DIVINE DISCOURSES VOL 1 1953 - 1960

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1. Maanasa Bhajare


       WHEN I was at Uravakonda studying in the High School, you
know I came away one day and threw off my books and declared
that I have My work waiting for Me. The Thelugu Pandith (scholar)
described the incident of that evening to you all in his speech. Well,
that day when I came out publicly as Sai Baaba, that first song I
taught the gathering in the garden to which I went from the
Thelugu Pandith's house was:
       "Maanasa bhajare guru charanam
       Dhusthara bhava saagara tharanam"
       I called on all those suffering in the endless round of birth and
death to worship the Feet of the Guru (spiritual preceptor), the Guru
that was announcing Himself, who had come again for taking upon
Himself the burden of those who find refuge in Him. That was the
very first Message of Mine to Humanity."Maanasa bhajare."
"Worship in the mind!" I do not need your flower garlands and
fruits, things that you get for an anna or two; they are not
genuinely yours. Give Me something that is yours, something which
is clean and fragrant with the perfume of virtue and innocence, and
washed in the tears of repentance! Garlands and fruits you bring as
items in the show, as an exhibition of your devotion; poorer
devotees who cannot afford to bring them are humiliated and they
feel sorry that they are helpless; they cannot demonstrate their
devotion in the grand way in which you are doing it. Install the Lord
in your heart and offer Him the fruits of your actions and the flowers
of your inner thoughts and feelings. That is the worship I like most,
the devotion I appreciate most.
Re-education of man persists in all eras
       In shops, things are kept in separate packets and each one
specialises in some particular article or sets of articles. But in an
Exhibition, hundreds of shops join to make all varieties of things
available and there is a great deal of window-dressing, arrangement
and display. I have been all these days generally giving individual
advice, like the packets available in shops and giving answers to
individual questions. This 'speech' today, is a new experience for
you. I am addressing a gathering today; but even though it may be
new to you, for Me it is not new. I have given advice to large
gatherings before, though not in this Appearance. Whenever
Niraakaara (formless) becomes Sakaara (one with form), it has to
fulfil the Mission and it does so in various ways. But the one
purpose, the re-education of Man persists, whatever the yuga (the
era),
       The first sixteen years of this Life have been, as I have often
told you, the period when Baala leela (divine child sport)
predominated and the next sixteen is being spent mostly in
Mahimas (miracles) in order to give santhosha (joy) to this
generation. Joy and contentment are short-lived sensations; you
have to catch that mood and make it a permanent possession:
Aanandha (bliss). After the thirty-second year, you will see Me
active more and more in the task of Upadhesa (spiritual instruction)-
--teaching erring humanity and in directing the World along the path
of Sathya, Dharma, Shaanthi and Prema (Truth, Righteousness,
Peace and Love).
       Not that I am determined to exclude leela and mahima from
My activity after that. I only mean that re-establishing Dharma,
correcting the crookedness of the human mind and guiding
humanity back to Sanaathana Dharma (eternal universal religion)
will be My task thereafter.
       Do not be led away by doubt and vain argument; do not
question how and whether I can do all this. The cowherds of
Brindhaavan also doubted whether the little boy who grew in their
midst could lift Govardhanagiri and hold it aloft! The thing needed is
Faith, and yet more Faith.
Secret of Spiritual Success
       Once Krishna and Arjuna were going together along the open
road. Seeing a bird in the sky, Krishna asked Arjuna, "Is that a
dove?" He replied, "Yes, it is a dove." He asked Arjuna, "Is it an
eagle?' Arjuna replied promptly, "Yes, it is an eagle." "No, Arjuna, it
looks like a crow to Me. Is it not a crow?" asked Krishna. Arjuna
replied, "I am sorry, it is a crow beyond doubt."
       Krishna laughed and chided him for his agreeing to whatever
suggestion was given. But Arjuna said, "For me, your Words are far
more weighty than the evidence of my eyes; you can make it a
crow, a dove or an eagle and when you say it is a crow, it must be
one." Implicit faith is the secret of spiritual success.
       The Lord loves, not the Bhaktha (devotee) but his Bhakthi,
remember. The Lord's Grace is like rain, pure water, falling equally
everywhere; but its taste gets changed according to the soil through
which it flows. So also the Lord's words are sweet to some, bitter to
others. The Lord's ways are mysterious; He blessed Vidhura with the
words, "Be destroyed" and Dhusshaasana with the words, "Live for
a thousand years;" He meant that Vidhura's 'I' will be destroyed and
that the wicked Dhusshaasana will have to suffer the ills and
tribulations of this world for ten centuries. You do not know the real
reasons behind the actions of the Lord. You cannot understand the
motives of other men who are almost like you in everything,
actuated by the same motives and having the same likes and
dislikes! But yet, how easily you discover the motives of One who is
far, far above the level of Man! How glibly you talk and judge of
something that is as strange to you as atmosphere to a fish!
Pains indicate birth of new life
       There are four types of persons; the 'dead,' who deny the
Lord and declare that they alone exist, independent, free, self-
regulating and self-directed; the 'sick,' who call upon the Lord when
some calamity befalls them or when they feel temporarily deserted
by the usual sources of succour; the 'dull,' who know that God is
eternal companion and watchman, but who remember it only off
and on when the idea is potent and powerful; and lastly, the
'healthy,' who have steady faith in the Lord and who live in His
comforting creative presence always.
       You proceed from 'death' to 'life' and from 'illness' to 'health'
by the experience of the buffetings of the World. The World is a
very essential part of the curriculum of man; through the agony of
search is born the infant, wisdom. The pains are worthwhile; they
indicate the birth of new life. From Ashaanthi (restlessness) you get
Prashaanthi (absolute peace), from Prashaanthi to Prakaanthi
(bright spiritual illumination); and from Prakaanthi, Paramjyothi
(Supreme Divine radiance). It is like the alternating of night and
day, this recurrence of joy and grief. Night and day are twin sisters,
both are necessary to increase the fertility of the soil, to activate
and refresh Life. They are like summer and winter. There are some
who ask Me, 'Baaba! Make this summer less hot!' But in the heat of
summer the Earth takes in the needed energy from the Sun, so that
when the rains come, she may yield a plentiful harvest.
Shine forth in your real nature
       'Cold' and 'heat' are both in the Plan of God and yours is only
to know this and treat both as valuable. Thorny plants and thornless
plants are both there in nature; the wise man knows the value of
both; he plants the thornless one and surrounds it with the thorny
ones, so that what he fosters is left unharmed. Activity can save, as
well as kill; it is like the cat which bites; it bites the kitten in order to
carry it in its mouth to a place of safety; it bites the rat in order to
kill and eat. Become the kitten; and work will rescue you like a
loving Mother. Become a rat; and you are lost.
       God draws the Individual towards itself; it is the nature of
both to have this affinity, for they are the same. They are like the
iron and the magnet. But if the iron is rusty covered with layers of
dirt, the magnet is unable to attract. Remove the impediment; that
is all you have to do. Shine forth in your real nature and the Lord
will draw you into His Bosom. Trials and tribulations are the means
by which this cleansing is done. That is why Kunthi prayed to
Krishna, "Give us always grief, so that we may never forget Thee."
They are like the dietary and other restrictions that the doctor
prescribes to supplement the effect of the drug of Naamasmarana
(remembrance of God).
Do not give up saadhana
       Sai is Sarvajanapriya (beloved to all people) and so any name
which gives you joy, you can take up. Tastes differ according to
temperament and the character one has earned by generations of
activity as a living being in this world. The proprietor of a coffee
house goes to the nearby druggist for a pill to ward off his
headache, and the druggist when he gets a headache goes to the
coffee house for a cup of coffee which he thinks will cure him. Men
are like that; loko bhinna ruchih (tastes of people differ). The Jnaani
says, "Sarvam Brahma mayam:" In God is All;" another, a yogi, says
all is energy; a third, who is a bhaktha, says all is the play of
Bhagavaan (the Lord). Each according to his taste and according to
his progress in saadhana (spiritual practice). Do not hurry or ridicule
them, for they are all pilgrims trudging along the same road.
       Saadhana is most required to control the mind and the desires
after which it runs. If you find that you are not able to succeed, do
not give up the Saadhana but do it more vigorously, for it is the
subject in which you did not get passing marks that requires special
study, is it not? Saadhana means inner cleanliness as well as
external cleanliness. You do not feel refreshed if you wear
unwashed clothes after your bath, do you? Nor do you feel
refreshed if you wear washed clothes, but skip the bath. Both are
needed, the baahya and the bhaava (the external as well as the
internal).
       Children believe your words when you say that the policeman
will catch them or the ghost will beat them. They are full of fear,
fortitude and faith! But having grown old and stuffed your heads
with all kinds of doctrines and dogmas and theories and arguments,
you have now to use your viveka (discrimination) and discover God
the hard way. This I will tell you, there is no escaping it; all
creatures have to reach God some day or other, by the long route or
by the short route.
       Prashaanthi Nilayam, Vijayadhashami, 1953
      One wish leads to another; one bond brings about ten others.
It is in the very nature of human desire; for, the joy one gets
through its satisfaction is imperfect, limited, temporary, pregnant
with grief.
      You sow bitter seeds and pray for a harvest of sweetness. You
wail over the soil, the plant, the rain. What can they do? The seeds
themselves are diseased, defective.
                                                    Shri Sathya Sai

[saisaran]

Sairam! You have embarked on a holy service by reproducing Divine Discourses from Vol 1. May Swami bless you All! Sairam.

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2. Sharanaagathi


       I DO not give 'speeches'; My talks are more of the
conversation type; I want that you should follow every word of what
I say with reverent attention, for your Aanandham is My Aahaaram--
-your joy is My food. You can get Aanandham only by following the
advice I give you and this is why I am particular that you should
listen carefully and take to heart all that I say. This is not a mere
lecture, wherefrom you do not seek new lessons for life.
       The Lord is a Mountain of Prema (Love); any number of ants
carrying away particles of sweetness cannot exhaust His Plenty. He
is an Ocean of Mercy without a limiting shore. Bhakthi (devotion) is
the easiest way to win His Grace and also to realise that He
pervades everything; in fact, is everything!
       Sharanaagathi (total surrender), leaving everything to His Will,
is the highest form of Bhakthi. (devotion) Once a Brahmin was
crossing a river bed near which some men were washing clothes.
Finding a nice new silk shawl on his shoulder, they fell upon him in a
group, shouting that it belonged to the Palace and had been given
to them to be washed, but had been stolen and had not been
traced. The poor Brahmin yelled 'Naaraayana, Naaraayana,' when
the blows rained on him and so, Naaraayana rose from His Seat in
Vaikunththa and proceeded forward; but in a moment, He walked
back and resumed His Seat much to the surprise of His Consort who
asked Him the reason for the strange behaviour. Naaraayana said,
"I wanted to help that poor Brahmin who has fallen into a den of
scoundrels, but he has started beating them, blow for blow; My Help
is no longer needed."
Conquest of ego needed
       When Bhakthi is just emerging as a sapling, a fence is needed
to protect the tender plant; that fence is Sanaathana Dharma
(Eternal Religion) and its rules, regulations and restrictions,
directions and commands. When the fruit is green, it will not fall
even when the gale is furious; but when it is fully ripe, it drops to
the ground even in the silence of the night. A small fire will go out
in smoke even if a little green is placed on it, but the forest fire will
reduce to ashes even the greenest tree which impedes its fierce
march! What is needed is the conquest of the ego.
       The bullock shouts 'ham hai' 'ham hal' (I am, I am), in its
egoistic pride. And so, when it is just a few days old, you tie it to a
post, apart from its mother; you work it to skin and bones; but yet,
the animal does not learn the lesson of humility. Even its skin when
drawn tightly across a drum resounds egoistically,'Ham Ham Ham.
And so, the skin has to be cut into slender strings and then when
the strings are pulled, the bullock reveals that it has benefitted by
all the punishment it has undergone; it murmurs thum thum thum,
(you you you), and its ego is gone.
       The Haridhaasa (mendicant) goes along the streets, singing
the glories of the Lord. He has the sounding cymbals, two of them,
the eternal duet of good-bad, joy-grief, pain-pleasure in his right
hand and he twangs the thambura (stringed musical instrument) of
samsaara with his left. Samsaara (worldly life) is the tune to which
his songs have to be adjusted, it is the shruthi (musical note). But
both the shruthi and thaala (marking of time) are for the purpose of
heightening the effect of the song which issues from his mouth, the
song of the glow of God.
Three types of devotion
       I remember telling a questioner in Maharaashtra, while in the
previous Body, that there are three types of devotion: the vihanga
method, where like a bird swooping down upon the ripe fruit on the
tree, the devotee is too impatient and by the very impatience he
exhibits, he loses the fruit, which falls from his hold; the markata
method where like a monkey which pulls towards it one fruit after
another and by sheer unsteadiness is not able to decide which fruit
it wants, the bhaktha too hesitates and changes his aim much too
often and thus loses all chances of success; and the pipeelika
method, where like the ant which slowly but steadily proceeds
towards the sweetness, the devotee also moves direct, with
undivided attention towards the Lord and wins His Grace!
       Bhakthi and shraddha (devotion and faith) are the two oars
with which you can take the boat across the sea of samsaara. A
child told its mother when it went to bed at night, "Mother! Wake
me up when I get hungry." The mother answered, "There is no
need, your hunger will itself wake you." So too, when the hunger for
God comes, it will itself activise you and make you seek the food
you need. God has endowed you with hunger and He supplies the
food; He has endowed you with illness and He grows the specifics
you need. Your duty is to see that you get the proper hunger and
the right illness and use the appropriate food or drug!
       Man must be yoked to samsaara and broken; that is the
training which will teach that the world is unreal; no amount of
lectures will make you believe it is a snake unless you actually
experience it. Touch fire and get the sensation of burning; there is
nothing like it to teach you that fire is to be avoided. Unless you'
touch it, you will be aware only of its light. It is light and heat both;
just as this world is both true and false, that is to say, unreal.
Habit of judging others as atheists or theists
       There is a widely prevalent habit now of judging others and
labelling them as theists or atheists. What do you know, what can
you know of the inner working of another's mind? There was once a
queen who was a great devotee of Raama; she felt so sad that her
husband, the Raaja, never even uttered the name of Raama and
had no bhakthi. She had vowed that the first occasion on which she
got evidence of his bhakthi or at least respect for Raamanaama, she
would conduct puuja (ritualistic worship) in all the temples and feed
the poor on a lavish scale. Then, one night, while fast asleep, the
Raaja uttered the name of Raama thrice plaintively and prayerfully.
She heard the Naamasmarana and was happy at the discovery of
her husband's devotion to Raama; she ordered general rejoicing
throughout the kingdom and the feeding of the poor. The Raaja did
not know the reason for the celebration for he was only told that it
was an order of the Raani, which the officers carried out. Similarly, a
husband may not be aware of the excellence of a wife's spiritual
attainments.
       There is the case of a couple who were proceeding through a
thick jungle on pilgrimage to an inaccessible shrine. The husband
saw on the footpath a precious stone, shining brilliantly when the
sun's rays fell upon it from between the leaves. He hastily threw
some sand over it with a movement of his foot so that his wife may
not be temped to pick it up and become a slave to the tinsel. The
wife saw the gesture and chided the husband for still retaining in his
mind a distinction between sand and diamond. For her, both were
the same.
Keep the Name as constant as breathing
       The Raaja who spoke in his sleep the sacred name of Raama
felt very sorry, according to the story, that he let Raamanaama out
of his mouth, for he believed that no one should know of his 'love'
for Raama. There are many who will not shout about their Guru or
their favourite Name and Form, but whether you declare them to
others or not, keep them ever in your consciousness. Raamanaama
or any other name must be as constant as breathing. For this,
practice is essential.
       A person once told Dr. Johnson, the famous English thinker,
that he could seldom get time to recite the Name of God, what with
the hundreds of things he had to do from morning till nightfall and
even far into the night. Dr. Johnson replied with another question.
He asked how millions of people found space to live upon the face
of the earth, which is two-thirds water and the rest is too full of
mountains, deserts, forests, icy regions, river beds, marshes and
similar impossible areas. The questioner said that man somehow
struggled to find living space. So too, said Dr. Johnson, man must
somehow find a few minutes a day for prayer to the Lord.
Example of the highest type of detachment
       Bhakthi and the attitude of surrender that is its final fruits will
give you great courage to meet any emergency; such courage is
what is called Renunciation. The story of Mohajith is a good
example of this highest type of detachment.
       Mohajith, the Prince, went to a Sage in the forest and sought
guidance in the spiritual path. The sage asked him whether he had
conquered attachment as his name indicated. The Prince said that
not only he, but every one in his kingdom had! So the Sage started
to test the truth of this claim.
       The sage took the Prince's robes, soaked them in blood and
hastened to the Palace Gate with the gruesome stow of the murder
of the Prince by some ruffians in the jungle. The maid whom he met
refused to hurry with the news to the Royal apartments because she
said, "He was born, he died; what is the special urgency of this
news that I should interrupt my regular routine and run to the King
and Queen?"
       When at last he got an audience and was able to
communicate the sad news to the father, he sat unruffled,
whispering to himself, "The bird flew off the tree on which it had
alighted to take rest." The Raani too was unmoved. She told the
sage that this Earth is a caravanaserai, where men come and stay
for the night and when dawn breaks, one by one, they tramp their
different ways. Kith and kin are the words we use for the
attachment to the travellers cultivated in the caravanaserai during
the short term of acquaintance.
       The wife of the "dead" Prince was also unaffected; she said,
"Husband and wife are like two pieces of wood drifting down a
flooded river; they float near each other for some time and when
some current comes between, they are parted: each must move on
to the sea at its own rate and in its own time. There is no need to
grieve over the parting of the two; it is in the very nature of Nature
that it should be so."
Grow with self-respect and dignity
       The sage was overjoyed to see this steady and sincere
Vairaagya (dispassion) in the rulers and the ruled. He came back to
the forest and told the Prince that while he was away, a hostile
army had invaded his Kingdom and slain the entire royal family and
captured his Kingdom and enslaved his subjects. He took the news
calmly and said, "All this is bubble,
       impermanent, flimsy. Let it go the way of the bubble. Guide
me to reach the Infinite, the Imperishable."
      Such courage comes out of the Grace of the Lord; it needs
generations of learning and struggle. Meanwhile, you must start
with the first step, the cleansing of the mind and the cultivation of
virtue. Even if you do not start with that step, at least do not laugh
at those who do, and discourage them. Do at least this much! Then,
do not depend upon others for doing your work, like attending to
your personal wants. Do them yourself; that is real freedom. Again,
never accept anything 'free' from others, pay it back, in service or
work.
      That will make you self-respecting individuals. Receiving a
favour means getting bound to the giver. Grow with self-respect and
dignity. That is the best service you can do to yourself.
There is no seniority or juniority among devotees
      'Uncle' Moon is 'uncle' to all the children of the world. So also,
the Lord is every one's Father, in whose property every one can
claim a share. But in order to get it, you must reach a certain age, a
certain standard of intelligence and discrimination. The infirm and
the idiotic, He will not consider fit to receive property. His property
is Grace, Prema. But if you have Discrimination and Renunciation,
you can claim your share, as of right.
      Bring 'Bhakthi' and lay it here and take from here spiritual
strength! The more such business is done, the more pleased am I.
Bring what you have, namely, your sorrows and griefs, worries and
anxieties, and take from Me joy and peace, courage and confidence.
In My view, there is no seniority or juniority among devotees. The
mother spends more time tending the sickly child; she just asks the
older children to look after themselves; she feeds with her own
hand the infant. That does not mean that she has no love towards
the grown-ups. So too, do not think that because I do not ostensibly
pay more attention to one person, he is beyond the ken of my
Prema.
      Note this also. In this Avathaar (Divine Incarnation), the
wicked will not be destroyed; they will be corrected and reformed
and educated and led back to the path from which they have
strayed. The white-ant infested tree will not be cut; it will be saved.
Again this Avathaar will not select some place other than the place
where the Nativity took place for the centre of Its Leelas, Mahimas
and Upadhesha (divine sport, miracle power and divine instruction).
This tree shall not be transplanted; it will grow where it first rose
from the earth. Another speciality is this: the Avathaar has no
affinity or attachment in Its Career to members of the Family
wherein it appeared. Unlike the appearances as Raama, Krishna,
etc., where the Life was played out mostly among and for the family
members, this Avathaar is for the Bhakthas, the Saadhus and the
Saadhakas (devotees, noble souls and aspirants) only. It has no
japa (recitation of holy name), dhyaana (meditation) or yoga
(practising union with God). It knows no worship; It will not pray to
anything, for It is the Highest. It only teaches you to worship and
pray.
       To a worldly man, a God-intoxicated person will appear mad
and he will laugh at him for it. But to the God-intoxicated man, the
worldly appear insane, foolish misled, blind. Of all the insanities that
harass man, God-madness is the least harmful, the most beneficial.
The world has suffered untold damage due to its "mad" rulers and
"mad" guides; but nothing but harmony, peace, brotherliness and
love have come out of the 'God-madness' of man!
                       Prashaanthi Nilayam, Mahaashivaraathri, 1955

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3. God as Guide

       God is Mahaashakthi (Supreme Energy) and Jeeva (individual
being) is Maayaashakthi (Deluding Power); He is the genuine, the
jeeva is but the shadow, the appearance, the delusion. Even I have
to put on Maayaashakthi to come into your midst, like the policeman
who is compelled to wear the dress of the thief so that he can get
entry into the gang of thieves to apprehend them and bring them to
book! The Lord cannot come down with. His Mahaashakthi
unimpaired; He has to come with diminished splendour and limited
effulgence, so that He can become the object of Bhakthi and
Dedicated Service.
       In this world which is impermanent and ever transforming, the
Immanent Power of the Lord is the only permanent and fixed entity.
In order to realise the eternal and the true, one has perforce to
attach oneself to that Source and Sustenance. There is no escape
from this path. It is the destiny of one and all, irrespective of age or
scholarship, clime or caste, sex or status.
       While proceeding along the road, you can watch your shadow
falling on mud or dirt, hollow or mound, thorn or sand, wet or dry
patches of land. You are unaffected by the fate of your shadow, is it
not? Nor is the shadow made dirty thereby. It does not worry in the
least where it falls or what it wades through. We know that the
shadow and its experiences are not eternal or true. Similarly, you
must get convinced that 'you' are but the shadow of the Absolute
and you are essentially not this 'you' but the absolute itself. That is
the remedy for sorrow, travail and pain.
The First step in spiritual discipline
       Of course, it is only at the end of a long and systematic
process of Saadhana that you will get fixed in the truth; until then,
you are apt to identify yourself with this body and forget that the
body which casts a shadow is itself a shadow. The first step in
Saadhana is the adherence to Dharma in every individual and social
act. The Dharma (righteousness) which is followed in relation to
Prakrithi (objective world) will automatically lead on to Dharma in
the spiritual field also; only you must stick to it through thick and
thin. When Aswathaama in the blindness of his fury slaughtered the
children of the Paandavas, Arjuna who caught him prisoner
threatened to cut off his head; but Dhroupadhi the bereaved mother
interceded to save him! She said it was not Dharma to return
murder for murder, to slay the son of one's own Guru. Such
steadfastness is needed in the path of Dharma (virtue); that alone is
the sign of true surrender: "Let the Will of the Lord prevail; one's
duty is but to connect oneself with the current of His Grace." While
in jail the prisoner cannot call even his clothes his own; so too,
while in this jail serving your term, what can you call your own? He
gives you food and clothing. He lets you go when the sentence
ends, or perhaps sooner if He is pleased by your behaviour while in
prison.
Keep the faith in the Lord undiminished
       The greatest obstacle on the path of surrender is ahamkaara
(egoism) and mamakaara (mineness or possessiveness). It is
something that has been inhering to your personality since ages,
sending its tentacles deeper and deeper with the experience of
every succeeding life. It can be removed only by the twin
detergents of discrimination and renunciation. Bhakthi is the water
to wash away this dirt of ages and the soap of Japam, Dhyaanam
and Yoga (repetition of God's name, meditation and communion)
will help to remove it quicker and more effectively. The slow and the
steady will surely win this race; walking is the safest method of
travel, though it may be condemned as slow. Quicker means of
travel mean disaster; the quicker the means, the greater the risk of
disaster. You should eat only as much as you feel hunger, for, more
will cause disorder. So proceed step by step in Saadhana (spiritual
effort); making sure of one step before you take another. Do not
slide back two paces when you go one pace forward. But even the
first step will be unsteady, if you have no faith. So cultivate faith.
       Sathyabhaama once asked Krishna, "Why are you: doing
things like ordinary men? Yudhishthira, the eldest of the Paandavas
is the best of the brothers but you hobnob always with Arjuna,
whose reputation is not above board." Her faith was not steady!
What do people know of the motives that prompt the Lord and His
actions? Some found fault with Naaradha for repeating the name of
the Lord, always, without intermission. But until Saayujyam
(merging in the Absolute), the name has to be used; the idea of
separation will end only with mergence, not before that. Do not
waver or doubt when once you are convinced. Seek to understand
and satisfy yourself. After that, do not be misled. When the Sun is
over your head there will be no shadow; similarly when faith is
steady in your head it should not cast any shadow of doubt.
       When man loses his way and strays into the wilderness,
believing that he is the body or gunas (qualities) or the object, then
the Avathaar comes to warn and guide. Keep the faith in the Lord
undiminished; you can then safely move about in the world. No
harm can come to you! Be like the village women with pots over
their heads, one over the other, keeping balance even while talking
and walking along the winding lane. They do not forget or ignore
the burden or the goal. They are vigilant, conscious of the hardships
on the way, the stones and the pits; it is the inner concentration
that pays dividends.
One should depart the world with a smile
       Every one has to make his exit some day; that moment should
not be a moment of anguish; one should depart gracefully, with a
smile and a bow. In order to do that, a lot of preparation is
necessary. To depart, leaving all that has been accumulated during
a long lifetime, is a hard task; so prepare for it by discarding
attachment to one thing after another from now on.
       You see many things in dreams and many things are acquired
by you during dreams: power, pelf, status, reputation. But when
you awake, you do not weep over the loss, even though for the
duration of the dream all that was very real and gave you real
satisfaction and joy. That was a 'dream', you tell yourself; what
prevents you from treating with similar nonchalance the possessions
gathered during the waking stage of your life? Cultivate that attitude
and you can depart with a smile whenever the curtain falls on this
dreamland stage.
Pray to the Lord to show you the way
       In order to bring conviction to you in all this, it is best you
approach a Guru (spiritual preceptor) who knows the Truth by
experience and whose daily activities, words and thoughts reflect
this realisation. The Guru is called so because the letter GU signifies
Gunaatheetha---one who has transcended the three gunas
(qualities)---the Thaamasik, the Raajasik and even the Saathwik
(ignorant passionate and virtuous); and the letter RU signifies one
who is Roopa Varjitha (one who has grasped the formless aspect of
God-head). Of course, he could come to that stage only through the
sublimation of the lower into the higher qualities and the steady and
conscious ignoring of the part played by mere name and form.
       In the preliminary stages of spiritual Saadhana, name, form
and quality all have their part to play in the moulding of the spirit.
The Guru destroys the illusion and sheds light; his presence is cool
and comforting. That is why this day, a Pournami (Full Moon day), is
allotted for paying due honour to the Guru. Moreover, the Moon is
the presiding deity of the mind and Pournami is the day on which
the mind has become fully beneficent. Of course, you must know
what you have lost, so that you may start on the search to recover
it! The Guru has very often to tell you that you have forgotten your
real name or that you have lost the most precious part of yourself
and yet are unaware of the loss. The Guru is the physician for the
illness which brings about the suffering of alternate birth and death.
He is an adept at the treatment needed for the cure. If you do not
get such a Guru, pray to the Lord Himself to show you the way and
He will surely come to your rescue.
       Prashaanthi Nilayam, Guru Pournami, 1-8-1956
       The mind must become the servant of the intellect, not the
slave of the senses. It must discriminate and detach itself from the
body. Like the ripe tamarind fruit, which becomes loose inside the
shell, it must be unattached to this shell, this casement called body.
       Strike a green tamarind fruit with a stone and you cause harm
to the pulp inside; but, strike the ripe fruit and see what happens. It
is the dry rind that falls off; nothing affects the pulp or the seed.
       The ripe aspirant does not feel the blows of fate or fortune; it
is the unripe man who is wounded by every blow.
                                                     Shri Sathya Sai

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4. Divine Life
        A CONVENTION of the Workers of the Divine Life Mission must
include all humanity, for no one is outside its pale; all are plodding
along the road to the realisation of the Divinity that is immanent in
each. The mission on which every individual has come is to merge
the individuality in the Universal. The life that each being is leading
is saturated with the Divine; Existence or Sath is derived from the
source of all Sath, Brahman (Supreme Reality) Itself; Consciousness
or Chith is derived from the source of all Chith, Brahman Itself. Bliss
or Aanandha is derived from the source of all. Aanandha, Brahman
Itself.
        You are all Sath-Chith-Aanandha swaruupa (embodiments of
Existence - Consciousness-Bliss); only, you are unaware of it and
imagine yourself to be this individual or that, and subjected to this
limitation or that! This is the myth that must be exploded in order
that Divine Life may start. It is the Divine that inspires, that
activates, that leads and fulfils the life of each being, however
simple or complex its physical structure may be. From the Anu
(atom) to the Brihath (Universe) every single entity is moving
towards the estuary where it merges in the sea of Bliss.
        Divine Life is the very breath of all beings; it consists of
Sathya, Prema and Ahimsa (Truth, Love and Non-injury). For, how
can any one be false to another when there is no other at all?
Falsehood comes out of fear. When there is no second, there is no
fear at all. No one is loved more than the Self: so, when all is the
self-same Self, all is loved as the Self is loved. As for himsa, who is
to injure whom, when all are but one?
Faith in the Almighty will remove anxiety
        How to lead the Divine Life? There is no special membership
that entitles you to it. Every struggle to realise the Unity behind all
the multiplicity is a step on the path of Divine Life. You have to
churn the milk if you wish to separate and identify the butter that is
immanent in it. So too, you have to carry on certain processes of
thought and action in order to get to the hard core of faith that this
world is a funny mixture Of Sathyam and Asathyam (real & unreal),
that it is mithya (false), in fact. The Divine Life does not admit of
the slightest dross in character or delusion in intellect. So, people
dedicated to it must emphasise this by precept and example.
       Wipe out the root causes of anxiety and fear and ignorance.
Then only can the true personality of man shine forth. Anxiety is
removed by faith in the Lord; the faith that tells you that whatever
happens is for the best and that the Lord's Will be done. Quiet
acceptance is the best armour against anxiety; not the acceptance
of the heroic. Sorrow springs from egoism, the feeling that you do
not deserve to be treated so badly, that you are left helpless. When
egoism goes, sorrow disappears. Ignorance is just a mistake,
mistaken identity of the body as the Self!
       In fact, you must each one try to become ego-less and then
the Lord will accept you as His Flute. Once, when a number of
people were asked by Me what they would like to be in the hands of
God, I got various answers: some said the Lotus, some the Shankha
(Conch), some the Chakra (Discus) but no one mentioned the Murali
(Flute). I would advise you to become the Murali, for then the Lord
will come to you, pick you up, put you to His lips and breathe
through you and, out of the hollowness of your heart due to the
utter absence of egoism that you have developed, He will create
captivating music for all Creation to enjoy. Be straight without any
will of your own, merge your will in the Will of God. Inhale only the
breath of God. That is Divine Life, that is what I want you all to
achieve.
       Venkatagiri, April 1957
       A mere five-minute inquiry will convince you that you are not
the body, or the senses, the mind or the intelligence, the name or
the form, but that you are the Aathma Itself, the same aathma that
appears as all this variety. Once you get a glimpse of this truth, hold
on to it; do not allow it to slip. Make it your permanent possession.
                                                      Shri Sathya Sai

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5. Japasahitha Dhyaana
       (Meditation on the Lord's Form and Fame)
       The devotee who spoke first here now was, let me tell you,
denying God for 25 years and it is only since five years, after seeing
Me, that he has changed. Of course, many people have had no
experience which could change them and so they are not to be
blamed for their want of faith. So too, this Seshagiri Rao here was
finding fault with his son and daughters for coming to Puttaparthi,
and himself for long refusing to come! One day at Bangalore, there
was a function in the house opposite his, for I had gone there.
During Bhajana (group singing of devotional songs), this man
hesitantly crossed the road and peeped into the hall and I went
forward and called him and made him sit near Me. I asked him to
come to Puttaparthi and invited him to 'examine' and 'experience'.
He has been with Me ever since; it is now 18 years since he first
came here. This is just the reason why I came to sow the seeds of
faith, in religion and in God. You might have heard some people say
that I became Sai Baaba when a scorpion stung me! Well, I
challenge any one of you to get stung by scorpions and transform
yourself into Sai Baaba. No, the scorpion had nothing to do with it!
In fact, there was no scorpion at all! I came in response to the
prayers of sages, saints and spiritual aspirants for the restoration of
Dharma (Righteousness).
The root cause of all this restlessness
       When there is a sign of a little unrest, the police constable
appears on the scene; if the mob gets unruly, the Inspector rushes
in; and if it becomes violent, the Superintendent of Police has to be
personally present on the scene to quell it. If, however, the situation
waxes hot, the Inspector-General has to make himself available, is it
not? This is a situation in which the I-G. is taking over-all charge of
the situation. The Mahaapurushas, the Mahaathmas, the Jnaanis,
the Yogis and the Dhevaamsa-sambhuuthas (sages, savants, saints,
yogis & divine personalities) have had their try, and they will all be
co-operating in the task of re-establishing righteousness and
clearing the path for the world attaining Shaanthi (absolute peace).
      The greatest defect today is the absence of Aathma vichaara
(the inquiry into the nature of the Self). That is the root cause of all
this ashaanthi (restlessness). If you are eager to know the truth
about yourself, then even if you do not believe in God, you will not
go astray. The pots are all of mud, the ornaments are all of gold,
the clothes are all of yarn. There is unity where one saw only
diversity; the basic substance is one and indivisible. That is Brahman
(Supreme Reality), that is the Aathma, which is your own basic
substance too.
      This Aathma vichaara is best found in the Upanishaths. Just as
a river's flow is regulated by bunds and the flood waters are
directed to the sea, so too the Upanishaths regulate and restrict the
senses, the mind and the intellect and help one to reach the sea
and merge individuality in the Absolute. Study the Upanishaths with
a view to act accordingly, to put the advice into practice.
      Scanning a map or turning over a guide-book will not give you
the thrill of the actual visit, nor will it give you a fraction of the joy
and knowledge of a journey through that land. The Upanishaths and
the Geetha are only maps and guide-books, remember.
Call upon the Lord in your own heart
      There is the story of a rustic who sat among a gathering of
devotees and listened to the exposition of the Geetha by a great
Pandith. All were wonder-struck by the scholarly commentary which
the Pandith gave and his learned disquisition on each word and
phrase and the rustic, though the exposition was very much over his
head, seemed to attend very closely for he was all the time in tears!
When at last the Pandith asked him why he was weeping, he
surprised everybody by the sincerity of his Bhakthi. For he said that
he wept at the predicament of the Lord, who had to sit at the head
of the chariot and half turning his neck hold forth so long to
convince the dull-witted Arjuna. "How much pain must He be
suffering in His neck?" he asked and wept. That was real devotion, a
sure passport to spiritual victory. He had identified himself with the
participants in the episode and the whole setting had become alive
for him.
       You need not even read the Geetha or the Upanishaths. You
will hear a Geetha specially designed for you if you call upon the
Lord in your own heart. He is there, installed as your own
charioteer. Ask Him and He will answer. Have the Form of the Lord
before you when you sit quietly in a place for meditation and have
His Name, that is, any Name when you dojapam (repetition of holy
Name). If you do japam, without that Picture or Form before you,
who is to give the answer? You cannot be talking all the time to
yourself. The Ruupam (Form) will hear and the Ruupam will
respond.
       All agitations must cease one day, is it not? The Dhyaana of
the Form and the japam of the Name---that is the only means for
this task.
Stick to the Name and Form you like the most
       The secret is: you should 'be', but not be as in sleep, when
you are aware deep down within you, that you are. Only, sleep is
enveloped in Maayaa (Delusion). Awake from that delusion, but
immerse yourself in this sleep that is real Samaadhi (Super-
conscious state of Bliss). Japam and Dhyaanam are means by which
you can compel even the concretisa-tion of the Divine Grace, in the
Form and with the Name you yearn for. The Lord has to assume the
Form you choose, the Name you fancy; in fact, you shape Him so.
Therefore, do not change these two, but stick to the ones that
please you most, whatever the delay or the difficulty.
       Do not get discouraged that you are not able to concentrate
for long from the very beginning. When you learn to ride a bicycle,
you do not get the skill of keeping the balance immediately. You
push the cycle along to an open maidan and hop and skip, leaning
now to one side and now to the other and even fall with the cycle
upon you on many an attempt before you are able to ride with skill
and never again to worry about the balance. Automatically, you are
able to make the necessary adjustments to correct the balance, is it
not? After getting this skill, you can ride through the narrow streets
and lanes and you do not need an open maidan; you can negotiate
your vehicle through the most crowded thoroughfares. So too
practice will equip you with a concentration that will sustain you in
the densest of surroundings and the most difficult situations.
The best saadhana for the beginners
      Do not be under the impression that I will be angry with you if
you do not accept Me as the Dhyaana ruupam (Form for
meditation)! I am not concerned at all; you have perfect freedom to
select the Name and Form that give you necessary encouragement.
When you meditate, the mind often runs after something else, it
takes another road. You have then to plug that outlet by means of
the Name and the Form and see that the even flow of your thoughts
towards the Lord is not interrupted; if it happens again, use the
Name and the Form again, quickly. Do not allow the mind to go
beyond the twin bunds, this side Naama and that side Ruupam!
Then it will not stray into a third place.
      First, when you sit for meditation, recite a few shlokas on the
glow of God, so that the thoughts that are scattered could be
collected. Then gradually, while doing japam, draw before the
mind's eye the Form which that Name represents. When your mind
wanders away from the recital of the Name, take it on to the picture
of the Form. When it wanders away from the picture, lead it on to
the Name. Let it dwell either on that sweetness or this. Treated thus
it can be easily tamed. The imaginary picture you have drawn will
get transmuted into the Bhaava chithram (emotional picture), dear
to the heart and fixed in the memory; gradually it will become the
Saakshaathkaara chitram---when the Lord assumes that Form in
order to fulfil your desire.
Use the body as an instrument for spiritual practice
      This saadhana (spiritual practice) is called japa sahitha
dhyaana (meditation on the Lord's Name and Form) and I advise
you all to take it up, for it is the best for beginners. Within a few
days, you will fall in line and you will taste the joy of concentration.
After about ten or fifteen minutes in the initial stages and longer
after some time of this Dhyaana, have some manana (inward
contemplation) on the shaanthi and the sowkhya (peace and
contentment) you had during the dhyaana; that is to say, bring back
into your memory the joy you experienced. This will help your faith
and earnestness. Then, do not get up suddenly and start moving
about, resuming your avocations. Loosen the limbs slowly,
deliberately and gradually, and then enter upon your usual duties.
Taste the fruits of dhyaana and learn to relish them; that is what I
mean by this process of manana (repeated reflection).
       Be careful about your physical health also. Satisfy the
demands of nature; the car must be given the petrol which it needs.
Otherwise, your head might reel and your eyes might get blurred
through sheer exhaustion; how can thoughts of the Lord be
stabilised in a weak frame? Only, do not forget the purpose of this
body when you are tending it. A road-roller is fed with oil and coal
and other types of fuel. But why is it kept in good trim? In order to
mend the road, is it not? Similarly, remember that you have come
embodied, so that you might realise the end of this cycle of birth
and death. For that sake, use the body as an instrument.
       Flying hither and thither, higher and higher, the bird has at
last to perch on a tree for rest. So too, even the richest and the
most powerful man seeks rest, shaanthi. Peace can be got only in
one shop, in inner reality. The senses will drag you along into a
mire, which submerges you deeper and deeper in alternate joy and
grief, that is to say, prolonged discontent. Only the contemplation of
unity can remove fear, rivalry, envy, greed, desire---all the feelings
that prompt discontent. Every other avenue can give only pseudo-
contentment; a day will come when you will throw away all these
play-things and toys and cry, "Lord! grant Me unruffled peace." The
dacoit Vaalmeeki prayed so; the confirmed atheist too has one day
to pray for peace and rest.
Engage yourself in good thoughts and deeds
       People hug brass pots and take them to be gold, but they
have to polish them so that they may appear bright. One day, they
will get disgusted with this constant polishing and scrubbing; they
will pray, "Release me from this scrubbing, this birth, this suffering
and this agony." Life is short; time is fleeting: your saadhana is
creeping at tortoise speed. When will you decide to proceed a little
faster? Your saadhana is like the answers you write at the
examination. If you get only 5 or 6 marks, then the examiner will
strike out even that, saying, "What is the use of these few marks: it
will take him neither here nor there." If you get somewhere near
the passing marks, then Grace will give you just a little more so that
you may pass, provided you have been a diligent well behaved
student.
       Engage yourselves in good deeds, good company and good
thoughts. Fix your attention on the goal. You have not realised yet
the secret of this Advent. You are indeed lucky, more fortunate than
many others. It is · only when Yasodha found every length of rope a
little
       short to go round His belly that she discovered He was the
Lord. So to, you will realise every description of My Mahima (Divine
Glory) a little too short of the actuality; and then you will get
convinced. Meanwhile if you study the Shaasthras and know the
characteristics of the Avathaar of the Lord, you might get a glimpse
of the Truth regarding Me.
You will know the truth when you experience
       There is no use arguing and quarrelling among yourselves;
examine, experience; then you will know the truth. Do not proclaim
before you are convinced; be silent while you are still undecided or
engaged in evaluating. Of course, you must discard all evil in you
before you can attempt to evaluate the mystery. And, when faith
dawns, fence it around with discipline and self-control, so that the
tender shoot might be guarded against the goats and cattle, the
motley crowd of cynics and unbelievers. When your faith grows into
a big tree, those very cattle can lie down in the shade that it will
spread.
          Chithravathi River Bed, Puttaparthi, 23-2-1958

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6. An attitude of challenge
      WE heard the address of thanks which the sixth form boys
gave to the teachers of the school and the advice they gave to the
students of the lower forms. Their words were very sweet, full of
gratitude to the teachers and full of encouragement to the students
who continue to be under the care of those teachers. They also
expressed their grief that they had to leave a fine school and a fine
set of instructors and a fine company of fellow-students. But though
the words were fine, I doubt whether the feelings were also such,
for after all they knew they have to leave the school for higher
studies. All these years, they knew that this day will come. Of
course it is good to see that boys express gratefulness for the
benefits they derived. They promised also to serve their country to
the best of their ability. For they are the guardians of this land in
the days to come. I am specially happy in the company of students,
for they are like the buds in the garden; they are the young heroes
who have to take up the difficult task of national and international
reconstruction.
      The present situation in the world is like a typhoon, causing
unrest and confusion. No one has mental quiet; fear and anxiety
stalk everywhere; panic reigns even while the conquest of space
and the mapping of new planets is being hailed. Even in this
country, it is a time of crisis and no time should be lost to set
matters right so that men may enjoy shaanthi (peace) more than
anything else; for, without Shaanthi, life is a nightmare.
Tolerate all kinds of persons and opinions
      While studying other things, you should learn the secret of
Shaanthi also. This opportunity should not be missed, for that is the
wisdom that will save you. The present system of education aims at
making you bread-winners and citizens, but it does not give you the
secret of a happy life; namely, discrimination between the unreal
and the real--,which is the genuine training you need. Of course, it
is not your fault, but of those who direct these affairs. They will
have to do it, sooner rather than later. The cultivation of viveka (dis-
crimination) is the chief aim of education; the promotion of virtuous
habits, the strengthening of Dharma, these are to be attended to;
not the acquisition of polish or gentlemanliness, or collection of
general information and the practice of common skills.
       First, be fixed in the consciousness that yourself is the
immortal Aathma, which is indestructible, which is holy, pure and
divine. That will give you unshakable courage and strength. Then,
you must:develop mutual love and respect. Tolerate all kinds of
persons and opinions, all attitudes and peculiarities. The school, the
home and the society are all training grounds for tolerance. At
school, the teachers and the pupils must be aware of their duties
and rights. The relationship must be based on love, not fear. Only
the atmosphere of love can guarantee happy co-operation and
concord. Above all, be good, honest and well-behaved. That will
make the university degrees more desirable and valuable.
       Do not attach undue value to the passing of examinations, for,
if you do so, you are apt to get terribly depressed when you fail; we
hear of too many young people committing suicide when the results
of the examinations are announced. Dear children, do not do any
such foolish thing. Take failure, if it comes, as a spur to further
effort; analyse why you failed and profit by the experience. If you
ruin yourself by such foolish actions, it will pain Me, remember.
Refuse to become scapegoats of politicians
       Learn when you are students how to succeed in the turmoil of
life, how to live without causing pain to others and suffering pain
yourself. Do not waste time taking part in electioneering and
quarrelling over the factions and fancies of elders; they are setting
you very bad examples and you must avoid imitating their low
behaviour. Politics is a variety of 'ticks' which infest some individuals
and worry their lives out. Do not catch that infection from them. Be
clean and content. You are too young to understand the
complications and confusions of politics and you can only be the
tools and instruments of people who want to use you for their own
purposes. Be bold; refuse to become the scapegoats of such men.
Tell them you have better work to do.
       Proceed only as far as your own talents and experience can
take you. Examine everything and believe only what appeals to you
as correct. Do not simply say, Sai Baaba spoke well, or Sai Baaba
writes well; respect Sai Baaba only if He does as well as He speaks
and writes.
       Devotion and Activity---these two should go together. Shri B.
Gopaala Reddi had come to inaugurate the Hospital at Puttaparthi
and he said, "If only Government had planned this Hospital, even
the basement would not have come up now." So also, this school
has risen to this fame and height due to the care and love of the
founders and supporters. All should co-operate in tending such
institutions; difference of opinion must be like the two eyes, each
giving a different picture of the same object; both of which, when
co-ordinated, give a complete rounded picture. The donors of this
school have done a very good thing: they have done it in a spirit of
worship and humanity. Be grateful for their sacrifice and make the
best use of the chance they have provided.
India is blessed with many saints and sages
       The District Judge in his opening remarks said that Bhaarath
has been blessed with many saints and sages and with many
manifestations of Divinity in Human Form. A doubt may arise why
such appearances take place in Bhaarath, more than in any other
place, when the world is so big and we have humanity everywhere
to be saved and guided. There is a reason for this, believe Me! Well,
why should, in all India, Kolaar alone have gold? Where there is a
gold mine, there is the need for mining engineers and chemists who
will extract it, separate it, purify it and distribute it to the various
places where gold is in demand, is it not?
       So also, it is here in India that there is a mine of spiritual
wisdom and spiritual treasure: the Dharshanas, Upanishaths
(metaphysical sciences and revelatory scriptures), the Geetha and
the Vedhas. This has to be distributed pure and unsullied,
guaranteed in value and quality, to eager aspirants everywhere and
so we have here a succession of sages and saints. On account of
the teachings and the lives of these people, there is a vast field of
spiritual virtue in this land, which needs only a little more care to
yield a rich harvest.
Attachment to Nature has limits
       People suffer because they have all kinds of unreasonable
desires and they pine to fulfil them and they fail. They attach too
much value to the objective world. It is only when attachment
increases that you suffer pain and grief. If you look upon nature and
all created objects with the insight derived from the Inner Vision,
then attachment will slide away, though effort will remain; you will
also see everything much clearer and with a glow suffused with
Divinity and splendour. Close these eyes and open those inner eyes
and what a grand picture of essential Unity you get! Attachment to
nature has limits, but the attachment to the Lord that you develop
when the inner eye opens has no limit. Enjoy that Reality, not this
false picture.
       The Lord is the Immanent Power in everything; those who
refuse to believe that the image in the mirror is a picture of
themselves, how can they believe in the Lord, when He is reflected
in every object around them? The moon is reflected in a pot,
provided it has water; so too, the Lord can be clearly seen in your
heart, provided you have the water of Prema (Love) in it. When the
Lord is not reflected in your heart, you cannot say that there is no
Lord; it only means that there is no prema in you.
       Students and even elders here have given up the study of
Samskrith, dismissing it as a useless difficult language. They have
neglected the ancient texts, bundling them up and taking them
down only on festival days for worship! But Western aspirants who
know their worth have taken them to their own lands and they have
translated them into their own tongues and learnt their essence with
devotion.
Students must honour physical labour
       Reading is not enough; you may master all the commentaries
and you may be able to argue and discuss with great scholars about
these texts; but without attempting to practise what they teach, it is
a waste of' time. I never approve of book-learning; practice is what
I evaluate. When you come out of the examination hall you know
whether you will pass or not, is it not? For you can yourself judge
whether you have answered well or not. So in saadhana (spiritual
effort) or in conduct or in practice, each of you can judge and
ascertain the success or failure that is in store. Saadhana is the
essential thing even for you; for no age is too early for this. Just as
you tend the body with food and drink at regular intervals, you must
also tend to the needs of the inner Aathmic body by regular japam
and dhyaanam and the cultivation of virtues. Sath-sanga, Sath-
pravarthana and Sath-chinthana (holy company, good attitude and
sacred thoughts) are all essential for the growth and the health of
the inner personality. The body is the Bhavanam (mansion) of the
Bhuvaneshwara (Lord of the world), His Bhuvanam. In so far as you
are particular about coffee or tea at regular intervals, be also
particular about dhyaanam and japam at fixed times for the health
and liveliness of the spirit.
      Students must have challenging attitude towards things; they
must honour physical labour. They should be eager to be of service
to those who need it on account of their disabilities. Honour also
your elders and do not miss any chance of serving, honouring or
pleasing them. Whatever gives you health, joy, welcome it; but do
not lower yourself by indulging in vulgar pastimes. Do not wander
aimlessly in the streets or frequent cinema-halls and mix with
undesirable company, or cultivate bad habits just for sake of fun.
      This country has to be raised to great heights through you,
not through its present leaders, remember. Note also that whereas
in other countries, people co-operate gladly with some one who is
courageous, intelligent and good, here the national trait is to be
jealous of one another, to pull down those who are rising high, and
to refuse co-operation and help. You boys must say to yourselves,
"These elders do such things though they know them to be wrong.
What a pity! But we shall grow up differently. We shall not belie our
words in our actions. We will act together in harmony and love." If
you develop such virtues, the nation will prosper; if not, it will be
ruined. Have this warning always ringing in your ears.
      I bless all of you: citizens, parents, teachers and students.
This school, which was established by the generosity of the people,
will certainly grow into higher status and shine as a great institution.
I have no doubt of that.
                             Kannan High School, Chitthoor, 2-2-1958

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7. Courage
      Tins talk was not previously planned, but it is a case of the
prayer of devotees being fulfilled. I am not giving you any new
advice today; it is the same advice that I have given to students in
many places. For, places may be different, but students are the
same; and their nature, character, ideals and problems are the
same in all places.
      The President of this meeting said just now that you are all
busy preparing for the examinations, and that many of you have
taken up your books only now. This has become quite usual now-a-
days; nine months of the year you read all kinds of trash and in the
two or three months left you pore over the really essential ones.
This is not correct! It is very harmful to stuff the brain with all kinds
of unwanted and paltry things. When you have some free time, read
and assimilate such books as will promote an intelligent appreciation
of the world and its mystery. To live a happy, peaceful and
contended life, good education is necessary; education which is
based on Dharma (righteousness).
      Do not develop a dread of examinations; there, in a fixed
time, you have to write answers to a certain number of questions.
Well, some students start answering the very first question and go
on serially with the rest; but it is always better to pause a little and
read the entire question paper and select the ones that you can
tackle with confidence, and write the answers for these in the
beginning. This will give you a good fillip to exercise your brains
better for answering the more difficult questions later.
Cultivation of virtues is very important
      Never lose courage in the examination hall or outside.
Courage is the fertilizer which will make the plant of scholarship
grow. The field may be good, but manuring is also necessary.
      You must all become heroes, adventurous and bold; prepare
for that role from now on. Man has inside him a whole set of
animals: the dog, the fox, the ass, the wolf. But he must suppress
the tendencies of all these animals and encourage the human
qualities of love and friendship to shine forth. Friendship that is
cultivated from childhood onwards is more lasting and so try to
cultivate real friends now. Above all, begin the cultivation of virtues;
that is more important and beneficial than mere book-learning. That
gives real Aanandha; that is the essence of all knowledge, the
culmination of all learning.
       Treat every one as your own people and even if you cannot do
them any good, desist from causing them any injury. Burn the lamp
of love inside the niche of your heart and then the nocturnal birds of
greed and envy will fly away, unable to bear the light. Prema makes
you humble; it makes you bend and bow when you see greatness
and glory. An unbending person is infected with egoism of the worst
type; remember man is the only animal that can recognise and
revere the great and the glorious. Use that capacity and derive the
best advantage out of it.
       Just as there are two wires, the positive and the negative,
which are brought together to produce illumination, similarly, the
Paramaathma (Supreme Self) and the saadhaka (spiritual aspirant)
have to come together in Yoga, to grant illumination. So, go to the
holy men and holy places and keep company with pious men. A
magnet attracts only iron; so a student attracts towards him only
those who will help his study, only such things as will give him
aanandha and dhairya (joy and daring).
The easiest habit is speaking the truth
       Have faith that Truth will save you in the long run; stick to it,
regardless of what might befall. For if you are true, the sense of
guilt will not gnaw your insides and cause pain. It is cowardice that
makes you hide the truth; it is hatred that sharpens the edge of
falsehood. Be bold and there is no need for a lie. Be full of love and
there is no need for subterfuge. The easiest habit is speaking the
truth, honesty; for, if you start telling lies, you will have to keep
count of them and remember how many you have told to whom and
be always alert not to contradict one lie with another! Love a person
and you need no longer deceive him with a lie; you will feel that he
deserves the truth and nothing less than the truth. Love saves a
good deal of bother.
       Do not be led away by all this present-day talk of equality,
either of men and women, or of all men. Each has a certain fund of
intelligence and a peculiar bundle of instincts and impulses and
vaasanas (past impressions). To the extent that you develop them
or divert them or diminish their strength, to that extent there is
bound to be difference in your equipment and achievement. Use all
chances you get to develop your skills and your health and your
character. That is your present duty. Make lasting friendships. Do
not by any action of yours cause pain to another; nor suffer pain
yourself, by foolishness or sheer bravado.
       In your school, I find there are some girls too; treat them with
great respect and do not speak slightingly of them. They are your
sisters and by honouring them, you bring honour to yourselves and
your sisters. Respect for women is a sign of real culture.
       So, I call upon you to read good books; revere your teachers
and to love all. Do not dishonour your elders; cultivate the spirit of
service and learn how to serve the sick and the needy and seize
every chance to help others. Or at least, desist from causing sorrow
to others.
                B. Z. High School, Chitthoor, 3-3-1958
       In your daily affairs, do not create factions, or revel in hatred.
See the good in others and the faults in yourselves. Revere others
as having God installed in them; revere yourself also as the seat of
God. Make your heart pure so He can reside therein.
                                                       Shri Sathya Sai

