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Thought for the Day - As written at Prasanthi Nilayam
Thought for the Day Archive
November 2003
01 November 2003
Just as you attend to the needs of the body, feeding it three times a day
in order to keep it in good running condition, so too, spend some time
regularly everyday to keep your inner consciousness also in good trim.
Spend one hour in the morning , another at night and a third in the early
hours of dawn for japam (repetition of God's name) and meditation on the
Lord. You will find great peace descending on you and new sources of
strength welling up within you as you progress in this sadhana (spiritual
endeavour).
02 November 2003
An empty iron box gets value when it contains jewels; the body is honoured
when it contains the jewels of consciousness and values known as
'virtues'. Life has to be lived through for the sake of the chance to
unfold the virtues. Otherwise, man is a burden upon the earth, merely a
consumer of food. Help to the needy has been described as the highest
virtue and harming others has been condemned as sin.
03 November 2003
Man is deriving innumerable benefits from Nature and enjoying the
amenities provided by it in various ways. But what is the gratitude he is
offering to Nature and God? Man is forgetting the Divine who is the Sole
Provider of everything. This is the reason for his falling prey to various
difficulties and calamities. While he is receiving countless benefits from
Providence, he is offering nothing in return to Nature or God. This shows
how unnatural and heartless man's behaviour is. When we are enjoined to
return good for evil, how unbecoming is it to fail even to return good for
good? Man should learn the great lesson Nature is trying to teach him -
the lesson of doing service with no expectation of return.
04 November 2003
When man thinks, speaks and acts along virtuous lines, his conscience will
be clean and he will have peace. Knowledge is power, it is said, but
virtue is Peace. Virtues are like cows yielding health-giving milk. Vices
are like the tigers that fall upon the cows and tear them to pieces. If
you build a barricade of God's Name, then the tiger of vices cannot harm
you or your virtues.
05 November 2003
Vice breeds disease. Bad thoughts and habits, bad company and bad food are
hostile grounds where disease thrives. Arogya (Good health) and Ananda
(Happiness) go hand in hand. A sense of elation and exultation keeps the
body free from ill-health. Evil habits, in which men indulge, are the
chief cause of disease in the physical as well as the mental state. Greed
affects the mind; disappointment makes man depressed. Man can justify his
existence as man only by the cultivation of virtues. It is only then that
he becomes a worthy candidate for Godhood.
06 November 2003
Everything that is born must die. But you can escape death by not being
born again. When you realise that you are the limitless Atma, you are no
longer subjected to the limitation of birth. That is the secret. How is
this knowledge to be acquired? It is the result of a long process of
sharpening and purifying the emotions and the impulses. You may do the
most rigorous japa (repetition of God's name) or submit yourself to the
ordeal of austerities, but if you are not virtuous, all of it is sheer
waste.
07 November 2003
Morality has to be grown in the heart by feeding it with love. Then only
can we have justice, security, law and order. If love declines among the
people, nations will weaken and mankind will perish. Morality should be
taught in conjunction with other subjects, not separately. The respect
commanded by a community depends on its moral strength.
08 November 2003
During bhajans, instead of paying great attention to raaga, thaala, laya
and shruti (the melody, the beat, the rhythm and the tone), one should try
to elevate the bhajans to a spiritual level by singing with true feeling
and ecstasy of devotion. The songs should flow not from the lips but from
the heart. When the songs come from the heart, they will be blissful to
the ears also. Conduct your bhajans with a pure unsullied heart, oblivious
to all worldly desires. When you chant the Lord's name with a pure heart,
you will experience the Divine.
09 November 2003
Man is a creature of society and owes everything to society. Gratitude is
a supreme virtue. Ingratitude is a grievous sin. It will deprive a man of
his God-given right. There is no means of atonement for the ungrateful
person. If you wish to safeguard your future, you have to be grateful to
those who have helped you in your difficult times and enabled you to
obtain your personal needs.
10 November 2003
One should so live that no pain is caused to other beings through one's
activities. And, one should be ever grateful for the kindness received.
Even if you fail to be helpful to others, do not cause harm to others. All
spiritual aspirants should cherish in their hearts with gratitude, the
good done to them and the help rendered to them by others.
