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SAI HUMOR AND GOLDEN WORDS OF WISDOM FROM SWAMI [Part 2 of 2]
If you feel you are a hundred percent dependent on God, He will look after you and save you from harm and injury. Love with no expectation of return. Activity must be dedicated to God, the Highest Good. Then, it will provide health to body and mind. God is omnipotent. All powerful God is Omnipresent. Present everywhere. God is Omniscient. All knowing. God, first; the world next; myself last! Live on your own earnings, your own resources. Man seeks to change the foods available in nature to suit his tastes, thereby putting an end to the very essence of life contained in them. Each man carries his own destiny in his own hands. Dreams relating to God are real. The easiest way to control sensuous desires is to practice altruistic love. Our good conduct is our true wealth. If some people say there is no God, it only means that they are at too great a distance to be aware of Him. Men are born with a helpless lamenting cry; they should die with a smile of happy joy. Do not belittle any religion or give predominance to any religion. Love knows no fear and so love needs no falsehood to support it. Do not use poisonous words against anyone, for, words wound more fatally than even arrows. You must be a lotus unfolding its petals when the sun rises in the sky, unaffected by the slush where it is born or even the water which sustains it! Be loving, begin to perceive your inner voice and follow it. The root is education and the fruit is virtue. Of all the insanities that harass man, God-madness is the least harmful, and the most beneficial. You may be able to pay back any debt; but the debt you owe your mother, you never can repay. Love is the light that guides the feet of man in the wilderness. Every experience that is drawn through any of the senses has an effect on one's health. Mine, not thine, this sense of greed is the root of all evil. This distinction is applied even to God! -- my God, not yours! Your God, not mine! Discipline is the mark of intelligent living. No one can judge another, for, when another is judged you are yourself condemned. Love seeks no reward; Love is its own reward. One without power does not mean lack of physical or mental strength. Speak soft and sweet; sympathize with suffering and loss and ignorance: try your best to apply the salve of soothing words and timely succor. The Lord is but a witness; He is above all hate and anger, of attachment derived from "mine" and "thine". Nothing is to be used as itself, for itself. "Seeing is believing: I will believe in God only if I see Him;" but are all things seen or heard or touched or tasted, as real as they seem? Either the Government must have the capacity to educate and reform the people or the people must have the capacity to educate the Government. Peace - It can come only from the Fountain of Peace within. It is best to live with honor for just a day than with dishonor for many decades; better a short lived celestial swan than a century-lived crow. Every sense is an outlet for the energy of man in a direction that binds him to the objective world. Spiritual progress is right living, good conduct, moral behavior. Do all acts as offerings to God; do not classify some as `my work' and some as `His work'. The reasoning faculty must be employed to distinguish between the limited and the unlimited, the Temporary and the Eternal.
Life is a mirage; When the magnet does not attract the needle, the fault lies in the dirt that covers up the needle. Food should not be too salty, too hot, too bitter, too sweet, too sour. There should not be any trace of dislike or distrust on the score of nationality, language, caste, economic status, scholarship, age or sex.
The end of knowledge is love. Each country is but a room in the mansion of God. The very joy derived from service reacts on the body and makes you free from disease. The age period 16 - 30 is a crucial stage, when man achieves best and struggles hardest to achieve. Man is a spark of the Divine. All things in creation are subject to the law of change and man too is subject to this law. Service is spiritual discipline, not a pastime of the rich and well-placed. Too much food results in dullness of mind. God alone is the giver of life, the guardian of life, and the goal of life. All spiritual practice must be directed to the removal of the husk and the revelation of the kernel. The same current activates all. Man is now able to soar into outer space and reach up to the moon; but he is not moral enough to live at peace with his neighbor! The food that one eats has to be pure, free from the subtle evils radiated by the persons who collect the materials, who cook the dishes, and who serve them. Whatever is to our advantage will appear right to us; We do not usually look upon a matter from the other fellow's standpoint. However high a bird may soar, it has sooner or later to perch on a tree top, to enjoy quiet. The purpose of living is to achieve the `living in God' When you feel you cannot do good, at least desist from doing evil. Condemn the wrong and extol the right as soon as you notice either in your children; that will settle them on the straight path. Awake, Arise and Stop not until the goal is reached. Limiting birth by artificial means is an absurdly wrong step. The consequences of this act are irresponsible fatherhood or frustrated motherhood. The mind fixed in the awareness of the One is like a rock, unaffected by doubt, stable, secure. Instead of making the senses which are at best very poor guides and informants his servants, man has made them his masters. Jesus said: First - He is a messenger of God. Second - He is the son of God. Third - He and His Father are one. Women have equal chances and equal rights to attain Godhead Let the wave of memory, the storm of desire, the fire of emotion pass through without affecting your equanimity. Silence is the speech of the spiritual seeker All men are cells in the same divine organism, in the divine body. That should be your faith, your fortune, your fort, your fullness. Hate screeches Fear squeals Conceit trumpets But love sings lullabies. Food cooked in water should not be used the next day; it becomes harmful. No society can find its fulfillment, no social ideal can fructify, without the blossoming of the spirit of man. Patience is all the strength that man needs. The earlier years of life are the most crucial, and so the mother and the father have to share the responsibility for the upbringing. Through the media of films, books, music and the behavior of elders, young minds are excited and aroused into indulgences. The God of death does not give notice of His arrival to take hold of you. He is not like the photographer who says, "I am clicking, are you ready?" Whenever you get a little leisure, do not spend it in talking about sundries, but utilize it in meditating on God or in doing service to others. Greed yields only sorrow; contentment is best. Whatever acts a good or bad man may do, the fruits thereof follow him and will never stop pursuing him. It is not the standard of living that is important, but the manner of living. You must render service out of spontaneous urge from within, with a heart filled with love. A chance conglomeration of humans does not become a society. A society has to be welded into a unit by the consciousness of kinship in God. Unity is divinity; Purity us enlightenment. Reform the body, reconstruct the mind, regulate the way of living, then, the country will become automatically strong and prosperous. Forget the harm that anyone has done to you, and forget the good that you have done to others. There is only one royal road for the spiritual journey...Love. If one student is bad, only that student is affected. But if one teacher is bad, hundreds of students get spoiled. Your thoughts play a vital role in shaping your life. Religion is three-fourths character. The present is a product of the past, but it is also the seed for the future. Open the gates of wisdom tear the veil of ignorance enter the abode of Divine Bliss. Rest in peace forever. Form a Satsang, where you meet and exchange truths and virtuous talk; where you study holy books and discourses on the glory of God. All work is God's. He inspires, He helps, He executes, He enjoys, He is pleased, He reaps, He sowed. Have faith in yourself. When you have no faith in the wave, how can you get faith in the ocean? Do not contemplate on death; it is just an incident in life; contemplate on God, who is the master of all life. You must welcome tests because it gives you confidence and it ensures promotion. So long as you say 'I am' there is bound to be fear, but once you say and feel 'I am God' you get unconquerable strength. By eating flesh one develops violent tendencies and animal diseases. Do not get swelled up when people praise you and do not feel dejected when people blame you. Serve man until you see God in all men. Knowledge without devotion to God produces hatred. What is the unmistakable mark of a wise man? It is love, love for all humanity. Service springs out of love and it scatters love in profusion. Soft sweet speech is the expression of genuine love. Mankind can find happiness only in unity, not in diversity. Philosophy that cannot be understood, scriptures that are not practiced - it is a waste of time to talk of them. Anger is the harvest of the bewitching mind; it enslaves man and fogs his understanding. People are born for different tasks, but in order to survive every one requires the same nourishment; inner peace. Whatever the trouble, however great the sorrow, persist and win by recollecting the Lord. Those who have gone through pain and suffering can understand and sympathize with those who are in pain The basic Truth in all religions, irrespective of country or race is one and the same. Whenever and wherever you put yourself in touch with God that is the state of meditation. The mind is a bundle of desires - remove the threads of attachment one by one; at the end the 'cloth' disappears and the mind is clear and pure. Practice silence - for the voice of God can be heard in the region of your heart only when the tongue is stilled and storm is stilled and the waves are calm. Practice the vocabulary of love - unlearn the language of hate and contempt. God is in you, around you, behind you, above you, beside you. Of all the righteous acts, help rendered to those needing it, is the most righteous. Surrendering the fruit of action to the Lord is real sacrifice. My birthday is the date when divinity blossoms in your heart. God is neither distant nor distinct from you. What is offered to God is totally free from all defects and imperfections. The joy that we cause in the heart of God is the only worthwhile achievement. The acid test by which an activity can be confirmed as holy or sacred is to examine whether it promotes attachment or avoids bondage.
Body is like a flashlight. Any happiness that you can give to others will result in happiness for yourself in the end. Man must realize that he cannot get anything without sharing it with humanity around him. So, you must believe that happiness of the people around you will lead to your own happiness in due course. Illnesses are caused more by malnutrition of the mind than of the body. I will recommend the repetition of the Name of God. That is Vitamin G. That is the medicine; regulated life and habits are 2/3 of the treatment, while the medicine is just 1/3 only. It is only when you have both divine grace and human endeavor that you can experience bliss, just as you can enjoy the breeze of a fan only when you have both a fan and the electrical energy to operate it. Do not think that only those who worship a picture or image with pompous paraphernalia are devotees. Whoever walks straight along the moral path, whoever acts as he speaks and speaks as he has seen whoever melts at another's woe and exults at another's joy.... is a devotee, perhaps a greater devotee. This is bad; this is good - can such judgements be ever made about anything in God's creation when all are manifestations of His will?. Love is one without a second. When this love is directed towards the world, it is called attachment (anuraga), and when directed towards God, it is called Prema (devotional love).
The play is His
Living with God is the true education A bubble of water is born out of water. It is made up of water. It ultimately mixes with water and disappears. As in this analogy, man is like a bubble and Narayana is like the source, "water". Man is born out of Narayana, is made up of Him and ultimately merges with Him. A pure thought from a pure heart is better than a Mantra. A zero will get its value only if it is placed after an integer. So also a "Jiva" will get some value only if it is placed in conjunction with divinity. Accommodate all forms of God in your heart. Do not exclude some and welcome others. Accept all achievements and failures as proofs of the grace of God. Adoration, affection and attachment are the flowers. Devotion and dedication are the fruits. When they ripen they fill themselves with the sweet sustaining juice called wisdom. Ambition to earn fame in the world, to gain some position of authority over men, to lead a luxurious life can never ensure mental peace. An expansive mind is more laudable than an expert brain. One person shedding love is more desirable than a hundred hard hearted companions. An iron box is essential to keep safe the precious stones. So too the body is essential to keep safe the precious gifts of virtue, love and discrimination. Anger, ego, jealousy are the biggest diseases. Keep yourself aloof from these three diseases. Anger cannot be destroyed by anger and cruelty by cruelty. Anger can be subdued only by forbearance and cruelty can be overcome only by nonviolence. Anger is like an intoxicant; it reduces man and degrades him to the level of an animal. As long as the sugar is on the tongue, you feel the sweetness in taste. Similarly, so long as the heart has love, peace and devotion, you feel bliss. As the food, so the mind. As the mind, so the thought. As the thought, so the act. At all times, engage yourself in serving others. There is no greater Sadhana than this. Be a servant; a servant of God. Feel that you are an instrument in His hand. Let Him shape you and use you as He knows best.
Be clear and content Be good, Do good, See good - this is the way to God. Be guarded against the 'evil of the tongue', 'evil of the mind' and 'evil of the hand'. Be like a star which never wavers from the crescent, but is fixed in steady faith. Be like a lotus which is not affected by the water in which it is born. Be what you profess to be. Speak what you intend to do. Utter what you have experienced. No more. No less. Believe that God is one, though he is addressed and prayed to by different groups of people in different names. Believe that there is no morality higher than truth, there is no prayer more fruitful than Seva. Believe that there is nothing greater than truth; nothing sweeter, nothing more precious and nothing more lasting. Bend before the lowly, the humbly, the Godly, the good. Do not bend before the proud; the promoters of hate and greed. Bhajan cleanses and purifies the atmosphere by its vital vibrations. It inspires, instructs, it calls and comforts. Bhakti (devotion) is as essential for experiencing Atmic Bliss as blood is essential for the body. Be like the ant. When the ant gets a mixture of sand and sugar, it selects only sugar; it neglects sand. See only good in others. Pay no attention to the bad. Body is a house given to you for rent. Live there so long as He wills, thanking him and paying Him the rent of faith and devotion. By chanting the name of the Lord sanctifies your time. By singing His glory, sanctify your life. Always continuously develop a pure heart for the welfare of the world. Calamity, danger, death cannot be avoided for all time. They are inevitable factors of life and you have to learn to live bravely with them. Chanting the name of the Lord must be considered as the highest form of Sadhana. You can travel anywhere in the light of this name. In this age of Kali Yuga, the easiest way to reach the Lord is this chanting of the Lord's name. There is nothing more sacred than this name. Character is the most precious gift of education. Without character, wealth, education and social status are of no avail. Close your eyes to the faults of others, but keep them open to discover your own. Consider the entire society as your home, only then you will realize genuine unity with all. Constant dwelling with the name of the Lord gives that unshakeable peace unaffected by the ups and downs of life. Command the mind, regulate your conduct, keep your heart straight and clear, then you will get the grace of God. Concentration is a conscious activity and meditation is a super conscious experience. Contentment is the most precious treasure. Contentment alone can lead man to the goal of life, the attainment of divinity. Cows may be of different breeds or colors or sizes, but milk they yield is the same, the world over. So too, all religions, what ever their origin or extent of influence, are means to teach man this process. Creation is divine; imitation is human. Dedicate all your physical possession and mental skills and intellectual attainments to the service of the Lord. Desire is storm, greed is whirl-pool, pride is precipice, attachment is avalanche and ego is volcano. Discard these and you will be liberated. Dedicate your hands to the service of mankind, never deviate from that attitude. Dedication ensures success; purifies inner vision, gives lasting joy. Desires, disappointments and despair cause diseases. Filling the mind with the thought of God is the curative drug. Develop the quality of love that asks for no return, develop divine knowledge and develop the inner vision. Devotion is the sustenance of the heart, just as food is the sustenance for the body; devotion to duty is the highest form of worship to God. Devotion is not a uniform to be worn on certain days when you gather for worship and then to be laid aside when the service is over. Devotion to God does not mean merely offering worship in a shrine or taking part in Bhajan or Sankirtan. One must recognize the form of Divine in the images one worships or human being one serves. Devotion truly means worshipping the Lord, not caring for the fruits of one's actions. Discipline is the mark of intelligent living; it is more essential for success in spiritual effort. Dive and declare the depth, eat and judge the taste. Divine bliss cannot be gained by accumulation of impediments like cars and houses, land and gold, stocks and stores. Divine is neither manufactured by any company nor available in any shop. It is not something that can be earned from outside, it has to sprout and grow from within and treasured within. Divine is the inner core of all beings, near and far, big or small. Expand your consciousness to its utmost limits.
Do and dedicate, Do good deeds, you get good in return. Do bad deeds, you reap bad results; do not blame God, thank yourself, blame yourself. Doing one's duty, however small, in an unattached manner gives rise to the awakening of self awareness. Do not be affected when the results you anticipate are not produced; do not anticipate at all, but leave it to God. Do not depend on others to serve your needs, become your own servant before proceeding to serve others. Do not get puffed up when you succeed. Do not get punctured when you fail. Do not give room for differences based on language, religion, caste or nationality. Develop the feeling that all are children of God. You may worship God in any form of your choice, but always bear in mind that God is one. Cultivate love and promote unity and harmony among all. Do not give up worldly duties, but do them with the Name of God on your lips inviting the Grace of God on your heads. Do not lay claim to long life but to divine life; do not pine for more years on earth, but for more virtues in the heart. Each has his particular duty, task, role as an individual; do that duty, carry on that task. Play that role as best as you can; that is how one can fulfill himself. Earning money cannot be the purpose of education; acquiring good qualities can be the only purpose of education. Education does not mean only giving meaning to the words. Whatever is learnt in schools and colleges has to be practiced and has to be used for the welfare of the society. That is true education. Education is a wasteful process unless knowledge is transformed into wisdom and wisdom is expressed in character. Education is to be valued not as a means of earning one's livelihood, but as the essential requisite for a happy, peaceful and progressive life.
Education must ultimately mean: Education should be divorced from job hunting. Its primary purpose should be to enable the educated to lead an honorable and meaningful life in society. Education without character, politics without principles and commerce without morality are not only useless, but positively dangerous. Ego lives by getting and forgetting. Love lives by giving and forgiving. Engage always in good deeds, beneficial activities, speak the truth, do not inflict pain by word or deed or even thought. That is the highest gain which you can earn in this life. Every action of yours at the present time is bound to have a reaction, resound and reflection in the future. Every human being is has a body which is like a chariot and has a charioteer, which is the Atma. This is universally true and this is the basis of the unity and diversity of in all mankind. Every human being has four birthdays: the first is when he emerges from his mother's womb; the second is when he begins his spiritual study to lead him from darkness to light; third is when he has gained wisdom for achieving self realization; the fourth and last is when he realizes his true identity and merges with Brahman. Every passing minute is a precious gift from God which you have to use for the best and most lasting benefit. Every rise will be followed by a fall; every elation will be followed by depression. Feel that you are a hundred percent dependent on God; He will look after you and save you from harm and injury. Feel that your family, your house, your fields, your cars are all the Lord's property and that you are only the trustee. Feel the presence of God when silence reigns; in the excitement and confusion, you cannot hear His 'Foot Fall'. For the disease of 'Bhavaroga' (birth death cycle), Bhagawan is the medicine; for the disease of desire, Jnana is the prescription; for the disease of doubt, the most effective remedy is paropakara (service); for the major infection of asanthi (anxiety), the course of treatment is Bhajan. Friendship should not be based on consideration of fear and favor, sacred friendship is that which enables one to help others at all times and in all circumstances. Get the doctor who would assure 'hereafter you will not fall ill' and not the doctor who gives some relief to the present attacks. 'Gift' is a meritorious act, if it is rendered to the needy at the time of need, in a manner that fulfills the need, it must be made without pride and publicity. Give up gaining; restraining in order to receive; becoming blind in order to see more clearly. Giving is gaining. Gaining is grieving. Giving up one's evil thoughts constitutes sacrifice and yoga - leaving one's wife, giving up one's material possessions and repairing to the forest will be of no avail. Goal of human life is not just eating, drinking, sleeping, tasting a little joy and grief and finally dying like any bird or beast; the goal is the realization of the eternal absolute. God acts as creator, protector and destroyer. You must show your gratitude to God by your actions, not your words. God can be addressed by any name that tastes sweet to your tongue or pictured in any form that appeal to your sense of wonder and awe. God cannot be won by tricks or through short cuts, He can be won only by the hard way of struggle, detachment and tough discipline. God does not appreciate external pomp and exhibitionistic behavior. God does not take revenge if you do not recognize Him or revere Him. God does not calculate the cost of all which you surrender at His feet; He examines the spirit in which it is surrendered. God does not draw you near or keep you far; God does not deny anyone, it is only you who deny God. God does not live in structures of stone or brick, He lives in soft hearts, warm with sympathy and fragrant with universal love. God grants you what you need and desire; there is no reason to ask, no reason to grumble. God has given you the heart to use in life, return it to Him as clean and as pure. God has no desire to bless nor anger to induce Him to punish. You get blessed and punished as a result of your own feelings and acts. God has no preference and prejudices. He is but reaction and resound. God has not made any one wholly bad or wholly good; your likes and dislikes are inducing you to label them such. God is all mercy, adore Him so long as you have breath, so long as you are conscious. God is all names and all forms, He cannot be identified with one name and one form; the whole universe is inhabited by God. God is always ready to give you all that you want but you do not seem to know what is good for you and what you really want, so it is better and easier to surrender yourself completely to God and simply ask for His Grace. God is nameless, but He responds when His name, in any one of the many, is taken by the seeker. God is not attracted by your appearance, He will look at the cleanliness of the inner self. God is not involved in either rewards or punishment. He only reflects resounds and reacts; He is the eternal unaffected witness. God is not somewhere away from you, someone distinct from you, He is in you, before you, behind you. God is the sugar that can make the tasteless drink of life into a sweet potion. God sees your devotion and not power; God cares for your quality and not your caste; God looks at your heart and not at your wealth. God will respond only when you call Him from the depth of feeling. He will be deaf even if you call him a million times automatically and artificially with the tongue and not with the heart. Grace of God is equal on all, but it leaks through the holes of anger, ego, lust, greed and desires. Fill the holes with trust, kindness, love, patience and gratefulness. Hands are given to us so that we may perform good acts and offer the flower of service to the Lord. Hands that help are holier than lips that pray. However you are, you are mine. I will never give you up. Wherever you are, you are near me. You cannot go beyond my reach. I do not need your garlands and fruits, they are not genuinely yours, give me something that is yours, something which is clean and fragrant with the perfume of virtue and innocence and washed in the tears of repentance. I do not reveal or refuse, it is for you to discover and decide. I do not take anything from anyone except their love and devotion. I have come not to disturb or destroy any faith, but to confirm each in his own faith, so that the Christian becomes a better Christian, the Muslim a better Muslim and the Hindu a better Hindu. If God is a flower, you should feel yourself a bee that sucks its honey, if he is tree, be a creeper that clings to it, if he is the sky, be a tiny star that twinkles in it. Above all, be conscious of the truth that you and He are bound by supreme love.
If there is righteousness in the heart, there
will be beauty in the character. If thought and activities of the mind are sound, healthy, non-violent, filled with love and morally harmonious, then peace is near at hand. In all the deeds that you perform, in all the individuals that you meet and in all the thoughts that you entertain, you must see the divine and act accordingly. In an office if you work full time, you get full pay; if you work part time, you get half pay. In the same manner, if you give only part of your mind and ask for full return of the grace of God, it is asking for full pay for half work. In order to gain the benefit that education can confer, it must be directed towards the cleansing of the inner instruments of thought and feeling. It has to promote and protect the pleasure of spiritual learning. In the garden of your heart, plant and foster the rose of divinity, the jasmine of purity and humility, the champak of generosity. In the medicine chest of every member of our Sevadal, one must keep in readiness tablets of discrimination, drops of self control, the powers of faith, devotion and patience. Only then one can be freed of the illness of ignorance. In the path of Bhakti there are no hurdles young, high or low, man or women, all are equally entitled to tread it. In the Sathya there is no mithya, but in the mithya (Jagath) you have to search for Sathya and experience it. You can do it, if you rid your mind of all modifications and modulations. Let it be transformed from its present complex confusion into some thing like the sky, which does not bear any mark, though millions of birds fly through it and thousands of planes move across it. Be unaffected, untouched, unattached. That is the Sadhana which will reveal the reality. Influence of divinity is such that while you are contemplating it all trace of envy and greed will disappear from the mind. Install the Lord in your heart and offer Him the fruits of your actions and the flowers of your inner thoughts and feelings. That is the worship I like most, the devotion I appreciate most. Instead of indulging in vain prattle, glorify God and walk in His path and pray to Him. Spend the allotted span of years in the contemplation and the adoration of the Almighty, not in servile praise of the feeble, the futile and the weak. Life is an opportunity afforded to each, not to eat and drink, but to achieve something nobler and grandeur, to master oneself and merge in the reality. It is an act of merit to be of service to others, it is a sin to harm others. Its is more sacred and sanctifying to fill our hearts with love than to fill our hearts with all kinds of books on spiritual matters. It is of no use if you simply utter the name of the God and if you do not follow the good things, it is just like uttering the name of penicillin when you are running a high temperature. It is only by means of purity of mind, can you come close to the Lord. Just as sugar cane does not yield sugar juice unless it is crushed, as sandal wood does not give the fragrant paste unless it is rubbed on the stone, so the goodness of people does not come out unless they go through difficulties. Karma Yoga is the earthen lamp, Bhakti Yoga is the oil in it, Raja Yoga is the wick, and Jnana Yoga is the light. Karma cleanses the mind if it is done as a dedicatory act, the consequence being left to the will of the Lord. Repentance saves even sinners from perdition. No ceremony of expiation is as effective as sincere repentance. Keep away from impure listening, impure acts, impure words, and impure thoughts. Keep the name of the Lord always radiant on your tongue and mind that will keep the antics of the mind under control. Knowing the way is not enough. The path must be traversed to reach the destination. That journey is service to society. Knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful; knowledge without character is a powerful evil. Knowledge without action is useless; action without knowledge is foolishness. Learn to adopt, adjust and accommodate. Learn to give, not to take, learn to serve, not to rule. Less luggage, more comfort is a slogan for a journey of life; reduce desires, loosen attachment, you will win freedom. Let the name of the Lord come from the core of your heart. It should not come merely from the lips. It should be chanted with love and faith. Let your boat be on the waters, but do not allow the waters to enter the boat. Be in the world, but not of it. That is the secret of a truly happy life. Life can be peaceful only when you can control excitement of your body and mind, life is undoubtedly incomplete without thought about God. Life is a journey from "I" to "WE". Life is enveloped in the bitter skin of lust, anger, greed, attachment and jealousy; remove the skin and throw it away so that the sweetness can be tasted.
Love in thought is truth. Love lives by giving and forgiving; self lives by getting and forgetting.
Love saturates all activities with joy and
peace. Love the Lord's creation as much as the Lord Himself. Then the tree of life will yield the sweet fruit of Madhura Bhakti. Measure the height you have reached with the yard stick of virtue, serenity, fortitude and equanimity. Mind, word and act, all three must be filled with the belief that all is His play that is the genuine path. Name of the God is the rifle which guards you against the beasts of prey in the jungle of life. Name of God is the most effective tonic; it will keep off all illness. Not by wealth or progeny, neither by reading or listening but only by sacrifice can you get the vision of the divine. Sacrifice of ego is the highest Sadhana. Objective possessions and subjective passions are handicaps in the race of realization. Offer God real flower grown in the garden of your heart; fragrant, beautiful and delighting. Offering all the deeds of man at the feet of the Lord is the real Yagna. Every action performed by man must be considered as an offering to the Lord and as the Lord's work itself. Only in fear of sin can you experience peace and nonviolence. Only in love of God can you foster truth and love. In social morality you can experience righteousness. Only through renunciation can immortality (oneness with God) be attained. Peace of mind cannot be gained by wealth or fame or skill. It can be achieved only through sacrifice. Peace or distraction, calm or anxiety, it is the product of one's thoughts and deeds. Prayer alone makes life happy, harmonious and worth living in this universe. Prayer brings man and God together and with every sigh nearer and nearer. Prayer is the yearning one experiences to awaken the divinity latent in the heart. Prayer is not pronouncing of words. Prayer reveals the real secret of life; prayer will succeed when thoughts are pure. Properties are not proper ties. Pursuit of material pleasures will be like nectar at first, but like poison at the end. Religions are many, but the road is the same. Flowers are many, but worship is the same, professions are many but living is the same. Remember that God is not someone else, but one's own inner self. Remember that if there is anything sweeter than all sweet things, more auspicious than all auspicious things, holier than all holy objects, verily it is the name of the Lord. Remember there is no morality higher than truth. There is no prayer more fruitful than Seva. Remove from the garden of your heart, the thorny bushes of greed, anger, jealousy and selfishness. Reverence for all life in thought, word and deed is nonviolence.
Sadhana leads to Truth Science is below the mind, spirituality is beyond the mind. Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind. Service is the ship by which one can cross the ocean of Samsara (life) Service to man is the highest form of worship. Do not offend or harm anyone. Seva (service) taken up as Sadhana (discipline) teaches Sahana (patience). So long as man is not able to push away the clouds of selfishness, he cannot look at the sun of wisdom. Success or failure is your own making. You decide your destiny. The Lord has no share in deciding it. Suffering entitles you more to the Grace of the Lord. When suffering comes in waves, one behind the other, be glad that the shore is near, bear them bravely. Like cowards, do not throw the blame on some outside power or develop dislike for the Lord.
The bird with you - the wings with me. The day when we understand that every thing belongs to God that will be the dawn of knowledge. The essence of all the Puranas and Vedas is "Do good to others and keep away from doing harm to others". The good hearted man who professes no religion is the truly religious man. There is nothing in the universe higher than God; different from God; distinct from God. Those who walk with God always reach their destination. Through reading you gather information but through service you get transformation. Truth is the sustaining factor behind all; it is the very core and essence of divine life. Unless God's Grace and human effort come together the result cannot be achieved. Use the body as a boat to cross the ocean of life with devotion and detachment. Water flows from a higher level to the lower. God's Grace too flows down to those who are bent with humility. We do no get what we desire, we get what we deserve. Wealth that you hoard is not yours; wealth that you have given is really yours. Yesterday has deceived you and gone, tomorrow is a doubtful visitor. Today is a fast friend, hold fast to it. You cannot always oblige but you can be obliging. You cannot claim to be educated or grown up unless you have mastered the science of self control and destroyed the root cause of delusion. You must give up the luggage of your desires and wishes and thus make life less burdensome. You must surrender your judgement to the Lord, then Lord will assume full responsibility. You need offer only two things to God - pure love and selfless service. Your life can be peaceful only when you can control your excitement of the body and mind. Your virtue is your shield; your vice is the weapon that inflicts wounds on you.
Destroying pride man becomes endearing; Bear in mind the three P's: Purity, Patience and Perseverance. With these three, you are bound to acquire good health and bliss
Action with Love is Right Conduct. What is devotion? It is not merely offering several types of worship or going on pilgrimage. Unalloyed and true love for love's sake alone constitutes devotion. True devotion is the love flowing from a pure heart unpolluted by selfish motives. Humanness can be promoted only through spirituality and not by any other means. Just as a seed can sprout only when it is planted in the soil and watered, human values can grow only in a spiritual soil. If a man wants to cultivate human values, he has to apply the manure of spirituality to his heart, water it with love so that human values will grow While taking food, you should not discuss dreadful incidents. No room should be given to subjects which excite the mind. Silence should prevail during eating. Even sound waves enter into us and affect our minds. Hence people should avoid seeing television while taking food. Spirituality does not mean leading a lonely ascetic life. Spirituality means getting rid of attachment and hatred and looking upon the whole humanity as one. I know your name, your degrees, your profession, your status and your history. I know your past, present and future. But you do not know me. That is why sometimes in order to reveal who I am, I myself show my visiting card, something which you call a miracle. It is not enough to praise God. You have to love Him. You have to become Love itself so that you can love the entire universe. When you become embodiments of Love, you can love all. To earn the Grace of the Divine, the easy way is surrendering at the Feet of the Lord. There is so much power in the feet of the Lord which you cannot understand. The feet form the basis for not only the physical frame of the body, but also for spiritual and ethical purposes.
There is no greater penance than contentment for
securing happiness. Hold all your property and wealth in trust for the Lord, who gave them to you. Even you and your family, you must take as a sacred trust, as persons given to you by the Lord to love, foster and guide. Thus you must elevate your attachment into worship and make it an instrument of spiritual progress. Be like the ant: When the ant gets a mixture of sand and sugar it selects only the sugar. It neglects the sand. See only the good in others; pay no attention to the bad. Devotion to God does not mean merely offering worship in a shrine or taking part in Bhajan or Sankirtan; one must recognize the form of the Divine in the images one worships or the human beings one serves The only hold that man has in this dreadful darkness is the name of God. That is the raft which will take Him across this stormy sea darkened by hate and fear, churned by anxiety and terror. The affection between a mother and a child or between a husband and wife is incidental to a certain temporary relationship and is not real love at all. True Love has neither a beginning nor an end. It exists in all three categories of time - past, present and future. That alone is true Love which can fill man with enduring Bliss. Discipline grows out of devotion. Devotion stems out of duty. Observe the three D's - Discipline, Devotion and Duty. This is true spirituality. In the performance of every duty there should be devotion. There should be devotion and not diversion. Fulfillment in life is not attained by physical health and strength alone. Even when the stomach is full, the mind must get the satisfaction. Hence, effort should be made to promote mental health also. Only when both the mind and the body are hale and well, can one experience happiness. Alone bestows the supreme good Alone is the destroyer of the cycle of existence Devotion Alone is the means of recognizing divinity Alone is the means of liberation. 1. Welcome good company. 2. Eschew all association with the evil minded. 3. Perform meritorious acts ceaselessly. 4. Always discriminate between the transient and the ever lasting
Truth is the mother CONCLUDED |
