Happy New Year

May your new year be filled

with peace, joy and love.

Jai Sai Ram.

Satisfaction of Parents

"Satisfaction of parents is what pleases me.

I do not require anything.

When you make your parents happy,

I am also happy."

~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~

(Divine Discourse - 19.11.98)

Celestial Poems of Sathya Sai Baba

When things go topsy-turvy,

Never get agitated and disturbed.

If you can smile gaily, leaving all worry,

That is a sure sign of maturity.

~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~

A Little Smile ...

A little smile, a word of cheer,

Lots of love. lots of kindness,

From home to home,

From heart to heart,

May this Christmas bring us all

closer together!

Faith...Hope..Love

Faith makes all things possible;

Hope makes all things work;

Love makes all things beautiful.

May you have all three for this Christmas!

Have A Blessed Christmas

May your Christmas be filled with

Swami's Love and Blessings

~ Divine Blossoms ~

Love - Conclusion - Spiritualization of Life

Sincere spiritualization of life will invoke in us a

sense of well being, a sense of deep satisfaction,

prompting us to live the human values of sathya,

dharma, shanti, prema and ahimsa.

In short, living in love comes naturally through

spiritualization of life.

The more we live in love and the more selfless service

we render, the greater will be the rewards of

the ecstatic state of spiritual love.

Most of us will certainly stumble and fall again and again;

but no sincere effort at transformation has ever failed

to bring grace upon us in a never-ending stream of love,

giving us courage, strength, and the will to get up and

move forward towards Light, Peace, Love ...God.

(From the book "Love" by Sudha Geethanath)

Love (Pt.6) - Invaluable to Live in Love

Invaluable to live in love.

Moderation in speech lessens our thoughts and internal dialogue

and keeps us free from needless worry and tension.

Thus free, introspection becomes easier.

As we connect with the soothing solitude of our inner self,

we are drawn into an inexplicable ethereal silence.

Heavenly peace descends, blanked in the warm glow

of Divine Light and Love.

Then living in Love becomes a possible reality.

Letting go and contentment become easier with the

spiritualization of life. Meditation, namasmarana or

conversing with our chosen God makes Him

a real presence in our life.

Awareness dawns that God is our Divine Parent,

our Friend and Guide - our Security Blanket

when the going gets rough.

From the book "Love: by Sudha Geethanath)

The Body is Impermanent

"The body is impermanent. But it is the abode of the indwelling spirit.

It is a shrine and when it moves, the Divine moves with it.

Hence the body should be cared for in the same way in which

an iron safe, which is of little value in itself, is safeguarded

for the sake of valuables kept in it."

~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~

(S.S. March 1996)

Love (Pt.5) -The Road to Love - Heal Thyself

To love others, it is imperative that we heal ourselves first.

Healing is a two-pronged process:

i. Honest, realistic assessment of ourselves with a view

to purging the self of any negativity.

ii. Sincere acceptance of others for what they are,

born of the belief that nobody is perfect.

World is a mirror. Awareness that the world is but a reaction, reflection

and resound of our own action, that the world is a mirror held

before us.

Loving the world for what it is, forgetting the good done

to others by us, and the bad done to us by others.

(From the book "Love" by Sudha Geethanath)

Whoever You Are ...

"Whoever you are, you are Mine.

I will not give you up.

Wherever you are, you are near Me.

You cannot go beyond My reach."

~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~

(From: "Tapovanam")

Love (Pt.4) - The Road to Love - Contentment

We just saw how wonderful life becomes when we live in . And the stumbling blocks to loving.

So what must we do to live in love?

Here are a few pointers.

Why be like the proverbial monkey who refused to let go the peanuts held in his fist inside the pot and paid with his life?

Let go! True freedom comes from contentment born of minimum wants.

Contentment:

Contentment leads to peace and peace to love. Therefore, contentment is vital to live in love.

For contentment, it is imperative that we:

(a) adhere to the ethical code of conduct. It keeps the conscience clean.

(b) Work sincerely, it gives satisfaction.

(d) Count and name the blessings received, for it makes us aware of, and trust in, the ever protective Hand of our Divine Father.

(e) Finally, it is imperative that we put a ceiling on desires, for insatiable desires cause discontentment, making self live by getting and forgetting.

(From the book "Love" by Sudha Geethanath)

God is ...

Once a King wanted to know the answers to three questions about which he had been contemplating for a long time. One day the King raised these questions in the Court Hall.

The questions were:

Where is God? In which direction does He cast His look?

What does He do?

None could answer these questions. The King summoned with due honour a sage to his court. He asked the sage to answer these questions.

The sage replied: "Like butter in the milk, God is everywhere."

To answer the second question, the sage asked for a lamp and asked the King: "In which direction does the lamp shed its light?" "The lamp sheds its light in all directions," replied the King. The sage said: "God is Effulgence itself and His vision is not directed to a particular place or person. He is all seeing."

The King asked: "What does He do?" The sage said: "Since I am in a way instructing you in spiritual matters, I am in the position of a preceptor, you a disciple. So we have to exchange places. Are you prepared for this?" The King agreed to this and came down from his elevated position and sat on the seat on which the sage sat.

The sage said with a twinkle in his eyes: "This is what God does. He brings down the mighty and elevates the humble. He can make the poor rich and the rich poor. He can do anything. He is all pervading. He is all seeing and omnipotent."

The King was very much pleased with these answers. He expressed his gratitude to the sage and honoured him in a fitting manner.

Like the King in the story, everyone of us should try to understand the true characteristics of God. God is Omnipresent, Omniscient and Omnipotent.

(Chinna Katha by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba)

Truth

Truth is only as real

as your delusions allow it to be -

just as the full moon is only as bright

as the dark clouds hiding it allow it to shine.

It is only either this or that -

Do you want more light of the Truth,

or do you prefer the darkness of ignorance?

We make this choice all the time -

from moment to moment.

(The Daily Enlightenment)