Only when a person understands the nature of the mind will they realize the true nature of humanity. What is the mind? It is not something negative; it is positive. It represents the power of the Atman, the power of will (sankalpa). It can overcome any distance and is capable of exploring the power of the atom. The mind can recognize what lies at the foundation of all categories of time—past, present, and future. The mind is therefore very important in a person’s daily life. It is a source of strength, but people nowadays remain indifferent to the mind’s potential.
I ask Myself, why do you make your life so difficult?
Life is joy and happiness. Everything else is merely a path of delusion.
Do you have worries? Sing the name of God.
Are you facing troubles? Sing the name of God.
Are things not going your way? Sing the name of God.
Would you like to accomplish more? Sing the name of God.
Would you like to change the world? Sing the name of God. (27 II).
But what is happening now? I am giving you the best medicine for the most serious illness, but what do you do? You do not believe in it! And why do you not believe? Because it sounds too simple!
Yes, that is precisely your problem: you think the world is so complicated, so overwhelming, that your mind eventually turns out to be right, and the world really does bring many worries.
You expected nothing else and would not have accepted anything else.
Therefore, do not complain. Instead, thank the world for fulfilling your wish and being so complicated!
You do not want the world to be so complicated? You do not want worries? Are you truly seeking peace, joy, and happiness? Wonderful. I hear that clearly. But I do not hear you repeating the name of God!
We are all actors in a drama performed by Him—puppets dance and play while He pulls the strings. You may play the role of an officer, soldier, farmer, beggar, or employee. Play it well so that the entire play will succeed! Do everything in the spirit of service, as though at every moment you were acting, speaking, and even feeling according to the command you have received.
To attune ourselves to this spirit of devotion, the Bhakti Sutras (aphorisms on devotion) prescribe nine paths, but the simplest and most practical is a life lived in constant remembrance of the Lord.
A piece of iron will sink in water; but make it into a boat’s hull, and it will float on the waves and even be able to carry a load. So too, the human mind immediately sinks in a sea of signals from the sense organs; but make it hollow by forging it with the Lord’s Name—and it will sail safely across the sea of anxieties.
«Obviously, someone has passed on to you the belief that in this Life you must experience suffering.
Some people claim that in this Life you must experience suffering inherited from previous Lives (Karma), and that
no Grace will be able to Save you from it.
Obviously, someone has passed this belief on to you.
The Grace of the Almighty is LIMITLESS!
I assure you that you will not have to suffer in working off Karma.
When unbearable pain torments you, a doctor gives you an anesthetic injection, and you do not feel the pain, although it is present
in the body.
God’s Grace is like such an anesthetic.
Nothing can prevent the manifestation of the Lord’s Grace.
If you have received Grace, you will not feel pain while working off Karma.
Expired medicine is ineffective, and likewise the effects of Karma will also be ineffective and powerless!»
You follow My instructions, you repeat the name of God (27 II.), you chant the Gayatri Mantra, and yet you feel as though your life is not moving forward—or even worse: you think that everything is only becoming more difficult.
Do not feel deceived. Believe Me when I tell you that this is all perfectly normal: you are turning more toward your Self, and your ego is doing everything it can to turn you away from this path.
Because your ego knows very well that the road to the Self means the loss of the ego’s power.
Therefore, the ego works with all its might against your spiritual development, for example, by inflaming your impatience. Your impatience makes you blind, and you do not see what you have already achieved. This blindness forms a vicious circle: you do not see what you have achieved, and therefore you become impatient. Impatience blinds you even more, and so on.
This programs failure in advance, and your ego seizes power again. Therefore, beware of your impatience, because it is one of the strongest forces holding you back from achieving—in other words, realizing—your Self.
But do not fight your impatience; instead, accept it as a small child to whom you would like to give attention. Regard it as something that belongs to you, and therefore you do not need to overestimate it or identify yourself with it.
Always rely on God’s help, and on the fact that you will succeed in everything. Be happy, because you have already been near the goal for a long time.
Many incorrect spiritual ideas are widespread nowadays, and they harm you more than they help you. One of them is the idea that you chose this life for yourself before birth.
This theory contains something that is both right and wrong.
What is right is that you create your destiny through your actions and their consequences. Your actions show what level of consciousness you are at. The consequences you experience determine the boundaries within which you can learn.
But the theory that you could choose your life is wrong in the sense that in the hereafter there is no “you”—in other words, no “I”—that could choose. This refers to something that, as such, does not exist and therefore cannot act.
Therefore, it is not you who choose your life; God assigns it to you according to your actions in previous lives. This happens in accordance with an all-encompassing cosmic plan, which is repeatedly changed in certain details because the course of some events, influenced by human free will, is directed differently.
But in the end, everything happens exactly as God has foreseen.
This guarantees that no soul is lost; in other words, every soul has the opportunity to develop.
How can I now say that you did not choose your life, but that it was assigned to you according to your previous actions? The difference may not seem very great.
I say this because such ideas inflate the ego in accordance with the thought: “I chose this life for myself—just look at what I can do!”
In contrast, one’s behavior is completely different when one knows that life is a gift from God. Then one can speak of one’s life as follows: “This life has been given to me so that I can learn, in accordance with my actions in previous lives. I would like to use this great opportunity to grow as well as possible, and I thank God for giving me this opportunity.”
This is the right attitude toward everything you will have to encounter in life.
If you have this attitude, there are no longer any terrible events in life, only gifts that enrich you.
The Vedas teach that there is only One Lord of the Universe, and He is beyond all rules and limitations. He is the One who is the inner essence of all beings, the source of all energies, present everywhere and in everything: in the infinitely small as well as the infinitely large. He is the One under whose guidance the five elements—earth, water, fire, air, and ether—act, and who commands them. Love Him, worship Him, and Serve Him in all His manifestations. This is the greatest philosophy of Love, set forth in the Vedas, whose essence is that a person should live in the world in which they were born, like a lotus flower. The flower’s roots are in the mud beneath the water. It grows through the depths of the water and blooms on its surface. Yet neither the mud nor the water touches its leaves or flower! Of course, it is good to love and worship God in order to receive some benefits immediately or later. There is no one and nothing more precious than God. Therefore, the Vedas advise us to love the Lord without any conditions or expectations. Love for the sake of Love itself, for everything He can give will be less than He Himself. Love God alone in everyone and everything, without any desires or demands, and remain at peace!
Activity in life is necessary. Those who do nothing lose themselves. Work is grace.
Therefore, choose an occupation for yourself through which you can do a great deal of good. For the more you devote yourself to others, the richer your life becomes. If you do not feel that you are becoming richer, examine your attitude.
What does not come from the heart does not reach the heart—and therefore does not return.
Your attitude toward work is decisive. Do not seek what will bring you joy; instead, joyfully do what is your task.
There is nothing worse than people who perform their work gloomily, unkindly, and without joy. Such behavior is extremely harmful. It leads either to vices, such as alcohol and nicotine, or directly to ill health.
A negative attitude toward one’s work is the reason why so many people are unhappy, impatient, and ill.
You believe that free time is everything. But in reality, work is everything. I never have a single day free. I work day and night, on Sundays and holidays. I am the happiest person because I can serve billions of people and living beings.
Serve, help, act for the benefit of others, and you will share in My constant bliss.
It is not easy for a person to reach a state in which, during the final moments of life, they can focus the mind on God. This requires long training and a certain degree of progress along the path. This quality is called Purva samskara. The mind must be trained in strict discipline. And that is not enough: it must reject all petty, insignificant, and impure thoughts. If you have learned to discipline the mind and have developed detachment from all other thoughts, then in the final moments of life you will undoubtedly be able to concentrate on the Divine Will, and this concentration will be constant.
Ignorance (maya) is like the ghost of a tribal woman who once possessed a great pandit in a Himalayan hermitage. The unfortunate pandit sang and danced like a tribal girl, cursed and swore in the Paishachi dialect (the language of ghosts), and everyone in the ashram became ashamed to be associated with him. Finally, when the ghost was exorcised and the pandit was freed, he became himself again. He remembered nothing of his mischief and chatter. Humanity, too, is possessed by the ghost of ignorance (maya). The ghost must be exorcised. The method for driving out the evil force of this ghost is taught by the Guru or the Gita. Do not despair—it can be driven out. Confidence provides the necessary courage and strength. Do not doubt or give in to despair. This must happen, whether you welcome it or not, whether you strive toward it or not—it is the reason for your birth, the goal you must attain. You did not come here to become an instrument in the hands of the ghost.
--BABA
Divine Discourse, July 17, 1962
The time has come when I argue with some parents. Because some parents lurch from one extreme to the other.
If the essence of so-called Prussian upbringing was that a child—I mean, was treated with hatred and subjected to everything associated with hatred: beaten, intimidated, humiliated, and physically and spiritually maimed—then today the exact opposite often happens.
Today, children are allowed almost everything—sometimes even that little “almost” is omitted. Children then completely dictate the lives of their parents, as well as the lives of those around them. At the same time, children become unrestricted rulers, daring to do whatever they want.
What kind of parents are these, who allow their children to grow up this way and set no boundaries for them at all?
They are parents who have very little awareness of their responsibility, who exchange freedom for permissiveness and development for licentiousness.
Children need to be supervised. Children require a great deal of love. But it is also love to set certain boundaries for them.
Children should feel respect for their parents and for all adults. Respect has nothing to do with fear—in other words, blind obedience. Respect is reverence, which younger people should feel toward their elders. Such reverence arises naturally when children are brought up in close connection with God.
But at the same time, elders also need to respect the young and should not regard them as little fools.
Think as an adult: you do not know what kind of soul dwells in this child—it may be the soul of a saint or a great master.
Children should regard adults as wise teachers.
Adults should respect children as mature souls who have come directly from God and still radiate His energy strongly.
Live with great respect for one another, with mutual reverence. Feel the love that unites you all.
So that all of you together may have love and reverence for God. This is the best remedy for all the problems that may arise in your daily lives.
Be careful with money. Money comes and goes; ethics, on the other hand, comes and grows.
There are five ways in which your attitude toward money and God may manifest itself.
1. You live in the world, and you have no money.
2. You live in the world, and you have money.
3. You turn away from the world and turn to God, and you lose money.
4. You turn to God and receive money.
5. You turn to God and no longer receive money.
At first glance, it seems that there is no great difference between pursuing money in the world and following the path to God. But looking more deeply, you acknowledge that at its foundation everything is different: if you are in the world, then you exist for money, rather than money existing for you.
That is why changes often occur when God brings you to the brink of ruin, so that you come to your senses—in other words, become free.
If this is in accordance with your karma and beneficial to your development, at some later time God blesses you with money after He is certain that your attitude toward money has changed.
Notice that you can never be successful in the world for long, no matter how it may seem.
Therefore, in your hierarchy of values, always observe this order: first—God; second—your partner and your children; third—your occupation; fourth—your income.
Never change this order, because without God in your heart, money is a poison that slowly devours your soul—you may have noticed this yourself, at least to some extent.
The wave knows that it is part of the ocean, and that all waves are nothing more than temporary manifestations of the same ocean, and that their taste is the same as that of the entire ocean. The people around you are parts of yourself; you should not worry about them—worry about yourself, and that is enough. If everything is in order within you, everything will be well with other people too, because you will no longer consider them separate from yourself.
Remember, when you call upon God and receive no help from Him,
this does not mean that He does not come.
He always comes; it is simply that sometimes your Karma does not allow Him to do what you ask.
Your attitudes toward the Incarnation limit the help available to you.
And there are other reasons.
But I Love you and send you Love.”
We are all actors in a drama enacted by Him—puppets who dance and play while He pulls the strings. You may play the role of an officer, soldier, farmer, beggar, or civil servant. Play it well, so that the whole play may succeed! Do everything in the spirit of service, as though at every moment you were acting, speaking, and even feeling according to the command you have received.
To attune ourselves to this spirit of devotion, the Bhakti Sutras (aphorisms on devotion) prescribe nine paths, but the simplest and most practical is a life lived in constant remembrance of the Lord.
A piece of iron will sink in water; but make a boat hull out of it, and it will float upon the waves and even be able to carry a load. So too, the human mind immediately sinks in a sea of sensory signals; but make it hollow, forging it with the Lord’s Name—and it will sail safely across the sea of troubles.
There is no vengeful God, no evil God. There is only Me. And I am full of love and mercy.
I have arranged the world so that no one will be lost, no matter how bad their actions may be.
Through the consequences of their actions, they will be purified. Sooner or later, they will recognize that there is only one path: the path of love.
Therefore, there is in fact no “negative” karma either. On the contrary, in your life you have encountered the consequences of your previous actions, which teach you what you need to learn. So-called negative karma is like a mark at school that shows how much you know—in other words, what you can put into practice.
Therefore, if you look closely, there is only one path, leading through divine love.
This path makes you free. Follow it consciously, and you will no longer be attached to the world. You will only draw closer to Me.
This is what you have sought all your life. It is the infinite happiness you could not find in the world.
I am happiness. Everything else is only a path to it.
Everything Belongs to God.
Give everything to God.
Absolutely everything.
All your worries and fears.
Your concerns and anxieties.
Tension and effort.
Struggle and helplessness.
Pain and suffering.
Longing, sadness, and loneliness.
Lostness and meaninglessness.
Give Him Everything.
Absolutely everything.
And in return, feel Him.
Truly, feel Him.
And there, dissolving into God’s mercy,
for the first time you will feel
a feeling previously unknown to you:
true calm and tranquility.
Silence and peace.
Safety, love, warmth, and care.
For the first time, you will feel at home.
The destination you have unsuccessfully sought all this time.
Give everything to God.
Absolutely everything.
In return, you will receive Him.
You will receive everything.
Give everything to God.
Even what cannot be given.
Many doctors, scientists, and industries, such as the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, need to prepare for My wrath. When I speak of the demons of our time, I mean them as well.
Many of them cruelly trample on the suffering of others. Their main aim is to increase their profits and expand their power. Such actions are a dead end with no way out or future. Hard-heartedness and brutality must end, and they will end.
I have come to help the weak and helpless. I always fulfill My intention
and My word. At present, people are exploiting one another to such an extent that it exceeds what is permissible and will no longer be tolerated in the future. My intention and My will are to spread love, willingness to help, and spiritual knowledge throughout the world.
For institutions that exploit people's suffering to make a profit, there are only two possibilities: either they will come to their senses or they will perish. I consider it especially condemnable that doctors are also involved in this process of exploitation, and this shows how deeply human society as a whole has sunk.
I have come to give everyone more opportunities for reflection—that is why grace exists, so that you may have these opportunities. But some have become so blind that only experience can change them. This explains the wise saying: "Karma gives the blind the light of sight."
A language lives through the content it receives with the help of concepts. The core of a concept lies in the meaning it expresses. But wherever meaning plays a role, caution is advisable.
For example, in some other country, something may be taken for granted that means a great insult in your country. And vice versa. It may even have a completely different meaning. In German, a four-legged creature that protects your home and helps you pass the time is called “Hund” (dog). Children often say, “Woof, woof.” Everyone knows what the concept “dog” means.
And this is precisely where the difficulties begin. Because everyone has their own idea of a “dog,” even though they use the same concept. One person thinks of a small poodle, another of a large one. Someone else thinks of a shepherd dog. Yet another thinks of a Dalmatian.
Although everyone uses the same concept of “dog,” almost everyone has a different idea of it. This fact is very important when you are talking to someone. Never assume that they associate concepts with the same ideas as you do.
Therefore, investigate which ideas your conversation partner associates with the concepts you use. However different these ideas may be from yours, do not judge them; respect the ideas of others, because they were shaped by their life experiences.
Meet every person with respect and attention (notice how similarly these two words can be understood, although I of course mean different things. Do you see it?) Do not try to convince anyone; instead, ask yourself more often what you can learn from them.
Such behavior will then automatically express itself in the friendliness of your speech and in the patience of your essence.
The state of your mind depends on food. If you are overcome by unkind thoughts while eating, these thoughts will affect the food you eat, which, in turn, will affect the state of your mind. The mind is formed from food. As the food is, so is the mind. Therefore, our ancients advised consuming only sattvic food.
The gross part of the food we eat becomes feces; the subtle part nourishes and renews muscle tissue; the subtlest part of the food transforms into the mind. Similarly, the gross part of water is excreted as urine, the subtle part passes into the blood, and the subtlest part transforms into prana. That water contains prana is an indisputable fact. This is precisely why drops of sweat appear on the face of a person who has lost consciousness. Water helps a person regain consciousness because it contains prana.”
SATHYA SAI SPEAKS (VOLUME 27)