THE EXPERIENCE OF UNITY

 
For today’s Sunday Special, we have a small excerpt from the Book ‘Satyopanishad’ by Prof. Anil Kumar:

Question: Swami! Today the whole world is strife-torn. We hear of racial discrimination, class conflict, bloodshed, war, and so on. Kindly give some message to the present day world.

Bhagawan: Today we have many intellectuals who find diversity in unity. There are only a few who notice unity in diversity. This is the reason for the present day troubles, turmoil, conflicts, wars, and so on in the world. Manava, man is behaving like a danava, demon. So we find violent, demonic, bestial, and inhuman tendencies among people. The moment man recognises and experiences unity in diversity, peace, comfort, safety, security, and happiness are ensured.

The composition of human blood is the same all over the world. All breathe oxygen only. All tread the same ground. Hunger is one, be that of a rich man who may dine in a five-star hotel or of a beggar who appeases his hunger with mere starch. Thirst is one and the same, be that of a rich man who will have a cool drink or of a poor man who drinks tap water in the street. Both feel happy in moments of joy and both grieve in times of difficulties.

The human body is composed of the five elements: earth, water, air, fire, and space. The body is inert. We breathe air into it. There is also fire within, keeping the body warm and helping us in digesting food. There is space within accommodating all parts of the human body. There is plenty of water in the body. So the five elements outside are also inside you. Everyone has them in the same proportion. All that you have is also present in everybody else. Then, why do you stretch your hand begging everyone? What for? What is it that you don't have which the other man has? Basically nothing! This is the philosophy of unity in diversity. This unity is divinity.

The experience of this sort of spiritual unity is liberation, whereas the feeling of multiplicity, plurality and diversity is bondage, dualism, and attachment.

Flowers are many, but worship is one,
Cows are many, but milk is one
Jewels are many, but gold is one,
Paths are many, but the goal is one,
Stars are many, but the sky is one,
Beings are many, but breath is one,
Names and forms are many, but God is one.

This is oneness or unity. Yarn is multiple, but when interwoven, it becomes a piece of cloth. This is how you should find out and experience unity in order to realise divinity. People fight in the name of religion. What a shame it is! No religion tells you to speak lies, to harm or kill others or do any such things. All religions lay emphasis on love, brotherhood, sacrifice, peace, truth, and so on. So, it is ridiculous to fight in the name of religion. In fact, matulu mancivaina matamedi ceddadi, (Telugu) if your mind is good, which religion is bad?

There is only one religion, the religion of love. To have differences based on language or race is bad. It is a sign of narrow mindedness. There is only one language, the language of the heart. It is very mean to have differences on grounds of caste. You are not born with a signboard indicating your caste. What is the caste of the air? To which caste does water belong? What is the caste of fire and earth? Therefore, there is only one caste, the caste of humanity. Wars are fought in the name of God. Don't you know that many Gods are not there; God is one without a second. You may call Him by any name. There is one God who is omnipresent.

Ekam sat viprah bahudha vadanti, Truth is one, but interpreted in many ways by scholars. There are no differences in divinity. With cittas'uddhi, purity of heart, you can experience the principle of unity or oneness, which is the path to divinity. First, develop purity. That helps you to achieve unity and attain Divinity.

Question: Swami! In reality, the entire human race is one and the same, its basic core being divinity. Why then do we not react in the same way? Why do we think and act differently?

Bhagawan: Humanity may be one, but people act in different ways. No two are alike. This is the law of nature. Thought, words and actions depend on time and circumstances. Here is an example. A tender fruit is sour in its taste; an unripe fruit is astringent, while a ripe fruit is sweet. All the three are the stages of the same fruit, aren't they! It is sour, then astringent and finally sweet. How does it happen? Why? The change of taste is due to the passage of time. No one has filled the ripe fruit with sugar. So, I say "yetti matiyo, atti gati. yetti sthitio, atti sampatti" (Telugu verse). As is the mati, mind, so is the gati, destiny; as is the position, so is the sampatti, affluence.

In human life there are three important aspects, `doing', Body, 'thinking', Mind, `being', Atma. Body desires, mind thinks and atma experiences. You should have broad-mindedness. You should never be narrow-minded. When examination results are published, why don't you feel happy that so many have passed the examinations? If in the spirit of a large heart, you look for your result, you will definitely find your number in the newspaper along with those of other candidates. It is but narrow­mindedness if you look only for your own number unmindful of others.

Another example. Suppose you feel happy that in a group photo everyone has figured nicely. If you then look at your own figure, you will be known to be broadminded.

Human life is a combination of three attributes ‑trigunas . The three work in perfect union as the three blades of a fan. Just as a chutney is made of tamarind, salt and chillies well ground, so also human life has ` trigunas,’ well mixed. You also must have known pan, which Indians chew. It has three ingredients, betel leaf, betel nut and lime, of green, brown and white colours respectively. When the ingredients of three different colours are chewed you get the red colour.

Similarly, in human life all the three gunas are intermixed. But spiritually, basically and fundamentally, the core of the human being is sat, `being', cit, `awareness' and ananda, `bliss'. Sat and cit together confer ananda.

An example. Here are two separate things, water and sugar. When you mix the two it is neither sugar nor water, but syrup. So also water is sat, sugar is cit, forming the syrup ananda. The triune trigunas (three attributes) and the basic nature of sat, cit, and ananda mixed with deha, `body,' manas `mind,' and buddhi `intellect,' interacting with pravrtti, ` the external world' lead to anekatva ‘diversity or multiplicity or plurality'.

Would you like more such question and answers from Satyopanishad on Sundays? Please let us know at h2h@radiosai.org.

Jai Sai Ram.

With Love and Regards,

"Heart2Heart" Team.