Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

In this world, people equate intelligence (medha sakthi) with wisdom (buddhi) in their day-to-day affairs. But this is not correct. King Vikramaditya once convened a big conference to discuss the difference between wisdom and intelligence, in which he invited many scholars, intellectuals, and learned men. Addressing them, he said, “Oh great scholars! If you tell me the difference between wisdom (buddhi) and intelligence (medha sakthi), it will make me very happy. Which of the two is greater, nobler, and superior? Kindly let me know.” All the scholars were unanimous in their opinion that wisdom was far superior to intelligence. They observed that intelligence lacked the qualities of equality and fraternity, which wisdom possessed.

Vikramaditya was surprised to hear this, since he had all along been thinking that there was not much difference between the two.

Wisdom (buddhi) has five precious attributes. These are: steadfast faith, practice of dharma, truth, yoga, and supreme divine power (sraddha, ritam, sathya, yoga, mahattar sakthi).

These are actually the five powers of wisdom.

Intelligence (medha sakthi) is related to worldly and physical intelligence. It does not possess the attributes of wisdom (buddhi). One who is endowed with intelligence is full of doubts and lacks faith. That one has unlimited ego. Ego covers up the Atmic principle, resulting in the decline of the power of wisdom. Mere intelligence is not the sign of true learning.

Unfortunately, in modern times, those who are endowed with intelligence are considered great and worthy of respect. But in ancient times, only those with wisdom were held in high esteem, but not those with mere intelligence.

The first attribute of wisdom (buddhi) is steadfast faith (sraddha), which connotes yearning and steadiness. Mere yearning is not enough; you should also have firm faith.

Wisdom fosters the practice of dharma (ritam). The practice of dharma denotes purity of thought, word, and deed (trikarana suddhi). Only when you attain purity of thought, word and deed will you be endowed with the virtue of practice of dharma.

The practice of dharma (ritam) helps one to enquire whether one’s faith is steadfast or not. After understanding the principle of ritam, when you express it in the form of speech, it becomes truth. When you develop total faith in the purity of thought, word, and deed, then all that you speak will be truth only.

Speaking what you have seen, heard, and known through your senses does not necessarily mean truth. You may call it factual knowledge (nijam). There is a lot of difference between truth (sathyam) and factual knowledge.

The fourth attribute of wisdom (buddhi) is yoga. What is meant by yoga? Many types of yoga are prevalent in this world. But according to the Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras (yoga aphorisms), yoga is control of all mental modifications (chitta vritti nirodha). Yoga denotes control of speech, seeing, hearing, thinking, and desiring. It connotes mastery over all the senses and inner impulses.

Say whatever is necessary; do not talk too much. Speak only the truth. Do not indulge in argumentation on what is untruthful. It is sheer ignorance to debate upon something about which you have no knowledge because such futile debate gives rise to hatred. It does not promote unity. Vain argumentation will lead to enmity.

Control of senses is very necessary for students because this age is very sacred and divine. You can build the royal road to your bright future only at this age. Modern youth are the future emancipators of the nation. Control of senses is the first lesson that students should learn.

Supreme divine power (mahattar sakthi) is the combination of steadfast faith, the practice of dharma, truth, and yoga. That supreme divine power is God Himself. When you are endowed with divine power, you will have unity of thought, word, and deed.

Only in divinity do you find the effulgence of truth. Therefore, it is said, “Truth is God.” Not only this, faith (sraddha) is also the form of God. That is why the Gita declares, “One with steadfast faith attains wisdom (Sraddhavan labhate jnanam).” What is wisdom (jnana)? It is the very form of God. Brahman is the embodiment of truth, wisdom, and eternity (Sathyam jnanam anantham Brahma). Therefore, truth is God, practice of dharma is God, faith is God, yoga is God, and supreme divine power is God.

Since these are the five attributes of wisdom (buddhi), the Bhagavad Gita declares, “The Atma is beyond the ken of senses and can be understood only by the intellect (Buddhigrahyamatheendriyam). Wisdom (buddhi) is beyond the senses. It is not proper to equate it with supreme divine power.

Students should know the difference between wisdom (buddhi) and intelligence (medha sakthi).

Intelligence can help you to secure high marks in the examinations, make a mark in debates, and deliver an eloquent speech. But all this corresponds to worldly knowledge and the path of worldliness (pravritti). Wisdom leads you to the path of spirituality (nivritti).

You have to recognise how close wisdom is to the principle of the Atma. The senses are above the body, the mind is above the senses, wisdom is above the mind, and the Atma is above wisdom. Hence, wisdom is closest to the Atma and is illumined directly by the Atma. In fact, wisdom is the reflection of the Atma.

It is a mistake to compare such a sacred wisdom (buddhi) with intelligence (medha sakthi). The latter is related to the senses. It is not beyond the senses, like wisdom. Intelligence is useful only to earn a livelihood. It cannot help you to experience the oneness of the Atma.

A wealthy person built a big mansion, consisting of a drawing room, a kitchen, a dining hall, bedrooms, and bathrooms. The walls between the different rooms separated them from each other. When there are no walls, the entire mansion becomes a big hall.

It is the walls of differences created by people that separate them from each other. Otherwise, they can experience the bliss of the oneness of the Atma, which is the same in all.

The head of the family is addressed in many different ways by the family members. His son addresses him as father, his wife addresses him, ‘my dear husband’, his grandson addresses him, ‘my dear grandfather’ and his daughter-in-law calls him, ‘my dear father-in-law’. All the members of his family have a different relationship with him, but the person is the same.

All these physical relationships are related only to the body, and not to the Atmic principle. All these differences will disappear when you develop faith in the principle of oneness.

There is no need for any particular spiritual practice to give up body attachment. Body is negative and the life principle within it is positive, which makes the body function. Its functioning is like the functioning of a clock. When you wind the clock with the help of a key, the hands start moving and the clock starts functioning. Without the winding, the hands do not move and the clock does not function. You cannot know the time unless the hands move.

In the same way, in the clock of the body, the life principle is the key that is responsible for the functioning of all its parts like hands, feet, and nose.

The other day, I explained to you the meaning and significance of the Gayatri Mantra. Its first three words are: Bhu, Bhuvah, Suvah. Bhu is related to the body, which is made up of various materials like iron, phosphorous, lime, water, etc. Since it is formed by the combination of worldly materials, it signifies materialisation.

Bhuvah refers to the life principle, which signifies vibration.

Suvah relates to Supreme Consciousness (Prajnana). It connotes radiation, which is the driving force behind materialisation and vibration. That is why the Vedas declare, “Brahman is Supreme Consciousness (Prajnanam Brahma).” It is by the radiation of Supreme Consciousness that the vibration of life principle and the materialisation of the body are able to function.

Materialisation, vibration, and radiation correspond to earth, space, and heaven (bhuloka, bhuvarloka, and suvarloka). They are not somewhere at a distant place; they are all within you. In fact, everything is within you - animality, humanness, and divinity. In reality, the entire world is within you.

Your thoughts are the basis of everything. Therefore, develop good thoughts. Wherefrom do you get good thoughts? They originate from wisdom (buddhi). A person who does not give expression to good thoughts in his talking is termed “one who is devoid of wisdom (buddhiheena). Such a person is more like an animal. One who is endowed with wisdom will have purity of the three instruments mind, tongue, and hand (trikarana suddhi).

One with intelligence (medha sakthi) will be proficient only in worldly affairs. Wisdom is beyond worldliness.

All limbs of the body perform their functions in accordance with the rules and regulations laid down by God. For everything, the Atmic principle is the basis.

Take the physical body, for example. When the mind thinks of going somewhere, your feet move in accordance with the thought of the mind. When the mind thinks of doing a particular work, your hands move accordingly. Similarly, when the mind gives the command to the eyes to see somebody, the eyes obey the command immediately. When the mind wants to listen to the tape recorder, your ears will act accordingly. When the mouth gets the order to eat food, it functions accordingly.

In this manner, all the limbs of the body such as hands, feet, eyes, and mouth work according to the thoughts of the mind. They all perform their respective duties. The ears, which have the duty of hearing, do not try to speak. Similarly, the mouth does not try to hear. The mouth performs its duty of speaking and the ears, of hearing. Your life would be in turmoil if the various limbs did not perform their respective duties.

Once, all the senses decided to abandon their prescribed duties. They thought, “We gather all delicious food items with great effort, but only the mouth eats all of them without giving anything to us. Effort is ours and enjoyment is that of the mouth! The jewels belong to somebody, but someone else uses them to decorate themself, as the saying goes.” Thinking in this manner, all the limbs stopped their respective duties. Then what happened? The entire body became weak.

It is God who has prescribed duties for each limb of the body, which they should perform implicitly.

All the senses perform their prescribed duties, but the mind of a person does not perform its assigned duty. On the one hand, the mind tells you that something is bad, and on the other hand, it makes you do the same. Is it proper for the mind to make you do something that it itself considers as evil? That is why the mind is called a mad monkey.

The body is like a water bubble; nobody knows when it will burst. Therefore, do not follow the body, do not follow the mind, follow the conscience. Follow the Atmic principle. Only then will you experience all that is good.

People are caught in a state of turmoil because they are not performing their duties and are following the wrong path. Not only are individuals today in a state of restlessness, they are causing unrest in the world also.

Everybody should perform their duty diligently. That is why it is said: work is worship. Every work should be treated as service to God. But people today are not adhering to this principle. On the contrary, they say one thing and do something else. Those whose thoughts, words, and deeds are in perfect harmony are noble ones (Manasyekam, vachasyekam, karmanyekam mahatmanam).

Of the five attributes of wisdom (buddhi), Supreme Divine Power is the highest. How can one attain this power? By developing unity of thought, word, and deed. People today have become evil because they do not observe unity of thought, word, and deed. Those who lack harmony of thought, word, and deeds are wicked (Manasyanyath, vachasyanyath, karmanyanyath, duratmanam).

Steadfast faith, practice of dharma, truth, yoga, and supreme divine power (sraddha, ritam, sathya, yoga, mahattar sakthi) are the five attributes of wisdom (buddhi).

The words Dhiyo yo na prachodayat in the Gayatri Mantra convey the prayer for the blossoming of wisdom. Just as the darkness that covers the world is dispelled by the light of the sun, in the same way, one’s ignorance is destroyed by the light of wisdom (buddhi).

What is the source of the light of wisdom? It is faith in the Self. Therefore, develop faith in the Self. You cannot perform even a small task without faith in the Self. People today have lost faith in themselves. Life itself will become meaningless and chaotic without faith in the Self. One should develop faith that one is divine.

The Upanishads declare that one who is endowed with faith is a real human being. People today have no faith. An animal has faith in its master. Even a dog looks at its master with love. But people today have no faith in their fellow human beings.

When one has no faith in one’s fellow human beings, how can one have faith in God (Narayana)? Only when one develops faith in fellow beings can one have faith in God. So, lead your life with faith in God.

In order to develop faith, first develop faith (sraddha). Faith has two aspects: yearning (asakti) and steadiness (sthiratwam). When these two qualities combine, faith manifests. You may have the yearning to attain God, but it should be constant and steady. Only then can you attain God.

There are many things for you to learn. I have told you the difference between wisdom (buddhi) and intelligence (medha sakthi). Similarly, you should know about the mind and its vagaries.

The mind is very pure and sacred, but it becomes unsacred and dirty by evil thoughts. It is like a white cloth that is totally clean and spotless but becomes dirty when it is put to misuse.

You give your dirty clothes to the washerman for washing. He removes the dirt and gives back clean clothes to you. What do you say then? You say that the washerman has made the clothes clean and white. The washerman does not have the power to make your clothes white. Whiteness is the original colour of your clothes. The washerman has only removed the dirt.

In the same way, the mind is totally pure. You make it dirty by indulging in evil practices. The washerman removes the dirt of the clothes by hitting them repeatedly on a rock. Similarly, the dirt of the mind can be removed by constant repetition of God’s Name. This practice develops steadfast devotion (sraddha). In this manner, you should develop steadfast devotion and viswas (faith).1 If you have both devotion and faith, there is nothing that you cannot achieve in this world. You can even reach the sun and the moon.

The two words sraddha and viswas are related. Sraddha means implicit confidence, reverential belief, steadfast devotion, devout faith. Viswas means trust, confidence, reliance, assurance, faith.

Here, the sun doesn’t refer to the sun that shines in the sky. Your vision itself is the sun. As the Vedas say, the moon was born out of the mind and the sun out of the eyes of the Supreme Being (Chandrama manaso jataha chaksho suryo jayata).

You can have the sacred vision when you have both steadfast devotion and faith (sraddha and viswas). This sacred vision is called sudarshan, which means good vision.

As described in the Bhagavatha story, when Gajendra (king of elephants) was caught by the crocodile, he prayed to Lord Narayana wholeheartedly, “I have lost courage and strength. I am tired and totally exhausted and am about to lose consciousness. Oh Lord Narayana! Come and protect me.” Here Gajendra is not an elephant. One’s pride is the elephant. After giving up his pride on his strength, Gajendra turned his vision toward God. Then Lord Narayana also cast His benevolent look toward him. That look itself became Lord Vishnu’s discus (Sudarshan Chakra), which saved Gajendra.

One’s eyes signify the splendour of the sun. It is the combination of the external light and the light of your eyes that makes you see. Even if the sun is shining brightly, you can’t see anything if you close your eyes. Why? The sun in your eyes should combine with the sun outside. Only then can you see the world.

You can’t see anything when you are in a dark room. Why? There is no external light. Without sunlight or any other light, your eyes cannot see. When the light of your eyes combines with the light outside, only then are you able to see everything. It means that your eyes should be open, and there should be light outside. The unity of both is necessary for you to see.

Eyes by themselves do not have the power to see. Similarly, ears have no power of their own to hear and the tongue has no power to speak. It is the divine power that makes them function.

Suppose a man is dead. He does have eyes, ears and a tongue, but they cannot function. Why? The reason is that he has lost his innate divine power.

People today have eyes and ears. But they can neither see nor hear what they are supposed to see and hear. Why? The reason is that their mind is polluted.

Once, Lord Krishna manifested before Surdas and said, “Do you wish to see Me? I will restore your eyesight.” Surdas asked, “Oh Lord! Are all those who have eyes able to see You? People have ears, which are as big as winnowers, but they cannot listen to the sweet music of Your flute. Similarly, people have eyes, but they are more like cotton seeds. They cannot see Your divine form. I want eyes with which I can see Your divine form. I want those ears that can listen to the sweet music of Your flute. I don’t require, physical eyes and ears, which are of no use to me.” This is real knowledge. This is real renunciation.

Oh Lord! In spite of having eyes, people are verily blind as they do not yearn to see Your auspicious form.

You should understand the principle of the intellect (buddhi) if you want to develop such divine feelings. You can attain everything with the help of the intellect.

Divine power is present in everyone. But people have no faith the divine power. Whatever they do, they think that they are doing it with their own power. This is not only their ignorance, but also their foolishness. Divine power is the basis of all other powers.

To know such a divine power, you should have yearning and steadiness in the first place. You should develop love and affection for God. Your love should not be like a leaf that flutters in the wind or the pendulum of a clock that keeps oscillating. It should be steady. Only then can you become deserving of divine grace.

There are so many things that our students should know. Many people think, Swami is repeating the same things again and again. Yes, things have to be told again and again till you can learn and put them into practice.

Are you not filling the same stomach every day? When you have eaten in the morning, why do you eat again in the evening? “I ate yesterday. Why should I eat today?” Why don’t you think like this? It is because whatever you eat gets digested. That is why you are filling the same stomach again and again.

You wash your face again and again. Then why should you not hear what you have already heard? If you have derived bliss by practising what you have heard, there is no need for you to hear it again. But until you put into practice, these things have to be told again and again.

Here is a small example. You teach A, B, C to small children. When they reach first standard, you teach them the spellings of words. If you have to learn the spelling of the word ‘milk’, you have to keep repeating ‘m-i-l-k’ many times. Only when you repeat it again and again can you remember the spelling of the word ‘milk’. Until you learn the spelling and the meaning properly, you have to keep repeating.

However, every time I repeat something, there is something new in it. You have to recognise this truth. I have told you the meaning of Gayatri Mantra many times. But every time I tell it, there is a new meaning of this mantra. This is the greatness of Sai. The interpretation I give is ever new.

Not only My words, even My form is ever new. That is the sign of Divinity. Divinity is ever new.

You should also be ever new. Never give room to old and rotten feelings in your heart. Always be happy. That is the reward for being in the presence of God.

Where is happiness? Happiness is union with God. Look at the faces of those who do not think of God. They may sport an artificial smile on their face like in a cinema, but in reality they have a ‘castor oil’ (melancholy) face.

Those who have become the recipients of divine grace have an effulgent face. Those who live in God consciousness radiate divine effulgence. That is the mark of Divinity. As the rays of divine grace fall on them, they shine with brilliance.

Steadfast devotion and faith (sraddha and viswas) are necessary to attain divine grace. The ladder of divine grace has faith as support at its lower end and steadfast devotion at the upper end. You cannot climb the ladder unless it has support at both its ends. If you have both steadfast devotion and faith, you can achieve anything in this world.

God is your sole refuge wherever you may be, In a forest, in the sky, in a city or a village, on the top of a mountain or in the middle of deep sea.