Prof. Gangadhar Sastry with Sri Sathya SaiEver since man began to think of ‘life’ in general and ‘human life’ in particular, ‘peace’ has been not only realised as the ‘ultimate’ goal to be pursued and accomplished, but also as a reality to be sustained forever, both at individual and collective levels. However, though very seriously attempted and pursued for centuries through innumerable ways, ‘peace’ has ever remained a distant goal. Today man finds himself in the thick of unrest, confusion, frustration, and chaos. Fortunately, it is exactly at this juncture of human history that we find Bhagavan Baba has incarnated; He is working tirelessly guiding man towards the ultimate goal of ‘life’. Above all, being the very ‘embodiment of perfect peace’, Bhagavan Baba alone is the ultimate source of ‘perfect knowledge on peace.’
It is precisely to fulfil His promise in the Bhagavad Gita that He would reincarnate in times of distress to re-establish ‘Dharma’ that Bhagavan Baba has incarnated to reorient man towards ‘Dharma’ and grant him ‘peace’. Bhagavan Baba’s exposition of ‘peace’ is unique: it transcends all rigid, irrational and highly self-exemplary roads taken by all the hitherto existing faiths that have generally put man against man, nations against nations. Peace, that which has got more a religious connotation than otherwise, has got to be pursued through a process of internal purification of one’s own heart and soul. In a negative sense, religious traditions are centred round ‘peace’ as freedom from war and unrest. However, ‘peace’ can also take a positive connotation of well-being and fulfilment as goals of religious and social life. As with the ancient Greek word for ‘peace’, Eirene, the Roman Pax was also a vague goddess, taken as the representation of ‘quiet at home and abroad’. Again, in ancient Hebrew thought, “peace (shalom) was not only the absence of war but the presence of well-being if not prosperity.” Moreover, the Israelites used the Hebrew word ‘Shalom’ to refer to ‘material and spiritual conditions’ which went hand in hand. The salutation Shalom expressed the positive aim of encouraging friendly cooperation and living together for mutual benefit, and such a greeting, in use from the times of the Judges and David, was later employed by both Jews and Christians. (The Encyclopaedia of Religion, 1987 Vol. XI p.221).
As expounded by Bhagavan Baba, man, being the embodiment of the divine Atma, always seeks peace. Again, as one ponders over ‘various religious practices of people belonging to all faiths’ as explained by Baba, one would understand that the ultimate goal has always been to seek peace. For example, the Arabic word ‘Salam’, meaning ‘peace’ or ‘health’ has been in general use as a greeting or salutation since the time of the Quran. Moreover, it is precisely to grant peace through a very deep understanding of life in its varied forms, but yet being the reflection of one universal life principle, that highly useful and meaningful traditions, practices, usages, conventions got woven in an inextricable manner into the collective living processes of people all over the world. For example, as pointed out by Baba, the spiritual significance of “fasting”, as practised by people belonging to all faiths all over the world was to attain peace. The Sanskrit word for fasting is ‘Upa Vasa’, which literally means sitting close to God, all the time contemplating on God, only for attaining peace. Again, the principle of Advaita (philosophy of non-dualism) has always been extensively invoked by Baba only to propagate the message of universal love and peace, affirming that the apparent diversity seen and experienced by the sense organs of the humans is a perfect illusion. Conveying His message of Advaita to the world Baba declared: “I preach one religion of love for all, which alone can integrate the human race into a brotherhood of Man under the fatherhood of God. I know only one language of the heart beyond the mind or intellect which relates man to man and mankind to God, thereby creating mutual understanding, co-operation and community life in peace and harmony. On this basis I want to build one humanity without any religious, caste or other barriers in a universal empire of life which could enable my devotees to feel the whole world as their own family.”
As it would certainly grant individual and collective peace, Bhagavan Baba has been stressing the most sacred principle of ‘Trikarana Shuddhi’, as conveyed by the sacred texts of India, to be cultivated by each and every individual. By ‘Trikarana Shuddhi’, Bhagavan means that there should be perfect harmony between “thought, word and deed.” According to Baba, the secret of peace lies in keeping the senses under control, for which ‘yoga’ has been prescribed. The dictum, ‘Yogah Chitta Vritti Nirodhakah’, as explained by Baba stands for controlling of the ‘Vrittis’ of the ‘Chitta’, meaning vagaries of the mind. According to Baba one should master the senses; conquer the mind for its elimination; uproot the innate tendencies and attain Spiritual Wisdom, as all these would ultimately grant ‘Equipoise’, an essential prerequisite to Peace.
“Peace is another name for the steadfastness of mind. Peace is a sacred virtue: it is the embodiment of the Self. It is an ornament to man: the heart of the selfless one is its abode. Losing this sacred ornament of peace, which is eternal and everlasting, man falls prey to agitation and unrest.” (SSIB, 1993, p48) And it is certain that peace can only be won the hard way, by eliminating violence and greed from the hearts of individuals. Baba has been more unequivocal as He declared to the world that, “Shanti (peace) can also be defined as true Prema (Love) towards the Lord, towards Truth itself and towards true Dharma.” All teachings of Bhagavan Baba are centred round the single most powerful concept of Prema (Love) for the entire creation, which in turn results in peace. According to Baba, Love in speech is Sathya, Truth; Love in action is Dharma, Righteousness; Love in thought is Shanti, Peace; and Love in understanding is Ahimsa, Non-violence.
