#11
Conversation with the Divine
Overseas Medical Camp Group, November 2002 Morning (Women)
1. How do we know you are always with us?
Swami: If you are there (Atma), I am there. If you are not there, I am not there.
2. Why does anger come and how can we control anger?
Swami: Anger comes because we are disappointed. We are disappointed because we have desires.
3. How can we serve you more?
Swami: The best way to serve god is to love all serve all
4. How can we get unity in thought, word and deed?
Swami: You need integration. What you think is what you say. What you say is what you do. (Integrated Personality: thoughts, words an deeds)
5. Is it wrong to pray for others?
Swami: Self is everything. It is Aham Brahmaasmi, tatwam asi, ayam atman brahman, prajnaanam brahman. Therefore when you pray for the self, it is all inclusive, as the self is ATMAN. God is in you. Pray for the Self. Isn't that selfish? Swami: Cut out the fish, and pray for the SELF the Atma - Everyone is one
6. How do we get self confidence?
Swami: You need faith in self and self sacrifice
7. Swami, how can we handle the situation when we trust others and unconditionally show love of Swami to the persons, who turn around and quietly exploit and deceive the giver of this love?
Swami: There is no bad at all. It depends on how you see or perceive things. The perceived or experienced situation should be considered like a passing cloud, a "jump and a bump". If stuck from behind, consider that one had received a good massage therapy and did one some good. Love them anyway; your loving nature gradually changes the person. Love, Love, Love - just keep loving. This is the true road to saadhaka.
8. My life is My message! How are we supposed to follow this?
Swami: Just watch me and follow me and my teachings, what I do. I am totally selfless.
9. What is expansion of Your life?
Swami: That I am everywhere.
10. How can we as a group serve you more Swami?
Swami: Whatever you do, do it with love. Love All, Serve All. Work is worship.
11. I read Bhagawad Gita but I only see it here.
Swami: Tri Karana Suddhi: 3 acts integrated with purity. All 3 aspects are here. That is why there is a lot of peace here.
12. Why all this Maya is created?
Swami: There is no Maya. Everything is 'Brahman ' It is just changing. Afternoon (Women and Men)
Question on diet
1. Swami, can you tell us about using white sugar in food items?
Swami: It is better to use bellam (jaggery) compared to white sugar. It is even better not to use any sugar. Diet control and exercise are very important. Green leafy vegetables are good. Roots (like potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc) are bad, so avoid them as much as possible. Too much liquid items (especially rasam) are not good. When rice is mixed with too much rasam, the carbohydrates are rapidly absorbed and raise blood sugar levels. Dried foods are better. Steamed foods are better than boiled foods.
2. Swami, how do we cross maya?
Swami: Very simple, there is no maya. Anything that dies or is perishable has no maya. The only existence is Sat. Keep mind clear with good thoughts. Sat Chit Ananda Sat - purity, permanent - POSITIVE Chit - Jeevatma - NEGATIVE Ananda Co-existing of positive and negative Sugar (Sat) + Water (Chit) == Syrup (Ananda) Sat - that (beyond senses - positive) Chit - this Together, only ONE Negative: Without energy Positive: With energy (not allergy) Ladies better at practicing this - they are practical. Gents are better at giving platform speeches. Worldy thoughts - negative Anandam - Positive (no form) - Immortality Similarly Bliss, Sadness, Peace, etc, have no form Removal of immoral thoughts (like anger, ego, jealousy - negative thoughts) leads to Immortality. Do Namasamarana all the time Haste makes Waste and this leads to Worry
3. How to let go of attachments?
Swami: How are you binding to them? Same way, you let them go. Imagine a cloth - First there is cotton. Then the cotton is made into thread and finally cloth is made of bundle of threads. Remove each thread and at the end there is no cloth. You are not one person but three: the one you think you are; the one others think you are; the one you really are. Less luggage, more comfort, therefore more pleasure. With desire == Attachment; Without desire == Detachment Marriage is a mirage. It is a form of bondage: First you have two legs, you get married and now there are 4 legs; then you have a child and now there are 6 legs and so on. Bondage is attachment.
