Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

ON My way to this place, thousands of eager men and women stood across and insisted that I should meet them at the Sai Mandhiram. Some delay was caused thereby. I could not come here in time. I have therefore to shorten My discourse to you. Bhakthas bind Me; I have no chance to have My way when people plead so. My Anandham as well as their Anandham were both indescribable. On account of this delay, I know, some people left and went home. Well; yours is the luck; you stayed on. The chakora bird gulps the first rain-drops as they fall; it waits long and with profound yearning. It is content if four drops wet its parched throat. Life is many-directional; it has many faces. But, there are some directions which are auspicious, some which are ruinous. Most of it is spent in pursuit of mirages, in building castles in the air. Keenness to slake the thirst in the mirage-lake is never satisfied. Desire multiplies itself; the fulfilment of one leads to proliferation into many. You can never say, "That ends all my desires; I have no more wants." The love that is concentrated on oneself is as a bulb that illuminates the room only, without shedding light outside the four walls. It is confined to the senses and never opens out to others, who are your kith and kin in God. There is another type of love, larger and deeper, which expands into the members of one's family. It is as moonlight, not strong enough to make things clear, but, enough to move about in. It also undergoes rise and fall, increase and decrease. But the most desirable type of love is as sunlight, ever engaged in purifying, activating, illumining, knowing no distinction. This love will make man act ever in the spirit of dedication to the Lord. And, so, the acts too would be elevating and holy.

Dedication is different from service; in service, there is the element of ego. "I serve, He is the master, He requires my service, I am necessary for Him." But, in dedication, the I is wiped out. There is no desire for the fruit; the joy consists in the act being done. To cultivate that attitude of dedication, every one must think of God, remember the Name of God and deepen faith in God. University degrees will not give, riches cannot buy, kinsmen cannot hand over and teachers cannot confer the pre-requisites for Shanthi - Faith and Devotion. The most chronic disease of man is Ajnana - ignorance of the undying Atma within him. One must know the reason why he caught this aphasia and try to get cured. The general cause of this illness is infatuation for the objective world and subservience to senses. There is even a deeper cause · the undue prominence given to the body, imagining it to be the touchstone of value. The body is like a temporary shelter where you reside for a short while, on your journey. The gamyam is kaivalyam - the goal is liberation. Liberation gives the highest Bliss. Have faith in the Ocean, not the wave; believe in the Lord, not in little things. But, the tragedy is, you put your trust in little men, in wicked men, in men who you know are vicious and greedy; but you hesitate when asked to put faith in the Lord, who is more merciful than any father, more loving than any mother, more powerful than any earthly authority, more considerate than any kinsman. You do not doubt each other; but, you develop doubt regarding God. Even laymen talk long and loud when the topic for discussion is 'God!' No one asks them their credentials.

'Doubt' is easy and faith difficult. Dwell on the Nama and its sweetness will saturate your tongue and improve your taste. Do not count the number of times you have repeated it. For, whom are you going to impress with the number? The Lord will respond even if you call Him just once from the depths of feeling; He will be deaf, even if you call Him a million times, automatically, artificially, with the tongue not with the heart. It is easy to amass figures. When Akbar challenged his courtiers to give him the exact number of birds in Delhi, one illiterate servant offered to do it. After a few days, he came to the court and said that there were 99 lakhs 99 thousands of them! "Suppose, I have the figure verified and it is found that there are more, what punishment shall I inflict on you for your wrong calculation?" asked the Emperor. The servant said, "Some might have flown in from the surrounding areas." "What if the total number is found to be less?" asked the Emperor. "Some birds must have flown out of the City," he replied coolly. Numbers are easy to manipulate, but Grace does not depend upon them at all. He asks for the heart, the full heart and nothing but the heart. If the heart has many leaks, the sweetness will be drained away and you cannot offer Him the full heart. Egoism, pride, thirst for fame - all these are leaks, if you donate something to a good cause, hoping that your name will appear in the Andhra Patrika, exulting when it is seen there, dejected when it is not found, then that charity springs a leak. Such sacrifice is superficial and selfish. The seeds will sprout only when they are well within the soil, not when they are on the surface. Karna lost his life when he recalled in despair the sacrifices he had made; they should not be counted in the memory.

Bargaining and calculating are useless in the spiritual field. You cannot higgle with the Lord and ask for proportionate rewards. Ask for proportionate reward and you lose all. He has his own arithmetic. Food, Head, God - that is the series; eat food for developing the intelligence, the head; then, with that intelligence, realise God. The senses can inform you only of the obvious, what comes within their ken. But, the intuition of the sages as recorded in the Vedas speaks of that which cannot be reached by the senses or intellect or imagination. To treat the Vedas lightly is the height of foolishness. "The fever of arrogant youth," which I call Youvana sannipatham, fogs the intellect and makes youth ungrateful and callous. Parents are neglected; elders are dishonoured; teachers are ridiculed; scriptures are scoffed at by them. They boast that they will not bow their heads to any one; but, they have to bow their heads at least to the barber! They cause grief to the very persons to whom they owe their very life. Do not be led away by the belief that this is respectable. Have as your ideal Lakshmana or Dharmaraja or Seetha or Meera. Strive to see good things, hear good things, speak soft and sweet, instal the Lord in the altar of your heart. Believe in the consequences of karma, done now and in the past. No one can avoid the reactions of his actions; the effects have to be consumed by the 'actor' himself.

You are undergoing training to become better Gramasevakas (village social workers); this is a great chance that has come in your way to render seva (service) and to share and spread Anandha. The seva that you do will become useful and lasting, provided you invite great Pandiths to the village and through them instruct the villagers to cultivate contact with the Lord' devotion to God, love towards men. I wish that you strive to provide bhajans, keerthanas andHarikathas in order to inspire them towards the higher life of the spirit. It is now rather late; the night is already far advanced. I am going to Madras right from here, but, it does not matter to Me; I do not care about the exhaustion; but, you have to reach home and many of you have gathered from the villages around. So, I shall stop now. I feel the exhaustion only when you do not practise what I tell you. If you are determined to act according to My advice, I shall be with you all the 24 hours. Now, I ask you only to ruminate, like the cow, on the precious words you have heard and assimilate them into your life. Village Level Workers' Training Centre,