SATHYA SAI SPEAKS - Volume II [Ch. 27, 28, 29, 30]

[Guest guest]

Dear Sai brothers and sisters of the worldwide '' family,

In view of the ensuing glorious event of the 80th Birthday of the Divine Lord

Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, we propose posting of all the Divine Messages

titled as ‘Sathya Sai Speaks’ for the benefit of our members and all the Sai

devotees the world over. We request you to pass on/forward/spread these Divine

messages to your Sai circle so that they also derive spiritual benefits and

bliss from them. These Divine Messages are not only for Sai devotees, they are

for the entire HUMANITY. Lord Krishna taught humanity the ways and means of

salvation for mankind in ‘Bhagavad Gita’ in Dwapara Yuga. ‘Sathya Sai speaks’

is the Bhagavad Gita of Kali Yuga. - With Sai love, Sai brothers -

’’

***

Om Sri Sai Ram

SATHYA SAI SPEAKS - Volume II [Ch. 27, 28, 29, 30]

27. SPIRITUAL ACADEMY OF MAN

THE study of sacred books and listening to religious discourses are meant to

develop self-control and peace; but, from the confusion here which you seem to

enjoy. I find that your study and listening have all been a waste, You cannot

put forward as excuse the hugeness of the gathering, because if each one of you

stops talking or clamoring or complaining, silence can be established that very

second. Again, you cannot say that you have been waiting since early morning

and therefore you have become restless. Well, what is to be said of the

earnestness that melts away just when the event for which you were waiting so

long has started? If each one keeps silent, though there are lakhs of people

here, it would appear as if there is none. Try to keep silent.

Remember why you have come and why you have waited, whom you have come to

listen. Now it is better. That is good. That is why I always say that man's

real nature is Santham (peace, equanimity); that, if only he tries, he can

re-discover his nature inn moment. He has' only to pull himself up, to

recollect his origins from Brahman, his identity with the changeless Atma. Man

may err in an uproar or be fight in quiet-calm, as you are now. Your own

enthusiasm has mused this delay; for the road to the Mandir (hall of worship)

i% as the organizers say, completely packed and even there, in the Mandir there

is not a square inch of vacant space! So, it was suggested that the idol could

be brought to this bungalow for consecration; it could be taken later and

placed in position at the

Mandir.

Do not dishonor the heritage of India

Remember, Sai does not live in structures of stone or brick and mortar! He lives

in soft hearts, warm with sympathy and fragrant with universal Love. Temples and

image-worship have some value in stimulating the higher impulses of man, of

diverting his instincts along more socially useful channels. That is why in

India no chance was lost to lead man Godward. All arts were utilized to that

end. Even a drunkard sways to the tune of a faintly remembered keerthana (music

composition), proclaiming the Glory of God or the joy of self-realisation. Every

one, 'whatever the stage of spiritual advance he may have attained, is prompted,

gently nudged, to move forward. This has made India the Spiritual academy of

humanity. You are privileged to live out this life in the lap of India; that

is, in the lap of Vedanta. Remember this heritage and live in

such way that you do not dishonor it.

Do not envy the countries that are attempting to' reach the Moon and Mars and to

explore the reaches of outer space. Of what avail is it to master those regions

while remaining slaves of every gust of malice or fear? Of what avail is it to

travel at ten thousand miles per hour with a mind weighed down by dark impulses

of the savage past? Inquire into the causes of the Ashanti (lack of peace) that

prevails even in the most advanced communities of the West and you will find

the reason to be the wild growth of pride and greed, vice and sin. There is no

fear of God or respect for age or dread of sin. They attach meaning and value

only to the external symbols of riches or power; the container, not the thing

contained.

For example this marble image is only a container. The thing contained is Sai

Tathva (essential nature). Just as a cup is the aadhaara (base support) and the

milk in it is the Aadheya (supported), you pour Sai Tathva in this Form and you

call it Sai Baba; you pour it in another vessel of a different form and call it

Shrinivasa, or Shiva or Krishna or Rama.

Idol worship is just the beginning of Sadhana

For those in the Kindergarten of Sadhana, an idol is as necessary as pictures in

a spelling book. Until you are able to recall instantly the image of a horse as

soon as you see the letters h, o, r, s and e, one after another, the drawing of

a picture must be held before you with those letters underneath it. So also, you

must have a Form like the idol, called Sai, prominently before you in order to

give shape to your loose and indefinite conception of the Divine Tathva (true

state). Once you can conceive the Sai Tathva independently without any form, or

as all Forms and Names, the idol is superfluous; it can be dispensed with.

Installing this marble image in the Mandir yonder does not mean the end of all

effort for you. In fact, it is just the beginning. There are a large number of

temples all over this country in various stages of ruin; not only here, but in

other countries also, the same thing holds true. Why make all this noise and

build another temple to be added to the list? New temples rise and old temples

fade from memory and fall into decay. This is bemuse you do not realise that

the substance is the same, though it is presented in different forms and under

different names. One chapter of your thapas (penance) is over; you have got

this idol and you have got up this function but the next chapter is to pour

your Bhakti into this idol and make it ever alive; to shape your own lives, so

that you are fit to stand before Sai with folded hands. Only the

pure and the holy can offer themselves fully to God.

Do your best first and seek God's help

I do not like people wasting the precious moments of their limited years of life

in idle talk of vain pursuits Nor do I like cowardly hesitation. Act; act with

all your might and with all your mind; make full use of the skill, capacity

courage and-confidence that you are endowed with. Then God will bless you. You

must have heard of a Rama Bhakta (devotee of Rama) who sat on the road side by

his upturned cart, wailing his bad luck and calling on Rama to lift the cart

into position. Rama did not appear to raise the cart and fix the wheel. He

therefore began chiding his faith itself and to doubt the experience of the

sages who describe Him as the Ocean of Mercy. Rama came into his presence then;

but only to tell him. "You fool, I have entrusted you with some intelligence and

strength. Use them. Put your

shoulder to the task now before you. When you have done your best and that best

is found not enough, then call on Me; I am ever ready to reinforce your

exertions with My Grace." The Bhaktas of Rama, with His Name on their lips and

His Form before their eyes, lifted mountains and bridged the sea. You who call

yourselves Atma Bhaktas are too weak even to carry about your bodies, not to

speak of the burden of your kith and kin.

Having installed Sai in your village, you must grow in Prema (love), for Sai is

Prema Swarupa (love personified). Sa---means Sarvashakthi (All-powerful),

Sarvasaakshi (the Witness in All); Ayi means mother; Baba means father. The

Prema of Sai is the Prema characteristic of the Father and the Mother; not the

earthly Father and Mother but of the Father and Mother who are the Witness of

every thought, word and deed in every being. Respect the Father and Mother who

are concrete and then you transfer that type of respect to the Abstract Father

or Mother or Guardian---God. Learn to install the unseen Lord in your heart by

installing the see-able image in the Mandir. Proceed from the sthoola (gross)

to the sookshma (subtle).

Discover Truth by exercise of discrimination

Just as patients require a doctor, Bhaktas require some Name and Form to which

they can run for consolation and courage and advice. So it is for your sake, as

a great step in your Sadhana, in your progress towards internal peace and

harmony, that this installation is made by Me now. "Wherever My name is sung,

there I install Myself" it has been said.

The Divinity you have as the core of your being, you ignore; at the same time,

you seek it in others. That is the tragedy. You insult yourself by feeling

helpless, weak and inferior. Cowardice and self-condemnation - these do not

become a spark of the Divine Flame. Your Sathya can be discovered by you by a

little exercise of Viveka (discrimination). Born in delusion, breathing in

delusion, groveling in delusion man is unaware of his heritage and feels

incapable of attaining it. He is desperate, seeing no means of escape; every

effort to achieve Shanthi (peace) entangles him further and tighter in the

coils and of a-Shanthi. Like flowers of variegated hue, each redolent with

fragrance, men are all basically of the same genus of Brahmam. The fragrance

arises from the Divine Essence which is the real reason for existence;

for every one has to realise that Essence and thus end the series of births and

deaths. Like a student leaving college once the degree is awarded, once the

Truth is realised, man has liberation. He can leave his college and his study

and all that bother.

You have to rely on your own resources

But you must get the Degree. Why are you averse to making the effort needed to

pass? Instead of that, you run after this teacher or that. You extol him to the

sky and call yourselves his followers. Of what avail is his victory to you? He

has achieved; well what about you? His achievement is entered in his account at

the bank as his deposit and he can draw Cheques upon it. But can you draw from

it?

There are even today great sages in the Himalayas, 1 know, who are Witnesses of

everything and whose Prema embraces the whole of Humanity but that does not

help you; you have to trek the path alone and rely on your own resources. They

can provide only guide maps and encouragement. You have come to Repalle today

from the hundred distant villages and you know that you have to go back to the

places from where you came. So too, it is inevitable that you have to return to

the place from where this journey through birth and death started, namely,

Brahman.

There is only one Sun, but he is reflected in a million tanks and wells and

pots. Paramatma (God) is One and His reflections, are the Jivis (individuals,

each with the Atma (soul) apparent therein. There are lakhs of people here now

and in each one of you now, Swaami is shining in the heart. That is the real

Aathmaanandham (Soul full bliss). Keep it fresh for ever and foster it

carefully. That is the secret of Shaanthi.

Installation of Shri Sai Baba idol in the Mandir, Repalle, 2- 12-1961

28. THE SEARCH FOR QUIET

THE name "Sanathana" that you have adopted for your Workers Co-operative

Industrial Institute is strange, even for the Department over which the

Minister who is here presides. But it is that name which has brought Me here.

You are all Sanathana (eternal), though you appear noothana (new), on account

of this new dress you are wearing. This you can discover only through Vidhya

(learning) that instills discrimination and emphasizes basic values.

Your Chief Minister said this morning when this Society was formally inaugurated

in Shriramapuram, that all our troubles arise out of ignorance and that the

spread of education will automatically remove them. I had to correct him and

say that all our troubles are due to the fact that the educated are not

educated at all in the subjects that really matter. They have neither Viveka

(discrimination), nor Vinaya (humility), nor vishwaasa (trust). They do not

honour or render gratitude to parents. They laugh at those who turn towards God

and those who give the world a minor place in the scheme of things. They do not

appreciate the simple pleasures of meditation, of the recital of the Name of

the Lord, of silence and service. Still, they are burdened with heavy degrees

and titles which proclaim that they are 'educated.' That is the

tragedy.

The educated have no iota of the peace that the uneducated have! They live in

greater discontent and misery and are tossed about without a rudder in a sea of

troubles. They do not know anything about the source of Peace and Ananda that

they carry about within themselves; they allow the inner consciousness to go

dry by neglect; they are not aware of the means to irrigate it with the waters

of Prema and grow therein the fruits of Prashanthi (tranquility).

Without faith in God, man is blind

They read books but do not correct their modes of thinking and living. The

shelves of the dispensary are full of drugs; but how can your illness be cured

if you simply learn the catalogue by heart, or even the pharmacopoeia? You have

to select the drug you need, drink it, imbibe it, assimilate it and counteract

the cause of illness.

For example; I have now been moving around this Bangalore and other places for

more than 22 years; but though lakhs of people have seen Me, those who have

understood My Nature are very few. This is because the simple exercises of

sravana, manana and nididhyaasana (listening, reflection and concentration) are

not practiced by people; they do not know how to recognise Divinity in

themselves or others. They simply prod and exhort each other to serve all as

God's own Forms. This has become mere conventional talk devoid of inspiration

or meaning.

In India, from very ancient times, the Glory, the Divinity, the sanctity of man

has been proclaimed and the way of recognising it has been taught. Only those

who have learnt them deserve to be the sons and daughters of this land. Others

are like the kokil birds, the cuckoos that are born in the nests of crows;

their place of birth is India, no doubt, but they are basically aliens, of a

different species altogether. Guru Naanak said that without faith in God, man

is blind; without it, you are moving corpses. Your life might be as grand, as

beautiful, as rich as the Taj Mahal---but remember the Taj is but a tomb!

