In youth you are enveloped with total ignorance, in adult age you are entangled in the meshes of career and family, in old age you groan under the burden of Samsara and physical weakness as a result of illness, eventually passing away. Being always occupied with these distractions, when will you find time to devote yourself to the commission of virtuous deeds – Nishkama Karma, Bhajan, Satsanga, Kirtan and Meditation?
Why should you realize Atman? Because Self Realization gives you freedom from the Samsaric wheel of birth and death and bestows on you supreme peace, illimitable Ananda and unalloyed felicity. Hear the emphatic declaration of the Srutis: “This Atman (Self) which is free from sin, undecaying, undying, free from sorrow, hunger and thirst, with true desires and true resolves, that is what is to be sought after and which one must wish to understand. One who has sought after this Self and understands It, obtains all worlds and all desires. ”
“The Infinite (the great) is Bliss. There is no bliss in what is small. The Infinite alone is Bliss. But one should wish to understand the Infinite.“ – Chhandogya Upanishad.
Religion must educate and develop the entire person – their heart, their head and their hand. Then only they will have real perfection. There must be integral development. One-sided development is not commendable. You must have the head of Sankara, the heart of Buddha and the hand of Janaka.
Vedanta without devotion is quite dry.
Pure Love is Divine Prem. It is the spontaneous outpouring of affection and devotion from the bottom of the heart of a sincere devotee towards God. The only Sara-vastu in the world is Love or Prem. It is eternal and without decay.
Physical love is passion, or Moha.
Universal Love is Divine Love.
Cosmic Love, Visva Prem, Universal Love are all synonymous terms. God is Love. Love is God. What stands in the way of developing Universal Love is Selfishness, Greed, Egoism, Vanity, Pride, Jealousy and Anger – all these attributes contract the heart.
A MESSAGE OF PREM
Prem is the flower of flowers. It is the rarest of all flowers. It is cultivated in the hearts of devotees. Prem or Bhakti is intense love or highest form of devotion to God. It is supreme attachment to the Lotus Feet of the Lord. It springs from the bottom of the devotee’s heart. There is not a bit of effort. There is a genuine, natural, spontaneous longing to meet God within the heart. Just as fish cannot live without water, just as the sunflower cannot live without the sun, so also a true Bhakta cannot live without God even for a moment.
Bhakti or Prem is of the nature of nectar. It gives freedom to the devotee and makes them perfect and fully satisfied. Bhakti – Prem takes the devotee to the Lotus Feet of the Lord.
For all beings a human birth is difficult to obtain. There are three things which are indeed rare and are due to the Grace of the Lord viz. , human birth, the longing for liberation and the protecting care of a perfected sage. The person who, having by virtuous actions in previous births, obtained a human birth with a male body and good intellect to boot is foolish not to exert for Self Realization. This person verily he kills himself by clinging to all things unreal.
Mere giving up of objects will not constitute real renunciation. Dear friends, remember this point well. True Tyaga consists in renouncing egoism, mine-ness, selfishness, Moha, Deha-Abhimana, desires and cravings.
Who of us is really anxious to know the truth about God or Divine Love? We are more ready to ask ourselves: “How much money you have got in the Bank? Who said that against me? Do you know who am I? How are your wife and children doing?” and questions of this sort.
What about these questions? –
Who am I?
What is this Samsara?
What is freedom?
Where have I come?
Where shall I go?
Who is Isvara?
What are the attributes of God?
What is our relationship to God?
How to attain Moksha?
What is the Svaroopa of Moksha?
How many of you, sisters and brothers, ask questions of this nature?
Sravanam kirtanam Vishnoh-smaranam paadasevanam; Archanam vandanam dasyam sakhyam-atmanivedanam.
“Hearing the Name of the Lord, singing praises to God, remembering God, serving God’s Lotus Feet, worshipping God, bowing before God, attending to God, loving God as a friend, and surrender of the self completely to God – these are the nine ways of developing devotion.”
Sri Vishnoh Sravane Parikshidabhavad Vaiyasikah Kirtane Prahladah Smarane Tadanghribhajane Lakshmih – Prithuh Poojane; Akrurastvabhivandane Kapipatir Dasye cha Sakhyerjunah Sarvasyatmanivedane Balirabhat Krishnaptirevampara.
“In hearing was Parikshit; in Kirtan was Vaiyasika (Sukadev, son of Vyasa); in Smarana was Prahlada; in serving the Feet of the Lord was Lakshmi; in worshipping was Prithu; in prostrating, Akrura; in serving, the Lord of the monkeys (Hanuman); in loving Him as a Friend, Arjuna; and in surrendering completely to Him was Bali. Thus the highest attainment of Lord Krishna is to be had. ”
Just as taking of food brings Tushti (satisfaction), Pushti (nourishment to the body) and cessation of hunger, so also Bhakti brings Vairagya and Jnana.
Have Avyabhicharini Bhakti. This is undivided love. The devotee loves God and God alone. The devotee’s mind is ever fixed at the Lotus Feet of God. Their whole mind, heart and soul are given to God. This is Avyabhicharini Bhakti.
No developments of Prem or Bhakti are possible without right conduct – Sadachara. Just as a disease can be cured by medicine as well as dietetic adjustment, so also realization of God can be had by devotion and Sadachara.
Bhakti is the medicine. Sadachara represents dietetic adjustment or Pathya.
What is Sadachara then? Sadachara is to speak the Truthat all times, to practice Ahimsa, not to hurt the feelings of others in thought, word and deed, not to speak harsh words to anyone, not to show any anger towards anybody, not to abuse others or speak ill of others and to see God in all living beings. This is Sadachara. If you abuse anyone, if you hurt the feelings of others, you are really abusing yourself and hurting the feelings of God only. Himsa (injuring) is a deadly enemy of Bhakti and Jnana. Himsa separates and divides. It stands in the way of realizing unity, the oneness of Self.
You injure another person or a being on account of ignorance. If you always bear in mind that you see God in every human and animal and that God is seated in the hearts of all living beings, you will not injure anyone. You will not injure others the moment you remember to see God in others.
Keep a spiritual diary. Note down in the diary when you become angry towards others, when you hurt the feelings of others, and so on. This is very important.
Even for a quarter of a second, the time taken for the eyelids to close and open, your mind does not run away from the Lotus Feet of the Lord if your devotion is, in other words, like Taila Dhara at all times. You will have the whole wealth of all the three worlds at your disposal. The Lord will give you a word of assurance to this effect. The Lord follows such a devotee wherever he goes. The Lord wears the dust of the devotee’s feet as Tilaka on His forehead.
Some say that Bhakti should be cultivated in old age when one retires from service and gets pension. This is a serious mistake. Is there any guarantee that you will live to such an old age to discharge your higher responsibility? Has God given you a written document to this effect? Sow the spiritual seeds when you are young. In old age you will have no strength of body and mind to do rigorous Sadhana.
Such is the case with the people of this world. They suffer on account of Mithya Abhimana – Identification with the material world, Mithya Ahamkara – Egoism and Mithya Sambandha – Relationship with the body.
That from which this universe has evolved, That in which this universe subsists and That in which this universe involves should be understood as Brahman, Atman or God or Supreme Being.
That in which there is neither East nor West, neither light nor darkness should be understood as Brahman.
The highest end of human existence is where there is no greater gain, than whose bliss there is no greater bliss, than knowing which there is no higher knowledge. That should be understood as Svaroopa of Brahman or God.
If one is able to perceive the One Imperishable Essence – “Avinasi Vastu” – that is seated equally in all these beings through the inner eye of intuition or Divya Chakshus are able to worship God for their own liberation.
There are two ways for attaining God Consciousness. They are the Pravritti Marga and Nivritti Marga. Pravritti Marga is the path of action, or Karma Yoga. Nivritti Marga is the path of renunciation, or Jnana Yoga.
Three things are indispensably requisite for attaining Moksha. They are:
(1) Guru-Bhakti, devotion towards the spiritual preceptor
(2) Jijnasa, a keen longing for liberation
(3) Satsanga, association with Bhaktas, Sadhus, Mahatmas and Yogins.
Those who are endowed with these three requisites can cross the ocean of Samsara.