GEMS FROM THE DISCOURSES OF DIVINE LORD SAI BABA – IX [Concluding part]

[Guest guest]

Om Sri Sai Ram

GEMS FROM THE DISCOURSES OF DIVINE LORD SAI BABA – IX [concluding part]

1. This world is His play; it is not an empty dream; it has purpose and

use; it is the means by which one can discover God; see Him in the beauty,

grandeur, the order and the majesty of Nature. These are shadows of His Glory

and His Splendor; that is why the Vedas have three sections or Kandas: Karma,

Upasana and Jnana. Karma leads to the consciousness of the ever-present,

immanent, all-powerful God. Upasana or adoration of that God lends to the

knowledge that He is in all. When you experience that, there is no second, that

is Jnana.

2. My place is among you, with you and wherever work lies. That is why I

moved among you and stood at your back. This is just to show you that, even in

your own places, when you do Bhajan or some other type of adoration like

serving children of the sick or the poor, I do not sit on a special seat, apart

and distant. Do not believe I am on the pedestal that you offer Me. I am part of

you, a partner and partaker in all your efforts, inspiring and instructing, when

you ask or need inspiration or instruction.

3. By developing spiritual qualities, you will be promoting the

resuscitation of this country and its culture. Look at the warning that the

sacred texts offer. Somaka, the Asura, stole the Vedas. Ravana kidnapped Sita,

Duryodhana grasped an empire, Kamsa slaughtered children; but not one of them

realised their heart's desire that their names be exalted by history. Sentence

of death awaits every one, cutting off their pride and pomp. Some young persons

feel that the work they have on hand gives them great pleasure but they do not

pay heed to its future consequences. When you seek

beneficial results, you have to involve yourselves in beneficial activity.

4. There are some who are attracted by various systems and methods like

Hatayoga, Kriyayoga or Rajayoga, which claim to help people to realise the

self. But I must tell you that no one of this can make you realise God - I am

saying this most emphatically. The Prema Yoga, discipline of Love alone can

lead you to God. Those Yogas may calm the minds' agitation temporarily and may

improve health and prolong life for a few more years - but that is all that

they can do. What is the good you hope to achieve with that body in those extra

years? If love is absent, they

weigh you down as life's big burdens.

5. One can be in the world but yet unaffected. Activity will then be for

the Almighty, by His Grace and through His will. Do not get work done through

cooks, servants, ayahs and others in the home; women must not depend on these

for the care of their children or attendance on their husbands. Earning leisure

for Dhyana (meditation/worship), through these servants, is not a spiritual

gain.

6. What is the immortal part of man? Is it the wealth he has accumulated?

The residences he has built, the physique he has developed, the health he has

acquired, and the family he has reared? No, all that he has done, developed or

earned are destroyed; he has to leave them all to the ravages of time. He

cannot take with him even a handful of earth he loved so much. If only the dead

could take with them, a handful each, the Earth would have become scarce; it

should have been rationed by now! Discover the Immortal "I"; and know that is

the spark of God in you! Live in the

companionship of that vast measureless Supreme and you will be rendered vast and

measureless. Consider all objects that you collect here as given on trust to be

used in this caravansari, during your pilgrimage, in this Karmakshetra.

7. The law of Karma is not an iron law. By dedication, by purification,

which invites benediction, its effects can be modified and its rigour

mitigated. Do not despair, do not lose heart. When vices hold sway over your

heart, it becomes foul and sooty. The flames of Kama, Krodha and Lobha char the

heart. Grace is provided by the quenching of this flame. Grace confers Ananda,

which Kama, Krodha and Lobha can never confer.

8. By the example of your lives, you have to restore confidence among the

people in the higher values of life. Do not neglect the great lessons embedded

in Sanathana Dharma, which have sustained countless generations in this land

for many centuries. "May all the worlds be happy", this is the goal towards

which Sanathana Dharma is leading us. Welcome, within the fold of your love,

all men without distinction of race or religion, colour or class. Have the

picture of the happy, lovefilled human community in your heart. That will give

you enough encouragement in your mission.

9. It is not possible to consider creation and the creator, nature and

God, as different or separate. Can we see that waves are separate from the sea?

They are of the sea, with the sea and from the sea. Man too is of God, with and

from God. The bubble is born in water, stays in water and is lost in water. The

cosmos too is a bubble born in the Absolute, exists as the Absolute and merges

in the Absolute or Paramatma. Nara

mso-bidi-font-style: italic"> (the human) is the bubble. God, Narayana is the

sea. Recognise this truth as the bubble cannot be conceived as without water,

the cosmos, this world cannot be conceived as without God.

10. Good men are the targets for maligning by the small. Have your own

errors and evils hidden so that you can tackle them in solitude. Do not inflict

them on others. Wrestle with them and overwhelm them in the silence of Sadhana.

Deal with others only beneficially and in joyful co-operation. Look at Lord

Siva. The poison, which will ruin the world, has been contained in His throat.

