Thought for the Day - April & May 2005

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Thought for the Day - April & May 2005As written at Prasanthi Nilayam

http://saibabalinks.org/tftd/2005/may.htmhttp://saibabalinks.org/tftd/2005/april.htm

Thought for the Day Archive since January 2003

Source: Radio Sai Global Harmony

 

May 2005

May 1, 2004

The bee will hover around the flower, humming and droning until it settles down

to drink the nectar from it. Once it enters the flower and tastes the nectar,

it will hover, hum and drone no more. It will have no extraneous thought to

disturb its bliss. It will become so intoxicated with the bliss that it will

not heed its own safety; for, when the petals close and the flower folds, it

allows itself to be imprisoned inside the flower. Similarly, once the mind

settles on the lotus feet of the embodiment of goodness and beauty, it can

never crave anything except the nectar of the lotus feet.

May 2, 2004

When you seek to assuage the suffering of others, it is really your own

suffering that you mitigate. When your fellowbeing is relieved of his pain, it

is truly you who feel the relief. Service can be effective only when the

feelings of 'I' and 'Mine' give place to 'God' and 'God's'. It is only when

your attention is focussed on the body and its needs that egoism grows in

strength. When you instead direct your attention to the Antaratma (Inner-self),

which is God, you perceive the same God to be present in all and a flood of

reverence fills you and sanctifies every act of yours.May 3, 2004 The mind is

the monarch and the senses the ministers. But, if the mind of man serves the

senses, man will know no peace. Every sadhaka (spiritual aspirant) who aspires

to achieve the expression and expansion of the Divine in him has to therefore

earn mastery over the senses. That is the first step. The next one is the

conquest of the mind, its elimination. The third is uprooting the Vasanas

(innate tendencies), and the fourth, attainment of Jnana (spiritual wisdom).

The mind is the trunk, the senses are the branches and the innate tendencies

are the roots. All three have to be overcome and destroyed, so that the

awareness of Reality can be gained. May 4, 2004

The rich, the healthy, the strong, the powerful, the influential - all are

equally afflicted with discontent, worry, fear and anxiety. They have no peace

of mind. Shanti (Peace) comes from within; contentment is a mental condition.

Do not feed the roots of attachment to worldly comforts more than is absolutely

necessary. They lead only to anxiety and fear; they can never satisfy the

innermost craving of man. Lead your mind on to the path of devotion and

dedication; this is the true path to contentment and joy. May 5, 2004

Be always saturated with Prema (Love); do not use vicious words against any one,

for, words wound more fatally than even arrows. Speak softly and sweetly;

sympathise with suffering and loss; try your best to apply the salve of the

soothing word and timely succour. Do not damage the faith of anyone in virtue

and divinity. Encourage others to have that faith by demonstrating in your own

life that virtue is its own reward, that divinity is all-pervasive and

all-powerful. May 6, 2004

Motherhood is the most precious gift of God. Mothers are the makers of a

nation's fortune or misfortune, for they shape the sinews of the soul. Those

sinews are toughened by two lessons: fear of sin and regard for virtue. Both

these qualities are based on faith being the inner motivator of all. If you

want to know how advanced a nation is, study the mothers. As the mother, so the

progress of the nation; as the mother, so the sweetness of the culture. May 7,

2004

The Divine Spirit dwells in the temple of the body. The body must hence be kept

pure and sacred. By bathing, the body can be purified externally; by speaking

the truth, the tongue is purified. Through study and penance, the spirit is

rendered pure. The intellect acquires purity through Jnana (spiritual wisdom).

Thus, the body has to be made a shrine for the Divine by pure thoughts, pure

deeds and by meditation. It is, therefore, the primary duty of man to ensure

that the body does not indulge in wrongful practices, and fall prey to

falsehood and unrighteousness. He should use the body to promote divine

qualities and pursue the divine path. May 8, 2004

Sacrifice is sweeter than enjoyment. Sacrifice should become the aim of life.

Only through sacrifice can one attain peace. Sorrows do not flee from us as

long as the mind is not at peace with itself. Agonies dwell forever within us.

Without the tranquility of the soul any amount of wealth cannot be of any use.

Surrendering the fruits of action with a dispassionate mind is alone eligible

to be termed sacrifice. May 9, 2004

Be ever immersed in the search for Truth; do not waste time in the

multiplication and satisfaction of wants and desires. Satiation of one want

only gives rise to further wants. Thus, the mind seeks to acquire various

objects again and again. Do not yield to the vagaries of the mind. Turn back,

even forcibly, from sensory attachments. Stick to the same place and schedule

while undertaking spiritual practices. The Atma (Self) itself will sustain the

sadhaka (spiritual aspirant) and give him strength and steadiness. May 10, 2004

 

Of all the gifts you receive from God, the greatest gift is Santosham

(contentment). The opposite of Santosham 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, Santosham

is the supreme blessing of the Lord, who, in His infinite Love, puts an end to

that unquenchable thirst. No wealth or worldly attainment can equal it in

efficacy; Santosham is the culmination of desire in full contentment and sacred

satiety.

May 11, 2004

The greatest single cause for misery in the world today is envy. When one is

happy and contented, others envy him and strive to ruin his peace of mind. When

anyone is acclaimed as great, malice moves others to invent calumny in order to

tarnish his reputation. This is the way of the world. This is the tragedy of

ignorance and selfishness - they force men to take the wrong path and suffer

calamity. Take the right path; be happy and make others happy. Then your name

will last even after the body disintegrates. May 12, 2004

Happiness is union with God. There is no place without God. Whatever you do, you

should feel that it is God's work. God is acting through your body. He is

thinking through your mind. He is working through your hands. If you work with

this feeling, there is no chance for the ego to arise. The body is lifeless,

just matter. The mind is a bundle of desires. It is just imagination. You are

not the body; you are not the mind; you are the Atma (soul).

May 13, 2004

Your child gives you great joy by its play and prattle; but when it interferes

with your work or teases you when you are otherwise engaged, you get very angry

at it. It is a source of joy as well as grief. There is nothing that can give

unmixed joy; even if there is, when it is lost, it brings about sorrow. This is

in the very nature of things; so try to correct the very source of joy and

sorrow - the mind; control it and train it to see the real nature of the

objective world, which attracts and repels you by turns. That is the real fruit

of spiritual study. May 14, 2004

Man extols God as omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent, but ignores His

presence in himself. Many venture to describe the attributes of God and

proclaim Him to be such and such, but these are mere guesses and a reflection

of their own predilections and preferences. Who can affirm anything about God?

Each one can acquire from the vast expanse of the ocean only as much as can be

contained in the vessel one carries to its shore. From that quantity, they can

grasp but little of that immensity. May 15, 2004

People suffer because they have all kinds of unreasonable desires and they pine

to fulfill them and fail. They attach too much value to the objective world. It

is only when attachment increases that you suffer pain and grief. If you look

upon everything with the wisdom derived from inner vision, then attachment will

slide away and you will see everything with greater clarity and with a glory

suffused with Divine splendour. May 16, 2004

When thoughts emanate from a mind purified by love, they will result in Dharma

(Righteousness). When Love becomes part of your experience, thought and action

you get Shanti (Peace). When you comprehend Love clearly, Ahimsa (non-violence)

will result automatically. So Love is the unseen undercurrent binding all four

human values. It can be summarised thus: Love in thought is Truth; Love as

feeling is Peace; Love in action is Righteousness and Love with understanding

is Non-violence. Love is the common denominator for all these values. It is the

form of God, for God is love. May 17, 2004

God is the sole sustainer of human life, its basis, structure and consummation.

Money cannot help man to cultivate godliness and merge in God. Scholarship too

is equally powerless. The Upanishads proclaim that release from the cycle of

birth and death cannot be achieved through action, or progeny, or by the

accumulation of riches. It can be gained only through Thyaga (renunciation). It

is a pity that this warning is not heeded and man is engaged in mere grabbing

and grasping. As a result, he suffers from more and more bonds that get tighter

and tighter. The best means to escape from this fate is to take refuge in the

company of the good and godly, and journey along the path pointed out by them.

May 18, 2004

Man is born with a great thirst and a deep hunger for bliss. He knows that

happiness is within his reach, but he does not know where to search. Deep

within, he knows that he is heir to the kingdom of Bliss, but he knows not how

to lay claim to his heritage. Something in him revolts when he is condemned to

die, to suffer and to hate. His heart whispers to him that he is the child of

Immortality and Bliss. But, man ignores these promptings, and like one who

exchanges diamonds for dirt, runs in search of meaner pleasures and sordid

comforts.

May 19, 2004

One's actions decide one's destiny. It is of no avail to blame others for one's

misfortune and misery. Nor is it correct to blame God as being partial or

cruel. When one plants the seed of a bitter fruit, one can only expect a bitter

fruit to grow. God is only a witness to the chain of causes and consequences.

The way to escape this predicament is by dedicating every act to God in a

spirit of detachment. May 20, 2004

Everyone must seek and discover the answer to the question, "Who am I?" The

senses are powerless to give the answer; indeed they are limited in their own

functioning - there are sounds the ear cannot hear, colours the eye cannot

perceive and tastes beyond the ken of the tongue. They are imperfect

instruments for the study of the external world. How then can they serve us in

our enquiry into the intangible, inner world of the Self? Contemplate on the

truth that the body and the Atma (Self) are separate. This practice is

indispensable for realizing the truth of one's Divinity. May 21, 2004

Why is man so pathetically afflicted today with fear and anxiety? Are we to

search for the reasons outside us or do they lie within us? The reason lies in

the false emphasis we have laid on things of the material world, ignoring

matters of the spirit. The body that man bears is essentially a receptacle of

God. It is a temple where God is installed, where God is the Master. Hence, it

does not behove you to pander to its every whim. Instead, realise it to be a

very valuable instrument in your Godward journey.

May 22, 2004

Man must always proceed towards 'Balam' (strength); he should not take to

untruth, wickedness and crookedness, all of which denote the fundamental trait

of cowardice. This cowardice is born out of accepting an inferior and false

image of oneself. You believe that you are the husk, the outer covering. But,

truly you are the kernel, the core. This false identification is the

fundamental mistake. All Sadhana (spiritual effort) must be directed towards

the removal of the husk and the revelation of the kernel. So long as you say 'I

am so and so', there is bound to be fear, but once you say and feel 'I am

Brahman', you get unconquerable strength. May 23, 2004 - Buddha Purnima

Buddha's emphasis was entirely on purity in every aspect of daily life. Purity

in vision, purity in thought, purity in speech and purity in action. He

considered the spirit of sacrifice as the true yajna (sacred offering).

Sacrifice is the means for attaining Nirvana, freedom from the bondage of

mundane existence. Buddha was totally opposed to anyone being forced to lead a

worldly life against his will. The Buddhist prayer must be properly understood.

When the Buddhists say: "Buddham sharanam gachchaami, Dharmam sharanam

gachchaami, Sangham sharanam gachchaami," the real meaning of the prayer is:

You must divert your Buddhi (mind) towards Dharma (right conduct). And right

conduct should be aimed at serving society. When this is done, society gets

purified.

May 24, 2004

Man has in him vast resources of power. When he does not utilize them in

discharging his duties to the society which sustains him, he becomes a target

for ridicule. When a train arrives late, how do you react? You fling abusive

words at the train. When those inanimate coaches receive such treatment, how

much more rebuke do you deserve for not fulfilling your duties and obligations.

Utilize your skills and learning as consistently and as effectively as duty

demands. May 25, 2004

You complain that God is invisible; but the fault truly lies with you, for you

do not recognise God in all His manifestations. You are yourself a

manifestation of God. But, you do not know it; you label yourself a sinner,

wallowing in sin and wickedness. But let someone take you at your word and call

you a sinner; you resent that. The reason is that your true nature is purity,

peace and joy.

May 26, 2004

Before pointing out the faults of others, examine yourself and assure yourself

that you are free from faults. That alone gives you the right to judge others.

But the truth is that you discover faults in others only when you have defects

in you. Once you rid yourself of these weaknesses, all creation appears to be

pure and sacred. That is the alchemy of Divine, Universal Love, love for love's

own sake. May 27, 2004

Man is endowed with many skills; he is offered many lives and shown many paths.

The purpose of all these gifts is to develop in him the spirit of devotion and

release him from the duality of joy and grief. When man visualizes the universe

as God, its capacity to confer the dual experience disappears; in its place, man

finds peace and calm. God is One and One only, He is the immanent principle.

Hence, one must endeavour to know God, who is Truth. May 28, 2004

You are in this body, this receptacle, in order to realise your Divinity. This

body is the cocoon you have spun around yourself by means of your impulses and

desires. Use it while it lasts to grow wings so that you can escape from this

snare. You came into this world crying, announcing your grief at being thrust

into it, grief for having lost hold of God. Having come with grief, decide to

get rid of it in this life itself.

May 29, 2004

Injury inflicted on any being is sacrilege and indeed self-injury. Love is

transformed into poison if it is contaminated by hate. Love some, but do not

hate the rest, for that hate will befoul the love and make it mortal. Love

comes automatically to the realised soul; but, the sadhaka (spiritual aspirant)

has to cultivate it by means of Seva (service) and enquiry into the unity of

creation. Love does not flow from the tongue or the head, but from the Heart.

May 30, 2004

It is no mean achievement to get the name of the Lord on the lips during the

last moments. It needs practice of many years based on deep-seated faith and a

strong character, devoid of hatred, greed and pride; for, the thought of God

can survive only in a pure heart. But, we never know which moment may turn out

to be our last one. Therefore, one must constantly chant God's name and

endeavour to cultivate good qualities. May 31, 2004

Have no thorn of hate in your mind. Develop love towards all. Desire is a storm;

greed is a whirlpool; pride is a precipice; attachment is an avalanche; egoism

is a volcano. Keep these things at bay, so that you can enjoy undisturbed

equanimity. Let love be enthroned in your heart. Then there will be warm

sunshine and cool breeze and the gurgling waters of contentment will feed the

roots of faith in your heart.

 

April 2005

April 1, 2004

The feelings of 'mine' and 'thine' are but temporary. "All is His"- that is the

eternal truth. It is like the headmaster of a school being in temporary charge

of the furniture of the school. He has to hand over the items when he is

transferred or retired. Treat all things you are endowed with in the same

manner as the headmaster treats the furniture. Be always aware that the final

tallying up is imminent. Wait for that moment with joy. Have your accounts up

to date and balanced, ready to be handed over. Treat all things entrusted to

you with care and diligence.

April 2, 2004

A bar of iron sinks in water; but beat it into a hollow vessel and it will

easily float and even carry some weight. So too with man’s mind; by nature it

sinks easily in the sea of life. But beat it hollow, hammering it with the Name

of the Lord, and it floats, unaffected by worry and sorrow; it can even help

some others to see Light!

April 3, 2004

All that you see is the reflection of what is inside you. If you call a person

bad, it is the bad in you being reflected in him. It has got nothing to do with

him. Good and bad are but reflections of your inner being. Never consider them

as separate from you. Good thoughts are the source of good vibrations. If your

inner being is full of love, the same principle of love will find manifestation

in your speech and actions. When you have sacred thoughts, you will become a

divine person. April 4, 2004

Man should be the master of his behaviour; he should not be led away by the

impulse of the moment; he must always be conscious of what is good for him. He

should carry on his daily tasks such that he does not make others suffer or

suffer himself. Be calm, unruffled and collected. The more you develop charity

for all beings, contrition at your own faults, fear of sin and love of God, the

more firmly established you will be in Shanti (peace). April 5, 2004

The human body has been given to you for a grand purpose - that of realizing the

Lord within. If you have a fully equipped car in good running condition would

you stow it away in the garage? The car is primarily for going on a journey.

Only then is it worthwhile to own it. So too with the body. Proceed, march on

towards the goal. Learn how to use the faculties of the body, the senses, the

intellect and the mind, for achieving that goal.

April 6, 2004

For the bird in mid-ocean, flying over the deep, blue waters, the only resting

place is the mast of a ship sailing in those waters. In the same way, the Lord

is the only refuge for the man who is tossed about in the stormy seas of this

world. However far the bird may fly, it knows where it can find rest; that

knowledge gives it confidence. The Name of the Lord is like that mast; remember

it always, associate it with the Form and have that Form fixed in the mind's

eye. It is a lamp shedding light in the recesses of your heart. Have the Name

on the tongue and it will drive away the inner darkness as well as the outer.

April 7, 2004

Grief is the feet and joy the head; both are part of the same entity. You cannot

welcome joy and reject grief at the same time. You cannot have the obverse

without the reverse. The diamond is at first just a dull piece of stone, a hard

pebble. Only when it is cut by a skilled artisan does it shine brilliantly like

a flame. Allow yourselves to be treated by the Master so that all your dullness

will disappear and you will emerge effulgent as a resplendent diamond.

April 8, 2004

If only men knew the path to permanent joy and peace, they would not wander

distracted among the bye-lanes of sensual pleasure. Just as the joy felt in

dreams disappears when you wake, the joy felt in the waking stages too

disappears when you wake into the higher awareness. Make best use of the

present moment to become aware of the Divinity latent in all. When you die, you

must not die like an animal or a worm, but as a Manava (Man) who has realised

that he is Madhava (God). That is the consummation of all the years you spend

in the human frame.

April 9, 2004 - Ugadi

The New Year Day is celebrated not merely to partake of delicious dishes. You

have to imbibe sacred feelings and resolve to lead a fruitful life. The good

and bad of the world depends on your conduct, which in turn depends on your

thoughts. So, develop good thoughts; only then will you be able to lead a noble

life. Set an ideal to your fellowmen. Give them happiness. Show compassion

towards them. Talk to them lovingly. All this is possible only when you acquire

Divine love. So, strive to become recipients of Divine love. April 10, 2004

Love for the Divine is devotion. 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. Otherwise, you get a distorted

picture and your eyes are harmed. Likewise, if your heart is filled with love

of God, all your feelings are sanctified by that love and undesirable thoughts

drop away.

April 11, 2004

Man suffers from two kinds of ills, physical and mental. One peculiar fact about

these two types of illnesses is that cultivation of virtue cures both. An

attitude of generosity, of fortitude in the presence of sorrow and loss, a

spirit of enthusiasm to do good and to be of service to the best of one's

capacity, these build up the mind as well as the body. The joy derived from

service reacts on the body and makes you free from disease. Thus, the body and

the mind are closely interrelated. April 12, 2004

This temporary, perishable body should be regarded only as a means for realizing

the eternal Reality. The body should be considered as an iron safe, in which the

precious jewels of good qualities and good actions are kept. It is these

qualities that should be cherished. If today the state of the world appears

deplorable, it is because man's actions and conduct are not pure. Man should

return to the ways of righteousness and lead a good and godly life.

April 13, 2004

As long as you worship the form of the Lord, you offer certain flowers such as

rose, marigold and jasmine, although the body that performs the worship and the

flowers which you use are all impermanent. But, if you want to worship the

formless God in your heart, then the flowers you use are different; they are

the flowers of non-violence, of love and compassion, of charity and sacrifice.

To elevate yourself to the formless principle, you will have to cultivate these

flowers of the heart and use them in your worship. Then you will experience the

ineffable and permanent joy of the spirit. April 14, 2004 - Tamil New Year Day

It is the sense of dualism, the feeling of 'mine' and 'thine', which accounts

for all the joys and sorrows, likes and dislikes experienced by man. This

dualism is rooted in selfishness, which makes one think that as long as one is

happy it does not matter what happens to the world. Such a self-centered

person, who regards his body, his wealth and his family as all that matter to

him, looks upon Reality as false and takes this false world to be real. To get

rid of this deep-seated malaise, one has to engage in acts of service and thus

realize that the body has been given not to serve one's own interests but to

serve others. April 15, 2004

Man is consciousness incarnate. Man is the highest object in creation. Hence, he

should not become a creature of instinct like animals. Man should progress from

the human to the Divine. It is not the world that binds man. It has neither

eyes to see nor hands to grasp. Man is a prisoner of his own thoughts and

desires. In his attachment to the ephemeral and the perishable, man forgets his

inherent Divinity and does not realize that everything in the universe has come

from the Divine and cannot exist without the power of the Divine. April 16,

2004

Attachment causes pain, and detachment results in joy. But, you cannot easily

detach yourself from activity; the mind clings to something or the other. Make

it cling to God, let it perform all actions for God and leave the success or

failure, the loss and the profit, the elation or the dejection, to God. This is

the secret of Shanti (Peace) and contentment. April 17, 2004

The mind flits rapidly from one idea to another; it plays with one object for a

moment and forsakes it the next. You may manage to keep silent, but it is next

to impossible to keep the mind quiet. The mind is woven out of the yarn of

desire. Its characteristic is to flutter and flit, hither and thither, through

the outlets of the senses into the external world of colour, sound, taste,

smell and touch. But it can be tamed and put to good use by man. If we keep it

engaged in good pursuits and good actions, particularly in the contemplation of

the Absolute, it will not go astray and land man in ruin; for God is the source

of lasting peace and wisdom. April 18, 2004 - Sri Rama Navami

The entire world is one family. All are our brothers and sisters. This was the

truth preached to the world by Lord Rama. He taught the world to diligently

attend to the duties of everyday life, the social duties and family

obligations. This triple stream of duties is the message of the Ramayana.

Whoever bathes in the confluence of these three streams is absolved of his sins

and is redeemed. Such a great work as the Ramayana has to read, reread and lived

up to by everyone.

April 19, 2004

Birds, beasts and other creatures concern themselves with the enjoyment of

external objects. Man alone is gifted with the capacity to discriminate between

the transient and the permanent, and seek what is everlasting. It is the

consciousness in the physical body that enables man to enjoy the pleasures

experienced through the senses. Once this truth is realised, the divine nature

of consciousness will become clear. Then, every action can be regarded as an

offering to the Divine. Work will then be transformed into worship. April 20,

2004

Man is in truth the Atma, which is beyond the bounds of his mind. The Atma has

neither beginning nor end. The mind, the senses, and the body undergo decline

or growth every moment and finally disintegrate and die. Man places faith in

the instruments of exploration and experience, his senses, that are superficial

and thus deprives himself of the supreme Ananda (bliss) inherent in the Atma.

Like the sun hidden by clouds, embers covered by ash, the sheet of water veiled

by moss, the consciousness of man is coated thick with likes and dislikes

preventing the splendour of Atma from shining through. April 21, 2004

A tree has a trunk covered with bark and myriad roots to feed it and hold it

firm. It has branches spreading in all directions, tapering into twigs. It has

millions of leaves which breathe and borrow energy from the Sun. It fulfills

itself by attracting bees to fertilise its flowers into seeds. All this variety

of colour, fragrance, taste, smell and softness, of strength, toughness and

tenderness has emanated from one single seed. All creation has emanated

similarly from God. This is the Reality inherent in all. That Thou Art. Be firm

in that faith.

April 22, 2004

The sense of duality arises when the Aham ('I') assumes a specific form and

name. Ahamkara (the ego-sense) is the result of this change in form. It is only

when one dissociates himself from name and form that one can discover one's true

divine self. To forget one's essential divinity and identify oneself with a

changing and impermanent form is the cause of bondage and sorrow. It is the

mind that is the cause of this wrongful identification, because of its

involvement with the external world and the impressions received through the

senses. When the workings of the mind are understood, the reality of the Atma,

which is beyond the mind, will be experienced as the one omnipresent, immutable

principle. April 23, 2004 Both inner and outer purity are essential for man's

physical and mental health. Most people are concerned about external physical

cleanliness. People tend to ignore inner cleanliness in the belief that the

heart and mind are not visible to others. But they should realise that the

physical body is made up of the five elements and will return to dust sometime

or the other. It is the state of the Spirit that is important. The body should

be regarded as the abode of the Spirit and cared for as such.

April 24, 2004

The best Sadhana (spiritual practice) is to behave as you do when you get a

parcel of books by post. To get at the books you unwrap the parcel and throw

off the packing material. Now, take the prayer that is the deepest and the most

significant - 'I want Peace'. Unwrap it of the 'I' (the ego) and of the 'want'

(desire) and get hold of Shanti (Peace). When you are burdened with egoism and

desire, how can you attain Shanti? So, throw away the outer covering and hold

on to the precious essence that remains. April 25, 2004

When you know that you are but a spark of the Divine and that everything around

you too is a spark of the same Divine principle, you look upon all with

reverence and true Love; your heart is filled with supreme joy and the

assertions of the ego are rendered ineffective. Man seeks joy in far off places

and peace in quiet spots; but, the spring of joy is in his heart, the heaven of

peace is within him. Even when he walks on the moon man has to take with him

his fears, his anxieties, his prejudices and his aversions. Have faith in God

and in the correctness of moral living. Then, you can have peace and joy,

whatever may be the fare fortune offers you.

April 26, 2004

Believe that God resides in all beings; speak such words as would spread

goodness, truth and beauty; perform such acts as would promote the happiness

and prosperity of all; pray that the entire world enjoys peace. Expand

yourselves; do not contract into your own tiny individuality. Expand into

universal love, unshaken equanimity, and ever active virtue. That is the path

which will bring out the Divinity in you to the fullest. April 27, 2004

This world is the jungle in which you roam; fear is the lion which drives you up

the tree of samsara (worldly activities). Anxiety is the bear that terrifies you

and dogs your every step in this world, so you slide down into attachments and

binding deeds through the twin roots of hope and despair. Day and night are the

rats which nibble away at the span of life. Meanwhile, you try to snatch a

little joy from the sweet drops of egoism and the 'I' feeling. Finding at last

that the drops do not give true fulfillment, you shout in the agony of

renunciation, calling on the Guru; the Guru appears from within or without, and

saves you from fear and anxiety. April 28, 2004

The real meaning of the word 'culture' lies in giving up bad thoughts and bad

actions, and cultivating sacred thoughts and noble deeds. Culture expresses

itself as discipline; it must be evident in every aspect of life. One must live

a purposeful life. By doing so, one can attain Divinity. Otherwise, life is

rendered wild and wasteful. The senses and the mind have to be controlled and

regulated so that one can win the battle of life. Self control is sense control

and mind control.

April 29, 2004

What is valuable in this world is not our position, education or learning, but

our conduct and behaviour based on spiritual values. Conduct and behaviour

determine the result that we get for our efforts. Our conduct has to be

patterned on noble and lofty ideals. We should give up all that is narrow and

petty-minded and broaden our outlook. True education is love and nothing but

love. Without love, life is not worth living. April 30, 2004

Man can realise his mission on earth only when he reveres all others as Divine.

Man has to worship God in the form of his fellowbeings. God appears before him

as a blind beggar, an idiot, a leper, a child, a decrepit old man, a criminal

or a mad man. You must see even behind those veils the Divine Embodiment of

Love, Power and Wisdom - the Sai, and worship Him through Seva.

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[Guest guest]

Om Sai Ram.....

Thank you so much for the Thought for

the Day, I have been waiting for this to read.

May our Bhagawan blessing be each one

of you.