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Thought for the Day
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As written at
Prasanthi Nilayam
Source: Radio Sai
Global Harmony
Thought for the Day Archive
May 2004
May 1, 2004
If a mother has two children and one of them
is ill, she will give the child the prescribed medicine though it
may be bitter. The other child may get to eat whatever he asks for.
This does not mean that the mother loves one child more than the
other. She realizes that what she is doing is for the good of the
child though it may be unpleasant for him. God is like a mother,
always looking after the welfare of His devotees and carrying them
safely through life.
May 2, 2004
The person who is a slave to the mind will not
find peace or happiness in life. The body is a mansion which has
been projected by the mind for its own joy. Some waste their lives
by expending their energy in looking after the body. Some others
increase their attachment through thoughtless repetition of
spiritual exercises, reducing them to mere ritual. The wise man is
he who controls the mind and purifies the heart by filling it with
good thoughts.
May 3, 2004
Man must worship God who appears to him in the
myriad human forms around him - as a blind beggar, an idiot, a
leper, a child, a decrepit old man or even a criminal. You must see
the Divine behind all the physical veils and worship Him through
seva (service). All Names and Forms, including yours, are His. You
appear as separate individual bodies because the eye that sees them
seeks only the outer physical form. When your vision is clarified,
you will see others as waves on the ocean of the Absolute.
May 4, 2004
Truth is one. It is beyond mind and speech. It
transcends the limitations of time and space. Innumerable seekers
have pursued different paths to recognise this Truth. There are
notable differences among the seekers of Truth. These differences do
not affect the nature of Reality. On the contrary, it is the
existence of these differences that has spurred the continuous
search for a unifying principle.
May 5, 2004
It becomes essential to cleanse the mind
through regular sadhana (spiritual exercises) and thereby tune your
will to the infinite will of God, so that it becomes merged in His
glory. Scholarship or skill, however deep and varied, have no
cleansing power. They only add the impurities of pride and
competition. Learned men are not necessarily good, nor are the men
who possess power over the forces of nature. Sathya (truth), Dharma
(righteousness), Shanti (peace) and Prema (love) are the hallmarks
of a purified heart, where God is enshrined and is manifest.
May 6, 2004
Man should not be a creature of instinct like
animals. He should progress from Nara (Human) to Narayana (The
Divine). The wise man does not regard himself as bound by worldly
attachments. It is not the world that binds man. It has neither eyes
to see nor hands to grasp. Man is a prisoner of his own thoughts and
desires. In his attachment to the ephemeral and the perishable, man
does not realize that everything in the universe has come from the
Divine and cannot exist without the power of the Divine.
May 7, 2004
You can get the feeling of yearning for the
Divine only if you get a taste of the Prema (Love) of the Divine.
That is why I have come among you - to give you a taste of that Love
so that the yearning for God will be planted in your hearts. Mastery
over mountains of information has been attained by man now, but
wisdom has lagged behind. Hence, man's capacity to probe and
progress into the realm of the universal and the Absolute has to be
developed. He must realize the Truth that Man's distance from
Divinity is the same as his distance from himself.
May 8, 2004
The Upanishads state that there are two birds,
the Jivatma and the Paramatma that sit on the tree called the body.
One bird eats the fruit of that tree while the other simply looks on
as a witness. But, the wonder is that the two birds are in reality
one, though they may appear as two. They cannot be separated since
they are two aspects of the same reality. Steam in the air may be
invisible, but it is of the same nature as ice which is solid.
Niraakara (the formless aspect of the Divine) and the Saakara (the
manifest Divinity ) are just two ways in which the One projects
itself.
May 9, 2004
When a severe pain torments you, the doctor
gives you a morphine injection and then you do not suffer any more.
In the same way, the grace of God acts to take away the element of
suffering from the Karma (consequences of past actions) which you
have to undergo. It is incorrect to say that one's fate is entirely
determined. Nothing can stand in the way of the grace of the
Almighty.