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8. Many roads
       I HAVE not come to you to 'lecture' for I do not believe in the
value of mere words, however scholarly or pompous or profuse. I
have come only to share with you My Prema and partake in turn of
your prema. It is that which I value most. That is the real gain.
       Today, the typhoon of hatred and falsehood is scattering the
clouds of Dharma, Nyaaya and Sathya (Virtue, Justice and Truth) to
the far corners of the sky and people feel that Sanaathana Dharma
(Eternal Universal Religion) itself is in danger of extinction. But that
can happen only if the Lord wills, and the Lord who has laid down
the Dharma will not allow it to be destroyed.
       Wherever sathya, dharma, shaanthi and prema are
emphasised, in whatever religion or language, by whichever teacher
wherever he may be, there we have Sanaathana Dharma. So long
as man is capable of prema, dharma will exist, do not doubt it.
When that prema is fixed on the Lord, your mental make-up will
slowly and steadily undergo a revolutionary change; then, man will
share in the sorrows and joys of his fellow-beings; thereafter, he
contacts the very source of the bliss that is beyond the temporary
gains and losses of this world. Prema (Divine Love) directed to the
Lord is called bhakthi (devotion) and it is the easiest of all the paths
to realise the goal.
For treading the path of devotion, one needs only Love
       Bhakthi can be spoken of as having several stages.
Mukhyabhakthi is the stage where the seva (service) of the Lord
alone matters and it is its own reward; the devotee does not seek
anything more than just the service of the highest, done to the
utmost of capacity. This gradually becomes Paraabhakthi, where
nothing except the Name and Form of the Beloved is cognised.
Again, there is what is called Gounabhakthi, which is coloured by
the three Gunas (inner qualities): the attitude of the aartha (the
afflicted), the arthaarthi (the seeker of worldly comfort), the jijnaasu
(the sincere inquirer) and the Jnaani (the wise man) who is silent
and content with the realisation that all is He.
       For treading the Bhakthi maarga (path of devotion), one
needs no scholarship, nor wealth nor riches, nor ascetic rigours. Tell
Me what was the lineage of Vaalmeeki, the wealth of Kuchela, the
scholarship of Sabari, the age of Prahlaadha, the status of
Gajaraaja, the attainments of Vidhura? Prema---that was all they
had and that was all they needed. The Grace of the Lord is as the
Ocean: vast, limitless. By your saadhana, your japam, dhyaanam
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 aanandha, back again into the
Ocean---the Ocean of the Lord's Grace. When prema embraces
humanity, we call it dhaya (compassion), the quality not of pity but
of sympathy; sympathy which makes one happy when others are
happy, and miserable when others are unhappy.
       You have seen beggars singing in the streets, is it not? They
have each of them a pair of cymbals in one hand by which they
mark time, and a single-stringed instrument in the other, to the
twang of which they tune their singing, The song will be harsh if it is
out of tune and it will be confusing medley if the timing is not kept
up. The song of life has also to be similar; keep up the daily tasks
and sing away in joy to the tune of prema.. Then only is the music
worthwhile.
Two main principles to follow in life
       It is the mind which makes or mars man. If it is immersed in
things of the world, it leads to bondage; if it treats the world as but
temporary, then by that vairaagya (detachment) it becomes free
and light. Train the mind not to feel attached to things that change
for better or for worse. Do not hold before it the tinsels of worldly
fame and riches; attract it towards lasting joys derived from springs
inside you. That will bring big rewards. The mind itself will then
become the Guru, for it leads you on and on, once it has tasted the
sweets of Shravana, Manana and Nidhidhyaasana (listening,
recapitulating and repeated steady meditation). It is the mind that
fills the image made by the potter with the Divinity which the
devotee sees in it; it is the mind which fills the shrine-room with the
fragrance of holiness.
       It is the practice, one reads, that imparts strength, as food
does when digested and as exercise does to promote health. Saint
Thyaagaraaja sang that the Lord is the inner motive force within the
ant as well as the Universe; but though you may intellectually agree,
when an ant bites, you do not feel that you have come in contact
with the Lord in that form, do you? Do not proclaim great truths
aloud; show by your conduct that you attach value to them and that
you are guided by them. Be careful of at least this; do not yourself
commit those faults of which you accuse others. Do not ask others
to reach a standard which you are loathe to climb up to! If you live
according to these two principles, then even if you do not fall before
an image or attend the temple ritual or worship as per schedule,
you can secure the Lord's Grace.
It is possible to see the Lord dwell in every being
       There are many roads through which you can reach Madras;
so also there are many roads to Godhead; prema, sathya, seva,
dhaya and Naamasmarana (Love, truth, service, compassion and
remembrance of the Lord's Name). There is also the Adhwaithin
who discovers himself as the basic substance of all creation, as
Brahman itself. All paths are right; only some are easier, some more
circuitous, some hard. The easiest way of grasping the basic reality
is to see the Lord in every creature, the Lord sporting in all this
multiplicity, as the underlying reality of all, the Sarvabhuutha
antharaathma (Indweller in all Beings). You might wonder and even
doubt how it is possible for the Lord to dwell in every being. But
have you not seen one single mango seed grow into a tree which
gives thousands of fruits, in each of which there is to be found a
seed identical to the one which was first planted? So too, the one
Lord can be found in every being created by His Will.
"Ask only for devotion & spiritual wisdom from Me"
       Remember your real nature is the same as the other man's;
he is yourself known by another name. When you do a good deed,
you are doing it to yourself; when you do a bad turn to some one,
remember, you are injuring yourself; so, avoid doing evil to others. I
am reminded of what Hussain, the son of Rabbia Malik of Persia,
used to do. He rose early and went to the mosque for prayers with
great diligence and devotion. When he came back, he found the
servants of the house still sleeping on their mats and he grew wild
at them; he swore and cursed them for neglect of religious duties.
Then his father chastised him. He said; "Son, why do you get angry
with those poor souls who are too tired to wake up early. Do not
wipe off the good results of your adherence to the rule of God by
falling foul of these innocent slaves. I wish you would much rather
rise late and abstain from the mosque, for now you have grown
proud that you are more religious than these others and you dare
blame them for faults for which they are not themselves
responsible."
       You must pay attention to these small details also, for bhakthi
is not just a pose; it is a series of little acts, directed by the attitude
of reverence for the divinity in all beings. Watch for the lie that lurks
on the tongue, the violence that lurks behind the fist, the ego that
lurks behind the deed. Restrain them before they grow into habits
and settle down as character to warp your destiny.
       Raamaswaami Reddy said that I work many miracles and that
you are all lucky to have had this opportunity of hearing Me. Well, I
am like a shop-keeper whose shop is stocked with all things man
needs. But like the man behind the counter, I give you only what
you ask for; if the customer asks for a towel, how can I give him a
dhothi? But these material things are not important at all. Ask for
bhakthi (devotion) and for jnaana (spiritual wisdom) and I shall be
happy. Many do not crave for such things now; it is their misfortune.
They are merely wasting their precious chance.
       Perhaps, the elders are to be blamed for this situation. For it is
the duty of the elders to show the rising generation by their lives
that spiritual saadhana and study have made them more joyful and
courageous in the adventure of life. Youths always imitate the
elders; they quarrel if they find the elders deriving joy from
quarrels; they cavil at holiness if the elders do not honour holy men
and institutions. So, I will not blame the young men as much as I
blame the elders.
Piety is not weakness but strength
       Faith in God and in spiritual discipline has declined due to
want of enthusiasm among the elders in these matters. It is the
responsibility of all pious men to demonstrate in and through their
lives that piety is not weakness but strength; that it opens up a vast
spring of power and that a person with faith in God can overcome
obstacles much more easily than one who has not.
       I do not insist that a person should have faith in God. I refuse
to call any person a naasthika (an atheist). Beings exist as a result
of His Will, in accordance with His Plan; so no one is beyond His
Grace. Besides, every one has Love towards some one thing or
other, and that Love is a spark of the Divine; every one has
ultimately to base his life on some one Truth; that Truth is God. No
life can be lived out in complete defiance of Truth; one has to pay
heed to truth and speak the truth to some one in order to make life
worth living. Now, that moment is God's moment and at that
moment when he utters the truth or loves, or serves or bends, he is
a theist.
       So, it is not even bhakthi that is essential. It is Love, truth,
virtue, the eagerness to progress, to serve, to expand one's heart,
to take in the whole of humanity in one's Love, to see all as Forms
of the Divine Consciousness.
       Y.M. I. A., Mylapore, Madras, 24-3-1958
       There is no living being without the spark of love; even a mad
man loves something or somebody intensely. But, you must
recognise this love as but a reflection of the Premaswaruupa (the
embodiment of Love), that is your reality, of the God who is residing
in your heart. Without that spring of Love that bubbles in your
heart, you will not be prompted to love at all. Recognise that spring,
rely on it more and more, develop its possibilities, try to irrigate the
whole world with it, discard all touch of self from it, do not seek
anything in return for it from those to whom you extend it.
                                                      Shri Sathya Sai

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9. Examine, experience
       I HAVE come to comfort your life, not to describe Mine! So I
did not like Raamanatha Reddy and Kas-thuri speaking about Me
and the incidents of My life! Your lives are more important for Me,
for My purpose is to see that you live more happily and with greater
contentment. All beings have to do karma (sanctified activity); it is a
universal inescapable obligation. Some feel that only punya and
paapa---meritorious and sinful or virtuous and vicious deeds---are
entitled to be called karma. But your very breathing is karma. There
are certain karmas the fruits of which you cannot give up! There are
physical, mental and spiritual karmas and doing each one of these
for the good of the Self is called dedication.
       Mention was made of Puttaparthi and you were advised to go
there and draw inspiration from the bhajans there. Please do not
incur the expense; for wherever you are, whenever you call on Me,
your room can become Prashaanthi Nilayam, your village can be
made Puttaparthi. I am ever alert to respond, ever ready to listen
and reply.
       I want you to be active, fully engaged. For, if you have no
activities, time will hang heavily on your hands. Do not waste a
single moment of the allotted span of life, for time is the body of
God. He is known as Kaalaswaruupa (of the Form of Time). It is a
crime to misuse time or to waste it in idleness. So too, the physical
and mental talents given to you by the Lord as capital for the
business of living should not be frittered away.
Social service must be done gladly and reverentially
       Like the force of gravitation which drags everything down, the
thamoshakthi (the pull of sloth) will drag you relentlessly down; so
you must be ever on the watch, be ever active. Like the brass vessel
which has to be scrubbed to a nice shine, the mind of man has also
to be scrubbed by means of saadhana (spiritual discipline), that is to
say, activity like japam or dhyaana. Karma which is natural and
automatic like breathing becomes vikarma (an impious act) when it
is done consciously, with a definite result in view.
       A Hindhu and his British friend once happened to come to the
bank of the Godhaavari. The Hindhu said, "I will bathe in this sacred
water." He recited the name "Hari" as he plunged in and came out
refreshed in mind as well as body. He felt great happiness that he
got the rare chance of a bath in the holy river. The Britisher laughed
and said, "This is mere H20: how can you get unspeakable joy by
dipping into it? It is all superstition. But the Hindhu replied, "Leave
me to my superstition; you can stick to your superstition." The cynic
got only physical cleanliness but the believer got mental purity also.
       When you prostrate before elders, the mind too must be
humble; it is not the body alone that should bend. Now, there are
many social workers in Madras who visit hospitals and do service to
the patients there. Most of the work they do is mechanical, like
fanning the patients, writing letters for them and singing bhajans,
without paying heed to the actual requirements of the patients.
Many do this work because it is the current mode of social service.
But it must be karma, done with the full co-operation of the mind,
gladly, intelligently, reverentially. The patient should not feel
disgusted at the fussiness of the social worker; he should be looking
forward to the arrival of the person, of some one who is very near
and dear. If you do not like that type of work, you need not engage
yourselves in it. Do not burden your mind by the unpleasantness of
the task. Work done mechanically is like the flame of an oil-less
wick; the oil is mental enthusiasm; pour it, and the lamp will burn
clear and long.
Karma should not be done anticipating any result
       In fact Karma becomes Yoga when it is done without any
attachment; a sanyaasi (monk) should not even remember whatever
he does, he should not do any karma anticipating any result. That is
the Nishkaama (desireless action) ideal at its highest. The best
karma is that which is done at the call of duty; because it has to be
done, not because it is advantageous to do it. The sanyaasi should
have no anger, anxiety, envy or greed; but your experience must be
telling you that sanyaasis who are free from these are very rare
today.
       Do not even cast your glance at a sanyaasi who is so false to
his vow that he craves for name and fame or indulges in calumny or
competition. Do not be led away by such persons into disbelieving
the Shaasthras and the Vedhas. He who is firmly fixed in the faith
that this world is a mirage of the mind, he alone is the swaami; the
others are mere Raamaswaamys or Krishnaswaamys entitled to
have the epithet Swaami at the end of the name not at the
beginning.
       Prakrithi (Nature) is puraathana---a very ancient entity. The
jeevi too is puraathana, having had many previous entries and exits.
But now it has come in with a new dress; it is nuuthana (modern),
come like a pilgrim to a holy place for going the rounds. The jeevi
must have a guide who will show the sacred spots and help fulfil the
pilgrimage. That Guide is the Lord Himself: the Guide books are
Vedhas, the Upanishaths and the Shaasthras. The essence of the
Scriptures lies in this one rule: Repeat the name of the Lord,
keeping His Glow always before the mind.
Earn the right to approach God without fear
       The Lord is as the Kalpatharu (the Divine wish-fulfill-ing Tree)
that gives whatever is asked. But you have to go near the tree and
wish for the thing you want. The atheist is the person who keeps far
away from the tree; the theist is the one who has come near; that is
the difference. The tree does not make any distinction; it grants
boons to all. The Lord will not punish or take revenge if you do not
recognise Him or revere Him. He has no special type of worship
which alone can please him.
       If you have the ear, you can hear 'Om' announcing the Lord's
Presence in every sound. All the five elements produce this sound,
'Om.' The bell in the temple is intended to convey the Om as the
symbol of the Omnipresent God. When the bell sounds Om, the
Godhead within you will awaken and you will be aware of His
Presence. That is the meaning of the bell which is rung in front of
the inner shrine in the temple.
       Earn the right to approach the Lord without fear and the right
to ask for your heritage. You must become so free that praise will
not emanate from you when you approach the Lord. Praise is a sign
of distance and fear. You must have heard the Kaalidhaasa story.
He said that he would get liberation "as soon as I go," that is to say,
as soon as the ego disappears, for then he shines in his native
splendour, as Brahman (as the indestructible Aathma). The T when
crossed out becomes the symbol of cross; so, what is crucified is the
ego, remember. Then, the Divine nature manifests itself
unhampered.
Do saadhana in an atmosphere of joy
       The ego is most easily destroyed by bhakthi, by dwelling on
the magnificence of the Lord and by rendering service to others as
children of the Lord. You can call on the Lord by any name, for all
names are His; select the Name and Form that appeals to you most.
That is why Sahasranaamas are composed for the various forms of
God; you have the freedom and the right to select any one of the
thousand. The Guru will give you the Name and Form suited to your
temperament and samskaaras (meritorious acts). If the Guru
commands you under a threat and orders you to adopt a line of
saadhana declaring "This is my aajna (command)," then you can tell
him that the main thing is your satisfaction, not his. You have to do
the saadhana in an atmosphere of joy and contentment.
       The Guru should not force the disciple to grow with a bent in
the direction that he prefers; the disciple has the right to develop on
his own lines, according to his samskaaras and bent of mind. The
old relationship of Guru and sishyas has today become topsy-turvy;
rich and influential sishyas now rule the Guru and dictate how he
should behave; and the Gurus also, keen on accumulating fame and
wealth, stoop to the tactics recommended by the sishyas and thus
lower their status. So, examine the Guru and his credentials, his
ideals and practice before accepting him.
       Even in My case, do not be attracted simply by stories of what
I "create" by a wave of the hand. Do not jump to conclusions with
closed eyes; watch, study and weigh. Never yield to any one unless
you feel the inner satisfaction that you are on the right path. Above
all, do not talk ill of great men and sages. That is a sign of gross
egoism and the childish impertinence born of that conceit.
      My suggestion to you today is this: just as you attend to the
needs of the body, feeding it three times a day, in order to keep it
in good running condition, so too, spend some time regularly
everyday to keep your Inner Consciousness also in good trim. Spend
one hour in the morning, another at night and a third in the early
hours of dawn, the Brahmamuhurtha as it is called, for japam and
meditation on the Lord. You will find great peace descending on you
and great new sources of strength welling up within you as you
progress in this saadhana. After some time, the mind will dwell on
the Name whatever you are and wherever you are engaged in; and
then, peace and joy will be your inseparable companions.
                    Gokhale Hall, Madras, 25-3-1958

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10. Viveka and vairaagya
       YOU are all standing in the open, on the road and some are
even perched on trees; it is really cruel for Me to speak to you for
long. But inspite of all this inconvenience, I find you yearn to hear
My words and so I shall satisfy you. Well, Man is Divine, take it from
Me; he is really here on a holy mission, for a divine purpose. To
consider him as mean or weak or sinful is a great mistake. That is
itself a great sin. Man must earn his birthright, namely, shaanthi
(peace). Ashaanthi (restlessness) is for him an un-natural state. His
real nature is shaanthi. To recover his heritage of shaanthi, man
tries various methods: acculumation of riches, maintenance of
health, mastery of knowledge, cultivation of the arts. But these are
not fundamental. Three basic wants still remain after all these
methods have been tried: the need for reality, for light and for
immortality. It is only when Sath, Jyothi and Amritham (Existence,
Divine Light and Divine Nectar) are won that Shaanthi will be
stabilised.
       It is no use indulging in arguments and disputations; he who
clamours aloud has not grasped the truth, believe Me. Silence is the
only language of the realised. Practise 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,
scandalising, finding fault with others and excessive articulation.
These have to be avoided if there has to be shaanthi for the
individual as well as for society. The bond of brotherhood will be
tightened if people speak less and speak sweet. That is why
mounam (silence) was prescribed as a vow for saadhakas by the
Shaasthras. You are all saadhakas (spiritual aspirants) at various
stages of the road and so this discipline is valuable for you also.
Prema must transform all relationships
       Prema (Love) is what the individual and the nation must
cultivate now for progress. Hindhusthan became great on account of
the flood of Prema which swept over the land for centuries. Prema
must again transform all relationship: social, economic, educational,
professional, family, religious, legal and others. The father must love
the child a little more intensely and intelligently; the mother must
spread love to all who come within her influence; children must love
the servants. The sense of equality that every one is the repository
of the Divine Essence must transmute social and individual
behaviour.
Vairaagya saves you from too much attachment
       You can call Me Premaswaruupa (Embodiment of Divine
Love)! You will not be wrong! Prema is the wealth I have and which
I scatter among the miserable and afflicted. I have no other riches.
The Grace of the Lord is always flowing like the electric current
through the wire. Fix a bulb, and the current, to the extent of the
wattage, will illumine your home. The bulb is the saadhana you
perform; the home is your heart. Come to Me gladly; dive into the
sea and discover its depth; there is no use dipping near the shore
and swearing that the sea is shallow and has no pearls. Dive deep
and you will secure your desire.
       Remember, the sword of Prema has to be kept in the sheath
of viveka (wisdom). The indhriyas (senses) have to be rigorously
controlled by viveka and vairaagya (discrimination and detachment),
the twin talents given exclusively to man. Viveka instructs you how
to choose your avocations and your associates. It tells you the
relative importance of objects and ideals. Vairaagya saves you from
too much of attachment and injects a sense of relief, at times of
elation or despair. They are the two wings that lift the bird into the
air. They hold before you the impermanence of the world and
permanence of the Bliss of Reality. They prompt you to direct your
lives towards spiritual saadhana and the never failing contemplation
of the glory of the Lord.
       Guudur, 22- 7-1958

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11. Nara and Naaraayana
       Everything in its own good time, they say; the fruit has to
grow and ripen before the sourness is turned to sweetness. I have
been coming to this town since ten years but it is only this evening
that you, in this vast multitudinous gathering, have been able to
derive this bliss of hearing Me discoursing! I am happy to meet all of
you in one auspicious hour collected all in one place. All that I can
tell you about the spiritual disciplines have been told often before;
man's capacity, his nature, his talents are all ancient possessions
and so the advice regarding how to use them is also very ancient.
       The only new thing is man's perverse behaviour---the
directions in which he has been wasting his talents, misusing his
capacity and playing false to his own nature. He has been forgetting
the path prescribed in the scriptures for the cultivation of his nature,
and hence all this suffering; hence also My advent.
       Man is essentially a discriminating animal, endowed with
viveka. He is not content with the satisfaction of mere animal needs;
he feels some void, some deep discontent, some unslaked thirst, for
he is a child of Immortality and he feels that death is not and should
not be the end. This viveka urges man to discover answers to the
problems that haunt him: "Where did I come from, whither am I
journeying, which is the journey's end?" So, buddhi (intellect) has to
be kept sharp and clear.
       There are three types of buddhi, according to the
predominance of one or other of the three gunas: the thamas,
which confuses sathyam (truth) as the asathyam (untruth) and
takes the asathyam as the sathyam; the rajas which like a
pendulum swings from one to the other, hovering between the two,
unable to distinguish between them; and the sathwa, which knows
which is sathyam and which is asathyam.
Poised state is essential to reach the goal
       The world today is suffering from Rajobuddhi (passionate
intellect) rather than thamas (inertia); people have violent likes and
dislikes; they have become fanatical and factious. They are carried
away by pomp and noise, show and propaganda; that is why dis-
crimination has become necessary. To reach the goal, Sathwabuddhi
(equanimous intellect) is essential; it will seek the Truth calmly and
stick to it whatever the consequence.
       I have come to help all to acquire this Saathwik (serene)
nature. You might have heard people talk about the miracles; of My
'making' this and 'giving' that, of my fulfilling all your wants, of My
curing your illness. But they are not so important as the
Saathwaguna (poised state) I appreciate, promote and instil. Of
course, I confer on you these boons of health and prosperity but
only so that you might, with greater enthusiasm and with less
interruption, proceed with spiritual saadhana.
       Eat well, so that your physical faculties might grow and the
good physique will in turn develop your intelligence more fully.
Bhakthi (devotion) leads to shakthi (power) and Shakthi will grant
yukthi (skill). The yukthi will help you to fix your rakthi (attachment)
on the proper objects and your bhakthi thus promoted finally results
in mukthi (liberation).
       A certain amount of attention has to be paid to the body and
its care, as well as to escape the overpowering handicaps of
poverty; but you must ever be cautious that you are not caught in
the coils and forget the transitoriness of all this. Bring your thoughts
constantly back to the Aathma, which is the substance of all the
objective world, the basic reality behind all this appearance.
Finding fault with others comes out of egoism
       The first step in Aathma vichaara (enquiring about the Self) is
the practice of the truth that whatever gives you pain gives pain to
others and whatever gives you joy, gives joy to others. So do unto
others as you would like them to do unto you; desist from any act in
relation to others which if done by them will give you pain. Thus, a
kind of reciprocal relationship will grow between you and others and
gradually you reach the stage when your heart thrills with joy when
others are joyful and shudders in pain when others are sad. This is
not the kind of affection towards those who are dear to you or those
who are your kith and kin. That is a sign of delusion; but this
sharing of joy and grief is automatic, immediate, universal. It is a
sign of great spiritual advance; then the wave knows that it is part
of the ocean and that all waves are but temporary manifestations of
the self-same sea having the same taste as the ocean itself.
       The others are part of yourself; you need not worry about
them; worry about yourself; that is enough; when you become all
right, they too will be all right, for you will no longer be aware of
them as separate from you. Criticising others, finding fault with
them, all this comes out of egoism. Search for your own faults
instead; the faults you see in others are your own faults instead; the
faults you see in others are but reflections of your own personality
traits; pay no heed to little worries; attach your mind to the Lord.
Then you will be led on to the company of good men and your
talents will be transmuted.
When you love, you will have no fear
       Be a bee, drinking the nectar of every flower; not the
mosquito drinking blood and distributing disease in return. First,
consider all as children of the Lord, as your own brothers and
sisters; develop the quality of love, seek always the welfare of
humanity. Love and you will be loved in return, hate will never be
your lot if you promote love and look upon all with love. That is the
one lesson I teach always; that is my secret too. If you want to
attain Me, cultivate Love, give up hatred, envy, anger, cynicism and
falsehood. I do not ask that you should be a scholar or a recluse or
an ascetic skilled in japa (recitation of holy Name) and dhyaana
(meditation). "Is your heart full of prema (love)?" that is all I
examine.
       Believe that Love is God, Truth is God. Love is Truth, Truth is
Love; for it is only when you love that you have no fear, for fear is
the mother of falsehood. If you have no fear, you will adhere to
truth. The mirror of Prema reflects the Aathma in you and reveals to
you that the Aathma is universal, immanent in every being.
Parents have to be respected and worshipped
       I shall not tell you very complex matters; I shall give only
simple remedies for the ills you are suffering from. I find here a
large number of students. Well, what are they studying for? What is
the goal? How are we to judge that they have studied well? By the
salary they are able to get, or the cadre they are able to secure? No.
Education must result in the development of viveka (wisdom) and
vinaya (humility). The educated man must be able to distinguish
between the momentary and the momentous, the lasting and the
effervescent. He must not run after glitter and glamour but he must
seek instead the good and golden.
       He must know how to keep the body in good trim, the senses
under strict control, the mind well within check, the intellect sharp
and clear, unhampered by prejudices and hatreds, and the feelings
untouched by egoism. He must know the Aathma too, for that is his
very care; that is the effulgence which illumines his inner and outer
selves. This knowledge will ensure joy and peace and courage for
him throughout life. Students also must cultivate vinaya (the art of
avoiding the infliction of pain on others).
       I must also tell the students that they must be grateful to the
parents who give them all the facilities they now enjoy at great
sacrifice. In fact, the parents have to be worshipped as visible
representatives of the God-head; they are responsible for your very
existence and for all this joy and adventure in the physical and
spiritual spheres. For this reason they have to be tended and
respected and worshipped.
       There was a boy who was begging in the streets for food so
that he could keep his bedridden mother and two little sisters alive.
One night when he clamoured in front of a rich man's house, the
master got enraged at his piteous cries. The boy was very unlucky
that day and he had collected only a few morsels; the hour was
nearing nine. So he cried most pathetically and it aroused the ire of
the rich man inside the mansion. He came out and kicked the boy
into the gutter; he was already very weak, for he was starving
himself to feed his mother and sisters; so when he fell, he breathed
his last, wailing, "Mother! Here is a little food for you." His hand
held the bowl firm, even when it had become lifeless!
Parents must set good examples to children
       Such is the devotion that the mother invokes and which she
deserves, for all the pain she endured and all the sacrifice she bore
in order that the son might be healthy, happy and good. Show that
gratitude, boys, to the parents; remember them and pay them the
tribute of at least a tear on the anniversary of their passing away.
Do it with shraddha (faith), that is why it is called shraardha
(religious ceremonial offering to the dead); not that the offerings
you make reach them or that they are waiting for them in some
other world; it is a tribute that you should offer in gratitude for the
great chance they gave you for this sojourn in this world with all the
wonderful opportunities it offers for self-realisation.
       Parents too must encourage children when they evince any
interest in spiritual advance and study; they must also set them
good examples. Among the children who are before Me here, there
may be many a Vivekaanandha and many a Thyaagaraaja. Children
must be given every facility to develop the divine talents that are in
them. Parents must feel that they are servants appointed by the
Lord to tend the little souls that are born in their households, as the
gardener tends the trees in the garden of the Master. They must
arouse the latent goodness in these tiny hearts by telling stories
about the saints and sages of the past. They must see that children
do not develop fear and become cowards afraid of walking straight.
       Give up the delusion you are this physical body
       You are all the indestructible Aathma, believe Me; nothing
need discourage you. In dreams you suffer so much; loss of money,
fire, food, insult, etc., but you are not affected at all. When these
things happen during the waking stage, you feel afflicted; really, it is
not the real 'you' that suffers all that. Give up the delusion that you
are this physical entity and you become really free.
       And lastly, about Myself. No one can understand My Mystery.
The best you can do is to get immersed in it. It is no use your
arguing about pros and cons; dive and know the depth; eat and
know the taste! Then you can discuss Me to your heart's content.
Develop Sathya (Truth) and Prema (Love) and then you need not
even pray to Me to grant you this and that. Everything will be added
unto you, unasked. Nara (man) and Naaraayana (God) are the two
wires, the positive and the negative, which combine to bring
electricity through. Nara will co-operate with Naaraayana and
become the vehicle of Divine Power, if he has acquired the two
qualities, sathya and prema.
       Nellore, 25- 7-1958
       Individual reconstruction is much more important than the
construction of temples.
       Multiply virtues, not buildings; practise what you preach, that
is the real pilgrimage; cleanse your minds of envy and malice, that
is the real bath in holy waters.
       Of what avail is the name of the Lord on the tongue, if the
heart within is impure? Injustice and discontent are spreading
everywhere due to this one fault in man: saying one thing and doing
the opposite, the tongue and the hand going in different directions.
       Man has to set himself right and correct his food, his
recreation, his method of spending his leisure as well as habits of
thought.
                                                      Shri Sathya Sai

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12. Tolerance
       I HAD no idea of speaking to you this evening, but of course, I
need no 'preparation.' My Sankalpa (resolve) and its fulfilment are
instantaneous. Shri Subbaraamaiah spoke just now of some
important guiding principles of life, like the cultivation of virtues, the
development of character, the control of hatred, etc. Advice such as
this is being given from a hundred platforms every day, and people
listen and depart; they do not practise what they have heard; and
so things remain where they are. This is because those who give
advice do not follow what they preach; they must themselves be the
examples of the value of what they teach. Like the blind men who
described the elephant, they describe the advantages of acquiring
virtues and the benefits of controlling hatred, more out of hearsay
than out of experience.
       There is deep-rooted unrest today in every individual, because
there is no harmony within. The Varnaashrama rules that have
come down from ages prescribe one type of conduct; the books that
one reads recommend another type; experience gives conflicting
advice. But peace depends on the mind and its awareness of the
secret of poise. The body is the caravanserai, the jeevi (individual)
is the pilgrim and the mind is the watchman. The mind seeks sukha
(happiness); it feels that happiness can be got in this world from
fame, riches, land and property, from other individuals or relatives;
further, it builds up pictures of heaven where there is more intense
happiness for a longer time; at last, it discovers that eternal
undiminished happiness can be got only by dwelling on the Reality
of one's own Self, which is Bliss Itself.
Yielding to despair worsens the problem
       The jeevathathwa (the life principle) is like the grain covered
up in the husk of maayaa (delusion), as the rice is enveloped in the
paddy. The maayaa has to be removed; thejeevathathwa has to be
boiled and made soft and assimilated so that it might add to health
and strength. The softened rice can be compared to Paramaathma
(Supreme Soul). The mind has to be used for this process. It has to
be fixed in the Sathyam (Truth) and the Nithyam (Everlasting). To
remove the husk of delusion, viveka (discrimination) is an
instrument.
        Develop the power of discrimination and find out which is
permanent and which is not, which is beneficial and which is not.
Even in selecting a Guru, you should use your viveka. Not all clouds
are rain-bearing. A real teacher will be able to attract seekers from
afar merely by his personality. He need not be talked about in
glowing terms; his presence will be felt and aspirants will hurry
towards him, like bees towards a lotus in full bloom.
        Seek the light always; be full of confidence and zest. Do not
yield to despair, for it can never produce results. It only worsens the
problem, for it darkens the intellect and plunges you in doubt. You
must take up the path of saadhana (spiritual practice), very
enthusiastically. Half-hearted halting steps will not yield fruit. It is
like cleaning a slushy area by a stream of water. If the current of
the stream is slow, the slush cannot be cleared. The stream must
flow full and fast, driving everything before it, so that the slush
might be scoured clean.
Liberation can be achieved by subtle means
        I shall talk to you of these first steps only, for they are the
most important for the saadhakas (spiritual aspirants); and you are
all saadhakas or are bound to be saadhakas. "Moksha lies in the
suukshma" they say---"Liberation can be achieved by subtle means."
Treat the others in the same way as you would like them to treat
you. Never brood over the past; when grief over-powers you, do not
recollect similar incidents in your past experience and add to the
sum of your grief; recollect, rather, incidents when grief did not
knock at your door, but you were happy instead. Draw consolation
and strength from such memories and raise yourself above the
surging waters of sorrow. Women are called "weak" because they
yield to anger and sorrow much more easily than men; so I would
ask them to take extra pains to overcome these two.
Naamasmarana is the best antidote for this and if only men and
women take up to it, the Lord will come to their rescue. That will
instil the faith that everything is God's Will and teach that you have
no right to exult or despair.
      When you go to a doctor, you must take the medicine that he
prescribes and follow his advice and instructions. There is no use
blaming him if you default. How can he cure you if you do not drink
the mixture or stick to the restrictions he has imposed or regulate
your diet according to his advice? Do as I say, follow My advice and
then watch the result.
      It is a sign of foolishness to brood over mishaps and mistakes
once committed and punish oneself for them by refusing to take
food. It is a very childish way of correction. What is the good of ill-
treating the body for the sake of correcting the mind?
      Even if you cannot love others, do not hate them or feel envy
towards them. Do not misunderstand them motives and scandalise
them; if you only knew, their motives might be as noble as yours or
their action might be due to ignorance, rather than wickedness or
mischief. Pardon the other man's faults but deal harshly with your
own.
      The holy culture of this ancient land has been spoilt by just
one impurity; intolerance of another's success, prosperity or
progress. If you cannot help another, at least avoid doing him harm
or causing him pain. That itself is a great service. What right have
you to find fault with another or to talk evil of him? When you say
that nothing can ever happen on earth without His Will, why get
annoyed or angry? Your duty is to cleanse yourself and engage in
your own inner purification. That endeavour will bring you the co-
operation of all good men and you will find strength and joy welling
up within you.
      Venkatagiri, 2-8-1958

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13. Aanandha through dedication
       TODAY is indeed a day of joy, since we have met here to
share prema; the joy is marred to some extent by the want of
accommodation in this Hall and the suffering all of you are put to. I
too feel that it is not proper to keep you long in this physical
torment while I am having comparative comfort on this less
crowded platform. That explains partly why you are restless and
agitated, an attitude quite different from what you should have on
such occasions. The same group of people, you will have observed,
differs in its reactions and behaviour when it is in a marriage
pandhal, a cinema hall, an exhibition enclosure, a temple or seeing
a football match. They are moved by totally different impulses in
these various places. In a gathering devoted to the needs of the
spirit, what is expected is eager attention, quiet calm and
reverential, prayer-ful silence. Here, obviously, only the eye and the
ear need function; the tongue has no business to wag. I have come
to share with you the gift of prema (love) that I have brought, but
you seem to be satisfied with the confusion that you already live in!
The unhealthy are to be nursed back to health
       Now, that is very much better. It is the silence that is wanted
in all gatherings where deeper spiritual disciplines are talked about.
Of course, everywhere and every time, it is best you curb your
tongue; that is the very first exercise that I prescribe for spiritual
progress. What I have to say now is not for those who are endowed
with bhakthi (devotion), for they know the path and they are
already marching on: nor for those who have no spring of bhakthi in
them, for, speaking to them is sheer waste of time. It is for the
wavering, the unsteady, the hesistant, who are conscious of the
Higher Power and are feebly desirous of contacting it, for they are
either ignorant of the technique or afraid of the consequences; it is
for such half-apathetic bhakthas (devotees) that I talk. Medicine is
useless for the dead as well as the sturdy. The unhealthy, hovering
between death and survival, these are to be nursed back to
strength.
       I would like you first to learn the art of so living in the midst of
people that you do not grieve nor make others grieve. Learn to
make the best of life, this chance offered to you to sublimate your
instincts, impulses and vaasanas (impressions left on the mind by
past actions) and rise higher and higher in the moral and spiritual
plane. Make the best out of opportunities like this and derive
Aanandha from every hour, garnering all the profit you can. This
town is holy and so, there are many Aadhyaathmik (metaphysical)
Institutions; many pious men visit it and give valuable advice. I am
glad the Malayalaswaami of Yerpedu is now here for the
Chaathurmaasya (four months of ascetic observance); it is a good
chance for you to learn from him the teachings of the sages of
ancient times. I am sure he will spread good thoughts and good
impulses promoting your spiritual advance.
Become conscious of your kinship with God
       This is not bhakthi, this holding a garland in the hand and
indulging in paltry conversation in holy places. I do not want nor do
I appreciate any one bringing flowers and fruits into My presence.
Bring Me the fragrant flower of a pure heart and the fruit of a
saadhana-mellowed mind; that is what I like most, not these things
available outside yourselves for so much of cash, without any effort
that elevates the mind. To get a taste for that kind of effort, you
must keep the company of great and good men and take delight in
good thoughts. By whatever means available, increase the stock of
your aanandha (bliss) and improve the quality of viveka
(discrimination) and try to store as much of these two as possible,
so that you can draw upon the stock whenever the need arises.
       The chief source of aanandha is dedication to God; nothing
else can give that genuine and lasting joy. Become conscious of
your kinship with the Lord. That kinship is not a mere fancy or a
faked theory. It has come down since ages, from the beginning of
Time itself. It will persist till the very end of Time, or, in other
words, till the end of Time so far as you are concerned. The
Godhaavari is carrying all the waters of all the tributary streams
relentlessly to the sea.
       The rain falls on the mountains; as streams it flows in the
plains and the full Godhaavari rushes through the delta. So too, the
jeeva (individual) is born in Dharma maarga (path of righteousness),
it journeys through Karma maarga (path of action), and it rushes
through Saadhu maarga (path of sages) to reach Brahma maarga
(path of Supreme Reality). The Karma maarga and the Saadhu
maarga are discovered by the jnaanendhriyas (organs of
perception). Keep them uncontaminated by Asuric (demonic)
qualities and watch vigilantly lest they slip back. The Karmendhriyas
(sensory organs) drag you into the tangle of Prakrithi (Nature) itself.
The cow eats grass and drinks gruel, but out of these it creates
sweet sustaining milk; so too, let the experiences which are
gathered by your senses help in the production of the sweetness of
kindness, the purity of devotion and the sustenance of Shaanthi.
Do not worry about others and their faults
       There is in every one a spark of truth; no one can live without
that spark. There is in every one a flame of love; life becomes a
dark void without it. That spark, that flame is God, for He is the
source of all Truth and all Love. Man seeks truth; he seeks to know
the reality because his very nature is derived from God who is
Truth. He seeks Love, to give it and share it, for his nature is of God
and God is Love.
       Like the paddy-seed which contains rice, the husk is the
Maayaa which covers the seed within; the rice is the Jeeva and the
essence of the rice, the sustaining element, the anna (food), that is
Paramaathma. So, develop the Inner Vision, do not worry about
others and their faults. Do a little Aathma vichaara (examination of
the Self), study the Upanishaths and the Shaasthras; they might
help you a little. Remember, only a little help. They are but maps
and signposts. You must put them into practice; act and experience.
       Meditate on the truth and you will find that you are but a
sparkling bubble upon the waters; born on water, living for a brief
moment on water and dying upon its breast, merging in it. You owe
your birth to God: you subsist on God and you merge in God. Every
living thing has to reach that consummation; why, every non-living
thing too. So do it now; take the first step, purify the heart, sharpen
the intellect or at least begin the recital of the name of the Lord.
That will give you all the rest in due time. When a man plants a
mango seed, he is not sure whether he will live to eat the fruit; but
that is beside the point. To plant, to nourish, to guard, to grow, that
is the duty; the rest is His look out. That is the real karmaphala
thyaaga (renunciation of the fruits of action).
Holy things can be cognised only by holy seekers
       Above all, cultivate prema (love), towards all. That will destroy
envy, anger and hatred. Raama (God) and kaama (desire) cannot
co-exist in the same heart. Trust begets trust, love begets love.
When I am talking to you with so much prema, you cannot develop
any dwesha (hatred) towards Me! Prema makes the whole world
kin. It is the greatest instrument of concord. The ryot plants the
seedling and watches over it with great care; he removes the
weeds, he destroys the pests, he lets in water as and when
necessary, he spreads manure and awaits the day when he can reap
the harvest and fill his granary. So too, you must nourish prema and
pluck out the weeds of hatred and envy.
       Wear the red glasses and all things appear red. Wear the
glasses of prema and all will appear loveable and good. Reference
was made here to Dharidhra-naaraayana-seva (Service of the poor);
the eye of prema will see all as Naaraayana; not only the poor, but
rich, also. The rich too have to be sympathised with. You must pity
the rich, for they have so few chances of developing the attitude of
renunciation! See all as Naaraayanaswaruupa (embodiments of Lord
Naaraayana) and worship all with the flower of prema.
       Even My nature can be understood by you only when you
wear the glasses of holiness; holy things can be cognised only by
the holy seeker. You get what you search for; you see what your
eyes crave for. The doctor is found where patients gather; the
surgeon stays in the operation ward. So too, the Lord is ever with
the suffering and the struggling. Whenever people cry out in agony:
"Oh God," there, God will be.
To supplement saadhana, lead a regulated life
       The credentials of one doctor can be examined and judged
only by another doctor; the patient has to believe and carry out his
instructions if he desires to improve. He can give his judgement on
the doctor only after the course of treatment is finished. Unless he
obeyed the orders of the doctor strictly and to the very letter, he
has no authority to pronounce judgement. So what can you now
speak about Me? Follow My prescription! Naturally, it will be a
different one for every one of you; it will depend upon the nature,
the age, the virulence of the disease and upon the treatment you
have already undergone to alleviate it. Adhere also to the dietary
and other regulations that the doctor recommends. That is to say, it
is not merely saadhana like japam (repetition of holy Name or
formula), dhyaanam (meditation), Naamasmarana (Remembering
the Name of God), etc., that will have to be done, but in order to
supplement the effect of these, you have to lead a regulated life, a
life conducive to good thoughts, with Saathwik (virtuous) food and
Saathwik (noble) pursuits. Until you try out My prescription fully and
sincerely, it is best you keep quiet. You do not know even a pebble;
how can you evaluate a peak?
        You may be 'unafraid,' you may not fear anything else, but
you have to fear Truth. There is nothing so awe-inspiring as Truth;
your Truth, for example, for your Truth is the Truth of the Universe.
        This day, you may feel you have no need of the Lord, but
when the pangs of hunger gnaw, you start pining for food.
Therefore, wash your hearts with tears of joy so that the Lord might
install Himself therein. A zamindar may own all of the fields up to
the very horizon on all sides, but he will design to sit only on a
patch that is clean! In the same way, when the Lord chooses the
heart of a bhaktha (devotee), it does not mean that all other hearts
are not His. They are not clean, that is all He means. He is
everywhere, everything is His, His gaze is on all. If God was not all
this how could they shine, or exist even as much as they do now?
        Therefore, have full faith in God and in yourselves, engage
always in good deeds, beneficial activities; speak the truth, do not
inflict pain by word or deed or even thought. That is the way to gain
shaanthi; that is the highest gain which you can earn in this life.
        Rajahmundry, 1-9-1958

[V2K]

14. The wise ryot
       Today, I am really full of joy for I have before Me people who
are engaged in hardy toil and who sacrifice their personal comforts
in order to make others happy. What the world needs is work done
in that spirit. Every man has divinity embedded in him, as well as
Truth and sweetness. Only, he does not know how to manifest that
Divinity, how to realise that Truth, how to taste that sweetness. So,
he carries the twin burdens of joy and grief tied to the ends of a
single pole slung across his shoulders. Courage is the tonic for
getting both physical as well as mental health and strength. Give up
doubt, hesitation and fear. Do not give any chance for these to
strike root in your mind. Man, by means of the inner divine strength
with which he is equipped, can achieve anything; he can even
become Maadhava (God).
       To help you to give up fear and doubt, keep the Name of the
Lord always on your tongue and in your mind. Dwell on the endless
forms of the Lord, His limitless Glow, while you repeat the Name.
Attach yourself to Him; then your attachment for these temporary
objects will fall off; or at least, you will start seeing them in their
proper proportion as having only relative reality. When the tiny little
ego assumes enormous importance, it causes all this bother! That is
the root of all the travail.
Raama Naama endows you with spiritual power
       In your heart, there is the Aathmaaraama, the Raama that
confers eternal joy. So repeat the name Raama, the Sun which can
make the lotus in the heart bloom. Raama is not the son of Emperor
'Dhasharatha' but of the ruler of the dhasha indhriyas (the ten
senses). The recital of the Raamanaama must become as automatic
as breathing, as frequent and as essential. Raama has in it the
beeja-akshara (seed letters) of both the Shiva manthra as well as
the Naaraayana manthra, for it is composed of the second letters of
both; Naa-raa-yanaaya and Na-mah-Shivaaya. This name is
acceptable, therefore, to all sects; it also endows you with power
and all the spiritual capital you need.
       Real Aanandha (Bliss) can be won only by means of the
transformation of the impulses which agitate the mind. It is not to
be found in wealth. You think that the rich man is happy; ask Me,
and I shall reveal to you that they are full of grief, for they come to
Me in large numbers for relief. They have no shaanthi (peace) at all.
A strong physique does not by itself give shaanthi; nor does
scholarship, or asceticism or rituals. Only constant dwelling with the
Name of the Lord gives that unshakeable Peace, unaffected by the
ups and downs of life. It makes man a dheera (a hero).
       Sai Baaba was till today a formless Name to you, but now it
has come with Form and you can keep the ruupa (form) in your
mind. So too, the Name 'Raama' has a form and you should picture
the form also when you repeat the Name; then the name becomes
concrete and japam is easier. Live always in the presence of that
Form-filled Naamam. Then life becomes one continuous worship of
the Lord. Really speaking, you agriculturists are holy souls, for you
bend under the weight of the service you do and with hands raised
in prayer, you toil night and day converting dust and dirt into the
nourishing harvest of grain for all men to feed upon.
Do your tasks as dedicated to the Lord
       This task is holy and the product of your efforts is also sacred.
Why cannot this task be made more fruitful by the cultivation of
virtues also? That is the real harvest which pleases the Lord and
sustains the world.
       Worry and grief there will always be, of one type or other, in
the past, present and future; while walking, dreaming and sleeping.
But place faith in the Lord and do your tasks as dedicated to Him
and they both will vanish. Naaradha one day boasted before Vishnu
that no devotee could excel him; but this boast was against the very
first qualification of a bhaktha---freedom from egoism. So, Vishnu
spoke of a ryot who was tilling his little plot of land as a greater
devotee and recommended that Naaradha should visit him and learn
'the art of devotion' from him]
       Naaradha felt badly humiliated; but he proceeded to the
village indicated, in great chagrin. He found the ryot engrossed in
his round of duties on the field, in the cattle shed and at home; and
in spite of the most vigilant watch, he could not hear him speak the
name of the Lord more than thrice a day; once when he woke up
from bed, another time when he took his midday meal and the last,
when he retired for the night. Naaradha was naturally incensed that
he was deemed inferior to this poor, pale specimen of a bhaktha. He
was always singing melodiously the leelas (divine sport) of the Lord
and spreading everywhere the message of Naama sankeerthana
(devotional singing of the Lord's name) and here was a horny-
handed son of the soil who remembered the Lord only three times a
day, whom Vishnu judged superior to him.
Do your duties with God's Name on your lips
       Naaradha hurried to heaven, his face flushed with anger and
ignominy; but Vishnu only laughed at his plight. He gave him a pot
full to the brim with water and asked him to carry it on his head and
go round a certain course without spilling even a drop. Naaradha did
so, but when asked how often he had remembered the Name of the
Lord, he admitted that in his anxiety to walk without shaking the pot
and spilling the water, he had forgotten the Name completely! Then
Vishnu told him that the ryot who was carrying on his head more
precious and more spillable burdens than a pot of water and who
had to be careful not to take any false step, must perforce be
admired for remembering the Lord at least three times a day!
       Therefore, it will be a great gain if you remember the Lord
with thankfulness at least thrice or even twice a day; that will give
you great peace. Do not give up your worldly duties, but do them
with the name of God on your lips, inviting the Grace of God on
your heads. Do not involve yourselves in the affairs of your
neighbours or others to the extent that you get so entangled you
cannot extricate yourselves.
       Spend your time in the contemplation of the beauties of
nature that are spread out before you in earth and sky; green
expanses of the crops you have raised, cool breezes that waft
contentment and joy, the panorama of coloured clouds, the music of
the birds. Sing the glories of God as you walk along the bunds of
the fields and the banks of the canals. Do not talk hatefully in the
midst of all this evidence of love; do not get angry, in these placid
surroundings; do not disturb the sky with your shouts and curses.
Do not pollute the air with vengeful boasts.
Purify your conduct, cleanse your behaviour
      The seedling wants water and manure, to grow and yield rich
harvest. The tiny sapling of spiritual yearning for liberation from
bondage also needs these two. That is the real krishi (cultivation)
you must undertake. That is the mark of the wise farmer..
      More than all, set right your habits, purify your conduct,
cleanse your behaviour. One bad habit that has taken deep root in
this area is the smoking of tobacco, an evil that is fast becoming
universal. It destroys aarogyam, aanandham, uthsaaham (health,
happiness, energy) and even andham (charm). Smoke will not
quench your thirst or fill the hungry stomach. It disfigures your face
and denigrates your lungs. It debilitates you and makes you
diseased. Control yourself and do not yield to the snares of friends
or society or, what is miscalled social convention, and become a
prey to this and other bad habits.
      The body is the temple of the Lord; keep it in good and strong
condition. It is damaged by food and drink of the Raajasik behaviour
and Thaamasik types and also by Raajasik (like anger, hatred,
greed, etc.), and Thaamasik behaviour (like sloth, sleep and
inactivity). When you get violent and angry with any one, quietly
repeat the name of the Lord to overcome it or drink a glass of cold
water or spread your bed and lie down until the fit of fury passes.
While angry, you abuse another and he does the same; and
tempers rise, heat is generated and lasting injury is done. Five
minutes of anger damages the relationship for five generations,
remember.
      This Asthipanjaram (skeletal cage or body) is the
Hasthinapuram, where we have the blind king, Dhritharaashtra, the
symbol of ignorance as well as Yudhishthira, the symbol of Wisdom.
Let the forces of Yudhishthira win, with the help of Shri Krishna; let
the tongue, accustomed to the bitterness of the margosa fruit of
worldly triumphs and disasters, taste the sweet honey of
Naamasmarana (remembering of Lord's Name). Experiment this for
a time and you will be surprised at the result. You can feel the vast
improvement in peace and stability, in you and around you. Learn
this easy lesson, get immersed in joy and let others also share that
joy with you. This is Message I leave with you.
      Mirthipadu, 2-9-1958
      Remember always that it is easy to do what is pleasant; but it
is difficult to be engaged in what is beneficial. Not all that is
pleasant is profitable. Success comes to those who give up the path
strewn with roses, and brave the hammer-blows and sword-thrusts
of the path fraught with danger.
                                                     Shri Sathya Sai