Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

Human life is highly valuable, sacred, and full of radiance of virtues. We waste such a noble human life for the sake of sensual pleasures and worldly possessions. The main responsibility of a human being is to develop good character and realise human values.

People are born without any desires and qualities. At the time of birth, they have no attributes whatsoever. As they grow up, they acquire some qualities, due to the influence of the food habits they develop and the company with which they associate. As they develop attachment and possessive instinct, they have to face so many losses, difficulties, troubles, and challenges.

One should uphold human values in the face of all challenges, defeats, and losses. Human life is full of problems and challenges. They all help indirectly to develop human qualities. If one is to lead a human life, one has to develop human qualities. In the first instance, people develop desires. Desires are common to all, whether one is young or old, man or woman, a common man or a saint. However, it is very important to have good desires, e.g. desire to reach an exalted position, desire to lead a noble life, desire to be a good student, desire to tread the divine path. It is quite natural to have desires because one has to live in the world. But there should be a limit to desires. Because desires have crossed all limits due to the effect of Kali Yuga, people have lost their peace and are experiencing restlessness. Desires may be there, but there should be some limit to them. Unlimited desires are like chains, which bind and imprison. One loses freedom as one becomes bound by desires.

Animals also have desires, but they are not limitless like those of humans. Animals have a reason and a season, but people veo reason and no season. That is why people today face so many troubles and problems.

People have no dearth of food, raiment, and shelter. Then what is the reason for their restlessness? It is only excessive desires that make them restless. Therefore, put a ceiling on desires. Less luggage, more comfort makes travel a pleasure . Life is a long journey. In this long journey of life, do not have excess luggage. This, in Vedantic parlance, is called renunciation (vairagya ). You have been reading about renunciation for a long time. You have been listening to many discourses. But how much have you been able to practise? If you question yourself, you will find that you have not moved even a single step forward; you are where you were. In spite of listening to and reading Vedantic texts, in spite of chanting (japa ) and meditation, in spite of knowledge of sacred texts, your position is the same as it was.

How can you make progress? You will reach noble heights only when you put your knowledge into practice. But students today are zero in practice and hero in bookish knowledge. You may hear and learn so many things. But your position is the same as it has been. Instead of learning hundred things, it is very important to practice at least one. So, start practising. You get experience only through practice.

Your hunger is not satiated merely by hearing the names of delicious items. You have to make an effort to eat. A beggar will never improve their condition simply by listening about the greatness of the economy. Pitch darkness can never get dispelled by listening to the power of light. Similarly, you can never become a vedantin by learning about Vedanta .

Bookish knowledge is merely superficial knowledge. What we need is supreme knowledge. Supreme knowledge is obtained through practical knowledge. So, one must make an effort to practise at least to some extent.

In spite of all their learning, people do not make any effort to attain God’s grace. They don’t develop the spirit of sacrifice. What is it that we practice? What is it that we sacrifice? We neither practise nor sacrifice anything. Then why should we listen? We listen to sacred texts just as we listen to other stories. In daily life, we listen to the radio, we watch TV. What is the result of watching this? We derive happiness as long as we are watching. Later we forget. But spirituality is not like that. That which is heard, that which is watched must be treasured in the heart. Only then will we have satisfaction and strength. People consider themselves good and decry others as bad. But good and bad depend on one’s thinking. Here is a small example.

Once, Krishna thought of testing the nature of Yudhishthira and Duryodhana. First, He called Yudhishthira and said, “I have a task to perform. For that, I need a very mean-minded person who is given to untruthful and evil ways. Can you bring such a person?” Afterward, Krishna called Duryodhana, “Duryodhana! A great task is to be performed. For that, a noble person is required who is pure, kindhearted, and virtuous; can you find one?” Both of them agreed to perform the tasks assigned to them by Krishna. Yudhishthira went in one direction and Duryodhana in another in search of the people Krishna asked for. After some time, Yudhishthira came back, and said most humbly to Krishna, “Oh Lord! There is no wicked person in our kingdom. I am the only one who has some wickedness or the other. Please make use of me.” Some time after this, Duryodhana also came back and said to Krishna, “Krishna! A thoroughly noble person is nowhere to be seen in this kingdom. I think that I am the only such person. If You tell me the task, I will surely perform it. In the egoistic outlook of Duryodhana, all appeared to be wicked. In the humble nature of Yudhishthira, all appeared to be good. Hence, whatever is the colour of the glasses that you wear, everything will appear to you of that colour. If your vision is evil, everything will appear evil to you.

