Inaugural discourse at the All India Sai Active Workers' conference
19 November 1987
Rendering Service selflessly with a compassionate heart Is alone true Service.
One is bound to attain peace If he serves in a friendly spirit This is the truth
This is the truth.
EMBODIMENTS of the Divine Atma! You have to recognise that life is meant for selfless service and not to be lived for selfish purposes. Only through such service can the oneness of mankind be experienced. Unselfish service is the sheet-anchor of Karma Yoga ( Divine dedication through Action). The basis of Yoga is disciplining the mind and the body through disinterested service. Society honours only such persons who serve society. Such persons earn the grace of God. Every individual has to realise the paramount importance of selfless service. The spirit of service should be coupled with readiness for sacrifice. Only then it can be called selfless service free from any taint of self-interest. Such service lends savour to life. Universal love sustains life by its nourishment. Love is the life-breath of man. Mag...
Baba's message to members of all Sathya Sai Organizations
August 1981
My Dears! Accept my Love and Blessings! The world to-day is in the grip of a supreme moral and spiritual crisis. People everywhere are feeling frustrated and helpless and anxiously wondering what is in store for humanity. The hopes raised by the advances of science and technology have proved dupes. While science has overcome the barriers of time, distance and nationality, it has done little to promote better understanding between man and man and nation and nation. Never has there been so much distrust, hatred and violence as is witnessed to-day, in almost every country. Men have forgotten their essential divine nature and have even failed to observe those basic human qualities which raise them above the level of animals. In the ceaseless pursuit of material acquisitions and sensuous pleasures, they have forgotten that the real source of happiness and bliss is the discovery of the Atma (the true self) that is in each of them. There are, however, heartening signs that earnest people in ...
Choose men and women who have unshaken faith in this present Avathaar, with this Name and this Form. That will save the units from many complications later on, arising from loyalties which may dissipate or divert the energies of the office-bearers. The leaders of these units lead because they have the vision and the yearning, not because they have the votes or the purse. The aanandha they derive is the only reward they are after. When men who have no understanding and no vision encroach into positions of authority, unrest and confusion usurp the saddle. Detachment, simple living, steady saadhana—these are the qualities that entitle a person to membership of these units. Give up; do not gather—that is the road to Grace. Abu Ben Adam found that the Angel had recorded his name in the list of those whom God loved, though his name was nowhere to be found in the register of those who loved God; for, he loved, not God, but men. That is enough to win Grace.
Some persons suggested that the Presidents of these Organisations may be given a short refresher course of instruction, so that they may carry out their duties (of encouraging units to undertake saadhana and service) more efficiently. This is very much like the move to train whole-time archakas (priests) for performing worship in the temples! Imagine someone being trained for adoring God! It is not a mechanical process, amenable to the curricula and time-table of the classroom; it is a spontaneous urge from within, born out of sincere faith and yearning.
