II
SAI BABA'S DISCOURSE ON THE MIND
Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, 7/3/86
(excerpted and edited by Al Drucker)
onsider
a cloth which has been made into a handkerchief. Its basis is cotton,
which does not have any specific form. It may be considered as pure and
unlimited. From this cotton has come the threads. By joining the threads
together a cloth has emerged. In the same way, from the pure and unlimited
Atma the I-thought has emerged. From this, in turn, has come the mind.
Therefore, your mind and the I have both originated from the pure,
unlimited Divinity, the One Reality which is your true Self.
You
should be clear about the distinction between the I-thought and the
impersonal, immortal Self. The I-thought takes birth and grows; for a time
it comes in and is associated with a body; then it disappears. But for the
Self there is no birth, there is no growth, no death, no coming, no going.
Once you recognize the truth that from the one unlimited Self has emerged
the limited I, and from that I the mind has taken birth, then you will
realize your true Self and understand the origin of the world and
everything in it.
Chaitanya
or consciousness is all-pervasive. This consciousness is also the
substratum of the mind, but when it becomes associated with the mind it is
no longer pure. Mind takes birth, blossoms forth and shines in man. With
this mind man tries to analyze and understand the external world. But,
unknown to him, that world is only a reflection of the inner thoughts that
shape the mind. All knowledge is inside you. All the beauty you see
outside is but an image of the beauty already there in your heart. All the research and experiments that you perform in the world are
merely reflections of the inner thoughts that are already within you. If
you learn to carefully concentrate your mind and go to its very root you
will be able to understand the basic truth of everything.
Make
an effort to know who you are and what the deeper meaning of this word I
is. When you conduct this investigation you will unlock all the secrets of
existence. When you examine your own truth, you will discover the very
basis of the whole creation, and you will find the source of life itself.
Then the Divine Flame inside you with blaze forth and you will realize the
truth that the Divinity is your very core. In this you can be your own
guru. If you develop a high level of patience and calmness, and remain
free from selfishness, the basic truths that are always within you will
naturally manifest and shine forth in your awareness.
First
you must free yourself from the defects in your vision. Do not try to find
fault with the creation. The entire creation is saturated with Divinity.
Today, man uses all his capacity and power of vision to see the outside
world, but he does not use his abilities to discover his true Self. It is
because of the petrified ignorance in his heart that man goes on thinking
and worrying about worldly objects and situations. And by diverting his
attention only to the manifested world he suffers disappointment and
despair.
If
you think you can free your mind from worldly thoughts by repeating
mantras or engaging in various spiritual exercises you are mistaken. It is
only when you recognize your own real nature that you will be able to
become free of all worries and misery. Once you know yourself, nothing
that can happen in the world will be able to touch you or cause you any
anxiety. And once you understand yourself you will be able to understand
the world in all its fulness.
No
matter how long you go on experimenting to find out what this manifested
world is, you will always come back to the realization that the world of
name and form consists only of the five basic elements, space, air, fire,
water and earth. The body, the mind and the senses are also made up of
these same five elements. So, the senses composed of the five elements are
enjoying the things of the world made up of the five elements. Of what
avail is that? These limited enjoyments are not real; one day or another
they must come to an end. Names
and forms made up of the five elements can only give rise to other names
and forms which go on changing and finally disintegrate.
Aspire
for the eternal joy that has no end. The Vedanta declares, 'Brahmavid
Brahmaiva Bhavati', 'Know God and you become God.' Once you know the
Divinity you realize you are the Divinity Itself. Then there is lasting
joy and fullfilment. That is why it is said, it is not enough to merely
hear the Rama story. You must become Rama Himself. You must realize your
truth as Absolute Bliss itself.
Therefore,
endeavor to understand the principle of Atma. Strive to discover the
relationship between the I and the Self and banish the I-thought
completely out of your being. So long as that I-thought continues you will
not be able to free yourself from attachment and the anxiety and misery
that go with it. As was mentioned before, in the deep sleep state you do
not have the thought of I. When there is no I there is no world for you.
The moment you get up from sleep the I-thought catches hold of you and the
experience of world rushes back into your awareness. Once the world
reappears sorrow automatically follows.
Your
distance from the Divinity is the same as your distance from yourself,
your true Self. It is the I-thought that has emerged from the Divinity
which separates you from the Divinity. Who is it that declares this I? Is
it the body? The body is inert. It cannot have the power to declare its
Iness. Then is it the Self? The one eternal Self does not recognize any
second entity at all. If you examine this question carefully you will find
that the word I emerges by itself the moment the Self and the body come
together. As soon as this I-thought emerges the mind manifests itself and
the world appears. At the same time, the impersonal Self, the Atma,
disappears from view.
The
mind has 50 million different ways of manifesting itself in the thinking
process. Behind all these myriad thoughts there is the seed-thought which
is the source of all thoughts. This is the I-thought which emerges from
the One Self. Everyone, be he a theist or an atheist, says 'I' and
believes that he himself exists. Eventually everyone will have to realize
the truth of his existence by tracing back to the very root of that
original I-thought and discover there his true Self. Spirituality is
nothing more than that. It is recognizing your true nature. It is abiding
in the very heart of the Reality and enjoying it.
I
bless you that you will steadily inquire into the Divine Principle and
realize the Ananda which is your own natural state.
OM
TAT SAT