Sai Inspires - 23rd September 2007 from Prashanti Nilayam

September 23, 2007

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Dear Reader,

Loving Sairam from the Heart2Heart Team.

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" The Secret

toGreatness "

What should we be careful about while engaged in service?

Swami guides us today.

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Sai Inspires -

23rd September 2007

Indulging in flimsy gossip and watching scenes of

violence and cruelty, men today are wasting and missing a big portion of

their precious lives. Time is condemned, because it is too little, or because it runs too fast to fulfill galloping greed. Men are not aware that

time sanctified by service offers high rewards to themselves as well as

those whom they serve. All acts of service are not equally sanctifying or

uniform in the benefits they confer. When service is undertaken by

power-hungry people, or under compulsion or by imitative urges, it results

in more harm than good. Self-aggrandizement or competition or ostentation

are motives that will pollute the sacred Sadhana of

Service.

- Divine

Discourse, November 21, 1986.

The highest sadhana is to transform love into service.

- Baba

The Secret to

Greatness

Loving Sai Ram and greetings from Prashanti

Nilayam. For this Sunday, we have the transcript of a talk delivered a

few days ago by a student of second year under graduate class, Mr. Dinesh

Majeti, in the morning prayer session of Bhagavan's college in Prasanthi

Nilayam.

Trust Him to hear you when you call,

To raise you when you fall,

Trust Him to bless you day by day,

And lead you all the way,

Trust Him to bear your every care,

Your joys and grief’s to share,

Trust Him your daily needs to know,

Because He loves you so.

How does a child know that a person is its mother?

Yes, it’s due to faith. The entire human life is based on faith. No one can

subsist for even a single moment without faith.

Here is a small example. A man lays the foundation stone for

a house today. If he does not have the confidence that by next year this

house will be ready and that he would live till next year, will he seek to

build the house at all? Another example. One gets up in the morning, takes

a bag to go the market to buy vegetables. Without the belief that he will

return home after buying vegetables from the market, will he leave the

house at all? We give costly clothes to the washer man with the faith that

he will return them washed and ironed. From the time of waking up till

going to sleep, everything a man does, every moment is based on

faith.

For a little chutney in your

plate

A big thank you, aloud you state;

Yet, for gifts from God that come

You tend often to remain dumb.

You trust the barber with a knife

Held at your throat in real life;

You trust the driver of your car

As if he is a guiding star.

You trust the family cook a lot,

For what he prepares in the pot;

You trust the watchman whom you keep,

For your safety when you’re asleep.

Yet, God to trust, you find it hard,

Though He is your true Friend and Guard;

It’s time to change your attitude

And show God more gratitude.

But, unfortunately man today lacks faith in the

existence of God. Swami Himself has said, “The Divine can only be grasped

through love, faith and sadhana surcharged with Universal Love. Reason is

too feeble an instrument to measure it. Denial of the Divine cannot negate

it. Logic cannot reveal it. All the tirades now are being made on the

Divine by atheists who are opportunists. So your duty is to preserve

equanimity. Do not waver.”

Not only should one have faith that God exists, but also

have faith in God. One may ask, “Why should I have faith? What benefits do

I get by having it? “The other day (August 22, 2007) when Swami lovingly

called us for morning Darshan, He said, “One with faith will face no

failures in life. With total faith in God, you will be successful in every

endeavour of yours.” Faith helps even in our academics. Once Swami said,

“Lack of self- confidence is the reason for students not doing well in

studies. Students say, ‘I study, but I do not remember my lessons.’ One

without self-confidence lacks memory power. With self-confidence comes

memory power. Faith in yourself and faith in god – this is the secret to

greatness.”

Faith has immense power. It can even compel the Lord to

manifest Himself before you and give you what you believe He will give

you.” The power of faith is also illustrated in the life of Christ. Once a

blind man approached Jesus and prayed, “Lord, restore my sight.” Jesus

asked him, “Do you believe that I can restore your sight?” The blind man

replied unhesitating, “Yes, Lord”. “If that is so then open your eyes and

see.” The blind man opened his eyes and got his sight. Swami says,

“Likewise people pray to Swami for something or the other. Do you believe

that I have the power to give you what you seek? My response is dependent

on you faith.” When we feel that we are completely dependent on Sai, He

looks after us and saves us from harm and injury.

But unfortunately, man today lacks faith. He rests his

faith in all the trivial things in the world but finds it difficult to

believe in God. He feels that God does not understand our problems and does

not respond to us. Once, a man was climbing a snow-clad mountain. It became

night. Suddenly, the man slipped and fell. He found himself hanging by the

rope which he tied to his waist. It was cold. It was dark. It was freezing.

The man became desperate and cried to God, “God, please save me.” Then God

replied, “I’ll help you under one condition. Cut the rope.” The man was

shocked. He could not believe in God. He did not pay heed to God. The next

morning, the newspaper headline read, “Man frozen to death hanging by a

rope, just two feet above the ground.” That is why it is said, “A man

without faith is half-blind”. That is the problem with most of us. We do

not listen to Him. We do not trust Him.

When our troubles increase, we feel that there is nobody by

our side. Once a man dreamt that he was walking along a sea-shore. As he

was walking, various incidents from his life were flashing in the sky. The

man noticed two sets of footprints in the sand - one his and the other -

God’s. He felt assured and very happy. At times he saw only one pair of

footprints, heavily embedded in the sand, and this was during his difficult

times. He felt totally disturbed at this, and cried, “How could you abandon

me Lord, when I needed you most? You promised me that You would be there

beside me always. In my most trying times, you abandoned me.” Then, the

Lord replied, “Child. Where you see a single set of footprints, they are

Mine. I was carrying you in My hands.”

Swami says, “Never think: how is this going to end?

What is going to happen? If you give into this temptation, you demonstrate

that you do not trust Me. Do you want Me to take care of it – yes or no?

Then you must stop being anxious about it. I shall guide you only if you

completely surrender to Me and, when I must lead you in a path quite

different than the one you expect, I shall carry you in My arms.” The

trouble with most of us is that we think we know what is best (or good) for

us. We cannot accept the fact that there is someone (GOD) who knows much

more than us and does what is best for us. Swami says, “You pray to Me when

in pain so that I’ll intervene, but in the way you desire it. You do not

rely on me but want me to adjust to your request. Do not be like sick ones

who ask the doctor to treat, all the time suggesting the treatment to him.

Do not do that, but rather even in sad circumstances say, ‘You very well

know what is best for me.’” We feel that God does not understand us and

gives us something quite contrary to the one which we ask for. We feel that

God is cruel to us. We feel that, instead of diminishing our problems, He

increases them.

I asked for strength so that I may achieve

I was made weak

so that I might humbly obey

I asked for health To do great things

I was given infirmity

So that I might do better things

I asked for riches

So that I may be happy

I got poverty So that I may be wise

I asked for power

So that I might feel the praise of men

I received weakness

So that I might feel the need of God.

I got nothing I asked for

But everything I hoped for

Almost despair myself

My unspoken prayers were answered

I am among all men

The most richly blessed.

Even Jesus said that when a son asks for bread, his father

will not give him stone. When the earthy father himself does not do so,

will not the Heavenly Father give you much more than you need (require/ ask

for)? So the next time we encounter a problem let’s not say, “O God! I have

a big problem.” Instead let’s say, “O problem! I have a big

God!”

Where there is faith, there is love,

Where there is love, there is peace,

Where there is peace, there is truth,

Where there is truth, there is bliss,

Where there is bliss, there is GOD.

Faith is faithful. Faith knows no fear, no

friction, no frustration, no failure. Once Swami wrote in a letter to his

students, “ Be like a star that never wavers from the crescent but is fixed

in steady faith. When the sun is above your head , there will be no

shadows. Similarly, when faith is steady in your heart, it should not cast

no shadow of doubt.” Swami also said, “Do not lose faith by seeing people

who go astray. It is like judging rain water by seeing the water in the

stagnant pond.” The Lord of the Universe has come down in human form and

says, “Why fear when I am here?”and we do not listen to Him. If we love

Him, then we should follow what He says. So let us try to strengthen our

faith in God. When someone asked George Bernard Shaw, “How to change the

world?” He replied,” If you want to change the world, change yourself

first.”

Let us not walk behind Him (Swami) because we might not be

able to catch up with Him.

Let us not walk ahead of Him because He is not obliged to

follow us. Let us walk with Him, holding His hand as a friend.

Somebody loves you more than you know,

Someone goes with you wherever you go,

Someone really and truly cares,

And lovingly listens to all our prayers.

Don’t doubt for a moment that this is not true,

For Sai loves His children and cares for them too,

And His treasures are yours to share,

If you love Him truly and show Him that you care.

Jai Sai Ram.

With Love and Regards,

"Heart2Heart" Team.

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September 23, 2007