Sai Baba Gita Reading for Today - Your Highest Self is God

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Sai Baba Gita Reading for Today

 

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Your Highest Self is God

 

In the waking state, you may think that you are doing everything for

the sake of your body and mind. But in deep sleep you are not

conscious of your body or your mind. Then for whose sake are you

enjoying the rest and peace of sleep? It is for the sake of

yourself. Sleeping, taking food, all the various activities of your

daily life, are performed only out of love for yourself. You believe

that you are doing all these for your personal self which you

experience to be separate from God, but the I that you call yourself

really emerges from your highest self which is no different from

God. Whatever you do out of love for yourself reaches your highest

self and, therefore, reaches God. So you must do everything with the

awareness that whatever action you undertake, good or bad, will

certainly reach God. Devotion means making all your actions sacred

and dedicating them to God alone.

 

In the ancient scripture we find a conversation between a sage and

his wife in which the sage explained these inner meaning to his

wife. He said to her, "For whose sake are you loving me? If you

examine your deepest intentions you will discover that it is for

your self. The wife does not love the husband for the husband's

sake. It is for herself that she loves the husband and that self is

the true self, her highest self. You may think that the mother loves

the child for the sake of the child, but it is not so. It is for

herself that she loves the child. Again, it is for her highest self.

You may feel that the teacher loves the student for the student's

sake, but it is really for the teacher's sake that he loves the

student. Similarly, the devotee does not love God for God's sake; it

is really for himself that he loves God."

 

When the devotee feels the deep joy of love for God, he believes it

is his personal self that is feeling this joy. And so his love for

God is tinged with selfishness. But, God's love for the devotee is

totally different. God's love for the devotee is not selfish. It is

only for the devotee's sake. Herein lies an important hidden truth

which can be found behind every spiritual practice. God has no sense

of individuality or separation. He does not feel that some things

are his and others are not his. When there exists a feeling of

difference and individuality, then selfishness and the sense of I-

ness and my-ness arise. But God does not limit himself to any

particular form. He has no separate feeling of mine and thine. He

has no selfishness. These three injunctions, "Work for God!... For

the sake of God alone!... Be devoted only to God!..." are given for

your sake. They are not given for the benefit of God but for your

benefit. They are intended to help you realize your true self by

removing all traces of selfishness and separation which becloud your

truth and keep you from being one with God.

 

Sri Sathya Sai Baba

 

Source:

http://www.atmapress.com/saibabagita/saigita011.html

 

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Sai Baba Gita

Compiled and edited by Al Drucker - Published by Atma Press

http://www.atmapress.com - ISBN: 0963844903

Online Edition: http://www.atmapress.com/saibabagita/index.html