Sri Sathya Sai International Organization

You may be in the jungle, but your mind may wander in the marketplace. Similarly, you may be in the market, but by spiritual practice (sadhana), you can still secure peace in the heart in the midst of the bustling city.

Dedication to the Lord sanctifies all activities. He is the prime cause for all activity, the prompter, the executor, the giver of the required strength and skill, and the enjoyer of the fruit. So, dedication must come naturally to you, for all is His, and nothing is yours! Your duty is to believe He is the motivator of your activities and draw strength from that belief.

We have friends and foes, likes and dislikes, whereas Vedanta teaches us to develop equal-mindedness. Just as we do not punish our teeth for accidentally biting our tongue because we consider both organs as parts of our body, we must also bear in mind that the eternal and universal Atma resides in everyone and everywhere. We should not accentuate differences but concentrate on unity. 

Serve all and love all. Firmly believe that the divine is in everyone and constantly act on this belief. Only by continuous practice can you develop this sacred attitude. Fill yourself with Self-confidence and courage. Make your life a complete offering to the divine, who is the real source of all you are and have.

There is love in every one of you. What is the form of love? What is the nature of love? When we analyze carefully, we will realize that love is not limited to human beings alone but is present in all living beings. Every being is endowed with the quality of supreme divine love. One must give up enmity and cultivate unity and purity to understand this truth.

Your ultimate goal is to realize the innate Atmic principle, which is the same in all. There are no differences whatsoever. The Atma that is present in you is present in everybody. It is attributeless. To realize this Atmic principle, you should fill your heart with love. The heart is like a vessel. Fill it with the qualities of truth, love, and sacrifice. Then, you don't need to ask for peace; it will automatically manifest from within. In fact, love, truth, etc., are within you. You should manifest them from within. You cannot acquire them from outside.

The divine dwells in everyone's heart. You must enthuse those who entertain godly feelings. Such people should not be discouraged. Divine feelings arise in one only as a consequence of good deeds done in many lives. Only a sacred heart can experience the divine. The pursuit of any object other than the divine is a futile exercise - worldly possessions come and go, but divinity comes and grows.

Seeing only things that are holy is samyak-darshanam (holy vision). You must see only things that please your conscience. Seeing all worldly things is not holy vision. Buddha emphasized seeing good, thinking good, speaking good, and doing good. The eyes should be used for seeing only what is pure, holy, and edifying.

Children should revere their parents, who account for their physical existence. But they should realize what they owe to God, the basis of all life. Recognizing this double obligation to the mothers and to the divine - they should redeem their lives by purposeful living. There are greater things than even life itself. The supreme achievement is God-realization. It is the summum bonum of human life.

True sadhana (spiritual exercise) eradicates all evil in a human being. The study of sacred texts, meditation, and penance do not constitute the whole of sadhana. To remove all the impurities in the mind is real sadhana. After this comes what Buddha called samyak-samadhi or nirvana (realization or liberation). What is meant by samadhi? It means treating pleasure and pain, gain and loss alike. Sama-dhi (equal-mindedness) is "samadhi". To look upon light and darkness, pleasure and pain, profit and loss, fame and censure with an equal mind is samadhi. Buddha termed this equal mindedness as nirvana.

Some people talk about meditation. Even Buddha advocated the practice of meditation. What do you have to meditate upon? What is meant by meditation? Does it mean concentrating on a particular object? No, no. That is not meditation at all. Contemplating the principle of "I am I" is true meditation.

All that relates to the body is temporary and transient. What one should seek is enduring bliss. Happiness is a union with God. Buddha prescribed five duties: good vision, good thoughts, listening to good things, good speech, and good actions. These five-fold duties constitute true sadhana (spiritual practice).

The human body acquires its sacredness because it is the abode of the divine. The Gita refers to the body as a Kshetra (sacred field) and the divine indweller as the Kshetrajna (knower of the sacred field). Because of the body's sacredness, it should be used properly as an instrument of the divine.

Knowledge of the Self cannot be obtained by studying scriptures, from preceptors, or by the grace of great men. The Self (Brahman) cannot be seen in the external world. It should be experienced in one's heart. It is a mark of ignorance to seek the Self in the outside world.