Sri Sathya Sai International Organization

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.

Always be happy, smiling and loving. When you are smiling, love will automatically develop in you. You must always be smiling and cheerful.

God is not separate from you. He is not outside. He is very much within you. Therefore, you should develop a relationship of love and oneness with God. If God were separate from you, you could form a mundane relationship with Him. But He is not separate from you. He is with you, in you, around you and behind you. You cannot have worldly relationship with God, who is all-pervasive. You should strengthen the feeling “God is in me” and develop oneness with Him.

Focus your love only on God. God is present everywhere in the form of love. You should never entertain doubts in this regard. The stream of love should flow in you incessantly. Only then can you have the divine vision. No doubt, you have the desire to see God but you are not expanding your love. If you are interested, I am ready to grant you the vision of God. But you can see Him provided you cultivate true and eternal love in you.

Contemplate upon the pure thoughts in your mind. Contemplate on the Truth in you. If you really wish to know the secret of sadhana, it can be explained through very simple methods. For example, make your mind steady and still for as short a period as eleven seconds. You can attain realisation even in such a short period. Realisation cannot be achieved by becoming restless like a clock. Just eleven seconds of stillness of mind would be enough.

Meditation (Dhyana) is the process by which it (the mind) is trained to acquire concentration. As a result of meditation on the highest Atma (Paramatma), the mind will withdraw from sense objects and the sensory world. Just at that time, the intellect (Buddhi) must assert its authority and command the mind (Manas) not to entertain any feeling except the thought of the Fundamental Basis (Atma). When its basic truth is known, the mind will not be deluded by the evanescent, the untrue, and the unblissful. Instead, it will welcome the blossoming of joy, happiness, and truth, and it will not be affected by sorrow and grief.

Before you start your meditation session, chant Soham, inhaling So and exhaling Ham. Soham means ‘He is I’, it identifies you with the infinite and expands your consciousness. Harmonise breath and thought. Breathe gently, naturally; do not make it artificial and laboured. Slow breath quietens and calms the emotions. The mood of relaxation produced by this Soham recital is a precondition for a profitable session of meditation.

Keep the mind above the upper lip, between the two nostrils, right in front of the bridge of the nose. Inhale through the left nostril, closing the right with the right thumb. As the breath goes in, it utters So (meaning, He); then exhale through the right nostril, closing the left nostril. As the breath goes out, it utters ham (meaning, I). Inhale and exhale slowly and deliberately, conscious of the identity of He (the Lord) and I (yourself) which it asserts, until the breathing and the awareness grow into an unnoticed process. Keep the mind as a watchman, to note the incoming and outgoing breaths, to listen with the inner ear to the Soham that the breath whispers, and to witness the assertion of your being the Divine, which is the core of the universe.

One has to meditate on one’s own favourite name and form, with Om added. When this is being done, there should be no mental wanderings; one must be stable and quiet. No thought of past events, no trace of anger or hatred, and no memory of sorrow should be allowed to interfere. Even if they intrude, they should not be considered at all; to counteract them, entertain thoughts that will feed one’s enthusiasm for meditation.

Devotion (Bhakthi) is a word that is used only with reference to love as directed to the Lord. When this love is broken up into many streams flowing in many directions and towards many points, it causes only grief, for it gets fixed on mortal things of the moment. Instead, allow the love to flow single-pointedly to the ocean of the Lord’s grace; this is the discipline (Sadhana) called devotion (Bhakthi).

Sri Sathya Sai Baba wonderfully summarises the qualities possessed by one who is a genuine example of devotion: He must be free from anxiety and fear, pride and envy. He has four enemies that are intent on ruining him---anger, envy, hatred and the horde of desires. He regards both high and low as roles in the Divine play. When he insults or injures or rejects any one, he is, in fact, inflicting them on the God he adores.

Krishna is the embodiment of divine Love. The very word ‘Krishna’ means one who attracts: Karshatiti Krishna - ‘Krishna is one who attracts’. Krishyatiti Krishna - ‘Krishna is one who nurtures’, is another derivation of the name. This means that Lord Krishna cultivates devotees’ hearts, by removing weeds, sowing the seeds of good qualities and tending the crop of love. We can also say, Kushyatiti Krishna, meaning, ‘He who gives delight’. Krishna thus means, the one who cultivates our hearts and nurtures in them the crop of bliss.

The principal message of Krishna’s life is divine Love. This most precious divine Love is immensely powerful, resplendent and as indestructible as diamonds. In the same way that diamonds can only be cut with another diamond, if you want to experience such divine love, your love for God must be equally strong.

Krishna incarnated to establish Dharma. So, what He likes most is Dharma. Walk in the path of Dharma; that is the worship He is pleased with. The Flute is His favourite. So, like a flute, become hollow (devoid of desires) and straight (with no crookedness), and He will accept you.

What is meant by meditation? To think of God at all times and under all circumstances is true meditation. You should install God in your heart and discharge your duties with the feeling that God is the basis of everything. Only then can you be called a true devotee. Wherever you go, whatever you may do, recognise the truth that there is only one God and He is all-pervasive.

We speak often about prayer. Prayer does not mean petitioning to God. Prayer is an index of the experience of Atmic bliss. It is a means of sharing this bliss, spreading it all around, being immersed in that bliss. Prayer must come from the heart. Prayer that is not heartfelt is utterly useless. The Lord will accept a heart without words. But He will not accept words and prayers that do not come from the heart. This is why God is described as the Lord of the Heart (Hridayesa). It is only when you have faith in this that you will be able to manifest your divinity.

You must feel the pain of others as your own; you must be happy when others are happy. That is the way to realise the unity of all. Above all, be vigilant; for, the fruits of spiritual practice (Sadhana) may be destroyed by negligence. When the rains come, the earth is again green, for the seeds of grass are underground, though you thought the land was dry and fallow. Good company, good deeds, etc. (Satsang, satkarma) have to be kept up, all through life.

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.

Surrender implies that the individual will, should become one with the Divine will. Obey the Divine command implicitly without questioning. That is the sign of true devotion. Whatever God does, is for your good.

Ganapathi means the Master of Ganas. The ten senses, mind and intellect—these twelve are the Dwaadasa Adityas or twelve Ganas of which Ganapathi is the Lord. So, he resides in every person in the form of intellect and Jnana or wisdom.

Lord Vinayaka is the leader of all, He has no leaders or master. Whenever a new task is undertaken, it is customary to invoke Lord Vinayaka’s blessings for the successful completion of the task. When you pray to Him and seek His blessings, all your efforts will meet with success.

Lord Vinayaka’s elephant-head denotes that He can be compared to an elephant in intelligence, which always thinks twice before setting its foot forward. Lord Vinayaka is full of wisdom. The name Ganapati denotes that He is full of higher wisdom (Vijnana), discriminatory wisdom (Sujnana), and constant integrated awareness (Prajnana). People today forget the underlying meaning in the name Ganapati and engage themselves in mere rituals. You may not perform any rituals, but never give up worshipping Lord Vinayaka.

Vinayaka is the Lord who removes all obstacles. The elephant is noted for its acute intelligence. Ganesha's elephant head symbolises sharpness of intellect and the highest power of discrimination. In a forest, when an elephant moves through the jungle, it clears all the obstacles, and leads the way for others to follow. Likewise, worship Ganesha at the start of any activity. His Grace is sufficient to clear all the obstacles in your path and grant success in your undertakings.

True spiritual practice lies in understanding one's true identity. One should enquire, "Who am I"? All the spiritual practices are meant to make you realise who you really are. Everyone uses the term 'I' while introducing themselves. It means that the principle of 'I' (Self) present in you is the same as the one in others.

All are embodiments of the Supreme Self (Brahman). Do not belittle yourself, saying you are a mere human being based on differences of names and forms. To see diversity in unity is a sign of ignorance. Not being able to understand the truth is also ignorance.

You perform various types of spiritual practices to attain Supreme Self (Brahman). In fact, Brahman cannot be attained through such practices. Only through enquiry can you understand the principle of Brahman. Use your sense of discrimination and enquire.

All of you want bliss. If you follow Me, you will be always in a state of bliss. In fact, bliss is in you, with you, around you, above you, and below you. You are the embodiment of bliss.

You are the embodiment of Supreme Self (Brahman). Consider yourself as Brahman. Always live in the constant awareness, “I am Brahman, I am Brahman.” When you develop this awareness, you will become Brahman.

Pure vision leads to pure thoughts. Pure thoughts result in pure actions. Purity in action is essential for human existence. Purity in thoughts and purity in speech must lead to purity in deeds. This is the triple purity hailed by the sages. When this purity is manifest, human life gets redeemed. The principle of ‘Help ever, hurt never’ becomes the governing principle of daily life.

One who aspires to realise the principle of the Self and teach the same to others should first of all develop purity of heart. One who lacks purity of heart is not eligible to realise the Self and teach the same to others. The principle of the Self cannot be attained merely by education, scholarship and intelligence. Purity of heart is of utmost importance for this.

What is wisdom? Purity of thought, word and deed is true wisdom. Your body, mind and actions must be pure. On this basis it is said, “The proper study of mankind is man.” It means that the unity of thought, word and deed is true humanness.