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| Absorption into Godhood, Eternal Bliss, the Goal of Life |
| 02.27.05 (12:23 pm) [edit] |
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Absorption into Godhood, Eternal Bliss, the Goal of Life
Discourse No. (58)
ABSORPTION INTO GODHOOD, ETERNAL BLISS, THE GOAL OF LIFE
All rivers fall into the ocean. All human souls must also eventually be absorbed into the Ocean of Eternity i.e., God. Each soul is a spark of the fire of God. It has emanated from God, it must return to God. This is the Law of Evolution, which I have created and which works in combination with the Law of KARMA.
There are limitless worlds and limitless solar systems in My universe.
No human soul can have the least conception the infiniteness of My universe and the infinite forces that are working throughout the entire realm of My sovereignty. The grandeur and beauty of My Spiritual Plane are of an indescribable nature. Only Adepts with their inner eyes open, can behold the beauty and magnificence on My highest plane. The Masters who direct and control the management of your world under My orders are denizens of My highest plane. They are perfected human souls, who after countless incarnations, attain to the final goal of absorption into the Ocean of Eternity. The whole process is from darkness to light, from chaos to order, from sin and suffering to peace and bliss, from death to immortality. The highest
reward of the human soul, thrown into the vortex of life on the physical plane of sin, sorrow and suffering, is eternal bliss i.e., absorption into Godhood. Man becomes a God in his highest nature.
(16.1.1952)
(Extracts from the article of Pujya Sri C.S.Ramaswamy ‘THOUGHTS OF SRI SAI BABA AND UPASANA – Page 32 of Ist World Sai Convention Souvenir 1971, this can be downloaded from www.saileelas.org)
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| Experience - T surya Rao - 5.2.05 |
| 02.27.05 (11:33 am) [edit] |
Experience - T surya Rao - 5.2.05
Mr. T. Surya Rao
3rd Cross East, Gopuram Road,
Puttaparthi - 515134
Mr. T. Surya Rao (76), an agriculturist from Sampara, East Godavari District, presently settled at Puttaparthi, relates a few of his experiences of the Divinity of Bhagavan in his own wards.
'In 1954, I got married. In 1956, my in-laws took my wife and me on a tour of pilgrimage. We went to Tirupati and from there to Chennai. Then I had an idea. I wanted to go to Puttaparthi. I was not a devotee of Bhagavan but I used to hear a lot about Him in our area. I was a patient of severe asthma. I tried several medicines but in vain. I thought, 'why not I go to Puttaparthi and test my luck?' But my in-laws were reluctant. They, however, agreed for my going to Puttaparthi with my wife, and left for Kakinada.
I enquired about Puttaparthi. No one could tell me where it was. We were then put up in Mudaliar Choultry near Chennai Central Station. That day a person came there from Puttaparthi. He told me to go via Pakala. It was a shortcut, though I would have to change trains twice. 'You have come as godsend'. I thanked him. My wife and I left by train for Puttaparthi. We got down at Mudigubba, came to Bukkapatnam by bus and engaged a cart to take us to Puttaparthi. By evening we arrived at Puttaparthi. At that time there was no Gopuram. Only a gate was there. Swami saw us from the balcony. We were allowed to stay in the Mandir. Ladies used to sleep in the hall and gents slept in the verandah. We kept our baggage in the room. We all sat outside under the trees for Darshan.
Swami used to reside on the first floor. He came down, and walking along the lines, stood near me. He placed His hand on my back and caressed. 'Don't worry. Asthma will go. I will take care of you', He said. This was on the third day after our arrival at Puttaparthi.
After that, I returned to Sampara. Asthma has not showed itself up to me again since that day. I used to go to Puttaparthi at least once in a year. Swami also came to our village during His tour of Godavari districts. Mr. N. Kasturi wrote two or three pages on our village in his book, 'Satyam, Sivam, Sundaram'.
Bhagavan used to call us for interview whenever we went to Puttaparthi. He used to call us for interview only on the third day of our arrival there as He did when we had visited it for the first time in 1956. Once he materialized a ring and gave it to my wife. Another time He materialized a gold chain for my wife. He gave her a silk sari - a very expensive one, indeed. Once, He materialized diamond ear studs and gave them to my wife.
'Why don't you go to Whitefields?' Swami asked me one day.
'Yes, Swami', I said. My wife and I went to Whitefields, and stayed in a room near Brindavan for a couple of years. I was asked to supervise the construction of a building for devotees opposite the present Sai Ramesh Hall. On the day of inauguration, Bhagavan called my wife and got that complex inaugurated by her!
We bought a house-site at Puttaparthi in 1986 and built a house in 1987. Ever since we have settled down here owning to His grace.'
-- Mr. T. Surya Rao.
(As narrated to Mr. B. Parvatala Rao at Prasanthi Nilayam on 05.02.2005.)
Source: http://www.vedamu.org" title="http://www.vedamu.org" target="_blank"http://www.vedamu.org
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| Laws of Life |
| 02.27.05 (11:07 am) [edit] |
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Laws of Life
1. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
2. Memorize your favorite poem.
3. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have, or sleepall you want.
4. When you say, "I love you", mean it.
5. When you say, "I'm sorry", look the person in the eye.
6. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.
7. Believe in love at first sight.
8. Never laugh at anyone's dreams.
9. Love deeply and passionately.You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.
10. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.
11. Don't judge people by their relatives.
12. Talk slowly but think quickly.
13. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"
14. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
15. Call your mom.
16. Say "bless you" when you hear someone sneeze.
17. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
18. Remember the three R's: Respect for self, Respect for others,Responsibility for all your actions.
19. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
20. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
21. Smile when picking up the hone. The caller will hear it in your voice.
22. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.
23. Spend some time alone.
24. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.
25. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
26. Read more books and watch less TV.
27. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll get to enjoy it a second time.
28. Trust in God but lock your car.
29. A loving atmosphere in your home is so important. Do all you can to create a tranquil harmonious home.
30. In disagreements with loved ones, deal with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.
31. Read between the lines.
32. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immotality.
33. Be gentle with the earth.
34. Pray. There's immeasurable power in it.
35. Never interrupt when you are being flattered.
36. Mind your own business.
37. Don't trust a man/woman who doesn't close his/her eyes when you kiss.
38. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.
39. If you make a lot of money, put it to use helping others while you are living. That is wealth's greatest satisfaction.
40. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a stroke of
luck.
41. Learn the rules then break some.
42. Remember that the best relationship is one where your love for each other is greater than your need for each other.
43. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
44. Remember that your character is your destiny.
45. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.
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| Experience - A K Nagesh |
| 02.27.05 (10:59 am) [edit] |
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Experience - A K Nagesh
Mr. A.K. Nagesh
Sai Ganga Apartments
Bellattur, Kadugodi Po,
Bangalore - 560 067
Mobile: 92471-25967
Mr. A.K. Nagesh (48), a taxi owner and driver, relates a few of his experiences of the Divinity of Bhagavan in his own words.
'We belong to Yerrangodapalem in Cuddapah district. My mother, Mrs. Vidya was brought up in Puttaparthi. In her childhood, she used to play with Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba who was also a boy then.
I went to Bombay in 1967 and did all sorts of jobs and businesses there. I returned to Puttaparthi in 1989 when I lost my father. As I did not like to go back to Bombay, I worked for sometime in the Hospital at Puttaparthi.
In 1989, when I was in Darshan line, Swami came to me and dangled the keys of a car before my eyes.
'Take these', Swami told me handing over the keys to me, 'and drive the Fiat - ATA 1800.' I had the good fortune to be in the service of Bhagavan till 1993. One day Swami came to me when I was in Darshan line.
'Give me the car keys', He said.
I gave. Later, I joined Prince Carriers. One day I received a fax message from Ms. Monica Table from Germany, 'meet me at the Bangalore Airport'. My boss was furious. 'How is that customers contact you directly', he asked, 'I don't want in my service people like you who deal with customers directly'. I told him, 'I don't know who this lady is and why she wants me to meet her'. He did not believe. I had to leave his employment.
I went to the Bangalore Airport with a placard carrying 'Monica Table'. She could place me easily.
'Bring your car', she told me.
'I have no car', I told her, 'and I lost my job'. I explained to her how her fax message had got me the sack.
'OK!' She told me, 'stay with me in my employ'.
I joined her employment.
'Why did you send that fax to me?' I asked, 'I did not know you earlier'.
'Swami asked me to help you', she said. She did not tell me how Swami had told her, whether it was in a dream, in person, or some other way.
She gave me Rs. 50,000 to buy a car, and another Rupees one lakh for building a house.
I sat in Darshan line at Prasanthi Nilayam.
'I want to build a house at Puttaparthi', I told Swami.
'Build in Bangalore' Swami said and moved away. So I went and bought a site in Bellattur in Kadugodi. I had no money to build the house.
'Why not build multi-storeyed flats?' someone suggested, 'those who buy flats will advance money'.
So I launched the apartment plan. All my flats were sold out owing to Swami's grace. I got a couple of flats for me besides making a handsome profit. I could clear the loan I had raised for buying the car for use as taxi. Owing to the grace of Bhagavan, all my children are well settled.
One day Bhagavan told me in Darshan line, 'come to Puttaparthi'.
I rented a house here and shifted.
I always wonder how Bhagavan, out of His bountiful grace and love, lifted me up from scratch and made me what I am today, and gratefully do pranams to the Lord.'
-- Mr. A.K. Nagesh
(As narrated to Mr. B. Parvatala Rao at Prasanthi Nilayam on 08.02.2005.)
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| How to find a Sai center nearer to your place |
| 02.27.05 (10:42 am) [edit] |
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How to find a Sai center nearer to your place
Devotees can log on to the Official website:
www.sathyasai.organd navigate themselves to find their regional contacts. The regional President will then direct the seeker to a Sai Center that is close to him or her. On the left hand side column he will find a link for Sai Organization websites. There will be an email link for the regional contact.
Sairam
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| Prashanthi News |
| 02.26.05 (3:53 am) [edit] |
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Prashanthi News
11th and 12th February 2005
As the golf cart glided slowly into Sai Kulwant Hall, the devotees’ faces gleamed with joy. It was 8.50 a.m. Bhagavan took a full round of the Hall and entered the portico of the Mandir. He took a devotee into the interview room. In the evening Bhagavan came into the Hall at 3.45 p.m., took a full round of the Hall. One could see the joyful faces of devotees as Bhagavan passed through them, some closed their eyes and contemplated on the beautiful form of the Lord trying to recollect the moment, some others expressed their happiness to fellow devotees, having succeeded in giving a letter to Bhagawan.
On the 12th evening, Bhagawan entered the Hall at around 3.15. Swami took a full round of the Hall and went into the interview room.
13th February 2005
Being Sunday, students from the Institute, Higher Secondary School and Primary School had come for Darshan. Bhagawan came out at 7.25 a.m. to the Hall. He took a full round of Sai Kulwant Hall and finally got down from the golf cart and walked towards the sofa, which was kept facing the gents’ side. The Vedic chants were going on in full swing and everyone had a wonderful Darshan of Bhagawan as He stood there for quite some time radiating His infinite bliss and grace on all.
There was a gentle smile and His face was beaming with immense joy as He cast His loving glance on the devotees present there. Then He began moving slowly in the dais towards the ladies’ side, where the Primary School children were seated. It was as though their innocent love and yearning for Swami was pulling Him towards them! He went close to that end of the dais, and as He moved closer the children chanted the Vedic Mantras in a higher pitch. Swami signalled to the core Vedam Group to stop chanting. Now the opportunity had come in full for the Primary School students! The Vedic Mantra being chanted was Bhu Suktam; the entire hall reverberated with their voices in unison. After a while, Swami again asked the core Vedam Group to resume the chanting. Meanwhile, Bhagawan kept moving forward and entered the interview room.
In the evening, Swami came out at 3.10 p.m. for Darshan. He walked slowly along the dais just as He had done in the morning and by 3.35 p.m., He was inside the interview room, with some devotees. Bhajans commenced as usual at 5.00 p.m. and Swami retired to His abode at 5.30 p.m.
15th February 2005
This evening, Bhagawan was came to the Hall at 3.15 p.m. The tenth class students of the Sri Sathya Sai Higher Secondary School were ready with their ‘Gratitude’ programme. The ‘Gratitude’ programme is a presentation by the outgoing batches of the School and the Institute in the Divine Presence, at the end of every year. This is an occasion wherein they pour out their hearts to Bhagawan expressing their deep sense of gratitude for all the Love and Blessings showered by Him.
It is definitely not a farewell, for in this place, with Swami, there can be no farewell. It is only an occasion to express their Love and Gratitude. Swami sat down on the sofa and at 3.30 p.m. and signalled to the students to begin the programme. The tenth class students started their presentation with the chanting of Gayatri Mantra. They had aptly titled their presentation as Krutagnyata Ke Ye Kshan – “These Moments of Gratitude”. Two students anchored the programme. They would come forward and give a brief introduction about each module .
There were basically three modules. One was sharing of personal experiences by students. The second was enacting of some real life situations where the students take decisions to solve the dilemma, after consulting their conscience. The skits illustrated how Swami’s students are tuned to their conscience and are ever eager to act in a way that makes Bhagawan happy! The third module was group songs.
The presentation concluded at 4.20 p.m. Swami was very pleased with their presentation and materialised a chain for one of the boys who anchored the programme. As the boy stood across the railing, head bent down in reverence, Swami placed the chain round his neck.
Bhagawan got up and signalled to the boys to arrange themselves for the photograph session. All of them assembled in groups in front of Swami. Cameras clicked for a while. Subsequently, something very wonderful happened! The boy who got a chain, was asked by Bhagawan to come onto the dais. He stood beside Swami for the coveted photograph. After the photograph was taken, the boy as an expression of his gratitude for his teachers, prayed to Swami for giving all the teachers a group photograph!
Bhagawan was ecstatic at this prayer of the boy. What a sense of love for his teachers! Swami immediately gave His consent and all the School Teachers gathered around Bhagawan for a group photograph. That is truly the hallmark of a Sai Student!
Bhajans began and by 5.00 p.m. At the end of the Bhajans, Swami retired for the day.
16th February 2005
This evening, Swami came out for Darshan at 3.45 p.m. At 4.00 p.m. Bhagawan instructed the core group to stop Vedam chanting. A microphone was placed next to Swami’s sofa. A student from the 2nd MBA class gave a crisp and interesting talk interwoven with Kabir’s Dohas and the poetry of the Alwars.
The second peaker was a student from the 1st M.Sc. class who delivered a thought provoking 20 minute talk, centering on the oneness of man and God. He profusely elaborated on the analogy of the tree trunk and the leaves, to drive home the point that God and man are indeed one and the same, just as all the leaves and the trunk have come from the same seed!
Next the Warden of the Senior boys hostel was asked by Bhagawan to share his thoughts with the audience. The Warden spoke at length delineating Bhagawan’s expositions on Chamatkar – Sanskar – Paropakar – Sakshatkar. He commenced his talk by chanting some verses from the Vedas and then elaborated on the above theme. He struck a note of humour saying that he was under the impression that as the Warden he only had to make arrangements for the speakers, but he was in for a surprise today when Bhagawan asked him to address the audience.He remarked that Bhagawan always says – My Boys are My voice. My Devotees are My voice.
The fourth and the final speaker for the evening was a student from the 2nd M.Sc class, who gave a scintillating talk in Hindi. He spoke for about 15 minutes in chaste Hindi, leaving everyone stunned with his clarity of thought and striking examples. He received a loud applause from the audience. Bhagawan blessed each one of the speakers after their talk and even spoke a few words with them.
Then the Bhajans commenced. It was 5.05 p.m. when Swami was offered Arati.
17th February 2005
Chinese New Year - 9th February 2005
Chinese New Year celebrations starts with the New Moon on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon 15 days later. The 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade. The Chinese calendar is based on a combination of lunar and solar movements. The lunar cycle is about 29.5 days. In order to "catch up" with the solar calendar the Chinese insert an extra month once every few years (seven years out of a 19-year cycle). This is the same as adding an extra day on leap year. This is why, according to the solar calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year. New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. The celebration was traditionally highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honour of Heaven and Earth, the gods of the household and the family ancestors. The sacrifice to the ancestors, the most vital of all the rituals, united the living members with those who had passed away. Departed relatives are remembered with great respect because they were responsible for laying the foundations for the fortune and glory of the family. Year 2005 is the Year of the Rooster by the Chinese calendar.
Coinciding with the Chinese New Year celebrations, a group of devotees from a few Middle East countries had assembled in Sai Kulwant Hall to celebrate their New Year. They sang devotional songs and Bhajans in English and Chinese. They struck the cords of devotion in their hearts and Bhagawan reciprocated by receiving their offering for a full one hour and five minutes. They sang until 4.05 p.m. They even sang a song in Telugu. One could see the clarity in their pronunciation, painstakingly learnt to please their Lord and express their love for Bhagawan.
At 4.10 p.m. Bhagawan asked the coordinator of the group to share his thoughts with the audience. He said that they all had assembled at Prasanthi Nilayam to celebrate the Chinese New Year, marking the Birthday of their heavenly Father. Here they were so fortunate to be in the very presence of their Divine Parent – Sai Baba. He also shared some of his personal experiences.
He went on to describe how Swami taught him the skills related to Disaster Management by giving him the opportunity to serve the needy people in North Korea. In 1997, when North Korea was hit by tidal waves, he went along with his team to serve them. They had to find a special variety of paddy that could be grown in the brackish water since their fields were inundated with it. Finally they could get this variety from Bangladesh. They helped the people by providing them with food stock – rice as well as corn – tonnes of them were transported by railway carriages. They also donated cows and bulls to help them earn a living. Fruit trees, especially apple saplings were distributed to enable them to earn a living.
He ended his talk at 4.20 p.m. As he came onto the dais, Swami waved His hand and created a beautiful gold chain with a locket for him. He stood bowing down and Bhagawan placed the chain round his neck.
The next speaker, a professor from the Institute, began his talk by stating that thousands of devotees come here to have the Darshan of Bhagawan. Devotees flock here from hundreds of countries all over the world. All this happens without Swami visiting any of those countries. This is the greatest miracle!!
He narrated an incident of a boy who fell down from the roof of a multi-storeyed building. However, Swami saved him in time. Later, the father expressed his gratitude to Swami and asked Bhagawan, “Swami thank You so much for saving my child. But when did You come there to save him?” To this Bhagawan replied, “My dear child, I did not go there, I was already there!” Bhagawan is omnipresent!
Once when Swami was giving a Discourse, Prof. Kasturi translated a statement saying that Bhagawan is present all over the world. At this, Bhagawan intervened and said – not world – say Universe (Viswamu). Bhagawan is present in the entire Universe! He is the support to all His devotees. He is ever ready to extend a helping hand. He is the only One whom we can depend upon.
The speaker opined that the word ‘Sai Ram’ had become the most commonly used word today. All of us are united by this word. It is the most powerful antibiotic and is very essential these days when people are miles and miles away from smiles!
He stated that Bhagawan Baba is like an intercontinental bank wherein we can draw any number of cheques! He will always come to our support. Once when the speaker made this statement while speaking in Bhagawan’s Presence, Swami asked him to repeat the line. So, he said, “Swami will always support us.” Bhagawan said, “Not just support you, He will come and literally lift you up!”
He extolled Bhagawan saying that ‘Sai Drushti’ is like ‘Parijata Vrushti’. His look is like a shower of Parijata Flowers! He quoted the incident of a Malaysian guitarist who was paralysed by a nervous disease that disabled the movement of his hand. However, after sitting for Darshan for three days and receiving the loving glance of Bhagawan, the guitarist was back to normalcy and was able to play on his guitar!
He concluded his talk, quoting another interesting episode that took place in Brindavan. It was about a Buddhist devotee who had a very peculiar operation in his young age. Only his mother and the concerned doctor were aware of this fact. Years later, when he came to Bhagawan, Swami spoke to him and told him that he had only three chambers in his heart when he was born! The devotee laughed on hearing this. But later, when he rang up to his mother, she was stunned, for nobody other than her and the doctor were aware of his ailment.
As the speaker wound up and came towards the dais, Swami again waved His hand and created a large emerald ring. He looked at the professor and smilingly said, “Not for you!” The speaker who had just received a gold chain a few minutes ago was blessed with the ring too. Swami lovingly slipped the ring onto his finger!
At the end, Prasadam was distributed to all. Bhajans began at 4.45 p.m. At 5.00 p.m., Bhagawan was offered Arati and then He retired to His abode. The devotees from the Middle East were saturated with His Love and Grace and a sense of contentment, which shone on their smiling cheerful faces!
JAI SAI RAM
http://www.sssbpt.org/Pages/Prasanthi_Nilay am/News_13-02-05.htm" title="http://www.sssbpt.org/Pages/Prasanthi_Nilay am/News_13-02-05.htm" target="_blank"http://www.sssbpt.org/Pages/P...
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| Divine Discourse on Bheema Ratha Shanthi 2005 - 10-02-2005 |
| 02.26.05 (3:49 am) [edit] |
Divine Discourse on Bheema Ratha Shanthi 2005 - 10-02-2005
ELDERS ARE A SOURCE OF WISDOM AND STRENGTH
REVERE AND RESPECT THEM
Embodiments of Love!
The elderly couples who participated in the “Bheema Ratha Shanthi” celebrations held today have experienced inexplicable joy and bliss. In this context, you must understand the underlying meaning in naming this ceremony as “Bheema Ratha Shanthi”. It does not mean that all these couples must be physically strong and courageous like Bheema, the Mahabharata hero. Bheema was the son of Vayu (air), which is all-pervasive. The wind by nature is a very strong and powerful element, which can uproot even a mighty tree.
There are certain traditional rules for the performance of this Bheema Ratha Shanthi. But there is no age restriction as such for this ceremony. By God’s grace, everyone has Sath Sankalpa (good thoughts). Normally, married couples celebrate the Shastyabdha Poorthi ceremony when the husband attains the age of sixty years, hoping to lead a peaceful and happy married life. They also celebrate when the husband attains the age of 70 years. Generally, people believe 70 years of age as the deadline in the life-span of an individual. But, there are other milestones like 80, 90 and 100 years also to be crossed in life. When an individual crosses these important milestones in his married life these blissful occasions are named and celebrated as “Bheema Ratha Shanthi”. Unable to understand and appreciate the importance of these holy occasions, the children in this Kali Age are sending their parents away when they cross 60 years in life, under the mistaken notion that they should not lead a married life and they are fit only to be Sanyasis (renunciants). This is a serious mistake. On the other hand, children should take greater care of their parents when they attain sixty years of age and beyond. Generally, children are under the impression that people beyond the age of 70 years are useless and a burden to the family as well as to the society. But, the truth is otherwise. In fact, the enthusiasm, encouragement and mental strength increase after a person crosses 70 years. It is only after 70 years that the mental faculties and Atmic strength express themselves in full measure. Prior to that, they also behave like other human beings. They will not specially strive to set an example to others. The mental faculties, divine force and the will power in a person will manifest fully after 70 years and prompt him to set a new goal in life. As a result, such elderly persons will be contemplating upon and exploring the secrets of life. The divine force latent in these elderly persons is beyond the reach of the youth. It manifests in ever-so-many ways in their actions. Today, we find several youngsters talking ill of their parents and making fun of them. This is a grave mistake. Instead, if one can analyse carefully their actions, every action of theirs will prove to be purposeful and divine in nature. If the youth of today wish to receive proper training to face the challenges in life, they must live with their parents and constantly observe the noble qualities that manifest in the actions of their parents. In fact, no one can match their systematic life and strict discipline. The blossoming of their intellect and the divine qualities in them will herald a new and meaningful life for humanity. You just observe their life closely and you will be thrilled at the changes it can bring about in your own life.
Embodiments of Love!
These days, we are ignoring these elders, considering them to be not useful to society. This is not correct. In fact, the strength and energy latent in these elders are not to be found in the youth. When you wish to undertake any new activity, it will become fruitful only when you take the guidance of the elders and walk in their footsteps.
Nowadays, a human being is unable to recognise the qualities of a fellow human being. The term “Manava” (human being) means a person who can make the quality of humanness blossom. People generally tend to describe the physical strength of body, whenever a mention is made of Bheema, the younger brother of Dharmaraja, the Pandava King. But, that is not the real strength.
The real strength of elders lies in their wisdom and noble thoughts. The ideals set by these elders for the younger generation are most valuable. Unable to understand their value, people ignore them as useless folk. Today, a lot of value is attached to the retired scientists. None can match their intelligence and passion for new inventions. But, their services are not made use of properly for the benefit of society and they are being wasted. The world can benefit a lot from these elderly people. There is immense power in these elders that can be harnessed for the good of society. Today, we are making an effort to reveal the strength and great spiritual power latent in the ancient Rishis. These elderly people reflect those great ideals. Hence, we should not neglect them. Every thought that emanates from these elders is noble and most valuable. The youth cannot produce even a minute fraction of thoughts and ideas in comparison. Hence, we must nourish and nurture these valuable assets and take good care of them.
Unfortunately, nowadays the younger generation grudges even to provide one square meal a day to their elders. They think it is an avoidable expenditure. Do not by any means let this happen. Even if you put them on a sustenance diet, they will maintain the dignity and reputation of your family as if they are well fed. The concern and enthusiasm displayed by these elders in bringing up the children in a proper way is not found in others unrelated. In the ancient times, kings and nobles made use of the great wisdom of the Rishis by seeking their advice regularly. Even to this day, the great treatises on spiritual and temporal matters compiled by the great Rishis of yore are an authority to the younger generation. Unfortunately, they are not able to understand the great truths expounded in those treatises. It is Swami’s advise that from now on we must popularise this great ancient tradition of Bheema Ratha Shanthi. It has great significance and value for the coming generations. The ritual of Bheema Ratha Shanthi signifies nourishing and nurturing the quality of humanness by undertaking spiritually powerful and noble activities.
During the Mahabharata war, after the gruesome massacre of the young Pandava children, Arjuna tracked down Aswatthama, the perpetrator of the atrocity and dragged him before Droupadi. Instead of cursing the evil doer and pronouncing the punishment for him, she fell at the feet of Aswatthama, the son of her husbands’ most revered Guru and said:
“It is at the feet of your father Dronacharya that my husbands have learnt all that they know. Being the son of Dronacharya, was it proper on your part to kill my children? How could you have the heart to kill them, who were unarmed, young, quietly asleep, were not having any grudge against you and were not contemplating any harm to you?”
(Telugu poem)
When Droupadi was praying like this, Bheema could not bear to see this. Exploding in anger, he roared:
This Droupadi is a stupid woman, for she pleads for this wretch’s freedom. She feels no anger against this murderer of her sons.
(Telugu poem)
Meanwhile, Arjuna was seething with anger and was about to kill Aswatthama. Droupadi fell at his feet and reasoned with him thus:
Arjuna! Will my sons be revived by killing Aswathama? His mother too would experience the same kind of sorrow that I am undergoing now at the loss of my sons. Having studied the Vedas and Sastras, how is it that you are not able to maintain your tranquillity? (Telugu poem)
Droupadi further pleaded with Arjuna to forgive Aswatthama for his heinous act. Arjuna replied, “You are preventing me from keeping up my vow.” To this, Droupadi said, “Tonsuring his head and removing the crown jewel from his head is equivalent to killing him.” As per Droupadi’s advice and as a token of punishment, Arjuna took the crown jewel from the head of Aswatthama and shaved off the hair with his sword.
In ancient times, the Rishis were not shaving off their hair, since the hair was considered very sacred and powerful, spiritually. This body (pointing to Himself) is nearly 80 years old. Still, the hair on My head remains very strong and powerful to this day. I will tell you more about the power of the hair on My head, later. Once, Droupadi was alone as her husbands had gone out. She took out one strand of hair from her head and dropped it in the water, chanting some Mantras. That single hair with the potency of Mantras could bind all the hills around. Later on, a number of yogis assembled together and enquired as to how a single hair could bind all the hills around. They concluded that it was the strength of the hair of Droupadi, and her will power that could perform this stupendous task. It is difficult to comprehend such latent divine phenomenon. Unfortunately, today man is unable to realise his innate divinity. Man, who is heir to the humanness is forgetting the very quality of his humanness. He is cultivating demonic qualities.
Dear students!
You have to avoid acquiring such demonic nature and allow your natural humanness to blossom. Develop humanness and from there rise to the level of divinity. Always remember three things – unity, purity and divinity. Unity implies the oneness of human race. When there is such unity in humanity, divinity manifests.
Once, I went on a countrywide tour. During that tour I went to the river Sindhu along with a saintly person. Linguists know that some people pronounce Sindhu as Hindu. I stayed in Goa in the Raj Bhavan when Nakul Sen was the Lt. Governor of that State. His wife’s name was Indu. I slept in the front hall of the Raj Bhavan. Nakul Sen and his wife slept in their bedroom. There was a window in their bedroom from where they could see what was happening in the front hall. After I slept, Nakul Sen’s wife saw through the window a brilliant light emerging from My body. Unable to bear the effulgence of that brilliant light, she tried to wake up her husband. Nakul Sen would not like to be disturbed at that hour. He admonished her not to disturb him and to sleep peacefully. But, she insisted that her husband should wake up and witness that brilliant light emanating from Swami. At last, Nakul Sen woke up and had the divine darshan of that effulgence.
In the early years of the advent of this Avatar, a great devotee by name Karnam Subbamma used to serve Swami. Her devotion to Swami was unparalleled. In those days, caste differences were widely prevalent and observed strictly in Puttaparthi. Especially, the Brahmins used to keep distance from the Harijans. Since, Subbamma was an orthodox Brahmin, she used to meticulously observe these practices. One day, I informed Subbamma that I would be visiting the Harijanwada. Subbamma felt very unhappy and tried to dissuade Me from going to that place saying, “Oh! Swami! Why should You visit that place?” I asked her, “Why should I not go? Why should I not eat the food offered by the Harijans? I will certainly go there.” So saying, I started for the Harijanwada. However, as she was a great devotee of Swami and was very much attached to Him, she followed. The people living in the Harijanwada were very poor. They had no chairs or mattresses to make Me seated comfortably. They spread an old dhoti on the floor and requested Me to sit on that. In the meantime, I felt drowsy and fell asleep. Thereafter, a big sound emanated from My navel, as though the roof over the building was being blown off. The people in the house trembled in fear, on hearing that big sound. All of them ran helter-skelter. Thus, the Divine power manifests from the bodies of the Avatars, saints and yogis in many different ways.
Long ago, when I went to some African countries on tour, the devotees there presented Me with a comb made of iron. However, I had no necessity for it. I do not use a comb. If ever I put the brush on My hair, it will get stuck. My hair is so thick and strong. Even if one wants to pull out one hair, it is not possible. This is the nature of the hair of divine personalities. Not only Myself, every individual has certain divine powers, which he should try to nurture. Today, the youth are not making any effort to protect the God-given power. They are frittering away the divine power in ever so many ways. They waste a lot of power daily with the result they lose their energy and become prematurely old. Especially, the head is the seat of all power. Hence, one has to carefully protect the head.
Embodiments of Divine Atma!
You are all men and women of noble qualities and strong in body and mind. But, unfortunately, you are frittering away your energies in vain pursuits. You become weak by wasting your energy. When I clench My fist not even ten persons can prise it open. Even at the physical level the Divine power is immeasurable and beyond description. All of you should try to realise this innate Divinity in you, not for the sake of the physical strength, but to enjoy the divine bliss.
Embodiments of Love!
The divine power latent in a human being has no limits. Whether it is fine arts like music or any other human endeavour, when it is suffused with divine power, it reaches great heights. Hence, sanctify that divine power by dedicating all your efforts to God.
http://www.sssbpt.org/Pages/Prasanthi_Nilay am/BheemaRatha_Discourse.htm" title="http://www.sssbpt.org/Pages/Prasanthi_Nilay am/BheemaRatha_Discourse.htm" target="_blank"http://www.sssbpt.org/Pages/P...
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| Prasanthi News 7th - 10th February 2005 |
| 02.26.05 (3:46 am) [edit] |
Prasanthi News 7th - 10th February 2005
On the 7th morning, Bhagawan came out for Darshan at 8.50 a.m. By the time, Swami came to Sai Kulwant Hall, it was already time for Bhajan. After Bhajans, Bhagawan retired to His abode.
On the 8th morning, Bhagawan came to the Hall at 7.20 and sat in the chair for quite some time. Devotees could feast their eyes on the Lord. On the 9th morning after starting from His abode at 7.40 a.m., Bhagawan went round the devotees, receiving letters from many of them, listening to the queries of some and then He entered the portico of the Mandir. After getting down from the golf cart, Bhagawan stood for a while near the railings and sat in the chair. After some time, He signalled for the Vedic chanting to be stopped.
A National Seminar on Biotechnology was held in the Institute from 9th to 11th February 2005. The professors who had come for the seminar were blessed with the proximity of Bhagawan. They came in a single file near Bhagawan and offered their obeisance and letters. At about 8.30 a.m., Bhagawan got up from the chair and proceeded to the interview room.
BHEEMA RATHA SHANTHI 2005
(10th February 2005)
A public announcement was made in Sai Kulwant Hall on 21st December 2004 that Bhagawan has decided to bless elderly couples (husbands aged 70 and above) residing in Prasanthi Nilayam, Puttaparthi and nearby villages.
This is a ritual where a spiritual marriage is performed for the elderly couples in a ceremonious manner to mark the entry into a new phase of life for their prolonged mental and physical health and for world peace.
Three days prior to the function, Bhagawan out of His immense love for the welfare of these elderly couples from the villages had taken care to depute a set of doctors to those villages much in advance and check their physical health to ensure their active participation in the marriage function. Bhagawan had also arranged for their to and fro transport facilities from their villages to the Ashram. Further those elderly people who found it difficult to walk were provided with wheelchairs for their easy movement during the function.
On the eve of the grand function Bheema Ratha Shanthi 2005, i.e., 9th February 2005, 275 elderly couples were seated on chairs in the Sai Kulwant Hall and were blessed by Bhagawan with dhotis, saris, gold ear rings studded with diamonds, silver anklets, bangles and glittering silk garlands to be worn on the morning of 10th February.
On the 10th morning, Sai Kulwant Hall was decked beautifully for the occasion. Beautiful flowers of various hues adorned the dais. Elaborate arrangements were made to seat the couples comfortably on chairs in Sai Kulwant Hall. Every couple was provided two chairs and a small table to keep the Puja materials in a separate enclosure in the Hall. A vase with fresh flowers was placed near the chair of each couple. Mango tree leaves and plantain saplings were tied behind the chairs to provide a festive look and a jubilant atmosphere.
Swami came to Sai Kulwant Hall at 7.15. a.m., had a look at the arrangements and went into the interview room. At 8.25, a grand procession of couples entered Sai Kulwant Hall. They had previously assembled in Pedda Venkama Raju Kalyana Mandapam from where the procession commenced. The procession was preceded by Veda chanting students from the Prasanthi Nilayam Campus of the Institute, followed by the brass band and Nadaswaram troupe from the Anantapur campus. Another interesting feature of this function was a lively Banjara dance accompanied by traditional musical instruments by tribal women from Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh. Each couple was accompanied by a student from Anantapur campus to help them in the performance of rituals. The previous evening, these students had received instructions from Bhagawan Himself regarding their duties during the function. Bhagawan had taken care of such meticulous details so that the function had all its traditional flavour and the ingredients of a marriage function.
Vedic Purohits from Godavari districts began the Puja with the worship of Ganesha. This was followed by a ritualistic worship of Raksha Bandhan (a talisman which is believed to protect the couple) with flowers and Akshata (sacred yellow rice). Various names of the Lord were invoked and then the Raksha Bandhan was tied by the wives on the wrists of their husbands and vice-versa. Explaining the significance of Bheema Ratha Shanthi, the head priest said that the aim of the function was to pray to Bhagawan for long life and for world peace. Bhagawan Baba being the ocean of compassion went round the entire Hall and distributed Mangalsutra with gold chain with His Divine Hands. Then the Vice Chancellor and other staff members distributed watches to each couple. Every couple also received an idol of Lakshmi Narayana, one pair of silver anklets and two pairs of silver toe rings. Then came the most auspicious moment of this function! To the accompaniment of Nadaswaram music, the couples were asked to repeat the Mantra chanted before tying the Mangalsutra. Exactly at 10.04 a.m. the Mangalsutra was placed round the neck of the wives by their husbands. Then, Bhagawan walked on the dais sprinkling Akshata on the couples. The couples were asked to exchange garlands and the function concluded with benediction Mantras usually chanted during this occasion. An announcement was made in the Hall that a sumptuous banquet would be served to the couples, their relatives, friends and all devotees present on this occasion in the South Indian canteen. At the end, Arati was offered to Bhagawan at 10.25 a.m., and then Bhagawan retired to His abode.
In the evening, Bhagawan came to the Hall at 3.55 a.m. and took a full round of devotees. As Bhagawan came to the dais, He instructed the persons concerned to arrange the discourse table and microphone. What ensued was an invigorating discourse on the significance of Bheema Ratha Shanthi. He said that the word Bheema normally signified strength and valour. It does not refer to physical strength but to the enormous will power and the wealth of wisdom that elders possess. He also said that in the modern times, the younger generation was neglecting their parents. This is an unhealthy trend. Children should respect them and benefit by their wise counsel. The discourse continued for one full hour at the end of which Bhagawan materialised a gold chain for a student. At 5.15 p.m., there was a Carnatic music recital by the renowned singer Padmashri Smt. Sudha Ragunathan. Before the recital started Swami created a gold chain for her too. She sang famous songs like Sita Kalyanam Vaibhogame …, Kuraiondrum Illai…, Bo Shambo Siva Shambo Swayambo … She ended her soul-stirring and melodious recital with a Sai Bhajan. The programme concluded with Arati to Bhagawan at 6.05 p.m.
We would like to present important information from the life of Smt. Sudha Raghunathan when she was a child of two years. Not many of us would know that the Ashtottram of Bhagawan, Om Sri Sai Jodi Aadipalli Somappaaya Namaha has its roots in this incident. The story goes as follows:
“On the 26th November, 1958, 3 days after Bhagawan’s Birthday festival, a devotee from Bangalore left Prasanthi Nilayam by car, taking leave of Baba. On the way, his 2 year old daughter was attacked by ‘fits’ which became so serious that the child was asphyxiated and it collapsed. Baba knew this and manifested Himself before them as a ‘Villager’ with two others. He wanted the child to be given to Him and the two comrades supported the demand. ‘Give Him: He will cure it. He has cured thousands’, they implored. The Villager (Baba) told them, ‘I was busy for the last 3 days; I just now laid Myself for rest; but I came to know that a child was seriously ill on the road. So, I ran up!’ He placed the child on His lap and it was cured. He gave it back to the happy parents. They offered Him money and when it was refused, they gave Him a fruit from the many that He had Himself given them at Prasanthi Nilayam while they were leaving as Prasadam.
They asked Him His name. He said “Jodi Aadipalli Somappa”. When asked later at the Nilayam, why He chose that name of all others, Baba said, ‘I am Somappa, Soma appa (Siva) Sa-uma – Soma. The place of My residence is Aadipalli (the primeval village, Kailas). It is Jodi (belonging to two) because it belongs to Sa and Uma ‘Siva Sakthi’, - the Twin – Prakriti and Purusha. This is therefore Baba’s most appropriate epithet, selected by Himself, for that profound miracle of grace. It reveals His truth as Siva Sakthi’."
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| Bheema Ratha Shanthi : 10 th February 2005 |
| 02.26.05 (3:43 am) [edit] |
Bheema Ratha Shanthi : 10 th February 2005
Indian culture has at its heart the noble feelings of reverence and gratitude. The many festivals that dot the Indian calendar are all expressions of gratitude to the various elements of the world around us that make our lives pleasant and harmonious, and above all to God whose grace constantly surrounds His devotees protecting them and guiding them. The day of Ayudha Puja during the ten-day Dasara festival, for instance, is dedicated to the worship of the tools, machines and implements that are used in our daily lives. The Vedas too pay homage to Nature in its myriad forms. Reverence to one’s elders is given utmost importance in the scriptures, which declare that one’s parents are equal to God. The scriptures enjoin various ceremonies to be performed to honour one’s parents at various stages in their life. The Bheema Ratha Shanthi is one such ritual worship that is performed when the husband crosses his 70th year. The ritual involves formally reenacting their marriage ceremony and praying for good health and happiness in their lives.
On 10th February, Bhagawan conducted the Bheema Ratha Shanthi for 275 elderly couples from Prasanthi Nilayam, Puttaparthi and surrounding villages in a grand function held at the Sai Kulwant Hall. The procession of the couples started from the Pedda Venkama Raju Kalyana Mantapam in Puttaparthi at 7.00 a.m. led by the brass band and Nadasawaram troupe from the Anantapur campus of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, and a group of Banjara dancers with traditional musical instruments.
In Sai Kulwant Hall, where the procession culminated, a small enclosure had been made for every couple with elegant brass railings, and chairs were placed within the enclosure for the couples to sit. This enclosure had been traditionally decorated with plantain and mango leaves. The entire hall seemed awash with brilliant colours, with banners and decorations wherever one turned.
After the couples were seated, the officiating priests began the proceedings by directing them to worship Lord Ganesha. The couples were helped in performing the various rituals by girl students from the Anantapur campus of the University who had been assigned with this duty. The previous evening, these students had received instructions from Bhagawan Himself regarding their duties during the function. The rituals were conducted in the traditional manner as prescribed in the scriptures. On the eve of the grand ceremony, on 9th February 2005, Bhagawan had blessed the couples with ornaments such as gold earrings studded with diamonds, gold bangles, silver anklets along with dhotis, silk saris and glittering garlands to be worn by the couple.
Bhagawan then went around the hall to each couple and with His own hands presented them with a gold Mangalasutra (necklace to be placed by the husband around the wife’s neck), gold rings and silver toe-rings. The couples were also presented watches and silver idols of Lord Narayana and Goddess Lakshmi. One could see tears in their eyes, overwhelmed by the bountiful blessings the Lord had bestowed on them that day. Bhagawan’s face too was radiant with joy reflecting the bliss His devotees were experiencing at witnessing the grand function. Even as Bhagawan was blessing each couple thus, the priests explained the significance of this function to the gathering and declared that is was the greatest fortune of these couples to have it conducted by none other than the Poornavatar Himself. The auspicious moment arrived for the Mangalasutra to be placed round the wife’s neck. To the rousing sounds of the Nadaswaram and the intoning of Vedic mantras, the couples reaffirmed their vows to each other and exchanged garlands. Bhagawan sprinkled sacred yellow rice grains on the couples thus sanctifying their marriage. After the ceremony, the couples were provided with a special banquet along with their family members, friends, relatives and all devotees who were fortunate to attend this grand function in the Divine Presence of Bhagawan, in the South Indian Canteen of the Ashram.
In the afternoon, Bhagawan blessed the gathering with His Divine Discourse in which He explained the significance of the Bheema Ratha Shanthi. He said that the word Bheema normally signified strength and valour. It does not refer to physical strength but to the enormous will power and the wealth of wisdom that elders possess. He said that the younger generation should pay heed to the words of their elders and pay them their due respect to achieve success in their endeavours.
Bhagawan’s discourse was followed by a music concert by Ms. Sudha Raghunathan, a renowned singer in the Carnatic style of music. Ms. Raghunathan has been a long standing devotee of Bhagawan. In fact, she was saved from a life threatening epileptic fit by Bhagawan when she was a two year old child. Bhagawan appeared in the form of a villager to the sorrowful couple, who were stranded on their way to Bangalore after Bhagawan’s birthday celebrations at Prasanthi Nilayam, and revived their child whom they had given up as dead. When they asked the mysterious man his name, he replied that it was Jodi Adipalli Somappa. This name is now recited as one of the 108 names in praise of our Lord Sai. Before the commencement of the programme, Bhagawan materialised a gold chain for the artiste and blessed her. Ms. Sudha Raghunathan delighted the audience with her melodious rendition of kirtanas by Thyagaraja (Brochevarevaru ra…) and Purandaradasa (Jagaddodharana …) and then went on to sing devotional compositions in Hindi and Tamil and concluded with a Sai Bhajan. At the end of the programme, Bhagawan blessed all the artistes and accepted Arati before retiring to His residence and thus the curtain came down on a grand ceremony.
At a time when society has all but ignored the older generation, Bhagawan is reminding youngsters of the duties and responsibilities they have towards their elders. This was clearly evident from the way the programme was organised under the Divine guidance of Bhagawan. Bhagawan out of His immense love for the welfare of these elderly couples from the villages had taken extra care to depute a team of doctors to conduct medical check up, well in advance of the function, and thus ensuring their participation. Arrangements were also made for their to and fro transportation to make it to the function. Those elderly couples who would find it difficult to walk were provided with wheelchairs for free movement and there were students and sevadals around throughout to take care of them. Indeed, the loving care and the meticulousness with which Bhagawan supervised the arrangements and the unparalleled grandeur of the ceremony are an indication of the reverence and honour that is due to the older generation. It is now for us, His devotees, to carry the mantle of disseminating His message to the world by living our lives by His Word.
Jai Sai Ram!
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| "Swami's blood is pure" - August 20th'1963 - Venkatagiri |
| 02.26.05 (3:38 am) [edit] |
"Swami's blood is pure" - August 20th'1963 - Venkatagiri
Dear Sai Brothers and Sisters,
SAI RAM. Praying that Bhagawan's Love, Grace and
Blessings be with each and everyone of you.
On the Evening of August 20th'1963, in Venkatagiri
Bhagawan was immersed in the Bhajans which were being
sung with full devotion, when Suddenly Bhagawan got up
and went inside his room, it took an unusually long
time for Bhagawan to return and Bhajans went on for
another half an hour, At the end of the Bhajan session
Bhagawan wanted to wipe his brow, he then asked a
middle aged boy named Ramana to go to his room and get
his handkerchief, and then suddenly said "Go and come
back immediately, do not see anything else", Everybody
was curious, anxious, Then suddenly they heard a loud
scream from Swami's room and the Boy came running out
saying "Blood (Nethuru), Blood (Nethuru)", Swami
kerchief he was holding was soaking in Blood, His
whole hand was dripped in Blood. Swami told one
elderly man to go with the Boy and clean him and come
back. Everyone was shocked, Bhagawan smiled and then
said "I had to cut my Body to save a devotee".
Everyone was shocked, stunned. Swami then said to the
stunned audience "Venkanna staying in Raja Veddhi
outside was bit by avery poisonous snake in the
outskirts here, he shouted "Swami" before fainting,
Could I keep quiet?, The deadly poison had reached his
stomach, it had spread through his legs and almost
reached Naval, I entered his body, and cut my stomach
and gave my Blood to him, Swami's blood is pure, the
poison was contained, he survived". Swami went inside
and after 10 minutes came back with his robe dripping
in Blood, Everybody were shedding tears, Bhagawan then
said "I wore two robes today, the Second One to cover
the Blood on the first one, None of my People should
suffer on my account. There is no more blood, nothing,
I cured myself. Swami does anything and everything for
his people, Swami feels no pain at anytime, I feel
pain only when my people forget my teachings and go
astray. Swami understands and watches everything".
When Venkanna came limping the next day, Swami
materialised a gold penchant with 2 pearls in the
middle. When Venkanna died in August'18th'1993, the
Pendant mysteriously disappeared the minute he died,
It was never to be found again.
SAI RAM
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/saibabanews/mes sage/6337" title="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/saibabanews/mes sage/6337" target="_blank"http://groups.yahoo.com/group...
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| Feel His Presence Everywhere |
| 02.26.05 (3:34 am) [edit] |
Feel His Presence Everywhere
The Lord is sound in ether or Akasa,
He is touch in air,
He is light in fire,
He is taste in water,
he is smell in earth.
He is intelligence in mind,
He is power in electricity,
He is beauty in women,
He is wisdom in sages,
He is devotion in devotees.
Feel His presence everywhere.
a) Sound(Ears) are produced from the Akasha(space) element in the
Throat(Vishuddha) chakra.
b) Touch(Skin) is produced from the Air element in the Heart
(Anahata) chakra.
c) Light(Eyes) are produced from the Fire element in the Solar Plexus
(Manipura) chakra.
d) Taste(Tongue) is produced from the Water element in the Navel
(Swadisthana) chakra.
e) Smell(Nose) is produced from the Earth element in the Root
(Muladhara) chakra.
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| Two miracles of omnipotence |
| 02.18.05 (11:09 am) [edit] |
Two miracles of omnipotence
Dear Sai Brothers and Sisters,
Sai Ram.
Bhagawan once said in his Discourse to the Students in
the Hostel in 1995 that before anyone leaves this
Hostel or college, each and every boy will be touched
by his grace, love and Compassion. Many boys have
experienced Swami's Love, Compassion, Grace in some
way or the other, The Greatest aspect of Bhagawan is
that He treats every student living in Prasanthi
Nilayam, that is why every student has some personal
experience with Bhagawan to narrate and share with
all. Ask any Student or teacher to come out of the
portals of any Sai Institution and he will narrate an
experience to treasure for a lifetime. Yesterday I
have narrated Some Experiences of mine. Itis really a
out of the World Experience to see Bhagawan Talking to
the Boys at any time, He gives them Love, Compassion
which they treasure the most.
The Village that I stay is next to the Sea Coast, the
Sea is calm most of the time and the people had
nothing to fear. As December'26th'2004 was a Sunday, I
wanted to go down to the Sea Shore on that Day as I
did every Sunday , At around 8.30 As I was getting
ready I heard a Loud Noise of Glass Shattering in the
Next Room and as I rushed into the Room, I found that
Swami's Photo had fallen down with its glass broken, I
cleaned the Photo, and Removed the glass pieces which
took around 30 minutes, as I was throwing the Pieces
out,There was a huge roar of water and a Huge cry by
Villagers that the sea was in Spate,As I ran away, I
saw a Huge Volume of Water coming ,and I climbed on
top of a tree and waited as the Water came roaring
down, the Tree was uprooted and then I was washed
away, as the Waters came Surging ahead, I saw a Huge
Tree Trunk Floating and scrambled on it and
Dramatically after 10 minutes the Waters receeded. The
Scene was utter devastation, Everyones belongings were
including mine, As I went into the remains of my House
I saw Swami's Photo which had fallen from the Wall,
safely on the hinges on the Only Door left in the
Whole village. My parents miraculously were in Nellore
Town on that Particular day as they had gone to meet
someone. On January'13th'2005 when One of Friends
Shyam Prasad had gone to Parthi Swami told him "I had
to save your Brother by Smashing myself with Glass and
dropping my own Photograph, Swami Never forgets
anyone". the Lord is omnipotent in every form, I would
have surely been swept away into the sea if I had gone
to the Shore, What Prevented me for 30 Minutes was
Swami's Photo falling down and me cleaning it. Swami
never forgets anyone in distress, this is a great
example of it.
My Friend Shyam Prasad was on the Marina Beach in
Chennai on that Fateful day, He had come with some
friends to the beach, Just a few minutes before the
Water started receeding and the Tsunami Striking, the
got a Phone call on his Cell saying that his Mother
had fallen from the Staircase and was in a serious
condition. He immediately left the beach and took a
Auto home and to his great Surprise His Mother opened
the Door, He was shocked beyond Words, Also his mother
who told him that she was hale and hearty, When He
tried Contacting that Cell Number the response was
that it did not exist. On 13th'January'2005, When
Swami mentioned about me He Also told him "I had to
use a cellphone to save you, Swami always remembers
his children".
Swami never forgets anyone at any time, Trials,
tribulations are a part of life, Faith in God, Love of
God, Devotion towards him are important.
Swami once told the Students of the Higher Secondary
School a Wonderful Story:
Once a Man saw before his eyes all the events of his
life passing by, and as He looked closely he found
that in some Phases of his life there were 2 sets of
Footprints, Then to his great Joy he saw that those
were the moments in life where there was great
Happiness and Joy,He prayed to God saying "You were
always with me at every stage in my life, I shall
never forget you at any time ", Then as he saw more
closely there were some periods in his life where
there were only One Set of Footprints, And as he
observed more closely he saw that those moments were
his Darkest days full of DEspair, Unhapiness, Sorrow
and suffering, then he exclaimed to God "You were with
me in my moments of happiness and joy, but I walked
alone in my moments of sadness and sorrow, Why didyou
forsake me, I have never forgotten you at anystage in
life?", Then God said " During your moments of
Happiness and Joy I walked with you, In your Moments
of Despair and Sadness, It was I who carried you ".
Swami carries everyone during our moments of Sadness,
It is we who sometimes forget him, He never does.
SAI RAM
Yours in sai service
MURALI KRISHNA
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| Swami Shows The World |
| 02.18.05 (10:59 am) [edit] |
Swami Shows The World
Dear Sai Brothers and Sisters,
SAI RAM. Let Bhagawan's Love be with one and all
always.
In July 1995, Bhagawan was giving Darshan in Prasanthi
Mandir when He suddenly stopped before a very old
Woman sitting in the Darshan, Swami looked at her for
a very long time and then said in Telugu " You are
from Venkatagiri"?, The Old Woman nodded and Swami
told her to take Namaskar and then after Bhagawan
passed her , Swami Suddenly turned came back and Said
again in Telugu " You have never forgotten about the
Jewels, Have You?,", The Very Old Woman only smiled
and Swami gave his dazzling smile and walked away.
This might be an everyday occurance in Darshan
everyday at Prasanthi Nilayam, What made this
conversation special was Swami mentioning the Word
"Venkatagiri". The Old Woman's name is Vaidehiamma.
She is no more now, She died clutching Swami's Picture
which Bhagawan had given her. She told me once in
tears that Bhagawan had "Shown her the World". This is
a unique experience never to be forgotten by anyone
who have heard it, who will hear it, and never
forgotten till her last breath by the Woman who
exoerienced it.
In the Summer of 1965, Bhagawan was in Venkatagiri for
an unusually long time , One Friday evening Bhagawan
and everyone was immersed in the Divine melodies of
Ram and Lakshman, the two singers who sang for
Bhagawan at that time, After Bhajan's were over
Bhagawan turned to The Raja of Venkatagiri and asked
him that whether it would be possible to see the
palace jewels. The Raja immediately consented and
Bhgawan with about 20 people went down into the rooms
where the jewels were kept which were about 10 rooms
at the basement of the palace where Bhagawan was
staying, The Jewels not kept in Glass Cases but in
Shelves which were locked, Security was not needed
because Nobody was allowed to see the jewels and also
for that time because Bhagawan wanted to see them.
After about 1 hour when Bhagawan had seen everything
and explained about them to everyone, Swami returned
and as a dance recital followed, After a unusually
long time of about 40 minutes the Raja came up and sat
in a corner, After the programme, Swami called the
Raja and after enquiring of the Next days programme,
suddenly asked as what had happened, The Raja feigned
ignorance, Swami persisted with his questioning, The
Raja relented and said that Small Pearl was missing,
Swami then asked whether it was missing during his
tour downstairs, The Raja was getting uncomfortable
with Swami's questioning then said that It did not
matter as that jewel was not important anymore, Swami
said "Responsibility is the most important quality
that every human being should inculcate" and then said
that he took personal responsibility for what had
happened and said that if the pearl was not found he
would pay the Equivalent of Rs.30 Lakhs (In 1965)to
the Raja, Inspite of the Raja's vehement pleading
Bhagawan retired for the day.
The Next day as Bhagawan sat for the evening Bhajan's
He came up straight to a lady of around 56 years and
asked her "Bangaru (Gold), If You have needed money I
would have given you anything in the world, Never make
the Mistake you made yesterday", The Woman did not
move, Swami waited for a few minutes and then told the
Woman to get up and led her to an adjoining Room and
was with her was around 3 minutes, When the lady came
back first she was more dazed than in tears, Bhagawan
came back with the pearl and said to the Raja that he
should promise him that nothing should be done to her
and she should continue working in the palace as
before, Incidentally that was where she died at the
age of 95.
In 1994, She told me that when Swami had taken her
inside he politely enquired about the pearl, She took
it from a fold in her sari and gave it to Swami, Swami
then held up his hand and said "Choodu"(Look), and
before her eyes in the Lord's hand she saw the
incident where she was slipping the ring played before
her eyes , As she wept Bhagawan said in telugu
"Everything is in my hand, Everything, Whatever
happens in this world and beyond is because of this
and this only ", Swami gave her Rs.10000/- and told
her never to steal again.
This lady stayed all her life in Venkatagiri, She
never Moved out of the palace, She visited Parthi only
once as she left that she did not have many more years
to live, She died a few months after Bhagawan spoke to
her.
Many might ask the question As to why did Bhagawan
reveal himself to a thief ? But the Thief became a
noble soul and did not steal again. That is the moral
of this incident, Swami changes lives of people
through his ways, In this case he revelead the World
to a thief for her to become a noble soul.
Hope everyone will draw inspiration from this leela of
Bhagawan.
SAI RAM
yours in sai service
MURALI KRISHNA
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| Swami in Venkatagiri - February 1965 |
| 02.18.05 (10:53 am) [edit] |
Swami in Venkatagiri - February 1965
Dear Sai Brothers and Sisters,
SAI RAM. Praying that Bhagawan's Love, Grace and
Blessings be always on you and everyone.
The Following is a translation in of Bhagawan's Talk
in Venkatagiri Palace in February'1965. These talks
which Bhagawan gave from time to time were informal
Question and answer sessions, But on this case, it was
a small speech that Swami gave which You will find
inspirational.
LOVING ONES ( PREMIYULARA )
THE TWO GREATEST QUALITIES OF GOD ARE LOVE AND
COMPASSION, GOD DISTRIBUTES HIS LOVE IN EQUAL MEASURE
TO ALL AND EVERYONE. COMPASSION TOWARDS ALL. GOD'S
LOVE IS SUCH THAT HE DOES NOT TAKE ANYTHING IN RETURN
EVER. IN THE MAHABARATA KRISHNA ALWAYS SUPPORTED THE
PANDAVAS EVEN IF IT WAS GOING AGAINST HIS ELDER
BROTHER, HE NEVER WAVERED FROM THIS SUPPORT, AT MANY
TIMES THE PANDAVAS OFFERED HIM VARIOUS GIFTS , BUT
KRISHNA NEVER ACCEPTED EVEN ONE AT ANY TIME, WHEN
YUDHISTIRA ASKED HIM ONCE AS TO WHY HE WAS NOT
ACCEPTING ANY GIFTS FROM THEM HE SAID "I HAVE
EVERYTHING AND CAN GET ANYTHING, WHY SHOULD TAKE
ANYTHING FROM ANYONE ?". SWAMI NEVER TAKES ANYTHING
FROM ANYBODY WHOEVER IT MAY BE, HE ALWAYS GIVES AND
GIVES, HE HAS EVERYTHING AND CAN GET ANYTHING FROM
ANYWHERE. (Bhagawan then asked the Raja of Venkatagiri
as to what was the costliest Diamond in his Palace,
The Raja Replied that it would cost around 30 Lakhs ),
BHAGAWAN THEN TURNED TO THE 150 PEOPLE SITTING THERE
AND WITH A WAVE OF HIS HAND PRODUCED A SMALL
GLITTERING DIAMOND AND SAID "THIS IS THE FAMOUS
KOHINOOR DIAMOND, ONCE THE WORLD'S BIGGEST DIAMOND,
NOW IT IS ON THE HEAD OF THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND, REDUCED
TO THIS SIZE", SOMEONE ASKED "SWAMI, HOW BIG WAS IT?",
SWAMI WITH ANOTHER WAVE PRODUCED A HUGE DIAMOND AND
SAID "IT WAS THIS BIG", THEN HE ASKED THE RAJA "YOU
WANT ME OR THESE", THE RAJA WITH TEARS SAID "I WANT
NOTHING BUT YOU SWAMI", THEN WITH A SMALL WAVE THE
DIAMONDS DISSAPEARED. SWAMI SAID "SEE, FOR ME THERE IS
EVERYTHING WHY SHOULD I ASK ANYBODY ANYTHING".
SWAMI CONTINUED :
KRISHNA GAVE SUDAMA EVERYTHING BUT ONLY AFTER
ACCEPTING HIS LOVE, GOD ASKS ONLY FOR YOUR LOVE AND
GIVES YOU EVERYTHING IN RETURN. YEARN FOR HIS LOVE.
SWAMI'S LOVE IS ALL PERVASIVE.
ALL OF YOU ARE THINKING THAT I AM JOKING WITH YOU AND
BEHAVING LIKE YOU BUT IN 40 YEARS YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE
TO SEE ME, IN PUTTAPARTHI YOU WILL HAVE TO SIT ON A
HILL TO SEE ME ON MY BIRTHDAY. YOU MIGHT WONDER AS TO
HOW THIS WILL HAPPEN ,IT WILL BECAUSE BHAGAWAN CAN DO
ANYTHING HE WISHES, BUT SWAMI WILL WAIT TILL THE TIME
COMES, GOD WAITS FOR AN APPROPRIATE TIME FOR
EVERYTHING TO HAPPEN.
AS BHAGAWAN WAS SIPPING A GLASS OF COCONUT WATER, A
ELDERLY PERSON NAMED SUBBRAYUDU ASKED "SWAMI, YOU TOLD
US THAT YOU WILL TELL US ABOUT GANDHIJI ?", SWAMI SAID
THAT HE WILL TALK AT A LATER DATE, THEN SWAMI SAID:
GANDHI GARU WAS A GREAT MAN, HE WAS ALWAYS CLOSE TO
GOD, ONCE A PERSON ASKED HIM "SIR, DO YOU NOT GET BAD
THOUGHTS LIKE OTHERS?", HE SAID "YES, I DO GET A LOT
OF THOUGHTS, BUT I DO NOT PUT THEM INTO ACTIONS", HE
ALWAYS FOLOWED HIS HEART WHERE GOD RESIDED.
ALWAYS FOLLOW GOD, HE WILL HELP YOU.
SWAMI ASKED THE TWO SINGERS RAM, LAKSHMAN TO SING
"SUBRAMANYAM, SUBRAMANYAM" AND THE TALK DREW TO A
CLOSE.
Brothers,
My Father and Grandfather were present at most of
these talks and after each speech or session with
Bhagawan they wrote down in Telugu everything Bhagawan
said, These are not the Normal Discourses that Swami
gives in one strech but Mostly Question and Answer
Questions where Swami spoke about his Future Plans for
an Institute and the Development of Parthi into a
World Centre.
On the Remark on Gandhiji and his bad thoughts, it
Bhagawan who first Told this example about Gandhiji,
Various people and books have qouted this example, not
bothering to look into the Source.
It is very difficult to translate in English as
Bhagawan spoke in Brilliant Telugu at that time, at
the same time he also spoke in very ordinary day to
day Telugu for the sake of Ordinary Villagers
Listening to him.
Hope that the above messages of Bhagawan inspires
people to follow his ideals and help people in need .
SAI RAM
yours in sai service
MURALI KRISHNA
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| Swami changed the weather |
| 02.18.05 (10:36 am) [edit] |
Swami changed the weather
This is one of the many experience I had when I lived in Puttaparthi
for eight years. When Swami was about to begin the water project (I
dont remember the year) and drenches were to be digged for the
pipeline to be placed, we were all in Puttaparthi. It was getting
extremely hot as it was nearing summer. We were quite excited
because we all waited for Swami to leave for our beloved Whitefield
where Swami would be closer, things were lighter and easier for us
to handle than Puttaparthi (which could be quite challenging for us
living there). Rumours began spreading (and boy, do people like to
spread rumours! But at least these were innocent ones) that Swami
was not leaving for Whitefield this summer which was very unusual.
Living in Puttaparthi for long with millions of people coming and
going from all levels of life, we were used to many crazy rumours
and mostly took it with a grain of salt. But sure enough, in the
next two days he gave a talk to his students in the Poornachandra
auditorium. He told them he was not leaving for Whitefield but would
stay in Parthi during the digging of the drains. He then asked the
students whom of them would stay behind to help digging. Note that
the sun is merciless during the summer season and I am sure they
were quite horrified at the thought of long-hours of work in the
intense heat. A portion of the boys lifted their hands while the
others kept quiet. In his unpredictable but funny way Swami had then
said, "Good" and that those boys who lifted their hands could go
home for summer vacation, while those who did not lift their hands
could stay behind and help dig the trenches...! He added that he
would "keep the temperature down" so they wouldnt suffer too much
from the heat. Well a few days went by and Parthi was becoming
hotter and hotter. It was so hot, that walking merely a few feet
between my chappals and the darshan line was a challenge and would
burn the soles of my feet. I had to throw my darshan cushion as a
walking pad for each step I took. It was so hot that we begun to
joke about Swami's talks to the boys, "Oh well, it has finally
happened, some of us would say. Swami has become old and senile! The
divine has finally lost his grip - doesnt know the difference
between heat and cold!". Of course it was only jokes but some people
in Parthi were far too serious than what is emotionally healthy. He
must have heard me (Swami has very keen ears. NEVER assume he doesnt
hear and see EVERYTHING that happens in that ashram!). Suddenly the
same evening, I stood talking to some people near the garden when we
noticed, to our surprise, a beautiful but pit-silent lightning
playing across the nightsky. I rushed up to my secret rooftop - the
only one I had found that was not locked and which had allowed me
some privacy from the constant crowds now and then. Up on the roof
this beautiful lightning spread like a persian carpet across the
Puttaparthi skies. Followed by a cool wind. The next evening the
same thing happened; this vibrant but completely silent lightning
without any sound or any rain played across the nightsky. Again cool
breeze would blow across the ashram grounds. The third evening, the
same thing. But from then onwards - and 8 years in South India I
NEVER came across this, ever - we had the best weather I had ever
known in India. It was like a crisp, cool Scandinavian early summer,
in the middle of the hottest month in Andhra Pradesh! Surrounding
villages had horrendous heat waves and some of the farmers had been
quite perplexed of the change in wheather they had noted in and near
Puttaparthi. As sometimes happens during Indian summers, some
elderly people had even died from the heat in neighbouring Tamil
Nadu. That will give you an idea how hot it was. In Puttaparthi that
particular summer was the most pleasant summer I ever had in India.
Known for the heat, visitors abstained from Puttaparthi and it was
heaven for us, with small crowds and our Swami amongst us every day!
How I prayed it would last for a long, long time! As mysteriously as
it had arrived and without a moments delay, when those boys were
finished digging the trenches for the water-pipes, the heat rose
extremely fast and went back to normal and the soles of my feet were
burning again... This is how great our Swami is. I can only feel
pity for those few that have been influenced by the sad rumours
about Swami. Swami is DIVINE. Do not doubt it for a second! Not only
about our own Swami, but let us not believe in or indulge in false
or demeaning rumours about anyone - for often we are wrong in our
conclusions. Spend an hour or two at night before sleep, and
concentrate on Swami's features. Dont think of anything else,
dont 'chat' with yourself in your mind. If your concentration
becomes strong you will tap into Swami's energy and be filled with
intense bliss. It is not easy to do, but with practice it possible.
I tried this many times and had tremendous bliss if I was able to
achieve the right concentration. Swami's whole body is full of
amrith. Swami is the magic of love, he is divine, he is the avatar
of the age. Never doubt this for a second.
Annica
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| I see what you don't |
| 02.18.05 (10:20 am) [edit] |
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I see what you don't
(Sathya Sai Baba Miracle)
This incident relates to the trip made by 52 blind chlidren to Swami
several years back. I had always wanted to narrate the same to
Saidevotees, my sole intention being to propogate the message that
Swami often sees what we dont.
A Sathya Sai Center functioning in Chennai, a metro city in Southern
India was fortunate to be blessed by Swami's visit, 5 times, each of
these when He visited Chennai.
A practice ( that continues till date) in the center is Reading for
the Blind on at least 2 Saturdays of the month.
Swami inspired one of the devotees to bring these 52 students to His
Divine Presence. What follows here is amazing. There was no prior
intimation to Swami in any way that these students were being
brought from Chennai all the way to Parthi. On the way, the devotees
entrusted with the task of taking these blessed students to Swami
encountered many a hardship.
Wonder of Wonders, when they reached Parthi, they were given a
special block at the Darshan Hall and Swami spent several minutes
with the group. At the end, He signalled one of His Students to
bring something from the Interview Room.
Sairam brothers and sisters, only our Beloved Lord knows and cares
for every being in this world. The Student then brought out 52
Braille watches, each of which was personally presented to the
students by Swami. Swami also demonstrated the use of the same.
How these watches appeared in the Interview Room is a miracle, that
only Our Lord knows. This especially because, there was not even the
slightest hint made to Swami about the arrival of these students.
Yet another Mahima of Our Dearest Lord!!!
Jai Sairam!!!
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| 46 maxims of Swami |
| 02.17.05 (11:42 am) [edit] |
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46 maxims of Swami
1. Prema, Love, should be considered as the very breath of Life.
2. The Love that is manifest in all things equally, believe that the same Prema is Paramatma.
3. The one Paramatma is in every one, in the form of Prema.
4. More than all other forms of Prema, man's first effort should be to fix his Love on the Lord.
5. Such Love directed towards God is Bhakthi; that is the fundamental test, the acquisition of Bhakthi.
6. Those who seek the Bliss of the Atma should not run after the joys of sense objects.
7. Sathya, Truth, must be treated as life-giving as breathing itself.
8. Just as a body that has no breath is useless and begins to rot and stink within a few minutes, similarly, life without Truth is useless and becomes the stinking abode of strife and grief.
9. Believe that there is nothing greater than Truth, nothing more precious, nothing sweeter and nothing more lasting.
10. Truth is the all-protecting God. There is no mightier Guardian than Truth.
11. The Lord who is Sathyaswarupa grants His Darsan to those of Truthful Speech and Loving Heart.
12. Have undiminished kindness towards all beings and also the spirit of self-sacrifice.
13. You must also possess control of the senses, an unruffled character and non-attachment.
14. Be always on the alert against the four sins which the tongue is prone to commit:
Speaking falsehood
Speaking ill of others
Back-biting and
Talking too much
It is best to attempt to control these tendencies.
15. Try to prevent the five sins that the body commits:
- Killing
- Adultery
- Theft
- Drinking intoxicants
- Eating of flesh
It is a great help for the highest life if these also are kept as far away as possible.
16. One must be always vigilant, without a moment's carelessness,
against the eight sins that the mind perpetrates:
- Kamam or craving
- Krodham or anger
- Lobham or greed
- Moham or attachment
- Impatience
- Hatred
- Egoism
- Pride
Man's primary duty is to keep all these things at a safe distance from himself.
17. Man's mind speeds fast, pursuing wrong actions. Without letting it hurry like that remember the Name of the Lord at that time or attempt to do some good deed or other. Those who do thus will certainly become fit for the Lord's Grace.
18. First give up the evil tendency to feel impatient at the prosperity of others and the desire to harm them. Be happy that others are happy. Sympathise with those who are in adversity and wish for their prosperity. That is the goal of cultivating the love for God.
19. Patience is all the strength that man needs.
20. Those anxious to live in joy must always be doing good.
21. It is easy to conquer anger through love, attachment through reasoning, falsehood through truth, bad through good and greed through charity.
22. No reply should be given to the words of the wicked. Be at a great distance from them; that is for your good. Break off all relations with such people.
23. Seek the company of good men, even at the sacrifice of your honour and life. But be praying to God to bless you with the discrimination needed to distinguish between the good men and the bad. You must also endeavour, with the intellect given to you.
24. Those who conquer states and earn fame in the world are hailed as heroes, no doubt; but those who have conquered the senses are heroes who must be acclaimed as the conquerors of the Universe.
25. Whatever acts a good or bad man may do, the fruits thereof follow him and will never stop pursuing him.
26. Greed yields only sorrow; contentnment is best. There is no happiness greater than contentment.
27. The mischief-mongering tendency should be plucked out by the roots and thrown off. If allowed to exist, it will undermine life itself.
28. Bear with fortitude both loss and grief; try and search for plans to achieve joy and gain.
29. Assume silence when you are invaded by anger or remember the Name of the Lord. Instead, do not try to remind yourself of things which will inflame the anger more. That will do incalculable harm.
30. From this moment, avoid all bad habits. Do not delay or postpone. They do not contribute the least joy.
31. Try as far as possible within your means to satisfy the needs of the poor, who are really Daridranarayana. Share with them whatever food you have and make them happy at least that once.
32. Whatever you feel should not be done to you by others, avoid your doing such to others.
33. For faults and sins committed in ignorance, repent sincerely; try not to repeat the faults and sins again; pray to God to bless you with the strength and the courage needed to stick to the right path. 34. Do not allow anything to come near you, which will destroy your eagerness and enthusiasm for God. Want of eagerness will cause the decay of the strength of man.
35. Yield not to cowardice; do not give up Ananda.
36. Do not get swelled up when people praise you; do not feel dejected when people blame you.
37. If among your friends any one hates another and starts a quarrel, do not attempt to inflame them more and make them hate each other more; try, on the other hand, with love and sympathy to restore their former friendship.
38. Instead of searching for others' faults, search for your own faults yourself; uproot them, throw them off. It is enough if you search and discover one fault of yours; that is better than discovering tens of hundreds of faults in others.
39. Even if you cannot or will not do any Punya or good deed, do not conceive or carry out any Papa, or bad deed. This is far preferable.
40. Whatever people may say about the faults that you know are not in you, do not feel for it; as for the faults that are in you, try to correct them yourself, even before others point them out to you. Do not harbour anger or vengeance against persons who point out your faults; do not retort, pointing out the faults of those persons themselves, but show your gratitude to them. Trying to discover their faults is a greater mistake on your part. It is good for you to know your faults; it is no good your knowing others' faults.
41. Whenever you get a little leisure, do not spend it in talking about all and sundry, but utilise it in meditating on God or in doing service to others.
42. The Lord is understood only by the Bhaktha; the Bhaktha is understood only by the Lord. Others cannot understand them. So, do not discuss matters relating to the Lord with those who have no Bhakthi. On account of such discussion, your devotion will diminish.
43. If anyone speaks to you on any subject, having understood it wrongly, do not think of other wrong notions which will support that stand but grasp only the good and the sweet, in what he says. True meaning is to be appreciated as desirable, not wrong meaning or many meanings, which give no meaning at all and cause only the hampering of Ananda.
44. If you desire to cultivate one-pointedness, do not, when in a crowd or bazaar, scatter your vision to the four corners and on everything, but see only the road in front of you, just enough to avoid accidents to yourself. One-pointedness will become firmer if one moves about without taking one's attention off the road, avoiding dangers, and not casting eyes on others' forms.
45. Give up all doubts regarding the Guru and God. If your wordly desires do not get fulfilled, do not blame it on your devotion; there is no relationship between such desires and devotion to God. These worldly desires have to be given up some day or other; Bhakthi feelings have to be acquired some day or other. Be firmly convinced of this.
46. If your Dhyanam or Japam do not progress properly or if the desires you have entertained do not come to fruition, do not get dispirited with God. It will dispirit you even more and you will lose the peace, however small or big, that you might have earned. During Dhyanam and Japam you should not be dispirited, desperate or discouraged. When such feelings come, take it that it is the fault of your Sadhana and endeavour to do them correctly.
Source: Sandeha Nivarini by Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba.
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| Baba quotes on love |
| 02.17.05 (11:33 am) [edit] |
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Baba quotes on love
#1 What is true Love? Pure, unselfish Love towards all living beings,
considered as embodiments of the Divine, with no expectation of
reward, is true Love. (Sanathana Sarathi, June 1985:117ff)
#2 Love does not seek anything in return. Love knows only to give,
not to receive. Such Love is free from fear. These are the basic
features of true Love. (Sanathana Sarathi, August 1988:212)
#3 That which does not change is only one -- it is Love. All
relationships come and go - all are passing clouds. Only one thing is
permanent, and this is Divine Love. (Discourse, December 25, 1995)
#4 Love is of two kinds: natural love is one which expects something
in return. Divine Love expresses itself in loving service without
expectation of any return. (Sanathana Sarathi, January 1986:44ff)
#5 Love alone equals Love. Love is the result of Love. Love is the
taste of Love. Love makes no differences or distinctions
between 'mine' and 'thine.' It is extremely selfless. (Sathya Sai
Newsletter Vol 15, No.2:22ff)
#6 Life itself is Love. They are not two, but one. Love is the very
nature of life, as burning is the nature of fire, or wetness of
water, or sweetness of sugar. Love is the fruit of life. (Sathya Sai
Speaks, XI:222ff)
#7 Only the Love that is unchanging and shines brightly always in the
heart is true Love. It is unaffected by joy or sorrow, praise or
blame. (Sanathana Sarathi, December 1988:313)
#8 Love as thought is Truth. Love as action is Righteousness. Love as
feeling is Peace. Love as understanding is Non-violence. Love is the
common denominator. (Sanathana Sarathi, Feb 1985:37ff)
#9 Expansion is Life. Expansion is the essence of Love. Love is every
urging and surging for _expression and enlargement. Love is God. Live
in Love. (Sathya Sai Speaks, VII:324ff)
God is Love, Man is Love
#10 God is Love -- Full of Love, the Embodiment of Love, the Splendor
of Love. God is where Love is -- Love expressed as sympathy, charity,
reverence, affection, sacrifice. (Sathya Sai Speaks, V:310)
#11 Prema (Divine Love) is God, God is Prema. Prema has no trace of
selfishness; it is not bound by motives. Prema is the crucial
support, for it is the very breath, the sole purpose of life.
(Sanathana Sarathi, Feb 1985:37ff)
#12 Where exactly does God reside? God is everywhere in all beings.
Really speaking, God is Love, and Love pervades everywhere. There is
no being without a trace of Love. (Sathya Sai Speaks, X:297ff)
#13 Like the glow of the flame in a fire, like the rays of the sun,
like waves in the ocean, Divine Love is the basic quality of a true
human being. (Sanathana Sarathi, June 1985:117ff)
#14 Love is present equally in all human beings as the one effulgent
Divine quality. This Love may be expressed in different ways, but its
nature is the same. (Sanathana Sarathi, April 1989:85ff)
#15 God is Love dwelling in your hearts; so the Kingdom of heaven is
within you. When you realize this truth, your life will sing the
music of Love. (Prema Dhaara, 17)
#16 God is bound to you by the closest bonds of Love. God is the
nearest, the dearest, the most loving, the most eager companion and
kinsman for man. (Sathya Sai Speaks IX:15ff)
#17 Love towards God must be witnessed by Love towards man, for man
is the visible manifestation of God. Love is in all. Love is of all.
Love is all. (Sathya Sai Speaks, VI:90, 134)
#18 Love alone can reveal the Divinity latent in all. Love is God.
Live in Love. Love! Love! Become what you truly are -- the embodiment
of Love. (Sathya Sai Speaks, XI:14ff)
Love is the Basis of All Spiritual Paths
#19 Love all religions. Forms of worshipping God differ, for they are
shaped by time and place, but Love is the basic content of all the
forms. (Sathya Sai Speaks, IX:88f)
#20 What is religion? It is Love. When one practices his religion
with faith, there can be no hatred in the world, for all religions
are built on Universal Love. (Sathya Sai Speaks, IX:88f)
#21 Be like Jesus. Jesus was a person whose only joy was in spreading
Divine Love, offering Divine Love, receiving Divine Love, and living
on Divine Love. (Sathya Sai Speaks, XI:13)
#22 Spiritual discipline is the cultivation of Love. Be full of Love;
taste the exhilaration that Love can confer. Let everyone see you
exuberant with light and joy. (Sathya Sai Speaks, X:93)
#23 In the Divine Path, there is no chance of failure; it is the Path
of Love. When you give _expression to your innate Divinity, it takes
the form of Love. (Sathya Sai Speaks, VIII:114, 138)
#24 Love can be experienced only in a mind flowing with Love and a
heart filled with Love. The essence of all spiritual disciplines is
contained in Love. (Sanathana Sarathi, October 1991:253ff)
#25 There is no use in acquiring all kinds of knowledge and
performing prayers and meditation if there is no Love in the heart.
It is Love alone that can save the world. (Sanathana Sarathi,
November-December 1985:330)
#26 You do not need any special type of penance or meditation.
Meditate on Love. Fill your mind with Love. Let such steadfast Love
be enshrined in your heart. (Discourse, November 23, 1996)
#27 Live in Love, live with Love, move with Love, speak with Love,
think with Love, and act with Love. This is the best and most
fruitful spiritual endeavor. (Sathya Sai Speaks, XI:118ff)
Love Leads to Union with God
#28 God is Love; so, you must become Love in order to merge with Him.
God is beauty, so be beauty. God is compassion, so be compassionate.
(Sathya Sai Speaks, VIII:55)
#29 By means of Love, one can approach God and stay in His Presence,
for God is Love. When one lives in Love, he is living in God. (Sathya
Sai Speaks, VII:422)
#30 When you become transmuted into Love, the Lord, who is the
embodiment of Love, will reveal Himself to you, awakening your higher
consciousness in the flood of Universal Love. (Sathya Sai Speaks,
IV:121)
#31 The relationship between you and God is Love alone. Nothing else
can be called Love. All other things that come in between are passing
clouds; they are just attachments. (Discourse, December 25, 1995)
#32 Above all, be conscious of the truth that you and God are bound
by Supreme Love. If you feel this acutely, then the journey will be
quick and the goal can be won. (Sathya Sai Speaks, IX:113 Indian
edition)
#33 You must fill yourself with the feeling that God is in you,
beside you, around you, and with you. When you love God with this
consciousness, the Love results in Self-realization. (Sanathana
Sarathi, January 1986:3)
#34 Liberation happens when you love every being so intensely that
you are aware of only One. Soak your heart in Love. Then you attain
God soonest. (Sathya Sai Speaks, VIII:64)
#35 Be born in Love, die in Love, live in Love. This means, emerge
from God and merge in God; be the wave on the Ocean of Love. (Sathya
Sai Speaks, VIII:37ff)
#36 Grow in Love, expand that Love, practice Love, strengthen Love,
and finally, become Love and merge in the Illimitable Love, which is
God. (Sathya Sai Speaks, VIII:1ff)
Love is the Ultimate Power
#37 Love sustains. Love strengthens. Love is the urge behind all
adventures, all sacrifices, all success. When Love is the lever that
operates the mind, only good can result. (Sanathana Sarathi, October
1988:254ff)
#38 Divine Love is strong and steady enough to leap over all
obstacles, confront with equanimity all changes of fortune, and
defeat all attempts to delay or deviate. (Sathya Sai Speaks, XII:227)
#39 Fill your heart with Love; then, the words coming out of your
heart will be full of vitality and power. There is no power more
effective than Love. (Sathya Sai Speaks, IX:68)
#40 Love begets Love. Love will have only Love as reaction..
Shout 'Love' and the echo from the other person's heart will
be 'Love.' (Sathya Sai Speaks, VIII:37ff)
#41 When you love even the one who has harmed you, his heart is bound
to change. Do not allow your love to be affected in any way.
(Discourse, November 23, 1996)
#42 Love, at its highest and sincerest. This Love, when you cultivate
it, will remove the weeds of anger and of malice. It will blossom
into peace and calm. (Sathya Sai Speaks, VII:274)
#43 If there is any defect in your Love, it should be removed only
through Love. Love begets Love. Love can be understood only through
Love. (Sanathana Sarathi, October 1991:253ff)
#44 Live with Love, in Love, for Love. Then, the Lord who is the
embodiment of Love will grant you all that you need in spite of your
not asking for anything. (Sathya Sai Speaks, V:25)
#45 There is no strength superior to Love. Where Love is, there
everything is. You must live in God, and live in Love. Then
everything will be right. (Sathya Sai Speaks, XI:290)
Love God with Devotion
#46 Love of God is the means and the goal. The Divine is in everyone,
but to realize it, there is only one way. It is to cultivate intense
Love for God. (Sathya Sai Speaks, XVI:115ff)
#47 Can there be anything more lovable than God, who is Beauty,
Strength, Glory, Fame, Splendor, Wisdom, in their fullest bloom?
(Sathya Sai Speaks, V:310)
#48 Happiness will come in the same measure as your love for God.
Immeasurable happiness can be obtained through loving God without
limit. (Discourse, December 25, 1995)
#49 The love you have towards material objects, name, fame, wife and
children, etc., should be sanctified by being subsumed by the more
overpowering Love for God. (Sathya Sai Speaks, VI:4ff)
#50 Devotion is Love, unsullied by any tinge of desire for the
benefit that flows from it, or for the fruit or consequence of that
Love. (Sathya Sai Speaks, III:199)
#51 Devotion is Love of the purest and noblest variety. Such Love is
the breath that sustains Life, that supports the soul in the effort
to merge in the Super Soul. (Sathya Sai Speaks, IX:15ff)
#52 What matters is the intensity of feelings. God submits only to
the power of the devotees' Love. Without Love, all forms of worship
are of no use. (Sanathana Sarathi, September 1997:229)
#53 True devotion really means installing the Divine in the heart and
enjoying the bliss of that experience. Winning Love through Love is
the vital aspect of devotion. (Sanathana Sarathi,, November
1986:226ff)
#54 Your devotion has to be expressed as worship of every one, as a
living embodiment of Divinity. See God in every one. Practice that
broad, inclusive type of Love. (Sathya Sai Speaks, VIII:18)
Love God in All
#55 To see God in everything, to love everything as manifestations of
God, and to offer everything to God as an offering of Love -- this is
the way of Love. (Sanathana Sarathi, Feb.1986:31ff)
#56 If you view things with Love, with a loving heart, the whole
world, the whole creation, will appear to you as a reflection of
Love. (Sathya Sai Speaks, XI:99)
#57 Love helps you to see God in everyone, everyone as Divine. The
universe is not false; it is not a trap. It is the splendor of God,
His reflection. (Sathya Sai Speaks, VIII:66)
#58 Wherever Love is evident, take it that it is God's own Love. When
the human heart melts at the suffering of others... believe that God
is present there. (Sanathana Sarathi, May 1992:94)
#59 Love probes silently into the innermost recesses of all
personalities around it to discover the seat of God, that Love may
blossom therein. (Sathya Sai Speaks, VII:488ff)
#60 Love yourself for the God that is embodied in you. Love others
for the God that is enshrined in them, that speaks and acts through
them. (Sathya Sai Speaks, VII:488ff)
#61 When you love God, you will have Love towards all because the
Divine is in everyone. Pour out Love, whether it is returned or not,
whether it results in success or not. (Sathya Sai Speaks, VIII:1ff)
#62 The spark of Love in you has to be cherished and fed so that it
may reach God. Then, you love the God in all beings, and the God in
all beings responds with Love. (Sathya Sai Speaks, VII:272)
#63 God is the source of all Love. Love God. Love the world as the
vesture of God, no more, no less. Through Love, you can merge in the
Ocean of Love. (Sathya Sai Speaks, VI:230ff)
Love with Your Whole Heart
#64 Your heart is inherently filled with Love. Every cell in the
human body is filled with Love. It is this micro-cosmic Love that
fills the entire Cosmos. (Discourse, November 23, 1996)
#65 The body has been described as the temple of God. In this temple,
Love is enshrined as the Spirit. Such sacred and pure Love can dwell
only in a pure heart. (Sanathana Sarathi, September 1989:226)
#66 Really, God is delighted to reside in your heart. Keep the heart
pure, unsullied by vice. Let the rays of Love illumine it. (Sathya
Sai Speaks, IX:60)
#67 Love can grow only in a well-ploughed heart; it has to be
prepared by means of constant repetition of the Name of God. (Sathya
Sai Speaks, VII:13)
#68 The trials and turmoils, the search and sorrow -- these are the
same in quality for all. The responsive heart listens to these with
sympathy and answers with Love. (Sathya Sai Speaks, VII:45)
#69 When you fill your hearts with Love, you will have no ill-will
towards any one. Cultivate the faith that the Divine is in everyone.
(Sathya Sai Speaks, XVI:115ff)
#70 There is a language of the heart that all can understand, and
would like to hear. When heart speaks to heart, it is Love that is
transmitted, without any reservation. (Sathya Sai Speaks, VII:45)
#71 Love sees with the heart and not with the eye. It listens, not
through the ears, but by the tranquility of the heart. It speaks, not
with the tongue, but out of compassion. (Sanathana Sarathi,, April
1993:104)
#72 Love grows with every gift of Love. The heart that pours out Love
is ever full. God is there as Love; you are only drawing on God when
you are sharing Love with others. (Sathya Sai Speaks, VII:460)
Develop Love Daily
#73 Start the day with Love. Spend the day with Love. Fill the day
with Love. End the day with Love. That is the Way of Love. (Sathya
Sai Speaks, VIII:88)
#74 Love has to begin with a great yearning for the Light. The
yearning will draw down the Light. The Love will grow of itself, and
by inevitable alchemy turn you into Gold. (Sathya Sai Speaks, II:6)
#75 Meditation means offering the flower of Love to the Divine. In
the rose plant of our body, there is the rose of sacred Love emitting
the fragrance of good qualities. (Sathya Sai Speaks, XVII:35)
#76 Change your vision and the world will appear accordingly. Shape
yourself as the embodiment of Peace, Love, and Reverence. Then you
will see all as Love. (Sathya Sai Speaks, VII:252ff)
#77 Emerge from meditation as a person charged with Love! Emerge from
devotional singing with a greater measure of Love! (Sathya Sai
Speaks, VIII:58)
#78 Saturate the breath -- as you inhale and exhale -- with Love.
Saturate each moment with Love. Fill every word of yours with Love.
(Sathya Sai Speaks, IX:84ff, revised Indian edition)
#79 Fill every act of yours with Love. Let no one suffer the
slightest pain as a result of your thought, word, or deed. Let this
be your spiritual practice. (Sathya Sai Speaks, VI:65)
#80 By saturating with Love, work can be transformed into worship.
When the work is offered to God, it gets sanctified into sacramental
worship. (Sathya Sai Speaks, VIII:1ff)
#81 Let all the days of living be a continuous offering of Love, as
an oil lamp uses all of itself in illumining its surroundings.
(Sathya Sai Speaks, VII:69)
Love Through Selfless Service
#82 Love others and serve them. Love expresses itself as Service,
Love grows through Service, Love is born in the womb of Service.
(Sathya Sai Speaks, VIII:1ff)
#83 Love is the fruit which is born from the flower of your good
deeds. Only when we engage ourselves is selfless service can we
experience the essence of this pure Love. (Sanathana Sarathi, January
1986:11)
#84 Love alone is the fruit of Love. Love is its own witness. There
is no trace of self-interest in it. Because Love exists for its own
sake, it has no fear. (Sanathana Sarathi, October 1988:254ff)
#85 Love with no expectation of return. Love for the sake of Love.
Love because your very nature is Love. Love because that is the form
of Worship you know and like. (Sathya Sai Speaks, VIII:188)
#86 Serve because you are urged by Love. When you succeed, ascribe
the success to the Grace of God, who urged you on as Love within.
(Sathya Sai Speaks, VIII:1ff)
#87 Wherever you see a disconsolate, diseased person, there is your
field of service. Every nerve must tingle with Love, with eagerness
to share that Love with the forlorn. (Sathya Sai Speaks, VIII:1ff)
#88 All your life, you must be Love, with Love, for Love. That means,
Love expressed through service to those who draw that love from you,
and by drawing help to increase it and deepen it in you. (Sathya Sai
Speaks, VIII:1ff)
#89 Work in the spirit of Love; it leads you on to Worship. Work
without any regard to the proportion of benefits you derive from it.
Work since you love to work. (Sathya Sai Speaks, VII:424)
#90 Love means Service, which means Spiritual Effort, which means
self-enlargement, which means reaching out to the very horizon of
being and becoming -- until all is I! (Sathya Sai Speaks, VIII:58)
Uplift Humanity with Love
#91 For individuals who have liberated themselves from the narrowness
of individuality, their only task is the upliftment of humanity and
the showering of Love. (Sathya Sai Speaks, VI:134)
#92 You have no need to go in search of Love elsewhere. It is all
within you. It is this Love that is all-pervasive. It is this Love
that unifies mankind. (Discourse, November 23, 1996)
#93 Foster the tiny seed of Love that clings to "me" and "mine." Let
it sprout into Love for the group around you and grow into Love for
all mankind. (Sathya Sai Speaks, IX:254)
#94 Plant the seeds of Love and reap the harvest of Wisdom for the
sake of social harmony, national prosperity, and the upliftment of
humanity. (Sathya Sai Speaks, IX:181)
#95 Only a thick shower of Love can smother and destroy the flames of
anger, fear, and anxiety that envelop the world. This, therefore, is
the fundamental spiritual discipline: give Love and receive Love.
(Sathya Sai Speaks, VIII:7)
#96 It is not even devotion that is essential. It is Love, Truth,
Virtue, the eagerness to progress, to serve, to expand one's heart,
to take in the whole of humanity in one's Love. (Sathya Sai Speaks,
I:55)
#97 Truth, Right Conduct, Peace, Love, and Non-violence... Render
service to society with these principles in your mind, and with broad-
minded dedication to the well-being of all. (Sanathana Sarathi, Feb
1985:37ff)
#98 Divinity is the magnet; humanity is the iron filings. Love is the
Force that brings them together. We can have peace and prosperity in
the land if all units work in Love. (Sathya Sai Speaks, VI:36ff, VII
174ff, IX:14ff, XI:55ff, XII:193)
#99 Through Love, you must seek to serve all, and enjoy Divine bliss.
When you embark on service with this spirit, the whole world becomes
your home. (Sathya Sai Newsletter Vol 15, No.2:22ff)
Live in Love
#100 Understand that the purpose of life is to know the Embodiment of
Love, namely God, through Love, and demonstrate through your own Love
that you have known God. (Sathya Sai Speaks, IX:216)
#101 Love does not watch through the eyes; it knows the heart. Love
does not hear through the ears; it listens with peace. Love does not
talk with words; it talks with compassion. (Discourse, December 25,
1995)
#102 Love is God. Live in Love. Love lives by giving and forgiving;
self lives by getting and forgetting. Love is selfless-ness;
selfishness is loveless-ness. (Sathya Sai Speaks, SIV:258ff)
#103 All thoughts must be full of Love. Each syllable must be soaked
in Love. The vision must be of Love. This is Divine Love. (Discourse,
December 25, 1995)
#104 Seen through the eyes of Love, all beings are beautiful, all
deeds are dedicated, all thoughts are innocent. The world is one vast
kin. (Sathya Sai Speaks, VI:230ff)
#105 Love, because it is your nature to Love, because you know
nothing else, because you cannot act otherwise than Love. Expand
yourself, take in all! (Sathya Sai Speaks, VII:510ff)
#106 Let the seeds of Love grow, watered by faith, and yield the
blossoms of fortitude. Later, you are assured of the fruit -- Peace.
This is the task. (Sathya Sai Speaks, VI:230ff)
#107 Put Love into practice through service. When the loveliness of
the seed blooms, you have the flower. And God is the loveliness that
blooms as man! (Sathya Sai Speaks, VIII:241ff)
#108 The Universe around you is a pleasant garden. God dances in that
garden, as His own handiwork, gladdening the flowers. Be full of Joy
and Love. (Sathya Sai Speaks, VIII:241ff)
http://www.globaldharma.org/Love" title="http://www.globaldharma.org/Love" target="_blank"http://www.globaldharma.org/L...
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| What are Vedas? |
| 02.17.05 (10:32 am) [edit] |
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What are Vedas?
The Vedas are the recordings of sages to whom the mantras were revealed. They proclaim the transcendental Truth, which is not changed by time or place. They indicate the means to prosperity and security for the denizens of the three worlds. Veda is derived from the root "Vid", which means, "to know". The Veda teaches how to achieve purity of heart, getting rid of impurities.
The Vedas have been declared to be infinite and hence beyond the comprehension of common people. In the beginning there was only one Veda. To study it considerable time and effort were needed. Vyasa divided it into different parts to enable people to study as well as practice the teachings of the Veda. Out of the countless number of hymns, Vyasa gathered some Rks and compiled them in the Rg Veda, collected some yajus to form the Yajur Veda and some Samans to make up the Sama Veda.
The Rg Veda is mainly devoted to hymns in praise of various deities. The Yajur Veda consists of mantras for worshipping the deities. The mantras of the Yajur Veda are used in the performance of yagas and yajnas and in doing acts of charity. Each Veda has three sections: Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Upanishads.
The Vedic mantras were utilized in yagas and yajnas (ritual sacrifices) for promoting the well being of society and the world. They were intended to secure timely rains so that the crops may be good and there may be prosperity all round. The mantras, which form part of the Karma Kanda (the path of rituals), were regarded as conducive to the promotion of general well being and happiness.
The great sages who listened to these mantras as revelations from the Divine found the key to them in eight basic letters. All the Vedic mantras with their musical rendering were remembered by reflecting on the eight letters: "A, Ka, Cha, Ta, Tha, Pa, Ya, Sa." The great seers fostered the Vedas by the use of these letters.
Each of the Vedas had several saakhas (branches) and upasaakhas (sub-branches). Out of the 20 branches and 21 sub-branches of the Rg Veda, only three have survived today. Likewise out of 96 branches of Yajur Veda only two have survived the ravages of time. Sama Veda, which had 1000 branches, retains today only three branches.
What is meant by Veda? One meaning is eruka (awareness). Another is thelivi (intelligence). A third meaning is viveka (discrimination). All those who wish to develop discrimination should be deeply interested in the Vedas.
The Vedas have emphasized that man will be truly human only when he lives up to human values and practices the good life. The Vedas have a universal outlook, embracing all that is noble and sacred. They have taught the principle of samatwa (equality) in respect of everything. They have proclaimed the concept of oneness. They taught men to face joy and sorrow with equal serenity.
The Vedas have been mainly concerned with the Pravritti Marga (the Path of Action). All the different branches of knowledge--physics, chemistry, botany, economics, music, etc.--are covered by the Vedas. These are concerned with the external world. Hence the Vedas have been considered dualistic. Only the Upanishads have taught the Nirvritti Marga (the Path of Knowledge) by going within oneself. This means that, of the four Purusharthas, the four main goals of man- Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha--the Vedas have been concerned with only the first three.
The Upanishads declared that the nature of the Supreme can be grasped only by the Path of Knowledge. That knowledge is found in Vedanta. The Upanishads come at the end of the Vedas. The essence of all the Vedas is to be found in them. While Veda is dualistic, Vedanta is Advaita (nondualistic). It is only when you understand the essence of the Vedas as expounded in the Upanishads and put into practice the message of the Vedanta, you will realize the true meaning of Advaita (Non-dualism).
- Bhagavan Sri Satya Sai Baba
Source: Divine Discourse: Oct 3 1989
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| The Charisma of Sri Satya Sai Baba |
| 02.13.05 (6:43 am) [edit] |
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The Charisma of Sri Satya Sai Baba
A Personal Reaction
In the year 1971, when the first edition of "Shri Sai Baba, the Saint of Shirdi" was published , the writer was not even aware of the manifestation of this "Maha Yogi" known as Shri Satya Sai Baba. For this reason Shri Satya Sai Baba’s name was not included in the chapter entitled "The successors of Sai Baba" in part II of my book. But, subsequently, the writer had the privilege of meeting Satya Sai Baba quite frequently, and each meeting was an experience and a revelation! Truly the ‘leelas’ of the Divine are inscrutable! For, now that I have been commissioned to prepare this fourth and revised edition of the "Saint of Shirdi", I feel that it is a God given opportunity to include in the second part of my book a chapter on Shri Satya Sai Baba as also one of the illustrious successors of the Saint of Shirdi -- at whose lotus feet I have found my refuge and shelter. Since this chapter comprises a very intimate portrayal of my personal reactions to and my experiences of Shri Satya Sai Baba’s Grace, I have taken the liberty of discarding the conventional phrase "the writer". substituting in its place the personal pronoun ‘I’ whenever I have felt the necessity to express my emotional reaction more effectively to the charisma of Shri Satya Sai Baba’s unusual outpouring of Grace on this humble writer. Destiny’s deep contrasts are but the ‘Leelas’ draping the unanimity of the one Divine!
At the outset, I would like to say that I have no intention of getting involved in the controversy whether Shri Satya Sai Baba is or is not an Incarnation of the Shirdi Baba. In any case, the writer feels that at out level of consciousness such speculations are presumptuous -- and therefore futile. It is sufficient to recognize Shri Satya Sai Baba as one of Bharat’s "Maha Yogis".
It is only when one actually sees the Baba that one realizes that his pictures which appear in the papers do not do him justice. For, the main attraction of the "Yogi" is in his eyes which are not only magnetic, but are also brimful of love and compassion. His bizarre miracles of producing "Uddhi" (Vibhuti) from empty space and the materialization of all kinds of silver and gold images and rings from his mouth give one a queer feeling of apparent showmanship which is not attractive....but one soon learns to accept these powers as an unusual method of the saint to lure people to him by giving them what they want so that later they may learn to crave for the jewels of the Spirit. Each "Yogi" has his own peculiar modus operandi, and who are we to judge whether they are right or wrong? For, as soon as we come in contact with this incredible Master, we realize that his ultimate mission is not to give material satisfacti
on to his flock, but rather to lead them gradually to appreciate the glittering virtues of the spirit.
The social services that this "Avatar" organizes for the benefit of the humanity are many. Hospitals, Schools and Colleges are built and commissioned to help the cause of education and to give relief to the sick and the ailing. Perhaps, no other saint has involved himself in such practical solutions of the country’s welfare. There is no dearth of volunteers who dedicate their services to the institutions started by the Baba who infuses the spirit of service and dedicated work to his followers. We are reminded of Swami Vivekananda who said years ago that "Work is Worship". Baba has not much respect for the "Yogi" who spends his time enjoying his own individual Bliss, showing supreme indifference to the sufferings of the others. This life says Baba is ‘preface to the epic of the supreme’ which requires the practice of an internal "Yoga". It is no wonder, therefore, that Shri Satya Sai Baba is recognized by even the highest Government officials and enjoys a popularity which has no parallel among the godmen of Bharat.
But despite this preoccupation with the vaster issues of life, Shri Satya Sai Baba, like Sai Baba of Shirdi, gives an amazing outpouring of love and understanding of the problems of men an women individually. His heart is full of compassion for the woes and miseries of the ordinary householder. Satya Sai’s miracles for the upliftment of those who are oppressed with the diseases of the body and the agony of the mind are well known to those who go to him with Faith.
It is on this note that I should like to conclude this brief chapter after relating the two personal tokens for one who does not merit such favours.
(1) Round about the year 1978 Shri P.K. Savant, who was then one of the ministers of the Maharashtra Government, met me at a public function and said to me -- "Mrs. Sahukar, I have read and appreciated your book, ‘Sai Baba, the Saint of Shirdi’, but how is it that you refrain from prostrating at the feet of his Incarnation, Shri Satya Sai Baba?" I was taken aback, as I replied -- "Mr. Savant, I do not know much about Shri Satya Sai Baba, but even so I would not hesitate to pay my homage to one whom I recognize as one of our spiritual Masters. Due, however, to my physical ailments, I am unable to go into big crowds, so I keep away." However, Mr. Savant graciously invited me and my husband to a small gathering in his house where Shri Baba was to come. We went to this function gladly. When we reached Mr. Savant’s house, we were told that Baba had gone upstairs for a brief respite. The staircase was guarded by volunteers. I pleaded with one of these volunteers to let us go up as we were special guests of Shri Savant, but the man was rude and refused to comply. I started getting sore, and rebuked this man, and while this unseemly row was going on, Shri Sai Baba himself came down the stairs, much to my embarrassment. I wished then that the ground would open and swallow me up! But the Beloved Master only looked at me with a gleam of loving amusement in his eyes. he had a garland of flowers in his hand which he put around my neck. This gracious gesture took my breath away, and I prostrated myself at his holy feet.
(2) The second Miracle of Grace took place in White Field, Baba’s Ashram in Bangalore. Just a day before we were due to leave for Bombay, we learnt that Baba was arriving from Puttaparthy. Very naturally, my husband and I went there for the holy saint’s "darshan". About three to four hundred "bhaktas" were already seated in neat rows. I joined the women who told me that Baba would emerge from a cottage we could see in the background. Then Baba would walk through certain rows and leaving other rows alone, all according to his sweet will. Soon, we saw the frail Swamiji walking towards us. My heart was pounding like a machine. Would he walk through the aisle where I was? He approached us and them swerved away from us. He then went to a small dais at the end of the compound and sat on the chair. It was all over. The lucky ones who were blessed with "Uddhi" were chirping, and the unfortunate one (I among them) felt desolate. But, since I felt completely forsaken, from the depth of my being I prayed to my Master the Saint of Shirdi. "Beloved Sai", I silently begged, "Do not let him ignore me like this. Somehow make Satya Sai Baba come to me". Then a great miracle manifested itself. Shri Satya Sai Baba in response to my silent cry, suddenly got up and came down the dais and made a bee-line for me. He came close to me and lightly touched my forehead and then walked away to the cottage. There were two or three more of such extraordinary miracles which swept me off my feet. But despite all these supreme tokens of his Grace and love for me, I have never felt a desire to go to puttaparthy. Perhaps for me the image and form in which I have been worshipping Sai Baba through the years -- the beloved old man with white beard and hair sitting cross-legged is like an indelible image in my heart and no other image can replace it. It may also be an unconscious yet deep feeling within me that if Satya Sai Baba is indeed my beloved Guru’s Incarnation, then my staunch dedication, love and devotion to this supreme being would automatically reach any manifestation who is an Incarnation of Shri Sai Baba, the Saint of Shirdi.
I end this chapter in all humility, leaving stone by stone the pattern to the Designer.
Source: Selections - The Saint of Shirdi -- by Mani Sahukar (CHAPTER 15)
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| Sai Baba's Quotes on Vegetarianism |
| 02.12.05 (12:11 pm) [edit] |
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Sai Baba's Quotes on Vegetarianism
And quotations from Sai Literature
"Today, let it be anyone, whether one deems himself a devotee or not, he should give up meat eating. Why? meat eating promotes only animal qualities. It has been well said that the food one consumes determines one's thoughts. By eating the flesh of various animals, the qualities of these animals are imbibed. How sinful is it to feed on animals, which are sustained by the same five elements as human beings! This leads to demonic tendencies, besides committing the sin of inflicting cruelty on animals. Hence, those who genuinely seek to become devotees of God have to give up non-vegetarian food. Calling themselves Sai devotees or devotees of Rama and Krishna, they fatten the chickens. How can they be deemed Sai devotees? How can God accept such a person as a devotee? Therefore, whether they are devotees in India or outside, they should give up from this instant meat eating. […] Therefore, those who aspire to become devotees of God must give up meat, liquor and smoking."
Sri Sathya Sai Baba, Divine Discorse on 23 Nov 1994, Sanathana Sarathi December 1994 p. 315
"I have been stressing the vital importance of people giving up this habit of eating non-vegetarian food even from my boyhood days. Meat eating fosters animal qualities in man making him descend to the demoniac level; it is a heart-rending sight to see cows being slaughtered to serve as food for man. The cow has been worshiped as mother in Bharat since ancient times... Cow-slaughter is reougnant to the culture of this country. The provision of drinking water to the people and putting an end to the killing of animals for food are two prime needs for the country to regain its pristine glory. Violence in any form is evil and to kill innocent animals in tantamount to blatant savagery. I bless the prime Minister (of India) and expect him to get there two things accomplished furing his tenure." Sanathana Sarathi December 1994 p. 322
"... it is significant to note that those who live on vegetarian food are less prone to diseases, whereas non-vegetarians are subject to more diseases. Why? Because animal food is incompatible with the needs of the human body."
Sri Sathya Sai Baba, Summer Showers 1990, p. 34.
"Mother Easwaramma looked after her child [Sathya Narayena Raju] with love and care. Days rolled by and the child grew into a boy. He was mithabhashi and mithaahari (one who spoke less and ate less). Easwaramma was mystified by the strange behavior of her son. Usually children are fond of eating. Especially some people would prefer non-vegetarian items like fish or meat. But her son was totally averse to non-vegetarian food. He would not even visit the houses where non-vegetarian food was cooked. Seeing his noble qualities, Easwaramma realized that the child was not an ordinary one, but one of divine nature. Her eldest daughter Venkamma also recognized the divine nature of the child. Together, they brought up the child with love and care."
Sri Sathya Sai Baba, Divine Discorse on 23 Nov 2003
"In order to have sacred thoughts, give up the vices like consumption of non-vegetarian food, smoking and drinking intoxicants." (21 Nov 1999)
"There are certain habits. Members of the Organization should have some good habits. Jaisa Anna, Vaisa Mann - as is the food, so is the thought. As is the feeling so is the experience - Yad Bhavam Tad Bhavati. So we have to partake of food in a proper way. It is because of food that we have all sorts of durguna, duralochana and duschinta- bad habits, bad thoughts. So give up smoking. Also eschewing drinking. This alcoholism and smoking are ruining your health. One without health cannot achieve any small thing. Meat eating is also very bad. If you partake animal food, you will develop animal qualities. As is the food, so is the head. So you should have regulation of food. Then the fourth one is gambling. Those in the spiritual field should immediately give up smoking, drinking, meat eating and gambling. All these four are bad qualities.
You take this meat eating. Many people have to kill the animals because of your non-vegetarianism. You are responsible for the death of those animals. They are killed because you eat them. This is a sin. What a sin to kill innocent animals and eat them." (21 Nov 1995)
From the time of our birth till the time this body perishes, we are making many attempts to earn money and acquire food. In this process of amassing wealth, we are adopting means and methods which are adopted also by the birds and animals.
In the matter of acquiring food, different kinds of strength, abilities and skills are used by us but these very same skills are used by animals and birds as well. It is not right that we use all our knowledge and skill for doing just what the animals and birds also do. In the process of our spending all our energies in acquiring food, we are going far away from the aspect of Atma. For the purpose of feeding ourselves, many lives are being sacrificed. In this process of our searching for food, many things like trees, birds, fish and animals are being sacrificed. Because these various living things are being sacrificed and are merging with human beings, they have also been acquiring human lives in their rebirth. None of these Jivas are getting any chance of rising higher than human lives. The entire life is being spent in making an effort to be reborn after one's death, thus repeating the cycle of birth and death.
We are becoming slaves to the process of birth and death. We should not allow ourselves to become slaves to this process. We should make an attempt to become one with the great effulgent spirit.
Summer Showers in Brindavam, 1974
"On this sacred day of Vijaya Dasami take an oath to give up vices such as smoking, drinking and partaking of non-vegetarian food. Many do not realize the evil-effects of these bad habits. If a smoker blows air on a white handkerchief, he will find yellow spots on it. This is a sign of disease. Smoking leads to cancer. Drinking is a demonic quality. It makes you intoxicated and to forget yourself. Consuming non-vegetarian food is also a bad quality. When human body itself is made of flesh, where is the need to consume the flesh of birds and animals? You should partake of only sacred food. Only then you will have sacred feelings. For sacred thoughts and sacred deeds, sacred food is essential." (1 Oct 1998)
"The tongue should be engaged only in speaking the truth, in speaking sweetly and in consuming what is pleasant and wholesome for the body. Man degrades himself by consuming intoxicating drinks and non-vegetarian food and by indulging in smoking. These noxious habits affect the brain also." (6 Oct 1997)
"Nature can be modified by nurture; even dogs can cease to relish meat when they are trained to relish only vegetarian food".
Sathya Sai Speaks Vol XII, Chap. 36
"It is a fact that plants also have life like animals. But animals are endowed with mind, and nervous systems too while the plants do not possess the same. The animals cry and weep when they are being killed. It is not the case with plants; as such, equating killing of animals and destruction of plants is faulty logic. Further, killing the animals and eating their flesh leads to the creeping or dissemination of the animal qualities and behavior in to the man (meaning that man acquires the beastly qualities by eating animal flesh). Thus follows our acquiring the beastly qualities - tamasic nature - of the buffalos or the sheep. Hence, meat eating should be discarded.
Food conditions the nature of the mind. Mind guides the thinking. Thinking results in action. Actions lead to commensurate or matching results and effects. This chain of action between the food we eat and the results of our actions highlights the fact that meat eating leads to beastly actions and the concomitant evil effects."
Sathya Sai, The Avatar of Love, p. 132
"Acts and food which are to be eschewed.
Nishidda Karmas. These relate to acts which are to be eschewed. For instance, the spiritual aspirant has to observe certain regulations regarding food. He must totally eschew rajasic food like alcoholic drinks and meat. The nature of the food determines the nature of one' s thoughts,
feelings and actions. If one' s conduct is to be right and proper, one should carefully observe the
disciplines regarding diet."
Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume XXIX, Chap. 20
"There should be some regulations with regard to food. Many doctors emphasize the value of proteins and recommend meat, eggs, etc. But proteins got in this form serve only to build the body, but do considerable harm to the mind. Doctors are primarily concerned with the gross physical body. They pay little attention to the subtle form of the mental makeup. Most of the diseases that are prevalent in the world today are related to the mind. Mental illness seem to outnumber physical ailments. The Vedhaantha has declared that the mind is the cause of man' s bondage or liberation. This means that the mind has to be used properly and turned godwards. Equally the mind is responsible for health or sickness.
In this context, food is all important. Proteins are present in milk, curds and vegetables as much as in meat. If in the matter of diet, the doctors give the right prescription, diseases can be averted."
Sri Sathya Sai Baba Discourse on 07-02-1993
"Meat is all right for those who concentrate on the body and want to have strength, but for spiritual aspirants it is not good."
Hislop, Jonh S., Conversation with Sathya Sai Baba, p. 19
"You should not misunderstand and misinterpret what I say. It is my duty to convey to you the truth as is exist. Today the reason why the human population is increasing is because of the attitude of the people. For man to eke out his living to fill a small tummy of his, God has created plenty in the world. He has created a large amount of rice, a large amount of fruit, a alrge amount of wheat. While such good food has been created by Good, yet we go and eat meat and fish. And all the fish which we kill and eat are reborn as human beings."
Summer Showers in Brindavan 1977, p. 182
"Meat and alcoholic drinks take a heavy toll on man's health, causing many a disease in him".
Sri Sathya Sai Baba Discourse on 21-01-1994
"The third need is satwic food. This means that none of the edible items should be excessively sour, bitter or hot. You should eschew rajasic food like fish or meat. Even good satwic food should not be taken in excess. Some people consume so much of satwic food that even though it is satwa, it develops rajasic qualites. It is only satwic when you sit for the meal with a light stomach and get up from it with a light stomach! If you sit with a light stomach and get up with a weighty stomach, it becomes ramona."
Sri Sathya Sai Baba Discourse on 29-12-1985
"The third category is described as "Madhyapaanoratha daanavah" (One who is addicted to intoxicating drinks and meat eating and leads a sensuous life is a demonic being). Such a person is intensely selfish and has no feeling or consideration for others. A wicked person, swayed by evil motives and evil actions, is described as a demon."
Sri Sathya Sai Baba Discourse on 25-12-1991
"... with meat the body will get the proteins, but mental proteins will not be there. If you are keen on spiritual life, eating meat is not worthwhile; but if you are keen on wordly life, it is all right. There is another spiritual reason. When you kill an animal you give him suffering, pain, harm. God is in every creature, so how can you give such pain? Sometimes when someone beats a dog he cries, he feels so much pain. How much more pain then in killing. Animals did not come for the purpose of supplying food to human beings. They came to work out their own life in the world. When a human being is dead, the foxes and other animals may eat, but we have not come to provide food for those that eat the human body; we have not come for that ourpose. Similarly, man eats the animal, but the animal has not come to provide man with food."
Hislop, Jonh S., Conversation with Sathya Sai Baba, p. 19
"Madhya paana ratho dushtah" (The demonic human being revels in intoxicating drinks). Eating meat and drinking liquor are demonic vices. Those indulging in drink lose all sense of propriety, have no compassion or love and become demons.
Sri Sathya Sai Baba Discourse on 03-07-1994
"How is individual transformation to be achieved? There are some bad habits among individuals such as smoking, drinking liquor, meat eating and gambling. These bad habits not only degrade the individuals but also inflict hardships on their families. These bad habits have to be given up for the individual to manifest his inherent goodness. One's personality can blossom only when he leads a mora life."
Sri Sathya Sai Baba Discourse on 07-02-1993
"Members of Sai Organizations should cultivate certain desirable practices. For instance, they should regulate their diet, because one's food influences ones thoughts. Smoking and intoxicating drinks have to be given up. They are ruinous for the health. Meat eating should also be given up because eating animal food promotes animal tendencies. The fourth evil that has to be ot rid of is gambling. Those who take to the Spiritual path should avoid as much as possible these four bad practices."
Sri Sathya Sai Baba Discourse on 21-11-1995
"It [meat] is not good for spiritual life which needs "mental proteins", and also because it means making an animal suffer and be killed."
Hislop, Jonh S., Conversation with Sathya Sai Baba, p. 19-20
"But a little milk, butter and cheese are acceptable because no harm is done in obtaining them."
Hislop, Jonh S., Conversation with Sathya Sai Baba, p. 20
"An important aspect of Swami's teachings, a point he again and again emphasizes, is to take only pure food. Avoid eating animal food... That type of consumption is not likely to promote spiritual progress."
Rodriguez, Brigitte, Glimpses of the Divine, p. 225
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| The Mission Of Saints |
| 02.12.05 (6:37 am) [edit] |
The Mission Of Saints
THE mission of the saints and sages of India forms a glorious chapter in the
spiritual history of our country. It is well known in Hindu religious lore
that God incarnates Himself in the world whenever there is an ascendency of
Adharma, for the protection of the virtuous and for the annihilation of the
wicked. The mission of the saints is similar, though not identical. As Sri
Ramakrishna observed, " divinity is for ever seeking you and knocking at
your door."
One of the manifestations of divine grace is in the advent of saints who are
truly messengers of God come into the world to carry Out a divine directive
for the fulfilment of a divine purpose. The human situation with all its
complexities is perpetually in need of such guidance and help. It was a
saint, Ramdas, who energized Shivaji and helped him in his glorious
victories. Behind the splendour of Asoka's rule lay his adherence to the
tenets of Buddha. As in the case of kings and kingdoms, so with men and
women. The saints, by their inherent goodness, make others who come in
contact with them also good, for goodness is enchanting, as it is purity in
essence. Further, saints, by attracting hordes of individuals set them on
the path of righteousness.
The last decade or so witnessed a rapid spread of Sai Bhakti throughout our
country so that there will be no one today who has not heard of Sai Baba as
a shining example of a Jeevan Mukta, one who obtained liberation from
earthly bondage while still continuing in human body. Divine powers came to
Him as a natural result of the perfection He attained. These powers were
used for the benefit of His innumerable devotees.
His birth and early life are shrouded in mystery. No one knows who His
parents were or where He was born. He made His appearance for the first time
as a boy of sixteen at Shirdi, a hamlet in Ahmednagar district of
Maharashtra State. Even then He seems to have attained God realization and
possessed all the powers of a Siddha. For the succeeding half a century and
more, though He lived amongst His devotees in Shirdi, He was still outside
it. During this long period, Baba played a significant role in the
alleviation of human distress, both mental and physical, and also set many
on the path of spiritual advance. His way of drawing His devotees to himself
and reforming them was unique-Knowing fully the limitations of human nature,
He first attracted men by an initial grant of temporal benefits. But the
ultimate objective was the spiritual regeneration of His people. In the
main, the benefits conferred by Baoa served to check the spread of
agnosticism or atheism and to develop faith in God.
Baba's main role was that of a Samartha Sadguru who diffused the spirit of
religion and helped the good by removing the evil oppressing them and set
the wicked on the path of goodness. Those who visited Him during His
lifetime were struck by His marvellous knowledge of events far removed in
time and space. His message to the world is in essence the old gospel of
Vedanta. He actively discouraged mere discussion of pros and cons in matters
relating to God, which, He said, transcend the limitations of human
intellect and powers of reasoning. He commended the dictum that removal of
Afhana is automatically the attainment of gnana, by which one may attain
self-realisation. The guru's role is only to remove this veil so that -gnana
may dawn on the disciples.
An important aspect of Sai Baba's mission is to make religion, a unifying
force in society and help man attain the highest ethical levels. He
constantly impressed on His followers the fact that the essence of all
religions is the same, and whoever is true to his own religion will
ultimately attain God-realization. Baba's endeavours, more by practice than
by precept that there is no real conflict between religions, met with
tremendous success. During his lifetime, the Sri Ramanavami festival was
celebrated alongside the Muslim celebration of the " Sandal procession ", in
both of which Hindus and Muslims participated in complete agreement.
Baba, while living, fulfilled man's idea of God on earth. With His passing
away, He seems to have assumed His infinite aspect, and is still actively
helping His innumerable devotees, as is evident from their experiences.
Saints like Him are immortal.
Om Shanthi ! Shanthi \ Shanthihi !!!
(Adopted from the Book Pearls of Wisdom by His Holiness Swami Kesavaiahji)
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| Swami's instructions |
| 02.11.05 (4:20 am) [edit] |
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Swami's instructions
Light and Love
Swami gives different instructions to the different groups of people, in different conditions in purpose to help everyone to act by the more acceptable by a person way.
All people are carriers of atmic vibrations less or more hidden under the coat of senses and various social factors. The God accepts all its ingredients. Consequently, He cannot dictate the same prescriptions and recommendations to all.
It is the most precious quality of Swami's Teaching to accept all humanity as carriers of Divine and accept their free will given them by Divine Will. According to diversity Swami's instructions, everyone may realize through free will as a sparkle of God, on the more acceptable to a person way.
"The teaching varies according to the state of spiritual development of the person concerned and the situation in which he is placed." (Bhagawan Sathya Sai Baba. SSS. Vol.21, Chapter 17).
Throughout the entire history of humanity God teaches how to develop oneself, seeking the Divine Perfection and aspiring to Merge with Him. Love as the main quality of Swami's Messages brings everyone closer to God, to one's own happiness and to the participation in His Evolution.
All what exists is an expression of Atma. Only one reality exists, and all religions are simply different paths to that ultimate reality. The universal religion can be visualized as a mountain, with many spiritual paths to the summit. Some are hard, others are easy. All paths will eventually reach to the top. Swami’s universal cosmic religion (that has elements of all current faiths) become worldwide accepted. Swami's Teaching is a call for humans to internal spiritual growth and development.
To help humanity to acknowledge the spiritual way of development He turns to His devotees:
"Fill your minds and hearts with these sacred spiritual truths and go out into the world to spread the spiritual message in every street and every alley. The world today is in utter confusion. Unrest and fear stalk the world. To eliminate this disorder and fear, you have to instill devotion among the people."(Excerpts from the Divine Discourse Sathya Sai Baba "Promotion of Unity: Student's Duty" 14 January, 1998, Prasanthi Nilayam).
Buddha* after long meditation reached to the enlightenment acknowledged that enlightenment is not personal and should be shared with all humanity.
The most important thing that can help us is a personal spiritual growth. At first knowledge has to be obtained; then it can be shared. Spirituality gives a certain perspective that helps to obtain mental balance, peace, moral behavior and acquire five universal human values. Such is one chapter of dharma for humanity - the eternal law entire Universe.
* It is wide spread information written in every book about life of Gautama Buddha.
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| Power of sound by Swami and modern science |
| 02.11.05 (4:18 am) [edit] |
Power of sound by Swami and modern science
Light and Love
Several years ago Swami notes on His discourse:
"Sound is the attribute of ether. This sound is the primordial 'Aum', constituted by the three syllables A-U-M. You should listen carefully to this primordial sound Aum. Man is also the embodiment of this sound." (Excerpts from the Divine Discourse of Sathya Sai Baba, "Divine Origin of Five Elements." 15 May 2000 PM, Brindavan).
Swami's Teaching is the ingenious generalization of human knowledge, experience, and wisdom from ancient times until today. His words, examples, deeds, darshans carry the Divine energy for the benefit of his readers, devotees, students, etc. The Divine energy spread without any language and academic rules of presentations.
When one can develop the skill to sit in silence and listen to the vibrations of silence, it is possible to access the subtle layers of information what lead towards harmony between the mind, intellect and the body. The last is not merely host to the mind and intellect, but home for Atman.
By Swami and Vedic saints bhajans singing, Vedic hymns chanting have nearly the same powerful spiritual meaning to the person personally and to the outer space with all objects in it.
The ancient Masters have coordinated the acoustic tones and holy words in such balance of different vibrations what bring the singer nearer to the Self. Spiritual influence of sacred sound Vedas (sound of chanting only, the issue of Vedas wisdom is another topic of contemplation); bhajans on the body level take place as factor, organizer towards the harmony between Body - Mind -Self.
"To elevate the bhajans to a spiritual level what are required are true feeling and ecstasy of devotion. The songs should flow nor from the lips but from the heart...
Conduct your bhajans with a pure unsullied heart, you will experience the Divine. ...You should sing whole-heartedly with the desire to please God.... Merge your soul in the bhajans you sing. Spiritualise your bhajan-singing. Then you will experience real bliss." (Bhagawan Sathya Sai Baba. SSS. Vol.30, Chapter 7).
Bhajans singing and Vedic hymns chanting carry to the air not only the vibrations of Divine songs but also the vibrations caused by surrender of singers. In result the stage of harmony and cleanliness of singers inner space and outer space around singers increases.
"The devotional singing one can get merged in the Divine. That is the reason why the Lord is described as Gaanalola or Gaanapriya (Lover of song or one who is charmed by music). It will be befitting if a devotee combines the reciting of the Lord's name with singing and praying for merger with the Divine." (Sathya Sai Baba. SSS. Vol. 27, Chapter 29).
It is the purpose why Swami pays much attention to Vedic hymns chanting at Parsanthi Nilayan before darshans every day. Darshans as consist in two parts. The first is Swami's image what is not separated from His Omnipresent Form, Atmic energy that powerfully spread over the planet especially during darshans. Every human being can take part in His Cosmic Omnipresent darshans (as expression of Cosmic Consciousness) at any corner of the Earth (when he/she has only a deep faith). The second part is Vedic hymns chanting and bhajans singing what pictorially adds to darshans beauty and harmony of sound based on ancient special selection of acoustic vibrations. Swami's darshans and devotional festivals are bound by musical representations and chanting of Vedic hymns, mantras, devotional songs.
Swami as a rule finishes His Discourses with bhajans singing . He explains:
"Singing this intense yearning for God and enjoying the experience of adoring Him, helps to purify the atmosphere. No man can escape the influence of the pollution of the air he breathes. The sounds that we produce, with good intent or bad, spread throughout the air around us. The pollution in the atmosphere is imbibed by the plants, the plants supply the grain, the grain is the basis of the meal. When the environment is clean and free from evil vibrations, the food too is pure.... It is to ensure such an atmosphere that this saadhana (spiritual effort) initiated the world over." (Excerpts from: Sathya Sai Baba. SSS. Vol. 13, Chapter 37).
"Bhajan is one of the processes by which you can train the mind to expand into eternal values.Teach the mind to revel in the glory and majesty of God; wean it away from petty horizons of pleasure. That is all that bhajan or puuja or vratha can do. Bhajan induces in you a desire for experiencing the truth, to glimpse the beauty that is God, to tast the bliss that is the Self. It encourages man to dive into himself and be genuinely for his real Self." (Bhagawan Sathya Sai Baba. SSS. Vol.9, Chapter 14).
Why music has an ability to cause emotions - so pervasive and important to us?
Music is remarkable in its power over all humankind. Humanity has been making music since the dawn of culture. More than 30,000 years ago, early humans were already playing bone flutes, percussive instruments and jaw harps. No human culture on the Earth has ever lived without music: people making music predates agriculture and perhaps even language.
Despite the ancient and primal nature of music, though, scientists have struggled with some very fundamental questions about its origins and purpose.
Recent scientific works discovered that music strikes - an ancient part of our brain, evolutionarily speaking, and one that we share with much of the animal kingdom. In recent paper Patricia Gray, head of the Biomusic program at the National Academy of the Sciences, and several colleagues from around the country propose that music came into this world long before the human race ever did. "The fact that whale and human music have so much in common even though our evolutionary paths have not intersected for 60 million years," they write (2).
Birds, animals, whales too make kinds of sound what is possible to select as music. "When birds compose songs they often use the same rhythmic variations, pitch relationships, permutations and combinations of notes as human composers," Gray and her colleagues write.
Why would such different creatures - with such different physical means for making sound - all adopt such astonishingly uniform patterns for their melodies? Gray and her colleagues conclude that the similarities "tempt one to speculate that the platonic alternative may exist - that there is a universal music awaiting discovery."
Vedic saints discovered the universal music tune "OM" thousands years ago. Entire music is
pictorially as an echo of primary sound Om, what represents the Supreme Divinity. This primary sound (as unity) is hidden in boundless diverse music of echoes in the whole set of creatures, unanimated objects, materials, in space and time from black holes in vast galaxies to living cells, crystals of water and stones, humans consciousness....
"vi) 4. OM is the bow, the atman is the arrow;
Brahman, they say, is the target, to be pierced
by concentration; thus one becomes
united with Brahman as an arrow with the target.
(Mund Upanishad II, 2, 3)."
The ancient cultures of different countries used music for renewal of the divine balance in human being restore the harmony of the human psyche in times of disquiet and distress. Music was used for healing by the ancient Hindus, Chinese, Persians, Egyptians and Greeks, etc.
Hippocrates, the father of medicine, often took his mentally disturbed patients to the Temple of Asclepius, to make them listen to healing music. To Pythagoras, good music was consonant with the rhythm of life. Paracelsus used even the metaphor of ’musical medicine' to indicate a form of therapeutic music.
Modern science has reached to the standpoint that musical performance may practice instead of medicine. Today musical therapy is well known and even the rationalists’ army cannot deny it.
"Bhajan is the process of singing your prayers to God, praising His Glory and compassion, and pleading that He may fill you with His Grace. Dr. Hislop has a result of many years of research, declared that prayer has a highly curative effect on the body and mind of man." (Sathya Sai Baba. SSS. Vol. 11, Chapter 37).
Overall, findings to date indicate that music has a biological basis and that the brain has a functional organization for music. From it may to do the conclusion that music play or listening (sound with special vibrations) has a significant role in the whole creation...
"The river's voice was sorrowful. It sang with yearning and sadness... then the great song of a thousand voices consisted of one word: Om - perfection... From that hour Siddhartha ceased to fight against his destiny." (Hermann Hesse, Siddartha, 1951).
The scientists search the answer how reacts brain to music? What is the secret of music's strange power? Is music a tool for someone to have merged in the Divine?
"Life is a song, sing it. That is what Krishna taught through His life. Arjuna heard that song on the battlefield, where tensions were at the highest and when the fate of millions was to be decided by the sword. Krishna sang the Geetha for Arjuna to listen. Geetha means 'song,' and He sang because He was Aanandha (Divine Bliss), wherever He might be - in Gokulam, on the banks of the Yamuna or at Kurukshethra between the warring armies.
You too must pass your days in song. Let your whole life be a bhajan. Let melody and Harmony surge up from your hearts and let all take delight in the Love that you express through that song." (Excerpts from: Sathya Sai Baba. SSS. Vol. 13, Chapter 37).
In recent years, neuroscientists have begun to gain a firmer understanding of where and how music is processed in the brain, which should lay a foundation for answering evolutionary questions. There is no specialized brain "center" for music uncovered. It is supposed that music engages many areas distributed throughout the brain, including those that are normally involved in other kinds of cognition. The active areas vary with the person's individual experiences and musical training.
Before the modern techniques, scientists gleaned insights about the brain's inner musical workings mainly by studying patients and famous composers who had experienced brain deficits as a result of injury. (For example, in 1933 French composer Maurice Ravel began to exhibit symptoms caused by a disorder of brain tissue atrophy. He could still hear and remember his old compositions and play scales. However, he could not write music. The experience of another composer additionally suggested that music and speech were processed independently. After suffering a stroke in 1953, Vissarion Shebalin, a Russian composer, could no longer talk or understand speech, yet he retained the ability to write music until his death 10 years later).
Imaging studies have also given a fine-grained picture of the brain's responses to music. These results make the most sense when placed in the context of how the ear conveys sounds in general to the brain. The processing of sounds, such as musical tones, begins with the inner ear, which sorts complex sounds produced by, say, a bhajans, into their constituent elementary frequencies. Different cells in the auditory system of the brain respond best to certain frequencies; neighboring cells have overlapping tuning curves so that there are no gaps.
Probably it has known, experienced and put into practice thousands years ago by Vedic saints.
The response to music per se is more complicated. Music consists of a sequence of tones, and perception of it depends on grasping the relationships between sounds. Many areas of the brain are involved in processing the various components of music. Later the researches discovered that music perception is not like the simple relaying of sound in a telephone or stereo system.
Brain responses also depend on the experiences and training of the listener. Even a little training can quickly alter the brain's reactions. Researchers found that learning produces the same type of tuning shifts seen in animals. The long-term effects of learning by retuning may help explain why we can quickly recognize a familiar melody in a noisy room and why people suffering memory loss can still recall music that they learned in the past.
When incoming sound is absent, we can "listen" by recalling a piece of music. Think of any piece you know and "play" it in your head. Where in the brain is this music playing?
It was found that brain has ability to revise its wiring in support of musical activities. Just as some training increases, the number of cells that respond to a sound when it becomes important, prolonged learning produces more marked responses and physical changes in the brain. Musicians, who usually practice many hours a day for years, show such effects - their responses to music differ from those of no musicians; they also exhibit hyper development of certain areas in their brains.
In 2004 Antoine Shahin, Larry E. Roberts and Laurel J. Trainor of McMaster University in Ontario (1) recorded brain responses to piano, violin and pure tones in four- and five-year-old children. Youngsters who had received greater exposure to music in their homes showed enhanced brain auditory activity, comparable to that of unexposed kids about three years older.
Musicians may display greater responses to sounds, in part because their auditory cortex is more extensive. Peter Schneider and his co-workers at the University of Heidelberg in Germany reported in 2002 that the volume of this cortex in musicians was 130 percent larger. The percentages of volume increase were linked to levels of musical training, suggesting that learning music proportionally increases the number of neurons that process it. Each type of music elicited a different but consistent pattern of physiological change across subjects.
It may to conclude that music listening, training helps to stay spiritually young in old years, as brain's areas obtains the possibility for hyper development thanks to chanting mantras, Vedic hymns, bhajans singing, etc... Who from us is not to wish to stay young? These ancient tunes as remember that we are not a bodies, but Atman (more correctly, a cosmic holograms of Atman) what is neither young nor old but eternal observer the Cosmic Play. Our Swami is an example for us.
Modern psychology reached to the truth that music, sound (be they mantras, sacred texts, Vedic hymns chanting, bhajan singing, etc.) are amplified more brightly and clearly when one has the true faith to Almighty - the promoter that can to create miracles. Here is about what to contemplate.
However, several skeptics hesitated that is would be possible. Maybe there is a seed a truth as classical modern neuroscience is inadequate to explain consciousness of the human brain completely. Consciousness is an attribute of Nature, Atmic quality and it cannot be explained only by brain areas functions and brains 'send-receive' quantum fields of neuroscience and biophysics.
(What are quantum fields? They have discovered by modern science and partly may serve as an expression of Atman by scientific approach. By quantum fields, consciousness is related to Atman. How - today science does not exactly know).
It seems that God is playing His Divine play and step- by -step is discovering His mysteries to humanity through science, maybe, with the aim to multiply the power of Divine. It seems, here is hidden the inner meaning of the integration of spirituality and science as a divine power for the spiritual development.
On the early 60-th's Niels Bohr explained: "We are both onlookers and actors in the great drama of existence" ( Niels Bohr. Atomic Theory and the Description of Nature.Cambridge. The University Press, 1961, p. 119).
This sentence hides the belief of great scientist of unite spiritual nature of Creation.
References:
1. "Music and the Brain" by Norman M. Weinberger. "Scientific American." Section Neuroscience. November 2004.
2. "Exploring the Musical Brain" by Kristin Leutwyler; Scientific American. com. October 2003. http://www.sciam.com/article....;chanID=sa008 (available for subscribers Scientific American).
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| Swami and the Divine Energy. Three insights |
| 02.10.05 (6:32 am) [edit] |
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Swami and the Divine Energy. Three insights
Light and Love
An Estonian Sai follower, painter and painting teacher Margus Rump presented me this picture what I wish to share with you. He has been many times at PN, worked there voluntary and has received Swami's direct Darshans. Impressions inspired by Swami he expresses through painting.
& nbsp; Below are three insights I should wish to share.
1. We all know that information carries not only letters, words, colors, figures but also energy. Kirlian method grounds on the fact, that all material objects leave their "patterns" (information) to the environment that surrounded them. Kirlian method is one of the technical methods what permits to visualize this impressions in high frequency pulsate electric field using photography or various kinds of info-technology applies. The luminosity (aura) of living objects is radiant, varying, rich in color, irregular, but strictly individual, reflecting not only physical but also emotional state of men, animals, plants. (The aura of inanimate objects is stable, geometrically regular and as a rule one-colored).
& nbsp; To percept Swami's Omnipresent Energy there is no need to proof by Kirlian camera or by others methods. This energy is as a Divine fluid into devotees hearts. The results of this Divine flow can be observed in practice, be it is by spreading His Teaching and having experiences, composing paintings and books dedicated to Swami, obtaining the skill to meditate and listen to melody of silence within, or something else...
Avatars has incarnated with his devotees as one spiritual entity. Swami is not separated Avatar: all devotees are with Him and vice versa. For that connection nothing ecxept presence of the Divine love is needed.
"The cosmos cannot exist apart from the Divine. The Divine cannot divorce the cosmos. The devotee creates (his own image of) God. God creates the devotees. The common belief is that all beings including devotees are created by God. But this is not the whole truth. The devotee also by his spiritual sadhana creates God....
Wherefrom does this Divine form come? It comes from the devotee's intense feeling for a direct vision of God. Is it folly for anyone to go in search the God. When God is omnipresent, what is the need for a search? It is a delusion to imagine that man is in quest of God. It is God who is searching the true devotee." (Excerpts from the Divine Discourse delivered by Bhagawan Sathya Sai Baba at the Summer Course in Brindavan, 29 May 1991).
When one tries to look within and exclude all temporary frames of Maya reality, he/she can 'acknowledge' the reflection of the Self - bodiless, wordless, omniscient, omnipresent... and can fuse into oneness of eternal being... The last sentence is an imagination, it is impossible to describe the Self, descriptions try to express the bliss, eternal - where is no fear, no joy, no hope, neither bad and nor good actions... Probably everyone has own impulse for indirect expression the Self. For me is a special inner joy and radiant to reach closer to the Self through Cosmic Consciousness as Swami's Omnipresent Energy (Form).
"Truth is one. It is beyond mind and speech. It transcends the limitations of time and space. Innumerable seekers have pursued different paths to recognise this Truth. There are notable differences among the seekers of Truth. These differences do not affect the nature of Reality. On the contrary, it is the existence of these differences that has spurred the continuous search for a unifying principle." (Bhagawan Sathya Sai Baba. Thought for the day as written at Prasanthi Nilayam on 4 May 2004).
2. It has known by modern science that between the Earth and the cosmic Space is the energetic balance. Similarly, the maintenance of a human being's energetic balance provides the security and stability of all his systems as science declares. This energetic balance is also pictorially between physical and spiritual energies with high vibrations as Swami has through His Body and His Cosmic Forms. For most devotees and followers His first form is easier to percept. It is the cause, why millions of devotees desire to have direct Swami's Darshan.
Most of us are trying to acquire knowledge and understand the sense of living. We make numerous attempts that can often fail, but every endeavor is worth making. Each of us is a God’s creature.
"Every atom is permeated with Divinity. As the rays emanate from the sun, so does Nature originate from God. Nature is the reservoir of power and energy. When Nature, which is the creation of God, is so full of power, you may estimate for yourself the tremendous power of God! It is said that the workings of Divinity are most wonderful." (Excerpts from the Divine Discourse delivered by Sathya Sai Baba "Divine Origin of Five Elements." 15 May 2000 PM, Brindavan).
A person's physical body is less or more in balance with different physical cosmic energies. A human being has consciousness and it expects not only being in balance with physical but also with spiritual energies.
The impulses of spiritual energy, spiritual reality (what is possible to percept as indirect evidence of Atmic reality) contains in various aspects. The different cultures explain them differently; however, the initial source is the same they all are pinpointers of Atmic reality. For example, Russian thinker G.Gourdgiev (a disciple of the Sufism School) at the beginning of the 20th century has imagined the spiritual vibrations as a row of musical sounds. The Pythagorean School found the spiritual energy in using the concepts of the Universe-wide gold-section, Phi numbers and sequence of Fibonacci numbers. In the "Book of the Dead" spiritual cosmic energy is compared with the range of light. The Chinese "Book of Changes" the action of the vibrations has explained with the help of linear geometric symbols. Dao Schools use alchemical esoteric terms. Zen Buddhists create paradox verbal construction. Each of them describes some aspects of spiritual energy. For Swami's devotees the spiritual reality is represented in His Teaching and His Omnipresent Energy, experienced by millions of his devotees.
However, "In this world, there are two types of intellectuals. The first type is the scientists who are totally materialistic in their outlook. They have in their mind only the physical and worldly goals and gains. They are fascinated by the external appearance of a gigantic tree with its numerous branches and twigs, but they are not interested in finding its "roots". Vedantins (philosophers) are the second type of intellectuals who are not fascinated by the external appearance of the tree but evince great delight in finding the "roots". People who are worldly in outlook waste their time in watering the 'branches', whereas, the Vedantins water the 'roots' and thereby enjoy the 'fruits'.> (Divine Discourse delivered by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba on the 1st of January 2003 in Sai Kulwant Hall, Prasanthi Nilayam ).
It is a human ego-self what prevents many human beings to acknowledge this truth. Spiritual energy what is perceptible with heart is as a personal inner feeling. A person or groups of people being not in balance with spiritual vibrations are capable to pollute the powerful energy of the Universe. The fact has known to all what concern to the global chemical, physical, biological and mental pollution of five elements creation today.
What exactly is ego-self? It is feeling that one is a separate unique individual, and shows whenever we boast our accomplishments, desire and fear the unknown. In Vedas has said that this is an illusion and you are not separate from others. The modern scientist agrees with Vedas that all objects are interrelated on all levels.
If we understand that consciousness is a field (energy, deeply intertwined with spiritual energy, "I") which is the new understanding of modern science. According to it there may be a hope for spiritual growth through unison science and spirituality. More than two thousand years ago, Buddha said that humans are inter-beings that inter-arise in the inter-richness and there is only the inter-richness. Today, scientists are declaring that our bodies are recycled stardust, our blood is recycled waters of World Ocean, our breath is recycled air, our emotions are recycled energies, our thoughts are recycled information, our personalities are recycled relationships, and our souls are reflections of every other soul what all together form the same Atman.
What then remains personally to us? Nothing except Atman expressed through Cosmic Order and Harmony. A human being can reach to these values through Love as Cosmic Order and Harmony is not possible to express by other way.
"If you want to experience true love, have full faith in God. God's love is steady. It never diminishes. You may undergo any amount of suffering, yet you belong to God. You are His and He is yours. No third person can come between you and God. You say, "He is my classmate; he is my sportsmate." But none of them can come to your rescue. You have to look after yourself. You should have faith in yourself. Only then can you realise the truth." (Excerpts from the Divine Discourse delivered by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba "Have Faith in God, the only True Friend" - 17th October 2004. Prashanti Nilayam).
"We have to love before we have to understand "- said Nikolaj Grundvig, the promoter the adult education two centuries ago.
What concern to knowledge, so often quoted as the chief value in human society, then I like to repeat the saying by Arthur C. Clarke, ”Let me remind you that information is not knowledge, knowledge is not wisdom, and wisdom is not foresight. Each grows out of the other, and we need them all." However, when there is no Love all these qualities vanishes into whirl of delusion.
& nbsp; The Truth about the Nature (laws, orders and relations - expression of Atman in Maya reality is the same for all times and for all nations. The humankind is existing in the conditions of continuous Divine development.
"Although science and technology have made rapid strides, man has not acquired the divine qualities. Technology is the child of science. But very much anterior to science is the Veda. Science seeks to know all about creation, but the Veda reveals the knowledge about the Creator. All the natural sciences are concerned with knowledge about created things.
But there is a Creator who is the source of all them. In the quests for understanding the objects in creation, man is forgetting the Creator." (Bhagawan Sathya Sai Baba. SSS. Vol.18, Chapter 4).
The explanations concern to this development and to the eternal Truth in its various forms would be clear to the younger and older generations with the different basic knowledge.
The more understandable for human consciousness is the knowledge given through examples, pictures, performances and finally through scientific explanations. Swami's Teaching is understandable to all: from scientists to persons with primary education or illiterates. Human values are within everyone and the existence of Divine spark is not depending on the stage of education. It is one of features of universality of Swami’s Teaching.
Whatever area of science (or other human activities) we look: be it today's natural, technical, social, medicine, psychological, etc. sciences we are finding a lot of fundamental identicalness between modern science and Swami's Teaching. It is as an eternal Truth fused with Divine Energy for human beings to discover their real nature. Discovered it, Swami’s Teaching is a guide how to fuse into rhythms of harmony with laws of Divine Nature.
The Self is God. 'I am' is God. This question arises because you are holding on to the ego self. It will not arise if you hold on to the true Self. For the real Self will not and cannot ask anything. If God be apart from the Self he must be a self-less God, which is absurd. God, who seems that not exists, alone truly exists. Whereas the individual, who seems to be existing, is ever non-existent. Sages say that the state in which one thus knows one's own non-existence (sunya) alone is the glorious supreme knowledge.
"There are many in this world who do not understand what is true spirituality and thereby forget the reality. If someone puts a question, "Who are you?", say with firm conviction, "I am I." Never identify yourself with the body. He who realises this truth is a blessed one.
Worldly Gurus undergo change with the passage of time. God alone is changeless and He alone is your true Guru. Have total faith in God. Develop faith day by day. Only then can you be called a true Manava (human being). Daivam Manusha Rupena (God incarnates in the form of a human being). Hence, consider yourself as divine. Declare with total conviction, "I am I." When you lead your life with such a sacred feeling, divinity will certainly manifest in you. Never be under the mistaken notion that God is elsewhere. He is always in you. Your reflection is God's reflection. Your reaction is His reaction. Everything is basically divine in nature. It is God who makes you play your role in this cosmic drama. You may call Him by any name. But He is only one." (Excerpts from the Divine Discourse delivered by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba "Have Faith in God, the only True Friend" - 17th October 2004. Prashanti Nilayam).
Particles of God do not separate from Him and forms the universe. His sakti (power, energy) is acting. As a result of one phase of such activity the cosmos has become manifest.
"The Upanishads declare Isavasyam Idam Sarvam (the entire universe is permeated by God) and Easwara Sarva Bhutanam (God is the indweller of all beings). God is immanent in every being as "Nammakammu" (faith). Therefore, one has to cultivate faith in God, as his first and foremost duty. All the Vedas, Upanishads and scriptures emphasise this as duty of a man." (Divine Discourse delivered by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba "Have Faith in God, the only True Friend" - 17th October 2004. Prashanti Nilayam).
So the fact is that Brahman (Atman) is all and remains indivisible. It is ever realised but man is not aware of this. Knowledge means the overcoming of obstacles, which obstruct the revelation of the eternal truth that the Self is the same as Brahman (Atman). The obstacles taken together form your idea of separateness as an individual.
"The Divine is the basis of everything in the cosmos. The integral relationship between the Divine and the Universe should be properly understood.... The omnipresence of the Divine from a piece of stone and a mighty emperor should be recognised. Man should be grateful for the ennumerable benefits provided by the Divine... Self-realisation is the goal of every human being." (Excerpts from the Divine Discourse delivered by Bhagawan Sathya Sai Baba at Summer School in Brindavan, 21 - 05 - 1993).
Among the many thousands of names of God, no name suits God, who abides in the Heart, devoid of thought, so truly, aptly, and beautifully as the name "I" or "I am".
In the mere presence of God, who does not have even the least volition, the living beings, who are engaged in innumerable activities, are embarking upon many paths to which they are drawn according to the course determined by their own Karmas, finally realise the futility of action, turn back to Self and attain liberation.
The actions of living beings certainly do not go and affect God, who transcends the mind, in the same manner as the activities of the world do not affect that sun and as the qualities of the conspicuous four elements (earth, water, fire and air) do not affect the limitless space.
It is inscrutable God's Will that samsara- creation and manifestation is full of sorrow and evil.
No motive can be attributed to that power - no desire, no end to achieve can be asserted of that one infinite, all-wise and all-powerful being. God is untouched by activities, which take place in his presence. Compare the Sun and the world activities. There is no meaning in attributing responsibility and motive to the one before it becomes many.
It is not possible for anyone to do anything opposed to the ordinance of God, who has the ability to do everything.
"If you want to know God, imbibe the principle of oneness. When you have the feeling of oneness, you can see the direct manifestation of God. The sages of Vedic times adored the sun as the direct manifestation of God as described in the Gayatri Mantra. Consider God as your mother, father, friend and everything." (Divine Discourse delivered by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba "Have Faith in God, the only True Friend" - 17th October 2004. Prashanti Nilayam).
Iswara has individuality in mind and body, which are perishable, but at the same time he has also the transcendental consciousness and liberation inwardly. Iswara fot our generation is Swami. How easy to understand this outlook, when we have the living God as an example for His devotees.
Iswara, the personal God, the supreme creator of the universe really does exist. But this is true only from the relative standpoint of those who have not realised the truth, those people who believe in the reality of individual souls. From the absolute standpoint the sage cannot accept any other existence than the impersonal Self, one and formless.
Iswara (as Swami) has a physical body, a form and a name. Today Swami's darshans are the evidence of this. Iswara (Swami) can be seen in visions in the form created by the devotee. His essence is the same as ours, the real Self being only one without form. Hence, forms he assumes are only creations or appearances.
Iswara is immanent in every person and every object throughout the universe. The totality of all things and beings constitutes God. There is a power out of which a small fraction has become all this universe, and the remainder is in reserve. Both this reserve power plus the manifested power as material world together constitute Iswara.
Swami gives an additional explanations concern to the different Vedic schools.
"The Advaita (non-dualistic) philosophy of Sri Sankaracharya advocates the oneness of Jiva (individual soul) and Brahman (cosmic soul). The Visishtadvaita philosophy of Sri Ramanujacharya presupposes that Jiva and Brahman are different. Sri Madhwacharya explained that there are, in fact, three concepts, namely, Dehatma Bhava (body consciousness), Jivatma Bhava (individualised form of God) and Paramatma Bhava (the universalised soul or the Supreme self). Nobody need hold on to a particular school of thought or deride the others. The question of adhering to a particular school of philosophy depends upon the mental frame work of the individual."
& nbsp; “I am That” and “That I am”. When you are able to realise this truth, you will find that the principle “I” underlies everything in the universe as the principle of unity. The only aspect you have to realise is “I am Brahman”. “I am I”, “I am the word, I am the form and I am the name”. This “I” represents and explains everything.
The Vedantic concepts lead to endless arguments and counter-arguments. Do not enter into them. Always be under the awareness “I am I”. This “I” principle is beyond names and forms. It represents Brahma Tattwa, which is one without a second entity." (Excerpts from the Dasara Divine Discourse delivered by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba "Who are You? I am I" - 20th October 2004. Prashanti Nilayam).
Existence of Iswara follows from conception of Iswara. Let us first know whose concept he is. The concept will be only according to the one who conceives.
God, the creator, the personal God, is the last of the unreal forms to go. Only the absolute being is real. Hence, not only the world, not only the ego, but also the personal God is of unreality. We must find the absolute – nothing else.
"Make efforts to understand the principle of spirituality. Have firm conviction that you are the embodiment of Atma and there is no second entity in this world. Develop firm faith in your 'real nation' i.e., the Atma. Believe in yourself. Have firm conviction that God is everywhere." (Excerpts from the Divine Discourse delivered by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba "Have Faith in God, the only True Friend" - 17th October 2004. Prashanti Nilayam).
By such contemplation, God is as an idea.
If the individual is a form, even Self, the source, who is the Lord, will also appear to be form. If one is not a form, since there then cannot be knowledge of other things, will that statement that God has a form be correct? God assumes any form imagined by the devotees through repeated thinking in prolonged meditation. Though he thus assumes endless names, the real formless consciousness alone is God who does not reside in any place other than the Heart. It is due to illusion, caused by the ego, the 'I am the body' idea, that the kingdom of God is conceived to be elsewhere. However, God is within you. The unlimited space of Turiyatita (beyond the four states, i.e. the Self), which shines suddenly, in all its fullness, within the Heart of a highly mature aspirant during the state of complete absorption of mind, as a unknown experience, is rarely attained and true kingdom of God, which shines by the light of Self.
Usually it is said that the jiva (individual soul) is subject to the evil effects of illusion such as limited vision and knowledge, whereas Iswara has all-pervading vision and knowledge. It is also said that Jiva and Iswara become identical if the individual discards his limited vision and knowledge.
The Vedic saints' explanation concern to the relation between individual soul and Iswara (Swami) is following.
First get rid of your own limited knowledge. Why do you worry about Iswara? He will look after himself. It is indeed a great thing if we can take care of ourselves.
& nbsp; "The Atma is a synonym for Brahma which is nothing but the Chaitanya permeating every human being. Man has a name and form but Chaitanya has no form. The Chaitanya that is present in the human body is called 'conscience'. The all-pervasive Chaitanya is called 'consciousness'. When the individual understands the principle of unity in diversity, the 'conscience' gets transformed into 'consciousness'." (The Divine Discourse delivered by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba on the 1st of January 2003, Prasanthi Nilayam).
T o worship God with name and form is seems not wrong as that would be limiting the limitless, giving form to the formless. As long as a devotee responds to a name there is no objection worshipping a God with name or form.
It is difficult to believe in a personal God. Easier to believe in an impersonal God, a divine force and it would be a great help and source of faith and inspiration for many devotees. More easier to believe, imagine and try to follow Swami's explanations and directions.
"You are a part of Nature. So, you should strive to merge into Paramatma. There is nothing bad in the creation of God. Mistake lies in man who puts them to misuse. Change your attitude and you will see good in everything. Treat praise and blame with equanimity. By adopting this positive attitude, you will realize that there is no Yogi greater than you; there is no Thyagi superior to you; there is no one greater than you." (Excerpts from the Divine Discourse Sathya Sai Baba "Divine Origin of Five Elements." 15 May 2000 PM, Brindavan).
& nbsp; The most known famous physicist of our days Stephen Hawking (who's life is a legend itself), some years ago explained his outlook concern to the God. He reached to this fact through modern academic science.
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| "God is the seed of this manifested Universe" |
| 02.10.05 (6:23 am) [edit] |
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"God is the seed of this manifested Universe"
Adore the God that is resident in all beings, motivating them and prompting their every activity. Ekanaatha, the Mahaaraashtra saint, had that vision. He was going on pilgrimage to Raameshwaram, in the extreme south of India, from Vaaraanasi, in the North, carrying the sacred Ganga in a pot, to be poured ceremonially on the Raamalingeshwara idol at that place. His disciples were with him. On the way, he saw a donkey dying of thirst, in great agony. Ekanaatha felt that the Raamalingeshwara in the donkey was calling out for the holy Ganga that he was carrying on his shoulder; in spite of the protests of his followers, he poured the precious Ganga down the throat of the dying animal and saved it. His joy knew no bounds.
God is the seed of all this manifested Universe. Beejam Maam Sarvabhoothaanaam, says Krishna in the Geetha: "I am the seed of all elements and all beings." The root, the trunk, the branch, the leaf, the flower, the bark, the fruit, have each a different texture, taste, smell, colour, use and function; but, they have all arisen out of one single tiny seed! So too all this Universe has but One Primal Cause, God. Man must seek to know the Cause, not the Effect, which is but a facet of the Cause."
& nbsp; The God's seed has a possibility to develop more perfectly in human beings who are a conscious part of Nature. However, not all among humans acknowledge this gift and behave with nature, plants, animals and other human beings on much lower level than animals without consciousness on such higher level as humans.
& nbsp;In "Indiatime Spirituality" is a meaningful article by JP Vaswani "Man is a part of Nature" It has dedicated against humans' custom to eat meat and kill animals.
& nbsp;We have a lot to learn from animals; they can bring out the best in us and also give us a lesson or two on unconditional love.
One evening, as I was taking a walk in a park in Los Angeles, I came across a man seated on a bench. By his side sat a dog. The man spoke to the dog and it seemed the dog understood.
In fact, the dog actually seemed to respond. Intrigued, I stopped to talk to this man. There was nothing strange about the man's appearance; he looked like any other ordinary person. I said to him: "Brother, do you often talk to your dog?"
"I do", he answered and added: "You think of him as a dog. I think of him as my son. He lives with me and sleeps on his own bed in my room. He is a close companion and our relationship is complex". I asked him: "Does the dog respond to your talking?" Laughing, he said that he always received an answer. Sometimes, it was a unique response; at other times, it was a polite wag.
Animals, too, are spiritual beings. We have a lot to learn from them; they can bring out the best in us and also give us a lesson or two on unconditional love, acceptance, and listening to the unspoken, among other things.
Humanity today faces limitless promise — we have reached high levels of technological brilliance. Yet, most of us remain confused as to our real identity and purpose in life. An average individual's heart is stirred by a thousand fears he cannot name. His mind is agitated; he is often troubled and unsure of himself; he is given to bouts of bad temper. Overcome by cravings and desires, he is unable to get a hold on himself. What is the reason?
One of the reasons for man's discontentment is his alienation from Nature and other life forms. To renew civilisation and evolve spiritually, it is necessary for us to make friends with birds and animals, trees and flowers, streams and stars — with all that lives.
Man is a part of Nature. Unfortunately, however, he regards himself as the sovereign, and thinks he can do what he likes with those around him. We need to realise that all other forms of Creation are as much a part of Nature as we are.
When we exploit Nature, it will fight back. There will be droughts and floods, hurricanes, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Imbalances created by pollution, wastage and global warming will change the very face of the planet that we call home.
It is becoming increasingly obvious that we will not have peace on earth until we have stopped all killing. No sentient creature must be killed for the simple reason that if I kill an animal for food, I will not hesitate in killing a human being whom I regard as an enemy. We need to grow in the spirit of reverence for all life. All life must be regarded as sacred.
Mahatma Gandhi said: "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated...It ill becomes us to invoke in our daily prayers the blessings of God the Compassionate, if we in turn will not practise elementary compassion towards our fellow creatures.
Over the last few centuries, we have seen movements directed at achieving rights for the oppressed among human beings. It is time we recognised the rights of animals. Every animal has certain fundamental rights. And the very basic right of every animal is the right to live. For you cannot take away what you cannot give. And since you cannot give life to a dead creature, you have no right to take away the life of a living one.
(The Sadhu Vaswani Mission's Stop All Killing Association is observing today as Meatless Day and Animal Rights Day.)
Source: "Indiatimes Spirituality"
http://spirituality.indiatimes.com/articleshow/935348.cms" title="http://spirituality.indiatimes.com/articleshow/935348.cms" target="_blank"http://spirituality.indiatime...
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| Swami and Youth |
| 02.10.05 (4:45 am) [edit] |
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Swami and Youth
SATYOPANISAD VOL:1 (ENGLISH ) -Anil Kumar Kamaraju
CHAPTER III
YOUTH
Q56) Swami! We go to colleges and universities for studies and acquire knowledge. We take up some employment thereafter. We draw our salaries, but, the pity is whomsoever we meet starts saying, "I don't have peace of mind". Why is this so? What is to be done?
Bhagawan: Mere education will not give you peace of mind. Sage Vyasa compiled all the Vedas, wrote the great epic Mahabharata, the eighteen Puranas and the Brahmasutras. Yet, his mind was restless, without peace. At this stage of Vyasa's anguish, sage Narada advised him to write the Bhagavata, a work, which incorporated the lilas of the Lord and life sketches of some of the most outstanding devotees of the Lord who sang the full glory of His miracles. It was only then that he enjoyed peace and bliss. Neither position, nor status, nor scholarship, nor influence, nor wealth, nor fame, no, none of these achievements can ever give you peace of mind. It can't be received from anyone nor can it be located at a place. No external objects, articles, or possessions can give you peace of mind.
The root cause of loss of peace is the bundle of desires. So, I often tell you "less luggage, more comfort, make travel a pleasure", the maxim of the Indian Railways. Therefore, a ceiling on desires is most important.
"Don't feel sad that you don't have koti , one crore of rupees, but be happy that you have enough for roti " (food)
"Don't feel unhappy over not having a car, but be happy that you have a kalu " (leg). .
"Don't cry over a scorpion bite, but be happy that you are not bitten by an enormous snake".
"Don't grieve that a snake has bitten you, but be grateful to God that you didn't die because of that".
It is in contentment that peace and happiness are present. Who is the richest man? The man with contentment is the richest man. Who is the poorest man? He who has many desires is the poorest man.
Many come to me and say, "I want peace". I tell everyone, "The answer is in your request itself. When you say, `I want peace', there are two components `I' and `want'. `I' is mamaka ra or the `ego' or attachment, and `want' is kama or desire. When you give up these two `I ‘ ego' and `want desire', `peace' is already there.
Q57) Swami! Many of us are helpless when we interact with youngsters. They often say, "Don't interfere with Bhagawan: our freedom. We are independent and act in the way we choose." We find it difficult to convince them about what we think is right, and to guide them in the right direction. What should we do in the present circumstances?
Bhagawan: From your statement, it is very clear that modern youth do not know what freedom is. They use terms like sveccha , freedom and svatantra, independence, indiscriminately without knowing their correct meaning.
What is freedom? What is independence? If freedom means behaving as we like, without any norms, in what way then are we different from birds and beasts which act as they like? They move about freely without any restrictions. They also procreate producing dozens and dozens of young ones. If that is what the youngsters mean and want by `freedom', insects, birds, and animals, without attending any universities and getting degrees are able to manage to secure food and shelter and live freely as ordained by nature. Then in what way does your freedom benefit you? What is your specialty? What for is your education? Animals are better than you as they have some reason and season. You have neither reason nor season.
What is sveccha, freedom? If the Sanskrit word sveccha is analysed properly sva+iccha is sveccha. Sva means `yourself', i.e. soul, spirit, atma, iccha means `will'. Thus, sva, atma plus iccha ‑ will means the will power of atma. So this relates to our atma. Is it that sveccha that our youngsters want today? The pity is they do not know the meaning of the word they use.
Then, modern man says, "I have svatantra, independence, to do anything I like. Can't I be independent?" Here also youngsters do not know the meaning of svatantra. Does svatantra mean reckless, careless, and irresponsible behaviour? No. If you think that moving and roaming around, eating and drinking anything to your liking, are the signs of independence, don't you see that cats and rats also enjoy themselves in the same manner? Does independence mean food and drink? You are spending your entire lifetime any way on these two, food and drink. Life has come down to the level of just loading and unloading.
Then what is svatantra, independence? You have to remember in this context one important point. True, you have independence. But, there is a limit. Your independence should not come in the way of the independence of others. So you have independence up to the point that it does not affect the independence of others.
A small example. A gentleman on a fine morning started his stroll, waving his walking stick and swinging it freely. After some time a man passing that way pointed out, "Do not swing your walking stick like that!" Then this man said, "Why not? I have independence and can move my walking stick in any way I like". But, the other said, "Sir, it is true. But your independence to swing your walking stick ends where my nose begins to appear because while swinging your walking stick, I am afraid, you might hit my nose". This is the limitation of your independence.
We also hear people say, "We are celebrating svarajya, Independence Day." Is it true? No. Here sva means `self'. Have you mastered yourself? Do you have control over your senses? Usually svatantra means becoming independent of foreign rule. You break the chains of slavery under the yoke of the rulers and declare independence. This is political independence. This is not enough.
Spiritually also you should be independent by controlling your senses, conquering your weaknesses and checking your evil tendencies.This is independence in the kingdom of Atma.
You become truly independent only after you have conquered desire, lust, greed, anger, hatred, avarice, sense of vengeance, etc. You have to understand the meaning of svatantra in this sense.
Q 58 : Swami ! What is the ideal ambience of a classroom ??
Bhagawan: You should follow your ancient traditional culture. A student with vinaya, humility, and vidheyata , obedience will be able to acquire thorough knowledge. Students should evince keen interest in the subject they study, and even ask questions.
Whenever they have doubts, they should seek clarifications from their teachers. Therefore, a student should be seated at a lower level than a teacher who occupies his seat at a higher level on a chair. Water always flows downwards, so does knowledge. Fire travels upwards. Similarly, the fire of wisdom of a student travels upwards.
Q59) Swami! Today we find imitation in all spheres of life. In particular, this imitation is very common among youngsters. What does Swami say about it?
Bhagawan: Imitation is weakness. This is a defect in the modern youth. Imitation is human, creation is divine. Imitation makes you forget your natural behaviour also.
A crow happened to see a swan and was very much attracted by its graceful and dignified gait. The crow started imitating. It started walking slowly for a while, then started jumping and finally was about to fly with the result that it had lost its own way of walking. It looked so awkward and artificial. Therefore, one has to be natural. Imitation is not only unnatural, but also ridiculous.
Q60) Swami! Today many people, particularly youngsters, are wasting their time. Many are lazy, and idle away their precious time. So, in spite of rich resources, the country is not progressing. Kindly suggest a cure for this malady.
Bhagawan: There is no dearth of anything in this country. We have sufficient resources. People are also highly resourceful and talented: There is nothing in the world outside which is not here in Bharat. As the Kannada saying goes, enna bharate tanna bharati .
History tells you that in the past this country was the target of invasions and attacks by many foreigners drawn by the riches and the resources here. But today, we find many lazy people wasting their precious time. Though they draw fat salaries, they don't work proportionately. Thus, the country is betrayed and cheated. You should follow Time.
Time will not follow you. God is time, samvatsaraya namah. Time is God.
Kalaya namah, kalatitaya namah, kaladarpadamanaya namah are some of the epithets of God depicting him as the Master, the Designer and the Controller of Time. The Namavali empha sises this aspect of Divinity. So, if you waste your time, it is a sin. You should spend time in the most sacred way.
I tell my boys often:
See no evil, see what is good,
Speak no evil, speak what is good,
Hear no evil, hear what is good,
Do no evil, do what is good.
Therefore, it can be concluded that `casting evil looks, hearing evil words, talking evil, thinking evil, acting evil', amount to waste of time.
You should work hard. "Thou shalt live by the sweat of thy brow," says the Holy Bible. But, today it is not like that; people would rather like to have their earnings without putting in any effort.
Any work you do, do it with namasmarana, repeating God's name. This is bhakti marga, the path of devotion. Such work turns itself into an offering to God. This is anubhava jnana or Wisdom borne out of experience or Practical Knowledge.
Idle people, lazy fellows can't achieve anything in life. Truly, if you work with both the hands couldn't you feed one stomach? You, know how a photographer clicks a camera. He adjusts his lens calculating the distance and asks you to be ready before he clicks. Doesn't he? But, kalud u , the God of Death, does not give you any time nor does he ask you to be ready as he clicks the camera of life.
He takes away your life all of a sudden, unnoticed. So, you should be ever ready to face ,death. Hence, it is absolutely necessary to make the best use of time in the most sacred way.
Observe God's creation: the Sun, the Moon, the Stars and the Planets. All of them move in their orbits so that you have day and night in your life, constituting time. Trees and rivers follow time and are an ideal to humanity. So; it is said that nature is the best teacher.
Swami has no holiday. You have at least a Sunday as a holiday during the week. I receive thousands of letters everyday. I read them all. I attend to all my work. I walk miles everyday moving amidst you. I supervise, monitor, guide and direct all matters relating to the University, the Superâspecialty Hospital and the Water Project personally, besides thousands of Sai Centres spread all over the world. I don't take rest; I don't have any interval or a holiday. Your happiness is my happiness. God incarnates to show you the ideal way of life. So, don't waste time. By karma, proper action, uphold dharma, righteousness, and merge in Brahman ‑ Divinity, and thus redeem your lives.
Q61) Swami! Everywhere we hear people speaking of `brain drain'. Statistics indicate that from year to year the number of educated people going abroad is increasing. Is this good?
Bhagawan: This is not good. It is not proper on the part of the young people to leave this country and settle in foreign countries. Here, in Bharat, according to tradition, you have five mothers almost equally venerable. These five are the most revered and ranked along with one's own mother.
Who are those five mothers?
The first and foremost, of course; is the dehamata, the physical mother. It is this mother who has given you birth, struggled hard serving you and sacrificed everything for your comfort and upbringing. So, she has to be revered.
The second is gomata, the cow. It is the cow that gives you milk and helps to nurture and strengthen your body. You have to be grateful to the cow.
The third is bhumata, Mother Earth. It is on the earth that we live. We cultivate the land and grow grains. All the metal ores we extract and use are treasured in the Earth.
The fourth is Vedamata, Mother Scripture. It is the Vedas, that teach you the aim and the goal of life while showing you the spiritual path as well. We should be grateful to Mother Scripture, as we should be to our mothers.
The fifth is des'amata, Motherland. Your culture, tradition, and rich heritage are all embodied in this land where you are born. You have to treat your des'a , country, as your mother. So it is called des'amata , Motherland. des'a
For the simple reason that a woman you meet happens to be more beautiful than your mother, you will not call her `amma', mother. This message is conveyed in the Ramayana. At the end of the war, after Ravana had died, Lakshmana said to Rama: "O Brother! This Lanka is prosperous and exceedingly beautiful. Our enemies have all died, and we have every right to rule this land. O Lord! Why don't you become its king? Bharata has been already been there for fourteen years as the king of Ayodhya.
We can as well ask him to continue his reign there, and we stay here and rule this kingdom." Then Rama replied, "O Lakshmana! Your motherland is greater than heaven itself. Your mother may be ugly and another woman you have seen may be beautiful. Yet, you don't address the beautiful woman as `amma'."
Whatever may be the country you belong to, it is your Motherland. Everyone must be patriotic. Everyone must love his or her own country. You should serve your country
.
Q62) Swami! What are your comments on brain drain? Many highly educated professionals like engineers, doctors, computer experts plan to go abroad and settle there for better and higher prospects of income and placement in life. This is the cause for worry in many circles, both government and private. What do you feel about this?
Bhagawan: It is most unfortunate that this trend is on the rise. This is not good at any point of time anywhere in the world. You are born in this society. So you grow up, educate yourself, make money, name and fame in this society. Only through this society you could get your clothing, food and shelter: Have you come up on your own without the society you live in? Could you make a career for yourself without its support? Should you not express your sense of gratitude to it for all it has done for you?
Man should never be an ungrateful creature. The best way to be grateful is to serve. You know, our people put in greater effort, and work more sincerely abroad. While they are here they don't show the same spirit and the same zeal in their work. They are not as sincere and industrious here as they are in foreign countries. In fact, the emoluments they get here by doing their best will be the same as they get abroad, a fact they fail to realise.
To some extent, parents also are responsible for this problem of brain drain. They don't properly inculcate in children the values of work, patriotism, sacrifice, love and gratitude.
So, it is your fundamental duty to serve the society in which you are born and brought up. You see many a foreigner coming here. They learn lots of things from this sacred land of your birth, whereas our people forget what they know. Some of our people are even inferior to locals and natives of foreign countries in respect of observing traditions. What for is our education? Is it for the decline of human values? Janani janmabhumi sâca svargadapi gariyasi . Rama observed `Mother and motherland are greater than Heaven.'
Q63) Swami! Modern youth, in the name of generation gap, are not prepared to pay heed to their elders. Advise and give us your message.
Bhagawan: This is meaningless. What are the changes you notice in the name of generation gap? The sun rises only in the east and never in the west. There is no change in the laws of nature. Don't you feed the same stomach every day? Don't you wash the same face every day? Don't you clean the same utensils every day? Don't you wear the same clothes? So, all important things need to be done time and again. In the name of generation gap you should not neglect doing things that need to be repeated.
You shouldn't turn a deaf ear to the advice of your elders branding them as senile, old hags. No.
They are persons with rich experience. They are your well Âwishers. You must listen to them, obey and follow their instructions.
The modern generation is not prepared to listen to the elders. It is foolishness and utter ignorance to brush aside all that the elders say. It amounts to pride and egotism. You will be ultimately ruining yourself if you don't follow the valuable advice of elders.
Q64) Swami! We have on one side our parents pulling us towards the world and on the other, the divine teachings we have been fortunate enough to receive from you. We wonder which of the two will dominate and influence us.
Bhagawan: If the ideas of your parents are against God, you should choose God and definitely not your parents. You must clearly explain and appeal to them and then convince them of the value and importance of the spiritual path. Among the Bal Vikas children, there are a large number who have brought about a change in their parents.
There are many who have been influenced and transformed by the children of Sri Sathya Sai Primary School, Sri Sathya Sai Higher Secondary School and the students of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning. There should be a change in the family of the children first, then in the society.
In fact, you are not from your parents, but you are through your parents. Truly, you are from God. If you are convinced of this, your words and actions would be godly.
Take a simple example. You fill a container with sweet milk pudding, payasam. If the container has holes, you will expect the same sweet pudding to come out of these holes. Will you not? Similarly, when you know that you are from God, your words, thoughts and actions will be divine.
Q65) Swami! We are progressing in Science and Technology. At the same time, our modern youth are not able to face life's problems courageously. They are depressed by the slightest problem. They are not able to bear any suffering with patience, and easily take to drink and drugs. What is Swami's message to our youth?
Bhagawan: Today, many young men and women go to Colleges and Universities for studies. There are many specialisations in every branch of knowledge. This is, on the whole, good. But the pity of it is that we find innate, vital human qualities deteriorating fast and disappearing altogether.
Education is not for living, but it is for life.
Education is not for transmitting information, but it is for transformation.
Education is for elevating the human personality to the mansion of God.
Education should not be instrumental to earning annas, but to earning gunas, values.
Education is not for ' ji tam' , salary, but it is for ` jivitam,' life.
Without values even if one is highly educated, what is the use? Is there progress without values? Will Science and Technology help you, if you have no values? It is for this reason, viz., the absence of values, that modern youth take to drugs and alcohol.
The youth are not vira, courageous, but bhira, timid. They should be masters, instead they are slaves. They should know "Life is a challenge. Meet it". They have to encounter and overcome all the problems and difficulties in life rather than choose to run away from them and feel frustrated. Since life is a challenge, you should meet it.
Life is full of keen competition in all fields, scientific, technological, physical, ethical, political and spiritual. They should fully equip themselves with the right weapons and be ever ready to face the challenges of life.
A similar thing happened during the Mahabharata war. Arjuna wanted to run away from the battlefield being totally disheartened like a coward. At that time, Lord Krishna instilled in him the needed courage and morale by teaching him the Bhagavadgita, the Song Celestial. This acted like calcium and glucose injections that gave strength of mind and body to Arjuna.
Life is a sports ground, life is a game, play it. You have to play with sportsmanship and accept victory or defeat, gain or loss., with equanimity. In this world, everyone may not have everything, but there is none without love. So, life is love, share it. God is love, love is God; hence, live in love. Your heart is full of love, but with how many are you sharing this precious gift? Question yourself. Love begets love.
Today it is not happening. This' is the main reason for all conflicts; misunderstandings, and differences. Do your duty with all your skill and to the best of your ability. Don't be lazy, building castles in the air. You work such that your dreams come true, "Life is a dream. Realise it!" Nowadays, you plan in a funny way, so very far from reality. Is it life? No.
Yogah karmasu kaus'alam do your duty sincerely praying to God. Then, your work will be transformed into worship. Your karma, action, will turn into yoga, spiritual communion. Then, duty and work will become a spiritual discipline on the path of karmayoga. Don't merely dream, don't spend time in meaningless fancies. Know that life is duty.
Q66) Swami! You seem to be very much upset and annoyed when anything goes wrong in respect of discipline, educational standards and personality development in general. Swami! You come down heavily upon students when you see their slackness in coming up to your expectations and openly reprimand the guilty in public. It is terrifying to be a witness to this sort of a thing. I get fear‑stricken when I think of you, Swami, in that mood. How are we to reconcile ourselves to such a situation and take it positively?
Bhagawan: First of all, you should know that Swami is completely selfless. You should also note very clearly that Swami is never angry with anyone: "God is Love, Love is God". I pretend to be angry and unhappy with you only to correct you. Even that apparent anger vanishes very soon like a shower of hail. You cannot call anyone a guru if he accepts and endorses all that you do and say. He is a guru in the true sense of the term if he corrects you and turns you in the right direction as your well wisher.
Suppose this is a workshop. All damaged and spoiled vehicles come here for repair. I must, if I am a mechanic, tighten bolts, nuts, screws, etc. Similarly, I should correct your mistakes, make you free from your faults, see that you are rid of your weaknesses and defects and finally mould you into ideal citizens of this country. Your mistake must be corrected immediately then and there itself, as and when it is committed. I should be harsh enough to correct you. You bend iron when it is hot, don't you? But, when it is not hot, no man with all the strength of his muscles will be able to bend it. So, you should be corrected and admonished when you go wrong immediately. If your mistakes are pointed out in public, you don't repeat them.
Take a small example here. Suppose, wearing a lungi (a South Indian informal dress, a long robe wrapped round the waist, down to the feet), you are sweeping your room with a broom. Suddenly your friend comes to see you. What do you do? You will put the broom aside, change your dress and make yourself presentable to your friend.
Why do you do that? After all; you are cleaning your room. Nothing wrong about it! You don't want to be seen in your informal dress. You want to be dressed neatly before you meet him. You care for him. Don't you? So also here, when I point out your mistakes in public, you will be able to correct them forthwith and you will also be careful enough in future not to repeat such mistakes, won't you?
In fact, I don't lose anything if you are spoiled. I don't gain anything if you are good. I don't expect anything from you. I want you to be good and get a good name to your parents, your institution, and your country. This is not for me, but for your ultimate good.
Q67) Swami! Today when we meet students and ask them what they are doing, we hear them say that they are in the computer line or doing an M. Tech. Course. We want to know Swami's views on this craze for computer studies?
Bhagawan: One of the most important things you should know is that all your modern education is within you. You are the `Computer'. You are the `Generator'.
There is `Electricity' in you. There is `Heat' in you. You are the `Magnet'. Everything around you is nothing but the `reflection', `reaction' and `resound' of your inner being.
You say that a computer is great. You stand in front of a computer and put a question, "Who is my wife?" Do you get the answer? No. Why? The computer should be fed with some information which you get back as and when you want it, isn't it so?
It shows only what has already been supplied to it. Nothing new! It was, after all, a man who made the computer. So, naturally, man is greater than a computer. Your brain is a computer with all your memories and experiences recorded therein. When a mosquito bites you even while you are talking to me, you will pick it up and throw it out. How? There is communication. On the way, when your eye finds a thorn, the leg automatically passes it, but doesn't step on it. Why? There is a magnetic force within you.
When I ask you, "What are you doing?" some of you may say, `M. Tech'. What do you mean by `M. Tech.'? You may reply, `Master of Technology'. Then who is `master'? What is "Technology"? A person who has control over his senses is a `master', but not everybody. You are merely `Misters' ‑ Mr. Rao, Mr. Kumar and so on, and not `Master'. You should use your `knowledge' for the advancement of society; otherwise, it turns into `allergy'. You should go to society with your knowledge, `Take knowledge'; this is `technology'. Otherwise it is `tricknology'. It can never be `technology'.
Q68) Swami! What are the qualities of a leader?
Bhagawan: There are mainly two qualities that every leader must possess. Since these are missing, we don't have good and ideal leaders today. Eventually we find disturbances, agitations, and tensions everywhere.
These two qualities are `Individual Character' and `National Character'. In the past this country had leaders possessing these two qualities, leaders such as Tilak, Netaji, and Patel, and so on. You can't just call anyone a leader unless he possesses `Individual Character". A leader should lead, but not push from behind. A true follower becomes a good leader later on. Without being a servant; you can't be an ideal master. Every leader must always remember this, `first be', `then do', and `then tell'. First, you must `be' what you `profess', and `do' what you `profess'. Then you will have the right to `tell'. By doing good, an ideal leader tells others to be good. This is why I often tell my students, "Be good, Do good, and See good".
Q69) Swami! We often wonder at the way you instruct and advise your students. We don't think that we, as parents, can ever do this in the same manner as you do. You are great and benevolent, offering free education to our children. You also teach them how they should conduct themselves as responsible citizens in society. Your love excels the love of even a thousand mothers. Your love is an ocean of fathomless depth. Some of the M.B.A. boys of your Institute of Higher Learning are here. Would you please give them a message?
Bhagawan: Education is not for living, it is for life. This has to be known first. It is not the job or salary that matters. You have got to make use of your education for the betterment of society through service. Education is not meant to help you meet selfish ends and self‑interests.
It is very strange to see students nowadays opting for courses with one eye on the salary they are likely to get after their studies rather than on their aptitude. Parents also think along the same lines. This is not proper or correct. It is most necessary to express gratitude to the society in which you are born and brought up, and where you get name and fame besides money. You must respect your parents, serve and please them. You should make them very happy every way.
You say that Swami's love is equal to the love of a thousand mothers. You don't know even the love of your own mother. How can you, then, know and estimate the love of a thousand mothers!
The MBA boys, after getting their degree, are going to be appointed as managers. It is very good, no doubt But you should also know certain things that you don't find in books. You have stuffed your brains with bookish knowledge. But you must put it into practice. You should also know that it is not always possible to put into practice all that you have read in books. You have to apply your knowledge to the ground realities and work out solutions for the problems you face.
As a manager, you can't simply sit, dressed in a suit, and relax in a chair under a ceiling fan, having your tiffin and other refreshments. You have to put to yourself the question whether you are working justifying your salary. Otherwise, you should consider yourself a cheat or a betrayer of the company. You have to work sincerely. You shouldn't change your jobs and companies frequently. No one will trust you because the new company you want to join for higher emoluments will start feeling that you would quit any day for a little more money, if offered elsewhere. You can come up in your company with your skill, talent and hard work.
The MBA boys should know all the details with regard to raw materials, power supply, accounting, finances, marketing, advertisement and machinery as well. They should also be aware of the trade unions and their activities and the kind of obligations of the company to the government. In no case should you compromise on quality, because you lose your name in public. The rise and the rate of profits may be slow and low initially, yet this should not trouble you. One day it will stabilise. You should observe every worker and the way a machine is handled by him. You should ensure that every worker is able to do all kinds of assignments given to him from time to time such that you don't have to depend on one hand or a few hands to run the factory.
As an MBA degree holder, in the capacity of a company's manager, you will be under the control of the Managing Director or Board of Directors. At times, you may have to consult them before taking certain important decisions. You have to be very humble and polite in their presence. Even if you disagree with them on any issue, you shouldn't condemn or contradict them outright. You shouldn't oppose them openly then and there. Take another opportunity to meet them. Find out their mood and when they are calm and cool, you meet and explain clearly the pros and cons of the problem and try to bring them round to your point of view. Then, there will be every scope for them to find a point in what you say.
Today you need to know another subject, Re-engineering. When a factory or industry is closed or bankrupt, you should investigate the reasons for its closure. You should study every factor very clearly and find out proper solutions to the problem and the appropriate steps to be taken to re‘open and revitalise the factory and make it effectively function thereafter. You also have a paper on Rural Development in your MBA course.
You need to know the background, resources and needs of the village, its atmosphere and socio‘economic conditions even before you start working in a particular village. Three or four of you may join and start an industry on your own. You have to uphold the basic human values unconditionally and uncompromisingly. You are valued because of this reason only.
Always keep in view the needs of your country, the systems to be adopted, the procedures to be followed, the national resources and national development.
Q70) Swami! Listening to your spiritual elucidation of worldly studies, we are lost in wonder. Our Swami, who brings into the open the values of several disciplines, is the World Teacher. We learn that Swami had given a message to the M.B.A. students. If you consider us fit to receive it, kindly describe the salient points to us.
Bhagawan: Our institute offers M.B.A., and M.F.M. courses. But, first, what is meant by "business"? What does a "market" mean? Who is a "manager"? Students learn these things in the classroom and from their texts. However, business and marketing are spread across the entire globe. Know that wherever giving and taking occur, that is a market. This exchange, this give and take activity is business. Not merely a shopping complex.
In the market called the world, what we call the Mind is the Manager. This Mind has to manage well; then, the Heart is a Leader. Between one event and another, there is time; between one thing and another, there is space. What takes place between the two is karma.
Now let us turn to appreciate the love of a guru or preceptor. Teachers like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle are famous the world over. Of these, Socrates is quite familiar to you. The judges sentenced Socrates to death because he thought that under the `evil' influence of Socrates, young men were taking to wicked ways instead of joining the army, as they should. But Socrates who loved his students was not prepared for that sort of death. Ordering them to obey him strictly, he bade them procure some poison. He had them seated all around him, and asked them to touch the vessel of poison. He thought, it is better to die among his students than at the hands of foolish judges. Such was his love for them. The disciples who realised this became illustrious later on.
Consider the founder of the Bata Company, a man of immense devotion to God. He used to make creaking shoes with a cushion of horse and donkey hair. He made a living out of selling these and served the people thus. His devotion and his spirit of service led to his rise to honour and fame. Therefore, love, devotion, and the spirit of service are essential for a Manager
Alexander was getting ready to invade Bharat; he approached his teacher to seek his blessings. Then, the teacher said, "My son! I heard that some of the most highly esteemed objects are to be found in Bharat. Get them for me as your offering to the teacher.
First, there are in Bharat wandering ascetics endowed with perfect devotion and absolute detachment. Bring along with you one such ascetic. Second, Bharat is a land sanctified by the feet of great spiritual aspirants, mahants, heads of mendicants, sages, and incarnations of God in the course of their wanderings. That dust is very sacred. Bring some along. Third, they say river Ganga washes off all sins. My son! Bring some Ganga water in a vessel. Fourth, there is the riches of the Bhagavadgita which underscores the right way to live and its goal. Procure a copy for me!"
Now, being born in the land of Bharat, you have to develop the spirit of sacrifice. Our high ideals and values help students to attain prestige and fame. Satya and Dharma are very important in life. They are as precious as the vital breath. Know that without these, life is barren. These qualities are absolutely essential for a Manager.
Q71) Swami! We don't understand what wisdom actually is. Isn't the knowledge we gain in our educational institutions wisdom? If not, how are we to acquire it easily?
Bhagawan: Practical knowledge is jnanam, or wisdom. It is not textual information. Feeling the presence of God always, everywhere, within, and around is jnanam ,true wisdom.
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| "Being True To Your Essential Nature" |
| 02.10.05 (2:13 am) [edit] |
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"Being True To Your Essential Nature"
& nbsp; by William and Debra Miller
& nbsp; (Indiatimes - Spirituality. Section The Basics, Wednesday, February 2, 2005)
& nbsp; In a previous article, we talked about four goals of life that, if pursued properly, could bring us harmony and success in our lives and work:
Dharma: Living in consonance with creation and society Artha: Generating wealth for oneself and others Kama: Satisfying basic desires Moksha: Attaining spiritual fulfilment
As we began to delve into each one more deeply, we decided to focus first on one that provides an important foundation for all the others: dharma. The concept of dharma is very dear to our hearts; that's why we chose to name our organisation the Global Dharma Center.
Before we founded this organisation, we sought to more thoroughly understand what dharma meant. Here's some of what we discovered, as we now share on our website:
Dharma is a Sanskrit word that has many varied meanings, depending on the context in which it is used. For us, at its most expanded meaning, dharma is being true to one's essential Divine nature, while acting in the spirit of harmony and unity, knowing that all things and events are part of an indivisible whole. Individually, everything has its own expression of its Divine origin and nature, and has its own purpose, its own role to play, and its own responsibility in harmony with all.
Sathya Sai Baba, a universal spiritual teacher, defines dharma in these ways:
... the unchanging genuine nature of every entity - its essential characteristic ... the inner voice of God in the individual and community ... the harmony of thought, word and deed, which results in the purification of our minds and hearts ... principles and guidelines that are laid down in the sacred scriptures ... an action which is a translation of a pure idea emanating from the heart
What does dharma mean in our everyday work? As we've grown in our own spiritual view of life, we've come to see that each person has a unique purpose and role to play in the grand scheme of creation. And we each have special talents and abilities that assist us in fulfilling that purpose and role. Dharma also includes carrying out our job responsibilities while we serve others and care for the environment.
To help ourselves stay in touch with dharma in our own work – whether we are writing, researching, or providing our services – we've developed some “dharmic guidelines”:
For us, dharma is a light, fun, and simple life in harmony with all beings... living from the full awareness that:
Divinity is inherent in all of creation Divine Love is the essential nature – the universal dharma – of all creation Each person, family, organisation, and society has its own unique purpose and role in a Divine Plan The dharma of all work organisations is to operate from a spiritual basis, naturally resulting in success that serves the highest good of all Life works best when we see, love and serve the Divine in everyone, and treat them as we would best treat ourselves The evidence of living by one's dharma is a purity and unity of thought, word, and deed
If an issue or important question comes up for us personally at work, it helps immensely for us to come back to these guidelines as they always help us to know the highest integrity choices and decisions to make.
Whether you work by yourself, with a small group, or in a large organisation, you too can seek to consciously be true to your essential nature – your dharma – in your work. Here are some self-inquiry questions to assist you:
• How would I describe my essential Divine nature? • What is my unique purpose and role in creation, in harmony with my essential nature? • What skills and talents do I naturally possess? • What roles and responsibilities do I have when I am working from my dharma? • Am I acting ethically and with integrity, in alignment with my spiritual aspirations? • Am I respecting the resources where I work and using them for the good of others? • Am I supporting the success and harmony of those around me in helping them to identify and fulfil their essential Divine nature?
Source: http://spirituality.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1008831.cms" title="http://spirituality.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1008831.cms" target="_blank"http://spirituality.indiatime...
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| Thus Spake Sai |
| 02.10.05 (1:57 am) [edit] |
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Thus Spake Sai
"There will never be any dearth or scarcity, regarding food and clothes, in may devotees homes. It is my special characteristic, that I always look to, and provide for, the welfare of those devotees, who worship me whole-heatedly with their minds ever fixed on Me.
"If you want anything, beg of the Lord, leave worldly honours, try to get Lord's grace and blessings, and honoured in His court. Do not be deluded by wordily honour.
"Fix the mind in remembering Me always, so that it will not wander elsewhere, towards body, wealth and home. Then it will be calm, peaceful and carefree. This is the sign of the mind, being well engaged in good company. If the mind is vagrant, it cannot be called well-merged".
"What (whether good or bad) is ours, is with us, and what is another's is with him".
"There are innumerable saints in this world but "our father' (Guru) is the Father (Real Guru). Others might say many good things but we should never forget our Guru's words.
"I do not need any paraphernalia of worship either eight-fold or sixteen-fold. I rest there, where there is full devotion".
"Those who take refuge in the Lord will be freed from her (Maya) clutches with His grace".
"For seeing Brahma one has to give five things, i.e., surrender five things viz., (i) Five pranas (Vital forces) (ii) Five senses (Five of action & Five of perception (iii) Mind (iv) Intellect (v) Ego.
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