Much of the disturbances on the surface of the Earth and in the climate are messages and reminders to those who live on Earth to return to love of God, fear of sin, and love for Mother Earth. Nature, which is His creation, is the greatest teacher. It symbolises forbearance, compassion, patience, empathy, impartiality, selflessness and other noble characteristics.
(Christmas Message from Bhagawathi Srimad Sai Rajarajeshwari, 14th Dec 2019)
Nature is a gift of God to the humanity. It brings joy, peace and hope to one and all. You were born and bred suffused in the essence of the divine in His creation. God created the universe in such a way that one can find no insufficiency in it. He has provided you with the five elements and His entire creation to keep you happy, healthy, wealthy and joyful. Do you, as human beings, really understand His unparalleled love and affection?
When you see the Nature, for example, the Sun and the Moon relentlessly do their work. The healing warmth of the Sun and the cooling charm of the Moon are nothing but a perfect balance set by God. The entire vegetation flourishes because of the Sun and you are in turn nourished by it. The Moon is responsible for stabilizing the seasons and the climate. They impart a rhythm to the cyclical nature of the cosmos. Without these, nothing or none exists! Not only these but the entire creation of God brings a balance and peace to your life. Remember that God’s rays and God’s grace are important for all of you to live on earth in peace.
The Creator himself is teaching the humanity how to live on earth in harmony through His creation. The Nature, which is His creation, is the greatest teacher. It symbolises forbearance, compassion, patience, empathy, impartiality, selflessness and other noble characteristics – all for the happiness of the inhabitants. A tree provides fruits and shade to others selflessly. A river quenches the thirst of one and all without expecting anything in return. Each and every aspect of the creation guides the humanity towards selflessness and oneness.
To live in harmony and extend mutual respect to one another are the basic principles laid down by God. Instead of following these, you have turned slaves to your senses and egos. Selflessness does not exist in your dictionary. You have surrendered yourself to vices and are turning barbaric. A lion hunts for its prey but once full, it does not attack any more even if another prey comes right in front of it. But the greed of the humans knows no boundaries and the consequences are perilous to all. There is no discrimination of good and bad or right and wrong at all. You have neither learnt the kindergarten principles of “Do good, Be good and See good” nor the next grade principles of “Help ever, hurt never”. Forget about the supreme truths like, “Tat svam asi” (Thou art that).
Science and technology have advanced through your intelligence but you have miserably failed in sustaining the grace of God. The advancements in your technology can never match the benevolence of the higher power.
From times immemorial, to bring the humanity back on the path of righteousness, God has brought many great souls and masters onto the earth to teach and correct the humanity and to direct them towards the higher power from which all have emerged.
In daily life, you suggest someone that certain timely action should have been taken to prevent a certain mishap. Unlike humans, God, being the eternal witness, responds in a timely manner. The creator constantly makes efforts to restore the human values when they diminish in the world. One can understand this with an example. In the event of a small theft, you report the matter to the local police station. You do not have to approach the Commissioner of Police for this small incident. Only if the matter is not resolved, you escalate to the higher level. Similarly, when there are small issues, God sends the saints and seers and so on. This is just like there are different wattages of the bulbs to be used on different occasions. But at the hour of the direst crisis, when the whole human progress is derailed and disobeys the rules and regulations of Sathya (Truth), Dharma (Righteousness), Shanti (Peace), Prema (Love) prescribed by God, to reinstall them, God Himself comes in human form.
Through His exemplary life on earth, God demonstrates to the humans what one’s innate true characteristics are and how one should be. Lord Rama, the Maryada Purushottama (peerless among all men in propriety of conduct), descended on earth in Treta Yuga to show the idealistic values necessary for a human. Lord Krishna took birth in Dwapara Yuga to teach how to reach God through unconditional love and surrender. Lord Jesus Christ descended in this Yuga and demonstrated the ideal divine attributes of forgiveness and compassion which should be the innate characteristics for any human. Prophet Mohammed practised and preached the importance of faith in God and submission to Him. Lord Buddha taught the importance of purity of thinking and action to escape the cycle of rebirth. Lord Mahavir taught and practised the supreme principle of non-violence.
So many divine souls have descended on Earth and have been guideposts to one and all to be on the right path. Whether it is Lord Rama or Lord Krishna or Jesus or Mohammad or Mahavira or Buddha – all God forms, as guideposts, have preached virtues which have to be fostered by humanity by practicing and demonstrating them in their own lives. They have always preached while practising them, never limiting themselves to mere preaching. So, one simply cannot call themselves devotees of so and so God form just by claiming it verbally but only by really practising the teachings of that form.
Instead of following the path shown by the divine masters, closing your eyes, you say that you cannot see and closing your ears, you say that you cannot hear anything. You must question yourself if you are a human at all. Why do you want to stay in darkness forever?
Religion is man-made but God is one. The principles that are taught and to be practised by any religion are love, forbearance, compassion, forgiveness and non-violence. Unity in diversity is the fundamental message. No religion is superior or inferior as all are man-made. Religion is a way of life that shows how to respect the creator. Follow any religion but have love for God as God is one. Follow the divine principles of truth, righteousness, peace and love.
Religion is simply a path to reach God. It is similar to different roads leading to the same destination. Religions may be different but all reach the same destination of higher truth. Faith is the basic principle which has to be followed by any religion. Whatever religion you belong to, it doesn’t matter but its teachings should be practised. The Master’s master plan is to make you know who you really are. In this, since you all belong to Him, it doesn’t matter to him which religion you follow. First of all, one has to learn to give respect and only later expect to take respect.
Religion came into existence to inculcate that gratitude in you towards God. That’s all. Just the way food is important for the nourishment of the body, so is extending gratitude to god.
Sometimes, the nature reacts. Why? When you look for a house, you expect all amenities to be there, don’t you? Similarly, when God has given you everything to live in the world, are you behaving well? Natural calamities are but a way of the nature to create awareness and show the repercussions of crossing the divine laws laid down by God. The current generation has lost the sense of this and incessantly complains. Natural calamities like earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, wild fires, drought, volcanic eruptions, landslides, cold and heat waves and so on – Nature is angry! Who can calm it down? So, first pay respect to Nature and be grateful to it. Instead of this, you question about the calamities and say that God has become angry. Instead, please question about the calamities happening in your mind and heart.
God is not impatient and whimsical like you. He waits patiently for you to rectify yourself. The sudden and unusual changes in the seasons that you see these days are but small alerts to you by Him, the almighty, to prod you to tread the right path.
Being a human, you have to be humane and mankind should be kind. Otherwise, life has no meaning. Man is termed as an advanced animal by the evolutionists but it must be noted that God has given the discrimination power only to the human beings and not to any other in the creation! This power has to be used to correct oneself and not to correct others. Nowadays, humans have lost the discrimination power totally. One follows blindly whatever one wants to based on personal whims and fancies. Today there is no practice of the principles laid down by God and there is no surrender to God. Saint Purandaradasa says, “huttisidavanige honegaarike illave”, which literally means, “Does not the One who has created you have the responsibility of your welfare?” If you think that it is His responsibility to take care of you, you must surrender to Him completely which is when He will surely take complete care of you.
God is the repository of infinite love and compassion. What do you human beings give Him in return? Does the creator expect anything from you? Definitely yes! He does expect that His creation, the human, reflects His divine characteristics. Then only He can open His arms to embrace you. Are the human beings such? First of all, one has to give respect and express gratitude to the creator and His creation. One has no individual identity without His support. As a human being, your identification must be always with the Divine Master.
Faith is the building block for everything in God’s creation! When a human comes to your rescue when you are in need, don’t you say that God only helped you in the form of a human? When you are in dire need, don’t you pray to God asking for His grace? And what is prayer? Is it not connecting to the God who exists within you? So, knowingly or unknowingly you have faith in him. It is another story that you turn to God as a last resort! Many a time you talk about the heart and soul. So heart and soul are different, right? So, as a soul, you must pray to the God seated in your heart and be thankful to him wholeheartedly.
What is Shraddha? It is unconditional self-surrender and unshakeable faith. No matter what happens, irrespective of the ups and downs of life, faith in Him shouldn’t waver. That is Shraddha. Just as the gesture of rising the hands up during a combat symbolises surrender (after which the attack is stopped), you should be in a “hands-up” mode with God always. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa says to at least cry out like a baby in the cradle seeking help. The Mother will then be forced to come to your rescue. You do not have an iota of knowledge from where you came before birth and where you go after death. In between these, during the temporary stay called the life, you struggle, trying to overreach, striving to hoard money to live life in pomp and acquire fame! What for? For the 6′ X 3′ piece of land?
In spite of having everything, you still have a lacuna in the deeper layers of your consciousness. Have you ever thought of the reason? It is the separation of you from the eternal Him. The sorrow comes from the ignorance of not realising that you are a spark of the Divine. Open your eyes, look at Nature deeply. It itself lovingly teaches you. Though you have a vast expanse of water in front you, you can fill only as much as the vessel you carry with you. Similar is your spiritual knowledge.
You light lamps and candles in your houses and in the temples, churches and other places of worship. There is a larger meaning to this.
“Asatoma Sadgamaya, Tamasoma Jyotirgamaya, Mrityorma Amritamgamaya” – “Oh Lord, from ignorance, lead me to truth. From darkness, lead me to light. From mortality, lead me to immortality”. Pray to God to lead you to that eternal light.
May peace reign.
A very blessed Christmas and a happy new year ahead.
Love and Blessings,
Srimad Sai Rajarajeshwari Amma
