Understanding the Stories of the Festival of Diwali

Some days in the year are marked out as Holy days, in the calendars of all human communities. They are distinguished by greater attention being paid for worshipping deities, propitiating the deceased, praying to the forces of nature and similar elevating spiritual exercise. They are occasions to remind man of the God without and the God within. Such holy days are prescribed and observed in India also, along with other festival days. One such festival is Deepavali, the Festival of Lights, which people are celebrating today. Deepavali means a garland or festoon of lights, the most characteristic way in which the festival is observed by all.

Illumination, such as is done today, is a sign of victory, or triumph over some foe or some obstacle to happy living. It is a way of expressing one's joy and attracting the attention of others to one's achievement of unexpected happiness. Festivals of which illumination is a part are found among the Parsis, the Christians and the Muslims. They are celebrated in Malaysia, Nepal, Japan and a host of other countries.

There are countless legends which seek to explain the origins of Deepavali. In Northern India, it is believed to be the Day when Sri Rama was crowned Emperor after his return from exile. In Kerala, it is believed to be the day when Emperor Bali, who was allowed to visit the erstwile kingdom just for one day in the year, is welcomed by his grateful subjects. The Lord had trampled him down into the nether regions, as a punishment for his egoistic expansive programme of conquest; but, He melted a little when he pleaded for mercy, and allowed him to return to earth for just one day out of three hundred and sixty-five days. On that day his subjects could welcome him, with illumination and fire-works.

Discard worn-out prejudices on Deepavali Day

The most widely current among the legends refers to the demon Naraka whom Lord Krishna, accompanied by His Consort, Satyabhama or Satya, destroyed in battle, this day. Naraka was the son of Mother Earth, as the story goes, of Bhoo Mata. She asked for a boon from the Lord, that the Day should be observed, in his memory, as a day of light or joy and the sharing of joy by one and all. Therefore, hundreds of tiny lamps are lit this evening and kept in rows before and within every home in India; but, few are the lamps that are lit in the cavity of the heart to destroy the darkness that lies thick within. Deepavali is the day when old clothes are discarded and new ones worn; when. the home and its precincts are swept clean, given a new look, and made to appear fresh and fine. Flowers are arranged in lovely designs in each room and in the courtyard; festoons of green add charm to every door. But, even while doing all this, attention has to be paid to the discarding of worn-out prejudices, the adoption of new habits of love and mutual respect, the freshening of one's attitude towards one's kith and kin, brothers and sisters of all creeds and castes, the hanging of festoons of friendship and fraternity over the door sill of the heart. This will make the Festival really meaningful and fruitful; it will be saved from the calumny of being an occasion for only pomp and barren hilarity.

Profound meaning of Narakasura Legend

Who exactly is this Naraka, the demon Naraka-Asura, let us inquire. He is described as a tyrant, who had no reverence towards elders and saints, who was afflicted with a severe type of landhunger, who looted and plundered unchecked, who carried away princesses and damsels by the hundred and threw them into prison without any compunction, and who never repented for any of his crimes and sins. When the good men of the world appealed to Lord Krishna for succour, He invaded his kingdom, laid siege to his capital City, and overwhelming his forces, allowed His Queen, Satya, to slay him on the battlefield.

This legend has a profound under-current of meaning, which you should not miss. Naraka is an A-sura (a demonic person). His city is named, Praak-Jyotisha-Pura - Praak means the previous, Jyoti means light, and Sha means forgetting and ignoring. So the city's name means: the city of those who have laid aside the previous or ancient light. That is to say, the city of those who are ignorant of Atmic splendour. No wonder they are demons. No wonder they were lustful, full of hatred, greed, envy and egotism. They had become so lost in their sins that Lord Krishna did not vouchsafe to give them the honour of being killed by his Hands. He directed Satya to destroy them. Yes. Ignorance so fundamental and so deep can be destroyed only by the sword of Satya (Truth).

The lamp is also the symbol of the Atma

Egoism is of earth, earthy; not of heaven, heavenly. So Naraka is the son of Earth. And, he is called Naraka, Nara means, man, who knows his manas (mind), who practises manana (discrimination of reflection on what he has heard and what he has been taught). But Naraka which means hell, is the name appropriate to one who believes he is the body and toils to cater to its needs and its clamour. When man grows in physical strength, economic power, mental alacrity, intellectual scholarship and political authority and does not grow in spiritual riches, he becomes a danger to society and a calamity to himself. He is a Naraka to his neighbours and his kin. He sees only the many, not the One; he is drawn by the scintillating manifold into the downward path of perdition.

