Dreams and Divinity
Who has not had dreams in this world - we all have dreams aplenty. Dreams can be of mainly two types - the conscious dreams like day dreams, and the unconscious ones during sleep. Anyone can have the former at any time - for eg. 'I wish I could fly like a bird'. The second type is the commonest, which everyone has had. For example, I dreamt last night about writing about dreams - and that was the cause for this write-up. Very often dreams come true partly or in full. Among Sai devotees, to dream about Swami is considered a blessing, and there had been instances of true happenings following such dreams. There had been instances of Bhagawan verifying some dreams involving Swami. Anyway - a dream involving Swami is considered a blessing by devotees. We can only imagine the pleasure experienced by them, which no amount of analysing using the brain can provide. The difference between a rationalist and a believer is that the latter derives happiness out of faith and Bhakthi (devotion) whereas the rationalist goes on arguing with their limited knowledge and is always restless and agitated. A believer is happy and contented, with peace and happiness arising out of their faith and Bhakthi.
My family members and I occasionally see Swami in dreams and all of us feel happy about them - due to, what the rationalist will argue, is blind faith. What I know is that faith is a must to have - whether blind or not - then one can be happy.
When you overeat or have some unpleasant indigestible food for supper, you can have very unpleasant or frightening dreams at night. The same can happen if you see an unpleasant movie, or have some war of words with someone, or hear some tragic news from someone. These act on our brain through the vagus nerve, which is connected to the gastro-intestinal tract.
Once Swami said this about the mind: "Without giving up sloth, how can Truth be known? Without giving up passion, can devotion take root? Be serene and calm, in stress and storm, that’s the Satwik (noble) road to win the Lord, the Truth. The mind is a wonder, its antics are even more surprising. It has no distinct form or shape. It assumes the shape or form of the thing it’s involved in. Wandering from wish to wish, flirting from one desire to another is its nature. So, it's the cause of loss and grief, of elation and depression. Its effects are both positive and negative. It’s worthwhile to know the characteristics of the mind and ways to master it for one's ultimate benefit. The mind is prone to gather experiences and store them in memory. It doesn’t know the art of giving up. Nothing’s cast away by the mind. As a consequence, grief, anxiety and misery continue simmering in it. If the mind can be taught sacrifice, one can become a yogi (a spiritually serene person)!"
- Divine Discourse, Jan 8, 1983.
There is only one God and He is omnipresent. He can manifest in any form when the time is ripe. That is the principle behind DASAAVATHAARA. DASAAVATHAARA truly represent the evolution theory of Charles Darwin.
Dasaavathaara starts with Fish - Matsya; Kurma; Varaha; Narasimha; Vamana; Parashurama; Rama; Krishna; Buddha and Kalki.
So you see that life starts from water, then becomes amphibian, and gradually fully developed human species.
As the physical form transforms, our mental and intelligence levels also develop. From the old undeveloped primitive human to the modern man, the changes are enormous. Along with physical changes, the mental level has also evolved. There is no use of having just education and knowledge, culture must also improve, based on Human Values. Even without education and schooling, we are able to develop our intelligence and mental power - that is how our ancient Rishis received their siddhis and mental powers - by Yoga, which is not just physical exercises alone as rationalists think.
Most of our cultural practices are based on scientific truths; we realise this only in old age. Actually we should catch them young- our children should try to learn and know our rich culture. I was lucky my mother and her sister were with us when my children were young, and they could instil human values in our children by telling them interesting stories. Both my children have absorbed human values in toto.
Now back to dreams. Sleep is pleasant if you have happy and pleasurable dreams. Just a few days back, I had some very bad dreams - like car breaking down, moving about through dirty, narrow, crowded streets, and hearing people fighting and shouting. Suddenly I woke up and realised it was a dream. Then I did PRANOCHUASAM (breathing exercises) and tried to blank my mind of thoughts. It worked, and I was able to sleep. Regular PRANOCHUASAM and Dhyanam (blanking mind of thoughts) does a lot of good to our health. We become peaceful and calm, and won't feel like quarrelling or shouting at others. Nothing is achieved by fighting.
Swami always mentions about Sarva Matha Samabhavana (treating all religions with respect). He says, see good, see no evil; hear good, hear no evil; thoughts, words and deeds should synchronise. Then, you can rise to the Divine level - and that is our life's aim - the so-called Mukthi.
God descends to man's level (Avathaaram) to educate him to reach His level. There is no other effective way to teach man, to show him how to achieve that level of Divinity. Jesus always said, treat all living things as your own - even animals - and then you will not harm anyone. These are the same principles that the Geetha, the Bible , the Koran, the Granth sahib etc teach us. But people deviate from these and start arguing about silly matters like how to do pooja, which manthra to chant etc., and now one religion has gone to the extreme limit of murdering for the sake of religion. What a pathetic situation. This is real Kali Kaalam as described in Srima d Bhagawatham. But we are all lucky to have Swami in our midst. Follow what He says, and you will never regret it. Swami got lots of brickbats though He advised only good things. Sri Rama had to bear lots of blame, and Sri Krishna had lots of enemies. But we must always do only good, and follow the divine way.
Swami's quotes:
“You have come from God, you are a spark of His Glory; you are a wave of that Ocean of Bliss; you will get peace only when you again merge in Him.” ...
“Life is a challenge, meet it! ...
“I - Want - Peace, I is ego, Want is desire; Remove ego and desire and you have peace.” ...
“Love must express itself as service”
For more quotes, visit this site:
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