Sathya Sai Seva

In a discourse, at the first conference of Sathya Sai Seva Organizations, Bhagavan Baba elaborated the various rules and regulations that members and office bearers of the Sathya Sai Organizations should follow. He said that one should not hold the office for personal benefits and glory, but to serve and to reach the goal of liberation.

The Vedas [Holy Scriptures] are inspired by the holy spirit of divine mercy. They seek to transmit to humanity the secrets of a happy life here and of liberation forever. They reveal the essence of the divine glory. Over the millennia, they have been the source of spiritual knowledge for all mankind. The Vedas are a means by which the culture of this land is to be preserved and promoted. God gifted man with intellect to help him separate good from evil. When the Vedic treasure house is explored with intelligence, the atma-tatwa (essential nature of the Self) becomes clear. When that is recognized, man becomes eternally happy and full of peace. This treasure was slighted and neglected as a result of fascination with outlandish ways of life. But, for a few years now, feelings of reverence and the readiness to repent have appeared among the people.

You are allotted the task of once again bringing to people’s homes the message of atmic strength and atmic unity, transmuting ‘man’ into ‘God’ and experiencing that ananda (bliss) is the one and only achievement to devote one’s life to. The efforts you make in your own places are directed to bring this goal into the awareness of each person. Of course, there are in existence many organizations and societies engaged in distributing various cures for the ‘spiritual’ ills of their constituents. Therefore, a question may arise about the need for this additional institution. The need has arisen to emphasize the basic and essential discipline, which is practical and universal, as prescribed since ages for the revelation of the divine in man.

So, the very first ideal you must keep in mind when you start and run these organizations is: Do not crave for status, authority, or position; do not allow any pomp, or show; do not compete for publicity, recognition, or praise.

Unity Consciousness

Duty is God. Do it and be content. You may have yearnings toward self-aggrandizement and plans to fulfill them. I know that some people have already devised plans for getting into official positions. But you must subdue and destroy those desires. Following My instructions without demur is the best plan. While engaged in seva (service), it is wrong to yield to lower cravings or to follow one’s own impetuosity. The Vedas declare that it is only by renunciation, surrender, and submission that immortality can be acquired.

Promote Faith in God

From dawn ’till dusk and dusk ’till dawn, people’s chief occupation today is to find fault with others and to try to publicize these. This state of affairs is an insult cast in the face of our hoary culture. It springs from the craving for cheap popularity and temporary fame.

Your organizations must endeavor to promote faith in God. If that base is absent, worship, devotional singing, prayer rituals, and good works—all become meaningless, automatic, done under social compulsion. The fruit of inner transformation can be acquired only when these are done with faith. Faith can grow and be made firmer by the roots of inquiry. You must encourage inquiry by the members whom you contact, and welcome their efforts to gain first-hand experience.

Man strives to provide himself with food, clothing, and housing for the sake of the body. He must also provide himself with some things to keep the mind healthy and happy. It is the mind that conditions even the body. The mind is the instrument, the fly-wheel, and the thickest comrade of man. Through it, one can either ruin oneself or save oneself. Regulated, controlled, and channelized properly, it can liberate; wayward and let loose, it can entangle and bind fast. Try to find out when exactly man is having full, undisturbed peace. You will see that he is at peace only during deep sleep. For, at that time the senses are inactive, the mind is inert, and unattached to the senses or their targets. So, when senses are made ineffective to drag the mind out, man can attain peace. That is the real spiritual effort: the withdrawal of the senses from the objective world.

Two Poisonous Fangs

Train the mind to dwell on the inner equipment rather than the outer attractions. Use the mind to cleanse the feelings, impulses, attitudes, tendencies, and levels of consciousness. Let it not accumulate dirt from the outer world and deposit them within itself. If it is attached to work, the consequences of work get attached to it. Unattached work is the purest; it does not encumber the mind with elation or disappointment. ‘I did it,’ ‘this is mine’: these are the two fangs that make the individual poisonous. Pull out the fangs, the snake can be handled and played with as a pet. These organizations must be vigilant to see that egoism and the sense of personal possession, pride, or achievement do not invade them. That is the goal to be kept in view.

When an organization is started, it has to lay down for itself certain rules and regulations. But our rules are of a different nature altogether. Our rules emphasize that members must first practice what they stand for. Whatever you desire others to do, you must first put into daily practice sincerely and with steadfastness. You must do bhajan [devotional singing] regularly and systematically, before you advise others about its efficacy. When you want to be honored by others, you must learn to honor them first.

Bhagavan is the Medicine

Service has become a word of common currency, but its value is reduced by the hypocrisy of the users. Really speaking, only those who are afflicted with equal agony at the sight of pain and suffering, distress or disease, have the right to offer service; for they are not serving others, they are serving themselves to remove as fast and as intelligently as they can their own agony. Service to others is the medicine one needs to alleviate the distress that fills one at the sight of distress in another being. Feel that you are serving yourself, that you are curbing your own ego. Otherwise service heightens your self-esteem and develops a sense of superiority, which are both spiritually harmful.

Food is the medicine for the illness of hunger; drink, for the illness of thirst. For the disease of bhavaroga (birth-death cycle), Bhagavan is the medicine. For the disease of desire, wisdom is the specific cure. For the disease of doubt, despair, and hesitation, which are the occupational diseases of spiritual aspirants, the most effective remedy is paropakara (doing good to others). For the major infection of ashanti (anxiety), the course of treatment is bhajan. It is to provide these remedies to the sufferers that the organization has to dedicate itself.

A spiritual organization is really above all rules and regulations; the realm of the atma is beyond these limits. In this sense, rules are either meaningless or superfluous in Sathya Sai organizations. But, at least to satisfy the law of the land, some rules have to be adopted. For example, who can be members of these organizations, and what are their qualifications? (1) Of course, they must be eager aspirants for spiritual progress. (2) They must have full faith in the name that the organization bears and in spreading that name in the manner suited to its message and majesty. (3) The member must have won recognition as a good person. Those are all the qualifications needed; nothing else counts. There is no need to have money or lands, scholarship, influence, authority, or official position.

Oath from the Depth of the Heart

If you have the three qualifications mentioned, I assure you, even if you have no place in any organization bearing My name, you will have a place here (Baba pointed to His heart). The organizations must be such that members find them congenial places to deepen their sadhana [spiritual effort], to cultivate their virtues, and to overcome their ego by contact with workers who are free from the least trace of that deadly poison. If this is achieved, their success is certain.

What are the duties of members and office-bearers? You know that the state requires you to take a solemn oath when you take up an office or enter upon an assignment. Similarly, each member and office bearer must take an oath from the very depths of the heart, before engaging themselves in the activities: “Swami, save me from any act of commission or omission that will adversely affect the three qualifications You have laid down. Bless me with the skill, intelligence, and enthusiasm necessary for the task I am dedicating myself to carry out for my own uplift. Guide me along the correct path. Shower on me Your grace so that I may earn a fair name in this attempt. Guard me from temptation and wrong steps.” When you rise from bed at dawn; pray thus. At night, when you go to bed, ponder over your activities of the day, examining them to see if you went against any of the membership conditions. And if you committed any wrong unconsciously, pray that it may not happen again. Decide to dedicate yourself in this manner, with these ideals, for the work ahead.

Avoid Fanaticism in Sai Activities

Another point I want to emphasize is this: There are many other organizations with spiritual objectives in this land [India]. They are run under different names and attached to other names and forms of God, like Rama, and Krishna. You know that the Indian culture insists that you should offer reverence to all the names and forms of the One Godhead. In your organizations, there may be some who insist that only Sai bhajans should be sung, only the name and form of Sathya Sai be used. This is a great mistake. You are thereby dishonoring Sai. If you attach yourself to Sai and detach yourself from Krishna, you get a plus there and a minus here; the resultant gain is zero. In this matter, do not develop fanaticism or sectarianism. Others may have these, but that is no reason why you should meet them with the same failings. Try your best to avoid such infection. When the other organizations require help, go and help them. This will make them realise the loving universal nature of your attitude.

Again, do not encourage differences based on region, language, religion, or any such flimsy grounds. For example, people who exaggerate these differences argue in Madras that only Tamil songs should be sung, or in Andhra Pradesh that only Telugu songs should be sung. If such ideas are entertained, they will undermine the spiritual outlook and the attitude of unity and oneness that is the keynote of the spirit. This is a field where inner joy, inner satisfaction, and internal purity are more important than outer expression.

Warning on Collection of Funds

I do not like collection of funds. But since some expense has to be incurred, I have to allow it under very stringent conditions. Each organization has as members of the samithi (organization) about 10 or 15 persons. Whatever expense they decide to incur for the work of the samithi, they have to collect among themselves, without seeking help from those outside the circle. Of course, they have to contribute according to their capacity and have to limit the work to the resources they can pool among themselves.

