Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

EMBODIMENTS of Love! All living beings on each have bodies composed of physical elements, but the human body is unique in many respects. This makes man the crown of Creation. For instance, man has his spinal column erect and not horizontal like the rest. As a result, he can, by Yogic exercises, awaken the latent vital energy, the Kundalini, and train it to ascend to the Sahasrara, the thousand-petalled lotus that crowns the brain. The gross impulses become subtle; they unite and are sublimated thereby.

Another feature of the human body, another boon man has been blessed with, is his buddhi (intellect), which enables him to analyse and determine what is right and what is wrong, what is lasting and what is ephemeral. The head is the most important part of the body (Sarvasya gathrasya siram Pradhanam). The head discriminates and decides upon action and behaviour, which build up habits which shape one's Seelam (character). This too is possible only for the human species.

However, man is not allowed to know his glory, by the six thieves who hide in his mind - lusty desire, anger, greed, undue attachment, pride and hatred. They pollute his values by their emanations. There are also eight waves of pride which obstruct his attempt to know himself - the pride of caste, of physical strength, of scholarship, of youth, of wealth, of personal charm, of overlordship and one's spiritual attainments. No one discovers that these are liable to disintegrate very soon. Sankara has warned men against placing faith in any of these sources of pride. "The All-Powerful Time robs you of these in a trice," Sankara has said. Even while laughing and playing as a boy, youth overtakes you, and old age creeps in even while you imagine that youth is still with you. Death waits round the corner, even as old age overtakes you.

Prema (Love) is the basic principle of human nature. That short two-syllabled word has immeasurable potentiality. Too often, it is confused with the affection of the mother for the child, the attachment between husband and wife, the dependence of friend on friend or the relationship of teacher and pupil. In every one of these, a trace of egoistic need can be discerned. Love untainted by ego is genuine Love. It is all-inclusive, pure, full and free. It is the Love that urged Meera to walk away, Tukaram to sing and Chaithanya to dance. Love can emerge from the heart and brighten with delight only after anger (the mastiff), pride (the boar) and the ego-sense (the buffalo) are put out of action and removed from the heart. So long as these beasts occupy the heart, man cannot escape being a beast. Being a human, what does he aspire for? Absence of grief and presence of Ananda and freedom to follow one's will. Grief and joy are like night and day, inevitable phases of life. Freedom for one's will can cause disaster to oneself and others. Man must know that he is the Atma; that knowledge is all that is needed for one's Ananda.

Truth is unity of thought, word and deed. When action is saturated with Truth, it becomes Dharma (Righteousness). When all actions are right, Peace reigns and one's mind is free from traces of violence. Love is the sustenance for all the four. Love as thought is Sathya, as action it is Dharma, as feeling it is Shanthi and as understanding it is Ahimsa (Non-violence). When these four fundamental values that raise man to even Divine levels are practised and propagated by you, in school after school, in village after village, Bharath will justify the meaning of that name: Bha (light) rath (delight) - drawing delight from light.

And, above all, be. always aware of the two meanings of the Sanskrit word for man Manava. (1) Ma means 'not' and nava means 'new.' Man is not new. He has come trailing the impact of countless lives. (2) Ma (Ignorance), na (without), va (acting). Man should act with full jnana, with no trace of ignorance. Model your lives on the lines of these two meanings and be blessed.