Life 47 (May 24 - Jan 25)

[winston]

Like little drops of water make a mighty ocean, can the little tiny acts in our daily living add-up?

What exactly is the secret of ensuring peace and prosperity for mankind? Rendering service to others without expecting service from them in return.

Activity (karma) that binds is a huge fast-growing tree. The axe that can cut its roots is this: Do every act as an act of worship to glorify the Divine. This is the real sacrifice (yajna), the most important ritual.

This sacrifice promotes and confers knowledge of Brahman (Brahma-vidya). Note that the yearning to do selfless service must flow in every nerve of the body, penetrate every bone and activate every cell.

Those who engage themselves in spiritual discipline (sadhana) must have mastered this attitude toward service.

Selfless service is the blossom of love, a flower that fills the mind with rapture. Harmlessness is the fragrance of that flower.

Let even your little acts be redolent with compassion and reverence; be assured that your character would thereby shine greatly.

- Ch 8, Vidya Vahini

All actions which are performed with the feeling that they are intended as offerings to please the Divine, do not lead to bondage.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

Why is love the most powerful weapon in the Universe?

It is most vital for everyone to recognise and practice the Love Principle.

At all times love has existed among the good and the bad, in the forest or in a palace, in attachment or in separation, in one's conduct as well as in one's speech, in the mind as well as in action. It is all-pervasive.

The most powerful weapon to destroy the forces of evil rampant in the world today is love. Unfortunately, men are not pursuing the right path to acquire sacred love.

Love is the seed of love. It is also the branches, the flowers and the fruit. To enjoy the fruit of love, one must practise Love.

Instead of seeking to know the true nature of love, man is engaged in the pursuit of wealth and power. No doubt wealth and power are necessary, but only within limits.

The vast ocean, when it swells beyond its bounds, is censured for its misbehaviour. The human body and mind will be healthy only when food is consumed within limits. Excessive eating causes various disorders.

Everything in the world is governed by the bounds set for it. However, love has no limits.

- Divine Discourse, Nov 23, 1996.

Divert the boat of your life towards the lighthouse of Divine love. You are then bound to gain the shore of bliss.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

As we acquire spiritual education through our study and Sadhana, how should this learning express itself?

Spiritual learning impels one to pour one’s narrow ego into the sacrificial fire and foster in its place, universal love, which is the foundational base for the superstructure of spiritual victory.

Love that knows no limits, purifies and sanctifies the mind. Let thoughts centre around the Divine, let the feelings and emotions be holy, let activities be the expression of selfless service.

Let the mind, heart and hand, be thus saturated in good.

Spiritual education must take up this task of sublimation. It must first instill the secret of service.

Service rendered to another must confer full joy in all ways. Spiritual education must emphasise that in the name of service, no harm, pain or grief, should be inflicted on another.

While rendering service, the attitude of it being done for one’s own satisfaction, should not tarnish it.

Service must be rendered as an essential part of the process of living itself. This is the real core of spiritual education.

- Ch 8, Vidya Vahini

When you develop love, it will gradually get transformed into wisdom.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

Can Truth and Righteousness be restored in society?

Dharma (righteousness) can never be destroyed. If it is subject to destruction, then it cannot be called dharma at all.

At certain periods of time, it may seem to have disappeared due to the decline of its practice by man.

When thick clouds cover the shining sun, people may not be able to see it for some time. But nothing can ever stop the sun from shining or stop its light forever.

In the same way, the sun of satya (Truth) and sunlight of dharma can never be destroyed. Satya and dharma are interrelated and interdependent, like Divine and Nature, matter and energy. Therefore, it is not possible to separate satya and dharma.

Satya, in fact, is the foundation on which the mansion of dharma stands. There can be no danger or hazard to the mansion of dharma, which is built on the foundation of satya.

Satya and dharma are the natural attributes of human beings. By nourishing and practising satya and dharma, one should oneself derive bliss and share it with the world.

- Divine Discourse, Jul 24, 1996.

There is no need to promote and publicise Satya and Dharma. What is needed is to practise them.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

Why is man pitifully wallowing in troubles and tribulations?

A seed germinates and grows into a plant and then into a tree with branches, leaves, flowers, etc.

The seed of the entire Universe is Chaitanya (Pure Consciousness). It is Sat-chit-ananda. It grows in full bloom in the human being and blossoms into the flower of Awareness. Thus, the Divine incarnates in man.

To understand this truth, is the goal of human life. It is the mind that stands in the way of this realisation. The mind is perverted when it is centred on the ego (body consciousness) of a person but when it is directed towards the Atma, it becomes sublime.

One puffed up with ego forgets Divinity. Thinking on the physical plane and looking at the external world, man is not able to understand the Divinity within him.

It is wrong to think that spirituality has nothing to do with worldly matters. The physical world also reflects Divinity. Because man forgets his true Divine nature he is wallowing in troubles and tribulations.

He is reflecting only animal qualities in his actions. Only when one enquires within, one has the chance of realising Divinity.

- Divine Discourse, Sep 19, 1993.

When man turns his vision inward he can experience eternal bliss. The source of bliss, the Spirit, is within himself.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

What is the progress man must make, and what is the means for it?

Good ideas have to be accepted and bad ones eschewed. Each idea has to be judged in the Supreme Court of Viveka (Wisdom). And the 'ruling’ has to be treated as inviolable.

It is in this context that we have to remind ourselves of the following prayer - "O Divine, bestow right understanding on all”.

Again, the individual born in the lake of society must swim and float in the calm waters and joining the river of progress, merge in the ocean of grace.

Man has to move from the stance of "I" to the position of "We”; this day, we see only the wild dance of ego-stricken individuals, who hate society and behave most unsocially.

Water flows from a higher level to the lower levels. His grace too is like that. It flows down to those who are bent with humility. So, give up the ego, overcome jealousy and cultivate love.

How can man be truly at peace with himself and with others, if he does not endeavour to win the grace of the Divine?

- Divine Discourse, Mar 30, 1973.

Discrimination must be observed in every aspect of daily living - in what you see, what you listen to, what you speak and what you consume.

Source: radiosai.org

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[winston]

Having which quality ensures uninterrupted joy?

Whatever the trouble, however great the travail, persist and win by means of remembering the name (namasmarana).

Remember Bhishma! Though prostrate on a bed of arrows, he bore the pain patiently awaiting the dawn of the auspicious moment. He never called out to the Divine in his agony to ask Him to put an end to his suffering.

“I shall bear everything, whatever the pain, however long the agony. I shall be silent until the moment comes. Take me when it dawns,” he said. Bhishma was chief among the tranquil devotees. He lay firm and unshakeable.

Peace is essential for everyone. Having it is having all, and not having it takes away the joy of everything.

Although peace is the very nature of every person, anger and greed succeed in suppressing it. When they are removed, peace shines in its own effulgence.

- Ch 5, Prasanthi Vahini.

If faith is one full continuous stream, Grace too will be showered on you in one full continuous stream.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

What is the attitude that can ensure we have unmeasurable joy?

People must be happy that the highest Divine has placed around them, newer and newer materials for serving Him and gets the worship of Him done in various forms.

People must pray for newer and newer opportunities and exult in the chance that their hands receive. This attitude gives immeasurable joy.

To lead a life suffused with this joy is indeed bliss. Whatever is done from sunrise to sunset must be consecrated, as if it is the worship of the Divine.

Just as care is taken to pluck only fresh flowers and to keep them clean and unfaded, so too, ceaseless effort should be made to do deeds that are pure and unsullied.

If this vision is kept before the mind’s eye every day and life is lived accordingly, then it becomes one long unbroken service of the Divine.

The feeling of I and You, will soon disappear; all trace of self will be destroyed. Life then transmutes itself into a veritable devotion to the Divine.

- Ch 8, Prema Vahini.

Offer yourself to Him completely. That is the easiest way to attain Him.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

At times, we feel despondent that we have not received the promised grace, despite our prayers and pilgrimages.

The Divine never said that He will look after the welfare of a devotee all the time, in spite of the devotee spending only a little while, now and then, in thought of Him and even if he goes on doing all kinds of evil and harmful things in the name of the Divine.

There are three things which one should keep in mind, namely;-
1. I will not think of anything else except Him
2. I will not do anything else without the permission of the Divine and
3. I will have my attention completely fixed on Him

It is only when you accept and put into practice these three things, that the Divine will look after your welfare.

Today, we do not bother about the injunctions He gave us; instead, we argue with Him and ask Him why He is not looking after our welfare and safety.

By simply reading and repeating the text of the Scriptures, by merely thinking about its contents, we are not going to get any benefit out of it!

It is only by understanding the meaning of the Scriptures, by ruminating over its meaning in your mind, digesting it completely and making it part and parcel of your life, can you get the benefit out of it.

- Ch 8, Summer Showers 1972

His grace will be showered on you only when you put into practice at least a few of the Divine's injunctions.

Source: radiosai.org