Truth is God THERE is God everywhere and there is no second entity anywhere. God is the truth, the only truth. In every article or thing, God is, as the basis, as understanding and understandability, as the source of Divine light, as’ Atma. Know that All exists, has awareness and bliss because of the Atma which All is. Truth is a word that is frequently used on platforms but the concept is still very hazy and often mistakenly interpreted. In reality, man is afraid of probing into his own truth, lest his pet opinions and attitudes be proved hollow and dangerous. As a result, his actions and thoughts pursue disturbing and discordant paths. What exactly is truth? Is it the description of a ‘thing seen’ as one has seen it, without exaggeration or under-statement? No. Or, the narration of an incident in the same word as one has heard it narrated? No. Truth elevates; it holds forth ideals; it inspires the individual and society. It is the Light that illumines Man’s path to God. A life inspired by Truth will enable man to live as man – not degrade himself to the status of a lower species. From dawn to dusk, from the moment of wakefulness to the moment of sleep, if he devotes himself to his own deeds, is that a life inspired by the Truth? No. By his good thoughts translated into good words and manifested as good deeds, man must promote Truth in society and prove its usefulness. He is the image of God. He must be aware of the image of God that shines in society also. People are fascinated by the false The thought that arises in the mind, the word that sprouts from the tongue and the deed that engages the hand must all three be fully co-ordinated. Each one must be in conformity with the other two. They must be in unison with each other. If you have one plan in your mind and talk of a different one and execute something else, it is a false life, not a true one. The ancient texts condemn such a person as a Dhuratma (evil person) and extol the person whose thought,Word and deed are all in line as a Mahatma (greatest soul). Nowadays, people are fascinated by the false and keep away from the true. They ignore the true and pursue the false. They are not eager to know the Truth, the eternal and the Absolute. Truth is the One Awareness, the One Divine Energy that activates every living being, nay, every particle of matter. The tiny seed of a banyan tree does not reveal to the human eye or to the microscope, the gigantic tree which it contains. The Divine Energy within it prompts it to expand and become the banyan. Every cell, every spot, every atom is Divine, full of vast destiny. The recognition of this Omnipresence of God is the mark of the theist. The atheist may proclaim that God is not, but, deep inside him one can find the awareness of the Omnipresence. That is his truth. Now, about my Truth. It is impossible for anyone to discover and declare the truth that is Sathya Sai. To ensure peace and prosperity is the task on which Sathya Sai has come amidst you. “Lokah samasthah sukhino bhavanthu” (Let all the worlds be happy). All mankind have to be happy; all must rest; in peace; all must be gladly engaged in fulfilling their duties. I long to shower anandha on all. It is not an easy achievement to recognise and identify Divinity. Yet, when the time is ripe and the fortune is imminent, that is to say, pretty soon, even that can be won by you. Protect your mother-tongue and Motherland with all your energy. Make yourselves fit for this, by making the best use of the opportunities in the school. Progress as much as you can, without hesitation. Develop character as well as intelligence and health. The most reliable source of strength is in you, not in money, or kinsmen, or physical acumen, but, in yourself, the Atman (divinity). Know it; delve into it; draw sustenance from it; see it in all; serve it in all. – Sri Sathya Sai Baba

THE DIVINE DESTINATION  The Purpose of Life According to Indian philosophy, it is only through the human birth that the supreme Experience can be attained and the individual soul can finally merge into the Supreme Soul. And that is the purpose and the goal of human birth. Swami Sivananda lays repeatedly great emphasis on this aspect, and assures that you can attain That in this very birth. His teachings on this subject are worth reading, reflecting and contemplating daily. Here are some of his teachings on this subject… The purpose of life is to realise the oneness of all creation and one’s identity with the Divinity. True life is life in God. The goal of life is God-realisation. Never forget this. It is your birthright. To become divine is the aim of life. The purpose of human birth is to achieve Divine Consciousness. You have come here to attain supreme and unalloyed Bliss. The purpose of your existence is to serve with divine bhava (attitude), to purify and steady the mind, to attain freedom and perfection, which is Self-realisation. In one sentence I can tell you what I myself wish to convey to you. It is: “Know thy Self and be free.” This is the very essence of spiritual discourses. Have definite, chief aim – God-realisation. Practise self-control, have a fully ripe and pure mind. Cultivate strong discrimination, burning yearning for liberation. Meditate ceaselessly on your inner Self which is the only Reality, which is pure Consciousness, have perfect faith in guru and God. Do not miss the golden opportunity this life gives you for God-realisation. Let each day dawn for you as a fresh opportunity and occasion, opening up before you to move one step further towards the great attainment of God-realisation. Identify yourself with the pure, immortal Atma, the non-dual Brahman. Man! Wake up. Precious is human birth. It is given to you to do rigorous yoga-abhyasa (practice of Yoga) and to attain the supreme goal of God-realisation. Awaken the soul-force in you. You can work wonders. There is a para-vastu (transcendental Principle) in the innermost recess of your heart – the daharakasha. It is self-luminous, sva-prakasha. Recognise, O Prem, that you are the living Truth. Realise that you are always inseparable from the one Essence that is the substratum of all these names and forms, these false shadowy appearances. Get yourself firmly established in that Brahman, the Light of lights. Nothing can disturb you now. You have become invulnerable. Stand up, O Prem! Follow me. Enjoy the Bliss of Atman. The river of Atmic joy is flowing all around. There is deluge of the Bliss of Self. Drink the nectar to your heart’s content. KARMA YOGA Swami Sivananda maintained that unless the mind becomes free from the impurities of man’s lower nature and man purifies himself by selfless service, he cannot take up the advanced spiritual practices. Karma Yoga or selfless service is the starting block. He used to allot selfless service to new aspirants. Even after attaining the highest State selfless service continues, because the yogi has become totally selfless and it becomes his very nature to help others. In this way, Swamiji’s entire life was a saga of selfless service, and had he helped others without ever thinking about his own self. Swami Venkatesananda has observed: “The world has never seen another person who has rejoiced to give – to give his all, to give himself, to give unasked. Posterity might well call him ‘Give-ananda’ (one who rejoices in giving) instead of Siv-ananda. There is not a thing, which he would not give without the least thought. Giving spontaneously is his second nature, basic urge.” Gurudev Swami Sivananda himself has said: “I take immense delight in service. Service has elevated me. Service has purified me. This body is meant for service. I live to serve everyone and make the whole world happy.” And also, “To give people and to share what I have is my inborn nature. I spent all my energy and time in relieving human suffering by serving the poor and the sick day and night with a sympathetic heart. This kind of selfless service gave me purification of heart and mind and led me to spiritual path.” Karma Yoga is the Yoga of selfless service. It purifies the heart and leads to the descent of Divine Grace, and dawn of wisdom of the Self. God’s plan for man’s evolution is work. Love of God and service of man is the secret of true life. Service of man is service of God. Do service of others with the feeling that God dwells in all and receives your service as worship. Service is worship of God. Do not lose a single opportunity in helping and serving others. Do not expect anything when you serve a man or when you give a gift. Thank him for giving you a good opportunity to serve him. By doing service you purify your heart. Egoism, hatred, jealousy, idea of superiority vanish. Humility, pure love, sympathy, tolerance and mercy are developed. Selfishness is eradicated. You develop a broad heart with broad, generous views. You realise One-in-all and all-in-One. Sense of separateness is annihilated. You feel unbound joy. Do not expect the fruits of your actions. Give up agency or doership. Feel that you are an instrument in the hands of the Lord and that God does everything. Be balanced in success and failure. Be not attached to the actions themselves. Actions should be performed without attachment, without the feeling of doing. Perform works merely for God’s sake, abandoning even such attachment as ‘May God be pleased’. The spirit of service must be innate or inherent in you. Make others truly happy as you strive to make yourself happy. Speak a helpful word. Give a cheering smile. Do a kind act. Wipe the tears of one who is in distress. Render smooth a rough place in another’s path. You will feel great joy. Work is worship. Work is meditation.

Start Early It is very necessary that you control your mind. Man should give up comparing himself with others. The hands of the clock keep on moving and we hear their ticking noise. This sound of the clock goes on continuously. Between one tick and another, there is an interval. Man’s life is also like this interval. Through man’s heart and through his blood vessels, his life stream is beating. This beat will come to an end at sometime. Truly birth is followed by death, and death again by birth, and so on. We should try and understand the secret of this life. As a man who is swimming and moving forward in a river, we should also forget the experiences through which we have gone in the past and swim forward. Only if the swimmer throws back the water which is ahead of him will he move forward. If he does not throw back the water that is ahead of him, he will stay where he is. As in this analogy, only if man attempts to throw back the experience which he has gone through, will he be able to move forward. If one follows such a path, one will find that in man’s life there is no place for anger, no place for jealousy and his life will move on pleasantly. Because man wants to go through the same experience which he has already experienced in the past, he enters the region of hatred, because he accumulates around him many attachments. If man really makes an attempt to understand his own nature and the comparison between the clock and his heart, it will be possible for him to experience truth. Even after experiencing so many things, if man does not understand his true nature, he will feel very unhappy. He wants always to be happy, but he does not ask the question whether one can get happiness in this world? Man has great faith in collecting, acquiring and amassing wealth; but he has not got the same faith in giving up and sacrificing. But he can make an attempt to develop faith in the act of giving and sacrificing. When man can develop faith and recognises the joy of giving away and of sharing things, he will enjoy his life. If man really wants peace and happiness, he must be prepared to sacrifice. The Vedas have told us that what cannot be acquired through hard work, through learning, through any other means, can only be acquired through sacrifice. We should also understand the inner meaning of sacrifice. If the food that we eat is not excreted out and is not sacrificed, our health will be spoiled. If we do not exhale the air that we take in and send it out, our lungs will get spoiled. If the blood does not keep on moving but stays at one place, then there will be a boil at that place. It is very necessary for us to recognise the happiness that is contained in the spirit of sacrifice. But man always wants to have the same experience again and again everyday before he learns a lesson; and because of such bad desires, man has become so unfortunate that he cannot even have a peaceful death, not to talk of a peaceful life. If man wants to lead a peaceful life, he must realise the importance of sacrifice. The truth that is contained in the statement, that immortality can be obtained through sacrifice alone, should be understood well. In our daily life, we exhibit several bad qualities like anger, jealousy, and comparing ourselves with others. These bad qualities should be given up and sacrificed. Because Ravana had these qualities which go contrary to the purusharthas, he became a rakshasa. Ravana may have been a devotee, may have been a very learned person, but in spite of this, because he had these four bad qualities which are contrary to the purusharthas: dharma, artha, kama and moksha, he became a sinner. To such people, whatever dharma you may preach, it will appear as if it is wrong. Ravana was the son of Brahma, had many great qualities, was a great devotee, earned God’s grace by his penance; and in spite of all that, he had no peace and he did not secure a good end for himself. He could invade the city of Kubera, defeat him and take away the Pushpaka Vimana. This shows that, in him, there was the quality of jealousy. He could not bear Kubera being greater than him. Not only this, he invaded the city of Mayura, his father-in-law, defeated him, took away all his attendants and annexed his city which was the principal city of Lanka. Here one should recognise that if there is room for such bad qualities to grow, even though they begin in a small way, in the end, like white ants, they will destroy the entire life. Sometimes, because of weakness, or in a state of excitement, one does things which one should not do and, in the end, he will have to repent. Ravana, in the story of the Ramayana, is teaching a lesson to the world that no one should have such bad qualities as he had. Ravana was a wicked person and he adopted several trickeries. He spoke un-truth and told Rama that he brought the head of Sita while he actually brought only an artificially created head of Sita, a deceit. He told that he killed Sita and brought the head. Since Rama was all-knowing, he realised that this was a trick and told Ravana that it could not be the truth. Similarly, he did the trick of getting the head of Rama and showing it to Sita and telling her that he had killed Rama. Ravana could not bear the happiness of other people. The normal human nature should be to become happy by looking at the happiness of others. There are many people in the world who,

Atman is Sat-Chit-Ananda by Swami Sivananda Atman is Sat Atman is Sat. That which exists in the past, present and future, which has no beginning, middle and end, which is unchanging, which is not conditioned in time, space and causation, which exists during Jagrat, Svapna and Sushupti, which is of the nature of one homogeneous essence (Sada Ekarasa, Sada Ekarupa) is Sat. This is found in Atman. Srutis emphatically declare: Sat only was prior to the evolution of this universe. Our common experience, rather innate inherent feeling, that we never were not and that we never will cease to be, even though our physical bodies may disappear, clearly proves that Atman always exists. In reply to the question whether we are in this world or not, it is said by all men: We are here. Do we possess body or not? Yes, we have bodies. Whence came this body? There must be some cause for our getting these bodies, for otherwise it cannot be a cause. That cause is Karma. It is only our Karma that gives birth to this body. The Karma which generated this body in the previous birth ought to have been performed in a birth anterior to that and so on backwards ad infinitum. Thus, on enquiry, we find that Karma and body are beginningless, of the nature of an unceasing flood, the source of which is unknown. Karma and body form an ever-receding chain. Therefore it is certain that Atman which subsists and forms the substratum for this chain must also be beginningless by virtue of its nature. Thus it is proved now through inference that Atman is Sat during the past and present periods. Why can we not say that this body is generated by the works performed in this birth? Just as the seed which can generate a tree cannot generate that tree which is the cause for its own birth, so also the works performed by this body will produce a new body in the next birth but cannot generate this body. Therefore we cannot say that this body has been produced by works done in this birth. Then another point is, does that Karma which generates the body belong to us or to others? Certainly it is ours. We cannot enjoy in heaven through the Karma of another. If Mr. Krishna does an evil act, he will have to suffer. It cannot affect Mr. Sadasiva. Virtue brings its own reward for the person who does the virtuous action. That is the immutable law of Nature. If one were to go to heaven through the Karma of another man, a servant also should attain heaven through the performance of a sacrifice by a learned Brahmin. All should have attained liberation through the Nirvikalpa Samadhi of Sri Sankara or Dattatreya. But this is not the case. Therefore it is quite obvious that it is only one’s own Karma which generates one’s own body. The Karma that we perform now in this birth will not go in vain. Actions are indestructible. They will generate fresh bodies in the future. We will do fresh Karmas with these new bodies which will form the seed for still future bodies and so on forwards ad infinitum. The current of Karma and body will never have an end in the future, but there is an end to Karma through Knowledge of the Self. Karma is completely annihilated by the dawn of Brahma-Jnana. Then comes a cessation of body. Even if Karma is destroyed and future births come to an end, the Atman does not perish. It is ever existent. It is eternal. Karma is of the nature of Avidya. When Karma is destroyed, all causes of pain vanish. Jivahood disappears. The Jiva enjoys the supreme bliss of the Self. Atman always is. It exists in the three periods of time. The world may come and go, but Atman always remains. Pralaya or dissolution is only for this phenomenal universe but not for the changeless, self-existent Atman. The deluge and fire may destroy the illusory names and forms but they cannot touch the imperishable Atman. You can thus clearly understand that Atman is Sat. Atman Is Chit Atman is Chit for it shines by itself unaided by any other light and illumines the whole universe by its own light. It may be asked, how can we be said to illumine the whole universe when we are ignorant? The universe is of two kinds, viz., the external and the internal. The external universe embraces the five elements and their properties, sound, touch, form, taste and odour and their combinations of various sorts, various names and forms, qualities, properties, the quintuplicated elements, Brahma’s egg, the four kinds of beings, viz., the oviparous or egg-born, the sweat-born, the seed-born and the womb-born. The external universe, however varied and big it may be, is after all only inert matter. It cannot be the object of our perception unless we throw upon it the flood of our consciousness light; it can never know us. It is illuminated by us only. It can never illuminate us. Gold shines with splendour when molten by fire in a crucible. Whence is this lustre? The fire does not impart this glitter in the gold. It is only an instrument in removing the dross from the gold. When the impurities in the gold are removed by fire, the gold shines in its real state. Even so when the purified mind dispels Ajnana, the Atman shines in its native glory and pristine splendour. The dispelling power of the mind is borrowed from the Atman. It does not belong to the inert mind. It is generally said that a lamp dispels the darkness of a room but the mere lamp-vessel, the oil or the wick have no power in themselves to remove darkness. Nor is Agni (fire) able in itself without the help of the wick, oil and lamp-vessel to dispel darkness. It is only when the fire and the

Satyam Gyanam Anantan Bhrama Satyam Jnaanam Anantam Brahma (Taittiriya Upanishad 2.1.1) The Vedas declare that reality (Brahman) is pure Existence (Sat or Satyam), Consciousness (Cit or Jnaanam) and Infinite (Aananda or Anantam). Here is a way to understand this, based on traditional centuries old Indian texts like Drg-Drsya-Viveka and Maandukya Kaarika. The argument is the same as given in those texts. I have only used a more modern language. 1. Satyam What we see as the world is based on the sense organs and the instruments that extend the sense organs. The human eye can see only a limited range of frequencies. Similarly the ears can hear only a limited range. There are other animals which have a different range of vision and sound. Also, they have much more powerful sense of smell than us. So their world is an entirely different one. For example, when a cat enters a room, it knows who was sitting in the sofa an hour back based on the smell. It also knows if you have gone to the park or not based on the smell of the flowers on you. Sharks can detect the electrical current in the bodies of animals swimming in the water a few meters away. Even with all the modern technology to extend our access to the various physical phenomenon in the world, there is no reason to assume that what we detect in the world is all that actually exists. There can be entirely new kinds of matter and energy that so far we do not have senses or instruments to detect. What we see and interpret depend on the state of our mind. If we like someone, we see them as beautiful. The chemicals and hormones in our blood affect the way we think and judge. Also, all our past experience affects our interpretation of the people, objects and situations in the world. Thus, though the world seems to appear outside us objectively, what we know of the world is only what our instruments (senses and mind) show us. We have no access to the bare naked reality that exists. This fundamental reality is referred to as Existence. What is the nature of Existence which is beyond these apparent properties like color, sound, smell, mass, temperature, charge, momentum, etc.? We know that properties like color, sound, texture, etc. are all emergent phenomenon. When we look at things at their minutest constituents known today like quarks and leptons, these properties do not exist. There are a different set of fundamental properties, which give rise to the perceivable properties at various composite grosser levels. Vedanta extends this concept and says, “As long as properties are experienced, you have not reached the most fundamental level.” So, every property is only an emergent phenomenon. At the ultimate fundamental level, Existence would necessarily be free from any properties. Vedanta gives an example to understand this: pot-ness does not exist in the clay out of which pot is made. This fundamental entity, of which the whole universe is made of, is called Sat or Satyam. It cannot have any properties (nirguna). Any two objects are distinguished only based on properties. As Sat does not have any properties, is has to be only one (ekam eva adviteeyam). Any change is only change of properties. So Sat has to be changeless (nirvikaara). Changeless with respect to space and time. So Sat is all-pervading (sarvagata) and eternal (nityam). Parts of an entity is based on properties of constituents. So Sat is partless (akhanda). So, Sat is One, Infinite, All-pervading, Eternal, Changeless, Partless, Property-less, Absolute Existence. 2. Jnaanam Let us analyze the subject-object relationship in perception. When I see a flower, I (subject) am the body, including the eye. The flower is the object. Form and color of the flower are properties. When I want to judge the properties of the eye like myopia or color-blindness, I put one step back. The eye is the object. I, including the mind, is the subject. Extending this further, the real “I” is the ultimate subject, which can never become an object of perception by the senses or conception by the mind. [Drg Drsya Viveka – 1-5] This ultimate subject is called Cit or Jnaanam. In any subject-object relationship, properties always belong to the object. To judge the property of anything, it has to be given the status of an object. I need to extend myself to the edge of the instrument that is in contact with the object (internal or external) to experience and evaluate the properties of the object. Thus, I, the Cit, being the ultimate subject, cannot have any properties. Applying the same logic that we applied to Sat, Cit also is One, Infinite, All-pervading, Eternal, Changeless, Partless, Property-less, Absolute Existence. So, Sat and Cit are not different. They are the same entity. Thus, real I, the Consciousness is the fundamental entity from which the whole universe has emerged. This is conveyed in innumerable statements in the various Upanishads belonging to various Vedas. As a sample, four statements, each one taken from one of the Vedas, are called mahaavaakyaas. 3. Anantam To understand the relationship between the infinite Sat-Cit and the finite world, less us take an example. We have the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, … The existence of these finite numbers indicate that we can go on counting for ever. So we have the concept of “infinity” in mathematics. From the point of view of infinity, we cannot distinguish finite numbers like 1, 2, 3, etc. This can be seen from the equations below: (1) inf – 1 = inf(2) inf – 2 = infFrom (1) and (2),inf – 1 = inf – 2 Thus from the point of view of infinity, 1, 2, 3, etc do not exist as discrete numbers. As the number line is homogeneous, any point on it is only imaginary. There is really no difference between one point and another point. Thus, from the point of view of infinity, finite does not exist. But from the point of view of finite, infinite

Ekam nityam attributes of god The Embodiment of Supreme Bliss,The Embodiment of Transcendental Happiness,The Embodiment of Transcendental Wisdom,The One beyond duality,The One in Eternal Bliss,The Embodiment of Oneness,The Supreme One, The Eternal One,The Unsullied One, the Ever-steady One, andThe Eternal Witness. In the Anandavalli portion of the Rig Veda, there is a beautiful and poetic reference to Brahmananda or Supreme Bliss. Brahmananda refers to mliss that is limitless and beyond description by words; it is also something that cannot be comprehended by the ordinary mind. Unless one leads a calm, pure, noble, virtuous, peaceful, and unsullied life, one can neither understand nor experience this Brahmananda. Supreme bliss is beyond the physical, mundane, and transient world. 1 From ephemeral pleasures to divine bliss Our ancients have categorised the various types of joy and happiness that can be experienced. The lowest type is manavanada, that refers to the pleasure that humans experience in the course of their normal life, and which is connected with worldly objects, entities, and matters. Thousand times greater is gandharvananda or the happiness experienced by celestial beings. daivananda is the next higher level of happiness, and is a thousand times greater than gandharvananda. It refers to the joy experienced by the devas or the demi-gods. Far greater than daivananda is Brihaspathiananda, or the bliss experienced by Brihaspati, the preceptor of the devas. A thousand times greater is Prajapatiananda or the joy experienced by Prajapati (in ancient Indian scriptures, Prajapati is the one associated with the practical aspects of Creation). Brahmananda is a thousand times greater than Prajapatiananda, the highest joy that can be measured on a finite scale. You can see what an immense gulf separates manavananda that man hungers and normally settles for and Brahmananda that he really ought to seek. People use the word Brahmananda quite casually, without the faintest idea of what it actally means. Thus, every petty pleasure is glibly described as Brahmananda. For example, if a person has a nice meal, he describes the experience as Brahmanandam. Man does not understand what an infinite gulf separates manavanada and Brahmananda. The pleasures that man normally enjoys is not even a tiny spec of Brahmananda. He does not realise that while worldly pleasures can be described in words, Brahmananda is indescribable. Sandeepan Chatterjee [who spoke earlier] said that divine love and bliss transcend the bounds of space and time, and that they are beyond season and reason as well. Indeed; Ananda is Ananda at all times and under all circumstances. Since Brahman and Atma are synonymous, Brahmananda can also be referred to as Atmananda. Supreme bliss is verily the same as the bliss of the Self. In fact, Ananda is just another name for Brahman or God. Worldly happiness that man is so crazy about is insignificant compared to the vastness that is Brahmananda or Atmananda. You are aware that air is present everywhere and that it has no specific form. Yet, when this formless air that is present everywhere fills a balloon, it acquires a form – that of the [inflated] balloon. If you go on inflating the balloon, a stage would come when the balloon would burst. The air inside the balloon then merges with the air outside to become formless and vast once again. What a great difference there is between the trapped limited air and the vast free air! Similar is the comparison between the tiny spec called mananvanada and to the infinity that is Brahmananda. Our ability to experience happiness is one of the many gifts of God. However, owing to his limited vision, man makes only a minimal use of his capacity to enjoy happiness. He is ever ready to settle for just manavananda; this will not do. Like the exploding balloon and the merger of the air inside with the air outside, man must break out of human bondage, soaring to the level of Brahmananda. Brahmananda is one of the Names of God. It conveys the idea that God is ever in a state of Supreme Bliss. Bliss is thus the Form of God, and therefore it is that God who is called Brahmananda. There are many other such names, and these were mentioned in the beginning. The next in the list is Parama sukhadam, meaning real ecstasy. What is this sukham [happiness or ecstasy]? Is it connected with the body? Is it physical, sensual, or intellectual? It is beyond all these. Our ancients said, “Tasmai Namaha.” It means, “I offer my salutations to the Embodiment of Happiness”. Our ancients did not try to describe this supreme ecstasy but knew that God is its very Embodiment. So, they hailed God as Parama Sukhadam. God is the personification of Happiness that is beyond the constraints of space and time, and also human reasoning. If one is to describe this Parama Sukhadam or Transcendental Bliss, all one can say is that it is neither physical nor has it a form that can be comprehended. Nectar has an appearance, and its taste could possibly be described; but Parama Sukhadam is beyond both form and words. God is Eternal Bliss – what else can one say? He is totally unaffected by all pairs of opposites like praise and blame, [worldly] joys and sorrows, etc. He is ever supremely happy. 2 Kevalam Jnanamurtim Kevalam means that which transcend space, time, and circumstances. Jnana means wisdom. Thus, jnana moorthim means Embodiment of wisdom. What sort of wisdom is this? Can it be acquired from books? Is it connected with the physical world? Can it be acquired by yogic practices? Jnana is not of this type. It is supreme, transcendental wisdom, which is beyond this world, beyond space, time, and beyond circumstances as well. This jnana is also known as Brahmajnana (Knowledge of the Brahman) or Atmajnana (Knowledge of the Atma). It is eternal. Whereas worldly knowledge can be acquired from books and one can compare scholars saying he is better and so and so is less learned etc., Brahmajnana is total, and beyond

Forms are many God is One The very first experience in the history of Indian thought is the thrill of wonder. This is expressed in the hymns (riks) found in Rig-veda, the earliest revelations of the Indian mind. These hymns are all about the demigods (devas) or the Shining Ones. There are many such deities – Indra, Varuna, Mitra, and Parjanya to name a few. They appear in these hymns, one after the other. Of these, Indra, with the thunderbolt (vajra) as his weapon, is the chief. He is the mighty one who confers rain upon the earth. Indra is so called because he is the master of the senses (indriyas), that is to say, he is the mind that handles the senses. He is also known as Puruhutha – puru meaning “often”, hutha “invited”, and the entire name meaning “the God who is most called upon”. The mind (which is identified with senses, since it masters them) is also adored in the Vedas as Rudra. The mind contacts the objective world and experiences it through the instrumentality of the five senses; this aspect of the mind is the Indra aspect. It has another capability. It can master the senses and become aware of the universal inner truth of the multiplicity called the objective world. This aspect of the mind is designated “Rudra”. This is why the Vedas describe Indra and Rudra as the One with two names. It is possible to quote many such descriptions about the other Gods. Yet, ultimately, all descriptions lead to the same conclusion. First, the hymns (riks) adore deities as presiding over some function or other. Then, these latter get transformed into different names and forms of the One God who has all the worlds in Itself, who is the Witness, resident in all hearts, and the Sovereign of all creation. Gradually, all other meanings and reactions are suppressed as not relevant. For example, an element of fear is associated with the deity Varuna. Fear sprouts and spreads in some hymns, but soon the wisdom of the Aryans (noble seekers) subjugates the fear. Many hymns are prayers to Varuna from people afraid of being punished by him for their sins. But the idea of a terrorizing God cannot flourish on Indian soil. Nor can many Gods of many natures. Indian culture and spiritual outlook upheld the One God or Iswara. There is the One God (Iswara)! This axiom, that there can be only One and not many, has been current in India since very ancient times. Even in the ancient Vedic and Samhitha literature, this faith is already evident as an age-long belief. But the notion of a personal God struck the thinkers and practitioners of this land as rather elementary, a kind of unripe stage in spiritual progress. It did not satisfy their highest aspirations. This attitude, found in the revelations of sages (rishis), has not been understood or appreciated by scholars and writers of other countries who have studied and commented on the Vedas and affiliated texts. They still dwell on the earlier belief in “many gods” or the later belief in “one personal God”. Ignorance of this kind brings a smile to the lips of the Indian (Bharathiya). Really, even those who learn in their mother’s laps to put faith in a God equipped with attributes, known by a name and having a recognizable form, have later to rise to a stage higher than this and become aware of the One, which is spoken of as “having many names and many forms”. The spiritual disciplines (sadhanas) are directed to the realization of this truth. “The ONE – in Him alone is all this flux, all this changing cosmos established. He is the guide and guardian of every consciousness.” All such denotations touch only the fringe of the ONE. Westerners said that one’s intelligence can succeed in this venture. But the seekers of this land showed a heroism that could not be measured or limited – a fact that cannot but be accepted. Western philosophers, renowned for their daring insights into the realms of the spirit, have shown only a tiny spark of this heroism, so they are amazed at the intuitive and experiential heights reached by the sages of India. This feeling of wonder was charmingly expressed by Professor Max Mueller. “Into whatever unknown realms of experience their causative and positive inquiry led them, the Indian seekers ventured boldly therein. For the sake of success in this adventure, they never hesitated to discard whatever they felt as an encumbrance. They were not affected by fear of how others might judge them.” Max Mueller exhorted people to involve themselves in the nectarine stream of the search for the Supreme, flowing in India, for he felt that the Indian spiritual aspirants pursued the path of right, the path of truth. “One alone is; the wise speak of It as many (Ekam sath; viprah bahudha vadanthi).” This indeed is most sublimely meaningful. This is the basic truth behind the spiritual efforts of India (Bharath) for ages. Even the theistic principle and practice that will spread all over the world with unprecedented benedictions in the coming years have as their basis this great axiom laid down by the sages of India, long long ago. Hymns (riks) arose on various deities and divine forces because the sages (rishis) knew that each person can cognize “One alone is” only from their own viewpoint and that it is different for different persons, depending on the stage reached in clarifying and purifying the vision. The sages announced through that statement their discovery that the One is the subject that all the sages and saints, seers and poets, hymnists and composers adored and praised in various languages, during various moods, through various styles of expression. Thus, consequences of the highest value to the world emerged from the declaration quoted above, “One alone is; the wise speak of It as many.” For example, many are surprised that India is the

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Satyam Shivam Sundaram In Sanatan Dharma, “Satyam Shivam Sundaram” (Sanskrit: सत्यम् शिवम् सुन्दरम्) is a foundational philosophical concept meaning “Truth, Auspiciousness, and Beauty“. It represents the ultimate reality and the highest goal of human existence.  Core Meanings The three words are understood as an indivisible trinity that describes the nature of the Divine (Brahman) and the human true self:  Philosophical Significance The phrase encapsulates a profound philosophy that the pursuit of truth naturally leads to a life of goodness, which in turn reveals the inherent beauty and bliss of existence. Official Biography of the Avatar – Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba – Sathyam Shivam Sundaram