Introduction
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From 295 - 336
295
THE beauty of Nature is but a reflection of the
Beauty that is God. But like all images, it is not
substantial. Flowers fade, clouds scatter into new
patterns, physical charm is but a flash that disappears
in a moment - but Divine Beauty is eternal, full
and free. That Sundaram is Sathyam, unaffected by
the passage of time, unchanging with the location;
that Sundaram is the real Shivam, the only Good
that is. Pursuing petty physical beauty leads man
astray; it is as calamitous as the pursuit of trivial joy.
296
YOU must all study the Gita daily. Read a few
slokas and meditate on the meaning yourself; it
will dawn on you in the silence of your heart. You
need not read elaborate commentaries. Each word
in the Gita is a gem. No more do you need
gemstones for the ear, the nose, and the neck; have
the gem of the Gita slokas in your heart; let them
activate your intellect and your hands.
297
WE shall act ever as if we are in the presence of
God, as if God is watching and weighing
every thought, word and deed. See yourselves in all;
See all in yourselves; that is the road to lasting peace
and joy. Let us not seek the outer empire; let us
become the rulers of the inner empire. Let us not try
to defy the outer enemy, leaving the inner foe to
grow in striking power. We have Krishna with us,
and so, who can defeat us? We shall win through
winning His Grace.
298
YOU may be in the Prasanthi Nilayam area for 20 or 25 years. But you worry more about physical needs and comforts than Japam and Dhyanam; the waving of the camphor flame at the end of the Bhajan sessions is to remind you that your sensual craving must be burnt away without leaving any trace behind, and you must offer yourself to God for being merged with His Glory.
299
THE Gayathri Manthram is a Universal Prayer that can be used by men of all climes and creeds, for it calls upon the Glorious Power that pervades the Sun and the three Worlds to arouse, awaken and strengthen the Intelligence, so that it may lead to intense Sadhana; and Sadhana may lead to success.
300
VINAYAKA CHATHURTHI DAY
GANAPATHY is described as "Buddhi
Vinayaka" and "Siddhi Vinayaka" (Vinayaka
the Wise and Vinayaka the Accomplished).
"Vinayaka" means the Ganas, hence He is called
Ganapathy. Man is confronted with many obstacles
(Vighnas) in the journey of life. Prayers are offered
to Vigneswara - for removing obstacles and impediments.
He is the Deity to whom worship is offered
first in any ritual. Because of the acute intelligence
He displayed, Vinayaka was made Head of the
Ganas by Parameswara.
301
HAPPINESS and peace do not follow when man is
fed well, clothed well, housed well and educated up to a good standard and
employed under comfortable conditions with no injury to health or security.
There are many who have all these in plenty but who are still worried or in
pain or discontented. They depend on the inner equipment of man, not on his
outer skill or riches.
302
SPEND the allotted span of years in the
contemplation and the adoration of the Almighty, not in servile praise of the
feeble, the futile and the weak. Life is an opportunity afforded to each, not to
eat and drink, but to achieve something nobler and grander; to master oneself
and merge in the Reality.
303
A PERSON being transferred from one goal to another
will have two Constables who will escort him. The "Punya" and the "Papa" (good
consequences and bad consequences of actions) are the Constables who lead man
from one birth to another. You must escape from their attention and avoid
migration from one goal to another; act - but do not calculate the consequences.
That is to say, do not worry about the consequence; leave it to God who prompted
the act and made it possible. Dedicate the act, the will, and the wish, all to
God.
304
IT takes time for a fruit to mature and acquire
sweetness and become eatable; time is a prime factor for most good fortunes.
Make full use of Me, that is all I ask of you. I have at no time any feeling of
separateness. I invite all to come and know and derive benefit from Me. Dive and
know the depth; watch and discriminate; eat and know the taste - I long for
people who do that.
305
SARVAM Vishnu mayam jagath: the Universe is
saturated with Divinity; there is nothing here which is not HE; ISAA VAASYAM
IDAM SARVAM. He is the base and the superstructure, the material and the manner,
the inner motive and the outer movement. The body is the temple of the Lord; the
atmosphere of this temple is by its very nature filled with Love for all beings.
But man, overpowered by egoism, fouls it with envy and greed and so it festers
with disease and distress.
306
THERE are some who always condemn themselves and
their lives and aspire for the Grace of God to save them. Jiva and Deva are two
separate entities and never can they merge or unite, they declare. The obvious
is very often untrue. Sin is not the real nature of man; it is acquired and can
be shed. Man is pure, good, loving and wise. That is why in the Nilayam, I have
stopped people from reciting slokas which proclaim man as sinful, born in sin,
reveling in sin, etc., Let the purity, which you are, get manifested; endeavour
to express it in your activities; that is what pleases me and wins my Grace.
307. I AM telling you this, because it is a forecast of what you can expect in
the coming days. I have been declaring since six or seven years that the day,
when millions will gather to benefit from the Avatar, is fast coming; I am
advising you to garner and treasure all the Grace and all the Bliss you can,
while you may, so that you can sustain yourselves ruminating on the sweetness of
the memories and the experience.
308
IF you live on the level of the Body and the
Individual, you will be entangled in food, fun and frolic, ease, envy and pride.
Forget it, ignore it, overcome it. You will have peace, joy and calm. In the
Divine Path, there is no chance of failure; it is the Path of Love.
309
WE have to pay attention to the plans that
intelligence dictates, not to the external signs of orthodoxy. A person may
appear strictly orthodox, but his heart may be filled with the poison of hatred
and envy. Has he realised that God is the God of all, that He is present in
every being "Sahasraseersha, Sahasraksha, Sahasrapaad", (thousand headed,
thousand eyed, thousand legged) as He is?
310
WHEN Avatars come, they choose the time and the
place, clan and the family, and they decide and bring the comrades and the
coworkers. When Rama came, Sesha, Sankha, Chakra and other inseparable adjuncts
of the Lord also incarnated; they also came down in order to taste the sweetness
of the Lord's company and service. Rohini, under which Krishna was born, is
related to the attainment of Yogic success and the powers that flow from it.
311
PUNARVASU, the star under which Rama was born, has
a mysterious influence on the authority which accepts all who submit to the "Saranagatha-Thrana"
aspect of Rama's glory.
312
HOW can darkness conquer or stand up to light?
Krishna is "Premaswarupa" and He can be won over only by "Prema". Audacity
cannot approach Him. Actors in films, however, correct their accouterments (equipment)
and intonation; they can never be the Real. Not even the biggest Scientist can
understand Me by means of the categories to which he is accustomed. I always
smile at those who deride Me and even those who praise Me. I am always full of "Santhosh",
whatever may happen. Nothing can come in the way of My smile. Derision and
Calumny only tend to make it grow better and happier.
313
THREE disciplines are essential, to become aware of
Divinity in all and in the Avatar. No activity should be taken up with
individual aggrandizement in view; intellectual emotion must be directed to the
revelation of the Resident in the Heart, Atma. Every act should be done
sincerely, with love, with no yearning for acquiring personal profit, fame or
benefit. Above all, listen to the voice of God within. As soon as one
contemplates a wrong act, that voice warns, protests and advises giving up.
314
ONAM FESTIVAL ONAM is the Festival of the Vamana's
advent as well as Bali's Transformation. Emperor Bali was both humiliated and
blessed by God Vamana, the Emperor of the Three Worlds. Bali was saturated with
egoism. God came to him in the guise of a Brahmin boy and asked for a gift of
just three-foot measures of land. The Preceptor of Bali warned him about the
identity and bona fide of the strange mendicant who was God Himself. Vamana drew
Himself up to Cosmic proportions and measured the entire earth with one foot and
the vast expanse of space with another foot. Bali offered his own head as the
third foot-measure and went into the Nether World. Vamana taught that Pride
meets with doom. He permitted Bali every year on Onam day to receive the homage
of the people.
315
ONAM ONAM is the Festival which instills a Divine
Message into those who observe it with an eye on its inner significance. Kerala
has contributed a great deal to the preservation of Vedic Culture and Sanskrit
learning. Keralites have a name for faith and dedication. Witness the age-old
privilege the Nambudris of Kerala enjoy as priests of the great Vaishnavite
shrine thousands of miles away from their land, namely Badrinath, among the
Himalayas.
316
MANY people think that Concentration is the same
thing as Meditation, but there is no such connection between Concentration and
Meditation. Concentration is something which is below your senses, whereas
Meditation is something which is above your senses. But many are under the false
impression that concentration is identical with Meditation and they take to a
wrong path. Concentration is something which we use involuntarily in our daily,
normal routine life.
317
TO many it may appear strange that in this
Anandalaya (Abode of Bliss) there exists an Arogya Nilaya (Abode of Health) or
Hospital. They may wonder why prominence is given to bodily health, in a place
that is dedicated to the health of the Spirit. But for attaining the four aims
of Human life, Dharma (Righteousness), Artha (Prosperity), Kama (Fulfillment of
Desires) and Moksha (Liberation from Bondage), the basic requirement is health
of the body and the mind.
318
IT is enough if Prema is cultivated, the Prema that
knows no distinction between oneself and another, because all are but limbs of
One corpus of God Almighty. Through Love alone can the Embodiment of Love be
gained. Here, no scholarship is needed; in fact, scholarship will be an
impediment for it caters to egoism and it breeds doubts and the desire for
disputation and laurel of victory over others preening themselves as learned.
319
IT is a national disgrace if the sons and daughters
of India (which was for centuries the Light of Asia and the Guru of the West)
grope in the dark, blinded by the scintillations of the scientific inventions of
the West. But Peace does not drop from outer space! It springs from the heart
within.
320
THE Himalayas, which form the bastion of Bharath,
are the symbols of might and majesty; they remind us of the Purity that we
should develop in ourselves; they teach us that we should be as firm, as
unshaken as the snow clad peaks, as unaffected by the noise and turmoil of the
bazaars of mankind.
321
BETWEEN Concentration and Meditation, there is a
border area which covers both and that is the area of Contemplation. To be in
that area of Contemplation is to free yourself of worldly attachments. If you
break away all the worldly attachments - all the routine attachments in the
World - then you enter the region of Contemplation. When you have completely
broken away all your attachments, you break through this area of Contemplation
and you get into the area of Meditation.
322
THE ultimate step of Self-realisation depends upon
the base of Self-confidence. You must therefore develop as a first step
Confidence in your own self. Without having and developing Confidence in your
own self, if all the time you are talking of some power being with someone else,
if in this way you travel all the time and depend upon a power which is with
someone else, when are YOU going to acquire any power and confidence in your own
self?
323
EVEN when Divinity comes down as Avatar, man is
unable to pierce the veil and revere the Divine. Lord Krishna says that people
are unable to recognise the Divinity that is He, because they deem Him to be
merely human. Only those who are aware of the current within, the Atma, can
identify the Source of Power before them.
324
ONE of the first principles of straight living is:
Practice Silence. For the Voice of God can be heard in the region of your heart
only when the tongue is stilled, the storm is stilled and the waves are calm.
There will be no temptation for others to shout when you talk to them in
whispers. Set the level of the tone yourself; as low as possible, as high as
necessary to reach the outermost boundary of the circle you are addressing.
Conserve sound since it is the treasure of the element Akasa, an emanation from
God Himself.
325
WHAT is a School for? To make man human. Man has in
him certain specific attributes which have to be developed and fostered, so that
he can rise up to his full stature. If these are ignored or allowed to lie
fallow, he exists at the animal level only. Discipline alone can make him grow
into his heritage. The animal can be transformed by training to behave like a
man.
326
I LIKE simplicity, I like a dress that will not
discourage people from approaching you for a kind word, a bit of service, a
helping hand. It must be clean and decent; not outlandish and queer. It should
not be worn to attract attention. Just as you desire to wear clean comfortable
clothes for the body, desire also clean, consoling exercises for the mind, like
"Japam" and "Dhyanam".
327
MAN is flying to the Moon and diving into the Sea;
but he does not know how to live on Earth with his fellow men in Love and Peace.
He moves towards the Moon for fear others may reach there before him and dives
through the Sea to strike terror, himself terrified of others! The way to live
without fear or causing fear is laid down in the Gita, the very first Sloka
which is about Dharmakshetra!
328
IF one's passions and emotions have come under
control of his higher nature, then the Lord will assume responsibility for his
progress towards Him. Otherwise, he will have to wait. Do not think that you
have no Natha or Guardian. God is the only "Anatha" - Guardianless Person. All
the rest have Him as the Natha or Guardian. He is ever beside Man, within him as
Conscience, without him as Companion and Guide.
329
DO not lay the blame on Godhead, as you are prone
to do. When everything goes right you say that God has come close to you; when
something goes wrong you say that God has deserted you and gone far away! He
does not move far or near. The distance from Him to you is as much as the
distance from you to Him. He is everywhere. He is always in your heart.
Recognise Him there; realise Him as closest and nearest to you. He is your own
self, neither terrible nor tender, but simply IS.
330
YOU cannot be fresh and feeling fine wearing a
washed vest under an unwashed shirt, or an unwashed vest under a washed shirt.
Both have to be clean to provide the sense of tingling joy. So too, outer and
inner cleanliness is but the reflection of the inner achievement. There is a
strange glow on the face of a guideless person. Inner cleanliness has its own
soap and water - the soap of strong faith and the water of constant practice.
331
REASON can prevail only when arguments are advanced
without the whipping of the Sound. Silence is the speech of the Spiritual Seeker.
Soft sweet Speech is the expression of genuine Love. Hate screeches; Fear
squeals; Conceit trumpets, but Love sings lullabies, it soothes, it applies balm.
Practice the Vocabulary of Love; Unlearn the language of hate and contempt.
332
THE true aspirant will have a reverent attitude to
the duty he is bound to. He will carry out every task assigned to him as if it
is an act of worship, by which the Lord will be pleased and through which he can
approach the pedestal of God. Duty is God; Work is Worship--that is the motto.
333
WORSHIP is not a uniform to be put on and off at
stated hours of the day. Render every thought into a flower worthy to be held in
His Fingers; render every deed into a fruit, full of the sweet juice of Love fit
to be placed in His Hand; render every tear holy and pure, fit to wash His Lotus
Feet.
334
NOW I must tell you, that during this Sai Avatar,
there is no place for a "drama" with scenes of failures and defeats! What I will,
must take place; what I plan must succeed. I am Truth; and Truth has no need to
hesitate, fear or bend.
335
DO not attempt to know Me through the external eyes.
When you go to a temple and stand before the Image of God, you pray with closed
eyes, don't you? Why? Because you feel the Inner Eye of Wisdom alone can reveal
Him to you. Therefore do not crave for the trivial material objects; but crave
for Me and you will be rewarded.
336
I SHALL tell you why I give these rings, talismans,
rosaries, etc. It is to signalize the bond between Me and those to whom they are
given. When "calamity befalls them, the article comes to Me in a flash and
returns in a flash taking from Me the remedial Grace of protection. The Grace is
available to all who call on Me in any Name or Form, not merely to those who
wear these gifts. Love is the bond that wins Grace.
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