Thought for the Day

Not only in India but in several parts of the world, people are getting interested in the knowledge and practice of yoga. Though there are many schools of yoga, the most significant is Patanjali Yoga. Patanjali defines yoga as the regulation and control of the tendencies of the mind. Without controlling the senses, we cannot attain happiness in any walk of life or in any endeavour. If we just let go of our senses in a wild fashion, the result will be sorrow and joy. Today people are not paying proper attention to the control of their senses. Some people are under the misapprehension that they miss the very essence of life if they control their senses and deny themselves the pleasures of the senses. This is a mistaken idea. We should not think that we are restraining the senses from performing their functions. The real significance of this process is that we are directing and regulating them along the proper channels. Then we shall be able to enjoy the real delight of the mind and real pleasure of the spirit!

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

There are five fingers in every hand. If each finger points towards its own peculiar direction, how can the hand hold or manipulate any article? If they come together and stay together, the hands can accomplish whatever they plan. Similarly, when one of you turns your head away at the sight of another, and ten people insist on ten diverse directions, how can any deed be done? You must all be equally alert, active and co-operative. Why must you compete and quarrel? Nothing in this world can last as such for long. Buddha diagnosed this correctly. He declared, "All is sorrow, all is transient; all are but temporary contraptions of ephemeral characteristics." Why should you be fatally fascinated by these finite things? Strive to gain the eternal, the infinite, the universal. One day you have to give up the body you have fed and fostered. How long can you keep all that you have earned and possessed with pride?

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

Whatever you do (wherever you are), feel that it is prompted by Swami and let it be acceptable to Swami. I am the recipient of all your efforts and attempts! For example, the army recruits washermen to wash and iron uniforms and clothing. It has barbers and sweepers on the payroll; they work in camps and move with the military personnel. They may be engaged in different types of work but everyone has to undergo physical training and drill, everyday. So too, one of you may be working in an office, another in a shop, or in the press, but everyone must engage in sadhana with devotion, discipline and a sense of duty. Do not feel that your role is low and the other person's is high. Do not be depressed when you find your role is minor; do not be proud when you discover that your role is major. Give your best to whatever role is allotted to you. That is the way to earn Grace!

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

The cause for all troubles, confusion and turmoil is the fact that we have lost mastery over our senses. By leaving senses unfettered and unregulated, we will not be able to discriminate properly, think coolly, calmly and rationally. Thus many times we are misled into wrong actions. In our daily lives, we know that when we become angry, our nerves become weak and feeble and we lose grip over ourselves. Even a moment of anger takes away our strength we gather by eating good food for three months. Anger not only debilitates us, it takes away merit of our good deeds, it also enfeebles our condition. Anger is like an intoxicant. Internally, it induces us to do wrong things. Anger leads us to commit all other sins. This is the source of all sins. It is a great demon. If we are able to control anger, we shall be in a position to attain merit through the utterance of Lord’s Name.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

 Many people think that concentration is the same as meditation, but there is no such connection. Just look at this, I am now reading a newspaper. My eyes are looking at the letters. My hand is holding the paper. My Intelligence is thinking now. Mind is also thinking. Thus, when the eyes are doing their work, the hand is doing its work, intelligence is doing its work, and the mind is also doing its work, that is how I am able to get the contents of the newspaper. It means, if I want to get the matter contained in the newspaper, all these enumerated senses are concentrated and they are all coordinated and are working on the newspaper. All the normal routines, like walking, talking, reading, writing, eating, etc. are possible as a result of concentration. Many are under the false impression that concentration is identical with meditation, and they take to a wrong path! Concentration is something below your senses, whereas meditation is something above your senses.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

 Everyone should respect all others as one's own kin, having the same Divine Spark, and the same Divine Nature. Then, there will be effective production, economic consumption and equitable distribution, resulting in peace and promotion of love. Now, love based on the Innate Divinity is absent and so, there is exploitation, deceit, greed and cruelty. If man becomes aware of all men being 'cells' in the Divine body, then there will be no more 'devaluation' of man. Man is a diamond; but, is now treated by others and by oneself as a piece of glass! Man can realise his mission on the earth only when he knows himself as Divine and when he reveres all others as Divine. And, man has to worship God in the form of Man. God appears before him as a blind beggar, an idiot, a leper, a child, a decrepit old man, a criminal or a madman. You must see even behind those veils, the divine embodiment of love, power and wisdom, the Sai, and worship Him through selfless service.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

There are thousands of Bhajana Mandalis (groups for devotional singing), under the auspices of the Sathya Sai Seva Samitis active all over the world. They hold bhajan sessions for about an hour, once or twice a week, and disperse thereafter. They sing the glory of God, in various Names and Forms, and are elated by that experience. The purpose of loud, congregational prayers is different from the silent individual prayers. It is a joint, concerted and mutually helpful effort of Sadhana to overcome the six internal foes of man - lust, anger, greed, attachment, conceit and hatred. These nocturnal birds infest the tree of life and foul the heart where they build their nests. When we sing aloud the Glory of God, the heart is illumined and they cannot bear the light. Besides, the voice that rises from many throats frightens them and they fly away.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

 What is required is the awareness of the vicious game that mind plays. It presents before your attention, one source after another of temporary pleasure; it doesn’t allow any interval for you to weigh pros and cons. When hunger for food is appeased, it holds before the eye, the attraction of a movie, it reminds the ear of the charm of music, and it makes the tongue water for the pleasant taste of something it craves for. The wish becomes very soon the urge for action, urge soon gathers strength and yearning becomes uncontrollable. The burden of desires gradually becomes too heavy and man gets dispirited and sad. Train the mind to turn towards intelligence for inspiration and guidance, not towards senses for adventures and achievements! That will make it an instrument for reducing your vagaries and saving time and energy for more vital matters! Through continuous and consistent Sadhana, man can control the vagaries of the mind, which by their variety and vanity cause disappointment and distress.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

When you take your body to different places, and when you go about moving aimlessly, the mind also goes to different places. If the body is moving all the time, then the mind is also moving. If you have a container filled with water, if the container is continually shaking, then the contents will continually be shaky too. So we should not keep moving our body and limbs in an aimless manner; this is a very essential part of our practice of meditation. We should sit quiet and the body should be steady. Why do we ask people to sit straight and to sit quiet in meditation? Because when the body is straight and quiet, the mind inside is also straight and quiet. If you cannot control your body, how can you control your mind? The first thing is to control your body by steadying all the limbs and body organs. The basis for the mind wandering is that your physical body is also constantly wandering. So first give up that.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

You are referring to the gift of food as Anna-dana (charity of food). But no one has the authority to give in charity what has been given by God or be proud of it or even to feel that he has given something in charity. God gave rains, God fostered the sapling and God ripened the grain; what right have you to call it yours and give it in charity? It is not dana (charity) that you do; you are only offering gratitude to God; you are sanctifying the grain you have harvested by offering the food prepared out of it to these Narayanas (Gods in human form). Call it Narayana Seva! That will be more correct. Anyway, since you are doing it with love and humility, in the spirit of divine worship, I have come to bless you. Do not cast all responsibility on a committee, or a group of enthusiasts; join them wholeheartedly and offer to share the burden.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

You are referring to the gift of food as Anna-dana (charity of food). But no one has the authority to give in charity what has been given by God or be proud of it or even to feel that he has given something in charity. God gave rains, God fostered the sapling and God ripened the grain; what right have you to call it yours and give it in charity? It is not dana (charity) that you do; you are only offering gratitude to God; you are sanctifying the grain you have harvested by offering the food prepared out of it to these Narayanas (Gods in human form). Call it Narayana Seva! That will be more correct. Anyway, since you are doing it with love and humility, in the spirit of divine worship, I have come to bless you. Do not cast all responsibility on a committee, or a group of enthusiasts; join them wholeheartedly and offer to share the burden.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

 God cannot be identified with one Name and one Form. He is all Names and all Forms. All Names are His; all forms are His. Your names too are His, you are His Forms. You appear as separate individual bodies because the eye that sees them seeks only bodies, the outer encasement. When you clarify and sanctify your vision and look at them through the Atmic eye, the eye that penetrates behind the physical (with all its attributes and accessories), then you will see others as waves on the ocean of the Absolute, as the "thousand heads, the thousand eyes, thousand feet" of the Virat Purusha (Supreme Sovereign Person) sung in the Rigveda. Strive to win that Vision and to saturate yourself with that Bliss.

Bagavan  Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

One does not have to search for spiritual power, going around the world and spending a lot of money. Be in your own house, develop it in yourself - such spiritual power is in You! You don't have to run for it here and there. God is not external, God is not outside you, God is inside you. You are not human, you are God yourself. And when you are able to realise that, and when you are able to develop the spiritual power from within you, then you will see God. You are going in the path of worldly consciousness. When you take the path of superconsciousness, you will get realisation, and you will be able to see the Truth. The first thing you have to do is to develop self-confidence. It is such people who have no confidence in their own self who begin to wander about and waver, and take to various different paths.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

Winnow the real from the apparent. Look inside the event, for the kernel, the meaning. Dwell over on your Atmic reality; you are pure, indestructible, and unaffected by the ups and downs of life; you are indeed the true, eternal, unchanging Brahmam, the entity which is all this. A mere five-minute inquiry will convince you that you are not the body, senses, mind or intelligence, name or form, but you are the same Atma that appears as all this variety. Once you get a glimpse of this truth, hold on to it; do not allow it to slip. Make it your permanent possession. As a first step towards the acquisition of this viveka (wisdom) and vairagya (detachment), enter from now on into a discipline of Namasmarana - incessant remembrance of God through the Name of the Lord. All the hours spent in gossip, watching sports or films, and in hollow conversation can best be used for silent contemplation of the Name and Form - the splendour of the Lord!

Bagavan sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

You should cultivate an attitude of inseparable attachment to the Lord, who is your very self. If He is a flower, you should feel yourself a bee that sucks its honey; if He is a tree, be a creeper that clings to it; if a cliff, then feel that you are a cascade running over it; if He is the sky, be a tiny star that twinkles in it; above all, be conscious of the truth that you and He are bound by Supreme Love. If you feel this acutely, not with the gross intelligence, but with the subtle intelligence, then, the journey will be quick and the goal can be won. The sthula buddhi (gross intelligence) keeps you walking but the subtle intelligence flies you to the destination. The gross is too much weighed down by the body; the subtle transcends the body and lightens the burden!

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

 There are three types of minds: (1) minds like ginned cotton, ready to receive the spark of highest wisdom and to give up in one instant blaze, the weakness and prejudices of ages, (2) minds like dry wood, who succeed but only after some little time, and (3) minds, like green logs, which resist the onslaught of the fire of jnana with all their might. Herds of cattle run towards a mirage to slake their thirst, but you ought to be wiser. You have discrimination (viveka), and renunciation (vairagya); you can detach yourselves consciously from pursuits which you discover as deleterious. Sit quiet for a few minutes and ponder over the fate of those who run towards the mirage. Are they happy? Do they have the strength to bear distress and distinction with equanimity? Have they a glimpse of the beauty, the truth, and the grandeur of the Universe which is the handiwork of God?

Baagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

There are three types of minds: (1) minds like ginned cotton, ready to receive the spark of highest wisdom and to give up in one instant blaze, the weakness and prejudices of ages, (2) minds like dry wood, who succeed but only after some little time, and (3) minds, like green logs, which resist the onslaught of the fire of jnana with all their might. Herds of cattle run towards a mirage to slake their thirst, but you ought to be wiser. You have discrimination (viveka), and renunciation (vairagya); you can detach yourselves consciously from pursuits which you discover as deleterious. Sit quiet for a few minutes and ponder over the fate of those who run towards the mirage. Are they happy? Do they have the strength to bear distress and distinction with equanimity? Have they a glimpse of the beauty, the truth, and the grandeur of the Universe which is the handiwork of God?

Baagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

 The seer should not attach oneself to the seen - that is the way to get free. The contact of the senses with objects arouses desire and attachment; this leads to effort and either elation or despair. Then, there is fear of loss or grief at failure and the train of reactions lengthens. With many doors and windows kept open to all winds that blow, how can the flame of the lamp within survive? That lamp is the mind, which must burn steadily unaffected by the dual demands of the world outside. Complete surrender to the Lord is one way of closing windows and doors, for, then, in that stance of Sharanagati (complete surrender to God), you are bereft of ego and so, you are not buffeted by joy or grief. Complete surrender makes you draw upon the grace of the Lord for meeting all the crises in your career and so, it renders you heroic, more stalwart, and better prepared for the battle.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

The heart full of satwa guna (purity) is the ocean of milk. Steady contemplation of the Divine, either as your own reality or as the ideal to be reached, is the Mandara mountain planted in it as a churning rod. Vasuki, the serpent that was wound around it as a rope, is the group of senses emitting poisonous fumes during the process of churning, nearly frightening the demons who held the head. The rope is held by good and bad impulses and both struggle with the churning process, eager for results. The grace of God is the Tortoise Incarnation, for the Lord Himself comes to the rescue once He knows that you are earnestly seeking the secret of Immortality. He comes, silently, unobserved, as the tortoise did, holding the manana (reflection) process unimpaired and serving as a steady base of all spiritual practices. Many things emerge from the mind when churned, but the wise wait patiently for the appearance of the guarantor of Immortality, and seize upon it with avidity.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

