Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

Jewels are many, gold is one. Cows are many, milk is one. Likewise, beings are many, but the Atmic principle is one. In this world, very few visualise unity in diversity, but many see diversity in unity. Seeing diversity is the fault of man’s vision, not the creation. (Sanskrit verse)

The same Atmic principle is present in animals, human beings, demons, and celestial beings. Truth is one, but the wise refer to it by various names (Ekam sath viprah bahudha vadanti ). Though truth is one, people classify and experience it in many ways.

The human body is the chariot; Atma is the charioteer. Chariots might appear to be different, but charioteer is one.

Birth is the same, no matter if one is a millionaire or a pauper. The millionaire doesn’t come down from the sky, and the pauper doesn’t come out of the earth. Both come out of the mother’s womb. Hence, birth and death are the same to all. Similarly, thirst and hunger are the same to everyone. A rich person, when thirsty, may take costly cool drinks. A poor person may quench their thirst by drinking cold water. A rich person or a person of high authority may eat delicious food to appease their hunger while a poor person may afford only parched rice to satiate hunger. Varieties of food may be many, but hunger is one and the same. Hence, hunger and thirst are the same to everyone. Birth and death are also equal to everyone.

Where does the difference lie? Carried away by illusion, people themselves create differences and waste their lives. Seven chains bind people: body, desires, anger, ego, actions, ignorance, and illusion. Ignorance is the main cause of illusion, and it is also the cause of the ego. A person who has both ignorance and ego develops attachment. They are followed by hatred. They altogether bind and imprison the person.

To attain freedom from this captivity, one has to make efforts to get rid of ego, attachment, hatred, illusion, and ignorance. The cause of birth is one’s actions, and the actions are the result of one’s attachment. For attachment, ego is responsible. Hence, it is ego that creates all. In fact, there is no scope for ego at all. When we enquire, we will find that there is no basis for a person’s ego. When we see the world map, Bharat (India) appears to be very small in this vast world. In this country Bharat, the State of Tamil Nadu is all the more smaller. In the State of Tamil Nadu, Dindigul district is still smaller. In this district, Kodaikanal is a very, very small place. In Kodaikanal, our house is like a tiny spot. In our house we are still smaller. In this vast universe, what are we? Then, where is the scope for ego? If we have this broad vision, we will understand that there is no scope for ego.

If you enquire in another way, you will realise that the Atma is the same in everyone. When the Self is same in all, where is the scope for ego? In you and Me, the Self is the same. There is no difference that one is big and the other is small. Then where is the scope for ego? If you consider yourself a rich man, many more are richer than you. If you think you are handDivine some, many others are handsomer than you. If you think you are strong, many people are stronger than you. If you think you are educated, many more people are more highly educated. If you think that you are an intellectual, there are many more intellectuals. So there is no chance for ego to develop in people.

As long as there is ego in a person, that person cannot be free from troubles. Here is a small example. Students play football. The football is filled with air. As long as the football is filled with air, it will receive kicks from the players of both the teams; it cannot escape the hits. The moment air is taken out of the football, students who kicked it with their feet will pick it up in their hands. It receives respect when air is taken out. As long as the football has air, it is not respected; it is kicked around.

Our body also is like a football. Our six inner enemies - desire, anger, greed, delusion, pride, and jealousy (kama , krodha , lobha , moha , mada , and matsarya ) - are on one side and truth, righteousness, peace, love, nonviolence, and compasssion (sathya , dharma , santhi , prema , ahimsa , and karuna ) are on the other side. The players on both sides are hitting the football, the body. How long will they hit? As long as there is air of ego in it. The moment the air of ego is gone, they will stop hitting it. So, ego is responsible for all problems. Hence, in the first instance, you have to subdue the ego. Your ego hurts and harms you only. The cause is ignorance. What is this ignorance? As knowledge is on the rise, ignorance is also increasing. There is enormous increase in the knowledge of science today, but along with that, ignorance is also increasing proportionately.

What does knowledge signify? It signifies light. Where there is light, there can be no darkness. Today, the whole world is full of darkness of ignorance in spite of all the progress of science. It is beset with difficulties, problems and unhappiness. Then what is the benefit of the knowledge of science?

Science has grown but humanity’s virtues have not. Science has gone up beyond limit, but sense has gone down. So, first and foremost, we should control our senses.

Scientists travel lakhs of miles into space, but no one travels even half an inch inward. What is the use of traveling lakhs of miles outside? One should make inner progress by developing inward vision.

