Jnaana Saraswathi
Spiritual Discourses by Shri Datta Swami
Explore spiritual discourses covering all aspects of universal spirituality, philosophy, and divine wisdom from Shri Datta Swami.
Showing 15 of 5828 discourses
REFORMED SOUL DOES NOT REPEAT THE SIN
Sin can never be cancelled by any remedy except through realization and reformation of the soul. Realization comes through knowledge and the determination and subsequent practical implementation of knowledge brings reformation of the soul. Adhibhuta is the subject related to matter of human body. Adhidaiva is the subject related to energy of human body. Adhyaatma is the subject related to behavior and qualities of the soul, which is pure awareness. Knowledge is always inherently related to soul. With the help of knowledge, you can change the states of matter and energy easily, but with lot of difficulty only you can change the state of soul since knowledge is inherently related to soul. Knowledge with top most intensity only can change the soul. The intensity of knowledge increases...
GOD IS MOST IMPORTANT
The Gita says that God is unimaginable and that God enters the human form to be available for the human beings. These two points constitute the essence of the goal i.e., God (Mamtuvedana…, Manusheemtanum…). You should know that you are a part of the creation only and not the creator or [not] even part of the creator. The creator is unimaginable and you are the soul or the imaginable nature. You are made of body, qualities of the soul and the attributeless soul. The attributeless soul is the inert energy, which is isolated from any type of work. The Gita says that the attributeless soul or Atman is inert and workless (Sthanurachalah…) and the soul associated with qualities, called as Jeeva, is the inert energy associated with a specific form of work generated...
TEMPLE OF LORD RAMA
There is no village or town in India in which there is no temple of Lord Rama. The statue of Rama preaches two points to you: 1) The Lord will come in human form, 2) Miracles are not the signs of the Lord. As told in the Gita, the Lord comes only in human form (Maanusheem tanum aashritam). Even though Lord Rama did not perform any miracles, Hanuman and the sages identified Rama as the Lord. Hanuman himself exhibited several miracles but he never claimed to be the Lord. Ravana on the other hand, exhibited miracles and claimed to be the Lord, but nobody agreed...
ESSENCE OF THE GITA AND VEDAS - I
The Bhagavad Gita says that nobody knows God (Maamtu veda na kashchana). The Veda says that words, mind, intelligence, logic and even imagination cannot touch God (Yato vachah…Manasa saha; Na medhaya; Naisha tarkena). The Veda also says that if one knows that God is unknown, he knows at least something about God (Yasyaamatam tasya matam). These three statements declare that God is unknowable and unreachable. Yet the same Veda says that God is present on this earth itself (Yat saakshat aparokshat). Similarly, the Gita also says that God reveals Himself on earth in every human generation as per the necessity (Tadaatmaanam srijaamyaham). These two statements say that God can be seen by humans. How can one reconcile these two contradicting sets of statements? The first set of statements implies that you cannot catch God by your effort. The second statement indicates that whenever the kindest God wants to reveal Himself, He comes down to earth. You can see God on earth...
RELIGION AND RATIONALITY
[A person claiming to be a true Christian said that he does not believe in human rationality and the introduction of God through the human body]. Let us begin by asking what is meant by denying human rationality? Does it mean: Whatever the human being says, rational (reasonable) or irrational (reasonless), should not be accepted? Or whatever is reasonably said by the human being should not be accepted? [Implying that only that which is irrational and said by a human being should be accepted]. If you take the first case, since you are a human being, whatever you say should not be accepted...
PREACHING ACCORDING TO DISCIPLES'S; LEVEL
Krishna, Buddha, Shankara, Ramanuja and Madhva are the five important preachers in the spiritual knowledge. Krishna gave the original text called as the Bhagavat Gita. He told that God is unimaginable (Mamtuveda nakaschana…) and also told that God is incarnated through the imaginable creation (Prakrutimsvaam…). The incarnation is imaginable part of creation in which unimaginable God exists. The human beings can see, touch, talk and live with the human incarnation from which they can clarify all the doubts and get correct guidance, which is the most important factor. The Gita is the essence of the Vedas and the Vedas also say that God is unimaginable (Namedhaya…) and that God enters a part of the imaginable creation...
GRADUAL PROGRESS WITH DIVINE KNOWLEDGE
Shri Ramanath: O Swami, even in some foreign countries, a lot of corruption happens upto the topmost level. I feel that Indians alone need not be blamed for corruption. Shri Swami: Suppose you are drinking one bottle of wine every day. I show a person who does not take even one drop of wine and then advise you not to drink. Then you will have some inspiration seeing that person and try to stop drinking. Your trial shall be in controlling your habbit of drinking and not to make a search of that person to see whether he drinks or not. If you have found him drinking ten bottles...
GOD'S AWARENESS IS DIFFERENT FROM HUMAN-AWARENESS
[Guru Purnima Day] God wanted to create the universe and based on this reason God is thought to be awareness. Awareness can alone desire to do anything and not an inert entity. Another strong reason is that as the human awareness creates dream-space and the subsequent dream in it, the God-awareness created this real space and the universe in it. Just as the dream and its space are generated by the human awareness, maintained and controlled, and finally dissolved in human awareness, the universe along with the real space is generated, controlled and is dissolved by God-awareness. Another step was that the human awareness itself is God-awareness. As the dream-space and dream are real during the period of dream, the universe and real space are real...
VALUE OF ETHICAL SCRIPTURE IS DUE TO GOD ALONE
[Krishna Ashtami Evening Message] Gopikas were the sages born as ladies. The sages propagated the ethics as word of God for the sake of balance of the society. During such propagation, some sages were overcome by the sacredness of ethics and thought that God became sacred by ethics, since He always supported ethics. Such sages born as Gopikas, failed to reach the Lord in the night when His flute was heard. The sages, who always thought that the sacredness of ethics is always due to God only, could run to God, violating the ethical tradition. The reality is that the value of any ethical principle is due to the fact that it is valuable since it is the word of God. It means that every word of God is ethical and it does not mean that God speaks only ethical...
BOUNDARY OF INFINITE COSMOS IS REALLY UNIMAGINABLE
The scientific atheists say that the cosmic energy is the ultimate God from which this entire creation is generated through big bang, maintained and destroyed. He says that another unimaginable God as generator of cosmic energy is unnecessary. If we say that an agent of intelligence is required to maintain all this creation in such a systematic manner, the atheists disagree saying that randomness with probability based on theory of evolution can be the reason for such systematic administration. We cannot completely rule out this answer of the atheists. In such case, the unimaginable God disappears and the imaginable cosmic energy becomes God. The concept of energy is clearly understood only through intricate scientific analysis...
SPIRITUALITY IN TOTAL
[Divine discourse given by Swami via a teleconference, which was relayed in USA and Europe.] My dear devoted souls, A teacher has two students. The first one is good in theory and the second one is good in practical. The teacher wishes both the students to exchange their efficiencies so that both become efficient in both the fields. The teacher is strong in both the fields and is teaching the theory and demonstrating the practical in uniform way to both the students. The variation in the students came due to different psychologies of the two students. Similarly, God is that one teacher. The religious scriptures in all the countries...
SERVICE AND PARABRAHMAN
[Krishnashtami Day 4] To please the Lord you have to surrender your words by singing about Him, your mind in His devotion and your intelligence in His discussions. However these three constitute only 1% of the total sacrifice and this is called theoretical sacrifice. The sacrifice of your work and the sacrifice of the fruit of work constitute 99% of sacrifice, which is called practical sacrifice. The practical sacrifice should be done to the most deserving person, who is Lord in human form, when recognised properly. The reason is that all this wealth belongs...
SYMBOLISM OF TEMPLES AND RITUALS
A temple represents the body of the human incarnation (Deho devaalaya proktah). The statue in the temple represents the Lord in a human body (Jeevo devah sanatanah). The Gita also says that the Lord enters a human body and comes down to this earth (Manusheem tanum aashritam). The Veda says that the Lord can be seen here on the earth itself (Yat saakshat aparokshaat Brahma). The temple and the statue are only models to teach this concept. Once the concept is understood there is no need of any model. Hanuman recognized the human incarnation (Lord Rama) and sacrificed all his work to the Lord. Hanuman was not a householder and so he did not possess money to sacrifice to the Lord...
INFINITY IN THE FINITE
‘Adhyatma’ means the knowledge of the substance, which controls the soul. Atma means the soul, which may indicate either the individual soul of a human being or the Lord. Atma also means the human body. Jivatma is the individual soul controlling the body. The body is made of five elements. Jivatma constitutes the mind, intelligence, chittam (memory) and ego. These are called the four antahkaranas or the inner instruments. Lord controls both the soul and the human body. The soul, which controls the body, pervades all over the body. Atma means that which pervades. It is just like the electric current pervading the wire. The Lord pervades the human body of the human incarnation. The Lord also pervades the entire world...
JESUS, THE ONLY PATH
[Jesus said that one can reach His Father only through Him and that He is the only path. Does this not mean that we have to follow only Jesus? In such a case, how can one accept Universal Spirituality? This is a question posed by several devoted Christians from all over the world.] Reply of Swami: My answer to these dear devoted holy Christian souls is as follows: Does Jesus represent a human body, the word or both? If it represents a particular human body, then such a human body does not exist now. Only a particular human generation and that too, in a particular place was favored by the association of the human body of Jesus. Is it not the partiality of God?...