A-suras (demons) have another name in Sanskrit Nakthancharas - those who move about in the dark. This is a fair description of their pathetic condition. They have no light to guide them; they do not recognise that they are in the dark; they do not call out for light; they are unaware of the light. Their intellect has become the bondslave of their passions and their senses, instead of establishing itself as their master. When at last, truth appears before them and overwhelms them, they recognise the One and merge happily in it.

The lamp is not merely the symbol of the knowledge to Truth. It is also the symbol of the One, the Atma that shines in and through all this multiplicity. Just as with one lamp, a thousand lamps can be lit and the One is as bright as ever in spite of the thousands deriving light from it, so too, the Atma (soul-spirit) illumines the jeeva (individual self) and shines in and through them, without undergoing any diminution in its splendour. The Atma is the cause; all else are effects.

The Lesson that Deepavali teaches man

Naraka sought to act freely, as his emotions and passions dictated. But the Sanskrit word used for this kind of license has another and deeper meaning: Sva-Ichha, one's desire, means, the desire, if at all, only for merger absorbing the sparks that have emanated from it, the waves that play upon its surface. The Upanishads call upon man to roam about in the jungle of life as the King of Beasts, the Lion, and not as panic-stricken cowardly sheep ashamed to lift its head. Face the six foes that are ferociously gnawing the heart of man - lust, anger, attachment, pride, hatred, greed - and be Man, Nara, not Naraka, who cringes before these foes and tries to propitiate them by yielding to their demands, That is the lesson that Deepavali teaches. 

The Vedic Prayer is, "Tamaso Maa Jyotir Gamaya," (From darkness lead me, O Lord, into light.) Lead me from the blindness of ignorance into the vision of the truth. Cleanse the mind and the Truth will be reflected therein. This is not as difficult as some people imagine. The tiny ant can travel hundred miles, if only it puts its legs forward and starts. Faith and steadiness will achieve the rest of the journey. But, if an aeroplane that can fly faster than sound does not rise from the tarmac, it can only be where it is. Each one must first decide on what is worth living for and striving for. For this, one has to meet and converse with elders who have travelled along the same route; one has to taste the bliss of realisation that their lives express. And, inspired by their example, one must practise what they prescribe, with single-minded confidence. 

Lesson taught by careers of Naraka and Bali

When man fails to use his attainments for the welfare of others he becomes a narakaasura (hellish demon). But, when in a competitive race for individual glory, he spends billions on getting to the Moon and bringing rocks from its crust, instead of feeding millions who starve down below and promoting the prosperity of backward nations, he is only condemning himself.

Even the best of things can be misused by men. Ravana, Shisupala, Kamsa, and other demonish persons mentioned in the Indian Puranas and epics had vast scholarship, enormous economic and military power and even immense yogic and occult skills won by years of austerity, and disciplined living. But, they could not earn one skill, the skill to suppress the ego, and so, they became too obstinate, too obstructive and too dangerous to be allowed to live and prosper. The lesson taught by the careers of Naraka and of Bali is that man should be master of his ego if he is to succeed in the art of successful living. 

Deepavali is also a Day dedicated to the Goddess of Riches, called, Dhanalakshmi. They celebrate the day as Dhanalakshmi Pooja day in many States of India. Newspapers highlight the celebrations with big headlines. But, riches when one comes by them, have to be revered as something given on trust, and must be used for the amelioration of the wants of society, and not for personal aggrandizement. When people use it for parading their wealth, they become ludicrous specimens of humanity. How can wealth and scholarship shine, except against the background of virtue and humility? Riches may come or riches may go; scholarship may be acquired or may not be acquired; even joy may come and go. Whatever happens, man must be unmoved, he must not swerve from the path that he has chosen towards the goal.

Sri Sathya Sai Message on Festival of Lights

There was a merchant once, who, while walking through the streets of Varanasi, was suddenly confronted by two sisters who were frantically quarelling over the issue, who was fairer. They were none other than Dhanalakshmi and her famous sister Daridralakshmi, the Goddess of poverty. They stopped the merchant and compelled hint to agree to be the judge; they pressed him to pronounce who was the fairer of the two. The merchant feared to say that Dhanalakshmi was fairer, for then, the Goddess of Poverty might inflict her boons on him; he feared to declare that Dhanalakshmi was the fairer, for then her sister, Dhanalakshmi might deprive him of her favour. So he devised a strategem, to save his skin. He asked that the sisters walk a few steps, forward and backward, in front of him; he stood silent for a while watching their slow deliberate comings and goings, and then, he asked them to come near him, in order to hear his judgement. He said, "Dhanalakshmi is fairer when she comes towards me; Daridralakshmi looks fairer when she goes away from me; How then can I give a definite verdict?" This was a clever reply, framed to escape punishment. But you should not change the face of truth to please people; utter what you have in mind, act according to the words you utter. That is the safest, the easiest and the most correct procedure. That is how a self-respecting man should behave. Nothing is more right than truth. Do not play false to the God in your being and led into evil through fear or greed. March along, straight, never deviating towards falsehood or trickery. Do not be attached by the glamour of name and form; seek the Atma, with one-pointed zeal. This is the Message I give you on this festival of lights.

Source: Divine Discourse ar Prasanthi Nilayam on October 25, 1973

What is the Spiritual Significance of the Prashanti Flag?

Sri Sathya Sai with the Prashanti Flag

The hoisting of Prashanti Flag on the Prashanti Mandir is the Inaugural Function of all festivals celebrated at the Prashanti Nilayam. This has become an event, looked forward to with eager expectation and enthusiasm by the thousands of devotees who gather here. But, most people do not know that the hoisting of the Flag is a meaningful signal of victory, and, even, those who know, do not often recall to their minds what the victory is, that is indicated by the hoisting of this particular flag.

Of course, as all of you have realised, the Dasara Festival marks the triumph of the forces of good over the forces of evil, of Para Shakti (Supreme Divine Energy) in Her three Forms of Mahadurga, Mahalakshmi and Mahasaraswati, subduing and destroying the asuric - (demonic) embodiments of lust, greed, hate and other Raajasic (quality of pride and passion) and Tamasic (quality of inaction and ignorance) vices. 

But, what is your share in this struggle and this victory? What is the impact this ceremony should have on you? This Prashanti Flag symbolises the victory that each of you has to achieve over the demonic urges that infect and torment you. The triumph that deserves to be celebrated here by you is the one accomplished over the forces of ignorance and delusion, that, by their subtle and sinister influence veil your true nature and reality and lead you into the desert wastes of the sensory world.

The Prashanti Flag

All that are created undergo a process of change

Of what benefit is it, to know everything about the 'object,' while knowing nothing about the 'subject'? Such incomplete knowledge is of no avail at all; to boast of it is tantamount to making oneself the target of ridicule!

Examine any object of Nature; examine anything, alive or inert, in Creation. You will observe that they all undergo a process of disintegration, of transformation, of transmutation; they are never one moment what they were the previous moment! It is a flowing river, you cannot dip in the same water more than once! A seed fallen on the ground soon becomes different: a sprout! It fast becomes a sapling, a tree, with a variegated equipment of trunk, branch, twig, leaf, bud, bloom and fruit! Each of these manifestations has a distinct colour, got evidently from nowhere; it has a distinct feel, form, taste, and name, and so, it has a unique purpose and use. The seed itself disappears from the ground, but, is found, multiplied a thousand-fold in identical forms, encased in each of the thousand fruits! What a grand mystery is this!

The same heap of day is transformed by the deft hands of the potter into a vast variety of plates and pans. The one nugget of gold is transformed by the artistry of the smith into a fascinating array of beautiful jewels. These facts are within the experience of every one. The fruit, the pot and the jewel are 'effects'; there can be no effect without a 'cause.' The seed, the heap of clay and the nugget are the material causes, the gardener, the potter and the goldsmith are the instrumental causes; the manipulative causes. So far as the creation of the manifoldness of the Universe is concerned we call Him, God.

When the Cosmos manifested through the Will of God, who is the Universal Absolute, It arose from the Absolute only, since there was then, only ONE, just as even now there is only One, inspite of all this seeming variety. That Will which' emanated from the Absolute persuaded us to see and experience Many; that is all that has happened. The One Reality is still the One, it has not undergone any change. We have super-imposed on the One, the illusion of the Many!

Nature is God's Body, Cosmos is His Will

God, therefore, is the material cause as well as the instrumental cause, the gold and the goldsmith, the potter and the clay, the seed as well as the tree.. "Beejam Maam Sarva Bhootaanaam," Krishna says in the Geeta: "I am the seed of all the elements and all beings." Nature is His Body; the Cosmos is His Will; the Vedas are His Breath. The Sankhya School of thinkers declare that the objective world arose out of the conglomeration and conjunction of disparate atoms; but, they do not pursue the matter and explain what induced the atoms to join with their kind in particular designs and groups. How does this urge arise? How does this awaken, within the minute atom? Who has planted this desire in the tiny heart of the atom? These questions are by-passed.

Most philosophers especially in the West, ignore the problem of identifying the cause of all the effects we find every moment all around us. The Upanishads declare, Ekoham Bahusyam - "I am one, let Me become many," willed God; and God became all this, in response to that divine desire, the primal urge. He became all this. He is therefore the Antar-Atma (the Inner Reality); and the Antar-yaami (the Inner Motivator). The Vedas declare Vaasudevah Sarvamidham - "All this is Vasudeva, God." They all say, Neha Naanaasti, Kinchana - "There is not the slightest trace of many-ness here." Ekam Eva - There is only ONE; Adviteeyam - without a second. 

Realising and experiencing this basic Truth, becoming blissful and aware of one's native Divinity is the victory that this Prashanti Flag denotes. Have you won that victory? No. Why then. am I hoisting it for your exhilaration, on this Festival Day? I am only hoisting it to instruct you, to inspire you, and to remind you of the precious heritage of Upanishadic wisdom, that your forefathers have earned and left for you. You are basking today in the sunshine of their glory; you have the chance to live on the fortune they have left behind for their children and children's children. This Flag invites you all to share in that immeasurable treasure.

Source: Divine Discourse delivered on October 16, 1974 at Prasanthi Nilayam

What is the Spiritual Significance of the Poornahuti in Yajna?

 October  2 to 8, 1981

Bhagavan seated in a splendorous epic chariot, proceeded in a procession to the auditorium from the Mandir amidst Vedic chants. The ‘Veda Purusha Saptaha Jnana Yajna’ was inaugurated at Poornachandra Auditorium at 9 am on 2nd October. He blessed the vast gathering with a Discourse revealing the inner mystery of the Yajna. Bhagavan rejoiced the devotees with His Discourses on all evenings of the festival.

The Bal Vikas students of Madras staged a drama on the 7th, depicting the childhood ‘Leelas’ of Bhagavan. He inaugurated two medical camps in the Vidyagiri Campus organised by the students of Sri Sathya Sai Colleges at Prashanti Nilayam. Bhagavan blessed the patients of the camps at Poornachandra Auditorium on Vijaya Dashami day, the 8th of October. In His Discourse Swami said:

“On Vijayadashami day, the seven-day long Vedic ritual, performed for the promotion of peace and prosperity among all men in all lands and called Veda Purusha Yajna, (sacrifice dedicated of Vedic divinity) concludes with the valedictory offering to the Gods who preside over various facets of nature. This is called Poornahuti (the fullest Invocation) and usually a number of valuable things are poured and placed in the sacrificial fire, adored and fed during the entire week. The closing ritual is named Samapti, a word usually translated as the End. But its real meaning is Samapti, or the attainment of Sama and Brahma (Brahmic vision). The final offering is of one's self, which is the culmination of the sacrifices rendered all along. The significance of Poornahuti is fulfilling one's earthly life by dedicating one's self to the Omni-Will or Brahman. This is also known as surrender or Sharanagati.

What exactly is Poornahuti or Sharanagati? The meaning that is most current is to declare: “My body, my mind, my possessions, my all, I offer to you." This is an incorrect interpretation. This interpretation is a sign of total ignorance. It concedes that you and God are distinct entities, But that is not true. God is not separate from you, for God is in all, everywhere, at all times. "Ishwarassarva-Bhootaanaam. "How then can you be apart? How can God be separate entity? Water, wave and foam are only apparently distinct. All three are the same; only their names and forms create the illusion of diversity.

You cannot give what you do not own

Of course, you can and do announce, "I surrender my mind, my thoughts, my feelings and imaginings, to God" But your monkey-mind escapes from your hold; how, then, can you capture it and claim it and surrender it to God? What authority do you possess to offer something you are not master of?. The whole process reminds one of the Telugu proverb about gift by son-in-law of the property owned by the mother-in-law. How can anyone give another what he does not own? Is your body under full control? When blood starts flowing out of a vein on your hand, you cannot stop the flow. You rush to a hospital and call out, "Doctor! Doctor! Tie a bandage!" When you suffer from a stroke and limbs on one side are paralysed, you are helplessly unable to repair them. How can you dedicate your body, which you cannot rule over?

Such statements like surrendering body, mind and heart are only rhetoric sanctioned by tradition and long usage. The act of surrender is often highlighted as Atma-arpana. The expression is even more ridiculous. When you are Atma in essence, how can Atma (Self) offer it to itself? The body is a composite of the five elements; it cannot avoid disintegration, but the dweller within the body has no birth or death, no desire or despair, no attachment or bondage. In truth, that dweller is the God of Gods who resides as Atma in you. This is what the seers have experienced. So Atma-arpana is a meaningless expression. You have nothing in you or belonging to you that you can claim as yours to offer to God.

Then, what does surrender of the self signify or imply? To experience God as Omnipresent, to be aware of nothing other than God – this is true surrender. To see God in everything, everywhere, at all times, is true Sharanagati. He gives, He enjoys, He experiences. If you offer, and God accepts, you become superior; how can God be all-powerful? You should not reduce the glory of God through such high-sounding statements.

You may be an erudite scholar who can interpret the scriptures. You may read or recite the Bhagavad Geeta scores of times. Of course, these are good attainments and practices. But, one has to carry out one's duty with devotion and discipline. It is not devotion to parade the ochre robe; sins won't fade away when Mantras (holy formulae) roll out of the tongue; spiritual merit cannot accrue in heaps when the Geetha is held in the hand and loudly acclaimed in speech. The real Sadhu is he whose deeds are in accordance with the words of advice he utters. Devotion cannot tolerate in the devotee the slightest trace of envy or jealousy. Make your daily life holy and pure. Render your life worth-while through service to man and service to society. That is the most important aspect of surrendering the self.”

Bhagavan gave Darshan reclining on the Jhoola that evening. Smt P. Suseela, Sri Rajeswara Rao, Sri Ramakrishna and Sri Adinarayana, offered devotional songs.

Source: Sri Sathya Sai Digvijayam (1926-1985)

First All India Conference of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Dal at Prasanthi Nilayam

October 3-4, 1970

The 1st All India Conference of the Sri Sathya Sai Seva Dal was held at the Prayer Hall on 3rd October morning with Sri Nakul Sen as the Chairman. Sri N. Kasturi, and other elders addressed the gathering. Sri Sen then delivered his presidential address. In the Valedictory meeting of the conference, Swami gave His Divine Message to the delegates. He said:

“The mind is just a pattern of desires, a composite of the warp and woof of plans and resolutions. It has immense potentiality to create manifold images, and so is also called imagination, Imagination hides the Truth. It fogs the intellect, perverts the vision, deviates the straight path of the aspirant. Desire creates a mirage where there was none before. Desire imposes beauty where there was none before; it clothes things with desirability. To escape from the clutches of desire, which gives birth to the brood of anger, hatred, malice, greed, envy, faction, falsehood, etc., one has to cleanse his consciousness by prayer and Satkarma (good activity, selfless, desireless activity). Seva is the best Sadhana for eliminating the nefarious pull of the mind towards desires.

Take up the attitude of servant with God as Master

Rama asked Hanuman how he was related to Him. Hanuman replied, "When I feel I am this body, I am related to you as a Servant to his Master; when I feel I am the individualised soul, Jeevatma, I am related to you as the reflection in the mirror is to the Original that is before it. When I know that I am the Universal Soul, and that all other appearances are futile fancy, I am related to you, no, I am You, You are I." So long as you are bound to the superstition that you are the Body, with the Name given to it as your name and the Form in which it appears to others as your Form, you must take up the attitude of Servant, with God as Master, with all others as Master, and wipe out the ego, by constant denial of its demands. That is the reason why I called together the All India Conference of Sathya Sai Seva Dals, so that they may know from Me the basic principle of Service.

