Tlhought for the Day

Discard all low desires for a few acres of land, a fat account in the bank, or a few more bungalows or cars. Desire rather the joy that will never fade; a joy that is deep, steady and strong - the joy of Divine realization. One has only to know one-self in order to contact the springs of Bliss and Immortality and of kinship with all beings. Your innate Divinity is your reality; discover it, dwell in it, and desire to divulge it. Discover your holiness, your divinity, your truth. You may have doubts as to what is dharma (right conduct), which is sathya (truth), which is prema (love), and so on; but you can have no doubt about yourself, is it not? So, find out who you are and be fixed in that truth. That is enough to save you, and give you everlasting joy.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Talk little; talk sweetly; talk only when there is pressing need; talk only to those to whom you must; do not shout or raise the voice, in anger or excitement.

When the tongue craves for some delicacy, assert that you will not cater to its whims. If you persist in eating simple food that is not savoury or hot but amply healthy, the tongue may squirm for a few days, but will soon welcome it. That is the way to subdue it and overcome the evil consequences of it being your master. Since the tongue is equally insistent on scandal and lascivious talk, you have to curb that tendency also. Talk little; talk sweetly; talk only when there is pressing need; talk only to those to whom you must; do not shout or raise the voice, in anger or excitement. Such control will improve health and mental peace, better relationship with people and minimize conflicts with others. You may be initially laughed at, but there are other compensations for you. It will conserve your time and energy; and you can put your inner energy to better use.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

Just as there is a method to pull down an old building, there is a method to be followed in pulling down the complex structure of your mind. You can definitely achieve success by systematic efforts and become a master of yourself. The ladder must be as tall as the height to which you wish to climb, is it not? So too, your spiritual practice must be carried on till Realization (Sakshathkaram) is gained. The rice in the pot must be well boiled to become soft and tasty. Until that happens, the heat must be on. So too, in the vessel of body, with the water of the senses, boil the rice (mind), until it is cooked soft. The heat is your spiritual practice (Sadhana). Keep your Sadhana on, bright and shining; the jeeva (Individual) will at last become Deva (God).

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

Many clamour for the experience of spiritual bliss, but, few earn it, because they find themselves too weak to reject the clamour of the senses! Practice assiduously the larger programme of controlling the senses. A little enquiry will reveal that the senses are bad masters and very inefficient sources of knowledge; the joy they bring is transitory and fraught with grief. So long as one is dominated by sense pleasure, it cannot be said that his spiritual life has begun. For, the senses rush towards the temporary and the tawdry; thus, they foul the heart. God asks from each of you no other gift, no more valuable offering than the heart He has endowed you with. Give God that heart, as pure as when He gave it to you, full of the nectar of love He filled it with. Your devotion to God is best expressed by achieving the control of the senses.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

When the One manifests as Nature composed of the five Elements, do not imagine that its value is affected thereby. When a rupee is changed into ten paise coins, its value is not decreased at all. So too, see the Nature as the Supreme One with many manifestations, not as multiplicity of sense-impressions and attractions. Wherever your eye turns, whatever your ears hear, your fingers touch, your tongue tastes, your nose smells... take all to be God-filled. Do not allow mere sound, taste, etc. to captivate your senses. Practice to see the Divine, welcome and accept only such thoughts and feelings and discard the others. Sage Tukaram was once asked how can people keep this monkey-mind controlled from running after sensuous pleasures, the Sage advised, “Let the monkey mind run, you keep the body with you, do not let it go after the mind”. He encouraged, “Tell the mind, I shall not give you the body as your servant. Then the mind will desist and it can be defeated.”

