Learning Through Reading

1313 · Nov 28, 2021

God is full of love, and the world is perfect.
You ask how I can say such a thing when there is so much suffering all around.
Again and again I repeat that a person—at least at a certain level of development—should not judge, because they can see far too few of the connections between things.
God’s reality extends from eternity to eternity. By contrast, your viewpoint changes from day to day and, along with it, encompasses only a small part of things. How can you have a clear perspective under such circumstances?
Therefore, the wisest thing you can do is first listen to My statements and immediately test them. In other words, try to look at the world without judging it.
I tell you: creation is arranged in such a way that, in the end, all living beings will experience blessing and grace.
My love and My sense of justice allow no other outcome.
No matter how unusual, unjust, incorrect, or even cruel something may seem, trust that justice and love are being revealed here—justice and love whose roots you cannot see.
And how will you discover the roots? Ask yourself. With humility. For humility works by closing you off from the so-called obvious, so that you may open yourself to what seems elusive.
Just as you must open your eyes in order to see, you must also open yourself to deeper truths so that you can see and understand more connections.
Therefore, humility is the express train that will bring you to My Source faster than anything else.
Sai Baba

1313 · Nov 29, 2021

Once there was a married couple who understood each other well and made efforts to establish a small business.
But things did not go well for them. It did not take long before they had to abandon this plan.
Since they were deeply religious, they went to a wise man to ask for advice. He listened to their problem and advised them to meditate (25.VII) twice a day and, in any case, always at the same time, and to eat every day at exactly the same time. In addition, they were to fast once a week. He told them to come back in three months.
Completely bewildered, the husband and wife returned home. They had hoped for some “interesting” advice, some kind of insight. And now they were supposed to meditate and eat punctually. What strange advice!
Since they were both old souls, they were humble before the wise man.
Therefore, they followed his advice and … lo and behold, their shop began to show some success, which continued to grow!
Three months later, they came to the wise man again. He advised them to continue the practice they had begun and to return in another three months.
This continued for many months. And their shop prospered more and more.
Again and again, they went to the wise man to enjoy his radiance and, at last, to learn what lay behind his advice.
After two years, the wise man told them: “Now you have become firmly established in your new
habits, so I will tell you why I advised you to eat punctually and meditate.
There was no rhythm and no order in your lives. This made you weak. Without order and rhythm, nothing can be achieved for long.
Punctuality is external order. Fasting is both inner and outer order.”
Sai Baba

1313 · Nov 30, 2021

Do you know what it means that you quarrel so much?
It means that you cannot manage yourself.
Those who quarrel a lot should always ask themselves what they are doing wrong.
There are people who can hardly behave otherwise: either they quarrel or they let everything happen.
Both are wrong.
The goal is to live in complete harmony with yourself and those around you.
This is not a fantasy; it is possible if you reduce your desires, especially your unconscious ones.
Therefore, if you find yourself in a conflict situation, do not use it as a way to explain something to others; use it as proof that you yourself still have much to clarify.
Because the goal is for you to give love and peace to others and receive them from others. Through consistent friendliness, you can clarify for yourself what you desire—or, in other words, what you do not desire.
And that you clearly know that you can also defend it.
Be friendly.
Unfriendliness causes disagreement. And disagreement is a waste of energy.
By contrast, kindness is the oil without which everything comes to a standstill for a long time.
Sai Baba

