1008 PEARLS OF SAYINGS OF BHAGAWAN SRI SATHYA SAI BABA - Part VI [126 to 150]

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Om Sri Sai Ram

1008 PEARLS OF SAYINGS OF BHAGAWAN SRI SATHYA SAI BABA

Part VI [126 to 150]

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

 

126.  THE mind plays many tricks with you, the chief of which is to foster the

ego and hide the Prompter and the Power within. You must have heard of an

Accountant in the Court of the King of Death, Chitragupta, by name. He

maintains a Register of the good and the bad deeds done by each living being,

and on death, he brings the book to the Court and strikes the balance between

debit and credit. Yama, the king, then meets out the punishment that can

expiate and educate. This Chitragupta has his Office in the mind of man, all

the time, awake and alert. The word means the secret picture; what he does is

to picture all the secrets from promptings that blossom into activity; he notes

the warning signals as well as the occasions when those signals were ignored or

wantonly

disregarded. You must see that the warning of the Divine against the merely

human or even the bestial inclination is heeded.

 

127.  YOU have the chance to see, experience and be sanctified by the

incarnation of the Lord; this chance you have received as a result of the

accumulation of merit in many previous lives. That merit has brought you here

when I came down. For this chance, Rishis and Devas have prayed long in the

past. Having won this chance, strive to taste the sweetness and achieve the

Bliss of Merging without wasting even a single moment. The rays that emanate

from Me are of three grades: the "Sthula", filling this Prashanthi Nilayam; the

"Sukshma", pervading the Earth; and the "Karana", covering the entire Universe.

The people who have the privilege of living in this Prashanthi Nilayam are

indeed lucky, for they are nearest to the "Kiran" (rays). The "Sthulakirana"

makes a man a

"Sadhaka"; the "Sukshma" makes him a "Mahatma"; and "Karana” converts him into a "Paramahamsa".

 

128.  I NEVER deviate from Truth. Since I recline on Truth, I am called Sathya

Sai; Sayi (as Seshasayi) means reclining. The name is very appropriate, let me

assure you. It is only those, who fail to follow My instructions and deviate

from the path I lay down, that fail to get what I hold out before them. Follow

My instructions and become soldiers in MY army; I will lead you on to victory.

When someone asks you in great earnestness "where the Lord is to be found", do

not try to dodge the question. Give them the answer that rises up to your

tongue from your heart. Direct them. He is here in Prashanthi Nilayam. All

Avatars teach, as the first step in the long road of "Sadhana", the giving up

of attachment. In the Thretha Yuga, the Yoga-Vasistha taught the same rule. In

the Dwapara Yuga, Krishna taught Arjuna to give up Vishaya-Vasana, attachment to

the objective world. People utter with apparent faith, "Krishna, Krishna,

Krishna", but they never give up "Thrishura" (Thirst) for worldly goods or

fame. In each Yuga, you have the Avatar of the Lord come to redeem, review and

rebuild. At the present time, Maha Shakti, Mayasakthi, and Yogasakthi have come

all together in One Human Form. Your endeavor should be to draw near and earn

Grace therefrom.

 

129.  WHAT is the immortal part of man? Is it the wealth he has accumulated, the

residences he has built, the physique he has developed, the wealth he has

acquired and the family he has reared? No, all that he has done, developed or

earned are destroyed, he has to leave them all to the ravages of time. He

cannot take with him even a handful of earth, the earth he loved so much. If

only the dead could take with them a handful each, the earth would have become

so scarce that it should have been rationed by now! Discover the Immortal "I”

and know that it is the spark of God in you; live in the companionship of that

vast measureless Supreme and you will be rendered vast and measureless.

Consider all objects that you collect here as given on "Trust" to be used in

this

caravanserai during your pilgrimage in this Karuna Kshetra.

 

130.  UNLESS you brighten your vision with Love, you cannot see the Truth. Love

helps you to see God in everyone and everyone as Divine. The Jagath is not

false, it is not a trap; it is the splendour of God, His reflection. He

reflected and the Jagath happened! It is His own substance, manifesting as

multiplicity, as latent or potent energy-matter. When activity is in accordance

with awareness that is befogged or belittled, dried up or deluded, there Dharma

is decadent and the Avatar appears among men!

 

131.  EVERY one must learn the secret of happiness, which consists in refusing

to shed tears for anything less than God. You have won this human body, this

human life, as the reward for many lives spend in acquiring merit. You have won

this chance, this unique good fortune of being able to get Darshan of Sai.

Plunging deep into the waters of this tumultuous ocean of Samsar, you have

heroically emerged from its depths, with this rare Pearl in your hands - the

Grace of Sai. Do not allow it to slip from your clasp and fall into the depths

again. Hold firmly on to it. Pray that you may have it forever and be filled

with the joy that it confers. This is the way by which you can render this life

fruitful.

 

132.  UTILISE the World as the means to an end; do not desire to stay in it. It

is a caravanserai, where you can rest a while during your pilgrimage to the

source. It is a bridge wide and strongly built. Can any pilgrim build a house

there on for himself? The Cosmos is changing constantly. The minutes that are

past cannot be retrieved, even if tempted by a billion rupees. The past is not

ours any more; the present slips from our grasp; and the future is uncertain.

