How to Receive His Guidance and Grace

What is our present state of affairs, and how can we receive His guidance & His grace?

"This world is the jungle in which you roam; fear is the lion, which drives you up the tree of samsara - worldly activities. Anxiety is the bear that terrifies you and follows your steps in samsara; so, you slide down into attachments and binding deeds, through the twin roots of hope and despair. The two rats are day and night, which eat away the span of life. 

Meanwhile, you try to snatch a little joy from the sweet drops of egoism and ‘mine-feeling’. Finding at last that the drops are trivial and out of reach, you shout in the agony of renunciation, calling on the Guru. Guru appears, whether from within or from elsewhere, and saves you from fear and anxiety. When you call out in all sincerity, the response will certainly come. Do not pray from the lips, as you do now, from the Puja room, which is but a corner of the kitchen; You worship the Lord with an eye on the dishes cooking in the oven, with a nose inhaling hungrily the smells of boiling curries.

Give up all low desire and call from the anguished heart."

~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~

(Divine Discourse - Nov 24, 1965)

The name of the Lord must always be pronounced with joy, thankfulness, exultation, awareness of the uniqueness and the splendour. Say it with love, say it with sincere yearning. – BABA

May All Living Beings in All the Worlds be Happy

 

Gems of Wisdom

 From the moment we arrive to the moment we leave,

we are given a small, precious window of time -

a brief breath in the vastness of eternity.

We call it life.

It feels long when we’re young,

but the older we get, the more we realize how fast it passes…

how fragile it is…

how quickly moments slip away.

And that’s why we must use it wisely.

Be happy.

Not someday.

Not when everything is perfect.

But now - in small everyday moments that make your heart warm.

Lift others up.

Your words can heal.

Your kindness can save someone’s day.

Your compassion can change a life.

We rise higher when we help others rise.

Live each moment fully.

Life doesn’t give refunds for wasted time.

The present is all you truly own - breathe it in, live it deeply, love it wholeheartedly.

This tiny window called life is not guaranteed.

It’s not promised to be long.

And it doesn’t stay open forever.

So laugh loudly.

Love deeply.

Forgive quickly.

Appreciate what you have.

And choose joy whenever you can.

Life is brief, but it can be beautiful -

if you live it before it slips away.

Samastha Lokha Sukhino Bhavanthu

Sai Blossoms

 "Nishkama Karma or selfless service is a fragrant flower of altruistic love.  

It is not to be performed for the satisfaction of the person rendering the service or the person at those bidding it is being done  

The feeling should flow through the nerves and bloodstream and permeate ever cell of the person's body.  

Whatever be the nature of work, we should do it as an offering to God."

~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba

(Seva - A Flower at His Feet p.44)

"Where are You, Where do You Reside?"

 

Somebody once asked Baba, "Where are you, where do you reside?"  Baba replied, "I reside in the altar of your heart."  The Lord installs Himself on the throne of a pure heart.  So Baba stays in our heart so long as we keep it pure and sacred.

The next  question put to Baba was, "Swami, what do you do?"  He said, "I take care of My devotees.  I will be reviving Dharma.  I will see to the needy and forlorn.  I will be fostering Vedic knowledge."  Further He said, "I shall confer Bliss on everyone.  It is my vow to bring back those who drifted from dharma onto the path of dharma.  It is my vow to alleviate the poor from suffering.  True devotion to Me means that the devotee should have the spirit of equanimity, in pleasure and pain."

Baba also said that He will transform people.  He will not destroy the evil people.  The purpose of His incarnation is to make all realise the divinity within.  Bhagawan speaks of the synthesis of all religions and not a particular religion.  Bhagavan's purpose is not the learning or reading of the religion but putting it into practice.  Bhagawan's philosophy is not in anyway the repetition of age old practices, ritualistic towards the divine.  It is one of seva, service, Bhagawan says emphasis on the path of service to divinity.  It is not one of mediation, advocating the philosophy of God who is beyond our knowledge.  He is not speaking of God who is beyond our knowledge.  He is not speaking of a God who is not within our reach, whom we cannot think of or experience.  Baba's definition of Himself is "God is Love.  Love is God.  Live in Love."  So if Love is to take the form of a person or Love personified as two feet and walk amidst us, that incarnation is to be called "Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba."  Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba is God Incarnate, who is nothing else but Love."

(From the book "Divine Directions" by Prof. K. Anil Kumar)

Divine Wisdom

 

The Quest for God

 "The quest for God does not mean doing bhajans, japa, worship and the like.  They are merely means for achieving mental concentration and subduing desires and aversions.  Why cry out asking "Where is God?"  He resides in the heart.  Offer service and receive love.  Thereby experience the bliss of Self-realisation."

~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~

(November 17, 1985)

Quotable Quotes

 

“Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our heart, we still cling to anything - anger, anxiety, or possessions - we cannot be free.”

~ Thich Nhat Hanh ~

Ups and Downs of Life

 

"The ups and downs of life have lessons to teach us.  In fact, without reverses in life, we shall not be able to experience Divinity.  Without darkness, we cannot value light.  Without experiencing difficulties, we will not enjoy benefits.  It is the lack of peace of mind which compels us to seek the means by which to realise enduring peace."

~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba ~

(SSS Vol. XVI, p. 49)

Baba's Storytime - The Discontented Man is as Bad as Lost

Resist the temptation to satisfy the senses, to acquire what the world can give, to accumulate material gains. Set limits to your wants. 

There was a pupil once, in the kingdom of Raghu, who asked his preceptor at the conclusion of his studies, what dakshina he will accept from him. Dakshina means offering made in gratitude for service rendered. The Guru told him that he needed no other dakshina than his gratitude; it was enough if he lived according to his teachings and brought honor to his preceptor thereby. But the pupil insisted that he must indicate his need and tell him some sum of money or gifts that he would accept. 

So just to ward him off and get rid of him, the Guru named an impossible sum of money: "You learnt sixteen Vidyâs (knowledge of soul or of spiritual truth) from me, well, bring me sixteen lakhs of gold nishkas (coins)". 

At this, the pupil went off to collect the sum. He went to Emperor Raghu, and got from him the promise that he will fulfil his every desire. Then he placed his petition for sixteen lakhs of gold nishkas before him. Emperor Raghu was rendered desperate by the vast sum needed, though an Emperor, he was too deep in austerity to have the sum on hand. Still, in order to keep his plighted word, he invaded the realm of Kuvera, the God of wealth, and brought back as booty enormous stocks of gold. 

"Take all this and give your Preceptor what he has asked for, keep the balance for yourself," the king said. But the pupil refused to take a coin more than what he had to offer as dakshina to his Guru. "I have brought them for you, it is all yours, take," insisted Rahgu. But the young man resisted the temptation and stood his ground. 

That is real heroism. 'Asanthushtah dvijonashtah' - the discontented man is as bad as lost. Rely on the Lord and accept whatever is your lot, He is in you, with you. He knows best what to give and when. He is full of Prema.

(From the Divine Discourses of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba)