1008 PEARLS OF SAYINGS OF BHAGAWAN SRI SATHYA SAI BABA-Part XIV [601 to 700]

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Om Sri Sai Ram

1008 PEARLS OF SAYINGS OF BHAGAWAN SRI SATHYA SAI BABA

Part XIV [601 to 700]

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

601

I DO not care either for praise or for blame. I only pity these people who, in

order to scrape together a few paise from the poor, resort to such filthy

tricks. For all who are pained by these subhuman antics, I declare "Even if all

the fourteen Worlds unite together, the work for which I have come will not

suffer a bit; even if Earth and Heaven combine, My truth can never be fully

grasped".

602

PRAYER and Meditation Prayer make you a supplicant at the Feet of God; Dhyana

induces God to come down to you and inspires you to raise yourselves to Him. It

tends to make you come together, not place one in a lower level and the other on

a higher. Dhyana is the royal road to Liberation from bondage, and with Prayer

you earn the same fruit. Meditation needs concentration after controlling the

claims of the senses. You have to picture before your inner eye the Form on

which you have elected to contemplate.

603

WHEN you see in a house on the walls of the shrine room a picture of Mine, do

you not feel a wave of reverence and kinship surging within you? You may not

like him for any other reason, but this picture will bring him closer to you,

though the owner of the house may be your rival in the professional field. So,

too, know that every other person has in his heart of hearts a picture of the

God you revere. Recognise it and reconcile your misunderstandings; close up all

gaps with the brothers in pilgrimage, encouraging and inspiring each other along

the arduous road.

604

WHEN the parents have no reverence for God, when the pictures of Stalin, Hitler,

Churchill and Lenin adorn the walls of the home, when the child has to breathe

the atmosphere of scandal, faction and greed at home, how can it grow into a

happy, healthy balanced individual? The films that children are taken to see

are full of violence and falsehood, mean tricks and conspiracies, which tarnish

the springs of sympathy and love.

605

THERE are parents who are proud when their children join in card games and even

in drinking and gambling; there are parents who get angry when their children

read religious books, attend temple rites and sit quietly for a few minutes

meditating on the awe and wonder that Creation evokes in them. How can such

parents claim to be the well wishers of their progeny? They are the greatest

foes of their progress.

606

ALL the twenty-four hours are spent in attending to the care of the body, the

prevention of disease, the promotion of health, the development of muscle, etc.

No care is spent on the God resident in this physical tabernacle, who has to be

recognised and revered. The weighing machine on which you stand to read your

weight with pride laughs at you for the silly exaltation. It sneers at your

conceit over physical victories; it warns you against too much concern over

paltry gains. It knows that death is lying in wait to snatch you away, however

heavy you may grow. Develop "Drishti" (vision); not "Deha" (body). Concentrate

on the Maker, not the made.

607

TO elevate man to the level of his consciousness, He (God) has to incarnate as

man. He has to speak to them in their own styles and languages. He has to teach

them the methods that they can adopt and practice. Birds and beasts need no

Divine Incarnation to guide them, for they have no inclination to stray away

from their Dharma. Man alone forgets or ignores the goal of Life.

608

I HAVE no desire to have My Birthday celebrated. Such trivial thoughts can never

enter Me. My only desire is to share My "Ananda". My Birthday is when you get

"Ananda". My Mission is "Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavanthu". May all the Worlds

be happy and prosperous! Become aware of the unity of mankind. Promote, by Love

and Service, the Joy and Contentment of everyone on Earth and fill your hearts

with that yearning.

609

ACTS done between dawn and dusk are offerings into the sacred Fire of Wisdom. Of

such acts, those that are promoted by instinct and impulse are material; they do

not arise from a mind moulded by the intellect. When the mind is crossed and the

outer shore reached, all acts become pure and holy. When deep sleep overpowers

the senses, the mind, the intellect, and even the sense of ego disappears. The

entire Cosmos disappears from awareness. That is the Truth when the Atman is

alone by itself and bondage is naught.

610

Man praises GOD, Over-self or Paramatma when his desires are fulfilled. When

they are not realised, He is blamed. But He has no prejudice or partiality. If

He has Love, He must also have anger. Any manifestation of these feelings is

only superficial and does not rise from the core. God is the witness of the

act-consequence chain. You can avoid the consequence by dedicating the act of

God and abstaining from attachment.

611

ONE'S action decides one's destiny. There is no use blaming others for our

misfortune and misery. Nor is it right to blame God as being partial or cruelly

unconcerned. When you plant a bitter seed, how can the fruit be sweet? It has

become the fashion to claim all good as one's own achievement and to ascribe

all the despair and disappointment to an irresponsible attitude of Divinity.

612

I WISH to emphasize that purity of the heart, the mind and the consciousness is

more important for progress than even Meditation and Prayer. Purity alone can

convince you of the Divine within you of the Kshetrajna immanent in the

Kshetra. Love all, adore all and serve all. That is the Sadhana of worship, to

win purity and earn Grace.

613

THE consequence of the meritorious activities of previous births can be drawn

upon now; but unless you have them, no Cheque will be honored. Moreover, only

those who have the account can operate. Each must have a separate account in

his own name: One brother cannot draw on the account of another brother; and

the wife cannot draw on the account of the husband.

614

SOMETIMES, the Bank will give you overdrafts, so that you tide over temporary

crisis; the Manager with reference to your reliability and capabilities settles

the extent of the overdraft. It is like the "Anugraha", Grace that God will

confer on you when you have earned it by "Sathkarrna", "Sathchinthana",

"Sathsanga" and "Namasmarana" (good deeds, good thoughts, good feelings and,

good company), and constant repetition and reflection on the Name of God and

the Glory it seeks to express.

615

WHEN you have attained true wisdom, you will find that good fortune should not

be gloated over, nor bad fortune grieved over. The Hero treats both with equal

unconcern. They are breezes and storms that cannot affect the depths of the

Ocean of Bliss in the heart of Man.

616

PEOPLE in America, Europe, and Africa, Hong Kong and Australia are establishing

Sathya Sai Bhaktha Mandalis and Study Circles; they are having Telugu classes,

so that they may listen to Me and learn things directly from Me. As for Me, I

have no "near" and "far"- all are near to me except those who keep afar. Even

they are close to Me, if only they dedicate themselves to God, under whatever

Name and Form.

617

CYNICAL laughter cannot harm the Sadhaka. Can a storm shake the Himalayan range?

Let not your faith in the goal or the road quake before trouble or trial, toil

or travail, distress or despair. They are but passing clouds, casting temporary

shadows hiding for a little time the glory of the Sun or Moon. Do not get

distracted by doubt of despondency. Build the mansion of your life on four firm

pillars: Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha, the Purusharthas laid down by the

ancient sages, each pillar bound strong and safe with every other.

618

THE Ramayana, the Mahabharatha, and the Bhagavatha are to be mastered, not

allowed to become masters. You go through them without allowing them to go

through you! The Volumes are bound in silk; and incense sticks are burnt before

them, while man prostrates before them in reverence. But no attention is paid to

what the pages proclaim. The frills and fringes attract the mind more than the

kernel provided by the text.

619

ACT according to your professions. Do not play false to yourself and to your

ideals. To deny by your acts the truth of what you preach is a sign of

cowardice and moral suicide. You say that Baba knows and sees everywhere, but

you do something wrong in the belief that Baba is somewhere else. You pray to

Kali in the idol form, believing it to be alive and you hide something behind

the idol, imagining that no one would know about it.

620

THE chief Characteristics of Sathya Sai are: equanimity and forbearance

(sahana). There are many who are engaged in criticism and calumny. Many papers

publish all types of writings. Many pamphlets are printed. All kinds of things

happen in the World. My reply to all these is a smile. Such criticisms and

distortions are the inevitable accompaniments of everything good and great.

Only stones thrown by greedy people hit the fruit-laden tree. No one casts a

stone on the tree that bears no fruit.

621

SANKARACHARYA was going along the streets of Varanasi, when he saw in a small

hermitage a monk poring over a book of grammar. He took pity on the aging

scholar and warned him that, when the end draws near, his punditry will not

save him from perdition or take him to the goal of merging with God. So he

asked him to adore God and fill himself with thoughts of the Divine. This is

the proper way to deal with life, not frittering it away as a feast of fancy.

622

THE tree will grow with branches on all sides; countless flowers will bloom; it

will provide and promote peace and security to the World. In order to realise

this result, students must do as roots do: remain firm and provide sustenance.

I know that the roots have to be watered so that flowers and fruits may emerge.

Students are my all. If you ask Me, what is My property, many expect the answer

to be, "Oh! All these buildings; all these vast areas of land". But My answer

is "My entire property consists of My students". I have offered Myself to them.

But many are not aware of this fact. Some unfortunate people cannot believe the

Reality of this Love: the Love of a thousand mothers.

623

THE situation in India and in the World today is "Evaniki Vaare, Yamuna Theere"

(Each for each on the Yamuna beach). There is no togetherness. How happy can

man be if he develops togetherness! Can you eat a meal with a single finger?

When the five fingers work in unison, the stomach is filled in five minutes!

So, no attachment should be developed; no wish is to be welcomed, nothing is to

be sought for; and no defeat is to be taken to heart, without solving deep into

the consequences.

624

IT was ascribed to one's past deeds and one's own mental tendencies. It is wrong

to cast the blame on others. But, someone pointed out that God was the

originator of both joy and grief and that without His will no blade of grass

can waver in the wind. Yes; if that Truth be firmly established in the heart,

one gets the unique bliss of liberation. God gives everything; whatever we get

is His Grace, and you have no right to judge if it is good or bad. Bhaja

Govindam, Bhaja Govindam Bhaja Govindam Moodha Mathe Sammpraapthe Sannihitthe

Kaale Nahi Nahi Rakshathi Dukrn.

625

PRAISE God, Praise God, Praise God, you fool, when death does knock at door,

rules of grammar cannot save you. Sankara exhorted his pupils to disseminate

the ideal of this verse, and they, too, responded with verses on the same

lines, each of the fourteen contributing one verse. Sankara gave another twelve

of his own, as well as four more verses about the transformation that the

teaching would confer. Thus, there are 31 verses in all, in the text called

Bhaja Govindam or Moha Mudgaram. The latter name means, "The weapon with which

delusion can be destroyed". Each one is a step in the ladder, which lifts man

into God.

626

ELECTRICITY is found everywhere in Nature but it can be collected, stored and

utilised only through certain contrivances designed by man. The spiritual Atma

Shakthi that is also everywhere is stored in a body and passed through the thin

wires or nerves; it illumines and directs activity. These activities have to be

oriented towards Ananda and not attachment to temporary pleasures. The life

principle that flows as intelligence through every cell and nerve is also a

reflection of the Atma.

627

WORK is for the physical level, worship for the mental and wisdom for the

spiritual. You have to pass through the three stages, each one of you. When I

say to you, there are three of you! The one you think you are, namely the body,

the physical person; the one the others think you are, the mental you, your

passions, emotions, impulses, attitudes, and beliefs; and the one you really

are, namely, the Atma, the Spirit, the real Reality of your Personality.

628

ONE can understand the spirit of renunciation and the depth of tolerance that is

inherent in India's noble response. Whoever is afflicted with calamity, at

whatever time, under whatever condition, your heart must react without delay in

sympathy shown in the same practical manner. No one should be condemned as

trash; even a little stick can serve as a toothpick! God has not made any man

wholly bad or wholly good; your likes and dislikes are inducing you to label

them as such.

629

UNLESS one develops virtue, uses skill, intelligence and discrimination in the

most beneficial manner and directs his physical might with restraint, his life

is wasted in bitterness and grief. The Vedas declare: "Nakarmanaa,

naprajayaa-dhanena, thyagenike amrthathwa masmuth"; (Not by acts, nor by riches

nor by progeny, but, only by renunciation can immortality be gained).

"Renunciation, detachment, sacrifice, giving up - these alone can ensure the

highest Realisation and Eternal Bliss. Renunciation is the law of life. That is

why life is worthwhile and a source of happiness.

630

OF what avail is the shaving of the scalp while leaving inside of it a multitude

of desires clamoring for satisfaction? This kind of Sanyasa is a fraud on the

person entering it and on Society. No Avatar, you will note, has granted

Sanyasa to any aspirant. These external insignia are not essential or even

necessary. Non-attachment, born out of wisdom and fostered by the Grace of the

Lord, is the precious capital for spiritual advance.

631

THE Sanyasi has to declare his death and perform obsequies for himself and bury

his past. He destroys all that binds him to the rest and to his past, his

history and his name. He avoids any reminder of his erstwhile adventure and the

pursuit of sensory joy. He flees from his friends and foes, his habits, and

habiliments, his hobbies and prejudices. But we find men who have taken the vow

of Sanyas still clinging to their long established practices and habits. Instead

they must completely break with the past. That is why in the Gita, Karma Sanyasa

and not any other types of Sanyas is prescribed.

632

GURU Nanak said that without faith in God, man is blind; Without it, you are a

moving corpse - your life might be as grand, beautiful, and rich as the Taj

Mahal but remember, the Taj is but a tomb! Whatever the method of worship and

whichever the Name or Form, it is faith that matters; it is that which gives

life and energy for higher things.

633

I LIKE the Pooja that is done not for the sake of the individual but for the

sake of humanity. By all means, do Pooja in order to promote the happiness and

peace of living beings. Develop that love for men everywhere. That is My

Mission too, My Resolution, My Sankalpa, and My Deeksha - the planting of Love

in every human heart.

634

IT becomes essential to cleanse the mind through regular Sadhana; to tune the

little will to the infinite will of God, so that it becomes merged in His

Glory. Scholarship or skill, however deep and varied, has no cleansing power.

They only add the alloys of pride and competition. Learned men are not

necessarily good, nor are men with spiritual powers over nature above pride,

envy and greed. Sathya, Dharma, Shanti and Prema are the hallmarks of a

purified heart, where God is enshrined and is manifest.

635

INSTEAD of transforming his heart, his home, his village, his state, and this

World into a Prashanthi Nilayam, the abode of the peace that passes

understanding; man has made the World an arena for the wild passions of anger,

hate and greed. Instead of making the senses (which are, after all, very poor

guides and informants) his servants, he has made them his masters; he has

become a slave of external beauty, evanescent melody, exterior softness,

tickling taste and fragile fragrance. He spends all his energies and the fruits

of all his toil in the satisfaction of the trivial demands of these untamed

underlings.

636

INDIVIDUAL efforts and Divine Grace are both interdependent, without effort

there will be no conferment of grace. Without Grace, there can be no taste in

the effort. To win that Grace, you need only have faith and virtue. You need

not praise Him in order to win His Favour.

637

THE character of the children must be made strong and pure. Give them all the

confidence and courage they need to become good, honest, and self-reliant

children. It is not enough if they learn something by which they can make a

living. The manner of living is more important than the standard of living. The

children must also have reverence towards their religion, their culture, their

educational attainments and their country. They must learn well their mother

tongue, so that they can appreciate the great poetical works and epics written

by the Seers of their land. This will give them valuable guidance in the stormy

days ahead.

638

LEARN to share with others their grief and their joy, do not get jealous when

others are happier or when others win prizes or credits in examinations.

Emulate their industry, pray for a higher share of intelligence or a sharper

memory, but do not give room in your hearts to envy and malice. Envy is a

deadly poison, it will contaminate character, ruin health, and rob you of

peace. Be Anasuyas, unaffected by envy, and you can subdue the Gods of

creation, Protection and Destruction. Like a pest that destroys growing crops,

envy enters slyly and spreads quickly. So even in small matters, be vigilant to

ensure that you do not fall a prey to envy.

639

THE six enemies of man are eating into his vitals, embedded in his own inner

consciousness. They are the demons to be killed. They are Lust (Kama), Anger

(Krodha), Greed (Lobha), Attachment (Moha), Pride (Mada) and Malice

(Maatsarya). They reduce man to the level of a demon. They have to be

overpowered and transmuted by the supreme alchemy of the Divine urge. Then the

nine nights of struggle will become a new type of night, devoted to the

purification of the mind and the illumination of the soul, the night described

in the Gita as "the Day of the Worldly". What is clear and attractive to the

ordinary man is uninteresting and unknown to the Worldly man. This is the

nature of the topsy-turvy world.

640

THE selfishness fouling your love is veiling divinity from your vision. What is

the reason for the selfishness, which is veiling divinity from us? It is simply

our attachment to the body; It is the weakness of our mind and our enslavement

to our senses.

641

USE the eyes to watch wholesome things, the feet to proceed to the Home of God,

the hands to serve the embodiments of God moving around you as men and the

tongue to soothe pain, praise virtue, and glorify God. Do not use your eye to

vulgarise your brain and your feet to stand in queue for deleterious

movie-shows.

642

THOUGH the World has become a very small globe as a result of fast means of

communication and transport, man has not yet learnt the art of living together

in close proximity as brothers and as children of the One God. The closer men

are brought, the larger the differences that appear. Thus, the little World is

now riddled with problems of conflicting cultures, competing creeds and

contesting ambitions. The sorrows of one State spread fast into all its

neighboring ones and infect the whole world. The World has become one vast

battlefield.

643

MOST of you are leading a double or triple life: Yogam in the morning; Bhogam

the rest of the day; and Rogam at night. You seek Ananda outside you and suffer

from the ulcer of desire inside you. You utter one thing with the tongue and

carry out the opposite with the hand. You claim to be the seekers of Jnana but

you are attached to the delusion that you have cultivated. You have a ticket

for Calcutta but you are traveling in the train headed for Bombay. With the

body, which is your ticket and Vigna and Vairagya your luggage, you are

traveling not in the train, which goes God ward, but in the train leading to

Prakriti. This is a pity.

644

THE Atma has an eternal festival. It is Ananda Swarupa. It is beyond time and so

does not calculate the passage of time. Let me ask, how can man celebrate a

festival when Dehabhranthi, Manabhranthi, Indriyabhranthi, and Lokabhranthi

afflict him? He believes the falsehoods that are called the body, the senses,

the mind and the world. He pursues them and tastes joy and grief, and when a

certain number of years have passed, he celebrates a festival.

645

INDIA is the Moolasharam of Sathya, Shanthi and Prema and she has been holding

forth these ideals and emphasising their practice since centuries. Bharath

means the land that has "rathi" or attachment to "bha" or Bhagawan; it means

that the people here are God loving, not so much God-fearing. If you love God,

you have to love Man also. This teaching, that Sathya is the basis of Dharma,

which lays down individual and social duties and obligations, and that Sathya

is also the root of Prema and Shanti, is the unique feature of Bharath. Sathya

is enough, no other God needs to be worshipped.

646

THE task now is to install Dharma in every heart, to shed light on every road,

through the revival of Vedanta. The World is like a famished person waiting for

a feast; it is like the parched land waiting for rain. I have seen and felt the

atmosphere of this land surcharged with discontent and dishonesty. I have seen

it from Kanyakumari to the Himalayas: that is the reason why thousands, like

you seek Darshan, Sparshan and Sambashan. I am only surprised that thousands

are denying themselves that chance.

647

IT is best you stay away from companions who drag you to such distractions that

weaken and worry you; spend a few minutes every morning and evening in the

silence of your own home, spend them with the highest of all powers that you

know of; be in His Elevating and Inspiring Company; worship Him mentally; offer

unto Him all the work you do; and you will come out of the silence, nobler and

more heroic than when you went in.

648

JUST consider - do you come out of the cinema more peaceful, more heroic, purer

and nobler than when you went in? No, your passions are aroused, your animal

impulses are catered to and your lower nature is fed. Nothing else can give one

that rich reward which Silence and Prayer and Communion with the Master can

give, not even a decent bank account, nor a string of degrees, nor the muscles

of a prize fighter.

649

LIVE upon the Ananda that you derive when you sing the Name and glorify the Form

of the Lord That is My Food and My daily sustenance. So, I have no need to talk

to you; it is sufficient if I sit here and draw in the Ananda that you feel

when you do Bhajan.

650

THERE are certain dire possibilities, which I want all social workers to guard

against. First cleanse your own minds and then start advising others. Earn

mental peace and strength for yourself and then try to secure them for others.

Learn the secret of lasting happiness yourself and then endeavor to make others

happy. Seek the real limb not the artificial limb. Get the doctor who will

assure "hereafter you will not fall ill" and not the doctor who gives some

relief only for the present attack.

651

THE greatest instrument by which success can be ensured for all your efforts is

Bhakti. That will give health, wealth and prosperity too, for it will eliminate

hatred and faction and give more power to your elbow when you plough the land. A

man with Bhakti will do every act as worship of the Lord and so the act will be

done better and more efficiently, without any maligning or insincerity. It will

also win the Grace of the Lord, and so, a Bhakta will be able to raise more

crops and enjoy greater health and mental happiness.

652

WE light many candles with the flame of a single candle. But remember only a

burning candle can light other candles. An unlit candle cannot light other

unlit candles. Only one who has earned wisdom can enlighten others who are in

ignorance. One who is himself unillumined cannot illumine others dwelling in

the darkness, Maya. One must light his own lamp from the universal light of

love and thenceforward he can transmit illumination to all who seek and strive.

All lamps shine alike since they are all sparks of the Param-Jyothi the

Universal Luminosity that is God.

653

IS the Universe real? Is it relatively unreal? This problem has been agitating

man since ages in all lands. The realists and the idealists have argued on

their explanations for centuries. The scientists or realists believe that the

Universe is a conglomeration of atoms in varying patterns, which have assumed

manifold forms and names. But this is only partially true. The Vijnana Vedins

(the spiritually oriented) point out to the Dhoatik Vedins (the materially

oriented) that a firm base is essential for all these transformations to

happen. The Universe must have a basic force or energy or phenomenon, as basic

as clay is to the pot. That fundamental principle is, according to them, the

Atman.

