Sad Vani | Teachings of Anandamayi Ma 1

1

In the field of action, people's minds become crippled by the lack of freedom to proceed in their own way. The same is true in the sphere of religion. If the aspirant does not find scope for a wide extension of his search in keeping with his individual temperament, his efforts will stagnate in narrow grooves.

The path that has been chosen must be pursued with great vigour in order that purity of mind and heart may be developed. When the goal is ever before one as a living reality, all that is needful will come of its own accord.

2

To be attracted means to become trans­formed. Whenever you feel drawn to anything, be it a person, an object, or an idea, you have to sacrifice something of yourself. In the exact degree that you give up, so will you receive. This is an axiom of life.

To gain everything without letting go of anything is never possible for the simple reason that two things cannot at the same time occupy one and the same place. That is to say, without sacrifice nothing can be achieved.

The more the heart becomes filled with the love of God, the fainter will grow the appetite for material enjoyments. The moment you become charmed and therefore transformed and inspired by Him, your mind will be stilled.

True, it is not pos­sible to be fascinated by Him unless His pull is felt from within; yet a determined effort to ever look forward to this experi­ence is essential. As a business man always keeps himself informed about the market rates, so should one constantly remain occupied with spiritual enquiry and investigation.

3

In the midst of limitation, if one line of approach is selected and steadily pur­sued, the bonds of limitation will fall away as soon as one becomes fully concentra­ted on the Goal. Then the One will stand revealed as the many, and the many as the One. In order to be blessed with the power to reach Infinity, one must begin by labouring within the finite.

So long as one is identified with the body, it is necessary to submit to the rules and prohibitions set forth in the Sacred Texts. This requires patience and endurance. Nature, although itself in constant flux, never accords help to anyone in his restlessness.

4

Ten Stages on the Path:

First of all the desire to find God is conceived.

Second: one begins to hanker after him restlessly.

Third: the eagerness for union with Him grows overwhelming.

Fourth: one resorts to all kinds of clever devices to reach the Goal.

Fifth: there is intense yearning to soar up into the heights of divine contem­plation.

Sixth: tears of longing for the Beloved are shed in great profusion.

Seventh: one wants to swim in the ocean of Bliss.

Eighth: day and night God's name is repeated in order to realize Him.

Ninth: forgetting oneself and awakening of great love for God.

Tenth: the search is over. Self-realization is attained.

5

Without experiencing the anguish inhe­rent in the mechanism of life in the world, the desire to become acquainted with the Great Mechanic (yantri) Who causes the cosmic machine to revolve does not arise in the human heart.

Disease, grief, priva­tions, remorse and the like, are very neces­sary for man. Just as fire burns away all dross and rubbish, so the three-fold suffering (tritāpa) purges man's heart from all impurity, and results in a growing single-mindedness in his search after Truth.

When he becomes deeply conscious of his weakness and tormented by the thought of his undesirable impulses and distressing characteristics, when afflictions like poverty, bereavement or humi­liation make him feel his life is futile, then and then only does he develop real faith and religious fervour, and becomes anxious to surrender himself at the feet of the Supreme Being.

Suffering should therefore be wel­comed. Never does the soft moonlight appear more soothing than after the scor­ching heat of a summer day.

6

You all say: "I want to find God, I want to find God." But are you really seeking Him with your whole heart and mind, with your whole being? Just watch and you will see! If you are in dead earnest you are bound to find Him.

Do you know by what signs a true seeker can be recognized? If you pine for Him as a shipwrecked traveller longs for the shore, as a bereaved mother yearns for her child; if you desire Him with such eagerness you will find that He is with you every second, day and night.

You pray to Him for the good things of this world, and this is why He bestows on you riches, family, friends, position and so on, which make you forget the real treasure. Seek Him solely for His own sake and you will certainly find Him.

7

There is nothing in this universe that may be treated with disregard or contempt. He acts His Divine Play in infinite ways, through infinite forms, and in an infinite variety of settings. Without appearing as the many, how can this Play be staged?

Do you not see how light and darkness, joy and sorrow, fire and water, are inextric­ably linked together in one unbroken chain?

Remember that spiritual endeavour must be coupled with purity of heart. To the extent that we harbour unkind or narrow thoughts, we increase the cause of evil in the world.

What necessity is there to pay attention to what others have or have not? Far better be intent on your own improvement. If you can develop inner beauty, and enshrine Him, the ever Beautiful, in the glorious temple of your heart, you will then be able to perceive beauty in everything.

8

People who come to see me, sometimes say: "I hope my visit is to not putting you to any inconvenience?" It is because they wish to keep apart from me that such questions come readily to their lips. Just ask yourself whether this sort of consider­ation enters your mind when you wish to see your father, mother, brother or sister? You feel at ease in their loving company, and even should your visit cause them some inconvenience, they will not notice it. If you understand that this body belongs to you all, such hesitation will not arise in your mind when you come to me.

Wherever you go at any time, go with your whole heart and soul, and nobody will seem a stranger to you. Whenever you feel like it, come and see me. It is a great joy to see all of you who are manifestations of the One Joy Supreme.

9

Since everything in this unverse is the creation of the one Great Father, all are kith and kin.

Just as the sons and daughters of one large family choose a dozen different professions whereby to earn their livelihood, just as they settle and build homes of their own in a dozen different places, so all human beings, although one in essence, are grouped in various ways and under various denominations, according to the demands of their multifarious lines of activity.

For the cure of the ailing body many systems of medicine exist, such as Allopathy, Homoeopathy, Ayurveda and others. Each person makes use of the method that is best suited to him.

Equally, to cure man of the diseased condition that causes the perpetual recurrence of birth and death, there are elaborate prescriptions to be found in the Śāstras and many rules and regu­lations to be learnt directly from sages and saints, yet all have the same purpose.

The diverse paths followed by Hindus, Mohammedans, Vaiṣṇavites, Śaktas, etc., all ulti­mately lead to the threshold of the Eternal.

At the entrance to a railway station there is much agitation and noise, much pushing and jostling; but once the correct platform has been reached everyone's desti­nation has been settled.

10

The Master and the servant, though separate embodiments, are essentially one. When the Master in His infinite mercy descends into a physical body, He becomes the servant. Just as there can be no servant without a master, so also the master is dependent on his servant.

Thus there is an eternal mutual relationship between the two, so much so that the one cannot exist without the other.

The master is the sole object of the servant's self-dedication. On the other hand the master relies entirely upon the servant for service. The One Who in His fulness, in His totality is the Master, He Himself when appearing in division becomes the servant; in other words, the servant is but a partial manifestation of the Master.

You boast so much of doing service. This is just idle talk. The real servants were Hanuman, Garuḍa and others like them, who identified themselves so wholly with their masters that they had no longer inde­pendent existences.

Complete subjection of oneself in service, is what is required. He who is incapable of unreservedly offering to his Lord his all — his wealth, family, friends, mind, heart and body — cannot claim to be recognized as the Lord's true servant.

11

This world may be likened unto a drum with only one player. The rhythms it gives forth depend on His Will.

When kīrtana is performed, have you not noticed how many people dance and sing to the rhythm of the music? But do any give a thought to the instruments or their players?

Those who pass their days on this earth in happiness which is only a tiny fragment of the real Joy, are not interes­ted in knowing Him, the Source of all delight. Seek Him Who is the Fountainhead of everything. This is real tapasyā, this is real sādhana.

12

One often hears people say that while living the life of a householder it is im­possible to make spiritual progress. Is this quite true?

How many opportunities are offered to a householder for practising reli­gion in daily life! Parental affection, the fondness between brothers and sisters, the love between husband and wife, the rever­ence and devotion of children for their parents, the companionship between relatives and friends, the blessings of dependants and of the poor and suffering, are all potent aids towards a life that ultimately aims at Self-realization. Think it over and you will understand!

Tossed about ince­ssantly between the ordeals and pleasures of family life, the spirit of renunciation some­times awakens in man together with a desperate yearning for God: Where this is so, the householder has a better chance even than many an anchorite who has left home and family.

13

What is the good of saying: "I want to turn my mind to the Eternal but I am unable to do it."

When anyone in your home has just an ordinary illness or indis­position, no matter how preoccupied you may be, you at once consult a doctor and run here and there for remedies; or if anything goes wrong with your worldly affairs, think of the amount of trouble you take to put it right!

But when you find a difficulty in concentrating on God, you at once give up, fold your hands in your lap, saying: “I cannot", and wait for His Grace. Does this befit a karma yogin?

If once you rouse yourself to enthusiasm, you will be able to concentrate well enough. You spare no pains to make your body healthy, strong and beautiful; if you try equally hard to educate your mind, you will see how wholehearted, how fervent your aspiration grows.

Merely to sit down and philosophize will not take you any­where; it is necessary to apply theoretical knowledge in practice and to engage in sādhana. To be one-pointed in all you do, will of itself teach you the secret of how the goal can be attained through action.

14

Restlessness, agitation, doubt, and the like are certainly objectionable; yet it is the search for happiness that lies at their root.

Like a child, thoughtlessly flitting here and there, not discriminating between good and evil, the mind ever seeks joy. But the evanes­cent pleasures of this world that come and go, cannot hold the mind for long.

Loving attention and reprimand are both necessary for the education of a child. In a like manner the mind has to be trained. By frequenting the company of sages, saints and seekers after Truth, by harbouring only pure and noble thoughts and emotions, by listening to religious discourses, and by reading books of wisdom, will be provided the right sustenance for the mind, inwardly as well as outwardly. Gradually you become free from all worries until at last you find your rest in the Supreme.

On the battle field one has to lay stress on the means of self-defence rather than on pro­vocative attack. Similarly one should take special care to keep oneself protected within the entrenchment of discrimination and intelligent reasoning reinforced by consecrated activities that make the mind God-centred, so that the outer enemy in the form of craving for sense pleasures may not be able to intrude.

The mind is its own friend or foe, the mind itself has to destroy its own ignorance. The easiest and most effective means for purging the mind is to associate with saints and seekers after Truth and to ceaselessly invoke the Name of God.

15

People seek only outer opportunities and conveniences. They fail to realize that so long as they are merely concerned with success and failure they simply remain on the surface of things. Unless one looks within and without simultaneously, God cannot be found.

The body, worldly posse­ssions, one's home and people belong to the external; meditation on the Self and the endeavour to let one's thinking be permeated by Him are inner processes.

To run after physical and mental comforts will only strengthen attachment to external pleasures, and rust will collect inwardly. This is why life after life has to be spent in cleansing the mind from all accumulated dross and impurity.

So long as one cannot make a clean sweep of outer attractions, one should at least aim at directing one's attention within as well, by seeking the Essence of things, and meditating on Him, who is Bliss Eternal.

Gradually the glorious moment will dawn when one's whole being will be united in single-minded contemplation and the inner and outer welded into one.

16

You are given to much discussion about sāttvic food. For this body sāttvic food means to nourish oneself with divine thoughts and emotions and to abide in the awareness of Truth or God.

If once a day you eat perfectly pure food but remain engrossed in worldly thoughts all day and night, of what use can sāttvic food possibly be to you?

Within the mortar of the mind, pound the medicine of God's name or of Self-enquiry with the honey of pure aspira­tion and partake of it. In this way the opportunity for right diet as well as the necessary ingredients for making it effective will be provided from within.

At all times let your objectives be noble, give your whole attention to your work; your mind and body will then develop the qualities you are trying to create by sāttvic food.

Anything taken in through the senses is food, therefore be watchful and see that you do not become addicted to what you absorb into yourself. Strive always to keep your appetites under control.

17

Essentially there is only one inner Call, but the different religions have devised diff­erent methods to make man aware of it. Once a man awakens to it there is no more need to cry out again and again.

Truly speaking it is not you who call Him, but He who calls you. Just as in the hushed silence of night the sound of distant temple bells and conches can be clearly heard, even so, when through intense and undivi­ded devotion to Him the hunger of the senses is stilled.

His call will find response from your inmost depths and reverberate through your whole being. Then and then only will true prayer spontaneously flow from your heart.

This divine Call is bound to come to everyone for Śiva, the Eternal Spirit, has resolved Himself into jīvas, sen­tient beings, and every creature has to be­come reconverted again into Śiva.

Just as water freezes into ice, and ice melts into water, so this play of transformation of Śiva into jīva and jīva into Śiva goes on and on through eternity.

18

In this world one cannot afford to ignore anyone. Every human being has a claim to some measure of respect and support from every other. No one should think that he is of greater importance for the maintenance of order in the universe than anyone else.

Without a ruler a country cannot be govern­ed, on the other hand there can be no ruler without subjects. Each one is pro­gressing continually on the path of action that has been assigned to him by the Creator.

Therefore, to consider oneself great and others small because of any merit or position of prestige one may have acquired, is a- serious mistake.

Rather than regard this vast universe as a conglomeration of countless particles, look upon it as one indivisible cosmos, and all distinctions be­tween high and low will then disappear.

A man who respects himself will have even more respect for others. Without respect reverence cannot develop, and without reverence love will not awaken; when love wants the Lord of Love recedes into the far distance and will be difficult to find.