CHRISTMAS DISCOURSE

26/12/07

Swami arrived in the evening at 5 pm, as all devotees patiently waited for His discourse. He asked a professor to speak for sometime. At around 5.30 he got up, with a beaming smile, ever ready to bless all of us. Here are a few excerpts from His divine discourse.

• Anger is the cause of failure. It leads to commit many sins.
• All conflicts arise due to lack of love. All problems, difficulties are nothing but our own imagination. There’s nothing like restlessness in the world. There’s Shanti everywhere. Peace within your heart will get reflected in peace around you. Everything is governed by the principle of “reflection, reaction, resound.”
• (Swami asked a boy) “What is your name?”(he replied “vikas”). No, you are not Vikas. You are Brahman. If you ask God “what is your name?” he will reply “Aham Brahmasmi”
• You are not one but three (one you think you are, others think you are…)What others think you are is a matter of imagination. The true self is “I” which is common to all of you. Christians worship this “I”
• One is not born with the name. It’s just for the sake of identity.
• All beings take birth by the Will of God. (At this point, Swami materialized a chain and placed it on the mike.) We run after materialistic things which are nothing but shadows (maya). The shadow changes according to the position of sunlight but the object remains same. The object is the Brahman.
• Love is the basis for faith. LOVE, the first letter stands for Lord. Everything arises from the Lord. Without creator, there’s no creation.

Swami discussed in detail about the life of Jesus.

• Jesus was a son of a carpenter named Joseph. Joseph loved a girl in his village. After sometime, he noticed she was pregnant. It was election time then. So, they had to return to their native village. There was no transport available, so they had to ride on a donkey. When they reached the village, they found all houses were occupied. They went to a place nearby where donkeys were kept and spent the night. Mary had labor pains, but Joseph thought it was because of long hours of travel. On that holy night, Mary delivered a baby boy
  

• Jesus grew up under the care of his mother. One day there was a function in Jerusalem. Jesus went to the function and got separated in the crowd. His parents thought their son was lost and cried in despair. But He returned back at night, much to the relief of his parents. He told them that he had joined a gathering in listening to the speeches of wise elders in village. The pundits said that there is only one truth, which is the self. Later on, contemplating n this truth, Jesus went around mountains near the village. He came down by the riverside and met Peter, a boatman. Peter introduced himself and his father to Jesus. He told Jesus that they were not able to catch any fish in the river anymore. Jesus pointed out a place and asked them to go and fish there. To their amazement, they found plenty of fish. All the fishermen thanked Jesus and accepted Him as their master.
  

• Seeing this popularity of Jesus, some people were jealous of Him. They decided to conspire against him. (Swami narrated episodes of how Judas betrayed Jesus and how Jesus was crucified). When Jesus was about to be crucified, Mother Mary came to him and cried. Jesus pacified her saying body is just a water bubble, the true self can never die. But she said that she couldn’t bear such torture to her son. Jesus replied “I am not anybody’s son. All are my children”
  

• The next day Jesus appeared for the supper. The king was surprised and asked how he could come here. Jesus said, “I can go anywhere, at my Will. I am God. None can kill me” These words moved the king and he decided to bow down to Jesus.

• There’s nothing beyond the Will of God. Any person having complete faith in these words will be protected. Faith is most important. Today, people have lost the two eyes of faith and have become blind. With faith and love, one can achieve anything. Faith grows in love.
  

• Many foreigners have faith, but sometimes love is missing. Both are like +ve and -ve forces. Develop this “Master Faith” in the Lord. If you strengthen faith, you can achieve anything.
  

• Bhagwan isn’t ordinary. The mistake of such thought lies in your vision. Swami’s happiness is in you. You are not separate from Him. This is the fundamental truth.
  

• Bhagwan makes you work like instruments. He wants you to become ideal instruments in His mission. With Jnaana, Vijanaana and Sujnaana, Swami wants all of you to become powerful instruments.
  

• You think your qualifications make you succeed in life. There are so many educated people in this world. In fact, educated people are the ones who ruin the world today. Thus, with secular education, a spiritual life is very much essential.
  

• Students, you are ripe fruits. But fruit must have the sweet juice (of love), otherwise it will be discarded. You are not here merely for learning, but to learn from Swami. Have strong faith, grow your love. Believe in the principle of oneness.
  

• (Swami sang the bhajan “Hari bhajan bina sukh shanti nahin...”) Bhajan alone gives you true peace. You may earn your degrees, but do not forget the chanting of Lord’s name. It is the easiest way to attain moksha, be it a tiny tot or an old man.

Swami later put the chain around the neck of a student. After a bhajan, aarati was given. He sat through he entire aarati. It was 6.45 when he returned to Yajur Mandir. It was the longest discourse given by Swami in recent times, but we just couldn’t figure out how time passed by so soon!