4. Swami, there is too much work in America. We don't have time to do a lot of other things.
Swami: You have too much work because you want too much money. Don't compare countries. You work for money and there has to be balance. Money comes and goes but morality comes and grows.
5. Swami, how does one balance service at home and service to society.
Swami: Good question. It is very important to have the right balance. First you have knowledge, then there is skill and finally balance. Skill is the most important in the achievement of balance. The knowledge acquired need to be "skilled" not "killed". By talking, the knowledge gets "killed" and the energy dissipated. Take away 's' from skill and you get 'kill' and this leads to imbalance. Everything is 'skill' including love.
6. How do we deal with wrong thoughts?
Swami: By discrimination. Everything is good in this world. If you think it is wrong, then kill that thought.
7. Should we be chanting Gayathri Mantra or Sai Gayathri?
Swami: Names differ but all are same.
8. Does Gayathri Manthra cure illnesses?
Swami: Yes, if it is said the right way. Both men and women have equal rights. Swami demonstrated the Gayathri mantra: Bhur (body) Bhuvah (mind) Swaha atmic force). Savithri , Saraswati, Gayahtri
9. Does a human come back as a lower species after death?
Swami: Human birth and rebirth: Rebirth is always as a human though the level may be different. Human birth is the last physical birth.
10. If everything is predestined, what role are we playing as humans?
Swami: This is a question of free will. Free will - only Divinity gives. There is no 'free will' for humans. Past is gone. Future is unknown. Limited free will for present - only moment on hand.
11. Is it wrong to have any desires even if it is good such as longing for Swami?
Swami: It is good to have 'good desires' but bad to have 'wrong desires'. There are many desires - that for Divinity is most important. Human life is the most superior creation.
12. Swami, our fear is we may not achieve everything (reach our goals) in this life time.
Swami: Just worry about the present. This is not ordinary present. This is 'Omnipresent'. Every action has a reaction. A good action has good result. Results are different types - some are immediate, some are quick (months to years) and some are long (lifetimes).
13. Why does it take different periods on one's life time to come to Swami?
Swami: It is 'prapti'. Physical closeness does not guarantee anything.
14. Why do we do bad when we know that it is bad?
Swami: Discrimination - Take time before you act. Don't haste. Don't think too much. It is not good.
15. How do we overcome fear of death?
Swami: Weakling. Too much desire leads to fear of death. Once there is birth, there is already death. So don't worry about death. The atma is eternal. Where there is illusion (brama), there is no brahma.
16. Swami, what happens after death?
Swami: Only body dies. Atma never dies. It is omnipresent.
17. Swami, it is easier to practice your teachings in Puttarparthi than in London.
Swami: Imagine a clay pot filled with water and it is suspended in air. With time, some of the water in the pot evaporates and the amount of water is decreased. However, if you immerse the same pot of water in water itself, the water level in the pot will remain the same. Bhakti is like the pot - surrounding "Divine power". "Sat Sangam" == good company. It is important to be in the midst of good company always. Do good actions. Leave bad company behind.
18. How do we know if we are doing enough?
Swami: Do you duty to the fullest "Dharmam". Just do your part. Duty without desires == source (Divine) Duty with desires == Force (Military)
19. Swami, how do we get our children more spiritually involved - involved in things we are doing?
Swami: You need to set a good example. Children are constantly watching what the elders are doing. You do one bad thing and you tell the child not to the same thing. You have to set an example yourself by practicing. For instance if a father tells his son to stop smoking, than he himself smokes the son will ask why are you smoking and do bad himself. Do it! Be it! Kids have a pure heart - they don't have any dosham (bad qualities).
20. Swami, there is so much hatred and jealousy in this world. When will it end?
Swami: When all realize the divine in them and in others. Today, love is conditioned. It should be unconditional love.
