Thought for the Day

1.It is quite a common occurrence that stories of the Divine are narrated and heard by gatherings of thousands. But Jnana (wisdom) can be achieved only by placing complete faith in what is heard. That faith must result in a cleansed mind, a pure heart. Whoever listens to the Lord's narrative and imbibes the nectar therein with a heart bubbling over with yearning for the Divine, with unshakeable faith in God, they will attain constant joy and Self-realisation. This is beyond the realm of doubt.

2.Eyes and ears that seek evil, tongue that craves to malign, nose that enjoys the foul, and hands that delight in wickedness—these must be totally avoided. Whoever has any of these must correct them immediately. Or else, one’s future is bound to be disastrous. The wrongs of the five indriyas (senses) will result in the destruction of the five pranas (vital energies) and the killing of the five koshas (sheaths of existence). Of course, the senses yield momentary pleasure and joy but, as the saying goes, “senility lies in wait.” Sensual pleasures bring about great grief quite soon.

3.Liberation is the realisation of awareness, achievement of oneness with the Divine. Each and every living being has to attain this consummation, this goal - the Brahman. That is its true destination. Some day or the other, the urge to win release from the shackles of grief and joy, and the bonds of “I” and “mine” will awaken and emerge. The path that is taken then inevitably leads to freedom (moksha). Seeking that path is the sign of the intelligent person. Instead of this search, when one considers the objective world as all-important and feels drawn toward its charm, life is barren and is of no consequence.

4.Each one of you require faith in yourselves, more than most other qualities. The absence of self-confidence marks the beginning of one’s decline. Today, the world is facing ruin and disaster because people have lost confidence in themselves. Self-confidence alone is capable of granting peace and prosperity to each and every person. If you cultivate self-confidence, you will receive kindness everywhere. You will be honoured in all places. Whatever you touch, will become gold!

5.Those who are intent on sensory pleasures spend their days in worry, anxiety, pain, grief and tears throughout a long period of life; they breed like birds and beasts. They eat good food and cast it away as waste. This is the purposeless life that most people lead. Can you call this the process of living? Enormous numbers of living beings exist on the earth. Living is not enough. It has no value by itself, for itself. One can be considered to be alive only if the motives, feelings, thoughts, and attitudes that prompt a person reveal the divine qualities within.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Correct vision will reveal to us unity in diversity

When the cause is known, one can know all its consequences. The entire universe was formed from the five primordial elements (prapancha), and is a projection by the Divine Will. It is a consequence of the Will of God (Bhagavath-Sankalpa). God is the cause of all creation. Correct vision will reveal to us unity in diversity; one’s limited intelligence cannot unravel it. With distorted vision (ku-darshan), one sees only the name and form, the appearances, and therefore gets deluded and confounded. One gets tossed by likes and dislikes, pleasure and pain, elation and depression. One is aware only of the unreal which appears in diverse names and forms. Correct vision (Su-darshan) makes you see the One in the many. It reveals unity in diversity and confers supreme delight.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

What deform your character? and how to overcome it !

Envy expands the string of mischief it plays on people. It makes one revel in scandalising others. This evil today is widespread among the youth. It comes naturally to them, for it is a sign of ignorance. To get rid of this habit, you must devote some time, early in the day and before retiring for sleep, in exploring the mind and examining faults that have secured foothold therein. You must pray to God to save you from this tendency. When once you have won the Grace of God, you can be rest assured that such absurdities will not deform your character!

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

There is no greater spiritual practice than singing His Glory

Those who listen to the narration of the Lord with earnest devotion (and not just hear casually) and not only reflect upon its value and significance but also act according to the light it sheds on their minds will merge in the Bliss of the Lord. Their hearts will be filled with the sweet nectar of the personification of His captivating charm. They will experience the Adwaitha Ananda, the Bliss of being one with Him. To attain this fruit, the highest Sadhana (spiritual exercise) is the recitation of the Name of God with full vigilance of thought, feeling and utterance (mano-vaak-kaya) and the loud singing of His Glory. There is no greater spiritual practice than singing His Glory.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Darkness can never remove darkness

Your desires - wants, longings, resolutions, and wishes - are multiplied and prompted by our activities (karma). The initial impulse for desire is ignorance of the reality (ajnana). If so, then naturally the doubt arises as to how the consciousness that is unaware can transform itself into the consciousness that is aware (jnana)? Darkness can never remove darkness. So too, ignorance can never destroy ignorance. It can be accomplished only by spiritual wisdom (jnana), which is, Awareness of the Truth. This is the dictum promulgated by Adi Sankara. The world today very much needs this harmony and awareness.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Be happy when you see others prosper, share your joy with others

1.Discover for yourself your stage of spiritual development, to which class in the school you would fit in. Then determine to proceed from that grade to the next higher one. Strive your best and you will win the Grace of God. Do not bargain or despair. One step at a time is enough, provided it is towards the goal, not away from it. Beware of the pride of wealth, scholarship, status, that drag you into egoism. Do not seek the faults of others; look for your own. Be happy when you see others prosper, share your joy with others.

