SATHYA SAI SPEAKS - Volume IV [Ch. 1, 2]

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Dear Sai brothers and sisters of the worldwide '' family,

In view of the ensuing glorious event of the 80th Birthday of the Divine Lord

Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, we are posting the Divine Messages titled as

‘Sathya Sai Speaks’ for the benefit of our members and all the Sai devotees the

world over. We request members to pass on/forward/spread these Divine messages

to your Sai circle so that they also derive spiritual benefits and bliss from

them. These Divine Messages are not only for Sai devotees, they are for the

entire HUMANITY. Lord Krishna taught humanity the ways and means of salvation

for mankind in ‘Bhagavad Gita’ in Dwapara Yuga. ‘Sathya Sai speaks’ is the

Bhagavad Gita of Kali Yuga. - With Sai love, Sai brothers -

’’

***

Om Sri Sai Ram

SATHYA SAI SPEAKS - Volume IV [Ch. 1, 2]

Does Sai Speak?

Sathya Sai Speaks

Does Sai speak these words into avid ears and arid hearts? No!... It is our

Mother that speaks, caressing, cajoling, crooning lullabies to relieve the

pain, bless with bliss, Mok-shayisbyaami, maa suchah! (I will see that you are

liberated, don't worry). Don't weep, she cradles us ! She leads us softly along

the road, over pebbles, thorns. When the path is bitter, uphill, hard, she sings

us through Yogakshemam vahaamyaham (I bear the responsibility of your

welfare))--- our Mother speaks.

Sathya Sai Speaks

Does Sai speak these words into tingling ears and twinkling hearts? No!… It is

our Father that speaks, refining, revealing, reminding our name to us, long

forgotten, long begotten! Abhayam Sarva bhoothebhyo! (I protect all the

creation). Don't fear, He armours us. Upward, onward, goodward,

Godward---guides us, guards us. When the path is tortuous, twisted, He pulls us

through. Na Sukhaal- labhyathe sukham (without good times happiness is not

possible) --- our Father speaks.

Sathya Sai Speaks

Does Sai speak these words into mazy ears and crazy hearts? No!… It is our

Master that speaks, advising, admonishing, heating us crucibly, treating us

crucially, leading to God within. Eesaavaasyam idam sarvam! (Lord is in

everything...the whole world is His). There's no two; He opens the lid of

Divine Box, with treasures encased in kosas (sheaths) five, Sathyam (Truth),

Jnaanam (knowledge), Anandam (Bliss), Brahman (God)---the Master speaks.

Sathya Sai Speaks

Does Sai speak these words into searching ears and seeking hearts? No!. It is

God that speaks, stilling the mind of waywardness, Brahmavid brahmaiva

bhavathi! (Knowledge of Brahman or God makes one merge with Him). Become and

be, He wakens. "Dear wave! emerging; merge; dear ray! run back". He calls.

"Dear spark! re-enter fire; You are I, I am you". Soham loses 'sa' and 'barn';

Om alone is He and We, Ekam-eva-ak-sharam Brahman (Brahmam is symbolized by ONE

syllable Om).

This is how Sai speaks.

1. HEROES, NOT ZEROS

PANDITH Sathyanaaraayana Avadhaanulu could have spoken for some more time, but

he stopped rather suddenly perhaps to give Me more time. You must not grow

listless when others speak; for, whoever speaks here, he is giving you the

nectar of the Vedas or Sasthras (scriptures) and that is sweet and liberating

ever. Moreover, he said that this evening, we have met here since it is New

Year Day, the first of January 1964! Well. This is a delusion within the larger

Delusion! This Day is welcomed as marking some big change, as if yesterday was

something quite different for it belonged to 1963 and today is something quite

distinct, for it is 1964! This day is celebrated by people, in picnics, in

gambling, in drinking and feasting; they attend cinema shows, wear new clothes,

give presents, to each other and greet all with joy and hilarity. They

exhaust their money and their energy in the pursuit of frivolity, thrill and excitement.

All this is due to the custom that views tiffs day as something unique. In fact,

the 'year' is just a convention. There are as many New Year Days as there are

days in the year; many communities and countries have their own distinct

calendars. It is not the first of January or the first of Chaithra (first month

of Telugu New Year) that is unique. The year is just a name to indicate a number

of months, the month a number of days, a day to indicate a number of hours, the

hour is a period of time counted in minutes, and the minute is a name for sixty

seconds. Each second is new. It is a gift, a chance, an opportunity, a thing to

be celebrated, to be used for your uplift. That is to say, each second is a

fresh chance given to you for training the mind, refining the intellect,

purifying the emotions, strengthening the will, for getting confirmed in the

conviction that you are the deathless Atma (Self, the Infinite Consciousness).

Be like the lotus with head high above waters

Be thankful to the Lord that He gave you Time, as well as action to fill it

with. He gave you food, as well as hunger to relish it. But, that does not

entitle you to engage yourself in action indiscriminately. When you build a

house, you install a door in front. What is the purpose of the door? To admit

all whom you welcome and to keep out all whom you do not want. It has a double

purpose; you do not keep the doors wide open, for all and sundry to come in as

and when they like. So too, select the impulses, the motives, the incentives

that enter your mind; keep out the demeaning, the debasing, the deleterious.

Admit the highest wisdom of the scriptures, the wisdom culled out of the

crucible of experience, called anubhavajnaanam.

All water is not potable; the stagnant pool is to be avoided, the flowing river

is better. Select and drink. Use the mosquito curtain, but see that the

mosquitoes do not get in when you go to bed. Keep them out; do not imprison

them inside the net. Sail in the boat that floats on water but do not allow the

water to enter the boat. Be in worldly life, but, do not allow it to get into

you. Use the doors intelligently, to let in those whom you want, and keep out

those whom you do not need. The lotus, born in slime and mud, rises up through

the water and lifts its head high above the waters; it refuses to get wet

though water is the element, which gives it life! Be like the lotus. By action,

done with all this care, the Vision gets clarified. Man is blinded by the

objective world and he believes that world to be real, meaningful and worthy of

pursuit.

The cataract grows in the eye and robs it of its efficiency. The cataract is the

enemy of the eye. Ignorance, the cataract of the inner eye, blinds the intellect

and robs it of its efficiency. So, it cannot see the Divinity that is your real

nature. It misleads you into the impression that you are a man (Manava),

whereas you are really God (Madhava).

Tread the path of Liberation

The rope is mistaken to be a snake and the perceiver flees in fear. The truth

is, it is not the organ eye that sees; there are many whose eyes are good, so

far as doctors can discover, but they cannot see! The eye sees because a

microscopic spark of the rays of the Sun illumines it. The scripture says:

"Chakshos Suryo ajayatha": From the eye, Surya was born. The soul is the motive

force of all the senses; the eye is but a window through which the soul peeps

out at the external world. Of what use is the eye, when the vision is not

correct? That is to say, when you have no Samadhrishti. Samam means Brahman,

the Absolute Reality; Samadhrishti means, seeing only Brahman, the One, in all

things at all times. This Ekathwam (Oneness) is the basic truth. All other

experiences are partial, distorted, and false. Dwell on

that, in your meditation. Fix it in your inner consciousness. That is the path

of Liberation, which you must start treading and, today is as good a day as

any, for deciding to do so. You have meditated too long on riches, status,

salary, children, relatives, fame and the standard of living. They are all of

minor interest, momentary value, dubious profit. Meditate; fix your urge on the

Nitya, the Sathya, the Nirmala, the Nischala---the Eternal, the Real, the Pure

and the Immovable.

The Eternal Charioteer

Pundit Avadhaanulu referred to some incidents mentioned in the Mahabharata and

so, I too shall mention just one point, which will make you appreciate the

Mahabharata more. The Lord had Maya (Illusion) as His Consort, so to say, and

He had a son, called Manas (Mind). This Manas, to continue the parable, had two

wives: Pravritthi and Nivritthi---Attachment and Detachment. Of course,

Attachment was his favorite wife, and she had a hundred children. Detachment

was ill-treated and neglected and she had five children. That is the symbolism

of the Kauravas (hundred sons) and the Pandavas (five sons) of Mahabharata.

Though the children all lived in the same kingdom, ate the same food and learnt

from the same teacher, their natures differed widely from one another; the

Kauravas, children of Attachment were greedy, cruel, self-centered

and vain; the Pandavas, the five of them, each one represented a supreme virtue,

so that they could be said to symbolize Sathya, dharma, Shanthi, Prema and

ahimsa (truth, righteousness, peace, love and non-injury). Since they were so

pure and born of Detachment, the Lord became their guide. In fact the Lord will

be the Guide of whoever installs Him as his Sarathi (Charioteer). He will not

consider that position inferior. He is the Sanathana Sarathi (Eternal

Charioteer) come to be the Charioteer of all. He is the Lord, for all who seek

a Master, a support. The soul is the Master in every one and Krishna is the

Universal soul, personified.

Let the Lord shape your mind

There are two birds sitting on one tree, the Upanishad says: the Jivatma and the

Paramatma---the individual soul and the Supreme Soul--on the tree of this body,

this World. One bird eats the fruits of that tree, while the other simply looks

on, as a witness. But, the wonder is, the two birds are really one, though they

appear as two; they cannot be separated, since they are two aspects of the same

entity. Steam in the air cannot be seen; it has no shape or form; but it is the

same as ice, which is hard, heavy and cold. Nirakara and Sakara (without Form

and with Form), are just two ways in which the One manifests Itself.

The minute hand of the dock is the individual soul the bird that eats the

fruits. It goes round and round but, the hour hand moves silently and slowly,

with a certain dignity. The hour hand can be said to be the Supreme Soul. Once

an hour the two meet, but the individual soul does not get that consummation

fixed forever. It loses the precious chance and so has to go round and round

again and again. Liberation is when the two merge, and only one remains.

When the obstacles in the path of truth are laid low, deliverance is achieved.

That is why Moksha (liberation) is something that can be won, here and now; one

need not wait for the dissolution of the physical body for that. Action must not

be felt as a burden, for that feeling is a sure sign, indicating that it is

against the grain. No action, which helps your progress, will weigh heavily on

you. It is only when you go counter to your innermost nature that you feel it a

burden. A time comes when you look back on your achievement and sigh at the

futility of it all. Entrust to the Lord, before it is too late, your mind and

let Him shape it as He likes.

Assign to your mind the task of serving the Lord and it will grow tame. You do

not hand over the goldsmith an ornament that is quite nice; you give him for

repairs or reshaping, the ornaments you feel have been broken or dented or gone

out of fashion. So too, give the Lord your mind that certainly needs repair, if

not complete reconstruction.

Man should have no fear

The blemish that affects the mind is illusion. It is like a fierce dog that will

not allow any one to approach the Master. You can manage to by-pass it, only by

assuming the Rupam or Form of the Master, which is called Saaruupyam, or by

calling out for the Master so loudly that He comes down and accompanies you

into the house, that is to say, by winning His Grace, Saameepyam (proximity).

Illusion is His pet and so, it will not harm you if He orders it to desist from

harming you.

The Master comes to save not one good man from Illusion, but the whole of

mankind. Of course, He has to come assuming a Form that man can love, revere,

and appreciate. He can give joy and courage, only if He speaks the language of

human intercourse. Even as it is, many are afraid to approach Me, for they know

I am aware of their innermost thoughts and deepest desires. But, let Me tell

you, only helpless animals have fear. Man, who is child of Immortality, should

have no fear. People pray before stone images of the snake god, but when the

actual snake appears in answer to their prayers, they run away terror-stricken

from the shrine! The Lord manifests Himself only to shower Grace, never to

strike terror.

On the banks of the river near Lucknow, there was a sage who addressed dogs,

crows and men equally as God; he had realised the unity of all in the Divine

Essence. That is the result of Divine knowledge, or intense Bhakti, where you

do not see anything other than your Ishtadevatha (Chosen Deity), wherever you

turn. Be ever in that Divine Bliss, the bliss that comes from God

consciousness, always and everywhere. That is the Eternal Bliss

(Nithyaanandha), which the wise enjoy. Like the silk-worm that spins from out

of itself the cocoon that proves to be its tomb, man spins from out of his own

mind the cage in which he gets trapped. But, there is a way of escape, which

the spiritual teacher (Guru) can teach you or which the God in you will reveal

to you. Take to the spiritual practice, which will bring relief. Away with the

roles

of clown and clout, which you have acted all the ages. Take on the role of the

Hero, not the Zero! Forget the past, do not worry about possible errors or

disappointments. Decide and do.

There are some spiritual teachers who advise you to keep a daily diary, where

you note down every item of evil that you did; they ask you to read it as a

spiritual exercise and resolve to correct yourself. Well, reading it, and

writing it will only tend to impress it more effectively on the mind. It is

better to substitute good thoughts for the bad and cleanse the mind of all evil

by dwelling on righteous deeds and holy thoughts. Forget the things that you do

not want to remember. Bring to memory only those things that are worth

remembering. That is the sane way to achieve spiritual progress.

Prashanthi Nilayam, 1-1-1964

2. NAMES DO NOT MATTER

TODAY is a holy day because people honour it as such. Every day is holy for

those who utilise it for holy purposes; but there are some days set apart as

specially significant and Makara Sankranti is one such. Sankranti is so called

because the day takes you from darkness to increasing light; the path of light

is open from today. The Sun enters upon the Uttharaayanam (journey towards

North) this day; he moves from the Makararekha in the Madhyarekha. Bhishma

waited for this day, spending 56 days on the bed of arrows in pain, because he

felt that death, when the Sun starts the journey towards north, is auspicious.

He wanted to offer his life at the Feet of the Lord at an auspicious moment.

Man must proceed ever towards bhalam (strength); he should not take to untruth,

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

cowardice, weakness (balaheenam). Weakness 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 spiritual

practice 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, 'Aham Brahmaasmi' (I am Brahman), you get unconquerable strength.

The body is the field (kshethra) of the Master who knows all kshethras. One day,

when Vivekananda was in his room, at night, sleepless because he was tossed

about by conflicting thoughts, Ramakrishna who was 'asleep,' was talking as if

in a dream but his talk was clearly heard by Vivekananda. He said, "O Manas! (O

Mind)! O Maanasa raajahamsa (Royal swan of the mind)! 0 Nithya-aanandha rasaika

nilaya (Repository of Eternal Bliss only)! You are Divine in

nature---Daivaswaruupa. Sport in the pure lake of meditation of the Divine;

instead, why do you crave for the dirty pond of sensual pleasure!" That was the

advice of the Guru to Naren. Naren immediately resolved to take that advice to

heart.

Characteristic of Incarnations

The influence of the Divine is such that while you are contemplating it, all

traces of envy and greed will disappear from the mind. The boy Krishna had

entered a Gopis house and was just standing beneath the pot of curds when she

discovered Him. Krishna ran out into the street and the Gopis pursued Him, and

wanted to catch Him soon, for she was so pained that the boy was running in the

hot Sun. She never worried about the loss of curds or milk or butter, but the

very thought of Krishna's tender feet walking over the hard stones in the Sun

was something she could not bear. The divine love that Krishna showered made

every one forget everything else. He too gave such disarming replies to the

queries of the mother and the Gopis (cow-herd girls) that no one could have

anything but divine love

towards Him. That is the characteristic of Divine Incarnations, at all times.

"She was carrying the milk to the temple to be offered to God; perhaps God

Himself took the vessel away from her," He would say, announcing indirectly His

own Reality. "I was sleeping by your side, Mother. How then could I have gone

away to their houses, to steal their butter?" He would plead--suggesting that

He could be in more than one place at a point of time. When caught in the act

of searching for butter, He would say that He had put His hand in the pot, just

to find out if a calf that had run away was inside it! With such lovely retorts,

He won a place in every heart and the Gopees vied with each other in fondling

Him and serving Him.

Tread the path of Gods

Krishna was the same Premaswaruupa (Divine love personified) even for the

Grandfather Bhishma. The illiterate simple Gopis and the old revered warrior

Bhishma, persons of all types, grades and professions found in Him their chief

source of Wisdom, Grace and Inspiration. That is the sign of the Incarnation.

When he waited for the northward movement of the Sun to come, Bhishma was

giving man a valuable message: the Sun is the presiding deity of intellect

(Buddhi) and when in the hridhayaakaasha (space in the heart) the Sun takes a

northward turn, that is, the Utthara-ayanu or the Utthama-ayana (the Superior

Path), the path which leads to God instead of the downward path to the

objective world, that period is best for the journey of the soul too. So, what

you should also do today is to resolve to tread the path of

Gods (Deva-ayana). Have the resolve to begin remembrance of the Supreme Lord's

Name, Ritual Worship, and Divine Service (Namasmarana of Paramatma, archana and

aaraadhana). The day on which you begin these, and thus inaugurate the Superior

Path for your intellect, that day is Uttharaagana for you. Do not wait for the

almanac to tell you the date.

The most dangerous illusion

The very first lesson I gave when I declared My Identity at Uravakonda was:

"Maanasa bhajare Gurucharanam, Dusthara bhava saagara tharanam." That is to

say: First know that you are in this cycle of birth and death, the ocean of

worldly life (bhavasaagaram); then, resolve on crossing it (tharanam); then fix

on a Guru or the Name and Form of God which appeals to you; lastly, dwell on His

Glory, do Bhajan, but do it with all your mind. He, who is deluded by this

relative reality, is the worldly person (samsaari); he who is aware that it is

only relatively real is the spiritual practitioner (Sadhak).

Egoism is the most dangerous illusion that has to be exploded and destroyed.

Bheema had it, but when he could not lift and lay aside the tail of an old

decrepit monkey, who was really Anjaneya Himself, that bubble was exploded.

Arjuna had it; one day, after the battle, when Krishna brought the chariot back

to camp, he wanted that like all charioteers, Krishna should get down first; the

master must get down later, after the charioteer opens the door for him, is it

not? Krishna refused, and insisted that Arjuna should alight, before He Himself

should. At last Krishna won. Arjuna got down and then, as soon as Krishna left

His seat and touched the ground, the chariot went up in flames! If only Krishna

had got down first! The fact was that the various fiery arrows that had the

power of burning the chariot had hit the target, but due to the Presence of

Krishna, their igniferous powers could not manifest themselves. Knowing this

Arjuna was humiliated; his egoism had a rude shock. He knew that every action

of Krishna was full of significance.

Krishna was the Avatar (Incarnation of Vishnu) come to destroy evil; but now,

the evil is not identifiable in certain persons alone; it is widespread. The

scorpion has poison only in its tail; the cobra only in its fangs; but man has

poison all over! He has in his eye, his tongue, his mind, his intelligence, his

gait, his brain---everywhere. You may ask, O when will this poison be

counteracted and destroyed? It will disappear, do not doubt it. That is the

very purpose for which I have come. Bring your 'flower of the heart'

(hridhayapushpam) to Me, rid of all the pests that infest it, the Six Enemies

of Man---desire, anger, etc.

There is a Destiny that shapes events

No one is prepared to make the effort for spiritual victory. If you demand the

job of a Collector to be given to you straightaway, how can it be done? There

are certain qualifications---age, scholarship, efficiency, talent, and

experience. The flower must become the fruit, the fruit must ripen, the

ripeness must be expressed in sweetness. It all takes time. Even an atheist

must accept a superior or mysterious power that guides things and events. The

argument that you have not seen it and therefore you will not accept it as true

is not quite intelligent. The eye is at best a poor instrument. Again, you need

not yourself see a thing; others who have seen it, if they are unprejudiced and

wise, can be believed.

An old man was warned when he proposed to go through a narrow road that there

was a cobra on the road side; but, he said that he had not seen it and so, he

was not prepared to believe it. He had to believe it when it bit him, but then

it was too late to benefit by that knowledge! Nagayya said just now that

recently in one of his speeches Nehru had to acknowledge that there is a

Destiny that shapes events, irrespective of individual efforts. Well, everyone

has to come to that conclusion, sooner or later, for, there is a limit to the

capacity of man to control events. Beyond that, an unseen hand takes over the

wheel of events. You may call it Destiny; another may call it Providence and a

third, Go. Names do not matter. It is the humility that matters, the wonder,

and the sense of awe that matters.

Result of extreme miserliness

Then there are some who say that having a trait in the mind, revering it as

valuable is enough; practicing it is not so necessary. It is like saying, it is

enough that food is in the dish, it need not be eaten and assimilated! Two

brothers were famous for their miserliness; the elder was the worse culprit.

One day, he had to go some distance to another village. So, he rose early and

moved out of the house. Half way along the road, about five miles off, a doubt

arose in his mind whether his younger brother had put out the oil lamp at home

as soon as he left. So, he returned fast and asked the brother inside. He said,

"Do you doubt my intelligence? I put it out as soon as your back was turned;

but, pray, why did you walk back? Consider how much your chappals have worn out

by these extra five miles!" The elder brother replied, "What? Do you doubt my

intelligence? I have tucked the chappals under my arm; I walked back

barefooted." But, do you know the result of their miserliness! A scorpion in

the dark stung the younger brother; the elder was bitten on the bare foot by a

cobra on the road!

This Nagayya when he acted the part of Thyaagayya in the film never forgot that

he was Nagayya. If he forgets that, the film will fail. So too, never forget

that you are the Infinite Consciousness (Atman); with that consciousness, you

can play any role on the world stage. This fact will get stablised in you, if

you read the Geetha in the light of Krishna's actions in the Bhagavatham and

the Mahabharata. Fill your mind with Divine plays of the Lord and His glory.

Once, He and His comrades stole into a house and brought down the vessel of

curds. When the mistress of the house came in, "Why did you come in?" she

asked. "My mother had a stick in her hand; so, I ran in here out of fear,"

Krishna replied. "Who are these boys?" she asked. "I brought them to bear

witness to what I say," replied Krishna. "Why have you placed that vessel

between your legs?"

she asked in feigned anger. "So that these fellows may not get hold of the

butter," was the answer! "Why do you go from house to house and eat the butter

from their stores?" asked Yasoda. "I like only things I select and choose; I do

not like to be fed," replied the Boy Krishna. Krishna could not be confined to

one house or to one routine. He is All- pervading (Sarvavyaapi); He loves the

devotees (Bhakta Vathsala). Make your heart the Seat of the Lord; then it will

have value. Soil, which has veins of mica, is valuable; but that which has

veins of gold is even more precious. The soil is valued according to the

preciousness of the metal, which it has in its fold. So too, hearts are

evaluated by the contents. Keep God in your hearts; they will then be most

precious possessions.

Youth must realise the depths of their personality

If God is implanted in the heart, you will see only God everywhere, even in the

objective world. For, Sarvam Brahmamayam (all is Brahman), is a fact. Resolve

this day to engage only in virtuous deeds, good thoughts, good company. Let

your mind dwell on elevating thoughts. Do not waste a single moment of your

waking time in idle gossip or vain boasting or demeaning recreations. Death

stalks behind you to fell you and carry you off. Consider Kennedy, how death

was lurking around, waiting for the chance! Did he not have men to guard him,

soldiers, security men, bodyguards? But, it was all in vain. So while life

persists, do good things, speak soft and sweet, never injure or insult another,

serve those in need and keep the image of God ever before the mind's eye.

The secular state is hesitating to teach the principles of Eternal Religion

(Sanathana Dharma) to young children and students in schools, though those

principles are of universal application and do not go against any particular

religion. The Shri Prakaasha Committee may, it is said, recommend a course of

moral instruction! But if it is not emphasising the super conscious basis of

the individual, much of the invigorating strength of Sanathana Dharma would

have been lost. A regular course in the discipline of meditation must also be

given to youth, so that they may realise the depths of their own personality

and its infinite possibilities for ensuring peace and happiness (Shanthi and

Soukhyam).

Prashanthi Nilayam, 14-1-1964

Freedom is independence from externals. Perfect freedom is not given to any man

on earth. Lesser the number of wants, the greater is the freedom. Hence perfect

freedom is absolute desirelessness. - Shri Sathya Sai

TO BE CONTINUED…

With Sai love from Sai brothers – ‘’

Source and Courtesy: http://www.sssbpt.info/ssspeaks/volume04/sss04

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