Sri Sathya Sai International Organization

People waste their time as they consider the body as permanent and ignore the indweller. Time is the most precious gift of God, but people do not realize the value of time. They waste three-fourths of time in vain pursuits. How can such people redeem their lives? To sanctify the body, one must make proper use of time.

Don’t bother about the past. Concentrate on the present. From now on, all of you should tread a sublime path. Don’t give room for jealousy, hatred, or ill-feeling. Follow the role “Help ever, Hurt never.”

In the world today we see disorder, violence, and conflict. The world is like a sick person afflicted with many ailments. What is the cure for these ills? Humanity must shed its selfishness, greed, and other bad qualities and rise above its animal nature. People must cultivate charity (unselfishness) to achieve purity. Through purity of heart, humanity will achieve unity, which will lead to divinity. The mansion of human life should be built on these four bases.

What is the purpose of human life? Is it only to eat, sleep and indulge in pleasures like birds and beasts? No. Mankind is born to set an ideal to the rest of the world. One should work for one’s own emancipation, says the Gita. Humans should redeem their lives and also help fellow human beings to work for their redemption.

There are many among you who are engaged in sadhana. What is the basic purpose of Sadhana? Each exercise of the sadhaka (spiritual aspirant) is a stream that moves on to the sea of grace. Believe that the love that prompts you to serve and sympathize is a spark of the love of God.

We must think of God every moment of our lives. It is in that spirit that everyone is enjoined to offer all actions as designed to please the divine.

Recognize the intimate relationship between the individual and God. The individual is a limb of society. Society is a limb of nature, and nature is a limb of God. God is the basis of the principle of unity. All organs should work in unity.

Do not allow your mind to vacillate between good and bad, unity and multiplicity. Focus on all that is good and realize the principle of unity. That is the royal road that will lead you to the experience of truth.

Claiming to be devotees and going about as devotees, few are caring to find out what is true devotion. Singing and repeating God's name (bhajans and japas) and performance of sacrifices and rituals (yagas and yajnas) are not the real marks of devotion. They are merely exercises in washing out one's impurities. All the nine kinds of worship are also designed to achieve purity of mind and heart. But purity should find expression in action just as clothes that have been washed have to be worn. Without purity in action, the real nature of the Self cannot be recognized.

Each should use the power of discrimination given to them to fight the evil forces within. They must foster the divine elements within by their own efforts and by listening to the voice of their conscience. The freedom to choose has been given to all for this purpose. This freedom is to be used to discriminate between right and wrong, good and evil, and to foster divine qualities. This is the unique feature of the Kali (Iron) age. In this age, everyone has to fight against the demonic forces themselves and vanquish them. When this is accomplished, one's inherent divine nature will manifest itself of its own accord.

The eyes see; but can the organ 'eye' see of itself? It cannot function without prompting of the divine spirit (Atma) within. The brain thinks; but can the cells perform the process all by themselves? No. They must be activated by the divine within. The 'one' is the basis, the cause, of the manifestation in the many. Through love (prema) alone can the inherent, the immanent One be recognized.

God is omnipresent; God is the inner motivator (antaryami) of every particle in the universe. To declare that God is amenable only to your style of worship, that God will answer only to the name that you have learnt to use, is to insult God’s omniscience and glory. See God in all, serve God in all. Revere God in all. Pray, "Let the whole world prosper; let all mankind be happy."

Three disciplines are essential to become aware of divinity in all and in the Avatar. (1) No activity should be taken up with individual aggrandizement in view; (2) intellect and emotion must be directed to the revelation of the resident in the heart, Atma; and (3) every act should be done sincerely, with love, with no yearning for acquiring personal profit, fame, or benefit. Above all, listen to the voice of God within.

In this world, which is impermanent and ever transforming, the immanent power of the Lord is the only permanent and fixed entity. In order to realize the eternal and the true, one should attach oneself to that source and sustenance.