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1st January 2006 New Year's Day
The year becomes new, and the day become holy only when you sanctify it by
Sadhana (spiritual practices). Sadhana can grow blossom only in a field
fertilized by love. Prema (love) is the sine qua non of Bhakthi
(devotion). The love you now have toward material objects, name, fame,
wife, children, etc. should be sanctified by being subsumed by the more
overpowering Love of God. Let the tiny drops of your love for things
material merge with the stream of love for God and be elevated. Have the
love of God filling and thrilling your heart; then you will not hate
anyone or indulge in unhealthy rivalries and find fault with anyone. Life
becomes a sweet and fulfilling experience.
- BABA
2nd January 2006
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.
To promote love, the first requisite is faith. It is only when you believe
that one is your mother that you develop love towards her. If you do not
regard her as your mother, you will not have that love for her. First of
all, strengthen your faith. Without faith all kinds of worship and all
spiritual disciplines are of no use; they are a waste of time. To begin
with, cultivate love. Everything grows out of love. That love will reveal
to you your true self. That love will confer bliss on you. Therefore,
eschew hatred; develop love.
- BABA
3rd January 2006
All religions have taught only what is good for humanity. Religion should
be practised with this awareness. If the minds are pure, how can religion
be bad? It is a mark of ignorance to consider one religion as superior and
another as inferior and develop religious differences on this basis. The
teachings of all religions are sacred. The basic doctrines are founded on
truth. Atma-tathva (the truth of the Spirit) is the essence of religions,
the message of all the scriptures and the basis of all metaphysics.
- BABA
4th January 2006
When work is undertaken with an egotistic attitude, impelled by selfish
motives and inspired by hopes of self-advancement, it feeds greed and
pride, envy and hatred. Then, it fastens the bond and fosters the feeling
of attachment to more and more profitable works. It promotes ingratitude
to those who lent their hands and brains and to God Himself who endowed
the person with the urge and the skill. "I did it", one says when the work
succeeds; or "Others spoiled it" one says when it fails. Resentment,
depression and despair follow when the work results in failure. The more
deeply one is attached to the fruits, the more intense and painful is
one's grief when one is disappointed. The only means, therefore, to escape
from both pride and pain is to leave the result to the Will of God, while
one is happy in the thought that one has done one's duty with all the
dedication and care that one is capable of.
- BABA
5th January 2006
The Atma (Divine Self) is Eternal. The Self is Truth. However, since it is
enclosed in flesh, bone and skin, man deludes himself into believing that
the outer covering and not the inner core is the source of bliss. The
foremost duty of man to himself is, therefore, to penetrate through these
sheaths and imbibe the higher bliss which his Atmic core alone can confer.
Everyone must, in his own best interests, strive to attain that unifying
principle that is his inner treasure. Sadhana means the endeavour and the
effort to gain the desired object. Of all Sadhanas (spiritual exercises)
this is the most significant - the process of achieving this proximity.
- BABA
6th January 2006
It is only when attachment to the fruits of one's actions is discarded
that the action becomes yoga (a means to achieve Divine communion). Those
who undertake service activities should overcome the sense of 'mine' and
'thine'; they should regard it as a privilege to serve others and look
upon it as a form of worship of the Divine. They should consider service
to society as the means of finding self-fulfilment in life. They should
face whatever problems may arise, with faith and courage and carry on
their service activities without fanfare, in a spirit of humility and
dedication.
- BABA
7th January 2006
God resides in the heart, beyond the reach of external objects. Man today
sheds copious tears for achieving wealth, health, position and fame. Does
he shed a single tear for getting the grace of God or winning His love?
Saint Purandaradasa sang, "Of what use are eyes that cannot see God?" You
use your eyes all your life to see the external world. What do you achieve
thereby? No one attempts to see the Unseen. The daily chores, eating and
sleeping are repeated endlessly. But there is no yearning to see the
Unseen Divine. It is only when you develop that desire will your life
become meaningful. That alone confers peace.
- BABA
8th January 2006
Man thinks that the more he has of worldly goods the happier he will be.
But, as desires grow, disappointments and troubles also increase. There
should be a limit to our desires, attachments and ambitions. The world is
suffering from numerous troubles because people do not keep their desires
under check. Nature has prescribed limits for everything - for the
temperature of the body, the capacity of the eye to tolerate light or for
the ear to listen to sound. When these limits are crossed, harm is caused
to the organs concerned. All actions in life should be governed by the
limits applicable to each of them. When desires are controlled, genuine
happiness is experienced.
- BABA
9th January 2006
Realize that human happiness is not to be found in sensory objects or
experiences. Whatever pleasure is derived from these is transient and
momentary. Real and enduring bliss is to be derived from within oneself.