11 November 2003
Dharma is bound up with a great many variety of meanings and does not mean
only duty, which pertains to one individual. Dharma is a body of
principles that are fundamental to social stability and individual
progress. It is eternal, same for everyone, everywhere. The birthplace of
Dharma is the heart. What emanates from the heart as a pure idea, when
translated into action, is Dharma, or to put it in simple words- "Do unto
others as you would have them do unto you."
12 November 2003
The ideal of gratitude has been handed down the ages as a heritage in
India. A man without this supreme virtue of gratitude is worse than a
cruel animal. Having received his wealth, education and skills from
society, if he does not serve the cause of society, his wealth, education
and skills are but a sheer waste. It is only by serving society that these
acquire splendour and significance.
13 November 2003
We should do our might to enhance the reputation of our country, its
culture, and language. But, let not that pride lead you to dislike other
languages and cultures. The languages by which thoughts are expressed may
be varied, but the thoughts, emotions and feelings are the same. The
language of the heart is the same, but when it comes to the tongue, it may
take various forms.
14 November 2003
Lava and Kusha became heroic because of their great mother, Seetha Devi.
The noble thoughts of the mother make the children great. A mother may go
wrong in other respects, but she will always strive for the well-being of
her children. Hence every son has to love the mother as his primary duty.
Then he should love the father and revere the preceptor. The mother
confers the body. The father protects it. The preceptor imparts knowledge
and wisdom. All three are essential for every human being for getting on
in this world.
15 November 2003
You must pay attention to small details also, for Bhakthi (Devotion to
God) is not just a pose. It is a series of little acts, directed by the
attitude of reverence for the Divinity in all the beings. Watch for the
lie that lurks on the tongue, the violence that lurks behind the fist, the
ego that lurks behind the deed. Restrain them before they grow into habits
and settle down as character to wrap your destiny.
16 November 2003
You must become like the flute in the Lord's hands. Let the breath of the
Lord pass through you, producing delightful music that melts the hearts of
everyone. Surrender yourself to Him; become hollow - egoless; then He will
Himself come and pick you up caressingly and apply you, the flute, to His
lips and blow His sweet breath through you. Allow Him to play whatever
song He likes.
17 November 2003
Those who seek to impart the values of Sathya, Dharma, Santhi, Prema and
Ahimsa to others, must try first to practise them themselves
whole-heartedly. To imagine that values can be installed by teaching is a
mistake. Such learning will have no permanent effect. Educationists must
take note of this fact. If transformation is to be effected in students,
the process must start from a very early age.
18 November 2003
Man may love the body, the mind, the Buddhi (the intellect) or the Antah
Karana (the Inner Instruments). Love for the body ends with the death of
the body. Love for the mind results in bondage because of the aberrations
of the mind. Love for the intellect results in endless speculation and
enquiry. Love for the Antah Karana promotes the ego feeling. It encourages
dualism (separating man from God). Only the one who realises his oneness
with the Atma can experience infinite bliss - the bliss that is eternal.
19 November 2003
Ladies Day
Women are the makers of the home, the nation and the world. They are the
mothers who shape the generation to come. So, they must enshrine in their
hearts the spiritual urge towards light and love, wisdom and bliss. The
Feminine Principle is the foundation on which a peaceful and happy world
is to be raised. When women are true, brave, kind, and compassionate, the
world can have an era of peace and joy.
20 November 2003
Man grieves because he has developed attachment towards the unreal. He
cultivates an unreasonable affection for wealth; but he is prepared to
sacrifice the riches in order to save the lives of his children, for
attachment to children is stronger than to the wealth he has earned. But,
the same man stoops so low as to neglect his children when the choice is
between his survival and the children's welfare. But, the bliss that one
gets when he dwells on the Atma, the source and spring of all joy is
unbounded and imperishable. That is the real joy.
21 November 2003
Whoever subdues his egoism, conquers his selfish desires, destroys his
bestial feelings and impulses and gives up the natural tendency to regard
the body as self, is surely on the path of Dharma. He knows that the goal
of Dharma is the merging of the wave in the sea; the merging of the self
in the over self.
22 November 2003
XXII Convocation of S.S.S.I.H.L.
Education can claim success only when it results in the student gaining
awareness of the Divinity inherent in him and others. No academic degree
can confer as much self-confidence and self- satisfaction and lead man as
quickly and gladly to self-sacrifice and self-realisation as that
awareness. It has to be transmitted by teachers who have attained it
through a sense of duty and in a spirit of love. It has to accepted by
students who have cultivated faith in the teacher and reverence for his
role.
23 November 2003
78th Birthday Celebrations of Bhagawan Baba
You can call Me Premaswarupa (the embodiment of Love). Prema is the wealth
I have and which I spread among all. I have no other riches. The Grace of
the Lord is always flowing like the electric current through the wire. Fix
a bulb and the current will illumine your house. The bulb is the Sadhana
(spiritual practice) you perform, the home is your heart. Come to Me
gladly; dive into the sea and discover its depth. There is no use playing
in the shallow waters and lamenting that the sea has no pearls. Dive deep
and you will secure your heart's desire.
24 November 2003
'The Lord is all Love; so He can be seen only through love. The moon has
to be seen only through its own light, no other light can illumine the
moon. In the night of Vyamoha (delusion), the Lord can be seen only by the
light that He Himself is, the light of pure love or Prema. He is Sathyam
and Nithyam, the True and the Eternal and so, He is beyond the categories
of Mithya or Jagath, falsity and change.
25 November 2003
A little practice will teach you to hold fast to the feet of God while
roaming about in the world, doing all duties and carrying out all
responsibilities dedicated to Him. Do all work as actors in a play,
keeping your identity separate and not attached to your personality or
your role. Remember that the whole thing is just a play and the Lord has
assigned you a part; there your duty ends. He has designed the play and
enjoys it.
26 November 2003
Human values cannot be promoted merely by repeating the words - Sathya,
Dharma, Santhi, Prema and Ahimsa. The Vedas declare: 'Sathyam Vada,
Dharmam Chara' (Speak the truth, adhere to right conduct). Truth and right
conduct should be adhered to with pure intentions. A righteous life leads
to peace. Love is to be experienced in the depths of peace. Love should
find expression in non-violence. Where love prevails, there is no room for
doing harm or indulging in violence towards others. All these basic values
have to be demonstrated in action and not limited to preaching.
27 November 2003
The greatest obstacle on the path of surrender is egoism. It is something
that has been inhering to your personality since ages, sending its
tentacles deeper and deeper, with the experience of every succeeding life.
It can be removed by the twin detergents of discrimination and
renunciation. Bhakthi (devotion) is the water to wash away the dirt of
ages. And the soap of Japam (chanting the Lord's Name), Dhyanam
(meditation) will help to remove it quicker and more effectively.
28 November 2003
Man always seeks happiness by trying to satisfy his desires. If a desire
is fulfilled, he feels joyous and when it is not, he feels disheartened.
But the trouble is, desire is a bonfire that burns with greater fury
asking for more fuel everytime. One desire leads to ten more; and man
exhausts Himself in trying to fulfil his desires. He has to be turned back
from this path of never-ending desire, to the path of inner contentment
and joy.
29 November 2003
Dharma is that which sustains mankind. True humanness consists in
observing unity of thought, word and deed. All actions done with this
triple unity are Dharmic actions. There are various rules of conduct which
are related to conditions governing time and space. Such rules are liable
to change from time to time, and country to country, according to changing
situations. But if Sanathana Dharma (the eternal Dharma) changes, humanity
will cease to be human. Just as burning wood which loses its heat becomes
a mere charcoal; likewise man remains truly human only as long as he
adheres to the eternal Dharma which is represented by unity and purity of
thought, word and deed.
30 November 2003
There is in everyone a spark of Truth; no one can live without that spark.
There is in everyone a flame of Love; life becomes a dark void without it.
That spark, that flame is God, for He is the source of all Truth and all
Love. Man seeks the Truth; he seeks to know the reality because his very
nature is derived from God who is Truth. He seeks Love, to give it and
share it, for his nature is God and God is Love.
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