Introduction
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|253-294 | 295-336 | 337-378| 379-420 | 421-462 | 463-504|
|505-546 | 547-588 | 589-630| 631-672 | 673-714 | 715-756|
|757-798 | 799-840 | 841-882| 883-924 | 925-966 | 967-1008|
From 505 - 546
505
PRAYER must emerge from the effect to the causes. The
individual Self has to yearn for the Supreme Self. It must emerge from a pure
heart. Prayer drinking cup must be clean, both on the out side and the inside.
Prayer should not arise out of the tongue, as music rises out of the gramophone
record. When the song does not arise from your depth, when you are not involved
in it, how can it draw God unto you? You must achieve confidence, then the
self-confidence will lead to self-sacrifice and self-realisation.
506
WHOLESOME happiness arises only from fullness of
Love, Truth, Peace, Charity and Fortitude. These can fructify only in the
atmosphere of Love - Sathya Sai. Men yearn for good times, high status, power
and good life. But seldom do they yearn for good thoughts, wisdom and virtue.
What better advice can Sai give?
507
GOD is the entity close to man, dearest to man. Your
mother and father might be far away, but God is right with you. Even if you do
not Love Him, He will not depart from you or move afar. "Anoraniyam" say the
Vedas (Smaller than the Atom). He becomes "Mahathmaheeyaam", expanding beyond
the Cosmos and fitting all with Grace. In every call, He will be in you. You can
earn this Awareness through intense Love.
508
BLESSEDNESS can be conferred only by the Divine
Source; it cannot be acquired from worldly achievements and triumphs. It is
dependent on the Immutable Triad, of Sathyam, Shivam and Sundaram.It assumes all
forms, this Santham!It assumes all names, this Shivam!It is Sath-Chith-Anand,
this only one!It is Sathyam-Shivam-Sundaram!
509
LET the children, even grown-up boys and girls, touch
the feet of the Father and Mother every morning before the daily tasks are
started; it will generate a reverential atmosphere in the home. Five minutes in
the shrine room and the Namaskaram for Parents - let this be the daily routine.
The Upanishads recommend this as the basic requirement of our Culture: "Mathru
Devo Bhava; Pithru Devo Bhava; Acharya Devo Bhava".
510
THE home is the temple where the family, each member
of it is a moving temple, is nurtured and nourished. The Mother is the high
priest of this House of God. Humility is the incense with which the house is
filled. Reverence is the lamp that is lit with Love as the oil and Faith as the
wick. Spend the years of your lives, dedicating them for such worship in the
homes that you will find.
511
PEOPLE crowd into film shows, rush towards social
clubs, spend days together in playing cards, but when they are asked to sing the
Glory of God and purify themselves and the atmosphere, they clamour for
concession! When the heads hit against each other in anger, can the feet be
steady and unaffected? They too will kick and trample as maliciously as they
can.
512
REMEMBER three things always: continue Seva, wherever
you are; seek chances of helping others; never lose an opportunity of using your
skills and enthusiasm for the alleviation of sorrow, pain or distress. Again, do
not omit or neglect or postpone your own particular spiritual Sadhana. Study
Japam, Dhyanam, Bhajan, Namasankirtanand other such disciplines. Above all, have
the faith that Swami is with you at all times and all places.
513
AS the Vedas announce, there is no Dharma higher than
Truth. Truth gets hidden, appears distorted and is declared to be failing; so,
the Avatar asserts its validity and value once again. God wears Truth, the good
seek Truth and the bad are rescued by Truth. Truth liberates; Truth is power;
Truth is freedom. It is the lamp that illuminates the heart and dispels doubt
and darkness. The effulgence of God is Truth. Welcome God in your heart. Install
Him there as a result of yearning. Be always concerned with Brahman; then you
are entitled to be known as a Brahmin.
514
INJURY inflicted on any being is sacrilege, self
injury. Love is transformed into poison if hate contaminates it. Love some, but
do not hate the rest, for that hate will foul the Love and make it mortal. Love
comes automatically to the realised soul; but the Sadhaka has to cultivate it by
means of Seva and inquiry into the unity of the Atman. Love must low not only
from the tongue or head, but chiefly from the heart.
515
PRASADAM means Grace, which flows from God when He is
propitiated. My Grace is ever with you; it is not something that is given or
taken. It is given always and accepted by the Consciousness that is aware of its
significance. Win the Grace of your own subconscious, so that it may receive the
Grace of God which is ever available. God does not deny anyone; it is only you,
who deny God. When the gift is preferred, you have to do only one little act so
that you may earn it. You have to extend your hand to receive it.
516
THE Kshetra or Field or Body must be transmuted into
the Dharmakshetra, the purified area of Virtue and Vairagya (Renunciation of
lower desires). Then the Charioteer will take charge and man gets liberated and
the body becomes Brahmakshetra. That is the life story of a self-realised person.
517
THE Avatara-Purusha, however, has come solely to save
mankind, and so, He is aware of the pilgrim, the path and the goal. He is the
master of creation and He is fully conscious of His power. He knows the past,
the present and future of all. He leads and liberates.
518
AMBITION to earn fame in the world, to gain some
position of authority over fellow men, to lead a luxurious life - this can never
ensure Shanti, Mental Peace. Mental Peace is the result of quite different
attainments. Wealth cannot command it, nor authority commandeer it! It must be
won the hard way through Meditation, Namasmaran and the nine steps to the
presence of the Almighty. It must be won on the Earth, to which man rightfully
belongs, and not on any other heavenly body towards which he may dare navigate.
519
THE basic lesson that each Religion teaches is to
surrender to the sovereign will of God and leave the consequences of deeds well
done to the Lord Himself. It is His will, and your only duty is to shape
yourself into a fit instrument. To suppress the assertive ego, disciplines have
been laid down in every Religion, by every compiler of moral codes, by every
educator and reformer of human morals. But the oldest, most effective and the
most successfully practiced system is the body of directives laid down in the
Vedas and Shastras of India.
520
TIME ticks on relentlessly and man is born, lives and
dies, rotating on the wheel of Karma and consequently unaware of the means of
escaping from the oncoming destiny. Agony and anxiety have not softened his
heart; adventure and achievement have not made him humble. He is proud of his
advance in the path of hatred and haughtiness. He revels in cruelty and sin. He
displays an unholy satisfaction in immorality and untruth. He has reduced
himself to a level lower than that of beasts.
521
THE receptacle may be different, but the Divine
content is the same. The taste of sea water will be saline whether you test a
truckload, a bowl full, a pit full, a sip or a drop on the tongue; the taste of
the Divine can be experienced in the atom or the Cosmos, the friend as well as
the foe, the virus and the Universe. This is the Realisation, the Liberation,
the Illumination and the Revelation: "Sarvam Vishnumayam Jagat." This sphere of
change is surcharged with the Omnipresent Divine.
522
THE Saints and Sages of India and even the
Incarnations that God vouchsafed to take in this land have proclaimed and
practiced the ideal of service to fellow beings. Krishna drove the chariot of
Arjuna during fateful days when the fortunes of the Pandavas were decided at the
point of the sword. Imagine the Lord of the Universe holding the reigns of
Arjuna's horses. Note how Hanuman was elated when he rose to the status of the
servant of Rama.
523
THERE is no discipline equal to service to smother
the ego and to fill the heart with genuine joy. To condemn service as demeaning
and inferior is to forego these benefits. If a wave of service sweeps over the
land, catching everyone in its enthusiasm, it will be able to wipe off the
mounds of hatred, malice and greed that infest the World. Attune your heart so
that it will vibrate in sympathy with the woes and joys of your fellow men. Fill
the World with Love. Love will warn you against advising another to do something
which you are unwilling to do; your conscience will tell you that you are living
in a lie!
524
ASCETIC practices, years of constant recitation of
the Name, pilgrimage to holy places and shrines, study of the sacred books -
these will not help the aspirant to spiritual victory as much as communion with
the Godly and the good. Bharath is a rare treasure house of spiritual jewels; it
can confer all boons on the sincere.
525
NEVER give up the Gayatri. You may give up or ignore
any other Mantra, but you should recite Gayatri at least a few times a day. It
will protect you from harm, wherever you are - traveling, working or at home.
Westerners have investigated the vibrations produced by this Mantra and have
found that, when it is recited with the correct accent as laid down in the Vedas,
the atmosphere around becomes visibly illumined. So Brahmaprakasa, the
effulgence of Brahma, will descend on you and illumine your intellect and light
your path when this Mantra is chanted. Gayatri is Annapurna, the Mother and the
Force that animates all life.
