Thought for the Day

1.Sath means God. You should have the company of God or proximity to God (sathsang). Chith is awareness. The combination of Sath and Chith gives Ananda (divine bliss). It is said that the essence of all scriptures is paropakaraya punyaya, papaya parapeedanam. We generally think paropakara means helping others. But here Para means God, upa means near, and kara means do or make efforts. The import is that you should make efforts to be near God. papaya parapeedanam means to see the many in One is sin. Therefore you have to see the One in many, or unity in diversity.

2.The correct thing to do is to perceive the Atma (Divine Self) in each and everyone, and help ever and hurt never. See Divinity in all and do sacred activities. If you are unable to help, atleast do no harm. Being bound to the world with attachment to worldly objects is the wrong path. Instead take the positive approach of turning towards Divinity. The difference lies only in turning your mind. Turn to the world, you get bound; turn to God, you get liberated. God is without birth and death, and is an eternal witness; you must strive hard to earn the love of God. One who receives the love of God will earn the love of all. If you realise that Love is God, you will not get attached to worldly things.

3.In a game of football, the players on either side continue to kick the ball till it is sent to the goal. They must see to it that the ball does not go beyond the two posts that define the goal. The goal of life too consists of two posts: secular and spiritual. You are born as a human with the goal of not being born again. You must live within the frames of secular and spiritual pursuits. The six bad qualities — lust, anger, greed, desire, pride and jealousy are on one side, and the good qualities — truth, right conduct, peace, love, nonviolence and sacrifice are on the other side. The game is between these two teams. If you tread along the divine path you can experience peace, and also share it with others. Then you will be liberated.

4.People may act as they please, but they cannot escape from the consequences of their actions; be it a simpleton or a great person. Let no one be under the illusion that one can commit sin and go scot-free. Wherever you go, the results of your actions will follow you like your shadow. God is always by your side saying “Tathastu! Tathastu!” (so shall it be!). People do not take cognisance of this truth and indulge in wicked deeds. Despite knowing pretty well what is good and what is bad, many struggle to give up their evil ways. You may do a number of good actions, yet you cannot escape from the consequences of your past deeds. Bear this truth always in mind. To avoid unpleasant consequences, always enquire before undertaking any activity whether it is good or bad. But you may wonder, if there is any way to escape from the consequences of karma (action s). Yes, it is possible for those who earn the grace of God.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Stop Worrying

1.All of you are embodiments of Divinity; your forms are Divine; you are not different from God. Experience this unity which is the Truth. God is not separate from you, but is manifest in you. Unfortunately, you tend to forget this truth, which amounts to forgetting everything. Meditate upon your reality and always remember this fact: “Wherever I am, I am always Divine”. Hold firmly to this belief. This is the truth contained in the scriptural proclamation Tat Twam Asi. Seeing God as Rama, krishna or Swami is nothing but a mere dream. As long as you are in sleep, the dream appears real. The moment you wake up, the experience vanishes.Therefore firmly establish yourself in the truth – Tat Twam Asi (That thou art).

2.Follow your conscience. Wherever you go and whatever you do, you may think none has noticed it, but God knows, for He is in your heart. People worry about petty temporary things that are like passing clouds and falter in faith and devotion. This is not correct. You should never give up devotion. Your good work will beget God's grace without fail. Sin or merit comes only from your own deeds, not from outside. If you spend your time thinking of God and chanting His name, you will never come to grief. Follow the dictum, Sathyam vada, Dharmam chara (speak the truth, practice righteousness) and you are bound to be successful always. Truth is common to all countries and all times. If you follow truth, which is verily God, you will invariably do only righteous acts. Divine love will flow to you and ensure you are always doing sacred work.

3.Many people undertake Sadhana (spiritual exercises) in order to realise Divinity. But if they don't understand human qualities, all the efforts become exercises in futility. Without learning the alphabets, how can one pick up the meaning and usage of words, phrases and sentences? Human Values are the basic alphabets of spirituality. Develop human values and unflinching faith in the Divine. Master this and your Sadhana will be effective. You should also understand that there is no pleasure without pain and pain is only an interval between two pleasures. Whenever you have an unpleasant experience you should have the firm faith that it is for something good that you will be enjoying in the near future; and therefore stop worrying.

4.God is within you in the form of conscience; follow your conscience. Some do not do so because of their attachment to the body. You have been endowed with the precious gift of the body with the sense organs to discharge your duties in the world and to do Sathkarma (good deeds). Always do things that are acceptable to God. Just as the same electric current passes through all electric gadgets of various types and sizes, so also Atma (Divine Self) is common in all beings. Stars are many, sky is one; cows are of many colours, milk is white; jewels are many, gold is one; beings are many, breath is one; countries are many, earth is one. Make efforts to comprehend that Oneness, the unity in diversity.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

1.At times, your mind may wander to a multitude of things, refusing to remain focused on God. Like the fly that goes everywhere but avoids the fire, the mind flees from all thoughts of God. The fly will be destroyed if it goes into the fire; the wavering mind is also vanquished, when it dwells on God. Let the Name of God, Rama enter your mind, and kaama (desire) will be destroyed. Desire ceases to exist in a mind where God resides. Make your own heart a Prashanthi Nilayam, an abode of peace. This transformation must begin now: analyse your words, deeds, and thoughts and get rid of those that harm you and others. Then, cultivate instead, fortitude (sahana), peacefulness (Shaanthi) and Truth (Sathya).

2.During the ten days of the Dussera festival, the rakshasas or demons, were destroyed. Rakshasas are not demonic beings but people’s bad qualities such as arrogance and negative thinking. When the Lord metes out a punishment, it may appear harsh. The penalty depends on the time, place and the circumstances in which the Lord acts. Butter can be cut with a finger, but a hammer is needed to break a piece of iron. The Lord deals with sattwic (peaceful) people in a sattwic way and uses rajasic (excitable) means against a rajasic person. Fearful forms and qualities have been attributed to the Divine, but this is not correct. The Divine has only one attribute: Love. Love is God and it pervades the Cosmos. View the world through the eyes of love and you will experience bliss.

3.The term Devi represents the Divine power, which has taken a mighty form to suppress the forces of evil and protect righteousness. Whenever the forces of injustice and selfishness grow to frightening proportions, and when people have lost all sense of compassion, God assumes a form of Sakthi (the female divine principle), to destroy the rampant evil. Develop good qualities and cultivate love among the people. Spiritual festivals are meant to promote divine love in us. It is to confer such love on the people that the Lord incarnates on earth. He showers His love on everyone and teaches us how to love. Experience this love and joy in your life and live in peace.

4.Love is the most important factor in life. If you pray to God with intense love and devotion, your prayers will certainly be answered. Such is the power of love. Devoid of love one cannot achieve anything, even in this mundane world. Love is God, live in love! The whole universe becomes a vacuum without love. Realise this truth! There is no greater power than humanness in this world. All that we experience in the outside world is only a reaction, reflection and resound of the inner being. Let the flame of your love be steady, and unwavering. There is no greater sadhana (spiritual practice) than love. That is the spiritual practice you have to adopt at all times. Divinity is omnipresent. Practise Divine Love, so you can realize the omnipresent Divinity within your own self

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

1.You may think that you are enjoying the pleasures, but really speaking it is the pleasures that are enjoying you. They sap your energies, dry up your discrimination, consume your allotted years, and infest your mind with egoism, envy, malice, hatred, greed and lust. The scriptures teach that it is important to remove these weeds from the garden of the heart; and in the grounds thus cleared, one must plant the saplings of Prema (love) and cultivate the fruit bearing trees of Dharma (virtue). Many who claim to revere the Vedas and Shaastras (scriptures) are not practising what they preach. Never plunge into action spurred by impulses; ponder deeply over the pros and cons, and then act so that you escape pain and also do not inflict it on others. This is true in worldly as well as spiritual matters.

2.Mahatma Gandhi looked upon India as one country and planted the seed of unity between faiths and communities. This quickly grew, under his guidance into a big tree. He built a great spiritual movement on the basis of Atmabalam (soul-force) that strengthened the people’s unity and self-esteem. While the freedom movement was alive, the selfishness that had held back progress in material, moral, political and spiritual fields, was suppressed. And though the people suffered, it was but a prelude to their success. Sathyagraha is the path of Truth and Love - of the means being as pure as the ends. Gandhi could mould the people of this land and be hailed as the Father of the Nation as he was humble enough to accept criticism gratefully and learn from others.

3.In this age of Kali, human beings move around like cruel beasts. Compassion is vanishing and ostentation is the order of the day. People claim to love God, but hardly one in a million actually does so. To deride God during times of adversity and to praise Him when all goes well, is not real love for the Divine. Divine love does not flinch in the face of difficulties, nor does it gloat over prosperity; it remains equally serene come what may. Life is full of transient ups and downs, but true love should remain unaffected by this. As long as you are full of hatred, the world too will appear so. It is only when you develop love, the dualism of good and evil can be transcended and you can experience the joy of oneness with the Divine.

4.You are aware that fire is created when one stick is rubbed vigorously against another. Is it friction between the two sticks that produces the fire? No! Fire is latent in the wood and emerges from rubbing the sticks together. The fire hidden imperceptibly in the wood, is made manifest by sadhana (the process of rubbing the sticks). The wooden sticks symbolise the inert human body, in which the fire of divine wisdom (Jnana) is ever present in subtle form. Divine power pervades every part of your body. You should put it to proper use and become a treasure-house of good conduct and pure qualities. Then depending on the state of purity of the temple of your body, the divine power will manifest in you.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

1.The senses are extrovert by nature and so they drag the ignorant perpetually towards external objects. Hence the spiritual aspirant, endowed with discrimination and renunciation, must suppress the outbursts of the senses, just as the charioteer wielding the whip and the reins does to the raging steeds. Uncontrolled senses cause great harm. But before using concentration and meditation to control them, cultivate good habits. Concentration must have Sathwa-guna (pure qualities) as its basis. The mind has to be purified by proper treatment of the character through good habits. Concentration has to follow this purification process, not precede it. Else the whole effort would be futile. Many great people have ruined their careers by aspiring for concentration without the discipline of good habits.

2.Upasana means the acquisition of the Divine presence and the achievement of the bliss of adoration. Vedic tradition sanctions four paths as legitimate and fruitful to win this achievement: Sathyavathi, Angavathi, Anyavathi and Nidaanavathi. We shall consider the path of Sathyavathi today. The scripture defines the Divine thus: Sarva vyaapinam aatmaanam, ksheere sarpith iva arpitham - the Atma is immanent everywhere just as ghee permeates every drop of milk. When the seeker pursues the Truth with this conviction, his spiritual practices are called Sathyavathi (Truth-based). The Lord declares, “In My latent form, I am in the entire Creation, operating the mystery. See in Me all and see all as Me.” The Lord promises this vision of immanence and transcendence to whomsoever that persists with sincerity o n this Sathyavathi path.

3.To concentrate effectively, establish your attention on a form that gives you joy. Sit in the padmasana (lotus) posture and fix your eyes on the tip of your nose. In the beginning, practice meditation for a minute; then for three minutes. A few days later try for six minutes and after some time, for as long as nine minutes. Thus the concentration has to be strengthened gradually, without undue hurry. Slowly the mind can be held for even half an hour; this discipline must be developed steadily. With practice, the mind will get fixed and the power of concentration will increase. To attain concentration and acquire one-pointedness, you must undergo exertion to some extent. You must fasten your mind on the Lord and keep off all other thoughts from the mental plane. By such exercise done constantly, your vision will be firmly fixed on the Lord residing in your heart . That is, verily, the goal, the full fruition of meditation.

4.Angavathi and Anyavathi are two of the many paths of adoring the lord. The Universal Being is the Fire, the Wind, the Sun, the Moon and all else. He is the breath that sustains life and the rain that feeds the plants which provide sustenance. So He can be adored as having graciously assumed all these beneficent forms. This approach, through the benign manifestations of Angas, is the Angavathi path. Anga means a limb or a feature. Adoring Divinity by symbolising a certain facet of the Universal being is the Anyavathi path; Anya meaning the other or the appurtenances. Easwara or Shiva (the facet of dissolution) has the trident symbolising in its three prongs, the Past, the Present and the Future. Krishna, the manifestation of universal love, bears a flute which is the symbol of the egoless, desireless se eker. In the Anyavathi path seekers meditate on these pleasing personifications and the significance of the symbols and adore the Divine in the delight that wells up in their hearts.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

1.The mind plans and executes innumerable deeds and roams over vast expanses, all in the twinkling of an eye! It operates with unimaginable speed. However while meditating, the mind should not be allowed to wander away from the object of meditation. Whenever it flies off at a tangent, it must be led back to the form meditated upon. Only one form has to be meditated upon in the beginning; do not change the object of focus everyday. To concentrate effectively, you must be careful not to have as your focus something your mind does not like, or that which causes pain or shakes your faith; for however hard you may try, your mind will not stay fixed on these. With time, even if unpleasant thoughts come, learn gradually to welcome them as beneficial, and seek to grasp the good in them.

