From 253 - 294

THE serpent can be tamed and its poisonous fangs removed, when music from the Nagaswaram pipe is played and when it is fascinated by that sweet melody. The poison that Vishaya exerts on the human mind can also be eliminated and countermanded, when man is fascinated by the sweet melodies of NNamasmaranaor Sankeertan, that is to say, by the repetitive chanting of the meaningful Names of the Lord. The poison in both can thus be transmuted into pure nectar.

254

SCRIPTURES are endless; Sadhanas are countless; opportunities are few; time is already overstocked. But you can easily win the battle of life, in spite of these handicaps, provided you arm yourself with Love, which is the essential teaching of all Scriptures, the goal of all varieties of Sadhana, the best use to which all opportunities can be put and
the most profitable way of utilising the precious capital time.

255

IMAGINE the fate of the cows when a tiger enters the manger. Can they survive the invasion? So too, the cows of Truth, Justice, Peace and Love cannot survive in the human heart when the "Tigers", namely Greed, Anger and Pride enter and play havoc. Today, the human heart, especially the heart of the educated man, has become the lair of wild desires and cruel habits.

256

THE day when devotees sing songs in praise of the Lord and please the ear; The day when sorrows of the poor recur and men move closer as brothers born; The day when servants of God are fed with Love and Care in thankfulness; The day when a Great One comes to us and relates thrilling tales of God; these indeed are worthwhile days. The rest are like days dedicated to obsequies for the dead.

257

DO not consider any act of service as demeaning. Sweeping the streets, for example, is not below your dignity. Do you not sweep the floor of your homes? Do you not scrub and wash off dirt? When you undertake such tasks, the villagers will also gladly share in them. Why feel ashamed to be good? The ridicule that may be cast on you has been the reward of many Saints. It will soon fade away. Mohammed was driven out of Mecca by those who could not appreciate his teachings. Jesus was crucified. But their names resound in reverence in the hearts of millions.

258

ISAA Vaasym Idam Sarvam, all this is enveloped by God; all this is soaked in God and saturated with God. Everything is the substance of God. In fact the best teacher is one's own heart. Time is the best preceptor and awakener; the World is the best scripture; God is the best friend for man. So there is no need to wander in search of a Guru. Man is of God, with and from God. The Cosmos is a bubble born in the Absolute. The human essence in man is Divine. The true Guru is not the human preceptor. Revere the World as Divine. All that is seen or heard is God. Revere the Universe as Guru.

259

I HAVE no sense of distinction between Bhaktas who worship this form or that. All can come near, all who crave for heat and light. The heat of this splendour will destroy the chill of sensual pleasure. The light will scatter the darkness of the ages. Cultivate Love and Prema towards all; that is the way to gain nearness. I do not measure distance
in terms of meters or miles. The range of Love decides the distance for Me.

260

THE real aim of education must be to help the student discover the Divine in every being Saint Vemana says: Scholars study! study! study! But the fools know not what they are! Studying, studying, studying. The scholar is not free from vice nor has he become wise. Then why study these mean, mortal things? Study only that which is deathless. The most desirable subject for study is the Secret of the Soul which is Immortal.

261

SEVA is the adoration of the Lord, as "Viswa-Virataswarupa", as having the multifaceted form and immanence in the entire Universe. The Vedas describe Him as thousand-headed, thousand-eyed and thousand-footed. The thousands of hands and eyes and feet that have come here for the festivals are all His, the Lord's. Worship Him; that is the purpose of your Seva. And He is none else than your own self.

262

YOU must discover your identity; then only can you have peace. You are like a man who has forgotten his name; his address and his mission in life. Realise it and try to delve into yourself; so that you may know who you are. Then you get security and peace. Sharpen your intellect for this purpose; and cleanse your consciousness for this purpose through Sathsang, Japa, Dhyana, Namasmarana etc.

263

VALMIKI was a highway-robber who waylaid and killed hundreds without hesitation; he was the slave of passion and emotion; but when the seven-Sages, whom he waylaid one night, counseled patience, forbearance and self-enquiry, he turned heroically into the path of Ram (giving up the lure of Kam or Lust) and achieved immortality
and immortal fame, as the narrator of Rama's story.

264

SCATTER the seeds of Love in dreary desert hearts; then the sprouts of Love will make the wastes green with joy; the blossom of Love will make the air fragrant; the river of Love will murmur along the valleys; and every bird, beast and child will sing the song of Love.

265

PRAYER is the very breath of Religion for it brings man and God together and with every sigh nearer and nearer. Dhyana is the process of listening to the Song Celestial, the Flute of Krishna, with the mental ears alert on the melody. Yoga is the merging of the Mind in the Bliss of self-forgetfulness  when the music fills the Consciousness.

266

THE Primal Formless Absolute wedded Desire and the Mind was born. The Mind wedded two wives, Inner contemplation and Outer activity. The first gave birth to five sons; Sathya, Dharma, Shanthi, Prema and Ahimsa, the Five Pandava Brothers. Mind was infatuated more with the second wife, and so, gave birth to a 100, each one with a name indicative of badness and wickedness, the Kauravas. God was on the side of the Pandavas and they won.

267

THE Universe is seen; it can be learnt about; it can be experienced and enjoyed. But God is unseen. He has to be inferred through His handiwork.  So too, Society to which social service is rendered, cannot be seen as such. We can contact only individuals. But through the individual, you infer the immanence of the Divine. All are actors on the World Stage, in His play. Every atom is surcharged with His Power, His Might and His Glory. Every being is surcharged with His Bliss, His beauty and His Goodness.

268

BE devoted to the Universal; be eager to become that. When you pray to God for a job, a son, or a prize, you are devoted not to God, but to the job, to the son and to the prize. Pray to God for God. Love, because it is your nature to Love, because you know nothing else and because you cannot act otherwise than Love. Expand yourself, take in all! Grow in Love.

269

HAVING an open heart, do not relish the narrow path of restricted love; love all, do not develop prejudices against men in power or position.  They too are our kith and kin. We all sail together. Be convinced of one Truth about Me; Swami will never lay his hand on a task without proper reason and without some profound effect that will flow there from.

270

WHEN the Giver of Grace is here, you run after persons who claim that they got this or other article from Me or were blessed with this gift from Me. When you have Kamadhenu here, why seek to know and secure a cow? Kamadhenu can give you all that you need. When you have Kalpatharu here, why bother about the fruits on a tree? Kalpatharu can give you all that you ask. When you have here the mountain of Gold and Silver, Meru, why cringe for silver and gold from persons who are themselves beggars? When you have God come among you to support and sustain you, why grovel before crude vulgar entities?

271

MAN is equipped with a return-ticket when he takes birth. Holding it in his grasp, he earns and spends, rises and falls, sings and dances, weeps and wails, forgetting the end of the journey. But though he forgets, the wagon of life moves towards the cemetery which is its terminus. It brings no glory to man if he is tied helplessly to the wheel of birth and death. His glory and greatness consist in disentangling himself from that revolving wheel.

272

THE mind is the architect of your progress or decline. For the fool, the mind is a formidable dinosaur; for the intelligent, the mind is an angel. The trained mind is torn by fear; the pure elevated mind is placid and unruffled, like that of a homeless Sage. The Vedas teach how to purify the mind and render it into a useful tool.

273

INTELLECT alone can direct man in the path of discrimination, between the true path and the false; the proper and the improper. This is the reason why man has been praying since Ages, through the Gayathri "hymn" "Illumine me, prompt my intelligence, so that I may walk aright".

274

SANKARA wrote a verse summarizing the advice he gave the poor struggling Brahmin house holder at Varanasi (Benares city): "Bhaja Govindam, Bhaja Govindam, Bhaja Govindam, Moodha Mathe, Samprapthe Sannihithe Kaale Nahi Rakshathi Duakru Karane", Praise  God, Praise God, Praise God, you fool, when death knocks at your door, rules of grammar cannot save you.

275

OF what avail is a car, a bank deposit, a bungalow in a posh extension of a city? If you have all these but no love in your heart, the heart becomes a dark deserted temple, where the bats of lust and anger breed in the everlasting night. Such hearts are foul, diseased with terror and error!

276

BIRDS, beasts and trees have not deviated from their nature; they are still holding it valid. Man alone has disfigured it, in his crude attempt to improve upon it. So, the Avatar has to come as Man among men, and move as friend, well-wisher, kinsman, guide, teacher, healer and participant among men. He has come to restore Dharma and
when man follows Dharma, He is pleased and content.

277

GET up, place the rosary in its bag and engage yourselves in relieving distress; that is the true spiritual path. Do not waste all your years with stone images, pictures or idols, learn to see in every living vital active person the embodiment of all energy, all beauty, all beneficence, namely God. God is subtler than ether filling the smallest crevice with His Majesty. Know this and serve His manifestations, wherever you meet them.

278

CONTENTMENT is heaven; grief is hell; anger is the foe; calmness is the armour; and compassion is the comrade. You repeat Shanti three times, don't you? It is to encourage peace in the human, Godly and natural milieu in which you have to live; also to develop peace, in the body, mind and intellect.

279

ALL men have two constables ever with them; they are the symbols of his sentence of imprisonment. They are "Abhiman" (sense of I) over "Mamakar" (sense of Mine), the egoistic feeling and the pride of possession. Man is a prisoner of his senses so long as these two keep him under guard. Man strays away into misery and pain, because he
loses the sense of value and runs after the temporary and the trivial. He ignores the voice of God which warns and guides from within; and he pays the penalty for the transgression.

280

AN act dedicated as an offering to the God, resident in all, becomes as sacred as the highest Seva, that is why Avatars happen; hence, when you offer Seva to mankind, the Avatar will naturally be pleased and you can win Grace.

281

THE individual born in the lake of Society must swim and float in the calm waters, and joining the River of Progress, merge in the Ocean of Grace. Man has to move from the stance of "I" to the position of "We". This day we see only the wild dance of ego-stricken individuals, who hate Society and behave most unsocially.

282

THE call of the Divine echoes in every heart; it provokes the reaction of awe, reverence, affection, love and sacrifice all ingredients of Bhakti. It translates itself into acts of worship, of praise, of adoration and of rituals symbolizing the Majesty of God. Thus, the Mind gets saturated with Divine thoughts. It is recast in the Divine Mould until the flow of "Ananda" becomes unabated.

283

GOD first; the World next, myself last! That is the legitimate sequence for the Sadhaka; and who is not a Sadhaka? You have to be one, now or later, so that you can be liberated from this cycle of birth-death! Now, man in his callousness towards his own welfare, has turned it topsy-turvy! It is myself first, the world next, and God is last. So,
God is lost too! Hold fast to God; then you will be safe.

284

MY activities are not for publicity or propaganda or even to confer joy on others! They are for conferring joy primarily on me! I have no need to please others and to earn approval or appreciation. For I and you are not distinct entities; you are I; and I am you. I am the current that flows into every bulk and illumines it. Those who see me as separate are seeing falsehood. I am in your hearts; you are in Mine. Don't be misled into doubt and distress. Dogs may bark and jackals howl; but Truth moves majestically forward.

285

THERE is only one God and He is Omnipresent, True. But to concentrate on the Omnipresent, some fixed point or preliminary form is needed. And to conceive of the Divine as present everywhere at all times, the mind of man is to be clarified and purified by means of a certain psychological process called Sadhana.

286

REMEMBER, God is your guardian, when you sleep; when you are helpless; even when you have forgotten or neglected or discarded Him. He has no need for the things you offer or promise to offer. He is ever content, ever blissful, ever full and ever free. Do your duty to yourself - that is enough offering for Him.

287

MAN must first decide, after vigorous self-examination and continuous discrimination, the path that he wishes to traverse. Moksha or Liberation means the removal of the bonds of Ignorance that could hide the Truth and create a mirage of the Truth. In fact, living is only another name of the process of achieving alternate misery and happiness,
hunger and contentment, illness and health, desires and fulfillment.

288

THE Sai Religion is the harmonious blending though Love of all Religions, though some followers of other Faiths feel that the Sai Religion is contrary to theirs. We should not entertain similar feelings. Ours is the Totality, the Sum; we should not limit or restrict our Vision.

289

YOU may have vast scholarship, fame and fortune. But the bee can give you a lesson on how to be free from torment. The tree can teach you forbearance and tolerance. It offers a shade to all, irrespective of age, sex or religion, nationality or status. It helps with fruit and shade even to the foe who lays his ax on its trunk! The dog can teach you
a lesson in Faith, Selfless Service and the process of Dedication.

290

FORM small Sathsangas and meet regularly for Bhajans and mutual consultation about spiritual matters. Read some fine spiritual classics like Bhagavatha. Fill your eyes with the Beauty of His form, your ears with the story of His Leelas, and your hearts with the sweetness of His Glory; inspire yourselves by seeing Him everywhere. Think of His
Immanence in every hill and dale, every man and beast, every tree, bird and insect. You will be really thrilled by the joy of that Vision.

291

MAN is daily growing more and more greedy to know more about the lives of others, more extrovert in fact. He wants to escape from himself by interesting himself in others. He does not want to worry about the details of his own life or the problems of his own rehabilitation. Of what benefit is all this burden of information that you seek to
carry in your head, this knowledge of the various regions of the world without a knowledge of the region of your own self, the centre of all the interest that you evince?

292

REMEMBER, you cannot have the "Anubhava" and the "Ananda" first. And you cannot postpone Faith until you get them. You cannot bargain:  Give me Ananda and then I shall have Faith; See the Purushothama in all Purushas. Purusha means: he who lives in the rural or port-city or town. Each one of us is the resident and the sole resident of a distinct house of God. But, the Purushothama, the Supreme Resident in all the cities, is God. You can recognise the Purushothama, if you educate yourselves properly.

293

EVERYDAY, when you take food you are offering eatables to the fire that God has put in you to digest food. You have to eat in a prayerful mode, in profound gratitude. The Gita says that the fire which cooked the meal is God; the meal is God; the eater is God; the purpose of eating is to carry on the work entrusted by God or pleasing to God; and the fruit of that work is progress towards God.

294

PREMA must grow with every moment of Sadhana. It must sweeten every word, deed and thought of yours. Emerge from Dhyana as a person more charged with Love! Emerge from Bhajan with a greater measure of Love! Return from Nagarsankirtan with a firmer conviction that everything is surcharged with the same Divinity that is behind all your activity.

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