Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

THIS gathering of Office-bearers of the Sathya Sai Organisations from all over India fills all hearts with joy. This is a great occasion. Use this chance to re-discover and re-establish in your minds the high purpose to which this Organisation is dedicated; and to strengthen the faith that will inspire you to participate more fruitfully, in this epoch-making adventure. Organisational effort in the spiritual field has long been neglected in India; it is fraught with the danger of disruption through the subtle cankers of egoistic ambition and faction. Unless the individual is first purified and strengthened, the organisation will disintegrate and fall apart. Hence, it has all along been lone pilgrimages into the land of Light and Love. But, the very basis of spiritual progress is the denial of the I, and the joyful acceptance of the We, which is but the merging of the I in He. Sacrifice, service, sharing in the exaltation of others, compassion when others suffer grief - these are virtues that purify and prepare the individual to the arduous task of reaching the Goal. Expand the limited awareness of the individual into the limitless realm of Divine Glory - that has been the call, down the corridors of Time. Each unit is a limb of the Swarajya Organisation, no doubt; a limb of the Organisation for Self-mastery, but, one has to master the self so that he may be more fit for serving man. This company of seekers must help each other, to escape from the bondage of the senses and to live constantly in the Presence of the Omni- present Lord, whom they have contacted. The Unit is a perennial source of Anandha for the individual and the community. It is a lamp in the wilderness; it uses the oil of devotion, the wick of service, and sheds the light of Love through the flame of Jnana. The flame can be clean and smokeless, only when the person is straight, sincerer - revering others too as embodiments of sincerity and straightforwardness, of Divinity itself.

At the present time, when people meet, a curt of envy, pride and misunderstanding intervenes between them, exaggerating the foibles of each into obstacles in the path of sympathy and brotherliness. They miss the basic unity, the essential fraternity, the fundamental equality. Understand and tolerate, sympathise and love - this is the message of the sages of this land, who shaped and sustained the Sanathana Dharma (the Eternal Universal Religion). As Officebearers of the Units of this worldsaving Organisation, you have to revive this Message, revitalise it and guide men, with your experience. If you live along the guidelines of those sages, you will make three people happy - you, him and Me! Dedication detests publicity and pomp. It is a wedding of the spirit with its Master. It is a treasure that is counted in solitude. The sages knew how to conserve it and contemplate on it, in blissful loneliness, deep in the recesses of jungle hermitages. The soul was their sole companion and God the only counsellor. They wrestled with their inner foes, the temptations of the tawdry objective world; they put down doubts and diversions. Achieving the goal of perfect calm, people like Shankaracharya came and taught how to pray, propitiate and pass into the boundless.

They taught by example that the most precious jewel in the human breast is Love - Love that sees all as Oneself. Now, it is locked safe in the chest that is chiselled out of the Five Elements, and its light is now shed only on the ego or those that cater to it. In reality, it is the heritage of all mankind and has to be shared with all. The world is planned as a gymnasium, a playground, a thapovan (hermitage) where man spends his days recouping his health and strength, earning clarity and purity of intellect; but, it has now become a jinn-asium, a slay-ground, a thamo-van (garden of sloth), reducing man into something worse than brute. Anger, hate, and pageantry have replaced love, cordiality and simplicity. Devotion is not an acquisition to be advertised; it is a secret gain which has to be communicated only to God. When the spark of envy envelops the mind, it soon develops into a huge fire and destroys all chances of good. Watch for it vigilantly; envy is only the consequence of pride and pride comes of ignorance of your role. You believe that you have achieved much and that others are not giving you the respect due to you. They honour some one with less achievement, more than they honour you. But, just think for a while: Who granted you the chance, the intelligence, the success? The Lord. You are helpless without Him. He chose, He prompted, He executed, it was done. Be humble, be cordial with all. They are equally devoted and sincere. Do not infect these Associations of Aspirants for My Grace with the virus of rivalry and factions. Do not inquire into the caste affiliations of any one and develop partiality or prejudice thereon. Strive to win the gift of My Grace, not the glitter of Presidentship or Secretaryship. Pay attention to your duties and responsibilities. This is no ordinary burden that you have been privileged to carry. I can see you through and through. Do not carry your head high, and taunt people. Stoop, so that you Can pick your burden up and place it on the shoulders. Bend as the branch bends, it is heavy with fruit! Each duty well done is a deposit to your credit in the Bank of God! Fatten that deposit; you can draw on it by means of cheques; you can claim payment as of right. You must have intense faith in the Vedas, the Shasthras and the Puranas. They are the repositories of the ancient wisdom, the wisdom that has stood the test of ages. They teach humility, reverence and tolerance. Saturate yourselves with the spirit of those texts. Then, you will be free from the illnesses of sloth and covetousness, lust and gluttony, envy and pride. Enthrone Love as the Monarch of the Kingdom of Feeling! Enthrone Reason as the Monarch of the Kingdom of Thought! Enthrone Detachment as the Monarch of the Kingdom of Activity. This is the task I set for the Units of the Sathya Sai Organisation today. Inauguration of All India Conference,