Bhagavan Srî Sathya Sai Baba 

Words of Prema and Shanti

 

 Love is My Form  

Love is my form, truth is my breath, bliss is my food
My life is my message expansion is my life
No season for love, no reason for love, no birth no death
Prema Sathya Ananda, Shanti Dharma Ananda
Shirdi Sai Sathya Sai Prema Sai Jai Jai
Shirdi Baba Sathya Baba Prema Baba Jai Jai
Love is my form, truth is my breath, bliss is my food.

 

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: on Birthday:

"I do not accost one particular date in the calendar as My birthday, for I consider the day when Divinity blossoms in your heart as My birthday in you. Therefore: each of you should individually celebrate such a day as My birthday. The day when you resolve to practise My advice, to follow My directives, to translate My message into acts of service, and to engage in Sadhana - that day is My birthday for you. The 23d day of November, which you now honor as the day on which I was born, is only like any other day if you celebrate in a routine, ritual fashion. Adore man; the adoration reaches Me. Neglect man; you neglect Me. Of what avail is it to worship the Lord and to suppress  man, His counterpart? Love for God must be manifested as love for man, and love must express itself as service." [see also: Mother's role in human values, spoken by Svami on His 77th birthday]

: on Character:

"When there is righteousness in the heart,
There is beauty in the character.
When there is beauty in the character,
There is harmony in the home.
When there is harmony in the home,
There is order in the nation.
When there is order in the nation,
There is peace in the world."

"It is often declared that knowledge is power. No, character is power. Nothing can be more powerful on earth than character. Riches, scholarship, status, authority are all frail and flimsy before it. While earning a livelihood is important, what matters most are the ideals for which you live. The primary purpose of education is to enable one to manifest the divinity within him. When students pursue education in this spirit, they will be able to promote the welfare of the nation, of society and their own good."

: on Darshan:

"My energy goes from Me as I pass you. If you proceed to talk to others immediately, the precious Energy is dissipated and returns to Me unused. Whatever My eyes see becomes vitalizes and transmuted. You are being changed day by day. Never underestimate what is being accomplished by the act of Darshan. My walking among you is a Gift yearned for by the Gods of the highest Heaven and here you are daily receiving this Grace. Be Grateful. The Blessings that you receive will express themselves in their perfect time. But also remember that to whom much is given, from him much will be demanded. - Baba."

: on Education:

"Education must implant elevating ideals and kindle the lamp of wisdom. Character is the most precious gift of education."

 "One can attain divinity only when he stops hiding his mistakes and highlighting the faults of others. It is a great sin to search for others' faults. Instead, look for your own. Consider your smallest defect as a great blunder and try to rectify the same."

"The educational process has not received proper attention from thoughtful persons. The institutions which ought to have been temples of Saraswathi (the goddess of transformation through learning) have become in all lands, temples of Lakshmi (the goddess of wealth). The ideal held before the tender, innocent, unselfish children is a lucrative job, rather than a life of peace, contentment and love. Narrow loyalties and competition are polluting the minds of children. Parents, teachers and all interested in the progress of mankind have to take note of this situation."

"Someone was found writing "pepper" on a tin of sugar, and when asked, he said, "It is only to cheat the ants!" The label "education" on the present system of teaching the young cannot cheat any thinking person who looks for the real purpose of education - the unfolding of the divine in human personality. Humility and an attitude of reverence are essential for man. They are not promoted by the educational system today. The curricula recommended in the Upanishads ensure these two."

"Education must equip man to live happily without making others unhappy, to evaluate things, pleasures and possessions correctly. One who is ignorant of the historical and cultural heritage of his country is like an orphan. For saplings to grow soil is essential; for the ideals to get implanted, knowledge of the struggles and successes of saints and sages is essential."

: on Faith/Religion:

"Let the different faiths exist; let them flourish and let the Glory of God be sung in all the languages ... in a variety of tunes; that should be the ideal. Respect the differences between the faiths and recognize them as valid as long as they do not extinguish the flame of unity. If each person lives the ideals propounded by the founders of their religion, unaffected by greed or hate, then the world will be a happy and peaceful habitation for man."

