Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

True education is that which promotes moral, ethical, and spiritual wealth of man. But students today are forgetting this ethical and sacred education and trying to acquire the education that merely helps them to fill their belly.

Right from an ant to Brahma, everything is God’s creation. When we look at God’s most beautiful, wonderful and sublime creation, we are filled with bliss.

Human beings in this world are constituted by five elements, five life principles, five sheaths, and five senses. They are endowed with all types of powers. From morning till night, whatever humanity requires in this world for happiness has been provided by God. There is nothing that is not available in this world.

God has created everything from dust to diamonds and provided all types of comforts and conveniences for human happiness in life. He has given all freedom to humanity and has put the entire creation at their disposal. In this universe and in this manifest world, one can enjoy everything without any fear and fulfil one’s desires without any limit. One has the freedom to follow any path and perform any action.

Humanity has been given every right to enjoy God’s creation; one does not need God’s permission for this. However, God has prescribed one rule. You may do whatever you want, but you have to face the consequences of your actions, whether they are good or bad, sacred or unsacred. This is the law of creation. Keeping this law in view, one should decide what path is to be followed and what type of actions are to be performed. As you sow, so shall you reap. Similarly, as is the action, so is the result.

When people have to undergo suffering as a result of their bad actions, they blame God. How can you blame God when God has given you the independence to choose what is good and what is bad? When you exercise your freedom of choice, you should use your discrimination to decide what is good and what is bad.

God does not interfere in your freedom, whether you do good or bad. But you cannot escape the consequences of your actions. This is the law stipulated by God. Only those who understand this truth and act accordingly can derive happiness in life. Even before performing a small action, keep in mind moral, spiritual and ethical values and use you power of discrimination to decide whether to perform that action or not.

Once there lived a wealthy man with his old parents. In this modern age, people do not treat their parents with due respect. Some of them think it proper to send them to an old age home when they grow old. This wealthy man and his wife also thought in the same manner. They constructed a small room in the verandah and asked their parents to stay there, since they considered it a big botheration to accommodate them inside their house.

In due course of time, a son was born to the wealthy man. This boy used to be with his grandparents right from morning till night, listening to moral stories and sacred teachings. The wealthy man tried to prevent his son from going to his grandparents because he thought, “What will happen to my son if he always listens to moral stories from his grandparents?” Every day he provided food in an earthen plate to his parents, without bothering to enquire about their well being. All this was being observed by this tender-hearted boy. He thought to himself, “Whose property is this in which my parents are living and enjoying all comforts and conveniences? It is only the property of my grandparents. It is only due to my grandparents that my parents have a name in society. How unjust it is that they are illtreating my grandparents in spite of enjoying all their property!” In order to teach a lesson to his parents, this small boy one day took away the earthen plate and hid it somewhere. Next day, his parents were searching for the earthen plate in order to serve food to the old parents. “Mother and father, what are you searching for?” asked the boy.

“We are unable to trace the earthen plate in which we serve food to your grandparents,” they replied.

Picking up courage, the boy said, “You don’t need to search for it; I myself have hidden it somewhere.” The father of the boy asked him angrily, “Why have you done this?” The boy replied, “I did it so that I can serve food to you in the same plate when you grow old!” See for yourself the result of a bad action. You will be treated by your children in the same manner as you treat your parents now. If you deceive your friend, you will also be deceived. If you respect your brothers, they will also respect you. Yad bhavam tad bhavati (as are the feelings, so is the result). You cannot escape the consequences of your actions.

God has created this beautiful world and given people all the freedom to enjoy His creation. He has endowed them with all types of powers. God does not interfere in what you do. You can do whatever you want to do. However, if you keep in mind that you have to face the consequences of your actions, you will not resort to wicked and sinful deeds. You will sanctify your time by performing good and meritorious deeds.

Modern education lacks moral, ethical, and spiritual values. Students today have no understanding of what morality is. Ethical values have been fully smothered today. Nobody knows where spirituality has gone; people just don’t bother about it.

In such a situation, what benefit can you derive from the pursuit of modern education? Education today only helps you to secure a job and earn a living; it does not foster virtues. Why should you pursue education that does not inculcate virtues in you?

You should understand the truth that education is meant to serve society. We are born in society, brought up in society, and ultimately end our life in society. What is it that you want to achieve, forgetting society, which has done so much for you? Dedicate all your education, intelligence, and energy to the service of society.

People today develop cunningness instead of intelligence. Such cunningness is the greatest enemy of humanity. Try to put all your powers to proper use.

You know the types of difficulties that society is facing today. Today society is in a state of great decline. People who resort to falsehood, injustice, and unrighteous conduct are occupying high positions. There is no place for people who adhere to truth, righteousness, and sacrifice in modern society.

However, it is only a temporary setback for good people. God will certainly reward them ultimately. Therefore, never give up truth and righteousness. This is the teaching of the Vedas, which propound the principle, Sathyam vada, dharmam chara (speak truth, practise righteousness). Those who give up truth and righteousness and take to the path of injustice and unrighteousness will certainly face its consequences.

What is this beauty? What is this youth? They are ephemeral like passing clouds. Getting carried away by youth and beauty is like trying to cross a river in a boat made of stone.

You are sure to be drowned if you travel in a boat made of stone.

Rather, you use the boat of Divine Name, which is sure to take you across the ocean of samsara (worldly life). Lead your life holding on to the principles of truth, righteousness, and human values and respecting parents, teachers, and elders.

Children today do not know what it means to respect elders. If you hear a father and a son talking to each other, you will wonder whether they are really father and son. Children lack love and respect that they should accord to their parents.

If the son is sitting on a sofa, he does not get up as a mark of respect when his father comes to him. On the other hand, he even questions him rudely, “Why did you come here?” Is this the respect children should show towards their parents? If you treat your parents in such a disrespectful manner, how will your children respect you in future? As is the food, so is the belch. As is the flour, so is the cake.

You should learn to respect your elders right from your tender age. Do not become arrogant just because you are educated. True education is that which annihilates ego and jealousy. Do not give room to pomp and show. Lead your life with humility and obedience and earn the respect of others.

I often tell our students, “Your food, your blood, your head, and your duddu (money) are the gifts of your parents. Therefore, first of all, show gratitude to your parents.” Revere your parents even before God because it is they who gave you birth and brought you up.

God creates soil and water, but it is the potter who makes pots and plates by mixing both. Similarly, God has created jada and chaitanya (matter and life principle). But it is your parents who combine both and give you a form. Therefore, it is the parents who have given you this body. That is why, our scriptures propound the principle,

Parents are no less than God. There may be a wicked son, but there can be no wicked mother. Your parents bring you up with great love. You should always remember their love and lead your life in a righteous manner.

Look at this world. How beautiful it is! Having been born in such a beautiful world and having been endowed with such a beautiful body, what a shame it is if you harbour wicked feelings!

Take, for example, the human body. How beautifully God has made this human body with various limbs in proper proportion! Our body’s height, weight, etc. - everything is arranged in a befitting manner.

There are 600 million people in this world today. Do you find any two individuals resembling each other in every respect? Everybody has their own unique form. How mysterious is God’s creation! If twins are born to a mother, even they do not look alike in all respects. There will be some difference between them.

I challenge you to bring two individuals who look alike in all respects. I will give you whatever you want. You need not go that far. Look at that neem tree, which is full of leaves. Each leaf is different from the other.

This is the mysterious and wonderful creation of God. How shameful it is if you conduct yourself with wicked feelings, being a part of such beautiful and wonderful creation of God! Since you live in the sacred creation of God, you should also have sacred feelings. Nobody knows when this body will perish.

Before your life comes to an end, you should realise who you are. Wherever you look, people ask others, “Who are you, who are you?” But they do not put that question to themselves, “Who am I?” What is the use of knowing everything when you do not know who you are?

Body is like a water bubble. You are not the body. Mind is like a mad monkey. You are not the mind. Then, who are you? You are the master of the body and mind. In spite of being the master, if you do not realise this truth, how can you claim yourself to be the master?

The term master is used to describe a person holding a position of authority. There are many masters, like postmaster, stationmaster, etc. Some people address Me as Divine Master. Truly speaking, the word master should not be used for God because God is the servant of all. Everything is done by God. Such being the case, it is not proper to call Him master. He has a master plan, but He is not the master. You should follow the master plan of God.

God’s creation is very sacred. Do not pollute it. How sacred are the five elements given by God!

But, today, the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink, the sound we hear - everything is polluted. All these sacred elements have been made unsacred by humanity. That is why the world today is afflicted with so many diseases. That one is a true human being who makes sacred use of the five elements. Never waste natural resources.

A small incident happened some time ago. While conversing with Me in the interview room, Siva Sankar Sai, the warden of our senior boys hostel, said, “Swami, Your eyes have become red.” I replied, “That is due to My own mistake. I do not waste water like you people. When you wash your face, you leave the tap open continuously. While you apply soap to your face, you waste a lot of water by leaving the tap open. But I do not do like that. I open the tap only when it is necessary and close it immediately. After applying soap to My face, I opened My eyes to open the tap. In the process, a small amount of soap entered My eyes and hence My eyes became red.” I do not waste even a drop of water because water is God. Air is also a form of God. That is why I switch off the fan immediately when it is not required. Some people keep the light on throughout the night even if it is not required. But I switch on the light when it is necessary and at once switch it off when it is not needed.

This is not miserliness. I am not a miser. I am the embodiment of sacrifice. But I don’t like to waste anything. Use everything as much as it is necessary. But people today are misusing the five elements.

There is another point I want to tell our students. Students today waste a lot of money. They should realise that their parents undergo a lot of hardship to earn money. They toil hard and sometimes even forego their food to save some money in order to send it to you.

There may be some parents who are well-todo; I am not talking about them. But parents who are not so well-to-do struggle hard to keep you happy and comfortable. So, consider each paisa that you receive from your parents like a drop of their blood.

Never waste money. If you waste money, it amounts to wasting the blood of your parents. Take as much money as is necessary. Do not be a spendthrift.

But how much money students spend today! It is not a practice in our Institute, but in outside institutions, a lot of money is spent by students in college elections. One wonders whether it is a college election or an Assembly election!

What is the term of a union leader? Should one spend so much money to get elected as an office bearer of a students union for such a short term?

Not only that. When the students go on a picnic, they waste a lot of money. They arrange dinners in high class hotels. Chi! Chi! Chi! What a shame! Such misuse of money is very bad.

You should give some thought to the financial condition of your parents and your own future. Do not spend money as you please, just because parents have sent it to you.

That is why I always emphasise the practice of ceiling on desires. Don’t waste time. Time waste is life waste. Don’t waste food. Food is God. Don’t waste money. Misuse of money is evil. Don’t waste energy. Energy is God.

You see, hear, speak, smell, and perform all actions only due to the divine energy of God. Do not waste your divine energy by misusing your senses. If you put this divine energy to sacred use, you can attain the sacredness of Divinity. But if you waste this energy, you will be a victim of many diseases.

You can see for yourself, sacredness is the root cause of this body’s energy. Do you know how old is this body? It is seventy years and six months old. But how energetic I am! Even now I can run very fast and stand first in the running race. Even a sixteen-year-old young boy cannot do as much work as I do.

I do a lot of work. Every day I receive bundles of letters by hand and by post. After the bhajan is over, I go back and read all those letters. I know the contents of each letter, yet for the satisfaction of devotees, I read them. Till the time I come out again at 3.45 p.m., I read these letters. How is My eyesight? I can see things clearly even from a long distance. This is not Ddvine power; this is My natural power. It is My purity that is responsible for this.

I have no defects like short-sightedness and long-sightedness. I can read even very small letters. You can estimate the power of My ears when I tell you that I can hear even the sound of the footsteps of an ant. All My senses are perfect.

I feel very sorry when I see small children wearing spectacles. Small children of six, ten, and sixteen years of age are wearing spectacles today. What is the reason? The defect lies in their blood.

You can live long if you make proper use of your senses. Therefore, develop sacredness. I can do much more work than a young boy can do because I am endowed with such great power due to the sacred use of my senses. That is not divine power or something that I have acquired. It is My natural power.

You will be surprised to know what I eat. I eat ragi sankati in the morning. But you eat various items like korma, burma, etc. I wonder how you people eat and digest those things. No doubt, youngsters should eat well and maintain their body. But you should not eat in excess.

Today people don’t observe any time for food nor do they give any proper interval between one meal and the other. They keep eating something or the other all the time. They have their lunch in the afternoon and dinner at night; in between, they keep stuffing their belly with snacks and drinks.

You should enquire what is to be eaten and what is not to be eaten. Do not eat everything, everywhere. Observe proper discipline with regard to your eating habits. One day, I will speak to you about proper food habits. As is the food, so is the head. Food, head, and God are interrelated.

Don’t waste your time. Study well. Some boys read bad novels keeping them inside their textbooks. To others, they appear to be reading textbooks, but they conceal their novels in between textbooks. When someone comes near them, they at once hide them.

Never read such bad books. As is the pustaka (book), so is the mastaka (head). Today, there are many bad books in the market. People indulge in such evil practice of writing bad books only for the sake of money. They write them because there are people to buy them. They will not write if you don’t buy them. Therefore, never read bad books, never join bad company, never wear inappropriate dress.

I have seen some people wearing black and red shirts in Madras (Chennai). In fact, it looks like a carpet. Even animals will run away out of fear seeing such a dress. How elegant is pure white dress! How blissful it is to wear it!

Even our boys wear black pants and shirt while traveling in a bus or a train. They say, “Swami, we wear such dress only when we travel.” People may think, these boys are going to Sabarimala, seeing their dress.

Do not wear such clothes. Wear only good and neat dress. Your body, mind, and also the dress should be neat and clean. Develop purity in this manner.