A Divine Visit to the Emerald Isle  Sri Lanka

3 - 5 July, 2015

(Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba arriving at the Taj Samudra in Colombo, Sri Lanka,

while being welcomed by traditional Kandyan dancers and drummers.)

 

 

 

 

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A Divine Visit to the Emerald Isle, Sri Lanka

3 – 5 July, 2015

Divine Discourses

By Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba

In the Subtle Body

COPYRIGHT

Copyright © Sri Sathya Sai Premamruta Prakashana ®, Sathya Sai Grama, Muddenahalli, Chikkaballapur Taluk and District – 562101, Karnataka, India.

This Booklet contains material protected under Union and International Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorised reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this booklet may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, in the original language or by translation, by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the Publisher. Please contact bhagawanspeaks@gmail.com for more information.

All rights reserved.

December 2015.

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Table of Contents

Introduction 3

Saturday, 4 July, 2015 Morning Session at Taj Samudra – Public Satsang Excerpts of Speakers’ Talks 5

Divine Discourse 6

Question and Answer Session 10

Evening Session at Taj Samudra – Public Satsang

Excerpts of Speakers’ Talks 16

Divine Discourse 17

Question and Answer Session 24

Sunday, 5 July, 2015 Morning Session at Alankara Villa – Youth Meet

Divine Discourse 28

Evening Session at Taj Samudra –

Satsang with Talawakelle Tea Plantation Workers

Divine Discourse 35

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Introduction

On Friday, 3rd July, 2015, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba set foot on the shores of Sri Lanka, fulfilling an old promise to a past Head of State who had invited Him to visit his country, which at that time was ravaged by fierce internal conflict.

A Public Programme was held on Saturday, 4th July, 2015 at the Taj Samudra Hotel in Colombo. The auditorium was packed with devotees who came from all over Sri Lanka to witness the supremely sovereign phenomenon of the Subtle Form, and to welcome their Beloved Lord to Lanka.

In the morning session, opening remarks were given by Smt. Penny Jayewardene, followed by a talk by the Hon. Minister, Karu Jayasuriya. Bhagawan then asked Mr. Isaac Tigrett and Sri B. N. Narasimha Murthy to speak. Finally, Swami blessed the audience with an inspiring discourse, followed by a Question and Answer Session.

Later that afternoon, another session was held, beginning with bhajans. Sri C. Sreenivas and Sri B. N. Narasimha Murthy shared their thoughts, after which Bhagawan granted His divine discourse.

The highlight of the evening was Bhagawan’s announcement of the commencement of a 50-acre seaside ashram which would include a school and hospital, as well as water and power projects. A Sri Lankan devotee residing in Singapore, who was present at the programme, offered his entire 200-acre property in Sri Lanka to Swami, who graciously accepted his offer. The ashram will be built at Batticaloa, in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka, 300 kilometres from Colombo. Bhagawan declared that it will eventually host a residential school and a super speciality hospital.

On the morning of Sunday, 5th July, 2015 a Youth Meet was held at Alankara Villa, where 50 young men and women gathered, along with esteemed guests. Two Sri Lankan youth – Sri Chenthuran and Smt. Radheisha Daluwatte – spoke about their experiences, followed by inspirational talks by Brother V. Kumar and Sister Bhuvana Santhanam. Bhagawan then granted His divine discourse.

That same evening, Swami again stopped by the Taj Samudra and spoke to a group of 150 tea estate workers and their families, Bal Vikas gurus and children from Talawakelle. Dr. Kurunairesan, the leader of the group, gave an emotional talk about how he had been bedridden with chicken pox, but his prayers to Bhagawan were heard, and he instantly got the energy to travel to Colombo for the satsang.

This Booklet, including complete transcripts of Swami’s divine discourses in Sri Lanka, and excerpts of talks given by His entourage, has been prepared at the Lord’s command.

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Saturday, 4th July 2015

Morning Session

Public Satsang at Taj Samudra

(Taj Samudra Hotel, the venue of the Public Satsang with Bhagawan in Colombo.)

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4th July Morning: Excerpts of Speakers’ Talks

Mr. Isaac Tigrett

This is a historical day for everyone sitting in this room, because a page has turned and a new chapter has begun. No one can tell you what to believe, and no one can tell you what you can’t believe. It’s a personal journey, as Swami has described, from Atma to Atma.

If you want to know where Swami is, turn to the person to your right and to your left, and look at them; that is where He resides. I was so blessed when He gave me the gift to see God in every single person that approached me.

You can also see Divinity in everyone, if you just take the time. Take time to be kind. Take time to go beyond a person’s form, background, skin colour; just one moment, if you look into their eyes, you will see Divinity, because it is everywhere.

We all know and have dealt with this phenomenon of Swami saying, “I am omniscient.” It is beyond comprehension. In fact, all things Divine are a matter of faith, because this (points to head) is not going to allow you to believe anything; but this (points to heart), will lead you home.

Sri B. N. Narasimha Murthy

In the Buddhist scripture ‘Digha Nikaya’, Lord Buddha said: “There will arise in future in the world, a Lord who is the fully enlightened Buddha, endowed with wisdom and conduct, just as I am now. He will teach to the world dharma in its perfect purity, and complete unison.”

What is this perfect dharma? The perfect dharma is one that unites mankind and inspires love and compassion for one another in all the living beings. The perfect dharma was taught by Bhagawan Baba. He said the perfect dharma is Hrudaya Dharma, the dharma of the heart, which is nothing but perfect harmony, love and compassion.

Whenever man had forgotten God, He came down in a physical form. For a brief period, mankind was able to see Him physically, but even when we saw Bhagawan Baba with our physical eyes, where did we feel Him? We experienced His Divinity not outside; but always within our hearts. The most beautiful things in the Universe are neither seen nor touched; they are felt in the heart. That is what Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, in the Subtle Form, is today.

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4th July Morning: Divine Discourse

Ahara nidra bhaya maithunam cha

samanam etat pashubhir naranam

Dharmo hi tesham adhiko vishesha

dharmena hinah pashubhih samanah

(Food, sleep, fear and procreation are common to all men and women, and also animals. It is only the practise of dharma which distinguishes man from all the other

animals. A man without dharma is worse than an animal.)

Buddha taught, “I bow down and take shelter with dharma.” Today, men have been understanding the word dharma in a perverse way, and have been developing hatred, leading to conflict and strife all over.

Embodiments of Divine Love! This dharma is not confined to a particular caste of people, religion, province, or nation. Really, this dharma is the basis of the entire world. If every man practises and follows his dharma, then this whole world will be full of great love and bliss.

Some time ago, many young men and women from all over the world came for a Youth Conference. In that Youth Conference, there were also young men and women from Sri Lanka. They asked Swami, “What kind of service should we undertake?” To all of them, I said, “Do your duty. Each of you should practise your dharma. When you are a student, you have to practise the dharma of a student. If you are a teacher, you have to practise the dharma of a teacher. If you are a doctor, you have to practise the dharma of a doctor. If you are a housewife, you have to practise the dharma of a housewife.”

Today, even the word ‘speaker’ is understood in a very perverse way. Here, you see two people speaking to you. Besides calling the two speakers ‘speakers’, you also call the box a ‘speaker’. Does the box speak or is it the men who are speaking? It is the two men who are speaking and you are listening through the box. To think that it is the box which is speaking just because the voice is heard through the speaker is ignorance. In cultivating that kind of ignorance, you are developing all kinds of conflict.

One God is in everybody who does everything as the doer. God is invisible, but man is visible. Saying that only a man speaking just because you cannot see God, and saying that God does not exist is ignorance. Men are subjecting themselves to ignorance and misery, by seeing multiplicity and differences amongst themselves. You must see unity in diversity. Unity in diversity is really Divinity; seeing multiplicity in unity is a human quality. Understand what I am telling you today about dharma and its various contexts.

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First and foremost, the dharma that was practised everywhere in the world was Hridaya Dharma, the dharma of the heart. It is not right to say that Buddhist dharma, Hindu dharma or Christian dharma are different from each other – not at all. The first dharma that man practised was Hridaya Dharma, the dharma of the heart. What is hridaya? ‘Hrid’ (heart) plus ‘daya’ (compassion) is ‘hridaya’ (heart). Hridaya is that which is full of daya or compassion, that is, the heart. If every feeling, every thought, every word and every action is filled with compassion, it becomes Hridaya Dharma. That is the Hridaya Dharma, which has been practised since time immemorial.