2.You must exercise constant watchfulness over your feelings and reactions, and endeavour to keep out selfishness, envy, anger, greed and other such evil tendencies from entering your minds. These are nets which entrap you; these vices overwhelm and subdue your holiness, so that you cannot be influenced any longer. Then you forget yourself and behave like another worse individual, a person caught in frenzy. You blabber as your tongue dictates, without regard to the effect—good or evil, and engage your hands in work that it favours. Be aware and keep them in control! If you carefully discriminate, you can be recognised by the good company you keep, the noble works you delight in and the pleasant words you utter.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

The sweetness of the cuckoo is bitter to the ear of the crow

When the good are happy and living in peace, the bad cannot tolerate it; they develop intense headache! Unless the wicked contemplate on the loss and hardships that the good undergo, they are never happy! The problems suffered by the good is the gain of evil minds. The sweetness of the cuckoo is bitter to the ear of the crow. The Kauravas tried their best to create dissension among the Pandava brothers and spread heinous scandals. But the five Pandavas respected Truth and abided by it, and so, nothing could separate them. No event could make a dent on the happiness of the five brothers.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Be aware

1.Each one of you should transform yourself into a Sumathi (a person with a good mind). You must avoid turning into a durmathi (an individual with perverted and polluted intelligence). A huge heap of fuel can be reduced to ashes by a tiny spark of fire. A drop of poison can render a pot of milk totally undrinkable. Envy and hatred are the sparks that destroy the cluster of virtues in you. Be aware!

2.Brahman (Divinity) cannot be comprehended by means of proofs or arguments. It is beyond reason and calculation. It is indefinable, cannot be pronounced as being such or so, for this reason or that. It is immeasurable (aprameya) by time and space. The usual evidences for truth are direct perception (pratyaksha) and inferential perception (anumaana). But Brahman cannot be cognized by these two means. The sages experienced it and expressed this in the scriptures, and these Holy Texts themselves are the proof. The Word or Shabdha is the firmest testament for the existence of Brahman.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

God has no bondage to time and space

1.You must learn to be happy and filled with joy when others are acclaimed as good and are respected for their virtues and the ideals they hold dear. You must cultivate broad outlook and purity of motives, and also must be ever vigilant such that the demon of envy does not possess you. This demon of jealousy is certain to destroy all that is precious within you. It will even ruin your health and damage your digestive system. It will rob you your sleep and sap your physical and mental stamina, ultimately reducing you to the state of chronic illness. Hence, if someone is praised and you desire it, you must resolve to emulate those who do better than you and earn equal appreciation. You must strive to acquire knowledge, skills and experience as much as others. That is the proper ambition you must have.

2.God does not incarnate merely for the destruction of the wicked. Truly speaking, God incarnates primarily for the sustenance of the faithful, the devoted, the virtuous and the good. But even the faithless and the bad, use the chance for their own purpose. In the Bhagavatha, stories of wicked persons intervene amidst the accounts of the Glory and Grace of God. These stories do not make the Bhagavatha any less holy. When the sweet juice has been squeezed out of the sugarcane, the bagasse is discarded. When the sweetness of Divine Majesty has been tasted, the pulp can be thrown out. The cane has both bagasse and sugar; it cannot be only sugar. So too, devotees have to be amidst the faithless; they cannot be without the others.

3.The apparently moving (chara) and unmoving (achara), the active and inert, are both willed by the Divine. That Divine Will is a conscious act (chetana); it is not a form of inertness (achetana). Whatever arguments and counter-arguments are advanced by any person, the truth that Divine Will is the root of everything stands unshakable. People who argue about this either are deluded by appearances or are only trying to bolster up their pet fancies, avoiding deeper probes. -

4.Praising oneself and condemning others are equally dangerous. Attempting to hide one’s meanness and wickedness, and putting on the mask of goodness, justifying one’s faults and exaggerating one’s attainments - these are also poisonous traits. Equally evil is the habit of ignoring the good in others and assiduously seeking only their faults. Never speak words that demean the other. When we are friendly with another and like them very much, whatever he/she does is certain to strike us as good. When the wind changes and the same person is disliked, even the good he/she does appears to us as bad. Both these reactions are misconceived. They are not commendable at all.

5.God has no bondage to time and space. For Him, all beings are the same. He is the master of the living and the non-living. At the conclusion of every aeon, the process of involution is completed in the Pralaya (Great Deluge). Then, evolution starts again as Lord Brahma, the Creator creates beings again. He enlightens everyone with a spark of His own Glory and fosters every one of them on the path of fulfilment as Lord Vishnu. He, as Lord Siva, concludes the process by the destruction of all. Thus, you can see that there is no limit to His might; no end to His potency. There can be no boundaries for His achievements.

6.The blind cannot be saved by one who has no eyes; the destitute cannot be helped by the impoverished. How can a person who is needy and helpless remove the poverty, suffering, and pain of another? The poor must approach the affluent, the wealthy. The blind must seek the guidance of a person who can see. One who is bound and blinded by the dualities of creation has to take refuge in the inexhaustible treasure of compassion, power, and wisdom, namely, the Divine Atma. Then, one can get rid of the destitution of grief, revel in the wealth of spiritual bliss, and attain the goal of human existence. This consummation is won through the Grace of the Lord.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Story of the Lord is an enchanting treasure

1.We may not always be able to know the reasons for our faith. It originates and is shaped by our personal likes and dislikes, our dominant feelings. But we must not become the target for anger, hatred, jealousy and the evil deeds they lead us into. We must cultivate broad, inclusive feelings. Only then are you entitled to acquire Vidya (higher learning), and you will earn respect in society. You must keep far away from narrow selfish thoughts, feelings and plans.

2.Withdraw your mind from worldly thoughts and fix it on the Name of the Lord, Hari, who charms all hearts. Listen to the wisdom of the Divine, the Bhagavatha Thathwa with all your heart. There is no activity holier than that. There can be no greater spiritual exercise or discipline or vow. The human body is a worthy boat. The story of Lord Hari is the rudder in this world of constant change. Lord Hari is the boatman who will safely ferry you across Samsara, the sea of birth and death.

3.The root cause of all anxieties and calamities of man is envy. We can find from the Bhagavad Gita that Krishna warns Arjuna repeatedly to be free from this negative trait. Envy is invariably accompanied by hatred. These two are twin villains. They are poisonous pests. They attack the very roots of one’s personality. A tree may be resplendent with flowers and fruits. But when the inimical worms set to work on the roots, imagine what happens to the splendour! Even as we look on admiringly at its beauty, the flowers fade, the fruits fall off and the leaves turn yellow and are scattered by the wind. At last, the tree itself dries up, it dies and falls. So too, when envy and hatred infect the heart and set to work, h owever intelligent and highly educated the individual may be, he falls. He is turned into an enemy of society. He becomes the target of ridicule because he is no longer human!

4.Today, the experience and wisdom of great seers who have unveiled the mystery of the cosmos and their feelings of universal love are not appreciated, accepted, and respected. All religious dogmas, except a few, can easily be harmonized and reconciled. The same God is extolled and adored under various names through varied ceremonial rituals in many religions. In every age, for every race, God has sent prophets to establish peace and goodwill. Presently, many religions have spread far and wide across the world and have lost fraternal feelings over time. There is an urgent need for harmony. All great people are images of God. There is only one single caste in the realm of God and all belong to one nation, the Divine Fellowship. You must interest yourself in understanding the practices and beliefs of the others. Only then you can, with cleansed mind and loving heart, attain the Divine Presence.

5.No enemy can be as insidious as jealousy. When one sees a person more powerful or knowledgeable, or with greater reputation, wealth or beauty, or even wearing better clothing, one is afflicted with jealousy. You may find it difficult to acknowledge and accept the situation. Your mind may seek means to demean and lower them in the estimation of people. Such propensities and evil tendencies should never strike root in your minds. You must be careful such that your character is not polluted.

6.The story of the Lord is an enchanting treasure. Store His story in your memory and save yourself from delusion and grief. You may have listened to the recitals of all shastras (scriptures) and mastered all sadhanas (spiritual practices). But the greatest of them all is the sacred Name of the Lord and the sweetness that it oozes. When His Name falls on the ear, your heart will be filled with joy. When you recall His Name, a stream of Love will spring forth from your heart.

7.Love for the Divine Self is primary; while for other worldly objects or persons is secondary. Worldly love for another person cannot be termed as genuine love. The Jagath (cosmos) or the Prapancha (five-element composite) emanated from the Brahman (God). There is no spot in the Universe where the Divine is not manifest. The cosmos is ever in movement and the Lord of the Cosmos (Jagadiswara) is the mover. Love for the Divine Self is the source of all worldly love. The Upanishads clearly proclaim that when you love the Divine Self, it brings everyone nearer and dearer to you (Atmanastu Kaamaaya Sarvam Priyam Bhavati).

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba