HOW TO OVERCOME TEMPTATIONS

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HOW TO OVERCOME TEMPTATIONS

 

 

The other day, a young lady met me and, in the course of her talk,

said, " I can resist everything except temptation. "

 

How true it is that no man had graduated to the art of life till he

has been well tempted and overcome every temptation.

 

They meet me: young men and women in whose hearts is the aspiration

to live the new life, the life of simplicity and service, of purity

and prayer, of love and compassion, young men and women, who have not

yet been tainted through contact with worldliness - pure, young,

eagre-souls, - and they put to me the question: why is that we are

tempted? What is the place of temptation in life? Why can we not have

a world without temptation? What a wonderful world it would be, where

everyone could live a pure, chaste, clean life! What is the purpose

of temptations? Why do we have temptation at all? In answer to these

questions, I say to them: " Temptations are the dumbbells of the soul. "

 

In my boyhood days, I joined a gymnasium. Every evening I would go

and practice my exercise with the dumbbells. One evening, I asked the

instructor: " What is the use of doing this exercise, day after day?¨

He answered: As you do this exercise, your muscles will be

strengthened. "

 

Just as dumbbells strengthen the physical muscles, of the soul

develop our hidden spiritual strength, temptations unlock the hidden

powers of the Spirit.

 

There was a holy man. His life was pure and chase as the waters of

the Ganges. He lived in the fear and love of God. His life was a

source of inspiration and joy to many around him. He lived to a ripe,

old age. Soon after he passed away, one of his companions had a

dream. In the dream, he saw the holy man occupying a place of honour

in the heaven world. Around him were angels who said: He is a great

saint and occupies place in heaven, because he succeeded in

overcoming many temptations. "

 

A person becomes holy, in the measure in which he overcomes

temptations. Instead of complaining, let us bless God for our

temptations. They come to unfold our hidden spiritual strength. They

come to make us spiritually strong. Truly, temptations are the

dumbbells of the soul.

 

The word temptation, is derived from the Latin, tentare, which means

to prove, to put to the test. Temptation is the touchstone of the

soul. Even as gold is tested on the touchstone, so is the man's

character. The loftiness of his soul is tested by the temptations he

is able to overcome.

 

When a temple bell is cast in a foundry, the Founder does not at once

fix it in the temple, but first tries it with his strong hammer to

see if there are any flaws in it. So is man tries with hammer blows

of temptations before he becomes perfect.

 

Not many of us, however, can withstand the hammer blows of

temptations. Many of us are so weak that we easily succumb to

temptation. Often when we do so, we think that it is only once that

we shall yield to temptation, to experience what it is like. Alas!

Once we yield to its appeal and get to relish the pleasure, we will

soon be entangled by sin and will find it difficult to come out of

it. Therefore, beware! Never yield to temptation. But stand up in the

strength of your soul and , in the words of Jesus, say to

temptation: " Get thee behind me, Satan "

 

A young man wanted to make one of his companions do something bad

just once, and the companion retorted: Just once? Would you allow

your head to be cut off just once? Not many have such heroic spirit

within them. They easily succumb to temptation and, to them, sin

becomes a habit, until they find that they are helpless in the face

of temptation. They simply cannot resist it. They cannot live without

it. They realise that the consequences are dangerous, but they feel

helpless and lost. They are drawn to temptation even as a frog is

drawn to a snake. When a snake looks at a frog and a frog has met its

gaze, the frog feels helpless. There is a mesmeric power in the look

of the serpent which the frog cannot resist and, irresistibly, the

frog is drawn to the mouth of the snake, drawn to its own death.

 

St. Augustine, in one of his books tells of a young man names

Eutimius. He lived a life of profligacy. He was sunk in vile

pleasures and realised that he was losing his health, but just could

not overcome his sinful habits. After contracting several diseases,

he developed a serious eye infection, and the physician said to

him: " the stage has arrived when either you will have to give up your

evil habits or lose your sight " Eutimius replied: " what can I do? I

feel helpless. Let me lose my sight and if necessary, even my life,

but I simply cannot give up my habits " . Such is the force of habit.

Many youths become slaves of habits with which they do not break off

in time.