The senses should be regarded as instruments for rendering service to
others. The foolish idea that happiness lies only in indulging in sensual
pleasures should be given up. Only animals are content to derive
satisfaction from the senses alone. Hence, every man should firmly
declare, "I am a man and not an animal." Only when he has this firm
conviction will man shed his animal nature and assert his humanness.
Therefore, it is only when the senses are brought under control that the
nature of Divinity can be comprehended.
- BABA
10th January 2006
The one effective way to conquer all sources of physical and mental
disease and debility is awareness of one's Atmic Reality. That will bring
about an upsurge of Love and Light, for, when one recognises that one is
the Atma, one cognises the same Atma in all. He shares the joy and grief
of all and partakes of the strength and weakness of all. He sees God in
everyone. Every act will be a pure, sincere and sacred offering to God.
When one yearns for the happiness and prosperity of all mankind, one is
blessed with the wisdom and strength to mark out the way and lead men
towards it.
- BABA
11th January 2006 Annual Sports Meet
Man needs a healthy body in order to have a healthy mind filled with good
thoughts. It must be recognised that the purpose of sports and music is to
confer health and happiness on man. There are three benefits to be derived
from sports and games: team spirit, mutual understanding and joy. Even if
men speak different languages and differ in their habits and cultures, in
the field of sports they have a common bond, a spirit of camaraderie. True
education consists in the cultivation of good thoughts and acquisition of
good qualities like truthfulness, devotion, discipline, and dedication.
These are also the qualities that should be acquired through sports and
games. These qualities serve to impart to the subtle body health and joy.
- BABA
12th January 2006
In the heart of man, God resides along with the individual self, just as
light and shade co-exist. Shade is caused by Light; it declares the
presence of Light. They are fundamentally inseparable. So too, are the
Jivi (individual self) and the Brahman (Universal Self) related to each
other as One Inseparable Entity. The Jivi as the shadow exists in and
through Brahman and partakes of the same Divine splendour. Every
individual has to become aware of this identity. When the One is reflected
in the many, in the multitude of Jivis, it appears as the Self in each,
which watches unaffected as the Witness.
- BABA
13th January 2006
In rendering seva (selfless service), one should not think that their
services should be confined to the poor and the destitute. There is no
need to make any artificial distinction between the rich and the poor in
the sphere of service. What matters is the service done to a person who
needs it. Your concern should only be with what kind of service is
required, when and where, and not the status or position of the person
concerned. The primary requisite is a genuine spirit of love and
fellow-feeling. If there is no feeling of kindness and compassion,
whatever service that is done becomes an artificial exercise, done for
getting publicity or recognition. Ostentation in rendering service is
harmful as it will only inflate the ego.
- BABA
14th January 2006 Makara Sankranthi
The Sankranthi festival should be regarded as the day on which man turns
his vision toward God. Man's life may be compared to a stalk of sugar
cane. Like the cane, which is hard and has many knots, life is full of
difficulties. But these difficulties have to be overcome to enjoy the
bliss of the Divine, just as the sugar cane has to be crushed and its
juice converted into jaggery to enjoy the permanent sweetness of jaggery.
Enduring bliss can be obtained only by overcoming trials and tribulations.
Gold cannot be made into an attractive jewel without subjecting to the
process of melting in a crucible and beating it into the required shape.
- BABA
15th January 2006
The awareness of Swaswaroopa (one's real nature) is true knowledge and
devotion is the means to achieve this knowledge. Jnana implies freedom
from all thoughts. The Jnana Marga (the path of Knowledge) calls for the
control of thoughts by appropriate efforts. Whether one takes to the Jnana
Marga (the path of Knowledge) or the Bhakti Marga (the path of Devotion),
the resulting illumination is the same. For instance, the light of the sun
is reflected by the moon. The light from the sun is warm and bright. When
the same light is radiated by the moon, it is cool and soothing. The same
light is present in the sun and the moon; the principle that illumines
both the sun and the moon is the Spirit (Atma-tatwa). The sun's light has
been compared to Jnana and the moon's light to Bhakti. Jnana is effulgent,
while Bhakti (Devotion) is blissful. Thus Bhakti and Jnana are the means
to the same end.
- BABA
16th January 2006
Prema (Love) has been described as beyond speech and mind. It is said to
be Anirvachaneeyam (indescribable). This love cannot be got through
scholarship, wealth or physical prowess. God, who is the embodiment of
love, can be attained only through love, just as the effulgent sun can be
seen only by its own light. There is nothing more precious in this world
than Divine love. God is beyond all Gunas (attributes). Hence, His love
too is beyond attributes. Since human love is governed by attributes, it
results in either attachment or aversion. Love should not be based on
expectations of reward or return. Love based on such expectations makes it
a business deal. Love is not an article of commerce; it is not like
lending a loan and getting it back. It is a spontaneous offering. Pure
love of this kind can emanate only from a pure heart.
- BABA
17th January 2006
What man needs today is not Siddhantam (ideology). Instead, he needs
sense-control. Without control of the senses, a man cannot become
spiritual. This was proclaimed by Saint Thyagaraja in his song wherein he
said that without peace of the Spirit there can be no happiness for any
one, whether he is a scholar or an novice. Only through self-control can a
man experience peace.
- BABA
18th January 2006
Without God, there is no universe. To ask for physical proof of the
existence of bliss or love or the fragrance of a flower is impracticable.
To deny the reality of love on the ground that it has no recognizable form
is meaningless. Love may have no form, but the mother who exhibits love
has a form. All beings are manifestations of the Cosmic Divine. The forms
are different, but the spirit that animates them all is One, like the
current that illumines bulbs of different colours and wattage. Cultivate
this feeling of oneness and do not be critical of any faith or religion.
Dedicate your lives to the service of your fellow beings. Thereby, you
will be redeeming your lives.
- BABA
19th January 2006
Men should lead selfless lives. This may seem difficult. But, in reality,
there is nothing easier than this. It is selfishness that creates all
kinds of difficulties for man. Selfless love gives no room for any evil.
Selfless love may meet with opposition from one's kith and kin and from
worldly persons. But one should not be deterred by such opposition. Love
should be cherished as one's life breath. Make love the basis for all your
actions. The love of God should be free from any desire for favours. God
judges the devotee's love by the intensity of the feeling and not by the
number of ways in which worship is offered. Love of God does not mean
giving up your duties. In the performance of these duties, every action
should be done as an offering to God and for His pleasure - Sarva Karma
Bhagavath Preethyartham (for the sake of pleasing God). Look upon the body
as a moving temple, wherein God resides. Recognise that God is always with
you and around you.
- BABA
20th January 2006
Where is righteousness? It is in your conduct, thoughts, words and deeds.
Righteousness dwells in your heart. When the impulses arising from the
heart are expressed in words, that is Sathya (Truth). To translate those
words into action is Dharma (Righteousness). For all these, Love is the
primary requisite. Love in action is righteousness. Love in speech is
Truth. Love in thought is Peace. Love in understanding is Non-violence.
When you realise that God is in everyone, you will practise non-violence.
God is one, though He may be worshipped in different forms and by
different names - Rama or Krishna, Allah or Jesus, Hari or Sai.
- BABA
21st January 2006
Brahman is the immovable Totality, the Eternal, the True, the Pure and the
Attributeless. Just as the road, though itself stationary, enables the car
to move over it, the Brahman principle is the basis for the existence and
activities of Jivis (individual beings). In fact, there is only One that
appears as two. Look outward, it is Jivi; look inward, it is God. The
outer vision makes you forget; the inner makes you remember. When man
seeks to rise to the divinity which is his reality, he struggles to
recollect and experience his true nature. When he grovels in the lower
levels of consciousness and is enmeshed in the world, he is caught in the
coils of forgetfulness. Removing selfish desires and expanding one's urge
to love and serve is the most effective way to merge in the Supreme
Consciousness.
- BABA
22nd January 2006
The most important cause for bondage to the world is giving too much
freedom to the mind. For example, when an animal is tethered to a post, it
will not be able to roam over various fields, destroy the crops and cause
loss and harm to others, and thereafter get beaten for the mischief done
by it. Hence, the mind must be bound by certain regulations and limits. As
long as man lives a disciplined life, bound by certain rules and
regulations, he will be able to earn a good reputation and lead a happy
and fruitful life. Once he crosses these limits he will go astray.
- BABA
23rd January 2006
By Dhyana (meditation), you develop Jnana (spiritual wisdom) and by Japam
(recitation of God's Name) you develop Bhakthi (devotion) and by both, you
cleanse your heart of the canker of ego. You can link yourselves with God,
by a chain of love, through the recitation of the name, in silence and
with full awareness of the meaning and its nuances. Each time you utter
the Divine Name; the more the links the longer the chain, the firmer the
bond. But, each link has to be well forged out of well tempered steel. One
false link, that is to say, the Name once uttered in sloth or slight,
indifference or anger, resentment or rancour, will constitute a weak link
and the bond will not bind.
- BABA
24th January 2006
Men are wasting their precious lives in the pursuit of fleeting and petty
pleasures. Each bears the responsibility for one's condition because of
the way one's mind works. Do your duty, recognise the truth of your being
and you will be able to experience your Divinity. There is nothing equal
to the bliss of experiencing the Divine. You have to purify your heart of
all the other desires, aspirations and yearning for other means of
happiness in order to experience the Divine.
- BABA
25th January 2006
Pure and selfless love towards all living beings, considering everyone as
embodiments of the Divine, with no expectation of reward, is true Love.
With this attitude, when one regards divinity as present in all beings, he
experiences true love. Whatever be the vicissitudes one may face, whatever
be the personal sorrows and privations one may undergo, true love will
remain unaffected. Today, the moment a difficulty arises, love turns into
hatred. True love is the sweet fruit that grows out of the fragrant flower
of good deeds. Love rules without recourse to the sword. It binds without
laws. Only one who has such true love can be described as human, for,
divine love is the basic quality of a true human being.
- BABA
26th January 2006
The relationship between time and action should be recognized. Every
action, whether good or bad, has its consequence. There is no action in
the world which is devoid of consequence. This is the law of nature. For
instance, when a finger is cut by a knife, immediately the finger starts
bleeding. The result of the cut is instantaneous. However, when you sow a
seed, it becomes a sapling after some days. But to bear fruit, it takes
some years. Thus, every action has a consequence, but the time interval
between action and result varies. One who is aware of this truth is
unlikely to commit any wrong deeds because he knows that good deeds
produce good results and bad deeds lead to bad consequences. Recognition
of the law of Karma will make men lead proper lives. Man today takes to
wrong paths because he has not realized this truth.
- BABA
27th January 2006
One may claim to have surrendered all his wealth, power and position to
God. But, when one truly surrenders, one realizes one's relationship with
God saying, "I am in You, You are in me." The sense of separation between
God and the individual should vanish. Devotion does not consist merely in
offering worship in various ways. It means offering oneself to the Lord
with dedication and unsullied love. You have come from the Divine who is
the embodiment of love. Hence, base your life on that love.
- BABA
28th January 2006
The world is today suffering from disorder and violence because people
have lost Atma-Vishwasa (faith in the Self). They are fostering attachment
to the body and ignoring the Spirit. Man should not follow the senses
which are wayward, the body which is perishable, or the mind which is
fickle. He must follow the conscience, which tells him what is right or
wrong. Man has to rise above the animal nature. He has to express his
divine potencies. For this, man has to acquire knowledge of the Divine
Self. Atma is the all-pervading Universal Consciousness. It is immanent in
everyone. Only as long as this consciousness is present in the human body,
it is called Shivam (auspiciousness). Once the consciousness leaves the
body, it becomes Shavam (a corpse).
- BABA
29th January 2006
The cosmos is the creation of the Divine. It is surcharged with energy.
This energy is not localised at a particular point in space or time.
Though this energy is all-pervading, man is unable to recognise its divine
nature. As he cannot recognise it, he presumes that it does not exist.
Electrical energy flows continuously in the wires. But, its presence is
recognized only when a bulb is fitted and switched on. Likewise, though
God is omnipresent. His divine effulgence will shine only in those who
adore Him with a pure heart.
- BABA
30th January 2006
There are three stages of wisdom: Jnana, Sujnana and Vijnana. Knowledge
that is gained by the analysis of the objective world is Jnana. When this
knowledge is further studied and practised to serve the best interests of
the individual society, it becomes Sujnana, or beneficial wisdom. The
intentions and urges that arise from the purified consciousness saturated
with Divine qualities is Vijnana, the Highest Wisdom. Intelligence,
intellect, intuition - these three govern the thoughts and actions of man.
One leads to another. This is the significance of the prayer with which
Gandhi awakened the urge for liberation, liberation not only from alien
rule but also from alien tendencies and trends of thought. He caused the
entire land to reverberate with the prayer that emanated from a million
throats, Sabko sanmathi de Bhagawan - "O Lord! Grant everyone nobility of
mind." Once that is assured, progress is certain.
- BABA
31st January 2006
Oil is present within the sesame seed. Ghee is present in every drop of
milk. Fragrance is latent in every flower. A fruit is imbued with sweet
juice. In every piece of wood, fire is latent. In the same manner, the
Divine is immanent in the entire cosmos in a subtle form as Chaitanya
(Consciousness). The cosmos is the visible manifestation of the invisible
Supreme Self. The Divine shines effulgently in every man as
Sath-Chith-Ananda (Being-Awareness-Bliss). While the Divine is in such
close proximity to him, man in his ignorance goes about seeking God
outside himself.
- BABA