Baba on Sorrow

Thamaso maa jyothirgamaya” (lead me from darkness to light—is an Upanishadic prayer)This means that where there is  darkness light is needed. What is this darkness? Sorrow is one form of darkness. Peacelessness is another. Loss is another. Disappointment is one form of darkness. Misery is yet another. Lack of enthusiasm is another. All these are different forms of sorrow. You have to light the lamp of happiness. To dispel the darkness of disease, you have to install the light of health. To get over darkness of losses and failures, you have to usher in the light of prosperity.

Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. XXIV, p. 288

Man is subject to sorrow from birth to death; joy, or what he calls happiness is an interval between two sorrows, that is all. These sorrows arise as a result of three reasons: adhyatmik (spiritual energy), adhidaivik (metaphysical energy) and adhibhowtik (physical energy). The material objects that one craves for, endeavors to acquire, and laments over when lost, are all defined as adhibhowtik.

These senses are the instruments of cognition; one sees an object through the eyes; yes, but not through the material eye, but with the eye operated by the deity that presides over it, namely the sun. You do not see in the dark! The sun helps you to see; without him, you are helpless! Each sense and limb, nerve and cell, joint and gland of the human body has a deity that activates it and is resident therein. If the deities are hostile or displeased, the body suffers and sorrow ensures. This is the second reason for misery, the adhidaivik.

Then, we have the self—the witness of inertia and activity, joy and sorrow, exultation and examination. When you ignore the existence of the witness, when you divorce your daily life from the awareness of the seat of peace, you invite sorrow to torment you. That is the adhyatmik, or the spiritual colour, the cross that each man carries along the trail of life.

Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. VII, p. 218

Realize the heaven within you and all at once all desires are fulfilled, all misery and suffering is put an end to. Feel yourselves above the body and its environments. The great cause of suffering in the world is that people do not look within, they rely on outside forces.

My Baba and I, back cover

Being aware of these principles, do your duty in life. Maintain an even mind and make sure that the work you do is good, and that it is even appropriate to the occasion. The verses from the Gita should not merely be memorized but they must be put into practice. Only when you practice them in your daily life and fully understand their meaning will all your worries leave you and your sorrows disappear. But if you don’t understand their meaning and merely repeat these verses, your sorrows might even increase.

Digest 2, p. 241