- His Holiness Shri Datta Swami
Filters for Discourses
Dr. Nikhil asked: Many people say that they do not believe in the existence of God because they find accepting God’s existence inconvenient. I am trying to change the mode of logic in such a way that the existence of God does not become inconvenient to them. Is it alright?
Swami replied: Shankara did the same thing to convert atheists into theists. To accomplish this, it was necessary for Him to use some twisted logic. He used a three-step logic: (i) You are God, (ii) You exist (iii) and hence, God exists. In His time, people in India were mostly atheists. They either followed the ritualistic Purva miimamsa philosophy or Buddhism. Converting these atheists into theists...
Kum. A. V. N. Kishori asked: It is said that we are reborn on this earth to enjoy the fruits of our deeds (karma). But it is also said that we undergo the punishments (fruits) of our bad deeds in hell. Do these two statements not contradict each other? Also, what is the importance of the number 19 in numerology?
Swami replied: Your second question on numerology has no connection with your main spiritual question. This second question is like a black spot on the white moon! Yet, I am answering your second question first since it is the first time that you are posing questions to Me. Our ancient astrological scriptures do not have the numerology that is being followed nowadays. The numerology that is based on the ancient astrology is different from the present system of numerology...
Dr. Annapurna asked: Why is the Shrimad Bhaagavatam said to be the highest scripture?
Swami replied: With reference to any action, there is the doer of the action (kartaa), the object of the action (karma), the action or the activity itself (kriyaa) and the fruit of the action (phalam). Shrimad Bhaagavatam describes the life and the divine deeds of God Krishna as He interacted with His devotees, the Gopikās. It is the story of the highest action (kriyaa) done by the highest Human Incarnation (kartaa), to the highest devotees (karma), which caused the devotees to attain the highest divine fruit (phalam). It means that all the four parts of the action, as mentioned above, were the highest. Let us see this in greater detail.
1) God Krishna, whose divine deeds are described in the Shrimad Bhaagavatam, is said to be the highest Incarnation expressing His divinity to the fullest extent. The 1/16th fraction of God’s unimaginable power is called a kalaa. A kalaa means a light...
[Reply of Swami to a question by Kum. M. Meenakshi] The true spiritual preacher is identified as the personification of correct spiritual concepts and not as a certain physical personality. Shri Shirdi Sai Baba, Akkalkot Maharaj and Shri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa were the Human Incarnations of the same God Datta. They were present at the same time in different places; in different physical forms. The spiritual concepts preached by them were one and the same. If you change your spiritual preacher from Sai Baba to Akkalkot Maharaj, it is not really a change of your spiritual preacher...
Shri Durga Prasad (Mumbai) asked: Will a soul who has been transformed by spiritual knowledge (Jnanagnih sarva karmani—Gita) be able to enjoy both misery and happiness equally (Samatvam yoga uchyate —Gita)? Can these two statements from the Gita really be reconciled?
Swami replied: Anything is possible by the grace of God, even when it is not possible by the mere effort of the soul. God becomes the soul in the Human Incarnation and enjoys both happy and tragic incidents equally just as one enjoys both sweet and hot dishes in a meal. This is yoga (Samatvam yoga uchyate—Gita). While eating the hot and spicy dish, your tongue vibrates...
Shri Balaji asked: One of my friends told me that he does not have mental peace due to quarrels between his parents and in-laws. Can You kindly give some advice regarding maintaining peace in family affairs and broadly in the society?
Swami replied: If you follow the following simple rules, your family life and your life in society can be very smooth. It will help you focus your attention on the spiritual path, which provides eternal fruit.
Be silent and avoid a quarrel: Whenever there is an issue in the family, do not scold anybody. Even if someone scolds you, do not scold them back. Speaking harshly with others will only worsen the quarrel. Shri Shirdi Sai Baba said “The one who gets scolded must thank the person scolding him because the scolder is clearing the sins of the scolded.” Pointing to a pig, Baba said, “The scolder is comparable to this pig, which cleans the surroundings by eating excrement.” Shri Satya Sai Baba has said “If you keep silent in response to the scoldings of the scolder, the scoldings return to the scolder..
Shri Balaji asked “How to get rid of selfishness?”
Swami replied: If the self is forgotten, selfishness also disappears from your mind. The self is indicated by ‘I’. Christianity says that the cross indicates the crossing out of the ‘I’; which means negating the ‘I’. When the ‘I’ is crossed, selfishness also gets crossed. When can we forget this ‘I’? When you are watching a movie, you forget yourself. You do not even notice the mosquitoes biting you and the bedbugs on your seat sucking your blood! It means that you forget the ‘I’, when you are strongly attracted to something. The strongest and permanent attraction is the attraction to the personality of God. There can be no attraction equal to it...
Part-1 of spiritual meeting (Satsanga) that took place between Swami and several devotees on the day of Shri Rama Navami:
Shri Veena Datta: What is the difference between astrology and devotion to God?
Swami: Astrology gives a list of bad effects during a period governed by a bad planet (Dashaa). From this list, which specific effect will be faced by a specific person, can only be told by God’s grace, which is obtained through devotion. For example, astrology gives a list of bad effects that a person might face during the period of Saturn, which include, theft, paralysis, accidents and so on. Suppose two persons approach you and both are passing through the period of Saturn. As an astrologer, you may predict that one person may become the victim of theft but the person may instead suffer from an attack of paralysis...
Part-2 of spiritual meeting (Satsanga) that took place between Swami and several devotees on the day of Shri Rama Navami:
Shri Ajay: Please enlighten us about the Human Incarnation and His devotees.
Swami: Shri Paramahamsa said that He would prefer to be an ant (devotee) rather than being sugar (Human Incarnation). He said so, even though He was a Human Incarnation of God. The ant eats sugar and enjoys. The sugar, on the other hand, gets eaten and gets no enjoyment. The lack of enjoyment means inertness. So, Paramahamsa rightly selected the inert sugar in this simile. Based on this basic concept, a devotee should never aspire to become a Human Incarnation...
[Message on Shri Rama Navami Day] Rama and Krishna were both complete Incarnations of God on earth. But the difference is that Rama said that He was only a human being and not God (Aatmaanam maanusham manye...) whereas Krishna said that He was God on several occasions in the Gita. These days, the situation of humanity is worse than during the times Rama and Krishna. Hence, Shirdi Sai Baba, the recent Incarnation, followed the path of Rama by always saying that He was a servant of God (Allah Malik). Even Krishna said that He was God only in the Gita when He was speaking to Arjuna alone. It means that the general policy of Human Incarnations of God is only to follow the way of Rama almost everywhere. They hide their true identity and only claim to be ordinary human beings and servants of God...
Following is a conversation between Swamiji and some devotees where Swamiji clarifies the questions posed by the devotees related to choosing one’s career and worldly life.
Shri Bharath: Padanamaskaram Swamiji! I am Bharath from Amrita School of Engineering. My question is related to Pravrutti. Swamiji, I am going to finish MTech in two months and I have to find a Job. It has always been my desire to work in Aerospace Industry. By your grace I have confidence in myself that I will be able to become good engineer. But the problem is I don't want to work for that industry...
Is it ok to work for such companies who are responsible for causing unsustainability in the world?...
Swami: If you do not work, somebody else will work in your place considering the present rate of unemployment. So, even if you do not work, it will not serve any purpose. If you want to achieve your aim of a sustainable world, propagate the spiritual knowledge related to this point and impress it on the minds of the people. The problem is that nobody is worried about the welfare of society...
1) How can the truth set a person free when no one knows the truth?
[This is a question based on the statement of Lord Jesus in the Bible, “The truth will set you free”, and was posed by a person in an online discussion to Shri Anil.]
Swami replied: Truth means the fact in any subject. It also means an item which really exists. One must have the knowledge of both to uplift one’s soul. The true item is God. God is unimaginable, but He enters a medium to become an Incarnation for the sake of souls. Recognizing this mediated God or Incarnation itself is the recognition of the true goal. For this, one must have the capacity for logical analysis so that one can find the truth. After finding the true goal, one must get the knowledge of the soul or oneself...
Shri Anil asked: Could You kindly enlighten us on the meaning of the Parable of the Workers from the Bible?
The Parable of the Workers: 1. For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. 3. About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4. ‘You also go into my vineyard...
Swami replied: The first group of workers entered into a contract with the landowner, which shows that they had an aspiration for getting paid. The work done by them was with an aspiration for the fruit. It is only because the fruit was clearly specified that they entered the field to work. The last group of workers entered the field to work agreeing to accept whatever the landowner...
