Thought for the Day - March 2005

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Thought for the Day - March 2005As written at Prasanthi Nilayam

http://www.saibabalinks.org/tftd/2005/march.htmThought for the Day Archive

Source: Radio Sai Global Harmony

March 2005

 

March 1, 2004

The mind can be used as a bridge to lead one from the manifest to the

unmanifest, from the individual to the universal. Cleanse the mind and mould it

into an instrument for loving thoughts and expansive ideas. Cleanse the tongue

and use it for fostering fearlessness and friendship. Cleanse the hands; let

them desist from injury and violence. Let them help, heal and guide. This is

the highest sadhana (spiritual discipline).

March 2, 2004

You are all Sat-Chit-Ananda swarupa (embodiments of

Existence-Consciousness-Bliss); only, you are unaware of it and imagine

yourself to be an individual subject to limitations. This is the myth that must

be exploded in order that divine life may begin. It is the Divine that inspires,

that activates and is the fulfillment of the life of every being. From the tiny

atom to the vast Universe every single entity is moving towards that

consummation where it merges in the sea of Bliss.

March 3, 2004

Wisdom flashes like lightning amidst the clouds of the inner sky; one has to

foster the flash, and preserve the light. That is the true sign of the learned

person. Do not believe that mastery of many tomes makes you wise. Wisdom can

grow only where humility prevails. It thrives when man is afraid of vice and

sin, and is attached to the Divine present in himself and in all beings in the

universe.

March 4, 2004

Have faith that truth will save you in the long run; resolve to stick to the

truth regardless of what befalls you. For, if you are true, the sense of guilt

will not gnaw at your insides and cause pain. It is cowardice that makes you

hide the truth; it is hatred that sharpens the edge of falsehood. Be

courageous; and there will be no need to utter falsehood. Be full of love and

there will be no need for subterfuge. Holding on to the truth is the safest and

easiest way to live.

March 5, 2004

The sugarcane should welcome the cutting, the hacking, the crushing, the boiling

and the straining to which it is subjected; since without these ordeals, the

cane will dry up and make no tongue sweet. So too, man must welcome suffering,

for that fortitude alone brings sweetness to the spirit within. If you wish to

enjoy enduring happiness, you have to fill your mind with pure thoughts and

develop noble feelings in your heart. Through good thoughts and kind actions,

the heart becomes pure and sacred.

March 6, 2004

Seek and remain in good company; keep association with the holy. Being in the

midst of such spiritual heroes, you can fight against evil with greater chance

of success. Being in the company of the holy is like the bit and bridle for the

wanton steed, the dam and canal for the raging flood. The value of holy places

consists in just this: kindred spirits congregate there and contribute to the

deepening of spiritual yearning. You can take sweet and sustaining counsel in

such places and strengthen your faith and devotion.

March 7, 2004

The Upanishads declare that immortality can be experienced only through Thyaga

(renunciation or sacrifice). This renunciation does not mean giving up hearth

and home, kith and kin. It means giving up the transient and impermanent things

of the world. This calls for discrimination between what is permanent and what

is perishable, what is good and what is bad. Only then can man discover the

divine principle within him.

March 8, 2004

The remembrance of God and repetition of His name is the only means of

liberation that is easily accessible to all. People tend to treat the name of

the Lord casually, not realizing its potency. All the power of the Cosmos is

contained in it. You must understand the significance of the name properly and

use it in the right way. Bhajan (devotional singing) is an effective activity

by which Kama (desire) and Krodha (anger) can be kept at bay.

March 9, 2004

The most important goal for man is to put into practice the doctrine of divine

love. The principle of love is the greatest unifying force; it unites all

spiritual practices, all creeds, all the goals of life and all the scriptures.

The foremost path for the spiritual aspirant is the path of complete surrender

to the Lord for earning His love and grace. The devotee offers everything he

has and approaches the Lord in the same manner in which a bride in this country

renounces all that was her's before her marriage, when joining the household of

her husband. God's love cannot be gained without such renunciation by the

devotee.

March 10, 2004

God has four attributes and it is only when you cultivate them that you can

truly understand Him. They are: Love, Beauty, Sweetness and Splendour. Love is

enough to add unto you the other three. When you are full of Love for the

Divine in all creation, that state is true Beauty; when you are immersed in the

sea of Universal Love, you reach the acme of Sweetness; when your mind loses its

identity and merges with the Universal Mind, then there is Splendour

indescribable.

March 11, 2004

The Grace of God cannot be won through the gymnastics of reason, the contortions

of yoga or the denials of asceticism. Love alone can win it - love that needs no

requital, love that knows no bargaining, love that is given gladly as a tribute

to the all loving, love that is unwavering. Love alone can overcome obstacles,

however numerous or formidable. There is no strength more effective than

purity, no bliss more satisfying than love, no joy more restoring than Bhakti

(devotion), no triumph more praiseworthy than surrender.

March 12, 2004

Man's life is like a garland, with birth at one end and death at the other.

Between the two ends are strung together flowers of all kinds - troubles,

worries, joys, sorrows and dreams. Few are aware of the string that runs

through all the flowers. Without the string there can be no garland. Only the

person who recognises the string can be called a true man. This string is

called Brahma-Sutra (The Divine String). The Divine Atmic principle is the

string which is found in all human beings and which is the source of all

potencies in them.

March 13, 2004

Reduce the luggage you carry when you are on the journey of life. Remember, all

that is not 'you' is luggage! You are not the body. So, the body is an item of

luggage. The mind, the senses, the intelligence, the desires, the plans, the

prejudices, the discontent, the distress, all these are items of luggage.

Jettison them soon to make your travel lighter, safer and more comfortable.

March 14, 2004

Without the sanction of the Lord, man cannot achieve anything in the world. The

Divine is the basis for everything. Man, however, is filled with conceit that

he is the one who is doing everything. This pride is the cause of his ruin. It

is the cause of his frustration and disappointment. Man today is basing his

life on reliance on Nature and is hence forgetting God. This is a grievous

mistake. You must place your faith in God, the Creator of the universe, and

then enjoy what Nature provides. Faith in God is the primary requisite for man.

March 15, 2004

The mind is the cause of bondage or liberation. The mind is like a lock and the

heart is like the key. When the key is turned towards God, there is detachment.

When it is turned towards the world, there is attachment. Therefore, the mind

has to be directed towards what is holy and pure. Then, you will lead a free,

joyous, blissful life. The man who has developed such an attitude will be in a

permanent state of bliss. Indeed, he will be the embodiment of bliss.

March 16, 2004

We become what we contemplate. When we fix our thoughts all the time on the evil

that others do, our mind gets polluted by evil. When, on the contrary, we fix

our mind on the virtues and well-being of others, our mind is cleansed of wrong

and entertains only good thoughts. No evil thought can penetrate the mind of a

person wholly given to love and compassion. Thus, our thoughts shape our

nature.

March 17, 2004

March on with your eyes on the goal. Do not brood over the mistakes committed

and failures suffered in the past. Do not follow the whims and fancies of the

mind any longer. They will fill the ear with praise or blame and drag you away

from the spiritual path. Follow the call of the Divine arising from the hearts

of all living beings. Serve them in an attitude of worship, without expecting

anything in return. Do not accept even gratitude, having dedicated all your

acts to the indwelling God. This will purify you so that you will be able to

listen to the sound of 'Soham' that you repeat with your every breath.

March 18, 2004

No one can liberate you, for no one has bound you. You hold on to the nettle of

worldly pleasures and you weep in pain. The kite is pursued by crows so long as

it carries the fish in its beak; it twists and turns in the sky trying to dodge

the crows that seek to snatch the fish; tired at last, it drops the fish. That

moment it is free. So, give up attachment to the senses, then grief and worry

can harass you no more.

March 19, 2004

When in difficulty, pray for guidance before making a decision. Men can give you

advice only as far as their intelligence can reach, but the Lord who illumines

the intellect will reveal to you the way out of the difficulty. Have patience

and wait prayerfully. Prayer can bring about the impossible. Sing the glory of

the Lord and repeat His name. That will bring success.

March 20, 2004

Nature is a preacher; life is a teacher. Knowledge is not to be derived from

books alone. Nature is to be accepted as a better instructor. By its

forbearance, unselfish bounty, patience and serenity, Nature is continually

proclaiming its inherent and true role of the preacher of spiritual truths.

Consider, for instance, a tree. It offers shade and distributes fruits to

whoever approaches it. It bears no feelings of hatred or vengeance towards

those who cause injury to it. It seeks no reward from those who benefit from

it. Everyone should learn this lesson in selfless service from the tree.

March 21, 2004

When the surface of the pond is agitated, the reflection of the moon in it

appears wavy. But on a calm surface, the moon's reflection is clear and steady.

Likewise if man's mind is confused and agitated, his love also gets distorted.

When the mind is pure, unselfish and unwavering, the Divine manifests in all

His purity and fullness. It is because of the contamination of his mind through

obsession with multifarious external objects, man today is unable to experience

the Divine that is present in him.

March 22, 2004

The Lord has endowed man with the body and so, every limb and organ is worthy of

reverent attention. The body must be sanctified by the contemplation of His

Glory. The ear must exult when it gets the opportunity to hear the wonderful

story of His Life. 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. The human body has been given to you for a grand

purpose - realising the Lord within. Learn how to use the faculties of the

body, the senses, the intellect and the mind for achieving the goal and march

on.

March 23, 2004

The desires that cling to the mind are the blemishes that tarnish man's inner

consciousness. Control the senses, do not yield to their insistent demands for

satisfaction. When a corpse is placed on a pyre, and when the pyre is lit, both

the corpse and the pyre are reduced to ashes. So too, when the senses are

negated, the mind too disappears. When the mind disappears, delusion dies and

liberation is achieved.

March 24, 2004

If you are not moved at the sight of distress, disease or injustice, how can you

muster the determination and dedication necessary to serve the unseen,

inscrutable mysterious God? When you do not love man, your heart will not love

God. Despising your fellowman, you cannot, at the same time, worship God; even

if you do worship Him, God will not accept that hypocrisy. God is the resident

in every heart; so if you serve anyone, that service reaches the God within

him: it draws upon you the shower of His Grace.

March 25, 2004

You ignore the divinity you have as the core of your being; at the same time,

you seek it in others. This is the tragedy. You insult yourself by feeling

helpless, weak and inferior; cowardice and self-condemnation, these do not

become a spark of the Divine flame. Once the ego is suppressed, that very

moment two consequences follow: Freedom from grief and Freedom from joy. To

achieve this great consummation, you must take one step after another. Good

deeds like puja (worship), dhyana (meditation) and the observance of vows etc.

are steps on the way; good thoughts like prayer for greater discrimination,

more chance to help others - also help. Slowly, steadily, cleanse the mind;

sharpen the intellect; purify the senses and win His Grace.

March 26, 2004

You must realise that the same Divine current flows and functions in every

living being. When you desire to enter the mansion of God, you are confronted

by two closed doors - the desire to praise yourself and the desire to defame

others. The doors are bolted by envy; and there is also the huge lock of egoism

preventing entry; so if you are earnest, you have to resort to the key of Prema

(Love) and open the locks of egoism, remove the bolt of envy and only then will

the doors be thrown open to you.

March 27, 2004

The Bhagavad Gita advises 'Karmasanyaasa', that is to say, performance of action

without attachment to the fruits thereof. There are karmas (actions) which have

to be performed as one's duties, according to one's status in the society. And

if these are done in the proper spirit, they will not bind one at all.

Undertake all deeds as actors would in a play, keeping your identity separate

without getting attached to your role. Remember that the whole thing is just a

play and the Lord has assigned to you a part; act out your part well; there

your duty ends.

March 28, 2004

Life is a pilgrimage to God. The road lies before you; but unless you take the

first step forward and move further on, how can you reach your destination?

Start with courage, faith, joy and steadiness. You are bound to succeed. The

mind and the intellect are the two bullocks tied to the cart of the inner man.

The bullocks are not used to the road of Sathya (Truth), Dharma

(Righteousness), Shanti (Peace) and Prema (Love) and so they drag the cart

along the road familiar to them, namely, falsehood, injustice, worry and

hatred. You have to train them to take the better road so that they may not

bring disaster upon themselves, the cart or the passengers travelling in it.

March 29, 2004

Man always seeks happiness by trying to satisfy his desires. If a desire is

fulfilled, he feels joyous and when it is not, he feels disheartened. But the

trouble is, desire is a bonfire that burns with greater fury asking for more

fuel everytime. One desire leads to ten more; and man exhausts himself in

trying to fulfill his desires. He has to be turned back from this path of

never-ending desire, to the path of inner contentment and joy.

March 30, 2004

Carry on your legitimate duties, discharge your obligation, but do not allow

attachment to grow. The wise man performs the duties given to him with

discrimination, diligence and detachment. Play the role, but keep your identity

unaffected. Remain detached, unaffected by the aimlessly rushing world. But, it

is your duty which you cannot escape, to fully engage yourself in your work,

unconcerned with loss or gain, failure or success, slander or praise. God is

but a witness to man's activities; He is above hate and anger. Man gets

punished or rewarded by his own actions and not by God.

March 31, 2004

Man in his ignorance finds contentment in separating himself from the rest, for

the search of his own happiness, forgetting that he cannot be happy unless all

are happy. He pollutes himself through the cultivation of pride. He uses time

for degrading himself to the bestial level. The thirst of sensual greed can be

prevented by keeping good company and putting into practice the axioms of good

conduct that one can imbibe from it.

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[Guest guest]

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR ALL THE NEWS

MAY GOD GRACE BE WITH YOU ALL.

LOVE

Tara.

[Guest guest]

Om Sai Ram !

 

So happy to read the Thought for the Day.

Like stading in front of the notice board at Prasanthi....

 

Norman.

 

Hari Om !