Teachings of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba

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desireless. Hence every spiritual aspirant should 

regard his actions as offerings to the Divine.

3

Lead Your Life without the Feeling of 

“Mine and Thine”

Today man is filled with various desires. Then 

what is the way to lead a desire-free life? Lord 

Krishna has shown the way for this. He said, “Son, 

there is nothing wrong in having desires, but all of 

them must be pleasing to God.” “Let all your ac-

tions be pleasing to God.”

You should put into practice the eternal prin-

ciples based on truth and dedicate all your activi-

ties to God. Lead your life without the feeling of 

“mine and thine,” and offer everything to God. 

Only then can you attain the state of desireless-

ness. Today man has both worldly desires and de-

sires that lead to the inward path, but the number 

of desires that lead to the inward path pale in com-

parison to the number of worldly desires in him.

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Desirelessness Prevails When All 

Actions Are Offered to God

It is only when all actions are done as an of-

fering to God that desirelessness prevails. When 

such a feeling fills the heart of the devotee, the 

Divine confers beatitude on him. Such a devotee 

is dear to the Lord. If you want to earn the love 

of the Lord, you have to render service to anyone, 

anywhere, as an offering to the Lord.

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SUCHI 

(Pure)

Both Inner and Outer Purity Is Essential

The second quality is suchi (purity). There 

should be both inner and outer purity. Bodily pu-

rity relates to the physical. It covers such cleans-

ing acts as bathing, wearing clean clothes, eating 

pure food, and the like. Even in studies, the books 

should be wholesome and elevating. But mere ex-

ternal cleanliness without internal purity is of no 

value. Everyone, from the scholar to the common 

man, is concerned only about external cleanli-

ness and not about the purity of the heart within. 

However pure the ingredients may be, if the vessel 

in which they are cooked is not clean, the food 

will be spoiled. For a man, his heart is the vessel, 

and he must see that it is kept pure and untainted. 

Undertake Selfless Service 

to Purify the Heart

For the purification of the heart, everyone 

must undertake selfless service. Attachments and 

aversions, which pollute the mind, should be es-

chewed by concentrating on selfless service. It is 

only when the heart is pure that selfless service can 

be performed. Hence both bodily and mental pu-

rity are essential for a good devotee.

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Purity Is Vital for All Aspirants

It is not enough if the body is clean. Inner pu-

rity is essential. The latter, in fact, is more essential 

than the former. For the proper enjoyment of all 

things, purity of mind is essential. Whatever sa-

cred acts you may perform in the external world, if 

you have no purity of mind and heart, all of them 

are valueless. 

The food cooked in an un-tinned vessel will be 

spoiled even if all the ingredients are good. Like-

wise, in the vessel of the heart, the inside must be 

purified by love. Then, all that one consumes will 

be wholesome. Hence purity is vital for all aspi-

rants; without it, all man’s actions are tainted. Ac-

tions done with an impure heart can only produce 

undesirable results. Whatever good results you 

want to secure in the external world, inner purity 

is the basis.

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How to Purify the Mind, 

Speech, and Body

All the actions a man performs issue from in-

ternal impulses and not from external forces. They 

are a reflection of his inner being. It is only when 

man has pure feelings within him that his actions 

can be pure. When he is polluted within, all his 

actions will be impure.

How are the internal impulses to be purified? 

These relate to the mind, speech, and the body. Of 

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the three, speech is the most important. How is 

purity in speech to be achieved? Every word you 

utter should be free from causing excitement or 

agitation. It should be true and pleasing, says the 

Bhagavad Gita.

There are four factors that account for pol-

lution of the tongue. One is uttering falsehood; 

two, excessive talking; three, carrying tales against 

others; and four, abuse or criticism of others. The 

tongue is prone to indulge in these four types of 

offences in speech. Unfortunately, in this Kali 

(Iron) Age, all four are rampant. Untruth has be-

come ubiquitous. People freely indulge in slander-

ing others. Tale-bearing goes on. Indulgence in 

loquacity is widespread. It is only when one gets 

rid of these four evil tendencies that his speech can 

become pure and unpolluted. Hence the first task 

is to purify one’s speech.

Next comes the mind. The mind is polluted 

by wrong thoughts and bad feelings. Man should 

strive to keep away all bad thoughts from invad-

ing his mind. When a man is ceaselessly filled with 

bad thoughts, he can only reap bad consequences. 

To purify the mind, all bad thoughts have to be 

expelled. No room should be given to them. Bad 

feelings should be banished from the mind. Only 

then will the mind become totally purified.

Then comes purity of the body. One must 

have a body that is free from the taint of violence 

or harm. Men commit many acts of violence and 

many sinful acts with their hands. The body has 

been given to man primarily for practising righ-

teousness. Such a sacred gift should be used only 

for rendering service to others and doing godly 

actions. This is the way to purify the body. There-

fore, when speech, mind, and the body are puri-

fied, internal purity is ensured. Suchi thus calls for 

internal purity as well as external cleanliness.

3

DAKSHAH 

(Firm in Determination)

Have Strong and Unshakable 

Determination

The third quality that the devotee must have 

is dakshah or strong and unshakeable determina-

tion. What sort of determination must you have? 

You must say, “Come what may, I shall not rest till 

I accomplish this or achieve this.” This is the sort 

of resolve you ought to have. Swami occasionally 

says:

Having resolved what ought to be done, 

Hold on till you succeed.

This is determination.

Having desired what ought to be,

Hold on till it is fulfilled.

This is determination.

Having asked what you want, 

Hold on till you get it.

This is what is meant by determination.

Having thought what you wish to have, 

Hold on till the thought is realised.

Such is the quality of determination. In the 

end, what should happen?

Due to your perseverance, the Lord must yield to 

your wishes!

Persevere, be tenacious, and never give up.

It is not the characteristic of a devotee to retreat, 

Abandoning his resolve.

What is meant by determination? It means 

having the firm resolve:

“I should definitely see God, have God, and 

secure His Grace.” God loves dearly the devotee 

who has such firm determination.

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