Om Om Om SaiRam
I am so happy to meet you all. It is the first time I have met such a big group from Iran, some of your faces are very well known to me. I wish and I pray you will have an enjoyable time during your stay in the presence of Swami in Prasanthi Nilayam. I also pray to Bhagawan to bless all of you and your families. I wish from my heart you will be able to repeat your visit and that you will have Spiritual, Divine experiences from now on. We will know, from inner knowing what kind of transformation we are going through by surrender to a higher Divine presence like Baba. It goes silently, step by step towards a union with the Grace, Love and Light within. Our emotions, desires and separation will slowly diminish as well as our relationships will be based more on love than selfishness. The fundamental truth of unity is the Divinity within. The true understanding of the scriptures and the Koran will open our hearts to know that all profound truth of the Koran is spoken in other religions and scriptures too. After all truth is one, but interpreted in different ways. A common example Baba gives is that English speaking people call water, water, and Hindi speaking people call it pani and so on. Whatever name we give it is water and water only. The same is with money. Similarly all scriptures speak the same fundamental truth. Our concept is to find our unity among religions. Unity is Divinity and we cannot be divided by the terms of truth. Religion is a banner we carry, one group carries the Christian banner, another Muslim banner and Hindu people the Hindu banner. The ground philosophy the spirituality is one. Banner is religion and manner is spirituality. The way we function, our character, our thoughts, actions and reactions is spirituality. Our banner might be divided but our manner should be the same. First of all let us be united amongst ourselves then we can think of unity with others. Unity can be established in three levels. First level we have to ask ourselves; is there unity in me. Unity within myself, sometimes even with two people unity doesn’t exist. We think in one way and speak another thing and act oppositely. There is no unity in thought, word and deed. The first thing my friends, is to establish unity in one’s self. Only one who is within is happy, thru happiness is that which you only can find within. When we have a sort of peace and serenity within then we can start to work with the unity among the group. That widens into the nation, expands into the world and embraces the entire creation. We have to understand that we all belong to one family. We also have a responsibility for the earth we live on, the mountains the ocean, rivers and because of our ignorance the earth is heavily polluted in all areas these days. When I don’t respect my relationship with mother earth and its recourses, it leads to all kind of natural disasters as floods, storms and earth cracks. We are related not only as humans we are related to the totality, the trees, the animals and the ocean; this is a unity in a broader sense. If you want to see God, where can you see him? If you want to see God, where can you see him? You can just go to His house and have his Darshan in the morning and in the evening or see Him on the road when He goes out. So my friends, you can see God, yes, and another dimension to it is that the whole universe is in God. Not only one particular form is God, the whole creation is God. Till seeds have oil in them and if we grain it we will have oil, and if I ask you where is the oil, you will say that every seed has oil. Oil is presence in all. This is how Baba teaches us to understand and expand our awareness of religion. Hindus in Babas Ashram have to respect all others and all religions as well as different religious people. And Muslims, Christians who come here respect the Hindu tradition which is very strong in India; all this because Baba has made this a place for all religions. All rivers have their particular name and route, but when they merge in to the ocean all rivers lose their name and form. Baba’s Ashram is an ocean of all religions. Baba’s devotees go to the mosque and clean the mosque; Baba constructed a mosque for Muslim brothers in certain places here in the local area. You respect me and I love you, you and I are not separated, you and I are not divided, because we are in an ocean forgetting our individual identities. We are so fortunate to be here in this ocean of devotion and love. There are 100% possibilities in deep and profound growth in our awareness and vision. If love flows, no words are needed I watch Koran TV; the speaker is a man with a cap, suit and a beard who is very, very elegant. I have never before heard such a speaker; he was quoting a sentence from the holy Koran and then a similar sentence from the Bible and Bhagavad-Gita. He was comparing all religions; I was so impressed by his talk and presence. I pray that all of you may walk on the path of unity towards the Divinity. Our faces are different, our personalities are different but all of us breathe oxygen only. Beings are many but breath is one. Bodies are many but blood is the same, stars are many but sky is one. We may be many here today but we are one, our hunger, thirst is the same, but our appetite is the same. Our basic biological needs are one. After all the basic wisdom in all religions is one. Therefore my friends we are one in the point of spirituality. The language you speak may be different from my language, but as I see your faces there must be some silent communication which is not verbal; the silent language, the language without words. The mother looks at the child, the child looks at the mother without speaking but the love flows. The same with friends, love flows, no words are needed. Love is unspoken; as soon as we start to express some of that intensity, some of the love will be gone. Spiritual truth is unspoken, peace, happiness and bliss is unspoken. The most valuable things are not possible to put in to words but communication takes place. Just by looks we