GEMS FROM THE DISCOURSES OF DIVINE LORD SAI BABA - VII

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Om Sri Sai Ram

GEMS FROM THE DISCOURSES OF DIVINE LORD SAI BABA - VII

1. When you scatter seeds on the surface of the soil, they do not

germinate; you have to keep them inside the soil. So too, Bodha, if scattered,

on the surface, will not germinate, grow into the tree of knowledge and yield

the fruit of wisdom. Plant it in the heart; water the plant with Prema; and

measure it with Faith and Courage. Keep off pests with the insecticides of

Bhajan and Satsang, so that you may benefit in the end.

2. Do not try to delve into Me; develop faith and Sraddha and derive

Ananda through Prema. That is the utmost you can do; do that and benefit. Do

not run after all and sundry who blabber textbook-stuff and wear the cloak of

fakirhood. Examine, judge and admire. Examine the daily conduct, the motive,

the outlook, the trend of the advice and the co-ordination between what is said

and what is done.

3. Without surrender, there can be no liberation. So long as you cling to

the narrow "I", the four prison walls will close in on you. Cross out the "I"

and you are free. How to kill the "I" ? Place it at the feet of the Lord and

say, "You", not "I" - and you are free of the burden that is crushing you.

Associate always with the the vast, the unlimited, the Divine; dream and plan

to merge with the Absolute; fill your ears with the call from the Beyond and

the Boundless. Transcend the walls, the bars and bolts, the locks and chains.

You can do so easily by fixing your mind on your

own infinity.

4. I had to do My Dharma; and every act of Mine has its significance,

which you cannot understand. You are in the dark, and you fear more. You cannot

notice the heaps of earth and the pits on the road. You cannot even know that

the road is smooth and fine. There is no fault or partiality in creation; be

confirmed, in that. Then you will no more waver in your faith. If God's

creation itself was faulty, all would have suffered equally.

5. Lakshmi or wealth accrues by fair means as well as foul; money is

earned by gambling, by various forms of deceit; by highway robbery; by high and

low; by all and sundry. Worship Lakshya, the Goal of expanding your Love till it

embraces all beings, till it sees every being as your mind's eye; then, Lakshmi

will, of her own accord, favour you to the extent necessary for realising the

Goal. Never doubt that. Never falter.

6. You do not know the Gem shining inside you, the Divinity whose

effulgence is your intellect, and whose reflection is the Prema you evince. You

know many things other than this, but not this essential thing; you do not know

where such and such a scholar lives in Venkatagiri, but you know where such and

such a film-star lives in Madras: This is something to be ashamed of - this loss

of the sense of values:

You must recognise the Higher, the Highest.

7. All men are kin, they are of the same likeness, the same build;

moulded out of the same material, with the same Divine essence, in each.

Service to man will help your Divinity to blossom, for, it will gladden your

heart and make you feel that life has been worth-while. Service to man is

service to God, for He is in every man and every living being and in every

stone and stump. Offer your talents at the feet of God; let every act be a

flower, free from creeping worms of envy and egoism and full of the fragrance

of love and sacrifice.

8. You believe that those who have no faith in the Vedas and the Sasthras

and those who do not aver that there is some Omnipresent, Omniscient Being are

Nasthikas; but let me tell you, those who revere their Parents and foster them

and those who love and protect with care their brothers and sisters are

Theists, Asthikas believe in Gratitude, Love, Affection, Duty and Dharma and

these qualities are enough to save them from perdition.

9. All men are kin, they are of the same likeness, the same build;

moulded out of the same material, with the same Divine essence, in each.

Service to man will help your Divinity to blossom, for, it will gladden your

heart and make you feel that life has been worth-while. Service to man is

service to God, for He is in every man and every living being and in every

stone and stump. Offer your talents at the feet of God; let every act be a

flower, free from creeping worms of envy and egoism and full of the fragrance

of love and sacrifice.

10. What exactly is a dream? It is a dream within a dream. It is a dream,

which unfolds before you even while you are "awake", another dream. It tries to

shed some light, some joy, some courage, some faith, some hope, and some meaning

on the dream called Life. Naturally, man has to seek all means of discovering

the meaning of Life. For, without knowing it, he is lost; he wanders from birth

to birth, receiving knock after knock and is seldom the better for all the

experience.

11. When you go to a temple, you see the idol within but your thoughts are

with your footwear that you had to keep outside the outer gate. These are

matters that reveal the concentration that you are capable of. Every little

point has to be taken care of, lest the benefit of the Sadhana be lost; you

cannot get liberation by merely coming here; you cannot get it even by Darshan,

Sparshan and Sambashan. You will have to follow the instructions, the order and

the directions.

12. Moksha or liberation results from the breaking of the Mind with all its

vagaries and wishes. You have to break your Mind but, how can you do it, when

the fibrous armour of sensual desires encompasses it ? Remove them and dedicate

the Mind to God and smash it in His presence. That moment, you are free.

13. The Gita is for saving all, and granting them liberation. Gita, in

Telugu, means a line; it draws a line across and cancels the series of births

and deaths; it teaches you to stand erect, unafraid, along the straight path of

Dharma, along the line laid down.

14. The vehicle of human life is drawn in two wheels by the senses which are

driven by Buddhi, with Viveka and Vairagya as the reins, the two wheels being

the Kala Chakra and the Karma Chakra. The spokes of the wheel are the rules of

Dharma, bound by the rim of Prema. The self is the Rider and he will not come

to harm if the axle is Sathya and the goal is Shanthi.

15. Having been born, man earns and acquires land, riches, materials, grains

and articles of comforts and luxury, which he feels will give him happiness and

which therefore become the object of his struggle. But, the object of realising

God is forgotten. You may ask: why, should any one seek good company, do good

deeds and direct his mind towards good thoughts? You are listening to Me and

what do you get when you so listen? You agree that I am giving you Anandam.

What do you give Me in return ? Give Me the Aacharana of what I am telling you:

practice what I teach, that is enough. That is all I ask

for.

16. Karma must not be felt as a burden, for that feeling is a sure sign,

indicating that it is against the grain. No Karma which helps your progress

will weigh heavily on you. It is only, when you go counter to your inner-most

nature, that you feel it a burden. A time comes when you look back on your

achievement and sight at the futility of it all. Entrust the Lord, before it is

too late, your mind and let Him shape it as He wills.

17. Whom the Muslims adore as Allah, the Christians as Jehovah, the

Vaishnavas as Phullajaakshe and the Saivites as Sambhu, who grants in answer to

their several prayers, health, prosperity, and happiness to all wherever they

may be, He is the One God of all mankind.

18. In every country today, men have become power-mad and they resort,

without any compunction, to self-praise and dry declamation. They develop

hatred against others, foster envy and feed their fatal egos. They plunge the

society to which they belong into fear, anxiety and disorder. They do not know

that, if elevating ideals are adhered to and practiced, they could gain eternal

fame; instead they are content with cheap applause and short-lived publicity.

19. The mansion called life must be built on a strong foundation, and the

pursuit of Artha and Kama, of wealth and welfare and of all desirable objects

must be regulated by the standard of Dharma. Dharma fosters those, who foster

it. "Dharma Rakshithi Rakshithah". The strongest foundation is ever-present

Faith in the Almighty. Some may ask, "If He is Almighty, why then can I not see

Him ?" He reveals Himself only to the person who yearns for the answer, not the

one who puts questions out of impudence or ignorance.

20. He will be present only in the transparent heart, the heart that is not

clouded by egoism or attachment. The string of the rosary is present only in

the Spatika heads, the crystal beads, not in the coral or Rudraksha beads.

Though the string runs through these latter also, it can be seen only by

splitting those beads. This is the meaning of the story of Hiranyakasipu who

split the pillar; when he did that, he could see for himself the Lord, who is

the core of every object and being.

21. Your reality is the Atma, a wave of the Paramatma. The main objective of

this human existence is to visualise that Reality, that Atma, that relationship

between the wave and the sea. All other activities are trivial; you share them

with birds and beasts; but this is the unique privilege of man. He has climbed

through all the levels of animality, all the steps in the ladder of evolution

in order to inherit this high destiny. If all the years between birth and death

are frittered away in seeking food and shelter, comfort and pleasure, as animals

do, man is condemning himself to a further

life-sentence.

22. The Truth can flash only in a mind clear of all blemishes. The first

blemish that I would like to warn you against is: "inability to bear the

success of others". Envy is the greatest of the sins. Vanity, envy and egoism

are kin. They cut at the root of man's real nature. To feel proud that you are

a Bhakta is also a blot. Though you may be a mountain, you must feel you are a

mound and you should not pretend to be a mountain.

23. There are only three ways of saving oneself: Pravruthi, Nivrithi and

Prapatti. Pravruthi (action, external activity) is a method of sublimating the

instincts and impulses. Nivrithi (detachment; internal quiet), is a method of

subduing the thirst of the senses and of the ego. Prapatti (surrender) is a

method of utilising the senses, the instincts and impulses, the intelligence

and the emotions for the glorification of the all-knowing, all-directing

Divine. Do and dedicate, work and worship, plant and protect; but do not worry

about the fruit; that is the secret of spiritual success.

24. When you reach the bank of a river in a strange land, you do not take

advice, from a lame person or a blind person, on where you can best wade

across. You follow a person who has waded often, and who is neither lame nor

blind. The man who can see is a scholar; the man who can walk is a person with

experience. The man with both capacities is a good guide, not those who prattle

things learnt from the books or dole out set-formulae, irrespective of the stage

the recipient has reached or roam about in search of people whom then can

squeeze for money.

25. Man imagines that he has achieved much as a result of his search for

material pleasures. He has discovered electricity and is using it for giving

light. But what poor glory is this; when the sun rises, even the brightest bulb

pales into insignificance. Man has invented the fan and, by means of

electricity, he is able to create a breeze. But, when a storm arises in Nature,

the toughest tree is uprooted and man's handiwork of brick and mortar is laid in

ruins, with the roofs flying in the air. On what basis can he erect his pride?

26. The boulder on the hill, from which a portion has been blasted away to

carve an idol for the temple, tells the idol, "Thath Thawam Asi" ("You and I

are the same"). That and this are one substance. Yes, of one substance but what

a difference? The hammer and chisel have made one, a thing of beauty and a joy

for ever, an inspiration to make life beautiful and holy. You too must subject

yourself to the hammer of discipline and the chisel of pain-pleasure, so that

you become Divine.

27. All who come embodied are Avatars; that is to say, advents of the

Divine, Manifestations of God. What, then, is the special feature of Rama,

Krishna, Buddha and Christ? Why do you celebrate their birthdays with much

reverential enthusiasm? The specialty is this: they were Aware: you are unaware

of the Atma which is the Truth. Awareness confers Liberation from bonds, from

time, space and causation and from sleep, dream and wakefulness. Avatars are

ever alert, aware and alight.

28. There was a huge halo of splendour illuminating the sky over the village

when Christ was born. This meant that He who was to overcome the darkness of

evil and ignorance had taken birth; that He will spread the Light of Love in

the heart of man and the councils of humanity. Appearances of splendour and

other signs to herald the era that has dawned are natural when Incarnations

happen on Earth. Jesus was to shatter the darkness that had enveloped the World

and the Aura of Light was a sign that announced the event. The Masters arrive in

answer to man's prayer, "Thamasomaa Jyothirgamaya"; "Lead us

from darkness unto Light".

29. The word "Hindu" has been interpreted by scholars in various ways, but

the real meaning is 'Him' (Himsa or violence), 'Dur' (far from): people who

keep away from violence. The Hindus have been praying since the ages for the

peace and prosperity of all the Worlds. 'Loka Samastha Sukino Bhavanthu'. Their

conception of the immanence of God is strong and unshakeable. The rituals,

ceremonies, vows and rites, prescribed in Hinduism, are all directed to the

promotion and wellbeing of "all the Worlds". This is the reason why Hinduism is

still alive and active.

30. Vishnu is described as "Bujagasayanam" sleeping on the snake and also as

"Shanthaakaaram". The "Bujaga" or snake, which has visha or poison, represents

the world of 'Vishaya' and, when you rest upon it, instead of allowing it to

envelop you, you can afford to have 'Shantham' or peace. Let your boat be on

water; but do not allow the water to enter the boat. Be in the world, but not

of it. That is the secret of a successful life.

31. Saranagathi or unconditional surrender is the main gate to enter the

mansion of Mukti. It has four floors: Dhyanam, Karma, Bhakti and Jnanam. Each

floor rests upon the one beneath and the topmost one cannot be reached without

ascending the first three.

Remember this, when you hear people arguing about the relative superiority of

the Yogas or labeling themselves as 'this' or 'that' in the Adhyathmic field.

32. Take everything as it comes. Cultivate contentment, do not multiply your

wants and foster greed and despair. You take off your warm clothing when you

start feeling warm yourself. The coat of desire has to be taken off when the

warmth of Bhakti increases. Strive to secure Grace; do not strive to secure any

lesser fruit.

33. Please do not be under the delusion that God needs light and that He

requires illumination. He is 'Jyothi Swarupa' with the splendour of a thousand

suns. He is the force which makes Light shine and He is above and beyond the

Thejas that Nature can supply. It is not so much this stone structure that

needs illumination, when you come to think of it. It is the temple that you are

carrying about with you, in body that must be fitted with lights. "Dehodevalaya

Proktham". The body is said to be the temple. "Jivodevah Sanathanah" and in

that temple is installed the Jivi who is the "timeless" God.

34. You try to avoid grief; you try to taste joy instead. It is the nature

of man to do so. For he is essentially 'Anandaswarupa'. When we seek 'Ananda',

it is like the call of the deep for the deep. When someone asks you, "How do

you do?" and you answer, "Quite well, thank you", he does not stop to enquire

why you are well. It is only, when answer that you are ill, that he stops and

expresses concern and probes into the causes, symptoms and care of the illness.

"Well-ness is natural"; illness is unnatural. Anxiety is caused by the unnatural

only. So, you are "Suka-Swarupa" also.

35. Clarify the Buddhi (intellect) by Sadhana(practice) so you get a vision

of the Lord who dwells within, that is the Sudarsana which saved Gajendra, the

wild elephant (man) that was caught by the alligator (egoism) while rollicking

in the lake (world) . The objective world (Samsara), looks upon joy and grief

as teachers of handihood and balance. Grief is a friendly reminder, a good

task-master; even a better teacher than joy. The Lord grants both protection

and punishment, for, how can He be the Lord, if He does not insist on strict

accounting and strict obedience?

36. The youth today, in India as well as in other lands, are afflicted with

deep discontent which manifests itself in revolt against rules, regulations,

curriculum and social norms and an agitational approach to every little problem

that affects them. What is the basic cause of this phenomenon? The reason lies

in the fact, that they have started to neglect the ancient culture of

India and its ideals. They are imitating undesirable and fanatic norms of

behavior and are addicted to a code of disbelief, having no roots anywhere.

37. When God has come assuming a Form, take it from Me, it will not fill

inferior vessels or embellish tawdry stuff or enter impure bodies. So, do not

extol these falsities and ruin those unfortunates. Deal with them severely and

they will be cured. Those who have seen the brilliance of the diamond will not

be mislead by glass trinkets. The Lord is like the diamond, however loud the

praise and however adamant the claim.

38. Who can give us the secret of transcending the barrier that divides the

region of death from the region of immortality ? Of course, the Lord has often

sent Messengers to tell humanity about it and He has Himself come down in human

form to communicate it and save mankind from perdition. It is because the task

of guiding man has gone on so consistently that today, in India, there is at

least this quantum

of earnestness to achieve it and to escape from the cycle of birth and death.

39. "Eshwara Sarva Bhoothaanaam Hruddese Arjuna ThishtathiO Arjuna, The

God resides in the heart of all beings" says the Lord. He is not to be found

especially in Amarnath, Kasi, Tirupati, Kedaram or Gokarnam. Just as every drop

of the ocean has the taste, the composition and the name of the ocean, so too

every single being has the Divine taste and composition and the name of the

Lord. Only you do not realise it so clearly. The Godavari

realises itself by reaching the sea: man realises himself by merging in the

Absolute. "Gamyam ithi Lingam" (That which merges in the goal is Lingam).

40. You have to trace your ancestry and be proud of it. From Paramatma,

Moola Prakrithi (Nature) descended with the emergence of Maya (illusion) and

from the stuff of that illusion, Akasa (Sky) ; and from Akasa, Vayu (Air); from

Vayu, Agni (Fire); from Agni, Jala (Water); from Jala, Earth. By combinations of

five elements, this tabernacle of Paramatma, that is you, was produced. The

entire ladder has now to be climbed up in order to reach the Paramatma, the

origin of all. There is a regular syllabus for the promotion of the spiritual

aspirant, which is given in that form in the Veda and in an

elaborate story-form in the Bhagavatham.

41. The discovery of Truth is the unique mission of man. Man is a mixture of

Maya (illusion) and Madhava (God); the Maya throws a mist which hides the

Madhava, but through the action of the healthy impulses inherited from acts

performed while in previous bodies or through the cleansing done by austerities

in this body or through the Grace of the Lord Himself, Maya melts away; for it

is just a mist which flees before the Sun. Then Nara

italic"> (man) is transformed into Narayana (God) and this Bhuloka is elevated

into a Prashanthi Nilayam.

42. Every one has a mother as the source of his life and body. So the mother

has to be strong in mind and body. Ripe in culture and character, sanctified by

holy thoughts and steeped in love and dedication. Good mothers make a good

nation. Mothers have to be repositories of Thyaaga, Yoga and Bhakti

(Detachment, Discipline and Devotion). Their Karma (Activity) must be based on

these three urges.

43. Every little moment of incident results in sound. Only, you may not be

able to hear, because the range of your ear is limited. The falling of an

eyelid over the eye makes a sound and the dropping of dew on a petal makes a

sound. Any little agitation disturbing the calm is bound to produce a sound.

The sound caused by the primal movement that resulted in the enveloping of

Brahman by self-evolved Maya is the Pranavashabda or OM. The Gayathri is

the elaboration of that Pranava and so, it is now held so venerable that

initiation into Adhyathmic life is achieved by its contemplation.

44. The one Namaskaram you do, do with devotion. That is enough. You do not

do even that; you do it so callously, so indifferently and automatically. When

you fold both your hands and bring them together, feel that you are offering at

the Feet all the actions of the five Karmendriyas and the five Jnanendriyas as

indicated by the ten fingers. Again, the purpose of Namaskaram is to touch the

Feet, to have Sparshan of the Lord. The negative pole Maya Shakti, and the

positive pole, Maha Shakti, have to meet in order to produce a spiritual

current that will flow through you.

45. Come: I am the repairer of broken hearts of damaged Anthahkaranas. I am

like the smith, who welds, mends and sets right. Ten years ago, a devotee

prayed to Me in song, "My heart has gone dry, my lamp has gone out, my path is

dark, my brain is confused. Lord make me fit again for life's arduous journey".

The Lord will be waiting outside the door of the Pooja room of the Bhakta,

anxious to fulfill his wish. Verily he, who has the Lord as his Servant, is the

real Prabhu.

46. You may complain that God is hard and heartless since He does not

respond to prayer, give a signal from His pictures and speak from 'nowhere' in

clear unambiguous terms, assuaging, assuring, advising - but, 'Let Me tell you:

God is Love. Love is God'. His Akara (Form) is Prema (Love), His Swabhava,

essential Nature is Ananda (Bliss), and His Raktha (Life-blood) is Sathya

(Truth). When even the stony cliff echoes your voice and responds when you cry,

will not the softest, sweetest, love-filled heart of God respond? When there is

no response, infer that there is something wanting in the cry;

perhaps, the cry is hollow, insincere, mere play-acting set to a pattern,

addressed to someone alien to oneself, taken to be far away and distant as a

tyrant or task-master.

47. Know that God is the One that is dearest and nearest to you, as dear and

as near as your own heart and pray to Him. Surely His answer will be vouchsafed

immediately. You may have huge hordes of men in the army; but they are useful

only when the few Generals, who lead them, know where they are and whether they

should proceed and how to overcome the enemy, whose strength and weakness they

have comprehended. Hordes of people sing, recite, adore, worship, praise and

prostrate - but these are the soldiers. Those who believe, those who have faith

and who practice the disciplines are the Generals in

whom the Master confides.

48. Talkative persons easily step into scandal-mongering. Too much talk and

a tongue addicted to scandal are twins; they work together and in unison. A

poet addressed his tongue thus "O, Tongue, knower of taste, relisher of

sweetness, always prefer the Truth". One should not inflame passion, diminish

enthusiasm or inflict injury "Sathyam Brooyath, Priyam Brooyath" (Speak the

Truth, Speak pleasantly) "Nabrooyath Sathyam Apriyam" (If unpleasant, do not

speak the Truth) "Priyam cha na anvartsham brooyath" (Though it may be

pleasant, do not speak falsehood).

49. You can master all knowledge and win loud applause. (The crowds that

gather may praise and proclaim "Ah what a wonderful lecture he gave".) You can

be hailed as a king and rule over the realm. You can pile up vast wealth and

donate gold and land. But what is the benefit gained? Karna gave away the

ear-rings he wore and even sliced off his Divine suit of armour and gave it

away in charity. Wherein does renunciation lead? The question is, does it

purify the heart? Does it help the Divinity within to manifest itself?

50. Brahmacharya does not mean merely desisting from marriage. It means

becoming soaked in Holy Love for the Divine, through transparent sincerity,

unselfish will, pure consciousness and holy thoughts. You all know that Hanuman

is described as the eternal Brahmachari. He was married to Srivatsala, yet he

earned that description. How? Brahmachari means, 'He, who is in Brahman'.

Hanuman had no other thought than Rama (who is Brahman) and so was ever moving

in Brahman and living in Brahman. Your thoughts, feelings, desires and

activities must all move in Brahman, the Universal Absolute. That is to say,

whatever is spoken and whatever is seen must be cognised as Brahman. That is the

real Brahmacharya stage.

51. Life can be sanctified and elevated to a worshipful pilgrimage if only

everyone clings to his way and sees it in its proper perspective. Idle brains

exaggerate matters; and cynics cause great social damage. Gulfs are widened by

thoughtless criticism. If only all of you remember the principle underlying the

brotherhood of man, mankind will become a mighty family, full of peace and joy.

52. Prema or love is a much-misused word. Any positive response to the

attraction is called love. Any feeling of attachment, however trivial and

transitory, is characterised as Prema. We must certainly coin new words or set

aside specific words to indicate the forms of love. The attachment of parents

to their children or of children to parents must be called affection. The love

towards the opposite sex can be best described as fancy, fascination or

delusion, Moha. The feeling of kinship or comradeship evokes dearness. The

pleasure one gets through a sense of possession, especially of material

objects, can be known as satisfaction. Only the yearning to reach for the

sublimity that lies inherent in Truth is entitled to be called by that holy

word 'Prema'.

53. It is My general practice to induce people to learn the sweetness of the

Name. I begin My discourses with the recitation of a spiritual poem and end them

with these Namavali (Bhajan), and in between, I give the lesson I love to teach.

It is like a testy health-giving meal which I serve you on a plate (the problem)

covering it with a lid (the Namavalis). That is how you may take it.

54. The Lord has said in the Gita: "Anudevega Karam Vakyam Sathyam Priya

Hitam Chayat" (Speech, that does not offend, that is truthful, pleasant and

beneficial, has to be praised). Such speech sanctifies the tongue. It knows and

respects the limits. The ear cannot tolerate a false or discordant note. Every

one of the senses responds within its own limits of tolerance and protests when

that limit is exceeded or disregarded. You must be vigilant that they are put to

use, with proper attention to those limits. When they stray from the path or

overstep the boundaries, reason bides in head and makes you

inhuman.

CONTINUED …

Sent with Sai love by Sai brother M. Palaniswamy

/

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