654

THE human body is a temple-chariot; the Atman is installed therein and is

dragged by emotions, impulses, passions and urges, along the streets of desire.

Success and failure, joy and grief, gain and loss are the dancers who accompany

the procession of life. Here, too, many pour their attention only on the

chariot, its height, its decoration and its progress. Many others are concerned

with the dance of durabilities. The pain and pleasure due to that is part of the

procession. Few pay attention to the Atman, the crown and consummation of human

existence.

655

WHY is man so pathetically afflicted today with fear and anxiety? Are we to

search for the reasons outside us or do they live within us? The reason lies in

the false emphasis we have laid on things of the material world, ignoring things

of the spirit. The body that man bears is essentially the receptacle of God. It

is a temple where God is installed and where God is the Master. It does not

deserve all the attention you now pay to fulfill its whims. It is equipped with

very valuable instruments which can help you in the journey but which you seldom

use.

656

MANY are affected by the problem of what caused the Cosmos. How did it come into

being? They advance various theories and lay down many opposing hypotheses. But

there is no need for seekers to beat about the bush so much. Just as a dream

results when one is cut off from reality in a state of sleep, the Cosmos is a

result of being cut off from Reality by Maya, in a state of ignorance. It is

difficult to discover laws that explain or govern its infinite mysteries.

657

WE find individuals and groups trudging to Badrinath, Kedarnath, and Hardwar in

search of peace and prosperity. They also go to Tirupathi and Kashi. Have they

jettisoned even a few of their animal propensities? That is the test; that is

the justification for the money and time they have spent and the troubles they

have undergone. When the animal is conquered and Godhead is felt within reach,

man can assert that all these pilgrimages are within him. He has no need to

travel from temple to temple. And without achieving this victory, you have no

right to claim that you are a devotee of Rama or Krishna or of another

incarnation of the Lord.

658

GOOD deeds like Pooja, Japam, Dhyanam, the observance of vow, etc., are "steps".

Good thoughts like prayer for greater discrimination and more chances to help

others, also help. Slowly and steadily cleanse the mind; sharpen the intellect,

purify the senses, and win grace.

659

IT is because you feel the urge to use the body with which you have been

endowed, and for this higher purpose you are here in Prasanthi Nilayam. The

kinship among you and all of you with Me, is ageless; it is eternal; it is not

based on a worldly relationship; it is based on the aspirations of the heart.

It is Prasanthi Nilayam that is the abode of Supreme Bliss.

660

THE Lord is described in the Purusha Suktha as "thousand-headed". It does not

mean that He has just a thousand heads, no more, no less. It means that "the

thousands of heads" before Me now have just one heart, which gives life and

energy to all, and that heart is the Lord. No one is separate from his

neighbor, all are bound by the one life-blood that flows through the countless

bodies. This is the special teaching of Sanathana Dharma, which the World

needs.

661

THE Lord has endowed man with the body, and so, every limb and every sense is

worthy of reverent attention. Each must be used for His Glory. The ear must

exult when it gets a chance to hear the wonderful tales of God. 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.

662

THE human body has been given to you for a grand purpose: realising the Lord

within. If you have a fully equipped car in good running condition, would you

keep it in the garage? The car is primarily for going on a journey, to get into

it and go. Then only is it worthwhile to own. So too with the body, proceed and

go forward to the goal. Learn how to use the faculties of the body, the senses,

the intellect, and the mind for achieving the goal and march on.

663

MAN must proceed ever towards "Balam" strength; he should not take to untruth,

wickedness, and crookedness, all of which denote a fundamental fatal trait of

cowardice, "Balaheenam". "Balaheenam" is born of accepting as true a lower

image of yourself than what the facts warrant. You believe you are the husk.

But really you are the kernel. That is the main mistake. All Sadhana must be

directed to the removal of the husk and the revelation of the kernel. So long

as you say "I am", there is bound to be fear, but once you say and feel "I am

Brahmam", "Aham Brahmasmi," you get unconquerable strength.

664

I WANT that you all should build new houses for happy living and install the

Lord therein. I do not mean houses of brick and mortar, but houses of good

thoughts, good words, good deeds and good company, where you could live calm

and collected. Invite Me for the Grahapravesam of such houses and I shall most

readily agree. In fact, then the house is Mine already and I do not need even

an invitation to come and enter it. These houses are for worldly comfort; that

house is for spiritual joy. And My place of Residence is the pure aspiring

heart.

665

YOU are going about with a temple where God is in the innermost shrine. The body

is not a mass of flesh and bone. It is a medicine for Manthras-Manthras, which

save when they are meditated upon. It is a sacred instrument, earned after long

ages of struggle, equipped with reason and emotion, capable of being used for

deliverance from grief and evil. Honour it as such; keep it in good condition,

so that it might serve that high purpose; maintain it even more carefully than

these brick houses and always preserve the conviction that it is an instrument

and nothing more. Use it for just the purpose for which it has been designed

and given.

666

IT is urgent that every one should inquire into the true, the pure and the

permanent; for there is at present a delusion about values. Even the leaders of

people are hugging the false hypothesis that happiness can be had by means of

wealth or health, housing or clothing, or the cultivation of skills in

handicraft and manufacture. The bird sits upon the bough that sways in the

storm, confident of its wings, not confident of the bough on which it sits. So,

you too should feel strong because of the wings, the wings of Sraddha and

Bhakti, not because of the bough of the objective World on which you have

perched.

667

YOU know from the experience of the Cauvery floods, neither status nor castes

nor wealth nor even health can help unless you know the simple art of swimming.

Need I say that crossing the ocean of Samsar, reaching the other shore of the

sea of Birth-Death, is similarly possible only for those who know the art of

Spiritual Sadhana? Those who are trying to build the seaman community on a

foundation of "Dana", are building on sand; those who seek to build it on the

rock of "Dharma", are the wise.

668

DHARMA Moolam Idam Jagath. Dharma is the root of this World. Obey it and you are

happy. The evil man is a coward, haunted by fear. He has no peace within

himself. Respect for the parents who started you in life and brought you into

this World, together with the vast and varied treasure of experience, is the

first lesson that Dharma teaches. Gratitude is the spring, which feeds that

respect. It is a quality that is fast disappearing in the World today. Respect

for the teacher, for the elders and for the wise is on the decline. That is why

Dharma is fast disappearing and losing its hold.

669

JUST as the body is the house you live in, the World is the body of God. An ant

biting the little toe of your foot is able to draw your attention to the spot;

and you react to the pain, making an effort to remove the tiny enemy. You must

similarly feed the pain, misery or joy or elation whenever it is evinced in the

entire land; you must make an effort to protect the land from the enemy, however

remote the place may be where the enemy has presented himself. Be kin with all

your kind. Expand your sympathies; serve others who stand in need, to the

extent of your skill and resources. Do not fritter away your talents in

profitless channels.

670

THE entire epic Ramayana hinges on two women and two passions. Manthara

representing Krodha (anger, resentment and vengeance) and Surpanaka

representing Kama (lustful passion). Manthara plotted to send Rama into exile

and Surpanaka caused the abduction of Sita and the destruction of the Rakshasas

as a consequence. The two women are insignificant characters in the story; but

the roles they play are key-roles, for they sparked off, by means of the

passions they represented, strong chapters of pain and grief. Krodha and Kama

are more destructive than atom bombs; but when Rama is installed in the heart,

they just fizzle out.

671

WELCOME the epic Ramayana as you welcome an efficacious drug; it can cure

deep-rooted illness of the mind, the disabilities of the inner senses, and the

defects of the inner consciousness. It can clarify your vision and make you

strong and steady on the path towards God.

672

SANTHAAKAARAM Bhujaga Sayanam is one of the ways in which the Divine is

described. Bujaga is the cobra, the poisonous snake. Its visha (poison) is the

symbol of the evil influences of vishaya (Worldly desires). The Lord is said to

repose on the bhujaga, the evil filled multiplicity of the World. Yet, the

description says: He is Saanthakaaram (in absolute peace, unruffled in the

least). The Lord is unaffected, though He is immanent in the Universe. Man too

must be in the World, but not of it.

673

YOU must be careful about the food you take; the Jiva and Guhya are the two

great foes of man. The cravings of hunger and sex drag you into perdition.

Desist from catering to the tongue and its greed; do not be a victim of lust or

taste. Have Sathwic food and eat it in Sathwic company. Be moderate in food and

keep the senses strictly under control.

674

WHAT exactly is the aim and purpose of all the Sastras, the Bhagavatham, the

Puranas, these discourses and the Harikathas? It is to tell man the truth about

himself. There is no plot to mislead you. That is not the desires of the Sages

who wrote down these annals and their own experiences. You know only the

present and what is happening before your eyes. You do not know that the

present is related to the past and is preparing the course of the future. It is

like the headlines and titles of a film on the screen; as the letters gleam one

after the other, you read them and pass on to the next that comes to view. Each

new letter or word wipes out the one already before your eye, just as each birth

wipes out the memory of the one already experienced.

675

PEOPLE, who were charged with the social duty of reminding the masses of their

heritage, have been rendered dispirited and mendicant. The Dharma laid down in

the Vedas has to be experienced in order to be appreciated; it cannot be merely

talked about in tall language. The use of the Vedas does not consist in mere

recitation, though the reciters are doing a valuable service, presenting them

in correct form and style of pronunciation. Vedas yield Ananda; Vedamatha is

the Ananda Matha.

676

WHO am I? Every one of you has to know that this question has to worry you

sooner or later. And everyone has to discover the answer. The senses, each

specialising in one small field of cognition, are powerless to give the answer;

they are at best very inadequate even in their own specialised provinces; there

are sounds the ear cannot hear; there are colours the eye cannot take in and

interpret to us; and tastes beyond the ken of the buds of the tongue. They are

imperfect instruments for the study of the external World. How can they serve

to teach us about the intangible, invisible, inner World of the self? The

Vedantic vision alone can reveal to you: "Anoraniyam mahatho maheemyam", "the

smaller than the smallest and bigger than the biggest".

677

DHARMA is the road for individual and social progress in this World and through

this World to the next. It is external, basic and fundamental. The principles

may not be altered or adjusted to suit personal whims or pressing problems that

appear formidable to the eyes of some individuals or group of persons. It is

like the mother who has to be accepted, not like the wife whom you can choose

or discard.

678

IF you can inquire deeply and reason fearlessly, you can appreciate the Indian

point of view that, instead of seeking a lower standard of Ananda by feeding

the senses, one can get lasting Ananda by training the mind to be ever in the

eyes of the Cosmic, the Universal, the Lord as it is called, when you impose a

Name and a Form upon it, and enclose it in your consciousness. Why does man get

Ananda when he contemplates the Cosmic and the Universal? Because he is the

Cosmic, the Universal.

679

ALL hearts are His Property. It is all His Domain, But just as the Zamindar sits

only on a clean spot, though the entire area may be his, the Lord will install

himself only if the heart is cleansed. The Lord has said, "Mad bhaktha yathra

Gaayanthe, thatra thishtaami Narada", "Where my devotees sing of Me, there I

install Myself". I must tell you that you are luckier than men of previous

generations. The accumulated merit of many previous births must have granted

you this luck. You have got Me and it is your duty now to develop this

relationship that you have achieved by sheer good fortune.

680

IN four or five year's time, you will see Yogis and Maharishis and Munis

crowding here and you may not have such chances of asking Me questions and

getting the answer, of approaching Me and directly speaking to Me. So, do not

be like frogs around the Lotus, be like the bees. Plantains and mangoes are

kept, while yet green, in straw or dried grass or in a closed room so that the

heat may make them ripe and tasty. The meditation on God gives you too the

right temperature to ripen yourselves and become sweet and tasty.

681

THERE are seven things that have to be fostered for the welfare of the World:

the Cow, the Brahman-ward aspirant or the Brahmin, the Vedas, Chastity, Truth,

Non-attachment and Dharma. All these are now fast declining and I have come to

restore them in their pristine purity and strength. Do not think that some

Bhakta composed this Sathya Sai Gita and that he reads it and explains it here.

As he said, I am the inspirer and it is for your benefit that he has summarised

My Teachings in this way. "Ekkam Sathyam Vimalam Achalam". It is said that the

One Truth is pure and unshakable.

682

THERE are now thousands and thousands of educated institutions in the world.

But, there is a great difference between the rest and those founded by Sathya

Sai. The fundamental objectives of Sai institutions are humility, adherence to

discipline and application of what is learned in daily life. If, what is

learned is not put into practice, the student is like a cow that does not yield

milk; a fruit lacking in taste, a book bereft of wisdom. It is not really man's

task to stuff his head with transient knowledge and waste time in acquiring it.

He should not engage in valueless activities and fritter away years of life.

When man ruins himself, he descends to the level of the beast. When man uplifts

himself, he ascends to the level of God.

683

OF the four Yugas, the present Kaliyuga is far more congenial than the previous

three (Kritha, Thretha, and Dwapara) for the acquisition of wisdom and the

cultivation of discrimination (Viveka), for we now have many simple paths

available for liberating ourselves. The Scriptures say:, "No age is equal to

the Kali Age. Just through Smarana and Chinthana we can reach the Goal".

Smarana is the process of keeping the Lord ever in the memory; and Chinthana is

the process of thinking of His glory all the time. Many people are scared

because they believe that the Kali Age, in which we live, will witness the

ultimate Deluge. Others call it the Kalpa Age, the Age of Conflict. This Age is

the Golden Age for the seekers of God and for earning and learning Viveka.

684

PILES of books are plentiful in bazaars; schools abound; and there is no dearth

of teachers. But wholesome learning and sincere teaching are not to be seen. It

is for this reason that these spiritually oriented educational (Sai)

institutions are being established to impart teaching in proper ways in order

to preserve the hearts of students in pristine purity, stability and

unselfishness; to develop them into workers dedicated to the progress of

Bharath, intent on removing the anxiety and gloom that spread all over the

land; and determined to revive the Glory of the Bharathiya Culture.

685

IF Divinity is absent, everything is devilry. So, teachers and students must

have faith in God and boldly call on God. This will drive away the devilry that

encompasses us. Of course, hesitation to address God is only superficial. During

examinations, every student prays to the Almighty. When calamities happen, when

loss is sustained, and when members of the family are struck by disease and are

in mortal danger, people do pray to God. Why, then, yield to false pride and

refuse to acknowledge God? This is sheer hypocrisy.

686

BHAKTI, to be effective, must be regularised through self-discipline; it should

not be allowed to grow wild and untended. You rush forward to touch My feet or

to prostrate before Me, ignoring the children, the aged and the sick, upon whom

you fall when you press forward towards Me. Do not forget the Sai in those

people, when you rush forward towards this Sai. The merit of all the hardship

you underwent to see and hear this Sai is as good as canceled, when you inflict

pain on the Sai who resides in them. That plus and this minus add up to zero. In

your frenzy to offer homage, you should not forget others who have been waiting

long for the chance; you must provide facilities for their Darshan.

687

TRANSMUTING humanity into Divinity is the task allotted to man. Word, thought

and deed are instruments for this unavoidable destiny. By unremitting practice,

this has to be achieved. The priest in the temple has to ring the bell with the

left hand and wave the camphor flame with the right hand, an exercise in manual

coordination, which comes only as a result of practice. A new priest will use

both hands and shake the camphor plate. Vemana has said that, while the serpent

has poison in its fangs and the scorpion in its tail, man is capable of

inflicting poison through his tongue, eyes, hand and mind. He has to overcome

this acquired tendency and remind himself that he is "Amrithasya Puthra" (the

Child of Immorality), conferring sweet nectar and not death-dealing poison.

688

IF your circumstances do not allow you to partake in this Sankeerthana, stay at

home and sing the songs alone in the silent cave of your heart. Do not do so

according to a fixed measure, so many times or so many songs at a sitting. The

heart does not calculate in numbers; it confers contentment which is

immeasurable. That contentment can arise only through faith. When the mind

wavers, loyalty sits light; love disappears; and faction begins.

