What is the best way to preserve the divine message of our beloved Master?

 Once a preceptor summoned all his disciples and told them that he was going to give them something extremely sweet which they should protect from insects and rodents. The disciples resorted to various devices to safeguard the guru's gift. However, one of them ate the sweet, digested it and derived considerable strength and energy from it. What is the lesson to be drawn from this story? It means that the teachings learnt from the preceptor are not to be merely preserved in safety. The nectarous message of the preceptor should be enshrined in the heart. It should be made part of one's being. Then the recipient acquires vigour and strength. In the same manner, whatever you see or hear or read should be taken to heart and then put into practice. Only then will you have the full satisfaction of benefiting from the teachings. Hearing is not enough. You must take in and digest what you have listened to. It must be put into practice in daily life.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

What is the real fast we must all undertake?

 Many of you misunderstand upavasa to mean 'fasting' and I know, you overdo it. You fast on Monday to please Shiva, on Tuesday to please Lakshmi, on Wednesday to propitiate some other God, on Thursday in My name, on Friday for Gowri and Saturday, for fear of Shani and on Sunday, to get the favour of the Sun. Now, this fasting will not bring you nearer to the Grace of God. Upavasa means that all your thoughts and deeds and words on those holy days must be about God, that you should spend the day 'near' Him, 'in' Him, 'for' Him. It means that eating, sleeping and other bodily avocations must take a secondary role, and meditation must take the main role. If your body wastes away as a result of fasts, God will be blamed; so, you are only drawing the calumny of people on the God you adore. They will come to you and say, ‘What! Before you started this Sai Baba worship you were looking much better; now, you become so thin and frail; you can scarcely move!’ And they continue talking against Me in the same strain. Do not overdo anything; be moderate and wise.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

What is the nature of pure love and what must we do to cultivate it?

Narada declared: "Love is beyond the scope of words." How can an ordinary man, living in this phenomenal world, understand such love? This love is an expression of Divinity. Like the mariner's compass, it always points to the Divine wherever it may be present. As oil makes a lamp burn, love illumines life itself. What is termed love in ordinary worldly life is not real love at all. It is only one or the other form of attachment based on human relationships in the family or in society. True love is pure, selfless, free from pride, and full of bliss. Such love can be got only through love. All worldly attachments are not real love at all. They are transient. The everlasting, pure love arises from the heart. In fact, it is ever-existing and all-pervading. How is it that man is unable to recognise such all-pervading love? It is because man's heart today has become barren and polluted. The heart is filled with all kinds of desires and there is no room in it for pure, unsullied love to enter. It is only when the worldly attachments are expelled from the heart that there will be room for real love to abide in it and grow.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri sathya Sai Baba