Subject: 1008 pearls of sayings of bhagawan sri sathya sai baba-part XIV [601 to 700]



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Subject:  1008 PEARLS OF SAYINGS OF BHAGAWAN SRI SATHYA SAI BABA-Part XIV [601 to 700]






Om Sri Sai Ram

1008 PEARLS OF SAYINGS OF BHAGAWAN SRI SATHYA SAI BABA

Part XIV [601 to 700]

[A compilation of THOUGHT FOR THE DAY displayed in Prashanthi Nilayam over years prior to1992]

601

I DO not care either for praise or for blame. I only pity these people who, in order to scrape together a few paise from the poor, resort to such filthy tricks. For all who are pained by these subhuman antics, I declare "Even if all the fourteen Worlds unite together, the work for which I have come will not suffer a bit; even if Earth and Heaven combine, My truth can never be fully grasped".

602

PRAYER and Meditation Prayer make you a supplicant at the Feet of God; Dhyana induces God to come down to you and inspires you to raise yourselves to Him. It tends to make you come together, not place one in a lower level and the other on a higher. Dhyana is the royal road to Liberation from bondage, and with Prayer you earn the same fruit. Meditation needs concentration after controlling the claims of the senses. You have to picture before your inner eye the Form on which you have elected to contemplate.

603

WHEN you see in a house on the walls of the shrine room a picture of Mine, do you not feel a wave of reverence and kinship surging within you? You may not like him for any other reason, but this picture will bring him closer to you, though the owner of the house may be your rival in the professional field. So, too, know that every other person has in his heart of hearts a picture of the God you revere. Recognise it and reconcile your misunderstandings; close up all gaps with the brothers in pilgrimage, encouraging and inspiring each other along the arduous road.

604

WHEN the parents have no reverence for God, when the pictures of Stalin, Hitler, Churchill and Lenin adorn the walls of the home, when the child has to breathe the atmosphere of scandal, faction and greed at home, how can it grow into a happy, healthy balanced individual? The films that children are taken to see are full of violence and falsehood, mean tricks and conspiracies, which tarnish the springs of sympathy and love.

605

THERE are parents who are proud when their children join in card games and even in drinking and gambling; there are parents who get angry when their children read religious books, attend temple rites and sit quietly for a few minutes meditating on the awe and wonder that Creation evokes in them. How can such parents claim to be the well wishers of their progeny? They are the greatest foes of their progress.

606

ALL the twenty-four hours are spent in attending to the care of the body, the prevention of disease, the promotion of health, the development of muscle, etc. No care is spent on the God resident in this physical tabernacle, who has to be recognised and revered. The weighing machine on which you stand to read your weight with pride laughs at you for the silly exaltation. It sneers at your conceit over physical victories; it warns you against too much concern over paltry gains. It knows that death is lying in wait to snatch you away, however heavy you may grow. Develop "Drishti" (vision); not "Deha" (body). Concentrate on the Maker, not the made.

607

TO elevate man to the level of his consciousness, He (God) has to incarnate as man. He has to speak to them in their own styles and languages. He has to teach them the methods that they can adopt and practice. Birds and beasts need no Divine Incarnation to guide them, for they have no inclination to stray away from their Dharma. Man alone forgets or ignores the goal of Life.

608

I HAVE no desire to have My Birthday celebrated. Such trivial thoughts can never enter Me. My only desire is to share My "Ananda". My Birthday is when you get "Ananda". My Mission is "Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavanthu". May all the Worlds be happy and prosperous! Become aware of the unity of mankind. Promote, by Love and Service, the Joy and Contentment of everyone on Earth and fill your hearts with that yearning.

609

ACTS done between dawn and dusk are offerings into the sacred Fire of Wisdom. Of such acts, those that are promoted by instinct and impulse are material; they do not arise from a mind moulded by the intellect. When the mind is crossed and the outer shore reached, all acts become pure and holy. When deep sleep overpowers the senses, the mind, the intellect, and even the sense of ego disappears. The entire Cosmos disappears from awareness. That is the Truth when the Atman is alone by itself and bondage is naught.

610

Man praises GOD, Over-self or Paramatma when his desires are fulfilled. When they are not realised, He is blamed. But He has no prejudice or partiality. If He has Love, He must also have anger. Any manifestation of these feelings is only superficial and does not rise from the core. God is the witness of the act-consequence chain. You can avoid the consequence by dedicating the act of God and abstaining from attachment.

611

ONE'S action decides one's destiny. There is no use blaming others for our misfortune and misery. Nor is it right to blame God as being partial or cruelly unconcerned. When you plant a bitter seed, how can the fruit be sweet? It has become the fashion to claim all good as one's own achievement and to ascribe all the despair and disappointment to an irresponsible attitude of Divinity.

612

I WISH to emphasize that purity of the heart, the mind and the consciousness is more important for progress than even Meditation and Prayer. Purity alone can convince you of the Divine within you of the Kshetrajna immanent in the Kshetra. Love all, adore all and serve all. That is the Sadhana of worship, to win purity and earn Grace.

613

THE consequence of the meritorious activities of previous births can be drawn upon now; but unless you have them, no Cheque will be honored. Moreover, only those who have the account can operate. Each must have a separate account in his own name: One brother cannot draw on the account of another brother; and the wife cannot draw on the account of the husband.