1313 · Dec 1, 2021

During My incarnation as Shirdi Baba, as in My present incarnation, I did much to stimulate the teaching and development of psychology in the West.
Mainly, I helped Sigmund Freud and C. G. Jung, through targeted “incidents,” to arrive at conclusions that form the foundations of their teachings.
The consciousness of the West needed to change. Prussian methods of education had to be overcome.
Since all traditional sciences were unable to offer anything fundamentally new, it was necessary either to recreate psychology and psychoanalysis or, at the very least, to strongly promote their development and place them on entirely new foundations.
However, psychoanalysis, especially Freudian psychoanalysis, is atheistic. Freud was a great skeptic.
These were ideal prerequisites for him to act as a researcher, because they forced him to test his assumptions again and again. For his philosophical convictions, however, this was very disadvantageous. Freud could heal because he had a generous heart and a clear mind.
In contrast, many analysts and other psychologists—in other words, therapists—had either one or the other.
Therefore, in this incarnation I will change psychology once again. It must create a connection between good, possibly successful techniques and clear spiritual harmonization.
Any method of treatment without a connection to God is dangerous.
Any psychotherapy without God’s help is irresponsible.
What will you treat, if you do not know that God exists, what God is, where God is, or how to reach Him?
So-called science wastes enormous amounts of time and money trying to prove everything “mathematically beyond doubt.”
All of this is sandbox play.
Only the spiritual dimension can reveal to you what you have been seeking: knowledge of everything.

Sai Baba

1313 · Dec 2, 2021

What valuable lesson can we learn from a child who loves his toys? Bhagavan sweetly instructs us with a powerful message.

The Puranas and epics teach the path of devotion and complete surrender to the Lord. They require a person to perform every action in a spirit of selflessness. The ananda (bliss) with which you have filled your vessel will evaporate in the wind of doubt or beneath the sun of despair. But if you immerse the vessel in the cool waters of good company and good deeds, it can be preserved unchanged forever. Ananda increases when you remain in it in silence and reflect on the conditions that led to it. This is why manana (constant reflection) is considered such an important part of spiritual practice. Like a child who throws away his toys and begins to cry, you too must recognize the insignificance of such toys as fame and fortune and call out to the Mother. The child feels that everything else is rubbish compared with the Mother’s love and the bliss of her presence. Nothing less is worth striving for.

BHAGAVAN SRI SATHYA SAI BABA
Divine Discourse, July 2, 1966

1313 · Dec 3, 2021

The arrival into the world of a saint—in other words, a God-man—is announced long beforehand. God sends messengers who must prepare people for the great event.
But this is only one aspect of the prior announcement. The second lies in God’s teaching and in His attitude. Through this, He seeks to establish the absolute unity of His words and deeds.
God does not conceive anything that does not become reality.
God does not waste a single thought. God does not dream. God’s dreams would become reality, because His conception is constantly connected with His will, and His will is always connected with reality.
God, as absolute reality, cannot think anything unreal, because His thought, word, and action are one. Take God as your criterion and unite thought, word, and deed in your life. Do not promise anything you cannot fulfill. It is better to remain silent than to say something untrue. Learn the paradox of speaking silently.
A person speaks too much. In doing so, they lose a great deal of inner, that is, spiritual, strength. Whoever loses inner strength loses the significance of their I. Whoever loses the significance of their I thinks they can compensate for it through substitute actions.
One such substitute action is verbosity. It sets in motion a vicious circle that consumes ever more inner strength. Therefore, be silent and answer silently. Be present and silent. But do not be unfriendly or discourteous—answer if others need it. Afterwards, return to your silence.
Speak if you want to say something through your words. Otherwise, remain silent.
Concentrate on your I and fill it with shanti, inner peace. This is the most beautiful thing you can give to your society. For calm is followed by patience, patience by right action, right action by success, and with success the significance of the I becomes clear. Understanding the significance of the I is followed by the realization of the I, in other words, I-Revelation. I-Revelation brings peace.
This is the divine circle, which closes not in one’s ego but in ananda (bliss): completed through silence, fully opened through I-Revelation, and clearly discerned through bliss.
Sai Baba

1313 · Dec 4, 2021

SWAMI on our Time.

Many think that the Earth is facing a major catastrophe.
In every corner and direction, things are very bad; they accept this,
and then believe that soon it will already be too late to offer any help.
The world is at a decisive stage. That is true.
But on the other hand, the world has never received as many Blessings as it is receiving at this Time.
There are so many wonderful Souls on Earth who do nothing
other than what is positive for the world, its people, and the elevation of Consciousness.
They truly are a gift to the world!
There has never been a Time when such an army of Heavenly Forces has worked for the benefit of all Humanity and all Living beings.
At the same time, you are Living in an extraordinary Time!
You have been offered a wonderful opportunity that, in this form,
will never come again.
Use this opportunity.
Heed the lessons of the Saints.
Do not doubt that I will help you.
Do what I say.
Use the immense Spiritual Power that is now present on Earth, and you will be able to achieve what you never thought possible.

Sathya Sai Baba,
"Sai Baba Speaks to the West".

1313 · Dec 5, 2021

Do you give God a chance?
Are you honest in your accounting of debits and credits?
How much do you blame God, and how little do you thank Him for what you receive from Him?
It often happens that you accept the gifts He gives you as something completely self-evident. But if something does not happen as you imagined, you make Him responsible for it.
And what about you? Do you look at yourself just as critically?
The answer is yes. In God, you see nothing but the bad thoughts you have about yourself. You hate yourself. You do not take care of yourself. You do not see what you are causing.
In fact, you constantly criticize yourself, while expecting praise from others—something you cannot give yourself and therefore do not receive either. By constantly seeking praise, you make yourself dependent on others. And this naturally weakens you even more.
If you cannot see your own worth, at least recognize the worth of others or the worth of God. Acknowledge how much others—in other words, God—give you.
Open your eyes and look at others, not so that your conscience will torment you, but simply to be grateful.
Gratitude is the best treatment for every conceivable illness, whether its nature is physical or psychological. Moreover, gratitude illuminates that part of your ego that tries to bury your awareness of your own worth. And from this arises confusion in your psychological accounting.
Sai Baba

1313 · Dec 6, 2021

" Существуют три способа, посредством которых ищущие пытаются встать на путь дхйаны: сатвика марга, раджасика марга и тамасика марга.

Путь сатвики. Этот путь заключается в том, что ученик воспринимает джапу и дхйану как долг и ради него готов перенести любые трудности. Он абсолютно убежден, что все эти трудности не что иное, как иллюзия. Всегда и при любых обстоятельствах он делает только добро, всем желает только добра и всех любит. Каждую минуту жизни он помнит о Господе и медитирует на Него. Он даже не стремится к достижению результатов от занятий джапой и дхйаной — все это он предоставляет Господу.

Путь раджасики. Идущий по этому пути жаждет результатов каждого своего шага. И если результатов нет, то постепенно лень и отвращение наполняют садхану, и он бросает занятия джапой и дхйаной.

Путь тамасики. Этот путь еще хуже предыдущего, здесь о Боге вспоминают только в минуту опасности,
сильного страдания, когда человеку грозит какая-то потеря или боль. В такие минуты люди молятся и клянутся, что устроят пуджу, предложат Господу особые яства или построят храм. Такие люди подсчитают количество еды, предложенной Господу, расходы на подношения, положенные к его стопам. Они подсчитают, сколько раз они лежали перед Господом в распростертом положении, сколько раз обошли вокруг места поклонения и попросят награды, соответствующей их расходам. При таком подходе к дхйане ум и интеллект никогда не очистятся.

Большинство людей в джапе и дхйане следуют путем раджасики и тамасики. Прямое и непосредственное назначение джапы и дхйаны состоит в том, чтобы очистить манас и буддхи (ум и интеллект). Лучшим способом для достижения этой цели является первый путь, то есть сатвика дхйана. Когда манас и буддхи станут чистыми, они озарятся пониманием Атмы. Тот, кого озарило это понимание, называется риши».
Саи Баба

1313 · Dec 7, 2021

You rejoice in absolutely every small gift—yet you ignore the big ones!
Then Santa Claus comes with his large sack, and what do you take?—A few nuts!
So much strength, so much fullness is found in your heart, and what do you do? You run after some worthless glitter.
See how richly you are endowed. Only then can you give from the heart. Only then can you communicate openly with others. Only then can you smile even in the most difficult situations. Only then will your happiness last.
If you make yourself small, you are forced to get caught up in power games and quarrels.
Thus, you will inevitably become what psychologists aptly call “sick acquisitors.” On the contrary, if you see yourself as great, then you experience your strength and dignity directly; you do not need to fight or humiliatingly strive for recognition and influence.
Or, put another way: if you make yourself small, you condemn yourself to fawning.
On the contrary, if you decide to accept your true nature, then you see that the perfection you envied in others is within you, and you open yourself to the light. And radiance will become yours of its own accord.
Sai Baba

1313 · Dec 8, 2021

I identify Myself with the Self. You identify yourself with your body and ego.
I am always happy and content. You are often unhappy and almost always dissatisfied.
I remain in constant peace. You find it difficult to sit quietly and say nothing for even a moment, let alone think about nothing. My knowledge of the Self, My peace, and My contentment also enable Me to reason. I know the connections between things. I know the deeper causes.
By contrast, you reason based on appearances rather than essence, because you do not yet know the essence. Take, for example, the situation with Judas. You condemn him as a traitor to Christ. And you are mistaken. Judas was not a traitor, but loved Christ passionately. He simply lacked understanding and was therefore faint-hearted.
He saw in Christ a new king—a holy king who would rule both on Earth and over the powers of heaven. Judas believed he could hasten Christ’s action by forcing Him to reveal His true power. He did not understand Him.
Christ was too great, too vast for Judas’s spirit.
Therefore, he could not imagine that Christ might surrender to His persecutors without resistance. Thus Judas’s world collapsed: he lost the person he loved more than anyone in the world. At the same time, his illusion of seeing Judea as he had imagined it also collapsed. That is why he committed suicide.
But Christ showed him His mercy, and two lives later Judas attained final liberation. Learn from this case. Refrain from judgment. You do not know the connections. Instead, learn from Judas’s behavior that it can be very dangerous when someone realizes their convictions at any cost and wants to impose their idea of happiness on others.
It is better to follow the command that binds God Himself and all the angels: restrict a person’s freedom of decision only when necessary. And be very careful when deciding what should be considered a case of necessity.
Sai Baba

1313 · Dec 10, 2021

Avatars, incarnations of God, are born only in India, because here They find the special spiritual and emotional environment necessary for Their work.
In many Western countries, for example, during My transformation from little Sathya Narayana into Sathya Sai Baba, I would certainly have been placed in a psychiatric hospital, and I would have had to explain Myself to doctors instead of experiencing My transformation before everyone’s eyes.
From birth, Avatars require sixteen special qualities. They must know everything, be present everywhere, be omnipotent, be able to decide matters of life and death, write in the akashic records (the book of all earthly lives), and be capable of granting moksha (ultimate liberation).
While on Earth, an Avatar does not acquire any new qualities. Everything is inherent in Him from the beginning, because He is, after all, God who has descended. And although He comes to India, He is not Indian.
Although, as Rama and Krishna, He may be exclusively acceptable to Hindus, and as Shirdi Baba, to Hindus and Muslims, an Avatar does not belong to any particular religion.
How could it be that the omnipresent, all-encompassing God would suddenly limit Himself to a single religion, as though it were better than the others?
That would be absurd. An Avatar comes into the world for everyone, regardless of their religious affiliation. He is here even for atheists and helps them, just as He helps everyone else, so that they do not become completely entangled in maya (the external world, illusion).
But in this incarnation I am doing what no Avatar has ever done before: becoming known to many millions throughout the world in order to teach them, accompany them, and make them better. This special task belongs only to this incarnation, because all of humanity has strayed from the true path, not merely some limited number of people.
Therefore, they receive My blessing. Be happy and rely on the fact that you will be saved. For I will return to you the key to the little box of bliss that you lost along the way.

Sai Baba

1313 · Dec 12, 2021

If someone wants to cleanse charcoal of its dark color, can soap and water help with this? Likewise, washing pieces of charcoal in milk will not help. The only way to do this is to place the charcoal in a fire. This will turn it into a pile of white ash. Similarly, if someone seeks to destroy the darkness of ignorance and the impurity of desire, they must attain realization of the Atma (Atmajnana) or, in other words, knowledge of Brahma (Brahmavidya).

Darkness can be removed only by means of light. We cannot crush darkness by attacking it with greater darkness. Vidya is the light needed to destroy inner darkness. Vidya grants inner enlightenment. Vidya is the true Purushottama Yoga, the Yoga of the Supreme Person described in the Gita—the knowledge of the Supreme, the Highest Knowledge, Vidya. This Yoga cannot be bought with money or obtained from friends; it cannot be acquired through any organization or company. It must be assimilated and attained individually by each person, through steadfast faith and fervent devotion.
Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba

1313 · Dec 13, 2021

Today I want to speak about something that few people think about, if anyone does at all: what is life really like for the fathers of God-men? How did Joseph, for example, or the father of Ramakrishna Paramahansa, or my mother's husband live with the fact that the child born to their wives had not actually been conceived by them?
For these fathers, it was by no means an easily acceptable fact that their wife had become pregnant by some higher power—moreover, it was clear that this was not dependent on virginity, because, for example, I was the fourth child of my parents.
The love and trust these husbands had in their wives were so great that they accepted this circumstance, and regarded the possibility of the child's supernatural conception as a gift and an honor. God's plan is always perfect. There is nothing that has not been considered, nothing that has no significance.
The supernatural conception of a God-man, viewed from the father's perspective, must be regarded as something decisive: life is full of changes. Every change conceals the possibility of both happiness and unhappiness. If you live in uncertainty, distrust, or lies, a difficult or doubtful situation will make you fall.
On the contrary, if you live in love, faithfulness, and openness, God's child will come to you, and you will be able to accept this infinite gift with an open heart. Then there is no longer any distinction between man and woman, between mother and father, child and adult. Everything is One. Everything is God. You are everyone. I am everyone.
Sai Baba

1313 · Dec 14, 2021

God has chosen human beings and will never break faith with them.
The coming of Christ is a sign of this unshakable faithfulness and love.
Christ came to bring the light of love and faithfulness into a world characterized by power, greed, and brutality.
The same situation has arisen in our time, with the difference that humanity has developed a destructive potential that threatens the existence of the entire world.
God came to Earth to halt the destruction of the world, to show the way to happiness and peace, and to prove His faithfulness.
In this blessed time, you need to ask yourself: how do things stand with your own faithfulness? Are you faithful to your partner and to the people around you? Or are you defending the widespread but mistaken view that it is important to be faithful only to yourself—otherwise, there would be no need to prove it?
What would happen to you if God thought that way too?
Therefore, be cautious with frivolous statements of this kind.
Faithfulness lies at the heart of every partnership. Your relationships are so troubled because you think you can give up being faithful.
What you get from this is nothing but problems, delusions, and suffering.
The flame of love in the heart that binds two people together must be protected with the greatest care; otherwise, it may gradually fade or cause a fire that is barely, if at all, possible to control.
Think about your relationship with God. Think that you are God and behave as He does. In critical situations, consider: "What would God do now?" and always keep His unshakable faithfulness before your eyes.
Then nothing unfaithful will be able to blind you.

Sai Baba

1313 · Dec 15, 2021

The external world is, on the one hand, maya, illusion, but on the other hand it is also a measure. This is because it has the ability to show you precisely where you are.
If you have many problems that you cannot cope with, if you are mistaken about others—in other words, if you often fail to realize your intentions—then all of this shows you that you do not know yourself, that your connection with your center, your heart, is still weak.
I often repeat: maya (the external world, appearance) is only a reflection. But this does not mean that it is completely unreal or that it has no significance. The external world is your great teacher. You cannot learn better from anyone or anything else than from life.
Experience is the best teacher, because through experience you feel what is good for you and what is harmful.
But pay attention: in order to gain the right experience, you must have wise guidance.
The idea that "one must experience everything at some point" is very dangerous—would you want to be forcibly suppressed, tied to a torture stake, or placed under the guillotine?
Learn from God and thank the world for all the experience it gives you the opportunity to gain.
Use divine teachings to examine everything that happens to you. Learn from it, and your life will be full of blessings.
Sai Baba

1313 · Dec 15, 2021

No misfortune, however great it may be, will ultimately remain a misfortune if it helps you free yourself from your terrible enemy—ignorance.
Every incident can enrich you and, ultimately, lead you to happiness if you use it to overcome ignorance within yourself.
Ignorance is like a terrible stench. No matter how much incense you pour over it, it still stinks—and sometimes the mixture makes it even worse than before.
You cannot “put makeup on” ignorance. It always reveals itself, just like a cough or a large belly. No matter how hard you try, they cannot be hidden. Therefore, first of all, you need to acknowledge that ignorance is a punishment in your life. All the other steps will follow naturally.
Unfortunately, many people love their ignorance so much that they do everything to preserve it. Losses, suffering, and disasters are programmed in advance along with it, because ignorance and achievement cannot coexist.
Therefore, never cling to ignorance. It will bring you nothing but suffering and sooner or later will inevitably lead to the sad words: “If only I had known!”
When you say this, ask yourself whether you truly wanted to know. Were there really no signs showing you that this would happen?
Do not consider yourself a mole in an empty room. Do not consider yourself completely helpless. Rather, consider yourself a being endowed with intelligence, containing every possibility.
Consider yourself a creator, and you will become one.
Sai Baba

1313 · Dec 17, 2021

HAPPINESS AND PEACE OF MIND

If a person is selfish and arrogant, no one will love them—not even their own wife and children, although they may pretend to love them.
As long as a person is ruled by anger, troubles and sorrows will pursue them.
A person obsessed with desires will achieve nothing and remain forever dissatisfied.
A greedy person will never know happiness.
Thus, anger, desires, and greed are the main causes of a lack of peace of mind.
A person believes that happiness and peace of mind are the result of spiritual practice, but in reality this is not so.
The mind is the primary cause of both happiness and sorrow. Therefore, bring your mind under control.
A pacified mind will enable you to cultivate equanimity within yourself...
As soon as you bring your mind under control, you will begin to grow spiritually, freed from the influence of the pair of opposites “joy—sorrow.” Welcome sorrow as you welcome happiness.
In fact, happiness arising from pleasure is insignificant compared with the happiness that comes after overcoming difficulties...

“Happiness lies in union with God.” And this is true happiness. You cannot claim happiness by striving for worldly comfort...

A person can become happy only when they turn their vision inward. Only closeness to God can grant them happiness. They cannot receive it anywhere else; neither another person nor an object can give it to them. Expecting another person to grant you happiness is a sign of ignorance.

Sathya Sai Baba. God Dwells in the Heart of Everyone. Chapter 44,

1313 · Dec 18, 2021

“Life is a mirage; it arises from rain that is invisible and flows into a sea that is unknown. A dying man was pestered by his numerous relatives. His parents, wife, children, brothers, and sisters surrounded his bed and lamented incessantly: ‘What will become of us? To whom are you leaving us?’ Finally, he could not bear it any longer, raised his head, and asked in turn: ‘And what will become of me? Understand that I am more concerned with this problem right now than with what will become of you.’ Yes, it would be better for anyone to ask themselves this question right now and find an answer for themselves than to wait until it is too late. ‘Who am I? What should I do?’—these are the questions you need to investigate and find answers to.”
Sai Baba

1313 · Dec 20, 2021

We say, “This is my wife,” “this is my son,” “this is my daughter-in-law,” and so on. All these are illusory, bodily relationships. They are acquired, not given by God. Likewise, God gives you neither pain nor joy. All this is merely your own creation.
They arise because of your attachment to the body. As long as you are attached to the physical body, you will experience pain. As soon as this physical body is consigned to the fire, nothing will remain of you. Atman, the “I,” the Higher Self—all these are different names given to the same atmic principle. The individual begins to identify with the body, thereby giving rise to Ahamkara—the ego. That is why Jesus taught that, in order to become God, one must put one’s little “I” on the cross.
Sathya Sai Baba