The moon that can shower cool, calm comfort, is worn by Him on His head, for

all the worlds to benefit from. That is a lesson for you. Why render others

miserable, because you are too weak to suppress the bandits your

heart has welcomed?

11. I know there are many of you who argue and discuss how and in what

manner these structures came to be built so grandly. If you have known Me

through and through there will be no such argument at all. You will know that

this is but an insignificant product of My power. I have done this, only as an

example, for, unless those who lead, are themselves active and earnest, to bend

and bear the burden, those, who are encouraged to follow, will lose heart and

miss the way.

12. When you have filled your heart with sympathy for the distressed, the

Lord will shower His Grace. Draupadi had earned the Grace through her devotion

and virtues. Sita, too, had stuck to the highest ideals of life in spite of her

severe sufferings. She was kept as a prisoner by her abductor. When Hanuman

offered to recross the ocean with her on his shoulders and take her safe to her

Lord Rama, she replied that she would not allow herself to be abducted back from

the custody of Ravana, since that would deny Rama the chance to punish him for

his crime and retrieve her. Quite in consonance with

Dharma.

13. The Gita is His Command. How can you earn the Master's Grace if you do

not carryout the Master's commands. If the son says, "Leave me to myself, I

need no instructions from you", how can he expect the father to give him a

share of the property? The Gita also helps you to recognise the incarnations of

God. Usually, when the Lord appears with Form, man is pestered by doubts and he

actually loses the precious chance. He asks himself and all those whom he meets

"Is it true ?", "Can it be true ?" and before his doubts are removed, he deserts

his quest and wanders into the wilderness. Of course steady

enquiry is essential. Do not be led by others. Awaken your own reason, amass

your own experience and decide for yourself your own path.

14. Nothing that is experienced will go to waste. It will shape the course

of events. It will change the attitudes and habits. It will purify and clarify

situations about outlooks. That is why I want you to read the Gita; it is like

learning swimming - this learning of the Gita. Swimming saves you from

drowning. Gita saves you from drowning in the treacherous flood of worldly

desires. The Gita is the real purpose for which the Avatar of Krishna was

undertaken.

15. To condemn all is unjust, untrue, and unkind. Take My own instance. I

never exult when I am extolled, nor shrink when I am reviled. Few have realised

My purpose and significance. But I am not worried when things that are not in Me

are attributed to Me. Why should I worry ? When things that are in Me are

mentioned, why should I exult? "Sayiki Sarvam Yes, Yes, Yes". "For Sai, it is

always - S.S.S." If you say, "Yes, you are the Lord", I am the Lord to you; if

you say "No", I am 'no' to you. I am Ananda, Shantham, Sathya Bliss, Equanimity

and Truth. Take them as your Atmathathwam. You will not be

wrong.

16. The influence of the Divine is such that while you are contemplating it,

all traces of envy and greed will disappear from the mind. The boy Krishna had

entered in a Gopi's house and was just standing beneath the pot of curds when

she discovered Him. Krishna ran out into the street and Gopi

pursued Him, and wanted to catch Him soon, for she was so distressed that the

boy was running in the hot sun. She never worried about the loss of curds or

milk or butter, but the very thought of Krishna's tender feet walking over the

hard stones in the sun was something she could not bear. The Prema that Krishna

showered, made everyone forget everything else. He too gave such disarming

replies to the queries of the mother and the Gopis that no one could have

anything but Prema towards Him. That is the characteristic of Avatars at all

times.

17. Dharma, the very clothes that Bharthmatha has worn since centuries,

which is the expression of her natural style, is now seized on by wicked

irreverent hands. They wish to dress her in unbecoming styles on their own

initiative or frenzied dictates. So, Krishna has to come again for resuming the

eviction of the wicked. Krishna

10pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"> revealed, the hollowness of the people who

were confident of their capacity to dishonor Draupadi and the weakness of those

entrusted with the task of protecting her. Now too, the Lord has to foil the

attempts to undermine Dharma and to stand in support of those who are the

traditional protectors of Dharma.

18. Yasoda one day was searching for Krishna who had strayed away. She

thought He went to the house of Radha and went there. Radha just closed her

eyes and meditated on Krishna for a while and when she called "

italic">Krishna", Krishna was there. Then Yasoda shed tears of joy. She said, "I

love Krishna as a mother. I have a sense of egoism in me that He is my son and

that I must save Him from harm and seek to give Him guidance and protection.

Your Prema is pure, it has no egoism promoting it".

19. Remember always that it is easy to do what is pleasant, but it is

difficult to be engaged in what is beneficial. Not all that is pleasant is

profitable. Success comes to those who give up the path strewn with roses, and

brave the hammer-blows and the sword-thrusts of the path fraught with danger.

As a matter of fact, no road is strewn with rose-petals. Life is a battlefield;

a Dharmakshetra, where duties and desires are always in conflict. Smother the

fiery fumes of Desire, hatred and anger that rise up in your hearts. It is

sheer cowardice to yield to these enemies that turn you into beasts.

20. The vision of the Virat, the Cosmic Form is given to those who surrender

their ego and take refuge in the Lord (as Arjuna did) and who imbibe with care

the Gita sung by the Lord in the silence. God is Omnipresent. He is the inner

Motivator of every particle in the Universe. To declare that He is amenable

only to your style of worship and that He will answer only the Name that you

have learnt to use, is to insult His Omniscience and His Glory. See Him in all;

serve Him in all; revere Him in all. Pray, "Let the Whole World prosper; Let all

mankind be happy".

21. Vasudeva Sarvam idam does not mean that all this is just Krishna, the

son of Vasudeva. It means that all this is God, by whatever Name He is known.

So, if you decry anyone, you are decrying God, that is His real core. If you

become aware of the God in you and the God in all else, there is nothing to

equal the peace and joy that you get.

22. Let Me tell you, without reforming conduct, daily behavior, and the

little acts of daily type, 'Ananda' will be beyond reach. I consider

'Pravarthana' practice as essential. A man or an institution is to be judged by

his integrity and whether acts are according to the principles proposed. The

mind, the body and the word - all three, must work in unison. By such

disciplined Karma, the senses will be sublimated and Prashanthi won. Then, out

of this Prashanthi, will arise Prakanthi or the great light, and, from that,

will emerge Paramjyothi, the Supra-splendor of illumination. That illumination

will reveal Param-Atma the Over-Soul, the Universal.

23. Prashanthi Nilayam is holding forth and exemplifying the higher ideals,

in the material, ethical, economic, moral, spiritual, worldly and even

political fields. There is no place here for anything contrary. This can be

asserted without any possibility of contradiction. In spite of this, some

ignorant individuals rely more on their guesses than on facts, and indulge in

spreading wrong conclusions. Let me tell them that, if a single person in the

whole world points out a wrong step in Prashanthi Nilayam, he shall be met and

convinced for. The Prashanthi Nilayam is eagerly bent upon the task of

upholding and demonstrating high and holy ideals achieving spiritual

realisation. It does not seek those worldly riches, nor does it yearn for

earning favors and fame.

24. In Prashanthi Nilayam, no misuse or extravagance can ever happen, for

any festival Shivarathri, Navarathri, or the Birthday. Many people imagine that

Lakhs of rupees are spent here for the Dasara celebrations, but, all who come

serve their best in the fullness of devotion that dwells in their hearts and

so, not a Naya paise is spent for any purpose. The priests who officiate in the

Yagna and the lecturers who deliver discourses - all come and share in the joy,

out of Love and Faith, their comforts are looked after by the members of the

Seva Dal and the Seva Samithis and by the volunteers, who

dedicate their strength and skills to make the Festivals a success. No paise is spent on any item.

25. Man has Truth as his nature. That is to say, you can rely on man's

behavior being always true. He will speak out only what he feels to be sincere.

He will act according to his words. His thought, word and action will be

consistent and complementary. If, in any one case, this concordance is absent,

then the person is a man only in outer form. He is worse than a beast, for

beasts are free from the burdens of thought and speech.

26. God gives an ear to the prayers that rise in all languages and even from

the silence of the dumb. He has no trace of anger or worry. You too have no

reason to develop anger and anxiety. When the teeth bite your tongue, do you

get angry at them for hurting? Do you break the teeth that hurt it so? No.

Teeth and tongue are both yours. Similarly he who hurts you and you are both

limbs of the same body, God. Feel that Oneness and avoid hate. God is on the

lookout for the inner vision. He blesses those whose hearts are so vast, that

they can take in all His children. How can He be pleased when you are

so selfish and narrow-minded, that you send away His children from the door-step of your heart?

27. What has brought you all, in this vast number, from your homes and

villages to this place? Ponder over this. The reason for your presence is not

any force or authority to earn material profit or gain. It is the Love you have

for Me, and the Love I have for you.

779. Rama strove to uphold Sathya as the main plank of Dharma. Whatever the

trial and however hard the travail, He did not Give up Truth. Sathyam is

Dharmam; Dharmam is Sathyam, the two are irrevocably intertwined. 'Sathyam

Vada; Dharmam Chara', say the Upanishads. Rama will be remembered so long as

mountains raise their heads and the ocean exists, because of this strict

adherence to Sathya and Dharma. If He had argued "Why should I be bound by the

word of my father?", He would not have earned this immortality. The immortal

had come in the form of Rama to show the way to immortality.

800. When you travel towards God, obstacles have to be bypassed.

Prahlada went against his father, Vibhishana went against his brother,

Jamadagni had to harm his own mother, and Meera could not obey her husband,

because they stuck to the path of God and broke through all those who opposed

them.

CONTINUED…

With Sai love from Sai brother M. Palaniswamy

/