Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Mysteries may remain, but the message is clear. It is about hundred years ago that
Baba's fame stared spreading. From the hamlet of Shirdi, the glory of the saint God
began to spread covering the central plains of Maharashtra, later to the Deccan and
the rest of Bharath. Blessed are those servants that carry His message across the seas
of space and time.
Baba did not care much to announce who He was or where He had come from.
Several people felt several ways. Some felt He was a Sufi saint, some the Lord of
Pandharpur. The Europeans of those days felt His power and the magnificence. Some
close to Baba, thanks to Sainath's anecdotes, were able to locate Baba's birthplace.
Published accounts indicate that some saw Baba inquire about acquaintances in
Pathri. Baba, during His second visit to Shirdi when He was welcomed by
Mahalsapathy was described as a youthful fakir. He stayed in Shirdi for over next
sixty years.
How important is to know about the Baba's birth? As much as the origin of a river or
the beginnings of a Saint. Birth and death are the markers of time and none more.
Universal spirit cannot be confined; eternity cannot be judged by physical measures,
whether time or space. As the Fall sets in yet another year, let us rejoice yet another
reason for glorifying the Lord. Let us bask in the good times that Sai has lead us to.
Let us remind ourselves once again of the abundant fortunes of the mysterious Saint
and His clear message.
The term "Mission" is derived from the Latin "Mitto" meaning "to send". So, a
missionary is the one who is sent with a message or direction. As used in the Christian
literature, a mission was the most valuable characteristic of the lives of such great
Prophets as Moses, Jesus, and others. Jesus' mission was by His own death to absolve
mankind from hereditary or original sin, that is, the sin derived by being the
descendents of the first sinners, Adam and Eve. His death was considered as a
sacrifice on behalf of entire humanity. Others' mission, for example, Moses' was to
lead the Jews from captivity in Egypt on towards the Promised Land. The idea of a
missionary is practically that of an agent. In the case of Sai Baba, he declared, "God
has agents everywhere, they have great powers". Baba added, "I also have great
powers", implying thereby that he was also an agent of God. He also expressly told
D.S. Rasane, "I can do nothing except when God orders". He did not give a kupni to
G.G. Narke saying, "The Fakir (God) has not permitted me to give you a kupni", i.e.,
the rope of a sanyasi or begging fakir, as G.G. Narke was to be a family man, an
earning Grihastha, according to God's plan and not a beggar. As an agent, he said that
he had vast powers. The powers and the mission have a close relation. The mission
has to be worked through the powers given and the powers are given only for carrying
out the mission. Baba had by concentration on God practically every siddhi (Great
Power) that one can think of. Srimad Bhagavadgeetha says, "What power is there that
can not be got by concentration on God with conquest or control of mind and senses
and breath?" Baba's vast powers were always utilized for the benefit of mankind,
promoting individual benefits that were obvious, seen, and well understood, and
general benefits which were not so equally obvious or well seen and understood. We
have to consider the mission of Baba based on the possession of His powers and
notice what general benefits were conferred on the country or mankind, though these
are not yet obvious to most people.
In this world, man gets frightened for two reasons. One is sorrow about the past and
another is worry about the future. Baba wants us not to fear anything. He assured that
He will always be with us. Baba is our Father. When we firmly believe that we are
His children, where is the need to fear? If we are afraid of everything, it means we
have no faith in Baba. Lack of faith causes more stress, tension and fear. When we
cast all our burdens and rely on Him in confident expectation, our bodies and minds
rest in peace and solace and experience ever-new delight. We get so much satisfaction
and happiness that it cannot be expressed in words. It is the experience of our elders
that they did not worry about anything, as long as they looked to God installed in their
hearts.The moment we begin to believe in Baba, our sorrows will vanish. Baba has
questioned His devotees a number of times "Don't you still believe Me"? If our faith
in Baba is firm, we can lead a peaceful life, because it is Baba who will be always
with us. God will grant us power, love and peace, but not fear. Armed with this faith,
let us make use of our thought, time, intellect and life in the contemplation of God. If
all our burdens are cast on Baba, as a Compassionate Protector, He would take us into
His fold. Why should we fear, when Baba is near and is within us?
God given principles of Love for God, fear of sin and Morality in Society, have often
been heard echoing in Prasanthi Nilayam, especially during the recent past, in
Bhagawan’s Divine Discourses. This indicates the greater emphasis Bhagawan has
been laying for the uplift of moral fabric in the society that would eventually help in
nation building. When the valedictory function of the two-day conference on “Ethics
& The World of Finance”, organized by the Sri Sathya Sai University and attended by
scores of industry captains from the banking and financial sector across the nation,
approached, there were much expectations of a Divine Valedictory Address, with
Bhagawan divulging into the topics of ethics and morality, two subjects dear to His
heart.
As the bhajans continued, Bhagawan was finishing His round of benediction, blessing
hundreds and thousands packed in the Sai Kulwant Hall. Coming onstage Bhagawan
spent some time with the luminaries from the world of finance, blessing
Padmabhushan K.V.Kamath, Former Head Honcho of ICICI and currently Non-
Executive Chairman, with a gold chain.
It was not a surprise, when Bhagawan asked for the mikes to be brought, as for such a
grand occasion wherein He has invested great ‘individual’ interest, something was
definitely due from Him, and the expectation was very much in the air.
In a most exhilarating Divine Discourse lasted an hour, hailing the day to be a day to
rejoice, wishing that such days would repeat in future, Bhagawan exhorted one and all
to recapitulate all that they heard during the day, concluding with an assurance that,
wherever they were, be in the sky or on the mountain top or down in the deep sea, be
in the forest or be in the city, He would be ever with them, urging them to have the
faith deeply rooted assuring that God would never leave them.
Earlier, starting off in His inimitable style talking of the body and Atma connection,
Bhagawan exhorted the devotees that God is one and one only and the indweller that
He is, has no attributes that limits or binds Him. The nameless God, who is One and
One alone appears as per the faith of the devotee, assuming the form of devotee’s
choice.
Relating lucidly coining strings of anecdotes from the epic Mahabharata, going in
detail of the story of Pandavas, hailing women of character in the epic, naming
Draupadi and Subhadra, Bhagawan mentioned that teaching of women in the epic was
of high order and esteem. Narrating the incident wherein a jealous Ashwathama
killing the children of Pandavas, Bhagawan said, Arjuna was pacified by Subadra and
Draupadi and so was Bhima who was pacified by Draupadi’s words of wisdom.
When, out of anger, Bhima was outraged vouching to finish Ashwathama, it was
Draupadi who had advised him to understand the fact that, being mothers of the
children, she and Subadra were equally agonized but advised against doing any
retaliatory measure eventually leading to an attempt on Ashwathama’s life. They, in
turn, advised Bhima to shave Ashwathama’s head to parade him in a procession in the
city which would be an apt punishment. One who is fast asleep, one who is
intoxicated and one who is resting without safety and security, it is not proper to kill
such a person and one would never be justified in doing such an act, was the piece of
pearls of wisdom from Draupadi to her husband Bhima, narrated Bhagawan.
Elucidating on the topic of the day, Ethics, interlinking the Mahabharata story,
Bhagawan said, such ethics were giving protection for people. Equating life with
wealth, Bhagawan said, to maintain life was equivalent to protecting one’s own life.
Quoting the women of character in the epic, He added that women were broad minded
and of noble character with noble ideals. Because of such women of integrity and
character that Mahabharat has been shining since time immemorial.
Stressing on the greater need to uphold the tradition and culture of Bharat, Bhagawan
highlighted that highest principles and lofty ideals in ethics and Upanishads are
forgotten by Bharatiyas today. Tolerance adds to the beauty in this land. Calling the
general tendency to ape the westerners as a sign of weakness, Bhagawan was
categorical in telling that that one who protects the culture of Bharat is the true son of
the land.
Repeating His oft quoted maxim, “Money comes and goes, Morality comes and
grows”, Bhagawan urged one and all to uphold the tradition of Bharat, stressing on
the greater importance to maintain integrity and character.
Dwelling on the subject of mind and control on thoughts, He said, limit is most
essential; limitless desire would lead to perversion and diversion; mind should be
directed in order to ensure that it does not hurt anyone, leading one to success.
Quoting another maxim close to His heart, “Help Ever Hurt Never”, naming it as one
most essential quality to be developed, Bhagawan advised the assembly to never
inflict pain on anyone to ensure that we do not suffer ourselves. He is intelligent who
obtained such type of education. Claiming that such teachings would not be available
in text books, He exhorted the students to rather test their brain than resorting to text
books.
Quoting another of His favourite maxim, the three principles of God, “Love for God,
Fear of Sin and Morality in Society” Bhagawan urged the students to intense love for
God. Sins committed once would come back and with fear of sin one could develop
greater character that would ultimately bring Love, cautioned Bhagawan.
He had special words of advice for students in particular. Reminding them that they
are quite young, Bhagawan advised them to do good, demonstrate and undertake good
tasks, deeds, serving the society.
Love All Serve All; this is your property; this has to be your property, you do not
require anything else. Talking about service to fellowmen and society in general, He
urged the students to understand the pristine principle behind the act; service should
not be done with a money motive. Money comes and goes; Morality comes and
grows.
Today is the day to rejoice. Let’s desire and wish that such days would repeat.
Recapitulate all that you heard here today. You may be anywhere, be in the forest or
in the city, in the sky or on the mountain top or in the deep sea, God will ever be with
you, wherever you are…God will never be away from you…God is with you, in you,
above you, below you, around you, protecting and safeguarding…Have this faith
deeply rooted in you.
Sai Ram
Deepak
September 2nd,
2009
The grace of God cannot be won through the gymnastics of reason, the contortions of yoga, or the
denials of asceticism. Love alone can win it; love that needs no requital; love that knows no bargaining;
love that is paid gladly to the All-Loving; and love that is unwavering. Love alone can overcome
obstacles however many and mighty. There is no strength more effective than purity; no bliss more
satisfying than Love; no joy more restoring than Bhakti (devotion to God) and no triumph more
praiseworthy than surrender.
-SAI BABA
1. QUIT WORRYING
Life has dealt you a blow and all you do is sit and worry.
Have you forgotten that I am here to take all your burdens and carry them for
you?
Or do you just enjoy fretting over little things that come your way?
3. TRUST ME
Once you have given your burdens to Me, quit trying to take them back.
Trust in Me.
Have the faith that I will take care of all your needs,
your problems and your trials.
Problem with the kids?
Put them on My list.
Problem with finance?
Put it on My list.
Problem with your emotional roller coaster?
For My sake, put it on My list.
I want to help you.
All you have to do is ask.
4. LEAVE IT ALONE
Don’t wake up in the morning and say, “Well, I am feeling stronger now…
I think I can handle it from here!”
Why do you think you are feeling stronger now?
It is simple…
You gave Me your burdens and I am taking care of them.
I also renew your strength and cover you in My peace.
Don’t you know that if I give you these problems back,
you will be right back where you started?
Leave them with Me and forget about them.
Just let Me do My job.
5. TALK TO ME
6. HAVE FAITH
I see a lot of things from up here that you can’t see from where you are.
Have faith in Me that I know what I am doing.
Trust Me, you wouldn’t want the view from My eyes.
I will continue to care for you and meet your needs.
You only have to trust Me.
Although I have a much bigger task than you,
it seems as if you have so much trouble just doing the simple part.
How hard can trust be?
7. SHARE
You were taught to share when you were only two years old.
When did you forget? The rule still applies…
Share with those who are less fortunate than you.
Share your joys with those who need encouragement.
Share your laughter with those who have not heard any in such a long time.
Share your tears with those who have forgotten how to cry.
Share your faith with those who have none.
8. BE PATIENT
9. BE KIND
__._,_.___
Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic
Messages
Related Link:
2. Wallpapers: http://www.saibabaofindia.com/sai_baba_wallpapers_index.htm
Man is born out of, grows in, and finally departs from this world due
to karma. Karma is verily the embodiment of Divinity for man. It is
only due to karma that happiness and sorrow occur in this world.
(Telugu poem)
September 15th,
2009
Detachment, faith and love – these are the pillars upon which peace rests. Of these, faith is crucial, for
without it all spiritual discipline is empty. Detachment alone can make spiritual discipline effective,
and love is what leads one quickly to God. Faith feeds the agony of separation from God; detachment
canalises it along the path of God, and love lights the way. God will grant you what you need and
deserve; there is no need to ask, no reason to grumble. Be content. Nothing can happen against His
will.
-SAI BABA
September 18th,
2009
What is Mano-Nigraham (control of the mind)? Nigraham (control) really means being indifferent to
the vagaries of the mind. It is difficult to control the mind, just as it is difficult to confine air in one's
grasp. How can anyone control the mind which is all-pervading in the vastness of its range and
comprehension? When it is realised that the mind is made up of thoughts and doubts, the elimination of
the thoughts is the means of restraining the mind. Thoughts are associated with desires. As long as
desires remain, one cannot have Vairagya (detachment) . It is necessary to limit desires. When there is
no restraint, excessive desire becomes an evil. It leads to misery. When we strive to control desire, in
due course, it develops into Vairagya (non-attachment or renunciation) .
-SAI BABA
September 20th,
2009
People imagine that spirituality means meditating on God, bathing in sacred waters and visiting holy
shrines, but this is not the correct meaning of spirituality. Spirituality means destroying the animal
nature in man and awakening him to his divine consciousness. Spirituality implies recognizing that
one’s manifold capacities emanate from the Spirit and not from the mind, then utilizing them for
achieving spiritual strength. It means acknowledging that all powers come from the Divine.
-SAI BABA
September 21st,
2009
Illness, both physical and mental, is a reaction on the body caused by poisons in the mind. An
uncontaminated mind alone can ensure continuous good health. Vices breed disease. Bad thought, bad
habits and bad company are fertile grounds in which disease thrives. A sense of elation and exultation
keeps the body free from ill-health. The evil habits in which people indulge, are the chief causes of
disease, physical as well as mental. Greed affects the mind; disappointments make people depressed.
You can justify your existence as a human being only by the cultivation of virtues. Then you can
become a worthy candidate for Godliness. It is progress in virtue that announces the progress of man
towards divinity. Virtues also confer freshness, skill and long years of youthfulness.
-SAI BABA
I am glad that the State Bank of India & ICICI is opening an another
branch here in the Prashanthi Nilayam area on 23.11.2009. Artha
(wealth) is one of the Purushaarthas – legitimate objects of human
endeavour. The four purushaarthas are dharma, artha, kaama and
moksha (righteousness, wealth, desire and liberation). They have
been listed so, in that order, on purpose.
This passbook will not be looked into there. Why, even while here,
when the pile grows into an attractive quantity, sons start fighting
for it, causing you anxiety and fear; taxes take away a large share;
thieves and crooks have an eye on it.
This bank will give loans if you mortgage your house or lands,
property that has come down to you from your ancestors, gold
jewellery that has come to you from your mothers, etc. That Bank
also will allow you to draw upon the accounts of previous births, and
deposits made then. That is why you find some people, who are
obviously wicked and cruel, mean and miserly, yet leading 'happy'
lives, free from pain and grief. They have drawn upon deposits
made in the past. They are entitled to that happiness.
Sometimes, this bank will grant you overdrafts, so that you tide over
temporary crisis; the extent of the overdraft is settled by the
Manager with reference to your reliability and capabilities. It is like
the anugraha (Grace), that God will confer on you when you have
earned it by sath karma, sath chinthana, sath bhaava, sath sanga
and Naamasmarana (good deeds, good thoughts, good feelings,
good company and constant contemplation on the name of God and
the glory it seeks to express).
Banks have safe deposit vaults, where customers can keep their
valuables, jewels, legal documents and other things like silver and
gold, which attract thieves; they can then be free from worry and
sleep in peace. Surrender them to the custody of the Bank and
dismiss anxiety from the mind.
That other Bank, dealing with spiritual accounts, has also a safe
deposit vault. Surrender your jewels of intelligence, cleverness,
capacity to serve and the gem that you most value, namely, your
ego to the care of God; then, you can be happy. Maam ekam
sharanam vraja, meaning, “ Surrender to Me alone”. This is the way
the Lord invites. Then, He assures Maa suchah, that is, you need not
grieve at all….
This earthly dhanam (wealth) you take to this bank; that other
dhanam, the punyam (good deeds) you do, the purity you achieve,
the love that you manifest – bring Me those precious things and I
shall accept them as deposits.
__._,_.___
Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic
Messages
Related Link:
2. Wallpapers: http://www.saibabaofindia.com/sai_baba_wallpapers_index.htm
-SAI BABA
So, what was happening? Baba was showing me how to play life's game. In a real
sense, I was finally giving of myself. There, in the midst of throngs attending the
birthday, convocation, and conference activities, I was given the opportunity to
recognise Baba in His true form—more than mother, father and friend. I
comprehended the meaning of omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient.
The rest of my visit was supercharged, constantly reinforcing who He really is. Here it
is, months later, and I'm still filled with gratitude. The miracle of who Swami is, still
remains. It is He who has enabled me to face my trials and tribulations— to hear of
my grandson's problems, to go through my husband's major surgery, to better
understand that I must see no evil and see only good. I remember His words, "It is like
baking a cake. I stir, I knead, I pound, I twist, I bake you. I drown you in tears. I
scorch you in sobs. I make you sweet and crisp, an offering worthy of God." And His
statement to my husband and myself, "This Avatar has come to console, correct,
guide, and love you. There is nothing to fear."
And so, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba has created a new being, not only freed in
mind and emotions but changed on a physical plane. He has erased many of my face
wrinkles and turned my lips upward, allowing sadness to give way to a smile,
showing me that Love conquers all. Yes, the Lord is truly here!
September 28th,
2009
There is no need to retire into a forest or a cave to know your inner Truth and to conquer your lower
nature. In fact, while living in isolation, one has no chance to exercise restraint on one's anger and other
weaknesses and so the victory achieved there may not be long lasting or genuine. Win the battle of life;
be in the world but yet be away from its shackles. That is the victory which you have to achieve.
-SAI BABA
Man is the storehouse of every mineral, metal and energy that the earth contains. He has in him
electric, magnetic and several other forms of energy. Sadly, man does not realise this. There is the
enormous strength of Divinity latent in him that enables him to do anything that he sets his mind on.
Man's many achievements are mere glimpses of the great potential that is latent in him. All he needs is
to have the will and the determination to realise this strength and potential.
-SAI BA"Why does the sun rise; why do the stars hide their
splendour in the day and show themselves in the night? Who
ordered air to be around us all time; why do these streams
roar and gurgle? I created the world with one word at My
pleasure; I made mountains rise and with one word I placed
knowledge upon mankind." Baba
Focus your mind on one goal and do not allow it to waver. You have to hold on to it
till the very end. There is only one Divinity. Stick to any one form of God of your
choice and hold firm to it. If you keep transplanting a sapling from one place to
another frequently, how can it grow into a healthy tree? You have to plant it in one
place and water it regularly until it grows into a strong tree. This is true devotion. If
you keep changing your spiritual guides frequently, your devotion gets adulterated.
Do not resort to such a course. Choose any one, and trust that God is in all.
-SAI BABA
PRAYER OF SURRENDER
~ Baba ~
(As written on the wall near the entrance to Western Canteen at Prashanti Nilayam)
Posted by adeline108 at 8:08 PM
Labels: NOTES
PRAYER OF SURRENDER
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxx
‘Ask your heart, ask the God within you. Listen to your inner voice — only thus will
you receive a truthful answer. Ask God to help you find God within yourself, and to
live like God — in love.’
Every person is like a flower given to you by God. You only have to accept them
in your life – your vase, and pour in it some water – love; and then your
relationships will blossom and you will feel God’s presence in every moment of
your life.
Bhagavan Baba always stresses on four principal ‘F’s. The first is ‘Follow the
Master’, next, ‘Face the Devil’, then ‘Fight to the End’, and finally, ‘Finish the
Game’.
In the game of our life, our true Master, Baba says, is our Conscience, the Voice of
God Within. When we listen and abide by this inner prompting, we easily face the
‘devils’ (our sorrows and negative traits) of our existence, definitely conquer them
and come out of the game joyously. Life is a game, and we should enjoy it!
What is the proper offering to God? Lord Sri Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita mentions -
Patram, Pushpam, Phalam, Toyam (leaf, flower, fruit and water). What do these
signify? Your body is the leaf; your heart is the flower; your mind is the fruit and the
tears of bliss are the water to be offered to God. The body is to be surrendered unto
God by undertaking acts of worship and other sacred deeds. God is not confined to
any particular place of worship. Your very body is a temple. Deho Devalaya Proktho
Jeevo Deva Sanathanaha (body is the temple and the indweller is the eternal God).
Find Him in your heart. All of you are embodiments of divinity.
...
Thursday, 8 October, 2009 3:49:17
liked this story
sampath...
============ ========= ========= ========= ========= =========
========= ========= ====
The third beggar came. "Oh Lord, I have heard about your noble qualities. Therefore,
I have come to see you. Men of such charitable disposition are verily the
manifestations of God on earth," he said.
"Please sit down," said the millionaire. "You appear to be tired. Please take this food,"
he said, and offered food to the beggar.
"Now please tell me what I can do for you."
"Oh Lord," replied the beggar; "I merely came to meet such a noble personage that
you are. You have given me this rich food already. What more need I get from you?
You have already shown extraordinary kindness towards me. May God bless you!"
But the millionaire, struck by the beggar's spirit, begged of the beggar to remain with
him, built a decent house for him in his own compound, and looked after him for the
rest of his life.
God is like this good millionaire. Three classes of people approach Him, with three
different desires and prayers. There is the greedy man full of vanity, full of arrogance,
full of desires. He demands the objects of worldly enjoyment from God. Since this
man, whatever be his vile desires, has had the good sense to approach God, He grants
him some part of the desired objects (even these very soon pass away, just as the two
rupees the first beggar got are spent before nightfall).
The other type of devotee prays to the Lord for relief from the sufferings of the world,
but is better than the first one, in as much as he is ready to abide by His Will. To him
the Lord grants full relief from suffering, and bestows on him much wealth and
property.
The third type he merely prays to the Lord: "O Lord, Thou art Existence-Absolute,
Knowledge-Absolute, Bliss-Absolute, etc., etc." What does he want? Nothing. But the
Lord is highly pleased with his spirit of renunciation, of desirelessness and of self-
surrender. Therefore, He makes him eat His own food, i.e., He grants this man
Supreme Devotion to Himself. Over and above this, He makes the devotee to live in
His own House For ever afterwards this devotee dwells in the Lord's Abode as a
Liberated Sage. Sai Ram
Take pity on me and forgive me. There was nothing in my life. Only tears came
down my eyes every moment. Then You come to Shirdi. I got Your love and
understand how to live life. Wherever you went Baba, i used to come with You. I
dropped flowers in Your way. I used to sleep while remembering Your sports. I
got happiness by cleaning Your Dhuni (Sacred Fire). I was witness of Your
supernatural powers. Then one day there came a calamity and my presence of
mind became useless. But Your love was with me always. Today i am again
missing You. Baba, i am none other than Your Radhakrishnamai. Today i
understood that Allah is with poor people which is far better than richness.
Poem Courtesy - Baba Se Ru-B-Ru written by Sai Devotee Shri Vikas Mehta ji
Sairam
Baba Guide us all,
At the feet of my Sathguru Sai Baba
Baba's blessing are every where
Manisha.Rautela. Bisht
On the 1st day of January 1977, I had the first Darshan of Bhagawan. It was New
Year Day for Christians, Vaikuntha Ekadasi for Hindus and Moharrum for the
Muslims! So, the entire area was packed thick with men and women of all faiths from
all parts of the world. I had in mind a great desire to ask Swami, one question that was
haunting me, "Why is it, Swami, that Nature destroys in one sweep the crop that we
ryots raise with so much love and care?" But, when the Darshan of Swami itself was
so difficult, how could that question be presented to Him and an answer obtained?
That evening at 5 pm, Bhagawan addressed the gathering and moved along the line
where I was seated, so that I could imprint Him on my heart. It was a great gift.
Swami also referred to the sudden upsurges of natural forces, which, to man, appear
as calamities. A speeding car cannot be suddenly stopped—for that would bring on
disaster. Nature has to obey the laws laid down. Man performs his duties and carries
out his professions with care but he forgets to pray to God in thankfulness for all the
facilities and forces he is awarded. Thus my question was answered by Bhagavan and
I was free from disappointment.
From that day to this, my crops have never suffered loss through the anger or
indifference of Nature. In 1978, I was even awarded by the Government Agricultural
Department the title of `the best farmer of the district'. The prize was a beautiful idol
of Muralidhara—I firmly believe that Swami willed He should come to me in this
form.
In January 1978, Swami appeared in a dream, and said, "Are you willing to go out of
the country for four months for training in farming methods?" "I have no political
leader to recommend me,” I replied. Swami replied, "You must know I am the one
who confers boons on all created beings.”
In February 1978, my sister, absolutely on her own, sent me application forms and
other necessary literature directing me to apply for being selected for foreign training.
Her letter came to me on Shivaratri Day and I welcomed her proposal as a result of
this co incidence. The officer who had to receive and forward it discouraged me and
said, "This scheme has been there since 30 years. Almost all the influential farms of
this District have tried. But no one has succeeded hitherto. Your application will
certainly be rejected.” I sent a telegram to Swami that I had sent in my application
with no sponsor, except He. I was called for an interview in May but until the 3rd
May there was no news from Delhi. The month of June rolled by. So, I decided I
could not be included. I inferred that the dreams where Baba appears and
communicates are merely the fabrications of our own minds and that I should
henceforth attach no importance for them . If Swami wanted to direct us to do
something, He would order us, direct, not through dreams.
Who can describe my joy when on October 7th I got my order selecting me as one of
the trainees and asking me to be ready to start for Houston, Texas, on the 21st
October. Now, through Sai's Grace, I am writing this letter from 14,000 miles away
from Prasanthi Nilayam, but with Sai right beside me. Faith and Patience are the two
paisa, which, at Shirdi, Swami asked for from everyone. They can bring us direct
rewards.
" We are Punished by our Sins, not for Them."...... ........E. Hubbard
SiN wOrth cOmmitting - rOhit beHaL
Baba says: "Why meditate? Do your work. Only don't distinguish between work
and workship. Don't say that this is my work and that is God's work. Take
everything as God's work only. That is real meditation."
Your words, your dreams, and your thoughts have power to create
conditions in your life.
What you speak about, you can bring about.
If you keep saying you can't stand your job, you might lose your job.
If you keep saying you can't stand your body, your body can become sick.
If you keep saying you can't stand your car, your car could be stolen or
just stop operating.
If you keep saying you're broke, guess what? You'll always be broke.
If you keep saying you can't trust a man or trust a woman, you will always
find someone in your life to hurt and betray you.
If you keep saying you can't find a job, you will remain unemployed.
If you keep saying you can't find someone to love you or believe in you,
your very thought will attract more experiences to confirm your beliefs.
If you keep talking about a divorce or break up in a relationship, then you
might end up with it.
Turn your thoughts and conversations around to be more positive
and power packed with faith, hope, love and action.
Don't be afraid to believe that you can have what you want and deserve.
Watch your Words, they become actions. Watch your Actions, they
become habits. Watch your Thoughts, they become words. Watch your
Character, for it becomes your Destiny. Watch your Habits, they become
character.
The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less
than you settle for.
Remain Blessed!
Five days from now, the calendar would show the date as 13th September. On that day, sixty-
six years ago, something memorable happened. However, only a few people witnessed that
event, because it happened so long ago, and that too in a small and somewhat unknown town
named Uravakonda in Anantapur District of what was then Madras Presidency and is now
Andhra Pradesh.
On that day, a young boy named Sathya Narayana Raju left home for school as usual, went
some distance, came back, stood on the doorstep of his brother’s house and said something to
His elder brother that knocked out both the brother and his wife. The young boy just fourteen
years old, declared that He was Sathya, that He belonged to the entire human race, and that
He was going out to Love All as well as Serve All.
With those historic words, Raju disappeared into history and in place of that young lad
appeared Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, the Avatar of the Age. Baba then walked away from
what was until then His residence, went to a garden in the house of a person named
Anjaneyulu, sat on a small stone and gave the world His first Message:
We all know that song and many of us also know about this turning point as well but we are
sure that of the fifteen thousand or so who now receive the Sai Inspires picture post-card daily,
there must be many of the younger generation, who are not aware of all this.
The “body” of Bhagawan Baba was only fourteen years old, but being Timeless, Baba gave
then an Eternal Message. As He told Arjuna five thousand years ago, God incarnates mainly to
teach this Message to man. He has done so any number of times but man being a dumb
student keeps forgetting the lesson. And so, God has to come down repeatedly to teach that
same lesson, which is that there is only One Reality, GOD!
Everything we see is God, though it might not be readily apparent to us. However, if we pause
to reflect and enquire, we would eventually find that indeed, everything including us is nothing
but God. Two years ago, on 25 th July to be precise, Swami gave a Discourse on this subject,
for the Nth time that is, and we thought this Sunday, we would present excerpts of that Divine
Discourse with supplementary comments.
Let us start with the world we live in, which seems so very real to all of us. That is no surprise
because the world is enveloped by powerful forces that bring us pleasure as well as pain. So
we tend to think of this reality as something EXTERNAL to us and often independent of us.
When we look out into the world we see all sorts of things – people serving others, people
injuring others, etc. etc. And when we see these things, we experience various feelings like
joy, pain, anger and so on. Such experience is not confined to just what we see; they extend
also to the actions we are involved in. A man drinks alcohol thinking there is pleasure in the
alcohol. Alcohol is just a drink and a chemist would even given the formula for it. The feeling of
intoxication experienced is internal to the person concerned. For example, if a person who
does not like alcohol is forced to drink it, he would not feel pleasure but revulsion. Swami
describes it all as follows:
In God’s creation, everything is reaction, reflection and resound. All that we experience in the
outside world is only a reaction, reflection and resound of the inner being.We are, however,
deluded to think that this reaction, reflection and resound is real. Whatever feeling comes out
of your heart and takes a shape outside is the form you see. It means that, that form has
already been conceived by you.
Let us explore what these words mean. Say there is a statue and two men standing next to it,
one a “normal” person of the world and other a holy man. All three are witness to a riot
happening in the neighbourhood. The statue does not feel anything, naturally. In fact, you
would say it is stupid to expect the statue to feel anything because the statue is insentient, and
you would be absolutely right; but we brought in the statue just to make our point. What about
the other two? The normal person would feel agitated and angry and would most likely be pro
one of the two factions engaged in the rioting; the side he supports would depend of course on
his personal feelings. As for the holy man, he does not take sides but is pained that both
parties are foolish in wasting their time and energy in violence instead of spreading Love,
which is the true nature of man. This hypothetical example brings home the elementary truth
that experience flows from the nature of the person. The so-called normal person and the
holy man both witness the same event but their reactions are very different. Why? Because
their natures are very different; they see what they want to see! That is the point about the
above quote from Baba.
OK, the outside is a reflection of the inside. There are billions of people on earth, and they all
have different personalities. So, are there are billions of versions of what people perceive and
experience as reality? Baba says NO! How come? That is what we shall consider next. You
see, every individual is a CORE plus an outer covering. It so happens that while the CORE is
the same in all, the outer covering varies widely, being dependent on the individual’s “worldly
personality”. You might say: “But that is inevitable and what can we do about it?” Swami says
that if you see the world imagining yourself to be the “outer cover” you will see something,
while if you see the same world believing you are the CORE and not the outer covering, then
the perception would be entirely different. While the “outside” of a human’s personality would
see diversity, the CORE of his personality would see only one thing, which is the Reality. Baba
puts it this way:
You are everything and everything in Creation is immanent in you. Unfortunately, man today is
forgetting his Real Nature and is imagining something that does not exist. This is the result of
delusion, which, in fact, is of his own making. It is only when man comes out of this illusion that
he would be able to realise Brahman.
So, there is the answer – we see what we want to see! If we imagine ourselves to be the
transient body plus the Mind, then the IMPRESSIONS we get of the world outside would be
Bhrama or illusion [as opposed to Brahman or the Eternal Reality]. If we are guided entirely by
the fickle Mind, we would see superficial diversity instead of the CORE Divinity. As Swami
says: Yad Bhavam, tad Bhavati – as you feel so you become. A person wedded to diversity
would tend to feel, “I am right and he is wrong etc.,” and from that would be born, anger,
jealousy, hatred and conflict. This is what is happening all round these days, and that is why
there is so much hatred and conflict, though the CORE of all persons of all faiths, and indeed
of even the so-called atheists, is Divine! Swami says, “You stupid man! Why are you wasting
your time, energy and even money in focusing on the wrong thing! Why don’t you focus
instead on the REAL YOU! That REAL YOU is God, and once you realize that you would see
nothing but God everywhere. The moment you do that, conflict would vanish from the face of
the earth like the mist before the morning Sun!” In short, our “outside” sees superficiality
while our CORE sees the CORE of the Universe; the latter would be a case of God
“within” seeing God “without”! That said we would now like to present some more excerpts
to stimulate your thinking.
There is only one power in the world, which is all-pervasive. That is the power of Love. It is
only by Love, that human societies are formed. There can be no humanity without Divinity.
That is a clear message that we cannot hope to be humans if we forget our innate Divine
nature. That CORE is the Only Reality. The question arises: “If our CORE is indeed Divine and
Selfless Love is an integral part of each of us, then how come there is so much hatred?” Baba
explains. He says that hatred is nothing but a highly degraded form of Love, the degradation
occurring due to attachment and desires. Swami adds:
Even Maya (delusion) is associated with love. You do not find anything in this world, devoid of
love. Love is in everything in this world. All relationships between people in this world are
established and cultivated on account of love. Again, love becomes the cause for separation of
two individuals.
So it is not as if Love is absent in us; it is always present but unfortunately, often in degraded
or polluted form. If only we can clean it up! Swami continues:
In fact, Love is your TRUE form. Man is born out of and brought up with love. Not only a
human being, but every living creature experiences love right from its birth. There is no force
more powerful than Selfless Love in this world. No power on earth can change Selfless Love.
So, if we really want to be human, then we must lean upon our innate Divinity – no other
option! Once we truly become human, nothing can stop us. As Swami emphasised in the
Discourse referred to.
Devoid of love, nothing can be achieved even in this mundane world. Without love, the whole
world becomes a vacuum. That love alone assumes a form. Realise this truth.
Divinity is only One, which is changeless. That changeless Eternal Divinity is immanent in you.
All external forms and names are like fleeting dreams. And those dreams are not real. Hence,
strive to come out of that Brahma .
All of you are Embodiments of Divinity. Your forms are Divine. You and God are one. You are
not different from God. Experience this Cosmic Unity. Unity is Truth. Unity is Divinity. God is
not separate from you. God is manifest in you. Reality is not somewhere in a distant place.
It is within you.
Your very nature is Reality. How can you realise this Truth? Only by cultivating Pure, Selfless
and Divine Love. Without Love, nothing can be achieved in this world. Love is the source and
sustenance for the entire universe. Love is God and God is Love. Therefore, live in Love.
We have heard this many times, but do we ever spend a few moments to reflect on what the
words actually mean?
We thought that this week, as we approach a major anniversary in this Sai Yuga if we might
call it that, we would call attention to the Message that the Avatar has been giving again and
again, not just during this Incarnation, but in every Incarnation in the past as well.
May God’s Grace shower on you ceaselessly. See you again tomorrow!
Worship God in any form or with any name. In fact, God has thousands of names and a myriad forms.
Ek Prabhu Ke Anek Naam (the one Lord has many names). While worshipping the Lord with a
thousand names, you should be fully aware that it is the same Divinity you are addressing. Rama,
Krishna, Allah, Jesus, etc., all are names denoting the same Divinity. Unity alone is the reality. Ekam
Sath Viprah Bahudha Vadanthi (Truth is one, but the wise ones refer to it by many names). Hold this
faith firmly in your heart and make your life worthwhile and remain ever in bliss.
Keep this thought in your mind, "I am not a mere man, I am the embodiment of
Divinity." Have this conviction fixed in your mind and you will realise this truth. As it
is said, Brahmavid Brahmaiva Bhavathi (the knower of Brahman becomes verily
Brahman). If you perceive yourself as Divine, you become Divine. If you consider
yourself a human being, you will remain so. While your form is that of a human
being, there is the Atmic principle in you. To recognise this Atman, you have to keep
your heart pure and empty of negativity.
The body and mind are very closely interlinked and are vital to man's evolution. A complete
man is one who has both a pure mind and a healthy body. The body must certainly be fostered
and protected, but no attachment must be developed towards it. The Atma within the body is
more fundamental. While the body is bound to perish sometime, the Atma within is eternal. A
healthy body and a pure mind in turn combine to give 'Lavanya' - true beauty. True beauty is
that of the character and not of the body. It is this Lavanya that gives one an eternal youthful
countenance and bliss.
What we own is not the problem, it's our attitude towards our possessions. If we have
something and we enjoy it, that's fine. If we lose it, then that's OK. But if we lose it
and we are very attached to it in our heart, then that's not fine. It doesn't matter what
the object is, because it's not the object which is the problem. The problem is our own
inner grasping mind that keeps us bound to the wheel, and keeps us suffering. If our
mind was open and could just let things flow naturally, there would be no pain. Do
you understand? We need our everyday life to work on this, to really begin to see the
greed of attachment in the mind and gradually begin to lessen and lessen it
Dear Devotee
May the light of love and devotion shine brightly in our hearts
May the light of understanding shine in our minds,
May the light of harmony glow in our home
May the light of service shine forth ceaselessly from our hands.
May your presence light the lamps of love wherever we go.
May our smile, our words and our actions be as sweet
as the sweets of this festive season.
May Maha Laxmi bring us the true wealth of peace, health, happiness, and love.
He who thinks of the Lord with devotion can overcome any kind of Karma (consequences of
past actions). With the grace of the Lord, one can experience even the otherwise unattainable
bliss. Do not doubt the usefulness of Sadhana (spiritual exercise). Unshaken Bhakti
(devotion) will win the grace of the Lord. If complete faith is placed in the Lord at all times,
why should He deny you His grace? Generally men do not fully and unswervingly rely on the
Lord. Faith is the product of peace and patience, not of haste and hurry.
-SAI BABA
Deepavali
Know that Paramatma (God) is the goal of man. Direct all attention to that goal.
Control the mind that wanders away from it. This is the essence of the teachings of all
the Shastras (scriptures) . Be bound to the Atma in you. Take refuge in it. Meditate on
it without interruption. Then the worldly bonds would loosen themselves, for the bond
with which you attach yourself to the Lord has the power of unbinding all other
bonds.
God will decide what to give, when to give, and where. Hence, all actions should be
dedicated to God, and He will decide what the devotee is fit to receive. When
everything is left to God out of pure love and total faith, God will take care of the
devotee. People today lack such firm faith. In the path of devotion, many ordeals have
to be overcome. Great devotees in the past faced such ordeals with faith and fortitude.
Ultimately they secured the grace of the Divine and experienced bliss. For achieving
anything in life, two things are essential: firm faith and pure love.
True questioning, which is free from all the factors I listed till now, is correct
enquiry; otherwise not. True questioning is the path of enquiry, which will take
you to the point of your true being, the centre of your life—the supreme Self.
Questions based on doubt, distrust and other factors will take you to
confusion confounded. On the other hand, questions which are independent
of these factors will help you to meditate, reflect, ponder upon, and take you
to the experience of Self, conferring supreme non-dual joy.
You cannot go on questioning everything that comes up. Why? Certain basic
things in life also cannot be questioned. For example, your mother loves you.
Do you question that? A flower is beautiful. Do you question that? The
sunrise is also so beautiful. Do you question it? So, certain facts of life are
unquestionable. Likewise, the Divine is unquestionable.
So, taking an unquestionable position will take your life from question to
quest. Quest is different from question. Question ends when the answer is
given, while quest goes on continuously, eternally. Therefore, a question
which turns you inward becomes a quest, a pathless land and an eternal
journey!
Youth from Region 1 asks: How frequently does one have to meditate—
both in the morning and evening? And for how long, in order to derive
joy from it?
This question is put due to your own limited understanding of meditation. The
meditation you are thinking about is the one bound by time and space: “I
meditate between four and five in the early hours of the morning. I meditate
once again in the night between seven and eight,” or whatever you may say.
This is only a limited meditation, within the framework of time.
Further, you could say, “This is my meditation room. This is the place where I
meditate every day most religiously.” This is the second point of your idea of
meditation—referring to space. Space and time are the two binding factors, as
you currently understand meditation.
But true meditation is beyond time and space. Time and space are two
aspects that relate to the mind. When the mind is off, when the mind is in
trance, when the mind is withdrawn in deep sleep, what is the time and where
is the space? When you are sleeping in the night, unmindful of what is
happening around you, do you know the space where you are? Do you know
the time where you are? So, deep sleep is beyond time and space because,
in that deep sleep state, the mind is totally withdrawn. Even in this waking
state, even now, there can be withdrawal of the mind or true meditation. But if
you limit meditation to time and space, it is no meditation at all.
On the other hand, maybe for beginners, it is a good idea to practice like that.
One may do it that way initially; but that is not the final form of meditation. In
fact, the whole life is meditation. Life is meditation! Whatever you do is
meditation. A state when you forget yourself—that is meditation! A state
where you get yourself involved and identified with the job totally, that is
meditation. If you are a computer man, as you work with your computer, you
are totally into it . . . one with that only. That is meditation.
Therefore, this is not a job or anything like an activity that is limited to morning
and evening only. If you look at it like that, then what would you do during the
rest of the time? You stop meditation. So, what do you mean by meditation?
What you think of as meditation is not meditation in the true sense.
If this meditation, as you understand it, is true, then Lord Krishna should have
asked Arjuna, “Meditate, my boy! You don’t need to fight.” Or Rama should
have said to Anjaneya (Hanuman), “Please meditate! You don’t need to go to
Lanka to fetch Sita.”
But instead, they wanted them to take to activity. While Hanuman was
travelling, he was totally involved in thoughts of Rama; that is all. While Arjuna
was fighting, he had nothing other than the command of Krishna in his heart.
So in Arjuna’s case, fighting was his meditation; while in the case of
Hanuman, the search for Sita was his meditation.
Develop along these new ideas of meditation, so that you never limit
meditation to a particular place and a particular time.
Youth from Region 3 asks: I have seen people who say every time,
“Swami should do everything for me.” How far is it fair to depend upon
Swami, without putting forth any effort, rather than trying on our own?
Is that fair to depend on Swami? Of course, Swami does things
whenever we ask, and even when we do not ask. An example: a student
would ask Swami to pass him in the exam, but not study hard to achieve
that. Similar is the case with many devotees.
The third chapter Karma Yoga of the Bhagavad Gita gives a correct answer to
this question. You cannot be lazy. You cannot live passively continuously.
Action is quite natural. You may say, “I am not doing anything.” But you do not
know. You may be doing many things without your notice.
You may sit idle, but your mind is thinking. That is action. You may be lying on
the bed, but blood circulation is taking place. The heartbeat continues, and
the lungs breathe in and breathe out. There is action again. So when you
again say, “I am not doing anything,” try to stop breathing, stop thinking, stop
imagining, and stop everything! Only then you can correctly say, “I am not
doing anything.” But can you actually stop these actions?
Doing these natural things but externally, outwardly not doing anything is the
surest sign of a lazy man, an idle person, and a fit-for-nothing fellow. So one
must take to activity, jump to activity, which is absolutely necessary.
The second point: what does “letting Swami do everything” really mean? You
have to do your job, but leave the results to Him. “Swami does everything”
means “Let Him grant me the results that I deserve, which are in my own
interest, in my best interest. Let Swami grant me the results.” That is in the
hands of the Divine. However, proper effort is in your hands.
Therefore, man is endowed with freedom to choose this way or that way.
Come on, act! Proceed in the field of action, and then when you say, “Swami
does everything” it means that He will grant you the results depending upon
your own efforts. That is what I understand regarding this question. Ram
Chugani
Kobe,Japan Hetal Patil
http://www.shirdisaibabastories. org
http://www.saiterehazaaronnaam. com
http://www.shirdisaibabaexperiences .org
http://www.shirdisaibababhajan. org
A sincere seeker and devotee can have no interest in the worldly pleasures and
passions. These inferior desires have to be renounced, for they lie at the root of all
misery. What exactly is Moksha or liberation? It is the Shanti (unruffled peace)
obtained through the Sadhana (spiritual endeavour) of Chittha Shuddhi or cleansing of
the heart. It is the negation of the impressions one gets through the senses.
In the land of Bharat, tolerance and forbearance constitute the real
beauty.
What is the nectarine feeling more than the feeling towards one
own mother?
How much ever you may learn, still there remains knowledge which
is infinite and there is always more to learn.
What is the purpose of this human life? Human life is gifted to earn
God’s grace. The person who receives God’s grace in abundance can
bring transformation in society.
In fact we feel we are miserable. If you ask yourself, you will know
that the misery is of your own making. It has
nothing to do with God. Therefore, never think
that everything is given by God. Everything
comes back to us because of our own thought
process.
You are not hating yourself, you are hating God when you hate
others. Every human being is like a mirror. In the mirror, you find a
reflection of yourself. In many mirrors, you see many reflections of
yourself. Reflection. Reaction. Resound.
You are accusing yourself, blaming yourself. Therefore, whoever
you come across, have deep faith that they are all God’s forms. Man
fails to understand this truth. It is not proper on our path to make
fun of anyone or hate anyone. Love is the only royal path that takes
you closer to God.
Therefore all noble souls merged in God because of their incessant
love for God. Sakkubai went on repeating “Ranga, Ranga, Ranga”.
Everybody made fun of her and her husband persecuted her.
Ultimately, she merged in God. She always said “I am not different
from Ranga”. In all three states of awareness, she thought of Ranga
only.
An atheist in Tamil Nadu used to take the idol of Vinayaka and beat
Him with slippers. Karunanidhi used to enjoy this act. But
Karunanidhi now declares that Sathya Sai is God. It’s quite likely
that we commit mistakes out of ignorance. Then we repent. But you
have to make amends for your mistakes. True repentence gives us
atonement for our sins.
Bad actions lead to bad results. So do good. All that you face are
consequences of our thought process. Our thoughts should be pure.
A human being should have human values. Today, human beings
are treated like dogs. Therefore all defects and mistakes lie with
man. Reaction, reflection and resound.
Therefore, it is absolutely necessary that we correct our own
mistakes and do not search for mistakes in others.
The Christians believe in ‘I’. Cut the ‘I’ and it becomes a cross. The
ego has to be killed. Once we get rid of this ego, then we can
realise the real self. Man today is knowledgeable in all aspects of
life. He is conquering space, prepared to count stars. But he fails in
simple things. Love is the undercurrent of everything.
There are different kinds of sweets, but the sugar is one. The
Upanishads say that whomsoever you salute, it reaches God. God is
the one, who gives you everything. Understand your own mind.
Realise your own mistake.
Politicians know nothing. If they know the truth, the nation will be a
better place. Do not follow politics. There is no relation between
what the politician says and what he does.
If anybody does good, follow it. This is the message of Baba to all of
us today. The whole world should be happy. Let all the beings be
happy. You will acquire this bliss through love. We say ‘Peace,
peace, peace’. Where is this peace ? Only pieces.
The discourse concluded with the song ‘Bhajo, bhajo, Vithala’ by the
music college students.
Source: srisathyasai. in- sssbpt.org - web-layout & design saibabaofindia.
com
The Sadhaka (spiritual aspirant) must be vigilant not to lose his temper on trivial and
petty matters, for that will retard his progress. Anger must be sublimated by
systematic effort. One must resist the impulse to enter into discussions and arguments,
for this breeds a spirit of rivalry and leads one towards feelings of anger and
vengeance. Anger is at the root of all wrong behaviour. Hence, cultivate love towards
all beings and thus keep undesirable habits and tendencies at bay.
When hardships overwhelm you, know that it is the consequence of your own past
deeds. Do not blame the Lord and develop a grouse against Him. Do not pay heed to
trouble or take it as such. Rather engage yourself in the service of others and perform
meritorious deeds. Continue relying on the name of the Lord for support. That is the
sign of wisdom.
(Oh Lord, You are the embodiment of truth. In fact, You are the truth itself;
only You are the eternal truth. Truth is the only path to reach You. Oh the
personification of truth, I surrender to Thee!)
Each and every incident of Swami's life serves as a mirror reflecting the
essentiality of Swami's divine personality. Swami is the personification of
ahimsa (principle of non-violence). Embodiment of compassion and pity for
helpless creatures, He is Jesus Christ and Bhagavan Buddha personified.
Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba is the teacher of teachers.
My Heart felt pranams to the Panch kedars.May lord Shiva always guide us to
the path that will lead us to his sacred feet.
Message from the
teachings of Sai baba for 2nd November
Good Deeds Deserve Prize of Praise from Baba
The opportunity to take 'human' birth out of the millions of species, bears ample
testimony to the infinite love that God shows on us. One who sees God in all and
serves all is the true being. Only then one will realize God and it is one's Self-
liberation. In fact, liberation is not a gift given by Baba in appreciation of our honesty
and the spirit of service. Because of good deeds, we get merit which qualifies us for
the next good birth. But, liberation, in its true sense, is freedom from the perpetual
cycle of birth-death and an opportunity to remain forever at the Feet of Baba. It is
earned not by our deeds but only by the Grace of Baba. The literal meaning of the
word 'liberation' means 'releasing'. We get real "liberation" only on attaining
permanent freedom from the cycle of birth-death- rebirth. For this, we should be
positive in mind and believe that Baba is the cause, action and result of our every
action. True Self-liberation refers to the ambrosial Divine Grace that Baba showers on
a devotee who reposes total faith in Him, in thought, word and deed. Baba will take
such devotees as an infant into His Love-Lap and liberates them from the cycle of
birth and death. What a golden gift it is! Being born as human beings we must go on
performing good deeds and try to deserve the gift from Baba. We have to treat this
human birth as a great boon to attain Self-liberation.
Message from
theteachings of Sai baba for 7th November
My purpose of narrating all this is to tell the reader the endless depth of Avatar's
leela. When the Nameless and Formless assumes a name and a form, and descends
amongst us, He comes down to the human level in such a way that the sweetness of
His intimate Love creates an insatiable thirst in the human heart.The Lord of
sweetness (rasa) fills the yearning heart (rasika) with incomparable sweetness.
He takes all care of the devotee, gives him the rare joy of personal contact, and
gradually makes him desireless. When the Lord comes to the devotee, He is no more
Shiva, the Lord of Kailash, or Vishnu, the Lord of Vaikuntha, or even Parambrahma,
He becomes the devotee’s very own, as mother, father, friend, companion.
~ Baba ~
~ Baba ~
"If you wish to be always happy, pray for the welfare of others." ...Sri
Sathya Sai Baba
"BE the change you wish to see in the world!".....Mahatma Gandhi
The right attitude of the devotee should be one of total surrender. As one devotee declared, “I am
offering to you the heart which you gave me. I have nothing I can call my very own. All are yours. I
offer to you what is already yours.” As long as this spirit of total surrender is not developed, man will
have to be born again and again. One should offer one's heart to the Divine and not be content with
making offerings like flowers and fruits.
Giving up the little “I” is what renunciation really means. It means sublimating every thought, word
and deed into an offering to God, saturating all acts with divine intent. To cultivate love is the best
spiritual discipline. Love gives itself forever; it never asks another to give. Shower it on others and you
will be showered in return. Stop sharing love and there will be no more to share. Love thrives on
renunciation – indeed, they are inseparable.
Who are you? The Atma. From where did you come? From the Atma. Where are you going? To the
Atma. How long will you be here? So long as being engaged in sensual pursuits. Where are you? In the
unreal and ever-changing world. In what form? As Anatma (that which is not Atma). What are you
engaged in? In evanescent tasks. Therefore what should you do hereafter? Give these up and strive to
merge with the Atma.
There is no human
being without love.
Even beasts, birds,
animals and insects
have love. This
love is experienced
even in the
smallest of
creatures. We should have deep conviction that God is present in everyone in the form
of the Atma – consciousness. You are not hating yourself; you are hating God when
you hate others. Every human being is like a mirror. In the mirror, you find a
reflection of yourself. In many mirrors, you see many reflections of yourself.
Reflection. Reaction. Resound.
You are accusing yourself, blaming yourself. Therefore, whoever you come across,
have deep faith that they are all God’s forms. Man fails to understand this truth. It is
not proper on our path to make fun of anyone or hate anyone. Love is the only royal
path that takes you closer to God.
Therefore all noble souls merged in God because of their incessant love for God.
Sakkubai went on repeating “Ranga, Ranga, Ranga”. Everybody made fun of her and
her husband persecuted her. Ultimately, she merged in God. She always said “I am
not different from Ranga”. In all three states of awareness, she thought of only Ranga.
It is only God who speaks, walks, listens to every activity.
We go by name and form. We may call it snake or scorpion. God is in every creature.
God has given skills to different creatures to protect themselves. The scorpion stings
in self-defence and not with an intention to hurt. In a dense forest, a lion hurts only if
hurt. Reaction, reflection, resound. Bad actions lead to bad results. So, do good. All
that you face are consequences of your thought process. Our thoughts should be pure.
A human being should have human values. Today, human beings are treated like
dogs. Therefore all defects and mistakes lie with man. Reaction, reflection and
resound. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary that we correct our own mistakes and do
not search for mistakes in others.
People made fun of those involved in the rescue of flood victims. In the same way, the
whole community made fun of Sakkubai who kept chanting the name of Krishna.
They were finally taught a lesson by Krishna. God is an ocean of love. Out of gross
injustice and utter ignorance, we don’t understand ourselves and we blame God. The
good or bad that we face is the consequence of our own doing. So we have to correct
ourselves within.
If you understand the Oneness, you will have peace and bliss. You are Atma – the
only one – the eternal One. God is only One – never think that He is many. When
we face difficulties, we chant many names. But when we don’t have any problems in
life, we don’t think of God. We should cling on to ‘Soham’. The name given to
everyone at the time of birth is ‘Soham’. We will redeem our lives, working for
liberation, if we know the Divine principle and Divine nature.
Politicians know nothing. If they know the truth, the nation will be a better place. Do
not follow politics. There is no relation between what the politician says and what he
does. If anybody does good, follow it. This is the message of Baba to all of us today.
The whole world should be happy. Let all the beings be happy. You will acquire this
bliss through love. We say ‘Peace, peace, peace’. Where is this peace ? Only pieces.
Swami completed the discourse and wanted the mike to be removed. And then He
asked the boys to start bhajans. A Vitthala bhajan began and as it progressed to the
second speed. The next bhajan was another one on Vitthala. Midway through this
bhajan, Swami asked for Aarthi. Swami now blessed all the thousands of devotees
and they were positively thrilled at this shower of nectarine words and Grace.
When you say the Om, you may not know the meaning, but the very sound has
got healing power, curative capacity. It takes you to heights of meditation, so
when Swami sings, try to inhale his vibration with your whole being and you
will benefit from it in the way which only experience can tell.
AP: Swami says it is like an aircraft taking off, lighter sound first, can you
please explain that?
AK: There are three things here namely Aaah – when you say 'aah' meaning,
full throated, 'ooh' and 'mmm' – close it. So when you do it, it is also a kind
of breathing exercise; a breath control. It regulates your thought process and
directs your mind, making it focus on the Divine. So uttering the Omkar
before every mantra is meant to focus your mind, it is a breathing exercise, as
well as a concentration method. When the breath is controlled the thought is
regulated. (AK chants Om) Thoughts are under control and we are ready to
take off towards meditation. That's what it is.
Happy moments: Praise God. Difficult moment: Seek God. Quiet moments:
Worship God. Painful Moments: Trust God. Every moment: Thank God
Only by following the path of love can you experience bliss. Just as merely reciting the names of the
dishes cannot appease your hunger, so too, unless you speak sweet words and do sacred actions, you
cannot enjoy life’s sweetness and be happy. You are all children of immortality and embodiments of
bliss. It is because you have emerged from bliss that you seek to return to that Source, the bliss. Just as
fish born in water cannot live out of water, so does man always crave for happiness, wherever he is and
in whatever he does. Man is restless until he returns to the bliss from whence he emerged. True bliss is
not found in this world. Keep your mind always on God – only then will you have peace and happiness.
Detachment, faith and love – these are the pillars upon which peace rests. Of these, faith is crucial, for
without it all spiritual discipline is empty. Detachment alone can make spiritual discipline effective,
and love is what leads one quickly to God. Faith feeds the agony of separation from God; detachment
canalises it along the path of God, and love lights the way. God will grant you what you need and
deserve; there is no need to ask, no reason to grumble. Be content. Nothing can happen against His
will.
Let the different faiths exist, let them flourish, and let the glory of God be sung in all the languages and a
variety of tunes. That should be the ideal. Respect the differences between the faiths and recognize
them as valid as long as they do not extinguish the flame of unity”. Sathya Sai Baba
Men cannot comprehend the Formless and the Attributeless Absolute. Avatars (Divine Incarnations)
appear in human form to enable humanity to experience the Formless in a form which is accessible to
them and helpful to them. An Avatar assumes the form that is beneficial to and within the reach of
human beings. An effort must be made to understand the nature of divinity. It is only when God comes
in human form can human beings have the full opportunity to experience and enjoy the Divine.
The clouds of Maya (delusion) cannot darken the inner consciousness of the following four
categories of noble persons: (1) those who revel in the glory and mystery of God; (2) those
who know and make known that God is the master of Maya and the wielder of the forces that
destroy delusion; (3) those who are engaged in good deeds executed with faith and devotion;
and (4) those who endeavour to maintain Sathya (Truth) and Dharma (Righteousness)
"They alone who are fortunate and whose sins have been washed away, take to My
worship. If you always utter 'Sai Sai', I shall take you over the seven seas. Have faith
in these words and you will certainly be benefited. I need no paraphernalia of worship
- either eight - fold or sixteen - fold. I dwell where there is full devotion." – Baba
There is no big or small miracle for the Lord. For the benefit of His devotee, He
will involve Himself with the meanest of tasks. Not only does He rule the
microcosm and the macrocosm, but He is also a Micromanager and a
Macromanager.
Life is a mosaic of pleasure and pain - grief is an interval between two moments of joy. Peace is the
interlude between two wars. You have no rose without a thorn; the diligent picker will avoid the pricks
and gather the flowers. There is no bee without the sting; cleverness consists in gathering the honey
nevertheless. Troubles and travails will haunt you. But you must not allow them to deflect you from the
path of duty and dedication. The world today is afflicted with anxiety, fear, depression, hatred, greed
and suspicion. The only way the world can be set right is for man to realise his high destiny; for every
man yearns for two boons - attainment of joy and escape from sorrow.
If a man wishes to be happy, the first exercise he must do is to remove from his mind
every bad thought, feeling and habit. Grief and joy are obverse and reverse sides of
the same experience. Joy is when grief ends; grief is when joy ends. What exactly is
grief? It is merely a reaction to the loss of something gained or the failure to gain
something desired. Therefore, the only way to escape grief and sorrow is to conquer
desire for the illusory. The secret of happiness is not in doing what one likes but in
liking what one has to do. Whatever work you have to do, you should do it with
pleasure and liking.
Prasanthi Christmas
Christmas morn, the world is born
Anew in Love for Sai the Lord
Countless flames shine bright, so bright,
And fill the sky with heavenly light.
Glad sounds of joyous praises fill
The air with happiness and still
More joy awaits the watching ones.
For, yes indeed. the Lord, He comes;
With Blessings Pure, Boundless Love
He showers on devotees from above.
He is the Moon, He is the Sun,
He is the Father of the Son.
The world has waited many years
For Him whose glance removes all fears,
And Peace and Joy ripple out in waves,
As we sing the praise of Him who saves
The world from doubt as to the Truth of Man,
As He unfolds His Glorious Plan;
To lead all people to tire One,
The Source, the end, the Infinite Sun.
Hallelujah! all praises be,
To Sathya Sai, for we are He!
He is a true devotee who considers God’s happiness as his own. He always aspires to give happiness to
the Lord and does not want to cause any inconvenience to Him. You should never cause inconvenience
to God in the name of devotion. Consider that God’s happiness is your happiness and your happiness is
God’s happiness. Imbibe this spirit of oneness. Today most of the devotees are selfish. They have only
Swartha Bhakti (devotion intended for selfish gains). They are concerned with their own happiness and
not that of God's. You should see to it that your love is always pure. God is the embodiment of love.
Such divine love is present in all. Share your love with everyone. This is what God expects from you.
Oh! Lord, take my love and let it flow in fullness of devotion to Thee,
Oh! Lord, take my hands and let them work incessantly for Thee,
Oh! Lord, take my soul and let it be merged in one with Thee,
Oh! Lord, take my mind and thoughts and let them be in tune with Thee,
Oh! Lord, take my everything and let me be an instrument to work for Thee.
The service activities that we undertake are meant to experience unity in society. It is
a great mistake if you think that you are serving others. In fact, you should not
consider anybody as ‘other’, for all are the embodiments of divinity. But man is not
making efforts to realize this truth. Hence, he is subjected to difficulties. Once man
realizes that God is all-pervasive, he will be free from suffering. In order to get rid of
suffering, man has to practice the principle of unity in society. Once he understands
the principle of unity, he can attain the Cosmic principle.
Man is equipped with a return-ticket when he takes birth. Holding it in his grasp, he
earns and spends, rises and falls, sings and dances, weeps and wails, forgetting the
end of the journey. But, though he forgets, the wagon of life moves towards the
cemetery, which is its terminus. It brings no glory to man if he is tied helplessly to the
wheel of birth and death. His glory and greatness consist in disentangling himself
from that revolving wheel.
In everything you do, use all the strength and talent with which you are endowed,
speaking and acting truthfully. At first, you might fail in this and you might encounter
difficulties and suffering. But ultimately, you are bound to succeed and achieve
victory and bliss. Each one of you should pay constant attention to your habits and to
the traits of your character. Always remember the maxim, Sathyameva Jayate (Truth
alone triumphs). Through your behaviour, through your way of life, you can realize
the Truth and Paramatma (Eternal Self).
The blemishes of the heart have to be washed by the moral life and the discharge of
one's duty. A time may come when you become tired or weak, then you should pray
thus: "Oh Lord, things have gone beyond my capacity. I feel further effort is too great
a strain. Please give me strength." At first, God stands at a distance, watching your
efforts like the teacher who stands apart when the student writes the answer to his
questions. Then, when you shed your attachment to enjoyment and take to good deeds
and service, God comes encouragingly near. For, He is like the Sun God, who stands
waiting outside a closed door. God does not announce His presence or bang the door;
He simply waits! When you open the door just a little, the sunlight rushes in and
promptly drives out the darkness from within. So too, when God's help is sought, He
is present by your side, with His hands extended to render assistance. All that is
needed is the wisdom to remember Him and the discrimination to pray and ask Him.
For attaining growth in spirituality, an ethical life is the foundation. This ethical life is based upon
discrimination between truth and falsehood. Just as the pearl is retained, while the shell is discarded,
you must accept the truth and reject the non-essentials. To achieve this, individual exertion and Divine
Grace, both should be existent. You must constantly practice the great lesson that the body and the soul
are separate. This is a highly beneficial exercise. This will serve you to realize the Truth - the Truth that
Divinity resides in all.
'Guru', is a two letter word in Telugu 'Gu' and 'ru'. The word has two meanings.
'Gu' is darkness (ignorance), 'ru' is the light (wisdom) that dispels this darkness.
The second meaning is 'gu' stands for gunatita, one beyond attributes and 'ru'
for rupavarjita formless. So, Guru is one who teaches you about divinity which is
both attributeless and formless.
A true Guru wishes the best for his disciples. He tells them what is hita, good and
not ista, that which is liked. A true disciple follows the master implicitly.
Jaisairam
1. Silence: This is the first step in sadhana; it makes the other steps easy. It
promotes self-control; it lessens chances of anger, hate, malice, greed and
pride. Besides, you can hear His Footsteps, only when Silence reigns in the
mind.
3. Service: Service saves you from the agony you get when another suffers; it
broadens your vision, widens your awareness, and deepens your
compassion. All waves are on the same sea from the same sea. Seva
teaches you to be firm in this knowledege.
You are not doing Seva and Service for others. You are doing it always
for yourselves, to the God in you, the God who is equally present in
others. Doing Seva to others in Need is the greatest Gift you can give to
another person and brings you closer to the Divine. Help others and you
will move a step closer to the Divine and towards Swami.
4. Love: Do not calculate or weigh the reaction, result or reward. Love calls;
love responds. Love is God, Live in Love.
Om Sai Ram
We are prepared to receive love from all people, but are hesitant to share our
love with others. It should be a give and take policy. Love begets Love. You
must also be prepared to receive love from others. Love is a gift of God. In
fact, you must rise to such a level that whatever is given by God, you must be
prepared to receive wholeheartedly. At times, God also gives you a bitter pill
like the doctor. This is for your own good. Both happiness and sorrow are
God's gifts. Nobody can comprehend His Divine Leelas.
God raises His Hand of Benediction to all. Images of gods and goddesses we see sport
the Hand of Assurance and Protection. Divine Assurance blesses us conquer fear and
soothes our sorrows. Baba assures that He will always protect us. When we trust
Baba, there will be no fear at all. Only when we err, fear would spring. Fear also
comes from ignorance. One may have several hopes and aspirations for his future. By
these desires, he becomes anxious and tense. Love for near and dear ones will make
us worry over the impending dangers and with that concern we get afraid. Everyone
must have complete faith in Baba, rise above pains and pleasures and live without
self-concern. There are several occasions when Baba not only protected and saved
devotees, who came to Him, from sufferings, but also those who were far away. Baba
saved the baby of a devotee, staying somewhere, from falling into a hot furnace, by
thrusting His hand into the flames of the fire-place. If we sincerely believe in Baba,
He is visible everywhere. How can we commit sin before our Omnipresent Baba?
Where is fear when we do not sin? Even if a mistake is committed by oversight, Baba
grants us the mental state of His Divine Presence while paying the wages of sin by
suffering. That is the kind of assurance Baba gives us.
Recently I have come across many Sai Baba devotees who profess not to eat meat and
ask others to become vegetarian because of their faith and belief in Sai Baba. Firstly I
must say that Baba requested everyone not to preach about how we should or should
not worship him. According to a very prominent chapter in the Sai Satcharita, Sai has
requested that people be allowed to serve him as they see fit and we should not adopt
any 'holier than thou ' attitude towards others- so recently when I heard that a 'guru'
mentioned to people to abstain from eating meat on account of Sai Baba I was rather
surprised- the Sai Baba that we all know and love enjoyed 'mutton palao' and actually
made it with his own hands. Sai Baba is tolerant of all and he has preached no hard
and fast rules for anyone. All who have read the Sai Satcharita will agree with me of
just how tolerant he was of everyone's views, and ideologies. These traits of his are
what really endears him to all and helps us in turn to be more understanding of
opinions and views of others. If one wishes to abstain from eating meat that is their
desire and not because Sai has told him to do so -the beauty of Sai Baba's teachings
are their simple yet profound nature. Baba sees man not for who he is but for what he
is -religion with him was always an identity and he taught of one God that is father to
us all. In the notes he left behind he asked us never to fast as he rightfully maintained
'God is not available on an empty stomach' this is so true cause if one is hungry you
will find that your concentration is low. In this same way Baba teaches us so much in
order to make us all better citizens of tomorrow -every moral and lesson is valuable
and we take it away in the true spirit of being Sai Baba devotees.
This article is written solely because I feel that Sai Baba devotees should take
decisions (like the one mentioned above) reason out what they feel and what their
heart desires-Sai is always there for us and all decisions taken with care and concern
for ourselves and others will fructify and our faith will grow stronger. -
Of all the gifts you receive from God, the greatest gift is Santhosham
(contentment).The opposite of Santhosham is sorrow, which is the fruit of desire that
arouses hope and almost always results in disappointment or despair. One desire
engenders another and proliferates into a hundred, even when it is fulfilled. It knows
no justification and has no end. So, Santhosham is the supreme blessing of the Lord,
who in His infinite Love puts an end to that unquenchable thirst. No wealth or other
attainment can equal it in efficacy; Santhosham is the culmination of desire in full
contentment and sacred satiety.
Once upon a time there was an island where all the feelings
lived. Happiness, sadness, knowledge and all the others,
including love.
One day it was announced to all of the feelings that the
island was going to sink to the bottom of the ocean. So, all
the
feelings
prepared
their
boats to
leave to a
safer
location.
Love was
the only
one that
stayed.
She
wanted to
preserve
that little
paradise until the last possible moment. When the island
was almost totally under, love decided it was time to leave.
She began looking for someone to ask for help. Just then
Richness was passing by in a grand boat. Love asked,
"Richness, can I come with you on your boat?"
Richness answered, "I'm sorry, there is a lot of silver and
gold on my boat and there would be no room for you
anywhere."
Then Love decided to ask Vanity for help who was passing in
a beautiful vessel. Love cried out, "Vanity, help me please."
"I can't help you,” Vanity said, "You are all wet and will
damage my beautiful boat."
Love began to cry. Then she heard a voice say, "Come Love,
I will take you with me." It was an elder. Love felt so blessed
and overjoyed that she forgot to ask the elder his name.
When they arrived on land the elder went on his way. Love
realized how much she owed the elder.
Love then found Knowledge and asked him who the elder
was. "It was Time," Knowledge answered. "But why did Time
help me when no one else would?" asked Love. Knowledge
smiled and with deep wisdom and sincerity, answered,
"Because only Time is capable of understanding how great
Love is."
In my dream of yesterday
I was a figure of forlorn
confused, sad, alone...
on cold marble floors
Footsteps approached
A hushed voice
"The Lord beckons you
Come at five..."
My heart stopped
Swami called?
I rushed to His door
Sadness forgotten
Movement in my hands
Went into the flesh
Newspapers?
Why Swami?
He tapped it gently
A clean cut across
Layers of shriveled skin
Brown and ugly
I felt no fear
Thought came to me
'If I trust in Him completely,
He will heal me'
I looked up again
His face no more
A bright light illuminate
Came down to envelop me
A memory forever
A life transformed
My humble gratitude
Sweet Lord Sai ~ Adeline, Sept 2006~
There is love in one and all. There is none bereft of love in this world. Sometimes,
people may speak words with wrong intentions against you. You should not be
perturbed by such criticism. If some one criticizes you loudly, it will vanish in to thin
air. If they criticize you inwardly, then they will suffer. Either way, you will not be
affected by it. In this manner, you should practice developing equanimity. Then, you
will neither be elated by praise nor be depressed by criticism. If you want to attain
God, you must have harmony in your thoughts, words and deeds. Harmony in
thoughts, words and deeds is the sign of a noble person; those who lack this harmony
are wicked.
TO ALL SAI DEVOTEES
B.J.RHAJKUMAR
Every aspirant must strive to keep himself away from the turmoil, falsehood and cruelties of the world,
and practice truth, righteousness, love and peace at all times. This is truly the path of devotion. Those
who seek union with God must discard as worthless both praise and blame, appreciation and derision,
prosperity and adversity. No great soul or even Avatar (Divine Incarnation) can ever escape criticism
and blame. In such instances, they do not bend but hold on to the truth. With this realization, immerse
yourself in holy books and in the company of the devotees of the Lord. Desist from discussing your
belief or conviction with ignorant persons. When you are rich with the experience of realization and
devotion, then you can mix freely and even endeavour to direct others to the truth you have seen and
experienced.
God is present everywhere; there is no place where He is not present. There is no form that does not
belong to Him. However, you search for God, thinking that He is at some distant place. But God is in
front of you, behind you, beside you. Every single person around you is an embodiment of God.
However, you do not consider the people around you as embodiments of Divinity. You look at their
form and consider them as mere human beings. Forget the form. Be firmly established in the feeling
that wherever you see it is God only. It is only He who provides everything for our sustenance. You see
duality in the world since you go by names and forms. If you see beyond names and forms, you will
find unity everywhere.
Some people are constantly immersed in worldly thoughts. Some people consider themselves very
intelligent and accumulate bookish knowledge. In fact this type of scholarship is like an allergy. Once
the allergy starts spreading, their energy is sapped. Unfortunately, today, we are developing allergy, not
energy. Do not keep deliberating whether something is good for you or not. Everything is good.
Whatever happens, consider it to be good for you. When you develop such an attitude, everything will
turn out to be good for you. Be loving and cheerful always. It is only love that protects and sustains
you!
" I AM RIGHT HERE AM I NOT ! "
" SO, IF THERE IS SOMETHING IN YOUR HEART THAT NEEDS TO BE SAID, SAY IT
TO ME,
WHATEVER THE TIME, NIGHT OR DAY, JUST TELL ME,
WHATEVER DIFFICULTY OR WORRY THAT MAY ARISE,
IF SOMETHING DOESN'T FEEL RIGHT TO YOU, JUST TELL ME."
Don't tell God - " If you grant my Wish, I will do this for You ",
First do your Part & then tell God " YOUR TURN."
TurnOver - rOhit beHaL
"If you wish to be always happy, pray for the welfare of others." ...Sri
Sathya Sai Baba
Maria
In a small village there once lived a man to whom God had bestowed a special
talent even when he had still been a child he could heal anyone who came to him
for help.
In his boyhood itself he was interested in medicine and medical herbs, and he
studied much literature especially those belonging to ancient times to enhance his
knowledge about the treatment of physical as well as spiritual ailments. He asked
God to help him in this endeavour as well as in his service. God loved him dearly
and completely supported his noble work.
As days passed by, the number of people who came to him to regain health only
increased. The young doctors fame spread throughout the region, and soon there
came a time when people waited for days together, without a murmur of
complain, to receive his advice and medicines. Spending days and nights under
the open sky in the doctor's yard did not bother them, for they knew that God
had blessed this man and the Lord indeed was working through him.
The kind doctor
patiently and
dutifully saw his
patients, day after
day. Each time he
didn't know how to
help a patient, he
asked God for
advice, and he was
guided by Him to
learn new methods
of healing. He saw all - children, adults and the elderly, men and women,
religious or an atheist. As his wish to heal everyone who came to him grew
stronger so did his despair too, for, the more he healed, the more joined the ever
growing queues.
The good man really wanted to help everyone who came, but his house was
small, and the day held only 24 hours. Something must change to enable me to
serve all these needy people, he said to himself, and one day turned to God with a
request:
Dear God! Thank You for Your help, Your Love and blessing! Thank You for
the skills and the knowledge You have given me. But dear Lord, so many people
in this world are suffering from pain, illness and misfortune. They are indeed too
many, and I am only one. I need a hospital where I can accommodate all these
patients in comfort. Please help me build it!
God loved the noble desire of the doctor very much, and He promised He would
help him and directed him to start the construction right away. Early in the
morning the doctor started to prepare everything he needed for the building
works.
In this world, for every thing there is a time and place; one only has to be patient
in their waiting and decisive when the time for action finally comes.
He devoted the first half of the day to the construction and the other part to
healing people. He slept only a few hours a night, because he wanted to see as
many patients he could till he was completely tired everyday.
And so, both construction and the healing service progressed but slowly. The
doctor now once again turned to God for help:
Dear God! Thank You for the knowledge and the skills You have given me!
Thank You for Your love! But everyday I have such an important job to do to
heal the sick that I dont have the time for building the hospital. You are
almighty; everything is in Your power. Please take mercy on me and on all the
people in the yard waiting for me to help them, and by an instance of your Divine
will just create the hospital building tonight!”
God was silent for a moment, and then He said in a soft but emphatic tone:
Twenty of them, on having completed this noble task, would get a chance to
become fathers once they return to their families something they had wanted for
many years but which had been impossible because of their karma.
Twenty more would regain their belief in friendship, co-operation and trust
among men, which they could not experience because of their inappropriate
actions in previous births, and were therefore often deceived, beaten and
humiliated.
Another twenty men would meet their future wives they had been looking for so
long, but which they could not find because for many lives they had not
honoured and appreciated family values and had therefore accumulated a heavy
karmic load.
Twenty more of the helpers would be miraculously cured from different illnesses
that had made their physical body suffer for the most part of their current lives,
because for many lives they had led a libertine lifestyle.
Bhagavan Baba says the best way to be happy is to always believe sincerely that
whatever happens is for our own good. Every pain has an expiry date and so it is
with pleasure too. But when we surrender every moment of our life to Him and
accept every event of our life as His gift as He knows best, there would never be a
moment of despair or anxiety. Everyday we would start witnessing miracles in
our life, some simple and sweet and others magnificent and mind-boggling. Let us
give the reins of our life to the Supreme One!
Another twenty of the men come to help you would regain the knowledge they
had acquired over many lives about mans physical body and soul, they would
gain skills similar to yours and would stay with you as trusted helpers.
But dear one, I love you very much, so you only have to say God, let there be a
building! and I will create it - but in doing so these 100 men which are on their
way to you and thousands more that are connected to them families, friends,
patients would be robbed of the opportunity to be relieved from the weight of
their karma.
Dear Lord, I will now leave as I grasp Your supreme wisdom. I have lots of
things to do! I have to duly prepare everything for the arrival of those 100 men
that You are sending me.
God now smiled and seemed very satisfied. For, His dear instrument had
realised that for everything in this world there is a time and place; one only has
to be patient in their waiting and decisive when the time for action finally comes.
Bhagavan Baba says the best way to be happy is to always believe sincerely that
whatever happens is for our own good. Every pain has an expiry date and so it is
with pleasure too. But when we surrender every moment of our life to Him and
accept every event of our life as His gift as He knows best, there would never be a
moment of despair or anxiety. Everyday we would start witnessing miracles in
our life, some simple and sweet and others magnificent and mind-boggling. Let
us give the reins of our life to the Supreme One!
Ram Chugani
- Kobe, japan
How should Sai devotees react when their wishes are not fulfilled or when they face
difficulties in life ?
"SRI SAI DHWAYA MANTRA"~ To be highly conscious with this two mantras
which is Faith & Patience. One must develop more faith & more patience at such
testing times without neglecting Gods, mistaking it for it is a let down by God. Shirdi
Sai is living for the welfare of this world. Humans cannot understand God. But
humans can very well understand, read & listen to the words of Saints & Sadgurus.
Only Sadgurus & Saints who had experienced God can make common man to
understand the purpose of life & atlast give God & Self-realisation. Shirdi Sai's
teachings are the most simplest of all sacred texts. In general being Good in all is hard
to cultivate for today's world because of ignorance & negligence. That is where
sufferings crop up and
If people realize this fact they will avoid doing further wrong acts. Atleast people
should not be hindrance to others if they do not want to help others. Sufferings are not
caused by God. It is humans who fail to understand a simple life to cultivate good
virtues & make their children to follow the same in whatever they do. Self-analysis is
the best method. People need to think how far they practise these golden virtues in
their life listed below. If half of these virtues are practiced in life, then sufferings will
get reduced to half. In a nutshell, this is Shirdi Sai's Philosophy & let us conclude
these nine points as Nava Vidha Bakthi for today's world of man-made disasters:-
1. Let whatever come, Do Good, Speak Good & Think Good only.
2. Be kind to others. Help the poor & needy to your capacity by ways of giving food,
clothes, shelter & money. You will find happiness & contentment when you help the
needy.
3. Learn to forgive & forget the mistakes done by others to you. Do not hurt them in
return instead keep away from them even in thoughts to make your life peaceful.
4. Remember others help to you & be thankful to them.
5. Try to forget the help you did to others, say no to ego.
6. Make a habit to pray & thank Gods & Gurus daily for the welfare of self, family &
welfare of the world, say lokhaa samasthaa sukhino bhavanthu.
7. One should develop tolerance and accept the truth that it is all based on our karma
in past births while facing difficult times. At such times, hold to God & Guru firmly.
Keep yourself more busy in constructive ways. Visit the temples often & if not
possible, learn to meditate or try to be as calm as possible that will help face the
situations with ease.
8. Seek pardon to God & Guru for your unknown wrong deeds.
9. Spread the Glory of Gods & Saints.
Jai Sai Ram
Your Essence!!
Love All Serve All
My Graphic My worship
Aum sairam!!
One can claim to be a devotee of the Lord only if the passions and emotions are pure and the character
virtuous. The tongue may utter the Name of the Lord, the ear may hear the glory of the Lord, the hand
may scatter flowers on the image of God; but the tongue may not know or relish the taste, the ear may
not yearn, the hand may not hanker for God. These can happen only when the heart is aware of the
Supreme, when the mind is thrilled recollecting the glory of God. Otherwise one is like the spoon
which dips into sour and sweet with equal alacrity and insensitivity. It does not refuse or relish any of
the tastes.
Dear Sairam brother,
Om sairam
Shri Sai Baba is revered as one of the greatest saints ever seen in
India, endowed with unprecedented powers,
and is worshipped as a God incarnate. SAI means Sakshaat Ishwar
(Supreme Godhead).
" If You haven't any Charity in your Heart,
You have the Worst kind of Heart Trouble.".....Bob Hope
BELIEF : The acceptance of the mind over certain event, object or the result of
certain action performed. BELIEF is almost all the time accompanied by
EXPECTATION. One may say "I BELIEVE this is what will happen when I perform
this action". It is clear that the person expects the result of the action yet to be
performed.
Belief is easier to break and can cause a lot of disappointment.
Faith is more appropriate with GOD while belief with everything else.
Having faith in god shall certainly do much good than just belief.
Dear All,
Would anyone please tell me what is the difference between BELIEF and FAITH
If one day when you wake up, you would find on your bed a beautifully wrapped present with
delicate bows, you would open it before even washing your face, curious about what is
inside....
Maybe what you find is something you do not like very much...then you would put away the
box wondering what to do with the present...
But, if the next day you find another present, you would open it also and, if this time you find
something inside that you like very much....
A memory from someone that is far away....a beautiful clothing you saw on a window
shop...the keys to a new car....a beautiful winter coat...or just a beautiful flower from
somebody that remembered you.....
Every day when we wake up, it is there, before us, a present sent to us by God....a whole day
to use in the best possible way
Sometimes it comes with problems, issues that we do not seem to be able to solve.
Sometimes it comes with sadness, deception, even tears...
But other times it comes full of surprises, happiness, success and achievements. .....
What is important is that every day we receive a present, wrapped especially for us while we
sleep: THE NEXT DAY.
We are presented this box with colored bows, no matter what the day brings...... ..
But it is the best for us, what we need most, what we have to learn.....what we need to grow...
he Return Gift
On that evening Ramu was ambling down the street next to his house. Suddenly he
saw a group of people in white clothes, they were carrying a body.
He asked a passer by what's all the fuss about. He told him someone had died. He had
seen such a thing for the first time in his life. A current of fear ran through his whole
body ..He was aghast and he trembled with fear.
His eyes were frozen and he was dumbstruck.
He ran towards his house and hugged his mother tightly and narrated the whole
incident to her and asked her what death was to which she replied in plain words that it
was a natural phenomenon and every creature who comes on this earth has to die. He
said then what's the use of life if we have to die. She asked him not to to worry so
much and asked him to go to sleep.
The mystery was not leaving him and even followed him in his dreams where he had a
meeting with God, obviously the only question he asked Why do you give us life if you
have to take it back?
God said my dear son what happens when you go to a birthday party. He said that I
give a gift to my friend along with good wishes and blessings, we enjoy a lot and at the
end he gives a return gift and we accept it with thanks.
.
God smiled and replied "Same is the case here my son, life is a gift which I give to you
on your birth along with my blessings and death is the return gift which I take back
from you so instead of worrying about the return gift enjoy and utilize the gift which I
have bestowed upon you and be ready to give me the return gift with a thanks.
Ramu felt relaxed and rejuvenated with energy because he had understood the
mystery of life and death and from that day onwards he pledged not to waste even a
single moment of his precious life.
On life's journey faith is nourishment, virtuous deeds are a shelter, wisdom is the light
by day and right mindfulness is the protection by night.
A saint asked his disciples, 'Why do we shout in anger? Why do people shout at each
other when they are upset?'
Disciples thought for a while, one of them said, 'Because we lose our calm, we shout
for that.'
'But, why to shout when the other person is just next to you?' asked the saint. 'Isn't it
possible to speak to him or her with a soft voice? Why do you shout at a person when
you're angry?'
Disciples gave some other answers but none satisfied the saint.
Finally he explained, 'When two people are angry at each other, their hearts distance a
lot. To cover that distance they must shout to be able to hear each other. The angrier
they are, the stronger they will have to shout to hear each other through that great
distance.'
Then the saint asked, 'What happens when two people fall in love? They don't shout at
each other but talk softly, why? Because their hearts are very close. The distance
between them is very small...'
The saint continued, 'When they love each other even more, what happens?
They do not speak, only whisper and they get even closer to each other in their love.
Finally they even need not whisper, they only look at each other and that's all. That is
how close two people are when they love each other.'
MORAL: When you argue, do not let your hearts get distant, do not say words that
distance each other more, else there will come a day when the distance is so great that
you will not find the path to return.
He gave one example. Why should you feel proud of yourself in the galaxy, in the
solar system, and in the infinite number of bodies and planets spread all over the
universe?
What is that which is smallest? It is the earth, which is the smallest and in this
earth which is the smallest? One third is taken away by water and the remaining
is land.
After all, what is the size of land of this planet Earth, when compared to planets
and the stars, the sun and the moon? The earth comes to the size of an ant and
India comes to the size of the eye of an ant.
Andhra Pardesh State comes to the size of speck in the eye an ant. Anantapur
Districk Puttaparthi is the speck of the speck of the eye of the ant's body and
your house what is your value? Better not speak ... Better we consult the house
wife. So that has been so.
What is there to feel proud of? There is nothing and if I am to feel proud of in
this world I can certainly feel proud of my foolishness, no, there is no greator
fool that me here.
There is no stupid other than me... Yes, Yes, one can feel proud BOUT ONE'S
OWN STUPIDITY, ONES OWN ignorance, ones own foolishness, there is
nothing to feel proud of in this world. Nothing...
So a successful man will never boast of himself, will never any publicity, will
never go on speaking of hid own achievement, unless it was mentioned earlier by
some else. This is the point which Bhagavan says.
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
Ram Chugani
Kobe, Japan
A Prayer for Strength and Protection
I arise today
Through a mighty strength:
God's power to guide me,
God's might to uphold me,
God's eyes to watch over me;
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to give me speech,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to shelter me,
God's host to secure me.
Prof. Anil Kumar: Swami! How should we adore You? How should we serve
You? Kindly show us the way?
Bhagavan: God does not need your service. He does not require your worship.
God desires from you only one thing, and that is love. This love is not your
property either. It is not your ancestral property. This love is not gifted to you by
anyone. It is not a commodity to be manufactured by any company. It is not to
be acquired from a guru. You are born with love. It is the gift of God. Therefore,
it must be given to Him. It is His and so you should return it to Him by loving
Him incessantly.
Take a small example. On occasions like a wedding ceremony, many people are
invited. So, in order to prepare food on a large scale you need very big utensils.
You hire them for a day or two and return them after use. But they should be
returned safe, cleaned and in perfect condition without any damage. Is it not so?
Similarly, the human heart is a vessel filled with love, gifted by God, and has got
to be returned intact to Him. This is the true form of worship.
Pluck the flowers of virtue, character, and love from the garden of your heart
and worship God with flowers of value.
How to love God? The best way to love God is to love all and serve all. When
everything is His, and He being the giver of all that you need, what is it that He
wants from you other than love? A pure heart is the temple of God. Then, where
is it? I always tell the students that there should be perfect harmony between
thought, word, and deed. Today, we find selfishness at all levels. In whatever is
said and done, there is an underlying selfishness. But true worship is a selfless
act of service with love. Do your duty sincerely. Service to man is service to God.
You don't need to worship God with flowers that fade and decay. Pluck the
flowers of virtue, character, and love from the garden of your heart and worship
God with flowers of value.
“Just because I walk and talk like you, it doesn’t mean we are the same. Don’t
mistake my everyday appearance for what I really am. My position is that of Avatar,
to guide and assist you through this Kaliyuga age.”
Swami, with great patience does exactly that in so many different ways.
One summer’s afternoon in 1994, I was sitting in the front of block two in the Sai
Ramash Hall in Whitefield, listening to one of Swami’s discourses. It was one of
those days when everything had gone amiss and I felt a strong sense of being let
down. In this negative state of mind, I sat with arms folded in an effect to prevent
further pain.
At the end of the afternoon’s discourse, Swami began to sing his favourite Rama
bhajan, then instantaneously He beckoned us to join in the singing. The cheerful
crowd began to clap and sing with enthusiasm – infact the entire hall seemed to come
alive and move with the music. But I stubbornly remained motionless – still hugging
myself.
Swami, who was not far away, looked down with concern as I sat there still and silent.
Then all of a sudden, the hall turned a misty brilliant white. I gasped and looked
around me but within a few seconds the assembled crowd, myself included, were
engulfed in the gathering mist. I rubbed my eyes and blinked but the luminescence
continued to gather. As I sat there watching, the mist seemed to take on a life of its
own. It began to thicken and intensify in a manner that seemed to reflect the
joyfulness of the singing. When the bhajan came to its climax, I could no longer see
anything as the mist had completly enfolded me.
At the end of the bhajan, I glanced up at Swami. He, too, was encircled by the mist,
but to add to my surprise, a powerful light shone around Him. Not entirely convinced
I was seeing correctly I thought to myself, ’someone must be shining a very strong
spotlight on Him.’ I peered around the hall for signs of extra lighting but there were
none. When Swami turned slowly around to preform Arathi, I clearly saw at the back
of His head, and unattached, a milky white shiny disc. When He moved, so the disc
moved with Him, never wavering from its position. It quivered with some unearthly
luminescence.
After the Arathi, Swami began to walk away and the disc became more apparent. I
can only describe it as a halo, but unlike those seen on pictures of Christian saints.
Swami’s halo had a radiance that I felt was somehow charged by His divine essence.
When Swami reached the door, both the mist and the halo disappeared.
The memory of that long ago afternoon is as fresh today as it had been then. Swami
had given me a wondrous insight to encourage me during a time when I felt like
giving up and it was ‘LIKE THAT HE TAUGHT ME’.
P = Parents… How can you please God if you cannot please your parents?
When you please your parents you do not need to search for God, God
searches for you.
L = Lamp… Be a steady lamp. From the house light become a street
light, from the street light to moon light, from moon light to sun light.
S = Sacrifice… Give your time and prioritize your time, the consciousness
gets lifted if you do something in Swami’s name.
Baba's power is the power of spirit. Temporal power may not heed it for a
while, blinded by its own glory. But it bends its head low before spirit at the
end. It proves to the hilt the truth of the poet's utterances—"Tis the eternal law
that first in beauty should be first in might" interpreting `beauty' to man sheer
innocence and purity of being and becoming. It is the power of truth that
knows no compromise, of justice undimmed by any frailty of heart or head, of
love that washes the human shores of earth whether they be black or yellow,
white, red or brown. This Power is a white radiance, a transcendental sunbeam.
What exactly does it consist in? It is a dewdrop that descends from the
thousand petalled lotus, the elemental exercise of a Will that is omniscient and
omnipotent. It is the will that sees and acts simultaneously. What He wills fills
and fulfils itself in space and time. But it bides its time, unwarped by slushy
sentiment, unbiased by impatient hurry. And when it strikes, it is there for all
to see, like a column of light that unites the earth and the sky.
Baba's power is not the display of a siddhi attained after prodigious labour. It
scatters its silver and gold with a rare prodigality, giving people what they
want, till they begin to aspire for what Baba likes them to want. It is the
cascade of Vibhuti or holy ashes, endless, exhaust-less. It is the crystallisation
of lingam after lingam—spheroids of alabaster or jade—from the silk-soft lotus
leaves in the abdomen. It is the ceaseless oozing of honey from the heart of
granite itself. It is the descent of a succession of golden images of gods and
goddesses, from nowhere. It is the transformation of stray particles of sand on
a seashore into the divine image of Sri Krishna the reconstitution of water into
petrol. It is the profuse impouring of Vibhuti and the massing in of kunkum
behind the glass framed on the photograph, the foot-prints in holy ashes
leading to the worship room in a house and out of it. It is the flower moving
marvellously from the top of a photograph to its base, or whole garlands
aflutter, as if shaken by the wind. It is the tyrannical teacher glued to his chair
in the class, unable to rise unless he rises with it. It is the rain that suddenly
stops raining or the electric bulb that blazes with light when the whole area is
plunged in darkness. It is the shaft of light that hits you in the eye from a
photograph. All this is not magic. It is the magic of magics! Creation itself, for,
there is no hind of the magician there anywhere to be found. No wonder a
hippie said that he knew, now that he had met Baba, that the world was safe
from atom and hydrogen bombs. The atomic stock-piles of the great powers
might, at a strategic moment, lie de-fused in their vaults, with no hand
touching them at all.
This is Baba's elemental Power over Nature, which is incredible and yet as
clear as daylight. It becomes even more staggering when you remember that
these phenomena occur in thousands of homes simultaneously, though
removed thousands of miles from each other. It happened years ago, it
happens today with unabating vigour and it will continue to happen more
miraculously than ever.
Straight came the answer: "It's not my business. It may be your duty."
Baba is what He is. It is not for Him to proclaim from the housetops what He is.
But it becomes the duty of the devotee who has come to know Him and to
experience His effulgence, to tell the world what Baba is, if the devotee is
convinced that what He has experienced is the truth.
It is well known that Baba takes on critical attacks of illness by which His
devotes are afflicted. This has happened in a striking manner once when He
took on paralysis at Puttaparthi and again, when, in Goa, He took on acute
appendix resulting in peritonitis. To put it more precisely, these diseases come
on Him, rather than being taken on by Him. His body, like an Aeolian harp,
trembles in response to the call of those who love Him with a pure and intense
love it is a matter of sympathetic vibrations, for He is Love itself. What saves
His body from these fatal attacks is the immortal and unconquerable power of
this very Love.
There is another facet to Baba's power. As an American disciple said, Baba can
change the human heart. It is not merely a question of teaching yogic or
meditative practices. He brings about a transformation in a man's character
and personality. Thousands have been changed in this way by his compelling
sweetness, His ineffable love, casual word or look. His compassion can put on
the mask of harshness, when that becomes necessary.
Baba has declared that He is here in the flesh to restore India to her former
spiritual glory andto carry the message of spirituality to the whole of humanity
through her. He has said in categorical terms is that his labours in this
manifestation will not cease till his mission is over. I am one of those who
believe in Him and in the surety of His pledge. The question may be asked:
Why? On what grounds? My answer to that question is: I believe in Baba and in
the surety of His pledge, not because I am what I am, because Baba is what He
is.
sourced:
Dear all
B.J.RHAJKUMAR
Life is a Bridge over the Sea of changes.
Do not build a House on it.......Satya Sai Baba
Bridging dA gAp : rOhit beHaL
We are now going through the most difficult time in the age of mankind and this is
the most crucial hour where each and every one of us have an opportunity to carry out
a divine task. It is no longer the time for any one to work as an individual.. . no longer
the day for any of us to strive for our own achievements. We do not need to breed any
more ego within ourselves as we are already overflowing with it, from this life and
our previous ones.
Thus, the time has come for us to work with God... How do we do that? First, we
must surrender ourselves to Him... willingly, sincerely and completely.. . and allow
Him to take over our minds and our bodies. We must empty ourselves constantly.. .
unlearn all that we have learned before.... become a new-born baby... Then, we will
slowly open our eyes to a new level of consciousness.
This new beginning of who 'I' am is no longer the individual we were before. It is now
a more complete entity.... of both the physical body and the divinity within. We
become aware of our surroundings. .. more curious of every little detail... because
now we know that everything around us is God. We begin to feel the gentle breeze...
to hear the soft rustle of leaves... to see the beauty in colors all around us.... And we
acknowledge the magnificence of His mighty kingdom... Yet, at the same time, we are
aware that it is all emptiness... nothingness. .. so complete and whole... We also feel
every little heart beat... it is His divine energy glowing. And as we breathe in and
out... we begin to understand that this life-force within us is none other than God
Himself... 'God and I are One.'
Then, suddenly, the questions that had plagued us all these years comes rushing back
into our minds... 'Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going?' And slowly, the fog
begins to clear.... 'I am here today, not for myself, but for God... Everything I do
becomes His work. Every word I speak becomes His speech. All my thoughts are
His...'
When this realization starts to dawn upon us, our life will begin its transformation.
We will become more aware of our thoughts, words and deeds... because we know
that we are a reflection of God. We will have more faith in ourselves... more courage
to face challenges ahead... because we know that we are not alone in this journey.
'God is within me and I am in Him'... And as this new confidence begins to take root
in our hearts, we will experience peace and bliss... and we will be able to reach out to
help another lost soul...
That is the golden opportunity which lies in our hands today as Sai devotees... It is our
gift from Baba... A divine role in His mission. Make full use of your time from today
onwards to realize the purpose of your birth!
As long as man is attached to the body, he cannot get over the desire to possess
the objects that attract him. A man afflicted with the acquisitive impulse can
never get rid of worries. To overcome this attachment and possessiveness,
ancient sages tailored their educational system so that it promoted self-control.
Self-control also developed humility and thus, humility became the true index of
right education. Control of the senses is absolutely essential for achieving
humility, and education must promote such control.
In life, there are two aspects that have to be considered, rights and duties. Most
people are concerned only with their rights and engage in struggles to secure
them. Seldom do they recognise their responsibilities. This is true of all fields of
human activity - social, political, economic and even spiritual. Lack of self-control
is responsible for all this.
Men should regard their senses as potential enemies and not allow senses to have
their own way. They should be subject to one's control and direction. What is the
easiest way to achieve this mastery? Only the spiritual path. If there is real faith
and devotion in man, the senses would be powerless against him. It is the decline
in faith and devotion that has led man to become a slave of the senses.
The prompting of intellectual reasoning should not be identified with the dictates
of the Conscience. Rather, the directives should come from the Heart. When you
dive deep into a problem and enquire whether what you do is in the interests of
your friends and Society in general, your Conscience will give you the right
answer
Man is made up of three constituents, the body, the Mind and the Atma. Man
needs the body for performing actions. But, if the actions are done without using
the discriminating power of the Mind, man would be behaving like an animal,
which acts on impulse. Moreover, if the Mind, without relying on the eternal and
ever pure Atma, follows the demands of the body and the senses, the actions
would be demonic. Bereft of the influence of the Atma, the combination of the
Mind and the body can lead to demonic qualities. However, when one is installed
in the Atmic principle, transcending the body and the Mind, one attains the
Divine.
Hence, sanctify all your words, thoughts and deeds. Make your Heart pure so that
it becomes a worthy abode for the Divine.
An amazing photo and not one easily duplicated. You may want To
pass it on to others so they can enjoy it.
Gana
Unknowingly, you may create and develop in yourself an abounding variety of selfish
habits and attitudes that causes great discontent for oneself. The impulse for this
comes from the power complex, the greed for accumulating authority, domination,
power and the greed for things which can never be eternal and full. You may feel
elated that you are master of all arts or owner of all wealth or possessor of all
knowledge... From where did you acquire these? You may even claim that you
earned all this through your own efforts, labour and toil, but surely, you received it
from someone. The source from which all power originates is Sarweswara (Lord of
All). Omnipotence belongs only to the Lord of all beings. Ignoring the omnipotence
and deluding oneself that the little power that one has acquired is one's own is indeed
ahamkaara (selfishness, conceit, or pride). Ahamkaara causes grief and must be
uprooted from within. It will not subsist in an individual filled with genuine devotion,
recognized by the characteristics of kindness, love, patience, forbearance and
gratefulness. Seek therefore, to develop these virtues in you
The Grace of God cannot be won through the gymnastics of reason, the contortions of
Yoga or the denials of asceticism. Love alone can win it, Love that needs no requital,
Love that knows no bargaining, Love that is paid gladly, as tribute to the All Loving,
Love that is unwavering. Love alone can overcome obstacles however many and
mighty. There is no strength more effective than Purity, no bliss more satisfying than
Love, no joy more restoring than Bhakthi, no triumph more praiseworthy than
Surrender. The Gita says, you must be "adweshtaa sarva bhoothaanaam" , without
hatred to all beings; but, that is not enough. A wall has no hatred towards any being!
But is that the ideal? No, you must positively Love all beings, actively Love, actively
engage yourself in acts of Love. That alone wins the Grace you crave for.
Al Drucker : Well, it depends what you mean by life. You see, I believe that life is
eternal. Life has no meaning outside of truth, outside of oneness, outside of unity, and
so the purpose of these earthly lives is to awaken and to realise true life. Life on this
Earth is not life. This is death. To live in these bodies and to grow old and to get sick
and to suffer and to die, that is an investment in death, that has nothing at all to do
with life. Life is when you are free, life is when you are the light and give that light to
everyone. Life is when you become an overflowing cup of pure love, a cup that has to
be constantly shared. That’s life. If there ever was a purpose for this human life, it is
to drop all these insane ideas about life on Earth and to return to true life. That is
Swami’s mission as I see it.
"When we put our Cares in God's Hands,
He puts His Peace in our Hearts."......anOnymOus
Samadhi (self realization) is the ocean to which all Sadhana (spiritual practice) flows. Every trace of
name and form disappears in that Ocean. He who serves and he who receives the service, the one who
meditates and the one who is meditated upon - all such manifestations of duality is dispelled and
destroyed. One will not experience even the experience. This is to say, one will not be aware that he is
experiencing! This is the fruit of the highest meditation, the dearest moment of all those who yearn for
God. It is the sign that the grace of the Lord is fully upon that individual.
Sathya Saibaba Miracle-The Interchanged
Letters
By: Priya Devi R
When Baba came close to them, the dacoit handed over a letter to Him
which He threw it at the spiritual aspirant. When the aspirant gave his letter to
Baba, Baba just looked at the envelope and threw it at the dacoit. The letters
were thus interchanged.
After Baba's departure, a quarrel brewed between the dacoit and the
aspirant. The dacoit demanded his letter back from the aspirant, while the
latter refused saying that it was Baba's prasad for him. Soon a group gathered
around the two. The other devotees however intervened and passified the
dacoit. An old devotee opened the two letters. The letter given to the dacoit
which was actually the spiritual aspirant's contained a five hundred rupees
note and the other which which was given to the sadhaka (which was the
dacoit's original letter) contained a plain paper in which he (dacoit) had written
a petition on. The letters on the letter had vanished!
"I have given you 500 rupees for your travel and to fill your stomach on the
way.!”
The next day when Baba came for darshan, He addressed both the dacoit
and the aspirant. He told the dacoit, “You had faith in me that you wrote down
all your sins in a sheet of paper seeking forgiveness from me. You had written
that if I accepted the letter, you would take it as I have forgiven you. That is
why the paper that you gave has now come back to you after this quarrel as a
plain sheet sans the writing. This means that I have accepted your sins and
have forgiven you!”
Baba then looked at the spiritual aspirant and said, “You were here for 7
days, waiting for my darshan. Your money is now exhausted. You had
mentioned it in your letter. I have given you 500 rupees for your travel and to
fill your stomach on the way!”
Namaste –Reet
I am grateful to Bhagawan for educating me not only in His Institute, but in the
University of Life itself. Let us all pledge to play our humble roles in the Divine
Mission of Bhagawan.
"Do not grieve that the Lord is testing you and putting you to the ordeal of undergoing
them. For, it is only when you are tested that you can assure yourself of success or
become aware of your limitations. You can then concentrate on the subjects in which
you are deficient and pay more intensive attention, so that you can pass in them too,
when you are tested again. You should not study for the examination at the last
moment; study well in advance and be ready with the needed knowledge and the
courage and confidence born out of that knowledge and skill. What you have studied
well in advance must be rolled over and over in the mind, just previous to the
examination; that is all that should be done, then. This is the pathway to victory." -
Bhagawan Baba (Sanathana Sarathi, March 1963)