There appears to be no topic related to human life that Bhagawan has not touched upon in His Divine Discourses. In this posting, Bhagawan delves into the nuances of a very significant aspect of our behaviour - smile. How should one smile or laugh? Swami says that it is very important to consider the time, the place, the context and the company in which you smile or laugh. A wrongly timed smile or laughter can land us in innumerable problems.
There are four Discourse excerpts presented in this posting. These have been selected from the Discourses given by Bhagawan Baba in the years 1996, 2002 and 2007. Each audio clip has a name that adopts the following code: Serial number, Title appropriate to the key content, Duration of the clip, Year-Month-Date of the Clip. Below the title is the translation in English of the select excerpt of the Discourse, followed by the audio player. The post ends with a short quiz that would help you evaluate your assimilation of Bhagawan's Message.
1. Speech and Laughter should be under
check-1.07-1996 July 09
We
must exercise restraint over our talk too. Where and how we must talk is
important. There are some who sing foolish songs when some ladies pass by. Is
this the song you should be singing with this tongue? What a sacred tongue and
what funny and cheap words! By using such abusive words you lose your
reputation and you earn a bad name. You become a victim of ridicule. Therefore,
we must exercise some restraint on our talk, looks and smiles. In order to earn
respect our actions must also be respectful. When we are good, the respect
people have for us will grow.
Bliss
has no form. Bliss has only one form – form of experience as laughing. Ha ha ha
ha – but one should not laugh like that. Laughing like that making a sound is Prakriti Tatva – i.e. outwardly. How
does God smile? His smile is Manda Smita
Vadanam – soft beautiful smiling face. It is a smile with no sound. It is a
smile where the mouth is not opened. It is a smile that bestows happiness on
all. It is a smile that confers bliss. The laugh with sound is called Prahasan. The smile without sound is
called Hasan. Smile and laughter are
different. Therefore, God is always smiling means, He is not laughing by making
a sound. All this is cinema laughter. As we watch the movies, we think that God
also laughs like that!
3.
Laugh-Should be timely-Case Study of Draupadi in
Mayasabha-4.58-1996 July 09
Next
is the mouth. How should we talk with whom? When should we smile and when
should we not? This also should be understood by the students. At times in
society, watching certain scenes, one tends to laugh. A smile (that is not
timely) can put one into lot of difficulties. Draupadi had to face so many
difficulties only because of this reason. Dharmaja got a Maya Sabha built. Maya built the palace and handed it over to
Dharmaja. How is this palace? Where doors are not there, an illusion of doors
is created, and where doors are actually there, it is not seen. Though there is
no water, an illusion of a lake is created. Duryodhana entered into this Maya Sabha. Duryodhana entered the
palace full of jealousy at the fact that Dharmaja had got such a palace built. He
was going straight. Where there was no door, it appeared as though a door was
there. Where doors were truly there, it appeared as though there were no doors.
Deluded in this manner, he went straight into one of the illusory doors. He hit
against the solid wall. He somehow recovered himself and went further.
Everything appeared very clean. There was no trace of water or a lake at all.
He walked straight looking on either side. His heart was full of jealousy.
Jealousy is the reason for one’s destruction. As he walked straight, he fell
into one of the lakes. At such times, anyone would be driven to laughter. The
maids of Draupadi laughed aloud. Truly speaking Draupadi was not there at that
point of time. Hearing her maids laughing so loudly, Draupadi came out from
inside her room. Unfortunately, Duryodhana saw Draupadi exactly at that point
of time. He thought it was Draupadi who laughed at him and he felt insulted. He
then took a vow that since you have laughed at me in public, I too will make
sure that you will be laughed at in the open public. Therefore, we must
understand when, where, how and in what manner, one should laugh.
There
are two types: Hasan and Prahasan. Hasan is a silent smile. Prahasan is smiling
or laughing loudly – Ha ha ha ha ha. This is very bad. Friends get together and
laugh for some reason. At that time, some ladies may pass by. They would feel mistakenly
insulted. The reason you may be laughing may be totally different. Therefore,
when ladies are walking by, we must never engage in any laughter. If you laugh
at others’ ladies, will others not laugh at your ladies?
There
are some people who go and sit in front of shops in towns without any work at
all. They go on laughing looking at people going and coming. Will the women
folk related to these bad people never go those shops? Looking at them, there
will be others who will laugh. Therefore, one can never escape reaction,
reflection and resound. One will have to bear the fruits of one’s actions. Such
bad actions will also take you far away from God. The one who would bring
himself a bad reputation can never be near God.
4.
Smile must be Sweet and Soft-1.19-2007 October 21
Sweet and Soft Smile |
A Short Quiz
1. What are the two types of smiles / laughter?
2. What is the phrase that describes God’s smile?
3. Can you sing any Bhajan where the phrase ‘Manda Smita Mukha”
appears?
4. In which Parva of the Mahabharata does the episode of Draupadi
and her maids laughing at Duryodhana appear?
5. Where was the Maya Sabha built?
6. Who built the Maya Sabha?
7. In what context does Bhagawan caution us about Reaction,
Reflection and Resound?
A very important message to all..especially youths regarding a laugh....by Swami
ReplyDeleteOnly goes to show that Spirituality actually lies in the details, in the finer things of life. Something as simple as a smile can also carry such profound meaning in terms of our behaviour and expression. I recall an instance where Bhagawan corrected me for closing the door of the interview room in the Mandir with a "little bang". He said, "Is this the way to close the door? You must close the door very gently. God is in the door also!!" That is spirituality!!
ReplyDelete