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1008 Pearls of Sayings
of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba
Introduction
|1-42 | 43-84 | 85-126 |
127-168 | 169-210 | 211-252|
|253-294 | 295-336 | 337-378|
379-420 | 421-462 | 463-504|
|505-546 | 547-588 | 589-630|
631-672 | 673-714 | 715-756|
|757-798 | 799-840 | 841-882|
883-924 | 925-966 | 967-1008|
From 463 - 504
463
THIS World is full of people who suffer from
insanity but, who are still outside the asylums! Suddenly, when hatred
envelops a country, even ordinary sane people go mad and behave like savages.
But sometimes in the Mental Hospital you will find one type of "mad man". He
sits in a corner, resting without a break, watching the pranks and the
wildness of the other inmates. The doctors will be thankful to him, for he
needs no care; he causes no trouble. His madness may be melancholia or he
may be a Jnani. The God bound man is like that. He is the only sane man in
this mad world. 464 BECOME fit for
the vision of God that you seek in the temples. Go humbly, with Prema in
your heart for all creation. Take the "Hrudhayapushpa", full of fragrance of
Prema, the "Mano-phala" uncontaminated by the pests of greed and egoism.
Become sweet in word, deed and thought, so that you can dedicate yourself to
the services of God's Plan.
465 YOU will have seen the announcement that you should not bring Me fruits,
flowers etc. Some of you I know are sad that I have announced so. But I tell
you; Come to Me with empty hands. I shall fill your hands with gifts and
Grace. If your hands are full, what am I to fill them with?
466
ALL Worship and Puja is for "Bhakthi" only; for the
better comfort and more luxurious consumption of the Worshipper himself.
Devotion has been vulgarised into a business deal. I shall give you so much,
provided you give me so much in return. If another shrine promises more,
this shrine is given up. And if you do not get quick returns there or
somewhere else, some other God, might be more profitable. That is the way in
which worldly men wander about in their panicky rounds.
467
YOU are as distant from the Lord as you think you
are, as near Him as you feel you are. Well, let me tell you this. This
distance from Me to you is the same as the distance from you to Me, is it
not? But, you complain that I am far from you, though you are approaching
nearer and nearer. How can that be? I am as near you as you are near Me.
468
WHEN a prisoner is taken from place to place, he is
accompanied by two Constables. When man, who is a prisoner in this jail,
moves from one place to another, he too, is accompanied by "Ahamkaram" and "Mamakaram":
Egoism and Attachment. When he moves above without these two, you can be
sure he is a free man, liberated from prison.
469
DO all the household work as acts of Worship for Him.
That is more fruitful than hours of Dhyana, hours gained by entrusting this
precious work to paid helpers. Men too must feel that frittering away
precious time, flitting from one vanity to another and seeking more and more
purposeless means of spending days and nights, is detrimental to the main
aim of life. Spread joy, give strength, distribute courage, console the
distressed, and help the lame to walk, and the blind to see. That is the
real timetable of activities of man.
470
THE wealth that you hoard is not yours. The wealth
that you have shared is yours. For wealth that belongs to you need not be
hidden. The wealth that you have given away is really yours. That is the
reason why Vedas have declared: "Not through actions, not through progeny,
not through wealth can Immortality be won; it can be won only through
renunciation".
471 IF only you
surrender your wish and will and your fancies and fantasies to God, He will
lead you aright, and give you peace and joy. You must not run after diverse
ends and fleeting pleasures. Leave everything to God. Accept whatever
happens as His Will.
472 GOD is
the echo of the hills, the flutter of the leaves, the whisper of men, the
babble of children, and the OM that is wafted everywhere. God is present at
all places but, to recognise Him Saints have had to prescribe a thousand
methods. He is in everyone, yet He evades discovery by all but a few, being
all powerful. He is the Giver of all Gifts, the Providence bestowing upon us
all the wherewithal: "Asvrithya Thishtathi" (He remains All Encompassing).
473
THROUGH sheer ignorance, and perversity, the
Shastras have been ignored and set aside, and man is misleading himself into
the belief that his fancies are true, just, and beneficial. Man has thrown
his "humanness" into the crater of cruelty; forgetting his best interests
under the influence of hatred, envy, conceit and power. He has cast aside
the expanse of his culture. As a result, Peace has flown from the heart of
man, from the fold of Society, and the boundaries of Nations.
474
ONE flower cannot make a garland. All flowers must
come together to make one. So you must equip yourselves with strong bodies,
sacred ideals, and unselfish intentions in order to serve your country. You
can achieve any high ideal provided you are cooperative, well disciplined,
soaked in service and sacrifice, and fully determined to succeed.
475
DO not hope to gain Grace by looking down upon
mankind and looking up at Sai. Remember that your dress, behaviour, and
appearance will reveal your character and attitude towards others. Always
have sweet, soft words on your tongue. Cast your eyes only on holy sights.
Wear clean, simple clothes and do not imitate those who are fascinated by
latest fashions in dress and style. How can you do Seva when you move so far
away from the common man? I advise you to "Follow the Master". By "Master" I
mean the Conscience within you, the Voice of God.
476
SERVICE is God. Why has God endowed man with a body,
a mind and an intellect? Feel with the mind, plan with the intelligence and
use the body to serve those who are in need of service. Offer that act of
service to God; worship him with that Flower. Put into daily practice the
ideals that Sathya Sai has been propagating and make them known all over the
World by standing forth living examples of their greatness.
477
THE Upanishads proclaim that Thyaga alone can grant
"Amrithatva" (Renunciation alone can bring about the Bliss of Immortality).
One has to ignore all bonds of kinship and comradeship, give up all
attachment and affection, and, in the heart thus liberated, install God in
all His Glory. This is the only means to earn everlasting and undiminished
Ananda. 478 WHETHER one is a
renowned scholar with expert knowledge of the deepest levels of religious
lore, a monarch reveling in the brilliance of palatial luxury, a hero of
many battles, or a miserable victim of poverty - if one has no devotion to
the Lord, one does not deserve homage, honour, or attention.
479
DO not hesitate to practice humility and obedience,
discipline and compassion; Give up pride of your status, wealth, scholarship
or official position. "Can I, a big Officer, a rich merchant, a great
scholar, a man highly respected in Society, descend to this level of
clubbing with this sorrowing man? "Do not ask such silly questions. Everyone
of these qualifications of which you boast will disappear with death, or
sometimes sooner. The Ananada that you give and the Love that you share will
be your lasting possessions.
480 THE great axioms of Bharathiya Culture found in the Vedas - "Iswarassarvabhuthaanaam",
"Isaavaayamidam Sarvam", "Vassudevassarvamidam" (God is the inner Motivator
of all beings; All this is enveloped in God; All this is Vasudeva and the
Divine is to be inside one). This is the inner mystery of the Incarnation:
God incarnating in all! All are one; The One is All. There is only one God;
He is Omnipresent! There is only one Religion, the Religion of Love. There
is only one Caste, the caste of Humanity. There is only one Language, the
Language of the Heart.
481 WHAT is
the root of worry? Wants and the efforts to fulfill them, and the fear of
not succeeding to the extent desired. Reduce wants and you reduce worry. You
congregate here on the Nilayam verandah seeking a personal interview with
Me, with a load of wishes in your heart; wishes, that you want me to fulfill!
Why carry all the load? Carry only one load: the desire to win the Grace of
God. He will confer what is best for you. Leave the rest to Him.
482
WHAT is this lifetime? Is it to struggle in the mire
or march straight on to the eternal? You will get millions to tell you what
is pleasing to you, but it is difficult to get one in a million who can tell
you what is good for you. What is good for you is akin to Truth. Truth is
hard but beneficial. It is unpleasant advice to tell a man to stick to the
Truth at all costs; Truth alone pays dividends that satisfy.
483
PEOPLE think that they live on food. Then how is it
that, while the wealthy who can afford all kinds of food, succumb to
untimely death, while the poor still live? Man does not live by food alone.
In fact he lives by the power of the Soul. Without discrimination, what is
the use of physical strength?
484 TO presume that either from wealth or kith and kin you can derive mental
peace, is a great error. Such peace only comes from God. In fact, there is
no strength superior to Love. Where Love is, there everything is. So you
must live in God; and live in Love; then everything shall be right. You must
make others also live in Love.
485 WE talk of Moksha. What is it? It is only giving up the "Anatma", the Unreal.
Suppose you want a tumbler of fruit juice. Unless you throw away the water
already in the tumbler, you cannot pour the juice in the tumbler. Similarly,
unless you give up materialism, "Atmabhava" (spirituality), cannot come to
you. "Moksha" is not a distinct and different "Sadhana". It is only giving
up unnecessary desires. Through anger, wisdom is lost. Disharmony is the
cause of anger; of disharmony, jealousy, and of jealousy, ignorance is the
cause. 486 MAKE your body and mind
pure. This place is like a workshop where broken-down cars are repaired and
made whole. Do not entertain bad thoughts and do bad deeds. Life is holy and
sacred. Go through it with joy and happiness. Do not carry gloomy, unhappy
faces. Happiness is union with God. This period of your life is sacred. If
you can not derive happiness and live in Bliss at this age, can you be
blissful when you grow old? Now, you have only two legs to carry; you can
jump about freely. But when you marry and rear up a family, you will move
like a caterpillar with many legs!
487
SO long as man is bound to the body, his God too has to be in a body
like his own. It is often said disparagingly, that God is conceived as
having eyes, nose, tongue and limbs. When the person who worships has these,
the worshipped too must have them, in order to make the worship meaningful.
Only when one is unaware of his "form", can he adore the "Formless"! It is
indeed surprising that those who laugh at God being pictured as having a
body, do not laugh at their being enclosed in a body! When man has to be
corrected and liberated, God has to come as Man, as Narayana had to do to
save Mahabali. 488 THE Vedas are
the foundation of the Bharatiya Culture. If in modern Society a trace of
spiritual illumination is visible, we can ascribe it to this Vedic basis and
the way of life I demand. All moral codes (Dharma) have emanated from the
Vedas; and all the Worlds have Dharma as their sustenance: "Vedamulam Idam
Jagath". 489 YOU will learn that I
am Prema itself; that I give only one thing, Ananda, through that Prema. My
task is to distribute Solace, Courage, and Shanti. That is to say, My
Characteristics are the ancient authentic ones. Only the Manifested Form is
new. My desire, if I can put it in so many words, is this: "More and more
should yearn for Me. The desire will be realised only if I assume this Form
and come among you".
490 EVERY
day, when you sleep, where are you? Who are you? Your senses are inoperative;
your intelligence is in abeyance; your mind creates a World of its own and,
after playing in it for some time, it lapses into inactivity. That is sleep:
the nearest you reach in your journey to Samadhi. Live in the "Atmathathwam"
that will ensure "Shanti". With the poison of "Raga" and "Dwesha" inside you,
how can you be pronounced healthy? If you experience the "Atmathathwam", you
become Bhagawan Himself.
491 ONCE Narada was asked to name the most noteworthy among the things of the World.
He answered that the Earth was the biggest. But, he was told water has
occupied three fourths of the Earth; it threatens to swallow up the balance
too, bit by bit. So, water, he had to agree, was more powerful. However,
water too was drunk up by the Sage Agasthya and the Oceans were rendered dry
by him and he, in turn, is now just a star in the sky! Is the sky the
biggest, then? For it was covered by one single foot of the Vamena Avatar of
the Lord. And, the Lord? O, He enters the hearts of the devotees and resides
there. So Narada had to conclude that the hearts of Bhaktas are the grandest
things in creation.
492 SANKARACHARYA came for the work of Dharma-Sthapana, but he did not wage a
war against the narrow Sectarians, or the wild Theologians who opposed him
as a Pseudo Buddhist. He won them over by argument, persuasion and preaching.
He spoke softly, but with conviction. He gave his opponents a fair chance to
present their cases to the best of their ability and sometimes he even
helped them to clarify their own points of view. Through Bodha alone, can
Dharma be saved in the modern Kali age. That is why I am engaged in Bodha,
this task of reconstruction through Upadesa.
493
A LIFE without character is as barren as a temple
without a lamp, a coin that is counterfeit, and a kite whose string has
snapped. A teacher who instructs pupils with his eye fixed on his salary,
and a pupil who learns with his eye fixed on a job are born missing their
vocation. The teacher has to help the pupil unfold and manifest the skills
and qualities inherent in him and encourage him to rise to the fullest
height he is capable of. The Divine is the Core in both the teacher and the
pupil. 494 EVERYTHING in the
Universe is vibrant with Sath, Chith and Ananda. We (Sath) are intelligent (Chith)
and blissful (Ananda). These three are attributes of Divinity, which is our
dormant but dominant force. Ignorant of the truth, structures are built up
and paraded on other bases. Mankind suffers from fear and hatred on account
of this fundamental defect in their search for Knowledge.
495
PRAYERS for worldly ends do not reach God. They will
reach only those deities who deal with such restricted spheres. But all
prayers arising from pure Love, unselfish eagerness to render service from
hearts that are all inclusive, will reach God. For God is the very
Embodiment of Love. We know that we can see the Moon only through the
Moonlight. So too, God, who is Love, can be realised only through Love. Love
is God. Live in Love.
496 THE desires that cling to the mind are the blemishes that tarnish man's inner
consciousness. Control the senses. Do not yield to their insistent demands
for satisfaction. When a corpse is placed on a pyre and when the pyre is lit,
both the corpse and the pyre are reduced to ashes. So too, when the senses
are negated, the mind too disappears. When the mind disappears, delusion
dies and liberation is achieved.
497
VAAK or voice has to be rigourously trained to avoid chatter and
wandering prattle. Keep the tongue under control; do not express all you are
prompted to say; cut that inclination to the minimum. Silence will charge
the battery and you can win through a longer period of "Dhyana". Be full of
Prema and then your words will spread Prema. They will be sweet and soothing
like balm to those who suffer.
498 ATTACHMENT, affection and interest will create prejudice, partiality and
illusion; they hide the truth; and they dull the intelligence. Raga is Roga;
attachment is a disease, so far as the inquirer is concerned. It does not
become a Yogi to have Raga (affection); He must be free from favourites,
fancies and fondness. Once you attach yourself to some person or habit or
mannerism, it will be difficult for you to shake them off.
499
UPASANA means that all your thoughts, deeds and
words on those holy days must be about God; that you should spend the day "Near
Him", "in Him" and "for Him". It means that eating, sleeping and other
bodily avocations have to take a secondary role and that Meditation and
Japam have to take the main role. If your body wastes away as a result of
these fasts, God will be blamed. So, you are only drawing down the calumny
of people on the God you adore.
500
WHY must man live for years - a burden on earth, so much of rice or
wheat consumed, year after year with no return in joy or peace to himself or
others? The Petromax light will shine bright only when you pump air
vigorously, that is to say, engage yourself in Sadhana and illumine your
mind better and spread light on all who come near you.
501
THOSE who deny God are denying themselves and their
glory. All have Love in their hearts, in some form or other; either towards the
children of the poor or their work for the good of others. That Love is God, the
spark of the Godly in them. They have Ananda however small or temporary, and
that is a spark of God and the Godly. They have Shanti, Detachment and Sympathy.
All these are the reflections of the Divine on the mirror of their minds. These
are all mental excellences, revealed through an appreciation of the advantages
of virtue.
502
THE principle of Love has no trace of ego or blemish.
It is fully free from selfish attachment. Whatever Sai does, whatever Sai thinks,
whatever Sai says and whatever Sai observes is all for your sake, not for Sai's
sake. My only desire is your Ananda. Your Ananda is My Ananda. I have no Ananda
apart from yours.
503
WHATEVER thoughts arise in Me are only for the Peace
and Welfare of the World, for the progress of Youth and for transforming ideal
boys and girls who will lead others along the path. You must dedicate yourselves
for rendering enthusiastic service to the people of the World, recognising
thatthe Sai Principle has no egoistic urge.
504
WHEN do we need Light? Not during the day, but when
night prevails. Then we need a lamp, a flame, the Moon; so too, until wisdom
enlightens us, we need Sadhana; until we experience the one Unified Divine, we
have to accept and practice discipline, regulations and Sadhana. Ignorance is
the Night. Knowledge is the Light. There are nine lamps that can illumine the
mind and free it from darkness: Sravanam (listening); Keerthanam (Adulation);
Smaranam; Padasevanam; Archanam (ceremonial worship); Vandanam; Dasyam; Sakhyam;
and Atmanivedanam.
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