Once you decide that the orchard in your mind is His, all fruits will be sweet. That sharanaagathi (seeking refuge for protection) will render all fruits acceptable to the Lord, and so, they cannot be bitter. And for water, what can be purer and more precious than your tears? Shed, not in grief, but in rapture at the chance to serve the Lord and to walk along the path that leads to Him!
- Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol 3, Chap 6, Feb '63.
- Sathya Sai Speaks, Chap 5, Vol 3, Feb 6 1963.
Spiritual effort (sadhana) requires regular habits and moderation in food, sleep and exercise. The body, the mind and the spirit, all three must be equally looked after. Unless you have "muscles of iron and nerves of steel" you cannot contain in your head the adhwaitha (Oneness with the Universe) principle. To see Truth as Truth and untruth as untruth, clarity of vision and courage of vision are both needed. You have come into this world to enter the presence of Lokesha (Lord of the Universe). So, do not tarry in wayside inns, mistaking them to be the goal. The Lord will be longing for the arrival of the lost, He is like a cow yearning for its calf.
- Sathya Sai Speaks, Chap 5, Vol 3, Feb 6 1963.
Do not grieve that the Lord is testing you and putting you through the ordeal of undergoing difficult times. For, it is only when you are tested, can you assure yourself of success and become aware of your limitations. You can concentrate on the subjects in which you are deficient, so that you can pass in them when you are tested again. You should study well in advance and have the courage and confidence, born out of knowledge and skill. This is the pathway to victory.
- Sathya Sai Speaks, Chap 7, Vol 3, Mar 1963.
The batsmen, the bowlers, and the fieldsmen in a game do not get a fraction of the pleasure that the fans enjoy. The fans note each fault and excellence in stroke and the defense. They appreciate the finer points of the game. So too, to get the maximum joy out of this game of living, one should cultivate this attitude of the onlooker, even when one has to get deeply embroiled in the game.
- Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol 3, Chap 7, Mar '63.
Do not worry about worldly comforts and ask God about those things, as if they are all-in-all. Do not waste your precious life-time in distracting doubts about the existence of the Lord in the human form - here and now. Cultivate Divine Love towards all, that is the greatest service you can do to yourself. For, the others are the very same self as you. You must bend only before Love and Truth, not before hatred, cruelty and falsehood.
- Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol 3, Ch 7, Mar, 1963.
The Lord is sugar. You may drop it into tea or coffee or milk or water. Into whatever thing you put it, it will make it sweet. Sweetness is His nature, sweetness is his signature. If you melt the sugar, there is neither water nor sugar, but a third thing called sugar syrup, which also gives sweetness. If your tongue is bitter through hatred, envy and pride, you cannot feel any sweetness. Get rid of the illness and you can enjoy the sweetness that God really is!
- Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol 3, Ch 8, Mar, 1963
What is the profit if you simply repeat "Delicious food" thousand times? You have to eat, digest and assimilate. If you have no deposits in your account of Bhagavan's Grace Bank, how dare you issue cheques expecting returns when you are in distress? From today, make the deposits, such as service to others and create assets for yourself by possessing Divine Love, and practicing Non-Violence to all. Then, you will receive help in return. Believe Me, through your daily activities, you can realize the Lord. Remember the Name of the Lord with the agony of the unfulfilled search and you are sure to experience Me. If the yearning is present, the result is certain.
- Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol 3, Ch 5, Feb 6, 1963.
- Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol 3, Ch 10, Apr, '63
If only people knew the path to permanent joy and peace, they will not wander distracted among the bye-lanes of sensual pleasure. When you die, you must die not like a tree or a beast or a worm, but like a individual who has realized that He/she is God. That is the consummation of all the years you spend in the human frame.
- Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol 3, Ch 11, Apr, 1963.
The Lord is a "Kalpavriksha" (Wish fulfilling tree); you have to approach Him and develop attachment to Him. You must win His Grace and be ever near Him, keeping back all the forces that draw you away from Him. Even if you commit some technical faults in singing about Him or in worshipping Him, it does not matter. Bhakthi (intense devotion) will make Him excuse the error. Your devotion will force the Lord to give you Himself as the Gift.
- Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol 3, Ch 12, 29-4-63
See yourself in all; Love all as yourself. A dog caught in a room whose walls are mirrors sees in all its myriad reflections, and thinks of them as not itself, but as its rivals and competitors. It barks at the other dogs and tires itself out by jumping on this reflection and becomes mad with fury. The wise man, however, sees himself everywhere and is at peace. He is happy that there are so many reflections of himself all around him. That is the attitude that you must learn to possess, it will save you from needless bother.
- Sathya Sai Speaks, Ch 3, Vol 16, 7-7-1963
Each person has a different conception of God and goodness, according to one's upbringing and the state of purification of their impulses. All conceptions are valid; when water is let out in fields, you will find sheets of different shapes - circular, rectangular, oval, square, according to the shape of the fields. The fertility or the quantity of the crops harvested do not vary according to the geometrical correctness of the shapes. How far, how fast you have established attachment to the Lord - that is the test, the rest does not matter!
- Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol 3, Ch 17, 2-8-1963.
Life is a battlefield, a Dharmakshethra, where duties and desires are always in conflict. Smother the fiery fumes of desire, hatred and anger that rises up in your hearts. It is sheer cowardice to yield to these enemies that turn you into beasts. When obstacles come, meet them with courage. They harden you, make you tough.
- Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol 3, Ch 17, 2-8-1963.
Remember always that it is easy to do what is pleasant; but it is difficult to be engaged in what is beneficial. Not all that is pleasant is profitable. Success comes to those who give up the path strewn with roses and brave the hammer-blows and sword-thrusts on the path fraught with difficult choices.
- Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol 3, Ch 18, 12-8-63
There is no Sathyam (Truth) without Shivam (Goodness). Truth alone can confer Beauty and Auspiciousness. Truth is beauty, joy is beauty. Grief and falsehood are ugly because they are unnatural. Do your actions, that are approved by higher wisdom. Stay away from those actions that are born of ignorance. Then all actions will be beneficial and blessed.
- Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol 3, Ch 16, 7-7-1963
The goal of life is the final merging in the sea, God. You should not fill life with the world. That will make it a vanity fair, an insanity fair. Listen to all such things that will draw you towards the principle of Godhead; then, think it over in the silence, make it a part of your consciousness. This process of Manana (Reflection) makes you a human being. This is the test of life for every human being.
- Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol 3, Ch 21, 6th Sep 1963.
Sanctify every word and deed by filling it with the Love and the Name of your favorite Lord. The gold of which an anklet was made can become the gold for a crown on the head of a temple image. Only it has to be melted in the crucible and beaten into shape. The waters of the river may not be pure, but the devotee who sips it with a Manthra or Sthothra (Sacred Prayers) on his lips, transmutes it into a sacred theertha (Holy Water). The body becomes healthy by exercise and work. The mind becomes healthy by remembrance and contemplation of the Lord through regular, well-planned discipline, carried out joyfully. This is the secret passage to win the Heart of the Lord, to realize Him quick and fast.
- Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol 3, Ch 6, Sep-6-63
It is an uphill task to reform one's tendencies and character. You may have the best of the vegetables and the most capable cook, but if the copper vessel in which you prepare the vegetable soup is not tinned, the concoction you cook will be highly poisonous! So, "tin" your heart with Sathya, Dharma, Shanthi, Prema (Truth, Right Conduct, Peace and Divine Love), it will then become a vessel fit for repeating holy name and worshipping the Lord.
- Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol 5, Ch 1, Jan 1965.
- Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol 5, Ch 1, Jan 1965.
Love has first to gladden the home. There is no love now between the elders and the youngsters in the home; often children do not revere parents. This moral decline will certainly undermine unity and strength. Moral decline is worse than military decline; it will lead to greater disaster. If you always repeat the idea of "mine", how can you be useful to others?... Sacrifice is the 'salt' of life; it is the secret of peace and joy... All the senses are self-centred, egoistic. They must be educated to be "inward-directed", towards the Atma which is Universal.
