Introduction
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|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 883 - 924
883
THE duration of life is under the control of Him
who gave life, the Creator. It does not depend on the calories of food consumed
or the quality of drugs that are injected, or the qualification of the physician
who prescribes the medicine. The chief causes of ill health and death are Fear
and Loss of Faith. If one concentrates on the Atma, which has no change in
characteristics, no subtraction or senility, and no decline or damage, man can
conquer Death. Therefore, the most effective prescription is the injection of
Atma-Vidya (Knowledge of the Atma, the Soul as one's Real Self).
884
THE future of India is in your hands. You are fully
aware of the characteristics of this Kaliyuga we are passing through. You find
around you injustice, irregularities, immorality and untruth, with all their
devilish attributes and atrocities. But we have to march ahead in spite of all
this with a quite tolerant and benign attitude towards life. Almost all the
fields and walks of life are polluted with these poisonous feelings; but the
field of education, being the most prominent organ, needs our special attention.
885
EVERY Indian will have to recognise the culture
based on Vedic philosophy. You will know how restless and agitated the youth of
India are today, trying to rob everything of pride and without achievement and
thus, getting involved in meaningless pursuits. The student of today is not able
to realise what he should primarily be concerned with. It is only in name that
he is a "Vidyarthi", the seeker of Knowledge. In practice, he is only a "Vishayarthi",
a seeker of worldly pleasures.
886
LOVE is the seed, courage is the blossom and peace
is the fruit that the Sages grow in the garden of their hearts. They toiled for
identifying themselves with the Truth, not for painting falsehood with the
authenticity of Truth and parading as if they had accomplished the mission on
which they had come to earth. They achieved such success that Bharath, for
centuries, was the Preceptor of Humanity; but now the Preceptor has started to
take lessons from the least intelligent of the pupils and is rearing its head in
pride when the pupil congratulates him.
887
IN the Gita, the Lord has declared "Beejaymmaam
Sarva Bhoothaanam", "I am the seed for all beings". The tree is a broad spread
of leaves and flowers, fruit and green. All have grown out of one single small
seed, and every fruit of that tree has seeds of the same nature inside it:
contemplate for a while on the magnificent multitude of life, all its rich
variety of strong and weak, prey and hunter, distressed and delighted, creeping,
crawling, flying, floating, walking, hanging, burrowing, living, and swarming.
All this uncountable variety of created beings have come out of the "Beejam"
(Lord) and again, visualise the immanent Divinity. You will become humble, wise,
and full of Love.
888
DO NOT waver, hesitate or doubt your destiny. Yearn
to realise your Reality; that yearning itself will endow you with a steady
endeavour and the Grace of God which will remove all obstacles. Be an example to
others. Do not scatter advice without the authority born of practical
experience. Do not search for the faults of others, seek your own. Love,
Cooperate, Help, and Serve. This is your prime duty.
889
THE six demons, Kama (Lust), Krodha (Anger), Lobha
(Greed) Moha (Attachment), Mada (Pride) and Matsara (Hate) pursue you and turn
you on to wrong paths and make you servile, stupid and sad. Fight against them
resolutely. That is the life-long war you have to wage. It is not a seven year
war or a thirty year war; it may be a hundred year war, if you live a hundred
years. The struggle knows no respite. This is a civil war, where vigilance alone
can bring dividends.
890
THERE are no characteristics in God, but in the
characteristics of Sathya, Jnana and Ananda there is God. God is everywhere and
no spaceship can hit against Him; no astronaut can espy Him. He is too subtle
for all that type of contact, subtler than ether or Akasa. So, do not lend your
ears to people who swear there is no God. God is too vast and too far above the
reach of reason or imagination. You can only get glimpses of the Bliss derived
from the contemplation of His Magnificence.
891
KRISHNA is hiding in the recesses of your hearts.
You have to trace Him there and hold fast. He runs away but leaves footprints
marked by the spilled milk on which he has trodden in His hurry to be beyond our
reach. Yes, the lesson is: recognise his Footprints in everything of beauty,
every act of goodness, every tear of gratitude and every sigh of compassion; and
discover Him in the bower of your own heart filled with the Fragrance of Love
and Light of Virtue.
892
A HEART without Love is as dreary as a town without
a temple. Spiritual pride is the most poisonous of all varieties of Pride. It
blends and leads the person suffering from it into ruin. Beware of Pride; be
always aware that you are but an instrument in My Divine Mission of
Dharmasthapana, Revival of righteousness. Try to be more and more efficient as
such instruments. The hand that wields the instrument knows how and when it has
to be applied.
893
AT THIS critical hour in the history of the World,
when the demoniac forces of fear and anxiety, injustice and inequity are raging
in wild fury, it is the duty of every human being to be equipped with spiritual
strength so that he may not be overwhelmed by the storm. This is an urgent and
essential task and I must say, that the women of India have a contribution to
make, a service to render and a role to play. They must bring God into the heart
of the child and help it to keep Him there. For Faith in God is the tonic that
man needs to get back his health and happiness.
894
SOCIAL service should not become show-cial, work
carried out for publicity or with the camera in view. Nor should it become
slow-cial work. Why go slow, when you are doing good to the deserving? Do as
much as you can. If you cannot do any good, at least desist from doing harm or
from finding fault with those who serve you.
895
YOU know that you can draw cheques upon a bank
whenever you need money, provided you have enough current deposit therein. If
the Bank goes bankrupt, it will be a disaster. The educational system is the
Bank on which the nation draws a cheque whenever it wants strong, reliable
skilled workers. If it goes bankrupt, as it nearly has today, it is a national
disaster.
896
SERVICE: Let that be the slogan for this nation.
Service not for those who have many to serve them and the wherewithal to help
themselves, but for the diseased in the hospitals who have no one to nurse them,
give them a smile or a flower or write a letter home for them.
897
THE chief means by which you detach your mind from
distractions and attach yourselves to the search for God are: Yoga and Thyaga.
Kama (desire) has to be gotten rid of by Thyaga (Renunciation); and Rama (God)
has to be secured by Yoga (the conjunction of all your faculties for the common
purpose). Desire discolours the intelligence; it perverts judgment; it sharpens
the appetites of the senses; it lends a false lure to the objective world. When
desire disappears or is concentrated on God, intelligence is self luminous and
it shines in the pristine splendour; and that splendour reveals the God within
and without. That is the real "Atmasakshatkara".
898
OF WHAT benefit is it to have a body if you do not
seek to know how best to utilise it? Learn from the Saints and Sages who have
realised the Truth about the path you shall tread and the goal you have to
attain. That goal is God. He is beyond all notions of good and bad, right and
wrong. These are earthly measures, by which the temporary is weighed and judged.
He has no Form, no Limbs, no duality, no preferences, no prejudices and no
predilection. To say that He is "Sathyaswarup" (having the characteristic of
Truth), and "Jnanaswarup" (having full wisdom), and "Anandaswarup" (full of
Bliss) is also not correct. For He has no "Swarup" or "Swabhav"; He is Sathya;
He is Jnana; and He is "Ananda". That is the experience of those who have tasted
"Ananda".
899
YOU may boast that you have been visiting
Puttaparthi since twenty years or that you have made the place your permanent
residence; but, unless you follow the lessons I emphasise, that boast is mere
empty vanity. If you develop love for all beings, in the faith that God resides
in all, you may be anywhere else, but your prayers would reach Me and My Grace
will reach you. While in My previous body, I told Nanashab that I am in ants,
insects and animals, besides all men. When a dog ate all offerings intended for
Baba, it was declared to have reached Baba, for he had eaten it in that form.
"Nana says, he is giving Me food, but when I go in the form of a dog, he drives
Me off".
900
INDIA has always laid down disciplines to cultivate
Universal Love; the Yagnas and Yaga which are recommended in the Vedas are for
Lokakalyana, Lokasangraha, the welfare and security of all mankind. That is why
India is like the engine which drags the wagons along, all the wagons that are
coupled with it. The wagons are the different nations. "Lokaasamathaah Sukhino
Bhavanthu" is the prayer that rises from the children of the land since
thousands of years. God is Omnipresent. He is immanent in every being and in
equal measure. So man must visualise Him equally in himself and in others.
901
ONCE Ramadas wailed, "Oh Lord! you are Mighty, all powerful, all knowing; I am alone helpless, orphaned and poor". Then the Lord interrupted the self condemnation and said, "No, how can you call yourself poor, helpless and orphaned? I am with you and in you, showering My Grace. The only orphan in the Universe is Myself, for I have no guardian, no means of support, nobody to fall back upon. I am the A-natha; all else are Sa-natha (with Lord), for I am their Natha (Lord)".
902
THE Universe is the Body of God; in that Body, the Unity Consciousness is Bharath, the Ekabhava. "Ekam Sath" the Vedas declared eons ago! That is the heartbeat of Bharath today. This is the reason why Sages, Saints, Divine Personages and Incarnations of God appear here and proclaim their message to mankind from this land. The precious message is being exported but very little is used inside the country. That is the tragedy. For the influence available from positions of authority and for acquiring and accumulating power, individuals talk ill of others and breed hate.
903
MAN strives to provide himself with food clothing and housing for the sake of the body. He must also provide himself with something to keep the mind healthy and happy. It is the mind that conditions even the body. The mind is the instrument, the flywheel, and the thickest comrade of man. Through it, one can ruin oneself or save oneself. Regulated and controlled, channeled properly it can liberate; wayward and let loose, it can entangle and bind fast.
904
TRAIN the mind to dwell on the inner equipment rather than the outer attractions. Use the mind to cleanse the feelings, impulses, attitudes, tendencies and levels of consciousness. Let it not accumulate dirt from the outer world and deposit them within itself. If it is attached to work (Pravriti Marga), the consequences of work get attached to it. Unattached work is the purest; it does not encumber the mind with elation or disappointment. "I did it", this is mine", these are the two fangs that make the individual poisonous. Pull out the fangs, the snake can be handled and played with as a pet.
905
THE Lord is closest to you. He is the Mother, Father, Teacher, Friend, Guide and Guardian. Call on Him and He responds immediately. From dawn to dusk, spend every minute in His company. That is the reason why I have directed that every Sathya Sai Organisation must arrange for Nagar Sankirtan in the pre-dawn Bhahmamuhurtham. It is a mission of Love and all will welcome it. It is a great act of social service to wake up people with the Name of God. It is a purifying pilgrimage, casting off anger and hate that infest the atmosphere.
906
THE Gita speaks of "Yukthahara Viharasya", habits of feeding and recreation, which are controlled and regulated. The gross part of food is discarded as feces, the subtle part is transformed into muscle, blood etc., and the more subtle of the subtle aspects are transmuted into the mind and its activities. That is why the Sages have prescribed certain limits and levels of food, in order to promote the spiritual urges and prevent contrary tendencies. But nowadays, as a result of the downgraded time, spirits and food that damage the spiritual urge, are being increasingly favoured.
907
THE Karma or activity is the indicator of inner character. Observing one's actions, their motives, their consequences and the extent of one's involvement, it is possible to declare one as a Pasu (beast) or Pasupathi (The Lord of Individual Souls: that is to say, as Divine as God Himself).
908
AT school, the first lesson is "Baa Baa Black Sheep, Have you any Wool?", and the second is "Ding Dong Bell, Pussy in the well". Gone are the days when the first lesson was on Rama, Krishna or some great sage or saint? Getting to know about black sheep will make children black sheep; getting to know about the great and the good will make children great and good. Children of Baba Vihar are therefore told stories of Rama, Krishna and other Divine Persons. Learn those tales and decide to live like them. Learn Indian ways and Indian tales, and be true Indians.
909
WHY say "Good morning" or "Good night". "Namaskar" or "Namaste" is the Indian way, the really humble way. You must have Bhaya Vinaya and Viswasa - Fear, Humility and Faith. Fear of what? Fear of doing wrong and of falling into falsehood. Humility before whom? Before elders, teachers and parents. Faith in what? Faith in God, in your own strength and in your own victory.
910
"TAMASOMA Jyothigamaya" is the prayer. Egoism is Thamas. There is an easy way to illumine the inner consciousness and the outer behaviour with the light of God. Put the lamp of the Name of the Lord, the illumining flame, on the tongue! That is the doorstep. That light will drive out the darkness from both, inside and outside. Have it ever burning, clear and bright. You will soon reach remarkable heights and enjoy happiness, the like of which you cannot get by sticking to the senses.
911
KRISHNA took upon Himself three vows: (1) "Parithraanaya Sadhoonam Vinaasaayacha Dushkrithaam, Dharma Samasthaapanaarthayya Sambhavaimi Yuge Yuge" - "For the protection of the good and the punishment of the bad; for the establishment of the Moral Order, I shall concretise Myself, age after age"; (2) "Anayaaschinthayathramanm Yejanah Paryappasatha, Shaamnishya-Abhiyukthaanaam Yoga Shemam Vahamyaham" - "Who ever is wholly immersed in my contemplation, with no other thought; I shall be ever with him and I shall bear the burden of his welfare"; (3) "Sarvadharmaan Parithojya Maamekam Saranam Vrajas Ahamthwaa Sarva Paapebhyo Mokshaysh Yaami Maasuch" - "Surrender unto Me, giving up all other duties and obligations, I shall liberate you from all sin; do not grieve".
912
WHEN Dharma (which means, that which is worn, the apparel, clothes) was sought to be removed from the wearer, the Lord blessed Draupadi with the grant of an unending series of saris. Today, the Sanathana Dharma which is the robe of Bharathamatha is sought to be taken away by her unworthy and deluded sons; and the Lord has come to grant solace and strength. You will see splendid saris pouring into her lap from every door of the Durabar Hall, where she is being insulted. You will witness this great Miracle by the Avatar who has come to protect her honour and her heritage.
913
YOU stay far and complain that Grace has not come. You do not scrape off, by the process of repentance, the mud and rust that prevent attachment. You come for needs sometime and stray away into the distance. I do not mean physical distance at all. You may be physically far but mentally by My side. I do not measure distance in miles or meters. I am always with you, in you, beside you; only you have to be aware of that and make use of My presence. You must become an "Aartha", torn by intense suffering to sense the Lord.
914
THE Lord has to take the Form that is suitable for the task He has to fulfill. To catch a gang of decadents, the Police Officer has to move among them as a decadent. That is why the Human Form has been taken. But who, challenged with impurity by their own wives, dare challenge the Avatar and ask for proof! Of course, if you desire to understand, you are welcome; be near, watch, learn and believe. Put on the role, if you have the courage and the conviction that you can enact it well. Are you not tired of playing the parts of beggar and clown, in scene after scene, birth after birth? Aspire for the nobler role, at least now, in this birth.
915
IF you plan to give joy to others, you will be joyful. Who are these others? Even when the Lord has come with a definite Human body, all humans that you come across are but parts of His Glory and Splendour. "Iswarasarvabhuthanaam, Hrdresse Arjuna Shrishtethi", "Oh! Arjuna, the Lord, dwells in the regions of the heart in all beings", says the Lord in the Gita.
916
HOW can we find time for all this when we have to toil every moment for feeding and clothing ourselves? But you forget, the Lord will grant you these material things and even immortality, if only you place full reliance on Him. Whatever you do, have the name, Rama or Krishna, or Siva or Hari on your tongue, no extra time or energy is needed for that. When you rise in the morning, rise with the Name on your tongue and slide into sleep with the Name on your tongue.
917
CONSIDER the condition of the field of your heart; it is overgrown with thorns and bushes of lust, anger, greed and envy. Remove them, root and all. Do not allow the land to turn fallow. By continuous good work, plough the field and fill the field with the water of Prema. Select the Nama-seed that appeals to you and sow it in the field. Discipline is the force which will guard the growing crop against cattle. Virtue is the pesticide. Fostering the field with great care, you can bring home the precious harvest of Ananda.
918
ONE day, Krishna pretended to be fast asleep! With the flute carelessly thrown aside by His side, when Radha approached the fortunate flute and asked it in plaintive terms, "Oh lucky Murali! Tell me how did you earn the great good fortune. What was the vow you observed, the vigil you kept, the pilgrimage you accomplished"? The flute got a voice through His Grace: "I rid myself of all sensual desire of envy, greed and ego, that is all. I had no feeling of ego left to obstruct the flow of His Prema through me to all creation".
919
REVERE Jnana as you revere your father; adore Love as you adore your mother; move fondly with Dharma as if it is your own brother; confide in "Daya" as if it is your dearest friend; have Shantams as if it is your better half; treat Sahana (Fortitude) as if it is your own beloved son. These are your genuine kith and kin. Move with them; live with them; and do not forsake or neglect them.
920
THIS is a place where you must try to help and not hinder; this is the atmosphere of peace and Prasanthi. Do not behave here as you do when you gather elsewhere. There is no scope here for envy or malice of hate or competition. When Kama and Vrodha are rising in hot flames from the heart, how can the cool rays of Shanti, Sathya, Ahimsa and Prema emanate therefrom? This human birth is a rare chance! Use it for spreading joy, and not grief. Of course, it is natural for man to resent and to grow angry. But you should not allow anger a free and furious scope.
921
KRISHNA had undoubtedly the power to transform in a trice the wayward mind of His kinsman into unillumined instrument for resolute action. But Krishna did not use the power! He only prescribed the medicine and the regimen. Arjuna had to swallow the drug and follow the regimen himself in order to be saved. He said, "You are My friend; you are My kinsman; you are now so near to Me that I am now your charioteer; you are also in great distress; I agree that the delusion, which has overpowered you, must be removed quickly; but, your Ajnana must fall off through your own efforts not through some Miracle of My design".
922
ONE can claim genuine victory only when one has reached not the dead satellite but the living star; not the Chandra but the Ramachandra, the Lord who rules over the inner satellites, the inner planets, the inner motives and agitations. Then one's inner reaction and agitation will be transmuted into the Divine. All that one experiences through the senses, the mind and the intellect will take on the Divine lustre, reveal their Divine core, and man will be shaped through the mould of Love.
923
ONE can be in the World but yet unaffected. Activity will then be for the Almighty by His Grace and through His will. Do not get work done by cooks, servants, ayahs and others in the home, women must not depend on these for the care of their children or attendance on their husbands. Earning leisure for Dhyana through these servants is not a spiritual gain.
924
I ALWAYS encourage Samathanam, Sanghikam and Saam
Krishikam activities: the three S's. If it is for reviving the values
recognised as great by time or recreating the damaged structure of the good
of Society or restoring vigour to some fine art that is declining, you can
count on My Blessings. I always exhort people to win, not the titles that
come to those who canvas support but the title that the Upanishads proclaim
as the highest decoration for spiritual aspirants: "Amirthaaya-Pathrash", "Children
of immortality".
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