Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

In this world, birds and beasts lead regulated lives though they lack education; Why does man lack this sense though he is endowed with intelligence ? Embodiments of Divine Love! Today's man has learnt to fly in the air like birds, and swim in the sea like fish. But he has not learnt how to live as man on the earth. Science can teach man such things as flying in the air and swimming in the sea. However, it is only religion but not science, that can teach him how to live as man on the earth. So if science were to foster the all-round development of man, it has to seek the aid of religion. Religion does not mean blind adherence to some beliefs. On the other hand, religion helps man to attain the goal of human life based on discrimination and sacred values. All religions teach only what is good, One should understand them properly and regulate one's life according! If our minds are good, what wrong can we see in any religion ? Therefore no religion can ever be bad. That is why the great scientist, Einstein, declared that religion without science is lame and science without religion is blind, thereby stressing the need for a judicious combination of science and religion to serve the needs of humanity.

Religion is of immense help in fostering the integral development of the human personality. It underlines the unity in diversity. True religion teaches the harmony and unity of all religions. The essence as well as the goal of all religions is the attainment of the purity of mind and heart. Every religion has its own precepts and principles. But no religion preaches hatred, untruth or unrighteousness. "Speak the truth, practice righteousness" - enjoin the Upanishads. Similar sacred injunctions are to be found in all the other religions too. Thus all religions emphasise the human values and serve as beacons for the proper progress and development of mankind. They all facilitate the manifestation of the divinity inherent in man. But the present-day men in general, and the youth in particular, have forgotten our age-old culture and sacred values and are bidding good-bye to God, having been enticed by the modem science and technology.

However, with the passage of time, scientists themselves are veering round to the view that the universe is being guided and governed by some divine power. The innumerable stars and planets in the universe are whirling at tremendous speeds. If they are to deviate even slightly from their orbits or their speeds, it would result in an universal holocaust. Who has ordained them to adhere to their speeds and orbits?

Today's scientists are creating artificial satellites which are orbiting around the earth. But these satellites are crashing down or catching fire in a few days or months, whereas the planets in God's creation are orbiting regularly since time immemorial, without any crashing, or catching fire. Light travels at the rate of 1,86,000 miles per second. Even with such a tremendous speed, it takes lakhs of years for light to travel around the families or constellations of the sun and stars. In the Milky Way that is visible to us, there are innumerable stars unknown to us. The light from some of the stars has not yet reached the earth, despite the lapse of aeons since their creation. Even the scientists are in doldrums to understand fully such aspects of creation. What a contrast between the scientist who swells up with pride on account of discovering but a minute fraction of the mystery of creation, and the Creator (God) who is running the whole universe peacefully, silently, patiently and lovingly without any pomp or pride! Not this alone. The way this creation or Nature is functioning is amazing beyond words. For instance, the carbon dioxide exhaled by man is being taken up by the plants and the oxygen released by the plants is being inhaled by man. Who has made this mutually beneficial arrangement in Nature? Poet-saints like Purandaradas have sung the praise of the Lord Almighty in the following terms: "Who has watered, manured and grown the small shrubs and the gigantic trees in the crevices of the rocks in the mountains? Who has painted the beautiful peacock and its tail with such attractive colours? Who has designed the wonderful combination of a green body and a red beak for the parrot?" The scientist may explain away all such things as the "Law of Nature." But are these scientists able to transcend Nature or to dispense with the materials available in Nature ?

Whatever the scientists claim as their "creation" is only derived from a combination of the basic materials found in Nature. For example, the scientist produces water by combining hydrogen and oxygen. But then, which scientist has produced or created hydrogen and oxygen? These elements are produced by sunlight. In the same manner whatever the scientist may produce is based only on the permutation and combination of the already existing materials in Nature. This fact is conveniently ignored by most scientists. When one ponders over the mysteries or secrets of Nature, even a fool will have to admit the existence of a divine power behind all these wonderful phenomena.

Let us consider another example. There are nearly 5.08 billion human beings in the world. But it is amazing that in such a huge population, no two persons look exactly alike. Which creator, except God, can do this extraordinarily wonderful feat! The goods manufactured by the modern creators are all alike because they come out of the same mould. What a striking contrast! The students should therefore, try to understand the mysteries of creation.

We are prone to take the creation for granted, thinking that it is but insentient Nature, thereby ignoring the Sentient Principle that regulates nature and imparts a proper balance among its various constituents. Scientists and technologists, in pursuit of selfish interests as well as of name and fame, utterly disregard the security and welfare of the society and the nation, by upsetting the balance in Nature, which results in various accidents, calamities, losses and misery to the public at large. For example, the oceans contain air needed by the earth for more than ten years. One lightning in the sky emits enough electricity required for the entire world for twenty years. By building gigantic dams and storing huge quantities of water in one place, the earth goes down in that area and consequently goes up in another area, like a see-saw. The indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources by the scientists and technologists such as various types of mines for extracting minerals, mica, coal, petrol and other oils results in imbalance and pollution of the five major elements, leading to catastrophes like earthquakes, and volcanoes, etc. The rapid and excessive proliferation of industries, facto-ties, automobiles, etc., with the attendant pollution of the atmosphere is responsible for the increasing incidence of diseases like eosinophilia, asthma, deafness, pneumonia and typhoid, etc. However, science per se is not bad; what is necessary is for man to put it to proper and judicious use.

Students of today have implicit faith and unquestioning belief in what the scientists say; but however much you may din into their ears, they have no faith in God. Dear students! First of all, you must have faith in God's existence. One simple reason for this is that in the dictionaries of all the languages, you find the word "God" among other words. Any dictionary contains only words which refer to things existing in the world such as birds, beasts and other living beings, as well as inanimate objects. Non existing things do not have a place in the dictionary. The very fact that the word "God" occurs in all dictionaries is enough to prove the existence of God. Even if you have not seen or experienced some of the things included in the dictionary, there are other people who have seen or experienced them. So, based on your limited experience you cannot deny the existence of anything mentioned in the dictionary. If you have not experienced God, there are other people who have experienced Him and that is why the word "God" finds a place in the dictionary. Some of you may argue that them are some words like "sky-flower," "rabbit-horn," for which the corresponding objects do not exist in the world. But you must know that they are not single words as such, but compound words coined by combining two different words. Each of the single words "Sky" and "flower" refer to existing things; similarly there are rabbits and horns. But there are no objects in the world corresponding to the artificially coined words, namely "sky-flower" and "rabbit-horn."

One scientist wanted to know the meaning of the word Parama Hamsa (Supreme Swan) used in spiritual parlance. He was told that just as the swan separates milk from water by dipping its beak into a mixture of milk and water, the Parama Hamsa through his proper enquiry and the resulting wisdom separates the Atma (Self) from Anatma (Non-self). In turn, when the scientist was questioned as to who endowed the swan with the capacity to separate milk and water, the scientist replied that when the acid secreted by the beak of the swan comes into contact with the mixture of milk and water, the acid curdles the milk, thus separating it from water. But then the question arises as to who has placed this acid in the beak of the swan. Has any scientist done it? No, it is only God who has done this. Such, indeed, are the mysteries of God's creation!

About fifty years back, scientists believed that them is no greater power than the atomic energy. They expressed the fear that if the atomic power is further split, it will lead to disaster. But now after exploring and experimenting during the last fifty years, the scientists have been able to discover that there are greater powers than the atomic power. Similarly, persons who presently have no experience of God may have such experience, say, after ten years. Divinity is allpervading. You must firmly believe this. Without faith in God, human life would go in vain. Along with physical sciences you should also try to understand the spiritual science to some extent at least.

Nowadays students give room to unnecessary doubts. One boy came to me and said, "Swami! Sankaracharya has declared that Brahman is real and the world is illusory. But Brahman who is said to be real is not to be seen anywhere, while we are vividly experiencing the so-called illusory world in our daily lives with all the attendant gains and losses, joys and sorrows - that too not for one or two years but over a period of several years. So, how can we believe that the world is illusory?" To this I replied, "My dear boy! Don't waste your time in-thinking about such questions. Why do you worry yourself about the reality or unreality of Brahman and the world? You leave that question to them (i.e. to Brahman and the world). First of all, find out the truth about yourself. You may think that you are real. But that alone is considered as real which does not undergo any change during all the three periods of time viz., past, present and future. In the light of this criterion, since your body undergoes change from moment to moment, and also since it is liable to perish altogether at any time, it is considered illusory. The same is the case with the rest of the world." The youth of today argue that they do not undergo any change, forgetting the fact that their body is subject to change from time to time - birth, childhood, adolescence, adulthood (manhood), old age and death. Thus, everything in this world undergoes change from time to time and that is the reason why the world is declared to be illusory. Sankaracharya did not say that the world is absolutely unreal. He called it illusory, because it is a mixture of reality and unreality, appearing at one time and disappearing at another time. However, students should understand that there is a substratum of reality underlying the illusory world. This can be illustrated by the silver plate which you see on My table. This plate can be converted into a cup tomorrow, or into a spoon the day after. But the substance behind these changing names or forms continues to be the changeless silver. Nevertheless the silver and the cup (or plate) cannot be separated from each other. Similarly, the changeless reality of Brahman is the substratum underlying the everchanging, illusory world.

The students of today are victims of several doubts, because there is a dearth of capable teachers who can come down to the level of the students and explain things clearly to them. Let the students understand the significance of the slogans exhibited on the hind wall of this auditorium, viz. "Samshayatma Vinashyathi" (The doubter will perish) and "Shradhavan Labhathe Jnanam" (The one with faith gains wisdom). Both Nissamshayam (freedom from doubts), and Sraddha (faith and interest) are necessary for enlightenment, just as the positive and negative currents are needed for the fight to emerge. Hence it is necessary that freedom from doubts on the one hand and faith on the other, should constitute the two banks through which the river of your life should flow, so that it may ultimately merge in the ocean of Divine Grace. The woman saint, Meera said, "Braving all hardships, I dived deep into the ocean of the worldly life and at last got hold of the precious pearl in the name of Krishna. If I lose hold of this pearl, I may not get it again. Therefore, Oh Lord! You are my sole refuge." So also, you students may not get such a golden opportunity (as this Summer Course) once again. You should therefore, try to carefully garner the pearls of precious ideas that are now being made available to you, so that they may stand you in good stead throughout your life.