Thought for the Day - As written at Prasanthi Nilayam


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June 2004

June 1, 2004

Some people may laugh at sankirtana (devotional singing) and scoff at it as mere show, and recommend quiet meditation instead. But participating in bhajan singing in public helps in removing egoism. For example, a person may sweep the room when no one is looking. But, to perform the same act in the presence of others requires some mastery over the ego. Nama Sankirtana (repetition of the Lord's name) will keep the mind free from distracting thoughts. So sing aloud the glory of the Lord and charge the atmosphere with divine adoration.

June 2, 2004

The Gayathri is considered as the essence of the vedas. It has the subtle power of removing evil tendencies and implanting virtuous habits. Gayathri means 'that which protects when recited'. It is the torch of jnana (wisdom). This mantra has been given to you as a third eye to reveal to you that inner vision by which you may realise Brahman.

June 3, 2004

Singing bhajans with intense yearning for God helps to purify the atmosphere. Man today, is forced to breathe the air polluted by vibrations of violence, hatred, cruelty and wickedness. The vibrations of Nama Sankirtana (repetition of the Lord's name) can cleanse the atmosphere and render it pure, calm and ennobling.

June 4, 2004

When the devotee feels that he is not close to God, the fault lies with the devotee. Repent for the errors that you have committed and resolve never to repeat them. Pray to the Lord to be able to carry out your duties and resolutions and to be able to improve your conduct. Bhakthi (devotion) involves complete dedication without even a wisp of ego remaining. Bhakthi softens the mind and keeps it receptive to higher emotions and purifying impulses.

June 5, 2004

Strive - that is your duty. Yearn - that is your task. Struggle - that is your assignment. If only you do these, sincerely and steadily, God cannot keep back for long the reward of Realization. The river strives, yearns and struggles to merge with the sea from where it has originated. It has that consummation ever present in its consciousness. It attempts to make itself pure and pellucid so that it may be welcomed back by its source.

June 6, 2004

How can it be said that all are equal? It is because every being has the same chaithanya (consciousness) within. When the sun rises, not all lotuses in the lake bloom; only the grown buds open their petals. The others await their chance. It is the same with men. Differences do exist because of unripeness, though all fruits have to ripen and fall off someday. Every being has to reach the goal, however slow they walk or however tortuous the road.

June 7, 2004

In order to promote harmony, the first rule you must follow is the control of the tongue. Do not give immediate expression to all your thoughts; select, ponder and then speak out. Speak softly, sweetly and without malice in your heart; speak as if you are addressing the Sai who resides in everyone.

June 8, 2004

There are three lines along which efforts have to be directed - (i) spiritual exercises and discipline (ii) the cultivation of detachment and (iii) the development of confidence in one's self. Without these three, life is a wearisome and wasteful journey. Give up, renounce - that is the virtue you need for spiritual progress. It is not the value of the thing given up that counts; it is the loftiness of the feeling behind the act.

June 9, 2004

Do not pour into other's ears your tales of woe and worry; carry a smile on your face so that everyone who sees you can catch the exhilaration. You must not only love others, but you must be so good that others may love you. A man is judged by the nature of his actions; if they are good then he is considered a good man and if they are bad, he is considered a wicked man.

June 10, 2004

Man today is behaving with even less gratitude than what animals and birds display. He is ungrateful to his parents, teachers, society and even God. He makes a parade of his adherence to truth, righteousness, peace, love and non-violence but does not practise any of them. All this is because of intense selfishness and preoccupation with one's own concerns and interests. Only when man sheds his selfishness can he turn his mind towards God.

June 11, 2004

The spark of Love in you has to be cherished and fed, so that it may reach God; then every act of yours will be Divine and the reaction you get from the outside world will be sweetened with Prema. You love the God in all beings and the God in all beings responds with Love. Love God, though tribulation may be your lot. Love Him, though you may be refused and rebuked; for it is only in the crucible of travail that the metal is purified and cleared of blemish.

June 12, 2004

The human body is like a chariot; the Atma is installed therein and it is dragged by emotions, impulses, passions and urges along the streets of desire. Success and failure, joy and grief, gain and loss are the dancers who accompany the procession of Life. Many pay attention to the chariot, its height, its decoration and its progress. Many others are concerned with the dance of dualities and the pain-pleasure duet that is part of the procession. Few pay attention to the Inner Soul, that is the very basis of existence.

June 13, 2004

Man loses his status of humanness through acts that would shame even beasts. He does not strive towards revealing and manifesting his latent divinity. However, this is not as disastrous a failing as sliding back into the animal nature from which he has evolved. If he keeps on with his human attributes and capacities, that will serve him well enough.

June 14, 2004

Live without hating others, condemning others and seeking faults in others. Vyaasa, who composed eighteen voluminous Puraanas summarised them all in one single line of a small couplet: Doing good to others is the only meritorious act; doing evil is the most heinous sin." When you feel that you cannot do good atleast desist from doing evil. Do not try to discover differences but instead discover unity.

June 15, 2004

If only men knew the path to permanent joy and peace, they would not wander distracted among the bylanes of sensual pleasure. Just as the joy felt in dreams disappears on waking up, the joys felt in the waking stage disappear when jnana (wisdom) awakens within us. The Upanishads say, "Wake up, Arise! Awake!" Time is a succession of fleeting moments. While the present moment is available, put it to best use. When you die, you must die as a man who has realised that he is Divine. That is the proper consummation of all the years spent in the human form.

June 16, 2004

Dharma purifies the mind and leads you to God. It creates a taste for the Name and Form of God. When you love the name and form of God, you will naturally respect and obey the command of God. Have the Name on the tongue and Form in the eye; and the demon of unending desire will fly away from your mind, leaving joy and contentment within. This kind of constant contemplation on the indwelling God will promote Love for all beings. You will then see good in others and you will strive to do good to others.

June 17, 2004

Those who deny God are denying themselves. All have Love in their hearts, in some form or the other, either towards children or the poor or they work for the good of others. That Love is God, the spark of the Divine in them. They have Ananda (Bliss) however small or temporary, and that is a spark of God. They have peace, detachment and sympathy. All these are the reflections of the Divine in the mirror of their minds.

June 18, 2004

Everyday when you sleep, where are you? Who are you? Your senses are inoperative; your intelligence is in abeyance; your mind creates a world of its own and, after playing in it for some time, it lapses into inactivity. This state of deep sleep is the nearest you reach in your journey to Samadhi. Live in the 'Atmatathwam' (spiritual consciousness), that will ensure Shanti (peace). With the poison of Raaga (attachment) and Dwesha (hatred) inside you, how can you be pronounced healthy? If you experience the 'Atmatathwam', you become one with Bhagawan (God) Himself.

June 19, 2004

Naamasmarana (chanting God's Name) is the process by which an attitude of dedication can be cultivated and confirmed. When confronted by calamity, you must attach yourself to this sadhana (spiritual practice) even more firmly, instead of losing faith in it and getting slack. The drug should not be given up when it is most needed. The pity is that, when the first disappointment confronts you, you lose courage and confidence and give up the name of God.

June 20, 2004

Liberation is just the awareness of Truth, the falling off of the scales of delusion from the eye. It is not a privilige of select souls nor is it a closed monopoly of expert Saadhakas (spiritual seekers). Like the river losing its form, its name and its taste in the sea, liberation dissolves the name and form, aptitudes and attitudes. You are no longer a separate, particular individual.

June 21, 2004

Bhakthi (devotion) is defined as a means of discovering the Divine reality within each being. Four steps are laid down in the scriptures to help man succeed in this effort- discrimination between the permanent and the ephemeral; withdrawal from the process of catering to the senses; positive control of the feelings, thoughts and pursuits, and incessant yearning for liberation from all bonds. Bhakthi is the urge which manifests as all these four endeavours. It directs man to have God ever in mind and to cultivate love for God within him.

June 22, 2004

All man are made of the same divine essence. Service to man will help your Divinity to blossom, for it will gladden your heart and make you feel that life has been worthwhile. Service to man is service to God, for He is in everyman, nay, every living being, stone and stump. Dedicate your talents to God; let every act be a flower free from creeping worms of envy and egoism, and full of the fragrance of love and sacrifice.

June 23, 2004

Devotion fosters the highest virtue; it is the most precious treasure, it is the truest path, the only way to God. Man must live immersed in Bhakthi (devotion) for the sake of Bhakthi. Bhakthi is Love of the purest and the noblest variety. Such love is the breath that sustains life, that supports the souls in its effort to merge in the Super-soul. The years of life spent without light of Love are years wasted.

June 24, 2004

Whatever things we do with this body, it leads to rebirth. Any actions, good or bad, can be compared to seeds. In order to avoid sowing such seeds, we should do all actions without desire. All actions should be done, in and only for the pleasure of God. If you are cleaning your room, think that you are doing that for cleaning your heart, the shrine of God. When you help or harm others, realise that you are doing it to yourself. Then you will never let yourself harm anyone.

June 25, 2004

It is natural that man desires to reach the presence of the Almighty to see Him and be ever with Him, for deep within the human heart is the urge to reach the place from which one has come, to attain the joy one has lost, the glory which one has missed. Man is himself Divine and so it is a matter of the deep calling unto the deep, of the part yearning for the whole.

June 26, 2004

Many spiritual aspirants are under a misconception today. If you ask them why they are doing various forms of Saadhana (spiritual practices), they reply that they are doing them in order to merge with God. Do not think that you are human and that you have to reach the state of the Divine. Know that you have descended from God, as a human being, and that eventually you will go back to your source. Do not regard God as someone separate and distinct from you, God is very much within you.

June 27, 2004

The first step to direct knowledge of God is spiritual practice; the first step in spiritual practice is service to the Guru performed in total faith and surrender. At the same time, the responsibility of the Guru is to instruct the disciple on the nature of God, to instruct continuously and in simple ways. When the disciple grasps this instruction, it becomes indirect knowledge. This indirect knowledge can be transformed into direct knowledge by constant recapitulation and by constantly turning it over in the mind.

June 28, 2004

The devotee regards both, persons of high character and persons of low character as actors in the Divine play. When he insults or injures anyone, he is, in fact inflicting insult and injury on the God he adores. He cannot reap the harvest of grace or the bliss of the Atma if he sows spiritual ardour in a heart full of the weeds of greed and hate. The basic moral prescription for the devotee who aspires to be near and dear to the Avatar (Divine Incarnation) is: Worship God and offer love to Him in every living being.

June 29, 2004

Like a student leaving college once the degree is awarded, human beings attain liberation once the Truth is realised. They can leave behind them their college with all the study that it entails. But the degree must be earned. Why are you averse to making the effort which is involved? Instead, you run after one teacher or another, hoping to avail yourself of his victory. If he has achieved, of what value will that be to you?

June 30, 2004

See God in everyone you meet. See God in everything you handle. His majesty is immanent in all that is sentient and insentient. This whole creation is an expression of His majesty. God has His hands in all handiwork, His feet at all heights, His eyes beyond all horizons, His face before every form.






 

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