 

There was a young man. His father saw him slipping into the vice of

impurity. Immediately, the father took him to a hospital ward where

lay patients who had led immoral lives. There they lay in spasms of

pain. At the sight of those moaning patients, young men who had

become prematurely aged, emaciated, ulcerated, with an unbearable

stench, the youth almost fainted. Then his father said: These are

the consequences of an immoral life, and if you continue on the road

to dispassion, it would not be long before you end up in this

hospital. The father lesson made such an impact on the youth that

he immediately straightened himself out and became an example of

temperance to all his companions.

 

There is the story of a lark who was merrily flying in the heavens.

From his heights, the lark saw a small object moving in a garden far

below him. Being curious to know what it was, he descended until he

was quite low and, to his utter surprise, he found that it was a tiny

cart with a mouse drawing , while alongside was another mouse who was

waving a whip and all the time crying out: 'Fresh worms for sale '.

 

The lark felt tempted and wanted to know the price of the worms.

 

" Three worms for one feather from your wings " was the answer.

 

The lark thought this was an excellent bargain, and pulled out a

feather from his wings, exchanged it for three worms which he enjoyed

greatly, then spread his wings and rose again. He had not risen very

far when the temptation to eat more worms became too strong for him

to resist. Descending again to the garden, he bartered away two more

precious feathers, had the great pleasure of eating six worms, and

rose once again into the sunlit air. Balance and wing-power were

lost, however, and the lark found it difficult to fly. And like an

aircraft, that suddenly develops engine trouble, the lark crashed and

was found dead in the lovely garden where he had met temptation and

found it irresistible.

 

So it happens with man, again and again. He is tempted and, if he

overcomes it, he grows in spiritual strength. But if he yields to it,

he falls into sin. Gradually, sin becomes a habit which he can not

resist: and he finds that he has become a slave of a tyrant from

whose clutches he cannot find release.

 

Have you ever looked at a fly sipping honey? At first, it is very

careful to see its legs are free. It sips on the edge of the spoon

containing honey, saying to itself that after just one wee little

taste of honey, it would fly away. But once it gets the relish of

honey, it forgets everything and goes all out for it. And when it has

had its fill, it finds that all its legs are stuck in honey: it

cannot fly away. There it dies a tragic death in its sweet grave.

Such is the case with man. He is lured into temptation by the thought

of a little pleasure that he expects to get. Once he has tasted

pleasure, it draws him to itself, again and again, until he becomes

the slave of a habit cannot overcome. Pleasure leads a man ashtray!

 

There is a Bengali proverb which tells us: " The heron is a saint when

there are no fish in sight " . And there is an amusing little story

told to us concerning a young woman who trained her cat to hold a

candle stick in his paws while she ate dinner. This the cat did,

night after night, and when the young woman felt satisfied with the

cat's performance, she invited her friends to dinner, so that they

could see what she had trained her cat to do. The cat jumped on the

table, got hold of the candlestick and sat there quietly. One of the

friends spread the food on the floor, thinking that the cat would be

driven to it, but was surprised to find that the cat sat motionless,

holding the candlestick in his paws. Another friend held a piece of

meat close to the nose but even that did not affect the cat. However,

when someone who had brought a mouse in a box, opened the box and let

the mouse go, the cat immediately dropped the candlestick and ran

after the mouse.

 

We are like that. We seem to be safe in virtue, but as soon as we see

some pleasure, we run after it, forgetting everything else,

forgetting even our reputation, our family, honour, and prestige.

 

The question has been considered in the Gita. Arjuna asks Sri

Krishna: Master! why does a man commit sin against his will? What is

the force that drags him, irresistibly to pathways of evil?¡¨ Many of

us have had a similar experience. We think we do not wish to fall

into. In our saner moment, we wish to avoid sin. Then suddenly, there

wakes up within us a storm, and we are led ashtray. What is the force

that drags us to pathways of evil?

 

In answer, the Master says to Arjuna: You say that man is dragged to

the path of sin. That is not so! For man is not a machine. Man is

endowed with willpower, - the power of determination, the power to

make his own choice. Man can never commit sin against his will. Man's

will consents, gives the green signal, before man falls into sin.

And, Arjuna, you ask me what is the force that makes a man commit

sin. The force is kama, desire, lust. It is the enemy of man! It is

man¡¦s deadly foe! Beware of it! And, never forget, that desire is

insatiable!

 

Significant are the words of the great law-giver, Manu: Desire is

never satisfied by the enjoyment of the objects of desire. It grows

from more to more as does the fire to which fuel is added. And the

Yoga Vashista tells us:We think it is we who enjoy pleasure. But,

in truth, it is pleasures that enjoy us. For a while pleasure always

remains young and vital, it is we who keep growing old and get

consumed in the fire of pleasure.

 

An old man of eighty met me at parthi. His hair were white and he walked with

stoop. With tears in his eyes, he said to me:Even at this age, I feel drawn to

the sins of flesh. My body is become old, my limbs have grown feeble, but the

pull of pleasure is stronger than ever before!

 

Yes, desire is insatiable. There is the classic example of Henry

VIII, called the Great Widower. He married one women after another. He married

six times. His lust was insatiable. He had to break off with the Pope of Rome.

He said: What does it matter? I shall set up a new church, but I must satisfy my

lust.

 

Kama cannot be quenched. The more you seek to satisfy it, the more

you add fuel to its flame. Kama, desire, lust, reigns over man¡¦s

unregenerate senses. His reason is clouded: he cannot discriminate

between right and wrong: and there are no depths of degradation to

which a man, under the influence of kama, will not stoop.

 

In our days, in the city of Pune, there was a man who lived happily

with his wife for several years, until one day he met a girl. Lust

woke up within him. He lost his appetite and sleep. He but desired to

marry the girl. How could he do so? In Maharashtra, there is a law

forbidding a man to remarry during the life-time of his wife. So he

hatched a plan. To his wife he said: You have not moved out of Pune

for some years. Why should not we go out for a change to Mumbai?

They travelled by a night train on a moonlight night. There were only

the two of them in the compartment. While the train crossed Lonavla,

the man called his wife to the door of the compartment, saying, Come

and see the mountains in the moonlight; how wonderfully beautiful

they are! The wife, not knowing what was in store for her, looked

out through the door at the enchanting valley. Suddenly, the husband

pushed her from behind, and down she went, her body rolling on the

slops of the lofty mountains. The man thought he was rid of his wife

and would now be able to marry the young, pretty girl. Destiny had

decreed otherwise. Early next morning, a shuttling engine passed by.

The engine stopped at that spot for a while. The engine driver heard

moanful sounds. Curious to find the origin of the sounds, he went and

looked down the mountain-side, and saw the body of a woman lying in a

cluster of branches of trees on the mountain slopes. Soon rescue

parties arrived and the woman's life was saved. The husband was tried

in a court of law and sentenced to capital punishment. This is what

kama, desire, lust does to man. It clouds his reason and leads him to

his own destruction.

 

In the Gita, Sri Krishna gives us the mechanics of desire. Desire is

man's deadliest foe: and how does it work? In answer to this

question, Sri Krishna says: Arjuna, desire, kama, lust enters

through the outer gates of the senses and captures the fort of the

mind and then invades the region of determination and will.

Therefore, if you are wise, if you wish to overcome temptation, if

you wish to live a pure, peaceful, happy life, a life of freedom and

fulfillment, you must guard the gates. Each sensation of pleasure

should be to you a warning. Watchman! Let not the enemy in! When

kama, lust leads the senses the mind and the reason, the man goes

swiftly down the path of decline.

 

Goethe was a great man. He was, perhaps, the greatest poet the world

produced during the nineteenth century. But when kama, lust darkened

his senses, he ran after girls in restlessness. Nelson was a great

general who won many victories on the battlefield: he could not gain

victory over desire. In the face of kama, lust, he crumbled. Nelson

lived with the wife of another man. Shelly was a man of poetic

genius; but his poetic intuitions were darkened by lust, and Shelly,

leaving his wife, married another woman and the first wife committed

suicide.

 

I could go on and on, but my time has travelled fast, and the

question still remains: How to overcome temptations? What may we do

to overcome this which is, perhaps, the greatest foe of man, man's

arch enemy, desire?

 

What may we do to overcome temptations? And so let me pass on you

some practical suggestions, which I have found helpful in overcoming

temptations. If I have time, I would wish to pass on to you thirteen

practical suggestions. It is not necessary that all the thirteen

suggestions be put into practice at once and the same time. It is

enough if you pick up one of them and try to live up to it: you will

be benefitted greatly. Now this is the right time for me to explain

 

Practical Suggestion number one:

 

What is it? Temptations are of various types. There is the temptation

to gratify the senses; there is the temptation to steal what belongs

to another; there is the temptation to drink, to smoke, to take

drugs; there is the temptation to overcome or eat forbidden food or

violence; there is the temptation to send out thoughts of ill will to

others; there is the temptation to speak harsh words or to indulge in

lie; there is the temptation to gossip, to spread scandals against

others; there is the temptation to waste time in playing cards or

other frivolities; there is the temptation to accept bribes, to

indulge in unlawful profiteering, to make money by means fair or

foul, there is the temptation to evade payment of taxes. There are a

hundred and one other temptations. To be able to overcome any type of

temptation, you must be ready and willing to turn a new leaf. You

must decide once and for all that you will never, never fall into sin

again.

 

Of St. Augustine, it is said that when awakening came to him, he

prayed to God to be led into a new life, to be kept away from a life

of sinfulness. And then he added; O God, but not yet! That is, he

wanted to indulge in sin just one more time, before turning a new

leaf. It is said that most people who flee from temptation usually

leave a forwarding address.

 

If I wish to overcome temptation, I must be ready and willing to wash

my hands off it right now and here, and I must be willing to make any

sacrifice for it. No price is too heavy to receive entry into the new

life.

 

I read of a wealthy man, the master of a big estate in England, who

was on his deathbed. His thoughts turned to God. He had a servant,

named Jim, who was a devotee of the Lord. To Jim the Master

said: Jim I am dying. I do not know what will happen to me after

death. What can I do to earn Heaven?

 

The wise old servant knew the pride of his master and he said: Sir,

if you want to earn heaven, you must humble yourself. You should be

ready to go to the pigsty, get on your knees in the mud and say, God,

be merciful to me, a sinner!

 

The master said:I could not possibly do that. What would the

neighbours and servants think?

 

A week passed by, and again he spoke to the servant: ¡§Jim, what did

you say to do to earn heaven?

 

The old servant replied: Sir, you should be ready to go to the

pigsty.

 

The master said: I have been thinking it over, Jim, and I am ready to

go.

 

The servant then said: Master, you do not really have to go to the

pigsty. You just have to be willing.

 

This willingness to become new, to renounce the old life of

sinfulness and pride, is very important. We must humble ourselves, we

must make a clear confession of everything before God or a God-man.

When our heart becomes contrite and lowly, the way for us is opened

to the Kingdom of Heaven. The prayer of the Sikh Guru is so moving:

 

Infinite are my sins, O Lord, as are the drops of water in an ocean.

Have mercy on me and take this sinking stone to the other shore.

 

The willingness to humble oneself before God, the resolve to live a

new life, the determination not to touch temptations even with a pair

of tong, this is the first and most important thing. It leads us to

practical suggestion number two.

 

God, be merciful to me, a sinner! is a very noble aspiration: but

it must not be overdone. We must not indulge in a lot of

retrospection. With a heart contrite and lowly, let us confess our

sins, and then think of God¡¦s mercy which can wash the darkest spots

on our hearts. Let us not then think of our sins, for whatever we

think of, repeatedly, to that we are drawn. If we constantly think of

our sins, we shall be drawn to them, more and more. Let us not think

of our sins, but keep our eyes fixed on God and His mercy, on God and

eternal things, His goodness, His beauty, His purity and His truth.

And we shall grow Godlike.

 

Let us honestly confess our sins, pray for strength to live a new

life, and then forget our sins. Let us forget what God has already

forgotten. To my revered Master, Beloved Dada there came a girl who

had gone ashtray. She shed tears of repentance, and asked for

forgiveness. Beloved Dada looked at her penitent eyes and said: ¡§My

child, forget what God hath forgotten. Go and live a new life!

 

And what is practical suggestion number three? The more man turns to

God, the more he realizes that he is a child of God. God is the king

of Universe, the King of all kings. This makes everyone of us a

prince, princess, a son or daughter of the King. If only I remember

this one thing that I am the King's son, I will refrain from doing

wrong things. I will never stoop low. I will stand up to my royal

dignity. I will never compromise with ideals.

 

I recall what Beloved Dada's brother, Shri Mangharam, told me more

than once. His work took him to many places: he did not have a

settled life. He came face to face with many temptations. There were

occasions when he was about to succumb to temptation when, he said,

the thought would occur to him: I am a brother of Sadhu Vaswani. How

can I do such an ignoble thing? The thought was enough to give him

enough strength to overcome temptations.

 

In the annals of France is the story of the son of Louis XVI. As a

young prince, he was handed over to wicked and vicious men with the

express command that they should defile him and ruin his character.

The vilest influences were to be let loose, so that this child of

royalty might become the mockery of the enemies of the King of

France. No boy, prince or peasant, had ever been brought face to

face, with such shamefulness as that to which the young prince was

exposed. Unmentionable were the temptations placed in his path,

indescribable the company into which he was thrown. But to it all the

young prince had only one answer to make: ¡§I can not do that. For O

am the son of a king!

 

Young men and women! Remember, youth is too good to squander after

some things, too good to lie, to cheat, to steal, to take to drugs,

to indulge in impurity, to poison the body, to drown the soul.I

cannot do that, for I am a child of a king!¡¨ is a good slogan for

youth. Everyone of you is a child of a king, the king of kings.

Everyone of you is a child of God. And there are things which a child

of God must never do!

 

Let us move on to practical suggestion number four. To a holy man I

went when I was a little boy, and said to him: Teach me a way to

overcome temptations¡¨ He said to me: I will suggest to you not one

but three remedies.

 

The first, he said, is to avoid occasions. The second is to avoid

occasions. Yes, avoid occasions and in that way you will be free from

many temptations.

 

Mohan was a little boy who had just recovered from an illness. He was

still weak, and the doctor had forbidden him to eat many things, one

of which was cake. One day, Mohan's sister entered his room, eating a

piece of cake with another in her hands. The cake appeared tempting.

But Mohan said to her: You must run right out of the room away from

me with that cake. And I will keep my eyes shut, while you go away,

so that I should not want it! Yes, the way to overcome temptations

is to avoid occasions.

 

A young man, who came to the satsang, was determined to change his

way of life by avoiding evil occasions. One day, he met a dangerous

occasion, a girl of questionable character with whom, at one time, he

was very intimate. The girl invited him to her room and said to

him: Honey, don't I mean anything to you? I¡¦m still the same girl.

 

Yes replied the young man, but I am not the same fellow.Saying

thus, he ran away as fast as his legs could carry him.

 

Avoid occasions. You have heard the story of fruit seller who said to

the boy who had been lingering too long near a tempting display of

fruit: What are you doing? Trying to steal one of those

apples? No¡¨ said the boy,trying not to!

 

In such a case, it is a good thing for a boy or a man to remove the

temptation by removing himself. One way of winning is not to be

defeated. And the way not to be defeated is to depart from the place

and situation where defeat will naturally result.

 

Practical suggestion number five:

 

Never forget that impurity begins in the thought. Therefore, take

care of your thoughts. Thoughts are forces, not to be trifled with:

thoughts are the building blocks of life. If you entertain pure

thoughts, you build for yourself a noble future. If otherwise, you

work for your own ruination. St. Thomas A Kempis says: First there

cometh to the mind a bare thought of evil, then a strong imagination

there of, afterward delight and evil motion, and then consent.¡¨ His

advice is, Swithstand the beginnings! Therefore, take care of your

thoughts!

 

The great Prophet of Islam, Prophet Muhammad, said, Temptation comes

as a passer-by, then knocks on the door of your heart to be taken as

a guest. But once you open the door to temptation, it will stay as a

master! Then man is doomed. Therefore, do not let temptation in!

Withstand the beginnings. The moment temptation comes to you, drive

it out with all the force you can summon.

 

Thomas Acquinas, one of the greatest saints of the Catholic Faith,

when he was sixteen years of age, was locked up in a castle tower. A

woman was sent to entice him to evil.§Let me flee, thought Thomas

to himself. But every exit was locked: he could not flee. He then

took from the chimney a burning log and chased the shameless woman

away.

 

That is how everyone of us must try to deal with temptation, chase it

away the moment it appears.

 

This leads us to practical suggestion number six. The moment an evil

desire or thought wake up within me, I should immediately, without

the least delay, push it out and punish myself. Beloved Dada always

carried with himself a pin: and on his body, we found ,many

scratches. When he was a young man, he kept with himself a stick. If

an undesirable thought came to him, he would close the door of his

room and beat himself with the stick, until his mind repented and

promised never to entertain such a thought or desire.

 

One chilly, wintery night, St. Francis of Assisi felt within himself,

as never before, the rebellion of the flesh. He got up and found some

brambles with thorns and, without hesitating a moment, lay down on

it, crying out: O Lord, it is better to suffer your thorns than to

fall into satan¡¦s hands.

 

St. Benedict lived a life of great austerity. He wore a rough shirt

and lived for three years in a desolate cave, beyond the reach of

man. His scanty food was let down to him at the end of a rope. Even

there, temptation did not leave him. The memory of beautiful woman he

had met haunted him continually and so impressed him that he was on

the point of leaving his seclusion to follow her. Near his cave was a

clump of thorns and berriers. Having undressed, he threw himself

among them and rolled around till his body bled with many wounds.

This continued to do till the fires of passion were quenched forever.

 

Many of us think that the saints are never tempted. That is not so.

Only the other day, I read concerning a young man who complained to a

saint that, after struggling for eight years, he had not yet

succeeded in restraining his passions. ¡§Eight years of struggle!

replied the saint. ¡§For sixty years I have been fighting them in the

desert, and so far I have not been spared a single day!

 

Saints, too, are tempted even as we ordinary men are. The difference

is, we easily succumb to temptation, saints overcome it and grow in

spiritual strength and splendour.

 

It was Emerson who said, As the Sandwich-Islander believes that the

strength and valour of the enemy he kills passes into himself so we

gain the strength of the temptations we resist.

 

Practical suggestion number seven.

 

What is it? I believe we all remember the adage which was taught to

us in the school: An idle mind is the devil's workshop. If you wish

to be free from temptations, keep yourself busy all the time. Our

mothers were well aware of this truth, and they were specifically

careful to see that their daughters were kept busy all the time. I

know of a mother who, if she had no other work to give to her

daughter, would mix a handful of dust with rice and tell the daughter

to clean the rice. Today¡¦s daughters spend their time in frivolous

activities. They read dirty novels which poison their imagination and

spoil their minds. They go to the cinema, houses of filth, they play

rummy, they spend hours watching the video. Little wonder, if their

minds become small factories of impurity. O ye who would wish to

overcome temptation, keep yourself busy all the time.

 

A young man came to Beloved Dada and complained of being continually

tempted. Dada prescribed certain disciplines, but the young man

returned a few days later, saying that there was no improvement in

his condition.

 

Alright, said Beloved Dada, ¡§come back early tomorrow and spend the

day with me.

 

The next day, Dada said to the young man: Take the books out of this

cupboard, dust them properly, and keep on doing this until noon.

 

The young man followed the instructions and met Beloved Dada that

afternoon. His cloths were covered with dust, but looked happy. And

Dada said to him: ¡§Go and take lunch, and after lunch, you will do

the same thing to the books in the other cupboard.

 

The boy obeyed and when it was dark, he returned to Beloved Dada,

exhausted. Dada asked him: ¡§Tell me, my child, if you had any

temptations today.

 

None whatsoever,replied the young man. I did not have the time.

 

Dada said to him: ¡§Try to work that way, everyday!

 

Practical suggestion number eight:

 

Take care of your food. See that your food is satvic, pure, earned by

honest means, without doing violence to anyone.

 

Practical suggestion number nine:

 

Take care of your breathing: breathing has a direct influence upon

the mind. Let your breathing be deep and rhythmic. Some day, perhaps,

I shall speak to you in detail concerning these two important factors

of life, food and breathing.

 

Practical suggestion number ten:

 

Never succumb to temptation. Try to overcome it but, in spite of your

best efforts, if you fail, you must not think any more about it. When

a little child learns to walk, not unoften, he stumbles and falls.

But immediately, the mother comes and lifts him up and asks him to

walk again. When you fall, pay no attention to it, but immediately

rise and move on, ever onward, forward, Godward!

 

Practical suggestion number eleven:

 

You can not overcome temptation by fighting it, in the ordinary sense

of the term. The more you fight it, the more you direct your

attention to it. The stream of life flows in the direction of

attention. If you direct your attention to temptation, forces of life

will tend to flow towards temptation, and will only strengthen it.

This will increase your troubles.

 

To give an illustration, when the body suffers from pain, the more we

think of pain, the greater it grows. But when we forget it by

absorbing our attention in some other activity, such as painting, or

music, pain completely vanishes,

 

It is the same with temptation. The less we think of it, the better

for us. On the other hand, we must not thoughtlessly yield to

temptation. We must be sinless. To be sinless, our lower self must be

cleansed, washed, purified. The lower self must be transmuted into

the Higher Self.

 

This leads us to practical suggestion number twelve:

 

Whenever we are assailed by temptation, let us turn to God. What is

meant by turning to God? Turning to God means directing one's

attention to a Power, Intelligence, Wisdom, Love greater by far than

my own. Turning to God means directing one¡¦s attention to a Being who is ever

above, beyond, transcendent, and yet who is also closer to us than breathing,

nearer to us than the nip of our neck.

 

How may this turning to God be accomplished? Through the top of the

head or the point a little behind and between the eyebrows. When we

turn our attention to the top of the head, or to the point between

the eyebrows, we rise above the physical and the psychic, and contact

the spiritual, and divine forces begin to flow in and through us. The

light and wisdom and power of God flow into us and help us in living

the new life. Everyone who seeks to contact God will find his own way

of doing so. The way I have found helpful is this. I close my eyelids

and turn the eyes in their sockets upward, to a point above the apex

of the head and, immediately, I feel the divine forces flowing into

me, strengthening me, washing me, cleansing me, making my heart pure

and clear. Or I turn the eyes in their sockets to a point a little

behind and between the eyebrows, and, again, have the same

experience. Try this experiment and you will find wonderful things

happened to you.

 

Practical suggestion number thirteen:

 

In our language thirteen is tera. And tera is also

means thine. Say to God: O Lord, I am Thine, completely Thine,

utterly Thine! O Lord, I come to thee, as I am. I come to Thee with

all my faults and failings, weaknesses and imperfections. Thou wilt

mend my broken life. Thou wilt make me new! I cannot do it by myself.

I have tried to straighten my life. I have tried to renounce evil

ways, I have tried hard, and failed. Now I come to Thee as I am. Lead

me to the Other Shore! I hand myself over to Thee, knowing that by

myself I can do nothing. I am nothing. Thou art the All. Thou alone

canst deliver! Thou alone canst save! I place my trust in Thee!

 

He who hands himself over to God, temptations can have no power over

him.

 

I read concerning a man in America. He was driving his Ford car, when

suddenly, something went wrong. He got out and looked at the engine,

but could detect no fault. Helplessly, he stood there, when from a

distance he saw another car approaching: he waved to it for help. It

was a brand new Ford car. Out of it stepped a tall, friendly man who

asked: Well, what¡¦s the trouble?

 

The engine suddenly stopped was the reply.And it will not start

again.

 

The stranger made a few adjustments under the bonnet, then said: Now

start the car!

 

When the motor started, its grateful owner introduced himself and

asked: What is your name, sir?

 

My name, answered the stranger, is Henry Ford.

 

The man who made the Ford car knew how to make it run. God has made

us and He alone knows how to run our lives. All we are required to do

is to completely surrender ourselves to Him, call Him by what name we

will, Krishna, Rama, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, Mahavira, Nanak,

Zarathustra, Buha¡¦u¡¦alla. Call Him by what name we will, without Him

we can make a complete wreck of our lives. When we surrender

ourselves to Him, all goes well. When we cut ourselves off from Him,

we can do nothing. Therefore, say to Him, again and again and still

again: ¡§O Lord! I come to Thee as I am. Take me to the Other Shore!¡¨

 

To have the true joy of life, you must be in continuous contact with

the source of joy, with God who is the Spirit of Ananda; unbroken

bliss. Once you have contacted God, nothing, no one will be able to

take away your joy from you. It may appear as though you are living a

life of poverty and destitution, your spirits will keep soaring the

skies.

 

There was a poor man. His clothes were soiled and torn. His feet

were covered with mud. Yet there was a beautiful smile on his lips

and a spring in his steps as he walked. Someone said to him: ¡§Good

Morning!¡¨

 

¡§I have never had a bad morning¡¨ answered the poor man.

 

¡§That sounds strange¡¨ said the man to him. ¡§I pray that you may

always be so fortunate.¡¨

 

Quickly answered the poor man: ¡§I have never been unfortunate.¡¨

 

¡§May you always be happy¡¨, said the man to him.

 

¡§I have never been unhappy¡¨, answered the poor man.

 

¡§I do not understand¡¨, said the man. ¡§Will you kindly explain the

paradox?¡¨

 

¡§I have never had a bad morning,¡¨ said the poor man. ¡§For every

morning, I praise the Lord. The day may be bright or dull, the

weather may be pleasant or otherwise, I am still thankful to God. You

wished that I might be always fortunate, but I cannot be unfortunate

for I rejoice in everything that the will of God brings to me. I

believe that whatever God sends me is good! You wished me happiness,

but I cannot be unhappy so long as I rejoice in the will of God, and

as long as his peace rules in my heart.¡¨

 

Yes, praise the Lord in everything that happens, and you will be

amongst the happiest of men on earth. You will have the true joy of

life and you will keep radiating it wherever you go!

 

NUGGETS OF WISDOM

 

 

To live is to give. Those that give live. Those that do not

give are no better than dead soul.

 

The person who dies rich dies disgraced. Before death comes

let us empty our coffers in service of the surrounding world.

 

Only a few possess wealth. Most of us are possessed by wealth.

 

With money you can buy many things, but you cannot buy the

things that count character, morality, faithful friends and

spiritual treasures.

 

The question was asked:§How much did Rockefeller leave

behind? Only one student answered: Rockefeller left every penny

behind

 

The wealthiest man here may become the most destitute

hereafter. The best way to transfer money to your account on the

other side is to spend it in the service of the poor and broken ones.

 

Here, on the earth, people judge your greatness by the number

of servants you have. There, on the other side they will judge your

greatness by the number of people you have served.

 

Serve silently! Serve lovingly! Serve humbly! Serve without

seeking any reward ¡V not even a simple word of thanks.

 

If you have plenty of wealth but not a generous heart are

you any better than a beggar on the street?

 

He is truly happy who spends all he has in service of the

surrounding world!

 

Life is short. Be swift to spend all you have in service of

the less fortunate ones.

 

If you get the impulse to give do not tarry! Give

immediately! Who knows what may happen tomorrow?

 

You have not lived a perfect day, unless you have given

something to someone who will never be in a position to repay you.

 

Three things in human life are the most important. The first

is to give. The second is to give and never keep an account of what

you have given. The third is to give and to forget that you ever gave!

 

Pursuit of wealth is like drinking sea water to slake one¡¦s

thirst. The more of sea water you drink, the more your thirst

increases, until one day, your stomach bursts.

 

There is no fire like greed. Love All - serve All

 

Help ever - Hurt never

 

 

Baba is every where just feel him and keep on saying " Om Sai Ram " to whom so

ever you meet.

 

OM SAI SRI SAI JAI JAI SAI!!! Let us pray at the lotus feet of

Bhagwan Baba who is the incarnation of all gods and protector of all,

to show mercy on us, and increase our devotion towards him

 

Let us pray Shri Sai to give us the intellect and wisdom to make

tomorrow's world a happier place to stay by following HIS principle

of " Shraddha " and " Saburi "

 

Jai Sai Ram

Swamy Mahadevan

Bow to Shri Sai-Peace be to all

Baba Bless you ever!!!