Thought for the Day

Life is like a flight of steps toward the Divine. Your foot is on the first step when you are born; each day is a step that must be climbed. So be steady, watchful and earnest. Do not count the steps ahead or exult over the steps behind. One step at a time, well climbed, is enough success to be satisfied with and to give you encouragement for the next one. Do not slide from the step you have reached. Every step is a victory to be cherished; every day wasted is a defeat to be ashamed of. Slow and steady — let that be your maxim! Adhere to a regular timely routine to repeat the Lord’s Name and meditate. Just as the doctor prescribes a certain fixed quantity of the drug and warns you that anything less is ineffective and anything more is harmful, so too, balance your spiritual exercises. Do not overdo them or do them casually without care.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

The root cause of all trouble is the uncontrolled, ill-directed mind. Like when the river Godavari is in floods, it rolls along, causing slips and slides, and devastates vast areas on both banks. Discriminatory wisdom (Viveka) and non-attachment (Vairagya) are the two bunds which tame the mad energy of the flood and lead the raging waters into the sea, which is, after all, the destination the waters seek. How can they be implanted? By the first three primary goals of life: righteousness, wealth, and desire-fulfillment (dharma, artha, and kama). The practice of dharma is the art of living. No attempt need be made to run away from the duties of one’s station and status. Remember, those duties have to be done as worship, as offerings of one’s intelligence, skill, qualities, thoughts and feelings to the feet of the Lord in a spirit of thankfulness for the chance given, without a trace of egoism or a sense of attachment to the fruits of the actions.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

Practice the attitude of joy when others are joyful and of grief when others around you are aggrieved. Let your heart move in empathy. But the joy and grief have to be translated into service; they should not be mere emotions. It is not by your wearing the same 'bush coat' that all others wear that you should demonstrate the principle of equality; that is very easy. That is external uniformity. How are all equal? All are equal, because they all have the same Divine Consciousness (Chaitanya) within them. When the Sun rises, not all lotuses in the lake bloom; only the grown buds open their petals. The others await their time. It is the same with people. Differences do exist because of un-ripeness, though all fruits have to ripen and fall someday. Every being has to reach the Goal, however slow they walk or however circuitous their road is!

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba