Dhule, 18 January 2012
What is the difference between paddy and flattened rice (poha)? Paddy is stiff and dry, whereas flattened rice is white, light and edible. What is the difference between rice and puffed rice (mudi)? Rice is stiff. It cannot be eaten straight. It needs to be soaked in water and cooked. When it becomes soft, it can be eaten. But puffed rice is hollow inside. It is edible. It has been cooked. In the same way, human life, through satsang, through seva (service), through a sense of belongingness, transforms from rice to puffed rice, and from paddy to flattened rice. This is divine grace. We blossom from within, become joyful - then life becomes worthwhile.
Otherwise, we cry for what we have, and for what we don't have. We keep crying. Some people cry that their marriage has not occurred. Some cry because of troubles with their marriage. Just be happy! Whatever you do, be happy. This is the message of dharma (religion).
Today, leaders of all religions are seated on the stage. They have come here to bless you all. The supreme saint of Vaarkari sect, Granthiji from the Gurudwara, and the Imam from the mosque have arrived.
This is India, a bouquet of all religions. We are all one. There is one light (noor). The colour of cows can be different, but the milk is of one colour. Milk is always white. Saints can be of different sects, but they have one view ('sab santan kaa ek mat'). What is that? Connect with God. And where is God? Not in the sky; God is in our hearts, within us. If you realize Him within, you will see only Him outside, everything becomes Him.
I often say, 'Log kehte hain, khuda nazar nahin aata, main kehta hoon khuda ke siva kuch nazar nahin aata' (People say that they are unable to see God; I say I can see nothing but God). Go and look in the eyes of each child, peer into the eyes of every old person, look into the eyes of the youth, within their restlessness, God dwells there, within everyone.
This is what Lord Krishna has said in the Bhagavad Gita, 'Yo maam pashyati sarvatra sarvam cha mayi pashyati, tasyaaham na pranashyaami sa cha me na pranashyati.' The person, who sees me everywhere and sees everything in me, will never perish; I am always with him and he is always with me.
My only objective in coming here is to remind you that God exists. He is not in some other place or someone who existed at a point in time - that is not the case. He is here, right now. God means the principle that is all pervading, omnipresent - that is God, and is in everyone, and is eternal. It is not as though He existed five thousand years or two thousand years ago, or existed at some point in time, but no longer exists. That is not so. He is present here and now, within us. This is all we need to remember.
If you ask, 'Guruji, what is the advantage of this?' To that I would say, 'What will you not gain?' Everything! Whatever we want, that work will get done spontaneously. There will be a sense of fulfillment; the body will remain healthy, there will be harmony in society, there will be peace, love, there will be an atmosphere of peace within the family, and whatever you desire will get done.
Read more at What Sri Sri Said Today
© The Art of Living Foundation
What is the difference between paddy and flattened rice (poha)? Paddy is stiff and dry, whereas flattened rice is white, light and edible. What is the difference between rice and puffed rice (mudi)? Rice is stiff. It cannot be eaten straight. It needs to be soaked in water and cooked. When it becomes soft, it can be eaten. But puffed rice is hollow inside. It is edible. It has been cooked. In the same way, human life, through satsang, through seva (service), through a sense of belongingness, transforms from rice to puffed rice, and from paddy to flattened rice. This is divine grace. We blossom from within, become joyful - then life becomes worthwhile.
Otherwise, we cry for what we have, and for what we don't have. We keep crying. Some people cry that their marriage has not occurred. Some cry because of troubles with their marriage. Just be happy! Whatever you do, be happy. This is the message of dharma (religion).
Today, leaders of all religions are seated on the stage. They have come here to bless you all. The supreme saint of Vaarkari sect, Granthiji from the Gurudwara, and the Imam from the mosque have arrived.
This is India, a bouquet of all religions. We are all one. There is one light (noor). The colour of cows can be different, but the milk is of one colour. Milk is always white. Saints can be of different sects, but they have one view ('sab santan kaa ek mat'). What is that? Connect with God. And where is God? Not in the sky; God is in our hearts, within us. If you realize Him within, you will see only Him outside, everything becomes Him.
I often say, 'Log kehte hain, khuda nazar nahin aata, main kehta hoon khuda ke siva kuch nazar nahin aata' (People say that they are unable to see God; I say I can see nothing but God). Go and look in the eyes of each child, peer into the eyes of every old person, look into the eyes of the youth, within their restlessness, God dwells there, within everyone.
This is what Lord Krishna has said in the Bhagavad Gita, 'Yo maam pashyati sarvatra sarvam cha mayi pashyati, tasyaaham na pranashyaami sa cha me na pranashyati.' The person, who sees me everywhere and sees everything in me, will never perish; I am always with him and he is always with me.
My only objective in coming here is to remind you that God exists. He is not in some other place or someone who existed at a point in time - that is not the case. He is here, right now. God means the principle that is all pervading, omnipresent - that is God, and is in everyone, and is eternal. It is not as though He existed five thousand years or two thousand years ago, or existed at some point in time, but no longer exists. That is not so. He is present here and now, within us. This is all we need to remember.
If you ask, 'Guruji, what is the advantage of this?' To that I would say, 'What will you not gain?' Everything! Whatever we want, that work will get done spontaneously. There will be a sense of fulfillment; the body will remain healthy, there will be harmony in society, there will be peace, love, there will be an atmosphere of peace within the family, and whatever you desire will get done.
Read more at What Sri Sri Said Today
© The Art of Living Foundation