Synonymous with compassion is love. Compassion is synonymous with dharma, and love is synonymous with compassion.

It is not just enough to talk about love; you have to transform love into service. Love without service or service without love, are meaningless. Therefore, the eternal dharma which arises from the heart in the form of love and compassion, must be transformed into selfless service and bring joy to everyone.

In the word ‘joy’, there are three letters: J, O, and Y. That is the basis of every dharma. ‘J’ means ‘Jesus first’; ‘O’ means ‘others next’; ‘Y’ means ‘yourself last’. If you want to experience joy, first and foremost, you have to follow God. God first, others next, yourself last – that is the formula. When you practise this dharma, your hearts will be full of love and you will be able to serve others selflessly. You will also develop unity and experience joy with everybody. However, when you keep your body as the basis of your life, like animals, you give prominence only to food, sleep, procreation and fear, and you lose your Divinity.

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Divinity had no fear. Bliss is food for Divinity. There is no such thing as sleep for Divinity. It has no fear. When you become Divine, you will escape the perversions of the body and also fear.

Deham devalayam prokto jeevo devas sanathanaha – this body is the temple of God. You must maintain it as a temple; you should not convert it into a garbage bin. Eating as you like, speaking as you like, and doing just as you like is not the right thing to do.

Many times, devotees confuse the word swecha for freedom. Many people think freedom is that which gives you total liberty to do what you like. No. If there is no constraint on the body and senses, you behave like an animal; that is bondage, not freedom. People must discriminate between morality and immorality, and behave like human beings.

Once upon a time, the animals got together and had a conference. They all said, “Jantunam narajanma durlabham – amongst all the species of life, man is the most precious.” Today, however, mankind’s behaviour is worse than that of animals. How then is it possible that a human being is the most precious amongst all the species? They only look like human beings, but in their behaviour and conduct, they have become worse than animals. Animals have a reason and a season; human beings do not. An animal may kill another animal in order to fill its stomach, but not to harm other animals. The animal only eats until its stomach is full; it does not store food for the future. This kind of hoarding of food, this kind of selfishness and self-interest, is in human beings, not in animals.

This is happening because they are not practising the call of the heart, the voice of the heart. They are practising what the mind tells them to do. Ekatma sarvabhutantaratma – there is one Atma, which is in everyone. If you can recognise the one Atma in all beings, you will not subject yourselves to divisions of caste, creed and religion. If there is a problem for this country or any country, it is because human beings are filled with selfishness and self-interest. People who have plenty do not share it with others who lack. They are only struggling for themselves. They are selfish. They are only interested in earning money, not cultivating love, patience and compassion. For this country, if we want to set an ideal, it is the Sai devotees who have to practise dharma and transform others. The dharma of the heart is selfless love. Selfless love should transform itself into selfless service in the devotees.

Everybody wants Swami. Where do you find Swami? You will find Swami only when you look for Him where He is. If you leave your mobile phone at home and look for it at the office, how will you ever find it? You have to look for something where you have lost it. Divinity cannot be found if you are looking for it outside yourself. When you look within yourself, giving up your ego and attachment, and loving everybody, then Divinity will manifest in you. It is complete foolishness to make ego and attachment the basis of your life; they are temporary, momentary and ephemeral. Therefore, you have to struggle not for the temporary things but for that which is permanent.

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Today, I do not have a physical body, but to work in this world, which is constrained by time, place and circumstances, a physical body is required. For the physical world, a physical body is necessary. Since you have physical bodies, you must synthesise your head, heart and hands and lead a sanctified life. All of you must put your bodies to good use.

The Vedas declare, “Sarvatah panipadam tat sarvatokshi shiromukham, Sarvatah shruthimalloke sarvamavruthya tishthati – God is present in every hand, every foot, every eye, every face and every ear.” If somebody asks you, “Where Sai Baba? Has He left the body and gone?”, you must answer with courage. You can’t say that He is ‘here’ or ‘there; you should say that He is everywhere. You should develop the courage to tell everyone, “I am Sai Baba. I am the very Embodiment of Sai Baba.” I have always been addressing you as Embodiments of Atma, Divinity and Love. I never said that you were Embodiments of Body and Mind. Whatever Swami says is the Truth. You must give up your defects and attain perfection. Because of ego and attachment, you are not able to understand Swami’s words properly; that is why you are subjected to all kinds of sorrow.

If you want to use a magnet, you need both a piece of iron and a magnet. Where does the magnetic power come from? It is because all the atoms are directed in unison. The atoms in the piece of iron are aligned in different directions, which is why it does not have magnetic power. You and I are both Divine. I am able to experience it, but you are not able to experience it. This is because, with thought, word and deed in unison, I have always served everybody selflessly. Because your thoughts, words and actions are different, instead of becoming noble souls, you are becoming wicked persons. Even in a piece of iron, if all the atoms align in one direction, there is magnetism in it. You will become Divine and become mahatmas (noble souls) when you unify your thoughts, words and deeds. Whatever you think, you have to utter; whatever you utter, you have to do. Love should permeate your feeling, your word, and your action. Only when you demonstrate this love in your lives, will you be able to set an ideal for others.

If you really want to offer homage to Swami, you must make your life, thoughts, words and deeds ideal. If you ask, “Why am I unable to practise such love?”, there is only one answer: because you assume you are the body, you are full of fear. The body may have fear, but the Atma has no fear. When you know that you are the Embodiment of Atma, not just the body, you will develop courage. What place is there for fear in that which is eternal and permanent? Therefore, you should constantly think, “I am the eternal one. I am the permanent one.”

Inhalation and exhalation continuously takes place in your body. Whilst breathing is taking place, you hear a sound. When you inhale, the sound is ‘So’, and when you exhale the sound is ‘Ham’. Your breathing is telling you 21,600 times a day, “Soham – I am that. I am Atma, I am God, I am love, I am peace, I am Truth.” Although your own breath is teaching you this lesson all the time, you don’t listen to it and you are living as you like. Sanctify your life by practising Hridaya Dharma, the dharma of the heart, filling your heart with selfless love and serving others selflessly.

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4th July Morning: Question & Answer Session

Swami: If you have any questions, you can ask them. Ask such questions which are useful for everyone.

Question 1: Beloved Bhagawan, in our country, where we see so much need and poverty, we sometimes feel powerless to help people as we should. What do we do at such times? Collective prayer? Can Bhagawan tell us something about prayer and how it can help situations of mass need and want? What can we all do for others if the scope of what has to be done is so big and too much for us to handle?

Swami: The problems in the world are plenty, but what you can do as humans with limited abilities and strengths is only so much. However, you must never forget that man plus God can achieve anything. There is nothing impossible when both God and man join together. God alone will not do; man alone cannot do. When they both join together, anything is possible. However, first and foremost, you must do your part to the best of your abilities. That is why I say, do your best and then leave the rest to Me.

In the story of the Mahabharata, Draupadi, the wife of the five Pandavas, was put to a lot of humiliation in the court of the Kauravas. In that moment, she prayed for help from the elders in the court, but they were powerless. They were bound by their own rules. She prayed to her own husbands, who were strong and supposed to protect her, but that also did not happen. They all put their heads down in shame.

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She tried, herself, to protect her own honour, by holding on to her sari, and not letting the wicked Duhshasana snatch it away, but soon, she was totally exhausted. When she had tried everything that she could do, and still could not achieve, for the need was far bigger than her abilities, Krishna manifested. Krishna took care that what was beyond human ability was achieved that day, and she was protected.

What is most important is, with all your might, with all your strength, and with all your abilities, you must do all that you can. If you have done that, and only then if you pray for succour, help will definitely pour in from all sides. Most of the time, when you do very little and think that is all you can do, and you give up too soon and start praying to God to help, it’s not going to work. If God’s help has not yet come, it means you have still not exhausted all that you can do. That is how everyone should think. Once you have totally exhausted all your strength, skills and abilities, then God will manifest to solve the problem.

Question 2: With Your grace, aside from me, there are many healers in Sri Lanka and all over the world. This question is not only for me, but for all of us. Many times, after healing, we become lifeless. Then, we don’t know what to do. On more than three occasions, I nearly died after healing. Swami, please tell guide me and all the healers in our country and the world as to what we should do in such circumstances.

Swami: My grace is there on everyone equally, just as the sun, which shines on all the continents, all the lands and all the people equally. The sun does not differentiate, nor does the wind, nor the water. Similarly, My grace is there on everyone, in all countries, in all places, and at all times.

Regarding your question about healing – if you want to bring water to a boil, you have to place the container full of water on top of the stove, switch on the stove, and let it boil for some time. However, the moment a few bubbles form, you switch off the stove, thinking it will boil by itself. It is too early that you withdraw all that you do, and you don’t wait for the process to continue to completion. Every time you switch it on and switch it off, without letting it boil, you are only wasting your time and energy. Until the work is completely done, until the healing is complete, continue the effort. Periodic efforts are not going to help.

Ultimately, what is it that will cure everyone of all diseases, of the entire illness? It is nothing but the fear should disappear; the fear of holding on to your ideas, your bodies, your possessions, your relations. That fear alone creates all the troubles in the body. Fear is the greatest disease that man is suffering from. The day that you get rid of this fear, all the healing is complete. This fear will not go with medicines, consultations, doctor’s visits, or operations; only faith can remove this fear to its completion.

When you improve a little bit, you give up your efforts. You are not here to remember God only during times of distress. If you continuously remember God at all times, and are totally out of this disease of fear, in no way will you fall sick again.

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If at all the body has to undergo some trouble, let it proceed fearlessly. Everybody that is born out of the five elements ultimately has to merge with the five elements. What differentiates each person is whether you go with a sense of fear, or you go with a sense of faith; that alone defines your achievement in life. One must get rid of this fear; only then will you be permanently healthy. Fear, not only of being embodied, but also all the relations and attachments that come along with this body. If that fear disappears, you will never fall into that situation again. Once and for all, you would have passed the test, and you won’t have to appear for the test again and again. Develop greater faith; everything else is secondary.

Question 3: Swami, now that You are here in Subtle Form, is there a chance that we can still see You in the Subtle Form? Or must we learn to communication with the inner and develop along that path?

Swami: See bangaru (golden one), what you can see here or experience does not depend on Me; it depends on you. A TV station continuously broadcasts programmes, but if your TV is switched off, the electricity is not flowing, or the antenna is not correctly oriented, it is not the fault of the TV station. Whether you can feel Me, hear Me, or see Me, all depends on whether or not these things are in place: the TV, the antenna, and the electricity. What are these three? They are: 1) your hand, 2) your head, and 3) your heart. When all three work in unison, selflessly, that is when this is possible. Your head is thinking of something, hands are engaged in some other action, and heart feels another way – then it is like, either the antenna is disoriented, electricity is not there, or TV set is not working. All the three – hands, head and heart – must work in unison; not for destruction, but in a constructive way. If you can fill your thoughts and heart with love, and hands with service, you will see Me in every step of your life.

You don’t have to make any effort. Not by japa (chanting the name), not by tapas (penance), neither by reading scriptures, nor by going to places of pilgrimage can you achieve God. You can achieve God only through acts of selfless service. What is selfless? No sense of doership. Karta, karana, and karana – all three should become one; that is, the work, the doer, and the reason for doing it – everything is one. What is that one? Bhagawadpreetyartham, that is, to please Swami. If that is the single purpose, in whatever you think, say or do, then slowly you will get purified.

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Just like a lake that is calm and quiet reflects the sky, your mind will reflect Me. You will see Me not only here, in a gathering like this, but anywhere that you move, you will feel Me, you will hear Me, and you will see Me. It is definitely possible. In fact, the very purpose of My coming here, and in this way, along with these people, is to tell you that it is possible, it is doable. If you really want God, you can have it all for yourself.

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was once questioned by a boy, “Can I also see God the way you see? Can I also hear God the way you hear? Can I also feel God the way you feel?” Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was a real Master. Generally, what other teachers – pseudo-teachers or fake teachers – do, to get more children and more money, is to say, “The subject is very complicated. You need to take more classes. You need to pay me more fees. Only then can you learn the subject.” Ramakrishna, however, was a simple Guru. He said, “Yes. God is our birth-right. Everybody should be able to experience God and can experience God.”

Then, this disciple asked, “How can I do that?”

Ramakrishna said, “Come, I will show you. God is inside that well.”

He took the boy with him and told him, “Look inside the well. You can see God.”

When the boy looked inside, he said, “There is no God inside.”

Ramakrishna said, “In a minute, you will see,” and pushed the boy into the well.

The boy started gasping for breath. He was struggling and started shouting, “Save me! Save me! I do not want to be inside this well! I will die! I cannot breathe!”

Then Ramakrishna said, “If you really feel the world is like this well, you don’t want this well, you are suffocated in this well of the world, and you look out for the breath of God, that is, the love of God; if you strive like a man drowning in this well, and you pray to Me the way you prayed for your life when you were inside the well, God will definitely come to you.”

It is only that the intensity of your desire to be with God is less, and being with the world is more. Therefore, what you desire is what you get; that is the Law of Nature. If you want the world, you will get the world. If you want God, you will get God. The reason you don’t get God is that you still don’t want Him enough. Once your intensity is greater, I will definitely manifest. The only way to reach Me is through absolutely pure love and service. If that is not there, all the other things that you try will be like efforts which are not good enough. If you yearn for Me with that kind of hunger, that kind of thirst – like a drowning man yearns for breath – I will manifest.

Don’t think that this is something to pass your time with. You pray to God and God should appear; then you ask a few questions and then God should disappear. Then you pray again and He appears. This should become a way of life. It is not part-time devotion; it should be a full-time effort to be in the presence of God, to feel God with you everywhere.

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Not only during times of difficulties, but in all times, if you pray so intensely, only to have God with you, and not to seek things from God, God will come to you.

Those who ask Me for wealth, I give wealth; those who ask Me for name, I give them name; those who ask for family, I give family; those who ask Me for Myself, I give Myself. It is you who has to decide what you want. If you want nothing but only Me, I will definitely come to you.

What about the lunch? These two questions is very important questions: what is for lunch, and where is it? (Laughter) See, how hunger is natural for the physical body. If you don’t feed it, after a few hours, it will become weak, it will lose sense of everything else, it will start falling, and it will crave for food. Unless food is put inside it, it will not remain silent. It will do everything to attain food.

That kind of hunger from the soul should also arise for God. Until you get God, you should not stop. You would go anywhere, to any extent, and do anything for the sake of attaining God. If that kind of natural hunger also develops, you will definitely achieve God. But what happens? Now you have the appetite for lunch, because you haven’t eaten something for a long time, but like little children do, when mother is cooking delicious, nutritious food, they argue and, because they cannot wait any further, go and eat junk food and spoil their appetite and their stomachs. Then, when the actual food arrives, they have neither the capacity nor the ability to eat the good food.

Likewise, if you fill up your minds with the world, where is the place for God? Your appetite has already been ruined because of the silly desires for the world. Keep the appetite, keep the hunger, so that only God should satisfy the hunger, and no one else, nothing else in the world. Like the chataka bird, which waits for raindrops to come to quench its thirst – it doesn’t drink dirty water from pools, lakes and rivers; it wants the purest waters which come from the rainclouds – likewise, if you find joy, peace, and happiness only with God and nothing else, then you will definitely get God, sooner or later. Don’t spoil your hunger with worldly food. Wait for the Divine to serve what He has got to serve.

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Saturday, 4th July 2015

Evening Session

Public Satsang at Taj Samudra

 

 

 

(Devotees eagerly awaiting Bhagawan’s divine discourse at Taj Samudra, Colombo)

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4th July Evening: Excerpts of Speakers’ Talks

Sri C. Sreenivas

The first time Swami called me in the Subtle Form, He said, “When we built hospitals in Puttaparthi and Whitefield, the sick came for relief and to see Me. Now, we must go to the untouched, unserved people. We will build institutions of service, where the maximum good has to be done for the sick and needy, and this time, I will go to them.”

The Raipur Hospital, which was built in the most backward part of India, is today, a point of convergence for patients from every state of India and every country in Southeast Asia.

Despite being with Swami for over 50 years in the form, I have never felt closer to Him than in the past 3 years, with His Subtle Form. It is a mystical experience, a closeness, nearness, and dearness which has to be felt and experienced. The last 3 years, many times, every act of mine has been synchronised with the way He wants me to act.

Next year, if you gather here, you will see that this hall is greatly insufficient. There will be such a paradigm shift in your life. Suddenly, there will be so much meaning, direction and purpose to life, once you are instrumentalised by Him. You will become agents of the Divine, and nothing could be more fulfilling than synchronising your normal, day-to-day life into one envisioned by the Divine.

Sri B. N. Narasimha Murthy

There are various stages that we pass through. First, we think, “I am all alone in my life. I have to fend for myself and work for myself.” Eventually, a time will come when we know that God is with us.

Then, a time comes, when we know that God is with us. However, we think God is only with me, not with others. That is the problem. God is only with me, because I am the greatest devotee. I can order others, because God is with me. Listen to what I tell you, because God is not with you.

Swami is ‘gone’. Now, I am the boss, because I was the only one who knew Swami. You did not know about Him. This leads to conflict and inner strife within us. We lose our peace of mind, because that is not the truth. The truth is that God is with everyone. God is with you; God is with me; God is with everyone – that is the truth! A day will come when we realise that God is with everyone. Let me be humble with everybody; let me respect everybody; let me love everybody.

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4th July Evening: Divine Discourse

It is My pledge, that I will confer bliss upon the whole of mankind and protect them. It is in My love that I want to give the poor and downtrodden what they need and relieve them of suffering. It is My vow that I will hold the hands of those men and women, who stray away from the path of righteousness, and bring them back to the path of dharma. It is true devotion to Me if you consider both happiness and sorrow as equal in your lives.

Embodiments of Divine Atma!

To say that Swami came, Swami was here and Swami left; to confine Divinity to past, present and future, is never, ever possible. He is beyond time; He is beyond the three attributes. In the same way as space pervades the entire universe, the whole universe abides in space. There is a similar relationship between Divinity and His creation.

You can see the sky, but you can’t see space, you can’t catch it or hold it. Then what is the proof of its existence? Scientists have carried out many investigations into the structure of the atom. Finally, they are all coming to the one and the only conclusion– within the atom there is only space and everything is held together by the attraction of one particle to the other.

The entire world is nothing but space. Earth, water and all the other elements are held in space and even the atoms themselves, from which everything is formed, consist of space. The world exists in space and space pervades the world.

When you understand this concept you will also understand what Divinity is. Divinity also pervades everything, everywhere. All things are within the Divine. When you say ‘God came’, ‘God was here’, or ‘God went’, it is only a testament to your ignorance.

Many people ask for proof of the existence of space in the world. The world exists, that is why space exists – that in itself is the proof. Because Divinity is present in every human being, human beings exist. When you are fully conscious of humanity, you are conscious of Divinity. You may build a very large building, there may be many floors, but the fundamental basis of every building, the foundation, is absolutely essential. You can’t see the foundation. It is hidden under the Earth; you can’t see it from outside. Just because you don’t see the foundation with your eyes and you see only the building, is it correct to say that the foundation doesn’t exist? For every tree, there are roots. Even though we don’t see the roots, we see the tree and conclude that roots must be there. We know that the branches, flowers and fruits can be seen outside, but there are roots beneath, in the Earth.

In this hall, there are many lamps and fans. Aren’t the lamps in the hall lit and the fans running because of electricity? However, are you able to see electricity? Though you do not see electricity, you conclude that electricity is present because the lights and fans are working.

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Not only that, Earth has the power of gravitation. However, is it possible to measure it and say that gravitation is in one place and not another? Are you able to see it, catch it and hold it? Because all things on Earth stay where they are, we know that Earth is attracting them.

In this world there are two things: matter and energy. It is energy which becomes matter, and it is matter which becomes energy. There is matter in energy, there is energy in matter. Today’s fruit, will tomorrow become excreta. You look at things and think they are just matter. When you eat a piece of fruit, the glucose in the fruit is absorbed into your body and gives you strength. Only energy remains with you. As matter, it is discharged as excreta. Similarly, in every atom, there is energy. This is the concept of the creation of atomic energy. What is important is the energy and not the atom.

Today, many investigations are going on as to whether the atom is a particle or energy. If it is energy, it should not have a name and form, but from that energy, which is formless, how could matter, which has name and form, arise? In the same way that in the atom, which has a form, consists of energy, which has no form; similarly, there is formless Divinity in this physical world. Humanity and Divinity are like energy and matter. There is Divinity in humanity and humanity in Divinity.

The question whether Sai Baba is human or Divine is unimportant, because Divine is human and the human is Divine. In one form, God appears human and in another form He appears Divine.

There is, however, only one principle in everything –love. Man plus love is God and without love, God is also man. God minus love equals man. When man develops love within himself, the difference between God and man vanishes. Only when man is filled with love does he become God. If you really want to understand this relationship between man and God, you have to develop love.

In general, people wander about saying, “I love you.” Today, someone says, “I love you,” and the other person replies, “I love you, too.”

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You may tell everyone, “I love you,” but those who love you today may hate you tomorrow. Those whom you love today, you may hate tomorrow. Human love exists only as long as the other person obeys you completely, follows you and does what you want. When they do not listen to you, and do as they like, your love is gone. It turns into hatred.

True love is permanent. True love will not change depending on the place, time or circumstance. Simply saying, “I love you,” is not true love; it is just a kind of attachment. The love that exists between parents and children, between students and teachers, and between husband and wife is not true love – it is a only kind of attachment, because attachment has expectations. True love has no expectations or attachment.

Recently, a child was being treated for a serious heart ailment at our Raipur Hospital. Around midnight, he developed complications. Surgical procedures were carried out on him four or five times. At midnight, he suffered several heart attacks. Looking at the monitor, the nurse came running. At that time, the surgeons had already left the hospital, but the nurse contacted them and asked them to return immediately, which they did, to discover that another surgery was required. They got the operating theatre ready right away and changed into their gowns. On that day I, too, was there in the operating theatre.

There is a very intimate relationship between the heart and the lungs. The heart draws in bad blood and pumps out good blood. When oxygen in the blood has depleted, it is called bad blood, which is sent to the lungs, where it is transformed into good blood and comes back to the heart. The heart pumps this good blood to every limb of the body. Only when the heart and lungs work together well, is the body well. During open-heart surgery, you stop the functioning of the heart and use a heart-lung machine.

When they put this child on the heart-lung machine, even the lungs were damaged. The situation was very difficult, as both heart and lungs were malfunctioning.

The doctors were praying to Swami to save the situation. They could do nothing more. Then, one of the doctors read on a board there: ‘Sai is the Surgeon’. He prayed to Me, “Now I realise that You are the surgeon. All this time, I had been thinking that I was the surgeon and it was my work which had been ineffective. I surrender to you. Please look after the child.” Immediately, the heart and lungs of the child started functioning. After four hours of surgery, the child was transferred to the ICU room. Within a few days, he recovered and was discharged from the hospital.

When you think you are doing the surgery, then you are also labouring. When all their efforts failed, they knew that it was Swami who was doing everything. When they surrendered to Swami, everything became alright.

Later, I told the doctor, “I will reward you well.” He replied, “I don’t want any reward. Children come here with a lot of difficulties. Out of Your love, You give them everything free of charge. Seeing them smiling and returning home healthy is enough for me. There is no bigger reward for me than seeing those children, who come with misery, leaving with joy. That is the only reward I want!”

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The Chief Minister of Chattisgarh has given a major award to the Raipur Hospital. In future, the Prime Minister, too, will visit; he will come and present an award. Today, there is only one hospital in the whole world which does completely free heart surgery for children. Sreenivas hesitates to talk about this. Therefore, I am telling you, on his behalf, what is happening there.

When I sent Sreenivas to Raipur, he was penniless. There was neither land nor doctors with which to start the hospital. No doctors, no land, no money – just a lot of patients! With great faith in Swami, Sreenivas went to that place, which he had never seen, met the Chief Minister, obtained the land and started work on the hospital.

What you can observe closely, what you can grasp or hold are only facts, not the truth. That which you cannot see and yet believe, is the truth. It is not necessary to satisfy yourself by seeing everything. Seeing is a fact, but believing in the unseen, is faith. Therefore, today, if you want to know that Swami is there doing everything, you have to develop that faith. If you want to develop love, first you have to develop faith. Where there is faith, there is love, because it is faith that becomes love. In love, there is truth. Where there is truth, there is peace. Where there is peace, there is God. Where there is God, there is bliss. You start with faith and end in bliss. That is the journey. Ultimately, it culminates in bliss. Hence, you should believe that Swami was always there and is always there; He is always there with you, only you have to experience it.

If a piece of iron is full of rust and dust, it cannot be attracted by a magnet. Just because a magnet is not attracting such a piece of iron, to say that the magnet is powerless is not correct. The magnet itself has power; it is because of the rust and dust in the iron that it is not attracted. However, man generally does not seek to find the rust and dust within himself. Instead, he says that God has no power to attract him.

When a child has fever, no matter what delicious food is provided, it tastes bitter. It is not possible for a mind full of worldliness to understand Divinity. If you want to understand Divinity, first, you must become pure. Only water can merge with water; ice cannot merge water. A worldly mind and a Divine mind are different. Only when your mind and My mind become one, will you know that. That is why Sreenivas says, “Whatever I do, whatever I say and whatever I feel, is all Swami who is doing it.” It is not imagination, it is the truth. Whatever is selfless is Swami. You need to know that all the selfless work and service that is going on is Swami’s doing. What is selfish is not Swami. When you are working selflessly, there is nothing wrong that Swami is doing things through you, because selfless love and selfless service turn man into God.

I am continuing My mission with the sole purpose of teaching that kind of selfless love. I am not doing it for Myself; I am doing it for you.

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I am starting many activities and institutions with only one purpose – to grant you the opportunity for selfless service for your benefit. The Lord has said, “I will look after your welfare.” What exactly is it that He will look after? Welfare does not mean giving you wealth, position, authority, or anything material. When wealth, all the materials and possessions, and power help take you near God, they are all good, that is yoga; otherwise, it is not yoga (union with God). Only if there a sense of sacrifice in bhoga, or enjoyment, is it transformed into yoga. Where a selfish desire is present, even sacrifice becomes just bhoga (enjoyment). All these things are required, but they are not the most essential. What you have to think is, by utilizing all these things, how can we get closer to God?

This body is the greatest gift to mankind from God. However, it is a big mistake to think that you are just the body. At some time, you may have thought, “The car is mine; I am not the car. The house is mine; I am not the house.” Similarly, you must realise, “The body is mine; I am not the body.” Your life will find fulfilment when you use this God-given gift known as the ‘body’ for service.

It is My pledge to grant bliss to everyone. If you want to experience this divine bliss, it is not good enough to attend satsang. Only when you listen to the good things in satsang, understand them, and practise them, can you experience the truth. The practical application of this is service. From the satsang, you must understand the principle of love, develop love, and transform that love into service.

I want to tell you a good news on this occasion. Many devotees have asked Me to build an ashram, a hospital and other institutions in Sri Lanka. Today, I am ready to do all that, but you should also be ready. (Applause)

Both positive and negative current should be present; then electrical current will flow through the wire. As soon as I spoke about the ashram, all of you clapped, but is it possible to clap with only one hand? You can only clap when both hands join together. My hand is always there – your hand has to come.

One of our Singapore youth members is here. (Asking the youth) Can we build the ashram on the land?

(The youth replied, “Whatever Swami wants, we will be ready for it.)

A part of the land offered by this youth will be utilized for the ashram, hospital and a school in Sri Lanka. You take just one step, I will take one hundred steps. Whether you are youth, elderly, or women with children, all of you should become selfless. Get together to the extent that you can and render selfless service.

During the times of the Ramayana, Rama was building a bridge. Many monkeys united to help Rama build the bridge. Where did the stones come from to build this bridge? They came from the mountains. In fact, the monkeys were taking hills and mountains and placing them in the ocean to build the bridge. Where did they get the mountains? They were taking the mountains from the Himalayas. The monkeys were taking mountains and bringing them here.

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When they had completely built the bridge, a small squirrel arrived who wanted to help. The squirrel was praying to God, “Such a great work is happening. I am so small and I don’t have the strength of Hanuman, but I have got bhakthi (devotion). I may not have yukthi (skill) or shakthi (power), but I have bhakthi (devotion). What can I do to help with such a huge bridge?” Then it got an idea. First it plunged into the water. Then it rolled on the beach, gathered sand and brought it to the bridge. You can easily understand what great service that squirrel did.

I never ask for quantity. I want quality. Do service to the extent that you can. However, simply sitting without doing any service is not right. Even a squirrel helped Rama to build the bridge as much as it could; it did not simply sit silently. That kind of thinking should occur in human beings. When such great work is happening, simply sitting quietly is not good. What the squirrel did that day sets a very good example for today. Each and every one of you will have to work.

Sri Lanka needs divine grace so much. This is My sign of grace for Sri Lanka. We will start the work together. You unite – that is the great gift to you. You can’t do everything at once. If you every day you do something, one day or another you will be able complete it. However long the journey, you have to take the first steps. You have to start moving. If you stay in one place, you will never reach the destination. That’s why I have given you two feet. The first footstep is love; the second is service. If you take these steps: love and service, love and service, one day or another, you will reach Me.

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Do not be afraid that it is a very long journey. If you take only one step, will I not take ten steps towards you? I will take one hundred steps towards you!

When I ask you to build a big hospital, you will naturally pray to Me for help. Only when I tell you that you have to build a big ashram, naturally, you will pray for Swami’s help. When you depend on Me, your ego will reduce. Even through service, you develop ego.

Let us build a big ashram here, with a hospital, a school and drinking water. There will be four kinds of service here: vaidya, vidya, vari, and vidyut (health care, education, drinking water and solar power). There are many elders and young people here; you should all be ready. I am sowing the seeds today for this, and then I leave Sri Lanka. Protecting the seed and nourishing it is your job. Are you ready? How many of you say yes? Yes, Swami!

The daughter-in-law of the former president sitting here. Her father-in-law and I are old friends. Many times, he also prayed to Swami, asking Me to come here. How I come to a place is My choice. If you pray selflessly, it will definitely find fulfilment.

During the times of the Ramayana, when a bridge had to be built, they were devotedly bringing stones and mountains all the way from the Himalayas. When the bridge was completed, no more was needed, but one monkey still had a small mountain to use. What did he do with it? He kept it in Brindavan. That mountain also had consciousness. It was grieving, and feeling very sad that it could not be useful in the Lord’s work. This reached the ears of Rama, who immediately said, “I will not use you today, but someday, I will.” During the Krishna Avatar, that mountain become the Govardhana Mountain, which Krishna lifted up to shelter the people there.

When you aspire and pray with a selfless motivation, God will definitely give. Swami is telling you this because of your selfless prayers. Today, I have announced that an ashram is going to be built here. With or without a body, I have never stopped My work; neither should you. The body is given to you to serve others and you must use it to help others, not to hurt them. That is why I am giving protection and nourishment. You should understand that the body given to you is the temple of God and the individual Atma is none other than Swami. Use your body to serve all.

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4th July Evening: Question & Answer Session

Swami: Do any of you have doubts? – especially any doubts or questions regarding the ashram?

Question 1: Why do we not start now? I would like to suggest Mr. Jayewardene to be president of the building of the new ashram and hospital.

Swami: It is not yet time. Let everyone work and give service; it will become clear who the leaders are; from there will come the leaders. We have not yet started the ashram. Let us first talk about the work, not about Prime Ministers and ashram presidents. “Who are the servants?” must come first, not “Who are the leaders?” Leaders are, first of all, servants; only servants can become leaders. When they serve, you will yourself know who deserves to become the president, who deserves to become the secretary, who deserves what. The work should bring the deservedness. It will happen with time.

Question 2: Swami, since we are all gathered here today, would You suggest who should lead this ashram project?

Swami: No, it’s not yet time. Let us start the work first. Let people work, let people serve first, without name or position. Once they come together and serve, the leaders will emerge; from there will emerge the people who will direct it. The work will bring them the deservedness to become whatever they should be.

This is not an ordinary ashram, it is not an ordinary school, it not an ordinary hospital. They are here to stay forever. Therefore, only those people who can constantly fill their hearts with love can participate – not those lit up by today’s excitement of starting something and tomorrow the flame dies as things become difficult. Remember one thing: in God’s work, a lot of difficulties will arise. The Kali Purusha is waiting to obstruct all the good that is happening. Just like the flame flickers highest when it is about to die, Kali Yuga will protest when you practise dharma in this age.

Therefore, it is not for the weak minded. It is for those who have spiritual strength and determination to withstand all kinds of obstructions and difficulties, and yet persist and win. Only such people should be a part of it, nobody else. Swami will give guidance. The work itself will bring out the right kind of people. Let us work for one year without names or positions. Those who can sustain this for one year of difficulties, will become whatever they need to be.

Narasimha Murthy, is it easy to run the schools?

(Narasimha Murthy replied, “For Swami it is easy; for us it is very difficult!”)

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It is difficult for everybody, whether Me or you; but what is ‘difficulty’? Difficulty is a state of mind. If the mind believes, anything is possible. That’s why mind is the basis of this entire creation. Ask Sreenivas if he faced any less obstacles in starting the hospital. If it had been anybody else, he would have closed the hospital and vanished long ago! Nothing is easy, but if you have determination, purity, patience and perseverance, anything is possible. I will not hang a portrait on a shaky nail. I will wiggle it well to decide whether it is strong enough to hold Me. If you are ready for that, you are welcome. If your personality is not what Swami wants, you must give it up.

You must give up ego and attachment. Only people with a pure mind can achieve this.

A lot of people keep announcing that they are doing service. When you keep announcing it, it is not service. You must serve silently. It is of no use to simply announce rather than do.

A yogi came to our ashram once. I asked him, “What is your name?” He said “I am trying to forget my name. Don’t remind me of my name. Because of that name, I developed ego. I am ready to do any service you ask of Me; just don’t talk about my name. I don’t want a name, because all my problems are the result of me being named.”

When you print an invitation, there is a lot of discussion about whose name should be first and whose name should be last. There will be many problems if you make a mistake in the hierarchy. Ego develops because of the name. Name, position, authority are not essential. Work silently, not through the lips. Demonstrate to the world that Swami is there in your work.

First and foremost, ask yourselves, “Do I have the qualities needed to get involved in this?” If you do not, how can you do it? What are those qualities? What is required is a pure mind, pure words, pure thoughts and pure actions. When you purify all these, then you become qualified.

If you cannot do all that, at least surrender everything to Swami. You should be ready to walk the path Swami wants you to. No matter what adversities, or how many difficulties you face, do not stray from the path. Only when you have that kind of determination, will you be qualified to do this service.

Is it possible for human beings to build such a big bridge as the monkeys did in Rama’s time? Even today, human beings could not do it. At that time, there were no cranes or machines; how could mere monkeys do it? It was because they surrendered themselves completely that they were able to do it.

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Rama is in everybody’s heart as the Atma Rama, and He could achieve anything by His mere will. However, He wanted to give an opportunity to the monkeys to serve, and make them immortal. That is why He let them build it.

That is the purpose. There is no other purpose. Therefore, understand the truth properly, develop the personal qualities, and take part in this project.

Amongst the lakhs of species, human birth is very rare. Amongst human beings, only a few develop devotion to God. Out of those, only a few enter into the spiritual path. Out of all those who enter the spiritual path, only a few develop determination and move forward. Ultimately, only one or two will attain the destination. Thus, to enter the spiritual path, faith and courage are very important.

I am a sculptor; I can make a statue emerge out of stone. The statue does not come from somewhere – it is already there in the stone. I remove what is ‘not statue’ from the stone. In order to remove what is not statue, I have to hammer it. When I hammer it, what is not statue will disappear, and what is statue will remain.

What is there within you in the form of ego and attachment is not statue. When I try to remove the ego and attachment in you, you should not obstruct Me by saying, “Swami, it is painful. Please don’t do it!” If you do that, naturally, you can never become a statue.

Therefore, if the statue is to become a true statue, to be installed in a temple and be worshipped, you should be ready to give up what is not statue. It is a difficult job. You think that the body and mind are yours and because of that possessiveness, you are distracted. When it does not really belong to you, why should you suffer for it?

Here is a small example: if you feel hungry, you have to eat; your neighbour does not have to eat. When you feel sleepy, you have to sleep, not somebody else. Therefore, you have to do things for yourself; nobody else can do it for you. When you think you are the body, you are subjected to a lot of worry. If someone is feeling hungry, do you experience it? You know it is their hunger, not yours. Therefore, why should you bother about it? In the same way, why are you bothered about what does not belong to you? I will remove it all. What is Me, what is Truth, is all that will remain. Love is everything, and only love should remain. All other things should go away. Develop that kind of deservedness and take part in these service activities.

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Sunday, 6th July 2015

Morning Session - Youth Meet

Sri Jayawardenapura

 

(Alankara Villa, a tourist villa, which was transformed into a palace fit for the Lord by the Organisers, Mithun and Divya, and a team of dedicated volunteers)

 

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5 July Morning: Divine Discourse

Do not be arrogant about dhana (wealth), jana (relations), and youvana (youth), because, in a moment, time can take it away from you. Since time is of essence when we are on this Earth, which is bound by time, space and circumstances, it is very important to respect time and to save time.

Once, a poor man came to Dharmaraja, the eldest of the Pandavas, seeking help for his daughter’s wedding. It was quite late in the evening and Dharmaraja was about to retire. Because it was a request, he decided to see this old man. The old man, upon being brought inside the palace, fell at the feet of the king and asked him for help for his daughter’s wedding. Dharmaraja felt a bit tired, so he said, “Go now. Come tomorrow and I will see you, and will definitely do whatever is needed for your daughter’s wedding.” The old man was very happy.

As he was about to leave, Bhima who was a witness to this, started shouting, “Victory to Dharmaraja, who has defeated death! Victory to Dharmaraja, who has conquered death!” Listening to these shouts of victory by Bhima, Dharmaraja was curious. He called Bhima and asked, “Why are you shouting this way? What is wrong with you?”

Bhima said, “All this time, I thought that you were a king who conquered many lands and has a vast kingdom; but today, I realised that you are more powerful than that. You have conquered even death!”

Dharmaraja was puzzled. He asked, “What makes you think so? I never said that.”

“Just now, you told this old man to come tomorrow and you will help him. It means that you know you will be alive tomorrow. It means you have conquered death. That is what I am shouting.”

When he heard this, Dharmaraja realised the mistake he had made.

Whilst men sleep, they are not even certain that they will wake up alive tomorrow. Yet, they have the arrogance to tell people that they shall ‘do it tomorrow’, as if they know that tomorrow will come.

When the five Pandavas were roaming in the forest in exile, they were very thirsty. There was a lake nearby from which they could fetch water. First, the youngest of them went to bring water. As they approached, the lake, which was owned by a yaksha demi-god, said, “You have to answer my question first; only then can you take water from the lake.”

Nakula and Sahadeva, the youngest brothers, ignored the question. They tried to take the water and drink from the lake, but the water turned into poison and they collapsed. Bhima came to look for them and the same thing happened to him. Arjuna came and he too experienced the same thing.

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After some time, Dharmaraja himself came to look for his brothers, wondering why they did not come back with the water. Then he reached the lake and realised that a yaksha was guarding this lake.

The yaksha said, “If you can answer my question satisfactorily, I will allow you to take the water.” He asked Dharmaraja, “What is the one thing in this world that both amuses you and surprises you?”

Dharmaraja replied, “The fact that we all know that death is certain, yet we live as if we are going to live forever. This is what amuses me and astonishes me the most.” Dharmaraja, who himself had full knowledge of this fact, had forgotten it and was also trapped by his own mind.

Time is nobody’s friend. It won’t listen to you; you must listen to it. From the time man is born, as he grows, and until he dies, everything is bound by the rule of time. God alone is beyond time, but everyone else is bound by this very powerful rule of time. Once you have wasted your time, you can never get it back.

Being young is the greatest opportunity. All seva can be done with these three things in place: the hands, head and heart. If all the three are united, you can achieve anything. Having hands, but no head, means no intelligence; head without heart, means no compassion. It is not going to make the seva happen. The hands of King Janaka, head of Adi Shankara and heart of the Buddha are extremely important.

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When you are young, you have hands, that is, you have the strength to do seva. You have head, that is, a sharp mind, strong memory, and keen intellect to do things. If you fill your heart with love and compassion, then all these three together can help you achieve anything. The problem with modern young people is they have hands which are very skilful, but they only listen to their heads and forget to listen to their hearts.

The head is full of selfishness. It drives you to do things for your own benefit. It cares little about what others need, or what others want. It only thinks about itself. “I, I, I,” that is all it thinks about; whereas the heart does not concentrate on ‘I’. The heart is all Sai. If there is ‘I’, there is no Sai. If there is Sai, there cannot be ‘I’. If you listen to Sai, ‘I’ will go away.

The heart must tell the mind what needs to be done, and the mind should drive the body to do what is required. A simple example is that of a car. In a car, there is a driver and a master. The body is like the car, the mind is like the driver, and the heart is the master. The driver should drive in accordance with the commands of the master. If the driver starts driving the car the way he wants without listening to the master, he is a bad driver. Such a driver is of no use. He will only cause accidents and will not take you safely to the destination.

The heart is the seat of God. Whatever you think, say, or do, must be guided with one feeling; whether it will please God or whether it will displease God. Nothing is bad, as long as it takes you towards God.

Whatever will take you towards God is punya or good. Whatever takes you away from God is papa, or sin. Every thought, every word, and every act should be analysed.

Man has been given the power to discriminate between what is right and what is not right, between what is good and what is not good, between what is Divine and what is not Divine. Animals do not have this kind of a power. They live by instinct. If they see something and they want to eat it, they immediately go and do so, without thinking for a moment. Man has been given the power of discrimination in order to decide what is right and what is not right.

Secondly, nan has been given the power of detachment; to detach yourself from that which is not right, and attach yourself to that which is right. Using these two powers of discrimination and detachment, one can move closer to God. With every thought, you must discriminate whether it will take you closer to Swami or away from Swami; whether it is good for everyone or not good for everyone; whether it is something that will make everyone happy or make people sad. If you can continually discriminate and then have the courage to detach yourself from that which is not correct, which is not Divine, which is not selfless, then you have played well the game of life.

This is the rule of the game. Life is a game; play it. There are two teams: one team is of the heart, another is of the mind. The heart should always win, but how? It should use these rules of discrimination and eventually detachment.

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At this moment, at your age, you have full strength. Do not postpone good work until the future. Many people advise the young, “Why are you in such a hurry to reach God? There is enough of your life to do all these things once you have retired.”

However, let Me ask them a question – even after retirement, are they able to go towards God? They have gone so deep into the whirlpool of the world, that coming out of it is impossible! If you keep walking towards the West, you are going away from the East. Every step you take towards the West, takes you away from the East. Likewise, every step you take towards the world, takes you away from God, and you have to retrace so many more steps to go back to the same place.

Once, a pundit, was giving a discourse on the Ramayana. Many people were seated there, including a young boy who was very interested in the Ramayana. His parents had been searching for him at home, but they could not find him. Somebody told them that they had spotted the boy in the satsang which was going on. The father, furious, came running to take the boy away, because it was late at night. As he was dragging away the boy, who was unwilling to go, the pundit stopped the father and said, “Why are you taking him away? He is so interested in listening to the story of Lord Rama.” The father replied, “No! I am afraid that if he keeps listening to your stories, he might develop the desire to become a renunciant and leave home.”

The pundit said, “You have been listening to the Ramayana all your life. Have you developed this kind of mindset?”

Letting things go in one ear and out the other is not going to help you. It is like eating food and immediately vomiting it. That kind of listening is of no use. Whatever you listen to, you must assimilate it first and think about it.

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Shravanam (listening) is the first step. Mananam (contemplation) is the second step – it is like chewing the food. The third step is Nidhidhyasanam (digesting and assimilating).

Listening, contemplating and practising – these are the three steps. No matter how much I may speak to you about how tasty the afternoon lunch is going to be or how many items they are going to serve, or how it has been cooked, it’s not going to fill your stomach. Only when you go and eat a little and digest it, will your hunger be satisfied.

God cannot be attained by words. God cannot be attained through thoughts. God can only be attained through practice. Follow in My footsteps and you will reach Me. Once you reach Me, you will merge with Me. Once you merge with Me, you become Me. The first step is listening. You must come to understand through contemplation, and then experience by practising. Practice is very, very important. If you cannot practise at your age, you cannot achieve it when you grow old.

Once, a man, when he was about to die, called his four sons. He had named them Rama, Krishna, Govinda and Madhava, because he thought that when he was about to die, if he chanted the names of his sons, it would be equivalent to chanting the names of the Lord, and so he would attain liberation; his dying thoughts would be on God. This is foolish, yet he did it. On his deathbed, he called all the four sons, Rama, Krishna, Govinda and Madhava. They all came running to their father’s bedside. Looking at them, instead of thinking of the Lord, the man said, “If all four of you are here, who is looking after the shop?” and at that moment, he died! Not only did he die, he was reborn as a rat in the same shop, always hiding in the shop and never leaving it.

Your dying thoughts cannot be suddenly changed by such stunts. You must practice continuously.

(To a girl in the audience, who spoke earlier) You talked about swimming. Is it possible to just jump in the water one fine day and become a swimmer? Many times, you have to practise. You may drown, you may struggle, you may suffer, but in the end, it is by constant practice alone, that you can become a good swimmer one day.

A singer cannot become a singer the moment he is born. By constant practice, one day you will start singing well. Everything needs practice. By continuous practise, you can achieve perfection. Listening is not enough – it should be put into practice, but with proper understanding. Don’t practise like the man who simply used God’s names for his sons. Is it possible to become God just by using God’s names for your children?

Soon, there will be an ashram here which will also have a school and small hospital, and eventually a college, a big super-specialty hospital and many other facilities. At the moment it is like sowing a seed, but don’t expect fruits the moment you sow the seed. It is only when the farmer nurtures the seeds, waters it and protects it, that the seed germinates and becomes a small plant. The plant grows over a period and becomes a tree, and then the tree yield flowers, fruits and shade.

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Today, Swami is sowing the seed of seva in all your hearts; this you must protect, nurture, nourish and help to grow and become a tree. In the shade of the tree, everyone in this country will find shelter and refuge. It will give the fruits of love.

Love as service to one and all will change the destiny of this country; a country which has been war-torn, with so many social evils, so many injustices happening to people. A sense of peace and tranquillity will descend when this mission begins. I have prepared you over many births for this mission, and when the time comes, you must not lose the opportunity. All of you putting your hands, heads and hearts together, must unite and, with this unity, develop purity. Through this purity, you will become Divine. This is My wish. This is My blessing. The elders, with their experience, and the young people, with their energy, together can achieve anything.

Are you afraid that this is too much work for all of you? Such fear – that this is too much, and whether you will be able to do it or not – comes from a lack of faith.

Hanuman was asked to jump over the ocean to Lanka to find out about Mother Sita. All the other monkeys advised him, “What are you getting into? Are you mad? If you jump, you will fall into the ocean and be eaten by sharks!”

He said, “I don’t know whether I will fly or fall. All I know is that Rama has told me to do this and, if He has told me, He will make it happen. It is He who will do it through me. I have only to be ready.”

If you are ready, that is more than enough. I will achieve the rest. Do not have any sense of fear or apprehension. Do not have doubts. Believe and jump in.

Anything selfless is Divine. Anyone who embarks on a selfless mission, is bound to succeed today or tomorrow.

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Sunday, 5th July 2015

Evening Session Taj Samudra – Private Satsang

 

(Talawakelle Tea Plantation, whence workers and their families attended the Satsang)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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5 July Evening: Divine Discourse

 

The Vedas declare that mother is God, father is God, teacher is God and guest is God. Today, however, there is a difference. God Himself has become mother, God Himself has become father, God Himself has become teacher and today, God Himself has become the guest of Sri Lanka.

The entire world belongs only to God. God alone is permanent, eternal, and timeless. The world, however, is temporary. It is named as ‘jagat’, that which comes and goes. All that comes and goes has a fundamental basis as God Himself. To explain it to the children, I shall give an example. You’ve come all the way, such a long distance. You’ve come in a bus. The bus is moving, but the road is stationary. The road is permanent, but the bus is temporary – it keeps moving.

You may watch a movie in the cinema theatre. There is a screen on which pictures are projected. In the cinema theatre, the screen is permanent but the pictures keep coming and going. Because the cinema is going on and the pictures are moving, you don’t see the screen, which is the basis of the entire movie. In the same way, air is everywhere, but you cannot see the air. However, because air is around, you breathe air, breathe in and breathe out – that is how you are able to live.

Just as a road is the medium upon which the vehicles moves, just as the screen is the background for the pictures to move upon, just like air is the medium for you to breathe, the unseen God is the basis for the entire world, for all that is seen. It is only when you breathe in and out that you recognise the existence of air. Similarly, when you live in the presence of God, you will be able to experience God.

How does one live in the presence of God? In a family, there is a father, mother, brother, sister, teacher, and guest – all these are different members of the family. Likewise, when living in the family, you consider that you are living in the presence of your father, mother, teacher, friend, brother, sister and other people. In the same way, if you consider God to be your mother, your father, your friend, and your teacher, then you will believe that you are also living in this family of God.

In fact, God is always willing to be with all people, but just as children don’t want their parents to accompany them to the playground, devotees sometimes don’t want Swami to come everywhere with them. On occasion, they choose to keep God with them, and at other times choose not to.

Whether you are playing, bathing, eating, sleeping, you still have to breathe, don’t you? You can’t choose to breathe at certain times and not to breathe at others. If you stop breathing what will happen to you? You will suffocate and suffer! When you start breathing, you will be back to normal. Similarly, when God is with you and you are with God, everything is normal. When you forget God and keep Him away, that all the problems begin. Forgetting God leads to all kinds of suffering.

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Saint Kabirdas said that in good times, nobody remembers God, but in bad times, everyone remembers God. If you remember God at all the good times, how can you have bad times? It is because you forget God during good times that He sends some bad times, so that you will remember Him. Therefore, if a bad time comes, it means that God is remembering you.

Only when children are hungry do they remember their mothers, otherwise they are busy playing with their friends. However much the mother calls, they don’t come; but when they feel hungry, they automatically return home. In the same way, it is only when adult human beings are in trouble that they come to God. Is this not true? The children will be playing and both father and mother will be calling them, but they don’t come back; they keep playing. So what does the father say? “Let them play. When they are hungry, they will come of their own accord, you won’t need to call.” That is how, when troubles come, people run to God. In addition, the hungry, the tired and the hurt child runs back to its mother and father. However, if you are with God even in good times, you will never suffer in bad times. It is when you forget God that the problems start.

God isn’t the one who decides to give you problems. It just like, if you stop breathing, you suffer. In the same way, if you forget God, you suffer. Therefore, at all times, everywhere, in all circumstances, always remember God. The greatest responsibility that elders, teachers and parents have is to lead children towards God. If there is bhakthi (devotion), then yukthi, shakthi, mukthi (intelligence, strength, and liberation) – everything will come with it.

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Tenali Ramakrishna was a very intelligent person in the court of King Krishnadevaraya. He had and answer to every question anybody asked. Just as very intelligent students in the class always incur the wrath of their lesser intelligent peers, people were jealous of Tenali Ramakrishna. One day, a person asked a question to King Krishnadevaraya, “If your Tenali Ramakrishna is so intelligent, let him answer my question. Tell us one sentence comprised of five words, which means the same thing in five different languages. One sentence, five words, same meaning in five different languages.”

Can anybody create a sentence like this? Everybody thought Tenali Ramakrishna would not be able to answer. Even Tenali Ramakrishna did not know the answer. Finally, Krishnadevaraya said to him, “At least give me the answer by tomorrow, otherwise, I will lose face in front of these people.”

Tenali Ramakrishna thought and thought and thought, but he could not find an answer. Finally, when left that night, he went to his brother-in-law’s place. There were too many people in the house and so they asked him to sleep in the cowshed outside. Tenali Ramakrishna was unable to sleep, as he was worried about the answer to the riddle. So finally, he started praying to his favourite deity, Lord Rama. He prayed, “O Rama! You have to save my honour. I place it at Your feet.”

As he was thinking, a cow gave birth to a calf. Immediately, he ran to the door and knocked on it to call his brother-in-law. From the other side, a voice asked, “What happened?” Then Tenali Ramakrishna said, “A cow has given birth to a calf.” From the other side, his brother-in-law shouted, “Ya avora bava.”

In Telugu, ‘Ya avora bava’ means ‘which cow, O bava (brother-in-law)?”, but in that sentence, there are five words: ‘Ya’, in Marathi means, ‘come’, ‘Avo’, in Hindi means ‘come’, ‘Ra’, in Telugu means ‘come’, ‘Ba’ in Kannada means ‘come’, and ‘Va’, in Tamil also means ‘come’.

‘Ya avora bava’, all five words put together, meant the same thing in five different languages. Immediately, Tenali Ramakrsihna understood and went and announced it the next day in court. All were surprised at his intelligence. Then he explained, “It is not my intelligence. I only prayed to Lord Rama to guide me. It is He who has given me this answer.”

This does not mean that you should not study for exams and pray to Me and I will give you all the answers. No, that is not correct. You must make efforts and then leave the rest to me.

Our children are very intelligent. They will say, “Anyway, Swami is our mother, Swami is our father, Swami is our teacher. Let Swami be the student too and finish the exams!” They call it devotion, but this is no devotion at all! Devotion means loving God without any expectations. True love wants to see everyone happy. That means, you do not think about your own happiness, but always about how you can make others happy. If you really love God, you should see how to make God happy.

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How can you make God happy? If you are happy, God will be happy. When everyone is happy, God is happy. Do everything that will please God. Instead, if you hurt each other, scold each other, and fight with each other, how can you please God? It is not possible. When everyone around is happy, God will be happy. If you keep God happy, He will keep everybody happy. So whatever you do, think whether it will please Swami, or whether it will displease Swami.

For a long time, Dr. Karunairesan, who spoke earlier, has been praying that Swami should build institutions in Sri Lanka. He used to feel, “Such a beautiful ashram is there in India. There should be one, here in Sri Lanka, as well. There should be a place for Swami. There should be scope for service activities, bhajans, schools, hospitals – all this should happen in this land also!”

In order to serve others, he has sacrificed a great deal. He would give away or sell his personal things for the sake of helping the poor and the children. As a result, everyone in his family is angry with him, but the people outside have become his family. He has given up everything. He had a watch, which he to pay somebody’s fee. Whatever he has, he gives away if only anyone asks. That is how he has given up everything impermanent and gained something that is permanent.

In this world, everything comes with a price. If you want to buy a chocolate, you have to pay ten rupees. If you want God, should you not pay something? God is the kalpavriksha (wish-fulfilling tree) who can fulfil all desires.

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If you have to pay even to buy a small mango sapling, should you not pay something when the Kalpavriksha Himself is coming? Yes, you have to pay, and what is it that you need to pay?

In order to obtain God, you have to give away everything that is negative in you, all that is worldly in you, all that is selfish in you. If you give it all to Me, I will come to you.

Therefore, always yearn for God. If you have God, you will have the whole world. God is the object; the world is the shadow. It is because of the prayers of such people, like Dr. Karunairesan that I have decided to build an ashram in Sri Lanka, a big school, a big hospital, and a water project. All this will happen in the coming years. All the devotees are working to begin by this November and, eventually, within a year, all this will be built – a small school and a small hospital, which will come into service by My next birthday. The land has already been identified and given to Swami, and soon the work will begin.

Are you happy now? Now, all of you should unite in service.

I will see to it that the children of Sri Lanka get the right kind of education, the youth of Sri Lanka get the right kind of opportunities, and the sick in Sri Lanka get the right kind of treatment. Hence, all of you, with your hearts full of love and hands full of service, be ready to undertake this work.

Rama could build an entire bridge with a few monkeys. You are still human beings – you can do better! You have only a monkey mind, but your body is human. If you fill your mind completely with God, you will definitely be able to succeed. The mind is selfish; that is why it gets caught up in the world.

In the old times, they used to catch a monkey by putting peanuts in a jar with a narrow neck. The monkey would put his paw inside and would be unable to remove it. The paw which went inside, should also come outside, is it not? However, because the monkey was holding onto the peanuts, he would not be able to remove his paw. If the monkey released the peanuts, it would be free, but because of its desire for the peanuts, the monkey would be trapped and caught. It used to be a happy monkey, free in the jungle, but now it had to dance to somebody else’s tune. If the trainer were to say ‘sit’, it would have to sit; if he said ‘stand’, stand, and, if he said ‘dance’, it would have to dance. Because of the desire for peanuts, it would suffer for its entire life.

Give up all selfish desires and be free. Otherwise, your whole life will be spent dancing to somebody’s instructions. No freedom.

Therefore, use your hands to serve, surrender your mind to God, fill your heart with love, and if you want to ask for something, pray, “I want only Swami, nothing else,” because if Swami comes, the whole world comes with Him. The kingdom also comes with the king. So ask for the king, ask for God, ask for Swami, and nothing else.

I am very happy to see you all, who have come a long distance. Again and again, I am going to visit Sri Lanka and continue with these seva projects. I am very happy.

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