Sri Sathya Sai International Organization

Fear of sin, love of God---these two endow man with peace and joy, save him from sorrow and grant him aanandha (bliss).

Love all beings - that is enough. Love with no expectation of return. Love for the sake of love. Love because your very nature is love. Love because that is the form of Worship you know and like. When others are happy, be happy likewise. When others are in misery, try to alleviate their lot to the best of your ability. Practise Love through selfless service (Seva). By this means, you will realise Unity and get rid of the ego that harms.

Do all acts as offerings to God; do not classify some as ‘my work’ and some as ‘His work.’ All work is His; He inspires, He helps, He executes, He enjoys, He is pleased, He reaps, He sowed. He alone exists, for all this manifoldness is but He, seen through the mirror of Nature! Everything is for the attainment of the Supreme to be utilised for that high purpose. Nothing is to be used as itself, for itself. For Sai devotees (Sai Bhaktas), this is the only proper way of life.

Your life is a long journey. You should have less luggage (desires) in this long journey of life. Therefore, it is said: less luggage more comfort makes travel a pleasure. So, ceiling on desires is what you have to adopt today. You have to cut short your desires day by day. You are under the mistaken notion that happiness lies in the fulfillment of desires. But, in fact, happiness begins to dawn when desires are totally eradicated.

Consider mother as God; consider father as God; consider preceptor as God. Speak the truth; act righteously; do not adopt other ways.

Be always saturated with love (Prema); do not use poisonous words against anyone, for, words wound more fatally than even arrows. Speak soft and sweet; sympathise with suffering and loss and ignorance; try your best to apply the salve of soothing words and timely succour. Do not damage the faith of anyone in virtue and divinity. Encourage others to have that faith by demonstrating in your own life that virtue is its own reward, that divinity is all-pervasive and all-powerful.

You should not be weak; be brave and welcome troubles. It is only with such a courageous attitude that you would be able to bring out the forbearance (Kshama) hidden within you. It is only your own tenacity and firm determination that will help you cultivate this virtue. You must be resolute and ready to face any difficulty in the quest of your goal. Life is a challenge; meet it!

When you get rid of the five evils associated with the pollution of speech, sight, hearing, thought and action, you will be able to realise your own Divinity and become a Supreme Soul (Paramatma). If the senses are fed with polluted food, you cannot become pure merely by taking milk and fruit. You must partake of pure Satvic food through all the five sense organs.

Always love and follow only truth; falsehood is never beneficial.

Where there is Self-confidence, there is truth. Where there is truth, there is bliss. Where there is bliss, there is peace. Where there is peace, there is God. Hence you must cultivate Self-confidence.

The body is the temple of God; God is installed in everybody, whether the owner of the body recognises it or not. It is God that inspires you to good acts, that warns you against the bad. Listen to that Voice. Obey that Voice and you will not come to any harm.

Anxiety is removed by faith in the Lord; the faith that tells you that whatever happens is for the best and that the Lord’s Will be done. Quiet acceptance is the best armour against anxiety, not the acceptance of the heroic. Sorrow springs from egoism, the feeling that you do not deserve to be treated so badly, that you are left helpless. When egoism goes, sorrow disappears. Ignorance is just a mistake, mistaken identity of the body as the Self!

Whoever you criticize or praise, it reaches God. When you criticize God, you cannot escape the consequences. Hence, never criticize.

Each one should ask themself this question: Great souls (Mahatmas) and outstanding sages were also people like me; they were also embodied beings. If they could attain perfection, so can I, if I follow their method.