May 10, 2004
Adhere to your faith and traditions, but do
not give room for religious differences. When you can perceive the
unity of all religions, love will develop within you and you will
have a direct vision of God. Realize that love is present in
everyone. It is the unifier, the motivator and the source of joy for
every being.
May 11, 2004
Work is for the physical level. Worship for
the mental level and wisdom is for the spiritual level. Each one has
to pass through these three stages. That is why I say, "You are not
one, but three." The one you think you are - the body or the
physical person; the one others think you are - the mind or the
mental person consisting of emotions, attitudes and beliefs and the
one you really are - the Atma or spirit, the core of your
personality.
May 12, 2004
There is none to question Me if I do not act;
there is nothing I would lose if I do not engage in activity. Nor
have I any great urge to be active. Yet, you see Me very active. The
reason is that I must be doing something all the time for your sake,
as an example and inspiration. Those who lead must set an example
for others to follow; and those who command must themselves carry
out what they expect others to do. I am engaged in activity so that
you learn to transmute every minute into a golden chance to enable
you to move towards Godhead.
May 13, 2004
It is best that you stay away from people who
drag you to distractions that weaken and worry you. Spend a few
minutes every morning and evening in the silence of your own home
with God. Be in His elevating and inspiring company, worship Him
mentally and offer unto Him all the work you do. When you come out
of the silence, you will be more nobler than when you went in.
May 14, 2004 The six inner
enemies - Kaama (lust), Krodha (anger), Lobha (greed), Moha
(attachment), Mada (pride) and Maatsarya (malice) reduce man to the
level of a demon. They have to be overpowered and transmuted by the
supreme alchemy of Divine Love. Only then can there be purification
of the mind and the illumination of the soul.
May 15, 2004
When you have attained true wisdom, you will
find that good fortune should not be gloated over, nor bad fortune
grieved over. The wise one treats both the good and the bad with
equal unconcern. They are the gentle breeze and storms that cannot
affect the depths of the Ocean of Bliss in the heart of man.
May 16, 2004
There is at the basis of everything, a power
that is continuously at work. It is the Will of the Divine that
maintains the balance in the universe. You may ask that if God is
controlling everything, then what is the need for human effort? God
is like the electric current. To obtain light from it, you need a
bulb and a wire. Sathya (Truth) is the current, Dharma
(Righteousness) is the wire, Shanti (Peace) is the bulb and Prema
(Love) is the light.
May 17, 2004
It is not easy to understand the nature of the
Divine. Worldly intelligence cannot fathom the ways of God. You may
benefit from God, but you cannot explain Him. God is beyond the
reach of the human mind; by standing on a rock, you cannot lift it.
Similarly, living in Maya (illusion), you cannot comprehend its
nature. But, once man realises the unity that underlies the
universe, the problems arising out of the apparent diversity
disappear.
May 18, 2004 Rituals and
prayers are necessary in the initial stages of the spiritual
journey. They are the kindergarten of spiritual education. The rules
and regulations governing the performance of rites have to be
extended and directed to more socially constructive ends by
thoughts, words and deeds which promote humility and equanimity.
May 19, 2004
By Dhyana (meditation), you develop Jnana
(spiritual wisdom) and by Japa (recitation of God's name) you
develop Bhakthi (devotion) and by both, you cleanse your heart of
the canker of ego. You can link yourself to God by a chain of Love,
through the recitation of the Name from the depths of your heart and
with full awareness of the meaning and its nuances.
May 20, 2004
Man today fails to recognise the power of the
Divine because of his selfishness and self-centredness. Only when he
gets rid of the impurities encrusted in his heart, will he be able
to experience Divinity. Man and God are like the iron filing and the
magnet. God by His very nature attracts man to Himself, for in man
there is the Divine. Often we feel that God has forsaken us and we
rush to blame Him, failing to realise our own defects. When the iron
filing is too thickly covered by rust and dust, can it get attracted
to the magnet?
May 21, 2004 The One is the
basis of the many. To recognize this unity, one needs practice and
effort. For weeds to grow, no effort is required on our part. But,
if grain is to be harvested, the field must be ploughed, weeded,
watered, manured and fenced. So also, to get a harvest of virtue,
intense sadhana (spiritual practice) is needed, though no such
effort is necessary to contract vices. Man has to struggle hard in
order to attain the higher stages of spiritual development. He has
to overcome many hurdles and put up with many difficulties and
disappointments.
May 22, 2004
Why is man so pathetically afflicted today
with fear and anxiety? Are we to search for the reasons outside us
or do they live within us? The reason lies in the false emphasis we
have laid on things of the material world, ignoring the things of
the spirit. The body is a temple where God should be installed and
worshipped. It is essentially an instrument for undertaking the
journey to God.
May 23, 2004
God's grace is the greatest wealth. To
consider the amassing of money, gold or other material objects as
the ultimate goal is not right. The goal of life instead, should be
the acquisition of the divine wealth of God's grace. Try to win His
grace by reforming your habits, reducing your desires and refining
your nature. One step makes the next one easier; that is the unique
quality of the spiritual path. With each step, your strength and
confidence increases and you feel the Lord's grace all the more.
May 24, 2004
The sound of mantras (Vedic hymns) has the
power of transforming the evil impulses and tendencies. The word
'mantra' means that which saves when turned over in the mind.
Revolve the mantra ever in the mind, that will keep off wild talk,
purposeless conversation, gossip and scandal. Talk only when
absolutely necessary. Talk as little as possible.
May 25, 2004
Let the petty wishes for which you now
approach God be realised or not; let the plans for promotion and
progress which you place before God be fulfilled or not; they are
not so important after all. The primary aim should be to become
masters of yourselves, to hold intimate and constant communion with
the Divine that is in you as well as in the universe of which you
are a part. Welcome disappointments. They toughen you and test your
fortitude.
May 26, 2004
Seva (service) opens the eyes of man to the
comprehensive unity of creation. The easiest and most fruitful
expression of Dharma (righteousness) today consists in doing service
as worship of the Divine around you. Dedicate all your skills,
talents, wealth and scholarship to the living embodiments of
Divinity around you. That is the Dharmashakthi (power of right
activity) which can draw grace upon you.
May 27, 2004
Nobody can enter college until school
education is completed. Several stages have to be passed. So too, we
have on the spiritual path, the stages of work, worship, wisdom and
sacrifice. Sacrifice may be likened to a ripe fruit falling from a
tree, sacrificing its affection and attachment. Work is for the
physical level, worship for the mental level and wisdom for the
spiritual level. Each one has to pass through these three stages.
May 28, 2004 Bhajan is one of
the processes by which you can train the mind to expand into eternal
consciousness. Teach the mind to revel in the glory and majesty of
God. Keep it clear of petty pleasures and passions. Bhajan induces
in you a desire to experience the truth, to catch a glimpse of the
Beauty that is God, to taste the Bliss that is the Self. It
encourages man to dive into himself and be his Real Self.
May 29, 2004 Follow the call
of the Divine arising from the hearts of all living beings. Serve
them in an attitude of worship, not expecting anything in return. Do
not accept even gratitude, having dedicated all your acts to the
indwelling God. This will purify you so that you will be able to
listen to the 'Soham' (I am He) that your breath repeats every
moment. 'Soham' transmutes itself into 'Om' when the distinction
between He and I has dissolved in the union with the Absolute.
May 30, 2004
It should be realised that there is no greater
friend than God. He is unaffected by praise and censure. He does not
give up man under any circumstances, not even on the latter's
failure to come up to His expectations. That is why God has been
given the appellation 'Suhrid' (a good friend), the one who confers
benefits on His devotees without expecting any return for Himself.
Only the man who accepts God as such a friend and is guided by His
advice can understand the real meaning of Divine friendship. Faith
of this nature alone constitutes true Jnana (wisdom).
May 31, 2004
The study of the Vedas is the highest type of
learning, since it leads to the conquest of death, while all other
studies deal with the means of deriving little pleasures of the
world. The Vedas show the path to the realms of eternal bliss, where
there is neither birth nor death. People strive to know all about
the world, but they seldom try to know even an iota of their own
inner realms.
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