Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

In this universe, there are lakhs of species of living beings, but the human is the noblest and the highest species. If man loses money, he can it get back; if he loses a friend he can get another; if he loses his wife, even then he can re-marry and have another wife; if he loses his share of land, he can get another, but he cannot get back the body once it is lost. Man does not realize the high value of precious human life and is misusing it in many ways.

You must realize that once a night is passed, it won't come back. Once the river merges in the ocean, it cannot come back. When you eat a fruit, you cannot get it back in its original form. Man does not know his own value. He has several capacities and faculties. The first gift that a man possesses is mathi (intellect). The second is sthithi (position). The third one is paristhithi (circumstance), and the fourth is gathi (destiny). These constitute his sampathi (possessions).

All things that are happening to man depend on his destiny alone. The mind is based on our own conduct, and it shapes our destiny. Mathi should be sound. Everything else depends on sthithi and sampathi. When one understands this, one can know one's destiny. Everyone has to maintain mental balance to act properly.

Suppose a person has a knife in hand. They can cut vegetables, cook food, and consume it to appease hunger. On the other hand, if the person cuts the throat of another person it will lead to disastrous consequences. You must know the proper method to use any material. You must be aware of the different types of sakthi (power) with which you are gifted.

Human life can be compared to a big clock containing three needles (since the clock has hour, minute, and second hands) representing years, months, and days. They are moving in perfect union, and they decide your life span.

In spite of having these three regulatory factors, man is not leading a good life. Thirty days make a month, and 12 months make one year. You must know how to pass every day in the best possible way without wasting precious time. You must also know that everything happens according to the Divine Will.

The Divine cannot be expected to act according to your thoughts or desires. God is fully aware of the needs of the family, country, and world at large and confers the requisite benefits at the appropriate time. Let us take an example of how one gift of nature proves beneficial to some people, while it is not so for some others. Suppose a marriage function is being celebrated in one house, the family prays for the rain to stop to facilitate them. At the same time, a neighbor who has cultivable land, which is dry, prays for the rain to continue to pour in torrents to facilitate his cultivation of the land. God is impartial and will not submit to a particular individual's needs. He weighs the needs of all and maintains a balance.

Generally all people are suffering from an incurable disease. It may be to a lesser degree in some while more severe in others. The difference is only in the severity, but all are suffering from this. It cannot be cured even by expert medical treatment by experienced doctors. This disease is “ego”.

Where is the need to be egotistic for an ordinary mortal? When you consider your position in comparison to the entire world you are just an infinitesimal speck. In the world map, India is a small country, and Tamil Nadu is a part of this. In Tamil Nadu, Kodaikanal can be spotted only as a tiny dot. In this, what is your position as an individual?

When you analyze in this manner, you will find you are one of no consequence at all. If you think you are so big, inflated with ego, it is only sheer ignorance. If one identifies themself with divinity, there will be no room for ego. All are divine in this world, and you are also one of the several billions of people. When you realize this truth, where is the scope for ego? It is due to ignorance that one feels egoistic and faces lots of problems because of this.

Thoughts lead to karma (action) and create feelings, which contribute to sheelam (character). Character makes a man deserving to be termed really human. So, one must develop character by having sacred thoughts and good deeds. For this, the primary requisite is control of the mind, which is the source of thoughts.

The term for thought in Sanskrit is sankalpa, which means it is arising from heart, the seat of God (Sam). Salokhya, saroopya, sameepya and sayujya are all related to this “Sam”, which is synonymous with Sath. Sath is changeless Truth (Saswatham).

When thoughts are good and based on the Divine, the stithi or state of man will be good. Sampathi does not mean worldly or physical comforts. It comprises sath vichar and sath sankalpa (good inquiry and good thoughts). Such good thoughts based on the changeless Truth will come only from merits acquired in previous lives (poorva punya).

This human birth itself is attained after innumerable lives of lower species. Since this is so, why should you venture to commit sinful deeds? It is your bad vision of the external world that makes you commit sins. So, you should develop samyak drishti (good vision). You should look upon the world as the manifestation of the Divine (viswam Vishnu swaroopam). The world is the effect for which cause is God.

The whole universe is a phenomenon of cause and effect. It is foolish to look only at the external world considering it as mere jada (matter). You must see the reality behind the entire creation. If you see with divine vision, everything will be divine.

You see Anil Kumar wearing glasses (spectacles). They appear to be an obstacle to his eyes but they help him to see more clearly. Similarly, if you wear glasses of love, you will be able to see the Divine in everything, though they may appear to be obstructing like the spectacles.

The main life principle is prema (love), without which there will be no love between mother and child, between husband and wife, or between friends. Love elevates the individual from human level to divinity. Now, man limits his love to his own kith and kin and other possessions, thus making it narrow. It should be expanded to cover all fellow beings. If love occupies the single seated chair of heart, there will be no room for jealousy, hatred, and other such evil feelings.

The great queen Madalasa used to sing a lullaby to her children inspiring them to realize the Atma, which was their reality, and cast off attachment to body. Even while the children were in the cradle, she taught them Atmajnana. She sent her three children to the forest to learn scriptures when they came of age. By the time she was about to send her fourth son also, her husband intervened and prevented her from doing so, pleading that if he also was sent away there would be no heir to the throne.

She pleaded with her husband that she was only teaching them the Principle of Atma based on Omkara, the Primordial Sound, to make them aware of its greatness, which is hailed by people of all the seven worlds. She said she was singing not a lullaby of world, which was negative, but the Truth related to God, which is positive.

You have to stick to Daiwathwa (Divine Consciousness) even while you are engaged in worldly activities. In spite of a lapse of millions of years, man is not yet able to understand his reality. How can he realise Divinity? If you develop human qualities, you can easily realise Divinity.

The Veda teaches,

Now, people kill truth and ignore righteousness. Santhi (peace) and prema (love) are reduced to narrowest limits. All four - sathya, dharma, santhi, and prema - must be put in unison for the world and humanity to thrive. If you study how these lights here are functioning, you will find that the current passes through the wire and illuminates the bulb. Sathya (truth) is the current, dharma is the wire, and santhi is the bulb; when the current flows to the bulb it burns brightly. This light is love (prema). You will see that sathya, dharma, and santhi together form the constituents for prema.

In ancient days they used to say, before taking food, annam Brahma (food is God), raso Vishnu (water is God), and sakthi Eswara (energy is God). They used to offer such prayers on conceiving food, water, and energy as the three aspects of God - Brahma, Vishnu and Eswara.

The gross portion of the food nourishes the body (kayam); the subtle portion nourishes the mind (manas); and the more subtle portion nourishes the power of speech (vak). Thus, all three constituents mano, vak, kayam - mind, speech, body - are sustained by food. All these three combine to make the full personality of man.

Disparity in these three makes a man duratma (wicked person).

In the latter, the current of sathya is absent, so it will not shine. When there is harmony, current will not fail. You have a main switch in a house, which controls all other switches. If it is put off, the lights will go off. In the body, the main switch is the heart; when one has love in the heart, all one's thoughts, words, and actions will shine brightly with love.

Therefore, you should fill the heart with love and share with others. When you fill the tank of heart with truth and righteousness, all limbs of the body and sense organs, functioning as taps, will radiate the same truth and righteousness.

When love underlies your activity, everything will be perfect.

Develop love in the main switch - the heart. That is real sadhana (spiritual discipline). This Prema Sakthi will achieve anything. Love is the essential basis for the spiritual path. The other sadhanas, like meditation, japa etc., are all good, but without love they are of no use.

What is meditation? It is required for every action - walking, talking, writing, reading, and even sleeping. You have to concentrate for everything.

Life is a race. The saying is, “slow and steady wins the race.” This is quite apt for the race of life.

Whatever you do, and even when you talk to someone, consider it as doing God's work. If you practice this way, you can have peace.

Lord Krishna says in the Gita that the sacrifice of the fruits of action is superior even to jnana and meditation. From sacrifice comes peace immediately.

People talk of yoga. Patanjali defined yoga as control of mind and senses. Water has the nature to flow down, while fire in a pit goes upward. Worldly desires are like water and pull you down. They are negative.

Positive wisdom is that of Atma, which is like fire. If you understand this truth, you will not be after worldly desires. The body is given to you to do karma (action) and realise God. By subjecting body to pain by fasting, etc., you cannot gain anything. You have to keep the body trim to realise the Divine.

You must practice the sadhana of unification of thought, word, and deed. If you achieve this with love in your heart, it itself is a good penance. Do everything as an offering to God and to please God. There is no greater worship than doing your duty with love, as an offering to God. God is infinite and vast. Do not limit Him into a small frame. Widen your vision. Make your love expand to cover the whole humanity. Realise all beings as divine. Then you realize all are one.

Go on adding “I plus you, I plus you,” and it will become “We”. Then go on adding “We plus W” - we are all one. All are children of God. This is brotherhood of man and fatherhood of God.

The Gita says: “All beings of the world are part of My Eternal Self.” All beings are therefore eternal. All are manifestations of the Divine. Though forms are different, Atma is one. The Prema Thathwa (Principle of Love) should be developed. God is Trigunarahitha (Nithyanandam Paramasukhadam). Why attribute qualities to God? Love is the most essential nature of the Lord. It is not an attribute. Practice love in speech, feeling, and action. If everyone practiced love, there will be no agitation in the world. Hatred will be eliminated.