Svyatoslav Dubyanskiy
Sathya Sai Baba. Supernatural Experiences and Divine Transformation. Book Three
34. God is the Creator
Krishna, realizing that God is the original source of talent and creativity, spoke about the need to act. The ideas that arise in your mind come from the divine consciousness. All the energy you receive to achieve your creative projects also comes from the Lord. You are an instrument in the hands of God.
One of the most important qualities of God is, the Creator. God is in the eternal process of creation. Every person is also a creator. The Lord's work is vast and varied. Human creativity is much more modest in scope, but in both cases the quality of this creativity is identical.
Human creativity is similar to God's creativity, only in miniature. It is like comparing the whole ocean to one small drop; they are different in scale, but identical in quality. Both the ocean and the drop are equally water.
Realizing his destiny, a person embodies his creative potentials, reveals the nature of God, and becomes a Godman.
Society may seem dark and imperfect to us, but it is also a part of God's plan. Society is a manifestation of the divine consciousness; it is a space of endless development and knowledge.
Almost always, people read sacred texts, such as the Vedas or the Bible, from the point of view of human consciousness. Many perceive this approach as the only possible one. For the majority, the idea that the Bible and the Vedas are books about communication between man and God sounds absolutely natural.
The great mystic and philosopher, Nisargadatta lived in the twentieth century. He lived in the city of Bombay, which is now called Mumbai. Sathya Sai Baba highly appreciated the level of spiritual self-realization of Nisargadatta and advised his own devotees to carefully read his philosophical books.
Once Nisargadatta advised his students to try to read the Vedas and the Bible from the point of view of God. This sounds more than strange. Imagine being the God who created this universe and giving instructions to the sages and prophets while performing great miracles.
The Bhagavad Gita is a dialogue between Krishna, the divine teacher, and Arjuna, his chief disciple. Unconsciously, most people, while reading the Bhagavad Gita, associate themselves with Arjuna, a disciple receiving spiritual instructions from Krishna. What if you associate yourself with Krishna?
Who do you recognize yourself as? Basically, you are what you think you are. If you are aware that you are small and weak, then that is what you are. If you are aware of yourself as an individual "I", then you are an instrument in the hands of higher powers. If you are aware of yourself as the Higher "I", then you will discover the truth that in fact it is you who is the original source of all wisdom, ideas, knowledge, and energy.
Of course, this is a very complex and subtle situation because it is easy to confuse the real Higher Self with the small ego that is entangled in megalomania. That is why one should be extremely careful when trying to feel like God. Remember that where the ego begins, the idea of being chosen and superior always arises. The awakening of the Divine Self always goes hand in hand with kindness and awareness of the subtle interdependence of all things.
What is the meaning of Krishna? Krishna is your True Self. The highest source – the source of the entire universe – is within you. You contain all the greatest potentials and resources, all knowledge and information, all cosmic energy and infinite wisdom in your inner world.
For those who have discovered God in their hearts, fear disappears because God and fear are incompatible. Stop trying to be divine, just be who you already are. There is no need to call God into your heart, he is already there. There is no need to invoke the Cosmic force in your heart, it initially resides in your inner world. There is no need to try to be God, for you are God in the first place.
You should not try to reach God, instead try to discover the truth through practice and awareness that God is your true nature.
Realizing the presence of the cosmic source in the Spiritual Heart, you must take action, show creativity, and embody your talents for the benefit of all. One who is in awareness of his true nature is naturally in the vibration of love and compassion. Such a person embodies in the manifested world, in social space, a divine action that is pure service.
35. Krishna and Jesus Christ – similarities and differences in their teachings
In his lectures on the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, Sathya Sai Baba said that as soon as you start constantly thinking about Krishna, fixing all your thoughts on Krishna, while simultaneously doing your job in society, then Krishna will take care of everything else in your life.
Sathya Sai Baba said very similar words about the teachings of Jesus Christ, who preached that man should do his best and God will take care of everything else.
In his greatest instructions on the purpose of the Christian life, St. Seraphim of Sarov spoke about the importance of not just doing good deeds but doing them in the name of Jesus Christ. Only such an approach can bring about the acquisition of the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Of course, one can interpret the instructions of St. Seraphim in different ways. Doing good deeds in the name of Jesus Christ means doing an act in the spirit of serving God while realizing that you, as human beings, are perfect instruments in the hands of Divine Providence. In fact, Christ Consciousness and Krishna Consciousness are one and the same. They are both symbols of the Supreme God.
If you do an action for the glory of Jesus Christ, then Jesus Christ will take care of the results. Once you have trusted Jesus Christ and asked him to bless you, then you should recognize his divine control and authority over the results of your labors.
Speaking about the teachings of Krishna and Jesus Christ, Sathya Sai Baba pointed out their similarities. Comparatively, people look for the differences between the philosophy and teachings of these two great teachers. Of course, there are differences. The reason for the differences is that Krishna and Jesus Christ lived in different eras and in different parts of the world.
Krishna lived in India, whereas Jesus Christ preached his teaching in Palestine. The time difference is also important: Krishna lived 3000 years before Jesus Christ. Historically, both are great world teachers who lived in different eras in different parts of the world, but at the same time, they are both symbolically identical.
Krishna and Jesus Christ are symbols of the Absolute Divine Consciousness – the one God, present in everything, who is the infinite cosmic life-affirming force. God cannot be in one person and absent in another person. If God is everywhere, it means that God is also inside of you.
By dedicating all of your actions to the glory of God, you do quality work. Do your best and God takes care of the rest. The one who truly trusts God always overflows in abundance.
Even though there were certain differences in the teachings of Krishna and Jesus Christ, Sathya Sai Baba showed the core identity of these philosophical systems. In his lectures on the teachings of Krishna, Sathya Sai Baba said that the essence of the teachings of Krishna is that by opening God in the heart, you gain bliss and peace. This is also the essence of the teaching of Jesus Christ.
In one of his lectures, Sathya Sai Baba said the most important part of the spiritual message of Jesus Christ is that God is the fundamental nature and ultimate reality of every human being. When comparing the most important teachings of Krishna and Jesus Christ, they are found to be completely identical in essence.
The cause of all suffering is that tense feeling of separateness from one's existence. This is what gives rise to the small ego that is filled with fear. Feeling fear, the ego becomes aggressive, and the struggle for survival begins.
The source of happiness is a relaxed feeling of oneness. Unity dissolves fears and anxieties. The small and neurotic ego disappears like a cold morning mist. The sun of wisdom shines brightly in the mind of one who has relaxed in the flow of divine providence. Life becomes perfect for those who trust God and are in the flow of divine providence.
36. You don't have to reach God, you already are
In his lectures on the teachings of Krishna, Sathya Sai Baba said that lack of attachment does not mean the need to give up all of one's property, leave one's family, retire to the forest and become a hermit. Genuine spiritual practice begins when you experience deep spiritual suffering from being separated from God. The desire to know God should not be just a beautiful idea, but a deep desire.
Sathya Sai Baba said the wonderful words that you should start your life with the question: "Who am I?" and end your life with the realization that you are God. You must realize your inner divinity and discover in your heart the greatest treasure, which is God, your true reality.
For most people, such words of Sathya Sai Baba may seem extremely strange. How can you say that I am God when the whole world around us reveals our limitations and weakness?
The path of deep meditation can unlock infinite potential and lead to the revelation of the God within. All that can be said in words is philosophical concepts, but in order for this to become your actual experience, it is necessary to practice meditation in depth gradually leading you to the actual experience of your true inner reality of God.
During one of the Christmas lectures, Sathya Sai Baba said that once a student asked Jesus Christ, “teacher, when I have problems, how should I solve them?”
To which Jesus Christ answered, “you of little faith, love the God who dwells in your heart.”
Sathya Sai Baba continued the story saying, “Jesus Christ told his disciple that he should love even those who hate him, because God also dwells in their hearts.” The cause of suffering is artificial division.
If you love everyone, how can you suffer? Love and suffering are incompatible. Your heart is filled with bliss. You love everyone because in the eyes of everyone you see the Christ Consciousness. In order to see the Christ Consciousness in another person, you must first discover the Christ Consciousness within yourself. Open God in your heart and learn to see him in every person you come in contact with throughout your life.
Sathya Sai Baba said that Jesus Christ told his disciple he did not need to invite God into his heart, for he was already there. What you have to do is realize that God is in your heart at all times; only then will you become God. You don't have to reach God – you already are.
The Vedas say, "knowing God, become God."
What does it mean? How can one know God and how can one become God? You can know God only by knowing yourself. Having discarded all false self-identifications, only God remains. It is, in fact, impossible to become God, because you already are God. “This” can only be “discovered” in the process of deep meditation.
