Sri Sathya Sai Baba Quotations

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Sri Sathya Sai Baba Quotations

 

 

 

Silence

Silence is the only language of the realized. Practice moderation in speech.

That will help you in many ways. It will develop Prema, for most

misunderstandings and factions arise out of carelessly spoken words. When the

foot slips, the wound can be healed; but when the tongue slips, the wound it

causes in the heart of another will fester for life. The tongue is liable to

four big errors: uttering falsehood, scandalizing, finding fault with others,

and excessive speech. All these have to be avoided if there is to be santhi for

the individual as well as for society.

(Sathya Sai Baba, SSS. Vol.1 p. 62) The first step in the Sadhana is the

cleansing of the speech. Talk sweet without anger. Do not boast of your

scholarship or attainments. Be humble, eager to serve; conserve your speech.

Practice silence. That will save you from squabbles, frittering thoughts and

faction. (Sathya Sai Speaks Vol II p.34-36) I insist on silence. Talk less,

talk low when you must talk. Do not thrust your sorrows, your needs, your

problems into the ears of those who have come here with their own bundle of

such things. They are not interested in adding to their troubles. I am here to

listen to you, to console you. Do not by loudness of voice disturb those who

are meditating or reading or writing the Name of God.

(Sathya Sai Baba, SSS. Vol. 3 p. 9) Spend a few minutes every morning and

evening in the silence of your own shrine or home; spend them with the highest

of all the powers that you know of. Be in His elevating and inspiring company;

worship Him mentally; offer unto Him all the work you do; you will come out of

the silence nobler and more heroic than when you went in.

(Sathya Sai Baba, SSS. Vol. 3 p. 122) The old man had seen people carrying

transistor radios, people miss a very valuable thing if they do not listen in,

even while they are moving about or resting in the parks or beach! They are

afraid of being alone; they avoid silence as something detestable! But, you can

discover your own truth, only when you are alone with yourself and there is

silence all around you. (Sathya Sai Speaks Vol IV p.56)

Dakshinamurthy taught His disciples by His silence. Yes, what He did was to make

the disciples rely on their own intelligence. Do not demean your talents, when

you dive deep into yourselves, you can discover the source of all strength.

(Sathya Sai Baba, SSS. Vol. 4 p. 155) Be silent yourself; that will induce

silence in others. Do not fall into the habit of shouting, talking long and

loud. Reduce contacts to the minimum. Carry with you an atmosphere of quiet

contemplation, wherever you happen to be. There are some who live in a

perpetual hullabaloo, in a tornado of noise. Whether they are in an exhibition

or a fair or in a hotel, or a temple or the Prasanthi Nilayam, they wag their

tongues and will not stop. These will not proceed on the Godward road. (Sathya

Sai Speaks Vol IV p 190)

Do not pretend or patronize. If you simply say: "Do not talk loud" or give some

blank direction, you are patronizing and treating people with disdain. They

deserve to be told why. Tell them that silence is the very first rung of the

ladder of sadhana; that it is the hallmark of Prasanthi Nilayam; that they must

learn to make every place where they are a Prasanthi Nilayam; that loud talk

disturbs those who practice Namasmarana or Dhyanam or Japam; that noise breeds

further noise. This is a workshop, where damaged minds and hearts come for

repair or overhaul.

(Sathya Sai Baba, SSS. Vol. 4 p. 257) Learn the value of silence, of

Namasmarana, of Bhajan, of Japa, of Dhyana, of single minded remembrance of the

Lord, of the association with spiritually kin. These will stand you in good

stead, when distress assails you. (Sathya Sai Speaks Vol IV p 270)

Be silent yourself; that will induce silence in others. Do not fall into the

habit of shouting, talking long and loud. Reduce contacts to the minimum. Carry

with you an atmosphere of quiet contemplation, wherever you happen to be. There

are some who live in a perpetual hullabaloo, in a tornado of noise. Whether

they are in an exhibition or a fair or in a hotel, or a temple or the Prasanthi

Nilayam, they wag their tongues and will not stop. These will not proceed on the

Godward road.

(Sathya Sai Baba, SSS. Vol. 5 p. 245) The less you talk, the more will become

your mental power. With the increase in your mental capacity, there will be

increase in your power of discrimination too. Consequently, you will give up

"individual discrimination". Because of this, you will begin to consider the

good of the world at large rather than your own individual welfare. You must

cultivate such broad feelings from this young age itself.

(Sathya Sai Baba, Divine Discourse. Brindavan, 24 May, 1992) Each one eats to

assuage his own hunger; so too, each one must discover the best way to appease

his own spiritual hunger. Do not be led away by the scorn of others, or by the

recommendations of others. Contact your own reality in the silence that you

create by quieting the senses and controlling the mind. There is a voice that

you can hear in that silence. The true witness of your having listened to that

voice is your behaviour. The tree is held and fed by the roots that go into the

silent earth; so also, if the roots go deep into the silence of your inner

consciousness, your spiritual blossoming is assured.

(Sathya Sai Baba, SSS. Vol. 4 p. 366) One of the first principles of straight

living is the practice of silence. For the voice of God can be heard in the

region of your heart when the tongue is stilled and the storm is tilled and the

waves are calm. There will be no temptations for others to shout when you talk

to them in whispers. Set the level of the tone yourself; as low as possible, as

high as necessary to reach the outermost boundary of the circle you are

addressing. Conserve sound, since it is the treasure of the element akasa, an

emanation from God Himself. Reason can prevail only when arguments are advanced

without the whipping up of sound. Silence is the speech of the spiritual seeker.

Soft sweet speech is the expression of genuine love. Hate screeches, fear

squeals, conceit trumpets. But love sings lullabies. It soothes. It applies

balm. Practice the vocabulary of love; unlearn the language of hate and

contempt.

Less talk - more work! There is too much talking going on. Because of

excessive talking, spiritual energy is being wasted. (Sathya Sai Baba, 4/10/91)

You feel the presence of God when silence reigns. In the excitement and

confusion of the market place, you cannot hear His Footfall. He is Sabdabrahma,

resounding when all is filled with silence. That is why I insist on silence, the

practice of low speech and minimum sound. Talk low, talk little, talk in

whispers, sweet and true. Examine each act of yours and see that you execute it

with minimum noise. Do not shout to a person standing far; go near him or beckon

to him to approach you. Loud noise is sacrilege on the sky, just as there are

sacrilegious uses of earth and of water.

http://saibaba.ws/quotes/silence.-- dorisdv