Darshan On Sanatan Dharma

Darshan On Sanatan Dharma

? 07, 1977 am

[Jayshri sings We’re Bound For the Freedom Land]

BAPUJI;

It can be used in any bhajan or any of this kind of a song.

But everyone should follow the same rhythm.

In this, the first one is double, like one, two, three is empty, then one, two and three is empty.

The same way you can empty the one, like.

So experiment with one first, like: that one first, when it becomes very, you have good practice.

This second one Bapuji will show.

That’s the third, this one.

Oh, three single and then two double.

This can be used, but Bapuji says make it definite that in any one bhajan you play just one kind of rhythm.

My beloved children.

From the very childhood my thoughts about the religion are very different, means unusual.

I believe in one God, and I believe in the unity of man.

If there is one man, then there should be one religion.

There could be different ideas and different tools for accomplishing any one particular goal or any one particular path.

If we are the worshippers or the followers of truth, then all gates of all religions are open for us.

We must respect the truth wherever we find it.

Then only we could be the true followers or the true aspirants for truth.

In order to be the true searchers for truth, perhaps one lifetime could be less.

Even if we can find the truth, or attain the truth, even after many incarnations, it is our good fortune.

The one who is searching for truth must have patience and should have faith and he must work with patience, you must remember what Bapuji was saying, when a translator can’t find the word, the mango means mango.

Everybody has to go through this experience.

My subject is literature, so I have gone through these experiences often.

We are the followers of truth.

If we do not have our hearts open to the truth, then truth will never enter into the gates of our hearts.

Today you like to wear Indian dress.

You like to have sanskrit or Indian names.

You like the Indian life style.

Then doesn’t it show that you like the Indian religion?

That religion is known as sanatana dharma.

That is called immortal religion.

Only the religion which is the truth cannot be destroyed or can be immortal.

Because truth is only immortal, everything else is destructible.

So the old rishis, [means the yogis of India] have given this name by looking at its character.

It was born in the sacred places in the woods.

It has been sustained or served in the sacred places.

Even today that immortal religion has left the sacred places of the woods.

Because it is not a religious sect.

It is the supreme experience of man.

So it has never been the necessity to propagate it.

If you see the specialties of this sanatana dharma, you would find that it is uniquely different than other religions.

Nobody has ever desired to the missionary the work for sanatana dharma, and that’s the truth.

The great masters who have realized this truth and who have written the scriptures, they have never written their name that we have found it, what a great work!

How can I explain to you the magnitude of it?

I have been the follower of truth.

When I have followed the truth and practiced the sadhana for truth, I have never thought of the nationality.

I have never thought that I am brahman or I am a swami. The follower of truth has no such ties.

The truth is for the entire world, and the follower of truth is for the entire world.

So to explain the beauty and the magnitude of sanatana dharma, is not only beyond my capacity but any great master, it is so profound.

You cannot understand it without, [that it is like this,] without experiencing it yourself.

In this, the most minor details of life have been explained with great details.

And Bapuji says this after studying religions of the world.

In this they have shown two paths, one is what should an ordinary person be like, what should he do?

And what should the follower of the path of liberation do, what should be his path?

They have explained as to how man should live, from the very birth to the very death.

What are the duties of the student during his student career?

What are the duties of a householder?

And what are the duties of a man who re-enters into the spiritual life, what are his duties?

And in the end, what are the duties of a man when he enters into the final stage of life, called sannyas, [means complete renunciation]?

Here it is also explained what are his duties as an individual, as his responsibility towards his family, towards the society, towards the nation, and how he should look at the universe.

All these details are given in a very clear way.

And it has been designed in such a way, that no matter what nation you belong to, none of these things would become a barrier because it’s the path of truth.

The highest principle of that sanatana dharma is One.

That is vasudaiva kutumbakum [?] The entire world is your family.

So that is why his first thought, what are his duties towards the smaller family.

The one who understands the family duties, he also knows the duties towards the entire world.

Here, the trains that run, they always run on the tracks.

Just imagine if the train tries to run without the track.

We call it an accident.

If we give up the tracks of religion or duty, we will be in accident.

Don’t let such accidents happen.

Take your life, let it be guided by the tracks of the duties and the religion.

This is not an easy thing.

It is very difficult.

But you must also remember that even though it is difficult, it is also easy.

It is easy only if you love it.

There was one very big athlete, wrestler rather.

He was very strong.

He was able to lift several hundred pounds in his hand and he could throw it.

One day someone abused him and he got angry, he quickly got angry.

He started saying things in his anger.

What do you think I am?

I can carry a heavy weight stone in my hand and throw it away.

You are so light, I can throw you away like a straw.

When he was uttering these words there was one saint standing there listening to him.

These saints are very kind.

He approached him with great love.

He said really, you can pick up such a heavy stone of hundreds of pounds and throw it?

He said yes.

Then you can’t take this little abuse and throw it away?

He says, you have such a big body and don’t you have enough mind will power to throw away little abuse?

Your mind cannot carry even this much weight.

We also need to think on this matter.

That this work is hard and it is also easy.

If you practice with proper discrimination and understanding it is simple.

But if you try to wrestle with it, like a wrestler, it is very difficult.

So today, I will tell you little bit about what does sanatana dharma teach.

The first sentence is matradavobavo [sp?] means, the mother is your divine mother and father is your divine father.

It is very easy to love mother and to love father.

It is easy to consider that mother is divine and father is divine.

I believe that child is a hollow container, in that father, mother, and other family members fill with love.

Then when he begins to grow up and matures, he has to return all that love with interest.

The father may be very cruel.

He goes through lots of malpractices and brings millions of dollars, or thousands of dollars.

And after committing all that sin, everything that he has collected, gives it to his son.

Imagine the father who is not looking at his own good and even doing worst things for himself, he’s thinking good for his son.

Maybe this doesn’t fit as much in the West as in the East, but I don’t know.

We’ll talk.

The same way, mother obliges children very much.

BAPUJI:

In India the son is the true son who serves the parents in their old age.

Here when the father comes to the son’s house, he can be guest for one, second day, he may get the bill of $10.

It is all right from the social point of view.

It is all right on the part of the father.

But on the part of the son to expect it, it is not right.

Father can give up everything for the son.

If ordinary guest is giving $10, father can easily give $100 even, happily.

That is alright from father’s side.

But it is not appropriate for son to expect it.

If you truly want to follow the right path, then have good will towards the parents, the father.

In the same way, keep the good will towards the mother, all the way to the end.

Imagine, suppose your parents are very cruel.

and yet if you truly love them from your heart, whatever words come out of their mouth would be very beneficial for you.

The parents are the saints for you, they are guru for you, they are God for you.

Here, I’ll give you a small story.

In India there was one great devotee of parents, his name was Shaman.

His parents were blind.

This Shaman, young man, he was once in satsang.

He heard there, that know that, believe your father to be divine, believe your mother to be divine.

Shaman truly took these words in his heart and made them steady in his heart.

He left from there with firm determination that I am going to serve my parents.

He thought clearly as to what are the different things that he should do to serve his parents.

He naturally had lots of love for his parents because both of them were blind.

By seeing this condition of the parents, he suffered a lot for them and also he had lots of love towards them also, because they were blind.

He thought that in case I get married or if I get married and if she’s not suitable to my thoughts, she would not be suitable to my parents also.

Then my life would get confused.

Parents would be unhappy.

I will be unhappy and my wife would be unhappy too.

In order to bring happiness to everyone, the best answer is not is add one more individual into it.

So, he decided I will not get married.

Then he started serving his parents with love.

It is very difficult to serve one blind person, and it is very difficult to serve two blind people.

You cannot understand by imagination, you can only understand it if you do it.

To give them the morning routine, to take them to take his parents through the morning routine, to give them bath, to cook for them, to clean the house, to wash their clothes, he did all these services to his parents.

This way he served his parents with great love and joy in his heart, not for just two days, or two months or two years, but for many years.

The parents grew old.

Up until the last generation, that means Bapuji says just up to my parents, it was traditional that the son will take his parents for the pilgrimage, throughout the pilgrimage sacred places.

This old people of India, they had great faith and feeling for this sacred places, they also desired to let their feet touch that holy ground.

Today’s pilgrimages have become very simple and easy because now there is very quick transportation available.

But when they did not have these speedy vehicles, these pilgrimages were done only on feet.

In those days they didn’t have post office or telephone.

So, when anyone would leave for this pilgrimage, they would meet the entire town, get them and they used to say that if we are alive we will come back, because it was that dangerous.

And it used to happen that some people just died on the way and nobody knew what happened.

There used to be no methods of communications, like telephones, telegram, post office and so on.

And people left their bodies happily.

And they considered to be a great fortune to die in the pilgrimage.

So the parents of Shaman had a desire to go on a pilgrimage.

Now how would these blind people go on a pilgrimage?

They had to walk for miles at a time.

My mother and father, beloved father and mother, it is desire to go on a pilgrimage, so on one auspicious day, we will start.

They said, my son, how would we travel?

Shaman said, don’t worry about that, I will plan that.

Then he really made one coward, coward is one stake with the ropes hanging on each side with the pens at the bottom, so mother will sit on one pen and father in another pen and he will carry it on his shoulder.

Vishvarmuni [sp?] is a great man of India.

The way he has served his parents, perhaps no one has served their parents in that manner.

He is the ideal master of India.

Whenever the mantra that, may mother be divine mother, respect mother as a divine mother, father as a divine father, whenever that is uttered, the [Shaman?] is remembered.

The most auspicious day was selected and Shaman asked his parents to sit in the crowd.

Mother and father both cried.

They said, my son, how heavy we two are and how would carry us for all these miles?

He said, mother, I have lots of strength and I will carry as if I’m carrying flowers.

From their hearts, parents put their hands, and blessed their son that may Lord give you such a strength.

Don’t make a mistake that only saints can give you the blessings.

And perhaps to whom you call saint, he may not even be a saint and his blessings may not even work.

It is not true that only a saint can give you blessing, anyone who loves you can give you the blessing.

Even that well-wisher of you could be the most cunning and the worst kind of a person.

That blessing does come through the mouth of man but it has been initiated from God himself, from heart.

Then only they become fulfilled.

One who receives such a blessing is truly fortunate and he truly receives the best blessings.

There is great possibility of having the blessings of parents come true.

On that auspicious day, Shaman took his parents on his shoulders and he started for the pilgrimage.

Before starting, he prayed to the Lord, Oh merciful Lord, have mercy upon me, so that after finishing my entire pilgrimage, I bring my parents on the same spot back.

Then he started his pilgrimage.

Days passed, months passed, and years passed.

Inwards, in places he got many thorns in his feet.

He suffered from the heavy sun, he suffered the cold of the winter, he got wet in the rain and yet he did not shake from his service to his parents.

And no weakness could enter his mind.

Truly by the grace of the Lord, after completing his entire pilgrimage, he returned home.

Our imaginations and our logics cannot truly message the divine joy that these three hearts must have felt and experienced The parents placed that my son live for ever and ever.

Really today that great master is alive.

The parents who have given us so much protection and help.

What could be a greater anti-religious act than to forget this obligations of parents?

When my father died, I was only seven years old.

But at the time of leaving his body, the blessings that he has given me has come true.

I haven’t been able to serve him.

I haven’t had the opportunity to serve him either.

My father was a devotee of the Lord.

When he died, we found that he had lots of debt.

So the family had to suffer a lot.

I used to feel my days of youth that if father had money I would have been able to educate myself very much and progress a lot.

But that dissatisfaction of mine has left me now.

And after becoming a swami and doing sadhana, what I found from it, is that my father has given me the endless wealth, and that is devotion.

And his seed of bhakti has bloomed in my life.

This is why I have been able to do yoga sadhana for a long time.

Perhaps you may not be surprised, but even after coming to such a prosperous country like America, I have no desire to see anything.

Simply, I’m very much in love with my sadhana, that is with God.

I have no such attractions left in my life.

This love for sadhana and this devotion, I believe that it is the heritage of my parents, of my father.

I remember that day very clearly when he left his body.

This is the occasion of the day before that.

It just happened that day there was nobody in the home except myself, my mother and my father.

My father’s bed was on the floor and he was laying down in it.

There was a door next to him, his bed.

There my mother was sitting.

My father loved me very much.

And he had known, that now I won’t live long.

So he often took me to his body and loved me.

I was also hugging him and laying right beside him.

All of a sudden, as if he was telling the last words, he spoke, I’m not leaving anything, so far as wealth is concerned.

Then that moved his heart, and he felt painful in his heart, then the tears started rolling.

Seeing him cry, mother also started crying.

After few moments, he became more steady.

I was also crying, without understanding, because my parents were crying.

And in the end, my father had said one sentence, and I still remember, even when I was seven years old at the time.

He said, remember one thing, that I would like to tell you.

He was talking to Bapuji’s mother, that this child would be very high.

I feel that that must be the blessings.

Perhaps I may be sitting in front of you in this condition because of those blessings.

So if you are truly following the truth, the first truth is mother is divine, and father is divine.

If you can do this much, you would be able to bring the sanatana dharma in your life.

There are many other principles.

All the duties also, all

BAPUJI:

Whatever relations we are in touch with now, we have to act in the highest possible way with love for them.

This becomes sanatana dharma.

In order to understand these duties properly in the history of India, there are many examples of this, in that how should the brother be, how should the husband be, how should the wife be, how the daughters and sons, how the friendsshould be, how the guru should be.

And there have been definite decisions and the paths explained for each one’s duties.

If we can’t do all these, we can’t even be a man.

And one who can’t even be a human, how can he follow the religion or how could he be called religious or spiritual?

There is one special character of a religion.

The religion brings unity.

The religion is like a needle, it brings two pieces together.

Irreligious behavior is like a Caesar’s, it makes two out of one.

Remember this basic character of religion, the religion is that which teaches you love and brings unity among all.

The specialty of sanatana dharma is that he never creates the wall in the path of anybody.

This, if you see,you would find that everybody says that truth is like this.

Should I create an explosion before concluding my lecture?

[There is no religion higher than truth Bapuji spoke English]

Bapuji says this sentence is borrowed.

There is a theosophical society in India and this is their principle, there is no religion higher than truth.

But this principle they also have borrowed.

In sanatana dharma, Lord Vasa has written, we are meditating on the supreme truth or we are practicing sadhana for the highest truth.

Or we can say truth is our life, truth is our society, truth is our nation, truth is our search.

I had remembered this sentence from very childhood.

I thought let me set up a cannon here.

If one has parents who are, the question is many of us who are here, living at the ashram, have parents who would like us to go home, live with them, or get married or when Bapuji talks about serving parents or worshipping them, I do not quite understand how this situation fits in.

If one has parents who oppose living at the ashram, how can one serve parents and still grow spiritually?

I was going to ask the same question, I think you all had that same question, it was so loud that I heard it.

The answer to the question can be had only by the one who is asking true question.

What a beautiful answer, for any question.

The real questions, they have a real need for solution.

And when you have such real questions, even if Amritji is not present or Dadaji is not present, still you will find the answers.

Because everyone’s grandfather’s grandfather is sitting in the heart.

If you ask him, he will answer to every question.

But there is only one way you can get answer from him.

That question must be true.

You must have firm determination that I want to serve parents.

That’s the key answer.

Then you will find answer.

What a beautiful answer.

If you are shaky about serving parents and just as parents are opposing you, you have your cannons against them, you will get the correct answer.

You heard that mother is divine, and father is divine and you have a desire to serve them, but if you are opposing them, or having friction with them, it creates confusion.

It is very difficult.

But remember at least that much, that you can give satisfaction to your parents.

For that you will have to think according to your condition.

My one answer will not resolve the problems for all of you.

For that each one of you will have to find different solutions.

The answer to this question is love your parents very much and then you will find the correct answer.

Firmly decide that you want to serve and you will find the answer.

I asked Bapuji for you, suppose somebody’s married and wife cannot get along with mother in law.

So, Bapuji says even for this, if you have a real desire and honest true love in your heart, you will invariably find the answer.

I will give you an example which will be of help to you as to how to find the answers under such circumstances.

There was a small town.

In there, lived two blood brothers.

Their parents had died.

Older brother was 15,16 and younger was 14 years old.

They both loved each other very much.

The older brother gradually grew and progressed with great skill and younger brother also helped the older brother as much as he could.

They both got married and they also bought many things for themselves.

The confusion started as soon as they both got married, because the wives of both brothers came in.

Always they had a new trouble, every day they had a new problem.

Their maintenance was being done, was happening all right.

With great effort and hard work, they had bought the fields and home.

They had cattle also.

Their quarrel increased a lot.

The older brother said I must find some trick to remove this quarrel.

Both brothers got together.

Now our relationship would be a heart to heart relationship, now if we stop meeting externally, these quarrels will stop.

Now we’ll distribute our property equally and we’ll live separately.

They were living in a joint family system.

Then they had the distribution of the property with the help of some respected people of the town.

Both started living separately.

They created a wall in the middle of the house to separate the residences.

In the back of the house, in the backyard, they kept the animals, their cattle, and had also stacked the hay for them.

Once there was a famine.

They could not get the hay for the cattle.

One day the younger brother came in the backyard, and saw that maybe the hay that my older has would probably be less than what he needs for his cattle.

But his wife would not allow him to give his hay to his brother.

Well, that’s the way it works.

Then what should be done?

Early in the morning, when it was dark, he will take 5 bundles of hay and then go to his brother’s side and put it there.

This went on for many days.

But one day it so happened he was carrying these bundles of grass and he banged into someone in darkness.

He got surprised.

When he saw it was his older brother.

He also had 5 bundles in his hand.

This way his younger brother was giving to his older brother and older brother was hiding and giving to his younger brother.

What a love.

What a trick.

You will have to have some such trick.

There is no cunningness in this but you should do the work the way it is right to be done.

Both brothers used to meet each other and greet each other and talk with each other, but when they were in the presence of their wives they didn’t even look at each other. You have to do something like that sometimes.

Have the trust in God and for whatever work you firmly determine, then Lord himself will come down to bless you and help you.

So Bapuji will not lead this OM sound, so we will all do it together, we’ll start OM when it starts on the harmonium, and then when all that OM sound is finished and when he starts second one, we will all pick up and see how much harmony we can maintain.

Sit up straight.

First listen to the tune for a short time, and then we will all start together.

OM chanting.

This is beautiful.

If you practice like this, it will be very nice.

There is so much to say, so sometime I will explain to you what OM means.

That is the highest mantra, highest.