37. Why are Avatars born only in India?
When Sathya Sai Baba said that Avatars come to this world exclusively in India, many were surprised by these words and asked why in India? Why cannot the Avatar incarnate in other countries?
India is a unique country in which there has been a continuous spiritual succession for tens of thousands of years. Modern historical science thinks only in terms of a few millennia. However, the spiritual history of India considers tens of thousands of years of tradition of transmission of yoga practices, philosophical knowledge, mathematics, astrology, medicine and much more. Vedic knowledge has been passed down from generation to generation since ancient times.
Indian society is ideally suited for the Avatar to incarnate and be able to fulfill his divine mission. Of course, this does not mean there are no problems in India. In Indian society, there are a huge number of difficulties and problems, which are not hidden. However, it is Indian society that is designed in such a way that it is able to recognize the Avatar and provide the necessary conditions for the fulfillment of his mission.
If the Avatar had incarnated in any other country, he would have been stoned, crucified, or sent to a science lab for research. Incarnating in India, the Avatar receives the support of the social environment itself. Both the government and ordinary people immediately begin to respectfully help him in his spiritual task.
This is exactly what happened to Sathya Sai Baba. From a very early age literally everyone began to help him, from politicians and businessmen to ordinary villagers. Of course, there have always been those in India who denied the divinity of Sathya Sai Baba, but Indian society is arranged in such a way that such people have no opportunity to interfere with the good work of the Avatar.
38. God in human form
Sathya Sai Baba once stated that people are often deceived by his ordinary human form. He walked among us and he talked with us. One could mistake him for an ordinary person. If we temporarily made this mistake, we could instantly be plunged into the deepest delusions.
Sathya Sai Baba said that one should be vigilant and avoid the danger of delusion that he is an ordinary person. This confusion sometimes arose as a result of the seeming normality of his human form. He could eat rice with vegetables, drink tea or coconut juice, talk to us, participate in festive events, and thereby create the illusion that he was an ordinary person who walked, breathed, and talked like all other people.
However, at any moment, he could suddenly manifest his divinity. His true cosmic form encompasses all Dharmas and the powers of all gods. Sathya Sai Baba reminded that one should keep oneself in awareness and be ready for the great moments of the manifestation of his divinity.
When God descends to earth in human form, it can be very difficult to see his ultimate reality. People looked at the appearance of Sathya Sai Baba and sometimes could not recognize the Avatar in him, being deceived by the illusion of his physical form. This led to the erroneous conclusion that the Avatar's body is an ordinary human and, therefore, his consciousness is also human. However, in his body is the Universal Divine Consciousness.
Even if all people practice meditation for millions of years, performing intense and severe austerities, it is impossible to understand the fullness and true essence of the consciousness of the Avatar.
We are all extremely lucky that we had the rare opportunity to meet the divine teacher. All the great saints and sages of the past dreamed of such an opportunity. It is difficult to realize this. Sometimes communication with Sathya Sai Baba seemed so natural and even ordinary that sometimes the illusion overshadowed our consciousness and we lost awareness of the uniqueness of the moment of communication with him.
39. Human effort
It is karma that determines all the events of your life in the present. Karma is information about your thoughts, words, and actions that you have done in the past. It is important to understand that a thought saturated with the strongest emotion also creates karma. Any word spoken with strong intention creates karma because the word has great power.
Basically, there is no positive or negative karma. Karma is just information and it is neutral. People, in contact with the events of life give assessments and call these events good or bad. Most often, human appraisal categories are sometimes based on a superficial understanding of the situation.
If you have difficulties, trials, and crises, most likely you will declare all of these things are the result of bad karma. Looking back a few years later, it may turn out that the crises were actually blessings.
If you are currently suffering from illnesses, this can help you start intensive yoga and tai chi practices. If you are currently in the process of a divorce, this may help you to create a healthier and happier family in the future. If today you are experiencing bankruptcy, then in the near future, you will be able to start a better and more successful project.
Communication with the Avatar has a strong influence on karmic processes. For example, you have accumulated karma according to which you must suffer over the next few lives, but Sathya Sai Baba can reduce this to a few years. Yes, you suffer, but not for a few lifetimes, only for a few years.