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

All the five elements have been created by the Will of the Supreme. They have to be used with reverential care and vigilant discrimination. Reckless use of any of them will only rebound on you with tremendous harm. External nature has to be handled with caution and awe. So too, handle your inner 'nature,' your internal instruments! While the eye, the ear and the nose serve as instruments of knowledge about one particular characteristic (form, sound or smell) of Nature, the tongue makes itself available for two purposes: to judge taste and to communicate. So you must control the tongue with double care, since it can harm you physically and mentally. Without the control of the senses, spiritual practices (sadhana) are ineffective. If the senses are given full sway, it is like storing water in leaky pot. Pathanjali (the celebrated author of the Yogasuthras) said that if tongue is conquered, victory is yours.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

Offer your heart and your entire life to the Lord. Then your adoration will transform and transmute you so fast and completely, that you and He will be merged into One. You will be transformed, as a rock is transformed by the sculptor into an idol, deserving the worship of generations of sincere people. In the process you will have to bear many a hammer stroke, many a chisel-wound, for He is the sculptor. He is but releasing you from petrification! Do not defile time or waste this life and body seeking paltry ends. This life is part of the long pilgrimage you entered when you were born, which may not end even when you die. Never forget this fact. Be pure, alert and humble as pilgrims are. Treasure the good things and the truths you see and hear. Use them as props and promptings for further stages of your soul’s journey.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

Unfurl in your heart, the flag of infinite peace(Prashanthi). It should remind you to overcome the urge of low desires, anger and hate when your plans are thwarted; it must exhort you to expand your heart, to embrace all humanity and creation; let it direct you to quieten your impulses and calmly meditate on your own inner reality. Gradually, the lotus of your heart will bloom, from its centre the flame of divine vision of infinite peace will arise. Practise the disciplines of silence, cleanliness and forbearance. In silence, you can hear the voice of God. Through cleanliness you earn purity. By forbearance, you cultivate love. Feel that each moment is a step towards Him. Do everything as dedicated to Him, directed by Him, as work for His adoration, for serving His children.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

Brindavan is not a specific place on the map; it’s the Universe! All human beings are cowherds; all animals are cows. Every heart is filled with the longing for the Lord; the flute is the call of the Lord; the sport Raasakreeda (the sportive dance of little Krishna and the Gopees), is the symbol of the yearning and the travail to merge in God. The Lord manifests such Grace that each one of you has the Lord all for yourself; you need not be sad that you won't have Him; nor need you be proud that you have Him and no one else can have Him! The Lord is installed in the altar of each and every one of your hearts. Revere the gift of this body, the senses, the intelligence, the Will and all the instruments of knowledge, action and feeling as essential for His work.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

Today, the typhoon of hatred and falsehood is scattering the clouds of Virtue, Justice and Truth to the far corners of the sky. So long as man is capable of prema (love), dharma(righteousness) will exist, do not doubt it. When you direct thatprema to the Lord, your mental make-up will slowly and steadily undergo a revolutionary change. You will share in the sorrows and joys of your fellow-beings and experience bliss that is beyond the temporary gains and losses of this world. Your devotion to the Lord will undergo several changes. An important stage is one where service to the Lord alone matters and service alone is the reward - one does not seek anything more than just the opportunity of doing service Unto Him, to the best of one’s capacity. Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

It is your primary duty to follow and practice the twin principles of truth and righteousness and win the game of life.

Ravana sought wealth and gratification of desire by utterly violating the principle of Right Conduct (dharma). He was a scholar par excellence who had mastered the sixty four disciplines of learning; whereas Rama had mastered only thirty two. However Rama put them into practice and thereby digested what he learnt, whereas Ravana failed to digest them. The indigestion arose in the form of desire (kama), which ultimately destroyed him. While Rama was the Embodiment of Dharma, Ravana remained as the embodiment of kama. Thus, there arose a conflict between Righteousness and the unrighteousness. Rama transformed Himself into the embodiment of Sathya, following the principle of dharma. This eternal warfare between righteousness and unrighteousness, truth and untruth, exists in the minds of every person. It is your primary duty to follow and practice the twin principles of truth and righteousness and win the game of life.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

A true human being is one who consistently practices the principle of dharma.

Rama is the embodiment of Dharma (Righteousness), which is the basis for the entire Universe. However deep and great our scholastic eminence or wealth may be, this birth is of no use without the transformation of the mind. Merely repeating Rama’s name is inadequate without realising the Rama Thathwa (Principle). A true human being is one who consistently practices the principle of dharma. Burning is thedharma of fire. Coolness is the dharma of ice. Fire is no fire without burning. Similarly the dharma of man lies in performing actions with the body, following the commands of the heart, deeply rooted in Divine Love. Every act performed with thought, word, and deed in harmony is an act of dharma. From today, emulate Rama in your daily life and transform yourself by following the path of Love.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

The story of Rama teaches us how one should live in the world and conduct himself in the family as well as in society.

The Rama principle (Thathwa) is laden with many subtle secrets. The Rama story is of exemplary excellence ethically, spiritually and materially as well. Rama was the embodiment of the four cardinal principles: truth, righteousness, love, and peace. The story of Rama teaches us how one should live in the world and conduct himself in the family as well as in society. It also teaches us how one should retain one’s individuality and shape one’s personality. Only when we shape ourselves into a strong personality can we conduct ourselves ideally in the family and in society. He also enshrined in Himself the principles of equanimity, unity and bliss. This principle of bliss is latent in every human heart. Understand and internalize that each and every one of you have a right to realise and enjoy this principle of bliss, which is the real Rama Thathwa.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

My advice to you today.

I know how systematic you all are in eating and drinking. You take pretty good care of the body. I do not condemn it; I only want that you should take equally good care of the needs of the spirit also. Take a dose of Dhyanam (meditation) and Japam(repetition of holy Names) as the morning breakfast; Puja andArchana (prayer and worship) as lunch at noon; someSathsang (holy company) or Sathchinthana (holy thoughts) or reading of holy books or Nama likhitha (writing of holy Names) as afternoon tea and snacks; an hour of bhajan as dinner; and a small ten-minute manana (reflection) as the cup of milk before going to bed. This diet is enough to keep your inner being happy and healthy. That is My advice to you today.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

Do not be carried away by the modern day talk of establishing absolute equality. Each one has a certain corpus of intelligence and a peculiar bundle of instincts, impulses and past impressions (vasanas). The more you divert or diminish their impact on you, greater the achievements. Use all chances you have to develop good health, skills and character. That is your highest duty. Seize every chance to serve the sick and needy with love. Do not by any action of yours, cause pain to another, nor suffer pain yourself by foolishness or sheer bravado. Make lasting friendships with good and the noble. Honour elders and women. Treat women with the highest respect. By honouring women, you bring honour to yourself and your society. Respect for women is the mark of real culture.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

The five elements and their permutations and combinations constitute the Universe. Earth is the grossest, and has the highest number of characteristics. It has its own smell as well as the characteristics of touch, taste, form and sound (Gandha, Sparsha, Rasa, Rupa and Sabdha). The next element is Water, which is subtler than the earth and has only – taste, touch and form. The next element, Fire is subtler still and has sound and touch. The element Air is even subtler and has touch as its special attribute and sound as another predominant characteristic. The most subtle and pervasive element, Sky or Ether has only one characteristic, sound. God is subtler than all the above and so He is all-pervading, even more than ether or anything more pervasive than that. His nature is beyond all human vocabulary, beyond all human mathematics. Have this conviction well stabilised in your intellect.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

God is everywhere, and is everything; so, it appears as if He is nowhere, and He is not in anything! For, to know Him you try to identify Him as someone foreign and unique. He is Love, Power, Truth, Wisdom and Beauty. When you accept Love, you accept God. The tender plant of spirituality can grow only in the field of Love. It cannot thrive in the dehydrated loveless land of human hearts. Remove all traces of salinity from your hearts adding to the soil the precious complement of the Name of the Lord. Water it with Faith. Then plant the seedlings of Divinity; have discipline as the fence, and steadfastness as the pesticide to be sprayed. Then, you can reap the rich harvest ofJnana (wisdom), which will free you from the task of cultivation forever.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

If you stick to the truth consistently and sincerely, the sense of guilt will not gnaw your heart and cause pain. The easiest habit is speaking the truth and being honest. For, if you start telling lies, you will have to keep count of them and remember how many you have told to whom and be always alert to not contradict one lie with another! Also be aware that it is cowardice that makes you hide the truth. It is hatred that sharpens the edge of falsehood. Be bold and there is no need for a lie. Be full of love and there is no need for duplicity, tricks and ploys. Finally, the most important truth is, if you love a person, then you will automatically feel that they deserve the truth and nothing less than the truth.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

Human beings are the only species that can recognize greatness and revere the glorious. Use that capacity, discriminate and get the maximum benefit out of it, in this birth. Be convinced and have firm faith that the Truth will set you free and will protect you. Just as there are two wires, the positive and the negative which are brought together to produce light, so too the Supreme Self (Paramatma) and the spiritual aspirant (Sadhaka) have to meet in Yoga, to receive illumination! So gladly go to the holy places and keep company with the holy and the pious. A magnet attracts pure iron, similarly a sincere aspirant is attracted to only such things that will grant them Joy and Courage.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Everyone has inside them a whole set of animals.

Everyone has inside them a whole set of animals. You must suppress the tendencies of these animals and encourage the human qualities of love and friendship to shine forth. Begin the cultivation of virtues even when young, it is very important and more beneficial than book-learning. Treat everyone as your own people and even if you cannot do them any good, desist from causing any injury. Burn the lamp of love in the niche of your heart and the nocturnal birds of greed and envy will fly away, unable to bear the light. Love makes you humble, it makes you bend and bow when you see greatness and glory.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Every little moment or incident results in sound; be it the falling of an eyelid over the eye or the dropping of dew on a petal. The range of one’s ear is limited to what one can hear. Even a poisonous cobra can be quietened by music. Sound (Naadham) has that property. The child in the cradle stops wailing as soon as the lullaby is sung. It may not carry any meaning that the child interprets, but the sound does soothe the nerves and induce sleep. So too, the sound of a Manthra is as valuable as its meaning. The meaning of the Gayathri Manthra, is very direct and profound. It does not ask for mercy or pardon. It asks for a clear intellect, so that the Truth may be reflected therein correctly, without any disfigurement. This can be chanted by people of all times and will help aspirants to intensify their Sadhana and achieve success.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

ஐந்தின் வகைகள்

தந்தை, தாய், அக்னி, ஆத்மா, குரு என்னும் இந்த ஐந்து அக்னிகளும், மனிதனால் பெரு முயற்சியுடன் பணிவிடை செய்து காப்பாற்றப்பட வேண்டும்.

தேவர்கள், பித்ருக்கள், சான்றோர்களான மனிதர்கள், துறவிகள்,. அதிதிகள் (விருந்தினர்) என்னும் இத ஐந்து வகைப்பட்டவர்களையும் வழி படுபவன் உலகத்தில் பெரும் புகழை அடைகிறான்.

எங்கு போனாலும் அங்கெல்லாம் நம்மைத் தொடரும் ஐவர்: நண்பர்கள்,விரோதிகள், நடு நிலை வகிப்பவர்கள், ஆதரிக்கப்பட வேண்டிய பெரியோர்கள், நம்மை அண்டிப்பிழைப்பவர்கள்

விதுர நீதி

Thought for the Day

First, have unshakeable faith that can stand the ridicule of the ignorant, worldly and the low-minded. When someone ridicules you, reflect within yourself - Are they ridiculing my body or soul? If they are ridiculing my body, they are helping me develop detachment! Ridiculing the soul is impossible, for, the Atma is beyond praise or blame, words or thoughts. Then repeat to yourself, “I am the Eternal Self, Pure and Immovable (Nirmala, Nischala) and so I must transcend this feeling.” Secondly, do not worry about ups and downs, loss or gain, joy or grief. You are the creator of your own destiny. You crave for something - when you get it, you feel joyful! If you don’t get it, you are in despair. Cut the craving off, and there will be no more swings between joy and grief. Finally, be convinced in the Omnipresence of Divinity.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

you must raise your motherland to great heights through your hard work and effort.

Students and youngsters must have challenging attitude towards things and honour physical labour. You must be eager to be of service to those who need it on account of their disabilities. Honour your elders and do not miss any chance of serving or pleasing them. Whatever gives you health and joy, welcome it – but do not lower yourself by indulging in vulgar pastimes. Do not wander aimlessly in the streets or frequent cinema halls and mix with undesirable company, or cultivate bad habits for fun. Remember that you must raise your motherland to great heights through your hard work and effort. When you develop such virtues, the nation will prosper.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

The Grace of the Lord cannot be won by a little pretence of non-attachment (Vairagyam) or just with a few little acts of discrimination (Vivekam). Know and act; realise and also experience - that is the hard path. Surrender yourself to His Will. Life is a great Yajna (sacrificial rite). Allow the Lord to preside over it. Do not ignore Him. This world is not a land of enjoyment (Bhoga Bhoomi). It is a land of sacrifice, of Yoga (union with God), and of righteous actions (Thyaga Bhoomi, Yoga Bhoomi, Karma Bhoomi). Have love and the spirit of unity in work and prayer, I assure you, the Kingdom of the Lord (Rama Rajya) will establish itself again here.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

When you come out of the examination hall, you know whether you will pass or fail, for you can yourself judge how well you have answered – is it not? So too, in your daily life, each of you can judge and ascertain the success or failure of your Sadhana (Spiritual Effort). Sadhana is the most essential practice for you. No age is too early for this. Just as you tend the body with food and drink at regular intervals, you must also tend to the needs of the inner Soul by regular japam and dhyanam (contemplation and meditation) and the cultivation of virtues. Holy Company, Good Attitude and Sacred Thoughts are all very essential for the growth and the health of your inner personality. Your body is the mansion (Bhavanam) of the Lord of the Universe (Bhuvaneshwara).

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

A few elders in Brindavan who revelled in scandalizing Krishna set an ordeal for Radha to test her virtue. Radha was asked to fetch water in a pot from Yamuna to home. Radha, with full faith in Krishna, was immersed in the consciousness of the Lord, that she never bothered to know the condition of the pot. The mud pot she was given had a hundred holes. She immersed it in the river, repeating the name of Krishna as usual, with every intake of the breath and every exhalation. Every time the name Krishna was uttered, a hole was covered, so that by the time the pot was full, it was whole! That was the measure of her faith. Faith can affect even inanimate objects.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

The Lord is the Immanent Power in everything; those who refuse to believe that the image in the mirror (the world) is a reflection of themselves, how can they believe in the Lord, when He is reflected in every object around them? The moon is reflected in a pot, provided it has water. So too, the Lord can be clearly seen in your heart, provided, you have the water of Love inside it. When the Lord is not reflected in your heart, you cannot say that there is no Lord. It only means that there is no Love within you.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

It is not easy to know your own Self. Take the case of the food that you eat. You feel its presence as long as it is in your stomach, but do not know what happens in the stages after that, unless you study in depth about your human body. How then can you know, without effort, the Truth that lies behind the sheaths that encase and enclose you. You must clear the intellect of the cobwebs of the ego, the dust of desire, and the soot of greed and envy, then it becomes a fit instrument for revealing the Inner Truth. The Scriptures exhort you to know your Self, know your Inner Motivator (the Antharyami)! For, unless you are armed with that knowledge, you are like a ship sailing without a compass in a stormy sea!

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Close your external eyes and open your inner eyes

People suffer because they have all kinds of unreasonable desires and they pine to fulfil them and fail miserably. They attach too much value to the objective world. It is only when attachment increases that you suffer pain and grief. If you look upon the world and all its created objects with the insight derived from the inner vision, the attachment will fade away; you will see everything much clearer, with the Divine glory suffused in its Splendour. Close your external eyes and open your inner eyes – see what a beautiful grand vision emerges from within you, as you go through your daily life. Attachment to the world has limits, but the attachment to the Lord that you develop when your inner eye opens has no limit. Enjoy that Reality, not this false picture from your external eyes.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Everyone should cooperate and work with love and devotion.

Learn when you are young how to succeed in the turmoil of life, how to live without causing pain to others and suffering pain yourself. Everyone should cooperate and work with love and devotion. Tolerate all kinds of persons and opinions, all attitudes and peculiarities. Difference of opinion amongst people must be perceived and resolved like the two eyes, each giving a different picture of the same object; both of which when co-ordinated, gives a complete rounded picture. Examine everything you hear, and believe only what appeals to you as correct.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba