Milk and Water

This day is celebrated in India too, as New Year Day, in accordance with the observance of Western countries, whose calendar begins the New Year on the first day of January. But, if you only ponder for a minute, you will realize that every second is new. Every second marks a new birth; it is a fresh chance for achieving a new victory. For, the idea of Indian culture is the realization of the Atma by the individual, not the acquisition of wealth or scholarship or fame. The chief duty of man is investigation into truth. Truth can be won only through dedication and devotion. And, they are dependent on the Grace of God, which is showered only on hearts saturated with Love.

The question, "Where does God exist?", is often trotted out by people nowadays. By unceasing recitation of the Name of God, Prahlada knew that God is everywhere; it is not correct to assert, "He is only here" or that "He is not there." The realization of this Truth can come only after intense Sadhana. You may see all kinds of attractive articles in a Departmental Store; they cannot be yours, merely for the asking. Only those articles for which you pay the price can be secured by you. Realization may be an attractive article for you to carry home with you; but you have to pay the price. It cannot be yours, if you have only arguments or appeals in your possession. You deserve to be a King, only if you are the undisputed monarch of a kingdom. When you are fleeing from the throne, pursued by foes, how can the dignity of that status be appropriate for you? So too, it is only when you have defeated the inner foes of lust, greed, hate and pride, and secured undisputed mastery over yourself, that you can ascend the Throne and claim to be the Master. In India, we say we have won Swarajya; but, Swarajya is the status we should each aspire to win. Swarajya is political independence, freedom from the humiliating yoke of an alien ruler. Swarajya is freedom from the degrading dependence on passions and emotions. When external chains are broken we have swarajya; when internal shackles are broken we have Swarajya. Swaarajya alone can ensure peace and joy.

God is not far from you, or away in some distant place. He is within you, in your own inner altar. Man suffers because he is unable to discover Him there, and draw peace and joy from that discovery. A dhobi, standing knee-deep in a flowing river, washing clothes therein, died of thirst, because he failed to realize that life-giving water was within reach. He need only bend and drink. Such is the story of man. He runs about in desperate haste, to seek God outside him and dies disappointed and distraught, without reaching the goal--only to be born again.

Of course, you have to be in the world, but you need not be of it. The attention has to be fixed on God, the God within. In the Kannada country, there is a festival called Karaga. The central figure of this holy rite keeps many pots on his head, one over the other, and moves in the procession, keeping step to the music; he has also to sing in tune with the rest and keep time to the beat of the drum. But, all the while, he has his attention fixed on balancing the precarious tower on his head. So too, man must keep the Goal of God-realization before him, while engaged in the noisy, hilarious procession of life.

Some people are envious of the high standard of life, taught by the rich nations, but, the poverty of India is much more congenial to good life than the luxurious and vainglorious life of the West. The sea has a vast expanse of water, but can it quench the thirst of man? Similarly, however much a man may possess, if he has not cultivated detachment, it is but arid waste. Detachment from sensual pleasures and objective pursuits helps the growth of Love towards God and the Godly. People boast that they are interested only in inquiry and reason, that they follow only the path of Jnana. They aspire to be Jnanis! But, Jnana cannot be won, without a pure mind. He must discover who he is, ere he ventures upon the inquiry, "Who is God?" Once he has discovered, who he is, there is no need to know who is God, for, both are the same. When you come to know that God is in you, you will value your-self much more, for, when a man knows that the piece of 'glass' he has picked up is a diamond, he will keep it in an iron safe, for better security. When a boulder has been carved by a sculptor into a charming idol of God, it will be prized high and installed in a magnificent temple and worshipped with ritual ceremony by generations.

The wrong notion that the world is real and that you are the body has been so deeply implanted in you through birth after birth, that it can be removed only by means of a very potent drug administered continuously. The drug, Ram Ram Ram is to be swallowed and assimilated ad infinitum. Its curative essence will travel into every limb, every sense, every nerve and every drop of blood. Every particle of you will be transmuted into Ram. You must melt in the crucible and be poured into the Ram mould and become Ram. That is the fruition of Jnana. Ramanama or any other Name if chanted and absorbed in the mind, will help control the vagaries of the senses, which drag you away into vanities.

There is a vast difference between India, five centuries ago, and India today, in the field of sense-control. Today, the senses are allowed free play; man is a slave to greed, lust and egoism. The fault lies entirely on the parents and the elders. When their children go to temples or religious discourses, they reprimand them and warn them that it is a sign of insanity. They tell them that religion is an old-age pursuit; it should not be taken seriously by youngsters! But, if only they encourage them, the children can equip themselves better for the battle of life. Parents ought to advise the children. "Be convinced that there is a God, guiding and guarding us. Remember Him with gratitude. Pray to Him to render you pure. Love all; serve all. Join good company. Visit temples and holy men." You read in the papers of campaigns, conquests, victories triumphs, etc. But, they are all material conquests and outer triumphs. Campaign against the temptations of the senses; conquer inner foes; triumph over your ego. That is the victory for which you deserve congratulations, not the others. That is what I referred to as Swaarajya.

The year becomes new, the day becomes holy, when you sanctify it by Sadhana, not otherwise. Sadhana can grow only in a field fertilized by Love. Love or Prema is the sine qua non of Bhakthi. The love you now have towards material objects, name, fame, wife and children, etc., should be sanctified by being subsumed by the more overpowering Love of God. Add two spoons of water to two seers of milk; the water too is appreciated as milk! So too, let your tiny drops of love for things material merge with the stream of Love for God and be elevated. At present your Sadhana can be described only as mixing two seers of water to two spoons of milk! Have the Love of God filling and thrilling your heart; then, you cannot hate any one, you cannot indulge in unhealthy rivalries, you will not find fault with any one. Life becomes soft, sweet and smooth.