A clean heart reflects the Lord
Bangalore, 23 November 2010, on Baba’s 85th Birthday
Embodiments of Love
Today is a great day.
For people all over the world, including Indians, there are many holy and festival days; the birthdays of saints and avatars like Rama, Krishna, Jesus, Buddha and many others. The crown on all these holy days is the birthday of our Sathya Sai Baba. The embodiment of all religions is our Swami. That kind of Lord is our Swami and today it is 85 years since He came to this world.
Here we are celebrating this birthday and it is also celebrated in Prasanthi Nilayam. In His physical form Swamiji is blessing all the devotees who have gathered there. The same Swami, in the form of Shiva, is here, gracing everyone. He is Chandra-mouleshwara (Shiva; the never diminishing Moon).
Chandramouleshwara is residing in everyone’s heart.
If you stand in front of a mirror you will see your reflection. Chandra-mouleshwara resides here and the mirror is your heart. So your heart, being the mirror, needs to be clean and dust free to be able to reflect the Lord.
If you want to take a picture the lens needs to be free of dust. In the same way, when our hearts will be clean, they will reflect the Lord. Namasmarana (repeating the names of God) is the cleansing of your heart. Chanting the names of the Lord will liberate you. There is no other way. Whatever you do you will be caught in Maya, the world of illusion, but not when you do Namasmarana. It is for this reason that all great sages and saints have spent their lives in doing Namasmarana.
Nothing will happen when you close your eyes and say that you have spiritual discipline (tapas). There are lots of illusory effects in tapas. You close your eyes but all the time you are only thinking of yourself. But when you do Namasmarana you refer to God all the time. The illusory world will vanish when you refer to God.
When we close our eyes and start thinking about ourselves we will be drawn into the ocean of Maya. Now, in this Kali yuga, chanting of the Lords name is the easiest path. Whatever the dirt that has accumulated within, it can be easily erased by Namasmarana. If you light incense, the fragrance will dispel the surrounding bad smell. In the same way Namasmarana will cleanse the entire earth and will create good vibrations.
We cannot see the fragrance coming from incense; only our nose can enjoy it. The bliss of Namasmarana can only be experienced in your heart and you all have come to enjoy this bliss. That is why we have been doing Namasmarana today right from the early morning and in the evening we will continue. In the evening we will put the image of Sri Sathya Sai Baba on the swing and we will rock Him gently while we offer our bhajans to Him.
Keep Baba on the swing in your heart and rock Him like a mother is rocking her little child, with love and tenderness. The mother will sing for the child while she rocks the cradle. Similarly, have Baba in your heart and sing for Him with love. We offer infinite pranams to Baba for all the good He bestowed upon us and for all the things He provided for us in our lives. All the good things that are happening here wouldn’t have been possible without His Grace. All we did today could happen only by His Grace. The reason why we do all these things is to get mental peace. Peace within.
People also gather in a marriage hall to celebrate a wedding. Or they come together in a cinema theatre. But in those places you won’t experience this peace. That is because the vibrations are different. Here we have satwic (divine) vibrations. In the wedding hall the vibrations are rajasic (passionate) and in the cinema tamasic (dull).
What do we want? Do we not want this satwic, peaceful vibrations? Baba gave us this satwic nature to let us fully delight in that. It is now 85 years since Baba came to be with us. Maybe Baba will not be visible anymore. Baba is already in your heart and He will be there forever. Please keep Him there in your heart.
All these activities are merely to make you realize His presence in your heart and you should remember that forever.
Swami concluded His speech with singing Chitta chora…
