Offer God real flowers grown in the garden of your heart ~ Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba
Navaratri is a special time when the entire globe celebrates the freedom from impurities and upliftment of the spirit. Meditate during this time. Be immersed in devotion. What the consciousness loves is your unconditional love and devotion.
Samasta Lokha Sukhino Bhavantu
"To lead a happy life, man needs peace of mind. The mind is like the turbulent Ganga. It has to be restrained by the use of brakes, as in a fast-moving vehicle. Dhyana (meditation) is the brake devised for the control of the mind. Dhyana means one-pointed concentration. All the diseases, which afflict man, are the result of agitations in the mind. The enormous growth of disease in the world today is due to the loss of peace of mind. To get rid of illness and to lead a calm, healthy life, man has to cultivate mental peace."
~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~
(Food for Thought No. 1949)
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On the auspicious occasion of Navaratri, why should we begin worship and adoration at home first?
The life of a man who cannot respect and love his own mother is utterly useless. Recognising one's mother as the very embodiment of all divine forces, one must show reverence to her and treat her with love. This is the true message that the Navaratri, the nine-night festival gives us.
The supreme Shakti manifests herself in the form of Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. Durga grants us energy - physical, mental and spiritual. Lakshmi bestows on us wealth of many kinds - not just money but intellectual wealth, the wealth of character and others. Even health is a kind of wealth. She grants untold riches to us. And Saraswati bestows on us intelligence, the capacity for intellectual enquiry and the power of discrimination.
The Navaratri festival is celebrated to proclaim to the world the power of the goddesses. One's own mother is the combination of all these Divine Beings. She provides us energy, wealth and intelligence. She constantly desires our advancement in life. So she represents all the three goddesses that we worship during the Navaratri festival."
~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~
(Divine Discourse- 14.10.1988)
We may or may not worship other deities, but we must certainly worship our mother as God. - BABA
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"Love should be free from feelings of expectation of any return or reward. Love which arises out of a desire for something in return is not true love. Utterly selfless and motiveless love should be developed. This is the duty of mankind. You should not pray to God seeking favours. No one can know what immense precious and magnificent treasures lie in the treasure-house of divine grace."
~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~
(Divine Discourse - 9.10.1989)
“When we have a more compassionate mind, everything appears before us in a more positive light. If we employ our human intelligence warmly at heart, we create a happy atmosphere and foster a happy community.”
“Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.”
"The key to human happiness lies within our own state of mind, and so too do the primary obstacles to that happiness."
“To be aware of a single shortcoming within oneself is more useful than to be aware of a thousand in someone else. “
"Since we desire the true happiness that is brought about by a calm mind, and such peace of mind arises only from having a compassionate attitude, we need to make a concerted effort to develop compassion."
"If there is a way to free ourselves from suffering, we must use every moment to find it."
"Knowledge is important, but much more important is the use towards which it is put."
Samastha Lokha Sukhino Bhavanthu
There was a devotee who felt that Seetha was his sister and Raama his brother-in-law; he loved Raama as Krishna loved Arjun! He came to know that Seetha had gone into the forest following Raama in exile; he imagined the distress she must be suffering, for want of sandals in the thorninfested jungle paths and of a cot in the snake-infested depths of the forests.
So, he went about in the jungle, with a pair of sandals and a cot, calling out, "Sister! Seetha!" long after his throat had turned hoarse. This happened a few decades ago. He took the Raamaayana as a contemporary event.
Raama appeared before him and consoled him. He fell before Him and prayed that He should accept the sandals and cot from him and use them, pleading that Seetha cannot walk on the hard thorny ground, or rather, that he would not be happy until she used them. "My dear brother-in-law," he addressed Raama fondly. Raama accepted them and asked him to leave happily.
Offerings that are made with no defilement of egoism are gladly accepted by the Lord. If you feel proud or conceited, even the most fragrant flowers placed at the Feet of the Lord will be rejected by Him as unbearably stinking.
(From the Divine Discourses of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba)
"We always have enough time to talk, to visit the cinema, etc. There is certainly time for meditation. Early morning is the best time. The mind is quiet and there is no pressure of responsibility. There are difficulties during the day. People are around and there is work. If meditation is attempted, even the work may suffer. Real meditation is getting absorbed in God as the only thought and the only goal."
~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~
(Food for Thought No. 1973)
"All attachment arises at one stage - between mother and son, husband and wife, and son on - and drops away at another stage. Divine love (prema) is something completely different. God is eternal - existing before one's birth and continuing after one's death. The divine is without a beginning or an end. True love means the love of God."
~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~
(Divine Discourse - 4.10.1992)
Why is it important to show our gratitude to Nature? As we observe the festival of Dasara, Bhagawan reminds us today of this important aspect.
"Mountains help man to build houses by using stone slabs quarried from them. Trees provide the timber for constructing houses and also firewood for domestic use. Among animate beings, every creature, from an ant to an elephant, is of assistance to man in one way or another. Cows provide nourishing milk to man. Bullocks are useful for ploughing the fields and helping to grow food crops. All other creatures like birds, fish, sheep and others are serving man in different ways. Seen in this light it will be clear that all things in creation are helpful to man in leading his life.
Thus man is deriving innumerable debt from Nature. But what is the gratitude he is showing to Nature? What gratitude is he offering to the Divine? He is forgetting the Divine who is the provider of everything. That is the reason for his becoming a prey to various difficulties and calamities. While he is receiving countless gifts from Providence, he is offering nothing in return to Nature or God. When we are enjoined to return good for evil, how unbecoming is it to fail even to return good for good?"
~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~
(Divine Discourse - 12.7.1988)
Man is not learning the great lessons Nature is teaching him. The foremost lesson is doing service with no expectation of return. - BABA
