The Stage of Bliss
In this month of November when we celebrate the Birthday of our beloved Bhagawan, let’s recapitulate His Birthday message given exactly four decades ago on the 23rd of November 1966.
In the beginningless and endless stream of time, night and day, summer and winter roll endlessly on, carried ceaselessly through the Universe by the flood. The term of living beings diminishes with each passing day, yet while being carried forward in the flood of time, man remains surprisingly unaware of his fate and rarely spends a thought on his fast declining life-term. He is blind in his ignorance. Riches and wealth are short-lived; office and authority are temporary; the life-breath is a flickering flame in the wind; youth is a three-day fair and pleasures and fortunes are bundles of sorrow. Knowing this, if man devotes this limited term of life to the service of the Lord, then he is indeed blessed.
Seek refuge at the Feet of the Lord even before the life-breath flies out of the cage of the body. It is an open cage! At any moment, the bird may fly into the outer regions. That is the fact. The ignorant do not realize this; they beat their drums and proclaim proudly how rich they are or how happy they are, surrounded by their sons and grandsons.
Inside the room called Body, in the strongbox called the Heart, the precious gem of jnana exists. However, four wily thieves – namely kama, krodha, lobha and asuya, or lust, anger, greed and envy – are lying in wait to rob it. Awake to the danger before it is too late; reinforce yourself with the support of the Universal Guardian, the Lord and keep the gem intact. That will make you rich in prema, rich in shanti.
When the clouds that hide the face of the moon are wafted by the winds, the moon shines clear and cool. So too, when the clouds of egoism are wafted away, the mind of man will shine pure and full with its own native light. That is the stage of Bliss. When that is attained, there is no more grief. Where there is a lamp, darkness cannot exist. The lamp of jnana once lit never dies, never fades, never flickers. Ananda and shanti also never fade and never flicker. But the ananda and the shanti that men seek from the objects of the world, driven by their senses, flicker fast, then fade and die. They satisfy for a moment only a foolish craze. They are attained through lust, anger, hate and envy, and so they are false and fickle. Control and conquer these; then only can you acquire true ananda and shanti. You cannot only acquire these, you can become these.