2.The latent Atma causes the patent world. Being is behind Becoming, and finally, Becoming merges in Being; the patent is absorbed into the latent. Just as milk flows from the cow, from the Supreme Person flows the power of maya as Prakriti (Nature) - the apparent manifestation. Milk is a composite of cream, curd, and butter, which can be separated out of it through various processes. So too, the five fundamental elements (earth, water, fire, air and space) were separated out through cosmic processes. Therefore what appears as the Cosmos is only the superimposition of the non-real Individual Self and the five elements on the absolute substratum - God. His Will causes this unreal multiplicity to be superimposed on the One that He is. He can by His mere will end it, for He is the Master of Maya.

3.Remember the senses can do nothing by themselves; they are not independent. If the mind is brought under control, the senses can also be controlled. Some people undergo mere asceticism of the senses in order to control the mind! They are ignorant of the real discipline that is necessary - the destruction of desires. However vigilant warders may be, a clever robber can still steal in a hundred amazing ways. So too, however skillfully you may try to control the senses, the mind will drag them to its side and execute its desires through them. If only the outer door is closed and the inner door is left unbolted, calamity is certain. Therefore the aspirant should establish mastery over the external senses. But the mind too has to be controlled by means of Shanthi (peace) and Vairagya (renunciation). When this is done, one can experience Ananda (spiri tual bliss) and visualize the Atma (Divine Self) within, at all times.

4.The root of the word ‘Veda’ means ‘to know’. Vedas are also known as Chandas; this means pleasant, joyous. Other important meanings of this word are vital, strong and shielded. All these are the qualities of the Vedas as it is shielding, fostering, promoting the welfare of humans engaged in the unceasing round of worldly affairs, and conferring the ultimate liberation. Humans are ever caught up in activities pursued with the profit available as the purpose. They have to be moulded as righteous men and women. The Vedas shield people on the path of action (karma marga) from engaging in unrighteous acts, and protect the seekers of knowledge (jnana marga) from the temptation of the senses. Through their role as armour or shield, they shower bliss on all who rely on them. The sacred ceremonies and rituals that Vedas ex pound confer joy and bliss not only on the participants but also on the entire world and beyond.

BAGAVAN SRI SRI SRI SATHYA SAI BABA

Thought for the Day

1.In order to master the mind, your impulses and desires have to be suppressed. Desires excite the mind to rush towards the senses, just like a dog runs behind its master. Repeat the divine Name and meditate, then you can develop your will, memory, and imagination along proper lines. Meditation is a great help to gain control over an unsteady mind. It is not enough if one of the senses is conquered; all of them should be mastered. Of course, this is a very hard task and you might feel like giving up, but never lose heart. Do not stray from the path of discipline whenever you feel you are not making as much progress as you hoped to. That is not the road to victory - persevere, be patient, and you are sure to triumph in the end!

2.The body, sense organs, mind and intellect are instruments for a human being. Only when one understands the secrets of these instruments will one be able to comprehend the Atmic Principle. If you cannot understand the vesture you are wearing, how can you understand the mystery of the infinite, indwelling Spirit? The body is the basic instrument for all the actions in life and for the acquisition of all knowledge and skills. But it should be primarily regarded as an instrument for realization of the Divine. Attachment to the body and utilisation of it for physical pleasures should be given up. It is essentially sacred and precious, for it is the abode of the Atma and should be used only for sacred purposes.

3.The mind conceives an object and dallies with it a little, but it soon discards it and runs after another one which it feels is more attractive! The Sadhaka (spiritual aspirant) has to be ever watchful of this tendency of the mind. When the mind flits from one thing to another, it must be brought back to the right path and the right object through concentration and meditation. That is the correct spiritual practice. If the aspirant does not make efforts to achieve this one-pointedness and allows the mind to follow its vagaries, the process deserves to be called ‘monkey meditation’, a type of meditation that is indeed very harmful to spiritual progress. You must redirect the mind to concentrate, to focus and to be one-pointed. Concentration endows you with divine joy, wisdom beyond measure, inner vision, insight into the deeper truths, clearer underst anding and oneness with God.

4.There are many entrances to a temple. They are intended to let in devotees who seek to worship the God enshrined within. Similarly for the temple of this human body there are five gates - the five senses. What is the purpose of these doorways? If we build a house and erect doors in it, they are for the use of our kith and kin. If any stray animals try to enter, the doors are shut against them. Likewise the doors in this sacred body should be kept open only for good and divine entrants. Only then it deserves the name Kshetra (shrine). It ceases to be a temple if unholy objects are allowed to enter. What is consumed by the mouth is not the only thing that goes into the body. The other sense organs like the eyes, the ears, the nose and the hands also "consume" objects from the outside world. You must take in satwic (pure) food through all the five sense organs.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba