Thought For The Day
Desire only God. He alone is Truth.
Chapter4
Chaya Maya
(Written in 20 07)
Chapter4
CHAYA MAYA
Swami talksto certain devotees. They then tell others what Swami has said.
with certain qualities based on their own experiences. One man claims that Swami
attribute certain qualities to Swami, even thoughSwamiis
beyond the threegunas.
Truth is revealed only according to our capacity to understand Swami.Our
capacity to perceive Truth is determined bythe level one has become emptyby purifying
themselvesthrough sadhana.Though God’sTruth isall-pervasive, it is revealed only
according to the grasping capacity of eachperson.For
example, if we
put a pot outside
when it is raining, we will get a pot full of water. If we place a barrel, thiswill fill with
water. If we only placeatumbler, this is all the water we get. Though it is raining
everywhere, water will only fill the vessel we haveput outside.
Once someonetold us Swami would come to Mukthi Nilayam in His physical
form. A few ashramites were present. I felt very happy
and bowed down to that elderly
person. I immediately wrote a letter to Swami.Swami took the letter from Eddy in
darshan. I told this happy news to the elderly person over the phone, but he became
afraid and said,“Why
did you write this letter? If Swami comes to talk with me, He will
ask me about this.Come
to my house immediately!I want a copy
of the letter and I want
to know from whom Swami has taken the letter.” He
phoned telling me this many times.
We were shocked! Wecould notunderstand whythere wassuch a fuss over a
small matter.As
a result, two ashramites went to his house and answered all his strange
questions. They then wrote a letter asking for forgiveness. They gave the letter to him
and returned. We were confused. Why was he so afraid?He should have been happy
that Swami hadaccepted myletter. It confirmedwhat he hadtold me. Why was he so
disturbed?
Itwas notuntil later that we understood the reason.
This event happened so that
I would write about it in ‘Miracle Maya’. Onlynow,I
understand it more clearly. What is
the cause of his fear? The Swamihe knowsis like a
lawyer. He thinks that when Swami
comes to him, He willbecross-examined;so he is afraid. He thinks that his Swami
would ask him,“Why did you do
this?Why did you do like that? You
should not do this,it is wrong.” Hetold
methat Swami talkswith himin this way.Because heseesSwamas an advocate in a court,he is afraidhewillbecross-examined.Thoughthis devoteeis in a high state, his view of Swami is notcorrect. ThusSwami'struth cannot be revealed in itstotality. There is a screen of fear
between himselfand Swami.God istheembodiment of love,an ocean of mercy.This Avatar has descendedwith
immeasurable mercy. Is there any other Avatar:
·Whohas mixed and acquainted Himself withordinary people to such an
extent?
·Who has revealed His glories and showered
unconditional loveon all?
·Who has come to redeemand
elevateall?
·Untilnow,which Avatar has done this?
We have not done
the penance that
the people of the previous yugas have done.
In spite of this, thegreatestAvatar has come to transform the people ofKali Yuga. Did
we go to the forest? Did we perform severe austerities? Did we stand on one leg like
Bhagiratha doingpenance
for thousands of years? Did we sacrifice our kingdom and the
luxuries of a royal life like Vishwamitra and leave
for the forest? Did we go to Yama and
learnAtmaVidya like Nachiketha? Did we search forGod andlive only for God like
Dhruva and Prahlada?
We have not performed anything like these austerities. Yet God’s merciful eyes
are showering His grace on us. He is revealing His
divine glories to crores of people. His
divine leelas like manifesting vibuthi, rings, chains
and idols,reveal His gloriesonlyto
a
small extent.ThisHedoesonly
to developpeople'sfaith and to uplift
them spiritually.
Should we limit His
infinite mercy?Should we
confine Him to
a limited circle? Should
we look upon Him asalawyer?
What can we understand from this?
1.We perceive God according to our own mental attitudes;so the truth we
perceive is only to that extent.In this case,the devoteethought that God wouldcross-
examinehimand was afraid. Due tothisfear,thetruthwas notfullyrevealed.
2.Fear should be removed. Only after fear is removed will one understand that
God is the embodiment of mercy. Goddoesnot
descend on earth tocross-examineus. In
Christianity,they say that there is a day of judgment. On thatday,you face the
consequences of your actions. In the Hindu religion,it says that Chitragupta writes our
karmic accounts. What one receives is the reflection
of one’s ownkarmaor actions.
3.Swami does not need to come on this earthtogive justice to man.
He has descended here to transform all and take all toMukthi. You will not feel afraid,if you understand the depth
ofHis mercy and surrender toHim completely.
Let us look at why this man is afraid.He knows Swami from a young age. He
grew upwithSwami.Henever got married andlived only for Swami. Hehad many
wonderfulexperiencesandvisited many places along with Swami. Lastly,Swami told
him to come and live in Puttaparthi,but notto
mixor talkwith othersandnot to go here
and there.Atfirst,he followed Swami’s instructions.Now he has become acquainted
with some people and started to reveal his experiences to them. He says that once a
week,Swami
Himselfappearsin his house,speakswith him then leaves. He told all this
to others, who thenbegan
asking him questions.
He had a desire to see me,so I went to visit him. He told me that Swamihadsaid
Hewouldcome to Mukthi Nilayam.Wethenwrote a letter to
Swamifor confirmation.
Whenthe manfound out,he was
overcome with fear.
He told me,“When Swami finds
out about this,He
will ask,'Why did you do like this,
why did
you leak
the news? Why
are you talking with others'? When He scolds me,I will pray and appeal for forgiveness."
This is his unnecessary fear. He says that Swami will
show him the letter I wrote
and thencross-examinehim.If he was having so much fear,why did hespeak so
openly?Is he
afraid because he was disobeying Swami’s instructions not to connect with
anyone outside?
His feelings of fear create a'lawyer-like'Swami.A lawyer keeps files and papers
in his hand andcross-examineshis witness.Like this,he thinks
his Swamiwill hold my
letter in His hand andcross-examinehim.
In the book'LiberationHereItselfRightNow'
Pt. 3,Iwroteaboutanincident in
whichone boy’s feelings of fear created a jeep full ofpolice officerswho were chasing
him. It is the sameforthisman.He cannot see that Sri Sathya Sai Baba is the
embodiment of mercyandhas created Swami as a lawyer. This is not
truth.
What is the remedy?Where
there isPrema,therewillbenofear.We
should not
only shower love on God,we should realize and showPrema
to theall-pervadingLord.
If one has completely understood that there is no
place,object or life form without God,
one need not feel afraid. God willthentotallyreveal His truth.
Truth has limits, but Prema has no fear. I wrotethis inthebook ‘BlissBliss Bliss,
Pt. 2'. I told Swami, “Take me to the top of Mount
Everest, I want to shout‘Swami I love
You’! Let my words echo throughout the entire world. Ican
do this!SwamicanYou do this?
Swami replied, “Avatars function within certainlimits.Due to your Prema,You
can do like this,but
I cannot. There is no limit of measure or fear for Prema.”
Prema pulls the truth down. Prema reveals the truth and expandsitbeyond
limits. Now,Swami
is telling a measure of truth at the worldly level.He writes about me
in many houses. In one message He conveys, “You are
the one pure Radha not seen by
this world up to now. I waited for you for such a long time. You are the only Radha
suitable for Me.”
In thisway,He writes many messages. I said, “I love
You Swami.” Swami wrote in
reply, “I love you very much.”In another message He wrote, “Myself and Amma are
one.”
He has been expressing His feelings in the last few
years in this way. Previously,
He did not do this. Now,due to my continuous effort and Prema,truth is revealing itself
in a more expansive way. I am repeatedly showing my
Prema in many ways. This alone
is pulling the truth to earth. My Prema is'attacking'truth from alldirections.
Not being
able to bear the force, truth is revealing itself.As He is not able to bear the force of my
Prema,Swamiwritesthese
messages in certain houses. If one wants truthto
berevealed
in totality,our
entire being should melt with Prema. Truth should be expressed through
Premafeelings.
Prema does nothave fear of anyone oranything, because itaspires for only one
thingandthat is truth. Prema aspires for the imperishable, permanent, eternal, pure,
true, sacred, Primal Being alone. Everything else is perishable. That is why Premahas
nofearwhatsoever.It is not afraid of anyone at anytime. Perishable objects and
beings
cannot create any reaction for Prema. Nothing can
affect thisPrema. This Prema catches
hold of God alone;that is its goal.My Prema cannot beshaken byany adverse
conditions(rain, wind, storm, tempest, earthquake, volcano)orby anything on this
earth. One can attain God only if one has this level
of Prema. However high the soul is,
he cannot attain totality if he has such fear. ThisistheBrahmaSutra.Premais
the sutra
(thread) that ties and pulls Brahma.
The ashramites giveeveryletter I write
to Swami. Some others who are close to
me also give letters. Swami takesthethousandsof letters that I write. I write for proof
of
important events and forHisacceptance of every
book. In the same way,when this man
told me that Swami said He himselfwouldcome
to Mukthi Nilayam,I wrote a letter and
gave it to Eddy to give to Swami.Swami took the letter. Why did this man
then ask me to
write a letter of forgiveness?Washeworried that I wrote something false?He has been
Swami’s devotee for a long
time. Is it good for him to hurt another’s feelings and make
them shed tearsandforce them to write aletter
of forgiveness for a wrong that was not
committed?Why
did Eddy
have to write a letter to Swami saying that it was wrong for
him to write a letter for Amma? Swami had accepted my first letter,so why should
we have to give this one? He sees Swami as a lawyer that is why he behavedin such a
manner.
TheSanathana
Sarathiissue forJanuary 2007 came while I was writing
this. On
the first page were excerpts of Swami’s19June
1974 discourse.
‘Man praises God as the omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent Creator,
yet he neglects God’s presence in himself. Many make efforts to describe
God’s qualities. But all these are just reflections of their own qualities,
judgments and desires. Who can confidently say that they know God’s
qualities? Each and everyone can take a few drops from the all expansive
ocean, they can explain God through their own angle.'
Meditation
Vasantha:Swami I am writing about fear,but I myself am afraid. How to explain
this?
Swami:You perform every act with fear thinking ‘Swami may leave me.’ Others
have not attained truth; thatis why they are afraid. They are afraid
because they havenot
known the truth of God.
Vasantha:Swami,I wrote You a letter telling what that
person hadsaid. Forgive me
if I have made any mistake. He did not tell me to
write.Swami forgive me.
It was wrong to write a letter. Eddywrote and gave it to You. This man
said that Youwouldask him, “How can a foreigner write a letter to me?
Why did you tell himeverythingI told you?” He said, “Let Eddy write a
letter asking for forgivenessandtelling that he has
made a mistake. I will
then show it to Swami.”
End of
meditation
I told him, ‘Sir,I
am a simple village woman. I do not know how to talk, behave or
write. I am not used to talking with others. I lived
my life in isolation. I speak whatever
comes from within me, what I feel. I do not know how to formulate and change my
thoughts. Please forgive me.” Sayingthus,I fell at his feet, asked for forgiveness and
returned home crying. I felt as though he had made me stand in the witness box and
cross-examinedmelikea
criminal. Eddy also felt hurt. He said, “Whatever that person
told you was true. You told me to write to Swami. This is also true.Swami took the
letter;thistoois
true. Now,I have been made to write a
false statement.”
Thinking in this way,Eddy felt bad. He
saidhe has witnessed many such things
around Swami. He said that people are afraidandthink
Swami will get angry with them
andwill stop giving darshan. They are confused out of fear.
They do
not know
what to
do, how to talk,etc. Eddysaidhe has seen many people who look upon Swami as an
advocate. Suppose a mistakedoestakeplace,one should contemplate properlyonwhy
it
happened.If
the cause is found,then the same
mistake need notbe repeated.
Many people have been anxious and worried due to this
person’sbehavior.When
I look at this, my heart aches. Our nature is to tell
what is within us. I cannot understand
how it is that somepeopletalk in this way.First,I lived in a world of truth with my
Krishna. Now I have come to
this world of untruth. If greatdevotees are like this, how
will the ordinary people be?
I do not want to have contact with any of these
people. I want to go back
to my old way of
life. I do not want this ashram, praise, this world or these
human beings. It is enough for me to be in Vadakkampatti
with my Krishna
in my pooja room. Swami! Swami I cannot understand
this world, this earth.
I don’t know how to live with human beings. Their nature is differentfrom
mine. I don’t know how to change the truth. I have a
habit of speaking what
iswithin me.
h h h
Swami’s very close devotees also have such qualities.The Swami that talks
through them is but a reflection of their own nature.This man made us stand in the
witness box,cross-examined us and took a letter of forgiveness from us to give to
Swami.Truth
will be revealed according to their own feelings.
Swamisays,“Your world is according to
your vision.” The world is a mirror you
see yourself in;it is verily your own reflection. That is why God reveals Himself to us
according toour feelings. Truth will not be revealed in its totality if there is fear or
confusion in our mind.Is the Swami whospeakswiththem real or is theSwami who
took Eddy's letterin
Puttaparthi real?Ohreaders,you
contemplate.Isthe Swami,who
stays inPrasanthireal or theSwamiwho stays in
these houses real?
Now let us look how truth was revealed to me ina similarincident.Yesterday
Swami wrote in a house, ‘You should go to Guruvayur
for VaikuntaEkadasi. There I will
give darshan in My physical form.’ Swami gave this message through writing. In the
other house,theman became a lawyer,made us stand in the witness box,cross
examined usandmade us write a letter of apology to Swami. Today, Swamibecame a
judge,wrote
a judgment and gave a signature.Truth
will shine in its own effulgence only
if we empty ourselves fully. Those who are walking on
the path of truth should walk only
looking forward along the path. If we walk towards the
sun,a shadow will fall behind us;
but if we walk in the oppositedirection,looking at ourselves,the shadow will come in
front of us. If we make ourselves thecenterof everything and are egoistic, maya
becomeschaya(shadow). Here one starts believing that
the shadow is truth.
Truth = Sathya
Chaya (Shadow)=
Maya
Maya cannot come near truth. The shadow will not fall
in front.The strong-willed
pure-hearted alone can go near truth.
The Story of Usha and the Sun God
Ushawasthe wife of the Sun God. She was notable to bear the suns heat so she
created a replica of her form, left it with the Sun God and went to do penance. The
replica's name was Chaya. Usha’s shadow was Chaya. The sun came to know the truth
that his wife was the replica,Chaya. The sun then reduced his heat so Usha could rejoin
himandChaya disappeared.
In the same way,people
who travel on the path of truth cannot face truth directly.
They cannot bear the heat. They create their own
truth. It may appear to betruth,but it
is only a shadow of the real truth. This we must realize for ourselves and change
direction. If we start our journey again, facing truth, the truth will reduce its heat and
take us along with it.
Usha told her father, “I am not able to bear the heat
of the Sun,so I will createa
look alike and goto the forest toperform penance.” Usha had one son. Her shadow
Chaya had two sons. Sometimes Chaya was unkind to Usha’s son. He told this to his
father,theSun God,who observed Chaya’s behavior.He then realized that she was
actingdifferentlythanhis wife. So he asked Chaya, “Tell me the truth, who are you?”
Usha’s father then came and told him the truth. Surya
came to know the truth. He called
Usha back and Chaya disappeared.
Swami is the Sun. He is the'effulgent One'. People cannot meet with Swami’s
truth directly so they create a false Swami. They
should get help from a guru like Usha’s
father. They will guide you to the truth while doing
sadhana and put you on the correct
path. A guru can give strength to a sadhaka to bear thetruth. Here one is able
to leave
behind'shadow
Swami'and catch hold of the real
Swami.
It is difficult to get a guru.Therefore, we should consider Swami as ourguru. The
power of discrimination is our guru. One should analyze what is right and what is
wrong. Why did Swami take my letter? If it was wrong,He would not have taken it.
Swami took the letter from Eddy,so that I would write this chapter for ‘Miracle Maya’.
This event happened three years ago.It is only now that I am writing about it.
Jai SaiRam!
vs