When a rich man employs an attendant on Rs. 30 a month, he accepts the attention and the other offers the attention, with the recompense always in view; there can be no Sevak-Sevya (servant-served) bond between them. It is a cash nexus that binds them. But when there is no compulsion on the side and no compensation required on the other, then, it is really Seva. Offer what service you can with no thought of the reward--that is real Seva. This is the secret of Karma Yoga, as defined in the Geeta, which Nakul Sen explained so clearly to you now.

Various service activities were mentioned here, as part of Seva Dal programmes - friendly visits to hospital wards, Bhajans in Jails and Reformatories and Remand Homes, helping the poor among arrivals at Bus Terminals and Railway Stations, etc. All these are good acts, no doubt; but whatever is done, however useful or demonstrative, it is the spirit behind the service that matters.

It is your nature to give and forgive

Treat the person served as your own brother or sister, as children of Bharat Mata, who is your own mother. Your sisters and brothers have different bodies, separate from yours, like these others, haven't they? But, yet, you feel a special attachment to them. Why? It is the consequence of Love. Have the same Love to these others, too. You love Me and adore Me, don't you? Well; see Me in all beings, for I am there, in all beings. Like the current that illumines every bulb, however weak or strong, your God is in every living being. Win Grace by worshipping Me who is moving in and through them.

You need not be wearing the uniform or parading the badge; he need not wear the uniform of supplication, or parade the badge of pain. Sit by him, as you will sit with your brother. Hold the patient by the hand, look into his eyes with compassion, fill his palms with Prasadam, inquire how you can help him and let tears of gratitude flow from his freshened eyes. That is the reward which must sustain you. Even if there is no expression of thanks, even if you are received with cold silence or shrug of dislike, carry on, for it is your nature to be giving and forgiving.

If you have a silver image of Ganapati and you desire instead an image of Krishna, it is foolish to cover the image with a piece of cloth and pray that it might get transformed into Krishna! You have to break it into pieces, melt the silver and pour it into a new mould, the mould of Krishna. So too, if you seek to transform yourself into Madhava, you have to pour the mind melted in the fire of Jnana (spiritual wisdom); the mind can be melted only after it has been hewn into pieces by means of various acts like seva, Sankeertan, Japa, Dhyana (service, singing, chanting and meditating), all sharp with the edge of renunciation.

Love is born in the womb of Seva

Human lives are now passing on and on, filth over filth, bent, broken, diseased, distressed, disheartened. To ennoble these lives and to make the human heritage worthwhile, I have come. I am evincing all this enthusiasm to teach you the proper attitude to Seva, for, Love expresses itself as Seva; Love grows through Seva; Love is born in the womb of Seva. And God is Love. The Avatar is a Child to the children, a Boy to the boys, a Man among men, a Woman among women, so that the Avatar's message might reach each heart and receive enthusiastic response, as Ananda (bliss). It is the compassion of the Avatar that prompts His every activity.

Birds, beasts and trees have not deviated from their Nature; they are still holding it valid. Man alone has disfigured it, in his crude attempt to improve upon it. So, the Avatar has to come as man among men, and move as friend, well-wisher, kinsman, guide, teacher, healer and participant among men. He has come to restore Dharma, and so when man follows Dharma, He is pleased and content. Act so that your career as a man is not degraded, desecrated. With hands on chest, assert, "I am man; I am human; I am saturated with shining humanity, humanness." God does not draw you near or keep you far, you near Him or keep away from Him. God has no likes or dislikes. You live according to the highest demands of your nature and you are near Him. 

Make every work as Divine worship

Learn lessons from the Sun, Moon, the clouds, the sea - all are teachers of the prime importance of discharging one's duty, without complaint. Trees distribute their fruits and their shade to everyone, even those who lay the axe with intention to destroy them! Mountains suffer heat, rain and storm without demur, and are plunged in meditation for ages. Birds do not hoard for years together the wherewithal for food or shelter; they do not lament for they do not lavish affection on their progeny, more than absolutely necessary for their survival.

Nature (Prakriti) is your school, your laboratory, the gateway to liberation, and the panorama of God's manifold majesty. Seek to know the lessons it is ready to teach; all things in Nature are as Brahman as you are. So, any act is Divine; any work is Divine worship; build the mansion of your life on the strong foundation of the faith that all this is Brahman. Monks, Sanyasins, Heads of Mutts and Monastic Organisations preach in an atmosphere surcharged with pomp, pedantry and publicity, "the Vedas insist on the dissolution of the ego, the Quran insists on surrender, the Bible emphasises humility and charity;" but, they wallow in the low desires for pelf, power, name and fame. They aspire for transient trinkets, tawdry fame, and cheap tinsel glories. What they have to teach is simply this: When you feel you are a Jeeva (individual being), you are separated from God; when you feel you are Deva (Divine), you are one with Him. Seeing the rope as a snake makes you shiver; seeing it as the rope you lose fear and start playing with it; it is yours, for the grasping! The snake did not arrive or depart; the rope did not arrive or depart. Light appeared and darkness disappeared. Ignorance fled, knowledge dawned - all in a trice.

Be true to your own Truth

Do not imagine that God is residing in Kashi or Rameshwaram or Puttaparthi. Know that He is in your own heart; evoke Him from there, invoke Him there, and He grants you the Vision, immediately. I am in your heart and so, your tricks cannot mislead the God you are. You are Sathya Swaroopa - the embodiments of Truth. That is why I do not address you as, 'O ye Disciples!' 'O ye Devotees!' That will be crediting you with a status you do not have. I call you as Atma Swaroopulaara (O ye Embodiments of the Atma), which is a correct statement of fact. No experiment can prove this untrue. You must also be made aware of this.

You are not Yelliah, Malliah or Pulliah; you are the immortal eternal ever-pure Atma! Gandhi, replied, when Karunyaananda asked for his blessings, "My blessings will not help you at all; win the blessings of the Truth that is your very core! That alone will stand by you, in times of need!" You are Sathya Swaroopa (embodiments of Truth); be true to your own Truth.

The Prashanti Vidwan Mahasabha is propagating the tonic teachings of the Vedas and Upanishads; many hear but few nurture and nourish. There are some who come to Me and ask for Upadesha (instruction), some Mantra which they can repeat and through the vibrations the Mantra produces, they hope to break the shackles that seemingly bind them! They tell Me they have read the Geetha scores of times, with all its commentaries; they can repeat the shlokas, all the 700, upside down, and interpret them, in any of the three ways---Dualistic, Qualified, Monistic. I tell them, "If you have not developed faith in the words of God that you have read, recited, learnt by rote and revered for years, how are you confident you will use my Upadesh with confidence that it will save you! I have neither Swadesh, Desh or Upadesh - this or that type of instruction!

The best Guru is the Divine in you

The secret of liberation lies, not in the mystic formula that is whispered in the ear and rotated on the rosary, it lies in the stepping out into action, the walking forward in practice, the pious pilgrim route and the triumphant reaching of the Goal. The best Guru is the Divine in you; yearn for hearing His Voice, His Upadesh. If you seek worldly Gurus, you will have to run from one to another, like a rat caught inside a drum, which flees to the right when the drummer beats on the left and to the left when he beats the right!

Be aware of God and His overpowering Love, whatever you do or say. That is the best advice I can give to the members of the Seva Dal. The young persons of this ancient land blindly pursue the ideals and fashions of other lands, which have no depth of culture, who are amateurs in the art of successful living. Their dress, talk, behaviour, conduct and attitude appear outlandish, strange and absurd, in the background of the culture of Bharat. They cause grief and pain to those who know the worth of the ways they desert. Love of country or culture springs from the love of parents; it is the love you bear them, their language, their religion, their modes that later blossom into love of the family, the community, the village, the religion, the language, and the soil of the entire country Which sustains all these.

Keep away from bad company and pray to God

The age period, from 16 to 30 years, is a crucial stage, when man achieves best and struggles hardest to achieve. Once frittered, these years of life can never be regained) Take no devious path, but move in the footsteps of God and the godly during this period of your life. The body is but a lump of clay we carry about with us, between birth and death. We were Atma before birth and we shall be Atma again, after this sojourn on earth. Devote the body while you have it, with all its furnishings of intellect and imagination, skill and knowledge, for the purposes I indicate and win Grace.

When you get, in spite of best efforts, ugly, harmful ideas of hatred or anger, or animalism, you must infer that they are due to faults in food habits, or in the company you keep, either with friends or books or films or other forms of entertainment. Keep away from such and pray to God, your guardian to save you from the fall, towards which you are heading. Ideas of suicide, let me tell you, are born out of the most despicable form of cowardice. Do not allow them to affect you; be bold, so bold that you are determined to brave out any calamity that may assail you. When you have God installed in your heart, who can lead you to destruction?

When you are agitated by anger or hatred or agony, drink cold water; lie down quietly;  sing a few Bhajan songs. Or, walk some long distance alone, pretty fast, so that pestering thoughts are driven into silence and the solitude; blood circulates faster and movement dulls the sharpness of the thought. You may be worried, because you have promised Me something and later, you are tempted to break your word. Now, do not hesitate. When you promise that you will not smoke, or will not attend films, the promise must be clear, firm and complete. I do not gain by your promise nor do I lose, if you break it. You gain self-confidence, you gain strength, you gain moral fibre, you gain Ananda. Yes; your Ananda is My Food. So, I gain, too!

Wisdom wipes out all differences

The snows on the mountain peaks soften during day, as a result of the Sun; they harden during the night, since the Sun is absent. So too, your hard heart hardens Me; your soft hearts soften Me. Understand this: Each of you knows the Love of a single mother only. But My affection, My Love towards every one of you is that of a thousand Mothers! Do not deny yourself that affection, that Love, by denying Me your Love!

The need to surrender was mentioned by someone. Who offers? Who receives? You are yourself God, to whom then are you offering? Yet, you use the word, Arpana, Atmaarpitam (Offering of oneself). The problem is epochal; the solution is dismissed by the use of a word! When you discover that you are God, there is no Arpana, no Atmaarpitam. Wisdom wipes out all; God alone remains. 

Once there was a long fight between Wealth (Dhana) and Wisdom (Jnana), to decide who was more praiseworthy. Wealth said that it is wanted if you must travel from your place to Puttaparthi, for example; it is essential to spend some money for attending a cinema; for having a meal. The world cannot spin even a second, without the spin of a coin! Wisdom said, no one can distinguish between a tenner or a single rupee note, unless he has intelligence; no one can discriminate between ruinous ways of spending money, or beneficial ways. Like the two cats that chose a monkey to arbitrate, they approached a Guru and laid before him their problem. The Guru said, both are good, equally good, provided each is used for a good purpose. It is the use that decides the good and bad of the two. Being a man, is itself the great wealth you have. Use it to the best advantage. Have wisdom enough to recognise, not only that you are a man, but also that you are no longer an animal, a beast or brute. That makes Wisdom complete; or else, it is only partial.

It is imperative to have strict discipline

A word about the Rules and Restrictions for Seva Dals. You must implicitly follow the directions of the State President and the District President, who nominate the Convenors. When you are tempted to question them, remind yourself that their words have come through the Grace and Blessings of Bhagavan, who has nominated them. Be polite, humble and sweet in your responses to the commands you receive. It is imperative to have strict discipline; no exception or concession can be tolerated, One word, one road---that should be the motto.

In some Sanghs and Samitis (societies and organisations), as a result of the ambition of one individual or the greed of one group, factions have sprouted and the spiritual atmosphere has been fouled. The infection of politics has infiltrated into these Organisations. This is because some people have started the Samitis for their own aggrandizement. These will soon be eliminated, do not worry. 

You must carry on your service, regardless of what the elders are doing to earn name or fame. Serve, because you must, because your inner impulse asks you to do it, because you get Ananda out of it. When you find that a patient can be cured by a drug that he is too poor to purchase, if the Doctor says that it is urgent and essential to save his life, do not hesitate to borrow or lend the money. Ask a member of the Samiti, or anyone else; for, the life is more precious. Service at the time when it is most needed is most beneficial. Try to get milk powder and supply milk and fruits to the poor who are suffering neglect in hospitals. God likes to be worshipped with the flower of Compassion. 

Scatter the seeds of Love in dreary desert hearts; then, sprouts of Love will make the wastes green with joy, blossoms of Love will make the air flagrant, rivers of Love will murmur along the valleys and every bird, beast and child will sing the song of Love. Now, we have Seva Dals only in some villages and towns. We must have them in all villages and all towns, so that the service of man by man can lead to the discovery by man of the God that is his reality.

Soure: Sri Sathya Sai Digvijayam (1926 - 1985)