Remembrance of Lord's name is the method of crossing over the ocean of worldly life for this age. You may doubt whether such small words like ‘Rama’, ‘Sai’ or ‘Krishna’ can take you across the boundless sea of worldly life. People cross vast oceans on a tiny raft; they are able to walk through dark jungles with a tiny lamp in their hands. The Name, even Pranava (Om) which is smaller, has vast potentialities. The raft need not be as big as the sea. The recitation of Name is like the operation of boring to tap underground water; it is like the chisel-stroke that will release the image of God imprisoned in the marble. Break the encasement and Lord will appear; cleave the pillar, as Prahladha asked his father to do, and Lord, who is ever there will manifest Himself. Lord is Anandamaya (full of bliss); He is also Ananda (divine bliss), which is to be tasted through the Name. He is Sat-Chit-Ananda (Being-Awareness-Bliss Absolute).

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

You may have the best of vegetables, you may be the most capable cook, but if the copper vessel in which you prepare the vegetable soup is not tinned, the concoction you cook will be highly poisonous! So ‘tin’ your heart with satya, dharma, shanti and prema (truth, right conduct, peace and divine love), it will then become a vessel fit for repeating holy name or symbols, meditation, religious vows, pilgrimage, ritualistic worship and other dishes that you prepare in it. It is an uphill task: to reform one's tendencies and character. One may study all text-books of spiritual practice, all scriptures, and may even lecture for hours on them; but one will slip into error when temptation confronts. Like land that is parched, the heart may appear to be free from any crop of evil but when the first showers fall, the seeds and roots underneath the soil change the waste into a carpet of green!

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

Prayer for some benefit or gain should not be addressed to God. For, it means that God waits until He is asked! Surrender to Him; He will deal with you as He feels best and it would be the best for you. God does not dole out grace in proportion to the praise He receives! When you pray for a thing from God, you run the risk of condemning Him, if for some reason the prayer is not answered the way you wanted it to be, or as quickly as you wanted it to be! This contingency arises because you feel that God is an outsider, staying in some heaven or holy spot, far away from you. God is in you, God is in every word of yours, in every deed and in every thought. Speak, do and think as it befits Him. Do the duty that He has allotted to the best of your ability, and to the satisfaction of your conscience. That is the most rewarding puja (worship).

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

Man prides that he knows everything but when asked about himself, he hangs his head in shame. Man knows the news of every land, but he is ignorant of the nuisance he is to himself and others. He is moving in darkness but yearning for Ananda (bliss). He does not know the means of securing Ananda through prayer, selfless service, study of spiritual texts, meditation and silence. He has no faith that he is Ananda and that Ananda is his own nature. He is blown off by calamity; for he has no strength to withstand that blow. Faith in the God within is the toughest shield against the thrusts of fate. Nests laboriously built by birds are torn away by storms; fragrant petals of flowers are felled by rain. Defeat and victory are the obverse and reverse of the same coin! When you welcome one, you have willy-nilly to welcome the other too! Forbearance, compassion and incorruptible virtue are the three pillars of a happy life.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

Education is not to be taken as a process of filling an empty sack and pouring out its contents, making its sack empty again. It is not the head that has to be filled through education, it is the heart that has to be cleansed, expanded and illumined. Education is for life, not a living. The sign of the educated man is the humility, that he has not been able to know the vast unknown that still remains to be explored. The educated man must realise that he has more obligations than privileges, more duties than rights. He has to serve the society amidst which he is placed and the heritage that has been handed over by forefathers. He should be delighted to serve and not desire to dominate. For, service is divine; service makes life worthwhile. Service is the best way to use one’s skills, intelligence, strength and resources.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the

Our culture has upheld strength of mind and purity of thought, which are translated into beneficial resolutions and desires, as the essential requisites of a progressive human being. The mystery and splendour of God can be grasped only by a pure mind and a clear vision. That’s why the Lord granted a new eye to Arjuna so that he might not be confounded by His Glory. A resolution adopted by the mind is like a stone thrown into a Sarovara or lake. It produces ripples that affect the entire face and unsettles equanimity. A bad thought desecrates the individual as well as the community. Misery is infectious; your impurity can pollute too. A good sankalpa (resolution) sets up a series of such thoughts, each contributing its quota to the process of purification and strengthening. Bharatiya culture insists on purity of Sankalpa because, like a fragrant flower in the hand, it will spread its beneficial influence on others and through others!