21. Are inter-religious marriages okay?
Swami: Yes. But cultures may be different.
22. How can we serve our patients best without getting upset or other things come in the way of how we treat them?
Swami: It is your duty to serve every patient without any desires. Don't separate 'my patient, your patient'. Have Divine attachment.
23. Swami, for whatever reason, we are already abroad and working here. Is it bad to stay there?
Swami: No, it is not bad to stay there. Continue to do good things.
24. Swami, can you comment on joint replacements and cloning. Swami: Joint replacement is okay. Transplants are bad, especially heart transplantation. Heart is a bundle of desires - not natural. Heart transplant is not good as the emotions are in the heart and transmitted from donor to recipient. Doctors often brag about advance of heart transplant and success. When ask how many days pt lived, they say two or three. Are blood transfusions okay?
Swami: Some emotions even get transmitted with transfusion but on a much lesser level and these are okay. If a part or tissue needs to be replaced it is okay but duplication an entire being is Gods job. Atma is Art
25. How does one develop pure bhakthi?
Swami: By having pure thoughts.
26. Swami, why are Avatars only in India and not elsewhere?
Swami: Imagine a train with an engine and several compartments. Bharat is chosen by the avatars as it is the engine and all other countries are the compartments. It is so, because Bharat has saints, yogis, jogis and bhaktas praying for the advent of the avatars through japa, dhyana, yagna and pooja. The fire in the engine is the 'yagna'.
27. Why is 'omkara' done 21 times?
Swami: Odd number is auspicious and number 21 is very auspicious. It can also be 3, 6, 9, 12. 28. Swami, some siddapurushas and the temple brahmins feel and say that the "Gayatri Japam or Mantra" should not be chanted by the ordinary women or females but only by certain "classified females". Swami: Why Not? Gayatri is mother! Anybody can chant Gayatri Mantra. Is the power equal Swami? Swami: Yes
29. Swami, doing Punya Karmas in Bhoga bhoomi like the western world is bereft of positive results for the welfare of the world or universe, like the Yagnaas, charities and service, Poojas in the existing temples etc.,." Swami: The land that is treaded by the piety and the pious acts by the piety will definitely yield good results. Does the land gets it's purity from the pious people and not vice versa?
Swami: Yes.
30. Swami, what can we do in the Sai work?
Swami: "Love all, Serve all". Then he showed his abhaya hastam, and said " Your hands are full and have nothing, this hand is empty and has EVERYTHING". It has the highest spiritual meaning of advaitic philosophy.
31. Do we need to do meditation? Mind wanders during meditation.
Swami: Every single moment should be meditation. Everything is a meditation - including work. People cannot sit for long periods and concentrate to do meditation. Life is a meditation. It is important to grow spiritually and not just do namasmarana. Love all. Love whatever you do (not materialistic). Practice pure love. These days, love is 'dirty' (dirt).
32. Swami, we have only two families in our center. Is this okay?
Swami: With centers, it is quality that is more important not quantity.
33. What is the meaning of the Bhagawad Gita? Is it the 5th Veda?
Swami: It is the practical application of all 4 Vedas. It starts with 'dharma' and ends with mama. So the Gita is mamadharma (right way of life)
34. How do we know we are doing our duty?
Swami: Duty is an English word. Dharma is important
35. What is the difference between duty and dharma?
Swami: A person being transferred from office to office packs up his belongings and goes, he does his duty. But when a person leaves his home for another, he packs everything until the last item. This is dharma
36. How do we do nishkamakarma?
Swami: Selfless service is nishkamakarma. Service without return - that is what you are doing. You have come all the way from U.S.A. to do service here.
37. Is Radionic treatment good?
Swami: Yes.
38. Mental cleansing Baba, how to do it?
Swami: You have to concentrate on your thoughts as soon as they arise. Thought control leads to mind control, control of the senses.
39. Swami! Please bless my center.
Swami: I am blessing your center and all the centers.