Thought for the Day - As written at Prasanthi Nilayam


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September 2004

September 1, 2004

God is beyond all notions of good and bad, right and wrong. These are only earthly measures by which the temporary objects are weighed and judged. He has no Form, no dualities, no preferences, no prejudices and no predilections. To say that He is Sathyaswaroopa, Jnanaswaroopa or Anandaswaroopa (embodiment of Truth, Wisdom and Bliss) is also not correct. For He has no 'Swaroopa' (Form) or 'Swabhava' (characteristics). He is Sathya (Truth), Jnana (Wisdom) and Ananda (Bliss). That is the experience of those who have tasted Ananda.

September 2, 2004 - Guru Poornima

Man can be happy with much less than he seems to think essential. When some article is with you for some little time, you feel it is indispensable and you do not know how to live without it. Like the silkworm, you weave a cocoon for yourself, out of your fancy. Do not allow costly habits to grow, costly from the monetary as well as the spiritual point of view. Watch your likes and dislikes with a vigilant ye and discard anything that threatens to encumber your path.

September 3, 2004

Place the evil qualities lurking within you on the altar of your mind and sacrifice them as an offering to the deity installed therein. Though born as a human, man is burdened by animal instincts and impulses that have attached themselves to him during his previous lives as an animal. He has passed through many an animal existence and each has left its mark on his mental make-up, like a scar on the skin when a wound has healed.

September 4, 2004

Life is a pilgrimage to God. The road lies before you; but unless you take the first step forward and move further on, how can you reach your destination? Start with courage, faith, joy and steadiness. You are bound to succeed. The mind and the intellect are the two bullocks tied to the cart of the inner man. The bullocks are not used to the road of Sathya (Truth), Dharma (Righteousness), Shanti (Peace) and Prema (Love) and so they drag the cart along the road familiar to them, namely, falsehood, injustice, worry and hatred. You have to train them to take the better road so that they may not bring disaster upon themselves, the cart or the passengers travelling in it.

September 5, 2004

The Divine is omnipresent. The entire cosmos is permeated and sustained by this divine energy. Everyone should endeavour to experience the Divine. Man must make the effort and he is bound to realise the experience. The necessary sacrifice must be made. All the bad qualities have to be renounced the moment they invade the mind. True devotion means elimination of all the animal tendencies in man. Man should seek to realise the eternal Divine within him. That is the primary purpose of human life.

September 6, 2004

The message of the life of Lord Sri Krishna is the supremacy of the Love Principle. This message is all that the world needs. Krishna is the embodiment of love. This love can be understood only through love. It is strong, brilliant and unbreakable like a diamond. It is extremely precious. If you want to secure such divine love, your love for God must be equally strong. For, you can cut diamond only with diamond. Love begets love. Hatred can only beget hatred. Therefore, if you want to foster love, you have to get rid of hatred, jealousy and anger.

September 7, 2004

Divine Life is based on Sathwa Guna (quality of calm serenity), which must be cultivated. This guna can be built only upon Saathwik food (natural food that is moderate in flavour), which promotes health, strength, lightness of body and spirit, and earnestness of endeavour. There is no use distributing Adhyaatma rasa (nectar of spirituality) to underfed and weak people; give Anna rasa (food) first; make them strong enough to entertain right beliefs and high ideals; physical hunger must first be appeased by simple Saathwik food.

September 8, 2004

One does not have to search for God by travelling around the world. God is not outside oneself. If one thinks that God is separate from him, it may be so for him. But if one transcends all thoughts, one then becomes God oneself. All thoughts are illusions, so by giving them up, one becomes God. Therefore, give up thoughts. Come forward and enjoy the divinity that you really are.

September 9, 2004

Buddhi (intellect) revels in discussion and disputation; once you yield to the temptation of dialectics, it takes a long time for you to escape from its shackles and efface it and enjoy the bliss which comes from its nullification. You must all the while be aware of the limitation of reason. Logic and deduction must yield their place to devotion. Buddhi can help you along only some distance along the Godward path; the rest is illuminated by intuition.

September 10, 2004

We cannot describe God in words. We have to experience the bliss of realising Him as the core of our being. If we want Ananda (bliss), we must walk along the path of Atma (soul). When we work in the direction of Atma, the diversity is removed and equanimity is established. The world will vanish when we keep in mind the creator of the world.

September 11, 2004

The Vedas have held forth the message of people living in amity, striving together for common ends and sharing the fruits of their co-operative efforts. They have also proclaimed the omnipresence of the Divine. The cosmic form of the divine encompasses every being in the universe. Forgetting the truth - "Sarvam Vishnumayam Jagath", that the Divine is immanent in the Cosmos, people search for the Divine. Every human being is a spark of the Divine. Hence, there should be no ill-will towards anyone.

September 12, 2004

"Sathyam Brooyath, Priyam Brooyath, Na Brooyath Sathyam Apriyam". Speak the truth, speak what is pleasant and never speak what is true but not pleasing. Truth is of the highest importance whether we consider morality, worldly life or spiritual progress. From the ethical point of view, you have to speak the truth. In the context of worldly life, you have to speak what is pleasing. From the spiritual point of view, you have to avoid what is not pleasing even if it is true. One should not utter words that cause excitement, but speak the truth which is both pleasing and beneficial.

September 13, 2004

Love exists for love's sake and nothing else. It is spontaneous and spreads delight. Everything is permeated by love. Love can conquer anything. Selfless, pure, unalloyed love leads man to God. Selfish and constricted love binds man to the world. Unable to comprehend the pure and sacred nature of love, man today is a prey to endless worries because of his attachment to worldly objects. Man's primary duty is to understand the truth about the Love principle. Once he understands the nature of love, he will not go astray.

September 14, 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 locks of egoism, remove the bolt of envy and only then will the doors be thrown open to you.

September 15, 2004

The Bhagavad Gita advises 'Karmasanyaasa', that is to say, performance of action without attachment to the fruits thereof. There are karmas (actions) which have to be performed as one's duties, according to one's status in the society. And if these are done in the proper spirit, they will not bind one at all. Undertake all deeds as actors would in a play, keeping your identity separate and not attaching yourself too much to your role. Remember that the whole thing is just a play and the Lord has assigned to you a part; act out your part well; there your duty ends.

September 16, 2004

Your child gives you great joy by its play and prattle, but when it interferes with your work or teases you when you are otherwise engaged, you get very angry with it. It is a source of joy as well as grief. There is nothing which can give unmixed joy; even if there is, when it is lost, it brings about sorrow. This is in the very nature of things; so try to correct the very source of joy and sorrow - the mind; control it and train it to see the real nature of the objective world, which attracts and repels you by turns. That is the real fruit of education.

September 17, 2004

There were two parrots on a tree. A hunter trapped them and sold them. One to a low, cruel butcher and the other to a sage who was running an ashram (hermitage) to teach the Vedas. After a few years, he was surprised to find that one bird swore very foully, while the other recited the glory of the Lord in a sweet musical tone which captivated the listeners. Such is the effect of the environment; so always seek and secure Sathsang (company of good and holy people).

September 18, 2004

Man is bound by three tendencies. The first is Kama (the longing to possess). When that longing fails, Krodha (anger) raises its hood. When the desire is fulfilled, the third tendency Lobha (greed) overtakes him. Ganesha's vehicle is the mouse. The mouse is a creature that is led, even to the point of destruction, by Vaasana (the sense of smell). Men too, are victims of Vaasana (preferences and predilections stamped on our minds during the past lives). Ganesha smothers and suppresses these Vaasanas which misdirect man and lead him to misfortune. However, if one's desire is beneficial, the Divine will shower his Grace. His Grace is available for all who seek good and godly goals.

September 19, 2004

As long as you worship the Lord with form, you use certain flowers such as roses, marigolds and jasmine, although the body that performs the worship and the flowers which you use are all impermanent. But if you want to worship the formless God in your heart, then the flowers you use are different; they are the flowers of non-violence, of love and compassion, of charity and sacrifice. To elevate yourself to the formless principle, you will have to cultivate these flowers of the heart and use them in your worship. Then you will experience the ineffable and permanent joy of the spirit.

September 20, 2004

Man is consciousness incarnate. Man is the highest object in creation. Hence, he should not become a creature of instinct like animals. Man should progress from the human to the Divine. It is not the world that binds man. It has neither eyes to see nor hands to grasp. Man is a prisoner of his own thoughts and desires. In his attachment to the ephemeral and the perishable, man forgets his inherent Divinity and does not realize that everything in the universe has come from the Divine and cannot exist without the power of the Divine.

September 21, 2004

Human life is a journey from 'I' to 'We'. This journey is subtle and the goal is very near, but man takes many births to reach the destination. Just as you change your dress, so too you have to change your body one day or the other. That is why it is said, "Death is the dress of life". That which is responsible for birth is responsible for death too. This body is like a passing cloud. So long as there is life in the body, use it in the service of others. Engage yourself in service till the last breath. Service to man is service to God. Have control over your senses; without this discipline all your service will be futile.

September 22, 2004

Man extols God as omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent, but ignores His presence in himself. Many venture to describe the attributes of God and proclaim Him to be such and such, but these are mere guesses and a reflection of their own predilections and preferences. Who can affirm anything about God? Each one can acquire from the vast expanse of the ocean only as much as can be contained in the vessel he carries to its shore. From that quantity, they can grasp but little of that immensity.

September 23, 2004

People suffer because they have all kinds of unreasonable desires and they pine to fulfil them and they fail. They attach too much value to the objective world. It is only when attachment increases that you suffer pain and grief. If you look upon everything with the wisdom derived from the inner vision, then attachment will slide away and you will see everything with greater clarity and with a glory suffused with Divine splendour.

September 24, 2004

Men in their ignorance ask the question, "If God is omnipresent and all-pervasive, why is He not visible to us?" When the sun shines, clouds that are formed by the sun's heat hide the rays of the sun. When the sun is not visible because of the clouds, can you say that there is no sun? When a strong wind blows, the clouds are dispelled and the sun is visible again. Similarly, when the winds of love and faith blow, the clouds of doubt and egoism are scattered and God reveals Himself. Though God is omnipresent, man's lack of faith and his self-conceit prevent him from seeing God. To get rid of this disbelief and egoism, certain spiritual disciplines have to be observed.

September 25, 2004

In human society today, egoism is rampant. Ostentation is ubiquitous. Whatever one's scholarship or wealth, as long as there is egoism, God's grace will not flow. God's grace will be showered on those who have humility and discipline. Humility is essential for securing God's grace. Revere your elders. Be content with what you have. Develop goodwill towards all. Bear no ill will towards anyone. When you desire that all should love you, you should equally love all.

September 26, 2004

A true spiritual aspirant will have a reverential attitude towards the duty he is entrusted with. He will carry out every task assigned to him as an act of worship by which the Lord will be pleased. Duty is God, work is worship. Worship is not a uniform that is to be donned and doffed at stated hours of the day. Render every thought into a flower, worthy to be held in His fingers; render every deed into a fruit, full of the sweet juice of love, fit to be placed in His hand; render every tear holy and pure, fit to wash His Lotus Feet.

September 27, 2004

People aspire for Mukthi (liberation). They have no idea what constitutes liberation. Man seeks liberation from the maladies of the body, the senses, the mind, the intellect and the Antahkarana (internal motivator). All these are no doubt necessary, but liberation in the ultimate sense consists in liberation from the cycle of birth and death. This means that one should redeem one's present life so that one is free from rebirth.

September 28, 2004

The way in which one should benefit from the Avatar is to watch His every step, observe His actions and activities, follow the guiding principle of which His life is a demonstration. Imbibe His love, His compassion and His wisdom. Man has become artificial, crooked and twisted. He has left behind his natural ways and made his mind a lumber-room for worries, anxieties and fears. He can live on much less, with much greater joy for himself and others. If only he remembers that he is a spark of the divine, he will be more loving and helpful.

September 29, 2004

You are all one irrespective of the countries you belong to. Bulbs may vary, but the current is the same. Likewise, nationalities and personalities may vary, but the principle of the Atma is one and the same in all. Therefore, give up all differences based on caste, religion and nationality and spread the message of unity. Nations are many, but the earth is one. Jewels are many, but gold is one. Stars are many, but sky is one. Bodies are many, but breath is one. You can experience bliss only when you render service keeping in mind the unity of all beings.

September 30, 2004

As is your vision, so is the world. It is foolish to try to change the world. Shape yourself as the embodiment of peace. Correct your vision to see divinity everywhere, then that awareness will transmute every word, thought and deed of yours into a benediction. Cleanse the heart by listening to spiritual discourses, by seeking the company and comradeship of the righteous and by cultivating goodness of character and sweetness of disposition. Fill your hearts with the sweet, fragrant waters of Prema (love). Then every act and word of yours will be sweet and fragrant.

 

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