Happiness Comes Out of Suffering
Contemplation of God is the right royal path that will remove all types of worries. Therefore, do not try other means for achieving mental peace and get into trouble and worry. March on along the divine and glorious path. All the karmas (actions) in the spiritual field are meant to bring peace and happiness to us. They are not intended to trouble us. Mental peace can be achieved only by performing one’s own duty, not by any other means. Karma brings about a result; and that result brings happiness and peace. Even when you are undergoing difficulties, always think that they are meant to bring you happiness. Every human being undergoes difficulties, only to enjoy happiness later. However, he does not realize this during the period of suffering. But in the course of time when suffering ends and happy days arrive, he would realize the truth. Hence, always remember the truth that sorrows and difficulties are prelude to happy days ahead. In fact, real happiness comes out of suffering only.
Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 37 (2004)
If there are no difficulties to start with, how can you enjoy the sweetness of pleasure? So you must struggle to some extent and face difficulties. Without darkness, does brightness have any value? Without hunger, does food have value? Similarly, you must discover the true taste and value of happiness. In what way must you do this? Discover first the love within you, and then use it to receive God’s love. Once you tap the pure and unpolluted love within you, you will become the recipient of God’s love. God would even overlook and forgive your mistakes. However, do not take this for granted and commit mistakes endlessly! You must safeguard all the treasures God has deposited in you.
Summer Showers 2000
Do not give room to worry and anxiety. God is not stone hearted. He will certainly take care of your needs. His heart is filled with compassion. Swami’s concern for you is hundred times more intense than the concern you have for yourselves. You need not be worried at all. Develop the feeling that difficulties and suffering are for your own good. Even insurmountable difficulties will vanish like thin mist when you have firm conviction. Hence, do not be unduly perturbed about your problems. Difficulties come and go. Not only the poor, even a millionaire cannot escape from difficulties. Swami confers His blessings on you so that you will be relieved of your suffering soon.
The physical body may undergo suffering, but you should make efforts to attain peace of mind. The mind is the basis for happiness for everyone. All physical comforts will be of little use without peace of mind. Only through contemplation of God can you attain peace of mind and not by any other means. Hence, chant the Name of God incessantly, unmindful of the difficulties that come in your way. It is because of contemplation of God’s Name that you have been able to experience peace despite the innumerable difficulties you faced. God is the refuge for the poor and the forlorn. He is always with them through all the vicissitudes of life. Do not think that God is in some distant land. God is by your side always. In fact, He is present in the inner recesses of your heart. Never think that God is away from you at any point of time. Neither friends nor relatives can come to your rescue. God is your sole refuge. He will protect you under all circumstances.
Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 37 (2004)
Smilingly, Dharmaja replied, “Draupadi! Look at the Himalaya mountains. How beautiful are the peaks! I am filled with joy looking at those mountains. They do not serve me in any way, but still, they fill me with joy. The beauty of Nature gives me joy. Beauty is bliss. That bliss is nectarine. There is no joy equal to the enjoyment of the beautiful. When you look at a flower, you derive ineffable joy, though the flower renders you no service. Nature is the vesture of God. When you behold Nature, you experience bliss. I love Nature for the joy it gives. I derive joy from seeing it and for no other benefit. Likewise, God should be loved in a selfless spirit. I love Krishna regardless of what difficulties I must suffer, because that is the way I love him. I have no interest in the transient pleasures and possessions of the world. True bliss transcends the fleeting pleasures experienced by this perishable body. Draupadi! Do not seek these pleasures relating to the body. Seek the Divine feet of the Lord, which will confer enduring bliss. Do not grieve over petty difficulties. Concern yourself with the means to experience God. All other things are valueless.” The bliss from experiencing the Divine has been extolled by the Vedic seers and sages from ancient times. It is holy, eternal, ineffable and infinite. It is the bliss of oneness with God.
Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 28 (1995)
