Thought for the day

Brahman (God) is full of love and, in fact, is the embodiment of love. Your love should merge with this love. In fact, there is only one and no second; it is the non-dual state. The essential nature of love is sacrifice. Under any circumstance, it does not give room for hatred. It is love that drives away the feeling of separateness and promotes the feeling of oneness. Love also raises a person from the animal to the human. Prema (Love) is the Prana (Life Force) of man, and the Prana itself is Prema. One without love is like a lifeless corpse. Love and life are therefore inter-related and intimately connected.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Bab

One faith should not be considered superior and another inferior.

When there is a downpour, the water that comes down is pure. The rain falls on mountains, plains and valleys. According to the region through which the rain water passes, its name and form undergoes changes. But due to these variations, it should not be thought that the water itself is different. Based on the teachings of the founders of different faiths, having regard to the requirements of the time and circumstance of particular countries, and keeping in view the specific needs of the people concerned, certain rules and regulations were laid down. On this account, one faith should not be considered superior and another inferior. Man's primary duty is to bear in mind the sacred truths they espouse and practise them in his life.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

How is happiness to be achieved?

Man should bring under his control the source of pleasure and pain. More than pleasure, it is pain that awakens the wisdom in man. If you study the lives of great men, you will find that it is out of trouble and pain that they derived wisdom. Without sorrow, there can be no wisdom. It is pain that teaches many lessons to man. Not realizing this profound truth, man pursues pleasure endlessly. No doubt, man needs to be happy. But how is happiness to be achieved? It is only when sorrow is overcome that man realizes happiness. Hence everyone should welcome sorrow in the same spirit in which he greets happiness. Pain and pleasure are intermingled. No one can separate them. Pleasure is never found separately by itself. When one is relieved of pain, one experiences pleasure.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Realise the Truth

Though axed and maimed by man, trees selflessly serve him by providing him fruits and shade. Rivers carry water to quench man's thirst and to cleanse his body. The cow also selflessly serves man by providing milk. Man should, in the first place, realize the truth that he has been endowed with the human body not for seeking his selfish ends but for serving others. Since man has gained his wealth, knowledge and skills from society, he has to discharge his debt to society by doing some good in return. A man without this supreme virtue of gratitude is worse than a cruel animal; his education and skills are a sheer waste. It is indeed by serving society that these acquire splendour and significance.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Any Mighty task can be achieved by chanting the Divine Name

Any mighty task can be achieved by chanting the Divine Name. For spiritual practices like meditation and penance, a specific time and place are required. But for chanting the Divine Name, no such restriction need be followed. Wherever you are, whatever you may be doing, you can chant the Divine Name. Sarvada Sarva Kaleshu Sarvatra Hari Chintanam (everywhere, at all times and under all circumstances, contemplate on God).

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Evil scenes give rise to evil thoughts. Good scenes evoke good thoughts.

For transforming one's life, the first requisite is proper vision. This means that one should avoid seeing what is undesirable. Having been bestowed with the great gift of vision, one should strive to see only that which is sacred and pure. What man sees is like seeds sown in the heart. The heart determines the nature of one’s thoughts. The thoughts influence one's life. Evil scenes give rise to evil thoughts. Good scenes evoke good thoughts. When sacred scenes are implanted in the heart, there will be no room for bad feelings or thoughts to grow in it.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

The unseen Atmic principle alone is true and eternal

Tell me your company and I shall tell you what you are. When you associate yourself with ephemeral things, the results also are bound to be so. You should develop friendship with Divinity, which alone is true and eternal. Divinity is very much present in you. The external world is subject to change. The world is nothing but a combination of matter. Everything in this world is transitory. Nothing is permanent. The unseen Atmic principle alone is true and eternal.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Realise the higher purpose of life......

Every man and every living being aspires to attain peace and happiness. People pursue various paths to experience the everlasting bliss. Everyone aspires to know the objective of life. But they are not able to succeed in their endeavour. One in a million will persist with strong determination and will not give up till he realises the goal. Ordinary mortals will not make any efforts in this direction as they think it is something beyond their reach. They spend their lives in the pursuit of physical and ephemeral pleasures. They are under the delusion that food, raiment and shelter are the three main objectives of human life. They fail to realise that there is a higher purpose in life than this.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Understand the Truth

You are born again and again, seeing, doing and experiencing what you have already seen, done, and experienced. You should realise that you are born not to be born again. You should see and experience that by which your life will find fulfilment. Once you have experienced the Atma, you do not need to experience anything else. That is the oneness of Atmic principle. In order to experience this eternal principle, you should give up body attachment and understand the truth that the Atma in you is the same as the one in others.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

For the little sweetness that material objects give, Brahman (Divinity), the ocean of nectar is the cause. Association with the knowers of Brahman, discussion with them on the nature of the Absolute in a spirit of humility and earnestness, a thirst for realising the Reality, unwavering Prema (love) towards the Lord - these are characteristics of those established on the path of spirituality. Such people will not be affected by praise or derision, joy or sorrow, honour or dishonour, heat or cold, etc. They will tread the path of liberation free from all attachment.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

True Happiness

We see various objects in this world and are deluded that they are permanent. It is a grave mistake. Whatever is seen by the eyes is impermanent. Even our body is seen by the eyes; hence, it is also not permanent. It is a sign of ignorance to identify oneself with the body. For ages, man has been under the delusion that physical and ephemeral objects will give him happiness. True happiness results when man recognises the underlying eternal principle of Atma in this ephemeral world.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Speak Good Words. Perform meritorious deeds. Lead a sacred life

Do not lead a pompous life. Adambara (pomposity) is the root cause of Ashanti (restlessness). Give up Adambara and strive to attain Ananda (bliss). True bliss cannot be acquired from outside; it lies in your heart. In fact, bliss pervades the entire world. Your mental perversions are responsible for seeing evil in it. Hence, purify your mind. Only then can you become a true human being. Perform meritorious deeds. Speak good words. Lead a sacred life. In this manner, you can find fulfilment in life.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Never deal forcibly with the mind

Treat your mind as a little boy. Bring up this boy lovingly so that it becomes wiser day by day. Caress it in to good ways making it aware that objects which are seen are products of one's illusion. Remove all its fears and foibles. Focus its attention on the Ultimate Goal only. Never deal forcibly with the mind. It will yield only to tenderness and patient handling. Correct its waywardness by inculcating the attitude of renunciation.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Turn your attention inwrds, away from the external world

Destroy Ajnana (ignorance) by means of instruction in the knowledge of the Atma. Strengthen the interest you are already endowed with towards the realisation of Brahman (God). Give up the attraction for evanescent and the false, the mirages created by fancy and fantasy. Turn your attention inwards, away from the external world.
Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

The primary duty of man is to understand his true nature

Sath-Chith-Ananda (being-awareness-bliss) is the very nature of man. But man has forgotten his true nature and is wasting his time in the vain pursuit of fleeting pleasures. He is not able to realise the value of his innate nature. Once he realises its value and experiences it, he can reach an exalted state. In fact, he becomes verily God. Man can accomplish any mighty task when he realises his innate divinity. But man is not making any effort in this direction. He has become a slave to his senses, and is wasting his time on trivial matters. The primary duty of man therefore is to understand his true nature and put it into practice.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

The Best Way to Love God is to Love all and Serve all

The service activities that you perform and the Bhajans that you sing will not suffice by themselves. You should first give up the feeling that you are serving others. That is very important. You are serving your own self when you serve others. You should consider all as yours. In fact, all beings are but the very forms of God. Hence, service rendered to humanity is service rendered to God. All service activities are meant to foster this feeling in you. You should plunge into the field of service with selfless love. The best way to love God is to love all and serve all. Your acts of service should be suffused with the spirit of love. Without the positive aspect of love, all the service you render becomes negative in nature.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

Be devoted to Me and receive grace from Me. To the extent to which you enthusiastically intensify and quicken this process of surrender, to that extent you will be successful and happy. Deliver all your anxieties, troubles, travails and desires to Me and in return receive joy, peace and strength from Me.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Divinity pervades every inch, every cell and every atom of your Body

Whatever activity you undertake, dedicate it to God. All the powers in your body are the gifts of God. In fact, divinity pervades every inch, every cell and every atom of your body. If you waste such a divine power, it amounts to sacrilege. Dedicate your body, mind and intellect, in fact, everything of yours, to God. Wherever you are, in whatever circumstances you are placed in, do not ever forget God. Sarvada Sarvakaleshu Sarvatra Hari Chintanam (Everywhere, at all times, under all circumstances contemplate on God).

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba