Om Namah Shivaya!

 

15th February 2026

Visualise Shiva as the Inner Power of All

"You have given up even the little sadhana that Shivarathri demands. In olden times, people will not put even a drop of water on their tongues, this day. Now, that rigour is gone. They used to keep vigil at night, the entire night, without a wink of sleep, repeating Om Namasshivaya without intermission. 

Now, the name Shiva is on no one's tongue. But, those who deny God are only denying themselves and their glory. All have Love in them, in some form or other, towards some one or other or their work or goal. That Love is God, a spark of the God in them. They have Anandha (bliss) however small or temporary and that is another spark of the Divine. They have inner peace, detachment, discrimination, sympathy, the spirit of service. These are Divine in the mirror of their minds.

Resolve, on this Holy Shivarathri, in the Presence of Shiva Sai, to visualise the Shiva as the inner power of all. With each breath, you are even now, asserting "Soham," "I am He," not only you, but, every being that breathes, every being that lives, everything that exists. It is a fact which you have ignored so long. Believe it from now on. When you watch your breath and meditate on that magnificent Truth, slowly, the I and the He (the Sah and the Aham) will draw nearer and closer, until the feeling of separateness will fade away - and the Soham will be transformed into OM, the Pranava, the Primal Sound, the Fundamental Formula for God. That OM is the Swaswaruupa - the Reality behind this "relative reality."

~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~

(February 1969)

Gems of Wisdom

 

Maha Shivarathri A Most Powerful Night

 

Mastery of the Senses

 

"A person will be caught up in "negative" behaviour as long as they identify themselves with the body.  The moment they consider themselves master of the senses, their actions will be "positive".  Mastery of the senses leads to liberation.  Liberation is not something to be achieved in the afterlife.  The striving for liberation must begin early in life and continue throughout life."

~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~

(February 15, 1998)

Sai Madhuryam

 

Without Charity and Righteousness,

Devoid of Truth and Compassion,

With a mind bereft of scruples

And filled with bad impulses,

The evil minded man fares ill

Here and Hereafter.

Oh foolish mind!

Seeking the Vision of the Divine

Where do you wander in vain?

What you seek is within you,

Know that truth.

~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~

Develop Faith

"If you have a strong desire to see God, contemplate on Him with unwavering faith.  Then you can certainly see Him.  Never doubt His existence.  He exists for those who believe in His existence and does not exist for those who deny His existence.  He acts according to your feelings.  So develop faith in Him." 

~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~

(February 10, 2000)

How to Experience Nearness and Dearness to God

How can we experience nearness and dearness to God? Bhagawan explains with a precious pearl of an illustration from the Ramayana today.

"To be good, to do good and to see good is the primary duty of every human being! The wealth we may earn, the prosperity we may acquire, and the mansions we may build are all transient and temporary. Our conduct is the most important thing in our life. Our conduct is the one which lays the foundation for our future life. It is only when we can shape our present conduct along a proper path that our future can hopefully be peaceful and happy. 

In this context, take a small incident from the Ramayana as an example. Sita, wanting to be close to Rama, was willing to sacrifice all her ornaments, her wealth and every one of her possessions. Because of this supreme sacrifice, it was possible for her to go close to Rama. But in the forest at Panchavati, the moment Sita developed anattraction to the golden deer, Rama became distant from her. 

If our worldly desires and worldly attachments become stronger, we move further away from God. If we cut out the worldly desires, we get closer and closer to Paramatma!"

~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~

(Divine Discourse -  May 19, 1977)

If you wish to become eligible for God’s Love, then your actions must be consistent with Love. – BABA

House vs. Home

What truly makes a house a home? 

"In the Kali Age, man has acquired great fame, riches and comforts, but he lacks peace and a sense of security. The reason for this sorrow is the lack of patience and sympathy (sahana and sahanubhuti) amongst the members of the family living in a house. 

Why does man lack these two qualities? The rise in selfishness and the use of intelligence for one’s own self-interests has brought about this decline. Man has become selfish, and he no longer thinks of contributing to others’ happiness. Patience and sympathy are like the life force for a man, akin to inhalation and exhalation. A man without these can be considered lifeless. Having acquired a number of degrees and having amassed wealth, what has man really achieved? 

What every man in a family should aspire to achieve are the two virtues of patience and sympathy. Today, they build a house with four walls and call it a home. However, it was not so in the olden days. Five to six families lived together in a small hut peacefully, and it became a home. 

There is a lot of difference between a house and a home. When there is sahana and sahanubhuti among members of the family, it is home. Because of the absence of these, the bhavanam (house) has become vanam (forest).

~Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~

(Divine Discourse - October 2, 2000)

The home is the temple where the family, each member of which is a moving temple, is nurtured and nourished. – BABA

Sai Blossoms

"If you have a strong desire to see God, contemplate on Him with unwavering faith.  Then you can certainly see Him.  Never doubt His existence.  He exists for those who believe in His existence and does not exist for those who deny His existence.  He acts according to your feelings.  So, develop faith in Him."

~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~

(February 10, 2000)

Gems of Wisdom

 

✍️ Peace Begins with Accepting What Is - Peace is already with us, quietly waiting. But we have forgotten it because we are too busy struggling against what is, wishing things were different, refusing to accept our circumstances as they are.

When we do not accept what is—when we fight reality, resist our circumstances, insist that things should be different before we can have peace—we cannot live peacefully in this present moment. We struggle in our minds, trapped between what is and what we wish would be.

And with that struggle, we cannot walk forward. We become stuck, frozen by our refusal to accept, unable to take the next step because we're too busy fighting the ground we're standing on.

This is true whether we have a little or a lot. If we hold just a bread in our hand and accept that this is what we have today, we can be at peace. We can breathe. We can take the next step. But if someone gives us gold and diamonds and we cannot accept that it's not more, we will always struggle, always suffer, always be unable to move forward.

It all depends on whether we can accept what is right here, right now.

Acceptance doesn't mean we stop working to improve our lives. It doesn't mean we pretend everything is fine or give up on change. It means we stop adding mental suffering to our circumstances by refusing to acknowledge them as they are. It means we make peace with this moment so we have the clarity and energy to move forward.

When we accept what is—simply acknowledging reality without resistance—something shifts. The struggle eases. Our minds quiet. And suddenly, we can see the path forward. We can take the next step with a calm heart instead of a turbulent mind.

Peace begins here, with accepting what is. Not fighting it. Not pretending it's different. Just accepting it with mindfulness, so we can walk peacefully forward from where we are.

May we all find the peace that comes from acceptance. May we stop struggling against what is and start walking peacefully from where we are.

May you and all beings be well, happy, and at peace.

(#WalkforPeace #BuddhistMonks #PeaceWalk)