Creation has to be viewed as a Cosmic Stage. God is the director and dramatis personae in this play. He assigns all the roles of the characters in the play. All creatures in the world are manifestations of the Divine. The good and evil in the world are expressions of the Divine consciousness. Man should not be misled by these expressions. Behind all the various actions of the actors, the Divine director is at work. It should be realised that though names and forms may vary, languages and nationalities may be different, the human race is one in its divine essence.

-SAI BABA

 

You must become like the flute in the Lord's hands. Let the breath of the Lord pass through you, producing delightful music that melts the hearts of everyone. Surrender yourself to Him; become hollow, i.e., egoless; then He will Himself come and pick you up caressingly and apply you, the flute, to His lips and blow His sweet breath through you. Allow Him to play whatever song He likes.

-SAI BABA

 

Man has to understand that he is the cause of his own happiness or misery, and that all he seeks or loves are not for their sake, but for his own sake. Hence, he has to understand by deep inquiry his own true nature. Realising the ephemeral nature of all worldly objects, man should recognise that enduring happiness can be got only by developing love for God. I do not condemn worldly happiness. I feel glad when people are happy. But, please do not believe that this happiness is permanent.

-SAI BABA

 

If we sow a thought today, we reap an act tomorrow. If we sow an act today, we reap a habit tomorrow. If we sow a habit today, we reap a character tomorrow. If we sow a character today, we reap a destiny tomorrow. You do not lose much if a finger is so damaged that it needs to be cut off. The body can still function and be a fit instrument. Even if you lose a limb, you can function and benefit with the help of your other faculties. But if you lose your character, then everything is lost. The crisis of character which is at the root of all the troubles everywhere, has come about as a result of the neglect of this aspect of education. Wisdom thrives when man is afraid of vice and sin and is attached to the Divine.

-SAI BABA

 

There is in everyone a spark of Truth; no one can live without that spark. There is in everyone a flame of Love; life becomes a dark void without it. That spark, that flame is God, for He is the source of all Truth and all Love. Man seeks the Truth; he seeks to know the reality because his very nature is derived from God who is Truth. He seeks Love, to give it and share it, for his nature is God and God is Love.

-SAI BABA

 

The secret of peace lies in service and love towards all beings. The best form of service is to promote the growth of sages and seekers who are the practitioners of the good life. Do not speak disparagingly of the servants of God; do not obstruct the charity of the generous; do not discourage the study of the scriptures even if you cannot promote any of them.

-SAI BABA

 

Gratitude is a supreme virtue. Ingratitude is a grievous sin. There is no means of atonement for the ungrateful person. A man without this supreme virtue of gratitude is worse than a cruel animal. Having received his wealth, education and skills from society, if he does not serve the cause of society, his wealth, education and skills are but a sheer waste. Man is a creature of society and owes everything to society. If you wish to safeguard your future, you have to be grateful to those who have helped you in your difficult times and enabled you to obtain your personal needs.

-SAI BABA

 

Moral and spiritual values have to be honoured as much as, if not more than, economic and material values. Life must be a harmonious blend of these values with emphasis on moral strength. The honour of a nation depends on the morality of that nation. A nation without morality will be doomed. Morality has to be grown in the heart by feeding it with love. Then only can we have justice, security, law and order. If love declines among the people, nations will weaken and mankind will perish.

-SAI BABA

 

Life on earth is, as on the ocean, ever restless, with the waves of joy and grief, and of loss and gain, the swirling currents of desires and the whirlpools of passion, greed and hate. To cross the ocean, the only reliable raft is a heart filled with the Love of God and man. Man is born for a high destiny, as the inheritor of a rich heritage. He should not fritter away his days in low pursuits and vulgar vanities. His destiny is to know the Truth, live in it and for it. The Truth alone can make man free and happy. If he is not prompted by this high purpose, life is a waste and a mere tossing on the waves, for the sea of life is never calm.

-SAI BABA

 

When man thinks, speaks and acts along virtuous lines, his conscience will be clean and he will have peace. Whoever subdues his egoism, conquers his selfish desires, destroys his bestial feelings and impulses and gives up the natural tendency to regard the body as self, is surely on the path of Dharma. He knows that the goal of Dharma is the merging of the wave in the sea; the merging of the self in the Higher self.

-SAI BABA

 

Everything is constantly changing in the world. This ever-changing world is based upon the unchanging Divine. It is only when the Aadhaara (Divine basis) is understood can one derive bliss from the experience of what is based on it. In whatever action men do and whatever paths they pursue, they should be conscious of the Divine. The chief source of Ananda (bliss) is dedication to God; nothing else can give that genuine and lasting joy. Become conscious of your kinship with the Lord. That kinship is not a mere fancy or a faked theory. It has come down since ages, from the beginning of time itself. It will persist till the very end of time.

-SAI BABA

 

Sorrows and disasters are the clouds that flit across the sky; they cannot injure the blue depths of space of faith. Look upon joy and sorrow as teachers of hardihood and balance. Grief is a friendly reminder, a good taskmaster, even a better teacher than joy. Do not flinch in the face of grief. Welcome the test because thereafter you are awarded the certificate. It is to measure your progress that tests are imposed.

-SAI BABA

 

Those who seek to impart the values of Sathya (Truth), Dharma (Righteousness), Shanti (Peace), Prema (Love) and Ahimsa (Non-violence) to others, must try first to practice them themselves whole-heartedly. To imagine that values can be installed by teaching is a mistake. Such learning will have no permanent effect. Educationists must take note of this fact. If transformation is to be effected in students, the process must start from a very early age.

-SAI BABA

 

So long as man lives a life devoted to objective pleasures and objective victories, he cannot escape sorrow, fear and anxiety. There is no object without fault or failing; there is no pleasure that is unmixed with pain; there is no act that is not tainted with egoism. So be pure and develop detachment, which will save you from grief. The sorrows of life cannot be ended through hatred and injustice; these will only breed more of the same species. The sorrows will yield only to nobler and higher thoughts and experiences germinating from the pure heart, where the Lord resides.

-SAI BABA

 

We should do our might to enhance the reputation of our country, its culture, and language. But, let not that pride lead you to dislike other languages and cultures. The languages by which thoughts are expressed may be varied, but the thoughts, emotions and feelings are the same. The language of the heart is the same, but when it comes to the tongue, it may take various forms.

-SAI BABA

 

Education has to cultivate humility and discipline; but today it is yielding a harvest of pride and envy. ‘Vidya’ means: ‘vid’ (Light) and ‘ya’ (that which gives). So education has to shed light and illumine the darkness in the mind and the intellect. It does not indicate mere bookish knowledge. It has to clarify the kinship of man with man and his intimate relationship with nature. It must harmonize one's earlier experiences with one's present ones, and guide one to profitable and beneficial experiences in the future. It must validate the knowledge gained from these books by these experiences and in the process make man grow, until he becomes Divine.

-SAI BABA

 

A time honoured proverb says "Na Sukhaath Labhyathe Sukham" - Real and lasting happiness cannot be won through physical pleasures. Lasting happiness can come only by the discipline of the mind and faith in the Lord which cannot be diminished by good or bad fortune. Man has to use the power of discrimination given to him to fight the evil forces within him and to foster the Divine elements in him by his own effort, by listening to the voice of his conscience. Man has to use the freedom to discriminate between right and wrong, good and evil.

-SAI BABA

 

The Atma is unaffected by any subject or object. Even if the senses, mind, intelligence are inactive, that will not affect the Atma. They have nothing to do with the Atma, which you really are. To know the Atma as such an entity, unaffected and unattached is the secret of Jnana (wisdom). Man is fundamentally happy and healthy. His nature is joy. So when he is happy and healthy, no one is surprised or worried. But, grief and sorrow are strange to his make-up. They are the result of a delusion that has overwhelmed his nature. So people get worried and set about finding out how he got so deluded.

-SAI BABA

 

You must practice moderation in food, sleep and exercise. Good food taken in moderate quantities at regular intervals; that is the prescription. Sathwic food promotes self-control and intelligence more than Rajasic and Tamasic. Sleep too, must be regulated and moderated; it is as important as work and food. The food must be clean and pure and derived through pure means, and the strength derived from it must be directed towards holy ends.

-SAI BABA

 

Life is a mosaic of pleasure and pain - grief is an interval between two moments of joy. Peace is the interlude between two wars. You have no rose without a thorn; the diligent picker will avoid the pricks and gather the flowers. There is no bee without the sting; cleverness consists in gathering the honey nevertheless. Troubles and travails will haunt you. But you must not allow them to deflect you from the path of duty and dedication. The world today is afflicted with anxiety, fear, depression, hatred, greed and suspicion. The only way the world can be set right is for man to realise his high destiny; for every man yearns for two boons - attainment of joy and escape from sorrow.

-SAI BABA

 

Life sustained by food is short; life sustained by the Atma is eternal. Do not lay claim to long life; but to Divine life. Do not pine for more years on earth, but for more virtues in the heart. The Buddha knew and made known to the world, the Truth. Everything is grief. Everything is empty. Everything is ephemeral and polluted. So the wise man has to do the duties assigned to him with discrimination, diligence and detachment. Play the role but keep your identity unaffected.

-SAI BABA

 

You are all endowed with Viveka (discrimination), you have a conscience whispering Dharma (righteousness) into your ear; so you are to select and choose yourself. Polish your mind and the sublime grandeur of the Lord will be reflected in your heart. Just as you feed the body and care for its upkeep and maintenance, the Chitta (consciousness), the Buddhi (intellect) have also to be fed with good nourishing food. If you don't, then they will be hungry and run after all kinds of foul food. Give them proper nourishment and they will function well, which is to illumine the Atma and help you realize that the Atma is in all.

-SAI BABA

 

If a man wishes to be happy, the first exercise he must do is to remove from his mind every bad thought, feeling and habit. Grief and joy are obverse and reverse sides of the same experience. Joy is when grief ends; grief is when joy ends. What exactly is grief? It is merely a reaction to the loss of something gained or the failure to gain something desired. Therefore, the only way to escape grief and sorrow is to conquer desire for the illusory. The secret of happiness is not in doing what one likes but in liking what one has to do. Whatever work you have to do, you should do it with pleasure and liking.

-SAI BABA

 

When Jesus was born three wise men followed a star to reach his place of birth. Seeing the new-born babe they bowed to the divine child in their hearts. One sage told Mary: "He loves God." The second sage said: "God loves him." The third man said: "He is God." What is the inner significance of these three pronouncements about Jesus? The first statement implies that Jesus is a messenger of God. A messenger may love his master, but the master may not so easily love his messenger. The second statement implies that he is the son of God, for a father loves his son most dearly. The third statement proclaims the unity of the Father and Son. It means that as the Son of God he is entitled to ascend to his Father's place.

-SAI BABA

 

In the use of sense organs, there must be due regard for moderation and purity. This applies to food as well as to other things, which you may consume. Today man is behaving like a patient who is clamouring for the medicines that he relishes, not for the medicines that can cure him according to the doctors who are the experts. The patient chooses the diet and the regimen which are congenial to him; he bids adieu to the directions given by the doctor, for they restrict and regulate.

-SAI BABA

 

Man does not live by food alone. In fact he lives by the power of the Atma. So you must use your strength of body and mind, wealth and education with intelligence, in order to realize the power of the soul. Without discrimination, what is the use of physical strength? Everyday, when you take food, you are offering eatables to the fire that God has put in you to digest food. You have to eat in a prayerful mood, in profound gratitude. The Gita says that the fire that cooked the meal is God; the meal is God, the eater is God; the purpose of eating is to carry on the work entrusted by God, or pleasing to God; and the fruit of that work is, progress towards God.

-SAI BABA

 

He is a true devotee who considers God’s happiness as his own. He always aspires to give happiness to the Lord and does not want to cause any inconvenience to Him. You should never cause inconvenience to God in the name of devotion. Consider that God’s happiness is your happiness and your happiness is God’s happiness. Imbibe this spirit of oneness. Today most of the devotees are selfish. They have only Swartha Bhakti (devotion intended for selfish gains). They are concerned with their own happiness and not that of God's. You should see to it that your love is always pure. God is the embodiment of love. Such divine love is present in all. Share your love with everyone. This is what God expects from you.

-SAI BABA

 

The questions that haunt us and pressurize us while we live- whence have we come, to where are we proceeding, how did the universe originate, etc. All religions try to answer these questions. Man has set down in all lands certain rules and regulations in order to secure orderly and smooth running of his daily schedule of activities, directed to the actual process of living. Since they have become part of the code of conduct, they are also described as 'Discipline'.

-SAI BABA

 

The service activities that we undertake are meant to experience unity in society. It is a great mistake if you think that you are serving others. In fact, you should not consider anybody as ‘other’, for all are the embodiments of divinity. But man is not making efforts to realise this truth. Hence, he is subjected to difficulties. Once man realizes that God is all-pervasive, he will be free from suffering. In order to get rid of suffering, man has to practice the principle of unity in society. Once he understands the principle of unity, he can attain the Cosmic principle.

-SAI BABA

 

Man is equipped with a return-ticket when he takes birth. Holding it in his grasp, he earns and spends, rises and falls, sings and dances, weeps and wails, forgetting the end of the journey. But, though he forgets, the wagon of life moves towards the cemetery, which is its terminus. It brings no glory to man if he is tied helplessly to the wheel of birth and death. His glory and greatness consist in disentangling himself from that revolving wheel.

-SAI BABA