1008 PEARLS OF SAYINGS OF BHAGAWAN SRI SATHYA SAI BABA - Part VIII [176 to 200]

[Guest guest]

1008 PEARLS OF SAYINGS OF BHAGAWAN SRI SATHYA SAI BABA

Part VIII [176 to 200]

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

 

176.  TRUTH can reflect itself in your intelligence only when it is cleaned by

"Thapas". "Thapas” means all acts undertaken with higher motives and all acts

indicating yearning for the spirit; repenting for past blunders; staunch

determination to adhere to virtue; self-control; and unyielding adherence to

equanimity in the face of success or failure. "Thapam" means heat, burning

intensity and earnestness of endeavor. It is "Thapas" that fosters Renunciation

and discipline.

177.  THE Rama and Krishna Avatars performed the mission of restoring Dharma and

fostering virtuous living, besides punishing the wicked and teaching the World

that vice will not succeed. Man is an amalgam of Humanity, Animality and

Divinity. It is a tragedy if he cannot get rid of the Animality; and it is a

greater tragedy if he cannot cultivate his Divinity. Contemplation of the Rama

and Krishna Avatars and their Leelas and Mahimas is the surest method of

cultivating the Divine in Man.

178.  GOD has four qualities and it is only when you cultivate them that you can

understand Him. They are: Prema (Love), Beauty (Soundarya), Sweetness (Madurya),

and Shoba (Splendor). The development of Prema is enough to add into you the

other three. When you are full of Prema for the Divine in all creation, that

stage is 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 in the

Universal Mind, then there is Splendour indescribable.

179.  MY task is not merely to cure and console and remove individual misery. It

is something far more important. The important task of the mango tree is to

produce mango-fruit. The leaves, the branches and the trunk of the tree are

useful in their own way, no doubt, but the main aim is the fruit. So, also from

the plantain-tree, the fruit is the main gain. The leaves and the edible core of

the stem are all incidental. So too, the removal of misery and distress is

incidental to My Mission. My main task is the re-establishment of Veda and

Shastra in the heart of Bharthavarsha and the revival of Knowledge about them

in the people. This task will succeed.

180.  NARADA once asked Krishna the secret of the attraction His flute play had

on the cowherds of Brindavan. "Do they run to You or do You run to them?” he

queried. "Among us there is neither I nor they; how can a picture be separated

from the cloth on which it is painted? I am imprinted on their hearts so

inseparably and so inextricably", Krishna replied. Have God imprinted on your

hearts; be ever so inextricably established in Him - that is My message to you.

181.  THIS Sai has came in order to achieve the Supreme task of uniting the

entire mankind as one family through the band of brotherhood, of affirming and

illumining the Atmic Reality of each being in order to reveal the Divine, the

basis on which the entire Cosmos rests, and of instructing all to recognise the

common Divine Heritage that binds man to man, so that man can rid himself of the

animal and rise into the Divine which is his goal.

182.  DO not get elated at the riches, status, authority, and intelligence,

which have been given to you on trust, so that you may benefit others. They are

all signs of His Grace, opportunities for service and symbols of responsibility.

Never seek to exult over others' faults; deal sympathetically with the errors

and mistakes of others; hear only good things about them; and do not give an

ear to scandals.

183.  NOW, there is a wave of anxiety spreading over the World as a result of

rising prices; and attempts are frantically being made to bring down the level.

The fundamental cause for the rise in prices is the decline in the price of man.

Man must realise his pricelessness; he should not regard himself as a cheap nut

or bolt that has no higher purpose in life. He should know that he is the

imperishable, unconquerable Atma; and the body is only a vehicle for the Atma.

184.  DOES thou know why you are given eyes? To see whatever can be seen? No!

No! To fill the eyes with the vision of God who resides on Mount Kailas. We

have to cast our looks at sacred sights. We must visualise in everyone only the

good and the Godly. That is the purpose for which God has equipped us with eyes.

He has not gifted them to us to observe and judge others, to follow people into

the bazaar or to see unsightly films.

185.  THE snakes move in curves, not in a straight line; man too, when he is

following the senses, has to move in a crooked path. He has greater poison in

him than the snake; his venom is to be found in his eye, his tongue, his hands,

his mind, his heart and his thoughts - whereas the cobra has it only in its

fangs. The cobra raises its hood and sways in joy when it hears music - so, man

too, when he realises the stage of  "Nirvikalpa", (steady unchanging

establishment in the ultimate Reality), dances in heavenly Bliss.

186.  GOD is the source of all Love; Love God, Love the World as the vesture of

God, no more and no less. Through Love, you can merge in the Ocean of Love.

Love cures pettiness, hate and grief. Love loosens bonds; it saves man from the

torments of birth and death. Love binds all hearts in a soft silken symphony.

Seen through the eyes of Love, all beings are beautiful; all deeds are

dedicated; and all thoughts are innocent. The World is one vast kin.

187.  GOD is all-powerful; God is everywhere; God is all knowing. To adore such

a formidable limitless principle, man spends a few minutes out of the 24 hours

and uses a minute idol, image or picture! It is indeed ridiculous; it is

practically futile. Adore Him so long as you have breath and so long as you are

conscious. Have no other thought than God, have no other aim than knowing His

command; no other activity than translating that command into action. That is

what is meant by Surrender. Surrender yourself unto Him.

188.  GOD is the guardian, the corrector, the admonisher and the savior; so,

people must get into the habit of calling on Him as a living presence. The

temple helps to soften the hearts! It instills the virtue of compassion and

charity. Greed and cruelty will spread in an atmosphere that has no devotion

and adoration to God. Make yourselves into moving temples. Become aware of the

God that resides in you. It is He who protects you, provides for you and

prevents you from falling prey to pernicious propensities.

189.  THERE are three types of persons: those, who confess their own faults and

mention the excellence of others, are the highest type; those, who highlight

their own excellence and decry the faults of others, are worse; those, who

parade their own faults as excellence and deride the excellence in others as

faults, are the worst. The last type is nowadays most rampant.

190.  GOD has no will or want; He does not confer or withhold; He is the eternal

witness. To put it in the language that you can understand: He is like the

postman, who is not concerned with the contents of the letters that he hands

over to the addressees; one letter might communicate victory; another defeat;

and you receive what you have worked for. Do good and have good done in return;

be bad and accept the bad that comes back to you. That is the law; and there is

really no help (or) hindrance.

191.  THE relief and joy that you give to the sick and the sad reach me, for I

am in their hearts and I am the One they call out for. God has no need of your

service; does He suffer from pain in the legs, or ache in the stomach? Try to

serve the Godly; be "Dasanudasas", the servants of the servants of the Lord.

The service of man is the only means by which you can serve God.

192.  THYAGARAJA said that, if he is armed with the Grace of Rama, the planetary

missiles could never injure him. Purandaradasa, another great saint, asked,

"What are eyes for?" and answered the question himself, "To visualise the

Lord". "Eyes that do not yearn to see you, are black balls; ears that do not

hear your praise, are narrow mountain caves where jackals live; and the tongue

that does not relish the repetition of your Name, can only croak like a frog",

says Purandaradasa.

193.  ALL who come embodied are Avatars, that is to say, advents of the Divine,

Manifestations of God. What then is the special feature of Rama, Krishna,

Buddha and Christ? Why do you celebrate their Birthdays with such reverential

enthusiasm? The specialty is this: they are Aware; you are unaware of the Atma,

which is the Truth. Awareness confers Grace, Glory, Majesty, Might and

Splendour. Awareness confers Liberation from bonds, time, space and causation,

and sleep, dream and wakefulness. Avatars are ever alert, aware and alight.

194.  THE name of God, if recited with love and faith, has that power. Once the

mother of Agastya boasted that her son drank all the waters of the ocean; but

the mother of Hanuman, who was there, said; "Why go to that extent? My son

leaped over it in a trice". But there was the mother of Rama with them. She

said, "Your son leaped over the ocean, uttering my son's name. Without it, he

was helpless". The name has that overmastering power. It can bring unheard of

and unimagined strength and courage.

195.  FOR Naamasmarana, no expense is involved; no materials are needed; there

is no special place or time to be provided. No qualification of scholarship or

caste or sex has to be proved. When a bit of iron is rubbed to and fro on a

slab of stone, heat is generated; only the rubbing has to be vigorous and

continuous. When you do so at intervals and with poor pressure, the iron will

not get hot. So too, in order to get sufficient heat to melt the soft heart of

the Lord, rub the name "Ram",  "Ram",  "Ram",  "Ram” vigorously and

unremittingly; then, the Lord will shower His Grace.

196.  THIS is the best time to tell you something about the authenticity of this

Advent. I only wish to communicate the Truth. There are many who can not bear or

tolerate the Splendour that I am manifesting, the Divinity that is expressed in

every act, the wonders and amazing happenings that are the result of Grace;

these people label these as acts of mesmerism or miracles or feats of magic!

They hope to bring these down in the estimation of people. Let me tell you

this; mine is no mesmerism, miracle or magic. Mine is genuine DIVINE POWER.

197.  LIFE sustained by food is short; life sustained by the Atma is eternal. Do

not lay claim to long life; but to Divine life. Do not pine for more years on

earth, but for more virtues in the heart. Buddha knew and made known to the

World the Truth. Everything is grief. Everything is empty. Everything is brief.

Everything is polluted. So the wise man has to do the duties cast upon him with

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

unaffected.

198.  IN order to escape being tossed about on the waves of joy and grief, one

should cultivate unconcern (upeksha), an attitude of welcoming either as a sign

of Grace. Sri Ramakrishna said that if you must avoid the sticky fluid in the

jackfruit from contacting your fingers when you peel it, you have to apply a

few drops of oil on them. So, too, said he, "If you do not want the World and

its reactions to stick to you, have a few drops of unconcern applied on your

mind".

199.  THE foundation for real peace is, according to the Vedas, the quality of

Maithree. Maithree means amicability, friendship, compassion and, kindness. It

can also be taken to mean "My three", that is to say, my word, deed and thought

shall be in accordance with words, thought and deed; that is to say, we shall

speak, think and act together without friction or faction, in an atmosphere of

love and understanding. That is what is wanted in the world today: My three.

200.  ALL men are Mine; so the whole World has to be saved from the consequences

of ignorance or limited knowledge. I will get all My people near Me, for they

are Mine, and I am theirs. Then, I will start teaching and training them, until

they become entirely ego-free. For the last 25 years, it has all been sweetness,

kindness, soft persuasion; hereafter, it will be different. I will drag them,

place them on the table and operate. That is to say, I have no anger or hate. I

have only Love. It is Love that prompts Me to save them and to open their eyes,

before they get deeper into the morass.

With Sai love,

Sai brothers – ‘’

TO BE CONTINUED…