Smt. Bindiya Chaudhry asked: SHAT SHAT Pranam to dear Swamiji! Sometimes when we humans are in trouble or have a disease or extreme stress we tend to offer God bribe...for eg we say “Hey God, please cure me and I. will not eat non-veg for 40 days” or “Hey God, if you help me through this problem, I will give a donation of 1000rs in your temple”...
Swami replied: The Gita says that all beginnings are full of defects just as a newly-lit fire gives off a lot of smoke (Sarvaarambhaahi...). God excuses those defects giving due consideration to the person who is in the initial stage of the spiritual journey. God even goes along...
Dr. Nikhil asked: Padanamaskarams Swamiji! You have said in the discourse on January 25, 2019, that the predominant qualities of angels, humans and demons are sattvam or knowledge, rajas or activity, and tamas or inertia respectively. The underlying presumption appears to be that the body has an effect on the mental qualities. Angels have a body of energy along with awareness, but no matter. So, it might be alright to say that their mental quality is predominantly sattvam since the absence of matter (tamas) in their bodies allows the full expression of sattvam. But to say that humans are predominantly rajasic in their mental quality and that demons are predominantly tamasic, seems odd...
Swami replied: The three fundamental qualities are inherent in all aspects of creation. In the context of the components of creation, sattvam is awareness, rajas is inert energy and tamas is matter. In the context of mental qualities, sattvam means knowledge, rajas means activity and tamas means ignorance. The Gita says “Uurdhvam gacchayanti sattvasthaah…”, which means that in the upper world, sattvam is predominant. In the middle world, rajas is predominant, and in the lower world...
Shri Bharath Krishna asked: Namah Shivaya Shri Datta Swami! I am Bharath from Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham. I tried to know about mahatmas and in every story, I heard, I found that even if they are affected by deadly diseases, their smiles never fade. It is said that all of them were able to do it because they have realized that they are not the body but the Atman. But You have said that Atman (Jeevatma) is also inert because it is controlled by Parabrahman. You also said that Atman is just the flow of energy in the neurons all over our body. At least, I understood it like this. Now I have a doubt in this regard. If a person meets with an accident and loses one of his limbs then all the neurons in that part are lost. By this, I have to conclude that some part of the Atman is also lost...
Swami replied: Atman means the soul, which is the awareness in a human being. The awareness is the result of inert energy working in the nervous system. When a limb is cut from the body in an accident, the nervous energy in that cut limb disappears at once...
Ms. Arsha (D/o Dr. Nikhil & Smt. Devi) asked: My examinations begin tomorrow. How can I overcome my nervousness?
Swami replied: You must think that God Datta is always with you like your bodyguard to fight with the nervousness that attacks you and to protect you from it. Nervousness will surely be defeated by God Datta and it will run away. This is your close relationship with God. If you find the nervousness still attacking you, you should come closer to God by thinking that God is in you. This will almost certainly push away your nervousness because no thief dares...
Nivrutti means total detachment from all worldly bonds; be they legitimate or illegitimate. If one achieves detachment only from illegitimate worldly bonds, such as the bond with a prostitute, it is partial nivrutti. In this partial nivrutti, a partial attachment remains since the person’s legitimate worldly bonds, such as the bond with one’s wife, still persist. With respect to all the worldly bonds of a person, such detachment is only partial. The attachment to illegitimate worldly bonds is called dushpravrutti and such souls reach hell...
Shri Anil asked: Why did Jesus on the cross pray to God to excuse His offenders since they were ignorant?
Swami replied: The prayer of Jesus on the cross tells us that we should have tolerance even towards our bitter enemies. This is a very important and basic concept in the context of Universal Spirituality. Often, some followers of another religion criticize our religion so bitterly that we are unable to control ourselves. So, we retort to them even more bitterly. This further enrages them and the quarrel becomes more and more bitter. Sometimes, it even ends up in physical violence. To avoid this, we should do the opposite. As our enemy becomes more and more bitter...
Shri Anil asked: Why were women alone given the pains of delivering a child?
Swami replied: God is omniscient. He knows what is to be given to whom and what is not to be given. When we pose such questions, they reflect our doubts about the fairness of the divine administration of God. If we have firm faith in God, we must have firmer faith in His capable divine administration also. Such faith will prevent us from doubting the administration of God...
Filters for Discourses
Browser Compatibility: Firefox, Opera, Safari, Chrome and IE10+ on all Desktops, Mobiles and Tablets
Copyright: © 2003–2019 Shri Datta Swami