You come naked into the world, you go out of it without informing the survivors

of the address where you can be contacted. In spite of this, attachment grows

and you cultivate bounds. This is the great illusion.

 

133.  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 paid gladly

as a tribute to the All Loving; and Love that is unwavering. Love alone can

overcome obstacles, however many and mighty. There is no strength more

effective than Purity, no bliss more satisfying than Love, no joy more

restoring than Bhakti and no triumph more praiseworthy than Surrender.

 

134.  HIN means "Hinsa" (Violence) and "du" means "dura" (distant); so HINDU

means a person who is devoid of violence, who loves and sympathizes, who helps

and serves - not one who hides and hits, harms and draws blood. The same sky is

over everyone's head; the same earth supports everyone's feet; the same air

enters everyone's lungs! The same God brought all forth, brings up all and

brings about the end of this earthly career. Why then this inhuman role of foe

and fanatic; of fight and feud?

 

135.  I AM the embodiment of Love; Love is My Instrument. There is no creature

without Love; the lowest loves itself at least. And its "self is God". So,

there are no atheists, though some might dislike Him or refuse Him, as malarial

patients dislike sweets or diabetic patients refuse to have anything to do with

sweet! Those who preen themselves, as atheists will one day, when their illness

is gone, relish God and revere Him.

 

136.  STRUGGLE to realise the Atma, to visualise God; even failure in this

struggle is nobler than success in other worldly attempts. The buffalo has

horns; the elephant has tusks, but what a difference? To live in the body, with

the body, for the body is the life of a worm; to live in the body with God is

good, for God is the life of man. The dull, activity-hating Tamasic persons

have ego and their love is limited to their kith and kin. The Rajasic, active,

passionate persons seek to earn power and prestige and love those who will

contribute to these. But the Satwic, the pure, the good and equanimity-filled

love all as embodiments of God and engage themselves in humble service.

 

137.  THERE are three types of approaches towards the Lord; the Eagle type,

which swoops down on the target with a greedy swiftness and suddenness which,

by its very impact, fails to secure the object coveted; the Monkey type, which

flits hither and thither, from one to another, unable to decide which is tasty;

and the Ant type which moves steadily, though slowly towards the object which it

has decided is desirable. The ant does not hit the fruit hard and makes it fall

away; it does not pluck all the fruits it seeks; it appropriates just as much

as it can assimilate and no more. Do not fritter away the time allotted to you

for sojourning on the earth in foolish foppery and fanciful foibles, which

always keep you outdoors. When are you to walk indoors into the warmth and

quiet of your own interior? Retire into solitude and silence now and then;

experience the joy derivable only from them.

 

138.  WHAT is the sanctity of Shivaratri? Your answer, "Linga emerges from

Swami's Udara          (abdomen)". "Today is the fourteenth day of the dark of

the month, when the moon is all but invisible, just a minute fraction remains

visible to man. The mind is the source of all the entangling desires and

emotions. The mind is, therefore, almost powerless this day; if only this night

is spent in vigil and in the presence of the Divine, it can be fully conquered

and man can realise his freedom. Vigilance this night is to be secured by

"Sadhana", this is by means of "Bhajan" or the reading of sacred texts.

 

139.  RAMA, Krishna and Sai Baba appear different because of the dress each has

donned, but it is the self same Entity, believe Me. Do not be misled into error

and loss. The time will soon come when this huge building or even vaster ones

will be too small for the gatherings of those who are called to this place. The

sky itself will have to be the roof of the Auditorium of the future. I will have

to forego the car and even the airplane when I move from place to place, for the

crowds pressing around them will be too huge; I will have to move across the

sky; yes that too will happen, believe Me.

 

140.  SEE all as Narayana Swarupa and worship all with Prema. You can understand

even My nature only when you wear the glasses of Holiness. Holy things can be

cognised only by the Holy Seeker. You get what you search for; you see what

your eyes crave for. The doctor is found where patients gather; the surgeon

stays in the operation ward; so too, the Lord is ever with the suffering and

struggling. Whenever people cry out in agony "Oh God", there God will be.

 

141.  YOU very often condemn the mind as a monkey; but take it from Me, it is

far worse. The monkey leaps from one branch to another; but the mind leaps from

the heights of the Himalayas to the depths of the sea, from today to tens of

years ago. Tame it by the process of Naamasmarana. Make it as Ramdas did into a

Bhadrachalam, a stable and steady mountain. That is the task I assign to you.

Make your heart an Ayodhya by means of Ramanama; Ayodya means a city that can

never lie captured by force. That is your real nature: Ayodhya; Badrachala.

Forget this and you are lost. Install Rama in your heart; and then no outer

force can harm

you.

 

142.  THINGS are not so important; the transcendental truth of things is of

value. You must visualise the spiritual in the material, the gold in the

jewels, the Divine in the diversity of character and conduct and seek to know

the Atma. All are equal in birth and in death. Differences arise only during

the interval. The Emperor and the beggar are both born naked; they sleep

equally silently; they bow out without even leaving their new address. Then how

can their reality be different? There can be no doubt on this score. All are

basically the same.

 

143.  LISTEN to Me. When you wake up, feel that you are entering the stage to

play the role assigned to you by the Lord; pray that you may act it well and

earn His approbation. At night, when you retire to sleep, feel that you are

entering the green-room after the scene, but with the dress of your role on;

for perhaps the role is not yet over and you have not yet been permitted to

take the dress off. Perhaps, you have to make another entrance the next

morning. Do not worry about that. Place yourself fully at His Disposal; He

knows; He has written the play and He knows how it will end and how it will go

on; Yours is but to act and retire.

 

144.  WHEN the mind of man is unattached to the ups and downs of life, but is

able to maintain          equanimity under all circumstances, then even

physical health can be assured. The mental firmament must be like the sky,

which bears no mark of the passage through it of birds or planes or clouds.

Illness is caused more by malnutrition of the mind than of the body. Doctors

speak of Vitamin deficiency; I will call it the deficiency of Vitamin G, and I

will recommend the repetition of the Name of God, with accompanying

contemplation of the glory and grace of God. That is the Vitamin G. That is the

medicine; regulated life and habits are two thirds of the treatment, while the

medicine is

just one third only.

 

145.  CARRY on your highest duty - following the four F's:

         

                         Follow the Master;

                         Face the Devil;

                         Fight to the End; and

                         Finish the Game.

         

Then you win My love in full measure. Love is My highest Miracle. Love can make

you gather the affection of all mankind. Love will not tolerate any selfish aim

or approach, Love is God. Live in Love. Then all is right; all can be well.

Expand your heart so that it can encompass all. Do not narrow it down into an

instrument of restricted one.

 

146.  THE tongue is the armour of heart; it guards one's life. Loud talk, long

talks, wild talk, and talk full of anger and hate; all these affect the health

of man. They breed anger and hate in others; they wound; they excite; they

enrage; they estrange. Why is silence said to be golden? The silent man has no

enemies, though he may not have friends. He has the leisure and the chance to

delve within himself and examine his own faults and failings. He has no more

inclination to seek them (fault) in others. If your foot slips, you sustain a

fracture; if your tongue slips, you fracture some one's faith or joy. That

fracture can never be set right; that wound will fester forever. Therefore, use

the tongue with great care. The softer you talk, the less you talk and the

sweeter you talk, the better for you and the World.

 

147.  BIRTH is the consequence of "Kama" (desire, lust); Death is the

consequence of "Kala" (Time, the lapse of Time). The God of Desire (Kama) was

reduced to ashes by Shiva; the God of Time is Kala or Yama. He was subdued by

sin. So, one has to surrender to Siva (God) if one has to escape the

consequences of these two frightfully fatal forces. If between "Kama" and

"Kala" you take refuge in Rama, then you can escape the rigour. For Rama is the

Atma who has no "Kama" and is unaffected by "Kala".

 

148.  WHEN you seek to learn swimming, you will have to enter the water and

struggle with the strokes. When Bhasma (Vibuthi) is given, doubt haunts some

people whether Swami is wishing that the recipient should be a Saivite! It is a

symbol of the indestructible basic substance, which every being is. All things

become ash; but ash remains ash, however much you may burn it. It is also a

sign of renunciation, of sacrifice and of "Jnana", which burns all "Karma" -

consequently into ineffective ash. It is a sign of Iswara and I apply it on

your brow to remind you that you too are Divine. It is a valuable "Upadesh"

about your identity. It also reminds you that the body is liable any moment to

be reduced into a handful of ash. Ash is a lesson in detachment and

renunciation.

 

149.  THE river of human life meanders along, through many a valley, leaps over

many a cliff, loses itself in many a marsh and seeks to empty itself in the

ocean of Divine Grace; though, what happens is that it falls into the

undrinkable expanse of salt. The flood flows from the heights to the depths;

only the flames of fire do ever rise from the depth to the heights. That is why

we speak of "Jnanagni", the Fire of Wisdom of Realisation. Man suffers because

he has developed hunger as vast as the sky, with a throat as narrow as a

needle. His throat must become as vast as the earth; his heart must blossom

wide through Shanti and Sahana; that is through equanimity and fortitude. Then

the desire of man for full lasting undiluted "Ananda" can be

attained.

 

150.  LIFE on earth is as on the ocean, ever restless with the waves of joy and

grief, of loss and gain, the swirling currents of desires and the whirlpools of

passion, greed and hate. To cross the ocean, the only reliable raft is a heart

filled with the Love of God and Man. Man is born for a high destiny, as the

inheritor of a rich heritage. He should not fritter away his days in low

pursuits and vulgar vanities. His destiny is to know the Truth, live in it and

for it. The Truth alone can make man free and happy. If he is not prompted by

this high purpose, life is a waste and a mere tossing on the waves, for the sea

of life is never calm.

 

With Sai love,

Sai brothers – ‘’

TO BE CONTINUED…