Pearls from 'Ocean of Love' of our Divine Sai

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welcome for improvement. With Pranams at the Lotus Feet of our Divine Sai, Sai

brothers - '' PEARLS COLLECTED FROM THE ‘SAI OCEAN OF

LOVE' THE aeroplane has to land at a certain place in order to take in those

who have reserved the right to fly by the tickets that they have purchased. So

too the

Lord has to come down so that those who have won the right to be liberated may

be saved. Incidentally, others too will know of the Lord, of His Grace and ways

of winning it and of the joy of liberation. There are some who deny even today

the possibility of air-travel; they curse the contrivance. They cavil at it.

Similarly there are many who cavil at the Avatar that has come to save them.

WHILE speaking of God, as guarding you, I am reminded of a note that some one

has sent Me from this gathering. The note wants Me to explain why I have not

mentioned SAI BABA in any of my Discourses so far, though I bear the name as

the Avatar of SAI BABA. Evidently, the writer of the note had in mind

the people who engage themselves in publicity-work of Rama or Krishna or SAI

BABA. HOW far have you progressed using the chance of these Discourses and

the Darshan and Sparshan? Bring something into your daily practice, as evidence

of your having known the secret of higher life from Me. Show that you have

greater brotherliness, speak less, with more sweetness and self-control, and

that you can bear defeat as well as victory with calm resignation. MANAVA

can become Madhava by engaging himself in Madhava Karma; he can then discover

his 'Narayana - Tatwam'. What is the use of doing only Manava karma; or even

Danava karma and claiming that man is divine? Virtue is the lifebreath, and

character is the backbone. Without these, no meritorious act will fructify. A

characterless man is like a pot with many holes, useless for carrying water or

for storing it. Renounce and win Peace. JEWELS give Joy, not Gold. You can

experience the Name, you can imbibe the Form; you can take them to heart and

dwell upon them and fill yourself with the joy that they evoke. That is why

Jayadeva, Gomanka, Ramakrishna and others wished to remain ants, tasting Sugar

rather than becoming sugar itself. The Name is like the seed, implanted in your

heart; when the shower of His Grace falls upon it; sprouts into a lovely tree.

All trees that sprout from the Name are equally lovely and shady. YOU must

cultivate non-attachment towards Prakruthi and attachment to the Lord. I am

reminded of the story of Sankara Bhatta. He was a great Sadhaka intent on Japa

and Aagama to such an extent that he was reduced to skin and bone. He

worshipped Saraswathi or Vidya, which is the key to open the doors of Mukti.

Goddess Lakshmi saw his sad plight and was moved with great pity. She chided

Saraswathi for denying Her votary even the common joys of life and Herself hid

in his leaky hut to pour on him Her Grace. She offered him plenty and

prosperity, fame and fortune. She derided Saraswathi for neglecting to award

comfort and joy on Her hapless servant. But Sankara Bhatta turned a deaf ear to

her allurements; he said politely, but firmly, 'No, Saraswathi has blessed me

with the most precious wealth, the gift that liberates me. I do not crave your

Grace. Please remove yourself from my presence'. BECAUSE you have taken

residence in this body, you cannot call the body "I". When you sit here in this

Hall, you do not call the Hall "I". You know, you are separate and that you are

here only temporarily. When you go about in a Tonga, you do not say that the

Tonga is you, do you? do not take the Tonga inside, when you step down from it

on reaching home. So, also, you have to drop this body when you reach "home".

PARAMATMA reveals its Glory in man; Prema appears in various forms, attaching

itself to riches or parents or children or one's life mate or friends. All

these are sparks of the same flame and the Love of the Universal is its highest

expression. This Prema cannot be cultivated by reading essays, guidebooks and

made-easies and learning the steps by note. It has to begin with great yearning

for the Light and an unbearable agony to escape from the darkness as in

the prayer: "Thamasomaa Jyothir Gamaya". The yearning itself will draw the

light. The Love will grow of itself, and by its own slow alchemy, turn you into

God. YOU have a Kalpavruksha ready to give you all that you want; you have

the Lord, who protects and promotes all. The virtues of the people are

treasures of the State; the Smarana of the Name of the Lord is the root of all

virtues. Narada, who was afflicted with conceit that there was no other who had

dedicated his very breath to the recital of the Name, was once humbled to find

that a farmer who managed to repeat the Name three times in the course of his

overwhelming multitude of distressing preoccupations from cock-crow to dusk was

judged a great Bhakta. THE A of AUM is the Viswa; U is Tejas; and the M is

Prajna - There is another interpretation in the scriptures. Viswa is the

Walking; Tejas is the Dream; Prajna, the Deep Sleep stage. The Pranava Sadhana

(the spiritual exercise of meditation on OM) is therefore very important for

Seekers. The Vedas prescribe the repetition of the Pranava, while studying holy

texts reciting the Name of the Divine, carrying out daily duties and offering

gifts. THE Pranava is the essence of all sustenance, the embodiment of Rasa.

Of the Earth, Water is the Rasa; Of the Water, Physic (Oshadi) is the Rasa; Of

the Physic, the Human Person is the Rasa; Of the Human Person, the Word is the

Rasa; Of the Word, RuK is the Rasa; Of the RuK, Sama is the Rasa; Of the Sama

(Veda), OM is the Rasa. These eight Rasas, the Earth, Water, Physic, Person,

Word, RuK, Sama and OM lead to the ninth - Ananda (Bliss). These are the

Navaratnas, the nine Essences, the nine Sustainers; and Ananda is the goal

which man is seeking, the aim of human life. THE motherland is not a mere

lump of earth. When

we desire its progress, we have to promote the progress of the people who dwell

therein. The skill needed for resuscitating and reforming man is found only in

students. The reforming process involves the removal in daily living of bad

conduct and bad habits and the practice of good conduct and good deeds. A man's

worth can be measured by his efforts to reform himself. This day, the Government

has no authority to reform the people; and the people have no authority the

reform the Government. Mohammed preached monotheism and was driven out of

Mecca. Jesus preached mercy and charity and he was charged with treason.

Harischandra refused to give up his allegiance to Truth and was driven to

such straits that he had to sell as slave his wife and son. So, when you stick

to the path of Truth and Righteousness, pain and poverty haunt you. But they

are only clouds passing through the sky, hiding for a little time, the splendor

of the Sun. MAN has in him vast resources of power. When he does not utilise

them while discharging his duties to himself and to the Society, which sustains

him, he is only becoming a target for ridicule. When You are on a railway

station platform waiting for the train that is due, and when you come to know

that it arrives five hours late, how do you react? You fling abusive words at

train. When the coaches receives from you such treatment, how much worse

treatment you deserve for not fulfilling your duty and for disappointing the

expectations that you have raised by your being a man? Utilise your skills and

learning as consistently and effectively as duty demands. YOU should take to

"Sarvada, Sarvakaleshu Sarvatra Haricharithanam". It is just not sufficient

holding a mala and doing Japa, once in the morning during Brahma Muhurtha time,

once in the afternoon and once in the evening. All the twenty-four hours, you

should be in the remembrance of God. You should all the time be striving to

awaken the spirit within you and for its blossoming (Atma Vikas). This is the

real purpose of life. ANY one may blame you; but you should ignore all such

blame and go forward in doing service without rancor. Service is your only

duty. The Universe is a manifestation of God. So also the individual. All these

three are like: Brahma, Vishnu, Maheswara - the Trinity. Actually there are no

three, they are one - it is the unified Godhead. Cherishing this thought of

Oneness and serving the Society is true Adhyamtic or spiritual life. Bad

thoughts and habits, bad company and bad food are hostile grounds where disease

thrives. 'Arogya' and 'Ananda' go hand in hand. A sense of elation and

exultation keeps the body free from ill health. Evil habits, in which men

indulge, are the chief cause of disease in the physical as well as the mental

state. Greed affects the mind; disappointment makes man depressed. Man can

justify his existence as man only by the cultivation of virtues. Then he

becomes a worthy candidate for Godhood. Source: 'Thought for the Day Book'

*** LOVE ALL SERVE ALL God is Love and can be won only through the

cultivation and exercise of Love. He cannot be trapped by any trick; He yields

Grace only when His commands are followed - command to love all, serve all.

When you love and serve all, you are serving yourself most, yourself whom you

love most! For God's Grace envelops you then and you are strengthened beyond

all previous experience. Let all days of living be continuos offering of Love,

as an oil lamp exhausts itself in illumining the surroundings. Bend the body,

mend the senses and end the mind - that is the process of attaining the status

of 'children of immortality', which the Upanishads have reserved for man.

God is the embodiment of sweetness. Attain Him by offering Him, who resides in

all, the sweetness that He has dowered on you. Crush the cane in the mill of

Seva, boil it in the cauldron of penitence; decolorize it of all sensual itch;

offer the crystallized sugar of compassionate Love to Him. Seva (service)

brings out all that is great in man. It broadens the heart and widens ones

vision. It fills one with joy. It promotes unity. It proclaims the truth of the

spirit. It drives out all evil qualities in a man. It must be regarded as a

great spiritual discipline. You are born to serve, not to dominate. Everyone in

the world is a

servant and not a master. All relationships - husband and wife, mother and

child, the employer and employee - are based on mutual service. The world is

progressing because of such mutual service. Seva should be done out of a sense

of duty. The body has been given to man for the performance of right action.

Every person has to discharge his duties in life. It is a sin to ignore one's

duties. Perform you duties without regard to what others say or do. Engage

yourself in service activity. Consider social service as service to God. To

earn the Love of God, this is the easiest way. The best way to love God is to

love all and serve all. Your entire life sanctified thereby. Devotion

consists in expressing love towards all. You cannot effect a change of heart by

speeches. They often lead to confusion and conflict. Better than speeches is

practice of love with faith in the divine. Follow the path of love and redeem

your love. Man knows that God is the very embodiment of love. Only through

the cord of love can God be bound. But it is only when love is for love's sake

that this cord can bind God to man. If love is

motivated by desire for worldly objects, God will be beyond our reach. You must

become embodiments of love. If you are merely loving, your love will be

confined to a few. Only when you become the embodiment of love can your love

comprehend all. Only then you will realize that it is the same God who is the

indweller in all beings. We owe a debt of gratitude to the Divine who has

not only endowed us with this precious human body but which also sustains it.

We shall be able to enjoy these gifts of the Divine only if we discharge this

debt to the Divine. How is this to be done? It is by rendering service to other

bodies saturated with the same Divine, by doing righteous deeds and consecrating

all actions in

the service of the society. This debt to the Divine has to be discharged in full

in this life itself or during many future lives. The earlier we repay this debt,

the sooner we shall realize Divinity. It is needless to search for God.

Verily you are the Divine. Strive to realize this Truth. There is a simple and

easy way. Have faith that every human being is an embodiment of the Divine.

Love every one. Serve all. The best way to God is to LOVE ALL, SERVE ALL.

Ref: Divine Discourses: |Jun 26, 1969 |Oct

10, 1983 |Mar 24, 1989 |Jun 21, 1989 |Jul 18, 1989 |Nov 20, 1990 |14 Jan 1995|

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