Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

ADORATION to the All-consuming Time–this is the prayer of the ancient poet Bharthruhari. Time is self-motivated. It halts for no one. We may pronounce the blessing, “Live for a hundred years” but it may not fructify. Death may call any moment. Why? Every moment, everyone is nearing death. No one can recall the time that has flowed by. So, man has to utilise the years he spends on earth for attaining the goal of life, conscious of the great responsibility and the great opportunity.

Man is equipped with a wondrous instrument - the body so that he could engage in fruitful activity on righteous lines. The word Manush in Samskrith (meaning “man”) indicates that man is essentially Manas (mind). The mind involves man in thoughts, thoughts lead man to action, and action brings about grief and joy. When one is not as healthy as he deserves to be, the reason has to be sought in the nature of his actions and thoughts. When these are sacred, sublime and holy, he will be healthy in body and mind. The mind is engaged in thought without rest. Constantly dwelling on one subject, attachment and relationship develop. Thus, desire is aroused; when it is frustrated, anger arises and in the frenzy, discrimination disappears. Harsh words end up in hard blows. Man widens the gap between ‘his’ and ‘theirs’ every second. This duel is not genuine human nature. In the early years of life, man spends his days in pranks and play. Even while he loses himself in these carefree activities, youth creeps in and provokes him into wild antics and competitive exhibitionism.

He brooks no opposition; he is extremely possessive and proud. He builds castles on the foundation of muscle and passion, of group and emotion, not on divine , Grace and righteous life. Meanwhile, age undermines him and he grows old. At that stage, he might lament over lost boyhood and lost youth. But, however much his repentance and regret, he cannot get those stages again. Man dies as boy, lives as youth, dies as youth and lives as old person. So too, he dies as Yelliah and is born with another name and form. This is how Nature works. While on the pilgrimage of life, man’s activities are three-fold - Akarma, Sakarma and Nishkama Karma - the Thamasik, Rajasik and Sathwik types of Karma. Akarma: It starts with high hopes and much fanfare but at the first touch of disappointment, all activity is given up and the man shuts himself up for good. Sakarma: It is undertaken without discrimination. Whatever comes to hand keeps one busy. This is the Rajasik approach. The third type of Karma is Nishkama, gladly done as duty, as worship, as grateful homage, with no eye on the benefit therefrom.

Man has physical urges like hunger and thirst and needs like sleep and exercise. A person may be a scholar in many fields of knowledge or a famous figure crowned with diverse powers, but he cannot escape these urges and needs. But, man has also spiritual urges and needs. While the physical urges are transient and temporary, the spiritual ones have deeper sources and longer satisfactions. They clamour for purity and unity.

The purification of the mind is attained through humility, integrity and a sense of justice. The educational process prevalent now cultivates only the intellect of man; it does not unfold and cleanse the mind. An expansive mind is more laudable than an expert brain. One person shedding love is more desirable than a hundred hard-hearted companions. Reputation as a loving lovable person is to be striven for. Such reputation has its origin in little acts of love, tiny upsurges of compassion. When it expands and flows over vast areas, it becomes divine. Truth, too, is established in the heart from small beginnings growing steadily to purify all activities. Falsehood grows quick and wild. When Truth is yet putting on its shoes, Falsehood would have travelled round the globe. Untruth spreads fast; Truth strikes root slowly. No one can hurry the process. One can track and trap a ferocious lion and be proud of it. But, one cannot by one’s heroism force a stalk to become a tree. It takes its own time to put forth branches, leaves and flowers, to fill the flowers with fragrance and to waft the fragrance to the four corners. This fragrance of the fundamental Divine nature in man is his true claim for greatness. Teachers are the Sun which encourages the lotus buds to bloom and scatter fragrance. Their conduct and counsel are the rays which unfold the virtues and talents latent in the hearts of the leaders of tomorrow. Teachers have to fill their own hearts with good thoughts, good ideals, yearning for good deeds and devotion to God. When their hearts are reservoirs of these qualities, the taps, when opened, offer these only and children, who slake their thirst at the taps, are inspired to be likewise. Students need study only for a few years, but the teacher has to keep on studying for years and years, in order to be an efficient Guru. When one lamp has its flame steady and bright, hundreds of lamps can be lit therefrom.

Do not condemn yourselves as petty pedlars of knowledge. You are the makers of the future of mankind. You can make it bright and joyful or mar it as dreary and dreadful. You can weaken or strengthen the foundations of life. You are the planners and engineers who lay the royal road of peace and prosperity. You are the ray of hope that illumines the dismal night enveloping all countries. You are the revealers of the Divine Power that animates every living being and prompts it towards self-sacrifice and self-knowledge. You mark out and build the proper steps for man’s ascent to God. You direct the eyes of the pupils inward into the Reality and invite them to revel in that light. You hasten the holy process of ignoring and forgetting the superficial and advancing the Divine Consciousness, which is the reality of man. Gu (ignorance), ru (destroyer)–the word reminds you of the role you have assumed. The teacher is known through his pupils. They proclaim his sincerity and excellence. They are the witnesses for his erudition and endurance. King Bhoja once arranged a scholastic duel between two renowned Pandiths (scholars). When neither succeeded in defeating the other, he invited their respective pupils to continue the debate. But they too were engaged without end in meeting arguments with equally valid counter-arguments. So, the King had to honour them as replicas of their masters! To-day teachers have degraded themselves so low, that their own pupils dare correct their habits and practices!

Gurus imbued with divine love and understanding are urgently needed in every country. They are invaluable assets in every place at any time, for they have such strong faith in their mission and their ideals that they can never compromise or collude. We have this Camp in order to train such Gurus all over the world. Gurus must stand forth as living examples of love and light. They have to cleanse their minds of evil, the worst of them being “talking ill of others.” This can be accomplished only through the cultivation of selfless Love. Constant recitation or remembrance of one manthra (sacred formula) is believed by many to be a method useful for cleansing the mind. But, the same manthra cannot serve the purpose for all. Can one size of bush-shirt fit all men? Those who identify themselves with the body-mind complex need an embodied God, an idol, image or picture, and a five-letter or eight-letter Name to fix on. “Dhasoham” (I am your servant) will be such a person’s spiritual attitude. So, the manthra will purify and strengthen him. It will destroy; egoist feelings. The constant thought of dependence will destroy pride of power or scholarship or authority over fellow-men, or riches and treasure. Nowadays, ninety-nine out of hundred persons suffer from egotism and they need the curative manthra “Dhasoham.”

Persons who have attained a higher stage believe that they are jeevis (distinct individuals). For these, the manthra can be “Soham” (I am He) so that the sense of distinctness can be eliminated. In fact even this manthra has a face of distinction, for it posits an “I” and a “He.”‘ How can this manthra lead one to the awareness of the one? The next higher stage is the Athmic. When man reaches this level of consciousness, the idea of ‘I’ as different from ‘He’ disappears. That is to say, So (He) and Aham (I) fade away and Soham is elevated into OM. OM or Pranava is the Manthra for persons conscious of the Atma in them. Youth today are enmeshed in the coils of the body-mind complex. So, they are engaged in acts prompted by pride, envy and ignorance. “Son! You are not the body; the body is only your vesture. That vesture has been given to you so that you may lead a beautiful, beneficial life. You should not pollute your years of life with ignorance of your reality. Remove that pollution, acquiring true wisdom.” You must advise youth thus, so that they may become aware of their innate Divinity. No one has faith in any others today. Suspicion prevails in the relationship even of parents and children, wife and husband. The more educated a person is, the wider his suspicion. The reason is, education fills the brain, instead of fashioning character. Education has to develop insight along with skills. You have come here, to Prasanthi Nilayam, from over thirty countries, spending enormous amount of money, devoting precious days for journey and stay. Make that stay supremely useful. Understand the importance of disciplined freedom in education. Students might ask, “Grant us the freedom that birds have in the sky or fish in the sea.” But, birds behave as birds and fishes as fish. Instead, man clamours for freedom to behave as beast! When the brute in him overwhelms the human, God incarnates as man to warn and guide mankind on the path of genuine human values. Boys and girls must grow with confidence in these human values. Confidence promotes Love. Love fosters Peace; Peace nourishes Truth. Truth confers Bliss and Bliss is God. While dealing with children, do not be influenced by their creed or race, poverty or wealth. Look upon your task as a Sadhana, a form of worship, in fact, the highest form. In the Sai Organisation, no trace of conflict or contempt, of conceit or humiliation should be tolerated or encouraged. During these five days, concentrate on learning from the speakers and from one another and from the Prasanthi Nilayam atmosphere the lessons of humility, tolerance and service, so that the. world can have peace, prosperity and joy. Discourse inaugurating Training Camps for