Do not plan beyond your capacity and move about with lists from person to person to get funds. By this, the institution gets a bad name and you, too, will not be spared. You may say, “But, when Swami comes to our place, we must spend a lot on reception arrangements.” No, I do not need grand decorations, huge arches, flags, and such paraphernalia. I require only a microphone to communicate My advice to the people. Even a chair is superfluous; I can talk standing. Spend sparingly for the minimum needs; do not involve yourselves in expensive luxury. I would like you to spend any extra money that you have for the feeding of the poor or for any similar beneficial object.

Attempts are being made in many places to build Sathya Sai mandirs (temples). But Sathya Sai will be happy if He is installed in your hearts; that is the mandir I like, not those. When you seek to build that other temple, you have to go about seeking donations. Religion has declined in this land due to this donation-seeking and donation-granting. Really speaking, the most precious donation is a pure mind.

I shall tell you a method by which the extra funds you may need for any undertaking of the samithi are to be collected. Estimate beforehand what the expenses will be. Suppose it comes to Rs. 1,000, give that information to the 15 members and fix a day when they shall all meet. On that day, in an inner room keep a locked box with a slit on the lid. Let each go alone into the room and deposit in the box whatever he feels he can. He can come away without depositing anything; he has the freedom to do so; there is no compulsion.

If funds are collected with the knowledge of the rest, a person who is unable to give as much as another may feel humiliated. So this is the best method. When all have finished their turns, let the box be opened and the amount counted. If it falls short of the estimate, divide the shortfall among all members equally and collect the share from each. If there is some surplus, keep it for the next occasion.

Fund Collection leads to Calumny

Do not have lists, appeals, receipt books, and all the cumbersome complex paraphernalia of fund collection campaigns. That will lead you to stratagems and falsehoods, competition, and calumny. Do it in this quiet and sacred manner, suited to the holy objectives you have.

Some delegates suggested that sub-committees be formed and recognized. But that will increase the number and so give room for more mistakes. Let the responsibility be on a few dedicated persons. The district president must see that small associations in the villages are given proper guidance and help to carry out the task they’ve undertaken. They must send to those villages exponents of Vedic culture to instruct and inspire them. Attempts should also be made to spread spiritual knowledge and instill the yearning for spiritual practices among students and youth.

No limits to celebrations of holy days

Sathya Sai organizations have to bear in mind the word, seva, and take up service work enthusiastically. Seva must be directed towards the removal of physical distress, the alleviation of mental agony, and the fulfillment of spiritual yearning. Some regions are affected by floods, some by drought; the organization must make efforts to bring relief to the sufferers from these and other natural calamities.

The various spiritual groups that are established must spread the message of remembering God’s Name and devotional singing at all times and in all places. Jayadeva, Gouranga, and Thyagaraja [saints]—each of them went through the bazaars and streets singing songs about the glory of God, and their ecstasy filled countless people with divine fervor.

The list of holy days to be celebrated mentions Sivarathri, Navarathri, Swami’s Birthday, and Guru Poornima, but you must also celebrate the birthdays of the great persons who led man to the God within him, and also all days held holy by your brothers. Do not set limits to these celebrations. Make every day a holy day and fill it with the recollection of God and His messengers.

Establish unity among yourselves first; do not seek faults in others or excellences in your own selves. The fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man—have full faith in this and fill every act of yours with that reverence and love. Meet together once a week, or once a fortnight, or at least once a month. Have someone discourse to you, sing bhajans, study, or contemplate. Experience the thrill of spiritual comradeship. Every member of the association must have some item of work allotted to him, and he must be present whenever such meetings are held, unless of course it becomes physically difficult.

I must tell you about another point: Wherever you are, whatever work you do, do it as an act of worship, an act of dedication, an act for the glorification of God who is the inspirer, the witness, and the Master. Do not divide your activities as, “these are for my sake” and “these are for the sake of God.” Even if you divide zero by zero, you get one. See all work as one. You should not, the scriptures say, leave any remainder or balance in debts, in disease, in vengeance against enemies, in the cycle of birth-death. Finish all, down to the last. They should not recur again. If you offer all activities at the feet of the Lord and free them from any trace of egoistic attachment, the consequence will not bind you: you are free, you are liberated, and you have moksha [liberation].

Source: Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. VII