Sai message for the day

[Guest guest]

Swami! In spite of a long period of desiring to be devoted to God,

devotion somehow does not grow as intense as it should. What is

essential to develop devotion of the magnitude and intensity expected

of a true devotee?

 

Sai Baba: Here it is not time that matters. An iron ball in a pond,

however long it might stay there, will never change. It will remain

as it is without any change in it. You should know that it is

transformation that is important. It is the goal you set for yourself

that matters most. Until then, you should pursue your goal not

mindful of the time involved.

 

You know a lamp has a container, a wick, and oil. With a wick kept

for long in water, you can never light a lamp even if you use any

number of matchsticks. Impossible! What you should do is, take the

wick out of water, keep it in sunshine for some time and dry it. Then

you will be able to light the wick easily. Here the process of drying

the wick in sunlight is renunciation. The procedure of lighting it

with a matchstick is sadhana and the light you get thereby is

devotion or intense Love for God. The lamp is the human body. The

same process is applicable to those who are not devoted, as you have

said. The more they are drenched and drowned in worldly life, the

farther they are from God, the source of all light; they can never

light the lamp of their life. Dry it in the sunshine of detachment so

as to be benefited by the light of devotion. Some people in spite of

a prolonged period of stay and association are not devoted as much as

they should be, for the simple reason: They lack detachment from

worldly things. Therefore, intense devotion is not given to everybody.