The core message as conveyed by the scriptures of all faiths for the attainment of peace is to be, “kind to all beings for attaining peace and tranquillity, unmoved by the affairs of the world.” Conveying the same message Bhagavan Baba points out, “Perfect peace means that type of peace derived as a result of the absence of desire, anger, greed, and hatred…. Peace must be expressed in feeling, word, posture and action: also in mind and the performance of duty - all in uniform measure. Then peace becomes perfect, the highest and most stable type…. Genuine peace is won by the control of the senses.” (TOSSSB, p.16). Explaining the inner significance of chanting Shanti thrice after either meditation or Bhajans etc., Bhagavan Baba cautions, “By merely uttering thrice with your tongue, you cannot obtain or ensure peace. The significance of the three chants is that man is in need of three kinds of peace:
(i) Adi Bhautika, peace unhampered by other beings,
(ii) Adhyatmika, peace undisturbed by one’s own body and mind, and
(iii) Adi Daivika, peace undisturbed by forces beyond human control.
Of these three, ‘Adi Daivika’ signifies the need for Divine Grace which can be earned only by absolute surrender to God.”
For attainment of peace Bhagavan Baba in His infinite mercy and compassion for mankind, has chalked out a robust, innovative, highly meaningful and appealing and at the same time simple and intensely spiritual work schedule, universally valid. His method of driving mankind towards peace is to motivate man to engage in action without expecting anything in return i.e., to motivate man to follow Swadharma / Sanatana Dharma. According to Baba, engaging in Nishkama Karma in such a manner as to make it one’s own second nature, would grant perfect peace.
Baba’s prescription for attainment of peace, consists of His teachings and programmes centred around ‘lofty concepts’ and ‘mega projects’ like:
(a) ‘Unity of faiths’, Sarva Dharma Samatva;
(b) Ever preparedness on the part of each and every individual to suffer and sacrifice, ‘Kshama’ and ‘Tyaga’, (recollect the scriptural adage, ‘Tyagenaike Amritatva Manasuhu’);
(c) Thorough commitment to Human Values like, Sathya, Dharma, Shanti, Prema and Ahimsa (EHV programmes);
(d) Spiritual practices like Bhajans, Satsang, Narayana Seva;
(e) ‘Study circles to encourage discussions on matters, ethical, moral and spiritual on a daily basis for some time at least;
(f) Value-oriented educational programmes, like Bal Vikas;
(g) Service-oriented projects on mega-scale like, totally free education to one and all from primary to postgraduate levels, that too keeping modern society’s needs in mind and at the same time without compromising on quality;
(h) Mega schemes for clean and safe drinking water supply, offering relief to millions and millions of people across the country, that too in drought-hit areas specially identified;
(i) Grama Seva programmes primarily to distribute food and clothes to each and every member, without any distinction on grounds of colour, creed, caste, community and religion;
(j) Offering ‘the best possible and totally free’ medical aid to one and all through Super-speciality Hospitals known as ‘temples of healing’; and
(k) Granting all sorts of aid - material, moral, ethical, psychological and spiritual to one and all in need at any point of time, etc., are all perfectly and without any reservations aimed at granting peace to man.
Baba wants every individual to attain peace through leading a simple and pure life. According to Baba, when man gets rid of “I” ness and “want” (desires) from within, automatically he attains peace. Through expositions on the sacred texts of yore, like Itihasas, particularly Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavata, etc., and by explaining the inner significance of the acts of each and every role depicted by the ancient seers and sages therein, Bhagavan always attempted to grant peace to the parched hearts of the humans through summer showers of true wisdom pertaining to the secrets of the soul and mysteries of the universe. There is no aspect of human life which has not been spoken about and interpreted spiritually by Swami. According to Baba: “Man is Divine …. He is here on a holy mission, for a Divine purpose. Man must earn his birth right, namely: Divine Peace. Lack of Divine Peace is an unnatural condition. Man’s real inner nature is Divine Peace. It is only when truth, inner light and bliss are won that Divine Peace will be established. One who is too noisy has not grasped peace. Silence is the language of the Self-realised.”
Peace is a state of mind, not to be found in religion which happens to be only a means for peace and not an end. Peace can only be won the hard way, by eliminating violence and greed from the hearts of individuals. The attempts made so far at understanding ‘peace’ and developing theories around ‘peace’, have not yielded any success either at national or international levels. However, one major problem with peace research is the problem whether the future will be a continuous extrapolation of the past or qualitatively different. Knowing that it is not possible to accomplish peace in the worldly sense through institutional arrangements of any sort, it would certainly be advantageous to the entire mankind to sincerely understand and follow the message of Baba: “Only pure thoughts can confer peace.”
Bhagavan Baba’s incarnation has not come a day too soon. His mission has uplifted or ameliorated millions and millions, and delivered many more into the realms of spirituality and bestowed perfect peace on them. Ultimately, as prescribed by Baba, perfect peace is possible to one and all provided they take refuge in Baba and walk the path prescribed by Him.
- Prof. R. Gangadhar Sastry
Professor of Political Science;
Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning
Former Deputy Director, Prasanthi Nilayam Campus
Source: Sai Sparshan 2005
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