The topic for the Hindi Satsang on Sunday, 12th May, 2013 was ‘Satya.’ (Truth)
Following is the transcript of the speech made by Smt. Hansaji Yogendra on the topic.
|
Listen to the Audio:
“In spirituality, truth is given maximum importance. Some Slokas talk about Satya. Satyameva Jayate, Satyam Shivam Sundaram, Hiranmayena Patrena Satyasyapihitam Mukham. In this world, one can only reach Satya when a golden veil is removed. You have to put in a good amount of effort to reach the truth. The material world is always attracting us. Once that veil is removed, we reach the truth.
It is not so easy to reach the truth. For this, we need to have control over our emotions, concepts of right and wrong, opinions, likes and dislikes. The mind has to be completely controlled and steadied and then only is it possible. Too much thinking and cleverness does not get us to Satya.
Now how to bring this into our day-to-day life? As Dr. Jayadeva said, our life is based on untruth itself. So we need to study which areas we have to work hard in. Our eyes and ears are the first areas. Just seeing something or hearing about something does not necessarily mean it’s the truth. If someone dropped something and broke it, it is wrong to opine and think they are clumsy. There could be many reasons why someone made a mistake. Study the person before you make an opinion on them.
If someone comes and tells you that your child does not attend school and was found roaming around, you should not throw allegations at the child before studying the matter further.
Remember that all of us are born with ignorance (Avidya). We should not think of ourselves as too clever. We have a tendency to make mistakes. A lot of hard work is required to gain knowledge. So remember that we are ignorant and that we don’t know the truth but are trying to reach it. Try to increase goodness.
Other people tend to play with our emotions. There is a very strong example of Socrates. A friend came to tell him something bad about someone but didn’t even know if it was true. But people enjoy talking negative about others. Do not encourage gossiping. See, listen, think. Use your sensory organs to find the truth, nothing else.
Believe in something good, not in bad things. Yoga talks about Klishta and Aklishta tendencies. Thinking something too much leads to action and Karma. So be careful of what you do, think carefully before you do or say anything. Let us decide not to talk negatively about anyone. Klishta tendencies need to be reduced and Aklishta tendencies need to be increased.
There is a true story. There used to be a bungalow near Juhu beach outside which a man used to come with his dog to train him. A lady living with her caretaker in the bungalow used to watch them. One day the man noticed the lady watching and laughing. After some time, he heard a scream from the bungalow and saw that the window was shut. He rushed in and saw that the lady had stabbed herself and committed suicide. He tried to help her by removing the knife when the caretaker entered the room. Seeing the knife in his hand, the caretaker thought he was the murderer. He was arrested and the caretaker became the eyewitness swearing she saw him commit the act. At that time, I was studying law and witnessed the case. The man tried hard to explain the truth. But ultimately the verdict was against him as it was based on an eyewitness testimony.
The point is; what is reality and what is proof? So keep minimum thoughts in your mind. Truth reveals itself through intuition when the mind is blank. So let us work hard to reach the truth. Let’s not speak unnecessarily or easily believe something we have heard.”