Sri Sathya Sai International Organization

If you develop love for all beings, in the faith that God resides in all, you may be anywhere else, but your prayers would reach me and my grace will reach you.

Love must grow with every moment of spiritual practice. It must sweeten every word, deed and thought of yours. Emerge from meditation as a person more charged with love! Emerge from bhajan with a greater measure of love! Return from congregational singing with a firmer conviction that everything is surcharged with the same Divinity that is behind all your activity.

Do not count the number of bags of rice and the number of clothes that you have given away in charity to the poor. You may submit such accounts to the Income Tax Department, not to God. God wants quality, not quantity. He sees the feeling behind your acts of charity.

The best flower of all is forbearance. The possession of this flower led Dharmaraja ultimately to liberation. In spite of the troubles and travails that he encountered, he was successful in the end. His wife was humiliated in public. Everyone looked down upon the Pandavas. But Dharmaraja was unaffected. Whatever is bound to happen will happen. One has to bear all that comes one’s way.

Divinity can be attained only through pure and selfless love. You may chant hundred and eight names or thousand and eight names of God. But without selfless service, it is of no use. All these are sterile activities. Service alone is fruitful. Penance, pilgrimage, learning of the scriptures or endless chanting, none of these can help in crossing the ocean of worldly life without service to the pious. Service to your fellow-beings is equivalent to worship of God.

The five basic elements are common to all. These elements are the stuff of Nature. But in the Supreme Principle, the Divine, these do not exist. The elements are mortal. The Divine is immortal. To proceed from the mortal to the immortal, the easiest means is the cultivation of Divine Love (Prema).

You have to finally make a firm resolve "I am I." You should not identify yourself with the body and say, "I am a child," "I am a young man," "I am an old man," etc. These differences relate to the age factor. What is the next stage after old age? Nobody knows. But, "I" principle exists in the child, youth and old age. This is the fundamental and changeless principle. Therefore, when somebody enquires who you are, you reply, "I am I."

Watch the mind, just as you watch the cable through which the current flows. Do not establish contact with the mind, it is as bad as contacting the cable. Watch it from a distance. Then only can you derive bliss. Search for the cause of ignorance just where it resides. Then you will find that the mind in association with sense objects is the cause. Cut it off from the vision of sense objects, and spiritual wisdom dawns.

Purity of thought, word, and deed is true wisdom. You don't need to undertake any other spiritual practice. People undertake various spiritual practices. But they confer only temporary satisfaction. On the other hand, when you have purity of thought, word, and deed, you will experience eternal happiness.

Dasara is the festival that celebrates the victory of the forces of the good over the foes that resist the progress of man towards light. The sages who have decided on these festivals have a high purpose. They want us to imbibe the inner meaning and use each day as a step in Sadhana, as a reminder of the journey, which each person has to undertake alone to the Feet of the Lord. The forces of good are combating with the forces of evil in every living being and if they only rely on Mahashakti, the great Divine Force that fosters and fends the universe, they can easily win and reach goal.

The power of divine name is unparalleled. People often take it lightly. That is a mistake. One should not mistake a shining glass piece to be a diamond. The real diamond is altogether different. What is that diamond? ‘Die mind’. God’s name is the real diamond. Keep it safe and secure.

When some one gives you a glass of water, you say immediately, "Thank you". How much more gratitude should you evince to God who watches you and wards off all harm threatening to overwhelm you. Activity must be dedicated to God, the Highest Good. Then, it will provide health of body and mind. The body is a chariot, wherein God is installed, being taken along in procession.

Engage in activity, devote yourself in worshipful acts, do everything for the glory of God, that is far more fruitful than the 'meditation' which you are relying on. Just as a thermometer indicates the heat of the body, your talk, conduct, and behaviour indicate your mental equipment and attitudes, and show how high is the fever of worldliness that afflicts you. These have to be Satvik (pure), untinged by passion of emotions like hate or pride. Talk in peace, promoting peace in others.

Recognizing one's mother as the very embodiment of all divine forces, one must show reverence to her and treat her with love. This is the true message that this nine-night festival (the Navaratri) gives us.