Offer God real flowers grown in the garden of your heart ~ Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba
One may have mastered the Vedantic text
And perfected the art of expounding them;
If his mind is not well filled with good qualities,
His scholarship is like the crop grown on barren soil.
If you cannot comprehend the Swami in front of you
And wander in search of God all over,
You are like the man who went in quest of ghee
While having butter in his hand.
~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~
Swami also told us about the evening stroll that President Kalam took around Prasanthi Nilayam. The police could not keep pace with him. He went on saying "Sai Ram, Sai Ram" to everyone there in the sheds. When he came inside the Sai Kulwant Hall, he said to the police "Please go away. Let me see the hall - how beautiful it is." This then, is a no-mind. Not once did he flaunt his power and position.
So one has to forget one's qualifications, status and influence and feel that we are nothing. As long as we feel that we are "something", the situation is incorrigible. An attitude of "I am nothing in front of God" is the true egoless state.
On his return to Delhi, the President wrote a letter of thanks in which he told Bhagavan, "It is only in Prasanthi Nilayam that I experienced the highest peace of mind. Only there - nowhere else."
Then there is the gesture of Army General Padamanabhan, the then Chief of the Indian Army. He came to see Bhagawan and requested for a simple job in Prasanthi Nilayam after his retirement.
To feel that "I am nobody" is the state of the mastermind. We see Swami helping a sick person to walk to the dais. He assists a person holding his hand and directing him into the interview room.
God is not a position or a status. Indeed, God is a quality of life, not a commodity. Further, God is not a person. If that were so, we will want to influence and manage Him. When we think of God as an object, we want to possess Him. Hence, one cannot possess, acquire or manipulate or own or disown God because all said and done, we are God. That is the simple truth.
Therefore, God is not a goal but God is a pilgrimage. God is a journey.
It is our prayer to Bhagawan to help us to master our minds. We do not know what havoc our mind is creating. We may not know how bad we have become because of our identification with the mind. We do not know how egoistic we have become, how restless, how frustrated we are, because of the mind.
We pray to Bhagawan to help us to know the stumbling blocks - that "iron curtain" of the mind. We pray to the Lord to break it, to cut it off, so that we will be totally humble, completely egoless, all-loving, all-surrendering unto the Lotus Feet of the Lord.
(From the book "Sai-Chology" by Prof. K. Anil Kumar)
"Life is a short and fast-flowing chance. You will have to put every minute to the best use, to discover your own reality, which gives you the highest joy. Do not spend time inquiring about the whence and wherefore of others. Inquire about yourselves."
~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~
(Loving Pearl No 1556)
You have to offer yourself completely to God. Only then can you become one with Him - BABA
"To a superficial observer, life appears to be a rotation of eating and drinking, toiling and sleeping. But verily life has a much greater meaning, a deeper significance. Life is a sacrifice (yajna). Each little act is an offering to the Lord. If the day is spent in deeds performed in this spirit of surrender, what else can sleep be except total immersion in the Godhead (samadhi)?
People commit the great fault of identifying themselves with the body. People accumulate a variety of things for the upkeep and comfort of the body. Even when the body becomes weak and decrepit with age, people attempt to bolster it by one means or another. But how long can death be postponed? When Yama’s warrant comes, each must depart. Position, pride, and power - all vanish before death.
Realising this, strive day and night, with purity of body, mind and spirit, to realise the Higher Self by the service of all living beings. The body must be preserved as a vehicle for this service. Remember, you are not this body; this body cannot be you! "
~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~
(Ch.6 Prema Vahini)
An old lady staying in the Nilayam had gone to her native village which lay astride the road that Baba had to pass through, when he goes up to the place or comes down from it. She had plans to halt his car on His return drive and to offer Him hospitality in her own home. But when she learnt that Baba had reached Prasanthi Nilayam, she had hurried back.
While Baba was conversing from verandah on the first floor with a small bunch of visitors ( among whom I had smuggled myself) standing on the ground, she stood at a short distance from us and complained aloud, "Swami! How did your car come through our village without being noticed? Our men were watching at both ends night and day. No car was seen.”
Even as Baba was chuckling in amusement at her plight, we heard the chuckle behind us, for Baba was right behind us. “You see, I have come from there to here; when I can do this, can I not skip your village unseen, car and all? Time and space dare not bind me,” He said.
We stood aghast at this Revelation. I sensed a tug in my heart. I fell at His feet. His face was dazzlingly divine…”
(From: "Loving God" by Prof. N. Kasturi)
"Two people, the same in appearance, ostensibly of the same mould, grow under the same conditions, but one turns out to be an angel while the other stays on with their animal nature. What's the reason for this differential development? Habits! Behaviour formed out of habits and the character into which that behaviour has solidified. People are creatures of character!"
~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~
(Ch.5 Prema Vahini)
When you are alone, mind your thoughts.
When you are with friends, mind your tongue.
When you are angry, mind your temper.
When you are with a group, mind your behaviour.
When you are in trouble, mind your emotions.
When God starts blessing you, mind your ego.
******
Bhagawan: Here it is not time that matters. An iron ball in a pond, however long it might stay there, will never change. It will remain as it is without any change in it. You should know that it is transformation that is important. It is the goal you set for yourself that matters most. Until then, you should pursue your goal not mindful of the time involved.
You know a lamp has a container, a wick and oil. With a wick kept for long in water, you can never light a lamp even if you use any number of matchsticks. Impossible! What you should do is, take the wick out of water, keep it in sunshine for some time and dry it. Then you will be able to light the wick easily.
Here the process of drying the wick in sunlight is renunciation. The procedure of lighting it with a matchstick is sadhana and the light you get thereby is devotion or intense Love for God. The lamp is the human body. The same process is applicable to those who are not devoted, as you have said. The more they are drenched and drowned in worldly life, the farther they are from God, the source of all light; they can never light the lamp of their life. Dry it in the sunshine of detachment so as to be benefited by the light of devotion.
Some people in spite of a prolonged period of stay and association are not devoted as much as they should be, for the simple reason they lack detachment from worldly things. Therefore, intense devotion is not given to everybody.
(From the book "Satyopanisad" Vol. 1 by Prof. K. Anil Kumar)
"There are three type of devotees who come to Me. One, is he who only wants My Physical proximity and only runs for my physical form. The second, is one who knows I am everywhere, but he still wants a physical interaction, and a third, is the type of a devotee who feels Me, lives with Me all the time. He is not bothered about the physical body. It is for you to decide into which category you should belong to."
~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~
"Time does not wait for anybody. Human beings must follow time, but time will not follow them. Time is always pravahika (flowing). Even while enjoying this objective world, we must always discharge our assigned duty in life with intense vairagya (devoid of attachment)."
~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~
(Loving Pearl no. 1526)
"Anxiety is removed by faith in the Lord; the faith that tells you that whatever happens is for the best and that the Lord's Will be done. Quiet acceptance is the best armour against anxiety, not the acceptance of the heroic. Sorrow sprigs from egoism, the feeling that you do not deserve to be treated so badly, that you are left helpless. When egoism goes, sorrow disappears. Ignorance is just a mistake, mistaken identity of the body as the Self!"
~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~
(SSS Vol. l April 1957)
I am never alone,
You and I are never apart
For my soul is Your home,
You live inside my heart.
Baba you are my very breath,
No one will ever love me like Sai,
My Lord You are everything,
My Lord you are my life!
(English bhajan)
~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba
(Divine Discourse at Poornachandra Auditorium on 27-9-1987)
The next day also, the author was serious because it is difficult to forget such things. We react when our ego is blasted because of our underlying false personality created from our imagination. As the author was sitting there, Swami threw a rose flower, which fell into the author's lap.
In the evening discourse, Swami commented, "When I say certain things, some are feeling hurt." Finally He said, "Because I love you, I choose to correct you. Because I love you, I consider you as Mine. So I have concern for you. If I had no concern, I would not need to correct anybody. You can go on your own way. Because I consider all of you as My children, I have concern and so I want to correct you."
Then Swami said, "God will not look at serious faces." Baba was obviously referring to the author's serious face. Baba will never look at gloomy or unhappy faces and hence we have to keep smiling all the time. That is the message of Bhagawan Baba. We must realise that life is laughter and bliss, never seriousness.
(From the book "Sai-chology" by Prof. K. Anil Kumar)
There is a story in the Classics to illustrate the worth of the name Râma.
Sage Prachetas once composed a text with verses numbering hundred crores! The three worlds competed among themselves to take the entire text. The struggle assumed calamitous proportions and so God brought them together and persuaded them to accept a third each, that is to say, each world (Heaven, Earth and the Underworld) received thirty-three crores, thirty-three lakhs, thirty-three-thousand and three-hundred-thirty-three verses each.
One verse remained undivided. It had thirty-two syllables in all. So, when it too was allotted among three co-sharers, at the rate of ten syllables each, two syllables were left over. How could two be divided among three? So, God decided that they be adored and received by all three worlds equally -- the syllables were 'Ra' and 'Ma', making up the priceless key to salvation: Râma!
Râma is the bee that sucks the honey of devotion from the lotus of the heart. The bee loosens the petals of the flower it sits upon; but Râma adds to its beauty and fragrance. He is like the Sun, which draws the water to itself by its rays and accumulating it as cloud, sends it back as rain to quench the thirst of earth. Râma, the mystic potent sound, is born in the navel and it rises up to the tongue and dances gladly thereon.
The Vedic declaration 'thath-thvam-asi' (That-thou-art) is enshrined in the word Râma, which consists of three sounds: 'Raa' - 'aa' and 'ma'. Of these 'Ra' is the symbol of 'Thath' (That; Brahman, God); 'Ma' is the symbol of 'Thvam' (Thou; jîvî, individual) and 'aa' that connects the two is the symbol of the identity of the two.
(From the Divine Discourses of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba)
"Where is God? When the students sit for their meals, before taking food, they recite a mantra. But they make no effort to understand its meaning.
"Brahmaarpanam Brahmahavih
Brahmaagnau Brahmanaahutham
Brahmaiva thena ganthavyam
Brahma Karma Samaadhinaa. "
This prayer is chanted and the food is offered to Brahma. Where is Brahmam? The answer is given in the sloka:
"Aham Vaisawaanaro Bhutvaa
Praaninaam deham Aasritah
Praanaapaana Samaayuktah
Pachaamyannam Chaturvidham."
"You simpleton! I am residing within you in the form of Vaiswaanara. If I am not within you as the digestive fire, you will die from indigestion. The four kinds of food you eat are being digested by Me."
~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~
(Discourse at the Institute Auditorium at Brindavan on 21.5-1991)
Human birth is meant to experience divinity and not to crave for fleeting pleasure - BABA
"The true devotee always dwells in God, and has no time to know or feel welfare or worries. Attaining the Lord is the one and only idea in the mind. It is hard to understand this nature, except by examples.
A small child runs about in fear shouting, “mommy, mommy!”, searching for its missing mother. The mother takes the child in her arms and places it on her lap. The child stops crying and is free from all fear. But can the child calculate and find out the difference between its previous state and its present relief? No. Nor is it necessary to do so.
Also, the one who seeks always to serve the Lord will immerse themself in God when the glorious chance comes. In that Presence, no anxiety or trouble can disturb a person. Anxiety and trouble pester only until the moment of attainment; then, all attention is diverted to the experience. The past struggle and travails are forgotten.
Therefore, aspirants and devotees must ignore and forget all the thousand troubles that have gone before and be engaged only in the thoughts of the Lord."
~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~
(Prashanti Vahini Ch. 8)
Verily the light that illumines all the hearts is Divine,
The love that emanates from each call is Divine.
Break not the Divine command in your intellectual conceit
For pride surely goeth before a fall.
All education that is devoid of spiritual purity
Is replete with hatred and envy,
Like a dark dwelling infested with bats,
Know this to be the truth.
~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~
"In man's life, relationships, like mother and wife, are intermediate occurrences of a temporary nature. They come and go, like passing clouds. The entire human life is like an ocean in which attachments and aversions, likes and dislikes, come and go like waves. In our daily life, we are all the time involved in the pursuit of endless desires and are immersed in sorrows. It must be realised that in such a life, spirituality is like a beacon that beckons man to a higher life."
~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~
(Loving Pearl No. 1541)
(From the book "Divine Directions" by Prof. K. Anil Kumar)
When you perform an activity as an offering to the Lord, your good, the higher good, and the highest good (swartha, parartha, and paramartha) - all become one - BABA
Every action in daily life should be turned into an act of devotion to God.
In Kashi (Benares) the municipal authorities appointed some persons to light the street lights. A sadhaka (spiritual aspirant) was one such employee. He had to fill the lamp with oil and fix a chimney to protect the flame. He used to go to every lamp singing the glory of Rama and cleaning the chimney and lighting the lamp while singing. The municipal authorities noticed that the lamps in the streets in which the sadhaka was lighting the lamps were shining brighter than those elsewhere.
They found that a great devotee was lighting the lamps with devotion to God and this accounted for their exceptional brilliance.
The moral of this story is that when you do any act in a spirit of dedication, as an offering to God, you can experience joy and find fulfillment.
~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~
(Divine Discourse - 13.7.1984)
Seeing me, a girl of about 10 years of age came to me and said, "Sir, please buy these pens, I will give you 4 pens for $5. I am very hungry, I will get something to eat."
There was a little boy with her too, maybe her brother.
I said, "Well I don't need a pen."
Her next question was very sweet, "Then how will we get something to eat?"
I said, "I don't want a pen, but you will definitely eat something."
I had two packets of biscuits in my bag. I took out both the packets, and handed one to each of them. But I was surprised beyond limit when she returned one packet and said, "Sir! One is enough! We will share it."
I was utterly surprised to hear this!
I said again, "It's okay, you keep both. It doesn't matter."
That girl's reply shook me to my core, my soul. She said, "Then what will you eat, Sir?"
In this world, where people earning millions of dollars keep humanity aside and rob people wildly in the name of success, a hungry girl taught me the ultimate lesson of humanity.
(Author unknown)
Bhagawan: As you rightly deserve, you get this opportunity. But you need to note one important point. The Bhagavad Gita says ksine punye martyalokam vis'anti, which means that the merit accrued is exhausted with the passage of time. You will have to return to the earth even from the highest of heavens.
One example. You know that some of your representatives are elected as legislators and some as members of the parliament. How long does their term last? Only five years. Does it not? Their term is for five years after which they have to go back to their constituencies. But as legislators parliamentarians and people's representatives, if they frequently visit their constituencies, meet the electorate and render service to the voters who elected them to those positions, they can contest elections again and return to the assembly or parliament as the case may be for another term. Similarly, while enjoying the present golden opportunity, you can still work for its continuity by satkarma, doing good deeds, sadalocana, entertaining good thoughts and satsang, joining good company.
~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba
(From the book "Satyopanisad" Vol. 1 by Prof. K. Anil Kumar)
"Everyone has five advisors in life. They are: who, when, where, what and how. Before undertaking any action, answers should be obtained for these questions. When the correct answers are obtained, the actions based on them will be the right ones."
~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~
(Loving Pearl No. 1532)
Once upon a time, a monk wearing the ochre robe chanced to enter a village full of atheists; he fell in with a gang of defiant youths who challenged him to show them that the God whom he was adoring actually existed. He said, he can, but before doing so, he asked for a cup of milk. When the milk was placed before him, he did not drink it; but, sat looking at it, long and silently, with increasing curiosity.
The youths became impatient; their clamour became insistent. The monk told them: "Wait a minute. I am told that there is butter in milk; but, I must say this cup does not have it, for I do not see any of it, however hard I look into it!"
The fellows laughed at his innocence and said, "Silly man! Don't rush into such absurd conclusions. Milk has butter in every drop; that is what makes it so nourishing. If you must see it as a separate concrete entity, you have to boil the milk, cool it, add sour curd, wait for some hours for it to curdle, then, churn it and roll the butter that floats into a ball."
"Ah", said the monk, "That makes my task of showing you God much easier! God is in everything, being atom of the universe; it is because of this that they exist and we can cognise them and enjoy them. To see Him as a concrete entity, you have to follow a prescribed procedure, earnestly, strictly and sincerely. Then, at the end of it all, you can experience His Grace and His Glory."
The waves were slowly and systematically, carrying towards the shore a bit of straw, passing it on from one crest to another, until it was deposited on land! The sea is a broad expanse, it is deep and mighty. But yet, it is constantly engaged in cleaning itself from all extraneous things. It knows that you must not neglect a desire, for the simple reason that it is a menial straw. Force it back, on to the shore, where it can do no harm.
Eternal vigilance is the price of peace and happiness. Dakshinamurty exclaimed, "Wonderful! The Sea has taught me a great lesson" - the lesson that danger lurks, when desire raises its head."
~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~
(Divine Discourse - 29.7.1969)
On the ground sits a bird
That's too afraid to fly.
Beautiful wings could make it soar,
But the pain of past failure is its lonesome cry.
God has said unto this bird,
"Trust and have faith in me,
for I will carry you in your flight.
The miracle of life is waiting for you to see."
The bird said to God, "But I can't fly.
I am weak. I will fall and feel pain.
It's happened before when I tried to fly.
I'm afraid of being hurt again."
His voice soft and reassuring, God said to the bird,
"I created you, and I will protect you.
Your lonesome cry I have heard.
Have faith in me. That's all you need to do.
So, stand up, bird, and spread your wings.
The wings I lovingly created to let you fly.
If you fall I'll pick you up,
And lift you back into the sky."
With trembling legs and unsure wings,
The bird finally looked to the sky.
It took a deep breath and took the chance.
The bird began to fly.
"Thank you, God, for believing in me.
Thank you for giving me wings.
Thank you for your protecting hands.
Your glory I will now sing."
God smiled unto the bird
In its majestic flight.
"Little bird, I'll always be with you,
And will protect you with all my might.
You may stumble. You may fall.
That doesn't mean that I don't care.
I will watch over you in case you need help,
And then I'll be right there."
The little bird, once so scared,
Learned to soar to new heights.
The occasional fall no longer scared the bird,
Choosing to have faith in God's flight.
~ Heather Flood ~
Family Friend Poems, Dec 2012.
"Love for the Divine is devotion. Devotion is not something objective and concrete. It is an inner experience which springs from the heart. As you think, so you become. Hence, the heart must be filled with good feelings. The senses must be engaged in good actions. When the eyes are turned towards God, all creation appears Divine. When you wear the right kind of spectacles, you see everything clearly. But if the glasses are not correct, you get a distorted picture and your eyes are spoilt. Likewise, if your heart is filled with love of God, all your feelings are sanctified by that love. Other undesirable thoughts drop away. Devotees pray to the Lord to come and reside in their pure and tranquil hearts. Where the heart is impure, there is no room for God."
~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~
(Divine Discourse - 9.1.1988)
~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba
(Divine Discourse - 19.1.1986)
Bhagawan is so considerate. He gives us time to change. He will not chastise you if you do not change immediately. Bhagawan says, "Past is past, at least from this day make a change." At lease practise one or two things. What a true democrat He is. He is not a dictator telling you to do all twenty points at once. He is so broad-minded, sympathetic and understanding hat He wants you to practise only one or two things.
If one good quality is practised, the rest will follow in succession. Similarly, one had habit will be followed by several other evil practices. Therefore, let us make a humble beginning at some stage or other. Let's not aim to be a saint or sage. We can say only that we are a little better than before.
Bhagawan once said, "I am in search of devotees, I am in search." The population of the world is huge. Devotees from 110 countries come here. The auditorium is always full but still God says, "I am in search of a devotee." Does it mean He does not look at us? No! It only means that He is waiting for a devotee who will practise all of His teachings."
(From the book "Divine Directions" by Prof. K. Anil Kumar)
See no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil:
Bear in mind the image of the three monkeys
Which impart this message.
There is no wiser counsel than this.
Studying thoroughly the Vedantic texts
And becoming an expert in expounding them,
Without cultivating good qualities,
Can a person be a true human being at all?
~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~
"Let every word that you utter be a mantra and every step you take be a pradakshina (circumambulating God). Instead of leading such a sacred life, man is wasting his time and energy in amassing wealth. Due to excessive desire, his life becomes a zero."
~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~
(Loving Pearl No. 1529)
Let us dedicate this day to our Guru, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba by remembering Him with gratitude and by reflecting on His teachings and putting them into daily practice.
HAPPY GURU POORNIMA
3rd July 2023
Peace is essential for sharpness of intellect. Haste and worry confuse the intelligence - BABA
"One must always have calm thoughts. Only then can one’s mind have equanimity. It is just a question of the discipline of the mind — difficult in the beginning, but once mastered, capable of conquering all troubles and worries!
An unruffled mind is very necessary for every aspirant who is marching forward; it is a very beneficial quality. Such a mind gives real strength and happiness. Strive to gain it. Even if calamity befalls, you should not lose heart. The mind must ever be pure, untarnished, and calm, full of courage.
No weeping for the past, no faltering in performance of task at hand - that’s the mark of an aspirant. Elation at profit, joy, and cheer; dejection at loss and misery - these are natural characteristics common to all mortals. What, then, is the excellence of aspirants? They should not forget the principle: Be vigilant and suffer the inevitable gladly.
When difficulties and losses overwhelm you, do not lose heart and precipitate some action, but meditate calmly on how they came to be. Try to discover some simple means of overcoming or avoiding them, in an atmosphere of peace."
- Sri Sathya Sai Baba
(Prashanti Vahini Ch.6)