Whatever the method of worship, whichever the Name or Form, it is Faith that

matters; it is that which gives life and energy for higher things.

Do ritual worship for the sake of humanity

There is this panicky talk about the Ashta-grahakoota---of the calamities that

the conjunction of these 8 planets will rain upon mankind. Like the tail of

Hanuman with the flame at its tip, which lengthened on and on, setting all

Lanka on fire, this panic is increasing every moment and setting every one on

edge. Believe Me, nothing will happen; no, there is no danger at all. Of

course, in this terror, people are everywhere doing Yajnas and Poojas, which

are by themselves good. They give you some courage and peace of mind. So far,

so good. Even among these, I like the Pooja that is done not for the sake of

the individual but for the sake of humanity. By all means, do Poojas in order

to promote the happiness and peace of living beings. Develop that love for men

everywhere. That is My mission too, My resolution, My

Sankalpa (Will), My deeksha (vow)---the planting of love in every human heart.

The Lord is Prema; Prema is Paramatma. If you fill your heart with Prema,

hatred, envy, greed and egoism cannot enter it. There will be no pralaya

(devastation) for a Prema-filled earth. The only chaos that may happen in

February next is the chaos of failure for many candidates in the General

Elections! No one else needs worry over the conjunction. Chaos or no chaos your

duty is to pray for the welfare of the world and to work for it as far as lies

in your power. Pray for Prashanthi for all; do your bit for it by not adding to

the Ashanti (disturbance) that exists.

Every one is basically God; that is to say, basically, you. He is the Inner

Motive in all. Every Indian knows this in the depths of his heart; he has

imbibed it with the mother's milk; that knowledge, and action according to that

knowledge, are the hall-marks of the Indian. That should make the genuine Indian

fearless; for the Atma, which he really is, cannot be affected by pain or death

or joy or accident or calamity.

What is the use of searching for quiet, available only in the silence of the

Inner Awareness, in the jungle of Prakriti (world)? It is like searching for

something you have lost in your room under the street lamp. Your "self" you

have lost; search for it in you that is the path of wisdom.

25-12-1961

Your mind too is like the jinn; it will destroy you if left idle; so, order it

to move up and down the pillar of Soham--- "He-I,I am HeI am that." -

Sathya Sai Baba

29. NAYANA, NOT AYANA

SHAASTRY spoke in detail of the importance of the Uttharaayana Day. The day has

an outer and an inner significance, the inner having greater value for

aspirants for spiritual progress. I do not attach much value to the outer

meaning: the Sun taking a northward direction from today; the six months from

now on being holier than the six that ended today and therefore, as Shastri

said, the Uttharaayana better suited for Sadhana. Man's life must be a

perpetual Sadhana; any day is a good day for starting Sadhana, whether it falls

in the Dakshinaayana or Uttharaayana (southward or northward movements of Sun).

One need not wait for the Sun to turn North. The months and the ayanas (Sun's

passage towards north and south of equator) are all related to Prakrithi

(subjective world), and so they have only

relative value.

Uttharaayana is a quality of the Nayana (the eye); it is matter of

dhrishti--attitude, point of view. It is not an Ayana (half year term). When

your dhrishti (sight) is on Brahman, it is Uttharaayana; when it is on

Prakriti, it is Dakshinaayana. When you have developed Utthamaguna (excellent

quality), every day is Uttharaayana whatever the Panchaanga (almanac) may say.

When you have fever, the tongue will be bitter; when you are healthy, you know

all tastes. The bitter tongue is the Dakshinaayana; the sweet tongue is the

Uttharaayana. To associate it with the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn is just

a convention.

Avatar comes for the protection of all with good virtues

The astronomical Uttharaayana comes to you whether you strive for it or not; it

is part of the law of nature. But for the real Uttharaayana, you must make

efforts, tremendous efforts. Know that there are only two entities: the

substance and the shadow, (or rather, only One, and its appearance, produced by

ignorance), the Atma and the An-Atma---the seer and the seen the rope and the

snake. When this knowledge becomes part of the mental make-up, it liberates you

from Maya and you see Kailash at the straight and hard but the Goal is glorious;

it is nothing less than Illumination. It is when people forget this Goal that

the Avatar comes to save them.

The Avatar comes when there is yet a remnant of good men, yet a trace of Dharma;

for what is the use of doctor when the patient has collapsed? When a large

number of good men are afflicted with the fear for the survival of goodness,

then the Lord incarnates to feed their drooping spirits and revive faith and

courage. "Parithraanaaya Saadhoonaam" in the Geetha does not mean the

"protection of Sadhus or ascetics;" it means the "protection of all who have

Sadhu virtues;" 'Sadhu' means 'good.' Good virtues might be found even in

animals and insects and worms. He will guard and guide even such. He comes to

promote Dharma; and virtue is the foundation of Dharma.

The worldly outlook will deceive you and land you in grief. You do not know

which articles will satisfy your inner cravings; you try to possess whatever

attracts your eye. When you crave for the thought of the Lord and the company

of the Godly, then you are in Uttharaayana. Bhishma too was in that mood. He

prayed "Asatho maa sath gamaya"---From this transient world of decay, lead me

to the everlasting world of Bliss; "Thamaso maa jyothir gamaya"---Give me the

effulgence of Thy Grace and illumine my soul with truth; "Mruthyor maa amritham

gamaya"---Save me from the torture of birth and death, destroy the cravings of

the mind which produce the seeds of birth and lead me to Immortality. That

prayer and that yearning of Bhishma gave him the vision of Krishna when he

passed away. That was the real Uttharaayana for

him.

Use the body well for the purpose given

Jiva (individual) and Deva (Divine) are the two rails along which the engine

manas is dragging the coaches of Vishaya Vaasana (attachment to sense objects)

along. Each coach contains the items of luggage each one has, viz., Buddhi,

antahkarana (intellect, inner senses), etc. Atma is the driver of the engine;

if the coupling with the engine is not well connected, the coaches will be left

loose on the line. Faith and Shraddha (trust) are the couplings; see that they

are fixed tight. They do not fix themselves, remember. You have to use the

strength and the intellect awarded to you. Grace will be granted only then.

Spend the Shakti (energy) you are endowed with; then pray for Rama Shakti. Rama

or the Lord will then bless you; if you ask for one, He will grant you a

hundred. This is the

Karmadeha (the working body) given to you; use it well for the purpose given.

I see many people here who have come in the special buses, which take them round

to many holy places. I shall tell them mine words: When you reach a holy place

you should entertain only holy thought. On seeing a doctor, you remember your

illness; when you see a lawyer, you wish to consult him on some problem of

property or personal spite; when you see a temple, you are reminded of the

Force that animates the universe. Your tour should not be a Vinodha-prayaana

(travel for amusement) but a Viveka-prayaana (travel for using discrimination)

for you. Do not use such pilgrim buses for going on picnics; do not seek to

purchase vessels and clothes and rarities in the shops of the towns you visit;

pay attention more to the need for filling your minds with holy experiences

over which you can ruminate after returning to the quiet of your home. When

you are in the Kshethra (holy place), think of the Kshethrajna (divine dweller of the place).

Move in the midst of the sacred and sanctifying

Load your bus with thoughts of the Glory of God, not with tinsel and tin cans.

Again, do not get involved with the bad traits that may be found in the places

to which you go. Seek the company of the good, move in the midst of the sacred

and the sanctifying. That is what you go so far for. The shelves of the

hospital are full of all types of medicines: pills, poisons, powders,

emulsions, lotions, mixtures, etc. You should ask not for the sweetest or the

most attractively packed drug, but the drug that you need for the illness you

suffer from. So too, let the holy place have a thousand other attractions; do

not run after them. Concentrate on the thing you have come for. The bhogi

(enjoyer) and the rogi (the sickly) should be transformed into the yogi

(contemplative saint); take the drug from the dispensary, which will make you

that.

Become also fit for the Vision of God that you seek in the temples. Go humbly,

with prema in your heart for all creation; take the Hrudhayapushpa

(heart-flower), full of the fragrance of Prema, the Mano-phala (mind-fruit)

uncontaminated by the pests of greed and egoism; become sweet in word, deed and

thought so that you can dedicate yourself to the service of God's Plan. A person

with faith in God will not be moved by panic, as some people are, at the

approaching Ashtagrahakoota (conjunction of eight planets). I assure you there

will be no extra danger to the world as a result of that conjunction. No

additional calamity will happen; why, the A-Shanthi that now exists will even

become a little less! When the Avatar has come, why fear like this? Why dread

imaginary dangers? One more thing: you will have seen the

announcement that you should not bring to Me fruits, flowers, etc. Some of you,

I know, are sad that I have announced so. But let Me tell you: Come to. Me with

empty hands; I shall fill your hands with gifts and Grace. If your hands are

full, what am I to fill them with?

Prashanthi Nilayam, 14-1-1962

Any balance of karma-consequence will involve some years of imprisonment in the

body. The Sasthras advise man to wipe off the balances by four steps: by

scotching all sparks from the fire; by getting rid of all signs, symptoms and

causes of fever; by paying off all balance of debt; and by suffering off all

consequences of karma. - Sathya Sai Baba

30. IMMANENT IN YOU

You have heard four people speaking now on the magazine, 'Sanathana Sarathi' and

the value derived from it by readers. I know that you have been squatting for an

hour or so and you will come again for longer sessions lair in the day, which

will continue the whole night. Let Me tell you that far from sympathizing with

you, I commend your endurance, for such hardships make your lives worthwhile.

To call it a hardship is a sign of delusion and ignorance of values. Just now

the entire country is under the shadow of a fear, the fear of

Ashtagrahakoota---the conjoint effect of eight planets that converge in one

line for some short time. In order to ward off the evil, persons who have so

far never spent a pie on charity are spending lavishly for Yajnas, Poojas and

the propitiation of planetary powers. So far, so good; let some money flow

from one pocket to another which is more needy. Let money circulate.

Let the spirit of charity grow, even out of panic. But calamity, danger, death

cannot be avoided for all time; they are inevitable factors of life; you have

to learn to live bravely with them. Only uninterrupted prayer can accomplish

this, not by spurts of worship actuated by sudden fear. Purify your hearts,

your thoughts, feelings, emotions, speech; strengthen your nobler impulses;

then, no panic can un-nerve you; nothing can shake your stability, your

Prashanthi (inner peace).

Lord's Leela to reveal the nature of Bhakti

Your prayers will be heard and answered; the Lord has no distinction of big or

small, of high or low. There was in Bengal a Bhakta named Maadhavadhaasa, who

realised when his wife died, that he had lost his griha (home), for his

grihalakshmi (wife) had passed away; so he gave all his riches to the poor,

donned a gerua (yellow) robe and wandered alone as a pilgrim to the Jagannaatha

Shrine. There he did such deep penance that the concrete image soon became the

Abstract Reality and the Abstract Reality became a Perpetual Vision. He lost

all sense of time and space, of Chith and A Chith (awareness and ignorance).

Then the Lord, with Subhadra, His Shakti-aspect, moved towards him and placed

before him the gold plate used by the priests to keep food in front of

Jagannaatha in the sanctum sanctorum. When

Maadhavadhaasa awoke to his gross surroundings, he saw the gold plate with the

pile of delicious food upon it; he ate his fill and returned to his inner

paradise, which he had left for a while.

Meanwhile, the plate was reported lost, assumed to be stolen, and discovered by

the seashore near Maadhavadhaasa, who was promptly arrested and led to the

lock-up by some very efficient policemen. He was beaten mercilessly but did not

seem to mind it a bit. The chief priest that night had a dream in which

Jagannaatha asked him not to bring food for the Lord again into the shrine,

for: "You bring food for Me, and when I eat it, you start beating Me!" Then he

realised that it was all the Lord's Leela to demonstrate the devotion of

Maadhavadhaasa and teach others the real nature of Bhakti.

Some scholars and Pundits of Puri did not feel happy at this sudden rise to fame

of a stranger from Bengal; so they called Maadhavadhaasa into their midst and

challenged him to an intellectual duel. Maadhavadhaasa was not a Pundit of that

type: he had learnt the Sasthras only as a staff to help him walk, as a guide to

action; not as a stick to beat others with. So he accepted defeat even before

the bout began and signed a statement to that effect, which the leading Pundit

was only too glad to accept because Maadhavadhaasa had a reputation for

scholarship which was really frightening.

The Lord will not allow a devotee to be harmed

The Pundit hurried to Kasi with that token of victory; he waved it before a

gathering of scholars and demanded that they should all pay him homage as

superior even to Maadhavadhaasa. But the Lord will not allow His Bhakta to be

humiliated. When the signed statement was opened and read, they were all amazed

to find that it was a statement declaring that it was Maadhavadhaasa who had

achieved victory and it was the Pundits who had signed underneath acknowledging

his own defeat! The Lord will not be silent when the Bhakta is insulted or

harmed.

But, remember, the word is Bhakta. Well, who is a Bhakta and how can you claim

the privileges of that position? Unless you have unshakable faith, you do not

deserve that name. If you are rooted in that faith, success is yours, without a

doubt but do not think that I am angry or displeased with you on that account.

This evening, the Lingodhbhava (emergence of egg-shaped stone of Shiva) is My

Duty, My responsibility, rather My Nature which must reveal itself on this holy

day.

I gave Kasturi and Thirumalachar shawls and blessed them at the beginning of

this meeting since they wrote My Life in English and Telugu: the book called

"Sathyam Shivam Sundaram." Some of you might have wondered why I liked the

publication of this book on My Life. Well, I like the production of all kinds

of things and so, why should I not like this? I responded to the prayers of

devotees and allowed them to write it. "Ramayathi ithi Rama"---He who pleases

is Rama. The joy of the Bhakta satisfies the Lord; the joy of the Lord is the

reward of the Bhakta.

Truth is the basic reality of you all

The title, "Sathyam Shivam Sundaram" is full of meaning. It speaks of Me as

immanent in every one of you, remember. Sathyam (Truth) is the basic reality of

you all; that is why you resent being called a liar. The real "you" is innocent;

he will not accept an imputation that is false. The real "you" is Shivam--joy,

happiness, and auspiciousness---but not shavam (corpse). It is Shubham

(beautiful), Nithyam (permanent), Anandam (bliss). How then can you bear being

called otherwise? The real "you" is Beauty, and so you resent being called

ugly. The aathma has got entangled in the body which it does not like; it is

weighed down by shame when you identify it with the body and attribute to it

the weaknesses and deficiencies of that physical vehicle.

The 'Sanathana Sarathi' is the result of My Sankalpa (resolve). My Uthsaaha

(venture), My Ananda (bliss). Nothing can stand in the way once I have decided

on any step. When the Paramatma Tathva (principle of Supreme Soul) assumes

human form and appears, not with Mahaa-shakthi and Mahaa-swaruupa (Supreme

Power and Form of the Supreme), but with Maaya-shakthi and Maaya-swaruupa

(Power of illusion and Form of illusion), it is difficult to comprehend it,

especially when you are in an uncertain vacillating mood. Once you understand

the purpose and the procedure, all doubts will cease.

Prashanthi Nilayam, 4-3-1962

Prema is the characteristic of the Lord; the love that you bear to yourself is

itself the love that is the nature of the Atma, which is the Lord. That is why

I place all emphasis on Prema, in its various forms of affection, filial piety

brotherhood, fraternalism, philanthropy, etc My Message, My Mission is Prema,

Prema, Prema; nothing else. That is the substance, remember, of the Vedas and

of Dharma. When that fills the heart, all fear and all vice will vanish. -

Sathya Sai Baba

TO BE CONTINUED…

With Sai love from Sai brothers – ‘’ Source and Courtesy:

http://www.sssbpt.info/ssspeaks/volume02/sss02

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