689

I HAVE come for the re-establishment of Dharma and so, I always insist on people

observing Dharma in all walks of life. Dharma is the inner voice of God. It is

the conscience that has shaped itself as a result of centuries of experience

and generations of asceticism and austerity; it is the voice of history,

warning you against the branch of its command.

690

FOR treading the Bhaktimarga, one needs not scholarship, nor wealth, nor riches,

nor ascetic rigours. Tell me what was the lineage of Valmiki, the wealth of

Kuchela, the scholarship of Sabari, the age of Prahalada, the status of

Gajaraja and the attainments of Vidura? - Prema was all they had and it was all

they needed. The Grace of the Lord is as the Ocean, vast and limitless. By your

Sadhana, your Japam, Dhyanam and systematic cultivation of Virtue, this Grace

is converted into clouds of Truth, and they rain on humanity as Prema Showers,

which collect and flow as the flood of Ananda back again into the Ocean of the

Lord's Grace.

691

YOU have come here to learn and practice detachment. Get wet in the rain, while

engaged in serving others. It does not matter if death comes while serving; do

not pause; if you are so determined, God will not allow it to approach you. You

complain, "Swami has not softened towards me". Well, melt His heart, yearn, show

Him the warmth of a repentant heart and of a sympathetic heart anxious to

alleviate distress. Through deep detachment the craving for sensual pleasure

must disappear; that will cleanse the Chitha or consciousness. God will then be

reflected clear and the Reality can be recognised. This results in Peace and

Equanimity which is the highest bliss.

692

THE wise will not give place in their hearts to covetousness and possessiveness.

They know that there is a "Kshetragna" who is the motivator of this "Kshetra";

"a knower of the field, who is the master of this field". Vyasa, who collected

the Vedas, composed the aphorisms that demarcate the Divine Principle (the

Brahmasatram) and wrote the Mahabharatha, reputed to be the fifth Veda, could

still not win mental peace. Those were intellectual feats, flights of poetry

and philosophy but not flowers that blossomed from authentic experience.

693

IDEALS must become higher and grander. Desires must become more and more

selfless and sublime. Attachment must be transmuted into nobler and subtler

emotions. The story will be gripping only when there is steady development

towards the denouement. That is why one passes through the crucible of joy and

grief and emerges all the purer and stronger for the experience. When a child's

growth is stunted, it causes grief; when he starts to grow normally, it causes

joy, when the growth is abnormal, it causes grief again.

694

THERE is none to question Me if I do not act; there is nothing I would lose if I

do not engage in activity. Nor have I any great urge to be active. But yet, you

see Me very active. The reason is, I must be doing something all the time, for

your sake, as an example, as an inspiration, as a piece of training. Those who

are leading must themselves follow; and those who command must themselves carry

out what they expect others to do. I am engaged in activity so that you may

learn to transmute every minute into a golden chance to enable you to move into

Godhood.

695

MAN is endowed with many skills; he is offered many lives; he is shown many

paths. The purpose of all these gifts is to develop in him the spirit of

devotion and dedication and release him from the dual dribble of joy and grief.

When man visualises the Universe as God, its capacity to confer the dual

experience disappears; he knows the Truth and is calm. God is One and One only;

"Ekam eve Adhivitiyam Brahma" (One only, without a second-Brahmam, which is the

immanent principle). So one must endeavor to know God, who is Truth.

696

THE internal foes can be destroyed by the light of Jnana (the illumination that

accompanies the Realization of the Reality). To acquire that illumination, one

has to cultivate the spirit of impartial, steady, unfluctuating inquiry, based

on the revelations made in the Vedas about the nature of man and God and the

relation between the two. The Vedas have to be studied reverentially, for they

give us the key to Jnana. The Veda is the Philosopher's stone that turns all

metals into gold, all students into Sadhakas and all Sadhakas into Sages.

697

SEE how the insufferable heat of the Sun is controlled and modulated and reduced

by your bodily mechanism to the congenial temperature of 98.4 degree F. So, you

too should keep the destructive force of your elemental passions born out of

the clamour of Sabda, Sparsa, Rupa, Rasa and Gandha rigorously in check and

bring it down to tolerable levels, yielding comfort and congenial living. You

yourselves create the Maya of which you are the slave. Deny it the chance to

lord over you and it will not harm you.

698

SHEER ignorance is the root cause for the disrespect that is being shown to

Indian culture and the fascination exercised by the West. Do these people at

least grasp the values of Western culture fully? No, only the fringe and the

foppery are adopted. How can a person, who is unable to understand his own

culture and heritage, understand the meaning and significance of an alien

culture?

699

THE most fundamental teaching of the ancient culture of India is Love. For

generations, the youth of this land have been exhorted, encouraged and taught,

by precept and example, to love the poor, the helpless, the handicapped, the

illiterate and the disabled, for the same spark of Divinity that is in us, is

also equally evident and active in them. Education must endow man with this

compassion and this spirit of service - intelligent, timely and full. That is

to say, education must not only inform but also transform.

700

THE mind is like a boulder, which the intellect transforms into an image, as a

sculptor does. If the intellect allows the senses to dictate the design, the

boulder will be shaped into a horrid idol. If, however, the spirit sublimates

the senses, the image wrought by the intellect will be simply adorable. One

must have the mind fully cooperating in the spiritual discipline and not

obstructing its progress at every step. Liberation is the goal and the mind

must help the pilgrim at every stage of his journey. The Mind should not admit

any activity that is contrary to Dharma or injurious to spiritual progress.

To be continued

With Pranams at the Lotus Feet of Divine Lord Sai

Sai brothers

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