Know Thyself

Today people worship God in various ways. They pray to God, “Oh Lord!  Let me have a vision of you! Free me from all my troubles.” When one listens to these prayers, one is tempted to feel that they arise only from ignorance. People who offer such prayers seem to have no idea of the nature of God. Who is God? The scriptures, the Vedas and the Upanishads, give the answer to this question that God is sat-chit-ananda [truth, consciousness, and bliss]. What you should seek from God, who is sat-chit-ananda, is sat-chit-ananda, and not trivial things relating to the world. All things are included in that ananda (supreme bliss). What is happening today is that people invoke the name of God but are really worshipping the devil. All mundane desires are associated with the devil and not with the Divine. The more desires are controlled, the more blissful one will be.

What then is the meaning of the call “know thyself?” You have to get a vision of God. You have to experience the Divine. You have to converse with God. Man must realize God, see God, feel God, and talk to God. This is religion. Without understanding this true meaning of religion, people regard various forms of worship and prayers as religion. “Realizing is religion.” This means that to realize the eternal reality is true religion.

Sathya Sai Speaks 28, pp. 285-286

God’s ways are astonishing, inscrutable, and mysterious. God has made ample provision for all man’s needs. He has also given to man much more in the form of luxuries. In addition, he has conferred on man the power to control all these things. God has told man, “You are free to use as you like all the things given to you, subject to one condition. You will have to face the consequences of your actions.” This means that you cannot abuse the freedom given to you and misuse the things that are provided for you. When you misuse anything, you have to bear the resulting misery. When you make good use of anything, you will enjoy the benefits therefrom. You have to take note of the purpose for which you use your senses or the objects given to you. Any misuse of them will bring misery in its wake.

Sathya Sai Speaks 28, p. 287

Embodiments of love! Your duty today is to destroy the demonic qualities in you. Evil thoughts and evil actions are rampant everywhere; you cannot remain a mere witness to these happenings. Placing your faith in God, you have to fight evil forces as a human being. You have to demonstrate your human estate. You have to earn a name as a good man. That alone counts. All other acquisitions are worthless.

 Sathya Sai Speaks 28, pp. 295-296