Thought for the Day

The mind is made of the warp and woof of wishes. So the first thing to be conquered is the demon of desire. For this, it is unnecessary to wage a huge war. It is also unnecessary to use pleasing words to persuade the desire to disappear. Desires will not disappear for fear of the one or for favour of the other. Desires are objective; they belong to the category of the “seen”. With the conviction that “I am the see-er only, not the seen”, the steady-minded one releases oneself from attachment. By this means, desire is conquered. You must watch the working of the mind from outside it; do not get involved in it. That is the meaning of this discipline. The faculty of the mind is like a strong current of electricity. It has to be watched from a distance and not be contacted or touched. Touch the current, and you are reduced to ashes. So too, contact and attachment give the mind the chance to ruin you. The farther you are from it, the better. By skillful methods, you have to make the best use of it for your own welfare.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

First weed out the evil thoughts and bad habits. Second, cultivate good habits.

The unceasing toil of each succeeding day has as its aim and justification this consummation: to make one’s last days sweet and pleasant. But each day also has its evening. If the day is spent in good deeds, then the evening blesses us with deep, invigorating and refreshing sleep, the sleep about which it is said that it is akin to samadhi. One has only a short span of life on earth. But even in this short life one can attain divine bliss by wisely and carefully using the time. Two people, in appearance the same, ostensibly of the same mould, grow under the same conditions, but one turns out to be an angel while the other stays on with their animal nature. What’s the reason for this differential development? Habits, behaviour formed out of these habits, and the character into which that behaviour has solidified. People are creatures of character.

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Thought for the Day

People must be happy that the highest Lord (Purushothama) has placed around them newer and newer materials for serving Him and gets the worship of Him done in various forms. People must pray for newer and newer opportunities and exult in the chance that their hands receive. This attitude gives immeasurable joy. To lead a life suffused with this joy is indeed bliss. Whatever is done from sunrise to sunset must be consecrated, as if it is the worship of the Lord. Just as care is taken to pluck only fresh flowers and to keep them clean and unfaded, so too, ceaseless effort should be made to do deeds that are pure and unsullied. If this vision is kept before the mind’s eye every day and life is lived accordingly, then it becomes one long unbroken service of the Lord. The feeling of ‘I’ and ‘You’ will soon disappear; all trace of self will be destroyed. Life then transmutes itself into a veritable devotion to the Lord (Hariparayana).

Bagavan Sri Sri Sri Sathya Sai Baba