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

While trying to get the best out of nature's gifts, you must first be equipped with humility and simplicity; otherwise, you will only be dragged along into ruin, through many unfulfilled desires. Ravana desired Nature (Mother Sita was found as a child in a furrow of ploughed land) but he had not chastened himself enough through the sadhana of seeking God; that is why he met his downfall. Desire leads to anger, when it is foiled; anger weakens the body. It impairs the digestive system and chases one fast into old age. Remember, when Prema (Divine selfless Love) is installed in the heart, jealousy, hatred and untruth will find no place there. Do not seek Prema from others when you refuse Prema to others. This is not one-way traffic! Live in Prema, live with Prema, move with Prema, speak with Prema, think with Prema, and act with Prema. This is the best and the most fruitful Sadhana (spiritual effort)

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

 You sit before the idol, light the incense and offer praise as you worship, but you do not try to grasp the significance of the Divine that you see in the idol. Inquire into the will of God, discover the commands of God, guess what will please Him most, and regulate your life accordingly. Do not get caught in the sticky tangles of outer Nature. Do not harden your heart through greed and hate. Soften it with Love. Cleanse it through pure habits of living and thinking. Use it as the shrine, wherein you install your God. Be happy that you have within you the source of power, wisdom and joy. Announce that you are unconquerable and free, that you cannot be tempted or frightened into wrong. So long as a trace of 'I-am-the-body' consciousness persists in you, you have to yourself search for God; you have to approach the mirror, the mirror will not proceed towards you, to show you, as you really are!

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

If you tell your son, when you are actually at home, to reply on the phone saying ‘father is not at home’, you are sowing a poisonous seed, which will become a huge tree. Parents set bad examples uttering falsehood, scandalising others, gambling, drinking, behaving violently, inflicting injury, becoming addicted to night-clubs, movies and drinking parties, and quarrelling at home after arriving home past midnight. How can children, used to such low sights and sounds, learn to become bright, fresh fragrant flowers of the Sanatana Garden of India? Many such parents do not allow their children to join the Bal Vikas Classes, or to attend bhajans and satsangs. They say that religion and God are only for idlers or old senile people, and that the path will lead them on to sanyas (mendicancy), which is a calamity to be avoided! They reverse the very values of life. Parents must correct themselves before they try to correct their children.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

Learn lessons from the Sun, the Moon, clouds, sea - all are great teachers imparting to us the prime importance of discharging one's duty, without complaint. Trees distribute their fruits and their shade to everyone, even to those who lay the axe with an intention to destroy them! Mountains suffer heat, rain and storm without demur, and are plunged in meditation for ages. Birds do not hoard for years together, the wherewithal for food or shelter; they do not lament for they do not lavish affection on their progeny, more than absolutely necessary for their survival. Nature (Prakriti) is your school, your laboratory, the gateway to liberation, and the panorama of God's manifold majesty. Seek to know the lessons it is ready to teach; all things in Nature are as divine (Brahman) as you are! So, any act is Divine; any work is Divine worship. Build the mansion of your life on the strong foundation of the faith that all this is Brahman.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

Life is like a train journey. Young children have a long way to go, but elders have to alight from the train pretty soon. You must learn to make your journey comfortable and happy. Do not carry heavy unwanted luggage with you. That will make the journey miserable. Do not indulge in fault finding and in picking quarrels with others. Don't desire to have the best things for yourselves only. Share with others around you the good things you are given. Anger, hatred, envy, jealousy - these are the heavy luggage I asked you to avoid taking with you on the journey. I must give the elders and parents some advice. Do not set bad examples for these children to follow. If you are truthful, just, calm under provocation and full of love in all your dealings with others, then children too will grow up in Sathya (truth), Dharma (righteousness), Shanti (peace) and Prema (love).

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

Render every thought into a flower, worthy to be held in His fingers; render every deed into a fruit, full of the sweet juice of love, fit to be placed in His hand; and render every tear holy and pure, fit to wash His lotus feet. The symbol on the flag at Prasanthi Nilayam is a reminder of this ideal, which you have to put into practice. It is the symbol of victory, achieved by steady endeavour over the diabolic foes of lust and greed, of envy and hate, of malice and conceit. It is the symbol of the silent state of supreme Bliss, won through self-control and self-realisation. Do not judge others, to decide whether they deserve your service. Find out only whether they are distressed; that is enough credential. Do not examine how they behave towards others; they can be certainly transformed by Love. Seva (Service) is for you as sacred as a vow, a sadhana, a spiritual path.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba