Sri Sathya Sai International Organization

Who is Easwaramma? She is the mother of Easwara. This was not the name given to her by her parents. But after her marriage, Kondama Raju (Swami’s grandfather), being one of wisdom and blessed with a vision of the future, started calling her Easwaramma (mother of Easwara). She was christened as Namagiriamma at the time of her birth. But Kondama Raju told her that Easwaramma was the most appropriate name for her, as he knew that she was going to become the mother of Easwara.

Easwaramma always used to give away whatever she had with her. She was the embodiment of sacrifice. She used to talk lovingly to all those who came to her. When devotees would feel sad that Swami was ignoring them, she would console them saying, “Whatever Swami does is for your own good.”

To fulfil Mother Easwaramma’s three noble desires, I provided drinking water not only to Puttaparthi but to all the surrounding villages too. The small school that I established is now a big university. The small hospital that I constructed has now become a Super Speciality hospital. Mother Easwaramma shed tears of joy when she saw that her only desires were fulfilled in a grand manner.

It is to demonstrate to the world the importance of reverence for the parents and the need to receive their blessings that Swami also makes it a point to visit the Samadhi of the parents of this body twice a year. In reality, Swami has no filial love for parents as such, but Swami adheres to this practice to serve as an example to the world.

It is the foremost duty of children to fulfil the wishes of their mother and make her happy. Serve others to the extent possible. You need not take up any service activity beyond your means and capacity. If you find your neighbours suffering, give them solace. Help them to the extent possible and make them happy. This is what I expect you to learn today. On the occasion of Easwaramma Day, I exhort all of you to practise these three principles of service, experience bliss, and share it with all.

Today we are celebrating Easwaramma Day to propagate the glory of motherhood. The world is sustained by the prayers of mothers. A woman’s prayer is more powerful than a thousand prayers of men because women are pure and tender-hearted. Never cause displeasure to your mother. Never hurt her feelings. Then God will help you in all your endeavours.

Easwaramma was an ideal mother. When visitors came to the house, she would send her children out to greet them properly, to ask about their welfare and requirements, and to offer them a seat in a respectful manner. You should greet visitors to your house with respect and love.

The first and foremost duty of every child is to fulfil the wishes of one’s mother and make her happy. Secondly, serve all to the extent possible. You need not take up any service activity beyond your means and capacity. Thirdly, if you find your neighbours suffering, give them solace. Try to help and make them happy.

Mother’s blessings can make anybody great. The children may be good or bad, but the mother always loves her children and aspires for their welfare. The mother’s heart is full of love and compassion for her children.

When the mother’s heart is pure, her children too would be pure-hearted. One should respect one’s mother and never hurt her feelings.

Mother is not just an ordinary woman; she is verily God. Worship her and attain her grace. Once you have the blessings of your mother, you can achieve anything in this world. Never disobey or displease her.

Never disrespect your mother or disappoint her. Do not hurt her feelings. Try to satisfy her in all respects. Only then will the seed of devotion sprout in you. Everyone should follow the dictum, Mother is God (Mathru Dhevo Bhava) in letter and spirit and be a recipient of his mother's love.

You have to offer your heart to God because He is the Indweller of heart, while father and mother are only dwellers in home. Respect your parents with the Divine in your heart. Tasting the sweetness of your mother’s love, offer your love to her and enjoy life.

You owe a supreme duty towards your parents who are responsible for all that you are. You will be less than human if you do not show your gratitude to them for all that they have done to you. Parental love. means for the children what the sun's rays mean for the blossoming of a flower. Wherever you may go, whatever you may achieve, whatever position you may occupy, you must always remember your mother with love and reverence.

For the human body, the mother, father, and preceptor are to be deemed as divine. But, for the pursuit of life, the Divine is the only God, There is another Sanskrit saying that hails God as mother, father, kinsman, friend, wealth, knowledge, and in fact the Supreme Lord of everything. This means that for the spiritual life, God is everything.

It is true that mother, father, and preceptor are divine, but they are not entitled to dwell in the heart. They have to be revered, adored, and made happy. God alone deserves to be worshipped. God is nearer to man than his mother. Closer than even the father. To give up such God is a heinous sin.

There is no need to think about what is past or about what is in store in the future. Of what avail is it to think of the past, which is irrevocable, or to worry about the future, which is uncertain? It is a sheer waste of time. Past is past, future is future. You can do nothing about either. What is most important is the present. This is not ordinary present. It is Omnipresent. The result of the past and the result of the future are both present in the present.

Develop self-confidence, which will lead you to bliss. Never give room for worries and anxieties. Gain sufficient strength of the body and mind to face boldly the difficulties, losses, and sorrows that may confront you in life. This will be facilitated if you practise the four F’s taught in our educational system viz., “Follow the Master (your conscience),” “Face the Devil,” “Fight till the end,” and “Finish the game.”

However long you may live, whatever scientific knowledge you may acquire, whatever position you may occupy, some time or other you have to know the Truth about yourself. Start knowing it from now itself. You should be on the alert all the time, because you can never know when the Lord’s Grace, His Love and Benediction will be showered on you, at what time and at what place and in what circumstances.

A devotee should be ready to gladly accept anything as God’s gift. Can you get sugar by merely requesting the sugar cane, instead of crushing it to extract the juice from it? Even if it is the best kind of diamond, will it shine in all its effulgence unless it is subjected to cutting and polishing? Similarly, it is only when man undergoes trials and tribulations, hardships, losses and sorrows that his real worth will shine forth.

Bhakthi (devotion) is the nectar obtained as a result of churning the essences of many Upanishads and Scriptures. Real devotion is that which is buttressed by firm faith and is steadfast and unchanging under all circumstances. Only then does one deserve to get the fruits of real bhakthi (devotion).

Buddha declared that everyone should cultivate at the outset a pure vision. It is only when man has a pure vision that he can get rid of impurities in the body, speech and mind. It is this purity that can protect man from invasion of impurities through the eyes and the ears. Hence the first requirement for every man is pure vision.

The second quality that is needed along with pure vision is pure thoughts. Everyone should have pure thoughts. Only the person who has developed purity in vision can have purity in thoughts.

The third requirement for every man, along with purity in vision and thought, is pure deeds. Everyone should do pure deeds. Through pure deeds man is able to recognise his human essence. Man is not merely an embodied being. By his capacity for developing good vision, entertaining good thoughts and performing good deeds, he has the power to transform humanness into Divinity

A fourth requirement for man is listening to sacred words. When one listens to unsacred words, he can have only unsacred thoughts. The fifth quality prescribed by Buddha is living a pure life. What is meant by ""living""? It is not leading a worldly life attached to worldly pursuits. True living means making one's life meaningful by ideal actions. Man's life must be governed by idealism in action.

Prema is fundamental, and that is what you should focus on. You have to develop humility on the one hand and divine feelings on the other. The festival of Buddha Poornima is celebrated to remind us that Divine Love (prema) is the pathway to wholeness (poornam).

Love is blissful and nectarine. The sweetness of nectar may have limits but the sweetness of divine love has none. It is beyond all measure. It is beyond description too; it can only be experienced. Buddha discovered this love, experienced it, and became one with it. God and love are not different.

Buddha taught that to those who have attachment, it becomes a disease. To the renunciants, detachment becomes the means to liberation from bondage (Nirvana).

The real meaning of the Buddhist prayer, ""Buddham sharanam gachchami, Dharmam sharanam gachchami, Sangham sharanam gachchami,"" is: You must divert your mind towards Dharma (right action). And the right conduct should aim at serving society. When this is done, society gets purified.

In this transient and ephemeral world, one thing is true and eternal. That is Divinity. That is what everyone should aspire to attain. Sathyam Saranam Gachchhami (I take refuge in truth). Ekam Saranam Gachchhami (I take refuge in the principle of oneness).

It is not enough to read the lives of avatars and messiahs. their teachings should be put into practice as much as possible. People must gradually outgrow their material attachments and develop divine love.