Duryodhana was extremely wicked and evilminded. On the other hand, Yudhishthira was an epitome of virtue. He was the very embodiment of truth and righteousness (sathya and dharma ). Therefore, everyone appeared noble and good to him.

An egoistic man will think that he knows everything; others are ignoramuses. But one who knows everything is always humble. One who claims to know everything actually does not know anything. One who says that they do not know anything may really know everything. So, we may try to know everything. But we should practise at least one or two things out of many that we know. Many people know the story of the efficacy of chanting the divine name of God. As narrated by the speaker in his talk, by hearing the name of the Lord, the bird had the next birth as a calf and the calf as a prince.

Many people chant ‘Sai Ram , Sai Ram ’ constantly. But to what extent is there transformation in them? If they enquire of themselves, there is not even a fraction of change in them. What is the use?

A bird could change, an animal could also change, the prince, too, could have merged with the Lord. But what is the reason for lack of transformation in modern humanity?

It is not enough if you repeat God’s name. The tape recorder can also repeat the name of the Lord. A gramophone record can also repeat the Lord’s name - to what extent does it enjoy the result?

So, do not chant the name of the Lord mechanically. Do it with full awareness. Everything should come out of the heart, not merely out of the lips. We say everything with the lips, but we don’t experience at the level of the heart. In order that the human life be transformed into divine, we should imprint divine feelings in our heart. We should develop the spirit of sacrifice and sublimate human life.

What do you mean by spirituality? Spirituality does not mean mere chanting (japa ), meditation, devotional singing (bhajans ). They are all good actions. But one has to sacrifice all animal qualities, which are deep rooted in the heart over many past births. Then only will chanting the divine name have due impact.

When you chant God’s name, sacred feelings should also develop in you. When a tree grows up, its roots also should go in the soil. The weight of the tree is borne by the roots below. Only then will the tree have safety and strength. If the roots don’t go deep, the whole tree will fall. So, as the practice is growing, the feelings should also go deep.

God is more concerned with your inner feelings than your external practice. When external practice and inner feelings go together, your spiritual discipline (sadhana ) is transformed into divine radiance. You should change both externally and internally because God is present within, without, and all over. As the Vedas say, That all-pervasive God is present within and without (Antarbahischa tatsarvam vyapya Narayana sthita ). When you advance on the spiritual path, you should also enquire how far you have controlled your worldly attachments. As your attachment increases, your distance from the Lord increases proportionately. However, when you develop attachment toward God, your attachment to the world decreases. It is a seesaw. You are at the centre. On one side is the world; on the other, God. If you move toward God, the world will move away from you. If you move toward the world, you will become distant from God. In which direction should you move? You have worldly attachment and desire for God. But you cannot have both at the same time. The heart is a single-seated sofa, not a double-seated one. It is not a musical chair either. It should not change continuously.

Immortality is not attained through action, progeny, or wealth; it is attained only by sacrifice (Na karmana na prajaya dhanena thyagenaike amrutatthwamanasu ). Therefore, if you want to attain immortality, you must renounce worldliness. Here, in this container, is water. If you want to pour milk into it, you first have to throw the water out. Only then can you pour milk in it. If you pour milk when there is water, neither water nor milk will stay there.

Similarly, there are so many worldly desires in your heart. First, make it empty by removing worldly desires; then fill it up with divine desires. If the heart is really empty, you can fill it with anything. If it is filled with other things, then how can you fill it with divine knowledge? First, cleanse your heart. That is purity of heart (chitta shuddhi ). Without purity, unity is not possible. Where there is no unity, divinity will never enter. On the other hand, enmity may enter there. First of all, develop purity.

What do you mean by purity? God is in everyone, so you should respect all. You should develop that nature. Whomsoever you salute, it reaches God (Sarva jiva namaskaram Kesavam pratigachchhati ). Whomsoever you criticise, it reaches God (Sarva jiva tiraskaram Kesavam pratigachchhati ). So, whomsoever you meet, offer them respect, realising that God indwells them. Never criticise anybody. Criticising others amounts to criticising God.

Rectify your mistakes; never point out others’ mistakes. As Jesus said, one does not see the log in one’s own eye but looks at the speck in other’s eye. It is not good.

People should get rid of their own defects. They should see good in others; never look at their faults. That is real spiritual practice. When one looks at one’s own defects and others’ merits, one will reach noble heights. When one tries to cover up one’s own mistakes and exaggerates others’ demerits, one completely subdues one’s humanity. So, first one should enquire within oneself. It is self-enquiry. When one enquires, one will have self-realisation.

Wherefrom does self-realisation come? Selfrealisation comes out of the Self. Self-confidence leads to self-satisfaction, self-satisfaction leads to self-sacrifice and self-sacrifice leads to Selfrealisation. Everything is within the Self. Then what is the Self? That is the Atma .

One has to investigate and visualise one’s own true Self. One says (‘I, I (Nenu, Nenu ).’ Who am ‘I’? Where is that ‘I’? Is it in the body or in the mind or in the intellect or in the subconscious mind (chitta ) or in the Antahkarana (inner instrument)? No. This ‘I’ is present all over. Constant Integrated Awareness is ‘I’. That is Supreme Consciousness (Prajnanam ). That is God. It is in the mind, it is the body, it is in the intellect, it is all over.

So, God is all-pervasive. Develop the feeling that God is everywhere. To have that broad feeling, get rid of your animal qualities. Only when you remove your animal qualities will divine feelings manifest in you. So, along with repetition of God’s name (namasmarana ), develop broadmindedness. Many people come here from far off places, spending a lot of money. After spending so much money and traveling long distances, what is it that they should get? They should develop Divinity within.

This morning also Swami said this. In the cup, there is water. If you put a teaspoon of sugar in it, the sugar will settle down at the bottom. Above there is water. The taste lies at the bottom, not on the top. If you drink the top water, it is tasteless. What is that tasteless water? The tasteless water is worldly desires. But Divinity is at the bottom. In order to mix sugar with the water on the top, what should you do? Stir it well with a spoon. In this way, the sugar at the bottom will spread all over in the water. Then, wherever you drink, it is bound to be sweet.

Your heart is the cup. Divinity is sugar. Worldly desires are water. When you put in the spoon of intellect and stir the water, which is spiritual discipline (sadhana ), Divinity will spread all over. So, what are you supposed to do? Divinity within you is quite natural. You are not expanding it all over. You are limiting it; you are making it narrow with the feelings of ‘I’ and ‘mine’. This is only contraction of love. But there should be expansion of love. In order to expand love, have the feeling that everyone belongs to you because there is God in everyone.

So, the true spiritual practice is to travel from the position of ‘I’ to the position of ‘we’. You should travel from a small zero to a big zero. This is a zero. There is another bigger zero. It is also zero. Still bigger is another big zero. It is also zero. All are zeros. There is difference only in quantity, but quality is the same. To think that we are moving from smaller truth to bigger truth is a mistake. Truth is truth. Truth remains the same at all times.

Have a broad mind. When you have a broad mind, you will be able to recognise the Divinity in everyone. Without broad feelings, the study of sacred texts is merely a waste of time and labour. If you have narrow feelings, you cannot attain Divinity merely by reading scriptures,. To realise one’s Self, one word is enough. To tell others, you have to read many texts. That which is said by reading the texts has no taste. It is not the true sign of Divinity.

Siva keeps the moon on the top of his head to give light to everyone. But he keeps the poison in his throat. He keeps all that is harmful in himself but distributes the good to all. That is equanimity (samatwa ) in the nature of Easwara or Siva. God is the indweller of all beings (Iswara sarva bhutanam ). That Iswara is in everyone. = Be like Iswara. Distribute good to others but keep all the bad within you. Do not distribute your bad qualities. You have to subdue all your bad qualities and never pass them on to anybody. But distribute good, do good to everybody.

You may not have time to go through the 18 Puranas (mythological texts), but you should know their essence. What is that essence? The essence of the 18 Puranas is: Help Ever, Hurt Never. It is enough if you know this. Help everybody. Never hurt anyone. If you know these two principles, you can know anything.

God is in everyone. You have to recognise this truth and develop love for all. The spirit of love is spirituality. Split of love is duality. Boys! At this young age, develop broad feelings. Instead of telling many things to others, it is enough if you practise at least one yourself. The study of sacred texts can never transform anybody at any time. You may repeat many verses (slokas ) but your grief (shoka ) will never be eradicated. Put into practice the essence of one of the verses you read. That is enough.

Potatoes and chapathi are served in a plate. Even if you repeat ‘potato chapathi , potato chapathi’ a hundred times, your hunger will not be satiated. Only when you eat potato and chapathi will your hunger be appeased.

First experience, then practise. It is no use merely chanting the Lord’s name. You go on repeating Sai Ram , Sai Ram , Sai Ram - Ram , Ram , Ram , Ram, Ram , Ram , Ram - Krishna, Krishna, Krishna … like a tape recorder. It is of no use. It is not enough if it comes out of the lips; it should come out of the heart. When it comes out of the heart, there will be transformation. Through transformation, you will get bliss (ananda ). That bliss only will lead you to self-realisation. So, selfrealisation is important.

We should question ourselves, who am I, who am I, am I the body? No! When you say, “This is my body”, then the body is separate from you. You say, “This is my mind.” Then the mind is separate from you. You are different from the mind. “Then who am I?” you should ask. You say, “This is my body, this is my mind, this is my intellect (buddhi ). Then ask yourself, “Who am I”? You should say, “I am I. I am not the body, I am not the mind. The mind and body are only instruments. I am the owner, I am the master. Therefore, I am Atma .” Make use of all the instruments. Develop the feelings that you are the Atma . Then you can experience the Self. The body is a water bubble. The mind is a mad monkey. Don’t follow the body. Don’t follow the mind. Follow the conscience. That is Atma . That is the true self.

The body is needed. The body is an instrument. Because of the body, you could practise thus far. There is the mind. Don’t allow bad thoughts to enter your mind. Divert all actions of the body and all thinking of the mind toward God. Then, work will be transformed into worship. Whatever actions you perform, consider them as acts of worship. Never divide, saying this is my work and that is God’s work. Every work, any work is God’s work. When we go with that feeling, we can easily understand spirituality. Never give scope to the feelings of mine and thine. That is ego. Do not have ego. As far as you have ego, you cannot accomplish anything. Be very humble. Have humility and obedience. When you have humility, you will have all potentialities and capabilities. AsSo long as there is ego, you can achieve nothing. So, get away from ego. Develop obedience and humility. To think of the Lord, who is all-pervasive, is most essential. From tomorrow, if devotees have any doubts, they should get them clarified. Westerners come here with very high expectations. We should give them this opportunity. They have no idea of Indian culture.

What do you mean by culture? What is the difference between Indian culture and Western culture? In Swami’s view, there is no difference whatsoever. There is only difference in words, nomenclature. But the material is one and the same. An Englishman may say, it is ‘water’. A Hindi person calls it ‘pani ’. A Telugu person calls it ‘neeru ’, a Tamilian calls it ‘thanni ’. A Sanskritist calls it ‘vari ’. There is change in the word, but water is water. God is one, but names and forms differ. That is unity in diversity. Jewels are many, but gold is one. Beings are many, but breath is one. Stars are many, but sky is one. Nations are many, but earth is one. (Telugu Poem) We should firmly establish unity in diversity. There is no difference at all. There are no differences whatsoever among the congregation here. Here, there is only one big house. The entire universe is one big mansion. America is one room, Italy is another room, U.K. is another room. Different countries are like different rooms. In a big mansion, there are all sorts of rooms. A small example. Here is a big house. There is dining hall, drawing room, bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen. There are differences here. But when do you get differences? Only when there are walls. When you remove the walls, there will be only one single hall. No rooms - there are no differences. Then where do you get differences? Because of the limitations (upadhis ). The walls are an obstacle. When you remove the walls, everything will be one. We have to remove the walls of ego. When you remove the walls, the dining hall, the bathroom, the kitchen, everything becomes one. So, we have to get rid of ego. Develop love and love only. Love is God, Live in Love. Only through love can you resolve all differences. We have devotees coming from U.K., Russia, China, U.S.A. The relationship here is only of love. Love is one. When there is no love, you don’t need to come here spending a lot of money and bearing all inconveniences. Out of love, you are not bothered about your inconveniences. At their residences, where they have separate drawing room, separate bedroom, separate dressing room, they don’t have satisfaction. But here, where no comforts are available, all adjust. They understand. Their adjustment and understanding amount to a very great spiritual practice. Sacrificing all conveniences, they try to enjoy the bliss. It is only that bliss that unifies. As they adjust in a single room, they should develop broad feelings. Get rid of narrow thinking. Develop the spirit of love. That spirit of love is spirituality.