Never criticize nature; See Divinity in it

We can never neglect worldly nature. This is also divine and it is in the form of action. This is the effect in the cause and effect relationship. The world is the connection for cause and effect. You should see God in the physical world. You can see God in each and every atom. So, do not end your education with worldly knowledge.

The power of creation is inexplicable

In any country and at any time, it is just not possible to come across two persons possessing identical physical configuration or similarity of thought process or similar knowledge base. Creation’s beauty is so amazing that one cannot find anywhere, two persons who look alike in any aspect! Are there two persons who have the same amount of satisfaction and contentment in life? Are there two persons who have similar wisdom and knowledge base? There is a certain amount of difference. Taking advantage of such differences, some people start preaching different interpretations to different sections. No...No... Man is intrinsically capable of realizing the truth of unity in diversity. But he is only seeing the apparent diversity at the expense of realizing unity through in-depth studies, research and analysis.

Swami on the depletion of Ozone layer

Dear Students! One is enthusiastic to know what exists up above, but there is nothing above apart from ether. Beyond ether lies the Ozone layer. The Ozone layer surrounds the Earth and protects it from direct harsh rays of the Sun. In the absence of the Ozone layer the Earth would be devoid of water leading to calamity. Thus the dense layer of Ozone surrounding the Earth absorbs the harsh rays of the Sun and lets out the rays of mild intensity which is suitable for the life on earth. But man today using (inventing) the modern technology with a desire to enjoy the mean worldly comforts, has invented many vehicles and developed industries which release smoke and gases into the atmosphere that destroy the Ozone layer. There is a hole in the Ozone layer now, through which the Sun’s harsh rays hit the Earth. All the countries worldwide are trying to unite to tackle the problem of hole in the ozone. What is it that man can do to correct the situation? It is a simple solution. All that man needs to do is to reduce drastically the smoke emanating from the vehicles and industries. Unless the correction methods are employed sincerely, the country will not progress and if this continues there will come a day when man will not have even water to drink. On one hand the ozone layer is getting depleted due to the smoke and on the other the government is developing industries, which are mutually contradictory. Therefore man has to save what remains.

Swami on Nature or Prakruthi

Hence this body is born of nature. There are two types of natures- ‘Para prakruthi’ and ‘Apara prakruthi’. What is the meaning of ‘Apara prakruthi’? It refers to the one which has the eight forms of wealth. The six enemies of man namely desire, anger, lust, greediness, jealousy and miserliness along with mind, intellect and ego constitute ‘Apara Prakruthi’. There is one more way of stating this. The five sheaths of food, ’Annamaya’, life, ‘Pranamaya’, mind, ‘Manomaya’, wisdom, ‘Vignanamaya’, and bliss ,’Anandamaya’, along with mind, intellect, power of discretion and ego – all these eight aspects constitute the ‘Apara Prakruthi’. “Para prakruthi” is life. A body may have all these eight types of wealth but without life it is nothing but a dead body. That life is called as ‘Chaitanyamu’ or life force and this life force is ‘Para prakruthi’. The significance of human life lies in merging with the para prakruthi by making use of the Apara prakruthi aspects.

Worship nature to earn the grace of God

Nature must be worshipped to get rid of man’s ignorance. BY worshipping nature, one can earn the grace of God. To get the permission of the nature one needs the grace of God. Forgetting the grace of God, when one desires to enjoy nature, then one’s life becomes like that of Ravana. Giving up Rama and aspiring to have Sita who is nature, one suffers the fate of Ravana. Had Ravana got the grace of Rama, he could have got Sita easily. So in order to earn the grace of God, one must worship nature. That is why Upanishads have reiterated, “Tasmai namaha karmane!- I offer my foremost obeisance to nature and worship it.” A salutation to nature is a prelude to performing sacred deeds. What is the inner meaning of worshipping the nature which has the three qualities? Purity of heart, words and deeds – these are the three forms of the three qualities of nature. These three forms are also called as the ‘trikarana’ or the three instruments. Purity of these three instruments confers God’s grace. This aspect can be summarised as ‘the proper study of mankind is man!’ That person is truly a human being who is sanctified by the unity of thought, word and deed.

Mother earth is the basis for everything

There are sweet and sacred seeds in one’s hand. The seeds are very powerful, but the seeds grow into trees and yield fruits, only when they are sowed in the earth. One cannot get the fruits keeping them in one’s palm without sowing them. For the seed to become a plant and bear fruits it has to be sowed. It is the earth alone that makes a seed sprout into a plant and bear fruits. Therefore, earth is the basis for entire creation.

Everything in this world is a combination of five elements

The whole world is made of the five elements of life. Everything is a combination of these five elements. Mountains are made up of rocks. Trees are made up of wood, the earth is made up of mud, the body is made up of flesh- but everything is essentially a combination of the five elements of life. For the convenience and happiness of man the wood is made into table, doors or windows. The door, table, window- names and forms may differ but it is essentially wood. Then there is the rock that makes the mountains. It can be changed in to any form. What are they? The one that is treaded upon is rock, the one that is bowed to is rock, the one that is built is rock; the one that is used to hit is rock. Therefore the one that is walked upon, that one pays obeisance, the one used in building and the one that is used to mould are all rocks. The rock that is treaded upon is called as ‘Banda’, floor; the rock that one bows is called as idol, the rock used for building is granite. and the rock used for moulding is called as chisel. All of them are various transformations of rock. These are all the changes done as per the requirement and convenience. Therefore the world is made up of the five elements. There is nothing beyond the five elements. If one insists on the presence of a sixth element then that is called as the ‘anthahkarana’, the inner sense. All the other elements are present externally. The inner sense is the nature of the spirit. Therefore if man wants to experience his freedom he must not go beyond the five elements. Then alone man would be successful and achieve happiness.

There are no limits to God's creation

There is neither a limit nor a rule and regulation to creation. In the beginning there was only the life and the living being. The coming together of these two aspects created this vast universe. There is no end to this world. But there is no beginning either. The will of the Lord, which has neither the beginning nor the end, is mistaken to be the lives. And this leads to the belief that beings have an end.

Different aspects of Sun

Thus the five elements can be compared to the five feet of the Sun. The twelve months are twelve different aspects of the sun. Sun enters into different house each month. Sun’s splendour under goes changes as he moves from one house another during each of the twelve months. This change in the radiance gives rise to seven colours.

People who take to the Northward Path (Uttarayanamu))

“The aspirant travelling towards the North, with ‘brahma bhaavam’, thoughts of Brahman, ‘brahma gnyaanam’, knowledge of Brahman, ‘brahmanurakthi’, passion for Brahman, reaches the world of Sun, “suryamandala”. ‘Suryamandala’, the world of Sun is the very life principle, ‘prana’. Once the being merges with the Suryamandala, the being will not return to earth. Hence son, when life is merged in life, it sanctifies itself. Man is deluded, as long as he fills his life with thoughts and feelings. One cannot reach Brahman, as long as one has delusion. Hence one gets rid of rebirth when one attains the Brahman with the thoughts focussed on Brahman. Therefore the statement: “Brahma vid brahmaiva bhavathi.” Meaning thoughts focussed on Brahman makes one Brahman. The one who realises the principle of Brahman becomes Brahman. Therefore recognise that when one travels in Northward direction one does not have rebirth and travelling in Southward direction causes one to be born again. One who travels in Southward direction has rebirth. The one who travels northward does not have rebirth. He becomes ‘paripoorna’, whole and complete.”

People who take to the Southward Path (Dakshinayana)

Aspirants, who wish to travel southward, must perform sacred sacrificial rituals, indulge in charity and do meritorious deeds. Travelling in this manner they reach the Moon. Moon represents matter. Man can attain only material things related to matter by aspiring for physical desires and happiness; he cannot attain God. Beings stay on Moon as long as their meritorious deeds last and will return to earth after exhausting their merits. In this context it is said: “ksheene punye martyalokam visanthi.”, meaning beings descend to earth after exhausting their merits. A candidate who achieves victory in elections sits in the Assembly for five years. With each year he gradually loses his membership. On completion of five years he completely loses his membership of the Assembly. Similarly man, stays in the world of Moon as long as his meritorious deeds last. When he exhausts his merits he again takes birth on earth.

Difference between Uttarayanamu and Dakshinayanamu

The years, months, days and nights are formed due to the Sun. All these form the aspects of time. The movement of Sun is the main cause for the occurrence of years, months, days and nights. All these divisions of time are under the control of Prajapathi. Time is the very form of Prajapathi. This time is divided into two “ayanam”, segments (movements) namely: the “Uttarayana” and the “dakshinayana”. “Ayanam” refers to travel. “Uttarayana” is the period when Sun travels towards North and “Dakshinayana” is the period when Sun travels towards South. The period of Uttarayana is marked with splendour, peace, happiness, fearlessness and tranquillity. The period of Southward travel is marked with darkness, turmoil, fear and shocking surprises.

Swami on the origin and the secrets of creation

Embodiments of Love, students!! “Yekoham bahushyam”, the one manifests as many. By the sacred will of Prajapathi, the duality namely the root and the gross, the inert and the dynamic, the life force and the living beings, came into being. And the movable and immovable are created by the combination of those dualities. Yesterday it was stated that the creation of the movable and immovable beings is based on the Sun, the life force and the Moon the living being and this secret of creation was taught to sage Kadambi, the grandson of sage Katsya. Sage Kadambi was filled with ecstasy at being taught the secret of creation and very happy. At that time Sage Bhargava, who was a disciple from Vidarbha, came to him. Sage Bhargava bowed to Sage Pippilada with folded hands and said, “Swami, birth and death remain an eternal pain. All the sacred texts teach that one who takes birth must die and one who dies must be born again. When is an end to this chain of birth and death if life is oscillating between them? What is the basis for this?” Sage Pippilada replied, “Son, God is beyond a beginning and an end. This world, consisting of movable and immovable beings, is but an illusion. Although there is some truth in this illusionary, transient world, the form will ultimately become formless. Everything in the world has an end.

We need to understand the nature of Jagath

Transforming one’s love filled heart into one with filled with spirit of sacrifice; one must attain unity with the divine. “vadalavalasina daanini vadalinantha, Teliyavalasinadaanini telisinantha, Cheravalasinadaanini cherinantha, Kalugu aanandaminthani cheppataguna!!” ‘Giving up what has to be given up, Knowing the knowable, Reaching the reachable, Is the bliss then attained fathomable?!!” One must give up the worldly thoughts, know the essence of life, and reach the divine; such a person is truly immortal. This is said in the verses, ”Asatoma sadgamaya, Tamasoma Jyothirgamaya, mruthyorma amrutham gamaya” meaning “lead me from untruth to truth, from darkness to light and from mortality to immortality. One would have no worry if one fully comprehends the nature of the world. There is nothing which is permanent in the world, all comes and goes like the pictures in a motion picture. All is passing clouds in the world. One thinks a happening to be true but soon the happening fades away. One thinks the coming as truth and going as false. This repetition of coming and going, truth and untruth leads delusion or ‘Mithya’. “Mithya” refers to that which is not constant. When one understands this aspect one can understand the world.

Origin of creation and lessons learnt from it

Without the world there is neither learning nor education. Earlier the whole world was in pitch darkness. Crores of years back it was completely enveloped in clouds. After lakhs of years subsequently, there was downpour of rain. This downpour lasted for lakhs of years and thereafter, the mountains, the sea, the rivers came into existence. As mountains, seas and rivers formed, gradually the darkness of the clouds began to recede. The light made the Sun and the stars visible. As Bhagawan said earlier, “’Tamaha’, darkness gives rise to light!” So the darkness illumines the light. Hence to develop the right attitude man must read the world as a book. There is no lesson that is not taught by the book of the world.

World is the true text book for man

Man reads so many books like the Gita, the Koran, the Bible, and the Ramayana etc. All these texts convey to a limited extent. Aspects pertaining to physical elements, the worldly and spiritual spheres are not explained by these texts in a comprehensive manner. It is the world that teaches one the aspects relating to the laukikam- the worldly, bhautikam - the elemental or the material, paaramarthikam- relating to high or spiritual object, praakrutham- pertaining to the primordial elements, dharmikam- pertaining to righteousness. Therefore world is the true text book for man. There is nothing that cannot be learned from this world. One may be a great intellect but he has to learn everything from the world around. There is no learning or education without the world. Earlier the whole world was in pitch darkness. Crores of years back it was completely enveloped in clouds. After lakhs of years subsequently, there was downpour of rain. This downpour lasted for lakhs of years and thereafter, the mountains, the sea, the rivers came into existence. As mountains, seas and rivers formed, gradually the darkness of the clouds began to recede. The light made the Sun and the stars visible. As Bhagawan said earlier, “’Tamaha’, darkness gives rise to light!” So the darkness illumines the light. Hence to develop the right attitude man must read the world as a book. There is no lesson that is not taught by the book of the world.

Significance of nature and man

Embodiments of divine love! The wonders of nature are extremely sacred, they have got a message and they are most noble. Nature can save a person, and can also drown a person. Nature can bless with grace and can also comprehend everything. It is very difficult for man to understand this kind of extraordinary aspect of nature. Man takes birth in this world in order to earn the grace of nature. Unfortunately he forgets the purpose for which he is born and fills himself with egoistic tendencies and thus becomes mad with ego and arrogance. Man has not been able to recognise that it is this nature which can bless with grace, which can give him the knowledge, which can give him control. He has not been able to recognise these aspects. Nature has supremacy and mastery over the life of man. But man recognizes and goes by only the human aspects of his nature, forgetting the divinity which is in him; thus he is ruining himself. For God everything is equal. Every object that you find in the world is verily the manifestation of God. We should not distinguish between Nature and God. The relationship between them is of the object and its reflection. They are mutually dependent and mutually related. Man sees the manifested Nature in its form and thinks it consists only of the objects which are inert. It is Nature which is the primary preceptor of man. Nature is the best teacher. Man is not recognizing this great truth. Every object, everything that is found in nature has a message to convey to man. Bharat is a country which recognized this truth and conducted itself in this light. This is the most important aspect of Indian culture.

Creation, Sustenance and Annihilation

The whole of this universe depends upon three forms of activity. Creation, sustenance and annihilation. Everyone has to accept this trinity - these three principles. At any point of time, anyone, be he a theist or an atheist, will have to accept these three aspects. This gives a divine teaching to humanity. What is creation? It is the very reflection of God's will. It is called Prakruthi or Nature. The one born in Nature will have to necessarily possess the qualities of Nature. Man is born only to express the qualities of Nature. This effect and relationship with Nature is not uniform among everyone. Those who are full of body feeling, full of ego, will have this worldly interpretation of Nature. Those with the interpretation of the spirit will understand the merit of it. But actually Awareness is one. The good and the bad increase based on the temperament and the feeling. This world is called loka. What does that mean? This loka or the world is the one with the faculty of thought. Many are assembled here. All are present at one place. But each one thinks on his own. What is the reason? One thinks of education. One thinks of a job. Another thinks of business. Another thinks of farming. Another thinks of enquiry. In this physical, spiritual or political aspect, in every aspect, every feeling is just the reflection of the mind, mental thought. Therefore, these three aspects - creation, sustenance and annihilation - are present in everyone. Creation is the very form of Will. Sustenance is the maintenance of that form. Annihilation is the merger of that which was protected. The creation, sustenance and annihilation are equal to the three attributes - the pious, the energetic and the spiritual. Man is the very form of the three attributes. These three attributes are the Trident. They are the very three forms of the divine. They are present in the three worlds. Therefore, the three worlds and the three forms of divinity are present in everyone.

The universe is verily God

The universe is the very form of God. "Vishnu" means Expansion. In this expansive world, what exists without divinity? They say, show us God. What is that is to be shown? Whatever you see everywhere, is God. All that you see is God. Then why do you ask to be shown God? Then, what is the form of God? All forms are His. All feelings are His. So, everything you see is divine. There are no distinctions like good and bad. It is only the passage of time that is responsible for these distinctions. In the evening, you partake a fruit. Next morning it becomes excreta . You say that the fruit is good and that the excreta is bad. Good and bad are based on your feelings alone. The changes are due to passage of time. Time is very important. It is Bharat that is demonstrated the principle of Divinity. It is said, India is the teacher of all lands. For all countries, India is in the position of a teacher. It only means India considers divinity as One. God is one. Goal is one. Life is one. It is only this unity that leads to diversity. Truth is one. Scholars refer to it as many. That one divinity is experienced by us as diversity, multiplicity.