THE Bala Vikas (organizational wing for children's development) is the primary basis of the great movement to restore dharma (righteousness) in the world. The elders are far gone in their ways, and it is difficult to expect change in their habits and attitudes. Children have to be led into good ways of living, into simplicity, humility and discipline. The parents have to be persuaded lovingly, through the example of bright, cheerful and co-operating children from the Bala Vikas classes, to send their children also to these classes. As you know, you cannot draw children to your side if you hold a stick in your hand; you will have to held some sweets instead. So the Gurus have to be embodiments of love and patience. The ideal of the Bala Vikas is to raise a generation of boys and girls who have a clean and clear conscience. The actual syllabus is not so important as the creation of an atmosphere where noble habits and ideals can grow and fructify. The Bala Vikas pupils follow Bala Vikas ...
You are all sharing the joy of serving others, doing good to others, according to your capacity and skill. The main objective of the Sathya Sai Organisation, which you must always keep before you is to help man to recognise the Divinity that is inherent in him. But, this Divinity is latent; it is veiled; it is not always apparent to oneself or others. There is nothing wholly bad or wholly good in Creation. There are few who do not commit mistakes; there are few who do not perform good deeds. Both good and bad, beneficent and maleficent, constructive and destructive, are ever present everywhere. You, as members of the Managing Committees of the units of the Samithi (Organisation), and as Members of the Seva Dhal (Voluntary Service Corps), and of the Mahila Vibhag (Women's section) are unique, because, you have dedicated your talents and time to the service of others, and, ultimately, to the promotion of your own best interests. First of all, I want that you should give up the blind imi...
Reading is not enough. You may master all the commentaries, and you may be able to argue and discuss with great scholars about these texts, but without attempting to practise what they teach, it is a waste of time. I never approve of book-learning; practice is what I evaluate. When you come out of the examination hall you know whether you will pass or not, is it not? For you can yourself judge whether you have answered well or not. So too in spiritual effort or in conduct or in practice, each of you can judge and ascertain the success or failure that is in store. Spiritual discipline is the essential thing even for you; no age is too early for it. Just as you tend the body with food and drink at regular intervals, you must also tend to the needs of the inner Atmic body by regular repetition of the Name and meditation and the cultivation of virtues.
IF I ask you, who you are, you may reply, "We are teachers," or some of you may even say, "We are students." But, both statements are not true! You are sadhakas (spiritual aspirants); that is the real fact. I am glad your sadhana is moving at a satisfactory pace. You have brought Me among you, as a result of your sincerity and enthusiasm. I am always specially interested in the service done to children and I must say, you have taught them good lessons, in a spirit of love. Some of you, I find, are a bit over-enthusiastic! You have taught the children stories that are too long, and made them cram the whole stuff. Do not tax their memory overmuch. Short stories, 20 to 25 lines long will be the best. Don't make them learn by rote, for, what they learn under pressure, because I am coming and a programme of story telling has to be arranged, will soon be forgotten. It will not transform the mind by soaking into it. The incidents and the morals they illustrate have to be imprinted on the he...
INDIA is declared a "secular state" and so the students in the schools are denied any chance to receive training in spiritual matters; not even a knowledge of the fundamentals of SanathanaDharma (eternal universal religion). This is a tragedy. The children have a right to the property of their ancestors; but the children of the land have no access to the basis of their ancient culture. India is India because of Sanathana Dharma. It has enabled her to survive many a terrible storm; it has kept the country culturally united, in spite of varieties of language and food habits and dress. The Ramayana and Mahabharatha and the Bhagavatha are revered from the Himalayas to the Cape. The ideals of Sathya, Dharma, Shanthi and Prema which they uphold and exemplify have welded the people and kept them on a path which was beneficial to the individual as well as society. Sanathana Dharma is the only religion that declares that there is no religion that can be labelled 'one and only.' It says that all...
MEN are proficient in various skills. They manufacture and operate diverse machines and master many fields of knowledge. However they have not acquired the peace that is their due. They are carried along by the torrential flood of worldly life. Though endowed with human capabilities exercisable through a human body, men do not choose the straight path of Truth. They wander about in false and fleeting pleasures and fritter their years, forgetting their innate, Divine Reality. This is' far from the fulfilment they should aspire for. Mere skill, mere designing and. manipulation of machines, hollow pomp, boast and assertions about being a jnani (liberated person) - these do not reveal the secret of human nature. Has man solved this mystery which includes all mysteries? Has he found the answer which is the key to all problems? Has he earned the knowledge which can make him know all that he has to know? The solution, the answer, the knowledge is one, and only one. Why pluck the leaves, brea...
HUMAN beings have forgotten their true nature and are behaving like demonic creatures. Though they call themselves as human beings, they do not know the essence of human qualities. Today's educational system emphasises textbook knowledge and ignores morality and character. Seventy percent of the world's population consists of 'youth,' who are the potential leaders of tomorrow. Unless they are properly trained to take up their role in the future, the society, the nation and the world will not progress in peace. In order to train the younger generation in the proper way, the Sai Organisation has prescribed the five guiding principles of their movement - Truth, Right Conduct, Peace, Love and Nonviolence. We should understand first, the real import and significance of these five principles. Sathya (Truth) is not just relating events exactly as seen, heard or experienced. It is the eternal Truth which is beyond time and space, which does not ever change. If Love forms part of your nature, ...
A son without virtue
An education without aim
A life without justice
A community without morality
And a night without the moon
Are of no use to the world.
DEAR students!
Moral education is the primary requisite in life for every student. It is his basic duty. In the Sanskrit language, personality is described as pourusham - the hallmark of a purusha. Although "personality" and pourusham may have the same meaning, they are words pregnant with significance. People who do not know the inner meaning of these terms, use them casually. Only the one who manifests the indwelling, invisible divine principle in him is qualified to describe himself as a purusha ( a person). He should manifest the divine power in him. The Sanskrit term Pourusha means a quality associated with moral behaviour. The English word "person" is delved from the Latin term "persona." In the post-Christian period, the term "persona" came to be used to refer to the Divine assuming a human form. In due course, it w...
THESE days India is fast advancing in the field of science and technology. No wonder there are many who lay excessive faith by the conclusions of the physical sciences and ridicule the science of the spirit. These science-minded people would answer the question, 'Who are you?' by saying "I am a body which contains about 10 gallons of water, I gallon of lime, lead enough to make 9,000 pencils, phosphorus enough to make 11,000 matches and as much iron as there is in a nail two inches long." All this stuff would seem to cost only about a hundred rupees, but actually even if you spend ten million rupees, you cannot make a human body. For, as spiritualists would put it, the human body has arisen out of Divine Will, it is alive on account of Divine Power and it is able to act as a result of Divine Grace. Man must realize the immensity of the play of the Divine Will which manifests Itself in such abundant variety. But what does science say of this Will? It only declares that we should not bel...
Valedictory discourse to the National Symposium Value Orientation
26 September 1987
A SOCIETY without values will cease to be human. The more human values are cherished, the better will be the growth of society, the nation and the world. We cannot rest content with an educational system which is confined to academic achievement. It has to promote simultaneously human virtues. The main problem of our education is how to adapt the spiritual and cultural traditions we have inherited from the past to the needs of daily life today. The relationship between the individual and society bas to be rightly understood. Why should the individual serve others? What claims has society on the individual? When we examine these issues we realise that the individual can find fulfillment only in society. Born in society, growing up in society, living in society, man ends his life in society. In the word Samajam (Society), Sam represents unity, a means going towards. Samajam (society) means going forward in unity. Society may be viewed as a many-petalled flower. Every individual is lik...
