Thought for the Day - As written at Prasanthi Nilayam


Thought for the Day Archive

January 2004

January 1, 2004

Embodiments of Love! The New Year comes regularly year after year. But do you have any new thoughts? You do not shed your old, mistaken ideas. They should be given up, yielding place to new, sacred and sublime thoughts. Of what use is it to celebrate new year days if you do not change your old ways of thinking and behaving? Make proper use of time which is both precious and sacred. Do not indulge in useless gossip. Develop good qualities like compassion, love and sympathy. Act as your own monitor and correct yourself by self-punishment. Above all, place your reliance on God.

January 2, 2004

You must realise that the Divine current that flows and functions in every living being is the One Universal entity. When you desire to enter the mansion of God, you are confronted by two closed doors - the desire to praise yourself and the desire to defame others. The doors are bolted by envy, and there is also the huge lock of egoism preventing entry. So, if you are earnest, you have to resort to the key of Prema (Love) and open the lock; then remove the bolt and throw the doors wide open.

January 3, 2004

There is the 'higher mind' in man. It is present to enable man to transcend the physical and mental planes and reach for the divine. Ordinary life consists of matter and mind. But, matter plus being is beyond mind. The mind attracts many objects that it sees. It promotes a variety of qualities, attitudes and attachments. Above all, it encourages the inflation of the ego. Puffed by the ego, man loses all powers of discrimination.

January 4, 2004

Man today has forgotten his true nature and perceives the world entirely through the senses and the mind. The world is the effect of which the Brahman is the primal cause. Truly speaking, the effect is not different from the cause. The millions of living beings are like the branches, twigs and leaves and the Brahman is the seed from which the tree has come in to being. He who is aware of this has understood the Vedas.

January 5, 2004

Impure gold is melted in the crucible and it emerges shining and bright. The mind rendered impure by Rajas (passion) and Thamas (sloth) and by the impressions of a thousand attachments and desires can be made bright and resplendent if it is put into the crucible of inquiry and heated on the coals of discrimination. That brightness is the light of realisation, of the knowledge that you are the Atman.

January 6, 2004

Man today is knocking on doors other than that of God. Man now is praying to God only for worldly possessions. Man should seek the gift of spiritual knowledge that can bring fulfillment to life. However, man today has acquired proficiency in various skills and has mastered many fields of knowledge, but he has not acquired the peace that is his due. Science can offer only temporary worldly comforts; spirituality alone can give you enduring bliss.

January 7, 2004

Man has demarcated two distinct goals before himself, material and spiritual. But, such distinction is wrong and ruinous. It may be congenial and convenient on the surface, but if acted upon, great harm will be caused to the blossoming of the soul. For they are both the same, one continuous pilgrimage towards the divinization of man.

January 8, 2004

It is best that you imprint on your heart the dual nature of the world that is a mixture of pleasure and pain, joy and grief, victory and defeat. Practice the constant presence of God and learn to offer all your activities at the feet of the Lord as an act of worship. Then they will be cleansed of all faults. Life sustained by food is short; life sustained by Atma is eternal. Do not lay claim to long life, but to divine life. Do not strive for more years of stay on the earth, but for more virtues in the heart.

January 9, 2004

You are all the indestructible Atma, nothing need discourage you. In your dream, you suffer so much due to loss of money, fire, floods, insult, etc., but once you wake up are not affected at all. When these events happen during the waking state, you feel afflicted. But let me tell you that from the state of Realisation, even the waking state is equally without validity. It is not the real 'you' that suffers all that. Give up the delusion that you are this physical entity and you become really free.

January 10, 2004

People should know that there is nothing closer to them than the divine. Each one must strive to recognise this indwelling divinity. Most people waste their time in observance of external rituals and forms of worship. Along with external observances, people should try to achieve internal purity. The human being is a composite of man, beast and God, and in the inevitable struggle among the three for dominance, you must ensure that God wins.

January 11, 2004

God and the devil, good and bad are denizens of one's own heart. Where God is, the devil cannot be. You cannot know what may happen at any time, in any situation. What is bound to happen cannot be prevented. Hence, you should regard anything that happens as a gift from God.

January 12, 2004

The wicked tendencies in man, such as arrogance, envy, bad thoughts and misdeeds, go on shearing the life of man into pieces. His bad qualities shorten his life span. When man's life is filled with good thoughts and good actions, he can live for a hundred years. The secret of the longevity enjoyed by the ancients is precisely this. Man today wastes his life immersed in bad thoughts and actions and ultimately meets a sad end.

January 13, 2004

Man is the embodiment of the Divine Atman which is infinite, ever-full, and indivisible. However, today men are filled with rajas (passion) and thamas (sloth) and are content with their merely dealing with the objective world. Their ideal is only to amass material wealth and satisfy material needs. Examine yourself and discover at what level you are by analysing your desires and activities. In this way, you can sublimate your thoughts and urges yourself.

January 14, 2004

The Makara Sankaranti is a holy occasion to pray to the Lord : Asatho maa sath gamaya (Lead me from unreal to Real); Thamaso maa jyothir gamaya (Lead me from darkness to Light); mruthyormaa amritham gamaya (Lead me from death to Immortality). Festivals connected with the Moon and the Sun are celebrated in order to drive into the minds of men the importance of mind control (Chandra or moon is the Deity of the Mind) and of clarifying the intelligence (Surya or the Sun is the Deity of the Intelligence). When the Sun moves Northward, that is 'Godward', the Intelligence too must proceed on the Godward path.

January 15, 2004

Man is unaware of the activities that can lighten the burden of his life and also illumine the Atman. It is the Atman that illumines all, but man is in the dark about its existence. Just as something tastes sweet because of sugar present in it, all objects are cognised because of the Atman. It is the universal witness.

January 16, 2004

As a drop of water on a lotus leaf disappears in no time, even so, we should know that our life is transient and will disappear in no time. The world is full of sorrow, the human body is full of disease and our life is full of turbulent thoughts. Under these circumstances, it is possible to live in a peaceful manner only by following the Divine path and getting over all our worldly attachments.

January 17, 2004

For a tree to grow and provide fruit and shade, there are three essential things - wind, rain and earth. Of greater importance than these three, is the seed, without which a tree can never grow. In the same manner, it is by the Sankalpa (Will) of God, that man is created in this world. In the case of every man, the Sankalpa that created him is like a seed. So long as the Sankalpa or desires are in man, it is not possible for him to escape being born.

January 18, 2004

There is only one royal road for the spiritual journey - love all beings as manifestations of the same divinity that is at the very core of oneself. This faith alone can ensure the constant presence of God within you and endow you with all the joy and courage you need to accomplish the pilgrimage to God.

January 19, 2004

Vedas are the recordings of visions and divine experiences whose source cannot be traced to one particular person. They were revealed by God Himself, out of his own innate mercy. The Vedic inheritance has been preserved pure and unsullied even to this day because it was handed down from the master to the disciple, in regular succession. Since it is timeless and authorless, it is worthy of acceptance by all. No one can afford to neglect or deny their value.

January 20, 2004

While driving a car, if you do not apply the brakes in time, accidents are bound to be your lot. Your body can be compared to a car. Your eyes are like the lights; your stomach, the petrol tank; your mouth, the horn; your mind, the steering wheel. Dharma (righteousness), Artha (wealth), Kama (noble desires), Moksha (liberation) are the wheels; air within the tyres is faith and Buddhi (intelligence) is the ignition switch.

January 21, 2004

Transcending the fifth element - space is God. When you pursue your inquiry into the function of the elements in the body and mind, you find that the different qualities of elements account for different feelings and reactions. These qualities have to be brought under control. Simultaneously, one has to reduce the burdens of mundane existence and the desires that fill the mind. Man today is weighed down by the overwhelming burden of desires. Spiritual progress is directly proportionate to the reduction of desires.

January 22, 2004

When you scatter seeds on the surface of the soil they do not germinate. You have to plant them inside the soil. So too, My words, if scattered on the surface, will not germinate, grow into a tree of knowledge and yield the fruit of wisdom. Plant it in the heart, water the plant with Love, and measure it with faith and courage. Keep off pests with Bhajan and Satsang (spiritual congregation), so that you may finally reap its benefit.

January 23, 2004

Love is a ceaseless flow of Divine effulgence. Sages call this Love, Atma. This Atma, which is full of Love, is shining in all hearts. Love, Atma and heart are synonyms for God. For such pure Love, there cannot be any differences based on mine and thine. This Love is selfless. Where there is confidence, there is Love. Where there is Love, there is Peace. Where there is Peace, there is Truth. Where there is Truth, there is Bliss. Where there is Bliss, there is God.

January 24, 2004

The moment you see your own inner beauty and are so filled with it that you forget all else, you become free from all bonds. You realise that you are all beauty, all the glory, all the power, all the magnificence of the universe, for the Jiva (the individual) is the reflection of God in the mirror of Nature. Once you attain self-realisation, you recognise everyone else as but the reflection of yourself. This is the true basis of the unity of mankind.

January 25, 2004

The mind is subject to unsteadiness because of desires. Desires are aroused by the impressions received by the senses from outside. The only way to avoid these external impressions is to turn the senses inwards. The intellect should be used to determine what impressions should be kept out and what should be let in.

January 26, 2004

Man, today, is like a horseman riding two horses at the same time. Man aspires for the Divine, but at the same time yearns for worldly pleasures. Man forgets that the Creator contains within Himself, the Creation. Forgetting this truth, man runs after the phenomenal world. Man behaves like a fool, who cries for the butter while having milk in his hand.

January 27, 2004

The Divine exists in everything and in every being. It is only when you develop such faith and love for God that true spirituality can grow. Qualities like Kshama (forbearance), Daya (Compassion), Sathya (Truth), Prema (Love) are the spiritual qualities that are essential for man no matter in which place or time he lives.

January 28, 2004

Man must develop faith in God and see to it that it is firm and unchanging. Ignorant of the immensely valuable treasures in God's treasury, man seeks cheap trinkets. Instead of a diamond, man asks from God a piece of charcoal. Man's attitude towards God should not be based on the fulfilment of petty desires. You must feel that whatever happens to you is for your own good.

January 29, 2004

It is important to cultivate contentment and accept things as they happen; do not multiply your wants and foster greed and despair. You take off your warm clothing when you start to feel warm. So too, the coat of desire has to be taken off when the warmth of Bhakthi (devotion) increases. Strive to secure Grace; do not strive to secure any lesser fruit.

January 30, 2004

Recognise the fact that the whole universe is within you. You have all the powers in you. They are derived from the Divine spirit within you. It is the Divinity which endows you with the will power. Forgetting the supreme power of the spirit, people place their reliance on the powers of the body, the mind and the intellect.

January 31, 2004

Inner purity is more important than outer purity. By practicing patience and forbearance we will be able to acquire all other important qualities such as mind control, faith, renunciation, endurance and concentration. This will bring about a state of inner purity. God is ever present both inside and out. Therefore, both the inner and the outer, where the Lord is to be found, must be purified and sanctified. Then the indwelling God will protect you wherever you go.

 

Online source: Radio Sai Global