Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

For people, charity is the only true ornament for the hand. The ornament for the neck is truth, and for the ear it is righteousness. No ornaments are superior to these. An individual wearing these ornaments will not only be the very form of beauty but will also set high ideals in society. The body, made of five elements, emits foul smells every moment. Where, when, and at what point will it perish one cannot say. For this ephemeral, transient, temporary body, the physical ornaments are not the real ones. The real ornaments for the body are those that are sacred, permanent, and ever true.

Since ancient times, people have been pursuing various ways to attain peace and security in life. But they have not been able to secure peace in spite of all their wealth, education, authority, and high position.

Peace cannot be found outside; it is present in each person’s life sheath (pranamaya kosa ) and mental sheath (manomaya kosa ). So, one can attain peace only when one develops inner vision.

The value of truth lies in our words. This means that we should express truth through our words. Righteousness comes out of the body. Therefore, we should perform righteous acts through our body. Similarly, peace comes out of the mind. Truth, righteousness, and peace are the very form of a human being. You don’t need to earn righteousness separately. You don’t need to go to elders for righteousness. When inner feelings are expressed outside, that is truth. Truth expressed must be practised by the body. That is righteousness. The body confers peace on the mind through righteousness.

This trinity of truth, righteousness, and peace is very important. It is the main responsibility of humans to purify themselves by putting these three virtues into practice in their lives.

Then what is love? Love comes out of a person’s mental and bliss sheaths (manomaya and anandamaya kosas ). The principle of love that comes out of these sheaths purifies the inner instrument (antahkarana ). It flows as the undercurrent of truth, righteousness, and peace.

Then what is nonviolence? Nonviolence comes out of the sheath of bliss.

Truth, righteousness, peace, love and nonviolence (sathya , dharma , santhi , prema , and ahimsa ) are the five life principles, five life sheaths, and five elements. But these values are absent in human beings today. Words that come out of one’s mouth are contradictory to one’s thoughts, and one’s actions are contradictory to one’s words. That is why humanness is missing in people today.

That one has the form of a human being but has no human values. That is why the world is in such a sad state today.

Modern people try to hide their thoughts and feelings. What is this hiding? It is actually obstructing truth. Not only do such people obstruct truth, they also do not put it into practice. They follow untruth in life. They are habituated to see cheap movies, to indulge in mean gossip, and to perform belittling actions. Because of these bad habits, people lose faith in truth. Even if they develop faith, they are not able to practise.

What are human values? Human values are values that help you to travel from individuality (vyashti ) to society (samashti ) and ultimately to reach the state of “That I am (soham ).”

Enquire thoroughly how much sanctity there is in the word sathya (truth). Sath + e + ya = sathya. Sath means life. E means annam (food). Ya means Surya (the sun). Food is derived from the sun. As long as one has life, one needs food. Food is the creation of the sun. Because of the sunrays, there is greenery in the world and people can grow crops. The sun is the main cause of all that we grow. People use the food created by the sun to sustain life.

If we analyse the word ‘sathya’, it is the combination of three letters: sa, tha, ya. When we reverse the order of the letters, we get ya, tha, sa. Here, ya signifies yamas, or restraints: nonviolence (ahimsa ), truth (sathya ), non-stealing (asteya ), celibacy (brahmacharya ), renunciation (aparigraha ) which form the basis of the inner discipline of humanity. Tha means thapas (penance) and sa means sathya swarupa (embodiment of truth), which is God. So, the word sathya connotes that a person can have the vision of God by inner discipline and penance.

The first of the five restraints (yamas ) is nonviolence (ahimsa ). What is nonviolence? It means not to hurt or harm anyone by thoughts, words, or deeds. So, nonviolence amounts to purity of thought, word, and deed (trikaranashuddhi ). Hence, don’t use words that hurt anyone, don’t use this body to harm anybody, and don’t entertain bad thoughts in your mind like hatred and jealousy against anyone. This total purity of thought, word, and action is nonviolence. Not merely purity, the harmony of all three. That is true nonviolence.

Similarly, God remains changeless in all three periods of time. So, we call God the very form of being-awareness- bliss (sat , chit , and Ananda ).

Sat means being, chit means awareness. The combination of sat and chit is ananda (bliss). Sat is the changeless form of God. God is attributeless; He has no attributes whatsoever; He has no aberrations whatsoever. His nature is changeless. There may be change in words and actions, but not in the heart. Sometimes, Swami may pretend as if He is scolding boys, but there is no anger in His heart. You interpret based on your feelings. To the one with steady mind, the Self (Atma ) appears pure. How? When water is still and there is no wind, you see the reflection of the sun in water very clearly. When there is movement in the water due to the wind, the reflection of the sun in it also appears to be moving. Similarly, to those whose minds are wavering, God also appears to be moving or changing. Know that God does not move or change. It is only the reflection that has movement, not the sun. Does the sun move? No, it appears to be moving by the effect of the wind. It is the wavering mind of people that see change in the changeless God.

Moreover, if the water is dirty and full of mud, the sun also appears to be dirty in it. Is there dirt in the sun? No! There is total purity in God. The dirt lies in your heart. Because your heart is filled with bad thoughts and wicked feelings, you see impurity in God. God is always pure. God is always steady. God is always peaceful. You see impurity or unsteadiness in God because of your own impure and unsteady mind. The one who does not change in all three periods of time is God.

Then chit. Chit means total awareness. You say, “I have read many sacred texts, so I am a great scholar. I am a man of wisdom.” What is this knowledge? What is it that you call wisdom? You consider that wisdom lies in knowing the essence of all sacred texts. But sacred texts give only minimal knowledge. So, one cannot say one has acquired total wisdom by reading the Vedas, the Upanishads, and the Brahma Sutras. Out of the infinite wisdom, you get just a little bit. This is not full wisdom. This is not full awareness. When you know what awareness is, you will understand that it is total knowledge, total wisdom.

(Swami holds a handkerchief and shows just a little tip of it.) When I hold the handkerchief like this and ask you, “What is this?” you will say, “It is a piece of cloth.” You become egoistic just because you have come to know that it is a piece of cloth. That is not awareness. What is this? This is handkerchief. When I unfold it and ask, “What is this?” you will say, “It is a handkerchief”! Out of that big handkerchief, if you know just a small bit, can that be called full knowledge? No, try to acquire total wisdom. Only God has total wisdom, none else. It is something like infinite space or sky. What is the sign of infinite ocean and infinite sky? Sky is infinite, ocean is fathomless. What is their colour? Their colour is blue. One is infinite, the other is fathomless. That is why they appear to be blue in colour. So, God is described as having blue colour complexion.

What do you mean by blue? If He had blue colour at the time of birth, He would be kept in exhibition. That is not what is meant by blue colour. None can understand God’s capacities and potentialities; none can fathom His depth.

So, God is beyond the word for description, beyond the mind for comprehension.

God is eternal and endowed with total wisdom. When we combine these two divine qualities of eternity and wisdom, we get permanent bliss. What do you mean by eternal bliss? It remains as it is; it never declines.

To have such bliss, we should install God, who is the very form of truth (sat), in our heart. Then we will have blissful thoughts. Awareness of the divine form of God is chit. When we combine these two, bliss will emerge quite naturally. How? sat is like sugar. The quality of sugar is sweetness. Whosoever taste it will find it sweet. A person suffering from malaria may not be able to relish its sweetness. But every healthy person will testify to its sweetness. You mix sugar with anything, that preparation will taste sweet. If you mix it with rice flour or any other flour, it will impart its sweetness to it. The rice flour is not sweet but its association with sugar will make it sweet. The love present in everyone is sweet, like sugar. Wherefrom do you get love? It comes from God. It is the reaction, reflection, and resound of God in everyone. The nature of love is sweetness. This is sat. Whatever you may do, it will never change. Its sweetness remains as it is. That is sat.

Next is chit. What do you mean by chit? Though it has no taste of its own, it will have the taste of that with which it is mixed. It is like water. If you mix salt in water, the water will become saline. If you mix sugar in water, it will be sweet. If you add anything bitter, it is bound to be bitter. Water has no quality of its own. Water always remains as water. Because of the substance with which it is mixed, its taste changes.

If you associate chit with worldly feelings, you are bound to lose peace, face troubles and difficulties and suffer losses. No, no. Never associate chit with worldliness. Associate chit with sat. Then only will you experience bliss (ananda).

Here is sugar and here is water. Sugar is sugar, water is water. But when you mix both, it is neither sugar nor water. It becomes syrup. Similarly, when being (sat) and awareness (chit) are combined, it becomes bliss (ananda). That is the divine quality of sat-chit-ananda. How do you get this bliss? You get it by the combination of sat and chit. It is not worldly happiness. It is divine bliss. Then everything in your life will have divine bliss. So, God has these three qualities that are permanent: beingawareness- bliss (sat-chit-ananda).

These divine qualities are changeless, eternal. Only name and form are subject to change. Who gave you the form? Your parents gave you. Who gave you your name? Your parents named you. It is not your name at birth; it is given to you after birth.

God created clay and water. The potter mixed clay with water and made pots of various names and forms. Similarly, parents create your form.

But the form gets consciousness (chit sakthi) from God. That consciousness in you is divine. The pots may break, names and forms may change; they are not permanent. The body may perish. But the divine consciousness in it is imperishable. Names and forms are not permanent. God is permanent. His name is Satchidananda (sat-chit-ananda - being-awareness-bliss). Then how can you attain Satchidananda? You can attain it only when you know your value and follow the right path. Your speech should express your inner feelings honestly. Do not hide or cover them to deceive anyone. When you hide your inner feelings, they rot inside you. So, feelings must be expressed by speech. And that which is expressed must be practised. That is truth, righteousness, and peace. Peace relates to the mind, righteousness relates to the body, and truth relates to the speech. Truth is the very breath of man. This truth is the source of light. It should illumine your heart, like the brightness of the sun. Sometimes, there may be clouds in between. But don’t change your vision because of these clouds of delusion. The sun is shining brightly. Because of thick clouds in between, you do not see the sun. Can you deny the existence of the sun if you cannot see it? These are passing clouds, not permanent clouds. Once the clouds move away, you can see the sun again. Your heart is the sky. The Atma is the sun, which is shining. Your feelings and thoughts are clouds. Sometimes, the clouds are very thick. Because of thick clouds, you do not see the sun. Then you think that there is no sun. Wait for some time.

Don’t be in a hurry. If you make haste, your entire future will be filled with darkness. So be patient. Don’t be hasty.

Concentrate on the Atma. As the clouds of delusion move away, you can see the sun of the Atma. Just because clouds have appeared, don’t look down and lose concentration. Without changing the vision, experience everything in creation with divine feelings. Then only will you have peace and security.

The values of truth, righteousness, love, and peace are not to be acquired from somewhere else. They are all present in the food sheath, life sheath, mental sheath, wisdom sheath, and bliss sheath within you (annamaya , pranamaya , manomaya , vijnanamaya , and anandamaya kosas). Peace (santhi ) comes out of the life and mental sheaths. Truth (sathya ) comes out of the wisdom sheath, and righteousness (dharma ) comes out of the food sheath. Love is experienced through the mental and bliss sheaths, and nonviolence (ahimsa ) comes out of the bliss sheath.

Man has three types of bodies: gross, subtle and causal (sthula , sukshma , and karana ). The physical body is gross. It is formed of the food sheath. The body is like a lorry tire. If you pump it, it will be inflated. If you eat a lot, your weight will increase. If you reduce your food, it loses weight.

But you may have doubt as to how this inert body grows. You may say that it is not inert because it has got the power to enlarge. That is not correct.

Here is a small example. You sweep your house daily. If you go on accumulating the dust in a pit, after a month, this dust would collect into a mound. It has increased because you are putting the dust there daily. So, the body is also like a pit. You fill it with idli, sambar, and all types of food. If it increases in weight due to too much eating, it is not because of power of consciousness (chaitanya sakthi). So, the gross body (sthula deha ) is formed by the food sheath.

Next is the subtle body (sukshma deha ). It is formed by the life, mental, and wisdom sheaths.

What is the causal body (karana deha )? That is formed by the sheath of bliss. It is the witness of everything.

So, truth, righteousness, peace, love, and nonviolence cannot be imported or exported. They are within you. If you make sincere efforts, they can manifest in your life on their own.

There is nothing in this world that is not present in a human being. Everything is within them. Divinity also is within. But people should develop the awareness that divinity is present in them in many forms. It is present in the gross, subtle, and causal bodies.

This awareness is Constant Integrated Awareness , which is changeless. It is chit. This awareness is there in our words, in our actions, in our feelings and in every part of our body. Without awareness, you cannot live even for a moment. This awareness is the very form of God. If you understand and investigate these spiritual principles and put them into practice, you will have divine bliss.