Outer vision leads only to delusion. Inner vision confers bliss. To develop inner vision, get rid of ego. How do you do that? When you have Atmic vision, you can be away from body feeling. The body is ephemeral, like a water bubble. No one can say how long it will last. We say tomorrow, but we can’t be sure of that. Perhaps you can see tomorrow. You may also remember yesterday. But both are not permanent. The past is past, it is yesterday. Even if you spend lakhs of rupees, you cannot get it back. The future is not sure. We don’t have surety that we will continue to live till tomorrow. The present is very important. Don’t take it as ordinary present. It is omnipresent. The present contains the results of the past and the future. So, take care of the present and make it sacred. Do not make plans for the future that cannot be executed. People today are beset with many difficulties and troubles. What is the reason? The reason is that they brood over the past, worry about the future, and neglect the present. So, make the present sacred. When the present is sacred, the future is bound to be sacred. When we develop this outlook, we can reach great heights on the path of spirituality.

You perform many spiritual practices, study many sacred texts, and go to many noble souls to listen to their teachings. But what is the use? The result of all that you do is nothing because you don’t have inner vision.

To have proper results, take experience as the basis. Experience comes out of the heart, not from outside. You don’t need to struggle for experience. Don’t do experiments. In the field of science, you can expect certain results by performing experiments. But in the spiritual field, there are no experiments, only experience. How do you get experience? You carry sugar in your hand and put it in a tumbler of water. The sugar settles down at the bottom of the tumbler. When you stir it and mix it with water, you cannot see it with your eyes; you cannot catch it in your hand. How do you decide whether the sugar is present in the water or not? You put a drop of water on your tongue and taste it. Then you come to know that sugar is present in the water. Similarly, the body is a vessel; Divinity is the sugar. It is not possible to see Divinity with your eyes. You cannot catch or hold it. But you can experience its bliss. Through this experience, you can know the presence of Divinity within you. Here is fire. It is covered by ash. Why has the ash covered the fire? It has covered the fire because we have neglected it. Where did the ash come from? It came from fire only. Ash that came out of the fire covered the fire. If you blow it off, the ash will go, and you will see the fire. Similarly, the fire of Divinity is present within you, but you have neglected it. Therefore, the ash of illusion has covered it. So, you are not able to visualise the Divinity within you. Blow off the ash of illusion through renunciation; then you will see the fire of Divinity. Fire has not come afresh from somewhere. It was already there within you. Similarly, there is Divinity in the form of the Atmic principle in everyone. People today protect and decorate only the chariot of their body which is drawn by the horses of the senses. It is however necessary to control the horses. Keep the horses of senses under control. Who controls these horses? It is the mind that should control the senses. Since the mind controls the senses (indriyas ), the mind is also called Indra. Basing on this, it has been said: Yoga is control of mental modifications (Yoga chitta vritti nirodha ). People control other things. The government exercises control over property, food, and, in fact, everything. But no heed is paid toward controlling the mind. For that reason, we face troubles. If the mind is under control, there is no need to control other things; they get controlled on their own.

For that reason, the Sai Organisation has devised the programme Ceiling on Desires. Ceiling on what? Is it a ceiling on property or food? No, no! It means ceiling on the activities of daily life. First and foremost, exercise control of food. Do not waste food. Food is responsible for sustaining the body. Eat moderately. Don’t waste food. Food is God. Many people face problems for lack of food. If you waste food, you betray those people who are denied food. So, do not waste food. Secondly, don’t waste money. Misuse of money is evil. Don’t waste money merely because you have excess of it. Health is wealth. If you waste money on eating immoderately, you will be spoiling your health. Make use of money only to the extent needed. If you misuse money, you may acquire bad habits, go over to a wicked path, grow in ego, take to ostentation, and develop bad qualities. So, make proper use of your money; spend it in a sacred way.

Thirdly, don’t waste time. Time waste is life waste. When you talk unnecessarily, you not only waste time but lose also your energy. Talk to the extent necessary. Never waste time. Time is very important. Time is the very form of God. Salutations to time, To the one who is beyond time, To the one who has conquered time, To the one who transcends time, To the one who is the embodiment of time, and To the one who ordains time Kalaya namah,

Kala kalaya namah,

Kaladarpa damanaya namah, Kalateetaya namah,

Kalaswarupaya namah,

Kalaniyamitaya namah

Everything is time.

Fourthly, don’t waste energy. Energy is wasted in seeing, hearing, talking, thinking, and doing what isn’t necessary. Be moderate in all these five activities. Spend the energy to the extent necessary. When you develop energy, you develop Divinity. If you waste energy, ‘allergy’ begins. Do not waste energy. See, listen, and talk what is good. Talk less, talk sweetly. We keep thinking until we go to bed, with no rest in thinking. We build castles in the air. So, reduce useless thinking. Think, but think usefully. Think of the Divine. Think of Divinity. Don’t have thoughts of others.

“Who is to whom? What are these worldly relationships?” These are temporary, like passing clouds that come and go. Before marriage, who is husband and who is wife? Before birth, who is mother and who is son? No one knows. The son, the wife, the husband, the mother - all come in between like passing clouds. In this world, no cloud is permanent; all come and pass on. Why should you worry about them? Do your duty to the extent necessary. But nobody has any relationship with anybody.

But man cultivates worldly relations and thereby develops ego and attachment. This spoils and pollutes the mind. Keep the mind pure; do not pollute it. Turn the mind toward the Divine, not the world. When you turn the mind toward the world, you develop animal qualities. In Vedanta , it is mentioned: One who goes purely by external vision is an animal (Pashyati iti pashuhu ). He looks at everything with worldly outlook. That one is a fool who sees yet does not recognise the reality (Pashyannapicha na pashyati moodho ).

Look at everything with divine feelings. Then only will you see Divinity in everyone. But you see everything with worldly outlook. You see the rope and mistake it for a serpent. Therefore, there is fear in you. It is necessary for you to use your discrimination to know whether it is a rope or a snake. You mistake the rope as snake due to your delusion. The moment there is delusion, there arises fear. Because of fear, you run away.

When you see with the torch of discrimination, you will know it is not a snake but a rope. When you come to know it is a rope, there is no more fear. Then you go close to the rope. When did fear go? The moment you came to know that it was a rope, there was no fear.

When delusion goes, you have courage. Courage is fearlessness. Then you experience bliss. Similarly, enquire and know the reality of the world. Is it mundane or divine? This is called critical investigation (mimamsa ). Suppose you have milk with you. You can convert the milk into curd. You can churn the curd and get butter. You can also heat the butter and get ghee (clarified butter). Then what do you do further to the ghee? Nothing, you can consume it. As the end of the milk is ghee, so the end of knowledge is Divinity.

You have to experience Divinity. It is not possible to investigate further. People want to investigate even the Divine. That is foolishness. That is ignorance. In spite of your investigation, ghee remains ghee; it does not change into something else. Ghee is the final state. After this, there is no scope for any further investigation. Why do you want to investigate Divinity? Where are you, and where is God? What authority do you have to subject God to investigation? Your doing so is like an ant going into the sea to know its depth. One wave of the ocean is enough to throw it on the shore. It may even lose its life in the process. Those who want to subject God to investigation are also like an ant.

But there is God in the ant also. God is present in both ant and Brahman. God is present in everyone. Therefore, Thyagaraja sang: Oh Rama!

In Your pure and unsullied form of love, You indwell all beings from an ant to Brahma as also in Siva and Kesava.

Please be my protector, too.

(Telugu song) It is not enough if you say that. These are mere words that you utter. If there is ant on your body and it bites you, you hit it. But if God appears in the form of Brahma, you do salutation (namaskar ). Why this difference? You say one thing and do something different. So, do what you say. When you say God is all-pervasive, see God in the ant also. See Divinity in both. That is real equanimity. Equanimity is called true yoga (Samatvam yogamuchyate ).

Develop love toward everybody. Love gives but never takes. Love is a triangle. In this triangle, love gives and never receives. That is one angle. What is the second angle? Love is fearless. What is the third angle? Love is changeless. But our love changes moment to moment. It is not true love. It is only physical desire. It is delusion. Delusion is not love. As long as one has bhrama (delusion), one is away from Brahma (God). It is only imagination. Imagination cannot give bliss. So, get away from delusion, have firm faith in Brahman. Enquire and experience God within and worship Him. Follow this sacred path. Do not think that God is far away. As the Vedas say, “He is far and near.” Consider that God is far off and God is really distant for you. Consider that God is near and God is near for you. As are the feelings, so is the result (Yad bhavam tad bhavati ). Being near or far is based on your feelings; God has nothing to do with it. So, make your feelings sacred. This is real spirituality. If your feelings are pure, everything will become pure. Purity of feelings is natural to a person. This is a handkerchief. White is its natural colour. But as you make use of it, it becomes black. When it is black, you give it to the washerman for washing. You say that the washerman has turned it white. But the washerman has not made it white; white is its natural colour. He has only removed the dirt. Similarly, our heart is pure, sacred, and unsullied. The Vedas also describe the Atma as eternal, permanent, immortal, and pure. It becomes dirty and dark due to the delusion of worldliness. The boy said, “With the water of love and soap of renunciation”. It is a mistake. Love is water. Soap is not renunciation; it is steadfast faith; washing is renunciation. When you have all the three, dirt will leave.

Steadfast faith and devotion are important. There is no gain without steadfast faith and devotion. Devotion is love, love is devotion. Wash in the water of love, applying the soap of steadfast faith, and wash it against the stone of renunciation. Then the true form of purity will come out. Thus, we should understand and recognise this truth. Therein lies wisdom. Truth is Brahman, wisdom is Brahman, infinity is Brahman. Everything is Brahman.