Sri Sathya Sai International Organization

Embodiments of the Divine! To realise the divine, Love is the easiest path. Just as you can see the moon only with the light of the moon, God, who is the Embodiment of Love, can be reached only through Love. Regard selfless love as your life breath. Love was the first quality to emerge in the process of creation. All other qualities came after it. Therefore, fill your hearts with pure selfless love and lead your life with selfless love as the foundation.

TIndividuals are integrally related to society like different organs in a body. Humanity is a limb of nature and nature (Prakruti) is a limb of God. If this integral relationship is understood, where is the ground for hatred? None should consider themselves as insignificant or unimportant. Everyone, small or big, is a vital part of the whole and is essential for its proper functioning like all parts in a rocket.

In this vast Cosmos every being has a significant role to play to ensure its smooth functioning. Anyone can pursue the spiritual path without the aid of a rosary or taking to the forest. For example, a farmer tilling the field should think that he is tilling the field of his heart. While sowing seeds, he must think that he is sowing the seeds of good qualities in his heart and while watering, he should think he is watering the field of his Heart with Love.

“Who is this Sai? Why are certain things happening in this manner?” These questions are asked. I am not a renunciant (Sanyasi). I am not a yogi. I am not a pleasure-seeker (Bhogi). I am not a one who sacrifices (Tyagi). I am ‘I’. This ‘I’ is the first name given to the Atma. A renunciant is bound by certain restrictions. The pleasure-seeker is bound in other ways. I have no limitations. Mine is boundless bliss. My name is ‘I’. It is not a name given after one's birth.

To understand Me, everyone has to realise that the ‘I’ is present in everyone. The ‘I’ is used by everyone in every context, whether one is a millionaire or a pauper. This ‘I’ is I am Brahman (Aham Brahmasmi). Everyone should strive to recognise the divinity that is present in all. This effort has to be made by everyone. Human birth has been given for this purpose. It cannot be left to God.

What is it that you can offer to the Lord who is omnipotent, omnipresent and all-knowing? The Lord has endowed you with all his wealth and Divine potentialities. You are inheritors of His wealth. You have to discover what that wealth is. Sai's wealth is nothing but pure, selfless and boundless Love. You must inherit this Love, fill yourselves with it and offer it to the world. This is your supreme responsibility.

We have to treat others' suffering and difficulties as our own. We have to be amicable with one and all. We must develop faith in the maxim that we are "Embodiments of One Divine Self (Ekatmaswarupas)." If our thoughts are good, we will always engage ourselves in good deeds (Satkarmas). If you indulge in bad thoughts, you will see bad everywhere.

I have come with one purpose: To reveal to everyone of you the mystery of your reality and the goal of your life! What you should place before Me as offering is Pure Love from within. When you offer Me that, I derive Ananda! From today, spend your days and years in activities that help and care for those who are in dire need, and make this human existence of yours worthwhile and fruitful. Conduct yourself appropriately and realise the goal of your life. My blessings to you!

Embodiments of Divine Love! Everyone aspires for happiness and wants to avoid sorrow. But in this world, truth and untruth, righteousness and unrighteousness, justice and injustice pass and change with time. One should have faith in the ultimate principle out of which both good and evil arise. Everyday one experiences happiness and sorrow, welcomes affections and aversions and invites worries and misery. How can one be at peace under these conditions? The true man is one who believes in equanimity - in the same way as one welcomes happiness, one should be able to welcome sorrows also.

It is a matter of great bliss to be loved by many. To win over the hearts of so many is a sign of Divinity. I love everyone and all love Me. Do not hurt anyone by your harsh words and enter into any evil paths. Recognise the truth that God pervades everything from microcosm to macrocosm. With sincerity of purpose and faith (Shraddha and Vishwasa) and self-confidence, you can achieve anything in the world. Love God from the depths of your heart. Follow Swami’s commands and you will attain everything and be victorious in all your endeavours!"

It serves no purpose if you merely acknowledge that the Lord has come but do not yearn to benefit by the Advent. Offer your entire self, your entire life, to Him; then your adoration will transform and transmute you so fast and so completely that you will merge into Him. He thinks, He feels and acts as you do; you think, feel and act as He does. You will be transformed as a rock is transformed by the sculptor into an idol, deserving the worship of generations of sincere men and women. In the process you will have to bear many a hammer stroke and chisel-wound, for He is the sculptor. He is but releasing you from petrification!

Offer your heart to the Lord, and gladly let Him transform you. Practice the three disciplines of silence, cleanliness and forbearance. In silence you can hear the voice of God. Through cleanliness you earn purity. By forbearance, you cultivate love.

Life is a game with fire; you must derive warmth without getting burnt. So you must constantly fight the inner battle to use the senses and the intellect wisely to secure liberation rather than get entangled in their wiles. Deepavali commemorates the victory of heavenly over hellish influences, of virtue over vice, as symbolised by the victory of Krishna over Narakasura.

Expansion is Love. Expansion is the essence of Love. Love is God. Live in Love. That is the Deepavali Message I give you. When a lamp is lit from another, there are two where there was but one. The first one did not stop emitting light. You can light a million lamps from one; but, yet, the first will not suffer a jot! Love too is like this. Share it with a million, it will still be as bright as when it was alone.

Those who sing bhajans get what can be called 'double promotion,' for they derive Joy and distribute joy! Life today is filled with sorrow, it is beset with fear and despair. The only time you can forget these thoughts and strengthen yourself to meet the hard times is when you contact the Source of all strength, God. You cannot get that peace and joy while you bend under the burden of daily life.

You are carrying a huge load of worry all day; keep that aside for an hour every evening and spend that time with God who can make your shoulders strong and your burden light. You will relish the bhajan as you make it a daily function, like eating and sleeping. You eat twice a day for the upkeep of the body; should you not do bhajan as least once for the upkeep of the mind?

You should never get entangled in the meshes of this world and its problems. Try to escape into the purer air of the spirit as often as you can, by taking the name of the Lord. Hate and envy distort man's true charm. Anger is the fuel for all varieties of sin. Those aspiring for success in the spiritual field must therefore decide to control anger, and subdue the vagaries of the mind. They must put down their mental agitations and worries, and see that they do not create worry in others also. From this very moment, pray for the Grace of God which will enable you to control and conquer your vices. Deepen your faith in God. Expand your love (Prema) and take into its fold, the whole of mankind. May you all win Truth (Sathyam), Peace (Shanti) and Joy (Sukham) through these means. May you merge in the source of all bliss (Aanandam).

The Supreme Being reveals Its Glory as Love (Prema) in humanity; prema appears in various forms: attach-ing itself to riches or parents or children or one’s life mate or friends. All these are sparks of the same flame, and the Love of the Universal is its highest expression. This prema cannot be cultivated by reading guide books and learning the steps by rote. It has to begin with a great yearning for the Light, an unbearable agony to escape from the darkness and see Light, as in the prayer, "Lead us from Darkness to Light (Thamaso ma jyothir gamaya).” The yearning itself will draw down the Light. The Love will grow of itself and by its slow and inevitable alchemy turn you into Gold.

Divinity is immanent in every being. But who is responsible for this Divinity within? The mother who has borne you for nine months with many difficulties, and is even ready to sacrifice her life for your welfare. You owe your existence to your mother. The welfare of the children depend on the mother. It is because of the mother’s love that children become eminent and great. So the foremost duty of every individual is to be grateful to one’s mother, respect her and serve her. The Ladies Day serves as a reminder that one should revere and love one’s mother and never hurt her feelings. It is not only the rulers who protect the nation, but women of great chastity are also responsible. All the prosperity and good we find in this land of Bharat is due to the strength of women of virtue.

Like the coldness of the atmosphere, which freezes the water, the compelling agony of the devotee’s heart solidifies the Formless Absolute into the shape and the attitude that are yearned for. “as felt, so fashioned (Yadh bhavam, thath bhavathi).” He bows to your will, He carries your burden provided you trust Him with it.Therefore, act and feel and speak so that you get “joy here, joy hereafter, and joy everlasting” —all three. I bless you all that you get more success in the struggle.

It is no mean achievement to get the Name of the Lord on one’s tongue at the last moment. It needs the practice of many years, based on a deep-seated faith. It needs a strong character, without hatred or malice, for the thought of God cannot survive in a climate of pride and greed.

Just as two wings are essential for a bird to soar high in the sky, two wheels for a cart to move; so, also, the two types of education are needed for man to attain the goal of life. Spiritual education is for life, whereas worldly education is for a living. Only when man is equipped with these two aspects of education, can he be deserving of respect and adoration in society. Possession of these two aspects of education will bring not only respect and adulation, but also self-satisfaction. The worldly education, which relates to the head, is ephemeral. Reading, writing, eking out a livelihood, and attaining name and fame—all these result from worldly education.

The 23rd day of November which you now honour as the day on which I was born, is only like any other day if you celebrate it in a routine, ritual fashion. Adore man; the adoration reaches Me. Neglect man; you neglect Me. Of what avail is it to worship the Lord and to suppress man, His counterpart? Love for God must be manifested as love for man, and love must express itself as service. Through love alone-Love acquired through sadhana, and shared with all as sadhana-can peace be attained, by the individual as well as by the nation. My Life is My Message and My Message is Love.

The auspicious day for you is the day on which your mind is cleansed — not the day on which I took this human form. I am ever new and ever ancient, ever modern (Nuthana) and ever ancient (Sanathana). I come always for the sake of reviving dharma, for tending the virtuous and ensuring them conditions congenial for progress.

He fulfills your innermost aspiration in a flash if it is compelling enough. Only you should not allow your mind to waver due to doubt or disappointment. Leave all to Him and be at ease; it is the man with no faith that is tossed about on the sea, like a ship caught in a storm with neither rudder nor anchor. The devotee bears the ups and downs of life, keeping the balance of the mind even.

TOf the twenty four hours that are available to you each day, let Me advise you to devote a small fraction to meditation or prayers or reading the scriptures or listening to discourses on the divine sport (Leelas) of the Lord. Think of God, and the gratitude you owe to Him, for the human life He has gifted you and the various material, moral and intellectual talents He has endowed you with; do this before you commence any task or piece of work. You will certainly experience great benefit, and you will have peace, joy and success in your endeavours through Divine Grace.

The first quality that you have to cultivate is gratitude to the Divine. People are thankful for even small acts of service done to them. Is it not necessary to be grateful to the Divine who has provided us with so many essential benefits through Nature and the five elements? The air you breathe, the water you drink, and the earth on which you walk are all gifts of God.

The foremost quality every human being should have is gratitude. Engage yourselves in pure activities with pure hearts and earn a good name. What you have to offer to Me is the good name earned by you. This is the highest expression of your gratitude.

Regardless of what anyone may say, combine spiritual pursuits with your academic studies. You cannot run the cart of life on a single wheel. It is too hazardous. No bird can fly with a single wing. It can fly freely when it can use both the wings. Likewise man needs mundane knowledge for carrying on worldly affairs and Spiritual Knowledge (Brahma Vidya) for spiritual welfare. Acquire knowledge of the physical sciences; that is necessary. At the same time seek spiritual wisdom also. You have to conduct your life based on both these kinds of knowledge.

Surrender does not mean offering your body to God. Real surrender is the chanting of the divine Name and making it the basis of your life. It is for the same reason that Guru Nanak, the first guru of the Sikhs, started community singing... Therefore, consider the chanting of the Name of God as the most important spiritual practice.