614

SOMETIMES, the Bank will give you overdrafts, so that you tide over temporary crisis; the Manager with reference to your reliability and capabilities settles the extent of the overdraft. It is like the "Anugraha", Grace that God will confer on you when you have earned it by "Sathkarrna", "Sathchinthana", "Sathsanga" and "Namasmarana" (good deeds, good thoughts, good feelings and, good company), and constant repetition and reflection on the Name of God and the Glory it seeks to express.

615

WHEN you have attained true wisdom, you will find that good fortune should not be gloated over, nor bad fortune grieved over. The Hero treats both with equal unconcern. They are breezes and storms that cannot affect the depths of the Ocean of Bliss in the heart of Man.

616

PEOPLE in America, Europe, and Africa, Hong Kong and Australia are establishing Sathya Sai Bhaktha Mandalis and Study Circles; they are having Telugu classes, so that they may listen to Me and learn things directly from Me. As for Me, I have no "near" and "far"- all are near to me except those who keep afar. Even they are close to Me, if only they dedicate themselves to God, under whatever Name and Form.

617

CYNICAL laughter cannot harm the Sadhaka. Can a storm shake the Himalayan range? Let not your faith in the goal or the road quake before trouble or trial, toil or travail, distress or despair. They are but passing clouds, casting temporary shadows hiding for a little time the glory of the Sun or Moon. Do not get distracted by doubt of despondency. Build the mansion of your life on four firm pillars: Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha, the Purusharthas laid down by the ancient sages, each pillar bound strong and safe with every other.

618

THE Ramayana, the Mahabharatha, and the Bhagavatha are to be mastered, not allowed to become masters. You go through them without allowing them to go through you! The Volumes are bound in silk; and incense sticks are burnt before them, while man prostrates before them in reverence. But no attention is paid to what the pages proclaim. The frills and fringes attract the mind more than the kernel provided by the text.

619

ACT according to your professions. Do not play false to yourself and to your ideals. To deny by your acts the truth of what you preach is a sign of cowardice and moral suicide. You say that Baba knows and sees everywhere, but you do something wrong in the belief that Baba is somewhere else. You pray to Kali in the idol form, believing it to be alive and you hide something behind the idol, imagining that no one would know about it.

620

THE chief Characteristics of Sathya Sai are: equanimity and forbearance (sahana). There are many who are engaged in criticism and calumny. Many papers publish all types of writings. Many pamphlets are printed. All kinds of things happen in the World. My reply to all these is a smile. Such criticisms and distortions are the inevitable accompaniments of everything good and great. Only stones thrown by greedy people hit the fruit-laden tree. No one casts a stone on the tree that bears no fruit.

621

SANKARACHARYA was going along the streets of Varanasi, when he saw in a small hermitage a monk poring over a book of grammar. He took pity on the aging scholar and warned him that, when the end draws near, his punditry will not save him from perdition or take him to the goal of merging with God. So he asked him to adore God and fill himself with thoughts of the Divine. This is the proper way to deal with life, not frittering it away as a feast of fancy.

622

THE tree will grow with branches on all sides; countless flowers will bloom; it will provide and promote peace and security to the World. In order to realise this result, students must do as roots do: remain firm and provide sustenance. I know that the roots have to be watered so that flowers and fruits may emerge. Students are my all. If you ask Me, what is My property, many expect the answer to be, "Oh! All these buildings; all these vast areas of land". But My answer is "My entire property consists of My students". I have offered Myself to them. But many are not aware of this fact. Some unfortunate people cannot believe the Reality of this Love: the Love of a thousand mothers.

623

THE situation in India and in the World today is "Evaniki Vaare, Yamuna Theere" (Each for each on the Yamuna beach). There is no togetherness. How happy can man be if he develops togetherness! Can you eat a meal with a single finger? When the five fingers work in unison, the stomach is filled in five minutes! So, no attachment should be developed; no wish is to be welcomed, nothing is to be sought for; and no defeat is to be taken to heart, without solving deep into the consequences.

624

IT was ascribed to one's past deeds and one's own mental tendencies. It is wrong to cast the blame on others. But, someone pointed out that God was the originator of both joy and grief and that without His will no blade of grass can waver in the wind. Yes; if that Truth be firmly established in the heart, one gets the unique bliss of liberation. God gives everything; whatever we get is His Grace, and you have no right to judge if it is good or bad. Bhaja Govindam, Bhaja Govindam Bhaja Govindam Moodha Mathe Sammpraapthe Sannihitthe Kaale Nahi Nahi Rakshathi Dukrn.

625

PRAISE God, Praise God, Praise God, you fool, when death does knock at door, rules of grammar cannot save you. Sankara exhorted his pupils to disseminate the ideal of this verse, and they, too, responded with verses on the same lines, each of the fourteen contributing one verse. Sankara gave another twelve of his own, as well as four more verses about the transformation that the teaching would confer. Thus, there are 31 verses in all, in the text called Bhaja Govindam or Moha Mudgaram. The latter name means, "The weapon with which delusion can be destroyed". Each one is a step in the ladder, which lifts man into God.

626

ELECTRICITY is found everywhere in Nature but it can be collected, stored and utilised only through certain contrivances designed by man. The spiritual Atma Shakthi that is also everywhere is stored in a body and passed through the thin wires or nerves; it illumines and directs activity. These activities have to be oriented towards Ananda and not attachment to temporary pleasures. The life principle that flows as intelligence through every cell and nerve is also a reflection of the Atma.

