to Tirupathi for God. We run to Bhadrachalam for God. We run to Badri for God. But we don't believe that God is in our own heart. Once Narada asked Narayana "I want your darshan now and then. Where do you stay?" Narayana replied "I stay with my devotees. Kailasam, Swargam, Vaikuntam are my temporary premises. My permanent residence is in my devotee's hearts."
We must make effort to get rid of the animal behaviour and cruelty in us and cultivate love for people. Love alone leads to salvation.
|
