The real experience exists when expression stops

“I love my mother” is an expression. How much do you love your mother? “A rose is beautiful.” How beautiful is it? Beauty is an experience. Therefore, my friends, the real experience exists when expression stops.


Creation is the reflection of THE creator

Bhagavan says that in order to see the Creator, one should see His creation. The Creator and creation are not different. If I stand before a mirror, I see my own reflection. Suppose if I stand before the mirror and see an ugly image, it doesn’t mean that the mirror is ugly; it means that I am ugly. Therefore when the creation is so beautiful, it means that the Creator must be equally beautiful. The grandeur, the aura and the beauty of the creation is the reflection of the Creator. That is the reason the holy text Bhagavad Gita says: Sarvam (everything) Vishnum mayam (Divine) Jagat (creation). The creation is full of Divinity.



Never neglect or abuse creation. Never pollute Nature because Nature is the gift of God. We have not created anything, but are experts at destroying everything. We cannot create anything that is fresh, innovative, or beautiful; but we can pollute everything. Therefore there is wide range between man and God.



God is infinite, like the vast ocean

Nature is the reflection of God Himself. Look at that vast ocean! There is nothing greater than the ocean that teaches us the important lesson of the infinity of God. If I say God is infinite, you may ask how infinite? Please keep quiet because your expression is finite! So infinity can be taught in terms of the vast ocean, which is limitless and boundless.



Ocean teaches two states of consciousness

The ocean also teaches another lesson. Towards the shore it is turbulent, full of waves; whereas in the deep, it is calm and quiet. What does that mean? The Self in man, the Divinity in man is calm, quiet, balanced, equanimous, unruffled, un-agitated, undisturbed, silent, serene, dignified, and magnanimous; whereas at the superficial level, there is turbulence.



What does that mean? When the wind touches the ocean, there are turbulent waves. Similarly, the stillness of our heart is like the depth of the ocean; when the wind of desire touches it, the mind becomes turbulent. That is a tragic situation. So our mind has two states of consciousness or existence: one of equanimity and the other, where our desires create something like those turbulent waves. That is the lesson of the mighty ocean.



The infinite is blue in colour

What does it further teach? That which is infinite is always blue in colour. Watch the mountain from a distance; it is blue in colour. Ocean is blue in colour, and sky is blue in colour. Neelamega Shyama: Rama is blue in colour, Krishna is blue in colour and the creation is the reflection of the Creator.



WHAT THE Vaporisation of salt water teaches

By the touch of sunlight and its heat, the salty sea water vaporises into clouds that come back to us as rain. Rain is sweet, unpolluted water, fit for immediate consumption. What does it mean? This transformation of ocean water from salty to sweet is like the transformation of mankind—full of the salt of ego, pride and jealousy, transformed into the sweet and acceptable.



Transformation of man happens by the touch of God, just like the transformation of ocean water happens by the touch of the sun or Aruna. That is what the prayer says. It means, “Oh God, bring about a transformation within me so that I become sweet, acceptable and serviceable to everybody; so that I will be humble and respectable to everybody; so that You would look at me feeling proud of your own creation; so that I would be a worthy son of a worthy Father.”



These are all quotations from Swami. I am a student of botany, the science of plants, and I am not capable of philosophy or the spiritualising of subjects. No. I study Sai literature and I have been speaking on Swami for over thirty years. Bhagavan prompts me to speak along these lines. So please consider these as excerpts from the Divine message only.



Ocean represents three levels of consciousness

Ocean water has three states: the water itself, the waves and the foam. The water is the basis of Divinity; the wave is the super-imposition or the delusion, while the foam is the worldly confusion. The ocean is the reality and water’s Divinity continues forever.



Pradhibadhika Sathya, Paramardhika Sathya, Vevaharika Sathya are the three levels of consciousness. Paramardhika Sathya or the reality is the ocean. Pradhibadhika Sathya is the super-imposition of delusion or the waves. Vevaharika Sathya is the worldly confusion or the foam.



That is what Swami has said about the ocean. Just coming along the way on the flight, I looked at the ocean and wondered, “God, what a wonderful lesson You have taught us! I’m not simply trying to praise You, My Lord. Who am I to praise You? But to learn these lessons through Your creation so that I would be an evolved soul, a personality that befits Your creation, is a gift.”



Man made out of God should be godly

A jewel made out of gold would have the qualities of the raw gold it was made from. Similarly, man made out of God should be godly. Unfortunately, he is demonic. What an awful situation it is! What a fall, my countryman! Bhagavan’s plan today is to bring us back to our pristine glory, to that state of originality. Thus are the lessons from the ocean.



Hairpin bend teaches about the ups and downs of life

Then I think of the mountains ranges full of trees and how we were driving towards them and along them. What a beautiful drive up and down those hairpin bends! What does Swami say? “Life is full of bends, ups and downs. Never complain that I am down now. No! You saw the up also. Then, why not the down?” So let us not complain that life should only be full of ups. No, it is impossible. It is not the quality of Nature. A simple example is this St. Thomas. Is it all plains, no ups and downs, and no mountains? No.



Take our own human body: we are not like a square concrete pillar. Imagine ourselves like a pillar. We would look horrible! As it is, no one is looks at us! (Laughter) So this teaches a lesson of bumps and jumps, lashes and slashes in life. These are inevitable, so let us try to accept both.



Failure helps UNDERSTAND the value of success

Enjoy the night as much you enjoy the day. Twenty-four hours does not mean dark night throughout, as in Copenhagen, Denmark. Would you like complete darkness everyday? If it is always bright, it’s hard to sleep. So day and night may be opposite, but both of them contribute to make a full day, and they therefore compliment each other. So life is beautiful, yet full of paradoxes. Success is good, but failure is equally good: when there is no failure, how do you enjoy the success?



As Baba puts it, if there is no death, nobody will die. If mother stops loving the child, how does it matter, since everyone is immortal? Now, as there is a threat to his life, the mother is constantly worried: would the child be able to go to school easily? What about the traffic? The children may fight at school and he may be beaten up. How will the child return home? What if the teacher slaps the child? These threats make the mother love the child more. On the other hand, if God says all are eternal, we won’t be bothered.



Therefore, failure helps us understand the value of success. Success has no meaning without failure. The word ‘success’ can exist when there is ‘failure’; the word ‘day’ can exist because there is ‘night’. This is the fundamental principle of life which we don’t want to accept. That is the reason we say, “Oh God, make me at least a billionaire. See that my child is born with a visa. And see that all my relatives have as many properties as Dhiru Ambani or Bill Gates.” What sort of prayer is that! The true desire should be readiness to accept whatever comes to us.



Success is A chance to thank -- failure is A chance to correct

Success should never make you egoistic or proud of achievement. Similarly, failure should not make you frustrated, depressed and ready to commit suicide either. If I am a failure, let me understand that God wants to teach me a lesson so I can improve. If I am successful, I should thank God for encouraging me to have higher targets in life. “I will achieve more, thank You, God.” So success is a chance to thank and failure is a chance to correct. There is no reason to be afraid of either. We can maintain our own balance. That is the lesson religion teaches.



ANYTHING FREE is taken for granted

Another important and funny thing is that we forget to enjoy what is freely given to us. Those of us who enjoy home-cooked food will miss it when we are on flights and get only juice. When home-food is available everyday, we don’t understand its value. Children will never know the value of the parents until they go elsewhere for studies, where they are no longer pampered. So anything that is freely given is taken for granted. That is a curse to all of us.



Water is freely available. When that water is supplied through pipes, we have to pay water tax. Electricity is free; but when that is passed through some wires, amplifiers and power stations, you have to pay electricity bill. The whole planet Earth is free, but government wants you to pay land tax. Government has not purchased, but still you have to pay the government for the property of God. How silly it is! We breathe oxygen and a cylinder of oxygen costs about 250 rupees. Ask any heart patient! How many cylinders of oxygen we have breathed till now? What amount should go to God for that? All are freely given, but we are not thankful.



On the other hand, if a fellow offers a cup of coffee, we thank him profusely. Either that fellow dies or we end our life for a cup of coffee! But God has given so much more, yet we are not aware of it!



Life is here and now

Do we ever care to watch the beauty of Nature? There is no time, as we are busy running to the office. Life has become a matter of calculation, of management, of dreaming and planning. Why don’t you enjoy today? Today is life.



If someone asks, “What is life?” can you refer them to your insurance policy? Can you give them your date of birth? Life is here and now. Life is not the past or the future. Life is here now.



If somebody asks, “Where is God?” what is your response? God is in the temple, God is available freely on Sunday (so I can see Him, as it happens to be the weekend). We want the weekend! Somebody asked when was Baba going to visit United States? I said, “He is ready to come, but you want Him only for a weekend holiday.” (Laughter) What will you do for the rest of His six days? So my friends, we are yet to cultivate the attitude of enjoying Nature or life.



Trees AND animals enjoy, but man does not

Look at these beautiful trees. Look at flowers tossing their heads in the wind, like along the Milky Way, like the golden daffodils of William Wordsworth. The flowers enjoy, but we never enjoy our life. Look at the faces of people. They look like they have consumed a bottle of castor oil. (Laughter) They have no life. Flowers and animals enjoy their life, but man is not able to. Animals don’t have lockers or bank accounts, but they are very happy. We are worried because we wonder if we will be this happy after ten years. I am happy today, but I am doubtful about ten years later; therefore I cry now. See the misery of man!



plants and animals Don’t compare, but man does

The plants and animals are very happy. Why? They do not compete. A lilly flower will never compare itself with a eucalyptus tree or a palm tree. “You are tall, while I am short. You are beautiful that way, but I am more beautiful this way.”



No tree compares itself with another tree, and no animal compares itself with another animal. Each one is great in its own way—no comparison or competition. Our life is miserable because of this ugly comparison and competition. “I think you are great, forgetting the fact that I am greater than you.” You think you are greater than the other person, but both of you are equally miserable!



Our friend was commenting that the other side of the fence is always greener. That’s how we always feel. Live in the present and be thankful to God. Enjoy Nature and be natural.



Life has become artificial, not artistic

Unfortunately, life has become artificial not artistic. Life is full of plastic lipstick smiles, but there are no natural smiles. We are cut off from Nature. Do we ever care to listen to the beautiful sounds of birds in the morning? No. We want to listen to television sounds. Do we ever hear the sound that a river makes? Did we ever listen to the sound that the ocean makes? Do we ever listen to the sound of our own heart? No, there is no time.



The one who is cut off from Nature is unnatural, and that unnatural one will be miserable. But the one who is close to Nature will be natural, and is bound to be blissful. We are not blissful because we are unnatural. Bhagavan Baba, the Divine Incarnation, wants all of us to be natural.


Develop human values

Animals have animal qualities, plants have plant qualities; but humans also have animal qualities! I don’t have to ask a dog to behave like one, but I have to tell a man to behave like a human being! Swami introduced Education in Human Values because we have become inhuman. We have to be re-taught human values!



Monkeys move as a group, birds move as a group, but man does not want to mix with others. Armstrong was successful in landing on the moon, but I don’t know whether he was friends with his neighbour or not. We are not able to step into our neighbour’s house, but we are ready to land on the moon to collect some dust. There is ample dust here. We don’t have to go all that way! So my friends, I urge you to develop the human qualities of compassion, sacrifice, and love of learning from Nature.



Tree TEACHES US several lessons


Look at the tree. As Bhagavan said:



Prithigna Nananullu Phalamuluchidea Kathu
Sacchikooda Chilchil Sotharavu
Jagamangu Tharuvelethu Kurvellu
Sacha Mahina Matta
Eiya Sai Matha



Baba says, “While alive, the tree serves you by bearing fruit; after death, the tree is useful as firewood. So there can be no other creature in this world to teach the lesson of sacrifice other than the tree.”



The trees stand straight, but we can’t. Tree stands straight because it depends upon the roots which are firmly established; the root is the self-confidence. When you have self-confidence, you will be upright.



The stem and the branches speak of self-satisfaction. When you have confidence, you can have satisfaction. People have no satisfaction because they have no confidence. Only a confident man can be a satisfied man.



The leaves that take in the sunlight and carbon dioxide to prepare food material and supply oxygen stand for self-sacrifice. The fruits stand for Self-realisation. The fruit has juice which is the Divinity.



The tree is a perfect example of self-confidence, self-satisfaction, self-sacrifice, Self-realisation or Divinity. So, we can learn all these lessons from a tree. These are the things we can learn from Nature.