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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY as written at Prasanthi Nilayam Today

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Date: Friday, July 30, 2010
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
It is a very difficult task to secure a good Guru. Sishyas (disciples) can become exemplary persons only when a real Guru accepts them. When pure-hearted, unselfish and non-egoistic students approach a Guru, the Guru exults in ecstatic delight. Parikshith, the Emperor, renounced everything and decided to realise God, and, right at that moment, Maharshi Suka appeared, to guide him straight to his goal. Similarly, when the good Sishyas get good Gurus, they succeed not only in attaining Bliss but also in conferring peace, prosperity and joy upon the entire world.

-BABASathya Sai Baba online Resource, Info, Books, Sai centres, mantras, Miracles, Bhajans, Letters from Sai Baba, Sai Meditation, Sai Baba Prophesies & more  

Date: Thursday, July 29, 2010

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
It is mentioned that "Success begets success." But how is success to be achieved and what is the success you should aim at? The Bhagavad Geeta declares: "Shraddhavan Labhathe Jnanam" (The persevering seeker secures wisdom). This means that without perseverance and earnestness no success can be achieved. Man is not able to make significant progress towards the Divine because of absence of strenuous striving in the spiritual sphere. Without spiritual practice, reading religious books and listening to spiritual discourses have no value. Study of scriptures and reciting God's names may be good acts in themselves. But, if there is no love, which is the basis of all Sadhana (spiritual discipline), they are of no use.

-BABASathya Sai Baba online Resource, Info, Books, Sai centres, mantras, Miracles, Bhajans, Letters from Sai Baba, Sai Meditation, Sai Baba Prophesies & more  

 

Date: Wednesday, July 28, 2010

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
It is creditable if you behave as a human being and even more creditable if you behave as God would. But to behave as a demon or a beast is indeed despicable. Human beings were long born as a mineral, then became a tree; in the process of evolution, got promoted to an animal, and finally rose to the status of a human being. It is a great shame if an individual slides into the beast or a beastly ogre. One deserves praise only if one rises to the Divine status. That is the fulfilment of one’s destiny. Avoid contact with the vices and develop attachment to virtues. Transmute your heart into an altar for the Lord. Destroy all the shoots and sprouts of desire. Then, your heart will be sublimated into Ksheerasagara, the pure ocean of milk where Lord Vishnu reclines. Your heart will be transformed and you will discover endless delight.

-BABASathya Sai Baba online Resource, Info, Books, Sai centres, mantras, Miracles, Bhajans, Letters from Sai Baba, Sai Meditation, Sai Baba Prophesies & more  

 

 

 
 
Date: Tuesday, July 27, 2010
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Thapas (penance) does not mean positioning oneself upside down, head on the ground and feet held up, like a bat. Nor is it the renunciation of possessions and properties, wife and children, emaciating one’s body or holding the nose to regulate one’s breath. NO. Physical actions, oral assertions and mental resolves—all three have to be in unison. The thought, the speech and the act all have to be pure. This is the real Thapas. And they have to be co-ordinated not by the compulsion of duty. The effort must be undertaken for satisfying one’s inner yearnings, for the contentment of the self. This struggle is the essence of Thapas.

 

-BABASathya Sai Baba online Resource, Info, Books, Sai centres, mantras, Miracles, Bhajans, Letters from Sai Baba, Sai Meditation, Sai Baba Prophesies & more  

 

Date: Monday, July 26, 2010

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
The contemplation of death is the very foundation of spiritual discipline. Without it, you are certain to fall into falsehood, pursuing the objects of sense-pleasure and trying to accumulate worldly riches. Death is no ominous calamity. It is a step into the auspicious brightness beyond. It is inescapable; it cannot be bribed away or adjourned by certificates of good conduct or testimonials from the great. Once born, death is inevitable. You must perform deeds which breed no bad consequences. Engage every day in every activity as an offering to God. Then you need not be born again and again and can escape death. This inquiry is the very core of spiritual path and will help you achieve immortality.

-BABASathya Sai Baba online Resource, Info, Books, Sai centres, mantras, Miracles, Bhajans, Letters from Sai Baba, Sai Meditation, Sai Baba Prophesies & more  

 

 

Date: Sunday, July 25, 2010

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Guru Poornima is sacred for many reasons. Today, the seeker who suffers from the false identification with the objective world is initiated into the reality of the unseen motivator of the world, God. On this day, those who have no urge to tread the spiritual path are inspired to seek the path of bliss. With the rise of the sun, the world is bathed in light and heat. So too, with the coming of Guru Poornima, the human heart is bathed in peace and security. Guru Poornima is not just a day in the year marked in a calendar. It is the day when your mind, whose presiding deity is the moon, becomes full of pleasantness and coolness, and is fully illumined with the light of intellect and discrimination.

-BABASathya Sai Baba online Resource, Info, Books, Sai centres, mantras, Miracles, Bhajans, Letters from Sai Baba, Sai Meditation, Sai Baba Prophesies & more  

 

 

 

 
Date: Saturday, July 24, 2010
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Today people have lost the precious virtue of fear of sin. It is only lack of fear of sin that is responsible for the present plight of the society. Today people are committing several sins with the belief that God is kind and will ultimately forgive their sins. With this belief, they are indulging in more and more sinful acts. They have developed a sort of complacency and think that they can escape punishment. But the fact is otherwise. Though God is compassionate and may forgive all sinful acts, every human being has to necessarily pay for his/her sins. For morality to exist in society, fear of sin is essential. Hence everyone must develop the three qualities of: love for God, fear of sin and morality in society.
 

-BABASathya Sai Baba online Resource, Info, Books, Sai centres, mantras, Miracles, Bhajans, Letters from Sai Baba, Sai Meditation, Sai Baba Prophesies & more  

 

Date: Friday, July 23, 2010
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
You must learn how to make your parents happy. Today, parents are being treated like servants. Some parents are being admitted into old age homes, when there is shortage of money. This is not correct. It is your responsibility to look after your parents and provide necessary support to them. They should not be sent to old age homes. You must keep them with you and serve them. You need not prepare special items for their sake. It is enough if you can give them what you are eating. Whatever job you take up, you must always serve your parents and make them happy. Serving your parents must be the greatest fortune you must aspire for. It is enough if you take care of your parents, your children and your family. That is the hallmark of real education.

-BABASathya Sai Baba online Resource, Info, Books, Sai centres, mantras, Miracles, Bhajans, Letters from Sai Baba, Sai Meditation, Sai Baba Prophesies & more  

 

 

Date: Thursday, July 22, 2010
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Withdrawal from sensory objects is an important virtue. It implies a state of mind that is above and beyond all dualities that agitate and affect common people, such as joy and grief. Withdrawal from sensory objects can be achieved while engaged in day to day living. Do not look at the world with a worldly eye. Then, even you can escape from the opposites of grief and joy, and attain balance and equal mindedness. You experience the One as many because of the mind playing its games. Practice seeing everything as a projection/extension of the Loving Lord. Then, you will be able to cross the horizon of dualities into the region of One.

-BABASathya Sai Baba online Resource, Info, Books, Sai centres, mantras, Miracles, Bhajans, Letters from Sai Baba, Sai Meditation, Sai Baba Prophesies & more  

 

 

Date: Wednesday, July 21, 2010

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Your very nature is Prema (Love). You cannot survive even for a moment, when deprived of Love. It is the very breadth of your life. When the six vices, to which you were attached so long, disappear, Love becomes the only occupant of your heart. Love has to find an object, a loved one. It cannot remain alone. You will then direct it to the charming, sweet Lord, who is Purity Personified, who is the embodiment of service, sacrifice and selflessness and who has taken residence in the cleansed altar of your heart. Then, there will be no scope for any other attachment to grow. Step by step, this love for God becomes deeper, purer, more self-denying, until at last, there is no need for thoughts, and the individual is merged in the Universal.

-BABASathya Sai Baba online Resource, Info, Books, Sai centres, mantras, Miracles, Bhajans, Letters from Sai Baba, Sai Meditation, Sai Baba Prophesies & more  

 

  

 

Date: Tuesday, July 20, 2010

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
If you desire to wash off the dirt accumulated from the clothes you wear, you need both soap and clean water. So too, if you are anxious to remove the impurities that have got accumulated in the mind, both Vidya (spiritual knowledge) and Thapas (penance) are essential. Only when both are used can the levels of consciousness be thoroughly cleansed. No vehicle can move without at least two wheels, nor can a bird fly with just one wing. So too, no one can be rendered holy or purified without Vidya and Thapas.

-BABASathya Sai Baba online Resource, Info, Books, Sai centres, mantras, Miracles, Bhajans, Letters from Sai Baba, Sai Meditation, Sai Baba Prophesies & more  

 

 

 

Date: Monday, July 19, 2010

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
The mind is a bundle of thoughts, a complex collection of wants and wishes. As soon as a thought, desire or wish raises its head in the mind, the intellect must probe its value and validity. Is it good or bad? Will it help or hinder? Where will this lead? Where will it end? If the mind does NOT submit to this probe, it will land itself on the path of ruin. If it does and obeys the intelligence, it will move along the right path.

-BABASathya Sai Baba online Resource, Info, Books, Sai centres, mantras, Miracles, Bhajans, Letters from Sai Baba, Sai Meditation, Sai Baba Prophesies & more  

 

 

 
Date: Sunday, July 18, 2010
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Through the process of listening to the glory of God, an impure heart will be transformed into a pure, illumined heart shining with divine light. To the foul odors of sense-pursuits, keenness to listen to the splendor of God is a valuable disinfectant, besides being in itself so full of sweet fragrance. The listening will cleanse the heart through the prompting it gives for good work. Such a cleansed heart is the most appropriate altar. In that fragrant bower, the Lord will establish Himself. At that very moment, another event too will occur. The group of six vices that had infested the heart will quit without any farewell. When these vices quit, the wicked retinue of evil tendencies and vulgar attitudes which live on them will break camp and disappear without a trace! Then, you will shine in your native splendour of Truth and Love, and be successful in merging with the Universal and Eternal.

-BABASathya Sai Baba online Resource, Info, Books, Sai centres, mantras, Miracles, Bhajans, Letters from Sai Baba, Sai Meditation, Sai Baba Prophesies & more  

Date: Saturday, July 17, 2010

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Knowledge can be considered as having two aspects: Baahya Vidya and Brahma Vidya. Baahya Vidya provides the wherewithal for human livelihood. You can study many subjects, earn valuable degrees, acquire lucrative job and manage to spend your life with no worry and fear. This type of Vidya helps you perform whatever job you may doing, be it that of a humble clerk or a Prime Minister. Brahma Vidya, on the other hand, endows you with the strength, that will enable you to discharge successfully the duty you owe to yourself. It lays down the path which leads both to joy in worldly relations and bliss in the life beyond. Therefore, Brahma Vidya is far superior to all Vidya available to man on earth.

-BABASathya Sai Baba online Resource, Info, Books, Sai centres, mantras, Miracles, Bhajans, Letters from Sai Baba, Sai Meditation, Sai Baba Prophesies & more  

 
Date: Friday, July 16, 2010
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Control of the body and senses can be achieved only by spiritual practices and not by any other means. You must avoid wasting precious time in useless pursuits. You must be ever vigilant. You must engage the senses of perception and action by performing congenial and noble tasks to keep yourself busy. There should be no room for sloth to creep in. Also, every act must promote the good of others. Thus, while performing your daily duties (Swa-dharma) in this manner, you can sublimate the body and senses, and uplift yourself.

-BABASathya Sai Baba online Resource, Info, Books, Sai centres, mantras, Miracles, Bhajans, Letters from Sai Baba, Sai Meditation, Sai Baba Prophesies & more

 

 

Date: Thursday, July 15, 2010

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
The person who expounds the glory of God must have the thrill of genuine experience. Then you are supremely lucky as a listener, for it yields the best results. The expounder's face will blossom with joy; their eyes will shed tears of joy at the very contemplation of the glory of God. When you listen, you should catch that inspiration. Then, you will experience that joy yourself. When an infant smiles, those around will also smile in unison. So too, the words of those who are saturated with devotion to God will saturate the hearts of those who listen also with devotion and joy. It is impossible to measure the profit that one can derive while in the company of the pious and the great.

-BABASathya Sai Baba online Resource, Info, Books, Sai centres, mantras, Miracles, Bhajans, Letters from Sai Baba, Sai Meditation, Sai Baba Prophesies & more

 

 

Date: Wednesday, July 14, 2010

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Knowledge was compared to light and ignorance to darkness by the ancients. ‘Vid’ is the root of the word ‘Vidya’. ‘Vid’ means ‘light’. ‘Ya’ means ‘what’. So, the meaning of the term ‘Vidya’ is that which gives light. From this term, it is evident that Brahma Vidya (knowledge of the Self) alone deserves to be known as Vidya, as it illumines our minds. Just as light and darkness cannot co-exist in the same place at the same time, Vidya and Avidya (ignorance) cannot be together. So, when you journey along the path of progress, you must purify your consciousness and illumine yourself with Brahma Vidya.

-BABASathya Sai Baba online Resource, Info, Books, Sai centres, mantras, Miracles, Bhajans, Letters from Sai Baba, Sai Meditation, Sai Baba Prophesies & more

  

 

Date: Tuesday, July 13, 2010

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Reading and enjoying the stories of the glory of the Lord in some sacred spot like temple, prayer hall, shrine, hermitage of a saint, or in the company of virtuous and good people, is a source of great inspiration and joy. It will make you forget everything else. Taste for such wholesome literature is the result of accumulated merit and endeavour. You can even approach pious men, serve them and listen to their exposition of the glory of God. Listening alone will be enough in the beginning. Later, the stories will arouse interest in the nature and characteristics of God and the aspirants will find and seek for themselves the path to Self-realization.

-BABASathya Sai Baba online Resource, Info, Books, Sai centres, mantras, Miracles, Bhajans, Letters from Sai Baba, Sai Meditation, Sai Baba Prophesies & more

 

 

Date: Monday, July 12, 2010
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
People have three chief instruments for uplifting themselves: intelligence, mind and senses. When the mind gets enslaved by the senses, you will get entangled and bound. When the same mind is regulated by the intellect, you can become aware of your own Reality. The potency of your mind can be promoted by good practices like meditation, repetition of Lord's Name, devotional singing and worship. The mental power thus gained from spiritual practices should be turned away from wrong paths. Your mind must be released from the hold of the senses and directed by the principle of intelligence. Then, spiritual progress will be rapid.

-BABASathya Sai Baba online Resource, Info, Books, Sai centres, mantras, Miracles, Bhajans, Letters from Sai Baba, Sai Meditation, Sai Baba Prophesies & more

 

 

Date: Sunday, July 11, 2010

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Of all the professions, the teacher's profession has to adhere utmost to the ideal of truth. When teachers stray from truth, society meets with disaster. Thousands of tender children, unacquainted with the ways of the world, pass through their hands. The impact of their teachings and their personality will be great and lasting. Therefore, the teacher has to be free from bad habits, for children automatically adopt the habits and manners of elders. This is an ever-present danger. When the evil influence is directed towards the thousands who receive the impact, the society gets polluted.
 

-BABASathya Sai Baba online Resource, Info, Books, Sai centres, mantras, Miracles, Bhajans, Letters from Sai Baba, Sai Meditation, Sai Baba Prophesies & more

 

 

Date: Saturday, July 10, 2010
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Mind control is very hard to attain. The mind can cause bondage as well as confer liberation. It is an amalgam of the passionate and ignorant attitudes, and can be easily polluted. It relishes in hiding the real nature of things and casting on them the forms and values that it desires. So you must regulate the activity of the mind. Understand the first characteristic of the mind: it runs helplessly after the senses. Whichever sense the mind follows, it is to invite disaster. When a pot of water becomes empty, we need not infer that it has leaked away through ten holes - one hole is enough to empty it! So too, even if one sense is not under control, you will be thrown into bondage. So, every sense has to be mastered.

-BABASathya Sai Baba online Resource, Info, Books, Sai centres, mantras, Miracles, Bhajans, Letters from Sai Baba, Sai Meditation, Sai Baba Prophesies & more

 

 

Date: Friday, July 09, 2010

 

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Spiritual aspirants will rejoice in listening to the Glory of God. They will join the company which exults in praising the Lord. This is their hallmark. Spiritual aspirants and votaries of the Lord are to be judged using these barometers and not by external appearances or apparel. If you mix with people who revel in sensory talk and activities, then you put yourself out of His Court. Spend your time in the company of the good and godly, engaged in Godly affairs. Avoid the company of the ungodly. Only when you establish yourself in good company and avoid bad company, can you be called as Bhagavatha or God's own!
 

-BABASathya Sai Baba online Resource, Info, Books, Sai centres, mantras, Miracles, Bhajans, Letters from Sai Baba, Sai Meditation, Sai Baba Prophesies & more

 

Date: Thursday, July 08, 2010
 

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Sanyasa (Monkhood) does not mean the mere acceptance of the fourth stage of life and its rights and obligations, retirement into forest after breaking off contacts with the world. The monks should move among people, become aware of their sorrows and joys, and impart the instructions they direly need. They must transform society to be free from vice and wickedness by their teachings.

-BABASathya Sai Baba online Resource, Info, Books, Sai centres, mantras, Miracles, Bhajans, Letters from Sai Baba, Sai Meditation, Sai Baba Prophesies & more

  
Date: Wednesday, July 07, 2010

 

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
For understanding the Divine, mere yearning to know and the study of Vedas are not sufficient. The primary qualification you must acquire is Viveka: discrimination between the transitory and the eternal. Atma alone suffers no change; it alone is Timeless Truth. You must gain this unshakable conviction and be established in it. The second qualification is renunciation of the desire to enjoy the fruits of one's actions, here and hereafter. This is called Vairagya (Non-Attachment). Non-attachment does not mean giving up hearth and home, spouse and children and taking refuge in forests. It only involves the awareness of the world as transitory and, as a consequence of this awareness, discarding the feelings of "I" and "mine."

-BABASathya Sai Baba online Resource, Info, Books, Sai centres, mantras, Miracles, Bhajans, Letters from Sai Baba, Sai Meditation, Sai Baba Prophesies & more

 
 

Date: Tuesday, July 06, 2010

 

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
The infant does not know the taste of milk. By taking it daily, it develops an attachment for it which is so deep that when milk is to be given up and rice substituted, it starts to protest. But the mother does not despair. She persuades the child to take small quantities of cooked rice daily and through this process, the child starts liking rice and gives up milk. By practice, rice now becomes the child's natural food, so natural that even if rice is not available for a single day, it becomes miserable. So too, sensual pleasures are ‘natural’ at first. However, by means of practice, listening to the words of the wise, slowly, you will derive greater joy listening to the glories of God. Thereafter, you cannot exist without that holy atmosphere even for a minute. The company of the worldly chatter will no longer attract you. You will feel that there is nothing as sweet as the experience of listening to the splendour of the Lord.

-BABASathya Sai Baba online Resource, Info, Books, Sai centres, mantras, Miracles, Bhajans, Letters from Sai Baba, Sai Meditation, Sai Baba Prophesies & more

 

 

Date: Monday, July 05, 2010

 

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
The capacity to overcome the Gunas (tendencies) of Prakriti (Nature) is not inherent in any one; it comes to one with the Grace of the Lord. And that Grace is to be won by Japa (Repetition of God’s Name) and Dhyana (Meditation). The truth has to be experienced, in order that it might not slip away from consciousness; and the discipline needed for this is also Japa and Dhyana. This must first be clearly understood: it is impossible for every one to control the tendencies of Prakriti; the power is possessed only by those who have Prakriti in their grip and whose commands Prakriti does obey. Prakriti is the basis of everything in the Universe. It is the basis of Creation and Existence. All this is Prakriti: men or women, beasts or birds, trees or plants; in fact, all that can be seen is inseparable from Prakriti.

 
Date: Sunday, July 04, 2010

 

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Ajnana (Ignorance) and Dukha (Sorrow) cannot be destroyed by rituals and rites. This is the lesson the scriptures teach us. However, what is happening now is that people have forgotten their real nature. They believe that they are the body and the senses, and crave for objective pleasures. They delude themselves that they can secure joy by catering to the body and senses. Such attempts cannot earn bliss. Instead, they earn disillusionment, defeat and disaster; they reap sorrow and joy in quick succession. The Ajnana can only be destroyed with the knowledge of the Divine Self. When illusion disappears, the sorrow produced by one's involvement in the ups and downs of the world is destroyed and one can realize that humanity is the Embodiment of Bliss.
-BABA Sathya Sai Baba online Resource, Info, Books, Sai centres, mantras, Miracles, Bhajans, Letters from Sai Baba, Sai Meditation, Sai Baba Prophesies & more

Date: Saturday, July 03, 2010

 

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Generally speaking, one gets easily drawn to sense objects, as one becomes a victim of instincts. Instincts readily seek sense objects. Instincts come along with the body and do not require any training, just as an infant seeks milk from the mother's breast and the new born calf nestles at the udder. But for the infant to walk and talk, training is necessary. They are not automatic. These skills are prompted by example and imitation by others. So also, training is essential for the proper pursuit of sense pleasure, for it is the wild, untrained search for such pleasure that promotes anger, hatred, envy, malice and conceit. To train them along salutary lines and to hold them under control, certain good disciplines such as Japa (Repetition of God’s Name), Dhyana, (Meditation) and Upavasa (Fasting) are essential.

-BABASathya Sai Baba online Resource, Info, Books, Sai centres, mantras, Miracles, Bhajans, Letters from Sai Baba, Sai Meditation, Sai Baba Prophesies & more

 
Date: Friday, July 02, 2010
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Ignoring Madhava (God) who is free from Maya (delusion) and spending time immersed in Maya is fruitless; sorrow alone is the final gain. Whomsoever you love, that love has to come to an end. The self-same Lord gives and takes, as and when He wishes. Everything is His; so how foolish it is to lament when things belonging to Him are taken back by Him? The wise man will therefore not pine over any one or feel undue attachment to anything. Let all the pining and all the attachment be reserved for the Lord; He alone is eternal; He is the source of all joy. For the rest, love a thing as a thing, not more. Love man as man, not more. If you love them more, it is a sign that you have been deceived about their real nature.

-BABA Sathya Sai Baba online Resource, Info, Books, Sai centres, mantras, Miracles, Bhajans, Letters from Sai Baba, Sai Meditation, Sai Baba Prophesies & more

 

Date: Thursday, July 01, 2010

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Man creates and develops in himself an abounding variety of selfish habits and attitudes that leads to great discontent for himself. A person might feel elated that he has become the master of all arts, or owner of all wealth, or possessor of all knowledge; but from whom did he acquire all these? That source must indeed be greater. He might even claim that he earned all this through his own efforts. But surely someone gives it to him, in some form or other. This he cannot gainsay. The source from which all power originates is God. Ignoring the omnipotent Lord and deluding oneself thinking that the little power one has acquired is one's own is indeed egoism.
 

-BABASathya Sai Baba online Resource, Info, Books, Sai centres, mantras, Miracles, Bhajans, Letters from Sai Baba, Sai Meditation, Sai Baba Prophesies & more

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