Thought for the Day

The means of getting Divine grace are: Bhakti (devotion),Prapathi (surrender), Niyama (ethical discipline), Vicharana(enquiry) and Deeksha (determination). When you succeed in these tests, you will experience the grace of the Divine. Devotion should manifest itself in every action. Everything done out of love for God and as an offering to God becomes devotion. The devotee is filled with love and shares the love with all the others. The nine different forms of worship are only means to cultivate devotion. But the goal of all of them is to experience oneness with the Divine. Prapathi means total surrender - offering everything to the Divine. The sense of ego separates the individual from the Divine. When the individual offers everything to God, the barrier of ego is removed. Of all diseases to which man is prone, the disease arising from ahamkara (ego) is the most deadly. The only panacea for this disease is surrender to the Will of the Divine

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

The welfare of women is an index of the welfare of the Nations.

Heaping respect and honour upon a person who does not followAtmic dharma (righteousness driven by the Self) is like heaping decorations on a body that has no life in it. The soul that left the body cannot enjoy the respect shown to the corpse. So too is the case with the person who is unaware of the Reality and the purpose of life but is crowned with fame and glory. A modest woman will not care for such meaningless trash and tinsel. This characteristic is what confers on her the title ‘The Lakshmi of the home’. The woman is the prop of the home as well as of the practice of religion. She plants and fosters religious faith. Women have natural aptitude for faith and spiritual endeavour. Women with devotion, faith, and humility often lead men on the Godward path and the practice of holy virtues.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

Have high aims in life. Set before yourselves the examples of great men and women who have figured in the history of our country and the world. Take a lesson from their life of sacrifice and heroism. You need determination to face the challenges of life which is filled with ups and downs, successes and failures, and joys and sorrows. These challenges have to be faced with faith in God. The mind should not be allowed to waver and hop from one thing to the other. A steady mind is the mark of a truly educated person. Life should be governed by definite regulations. Self-control is essential for leading a righteous life. Our culture has always laid stress on the well-being of all. You should not be overwhelmed by difficulties that you may encounter in life. They are all transient; they come and go. The source of enduring bliss is within you. Do not give way to weakness of will. 

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

You have had the valuable opportunity to listen to Divine discourses and directions, they have been printed upon your hearts; many of your conversations is centered on Me or on My divine play (leelas) and glory (mahima). My advice to you is: Apply this adoration in your life. Let your companions see how disciplined you are, how sincerely you obey your parents, and how deeply you revere your teachers. Be a light, radiating virtue and self-control wherever you live, just as commendably as you did when in My divine presence. Do not slide back into indiscipline, bad manners, irresponsibility and evil habits. Do not complain against food; eat with pleasure whatever you get. Do not protest against any errand that your parents may assign you. Run gladly and fulfil it. When they want you to nurse them, do it happily, intelligently, and feeling glad that you got the chance. Live anywhere but such that I can pour My Grace on you, more and more. 

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

Some might question, “Women who have swallowed all the compunctions of modesty are being honoured today! They strut about with heads erect, and the world honours them not a whit less. How is that so, if modesty is all important?” I have no need to acquaint Myself with these activities of the present-day world. I do not concern Myself with them. They may receive honour and respect of a sort, but the respect is not authorized or deserved. When honour is offered to the undeserving, it is tantamount to insult; to accept it when offered is to demean the very gift. It is not honour but flattery that is cast on the immodest by the selfish and the greedy. A modest woman will never crave honour or praise. Her attention will always be on the limits that she should not transgress. Honour and praise come to her unasked and unnoticed. The honey in the flower or lotus does not crave for bees; so too is the relationship with a cultured woman who knows her limits and the respect she evokes and deserves.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

These days virtue is becoming rare at all levels - in the individual, family, society and community, and also in all fields of life - economic, political and even 'spiritual’.

These days virtue is becoming rare at all levels - in the individual, family, society and community, and also in all fields of life - economic, political and even 'spiritual’. Life must be spent in accumulating and safeguarding virtue, not riches. Listen and ruminate over the stories of the great moral heroes of the past, so that their ideals may be imprinted on your hearts. There is also a decline in discipline, which is the soil on which virtue grows. Each one must be respected, whatever be their status, economic condition or spiritual development; else there will be no peace and happiness in life. This respect can be aroused only by the conviction that the same Real Self (Atma) that is in you is playing the role of the other person. See that Divinity (Atma) in others; feel that they too have hunger, thirst, yearning and desires as you have, develop sympathy and the anxiety to serve and be useful to everyone

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

Modesty is essential for woman. Overstepping the limits of modesty is against her innate dharma; crossing its limits brings about many calamities, including destroying the very glory of womanhood. Without modesty, woman is devoid of beauty and culture. Absence of modesty makes the life of a woman, however rich in other accomplishments, a vacuum. Modesty lifts her to the heights of sublime holiness. Modesty is a blend of these qualities - humility, purity of thought and manners, meekness, surrender to high ideals, sensitivity and sweetness of temper. It is the most invaluable of all jewels for women. Through her innate sense of propriety, a modest woman will ever keep within limits. She becomes automatically aware which behaviour is proper and which is not. Modesty is the true test of a woman’s grandeur. A modest woman will stick only to virtuous deeds and behavior, and will wield authority in the home and outside, in the community as well as in the world.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

Just as you prescribe minimum qualifications for every profession, the minimum qualification for grace is surrender of egoism, control over senses and regulated food and recreation (ahara and vihara). A person is made or marred by the company kept. A bad person who falls into good company is able to shed their evil quickly and shine forth in virtue. A good person falling into evil company is overcome by the subtle influence and slides down into evil. The lesser is overpowered by the greater. A drop of sour curd transforms milk, curdling it, separating the butter and turning it into whey. Sacred books are also equally valuable for this transmuting process, but they have to be read and pondered upon, and their lessons have to be put into daily practice. The Gayatri Mantra is a Vedic prayer to the Supreme Intelligence that is immanent in the Universe to kindle the intelligence of the supplicant.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

When the mind of a person is unattached to the ups and downs of life, but is able to maintain equanimity under all circumstances, then even physical health can be assured. The mental firmament must be like the sky, which bears no mark of the passage through it of birds or planes or clouds. Illness is caused more by malnutrition of the mind than of the body. Doctors speak of vitamin deficiency; I will call it the deficiency of Vitamin G, and I will recommend the repetition of the Name of God, with accompanying contemplation of the glory and grace of God. This Vitamin G is the medicine that is needed. Regulated life and habits are two-thirds of the treatment, while the medicine is just one-third. You must reveal the divine qualities of love, humility, detachment and contentment. Else, you could become worse than a beast and in fact more deadly.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

It is foolish to try to shape the world. Shape yourself as the embodiment of Peace, Love and Reverence. Then you will see all as Love, Compassion and Humility.

Look at the trainers of wild beasts. They bring the tiger, the most ferocious of animals, like a cat into the circus ring and make it jump through a hoop of fire, lap milk from a plate or sit face to face with a goat on a chair! They tame it to become an unassuming toy! If a ferocious tiger can be subdued, can you not succeed with the ferocious denizens of your mind? You can! That is the message you must internalize when you celebrate the victory of the Primal Energy! On this day the Goddess of Energy (Parashakthi),immanent in the microcosm and macrocosm had destroyed all the evil forces (Asura). That same energy is present in you as the dormant spiritual energy (Kundalini Shakti), which when awakened, can destroy, the evil tendencies within your mind; So, by means of systematic Sadhana tap the inner resources that God has endowed you with and elevate yourselves to a purer and happier realm.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

Goddess Durga represents the power of Nature (Prakruthi-Shakti) and Goddess Lakshmi represents the thought power (Sankalpa-Shakti). Goddess Saraswati represents the power of speech (Vak-Shakti). It is to acquire these three powers that the various forms of worship are performed during the Navarathri festival. But prayers alone are not enough. Prayers issue from the lips, but they should emanate from the heart. The heart (hridaya) symbolises the Ocean of Milk(Ksheerasagara) from which emerges Mother Lakshmi. When Goddess Lakshmi emerges, purity of speech follows. Whatever you speak must conform to truth. Renunciation (Vairagya) is not abandonment of hearth and home, and retiring to a forest. It means developing divine thoughts and reducing worldly feelings. It is when this balanced development takes place that you acquirePrakruthi-Shakti (control over the power of Nature). When these powers are secured, your mental power, peace and bliss increases.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

Oblivious to the presence of the sacred Divine within, people embark on their quest for God. Avatars (incarnations) are of two kinds: Amsaavatar and Purnaavatar. All human beings areAmsaavatar (partial incarnation of the Divine). Mamaivaamso jeevaloke jeevabhutah sanatanah (In this world of living beings, it is a part of My Eternal Self that has become the Jiva, the individual soul), says Krishna in the Gita. These partial incarnations, caught up in Maya, develop egoism and possessiveness and lead worldly lives. However, the Purnaavatars (complete incarnations of the Divine), subduing and transcending Maya, manifest their full divinity to the world in their lives. The Purnaavatar may behave, according to the circumstances, as if subject to Maya, but in reality He is free from it at all times. But some, not understanding this truth owing to their own limitations, attribute wrong motives to His actions. In this they reflect their own feelings.

 Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

When people are asked to do spiritually salutary acts, initially no one has any inner urge. Still don't give up in despair. Until the taste sprouts, strictly follow the disciplines. This taste is a result of training. No one has it from the very beginning, but constant practice will create the zest. The infant doesn't know the taste of milk. By taking milk daily, it starts liking it; in fact the taste becomes so dear that when milk is to be given up to be substituted with rice, it starts to protest. But the mother doesn't despair; she persuades the child to take small quantities of cooked rice daily, and over time the child starts liking rice and eventually gives up milk. Milk, its natural food, is now replaced with rice again in a natural way. Indeed now if no rice is available for one day, the child becomes miserable. Similarly with constant practice, the desire for worldly and sensual objects and matters, will wane and good company (Satsang) will prevail.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

Jnana Yajna is specially recommended by scriptures for all. Jnanadoes not simply mean knowledge gained from scholars and books, but actually conducting in accordance with that knowledge. Knowledge can never ripen into wisdom so long as the ego persists in craving for results to satisfy its desires. When ego fades away, knowledge shines as Wisdom. When yajnas are performed solely for the peace and prosperity of the world (Loka-Kalyan), they reach God. Jnana reveals that in every sacrifice, God is the Prompter, the Promoter, the Sacrificer, the Sacrifice, the Product achieved and the Recipient of the product. God is the consumer of every sacred offering (Yajnabhuk); He is guardian of the yajna (Yajna-bhrith) and its performer (Yajna krith).He is all; it is only when He is all that the act becomes a genuineyajna. If this attitude can soak into every activity, it will sanctify every moment of your life and make it a yajna.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

Normally people are drawn to sense objects, for they are victims of instincts. Instincts easily seek sense objects - they come along with the body and aren’t derived by any training. The infant seeks milk from the mother’s breast, and the newborn calf naturally nestles at the udder. However for the infant to walk and talk, some training is necessary, because these actions are either socially prompted or learnt by example or picked up by imitation of others. Training is essential even for the proper pursuit of sense pleasure, for wild untrained search for such pleasure promotes anger, hatred, envy, malice and conceit. Hence to train the senses along salutary lines and to hold them under control, certain good disciplines like repeating Lord’s Name (japa), meditation (dhyana), fasts(upavasa), worship at dawn and dusk, etc. are essential. Though sense pleasures are ‘natural’ at first, by constant practice, training and listening to the wise, slowly the greater and everlasting bliss derived by divine adoration is grasped.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

Five yajnas are prescribed as mandatory for every human being: (1) Activities devoted to the study of scriptures (Rishi Yajna); (2) Activities devoted to parents who confer your birth, foster and guide you (Pitr Yajna); (3) Acts done as reverential homage to God who endowed you with mind, intelligence, memory and consciousness, and who is inherent in your every cell as Rasa, the vital energy (Raso Vai Sah).Indeed, the right use of these instruments that God has given you is Deva Yajna; (4) The fourth is adoration of guests. Everyone must welcome the chance of entertaining a guest and treat them with affection, and please them with sincere hospitality as if sent by God, be it one's own kith and kin or strangers (Atithi Yajna); (5) The finalyajna is unselfish acts done while dealing with trees, plants, animals, birds and pets like cats and dogs (Bhoota Yajna). Remember to make every act of yours from sunrise to the onset of sleep as a Yajna!

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

Krishna says in the Gita, “In all yajnas, I am the Doer, the Donor, the Consumer and the Acceptor.” That is the reason the chief priest in a yajna, is named Brahma. He must guide the rest of the ritualists with his wife by his side, or else, his credentials are inadequate. The wife represents faith (shraddha). Without faith, praise is hollow, adoration is artificial and sacrifice is a barren exercise. Really speaking, the heart is the ceremonial altar, the body is the fire-place, the hair is the holy grass (darbha), wishes are the fuel-sticks to feed the fire, desire is the ghee poured into the fire to make it burst into flame, anger is the sacrificial animal, and the fire is the tapas (penance) we accomplish. People sometimes interpret tapas as ascetic practices like standing on the head. This is not correct; tapas is not physical contortion. It is the complete and correct coordination of thought, word and deed. When this is achieved, the Divine splendour will manifest.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

Dharma is the moral path, which is the light; the light is bliss (ananda). Scriptures convey that Dharma is the essence of spiritual wisdom (jnana). Dharma is characterized by sacredness, peace, truth, and fortitude. Dharma is yoga (union); it is truth (sathya). Its attributes are justice, sense control, sense of honour, love, dignity, goodness, meditation, sympathy, and nonviolence. It leads you onto universal love and unity. It is the highest discipline and the most profitable. All this ‘unfoldment’ began with Dharma; this is stabilized by truth (sathya). Truth is inseparable from dharma. Truth is the law of the universe, which makes the sun and moon revolve in their orbits. Dharma is the course, the path, the law. Wherever there is adherence to morality, there you can see the law of Truth (sathya-dharma) in action. In the Bhagavata too, it is said, “Where there is Dharma,there is Krishna; where there are both Dharma and Krishna, there is victory.”

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

People resort to gurus to receive mantras (mystically powerful formulae to be recited by them for their spiritual uplift); others seek medicine men and holy monks to get yantras (esoteric talismans to ward off evil forces); some others learn thanthras (secret rites for attaining superhuman powers) from scholars (pandits). But all of this is wasteful effort. One should accept the body as thethanthra, one's own breath as the mantra and the heart as the yantra. There is no need to seek them outside oneself. When all words emanating from you are sweet, your breath becomes Rig Veda. When you restrict what you listen to and prefer only sweet speech, all that you hear becomes Sama gana (rendition of Sama Veda). When you do only sweet deeds, all that you do is Yajur homa(ritualistic sacrifice). Then you will be performing every day the Veda Purusha Yajna, the yajna which propitiates the noblest and highest Vedic Spirit!

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

The same person is king to his subjects, son to his parents, enemy to his enemies, husband to his wife, and father to his son. He plays many roles. Yet, if you ask him who he is, he would be wrong if he gave any of these relationships as his distinctive mark, for these marks pertain to physical relationship or activities. They denote physical kinships or professional relationships; they are names attached to temporary statuses. Nor can he reply that he is the head, the feet, the hands, etc., for they are but the limbs of the physical form. He is more real than all the limbs, and is infact beyond all names and forms which are falsities that hide the basic Brahman; he is known as 'I'. Reflect over that entity well and discover who that 'I' really is. When it is so hard to analyse and understand your own entity, how can you pronounce judgement on other entities with any definiteness?

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

One important verse in the Gita (Ch 12 Verse 20) states: Those who revere the dharmic way to immortality, and completely engage themselves making Me as their ultimate goal with all faith, are exceedingly dear to Me. What a grand idea this verse conveys! The Lord has clearly declared therein that those who have these qualities, that is, those who trust Him as the only ultimate goal and are attached to Him single-mindedly — they are dearest and nearest to Him. Note the expression, ‘righteous way to immortality’(dharmya-amritham) used here. Ponder over it and draw inspiration from it. The nectar of the Lord’s grace is deserved only by those who adhere to the Lord’s dharma. Simple folks believe they have devotion toward the Lord, but they do not pause to inquire whether the Lord has love towards them. People who pine to discover the Lord’s love are rather rare. That is really the true measure of spiritual success.

Bagavan Sri sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

How amazing is this! You can get sacrifices of the highest order performed by yourself or through scholars versed in Vedic ritual. You can visit and praise the holiness of diverse shrines and inspire others to journey thereto. Similarly you can master the highest scriptures and teach them to many and make them experts. But how many of you have succeeded in mastering your own bodies, senses and wayward minds, and turned them inward to gain perpetual and unchanging equanimity? You embark upon an undertaking with a purpose, goal, or an end in view. But the endeavour is sublimated into a yajna (sacrificial rite) only if the purpose, goal or end is the glorification of God. God is the yajna, for He is the Goal. His grace is the reward. His creation is used to propitiate Him; He is the performer as well as the receiver. Every act, where the ego of the doer does not surface, becomes a Divine offering.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

People everywhere are degrading themselves from their status as children of eternity (amrita-putra) to that of children of futility (anrita-putra)! Holding nectar in their grasp, they are drinking the poison of sensual pleasure. Neglecting the joy of contemplation of the fundamental divine reality of the universe, they are entangling themselves in the external trappings of this objective world of appearances. This immortal dharma (amrita-dharma) is described in the Upanishads, and since the Gita is the kernel of the Upanishads, the same is emphasized in the Gita too. The Gita teaches Arjuna to develop certain qualities that help the practice of the Atma Dharma(the righteousness that springs from the True Self). These are delineated in verses 13 to 20 of Chapter 12. The dharmic (righteous) way of life is like the very breath; it is the road to self-realization. Those who walk along it are dear to the Lord.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

புரிந்து கொள்ளுங்கள்.

வாழ்க்கையில் முரண்பாடுகளை நீங்கள் புரிந்து கொள்ள வேண்டும் என்றால் நீங்கள் அந்த முரண்பாடுகளை அனுபவித்துப் பார்க்க வேண்டும். நீங்கள் அந்த முரண்பாடுகளைப் புரிந்து கொள்ளும்பொழுது , நீங்கள் அந்த முரண்பாடுகளின் கிடுக்கிப் பிடியிலிருந்து விடுபடுகிறீர்கள் . உண்மையில் சொல்லப்போனால் பிரபஞ்சத்தின் படைப்பில் எந்த முரண்பாடுகளும் இல்லை. பிரபஞ்சம் என்பதை இதுதான் அல்லது அதுதான் என்று வரையறுத்து சொல்லிவிட முடியாது. உண்மையில் இதுவும், அதுவும் சேர்ந்தது தான் பிரபஞ்சம். எப்போதும் எதையோ தேடிக்கொண்டு இதுவா அதுவா என்று யோசித்துப் பார்த்து முடிவு செய்யும் நம்முடைய மனதிற்கு மட்டுமே இந்த முரண்பாடுகள் எல்லாம் தெரிகின்றன. நீங்கள் நாணயத்தின் ஒரு பக்கத்தை மட்டுமே தேர்ந் தெடுத்தீர்கள் என்றால் அது பிரச்னை தான். பிரபஞ்ச விதி பூவா இல்லை தலையா என்பது இல்லை.. பூவும் தலையும் இரண்டுமே சேர்ந்தது தான் நாணயத்தின் அமைப்பு. அதுவே பிரபஞ்சத்தின் அமைப்பும் கூட . எனவே அடுத்தமுறை உங்களுக்கு வேண்டியதை கேட்கும் பொழுது பூ வேண்டும் அல்லது தலை வேண்டும் என்று கேட்காதீர்கள் நாணயம் வேண்டும் என்று கேளுங்கள். நாணயம் என்ற பிரபஞ்சத்தில் அருள்செல்வமும் பொருட்செல்வமும் அந்த நாணயத்தின் இரண்டு பக்கங்கள் என்பதை புரிந்து கொள்ளுங்கள். -- வாழ்க்கை முரண்பாடுகள் - இன்பினி மலர் 2 இதழ் 17 செப் 1 - 15

Joy is your birthright; peace is your innermost nature.

Joy is your birthright; peace is your innermost nature. The Lord is your staff and support. Do not discard it; do not be led away from the path of faith by stories invented by malice and circulated by spite. Take up the name of God; it could be any one of His innumerable ones that appeals to you the most, and also chose the form appropriate to that name, and then start repeating it from now on - that is the royal road to ensure Joy and Peace. That will train you in the feeling of brotherhood and remove enmity towards fellowmen. When you sow seeds in the field, they can be eaten away by ants or washed off by rains or picked on by birds or destroyed by pests, still some seeds stave off all these and grow as strong and sturdy seedlings. Similarly, you must do everything to uphold the privilege of this birth and strive to return to the Lord.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

We should train ourselves to become good people, who are fit to undertake worthy tasks

Some clever people might have this doubt and raise a question: “Can we kill and injure in the name of the Lord, dedicating the act to Him?” Well, how can a person get the attitude of dedicating all activities to the Lord without at the same time being pure in thought, word, and deed? Love, equanimity, rectitude, nonviolence — these are the attendant virtues of the servant of the Lord. How can cruelty and callousness coexist with these virtues? To have selflessness, the spirit of self-sacrifice, and the spiritual eminence required for the dedicatory outlook, one must have first won the four characteristics of truth, peace, love and nonviolence (sathya, santhi, prema, ahimsa). Devoid of these four virtues no one can make any deed a worthy offering at His Feet.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

Egoism and greed are still rampant; hatred has not abated and envy eats into the vitals of society. There is no dearth of scriptural books telling you how to be free from grief. All sacred and holy books including Gita, Bhagavata and Ramayana are available in all languages at a very low cost and most books are sold in more than thousands of copies per day; but there is nothing to indicate that they have been read and assimilated. The breath of the mouth must give an inkling of the food partaken, is it not? But the habits, the conduct, the character of the readers of these books have not undergone any change for the better. Hence each of you must examine your own mental make-up and evaluate whether you have used your discrimination and worldly knowledge to clothe yourself in detachment (vairagya), so that you do not suffer from attachment to things that will fade away.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

One cannot escape from disquiet as long as the fundamental ignorance persists; mere change of occupation, prompted by the desire for more comfort or the need for satisfying some passing likes will not give lasting satisfaction. It is like hoping to improve matters in a dark room by a mere readjustment of furniture. Instead if a lamp is lit, passage across the room is rendered easier even without readjusting furniture. There is no need to interfere with the furniture at all. So too, in this world, it is difficult to move about truthfully, correctly, and peacefully without knocking against some obstacle or other. How then are you to succeed? Light the lamp of spiritual wisdom (jnana)! Let it reveal the reality! That will solve all the difficulties. You may claim that you live according to dharma, but have you evaluated if your acts are done in a spirit of dedication to the Divine? If so, they will authentically be stamped as ‘dharmic’

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

The essence of education is concentration of the mind and not collection of facts.

When people complain that they cannot concentrate, I laugh, for even the driver of a car is a master of the art of concentration. The taxi driver does not pay heed to the chatter from the seat behind or to the radio. He is watching the road ahead with single-pointed attention. If you have earnestness and faith (shraddha), more than half the battle is won. That is why, Krishna asks Arjuna, "Have you listened to what I have said with one-pointed attention?" Arjuna, even in the midst of the opposing armies in the battle-field, affirmed he listened to the words of the Lord with keen concentration. Practice concentration and it will stand you in good stead. Also, do not mistake the technique for the goal; do not lose your way in the tangle of scholarship. Scholarship and learning are only the means for the mastery of the Mind, to turn it from the Creation to the Creator.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

The sanctification of the five senses is the way to Truth

Speaking truth is the foremost quality of a human being. In fact, truth must dance on your tongue. To speak untruth and talk irresponsibly does not behove a human being. If you indulge in useless and indiscriminate talk, how can it be called truth? Before you speak something, you must enquire whether it is truth or not. Speak only truth which emerges from the heart. The entire world has emerged from truth and everything merges into truth. The clouds moving in the sky sometimes obscure the Sun; once the clouds move away, the resplendent Sun is fully visible. Similarly it is only when the dark clouds of resolutions and confusions in our heart are cleared, truth manifests. The five human values are not independent of each other. They closely follow one another. These qualities are God’s gift to humanity. All human beings must manifest these five human values by practicing them.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Any act that is done with purity in thought, word and deed is Dharma

Why complain that the ground cannot be seen when all the while your gaze is fixed on the sky? Watch the ground and look at the sheet of water that reflects the sky —then you can see, at the same time, the sky above and the earth below. So too, to adhere to the law of truth (sathya-dharma), in your every act, you must see the reflection of the glory of the Divine (Atma); then this attachment to the Lord will transmute your attachment to the world into a pure offering. Adherence to the law of truth is in fact the practice of the immanent Atmic principle. The goal of purity should not be altered or lowered; the essentials should be kept intact. Righteousness (Dharma) does not depend on the various names and forms that its application entails; they are not so basic. Dharmadepends more on the motives and the feelings that direct and channelise your every act.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Attachment to the world can be destroyed only by attachment to the Lord

When the waves of egotist fear or greed drives one into the privacy of the home, the loneliness of the forest, or anywhere else, it is impossible to escape suffering. However in daily practice, when one’s acts are motivated by the basic principle of the reality of the Atma, every act becomes stamped with the seal of dharma (righteousness). On the other hand, when acts are motivated by convenience and selfish interest, the dharmabecomes pseudo-dharma. Why, even the feeling ‘he is a friend’ or ‘she is an enemy’ is an error. This delusion has to be given up. The Lord, the embodiment of love, is the only constant friend, relative, companion, guide, and protector. Know this and live in that knowledge. This is dharma built on the bedrock of understanding, this is life built on the bedrock of dharma.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba