Phyllis Krystal - Cutting more Ties That Bind

Baba further advises that we should undertake everything we do as an act of worship. That means that when we are faced with an unpleasant or menial task we should do it as an offering to the universal God-force. Likewise, when the occasion arises to serve another person, instead of doing so with a subservient attitude, a patronising one, or feeling resentful or put-upon, ‘we should consider the other person as a manifestation of God. This is true even though it is often buried out of sight behind an unpleasant personality.

Baba does not advocate the exclusive use of routines and rituals in our present period of history. He recommends that, instead of rigidly adhering to a fixed programme of meditation, prayer and other practices, we should endeavour to live the entire day as a continuous meditation. Baba materialised for me a japamala which is like a rosary. It is composed of 108 crystal beads. When I asked him if I should use a mantra with it for meditation, he said, ‘No, it must be continuous meditation all day.’

Education in Human Values

Baba’s Education in Human Values (EHV) programme can be very helpful for parents and teachers as well as for children of all ages. In preparing for parenthood, it can be used to help both parents to compare their lifestyle with this model. The basic tenets are Truth, Right Action, Peace, Love and Non-Violence. The list may be rather intimidating at first glance. However, when it is broken down in detail, it proves to be a most practical and positive method for guiding both children and adults towards a more fulfilling way of life.

Naturally, parents and teachers will find that they are not able to put all these values into practice immediately. It takes time to weed out old negative habits, attitudes, thoughts and feelings to make room for more positive ones to take their place. Only one small step at a time should be attempted, otherwise the prospect of such a colossal task can become overwhelming.

In my counselling work, I use a method which has proved to be very helpful in clarifying the steps. I suggest to the person with whom I am working that they purchase a package of multi-coloured postcards or paper. They can designate a card of a chosen colour to represent each of the five tenets. For instance, a pink card could be for love, a white card for truth, blue for peace, yellow for right action, and green for non-violence.

It is advisable to allow one week at a time to work on each value. After that they can be repeated as often as required. Daily incidents that indicate whether the particular value has been adhered to, or the reverse, can be recorded on the applicable card each day. This record gives a very clear picture of how far a person is succeeding in applying these principles to daily life. Merely reading or hearing about such a programme is not enough. It is necessary to apply it and experience it in action to bring about the necessary changes in oneself in the context of everyday life. Only then are the teachings absorbed on many levels and not solely by the mind.

Truth

So, in the first week, Truth could be the subject under scrutiny. If the adults responsible for teaching children are not adhering to truth in their lives, how can they expect the children to learn to be truthful? There are many different aspects to truth besides the obvious one of honesty or telling the truth. Thoughts, attitudes and actions need to be checked against this value, as well as words. So, thought, word and deed must be integrated and based in Truth.

Right Action

It is difficult to find one word to give a precise interpretation of the Sanskrit word dharma, but the nearest equivalent in English is probably Right Action. It literally means the intrinsic nature of a person or thing, that which makes it what it is, its essential essence – or aroma, its ‘isness’. A bell has a tone, a flower a perfume, a fruit a taste which is its own. A pomegranate cannot taste like an apple. Likewise, a man’s dharma cannot be the same as a dog’s, a butterfly’s or an oak’s dharma. Nor can one man’s specific duty be the same as another man’s.

Everyone and everything in the world contains a spark of divinity clothed or housed in a certain tangible form through which it can be manifested. It is similar to electricity, which needs to be harnessed to, or directed through, different appliances or avenues to create certain effects. It can heat through a fire, a heating pad or an oven; cool through a freezer, a fan or an air-conditioning system, and so on. The universal God-force is manifested in the world through the multitudes of things, minerals, plants, animals and human beings.

People need to make an effort to allow this force to be expressed in their lives since they alone possess the free will to make that choice. In other words, it means surrendering to the High C their true identity and obeying Its subtle directions instead of allowing the five senses, with their myriad attachments and desires, to control their lives.

So, when we understand and start to live according to Right Action, or are inwardly directed by the High C, we will find that we are in the right place, at the right time, engaged in the right activity, for the right reason or motive.

Actually, the only way Right Action can be successfully incorporated into our lives is by daily asking the High C to express Itself through us. That will circumvent the habitual ego-motivated way of life so apparent in the world today.

I have found it helpful to start each day by asking in meditation for the High C to think, speak, feel and act through me and to remember to use as a mantra, ‘Surrender, Trust and Accept’, throughout the day. This daily practice helps me to bring about Right Action in my life.

When we have begun to understand Truth, Right Action will naturally follow and when they have become habitual, peace, love and non-violence will naturally be incorporated into our lives.

Peace

Being at peace results from High C -directed living. When we relax and allow the High C to take over, we will not be plagued by the previous swarms of doubts and indecisions and the proliferation of desires which cause so much stress and unrest. In today’s world, television and advertising in the media constantly lure us to seek peace in possessions and activities rather than from within ourselves. Eventually, we discover that we are left with the opposite of peace as we search frantically for what we hope will give it to us.

Love

When we are really trying to be motivated by the High C, instead of our egos, we will be more and more in touch with our Reality. As Its very nature is Love, it will be quite natural to begin to express Love in thought, word and deed.

To quote Baba, ‘Love as thought is Truth. Love as action is Right Action. Love as feeling is Peace. Love as understanding is non-violence or harmlessness.’

Non-Violence

Non-violence means doing nothing consciously to hurt or harm anyone in any way by thought, word or deed. But non-violence has a much wider meaning than is generally recognised. Not only are vegetarianism and the majestic turning of the other cheek non-violence, but so are the care and concern we express for our planet and its life-forms.

Ceiling on Desires

A further help to prospective parents in reorganising their life-style before inviting other souls to share it is Sai Baba’s Ceiling on Desires programme. It is designed to reduce waste in four different categories: money, food, time and energy.

This programme was offered by Baba to ensure that families could benefit to the optimum from the various resources at their disposal. When any of these are wasted, the family suffers a reduced standard of living.

• Unless the available money is put to good use, the family will not be assured of basic necessities.