Book Notes
Love of Conscience
Rita Bruce
The knowledge of the material in this book was stirring within Rita Bruce for quite some time; in fact, right from the start of her spiritual journey. With much trepidation and concern, she repeatedly sought the grace and blessing from Bhagavan Baba for the content of this book.
The Golden Age is now. Bhagavan Baba is giving many, many gifts to humanity through his devotees, to establish the Golden Age and re-establish dharma on a firm footing. The content of this book, Love of Conscience, is one such gift. Swami has taught us that the proper study of mankind is man. Whilst we live within our bodies, and most likely, know our minds and its vagaries, and due spiritual effort, perhaps we may from time to time recognise the tricks of the ego. But this requires much diligence and effort at self awareness. Self awareness, in fact, runs much deeper that these surface matters. We do not know the content of our past lives; we do not know the links on the garland of Brahma, that invisible garland that is placed around our necks at birth. Man and Woman is much, much more than the body, the mind, the senses, the clothing we wear, our haircuts, our likes and dislikes. Indeed we are the eternal Atma, and perhaps it is the cry of many hearts that we have never experienced that Atma within.
Rita Bruce has embarked on the arduous journey to bring one of the gifts of the Sai Avatar to humanity at large. Principally, this book connects the four energies and their operation within the human person to the conscience. This material will be new territory for many devotees, the composition and function of four basic energies within us and their impact on our everyday lives. Many of us will not even be aware of these energies and find reluctance in pursuit and application of this material.
One has to ask, WHY is this material being given to Sai Baba devotees? The answer lies in a Divine Discourse, given in Delhi, in 1975. In that discourse, Swami told, human life is gradually being reduced to NOTHING due the lack of character and integrity. Well, we all know couch potatoes, we all know people who think something, say one thing and do another. This is an illness of humanity today. A severe illness, which, if left unchecked, would lead to the destruction of true humanness, and even, possibly, the destruction of the human race.
The principle of the avatar is the principle of the devotee. What is that principle? Sathyam vada, dharmam chara, speak truthfully, follow dharma. For man and woman to embody this principle, requires effort, lifetime effort and application. That is one of the meanings of the word sadhana, 'to put effort'. There are no short cuts. All Swami wants is our love. All we need to do is to love all, serve all; say His Name, see His Form, as the bhajans tell.
However, we must do more. Swami has told that seventy-five percent of our time ought be spent in self-enquiry. Self learning as presented in this book is discovery of how one primarily functions with their energy, with the outer world and the inner world. In family. At work. With friends. In relaxation. In spirituality. These energies, gift of God, fruit of our karma and part of the garland that Brahma has put around our necks, are all part of the 'programming' of the human person and how they act-interact with their environment, themselves, their minds. So it is our duty to know this material, make effort to grasp it, understand it, and apply it in our lives. Love of conscience and pursuit of mergence with God demand this effort and attention to study of the self.
Our physical body is involved when our emotions feel, our intellect thinks, and when our discrimination reasons. Our emotions are involved when our body senses, our intellect thinks, and when our discrimination judges. Our intellect is involved when our discrimination judges, our emotions feel, or our body senses, and our discrimination is involved when our emotions feel, our body senses, or our intellect thinks. All our human aspect interact continuously, although each is responsible for a specific aspect of our actions. p.110
New language, new terms, new ways of explaining trikarana suddhi, unity and purity of thought, word and deed. But these are the elements of character, e-motions, the physical senses, the functioning of the intellect and the movement of discrimination. All these energies within the human person contribute to character and integrity. This we need to learn, develop, enhance. All are equally important, and some are neglected in all of us. So the imperative is to do our sadhana, 'put effort, as it were' and become fully guided by that love of conscience. When we undertake such activities, we are engaged in the re-establishment of dharma on a firm footing.
No system of knowledge is static. It was Carl Jung, the Swiss depth psychologist, who first gave name to the four energies in the western canon. Perhaps, in his work, he stumbled on the vestiges of vedam. Rita Bruce has taken this concept of the four energies and developed it for dissemination in the western spiritual and cultural environments. What Rita Bruce has done here is taken material of ancient Vedic origin and made it available to culture at large. As Swami's mission is the revival of the ancient Vedic disciplines, then this book sits squarely in the mission of the Sai Avatar. This book is an instrument in that element of the mission of the avatar, veda samrakshana, fostering of the vedas.
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