connect, through heart and thoughts we communicate, this is what we call vibration. You feel like being very close to a person because there is a positive vibration and likewise you feel like being away from others because there is negative vibration. God’s vibration is positive, Baba’s vibrations are love and that love brought you all here and your vibrations of love have reached Him so He called you. It is not a kind of love letter between two, not a conversation between two individuals; it is heart to heart, love to love. This is spiritual and Divine communication. The spirit of your intention might fade away through words and letters. Few have the gift to make the written and spoken words alive and shining but a smile can contain more love than a thousand words can express. That which cannot be conditioned by words is God, expression is limited, by putting words I am conditioning. So my friends, that which is beyond limitation, beyond words is God. Swami sits there on the chair, He doesn’t talk to anybody and all of us has no chance to talk to Him. We look at Him and He looks at us, there is a silent inner current of Divine romance happening. Though He doesn’t talk to everyone no one stops coming here. Why? Heart to Heart, Love to Love. Some people say to me Baba doesn’t talk directly to me but I understand His message and I can sometimes hear His voice. Some people have dreams of Baba. This is all individual communication and connections. There is only one language, the language of the heart. Love is in you, around you, behind you, above you, beside you. Share your love with your fellow human beings and become the recipient of their love. Some quotations from the holy Koran I have quoted some statements from the holy Koran. My good Muslim friend who is also translating this talk today gave me the holy Koran. Believe me or not but the statements I found make my hair stand up on my body, they charged me, fired me and made me contemplate deeply on the statements I read in the holy Koran. True Religion with God is Islam This is one of the statements; True Religion with God is Islam. Let’s understand and analyze this statement. I can be with God because He is in a form; I can be with Him because He is close to me. So you can be with someone if he is close to you distance wise. How can you be with God? If you are with God only, that is true religion. Islam says this statement. Beautiful, meaning you are with God wherever you are who so ever you meet, you are not alone. Simple example; if I say I am with God, where is He? Because you do not see God you cannot say you do not know Him, or He is not there. You don’t see your own back and that doesn’t mean you don’t have a back. The same is when you say you are not with God. Therefore my friends, a feeling, a conscious awareness that God is in you and also in everyone and everywhere is true religion, which is Islam, says the verse. God is all forgiving and all compassionate. Another statement which also surprised me was; God is all forgiving and compassionate 5th chapter 5th verse. What do we mean by that? The Koran doesn’t say that God is forgiving, it says all forgiving. It means that God doesn’t only forgive a few, He forgives all, and not only once but repeatedly. Forgiveness is not bound by any rules, regulations or time. He is an ever forgiving God. Mother forgives her children throughout her life, no time limit. Mother simply forgives, the mother is forgiveness. The physical mother forgives throughout her life all the time, so why not the Divine mother herself? Unnecessarily we feel guilty. The quality of God’s forgiveness is compassion which is higher than kindness. You cannot say God is kind in my old age; God is ever kind and ever compassionate, therefore forever forgiving. Baba says Giving and forgiving where Islam says true religion is Islam; Baba says true happiness lies in union with God. By the Grace of God we will understand the scriptures Another very important statement in Islam is that the faith we follow will be understood only by the Grace of God. Still we should try to understand and contemplate upon its depth and act according to its advice and statements. Some of the boys that chant the mantras in the Mandir do not always know the meaning but they know the sound and will benefit from the sound if not the meaning. Similarly you may know Koran, some Bhagavad-Gita, others the Bible as a text but not in the depth of your heart as a truth from the highest source. Koran tells me that we better understand the depth of its truth by the grace of God; the all merciful and all compassionate God. God’s grace is understood by God’s grace only. If you want to see the sun, you need sunlight to see the sun, if you like to see the moon you will need moon light to see her. So by knowing the Koran, its depth, we need the grace of God. Whom so ever God desires to guide, He expands His breast to Islam. Your understanding of Islam will be much better when He decides to guide you. God has decided to guide you all in the understanding of Islam, what a wonderful statement that is. We are very fortunate to have a good understanding of His scriptures because of its infinite grace that is also what Swami says. It is not the reading of the scriptures that is important it is the understanding, the meaning of the scriptures, living the meaning of the scriptures that is important as Koran says. The Grace of the Divine is like insurance, it will help you in your time of need without any limit. Believers are prosperous. I was also excited to come across another quote from the holy Koran; Believers are prosperous. Meaning you are rich in your faith, because of your faith, not because of money. You are all prosperous regarding the Koran. It also says you should be humble in your prayer. Some people pray with all arrogance, pride and ego. They say; you know, God I went to Mecca 200 times, 100 times to Puttaparthy and Kashia. A prayer doesn’t depend on time; it depends on the intention, its purity and depth of heart. Turn away from negative talk Another point