Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

THE Dasara Festival has filled your eyes, ears and minds with Anandha for ten days. And, with the bodies transformed by this rich experience, you are returning to your places. Let me tell you something which will grant light, so that weight will be less for the journey of life. Man has always tried to conquer nature. In this contest, he has employed all his physical, mental and intellectual skills. Nature is a composite of the three Gunas: the pure, passionate and dull. Therefore, it can be overcome only by developing the qualities of truth, love and tolerance. When man taps the energy of the Divine in him, he can easily master Nature, which is only the vesture of the Divine.

Drawing on the Divine that is inherent in you - is the lesson of the Geetha. When you picture to yourself Arjuna in the two-wheeled chariot, four white horses yoked to it, Krishna sitting in it holding the reins and answering the queries of Arjuna, then, you miss a great part of the significance of the scene.

Arjuna is the Jeeva (individual entity) and Krishna is the Dheva (Divine entity). When both are in contact, impregnable might results. You may have enormous quantity of electricity, but, it can demonstrate itself as work only through some medium or instrument. So too, Krishna had to work in and through Arjuna, so that the reign of Dharma is re-established. Arjuna means: "white, pure, unblemished;" hence, he is the proper instrument. The other four brothers are the horses, they are also without blemish! Arjuna provided the appropriate heart-throne where the Lord could install Himself. The five brothers represent the five elemental principles - the earth, water, fire, air and the ether (sky). They also symbolise the five vital airs that activate man.

The hundred Kaurava cousins were all destroyed, because they stood for aggrandizement and justification of means, provided the end is gained! The Pandavas surrendered completely to the Will of God and so, they could draw on the Divine, and gain victory. When they gave up everything in the end and tramped along the road to the Himalayan silence, one by one, they dropped dead; only the eldest was able to reach the abode of the Gods. His name, significantly, is Dharma Raja (the Monarch of Righteousness)! People are satisfied with repetition of cliches, even in the field of religion. Ask any one where God is, the reply is - "Everywhere." But, the hearts of many have not been filled with Him. Probably, "everywhere" does not include the inside of their hearts! It means only their tongues, presumably) "Worship God," that is the road to victory. This is another cliche. But, God is worshipped only in pictures, images, idols; He is not recognised in all living beings, in beauty, harmony, melody, truth, goodness.

Let Me tell you one fact, in order to warn you against hoping too much. Worship such as this, offering of incense, flowers, repetition of hymns of praise and other rites are only commendable ways of utilising time; good activity! Unless they cleanse the heart, widen sympathies and deepen faith in one's own divinity, they are unworthy of the name sadhana. Among those who label themselves as theists (believers), 99.75 per hundred can be heard complaining, "I believe in God, but, He is making me miserable; that fellow is an unbeliever, but, the same God is heaping one joy after another on him!" Can this be devotion, dedication? Devotion must be undeviating, whatever happens. Prahladha had that unshakable faith; he had surrendered so completely to the Lord that no torture could turn him away from fidelity. When you start judging and pronouncing judgements on the basis of your own prejudices and information, you only demonstrate that your faith is shallow, it is only a fair-weather phenomenon.

Those attached to God, aspiring for God, aware of God, adoring God have certain distinct marks by which they can be identified. Pronouncing judgements like this is quite contrary to the nature of dedication. Again, such people have a compassionate heart. If a person tums the rosary on the fingers, and is intently engaged in watching the tip of his nose, unmindful of the distress that dances around him, we can at best name him a sloth, that is all. 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.

Some institutions profess to train persons in dhyana and hold dhyana classes! How can any one put trust in these? It may be possible to train to sit aright, and to go through various contortions of the body; but, how can any one help another to concentrate more keenly? Love God and no distraction can turn you from the thought of God. Valmeeki was a highway robber, terrorising the travellers and killing without mercy. Rajas (passion) was the predominant quality in his make-up. When he chanced to meet the Seven Sages and listen to their counsel, his heroism, bravery and persistence turned Godwards in a flash; he became so ardent an ascetic that an ant-hill grew over him as he sat unmoved. You need not rely on another for success in dhyana and japa and await contact with some sage in order to get from him a manthra for recitation. Pray to the God within you and you will receive the needed guidance.

Turn your mind towards God; dedicate yourselves to God; then you will find life one continuous stream of Anandha (bliss). Have a fan in your hand and sweep it towards you; then, you feel comforted. So also, use the mind as the instrument, and turn it vigorously towards God; then, it can give you the Anandha of liberation. Rama is the name for Anandha that is inherent in every heart; recite His name, let the Anandha respond and upsurge. Do not pretend and get charged with hypocrisy. Be genuine, sincere and true inheritors of Bharatheeya culture! You have to outgrow the idol, picture and image; they are the kindergarten materials in spiritual schools; seek to know the Divine Energy, that is burdened with no Name and no Form. Rise higher into the empyrean heights of the Pure, Attributeless, Transcendent One.

I shall not change my course even by a hair's breath, as a result of what people may say about Me. I am not afraid of any one or thing. Truth has no fear; untruth shivers at every shadow. This body of mine is named Sathya (Truth); the principle that is in this body is also Truth. Truth enclosed in Truth has been rendered the Truth of Truths (Sathyasya Sathyam). This Form has been assumed in order to lead mankind from untruth to Truth. I eat as you do, move about as you do, talk in your language, and behave as you can recognise and understand, for YOUR sake - not for My sake! I turn you towards the Divine, winning your confidence, your love, your submission, by being among you, as one of yourselves, one whom you can see, listen to, speak to, touch and treat with reverence and devotion. My plan is to transmute you into seekers of Truth (Sathya-anveshaks). I am present everywhere, at all times; My Will must prevail over every obstacle; I am aware of the past, present and future, of your innermost thought and carefully guarded secrets. I am sarvantharyami, sarva shaktha and sarvajna (Omnipresent, Omnipotent and Omniscient). Nevertheless, I do not manifest these powers in any capricious manner or merely for display. For, I am an example and an inspiration for whatever I do or omit to do. My life is a commentary on My message.

For example, you must, have noticed that I never call a woman, alone for the 'interview.' I call women only in groups of ten or fifteen. I want that you should note this and infer that one has to be extremely cautious in dealing with the other sex, for, though I am above and beyond the Gunas, since this body is obviously masculine, I want to teach both men and women how they have to regulate their social behaviour and be above the slightest tinge of suspicion, or of small talk.

Again, I am active and busy all the twenty-four hours of the day. Every day, the mail brings me thousands of letters, and you hand over to me personally hundreds more. Yet, I do not take the help of any one else, even to open the envelopes. For, you write to Me intimate details of your personal problems, believing that I alone will read them and having implicit confidence in me. You write each one only a single letter; that makes for Me a huge bundle a day; and I have to go through all of them. You may ask, how I manage it? Well, I do not waste a single moment. And, all this I do, not for personal gain, but only because I have come for your sake. I never seek another's help; I offer help, never receive it. My hand always gives; it never takes. Conclude from this that this must be Divine, not human power. Some of you may be wondering, "How does Swami arrange these elaborate festivals and functions? Whom does he charge with the various items of work?" I do not allot work to this person or that, or consult any one for ideas and suggestions. All this is done by the Divine Will, operating through the force of Love. For example, though there are thousands gathered here, absolute silence prevails. Under what compulsion? Only the compulsion of Love. In other places, where a hundred people collect, a hundred and fifty constables are present to keep them quiet! Here, there is no need for any one to see that silence is maintained. For, here God is the Master, and Creation dances in joy. There is no third entity here. Only Purusha and Prakrithi (God and Nature) are here. A glance from the comer of the eye is enough to get things going towards successful conclusion. Love activates, Love fulfils.

When the Giver of Grace is here, you run after persons who claim that they got this or the other article from Me or were blessed with this gift from Me! When you have Kamadhenu (wishfullfing cow) here, why seek to know and secure a cow? Kamadhenu can give you all that you need. When you have Kalpatharu (wish-fullfilling tree) here, why bother about 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? Avoid places where they bargain in terms of gifts, donations and payments for Grace and Upadesh, for spiritual guidance and transmission. Go straight along the true path; be not drawn into byelanes, by quacks and crooks. Some happenings in Madras and in Mysore are to be drastically condemned. I know there are some who proclaim, "Devotees have grown out of all proportion in these parts and so, Baba has allotted this region to me and directed me to take up the work of teaching and guiding you; so, admire my acts and adore me." I never allot in this manner, nor do I hand over powers to any one, nor can such low minds deserve My Grace. No, never. For Me who has the burden of the Universe, can a region or a few more devotees be too much? I am surprised at the stupidity which swallows such absurdities and flocks round these pitiable quacks. They could carry a begging bowl and go from door to door; that will save them from at least the consequences of a life of deceit and sacrilege.

Do not lend ear to such and be led astray. Carry on sadhana for your elevation, from one stage to another. God Himself will be your Guru from within. He became Himself the Guru of Meera and Hemareddi Mallamma.

Do not proclaim that this Name of God is superior or more efficacious than the other. To assert that Rama is superior or that Shiva is superior, or even that Sai Baba is the Avathar that is the fullest of all - all this only reveals that you have not understood what Divinity is. Rama is a Name that combines the ra of Narayana and the ma of Namasshivaya, the manthras of the Vaishnavas and that of the Shaivites. So, Rama means, the quality of Shiva and Vishnu. Or, Rama has the ra of Hara (Shiva) and the ma of Uma (the Shakthi aspect of Shiva); so, Rama is the name of Shivashakthi! How can faction arise when each name is so resonant with the lesson of the unity of all Names? Some persons pray to Me, "Swami! All my people go on pilgrimage to Thirupathi; why don't you turn their minds and make them come to you?" What an absurd question? What colossal ignorance of My reality as well as of the manifold majesty of God! Cleanse your minds of evil thoughts. I find some of you spread your handkerchiefs on the carpets and then sit upon them; you feel that the carpets, which have upon them the dust of the feet of countless devotees, is unclean! Now, when you take so much care to see that the place where you sit ought to be free from dirt, how much more attention should you pay to clean the heart, where you expect the Lord to seat Himself.

Clean the heart with the detergents - japa and thapa (penance) - using the water prema. Detergent alone will not do; water too is essential. Carry on the duties of the position in which you are as if they are the dictates of God. Every act that you dedicate to Me reaches Me. Do not grieve that you are not able to come to Puttaparthi to have Dharshan (audience). Offer Me Namaskaram (the homage of prostration) wherever you are; it reaches Me at the same time as it is offered.

Resort to the recitation of the Name when your mind is agitated by fear, anxiety or grief. To make a cup of coffee, it is not enough to have decoction in one cup and milk in another. You have to pour one into the other and mix well. Mix the decoction of Vairagya (sense-control, detachment) with the milk of Bhakthi-Shraddha (devotion-steadfastness). And you get the drink that satisfies. Return to your homes with these words enshrined in your hearts, ruminate over them alone and in silence. Then it will be easy for you to put a few of these ideas into daily practice and ascend step by step the heights of spiritual achievement.