627

WORK is for the physical level, worship for the mental and wisdom for the spiritual. You have to pass through the three stages, each one of you. When I say to you, there are three of you! The one you think you are, namely the body, the physical person; the one the others think you are, the mental you, your passions, emotions, impulses, attitudes, and beliefs; and the one you really are, namely, the Atma, the Spirit, the real Reality of your Personality.

628

ONE can understand the spirit of renunciation and the depth of tolerance that is inherent in India's noble response. Whoever is afflicted with calamity, at whatever time, under whatever condition, your heart must react without delay in sympathy shown in the same practical manner. No one should be condemned as trash; even a little stick can serve as a toothpick! God has not made any man wholly bad or wholly good; your likes and dislikes are inducing you to label them as such.

629

UNLESS one develops virtue, uses skill, intelligence and discrimination in the most beneficial manner and directs his physical might with restraint, his life is wasted in bitterness and grief. The Vedas declare: "Nakarmanaa, naprajayaa-dhanena, thyagenike amrthathwa masmuth"; (Not by acts, nor by riches nor by progeny, but, only by renunciation can immortality be gained). "Renunciation, detachment, sacrifice, giving up - these alone can ensure the highest Realisation and Eternal Bliss. Renunciation is the law of life. That is why life is worthwhile and a source of happiness.

630

OF what avail is the shaving of the scalp while leaving inside of it a multitude of desires clamoring for satisfaction? This kind of Sanyasa is a fraud on the person entering it and on Society. No Avatar, you will note, has granted Sanyasa to any aspirant. These external insignia are not essential or even necessary. Non-attachment, born out of wisdom and fostered by the Grace of the Lord, is the precious capital for spiritual advance.

631

THE Sanyasi has to declare his death and perform obsequies for himself and bury his past. He destroys all that binds him to the rest and to his past, his history and his name. He avoids any reminder of his erstwhile adventure and the pursuit of sensory joy. He flees from his friends and foes, his habits, and habiliments, his hobbies and prejudices. But we find men who have taken the vow of Sanyas still clinging to their long established practices and habits. Instead they must completely break with the past. That is why in the Gita, Karma Sanyasa and not any other types of Sanyas is prescribed.

632

GURU Nanak said that without faith in God, man is blind; Without it, you are a moving corpse - your life might be as grand, beautiful, and rich as the Taj Mahal but remember, the Taj is but a tomb! Whatever the method of worship and whichever the Name or Form, it is faith that matters; it is that which gives life and energy for higher things.

633

I LIKE the Pooja that is done not for the sake of the individual but for the sake of humanity. By all means, do Pooja in order to promote the happiness and peace of living beings. Develop that love for men everywhere. That is My Mission too, My Resolution, My Sankalpa, and My Deeksha - the planting of Love in every human heart.

634

IT becomes essential to cleanse the mind through regular Sadhana; to tune the little will to the infinite will of God, so that it becomes merged in His Glory. Scholarship or skill, however deep and varied, has no cleansing power. They only add the alloys of pride and competition. Learned men are not necessarily good, nor are men with spiritual powers over nature above pride, envy and greed. Sathya, Dharma, Shanti and Prema are the hallmarks of a purified heart, where God is enshrined and is manifest.

635

INSTEAD of transforming his heart, his home, his village, his state, and this World into a Prashanthi Nilayam, the abode of the peace that passes understanding; man has made the World an arena for the wild passions of anger, hate and greed. Instead of making the senses (which are, after all, very poor guides and informants) his servants, he has made them his masters; he has become a slave of external beauty, evanescent melody, exterior softness, tickling taste and fragile fragrance. He spends all his energies and the fruits of all his toil in the satisfaction of the trivial demands of these untamed underlings.

636

INDIVIDUAL efforts and Divine Grace are both interdependent, without effort there will be no conferment of grace. Without Grace, there can be no taste in the effort. To win that Grace, you need only have faith and virtue. You need not praise Him in order to win His Favour.

637

THE character of the children must be made strong and pure. Give them all the confidence and courage they need to become good, honest, and self-reliant children. It is not enough if they learn something by which they can make a living. The manner of living is more important than the standard of living. The children must also have reverence towards their religion, their culture, their educational attainments and their country. They must learn well their mother tongue, so that they can appreciate the great poetical works and epics written by the Seers of their land. This will give them valuable guidance in the stormy days ahead.

638

LEARN to share with others their grief and their joy, do not get jealous when others are happier or when others win prizes or credits in examinations. Emulate their industry, pray for a higher share of intelligence or a sharper memory, but do not give room in your hearts to envy and malice. Envy is a deadly poison, it will contaminate character, ruin health, and rob you of peace. Be Anasuyas, unaffected by envy, and you can subdue the Gods of creation, Protection and Destruction. Like a pest that destroys growing crops, envy enters slyly and spreads quickly. So even in small matters, be vigilant to ensure that you do not fall a prey to envy.

639

THE six enemies of man are eating into his vitals, embedded in his own inner consciousness. They are the demons to be killed. They are Lust (Kama), Anger (Krodha), Greed (Lobha), Attachment (Moha), Pride (Mada) and Malice (Maatsarya). They reduce man to the level of a demon. They have to be overpowered and transmuted by the supreme alchemy of the Divine urge. Then the nine nights of struggle will become a new type of night, devoted to the purification of the mind and the illumination of the soul, the night described in the Gita as "the Day of the Worldly". What is clear and attractive to the ordinary man is uninteresting and unknown to the Worldly man. This is the nature of the topsy-turvy world.

640

THE selfishness fouling your love is veiling divinity from your vision. What is the reason for the selfishness, which is veiling divinity from us? It is simply our attachment to the body; It is the weakness of our mind and our enslavement to our senses.

641

USE the eyes to watch wholesome things, the feet to proceed to the Home of God, the hands to serve the embodiments of God moving around you as men and the tongue to soothe pain, praise virtue, and glorify God. Do not use your eye to vulgarise your brain and your feet to stand in queue for deleterious movie-shows.

642

THOUGH the World has become a very small globe as a result of fast means of communication and transport, man has not yet learnt the art of living together in close proximity as brothers and as children of the One God. The closer men are brought, the larger the differences that appear. Thus, the little World is now riddled with problems of conflicting cultures, competing creeds and contesting ambitions. The sorrows of one State spread fast into all its neighboring ones and infect the whole world. The World has become one vast battlefield.

643

MOST of you are leading a double or triple life: Yogam in the morning; Bhogam the rest of the day; and Rogam at night. You seek Ananda outside you and suffer from the ulcer of desire inside you. You utter one thing with the tongue and carry out the opposite with the hand. You claim to be the seekers of Jnana but you are attached to the delusion that you have cultivated. You have a ticket for Calcutta but you are traveling in the train headed for Bombay. With the body, which is your ticket and Vigna and Vairagya your luggage, you are traveling not in the train, which goes God ward, but in the train leading to Prakriti. This is a pity.

644

THE Atma has an eternal festival. It is Ananda Swarupa. It is beyond time and so does not calculate the passage of time. Let me ask, how can man celebrate a festival when Dehabhranthi, Manabhranthi, Indriyabhranthi, and Lokabhranthi afflict him? He believes the falsehoods that are called the body, the senses, the mind and the world. He pursues them and tastes joy and grief, and when a certain number of years have passed, he celebrates a festival.

645

INDIA is the Moolasharam of Sathya, Shanthi and Prema and she has been holding forth these ideals and emphasising their practice since centuries. Bharath means the land that has "rathi" or attachment to "bha" or Bhagawan; it means that the people here are God loving, not so much God-fearing. If you love God, you have to love Man also. This teaching, that Sathya is the basis of Dharma, which lays down individual and social duties and obligations, and that Sathya is also the root of Prema and Shanti, is the unique feature of Bharath. Sathya is enough, no other God needs to be worshipped.

646

THE task now is to install Dharma in every heart, to shed light on every road, through the revival of Vedanta. The World is like a famished person waiting for a feast; it is like the parched land waiting for rain. I have seen and felt the atmosphere of this land surcharged with discontent and dishonesty. I have seen it from Kanyakumari to the Himalayas: that is the reason why thousands, like you seek Darshan, Sparshan and Sambashan. I am only surprised that thousands are denying themselves that chance.

647

IT is best you stay away from companions who drag you to such distractions that weaken and worry you; spend a few minutes every morning and evening in the silence of your own home, spend them with the highest of all powers that you know of; be in His Elevating and Inspiring Company; worship Him mentally; offer unto Him all the work you do; and you will come out of the silence, nobler and more heroic than when you went in.

648

JUST consider - do you come out of the cinema more peaceful, more heroic, purer and nobler than when you went in? No, your passions are aroused, your animal impulses are catered to and your lower nature is fed. Nothing else can give one that rich reward which Silence and Prayer and Communion with the Master can give, not even a decent bank account, nor a string of degrees, nor the muscles of a prize fighter.

649

LIVE upon the Ananda that you derive when you sing the Name and glorify the Form of the Lord That is My Food and My daily sustenance. So, I have no need to talk to you; it is sufficient if I sit here and draw in the Ananda that you feel when you do Bhajan.

650

THERE are certain dire possibilities, which I want all social workers to guard against. First cleanse your own minds and then start advising others. Earn mental peace and strength for yourself and then try to secure them for others. Learn the secret of lasting happiness yourself and then endeavor to make others happy. Seek the real limb not the artificial limb. Get the doctor who will assure "hereafter you will not fall ill" and not the doctor who gives some relief only for the present attack.

651

THE greatest instrument by which success can be ensured for all your efforts is Bhakti. That will give health, wealth and prosperity too, for it will eliminate hatred and faction and give more power to your elbow when you plough the land. A man with Bhakti will do every act as worship of the Lord and so the act will be done better and more efficiently, without any maligning or insincerity. It will also win the Grace of the Lord, and so, a Bhakta will be able to raise more crops and enjoy greater health and mental happiness.

652

WE light many candles with the flame of a single candle. But remember only a burning candle can light other candles. An unlit candle cannot light other unlit candles. Only one who has earned wisdom can enlighten others who are in ignorance. One who is himself unillumined cannot illumine others dwelling in the darkness, Maya. One must light his own lamp from the universal light of love and thenceforward he can transmit illumination to all who seek and strive. All lamps shine alike since they are all sparks of the Param-Jyothi the Universal Luminosity that is God.

653

IS the Universe real? Is it relatively unreal? This problem has been agitating man since ages in all lands. The realists and the idealists have argued on their explanations for centuries. The scientists or realists believe that the Universe is a conglomeration of atoms in varying patterns, which have assumed manifold forms and names. But this is only partially true. The Vijnana Vedins (the spiritually oriented) point out to the Dhoatik Vedins (the materially oriented) that a firm base is essential for all these transformations to happen. The Universe must have a basic force or energy or phenomenon, as basic as clay is to the pot. That fundamental principle is, according to them, the Atman.

654

THE human body is a temple-chariot; the Atman is installed therein and is dragged by emotions, impulses, passions and urges, along the streets of desire. Success and failure, joy and grief, gain and loss are the dancers who accompany the procession of life. Here, too, many pour their attention only on the chariot, its height, its decoration and its progress. Many others are concerned with the dance of durabilities. The pain and pleasure due to that is part of the procession. Few pay attention to the Atman, the crown and consummation of human existence.

655

WHY is man so pathetically afflicted today with fear and anxiety? Are we to search for the reasons outside us or do they live within us? The reason lies in the false emphasis we have laid on things of the material world, ignoring things of the spirit. The body that man bears is essentially the receptacle of God. It is a temple where God is installed and where God is the Master. It does not deserve all the attention you now pay to fulfill its whims. It is equipped with very valuable instruments which can help you in the journey but which you seldom use.

656

MANY are affected by the problem of what caused the Cosmos. How did it come into being? They advance various theories and lay down many opposing hypotheses. But there is no need for seekers to beat about the bush so much. Just as a dream results when one is cut off from reality in a state of sleep, the Cosmos is a result of being cut off from Reality by Maya, in a state of ignorance. It is difficult to discover laws that explain or govern its infinite mysteries.

657

WE find individuals and groups trudging to Badrinath, Kedarnath, and Hardwar in search of peace and prosperity. They also go to Tirupathi and Kashi. Have they jettisoned even a few of their animal propensities? That is the test; that is the justification for the money and time they have spent and the troubles they have undergone. When the animal is conquered and Godhead is felt within reach, man can assert that all these pilgrimages are within him. He has no need to travel from temple to temple. And without achieving this victory, you have no right to claim that you are a devotee of Rama or Krishna or of another incarnation of the Lord.

658

GOOD deeds like Pooja, Japam, Dhyanam, the observance of vow, etc., are "steps". Good thoughts like prayer for greater discrimination and more chances to help others, also help. Slowly and steadily cleanse the mind; sharpen the intellect, purify the senses, and win grace.

659

IT is because you feel the urge to use the body with which you have been endowed, and for this higher purpose you are here in Prasanthi Nilayam. The kinship among you and all of you with Me, is ageless; it is eternal; it is not based on a worldly relationship; it is based on the aspirations of the heart. It is Prasanthi Nilayam that is the abode of Supreme Bliss.

660

THE Lord is described in the Purusha Suktha as "thousand-headed". It does not mean that He has just a thousand heads, no more, no less. It means that "the thousands of heads" before Me now have just one heart, which gives life and energy to all, and that heart is the Lord. No one is separate from his neighbor, all are bound by the one life-blood that flows through the countless bodies. This is the special teaching of Sanathana Dharma, which the World needs.

661

THE Lord has endowed man with the body, and so, every limb and every sense is worthy of reverent attention. Each must be used for His Glory. The ear must exult when it gets a chance to hear the wonderful tales of God. The tongue must exult when it can praise Him. Or else, the tongue of man is as ineffective as that of frogs which croak day and night sitting on the marshy bank.

662

THE human body has been given to you for a grand purpose: realising the Lord within. If you have a fully equipped car in good running condition, would you keep it in the garage? The car is primarily for going on a journey, to get into it and go. Then only is it worthwhile to own. So too with the body, proceed and go forward to the goal. Learn how to use the faculties of the body, the senses, the intellect, and the mind for achieving the goal and march on.

663

MAN must proceed ever towards "Balam" strength; he should not take to untruth, wickedness, and crookedness, all of which denote a fundamental fatal trait of cowardice, "Balaheenam". "Balaheenam" is born of accepting as true a lower image of yourself than what the facts warrant. You believe you are the husk. But really you are the kernel. That is the main mistake. All Sadhana must be directed to the removal of the husk and the revelation of the kernel. So long as you say "I am", there is bound to be fear, but once you say and feel "I am Brahmam", "Aham Brahmasmi," you get unconquerable strength.

664

I WANT that you all should build new houses for happy living and install the Lord therein. I do not mean houses of brick and mortar, but houses of good thoughts, good words, good deeds and good company, where you could live calm and collected. Invite Me for the Grahapravesam of such houses and I shall most readily agree. In fact, then the house is Mine already and I do not need even an invitation to come and enter it. These houses are for worldly comfort; that house is for spiritual joy. And My place of Residence is the pure aspiring heart.

665

YOU are going about with a temple where God is in the innermost shrine. The body is not a mass of flesh and bone. It is a medicine for Manthras-Manthras, which save when they are meditated upon. It is a sacred instrument, earned after long ages of struggle, equipped with reason and emotion, capable of being used for deliverance from grief and evil. Honour it as such; keep it in good condition, so that it might serve that high purpose; maintain it even more carefully than these brick houses and always preserve the conviction that it is an instrument and nothing more. Use it for just the purpose for which it has been designed and given.

666

IT is urgent that every one should inquire into the true, the pure and the permanent; for there is at present a delusion about values. Even the leaders of people are hugging the false hypothesis that happiness can be had by means of wealth or health, housing or clothing, or the cultivation of skills in handicraft and manufacture. The bird sits upon the bough that sways in the storm, confident of its wings, not confident of the bough on which it sits. So, you too should feel strong because of the wings, the wings of Sraddha and Bhakti, not because of the bough of the objective World on which you have perched.

667

YOU know from the experience of the Cauvery floods, neither status nor castes nor wealth nor even health can help unless you know the simple art of swimming. Need I say that crossing the ocean of Samsar, reaching the other shore of the sea of Birth-Death, is similarly possible only for those who know the art of Spiritual Sadhana? Those who are trying to build the seaman community on a foundation of "Dana", are building on sand; those who seek to build it on the rock of "Dharma", are the wise.

668

DHARMA Moolam Idam Jagath. Dharma is the root of this World. Obey it and you are happy. The evil man is a coward, haunted by fear. He has no peace within himself. Respect for the parents who started you in life and brought you into this World, together with the vast and varied treasure of experience, is the first lesson that Dharma teaches. Gratitude is the spring, which feeds that respect. It is a quality that is fast disappearing in the World today. Respect for the teacher, for the elders and for the wise is on the decline. That is why Dharma is fast disappearing and losing its hold.

669

JUST as the body is the house you live in, the World is the body of God. An ant biting the little toe of your foot is able to draw your attention to the spot; and you react to the pain, making an effort to remove the tiny enemy. You must similarly feed the pain, misery or joy or elation whenever it is evinced in the entire land; you must make an effort to protect the land from the enemy, however remote the place may be where the enemy has presented himself. Be kin with all your kind. Expand your sympathies; serve others who stand in need, to the extent of your skill and resources. Do not fritter away your talents in profitless channels.

670

THE entire epic Ramayana hinges on two women and two passions. Manthara representing Krodha (anger, resentment and vengeance) and Surpanaka representing Kama (lustful passion). Manthara plotted to send Rama into exile and Surpanaka caused the abduction of Sita and the destruction of the Rakshasas as a consequence. The two women are insignificant characters in the story; but the roles they play are key-roles, for they sparked off, by means of the passions they represented, strong chapters of pain and grief. Krodha and Kama are more destructive than atom bombs; but when Rama is installed in the heart, they just fizzle out.

671

WELCOME the epic Ramayana as you welcome an efficacious drug; it can cure deep-rooted illness of the mind, the disabilities of the inner senses, and the defects of the inner consciousness. It can clarify your vision and make you strong and steady on the path towards God.

672

SANTHAAKAARAM Bhujaga Sayanam is one of the ways in which the Divine is described. Bujaga is the cobra, the poisonous snake. Its visha (poison) is the symbol of the evil influences of vishaya (Worldly desires). The Lord is said to repose on the bhujaga, the evil filled multiplicity of the World. Yet, the description says: He is Saanthakaaram (in absolute peace, unruffled in the least). The Lord is unaffected, though He is immanent in the Universe. Man too must be in the World, but not of it.

673

YOU must be careful about the food you take; the Jiva and Guhya are the two great foes of man. The cravings of hunger and sex drag you into perdition. Desist from catering to the tongue and its greed; do not be a victim of lust or taste. Have Sathwic food and eat it in Sathwic company. Be moderate in food and keep the senses strictly under control.

674

WHAT exactly is the aim and purpose of all the Sastras, the Bhagavatham, the Puranas, these discourses and the Harikathas? It is to tell man the truth about himself. There is no plot to mislead you. That is not the desires of the Sages who wrote down these annals and their own experiences. You know only the present and what is happening before your eyes. You do not know that the present is related to the past and is preparing the course of the future. It is like the headlines and titles of a film on the screen; as the letters gleam one after the other, you read them and pass on to the next that comes to view. Each new letter or word wipes out the one already before your eye, just as each birth wipes out the memory of the one already experienced.

675

PEOPLE, who were charged with the social duty of reminding the masses of their heritage, have been rendered dispirited and mendicant. The Dharma laid down in the Vedas has to be experienced in order to be appreciated; it cannot be merely talked about in tall language. The use of the Vedas does not consist in mere recitation, though the reciters are doing a valuable service, presenting them in correct form and style of pronunciation. Vedas yield Ananda; Vedamatha is the Ananda Matha.

676

WHO am I? Every one of you has to know that this question has to worry you sooner or later. And everyone has to discover the answer. The senses, each specialising in one small field of cognition, are powerless to give the answer; they are at best very inadequate even in their own specialised provinces; there are sounds the ear cannot hear; there are colours the eye cannot take in and interpret to us; and tastes beyond the ken of the buds of the tongue. They are imperfect instruments for the study of the external World. How can they serve to teach us about the intangible, invisible, inner World of the self? The Vedantic vision alone can reveal to you: "Anoraniyam mahatho maheemyam", "the smaller than the smallest and bigger than the biggest".

677

DHARMA is the road for individual and social progress in this World and through this World to the next. It is external, basic and fundamental. The principles may not be altered or adjusted to suit personal whims or pressing problems that appear formidable to the eyes of some individuals or group of persons. It is like the mother who has to be accepted, not like the wife whom you can choose or discard.

678

IF you can inquire deeply and reason fearlessly, you can appreciate the Indian point of view that, instead of seeking a lower standard of Ananda by feeding the senses, one can get lasting Ananda by training the mind to be ever in the eyes of the Cosmic, the Universal, the Lord as it is called, when you impose a Name and a Form upon it, and enclose it in your consciousness. Why does man get Ananda when he contemplates the Cosmic and the Universal? Because he is the Cosmic, the Universal.

679

ALL hearts are His Property. It is all His Domain, But just as the Zamindar sits only on a clean spot, though the entire area may be his, the Lord will install himself only if the heart is cleansed. The Lord has said, "Mad bhaktha yathra Gaayanthe, thatra thishtaami Narada", "Where my devotees sing of Me, there I install Myself". I must tell you that you are luckier than men of previous generations. The accumulated merit of many previous births must have granted you this luck. You have got Me and it is your duty now to develop this relationship that you have achieved by sheer good fortune.

680

IN four or five year's time, you will see Yogis and Maharishis and Munis crowding here and you may not have such chances of asking Me questions and getting the answer, of approaching Me and directly speaking to Me. So, do not be like frogs around the Lotus, be like the bees. Plantains and mangoes are kept, while yet green, in straw or dried grass or in a closed room so that the heat may make them ripe and tasty. The meditation on God gives you too the right temperature to ripen yourselves and become sweet and tasty.

681

THERE are seven things that have to be fostered for the welfare of the World: the Cow, the Brahman-ward aspirant or the Brahmin, the Vedas, Chastity, Truth, Non-attachment and Dharma. All these are now fast declining and I have come to restore them in their pristine purity and strength. Do not think that some Bhakta composed this Sathya Sai Gita and that he reads it and explains it here. As he said, I am the inspirer and it is for your benefit that he has summarised My Teachings in this way. "Ekkam Sathyam Vimalam Achalam". It is said that the One Truth is pure and unshakable.

682

THERE are now thousands and thousands of educated institutions in the world. But, there is a great difference between the rest and those founded by Sathya Sai. The fundamental objectives of Sai institutions are humility, adherence to discipline and application of what is learned in daily life. If, what is learned is not put into practice, the student is like a cow that does not yield milk; a fruit lacking in taste, a book bereft of wisdom. It is not really man's task to stuff his head with transient knowledge and waste time in acquiring it. He should not engage in valueless activities and fritter away years of life. When man ruins himself, he descends to the level of the beast. When man uplifts himself, he ascends to the level of God.

683

OF the four Yugas, the present Kaliyuga is far more congenial than the previous three (Kritha, Thretha, and Dwapara) for the acquisition of wisdom and the cultivation of discrimination (Viveka), for we now have many simple paths available for liberating ourselves. The Scriptures say:, "No age is equal to the Kali Age. Just through Smarana and Chinthana we can reach the Goal". Smarana is the process of keeping the Lord ever in the memory; and Chinthana is the process of thinking of His glory all the time. Many people are scared because they believe that the Kali Age, in which we live, will witness the ultimate Deluge. Others call it the Kalpa Age, the Age of Conflict. This Age is the Golden Age for the seekers of God and for earning and learning Viveka.

684

PILES of books are plentiful in bazaars; schools abound; and there is no dearth of teachers. But wholesome learning and sincere teaching are not to be seen. It is for this reason that these spiritually oriented educational (Sai) institutions are being established to impart teaching in proper ways in order to preserve the hearts of students in pristine purity, stability and unselfishness; to develop them into workers dedicated to the progress of Bharath, intent on removing the anxiety and gloom that spread all over the land; and determined to revive the Glory of the Bharathiya Culture.

685

IF Divinity is absent, everything is devilry. So, teachers and students must have faith in God and boldly call on God. This will drive away the devilry that encompasses us. Of course, hesitation to address God is only superficial. During examinations, every student prays to the Almighty. When calamities happen, when loss is sustained, and when members of the family are struck by disease and are in mortal danger, people do pray to God. Why, then, yield to false pride and refuse to acknowledge God? This is sheer hypocrisy.

686

BHAKTI, to be effective, must be regularised through self-discipline; it should not be allowed to grow wild and untended. You rush forward to touch My feet or to prostrate before Me, ignoring the children, the aged and the sick, upon whom you fall when you press forward towards Me. Do not forget the Sai in those people, when you rush forward towards this Sai. The merit of all the hardship you underwent to see and hear this Sai is as good as canceled, when you inflict pain on the Sai who resides in them. That plus and this minus add up to zero. In your frenzy to offer homage, you should not forget others who have been waiting long for the chance; you must provide facilities for their Darshan.

687

TRANSMUTING humanity into Divinity is the task allotted to man. Word, thought and deed are instruments for this unavoidable destiny. By unremitting practice, this has to be achieved. The priest in the temple has to ring the bell with the left hand and wave the camphor flame with the right hand, an exercise in manual coordination, which comes only as a result of practice. A new priest will use both hands and shake the camphor plate. Vemana has said that, while the serpent has poison in its fangs and the scorpion in its tail, man is capable of inflicting poison through his tongue, eyes, hand and mind. He has to overcome this acquired tendency and remind himself that he is "Amrithasya Puthra" (the Child of Immorality), conferring sweet nectar and not death-dealing poison.

688

IF your circumstances do not allow you to partake in this Sankeerthana, stay at home and sing the songs alone in the silent cave of your heart. Do not do so according to a fixed measure, so many times or so many songs at a sitting. The heart does not calculate in numbers; it confers contentment which is immeasurable. That contentment can arise only through faith. When the mind wavers, loyalty sits light; love disappears; and faction begins.

689

I HAVE come for the re-establishment of Dharma and so, I always insist on people observing Dharma in all walks of life. Dharma is the inner voice of God. It is the conscience that has shaped itself as a result of centuries of experience and generations of asceticism and austerity; it is the voice of history, warning you against the branch of its command.

690

FOR treading the Bhaktimarga, one needs not scholarship, nor wealth, nor riches, nor ascetic rigours. Tell me what was the lineage of Valmiki, the wealth of Kuchela, the scholarship of Sabari, the age of Prahalada, the status of Gajaraja and the attainments of Vidura? - Prema was all they had and it was all they needed. The Grace of the Lord is as the Ocean, vast and limitless. By your Sadhana, your Japam, Dhyanam and systematic cultivation of Virtue, this Grace is converted into clouds of Truth, and they rain on humanity as Prema Showers, which collect and flow as the flood of Ananda back again into the Ocean of the Lord's Grace.

691

YOU have come here to learn and practice detachment. Get wet in the rain, while engaged in serving others. It does not matter if death comes while serving; do not pause; if you are so determined, God will not allow it to approach you. You complain, "Swami has not softened towards me". Well, melt His heart, yearn, show Him the warmth of a repentant heart and of a sympathetic heart anxious to alleviate distress. Through deep detachment the craving for sensual pleasure must disappear; that will cleanse the Chitha or consciousness. God will then be reflected clear and the Reality can be recognised. This results in Peace and Equanimity which is the highest bliss.

692

THE wise will not give place in their hearts to covetousness and possessiveness. They know that there is a "Kshetragna" who is the motivator of this "Kshetra"; "a knower of the field, who is the master of this field". Vyasa, who collected the Vedas, composed the aphorisms that demarcate the Divine Principle (the Brahmasatram) and wrote the Mahabharatha, reputed to be the fifth Veda, could still not win mental peace. Those were intellectual feats, flights of poetry and philosophy but not flowers that blossomed from authentic experience.

693

IDEALS must become higher and grander. Desires must become more and more selfless and sublime. Attachment must be transmuted into nobler and subtler emotions. The story will be gripping only when there is steady development towards the denouement. That is why one passes through the crucible of joy and grief and emerges all the purer and stronger for the experience. When a child's growth is stunted, it causes grief; when he starts to grow normally, it causes joy, when the growth is abnormal, it causes grief again.

694

THERE is none to question Me if I do not act; there is nothing I would lose if I do not engage in activity. Nor have I any great urge to be active. But yet, you see Me very active. The reason is, I must be doing something all the time, for your sake, as an example, as an inspiration, as a piece of training. Those who are leading must themselves follow; and those who command must themselves carry out what they expect others to do. I am engaged in activity so that you may learn to transmute every minute into a golden chance to enable you to move into Godhood.

695

MAN is endowed with many skills; he is offered many lives; he is shown many paths. The purpose of all these gifts is to develop in him the spirit of devotion and dedication and release him from the dual dribble of joy and grief. When man visualises the Universe as God, its capacity to confer the dual experience disappears; he knows the Truth and is calm. God is One and One only; "Ekam eve Adhivitiyam Brahma" (One only, without a second-Brahmam, which is the immanent principle). So one must endeavor to know God, who is Truth.

696

THE internal foes can be destroyed by the light of Jnana (the illumination that accompanies the Realization of the Reality). To acquire that illumination, one has to cultivate the spirit of impartial, steady, unfluctuating inquiry, based on the revelations made in the Vedas about the nature of man and God and the relation between the two. The Vedas have to be studied reverentially, for they give us the key to Jnana. The Veda is the Philosopher's stone that turns all metals into gold, all students into Sadhakas and all Sadhakas into Sages.

697

SEE how the insufferable heat of the Sun is controlled and modulated and reduced by your bodily mechanism to the congenial temperature of 98.4 degree F. So, you too should keep the destructive force of your elemental passions born out of the clamour of Sabda, Sparsa, Rupa, Rasa and Gandha rigorously in check and bring it down to tolerable levels, yielding comfort and congenial living. You yourselves create the Maya of which you are the slave. Deny it the chance to lord over you and it will not harm you.

698

SHEER ignorance is the root cause for the disrespect that is being shown to Indian culture and the fascination exercised by the West. Do these people at least grasp the values of Western culture fully? No, only the fringe and the foppery are adopted. How can a person, who is unable to understand his own culture and heritage, understand the meaning and significance of an alien culture?

699

THE most fundamental teaching of the ancient culture of India is Love. For generations, the youth of this land have been exhorted, encouraged and taught, by precept and example, to love the poor, the helpless, the handicapped, the illiterate and the disabled, for the same spark of Divinity that is in us, is also equally evident and active in them. Education must endow man with this compassion and this spirit of service - intelligent, timely and full. That is to say, education must not only inform but also transform.

700

THE mind is like a boulder, which the intellect transforms into an image, as a sculptor does. If the intellect allows the senses to dictate the design, the boulder will be shaped into a horrid idol. If, however, the spirit sublimates the senses, the image wrought by the intellect will be simply adorable. One must have the mind fully cooperating in the spiritual discipline and not obstructing its progress at every step. Liberation is the goal and the mind must help the pilgrim at every stage of his journey. The Mind should not admit any activity that is contrary to Dharma or injurious to spiritual progress.

To be continued

With Pranams at the Lotus Feet of Divine Lord Sai

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