Chakra inimii- caracteristici spirituale

Chakra inimii este localizata in spatele osului stern. Cand chakra noastra a inimii devine curata, noi devenim mult mai lipsiti de frica, mai puternici si mai generosi. Vom avea mai multa incredere in noi si in capacitatile nostre de a ne corecta propriile greseli. Ne vom iubi pe noi si pe ceilalti mai mult pentru ca recunoastem ca Spiritul in inima noastra este acelasi cu al lor. Ne vom tine inima deschisa , ca cea a unui copil, experimentand astfel o stare stabila de bucurie. Centrul chakrei inimii guverneaza simtul sigurantei si al protectiei. Anticorpii care ne protejeaza impotriva bolilor si a negativitatii sunt formati in osul stern. Cei care au fost crescuti cu teama in copilarie , le e frica sa nu faca greseli, le e frica la gandul ca ceilalti oameni ii vor rani. Increderea lor poate fi scuturata cu usurinta de idei exterioare. Centrul lor al chakrei inimii va fi atins. Ei vor fi capabili sa produca destui anticorpicare sa lupte cu toate aceste " temeri".
Ei vor dezvolta boli ale plaminilor si inimii. 
Mama are o influenta deosebit de critica asupra acestei chakre pe partea stanga, fiind responsabila pentru cel mai timpuriu simt al sigurantei si pentru dezvoltarea increderii in sine la copil. Daca aceasta relatie nu a fost corecta, daca mama a murit cand copilul a fost mic sau daca a fost bolnava sau daca a cauzat traume emotionale , aceasta chakra va fi blocata. Daca la maturitate dezvolta atitudini lipsite de respect fata de mama, ca cele implantate de Freud si perpetuate de multe doctrine si practici psihanaliste, increderea in sine va fi afectata, iar aceasta chakra blocata. 
Inima dreapta ( aspectul drept al chakrei inimii)  reflecta capacitatea barbatului de a-si indeplini datoria de fiu, frate, sot, tata si cetatean. Bunastarea tatalui nostru si relatia noastra cu el afecteaza inima noastra dreapta. Daca tatal fuge de responsabilitati sau este prea responsabil, va exista un dezechilibru. Relatiile cu tatal sau mama noastra, ca si calitatile noastre de a ne manifesta ca tata sau ca mama sunt critice pentru simtul nostru de bunastare generala. si pentru capacitatea noastra de a a avea liniste si pace interioara. Este important sa avem respect pentru parintii nostrii, sa-i iertam pentru greselile lor si sa mentim aceste relatii curate. Este important pentru copiii nostri ca ei sa ne respecte ca parinti. Chakra inimii reflecta Spiritul. Functionarea ei corecta ne face capabili sa ne simtim Realizarea ( www.realizareasinelui.ro)  si sa generam si sa radiem dragoste. Aceasta stare a dragostei in foma Vibratiilor , actioneaza ca o baie usoara ce vindeca, mentinand propriul nostru sistem uman, la fel de bine ca si acela al celor care intra in campul nostru de " radiatie" .
Numai prin acest centru poate fi experimentata binecuvantarea si extazul iubirii pure. Acolo unde un partener il domina pe celalat sau este posesiv, fie ca este dominatia barbatului sau a femeii, aceasta iubire este inabusita si relatia stagneaza. Energia trebuie sa curga liber . Fiecare trebuie sa il respecte pe celalat si sa nu-i blocheze cresterea celuilalt prin forta personalitatii sau vointei sale. Dezvoltand intelegerea, atat barbatul cat si femeia isi realizeaza statutele lor egale . Femeia se afirma ca partener egal si nu suporta nici o dominatie. barbatul, ca urmare a superioritatii sale fizice apara caminul si este cel care castiga bani. Banii ii dau putere, ceea ce il face sa se simta superior. In situatiile in care femeia nu-si poate afirma drepturile , ea este frustata si dezvolta o suparare presanta. Aceasta suparare se rasfrange si asupra copiilor; de multe ori  cazurile cronice dau nevroze. Cancerul de san sau alte boli feminine pot fi cauzate de tensionarea sau tratamentul incorect al femeiii.
Un centru al inimii puternic sta la baza unei personalitati puternice. Hranit cu iubire, acesta emana caldura si bucurie. Iubirea este pretutindeni in natura. Iubirea face sa incolteasca samanta. Iubirea vindeca. Iubirea devine in mod irezistibil compasiune, in dorinta de a ajuta omenirea. Nu este o decizie intelectuala, ci un act spontan. Inima raspunde la suferintele altora deoarece este uman sa ne pese de sentimentele umanitatii. Oricat de important ar fi un om in societate, fara iubire ii va lipsi forta demnitatii. Este ca parfumul unei flori. Iubirea este pricipiul intregii creatii, este numai vibratie divina. Noi spunem Dumnezeu este iubire si iubirea este Dumnezeu, deoarece fara acestea noi incetam sa mai existam. In iubirea adevarata nu exista nici "eu" nici "tu" , nu exista decat contopire si in acest sentiment, noi experimentam profunda unitate umana. Fizic aparem in culori, forme, minti sau mentalitati diferite. In iubire toate picaturile devin un ocean, vibrand in ritmuri diferite intr-un dans cosmic. Ura si gelozia dezvolta un anticurent care curge impotriva raului cosmic. Unde exista iubire, exista crestere, sarbatoare, bucurie si evolutie.
Inima este pompa corpului si astfel orice exces fizic sau mental tensioneaza centrul si cauzeaza atacuri de inima in stadiile avansate. Utilizarea coprului ca un instrument de etalare atletica oboseste centrul inimii. Ce doriti sa doveti alergand intr-un maraton? Puteti lua premiul inati; si ce este cu asta? Astfel Hatha Yoga moderna afecteaza organul inimii care este sediul Spiritului. Inteleptii de altadata au dezvoltat anumite exercitii pentru a corecta anumite probleme si pentru a reechilibra corpul. Acestea au dus dus la dezvoltarea unor scoli de hatha yoga pentru cei care sufereau de unele probleme.  O persoana sanatoasa nu are nevoie de ea. Shri Mataji a aratat ca un exercitiu de Hatha Yoga este ca un medicament. Se ia un medicament pentru o anumita problema, nu este nevoie sa luam toate medicamentele impreuna, tot timpul. Dar astazi, mai ales in Vest, Hatha Yoga este practicata fara discernamant. Oamenii stau ore intregi in tot felul de asanas ( posturi). Dar nu stand in cap il veti cunoaste pe Dumnezeu. Multe feluri de atractie sunt prezentate drept Yoga. Exista yoga cu mobilier in care stati pe un anumit scaun sau va sprijiniti intr-un anume fel sau altul. Trebuie sa va jucati cu o jucarie si credeti ca progresati cand deveniti capabili sa va curbati mai jos, pe scaun. Deoarece se utilizeaza tot felul de mobile, de aceasta profita industria mobilei.
Altii se ocupa de yoga pentru cupluri. Cuplurile ar avea nevoie de cineva care sa le arate cum pot simti iubirea in diferite pozitii fizice. Multi afaceristi au aparut in Vest pretextand yoga. Oamenii cred ca purtand haine albe sau sofran, fiind vegetarieni si stand in diferite pozitii vor ajunge la Dumnezeu. Acestea sunt actiuni eronate. Culoarea hainelor, alegerea hainelor si asanele complicate nu au nimic de a face cu Dumnezeu, Dumnezeirea se realizeaza cand Kundalini ne eleveaza existenta, gandurile si actiunile. Acordand atat de multa atentie trupului , neglijam emotiile. Incat un hatha yoghin poate deveni o persoana fara sentimente. In cazurile extreme neglijand spiritul apar atacuri de inima cand spiritul incearca sa paraseasca corpul provocand moartea.

Calitatile chakrei inimii sunt Existenta , Bucuria si Dragostea ( aspectul stang al chakrei inimii); Responsabilitatea, Limitele comportamentului corect( mayadas) ( aspectul drept al chakrei inimii) ; Sentimentul de securitate, Increderea ( aspectul central al chakrei inimii) .
Chakra inimii are 12 petale, corespunde elementului pur Aer, planetei Venus si zilei de Vineri., culoarea, Albastru Indigo.


Inima este punctul central al creatiei si toate chakrele sunt in legatura cu Ea. Este centrul de la care circula energia in tot corpul. Ea este sediul SPIRITULUI, sursa ultima a intregii puteri manifestate de Shri Shiva Shakti Vahi ( cel ce detine puterea) . Un blocaj in oricare chakra sau canal ( nadi) are totdeauna ca rezultat o presiune asupra chakrei inimii. 
Va invitam la oricare din centrele noastre Sahaja Yoga din tara sau strainatate pentru a invata sa curatati blocajele. Puteti sa ne contactati si pe blog pentru a va putea transmite mai multe informatii. 

Reprezentare grafica a corpului nostru subtil

Accesati linkul de mai jos pentru a vedea reprezentarea grafica a corpului nostru subtil. Veti gasi pozitionarea canalelor stang, drept si central si a celor 7 chakre principale de energie subtila. Miscarea grafica surprinde ascensiunea energiei primordiale Kundalini aflata in Mooladhara Chakra dea lungul canalului principal Sushumna Nadhi, trecerea energiei prin cele 6 chakre ,strapungerea osului fontanelei in Sahasrara Chakra si unirea cu energia cosmica omniprezenta. Este experimentul Realizarii Sinelui la care se face referire si in prima postare de pe acest blog, un experiment accesibil oricarei persoane in aceste vremuri cu totul speciale pe care le traim.


http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x86spj_corps-subtil-explications_lifestyle


Puteti face acest experiment intrand si pe site-ul

http://www.realizareasinelui.ro/

Maestru primordial- Zarathustra

The Zoroastrians of Iran were members of the Indo-European family known as the Aryans. They called themselves Zoroastrians because they believed in the teachings of the first Aryan prophet, Zarathushtra.

Zarathushtra was the first prophet to preach a monotheistic religion, and He was born in Iran about 8000 years BC. He revealed that there was only one God, Ahura Mazda and that life in the physical world was a battle between good and evil.

As per man's actions, he would either cross the "Chinvato Peretu" or the sword bridge after death, and reach Heaven, or fall from it and go to the abode of the evil one. In the final days there would be a battle between good and evil, evil would be vanquished and the world would be purified by a bath of molten metal. Mazda would then judge the world, resurrecting the dead and His Kingdom would be established on earth.

Zarathushtra's songs are called the "Gathas" which linguistically may be older than the Indian Vedic scriptures. The Gathas are written in an ancient Avestan dialect. This is a sister language to Sanskrit of India, and Greek and Latin of the West. The reason is, the common ancestors (common to the ancient Iranians, Ancient Indians, Greeks, and Europeans) were one and the same - the Indo-European or Aryan peoples.

Surprisingly, many so-called Christian concepts actually were derived from Zoroastrian Aryan ideas which thrived in Iran for thousands of years until the Arab invasion of Iran around 1300 years ago.

Concepts such as heaven and hell, God and the evil adversary ahriman, the coming of the Saviour or Saoshyant born of a virgin, the end-time purge of the world by Fire followed by the resurrection of the dead, the making fresh of the world and the final battle between good and evil leading to the final defeat of evil. These beliefs filtered down to Judaism during the reign of King Khushru (Cyrus) of Iran.

Zoroastrians also believe that all races in the world are created by God and are equal - a true sign of the real ancient Aryan's nobility and tolerance. Cyrus, King of Iran who was an Aryan rebuilt the temple of the Jews after freeing the Jews from Babylon - for this, he is still remembered by the Jews and called the "Anointed of the Lord" in the Bible.

The Jews still celebrate that act of the true Aryans in a festival. Many Jews then stayed in Iran under Cyrus and his successors such as Darayus, as equal subjects under the King. Books of the Bible written after this stay have taken all these Zoroastrian concepts, from there they came to Christianity and other religions. There are scholars who consider Zoroastrianism as such to be the mother religion of the present day world's faiths.

In fact the edict of Cyrus proclaiming equality for all his subjects is enshrined in the United Nations today. The original Aryans were realy multicultural and tolerant of all races! So, it is probable that the Jews were influenced by the Zoroastrian faith of Iran in those days - and took on the concepts of heaven/hell, God's evil adversary, the resurrection and the final purification of the world - the virgin birth, the Saviour etc., all these concepts being Zoroastrian. There are other similarities too - certain purificatory observances such as the impurity of menstruation etc. are found in both faiths. Indeed, the very idea of the Messiah, and the very concept of Jesus could be Zoroastrian in origin.

Zarathushtra's religion was the prominent one in Iran until the conquest by the Arabs, around 1300 years ago, who converted Iran to Islam.

To preserve the Zoroastrian faith, this most ancient of faiths, indeed the "mother" faith of all mankind, a band of the Zarathushtrians sailed by boat to India about 1300 years ago, and settled in India where they were called the
Parsees (from "Pars" ie. Iran). The holy FIRE is kept in the temple as the symbol of Ahura Mazda, and priests feed the fire with sandalwood and cedar and intone the ancient sacred Mathras (verses of praise) in the ancient Aryan Avestan language. The Mathric incantations have incredible divine potent power, a power used to fight evil.

They also revere the elements of God such as water, earth, wind, and the creations of God such as the Sun, moon and stars.

The Early Years

There is very little known about the early days of Zarathushtra. The little that we do know is mainly because of the legendary stories that have been passed down through the generations by memorizing the scripture. Therefore, below, you will simply read different legendary and even mythical stories about Zarathushtra. If any of it seems too far-fetched to be real, it probably is not. We hope you enjoy these stories in the spirit that they were created:

 Birth

Once upon a time, a very long time ago, in a distant land, by the banks of a river, lived a large family named Spitama (meaning Most White). The head of one branch of this family, named Hechadaspa (Stallions), had two sons: Pourushaspa (Many Horses) and Arasti (Tidy & Neat).

Pourushaspa had married a young woman named Dughdova (Milkmaid), who by this time was pregnant. It is said that when she was 5 months pregnant, she had a dream in which she saw the world was being destroyed, and she was very frightened. But then an angel came to her in her dream, and told her that she was bearing a great prophet who would be able to change the impending destruction.

Legend has it that on the 26th of March; the pregnant Dughdova gave birth to a young and healthy baby boy.

However, this was a peculiar baby, since unlike other babies, he did not cry. Instead, when this baby boy was born, he had a broad smile on his face, and his face was shining with a divine glow. His parents decided to name him Zarathushtra, (which according to one translation means Golden Light or Golden Star, and according to another means Owner of yellow or old Camels.) Arasti’s family also had a son named Maidhyoimangha or
Maedyoimaha (Mid Moon).

The Debate

Zarathushtra was growing up as a very intelligent and energetic young boy. He was very observant and had a sharp mind. He had the ability to see through the surface of things and penetrate to the depth of their cause and meaning. Because of his inquisitiveness and natural curiosity, he always had lots of questions to ask the priests and teachers of his time; however, he was rarely satisfied with the explanations that he was receiving. When he was nine years old, some of his friends arranged that he would have a meeting with the head priest of his town, and discuss the questions that he had. Zarathushtra was very much looking forward to this debate.

The story goes that on the day of the debate, Zarathushtra and the head priests spend a number of hours discussing the questions that he had. However, neither side managed to convince or satisfy the other. The depth of some of his questions had troubled the head priest, and he left the place in deep thought. Although when the head priest left, he was in good health, legend has it that on his way home, he suffered a massive heart attack and died. There are many other stories of how he had to face all sorts of magical evil powers, and how he escaped them.

Youth

Zarathushtra spent much of his youth in the surrounding pastures of his town, contemplating nature for many hours. It was during these meditations that many of the questions that the priests could not answer, would unravel themselves in ways that their answers would be revealed to him.

There is another story that says when Zarathushtra was fifteen, his four brothers approached him to divide their father’s wealth among themselves. Zarathushtra only took one item, symbolizing the spiritual life, and left the entire wealth of his father to his four brothers.

When Zarathushtra was only twenty years old, he left home for about ten years, travelling here and there, in search of Truth. And it was one early morning at the end of this time that he was illumined.

It is also said that he married a woman named Hvovi, before his illumination, although it is not known where and when.

He spent years in the wilderness communing with God before his first vision, in which Vohu Manah came to him in the form of a huge Angel. All the heavenly entities, the Amesha Spentas, instructed Zarathushtra in heaven, and he received perfect knowledge of past, present, and future. Zarathushtra's preaching to King Vishtaspa was enhanced by miracles, especially the healing of a paralyzed horse that convinced the king to accept the new religion.

Most of these motifs are familiar from the lives of other culture heroes such as Moses, and Jesus. Whether any of this literally happened is a matter for belief, not scholarship. Tradition-minded Zoroastrians do accept these legends as truth about Zarathushtra.

Unlike Mohammed's recitation of the Koran, the Gathas of Zarathushtra are not "channeled" - that is, the Gathas are regarded as the inspired composition of a poet-prophet rather than a text dictated by a heavenly being. Zarathushtra was inspired by God, through the Bounteous Immortals of Vohu Manah, Asha, and the others - but he was not a passive recipient of the divine wisdom. In accordance with Zoroastrian philosophy, he reached God through his own effort simultaneously with God's communication to him.

Zarathushtra was never regarded as divine by his followers, not even in the most extravagant legends. He remained a man like all others, though divinely gifted with inspiration and closeness to Ahura Mazda. His life is an inspiration for Zoroastrians of all persuasions, traditionalist and modern - in his innovation, loving relationship with God, and spiritual courage he is a model for all his followers. After his death.

Zarathushtra's great soul attains almost the level of a Bounteous Immortal, but still is not merged in the divinity.

 Illumination

When he was thirty years old, one early morning, he went to fetch some water from the river. It was around dawn. The sky had just turned color and the sun was about to rise. As he had gone into the waters of the river, Vohu Mana (the angel of the Good Mind) appears to him, and opens the portal to the Divine Light of Ahura Mazda. This was the first moment of Illumination and the first Revelations of Zarathushtra.

In his vision, he perceived Ahura Mazda as the Wise Lord of Creation, and the six emanations of Ahura Mazda, the Amesha Spentas as the guardians and artisans of this physical world. He perceived the laws upon which the universe operated, and understood the inter-relationship between Ahura Mazda, the Amesha Spentas, and the Creation.

Perhaps we try to personify these images and abstract notions, and try to think of them as angels, but in truth, Zarathushtra understood them as the abstract notions that they were.

Propagation

After his illumination, Zarathushtra wanted to share his acquired wisdom with the world, yet he did not know where to start. He made a decision to invite all his family and relatives to listen to his teachings. And then in a family gathering, he explained his understandings to them.

When he finished explaining, his cousin, Maedyoimaha, decided to join him, and became the first follower of his teachings. And his wife Hvovi also embraced his teachings becoming his second follower. His children, one by one, decided to accept his philosophy as their way of life. (According to another record, it took his cousin ten years before he accepted to follow Zarathushtra’s teachings and become his first convert.)

Challenges

Zarathushtra then decided to share his teachings with his fellow citizens. When he started teaching others in the street of the city, he met with a deeply rooted resistance from the priests, who had based their entire life and livelihood on the old religions.

Zarathushtra tried many different techniques, and every time he met with renewed opposition and greater resistance. In fact, over the next twelve years, he only managed to win 22 people over to his philosophy, including his wife and children, and his first disciple, his cousin.

Having met such frustration, and such vehement opposition from the rulers and priests of his own land, he decided to leave his homeland for other countries. He then mobilized his followers, and the group of23 people started their migration.

To whichever land they came, and in whatever city that stayed, he tried to teach others about his philosophy, yet in every place they met with predictable opposition, partly due to the self-interested preemptive strikes of the rulers and priests, and partly because of the ignorance of the people, and their unwillingness to change.

Finally, they had heard that a of the King of a nearby country, King Vishtaspa, was a wise and just man and if there was one person in the whole world who might be open to listen to new teachings, it would be him. And they set off in that direction.

 Breakthrough - King Vishtaspa

Zarathushtra was 42 when he and his followers finally reached the court of King Vishtaspa. The wise King had granted Zarathushtra an audience, but he had also invited all the priests and wise men of his court to attend and listen to Zarathushtra and question him about his philosophy. The King had wisely set the scene for a debate, if it need be.

At the debate in the court of King Vishtaspa, Zarathushtra eloquently spoke and convincingly responded to all challenges and questions. The King saw the wisdom of this man, and his teachings and embraced the religion. At the same time, the King invited his subjects to also listen carefully and choose wisely to follow the Zoroastrian religion. This was a major breakthrough for Zarathushtra.

However, the story goes on to say that Zarathushtra’s enemies then plotted against Zarathushtra and planted various objects of black magic in his quarters, and finally by accusing him of such evil acts, prompted the King to search his room. Upon finding such artifacts, Zarathushtra was imprisoned and denied to eat or drink.

Yet the story has a favorable turning, as such stories inevitably do. It is said that the King’s favorite dark horse is struck with an incurable deforming disease. None of the physicians in the kingdom can offer any cure. When Zarathushtra, who was now in prison, hears about this, he offers the King to try to cure his favorite horse.

The King reluctantly lets Zarathushtra attempt his healing techniques, which he duly does. The King then realizes the error of his judgment about Zarathushtra, and embraces his religion. The King also punishes the priests who conspired against Zarathushtra, and starts to promote the religion.

Now, these stories may seem somewhat difficult to believe. What we do know however, is that once the King embraced the religion of Zarathushtra, it was a breakthrough and a turning point in the fortunes of the Zoroastrian Religion. From that time on, Zarathushtra had the backing and support of a powerful and wise King.

He freely went about propagating his teachings throughout that land, and very soon his message crossed the borders of the country to neighboring countries. In a way, if Zarathushtra’s illumination was the conception, this was the birth of the Zoroastrian Religion, as we know it today.

Two of the earliest converts, after King Vishtaspa embraced the religion were two brothers named Frashaoshtra and Jamaspa, of the Hvogva family. These two are mentioned in the Gathas, and they continued to be among Zarathushtra’s disciples until the end.

There is yet another legendary story about a tree that Zarathushtra allegedly planted. It is also mentioned in the Shahnameh that when Zarathushtra visited Kashmar, he planted a Sarv (Cyprus tree). This tree which became
famous as Sarv-e Kashmar, is claimed to have grown for millennia, from the time of Zarathushtra until it was ordered to be cut down by Caliph al-Mutawaqqil, in the year 861 CE.

Zarathushtra’s Character

While there is much lacking in reconstructing the events of Zarathushtra’s life, there is ample evidence of Zarathushtra’s character, all be it from his very short Divine Songs, the Gathas. From the content of the Gathas it is abundantly clear that Zarathushtra was a natural man. He was an exceptionally wise and righteous person.

He was an Ashu – one who has reached the apex of self-realization, perfection, and thenceforth immortality.
He was loving and kind, yet resolute and intent on adhering to truth and justice. He was wise and discerning. Possessed a very observant and incisive mind. He had a clear vision and understanding of the physical laws and moral principles of the world, and with a super-human power adhered to righteousness. In short, he was the epitome of spiritual strength.

There is very little biographical material in the Gathas. What is there indicates that Zarathushtra was cast out of his original home, wherever that was, and forced to wander, along with his followers and their animals.

"To what land should I turn? Where should I turn to go? They hold me back from folk and friends. Neither the community I follow pleases me, nor do the wrongful rulers of the land... I know... that I am powerless. I have a few cattle and also a few men."

Zarathushtra is said to have had six children, three boys and three girls. This is not exact information, since the number and gender equals that of the six Amesha Spentas and may be only symbolic. But the last Gatha is composed for the marriage of Zarathushtra's daughter Pouruchista (Full of Wisdom) so he is known to have had at least one child. Thus Zarathushtra married into the king's court; Pouruchista, in turn, married the prime minister.

There is no exact or provable information about Zarathushtra's life at court, though it may be assumed that it was here that he composed the Gathas, and the names of king and court appear in the poetry as if, in oral recitation, they were there listening to him.

The prophet may have spent almost three decades there, before his death at age 77. One of the controversies about Zarathushtra concerns whether he was a priest. He did not live in a religious vacuum, but was born into a society that practiced the polytheistic rites of ancient Indo-Iranian religion. In the later Avesta, Zarathushtra is used as a character in dialogue with Ahura Mazda; he is featured in ritual texts and in law-texts, and great amounts of ritual and doctrine are thus attributed to him, whether he was their originator or not.

In much later Zoroastrian traditions, some of which were not recorded until centuries after the Arab conquest, the life of the Prophet abounds with miracles and divine interventions.

His mother glowed with the divine Glory usually reserved for kings; the soul of the prophet was placed by God in the sacred Haoma plant (which Z. condemned in the Gathas) and the prophet was conceived through the essence of Haoma in milk (though the birth is not a virgin birth, but the natural product of two special, but earthly parents). The child laughed at his birth instead of crying, and he glowed so brightly that the villagers around him were frightened and tried to destroy him. All attempts to destroy young Zarathushtra failed; fire would not burn him nor would animals crush him in stampedes; he was cared for by a mother wolf in the wilderness.

Links with the Modern World

Ever since ancient Greek times the name of Zoroaster has stood for mysterious Eastern wisdom. In Hellenistic times many esoteric and magical texts were written using his name and Zoroaster was thought of as one of the greatest magi, or mystics.

Once the Avesta had been brought to the West in the 18th century, his name again became famous in the West - this time not for magic, but for the humanistic, monotheistic, moral philosophy found in the Gathas.

Enlightenment philosophers such as Kant and Diderot mentioned him as a model; the playwright Voltaire wrote a play called "Zoroastre." Here was a philosopher from "pagan" antiquity who was monotheistic and moral without any help from the Christian Church. The French composer Rameau wrote an opera called "Zoroastre" and the free-thinking Mozart used a variant of the name for his character Sarastro in "The Magic Flute;" Sarastro is the priest of the Sun and Light who defeats the Queen of the Night.

In the 20th century Nietszche was inspired by Zarathushtra's example when expounding his philosophy in THUS SPOKE ZARATHUSHTRA, though there is no identifiable Zoroastrian teaching in the Nietszche work. The German composer Richard Strauss, inspired by the Nietzsche work.

The Life of the Spirit

The word spirituality is derived from the term "spirit". "Spirit" has no size, form or weight and therefore, it cannot be described physically.

Ahura Mazda, the Divine Fravashis and the Yazatas are Divine "Spirits" having no physical existence. Their spiritual essence is present in material manifestation but the "Spirit" itself is beyond the physical.
Like "Spirit", the Soul is the purely immortal, immaterial and divine principle which resides in the heart of man.

Consequently, spirituality is the experience, the direct communion between two Divine Entities: the "Spirit" and the Soul.

Anyone who has had a spiritual experience knows that such an experience cannot be described with mere words and that spiritual experiences are much more profound relative to the psychic ones.

Different prophets have revealed different spiritual disciplines to their followers to attain spirituality. To put us in communion with Ahura Mazda, the Divine, Zarathushtra has given us the sacred "manthra spenta" which are much more than holy words and efficacious sounds written and recited in an archaic "Avestan" language, as some believe.

It is the Soul of "Ahura Mazda" it is the embodiment of Cosmic Energy originating from Ahura Mazda Who is the Source of Endless Light ("raevat-khvarnvat"). Mantras as Divine Energy Mantras are rooted in "staot yasna" which means the Primordial Sound (vibrations) created by the First Ray of Light which burst forth at the beginning of Creation, and is diffused throughout Nature. Being at the very root of Nature, "staot" brings into
existence the space-time continuum.

The utterance of the Primordial sound, transcend the space-time continuum in order to find the reciprocal resonance in the spiritual world of light. Being rooted in the natural laws of light and sound, the holy "mantra " are not subjected to the man-made rules of grammar or language; therefore, it is improper and inappropriate to explain or understand such holy words through the medium of philology alone.

Communion between the Spirit, being of the nature of Light, and the Soul is by the Primordial Sound or vibrations, its counter-part, is best achieved through the language of light and sound which is the specifically states that "mantras" are best for spirituality which will be attained by "yasna" or Union with the Divine.

The utterance of "mantra" is best for the purity of the Soul in order to attain spirituality.

Spirituality is also enhanced through prayers. During prayers, the Soul becomes the receptacle of higher spiritual consciousness and attunes itself in direct communion with the Divine through sound, motion and devotional thought vibrations which constitute the Divine Light, waves of energy.

Sound and light, both being functions of waves of energy, the Divine sounds of uttered physically are absorbed
into the rays of Divine Light instantly. The meaning behind "the utterance of the Divine prayer protects the body",
may be better understood through more enlightened science which accepts the potency of sound as "energy".

 Fire

Besides the holy "mantra ", Zarathushtra has promoted Fire through which spirituality is achieved. Fire is both spiritual as well as physical. Being spiritual, Fire, is a Divinity; It is equated with Ahura Mazda's Own Inner Light and Life or Energy.

As energy, Fire transmutes the physical (matter) into the spiritual. It is the source of all Creation. No Zarathushti ritual is complete without the presence of Fire. In the Gathas, Zarathushtra Himself expressly seeks a vision and a communion with Ahura Mazda or the Divien through Fire, which is worshipped as the "Spirit Holiest".

Fire and the Primordial Sound are both Divine Energies which attune a Zarathushti to All Mighty. In all Zarthushti
homes, it is necessary to keep the "divo" or the hearth fire perpetually burning. When a Zarathushti prays in the presence of Fire they communes with Ahura Mazda Himself as science now proves that every particle of light (photon) has intelligence, and Mazda is the Lord of Wisdom.

The hearth fire are the physical manifestations of the Divine Light which permeates through time and space. Ahura Mazda, being Spirit, resides in the spiritual world while He sends His Son, Fire, to adorn the Earth and propel the entire Creation towards Frasho-Kereti. In addition to the utterance of "mantra ", performance of prayers and rituals, and the preservation of Fire, Zarathushtra has also given us the spiritual munition of purity rules also known as or the anti-pollution rules, and preservation of spiritual heritage.

Revelations

Zarathushtra was sent by Ahura Mazda to reaffirm the ancient faith. He was also given the "AGUSTO-VACHO" ie revelations unheard before. He was thus the first prophet, to be followed by three Saviours. When the final Saviour comes, the world will be purged by fire and evil destroyed in a final great battle.

Zarathushtra asked Ahura Mazda: "O Ahura Mazda, righteous Creator of the corporeal world, who was the first person to whom You taught these teachings?

Then spoke Ahura Mazda: "YIMA the splendid who watched over his subjects, O righteous Zarathushtra. I first did teach the Aryan religion to the Creator, prior to you.

"Yima spoke to me, and said he would like to spread the religion among mankind by teaching others. It was then that I replied: "O Yima you are not created for this task by Me. You are not learned enough to increase the religion among mankind - you are not the Messenger of the religion.

"Yima the righteous told me then: "O Ahura, if I am not created for the task of increasing the good religion, then I would like to advance the world, to increase it and be a righteous king and protector. I ask You this, that in my kingdom there be neither cold wind nor hot wind (neither extreme winter or summer), there be no sickness nor death. That my subjects be undying and unwanting, and gloriously happy under my reign.

"I Who am Ahura Mazda, was pleased with this. I brought Yima a weapon - a Golden plough which was dagger shaped with golden forks, to signify that his authority was divine, sanctioned by Me. He became the mightiest King (KSHAETA) the Aryans had ever known, the most righteous and most splendid Aryan man.

"When Yima's rule extended to 300 years, then the Aryan land had prospered so much that the land became full of cattle, men, dogs, birds and red flaming fire (the fires kept burning in the house of every Aryan). Place could no longer be found for cattle or men.

"I made this known to Yima, and he proceeded towards the south, towards the path of the high sun (west), increasing the land with his golden plough (conquering and cultivating the lands). The boundaries of the Aryan kingdom were thus extended in breadth, one third greater than before. The king stood as an Aryan on the mother earth, praising the country with words fit for prayer.

"When Yima's rule extended to 600 years, the state of abundance reoccurred. This led to Yima proceeding again towards the south and the west, extending the boundaries of the Aryan kingdom two thirds greater than before. Thus happened the second great migration of the Aryans.

"When Yima's rule extended to 900 years, abundance again led to Yima increasing the land with his golden plough, towards the south and west. This third great migration made the Aryan kingdom three times larger than before.

"In the first 1000 years of his rule, Yima the splendid enjoined righteous order on his Aryan subjects. He controlled invisible time itself, making it so much large in size so as to praise and spread the righteous law. "

That glorious age of the Aryans did not last for ever, O Zarathushtra! It was time for the evil one's attack. I Who am Ahura Mazda spoke then to Yima Kshaeta:

"O splendid Yima, towards the sacred Aryan land will rush evil as a severe fatal winter; evil will rush as thick snow flakes falling in increased depth. From the three directions will wild and ferocious animals attack, arriving from the most dreadful sites.

"Before this winter, any snow that fell would melt and convey the water away. Now the snow will not melt (but will form the Polar ice cap). In this place, O Yima the corporeal world will be DAMAGED. Before in this seedland the grass was so soft the footprint of even a small animal could be observed. Now, there will be no footprints discernible at all on the packed sheets of hard ice that will form.

"So, Yima; make a mighty VARA, an enclosure as long as a riding ground, with equal four sides. Here bring the families of Aryan men and women, cattle, dogs, birds and the red flaming fire.

"Inside the Vara, make water flow in a canal, one Hathra long. Keep earth inside the Vara, to grow green vegetables as food. Make cattle pens, to house the cattle of the Aryan people.

"Let love blossom unfailing in the enclosure, among the young couples therein - make for them a residence, with rooms, pillars, long extended walls and an enclosing wall."

 Passing

There are a number of versions of how Zarathushtra died, all of them legendary.

Many different accounts of this martyrdom follow, including some in which supernatural forces intervene to kill the murderer of Zarathushtra. There is another version that claims Zarathushtra ascended to the skies (much like the resurrection of Jesus).

Another story claims that in his seventy seventh year, one night Zarathushtra bid his family members farewell, and after his evening prayer retired to bed. He passed away calmly and quietly in his sleep. In the morning, when his family members noticed that he had not awaken, they went to his bed side to find his body lying there in a peaceful state.

Maestru primordial- Socrates

Early Life
As the heir of a wealthy Athenian sculptor, Socrates used his financial independence as an opportunity to invent the practice of philosophical dialogue.
Since he wrote nothing of his own, we are dependent upon contemporary writers like Aristophanes and Xenophon for our information about his life. After dignified service as a soldier in the Peloponnesian War, he lived for the rest of his life in Athens and devoted nearly all of his time to free-wheeling discussion with its aristocratic young citizens, insistently questioning their confidence in the truth of popular opinions.
Socrates declined to accept payment for his work with students, many of whom were fanatically loyal to him. Their parents, however, were often displeased with his influence, and his association with opponents of the democratic regime made him a controversial political figure.
Our best sources of information about Socrates's philosophical views are the early dialogues of his student Plato, who attempted to provide a faithful picture of the methods and teachings of the master. Here the extended conversations of Socrates aim at understanding and, therefore, achieving virtue through the careful application of a dialectical method that uses critical inquiry to undermine the plausibility of widely-held doctrines.
Socrates systematically refutes the superficial notion of piety or moral rectitude defended by a confident young man. Plato's Apologhma (Apology) is an account of Socrates's unsuccessful speech in his own defense before the Athenian jury; it includes a detailed description of the motives and goals of philosophical activity as he practiced it.
During Socrates's imprisonment he responded to friendly efforts to secure his escape by seriously debating whether or not an individual citizen can ever be justified in refusing to obey the laws of the state.
Socrates investigated the nature of virtue, defending the doctrine of recollection as an explanation of our most significant knowledge and maintaining that knowledge and virtue are so closely related that no human agent ever knowingly chooses evil.
Improper conduct is a product of ignorance rather than of weakness of the will.
Socrates despite his foundational place in the history of ideas, actually wrote nothing.
Most of our knowledge of him comes from the works of Plato.

The Apology of Socrates
The most accurate of Plato's writings on Socrates is probably the The Apology. It is Plato's account of Socrates's defense at his trial in 399 BC the word "apology" comes from the Greek word for "defense-speech" and does not mean what we would think of as an apology. It is clear, however, that Plato dressed up Socrates's speech to turn it into a justification for Socrates's life and his death. In it, Plato outlines some of Socrates's most famous philosophical ideas: the necessity of doing what one thinks is right even in the face of universal opposition, and the need to pursue knowledge even when opposed.
Socrates wrote nothing because he felt that knowledge was a living, interactive thing. Socrates' method of philosophical inquiry consisted in questioning people on the positions they asserted and working them through questions into a contradiction, thus proving to them that their original assertion was wrong. Socrates himself never takes a position; in The Apology he radically and skeptically claims to know nothing at all except that he knows nothing.
Socrates and Plato refer to this method of questioning as elenchus, which means something like "cross-examination"
The Socratic elenchus eventually gave rise to dialectic, the idea that truth needs to be pursued by modifying one's position through questioning and conflict with opposing ideas. It is this idea of the truth being pursued, rather than discovered, that characterizes Socratic thought and much of our world view today.
The Western notion of dialectic is somewhat Socratic in nature in that it is conceived of as an ongoing process. Although Socrates in The Apology claims to have discovered no other truth than that he knows no truth, the Socrates of Plato's other earlier dialogues is of the opinion that truth is somehow attainable through this process of elenchus .
The Athenians, with the exception of Plato, thought of Socrates as a Sophist, a designation he seems to have bitterly resented. He was, however, very similar in thought to the Sophists. Like the Sophists, he was unconcerned with physical or metaphysical questions; the issue of primary importance was ethics, living a good life.
He appeared to be a sophist because he seems to tear down every ethical position he's confronted with; he never offers alternatives after he's torn down other people's ideas.

Philisophy
The one positive statement that Socrates made is a definition of virtue:
"virtue is knowledge if one knows the good, one will always do the good. It follows, then, that anyone who does anything wrong doesn't really know what the good is.”
This, for Socrates, justifies tearing down people's moral positions, for if they have the wrong ideas about virtue, morality, love, or any other ethical idea, they can't be trusted to do the right thing.

The trial
The trial of Socrates took place in 399 BC when he was nearly 70. The charges were that he refused to recognise the official gods of the state, that he introduced new gods and that he corrupted the young.
There was a vivid political background to the trial, but this does not mean that the charges were a sham and that the trial was really a political one. Politics, religion and education were all intertwined in the matter, and, however you looked at it, Socrates was saying the wrong things at the wrong time.
In 404, five years before the trial, a 27-year war between Athens and Sparta had ended with the defeat of Athens. The Athenian democracy was overthrown and replaced by a group of men, subsequently known as the Thirty Tyrants, who were installed by Sparta. In the course of earning their name, the Tyrants murdered so many people that they lasted for only a year, though it was not until 401 that democracy was fully restored. Understandably, the democrats were still feeling rather insecure in 399. There were plenty of reasons to be uneasy about the presence of Socrates in the city.
It was felt that intellectuals were weakening Athenian society by undermining its traditional views and values. Well might a man who captivated idle youths with his questioning about justice have aroused suspicion. And whatever truth there was to the rumour that Socrates disbelieved in the traditional gods - he seemed to deny the charge, but not convincingly - there was no doubt that he had an unorthodox approach to divinity.
The way he talked about his daimonion, his "guardian spirit'' or personal "divine sign'', gave reasonable cause for concern that he did indeed "introduce new gods'', as the indictment put it. That would have been a grievous sin against the shaky democracy. The state alone had the power to say what was a suitable object for religious veneration; it had its own procedures for officially recognising gods, and anyone who ignored them was in effect challenging the legitimacy of the democratic state.
All of this Socrates was up against when he faced the 500 Athenian citizens who were to judge him.
Plato was at the trial; the Apology or defence-speech of Socrates which he wrote a few years afterwards was probably his first work.
Socrates knew that his judges were already prejudiced against him and set out to correct these false impressions. He is not, he says, a man who teaches for money, like the professional "Sophists''. This seems to have been true enough: he did not charge a fee. He also dismissed the slander that he taught people how to win arguments by trickery when they were in the wrong. Far from it.
This is the main theme of the Apology, which is more of a general defence of his way of life than a rebuttal of the official charges. The nub of this defence is Socrates's claim that he has positively benefited the Athenians by subjecting them to his philosophical cross-examinations, but that they have failed to realise this and merely been angered by it, which is why he has ended up on trial for his life.
Socrates says that he is fulfilling the wishes of the gods when he goes about and argues with people.

The Oracle
A friend of his once went to the oracle at Delphi and asked if there was any man wiser than Socrates. “No” , came back the answer, which threw Socrates into a frightful confusion - or so he says.
For he always held that he was not wise at all. "After puzzling about it for some time, I set myself at last with considerable reluctance to check the truth of it.''
He did so by interrogating all sorts of people who had a reputation for wisdom or specialised knowledge. But he was always disappointed, because it seemed that there was nobody whose alleged wisdom could stand up to his questioning. He was always able to refute the efforts of others to establish some thesis of theirs, usually by highlighting some unwelcome and unexpected consequences of their views. He also questioned poets, but they could not even elucidate their poems to his satisfaction.
After one such encounter:
I reflected as I walked away, Well, I am certainly wiser than this man. It is only too likely that neither of us has any knowledge to boast of, but he thinks that he knows something which he does not know, whereas I am quite conscious of my ignorance. At any rate it seems that I am wiser than he is to this small extent, that I do not think that I know what I do not know.
Then it dawned on him what the Oracle must have meant: whenever I succeed in disproving another person's claim to wisdom in a given subject, the bystanders assume that I know everything about that subject myself.
But the truth of the matter, gentlemen, is pretty certainly this, that real wisdom is the property of God, and this Oracle is his way of telling us that human wisdom has little or no value.

Wisdom
In other words, the superior wisdom of Socrates lies in the fact that he alone is aware of how little he knows. He aptly describes himself as an intellectual midwife, whose questioning delivers the thoughts of others into the light of day.
But this skill in elucidation and debate, which he obviously has in abundance, is not a form of real wisdom so far as Socrates is concerned. Real wisdom is perfect knowledge about ethical subjects, about how to live.
When Socrates claims ignorance, he means ignorance about the foundations of morality; he is not asserting any general sort of scepticism about everyday matters of fact. His concern is solely with ethical reflection, and he cannot with a clear conscience abandon his mission to encourage it in others:
If I say that this would be disobedience to God, and that is why I cannot "mind my own business," you will not believe that I am serious. If on the other hand I tell you that to let no day pass without discussing goodness and all the other subjects about which you hear me talking and examining both myself and others is really the very best thing that a man can do, and that life without this sort of examination is not worth living, you will be even less inclined to believe me.
Nevertheless that is how it is. His pious references to the wisdom of God are apt to disguise how unconventional his attitude to divinity was.
When he says that only God has wisdom. The Delphic oracle was as authentic a voice of God as any available: yet Socrates did not just accept what it says but instead set out "to check the truth of it''.
He says elsewhere that "it has always been my nature never to accept advice from any of my friends unless reflection shows that it is the best course that reason offers"; he seems to have adopted exactly the same approach to the advice of God.
Presented with the divine pronouncement that no man is wiser than Socrates, he refuses to take this at face value until he has satisfied himself that a true meaning can be found for it.
He seems to be speaking in a roundabout way when he refers to his mission as divine, because the Delphic oracle did not explicitly tell him to go forth and philosophise. He does at one point say that his mission to argue and question was undertaken "in obedience to God's commands given in oracles and dreams and in every other way that any divine dispensation has ever impressed a duty upon man''. He probably came closest to the heart of the matter when he said "I want you to think of my adventures as a sort of pilgrimage undertaken to establish the truth of the oracle once for all''.
It was his conscience and intelligence which told him to interrogate those who believed themselves to be wise. He could claim that this "helps the cause of God'' because such activities do help to confirm the Delphic pronouncement that nobody is wiser than Socrates. But the talk of God is largely a gloss, which serves to mark Socrates' high moral purpose and to win the approval of his hearers. His basic motive for philosophising was simply that it was him the right thing to do.
Guardian Angel
Socrates says he is influenced in his actions by what he calls his daimonion, a guardian spirit or voice which has been with him since childhood. This seems to have been the unorthodox divinity or "new gods'' referred to in the charges against him.
Once again the advice of the daimonion is treated as advice to be reasoned with before it is endorsed, like the counsel of friends or the words of the Delphic oracle. The voice of the daimonion is pretty clearly what we would call the voice of cautious conscience. He says that "when it comes it always dissuades me from what I am proposing to do, and never urges me on''.
The guardian spirit warned him off any involvement in politics, he says, because if he had made a public figure of himself, he would have been killed long before he could have done much good. That is why he chose to minister to the people privately:
I spend all my time going about trying to persuade you, young and old, to make your first and chief concern not for your bodies nor for your possessions, but for the highest welfare of your souls, proclaiming as I go, Wealth does not bring goodness, but goodness brings wealth and every other blessing, both to the individual and to the state.
This persuasion seems to have been rather strident at times. He implies that the Athenians should be "ashamed that you give your attention to acquiring as much money as possible, and similarly with reputation and honour, and give no attention or thought to truth and understanding and the perfection of your soul''. He must have particularly annoyed them when he said, during his trial, that he thought he was doing the Athenians "the greatest possible service'' in showing them the errors of their ways.
This was at a stage of the proceedings when he had already been voted guilty and was required to argue for a suitable penalty, to counter the prosecution's proposal that he be put to death. Typically, he treats this responsibility with irony.
What he actually deserves for doing the Athenians such a service, he says, is not a punishment but a reward.
He suggests free meals for life at the expense of the state. Such an honour was usually reserved for victors at the Olympic games and suchlike; he has earned it even more than they have, he says, because
"these people give you the semblance of success, but I give you the reality''. He ends this part of the speech by suggesting a fine instead, at the instigation of Plato and other friends who offer to pay it for him. But the Athenians had already lost their patience. They voted for the death penalty by a larger majority than that by which they had found him guilty. This means that some of them, having previously found him innocent, were so enraged by his cheek that they either changed their minds or else decided to get rid of him anyway.
One story has it that as Socrates was leaving the court, a devoted but dim admirer called Apollodorus moaned that the hardest thing for him to bear was that Socrates was being put to death unjustly. What? said Socrates, trying to comfort him. Would you rather I was put to death justly?

Socrates Spirituality
Socrates thought that what happens after death in the Phaedo, which purports to give Socrates's last words before he drank hemlock in prison, he produces an array of proofs for the immortality of the soul.
He thought that the soul was separable from the body, that it existed before birth and that it would definitely continue to exist after death. Under Pythagorean influence, he held that while it was tied to a physical body during life it led a defiled and inferior existence from which it needed to be "purified'' and "freed from the shackles of the body''. What the good man can hope to enjoy after death is reunification, or at least communion, with those incorporeal higher forms of existence that are conventionally called "the divine''.
The philosopher, in particular, should regard the whole of his life as a preparation for the blissful release of death. As we have seen, Socrates lived a poor and unconventional life that was certainly unworldly.
Socrates pursued the virtues because he felt morally obliged to, here and now. Earthly life imposed its own duties, brought its own blessings and was not simply a preparation for something else. One belief about virtue is that the pursuit of goodness is not only a matter of acting in certain ways but also an intellectual project.
Socrates believed that coming to understand the virtues was a necessary precondition for possessing them. A man could not be truly virtuous unless he knew what virtue was, and the only way he might be able to get this knowledge was by examining accounts of the particular virtues. That is why Socrates went around questioning people and arguing with them.
Socrates saw the search for definitions as a means to an end, namely the exercise of virtue. Socrates' questioning really amounted to and what it ought to aim at.
Socrates had a egalitarian approach to knowledge and virtue. His most famous quote would have to be “The unexamined life is not worth living“.
This is not a fate to which he meant to condemn all but a chosen few. Anybody could examine his own life and ideas and thus lead a worthwhile existence.
Socrates would happily question and argue with anybody, cobbler or king, and for him this was all that philosophy was.
In one of his dialogues, uses a geometrical example to argue that knowledge of the Forms, which for him meant all the important sorts of knowledge, is acquired before birth. The truths of pure reason, such as those of mathematics, are not discovered afresh but are painstakingly recollected from a previous existence in which the soul was disembodied and could encounter the Forms directly.
Thus one does not strictly speaking learn these truths at all: one works to remember them. When a soul is born into a body, the knowledge which it previously enjoyed slips from memory: as Wordsworth wrote in his Intimations of Immortality, "our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting''.
Socrates' questions to the slave are indeed leading ones (and the diagrams help, too), yet it is nevertheless true that the slave comes to see the answer for himself. He has not simply been told it as one might be told how many feet there are in a yard or what the capital of Greece is. He has come to appreciate something through his own intellectual faculties. So Socrates can modestly make his usual claim that he has not handed over any knowledge himself but has just acted as a midwife to bring it out of somebody else. And there is another thing: as Socrates points out, in order for the slave to know this piece of mathematics properly, it is not quite enough for him to work through the example just once:
At present these opinions [of the slave’s] being newly aroused, have a dreamlike quality. But if the same questions are put to him on many occasions and in different ways, you can see that in the end he will have a knowledge on the subject as accurate as anybody's...
This knowledge will not come from teaching but from questioning. He will recover it for himself.
Repeated doses of Socratic questioning are called for. In other words, what the slave needs is exactly the sort of treatment that the real Socrates offered the largely ungrateful Athenians. As he says in the Apology, if anyone claims to know about goodness "I shall question him and examine him and test him''. Thus in his fanciful story of assisted recollection, Plato has given us a striking illustration of the sort of thing Socrates was doing when he claimed to help other people deliver their own opinions. It is as if Socrates were drawing out and firming up some knowledge that was already there.

Socratic Way of Life
For Socratic strength of mind was needed for the pursuit of happiness and held that happiness was to be found not in satisfying desires, but in losing them. As demonstrated by Socrates' indifference to wealth and comfort, and turned this into an ascetic philosophy. Socrates, after all, had said that nothing could harm a good man and that so long as one was good, nothing else in life mattered at all. Socrates never denied that wealth or possessions were, in their proper place, a better thing to have than to lack.
His apparent indifference to them was largely a by-product of the demanding search for virtue and a healthy soul.
While Socrates was quite prepared to ignore ordinary ways and values when his principles demanded it. If something was neither virtuous nor wicked, then it did not make the slightest difference whether one did it or not.
As can be imagined, this was a powerful recipe for freedom, freed of the desire for possessions, and liberated from conventional behaviour, the wise man could wander around declaiming against society's matesialistic ways..

Maestru primordial- Sai Baba

Sai Baba of Sherdi grew into importance, he conquered Samsar (worldly existence), which is the most difficult task, crossing the ocean of illusion. Peace or mental calm was His ornament; He was the repository of wisdom; He had no love for perishable things, and was always engrossed in self-realization, this was His sole concern.
He felt no pleasure in the things of this world or of the world beyond. His heart was as clear as a mirror, and His speech always rained nectar. The rich or poor people were the same to Him. He did not know or care for honour or dishonour. He was the Lord of all beings. He spoke freely and mixed with all people, saw the actings and dances of Nautchgirls and heard Gajjal songs. Still, He swerved not an inch from his mental equilibrium.
The name of Allah was always on His lips. While the world awoke, He slept; and while the world slept, He was vigilant. His abdomen (Inside) was as calm as the deep sea. His Ashram could not be determined, nor His actions could be definitely determined, and though He lived in one place, He knew all the transactions of the
world.
He told daily hundreds of stories, still He swerved not an inch from His vow of silence. He always leaned against the wall in the Masjid or walked morning, noon and evening towards still He at all times abided in the Self. Though a Siddha, He acted like a Sadhaka. He was meek, humble and egoless, and pleased all. Such was Sai Baba, and as the soil of Shirdi was trodden by Sai Baba’s Feet, it attained extraordinary importance.
He was always engrossed in His Self as ‘Existence, Knowledge and Bliss.’ Shirdi was His centre; but His field of action extended far wide. Thus the fame of Sai Baba spread, far, and wide, and people from all parts came to take His darshana and be blessed. By mere darshan, minds of people, whether, pure or impure, would become
at once quiet. They got here the same sort of unparalleled joy. Consider what a devotee says in this respect.

Sai Baba First Advent in Shirdi
Nobody knew the parents, birth or birth-place of Sai Baba. Many inquiries were made, many questions were put to Baba and others regarding these items, but no satisfactory answer or information has yet been obtained. Practically we know nothing about these matters.
Namdev and Kabir were not born like ordinary mortals. They were found as infants in mother-of-pearls, Namdev being found on the bank Bhimrathi river by Gonayee, and Kabir on the bank Bhagirathi river by Tamal. As a young lad of sixteen under a Neem tree in Shirdi, he seemed to be full of the knowledge of Brahman. He had no desire for worldly objects even in dream. He kicked out Maya; and Mukti (deliverance) was serving at His feet.
During his youth he was described thus. “This young lad, fair, smart and very handsome, was first seen under the Neem tree, seated in an Asan. The people of the village were wonder-struck to see such a young lad practising hard penance, not minding heat and cold. By day he associated with none, by night he was afraid of
nobody. People were wondering and asking, whence this young chap had turned up. His form and features were so beautiful that a mere look endeared Him to all.
He went to nobody’s door, always sat near the Neem tree. Outwardly he looked very young; but by His action he
was really a Great Soul. He was the embodiment of dispassion and was an enigma to all. One day it so happened, that God Khandoba possessed the body of some devotee and people began to ask Him, "Deva (God), you please enquire what blessed father’s son is this lad and whence did He come".
God Khandoba asked them to bring a pick-axe and dig in a particular place. When it was dug, bricks were found underneath a flat stone. When the stone was removed, a corridor led to a cellar where cow-mouth-shaped structures, wooden boards, necklaces were seen. Khandoba said - "This lad practiced penance here for 12 years."
Then the people began to question the lad about this. He put them off the scent by telling them that it was His Guru’s place, His holy Watan and requested them to guard it well. The people then closed the corridor as before. As Ashwattha and Audumbar trees are held sacred, Baba regarded this Neem tree equally sacred and loved it most.

Young Life
There lived in the Aurangabad District (Nizam State), in a village called Dhoop, a well-to-do Mahomedan gentleman by name Chand Patil. While he was making a trip to Aurangabad, he lost his mare. For two long months, he made a diligent search but could get no trace of the lost mare. After being disappointed, he returned from Aurangabad with the saddle on his back. After travelling four Koss and a half, he came, on the way, to a mango tree under the foot of which sat a young man. He had a cap on His head, wore Kafni (long robe) and had a "Satka" (short stick) under His arm-pit and He was preparing to smoke a Chilim (pipe). On seeing Chand Patil pass by the way, He called out to him and asked him to have a smoke and to rest a little.
The Fakir asked him about the saddle. Chand Patil replied that it was of his mare which was lost. The queer fellow or Fakir asked him to make a search in the Nala close by. He went and the wonder of wonders! he found out the mare. He thought that this Fakir was not an ordinary man, but an Avalia (a great saint).
He returned to the Fakir with the mare. The Chilim was ready for being smoked, but two things were wanting; (1) fire to light the pipe, and (2) water to wet the chhapi (piece of cloth through which smoke is drawn up).
The Fakir took His prong and thrust it forcibly into the ground and out came a live burning coal, which He put on the pipe.
Then He dashed the Satka on the ground, from whence water began to ooze. The chhapi was wetted with that water, was then wrung out and wrapped round the pipe. Thus everything being complete, the Fakir smoked the Chilim and then gave it also to Chand Patil.
On seeing all this, Chand Patil was wonderstruck. He requested the Fakir to come to his home and accept his hospitality. Next day He went to the Patil’s house and stayed there for some time.
The Patil was a village - officer of Dhoop. His wife’s brother’s son was to be married and the bride was from Shirdi. So Patil made preparations to start for Shirdi for the marriage. The Fakir also accompanied the marriage-party. The marriage went off without any hitch, the party returned to Dhoop, except the Fakir alone stayed in Shirdi, and remained there forever.

Contact with Other Saints
Sai Baba began to stay in a deserted Masjid. One Saint named Devidas was living in Shirdi many years before Baba came there. Baba liked his company. He stayed with him in the Maruti temple, in the Chavadi, and
some time lived alone.
Then came another Saint by name Jankidas. Baba spent most of His time in talking with him, or Jankidas went to Baba’s residence. So also one Vaishya house-holder Saint, from Puntambe by name Gangagir always frequented Shirdi. When he first saw Sai Baba, carrying pitchers of water in both hands, for watering the garden, he was amazed and said openly, "Blessed is Shirdi, that it got this precious Jewel. This man is carrying water to-day; but He is not an ordinary fellow. As this land (Shirdi) was lucky and meritorious, it secured this Jewel."
So also one famous Saint by name Anandnath of Yewala Math, a disciple of Akkalkot Maharaj came to Shirdi with some Shirdi people. When he saw Sai Baba, he said openly, "This is a precious Diamond in reality. Though he looks like an ordinary man, he is not a ‘gar’ (ordinary stone) but a Diamond. You will realize this in the near future." Saying this he returned to Yewala. This was said while Sai Baba was a youngster.

Baba’s Dress and Daily Routine
In his young days, Sai Baba grew hair on His head; never had His head shaved. He dressed like an athlete. When He went to Rahata (3 miles from Shirdi), He brought with Him small plants of Merry Gold, and after cleaning, he planted and watered them.
A devotee by name Vaman Tatya supplied Him daily with two earthen pitchers. With these Baba Himself used to
water the plants. He drew water from the well and carried the pitchers on His shoulders. In the evening the pitchers were kept at the foot of the Neem tree. As soon as they were placed there, they were broken, as they were made of raw earth and not baked. Next day, Tatya supplied two fresh pitchers. This course went on for 3 years; and with Sai Baba’s toil and labour, there grew a flower-garden.

Way of Life
Sai Baba did not mix and speak with the people. He only gave answers when he was questioned. By day he always sat under the Neem tree, sometimes under the shade of a branch of a Babul tree near the stream at the outskirts of the village. He used a Satka (short stick), which He always kept with Him. The piece of white cloth on the head was twisted like matted hair, and flowed down from the left ear on the back. He wore no shoes, no sandals. A piece of sack-cloth was His seat for most of the day.
He wore a coupin (waist-cloth-band) and for warding off cold he always sat in front of a Dhuni (sacred fire) facing south with His left hand resting on the wooden railing. In that Dhuni, He offered as oblation; egoism, desires and all thoughts and always uttered Allah Malik (God is the sole owner).

Turning Water into Oil
Sai Baba was very fond of lights. He used to borrow oil from shop-keepers, and keep lamps burning the whole night in the Masjid and temple. This went on for some time.
The Banias, who supplied oil gratis, once met together and decided not to give Him oil. When, as usual, Baba went to ask for oil, they all gave Him a distinct No.
Unperturbed, Baba returned to the Masjid and kept the dry wicks in the lamps. The banias were watching Him with curiosity. Baba took the Tumrel (tin pot) which contained very little (a few drops) of oil, put water into it and drank it and forced it fall in the container. After consecrating the tin-pot in this way, He again took water in the tin-pot and filled all the lamps with it and lighted them. To the surprise and dismay of the watching Banias, the lamps began to burn and kept burning the whole night. The Banias repented and apologized. Baba forgave them and asked them to be more truthful in future.

Gentle Man
He always walked, talked and laughed with them and always uttered with His tongue ‘Allah Malik’ (God is the sole owner). He never liked discussion or arguments. He was always calm and controlled, though irritable at times, always preached full Vedanta and nobody knew till the last Who was Baba. Princes and poor people
were treated alike by Him. He knew the inmost secrets of all, and when He gave expression to them, all were surprised. He was the repository of all knowledge, still He feigned ignorance. He also disliked honour. Such
were the characteristics of Sai Baba. Though, He had a human body, His deeds testified to his connection with Godhood.
People were immensely benefited by having a darshana of Baba. Some became hale and hearty; wicked people were turned into good ones. Leprosy was cured in some cases, many had their desires fulfilled, some blind men had back their sight and the lame walked. Nobody could see the end of His extraordinary greatness.
His fame spread far and wide, and pilgrims from all sides flocked to Shirdi. Baba sat always near the Dhuni and eased Himself there, and always sat in meditation.
He used to tie a white turban on his head; and wear a clean Dhotar round his waist, and a shirt on his body. This was his dress in the beginning.

Shri Sai Satcharitra
During his lifetime Sai Baba authorised the writing Shri Sai Satcharitra with the aim of enabling description of his miracles would be interesting, and instructive to His devotees; and would aid to remove their sins, and so began to write of the sacred life and teachings of Sai Baba. The life of the saint is neither logical nor dialectical. It shows us the true and great path.
The stories, parables, and teachings of Sai Baba give peace and happiness to the people, who are afflicted with sorrows and heavily loaded with miseries of this worldly existence, and bestow knowledge and wisdom, both in the worldly and in spiritual domains.
"Let him make a collection of stories and experiences, keep notes and memos; I will help him. He is only an outward instrument. I should write Myself My autobiography and satisfy the wishes of My devotees. He should get rid of his ego, place it at My feet. He who acts like this in life, him I help the most. What of My life-stories? I serve him in his house in all possible ways. When his ego is completely annihilated and there is left no trace of it, I Myself shall enter into him and shall Myself write My own life. Hearing my stories and teachings will create faith in devotees’ hearts and they will easily get self-realization and Bliss; let there be no insistence on establishing one’s own view, no attempt to refute other’s opinions, no discussions of pros and cons of any subject."

About the need for a Guru
Next day after Hemadpant’s meeting with Sai Baba, Kakasaheb went to Baba and asked whether he should leave Shirdi. Baba Said, "Yes". Then someone asked -"Baba, where to go?" Baba said, "High up." Then the man said, "How is the way?"
Baba said, "There are many ways leading there; there is one way also from here (Shirdi). The way is difficult. There are tigers and wolves in the jungles on the way." I asked - "But Baba, what if we take a guide with us?" Baba answered, - "Then there is no difficulty. The guide will take you straight to your destination, avoiding wolves, tigers and ditches etc. on the way. If there be no guide, there is the danger of your being lost in the jungles or falling into ditches."

Sai Baba’s Sanction and Promise
"I fully agree with you regarding the writing of Sat Charita. You do your duty, don’t be afraid in the least, steady your mind and have faith in My words. If my Leelas are written, the Avidya (nescience) will vanish and if they are attentively, and devoutly listened to, the consciousness of the worldly existence will abate, and strong waves of devotion, and love will rise up and if one dives deep into My Leelas, he would get precious jewels of knowledge."
"If a man utters My name with love, I shall fulfill all his wishes, increase his devotion. And if he sings earnestly My life and My deeds, him I shall beset in front and back and on all sides. Those devotees, who are attached to Me, heart and soul, will naturally feel happiness, when they hear these stories. Believe Me that if anybody sings My Leelas, I will give him infinite joy and everlasting contentment. It is My special characteristic to free any
person, who surrenders completely to Me, and who does worship Me faithfully, and who remembers Me, and meditates on Me constantly. How can they be conscious of worldly objects and sensations, who utter My name, who worship Me, who think of My stories and My life and who thus always remember Me? I shall draw out My
devotees from the jaws of Death. If My stories are listened to, all the diseases will be got rid of. So, hear My stories with respect; and think and meditate on them, assimilate them. This is the way of happiness and contentment. The pride and egoism of My devotees will vanish, the mind of the hearers will be set at rest; and if it has wholehearted and complete faith, it will be one with Supreme Consciousness. The simple remembrance of My name as ‘Sai, Sai’ will do away with sins of speech and hearing".
"He will get some other job, but now he should serve Me and be happy. His dishes will be ever full and never empty. He should turn all his attention towards Me and avoid the company of atheists, irreligious and wicked people. He should be meek and humble towards all and worship Me heart and soul. If he does this, he will get eternal happiness".
"Be wherever you like, do whatever you choose, remember this well that all what you do is known to Me. I am the Inner Ruler of all and seated in their hearts. I envelope all the creatures, the movable and immovable world. I am the Controller - the wire-puller of the show of this Universe. I am the mother - origin of all beings - the Harmony of three Gunas, the propeller of all senses, the Creator, Preserver and Destroyer. Nothing will harm him, who turns his attention towards Me, but Maya will lash or whip him who forgets Me. All the insects, ants, the visible, movable and immovable world, is My Body or Form".

Baba’s All-pervasiveness and Mercy
In the year 1910 A.D., Baba was sitting near the Dhuni on Divali holiday and warming Himself. He
was pushing fire-wood into the Dhuni, which was brightly burning. A little later, instead of pushing
logs of woods, Baba pushed His arm into the Dhuni; the arm was scorched and burnt immediately. This
was noticed by the servant Madhava. They at once ran to Baba, clasping Baba by His waist from
behind dragged Him forcible back ward and asked, "Deva, for what have You done this?" Then Baba
came to His senses and replied, "The wife of a blacksmith at some distant place, was working the
bellows of a furnace her husband called her. Forgetting that her child was on her waist, she ran hastily and the child slipped into the furnace. I immediately thrust My hand into the furnace and saved the child. I do not mind My arm being burnt, but I am glad that the life of the child is saved."

Sagun Manifestation of Brahman
Though Sai Baba looked like a man, three cubits and a half in length, still He dwelt in the hearts of all. Inwardly,
he was unattached and indifferent, but outwardly, He longed for public welfare. Inwardly most disinterested, He looked outwardly full of desires, for the sake of His devotees. Inwardly an abode of peace, he looked outwardly restless. Inwardly He had the state of Brahman, outwardly He acted like a devil. Inwardly He had the state of Brahman, He got entangled with the world. Sometimes He looked on all with affection, and at times He threw stones at them; sometimes He scolded them, while at times He embraced them and was calm, composed, tolerant and well-balanced. He always abided and was engrossed in the Self and was well-disposed towards His Bhaktas.
He always sat on one Asan and never travelled. His 'band' was a small stick, which He always carried in His hand. He was calm, being thought-free. He never cared for wealth and fame and lived on begging. Such a life He led. He always uttered 'Allah Malik' (God the real owner).
Entire and unbroken was His love for the Bhaktas. He was the mine or store-house for self-knowledge and full of Divine Bliss. Such was the Divine Form of Sai Baba, boundless, endless and undifferentiated. One principle which envelopes the whole universe, (from a stone pillar to Brahma) incarnated in Sai Baba. The really
meritorious and fortunate people got this treasure-trove in their hands, while those people who not knowing the real worth of Sai Baba took or take Him to be a man, a mere human being, were and are indeed miserable.

Baba's Mission and Advice
The split between the two communities - Hindus and Mahomedans had widened and Sai Baba came to bridge the gulf.
His constant advice to all was to this effect. "Rama (the God of the Hindus) and Rahim (the God of the Mahomedans) were one and the same; there was not the slightest difference between them; then why should their devotees and quarrel among themselves? You ignorant folk, children, join hands and bring both the communities together, act sanely and thus you will gain your object of national unity. It is not good to dispute and argue. So don't argue, don't emulate others. Always consider your interest and welfare. The Lord will protect you. Yoga, sacrifice, penance, and knowledge are the means to attain God. If you do not succeed in this by any means, vain is your birth. If any one does any evil unto you, to do not retaliate. If you can do anything, do some good unto other."

Sai Baba Sadguru
There are many false Gurus, who go about and make a show of their spirtituality, they blow mantras into the ears of their disciples and extract money from them. They profess to teach piety and religion to their disciples, but are themselves impious and irreligious. Sai Baba never thought of making the least show of His worth (piety).
Body-consciousness, He had none, but He had great love for the disciples.
The true Guru by their advice develop the good qualities in us, purify our hearts and set us on the path of salvation, dispels our sense of difference, and estalishes us in Unity by making us realize "Thou art that". Sai Baba did not impart to us wordly knowledge, but he fixed us in our Nature, The Self and carried us beyond the ocean of worldly existence, He is the Sadguru.
He saw Divinity in all beings. Friends and foes were alike to Him. Disinterested and equal-balanced, He obliged the evil-doers. He was the same in prosperity and adversity. No doubt, ever touched Him. Though He possessed the human body, He was not in the least attached to His body or house. Though He looked embodied, He was disembodied and free in this every aspect of his life.
Though He ate, he had no taste and though He saw, He never felt any interest in what He saw. Regarding passion, He was as perfect a celibate as Hanuman. He was not attached to anything. He was pure consciousness, the resting place of desire, anger, and other feelings. In short, He was disinterested, free and perfect.

Sai Baba as Sagun Brahman
There are two aspects of God or Brahman: (1) the Unmanifested (Nirgun) and (2) the Manifested (Sagun). The Nirgun is formless, while the Sagun is with form, though both denote the same Brahman. Some prefer to worship the former, some the latter.
As stated in the Gita (chapter XII) the worship of the latter is easy and preferable. As man has got a form (body, senses, etc.), it is natural and easy for him to worship the God with form. Our love and devotion do not develop unless we worship Sagun Brahman for a certain period of time, and as we advance; he leads us to the worship
(meditation) of Nirgun Brahman.

Baba's Control over the Elements
Once at evening time, there was a terrible storm at Shirdi. The sky was overcast with thick black clouds. The winds began to blow forcibly; the clouds roared and the lighting began to flash, and the rains began to descend in torrents. In a short time, the whole place was flooded with water, All the creatures, birds, beasts and men
got terribly frightened; and they all flocked to the Masjid for shelter.
There are many local deities in Shirdi, but none of them came to their help. So they all prayed to Baba - their God, Who was fond of their devotion, to intercede and quell the storm. Baba was much moved. He came out and standing at the edge of the Masjid, addressed the storm in a loud and thunderous voice - "Stop, stop your fury and be calm." In a few minutes the rains subsided, the winds ceased to blow, and the storm came to a stop. Then the moon rose in the sky, and the people then went back home well-pleased.
On another occasion at noon the fire in the Dhuni began to burn brightly, its flames were seen to be reaching the rafters above. The people who were sitting in the Masjid did not know what to do. They dared not to ask Baba to pour water or do anything to quench the flames. But Baba soon came to realize, what was happening. He took up His Satka (short stick) and dashed it against a pillar in front, saying - "Get down, Be calm." At each stroke of the Satka, the flames began to lower and slow down; and in a few minutes the Dhuni became calm and normal.

Maya
After philosophising about the Self-Existent Brahman, His Power (Maya) to create this world and the world created, and stating that all these three are ultimately one and the same, the author quotes Sai Baba’s words:
"There will never be any dearth or scarcity, regarding food and clothes, in any devotees’ homes. It is my special
characteristic, that I always look to, and provide, for the welfare of those devotees, who worship Me whole-heartedly with their minds ever fixed on Me. Lord Krishna has also said the same in the Gita. Therefore, strive not much for food and clothes. If you want anything, beg of the Lord, leave worldly honours, try to get Lord’s grace and blessings, and be honoured in His Court. Do not be deluded by worldly honour. The form of the Deity should be firmly fixed in the mind. Let all the senses and mind be ever devoted to the worship of the Lord, let there be no attraction for any other thing; fix the mind in remembering Me always, so that it will not wander elsewhere, towards body, wealth and home. Then it will be calm, peaceful and care-free. This is the sign of the mind, being well engaged in good company. If the mind is vagrant, it cannot be called well-merged."

The Inscrutable Power of Maya
He was ever content and never cared for anything. He said, "Though I have become a Fakir, have no house or wife, and though leaving off all cares, I have stayed at one place, the inevitable Maya teases Me often. Though I forgot Myself I cannot forget Her. She always envelops Me. This Maya (illusive power) of the Lord (Shri Hari) teases God Brahma and others; then what to speak of a poor Fakir like Me? Those who take refuge in the Lord will be freed from Her clutches with his grace".
"Those who are fortunate and whose demerits have vanished; take to My worship. If you always say 'Sai, Sai' I shall take you over the seven seas; believe in these words, and you will be certainly benefited. I do not need any paraphernalia of worship - either eight-fold or sixteen-fold. I rest there where there is full devotion".

Dakshina
It is a well-known fact that Baba always asked for Dakshina from people who went to see Him. Somebody may ask a question, "If Baba was a Fakir and perfectly non-attached, why should he ask for Dakshina and care for money?"
The Shastras laid it down that, when one goes to see God, King, Saint or Guru, he should not go empty-handed. He should offer something, preferably coin or money. In this connection we may notice the precepts recommended by the Upanishads. Baba collected money by Dakshina. He would distribute the entire amount the same day, and the next morning He would become a poor Fakir as usual. In short, Baba's main object in taking Dakshina, from His devotees was to teach them the lessons of Renunciation and Purification.
He did not ask Dakshina from all. If some gave Dakshina without being asked, He sometimes accepted it; and at other times He refused it. He asked it from certain devotees only. He never demanded it, from those devotees, who thought in their minds that Baba should ask them for it, and then they should pay it. If anybody offered it against His wish, He never touched it, and if he kept it there, He asked him to take it away. He asked for small or big amounts from devotees, according to their wish, devotion and convenience. He asked it, even from women and children. He never asked all the rich for it, nor from all the poor."
"If you spread your palms with devotion before Me, I am immediately with you, day and night. Though, I am here bodily, still I know what you do; beyond the seven seas.
Go wherever you will, over the wide world, I am with you. My abode is in your heart and I am within you. Always worship Me, Who is seated in your heart, as well as, in the hearts of all beings, Blessed and fortunate, indeed, is he who knows Me thus."

Self-Realisation
A seeker after a long journey went to the Masjid, saw Sai Baba, fell at His Feet and said, "Baba, hearing that You show the Brahman to all who come over here without any delay, I have come here all the way from my distant place. I am much fatigued by the journey and if I get the Brahman from You, my troubles will be well-paid and
rewarded." Baba then replied, "Oh, My dear friend, do not be anxious, I shall immediately show you the Brahman; all My dealings are in cash and never on credit. So many people come to Me, and ask for wealth, health, power, honour, position, cure of diseases and other temporal matters. Rare is the person, who comes here to Me and asks for Brahma-Jnana. There is no dearth of persons asking for wordly things, but as persons interested in spiritual matters are very rare, I think it a lucky and auspicious moment, when persons like you
come and press Me for Brahma-Jnana. So I show to you with pleasure, the Brahman with all its accompaniments and complications."
"Oh my dear friend, did you not understand all the procedure that I went through, sitting in this place, for enabling you to see the Brahman? It is, in short this. For seeing Brahman one has to give five things, i.e. surrender five things viz.
(1) Five Pranas (vital forces), (2) Five senses (five of action and five of perception), (3) mind, (4) intellect and (5) ego. This path of Brahma-Jnana of self-realization is 'as hard as to tread on the edge of a razor'.
Sai Baba then gave rather a long discourse on the subject, the purport and qualifications needed for for Brahma-Jnana or Self-Realization Mumuksha or intense desire to get free.
(1) Virakti or a feeling of disgust with the things of this world and the next. Unless a man feels disgusted with the things, emoluments and honors, which his action would bring in this world and the next, he has no right to enter into the spiritual realm.
(2) Antarmukhata (introversion). Our senses have been created by God with a tendency to move outward and so, man always looks outside himself and not inside. He who wants self-realization and immortal life, must turn his gaze inwards, and look to his inner Self.
(3) Catharsis from (Purging away of) sins. Unless a man has turned away from wickedness, and stopped from doing wrong, and has entirely composed himself and unless his mind is at rest, he cannot gain self-realization, even by means of knowledge.
(4) Right Conduct. Unless, a man leads a life of truth, penance and insight, a life of celibacy, he cannot get God-realization.
(5) Preferring Shreyas, (the Good) to Preyas (the Pleasant). There are two sorts of things viz., the Good and the Pleasant; the former deals with spiritual affairs, and the latter with mundane matters. Both these approach man for acceptance. He has to think and choose one of them. The wise man prefers the Good to the Pleasant; but the unwise, through greed and attachment, chooses the Pleasant.
(6) Control of the mind and the senses. The body is the chariot and the Self is its master; intellect is the charioteer and the mind is the reins; the senses are the horses and sense-objects their paths. He who has no understanding and whose mind is unrestrained, his senses unmanageable like the vicious horses of a charioteer, does not reach his destination (get realization), but goes through the round of births and deaths; but he who has understanding and whose mind is restrained, his senses being under control, like the good horse of a charioteer, reaches that place, i.e., the state of self-realization, when he is not born again. The man, who has understanding as his charioteer (guide) and is able to rein his mind, reaches the end of the journey, which is the supreme abode of the all-pervading, Vishnu (lord).
(7) Purification of the mind. Unless a man discharges satisfactorily and disinterestedly the duties of his station in life, his mind will not be purified and, unless his mind is purified, he cannot get self-realization. It is only in the purified mind that Viveka (discrimination between the Unreal and the Real), and Vairagya (Non-attachment to the unreal) crop up and lead on the self-realization. Unless egoism is dropped, avarice got rid of, and the mind made desireless (pure), self-realization is not possible. The idea that 'I am the body' is a great delusion, and
attachment to this idea is the cause of bondage. Leave off this idea and attachment therefore, if you want to get to the Self-realization.
(8) The necessity of a Guru. The knowledge of the self is so subtle and mystic, that no one could, by his own individual effort ever hope to attain it. So the help of another person-Teacher, who has himself got self-realization is absolutely necessary. What others cannot give with great labour and pains, can be easily gained with the help of such a Teacher; for he has walked on the path himself and can easily take the disciple, step by step on the ladder of spiritual progress.
(9) Lastly the Lord's Grace is the most essential thing. When the Lord is pleased with any body, He gives him Viveka and Vairagya; and takes him safe beyond the ocean of mundane existence, "The Self cannot be gained by the study of Vedas, nor by intellect, nor by much learning. He, whom the Self chooses, by him It is gained. To him the Self reveals Its nature", says the Katha Upanishad.
After the dissertation was over, Baba turned to the gentleman and said - "Well sir, there is in your pocket the Brahma (or Mammon) in the form of fifty-times five(Rs.250/-) rupees; please take that out." The gentleman took out from his pocket the bundle of currency notes, and to his great surprise found, on counting them, that there were 25 notes of 10 rupees each, Seeing this ominiscience of Baba, he was moved and fell at Baba's Feet and craved for His blessings. Then Baba said to him, "Roll up your bundle of Brahma viz. Currency notes. Unless you get rid completely of your avarice or greed, your will not get the real Brahma. How can be, whose mind is engrossed in wealth, progeny and prosperity, expect to know the Brahma, without removing away his attachment for the same? The illusion of attachment or the love for money is a deep eddy (whirlpool) of pain full of crocodiles in the form of conceit and jealousy. He, who is desireless, can alone cross this whirlpool. Greed and Brahma are as poles asunder, they are eternally opposed to each other. Where there is greed, there is no room for thought or meditation of the Brahma. Then how can a greedy man get dispassion and salvation? For a greedy man there is no peace, neither contentment, nor certainty (steadiness). If there be even a little trace of greed in mind, all the Sadhanas (spiritual endeavors) are of no avail. Even the knowledge of a well-read man, who is not free from the desire of the fruit or reward of his actions, and who has got no disgust for the same, is useless and can't help him in getting self-realization.
The teachings of a Guru are of no use to a man, who is full of egoism, and who always thinks about the sense-objects. Purification of mind is absolutely necessary; without it, all our spiritual endeavors are nothing, but useless show and pomp. It is, therefore, better for one to take only what he can digest and assimilate.
My treasury is full, and I can give anyone, what he wants, but I have to see whether he is qualified to receive what I give. If you listen to Me carefully, you will be certainly benefited. Sitting in this Masjid, I never speak any untruth."
There are many Saints, who leaving their houses, stay in forest, caves or hermitages and remaining in solitude, try to get liberation or salvation for themselves. They do not care for other people, and are always self-absorbed. Sai Baba did not retreat not shun the world. He had no home, no wife, no progency, nor any relations, near or
distant. Still, He lived in the world (society). He begged His bread from four or five houses, always lived at the foot of the (Neem) tree, carried on wordly dealings, and taught all the people how to act. and behave in this world.
He was Sat Guru who, after attaining God-vision, strive for the welfare of the people.