the holy Koran says is turn away from useless and negative talk and gossip. Our ability to speak is a gift of God; it should never be misused or abused in any way. If we judge and condemn others, it is a misuse of God’s gift of his grace to let us have a life with verbal communication as well. The ability to speak is given to you to express thankfulness, praise the Lord. It is given to us to be sweet and loving towards others to comfort and help others in need. Feel compassion, patience and respect for oneself and others. Love means non harming and a language is as sweet as the tongues of the speaker. The Koran also says; be active in giving. In means to give instant and spontaneous help to others in any need. The gift from God is to be able to communicate and express our self freely and joyously and speak the truth with love. This is what Baba is doing, He gives instantly. Not a political promising which is never fulfilled. Never lose your trust Preserve your trust, never lose your trust; is written in the Koran. The Bible says have faith in the Lord. To have faith and hold on to it no matter what is the beginning of wisdom. Baba says; faith should be your breath. Trust is a higher word than faith. Faith can be lost any minute. I have faith in him today and I may lose faith in Him tomorrow. Once I trust Him it will never go, it will be a permanent state. Trust is deep and long lasting. The Koran says that the one with trust, who is ever and active in giving, humble in his prayer will get in to paradise or heaven. Where is paradise? The bible says that the kingdom of heaven is within you, paradise is within you. If you are happy here and now, this is paradise, when you are un- happy here and now, then you are in hell. No ticket is needed to go to paradise, if you are in line or in connection within you are with God, in paradise. The Koran says to find the God within by all the noble qualities we just spoke about. Baba’s words are that everything is a reaction, reflection and resound. Good thinking, actions will give good results. Bad thinking and actions will give bad results. It is very clear and understandable, no one can fool God, He has perfect balance and harmony within Him. The Bible says that God is whole and perfect in himself and a just God. The Koran says God will decide according to justice and He is all hearing, all seeing all knowing. If we safeguard wisdom, it will in its return safeguard us. Our attention should be like the star in our religion, Islamic faith Baba says in His talks; the youth, position and power will vanish like a wind, it is not permanent. The Koran says all people surely are present like a passing enjoyment, like a passing cloud as Baba says. In this world we cannot find any stability, it is only in God we find stability. My friends, those are the few quotes that inspired me in the holy Koran and I am tempted to read more. The Ramayana is calculated on the basis of the moon and its shadow; moon is the deity of the mind. The crescent is the symbol of Islam, meaning we are trying to withdraw the mind and achieve inihilation of the mind, not a full moon which means materialism and simply worldly sensual pleasure. From full moon to a streak has meaning that the mind has become partial, the mind is withdrawn from the world which is required because the mind stands in between me and God. And the Amanas that we do, the prayer that we offer should be highly concentrated. Our attention should be like the star in our religion, Islamic faith. Success usually comes in our life when we learn to pay attention. The star represents concentrated attention without deviation. The fasting during Ramadan means we are giving up all animosity, cruelty within us; we let it go by fasting. Name is for concentration, fasting is working towards purity, and the crescendo is for the Divinity. So Purity, Unity and Divinity are the essence of Ramadan. Q: What is Baba saying of enlightenment? Enlightenment requires living according to the scriptures and its teachings. Enlightenment is a realization of the spirit of God’s teachings. Koran says all compassionate all forgiving which means love all serve all. A realized person finds everybody Divine, and has no enemies or hatred. Love is enlightenment, enlightenment is love. Q: Who is the embodiment of the universe? Each of you is the embodiment of the universe. As a body we contain the five elements; water, earth, fire, wind and ether which belong to the earth and we also contain the spirit which belongs to God. Our mind runs faster than any air-plane or e-mail, it is a miracle. I breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide, it is a miracle. I go to bed and forgetting myself, I wake up and recall everything that, is also a miracle. Q: Where is Swami’s position as embodiment of love in the Universe? In making you realize the Divinity in yourself, the Divine Baba. Baba as a presence, as a person, wants you to feel God from within. The role of Baba in our lives is to help us experience the Divinity within. Swami’s mission is to spread the Truth- Sathya and Righteousness-Dharma. May the all compassionate God show his Grace and compassion on you. I am so happy to be here amongst you this evening, and I thank everybody who made an effort to make this meeting come about. And I thank you all for your patience in being here and listening with interest to my talk. I am happy to see young boys and girls who are interested in spiritual matters here in the Iranian group. I will pray and I do believe you all will find transformation in your life, be more and more giving and forgiving, more spiritual than ritual; live Koran not only read Koran. Live in the season of Ramadan, in absolute spirit of awareness of the depth of the festival. May the all compassionate God show his Grace and compassion on you. May Baba be with you forever and ever more. Thank you once again. God willing we may meet again maybe in Iran. We from the Iranian group thank you Mr. Anil Kumar for spending your time with us we all appreciate it very much. Om Shanti Shanti
