Dialogue IV

Swami: Oh! You have come! I was watching for long whether you have come or not. I knew you are a person who comes punctually. Glad to see you.

Bhaktha: Whatever else I may disregard, will I disregard Your command, Swami? In fact, I am eagerly looking forward to the sixteenth of every month to meet you. What greater happiness can I get? What better food can I take?
Swami: Very good! Such Sraddha and Bhakthi are great helps in man's true path. Better than losing sleep and rejecting food in the fruitless pursuit of evanescent worldly pursuits, how much more joyful it is to attain the true, the meaningful and the holy goal! Leave that aside now. What do you want now? Speak, let me see.

Bhaktha: Swami, last month You said something about 'Chith' and You were pleased to say that You will explain more about it this month. Since then, I have been counting the passing days in order that I may know about if from You. The day has come at last. Please tell me about it.
Swami: Have you understood what has been told so far? Understanding does not mean mugging up! By practice and experience, have you realised in thought, word and deed, and with full equanimity, the true nature of the world, that the world is unreal?

Bhaktha: It is only be understanding that, isn't it, Swami, that one can ever be immersed in thoughts of Sai, the Lord, giving up all other activities and duties? Had I not understood that much, I would have wasted this precious time.
Swami: Good, my dear boy! How sad will the ryot be, if the seeds he has planted do not sprout and yield harvest! So too, if the seeds of true wisdom that I sow do not come up as good saplings and give good harvest, I too am affected. On the other hand, if they grow well and fructify into a harvest of Ananda, how happy I would be; that is My food. This is the Seva you should do to me. There is nothing higher than this. Without flinging away the good words and true, spoken for your sake. If you practise them and derive joy therefrom, the essence of that joy is my food. If you thus act according to My words and put them into practice, I will gladly tell you more, whatever may be the number of things you ask. When what is said is allowed to deteriorate without being put to use, if people come and ask me to speak and speak again, what is to be said? If all start practising, as you are doing, the world will not have any troubles; untruth will not manifest itself.

Bhaktha: Swami! To practise the divine words too, the Lord's grace is the basic need, just as for everything else. Without that, nothing can happen. It is ever-present, as You said. Just as the sun is hidden by fog, grace can be obstructed by the darkness of 'I' and 'mine'. But these can be overcome by practice and discipline. That is why if we understand well the meaning of what we hear and follow, it is so easy. This is my experience; I do not know of others.
Swami: True, true. What you say is correct. You have understood it well. Without grasping the meaning, if various interpretations are given, that distorts reality. And if a wrong sense is imputed, it falsifies reality. But, if it is clearly understood, practice becomes easy. Now consider this. Are all born at the same time? Do all die at the same time? Similarly, the highest wisdom will dawn, in this person or that, at different times. If you go on singing, song after song, you learn music. So also, if I speak and continue speaking, all will understand the reality. It is not my mission to keep silent because people are not understanding. To such, it must be communicated once, twice and more times if necessary.

Bhaktha: Swami, we are like lumps of iron; the Lord is like the magnet. Both are related to each other. But if that lump of iron has to be changed into an article of use in God's hands, it has to be heated in the fire to anxiety and beaten by the hammer of pain, so that it may obey and respond. So, in order to shape lumps of iron like us into instruments, You have to take much trouble. You have said that this is Your mission. Now please tell me about the 'Chith' which You mentioned last month.
Swami: Yes. 'Chith' has also another name, 'Suddha Sathwa'; i.e., pure consciousness. It is as opposed to the impure consciousness as Vidya is to Avidya. Impure consciousness is inherent in the pure, as much as darkness is inherent in light. Since many words are spoken, don't get confused my dear boy! Vidya-Avidya, Jnana-Ajnana, Suddha Sathwa-Malina Sathwa, all indicate the same idea, not different ones. I shall ask you another question. Have you heard the word, the opposite of 'Prakriti'?

Bhaktha: I have heard the word, Swami. When I studied grammar I learnt that the opposite of Prakriti is 'Vikriti'.
Swami: What does Vikriti mean?

Bhaktha: Vikriti means, Vikaaram, changed, transformed, ...derived. Agni is the original; Aggi is that derived word. So, too, Jama is derived from Yama, Janna from Yajna, and so on.
Swami: So also, the Lord's Prakriti is known as Vidya, and its derived or lower form or Vikriti is known as Avidya. For Vidya or Suddha Sathwa, Avidya or Malina Sathwa is the lower form.

Bhaktha: How is that, Swami? Vidya is effulgent in the Lord and Avidya is apparent only because of Vidya. That is to say, the universal cosmic principle is in the Lord, and this universal principle itself appears as individual different from individual (by the external characteristics of name and form, the appearance of individuals is caused). This Avidyasakti or the power of ignorance also manifests as an inseparably entity. For, the Lord is the only existence. Therefore, that one existence is the basis or foundation for the universal and the particular, the totality as well as the apparent parts. This is Your meaning, isn't it, Swami?
Swami: That is why the Lord is referred to as Sathya and Brahmam. This Sathyam is Akhanda or indivisible. It is Adwaitha, non-dual. It is Anantha, without end. In the Upanishads, this Sathya (associated with the unmanifested Maya Sakthi) is called the Purna, 'Adah' and the Sathya (associated with the unmanifested Maya Sakthi) is called the Purna, 'Idam'. This is the secret of the Upanishadic Manthra, Purnamadah Purnamidam...

Bhaktha: Oh, what fine teaching! Just like giving unto the hand a fruit peeled and ready to eat! This manifested total cosmos or Purna arose out of the Purna of unmanifested indivisible reality, this is what you spoke of, is it not?
Swami: It is on account of this that we say "Vasudevassarvamidam, Sarvamkhalvidam Brahma etc." The words Vasudeva, Brahma are different, but there is no difference in meaning at all. Did you understand?

Bhaktha: It is all like nectar, Swami. But so far you have not told me, who I am?
Swami: This is enough now. Next month I shall solve your doubts, with illustrative examples. Grasp well what has been told. Practise; don't forget and lay aside. Meditate on it. Well, you can take leave now.