Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

MAN alone has the chance to liberate himself from the wheel of birth and death, through the most pleasant means, that of serving God. But, as a result of ignorance or what is worse, perversity, he lets the opportunity slip from his hands, and suffers grief and pain, fear and anxiety, ad infiniturn. By escaping from the clutches of the fascination exercised by material objects and physical pleasures, man can succeed in his efforts to liberate himself. He has travelled long enough on the wrong road; it is time now to turn back and move steadily towards the goal. The love that he has cultivated for men and things has to be sublimated into pure, divine worship. Then it gets transmuted as Bhakthi (Love of God). Convince yourself that the Lord is in you, as the charioteer, holding the reins of the five horses (the senses) and giving you constant counsel, as He did when Arjuna prayed to Him, to lead and guide. Then, it becomes easy for you to convince yourself that the self-same charioteer is leading and guiding all other men and even all other beings. When you are established in this faith firmly, you become free of hate and malice, greed and envy, anger and attachment. Pray to the Lord to strengthen this conviction and this faith; He will open your eyes to the Truth and reveal to you that He is the Sanathana Sarathi, in all. That revelation will confer on you incomparable Anandha, and grant you kinship with Creation's manifoldness. That is the reason why Krishna told Duryodhana, who pleaded with Him for help against the Pandavas, on the eve of the battle, "If you hate the Pandavas, you are hating Me, for, they have recognised Me as the Breath of their Life." Know Him as your strength, your breath, your intelligence, your joy - He becomes all that and more. No more can any faculty of yours hinder your progress. He will direct all of them towards the highest Goal; the senses, the mind, the subconscious, the unconscious, the intelligence - all. Grace will confer all you need.

A mother-in-law was complaining against the new daughter-in-law that she consumed stealthily quantities of milk, curds, cream, butter and ghee. The girl's brother who heard this story from the lips of the old lady, called her into the presence, and after reprimanding her for her malfeasance, advised her to give up stealing all the items, except milk. "Milk, you can drink any, quantity you like; but, why steal these other by-products?" The mother-in-law, it is needless to say, was not very pleased with advice! So, seek Grace, that is enough; it confers all else. You must cultivate love towards every one, however distinct the character and capacity of each may be. Though the same blood flows through the entire body, the eye cannot smell, the ear cannot taste, the nose cannot see, do not over-emphasise the distinctions and quarrel. Emphasise the basic brotherhood and love. As sugar that has dissolved in the cup of water is invisible, but patent to the tongue in every drop, so too the Divine is invisible but immanent; capable of being experienced, in every individual, whether he is at bottom or on top. Do Namasmarana (repeated remembrance of the Lord); taste the sweetness that is in the heart of every one; dwell on His Glory, His Compassion, which those names summarise. Then, it will be easier for you to visualise Him in all, to love Him in all, to adore Him in all.