Thought for the Day

1.The sea of life (samsara), turbulent with the waves of joy and misery, can be crossed only by those who have an unflinching desire for the essence of bliss. The capacity to overcome the qualities (gunas) of Nature (prakriti) is not inherent in everyone; it comes to one with the grace of the Lord. And that grace is to be won by repetition of the divine name and meditation. This must first be clearly understood: it is impossible for everyone to control the tendencies of Nature; this power is possessed only by those who have Nature in their grip and whose commands Nature obeys.

2.Just as soap is necessary to make this external body clean, repetition of the divine name, meditation, and remembrance of God (smarana) are needed to cleanse the interior mind. Just as food and drink are needed to keep the body strong, contemplation of the Lord and meditation on the Atma (Soul) are needed to strengthen the mind. Without this food and drink, the mind will just stumble this way and that. When the waves of desire agitate the waters of the mind, how can one see the base, the Atma? So, clean the mind with contemplation of the Lord. Feed it with meditation on the Atma. Only meditation and spiritual practice (sadhana) can clean the depths of the mind and give it strength. Without purity and strength, the Atma recedes into the distance and peace diminishes.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba