Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

When the Dharma of the Age is laid aside, To establish it anew through loving means; When the world is polluted by conflict and confusion, To restore the path of virtue and peace; When good men caught in cruel coils wail, To save them from pain and shame; When sacred texts are not grasped aright, To proclaim the message they teach mankind; To relieve the earth of the burden of vice, To fulfil the promise made in Thretha Age, Achyutha has incarnated on this earth, Vasudheva, Shrihari, has come into the world. Baba

IN every human heart there resides a gnawing desire to achieve unwavering and lasting anandha. Day and night, throughout his life, man is endeavouring without a moment's rest to attain this stage. And yet he finds it beyond his reach. What is the reason? The root cause of his failure is his identification of himself with his body and senses, and his belief that physical and sensual pleasure can give him the anandha which will appease his hunger. Man is not aware that he is the anandha he seeks. The Upanishaths clear all doubts on this point. They assert: "Flour is rendered sweet by jaggery." Flour, be it of rice or wheat or gram, is not inherently sweet, but when jaggery or sugar is mixed in it, the sweetness permeates all of it. The lesson the Upanishaths convey is: The created Cosmos is the flour and the Divine Principle is the sugar. As a consequence, nature charms us and is attractive. Wherever we hear melody, or see harmony, or experience the sublime, it is Divinity that impinges on us and not nature.

God is described as Aprameya (not measurable). It means that God cannot be measured like any limited phenomenon. Only the Vedas can give a satisfying glimpse of the Glory. To indicate this, God is designated as Vedavith (known through the Vedas). There are three authentic means of acquiring knowledge as mentioned in the sacred texts. They are (i) Prathyaksha (direct perception) (ii)Anumana (inference), and (iii)Shabdha (authoritative voice). When milk becomes curd after being treated with yeast, one can see it happening. The phenomenon is therefore accepted as true, as proved by prathyaksha. When clouds of smoke rise from mountain range, one infers that the forest is on fire. When someone who has been at Prasanthi Nilayam describes the place to one who has not, the latter, too, is able to picture for himself the Nilayam and its environs. This is an example of 'authoritative voice' being a means of knowledge. Shabdha becomes authoritative and acceptable when it emanates from experience and from honest communication of that experience.

Among the many thousands sitting in this auditorium, there is one who has come from America, a member of Sathya Sai Council for America. His name is Dick Bock. No one, let us say, has seen him so far. Even if he is described as tall or short, old or young, or as having specific physical characteristics people will find it difficult to identify him and spot him. But when I pronounce the sound, "Dick Bock," he will stand up for all to see. God, too, does not easily respond with His Presence when you describe Him and glorify Him. You had no name when you were born, but have since been responding whenever you are called by a 'given' name. Similarly, God is Nameless, but He responds when His Name, any one of the many, is pronounced by the seeker. The shabdha (verbal testimony), as a means of proof, has two aspects - the thatastha (apparent features) and the swaruupa (fundamental nature) - to the permanent unchanging features.

To identify a house which a visitor is searching for we tell him, "That one on which the crow is sitting," and he understands. This is a temporary feature of the house. God, the Eternal Absolute, is pictured, praised and adored as temporarily apparent and is adored in limited regions as Rama, Krishna, Vishnu, Ishwara, etc. These are not basic, fundamental expressions of His Nature. These are only Forms assumed for certain vital purposes like conferring peace on earth, reestablishing the norms of justice and strengthening the ideal of faith in the Supreme. The fixed and fundamental Attributes are Sathyam, Jnanam, Anantham (Truth, Knowledge, infinite) This is the Swaruupa (Natural state) of Brahman. These attributes do not change with time, space and the nature of the observer. They penetrate time, space and matter and we perceive them in five aspects; asthi, bhathi, priyam, nama and ruupa. Three of these - asthi (existence), bhathi (consciousness) and priyam (bliss) are basic, while the other two - nama (name) and ruupa (form), are transitional and superficial. It is indisputable that all these features need a Creator who is Immanent, who is their Author and Contributor.

The Sun, the Stars, the Moon, the oceans, the earth - all these point to the maker whom we have to accept. There are two causes which together produce any thing: the shaper and the substance. This silver cup must have had a smith who shaped it and silver which he shaped. When you go deep into this process of creation, you will realise that both causes merge into One, the Embodiment of Being, Awareness and Bliss. Since that One is all this, recognising It in all this confers full Bliss.

Every man yearns for only two boons escape from sorrow and attainment of joy. When both are achieved, man is truly free; he has gained mukthi (liberation). Not knowing the genuine implications of the stage of mukthi, persons who pride themselves as atheists or rationalists declare that they are not interested in it. Mukthi is the fulfilment of these two universal cravings of man. Texts and arguments have led man astray and blinded him to Reality. Do we reach mukthi along the path of activity, or of inquiry, or of worship? The arguments shall only fog the issue. These paths merely cleanse the mind, clarify the intellect and purify the emotions. If the Athmic (divine) core of all things and beings is recognised, Anandha will be ever-present and full. The Divine Principle is the reality, the base, the essence, the ocean on which the waves rise and fall. Discard the name and form (which rise and fall) and contemplate on the asthibhathi- priya content in each cell and particle. Then you can immerse yourselves in Nithyanandha (Eternal bliss). Anandha is Omnipresent. One has only to realise its Universality.

Embodiments of Prema (Love)! Things that move must need have a stationary base. Nature moves but the Divine does not. Buses and cars speed along the road while the road itself lies still without movement. Pictures flit and fly along the screen in a cinema, but the screen does not flit or fly. The body grows or declines, the senses seek one pleasure after another and the mind skips from this thought to that only because the Atman is Immovable and unmoved. Now, by what trait can we recognise the Atman? By bliss, which is Its very nature. This is the reason why It is described as Nithyanandham (Eternal Bliss Absolute) Parama-sukhadham (bestower of highest bliss), kevalam (alone) jnanamoorthim (embodiment of pure wisdom), dhwandhwa-theetham (beyond all dualities), gaganasadhrisham (vast as sky), thathwamasyadhilakshyam (denoted by Vedhic axioms such as Thou are That), ekam (the One), nithyam (the eternal), vimalam (blemishless), achalam (unaffected), sarvadheeh (all-conscious), sakshi-bhootham (all seeing witness), bhavatheetham (un-reachable even by the imagination), thrigunarahitham (attributeless), etc. Generally speaking, the materials in the world will be sought by some, neglected by others and disliked by still others. The reason lies in the mind, not in the matter. One's own likes and dislikes are moulded by one's own activities, thoughts and feelings. If your reaction is good, you will pronounce Me good. If your feelings are bad, I may appear bad. The transformation from one attitude to the other happens in you, not in Me. I am ever the same. Since a form has been assumed, wavering reactions are inevitable. They are human; they do not affect the Divine.

Changes in the nature of the reactions and the lines of approach are brought about by the whims of the moment, the turns and twists of desire and the pressure exercised by the environment, the region and the times. Last night you witnessed a play about Jesus enacted by the students. The disciple who was most loved, Judas by name, decided to work against the Master, yielding to the low temptation of a few pieces of silver. Greed for money is a demon that gets hold of the weak. When one is overcome by it, one loses all trace of discrimination and accepts with ease, wrongful ways of satisfying it. Since the uniquely powerful impact of Sathya Sai has become world-wide, many ignorant persons afflicted with envy and monetary greed are attempting to spin malicious tales to belittle and defame the culture of Bharath. The envious mind will be ever engaged in wrong. This has been so in every age when the Divine has come among mankind. But despite such tactics, the task will not falter, the Triumph will not be delayed.

You have to pay special attention to this truth; there exists no such person who can point out any kind of blemish in Sai. Individuals who can probe into the significance of the principle of prema (pure love) of which Sathya Sai is the embodiment, are, of course, very few. This principle is fully selfless, fully pure and fully holy. This principle, with Sathya Sai as its embodiment and exponent, is spreading from continent to continent. Envious persons watch the march of this transforming love and try to obstruct it with falsehood. Since the attention of seekers and aspirants is now being increasingly devoted to the heritage and culture of Bharath, attempts are made by many narrow and crooked minds to cast aspersions on them. The success of the task for which I have come will very soon reverberate throughout the world. The truth that all faiths are facets of the One and that all roads lead to the same Goal, is provoking to some persons. You witnessed in the play on Jesus how his emphasis on the basic truths of good and godly life was misinterpreted by even the leaders of religion, who sought to hide their own failings by slander and falsehood. They even plotted to inflict torture on Jesus. All the acts of Jesus were pure and holy, and filled with selfless love. One can have adoration for one's religion, but it should not be defiled by hatred towards other religions. Be engaged, rather, in tasting the sanctifying, sustaining stream of Divine love. That will confer lasting Anandha.

In truth, this Kali era is the most beneficent of the four, for you have now amidst you the Eternal Embodiment of Anandha in a form which you can approach, adore and learn from. You are singing with Me, conversing with Me and filling your eyes, ears and hearts with My utterances and activities. This is not a mere physical body composed of the five elements, nor this day My Birthday, though you may call it thus. This body might have a birthday, but I have no birth. You say I am fifty-four years old, but I have no age which can be counted. The Eternal, with neither entrance nor exit; The One who neither Was nor Is nor Will be; The Immortal Person free from birth and death That Ever-effulgent Atman is Sai for ever. Adoration is rising on one side of Me like the Himalayas; denigration is accumulating on the other side as another Himalayan range. I am, however, unaffected by both. As Gokak said a few minutes ago, upon both these peaks I place My hands, showering My Blessings equally on the opposing responses. Where there is day there must also be night; but it is the same Sun that causes them both. Be equanimous yourselves. Endeavour to benefit most from the good fortune accessible to you.

Engage yourselves in the spiritual discipline of seva, which is the most productive of good. Of all the methods of seva(service), to the long-neglected rural population is the best. Dedicate your skill and energies to the betterment of your brothers and sisters dwelling in the villages. Service is God. Why has God endowed man with a body, a mind and an intellect? Feel with the mind, plan with the intelligence and use the body to serve those who are in need of service. Offer that act of service to God; worship Him with that flower. Put into daily practice the ideals that Sathya Sai has been propagating, and make them known all over the world by standing forth as living examples of their greatness.