526
THE lotus has as many as a thousand petals. They all
emanate from the Central Karnika or pericarp. Each petal draws its strength,
sustenance, colour, fragrance and charm from the Karnika. Detached from the
Karnika, the petal cannot survive. That attachment and that affection can be
secured when the petal clings to the ideals of Sai and the lessons of Sai. In My
message to you, there is no scope for your seeing differences or distinctions
among those you serve. "Loka Samastha Sukino Bhavanthu", (May every being in all
the Worlds be happy); That is My wish and Blessing.
527
FROM the narrow vision of "individual need" man must
voyage out into the broad vision of the "Universal". When a drop of water falls
into the Ocean, it loses its narrow individuality, its name and form, and
assumes the form, name and taste of the Ocean itself. If it seeks to live
separately as a "drop", it will soon evaporate and be reduced to non-existence.
Each one must become aware that he is part of the one Truth that encompasses
everything in the Universe. It is reprehensible to stick, for one's whole
lifetime, to the narrow path of selfishness, envy and greed. Make the heart big
and the mind pure.
528
MEN may have super abundance of food, clothing and
housing, but their hearts may be dry and their spirits gloomy. Sense control,
self-confidence, contentment, absence of hatred and greed are far more precious
possessions than land, money or houses.
529
THERE are four "F's" that you will have to fix before
your attention: (1) Follow the Master; (2) Face the Devil; (3) Fight to the End;
and (4) Finish at the Goal. "Follow the Master" means: observe Dharma. "Face the
Devil" means: overcome the temptations that beset you when you try to earn Artha
(wealth or the wherewithal to live in comfort). "Fight to the End" means:
struggle ceaselessly; wage war against the six enemies that are led by Tama or
lust. And finally, "Finish at the Goal" means: do not stop until the goal,
Moksha (Liberation from ignorance and delusion) is reached. The "F's" are
fundamental for the pursuit of the four Purusharthas - Dharma, Artha, Kama and
Moksha.
530
I HAVE not been Manager, Secretary, President or
Chairman. I am the example, the Leader, the Guide. I have none to compel Me, nor
do I profit. Still I work in order to guide and teach. If I remain inactive, how
can the wheels of the World revolve? I attend even to the minutest detail of
every arrangement here - the stage, the dais, tarpaulins, sheds, water tanks,
pumps and everything else. I do everything even for Myself. So I do not need
your Seva. If you do Seva to those who gather here, that gives Me Ananda. I need
no other food beyond Ananda.
531
NO bird casts the seed on land to grow food for
itself, nor do beasts plough and enclose fields claiming, "this is mine, this is
for my children and my children's children". "Nishkama-Karma" is the natural
face of activity for the children of God, the progeny of Immortality. They sing
and swim, they dance and drive, they talk and walk and they pray and pine,
because they must; it is the nature too. They do not know what will happen as a
consequence; they do not care; they do not anticipate any result. They are just
themselves when they do these things. It is Sahaja-Lakshana, their innate nature
and their inborn characteristic.
532
JNANA is not an attribute of the Universal Absolute (Param-Atma).
It is Param-Atma itself. The Upanishads declare, "Sathyam-Jnanam-Anantham-Brahma"
(Truth, Wisdom and Eternity-is Brahman). Jnana is the fulfillment, it is the
goal, the consummation. Man is as ugly as a face without a nose if he has no
wisdom, whatever other attainments he may decorate himself with!
533
AGRICULTURE is for living; mind culture is for life.
Skills are for shaping material things so that they cater more to the comfort of
man; studies are for shaping attitudes, feelings, desires, emotions and impulses
of man, so that they may confer more peace, more joy and more fortitude on man.
534
ONE day, Anjaneya appeared in a garden on the
outskirts of Dwarka. Krishna, who heard about the pranks of the strange Monkey,
directed Garuda to proceed and scare the animal out of the city limits. Garuda
failed, even though he later took the entire army with him for the fray. His
pride was humbled. Krishna sent a message through him to the Monkey, who had
declared himself as Anjaneya, that he should deign to come to Krishna's court.
But Anjaneya, recognised only Rama and would obey only Rama. So Krishna had to
send another message that Rama was calling him to His audience hall! Devotion
compels the Lord to yield to the whims of His servants. Anjaneya hurried to see
Rama and Krishna gave him the dharsan of Rama Himself.
535
EGOISM will be destroyed, if you constantly tell
yourself, "It is He, not I"; "He is the force, I am but the instrument". Keep
His name always on the tongue, and contemplate His glory whenever you see or
hear anything beautiful or grand. See in everyone the Lord Himself moving in
that form. Do not talk evil of others; see only good in them. Welcome every
chance to help others, to console others and to encourage others along the
spiritual path.
536
MAN is suffering because he cannot rid himself of the
greed for sense objects and sense pleasures or Vishaya-Vasana. He knows that he
has to give up whatever he earns and collects, sooner or later; but yet, his
attachment waxes instead of wanes as the years go by. If every man on Earth
could take with him on death even a handful of mud from the Earth, there would
have been nothing much left and mud would have been rationed at so many ounces
per head!
537
YOU have read that the Lord, melted and moved when
one performs acute Thapas, comes and asks softly and sweetly: "My dear child,
what is it you need"? He wants you to express in words what you have yearned for
and ask the Lord whom you have brought before you through the exercise of
silence. That is the little game He plays. And sometimes He wills that the
questioner answers in the way His plan demands.
538
TO cross safely the flood of "Birth-Death-Continuum",
the bridge called Nishta or discipline of an unflinching kind is essential. It
must be sturdy, a safe bridge or else you will fall into the raging waters and
be drawn into the sea, infested with the sharks: Lust and Anger. See how great
heroes like Prahalada did not lose their hold on the Lord, in spite of heavy
odds. Prahalada never gave up the repetition of the Name of the Lord, though he
was tortured, twisted and burnt. One must have that determination and faith.
539
SORROWS and disasters are like the clouds that flit
across the sky; they cannot injure the blue depths of space. Your duty is just
to strive on from this very moment. Do not vacillate or postpone. Who knows when
death knocks? Maybe, he will knock this very night, this very moment; therefore,
do not delay. Do you postpone for tomorrow the dinner of this day! Feed the
spirit as scrupulously as you now feed the body.
540
YOU will find that you have craved only for paltry
things and for momentary distinctions for fleeting fame; you should cry only for
God, for your own cleansing and consummation. You should weep, wailing for the
six cobras that have sheltered themselves in your mind, poisoning it with their
venom: Lust, Anger, Greed, Attachment, Pride and Malice. Quiet them as the snake
charmer does with his swaying flute. The music that can take them is the singing
aloud the Name of God. And when they are too intoxicated to move and harm, catch
them by the neck and pull out their fangs as the charmer does. Thereafter they
can be your play things; you can handle them as you please.
541
IF you seek to fulfill low desires, why come here?
Come here only if you seek to earn Grace. Go to a hospital only when you are
resolved to take the drug the physician prescribes and go through the regimen he
lays down. So, obey the directions that I give, whatever others may say or
however difficult they may appear to be. You have not come to Prasanthi Nilayam
to please those others. You have to please Me.
542
PRASANTHI NILAYAM is the centre for Spirituality
uplifting the whole World; devotees from all over the World are here. The
slightest mistake or wrong committed by you will be the talk of the World. Your
behaviour must be exemplary; every country must learn from you. The foundation
must not give way. You must be strong and steady, sincere and straight.
543
RAMA is the personification of Dharma. So Rama
partakes of the Excellence of the Vedas. The Mahabharatha is generally known as
the Fifth Veda. And the Bhagavatha describes the Glory and the Grace of the Lord
and His splendour as the Indweller in All. So, that too is as efficacious as the
Vedas to elevate man and to release him from the bondage to the mean and the
sordid.
544
PEOPLE talk loud and long from all kinds of platforms
about Dharma, Prema, Shanti, Daya, Sathya, etc. This is published in the
Newspaper the next day and there their purpose ends. The paper of today is the
wastepaper of tomorrow! It is used for packing or thrown into the dust heap and
burnt as refuse. That is the story of all platform professions. Put into
practice a fraction of what you preach.
545
TURN the key in the lock to the right, it opens; turn
the same key to the left; it is locked. Turn your mind towards the objective
World, it is locked, caught, entangled. Turn it to the right, away from the
objects of the senses; the lock is loosened, you are free and deliverance is at
hand. How to turn right? Well, begin with Namasmarana, as the first step. That
will itself take you through the second and the third....to the very goal.
546
IF Liberation means the stoppage of grief and the
acquisition of joy, then it is easy. What you have to do is to place all your
burdens on God; that makes you free of grief and carefree. Then, when you take
everything as the Leela of the Lord you love, you clap your hands in Ananda
whatever may happen, for it is His Leela and you are as happy as He is, when His
plans are going through!
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