People sometimes expected that Sathya Sai Baba should solve all of their life's difficulties and hardships for them. Over the years, I have watched a large number of people come to Sathya Sai Baba for help and healing. I have seen this mistake made by a huge number of people. They were waiting for the great Sathya Sai Baba to solve their problems, moreover, instantly; yet, in these cases people were not ready to make any efforts of their own.
People came to the "omnipotent" Sathya Sai Baba and were sure he would instantly solve all of their struggles. Some naively assumed if they came to the ashram, then automatically he should help.
Sometimes people came to the ashram with tremendous pride. We even joked that it was not Sathya Sai Baba giving them Darshan, but they were giving Sathya Sai Baba Darshan. Some thought that if they came to Sathya Sai Baba, then he simply had to do everything for them.
The way your life looks now is the result of your karma. Why do you think that someone, such as Sathya Sai Baba, should correct for you what was done by you? Of course, he was born into this world in order to help everyone who is open to accepting his help. However, your steps are always yours, and only you must take them.
40. "Resist not evil," said Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ said one should not resist evil. Numbers of people have tried to understand these strange words across centuries and discussions have not subsided. What can this all mean?
We are accustomed to the fact that good ultimately wins over evil. The struggle between good and evil largely shapes the life of our society. If we look at the history of any country, or in the history of any religious tradition, we find there are continuous struggles between good and evil. In this whole situation, it is curious that everyone considers himself the personification of exclusively "good," and his opponent exclusively "evil."
The struggle between good and evil also takes place in the inner world of every person. How then do we understand the teaching of Jesus Christ about not resisting evil? Non-resistance of evil can be summed up as simply not concentrating on your problems, as what you focus on is where your energy is directed. Therefore, do not resist evil because by doing so you become evil and strengthen it.
Instead, concentrate on doing positive and kind actions. This increases goodness. Fighting anger, you increase anger; showing love, you increase love.
The one who endlessly struggles with trials has no chance of becoming rid of life's difficulties because they consciously direct the strongest energy toward feeding the problems. Instead, focus on positive goals such as happiness and abundance, creative success and great health.
Once you focus on what you want to achieve rather than on what you want to get rid of, then your energy will be directed toward positive development. It sounds simple enough, but how often do people forget this great principle.
If you are sick and begin to constantly focus on the disease, you will not be able to heal because unconsciously you will direct energy to increase the disease. Instead, concentrate on perfect health; only then will the vital energy be directed there. It is about changing the paradigm and changing your style of thinking.
If you are focused on solving family troubles, financial and business issues, intellectual difficulties, then you will fall into a vicious circle of endless suffering and struggle. Instead, focus on building correct and harmonious relationships in the family, transforming and improving your business, finding the right information to solve intellectual issues, and discovering new resources. Start thinking in the direction of development and creativity, as this is what will transform your life.
If you perceive yourself as a representative of "good" and the other person as "evil," then you begin to deny the omnipresence of God. It is easy to say Divine Consciousness is present everywhere and in everything, but it is more difficult to embody this principle in everyday life. It is easy to accept the divinity of Sergius of Radonezh and Francis of Assisi, but it is more difficult to see divinity in the soul of bloody dictators and demons. Of course, there are people who have become the personifications of evil in our culture, but God still lives in the very depths of the soul of any demon.
In fact, absolute evil does not exist at all. What happens to some people is a temporary clouding of consciousness due to ignorance. Sometimes ignorance makes people forget their original divinity and gives rise to an ego that tries to satisfy its own interests at the expense of everyone around. The idea of fighting "evil" is also a product of an ignorant ego.
If you still think and concentrate on problematic situations, then do it exclusively with gratitude. Gratitude is completion. If you feel grateful for sickness, divorce, conflict, bankruptcy, layoffs, ruin, loss, and more, it means you have passed these life lessons and are ready to move on in your divine creativity of life.
Sathya Sai Baba incarnated in this world out of love and compassion in order to help everyone, but this does not negate the efforts of the person himself.
If your car breaks down, you can delegate the repair of the car to another person. If you have a toothache, you do not need to fill it yourself, you go to the dentist. If you need information, you can ask someone to collect the necessary information. However, there are things that you should only do on your own, regardless of your social status and financial capabilities.
Only on your own can you meditate; only on your own can you realize the divine nature of your soul; and only on your own can you follow the path of spiritual development.
In the Mahabharata and Ramayana, most of the acting heroes are kings and princes, but even for great kings, the process of inner realization can only occur as a result of independent spiritual work.
