Sathya Sai Speaks: Volume 1- Chapter 8
Summary: “I have only come to spread Love to all. Typhoons of envy and hatred are scattering the clouds of Sathya, Dharma, and Nyaya. People feel that Sanathana Dharma will be extinct. The Lord who has laid down the Dharma will not allow Dharma to be destroyed.”
As long as in any religion or any place Sathya, Dharma, and Prema are emphasised, Sanatana dharma will exist. Prema directed towards God will guide us and it will allow to us be part of other fellow beings’ joys and sorrows. We will not care for temporary gains and losses of the world. Prema directed towards God is called Bhakti and is the easiest path to reach the goal.
Bhakti has different stages; The first stage is Mukhya bhakti where Seva or service to the Lord alone matters and it is its own award; the devotee serves with utmost sincerity and devotion to the Lord. Then is Para bhakti where the name and form of the Lord are cognised; followed by Gouna bhakti which is colored by the three gunas; the attitude of artha, arthathi, jignyasu and jnani (the afflicted, the pursuer of worldly comfort, a person of self-inquiry and the wise- who knows that all is HE)
For proceeding in bhakti marga no riches, scholarship, or ascetic rituals are needed. Only love is needed like in the case of Vidura, Gajaraja, etcetera. The grace of the Lord is like the ocean. Through our sadhana, japa, dhyana, and cultivation of virtues, the grace is converted into clouds of truth and they rain in humanity as prema showers which collect and flow as the flood of ananda back again to the ocean of grace.
When Prema embraces humanity, it is called ‘daya’ or compassion. Quality of sympathy and mot pity should be developed. It makes one happy when others are happy and miserable when others are unhappy.
Even while doing our daily chores we must sing in joy to the tune of ‘Prema’ meaning do all work with love.
One must follow two main principles in life. “First to develop detachment to things that are temporary and instead attract it towards lasting joys springing inside us. The mind will then become Guru and lead us on, once it has tasted the sweets of Shravana, Manana, and Nidhidhyanasa (listening, recapitulating, and repeated steady meditation). Do not proclaim great truths aloud, show by your conduct that you attach value to them and that you are guided by them. One can secure God by these two principles.”
It is possible to see God dwell in every being. Many roads to Godhead; Prema, Sathya, Seva, Daya, namasmarana, Adwaita etcetera; all are the right paths. Some are difficult and some are easy. The easiest one is to see the Lord in all. He can be seen in every being created by His will.
We must know our real nature. When we do good or bad deeds, we are actually doing it to ourselves. Bhakti is just not a mere act directed by the attitude of reverence for divinity in all beings. We must watch for the lie that lurks on the tongue, violence that lurks behind the fist, and ego that lurks behind the deed. We must restrain that before they grow into habits and settle down as characters to warp our destiny.
Swami says, “I will give you only what you ask for. Ask for Bhakti and Jnana and I shall be happy. Elders should teach children and youth about spiritual sadhana and study which has given them joy and happiness. Youth imitate adults. Pious people should demonstrate and teach that piety is not weakness but strength, it opens a spring of power and that a person of faith can overcome obstacles more easily.”
No one is Nasthik (atheist), every being exists as a result of His will and in accordance with His plan, so no one is beyond His grace. Everyone has love and truth in him. No life can be lived out of complete defiance of truth. One has to heed and speak the truth to someone at least in order to make life worth living. Now this moment is God’s moment and at that moment when he utters truth or loves or serves or bends he is a theist.
It is not even bhakti (devotion) that is essential. It is love, truth, virtue, eagerness to progress, to serve, to expand one’s heart, to take in the whole of humanity in one’s love, and to see all forms of divine consciousness.
Stories based on the above messages
The speech was given at YMIA, Mylapore, Madras-1958
Premaarpan 