*Q: Why does Swami give gifts?* Swami: Gifts of rings and pendants are an expression of Swami's love... It is not that Swami wants to draw people to him with gifts. When you wish to show affection to your son, or if you want to make someone happy, you make him a sports shirt or buy him a present, do you not? Swami also wants to bring happiness in this manner.
*Q: Why does Swami give vibuthi?* Swami: Flowers, leaves, fruit and other edibles have a temporary life. Even water breeds germs if kept in a vessel for days. Only vibuthi remains unchanged, as it is the final result of the five elements of creation. Our desires have to be reduced to ashes and vibuthi is symbolic of this detachment and renunciation. One's mind has to become desireless and detached like the ashes in which everything is burnt out. It is that kind of pure mind that has to be offered to God. *Q: Why does not God prevent cruelties in the world?* Swami: God is only a witness (saakshibhoota). He does not act. Man acts according to the dictates of his intellect (Buddhi) and himself suffers the consequences of his actions (karma). There is neither good nor bad for God. Take the knife as an example. A murderer uses a knife to kill another man, a slaughterer uses a knife to slay animals, a surgeon uses a knife to amputate, and a cook uses a knife to chop vegetables. If a magnet is placed among all these knives, it will attract them all equally and not according to the kind of tasks they perform. God is like this magnet. All knives are the same to Him. However, the hands that wield the knives have to bear the consequences of their actions, dependent on right and wrong. Q: Why does not God prevent cruelties in the world?* Swami: God is only a witness (saakshibhoota). He does not act. Man acts according to the dictates of his intellect (Buddhi) and himself suffers the consequences of his actions (karma). There is neither good nor bad for God. Take the knife as an example. A murderer uses a knife to kill another man, a slaughterer uses a knife to slay animals, a surgeon uses a knife to amputate, and a cook uses a knife to chop vegetables. If a magnet is placed among all these knives, it will attract them all equally and not according to the kind of tasks they perform. God is like this magnet. All knives are the same to Him. However, the hands that wield the knives have to bear the consequences of their actions, dependent on right and wrong. Q: How are good or bad actions carried into the next birth?* Swami: Swaasha (breath) carries the actions, for the breath stops when a person dies. The body is still there after death and we call it a corpse and burn it as useless. So, the body cannot carry anything with it, just as a flower cannot carry its fragrance. It is a breeze that wafts the scent of the flower and makes its fragrance reach you. Similarly, imagine a municipal lorry, the breeze carries the bad odour to you again! In the same manner, good and bad actions are carried by the breath and surround you in the next birth like an invisible garland. The pattern of your life is then governed by what the garland has good or bad scent. That is why man must understand that everything he does has a reaction, a reverberation and a reflection. It is he who writes his own destiny by his actions. It is essential for man to live a good life with good thoughts and good actions. Only through such a life can he realise the divinity in him. The concept Aham Brahmasmi (I am Brahma = God) is also incorrect, since it indicates duality. Aham (I) and Brahma (God) become separate. The statement ought to he Aham Aham (I am I). Om Sai Ram __._,_.___
