Sri Sathya Sai International Organization

Cultivate love. Everything is based on love and love alone. Man is born in love, is sustained in love and ultimately merges in love. Love is the basis of human life. But you are forgetting such true love and are getting carried away by the worldly and physical love, which is not love in the true sense.

Whatever He does, be confident and carefree, for it is He who holds the string of your life. That solid faith will fill you with the essence of love (prema-rasa). The string is the bond of love and grace and every individual (kite) is thus bound to the Lord. All you must do is to walk the path so that the bond of love and grace is strong.

You are doing seva (selfless service) for your own sake. You are engaged in seva in order that you may become aware of the Atman in you, in order that you may discard the allurements of your ego, in order to know yourself and to get the answer to the question that torments you, namely, "Who am I?" You do not serve others. You serve yourselves. You do not serve the world. You serve your own best interest.

All are one; all are essentially Divine. Give up multiplicity to attain unity. The Vedanta declares that the Atmic principle is the underlying unity in diversity. Bulbs are many but the same current flows in all of them. Likewise, the Atmic principle exists in all. Man's inability to understand this principle of unity is the cause of his ignorance. True humanness lies in understanding unity in multiplicity.

Purity is to be preserved and promoted not by multiple baths or by avoiding contact with others condemned as 'untouchables.' You cannot be pure by the observance of the superficial taboo, 'Don't touch.' The body can be clean if washed with water; speech can be cleansed if it is saturated in truth; life can be purified if it is sanctified by thapas (religious austerity), and the intellect can be cleared of blemish through jnana (spiritual wisdom).

Before sitting for meditation, the mind should be freed from bad thoughts and filled with sacred thoughts. This calls for control over all the sense organs. The ears should be trained to listen only to matters relating to the Divine and to eschew evil gossip. The eyes should be told to see God. The mind should be restrained from restlessness by making it concentrate on the breathing process and relating inhalation and exhalation to the repetition of the manthra, "So-Ham," "So Ham" ("I am He"). By this process, the life-breath is controlled.

When your mind wanders away from the recital of the Name, lead it onto the picture of the Form. When it wanders from the form, lead it onto the Name. Let it dwell either on that sweetness or this. Treated thus it can be easily tamed. The imaginary picture you have drawn will get transmuted into the bhava chithra (thought visualisation), dear to the heart and fixed in the memory. Gradually it will become the sakshathkara chithra (Vision of the actual Form) when the Lord assumes that Form in order to fulfill your desire.

Some people may wonder, "If I develop kshama as Swami says and my life gets packed with troubles, how then will I survive?" Well, it all depends on what is meant by survival. Kshama is the true breath of life. It is the greatest ornament that one can acquire. It is kshama that enables you to develop equanimity, and go beyond duality. Going beyond duality is the real purpose of life, and this cannot be done without kshama. You must therefore be happy when troubles descend on you because that is when kshama truly blossoms.

God will decide what, when, and where to give. Hence, dedicate all actions to God and Let Him decide what you are fit to receive. When everything is left to God with pure love and total faith, God will take full care of you.

It is the prime duty of everyone who has had the chance of this human birth, to spare a part of their energies occasionally to prayer, repetition of the Lord's name, meditation, etc. Everyone must equate living with truth, righteousness, peacefulness, and good works that are of service to others.

Realise that both joy and sorrow are passing phases, like clouds across the blue sky. Learn to treat prosperity and adversity with equanimity. Just as fish lives only when it is immersed in water, so too human being lives only when immersed in bliss.

Through prayer, you can overcome any difficulties. Only God's grace is true and everlasting. God protected the lives of many devotees and alleviated their suffering in response to their prayers. So, make every effort to earn the grace of God.

Whoever with discrimination and renunciation (viveka and vairagya), humility and wisdom (vinaya and vijnana) is aware of the knowledge of Reality, whoever is always immersed in the contemplation of my divine play (leela), whoever dwells on my name at all times and under all conditions, and whoever sheds tears of love whenever the Lord's name is heard from any lip -- these are my genuine devotees.

The Lord will protect in all ways and at all times those who worship Him in complete and uncontaminated devotion (bhakthi) -- just as a mother protects her infants, a cow saves her calf from danger, and the eyelids guard the eyes effortlessly and automatically.

For acquiring selfless love, the quality of kshama or forbearance is a vital necessity (kshama is a word rich in meaning. Besides forbearance, it also implies extreme patience and an enormous capacity to forget as also forgive). Every individual must cultivate this noble quality.

Live in love. Love is life. Without loving or being loved, no being can exist on the earth. Love sustains. Love strengthens. Love is the urge behind all adventure, all sacrifice, all success.

Wherever you go for service, Swami will always be with you. Whatever happens I shall protect you. Do not be carried away by profit or loss. Think of God ceaselessly. Even the great saint composer Thyaagaraaja doubted for a moment, the Shakthi (power) of Rama but immediately repented and said the fault was his to have doubted, but, God was all powerful. Never give room for doubt. The inner current of all the nine types of devotion is Prema (Love for God).

To experience Atma, the only means is the way of Love. When you are filled with Love, the Lord is easily attained. Love is God. Live in Love.

What is the nature of this love? When praying to God, you should have a feeling of total surrender. If you are really keen about realising God, if you are hungering and thirsting for God, then you should cultivate this all-absorbing love. Mere expression of desire is not enough. You should endeavour to experience union with the Divine.

First cultivate humility and compassion. Then, learn the knowledge and the skill needed for the particular seva (selfless service) project. Thus, you can make your life meaningful. By this means, you can add to the ananda (joy) of the person who has given you the chance to render this seva to your fellow human beings.

We must consider that we have taken birth only to render service to society as a sacred duty. Whatever small service we may do, if we do it in the right spirit, serving with no thought of self, we shall be doing something commendable and worthwhile. An act of service by itself may be a small thing. But it must be done wholeheartedly. Just as a cow transforms whatever it may consume into sweet, wholesome milk, any kind of service rendered with a pure heart will result in great good. You should not have any returns in view in rendering service. "This is my duty. I am born to serve" -- it is with such an attitude that you should take up service.

When one understands the truth that the same divine principle is present in all, there will be no room for differences and troubles. Therefore, always focus on the Divinity of humanity. All our difficulties arise when we multiply our differences, forgetting our Divinity. Therefore, we should firmly install the divine principle in our heart, which is the same in everyone.

Every individual should regard the enquiry into nature of the Atma as the primary purpose of life. Purity of thought, word and deed is essential for this enquiry.

Do not care for the vagaries of the mind. Carry on remembrance and meditation of the name and form that you like best, in the manner you are accustomed to. In this way, you will acquire one-pointedness (ekagrata); you will realise your heart's desire.

Through meditation, people reach the divine experience of realising the Atma within themselves. Through meditation, spiritual aspirants are able to cast off sheaths of ignorance, layer after layer. They withdraw their sense perceptions from contact with worldly objective experiences. The process that aims at this holy consummation deserves to be called meditation.

If all humanity prays at one time for unrest, injustice, disorder, and falsehood to be transformed into peace, truth, love and mutual service, things will certainly become better.

When you realise that the same Divinity resides in all, you will never be afraid of anything or anyone. The more you love your fellow beings, the greater will be your bliss and joy.

Transform your entire life into a saga of love. You will then lack nothing to make you happy. All wealth and position will be added unto you. Love conquers all.

You have to recognise that life is meant for selfless service and not to be lived for selfish purposes. Only through such service can the oneness of mankind be experienced.

Surrender does not mean that the devotee and God are different. True surrender implies the sense of oneness with God. "Without You, I cannot exist," should be the attitude of the devotee