Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

In the spiritual field, this country has acquired a great reputation. Although several changes are coming about in the moral and political areas in the country, the spiritual field has always been moving forward. It is not possible for anyone to stop this progress. To the extent to which we are making spiritual progress, some people think that to that extent, we are becoming more and more blind in what they regard as the modern aspects. Truly in this modern age, people are living in such a manner that they do not understand what human nature is. They are under the illusion that this body, which is full of dirt, impurity and filth, is the real human being. They believe that, if they have some little education by which they can earn a livelihood, get a roof to live under and some clothes to wear, they have all that is required. If man is identified only with the human body, then, perhaps, the food, clothes, and a house would be sufficient; but man is not just that. He has a divine aspect that is living within him. America has acquired the reputation of being the wealthiest country in the world, and there is no lack of prosperity or money for the people in that country. There is no limit for man’s bodily pleasures in that country. On an average, there is one motor car for every five citizens in that country. If we pile up the number of available cars, we may even reach the moon itself. On the American roads, even if you stand for a whole day, you may not see even one person walking on the road. Even in such a materially prosperous country, one in every five commits suicide. What is the reason for this state of affairs, in spite of such wealth? Obviously, there is every opportunity to enjoy worldly comfort, but there is no chance of enjoying divine bliss.

Truly, man is not just the body, he is the one who lives within the body. There is a close connection between the one who lives within the human body and the human being. You can get true bliss from the sacred aspect that resides within the body, but you cannot get any bliss from the material body. So long as the baby plays with the toys, it gets some happiness for a short period; but the moment the child sees the mother, it will throw away all toys and rush to the mother because it will then get permanent happiness. Wealth and possession of material assets may give transient happiness, but long-standing bliss will come only from the divine. It is because of this that many people from affluent countries come and participate in movements like Hare Ram and Hare Krishna, for the sake of getting some peace. Peace and bliss come from within you and not from outside. Man does not live only by food. He lives by the experience of Atma. Modernised people, who cannot recognise this truth, are under the illusion that the material world is important. The body is made up of the five material elements, and it is inevitable that the body will fall one day or the other. The one who lives within the body is eternal. The divinity in the body has neither birth nor death. What resides in the body in the form of Atma is God. The life force that is present in you is present in all living things. The Upanishads have established the truth that this living force is the same as God. The whole world is one and is made up of Brahman and there is no second parallel to Brahman. This world is impermanent and it causes trouble. In this world, which is untrue, impermanent and transient, how can we get bliss? A bird, perched on a branch that keeps on moving, will also keep on moving. An individual catching hold of a piece of wood in an ocean will keep moving, although he holds on to the wood, because the waves keep the wood moving. In this world, which is intrinsically changing all the time, how can we remain unchanging when we form a part of this world?

There is no use of our getting attached to this transient body, which is like dust. You should get attached to God. God is like our own life breath. We have been given life, only to reach such an omnipresent God. Prahlada has shown that any son who does not attempt to get the grace of God is not a worthy son at all. If with all the fullness which your hands are capable of, you do not worship Shiva; if with the fullness of your mouth, you do not praise Hari; if there is no compassion and love of truth in you, what is the purpose of being born, except to cause birth pangs to one’s mother? One must give a shape to one’s life in such a way that one earns the grace of God. We should follow a sacred path. Having been born, we should do all that is necessary to see that we are not born again. When we meet our death, we should so meet it that we do not meet it a second time. This is, indeed, the secret of man’s life. But today, in man’s life, to the extent to which the knowledge of science has grown, to that extent, the strength of man has become less. As science has progressed, the sense that is present in human beings has become less and less. What you call Science can give you material pleasure but it cannot give you any bliss of Atma. Spirituality leads you to the aspect of completeness. Every human being must realise this completeness or the total knowledge contained in spirituality. The word man or Manava has three letters, Ma, Na and Va in it. HereMa signifies ignorance or lack of knowledge, Na means getting rid of such darkness or ignorance and Va implies your conduct. Thus, the word Manava means that you should conduct yourself in a manner by which you will eliminate total darkness and ignorance. But today, there is no justification for the use of this word because people are not conducting themselves in that manner. This is why even our appearance is completely changed. Man is wasting his life as if it is a cinema life. We are conducting ourelves in a manner by which we do not even recognise the very basis of human nature. Sacred texts: Bible, Quoran, Bhagavatha, etc., have been showing us the way to follow a sacred path. All religions teach only good. One should conduct oneself, knowing what is good. If one’s mind and attitude are good, what is it that is bad in any religion? Young people should not promote difference relating to religion or to community. In order that young people may recognise the oneness of all religions, Prahlada was teaching his companions about many sacred things.

We are the embodiments of truth and truth is our nature. Peace is the basis of all forms in this world. Shivam, or prosperity, is also that which is most sought after by all forms in this world. Thus Sathyam, Shivam and Sundaram form the foundation for the world, and these three are inseparably connected with each other. Just as one and the same item can be given different names, the divine Atma has been taking different names and forms. Names may be different but contents cannot be different. The water present here may be described as “Neeru” by the Telugu-speaking people, “Tanni” by the Tamil-speaking people. “Vari” by the Sanskrit-speaking people and “Pani” by the Hindi-speaking people. All these words: water, neeru, tanni, vari and pani are different names for water, but the water that is contained is one and the same. In the same manner, there is only one divine God. The truth, which is only One, has been described by different people using different words.

I will give an example so that you can understand it easily. Different sweets exist with different names like Mysorepak, Gulabjam, Palakova, Laddu, etc. However, in all these things, the essential constituent is sugar; and if there is no sugar, the sweet will have no name or form. In the same manner, divinity is present in everyone; and this has been demonstrated by the gopikas.

There used to be one king who was well versed in all aspects of administration including moral, political and academic. He was always able to speak the truth and also make his people speak the truth. He believed that truth is the basis for all types of dharma. He established the fact that all dharma is based on truth. On one occasion, there was a test for him and for his firm determination. When he was sitting on his throne and conducting the business of the state, a very well-dressed and beautiful woman came in and said that her name was Dhanalakshmi. The king asked why she had come there. She said that she wanted to go away and came seeking permission of the king. She was permitted to go, and the king did not show any sorrow or unhappiness. After some time, another beautiful woman came and stood there and said that her name was Righteousness. She said that there was no use of Righteousness remaining in the mansion after wealth had left and so she also wanted to go away. She was also allowed to go. After some time, a beautiful young man came and described himself as Good Conduct. He said that without wealth and righteousness, there was no place for good conduct and so he wanted to seek permission to leave the palace. The king agreed to his leaving the palace as well. After some time another person came and said that his name was Keerti or Reputation. He said that where there was no money, Righteousness, Good Conduct, there cannot be room for reputation and so he also sought permission to leave. The king agreed to this also. After some time, another beautiful person came and stood there and said that his name was Truth. He also asked for permission to leave, but then the king caught hold of his feet and begged him not to leave. He said that he could live without wealth, righteousness, good conduct or even reputation but not without truth. He, therefore, begged that truth should stay on. He said that truth was the very essence of his life. In this way, when the king requested truth to stay on, he agreed to stay on. When truth thus decided to stay on in the king’s mansion, Wealth, Good Conduct, Righteousness and Reputation also decided that they had no value without truth, and they all came back to the palace.

We should try and acquire a life, which is full of love and truth. We should promote in ourselves, love that is selfless. Life is a very transient one. In the short time that we have, we must earn good reputation. Calling yourselves students, you should not behave in a manner that is not worthy of the students. Young students are such that they have to make a long journey. Students who have to take such a long journey, should develop characteristics like love, forbearance and sacredness. Students; in this body of ours which is the tree of life, there are several branches. leaves and fruits, etc. To our tree of life, our own relations are like branches and leaves, and our own ideas are like the flowers. Our belief and faith constitute the roots for this tree and our bliss is the fruit in this tree. The character that you have is like the juice in this fruit. If the fruits do not exist on the tree, it will become similar to firewood. Therefore, for the tree of our life, there should be the fruit in the form of good character, and there should be roots in the form of our faith and belief. The thoughts and attitudes of the gopikas were such that they were always using them to think of the sacred and divine form of Krishna. On the other hand, Prahlada established the formless aspect of God. Texts and scriptures of all religions preach only such sacred things. The religious texts have not been written for the sake of making money. They are not like cheap useless books that we can get in the market today. In order to communicate to the people their personal experience about divinity, the great rishis had written these texts. What has been taught in the Vedic, Christian, Muslim, Zoroastrian or any other religion, simply refers to the royal road to reach God. However, students are not inclined to read such books. They say that they do not have any time to do so. They have the time to read useless time-wasting books like cheap novels, which destroy human character. It is the first and primary duty of all students to spend as much time as possible listening to sacred aspects. When the students can acquire and promote such sacred qualities, there will be no doubt whatsoever that we will be able to establish the brotherhood of man and fatherhood of God. To establish these truths, many kings and rulers sacrificed their lives. If one has no peace of mind, the whole life will become a living death, even if you have all the wealth. One may have millions of rupees, but if his health is not good, what is the use of all his wealth? When an individual in a high position is afflicted with cancer, will his position save him from the dreadful disease? It is only when you can earn the grace and love of God, that you will be happy. Thyagaraja sang and said that if he had the grace of Lord Rama, he would have all the strength in the world. We should, therefore, do such good work to enable us to acquire the love of God. If man can spend at least a part of his life in this sacred task, there will be no doubt whatsoever that he can demonstrate to others, this royal path to happiness.