"I carry no labels assigning a country of origin or residence for myself. The entire mankind is my family. There is no one in this world who does not belong to me. All are mine. They may not call out my name, but they are still mine. I shall not give you up even if you keep afar. I shall not forsake even those who deny me. I have come for all."

"There is only one religion, the religion of Love.
There is only one caste, the caste of Humanity.
There is only one language, the language of the Heart.
There is only one God, He is Omnipresent."

"Have full faith in God and in yourselves. Engage always in good deeds, beneficial activities; speak always the truth, do not inflict pain by word or deed or even thought. That is the way to gain Santhi; that is the highest gain which you can earn in this life."

"The atmosphere of love should not be disturbed by any uncharitable remark against anyone's faith. Nor should anyone be ridiculed or slandered. Children's minds should not be polluted by fear, hatred or disgust. The doors of their hearts must be open to all. Later on as the impact of society and the State grows, pupils can be led to an understanding of the political and religious forces that affect their lives."

: on Guru:

The best Guru is the Divine in you; yearn for hearing His voice. Prayer must emanate from the heart, where God resides, and not from the head where doctrines and doubts clash. Be happy that others are happy. Patience is all the strength that man needs. It is easy to conquer anger through love, attachment through reasoning, falsehood through charity.

: on Happiness:

"The secret of happiness is not doing what one likes to do but in liking what one has to do." 

: on Kindness:

"Kindness to all living beings is one of the most important virtues of human beings."

: on Knowledge:

"We believe that the acquisition of knowledge is for the acquisition of wealth. But this is not right. Just as a bird has two wings, and a cart has two wheels; man too must have two types of knowledge - to live on and to live for. The one helps him to eke out his livelihood and the other rewards him for having lived at all. Whatever job a student may take up, wherever he may be working, he must continue to practice spiritual discipline. Without a spiritual basis, education would be wasted."

"The end of knowledge is wisdom, the end of culture is perfection, the end of wisdom is freedom, the end of education is character."

: on Liberation:

"You have come to get from me tinsel and trash, the petty cures and promotions, worldly joys and comforts. Very few of you desire to get from me the thing I have come to give you, namely, liberation itself."

: on Life

"Life is a challenge, meet it; 
Life is love, share it;
Life is a dream, realize it;
Life is a game, play it."

"A span of life allotted to man is very short; the world in which he lives is very wide; time extends far behind and far beyond. What little man has to do here has to be done quickly, at the place that is assigned to him and within the time that is allotted to him. And, man has such a formidable task before him; it is to fulfill it that he has come as man, exchanging for this human habitat all the merit he has acquired during many past lives. The task is no less than the manifestation of the Divinity latent in him." 

"Life is a challenge, fight to the end.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is divine, realize it.
Life is character.
There is one path, complete life."

"The human life is a great gift from God. It should be valued as such and used for sacred purpose."

"The advances in science and technology have enabled man to roam in the sky like birds and move in water like fish. But he has not mastered the art of living well on the earth. If man has not learned how to lead a worthy human life, what is the value of his existence? Make your life meaningful by doing your duty to your parents and your Motherland. The man who is not proud of the land of his birth is worse than a corpse. Learn to love your country, without any hatred for other countries. Get rid of differences based on community, creed or caste. Regard all mankind as one family."

"The age span 16-30 is crucial, for that is the period when life adds sweetness to itself, when talents, skills, and attitudes are accumulated, sublimated and sanctified. If the tonic of unselfish Seva is administered to the mind during this period, life's mission is fulfilled - for the process of sublimation and sanctification will be hastened by this tonic. Do not serve for the sake of reward, attracting attention, or earning gratitude, or from a sense of pride at your own superiority in skill, wealth, status, or authority. Serve because you are urged by love. When you succeed, ascribe the success to the Grace of God, who urged you on, as Love within you. When you fail, ascribe the failure to your own inadequacy or ignorance."

: on the Lord

"God is not involved in either rewards or punishments. He only reflects, resounds and re-acts! He is the Eternal Unaffected Witness! You decide your own fate. Even creation, protection and destruction follow the same law, the innate law of the maya-ridden universe."

"God does not consider how wealthy or how learned you are; He is concerned with the sincerity and purity of your mind and heart and about how whole-hearted and genuine your love is." 

"For the protection of the virtuous, for the destruction of evildoers, and for establishing righteousness on a firm  footing - I incarnate from age to age. Whenever disharmony overwhelms the world, the Lord will incarnate in human form to establish the modes of earning peace, and to re-educate the human community in the paths of peace."

: on Love:

"There is one religion, the religion of Love"

"Love all, Serve all, Help ever, Hurt never"

"Love as thought is Truth.
Love as action is Right Conduct.
Love as feeling is Peace.
Love as understanding is Non-violence."

: on the Mind of man:

"The mind is like a lake. When the water is calm, the rays of the sun are reflected on the surface of water, like a mirror. But if the water is disturbed because the wind is blowing, then there is very little reflection. Man must learn to control his mind."

: on Miracles:

"My miracles are my calling cards. I give the people what they want so that they will give me what I want, their love of God."

: on Mothers: 

"The mother is the pillar of the home, society, nation and of humanity itself. Mothers must know the secret of mental peace, of inner silence, of spiritual courage, of contentment (which is the greatest wealth) and of spiritual discipline which give lasting joy.

If you want to know how advanced a nation is, study the mothers: are they free from fear and anxiety, are they full of Love towards all, are they trained in fortitude and virtue? If you like to imbibe the glory of a culture, watch the mothers, rocking the cradles, feeding, fostering, teaching and fondling the babies.

Love for the mother has to be fostered by everyone. Whoever she may be, a mother is verily divine. She is indeed the first teacher for everyone. It is only the mother who strives most for securing the well-being of the child by showering on him boundless affection and love and showing him the father."

: on Nature:

"There are some men who are like moths, who must bore through whatever they come across, silk or cotton or wool; there are others who are like bees, who seek only honey. The lotus attracts bees from afar, but the frogs that skip around it on the lake know naught of its beauty or fragrance."

"Consider for a moment wherefrom the rain comes. It comes from clouds. The clouds have come from water vapor rising from the sea. The rain becomes a channel on the earth, then a rivulet and then a big river which joins the sea. A pot made out of clay, when it is broken, is cast on the ground, where, in course of time, it becomes clay again. Water from the sea joins the sea, clay from the earth goes back to earth again, man alone forgets the source from which he came." 

: on Religion:

"I preach only one religion of love for all, which alone can integrate the human race into a brotherhood of man under the fatherhood of God. I know only one language - of the heart - beyond the mind or intellect relating man to man and mankind to God, thereby creating mutual understanding, cooperation, and community life in peace and harmony. On this basis, I want to build one humanity without any religions, casts, or other barriers in a universal empire of love which could enable my devotees to feel the whole world as their own family."

"It is good to be born in a church, but it is not good to die in it." [SSS - The Shirdi Feet]

: on Sadhana (spiritual practise):

"Sadhana (spiritual practice) must render you calm, unruffled, poised, balanced. Make your mind cool and comfortable as moonlight, for the moon is the deity holding sway over de mind. Be calm in speech, be calm in response to malice, caviling and praise. Calmness of senses, passions, emotions, feelings, impulses - that is real santhi (peace) . Do not be led away by doubt and vain arguments; do not question how and whether I can do all this."

"The best sadhana is that every act through the day be done as worship of God. God is like electric power. The heart is the light bulb. The wiring is the discipline. The switch is the intelligence."

: on Silence:

"Practice silence. For the voice of God can be heard in the region of the heart only when the tongue is still ... Silence is the speech of the spiritual seeker. Soft sweet speech is the expression of genuine love. Hate screeches, fear squeals, conceit trumpets - but love sings lullabies; it soothes, it applies balm."

: on Time

"Time waste is life waste."

"Realise the value of Time. Time is supremely precious. It waits for no one. Everyone has to submit himself to Time. It is not subject to any one. It is only when Time is utilized properly through right actions that the human can rise to the level of the Divine."

"Man's foremost duty is to make the right use of Time through the bodily vesture given to him. Man is bound by actions in this phenomenal world. While the Divine is all-pervasive, man is failing to recognize it. He is unable to see the light that is within him. The Reality which you are seeking everywhere in the outside world is within you."

"Time is God. All things happen according to the dictates of Time; Both good and bad depend on Time; Prosperity and poverty likewise depend on Time; Time is the determinant of all things, there is none who is not subject to Time in this entire world; that's the Truth."
"The poet Bhartruhari said: "Salutations to the Lord of Time who sets everything in motion. Time is all-powerful. One should not waste."

"Do not attach too much significance to any particular day. Every day is Guru-vaar, not Thursday alone. Every second is a new start and has to be celebrated as an opportunity. The New Year, beginning on a particular day, is just a convention, a creation of man's limiting mind, separating God's infinity into tiny sections." [Sathyam Sivam Sundaram]

"Time is no servant of the body; the body is the servant of Time." [Ramakatha Rasavahini]

"Festivals based on the calendar, solar or lunar, celebrating the apparent change of movement or direction of the sun or the moon have been devised, in order to emphasize the need for mind-control (the moon is the presiding deity of the mind) and intelligence-regulation (the sun is the presiding deity of intelligence). Placing disproportionate faith in material wealth and objective pleasures, man has lost the art of tapping the resources of joy within himself, within his own mind and intelligence. One need not wait for Uttarayana to arrive, for resolving upon the process of mind-control and intelligence-control. Every moment is the right moment" [from Sathyam Sivam Sundaram] 

"Men may have super abundance of food, clothing and housing; but their hearts may be dry and their spirits glooming. Sense-control, self-confidence, contentment, absence of hatred and greed are far more precious possessions than land, money or houses. No effort is made today to give lessons of this discipline in the educational institutions. It is wrong to lay the blame on want of time. You are the obstructor, not the time. The monkey that cannot pull out its clencled fist from the narrow neck of the pot blames the pot or the maker of the pot. But if only it releases the hold on the peanuts it has caught in that fist, it can easily take its hand out. The fault lies in itself. So too, man's greed is the reason for this want of time. That is why I often refer to it as the monkey mind"

"All things happen according to the dictates of Time;
Both good and bad depend on Time;
Prosperity and poverty likewise depend on Time;
Time is the determinant of all things,
There is none who is not subject to Time in this entire world; 
that's the Truth".

: on Unity:

"Now, all things have gone up in value; man alone has become cheap - he has become cheaper than animals. He is slaughtered in millions without any qualm, because of the terrific growth in anger, hate and greed. He has forgotten his unity with all men, all being, and all worlds. The completion of that unity alone can establish world peace, social peace and peace in the individual."

: on Wisdom:

"Where there is confidence, there is Love.
Where there is Love, there is Peace.
Where there is Peace, there is Truth.
Where there is Truth, there is Bliss.
Where there is Bliss, there is God."

"The end of knowledge is wisdom,
the end of culture is perfection,
the end of wisdom is freedom,
the end of education is character."

: on the World:

"The world is a great teacher, a constant guide and source of inspiration. That is the reason why man is placed in the world. Every bird, every animal, every tree, mountain and star and each tiny worm has a lesson for man, if he has but the thirst to learn. These make the world a veritable University for man; it is but a Gurukul (a school for spiritual learning) where he is a pupil from birth to death."

"The Supreme Lord is present inside and outside, everywhere in the cosmos. Man today looks only at the outside world like any animal. To look inward is the mark of the true human being. Obsessed with the external and losing the internal vision, man has forfeited his power of discrimination."