Man is Essentially Good
Years come and go, so also pleasure and pain. Nothing confers permanent bliss except the experiences of the atma. Man cannot attain peace and happiness from his actions unless he has sacred feelings within. Many people expect the New Year to confer happiness and prosperity on them. But, in fact, the New Year confers on you only the results of your past actions. In order to atone for your past sins, you have to cultivate sacred qualities and involve yourself in sacred activities even more in the New Year. In fact, bliss is within you; it originates from your sacred feelings. Therefore, you have to manifest bliss from within; it cannot be bestowed on you by others. None can take bliss away from you, and you cannot obtain it from outside.
When your feelings are sacred, without asking you will receive noble results. Due to the impact of the Kali Age, man’s thoughts, words, and deeds are not in harmony with each other. You may say or do anything, but the result you get depends on your feelings. Therefore make your feelings sacred and become a good human being. Only one with good feelings and good mind can be called a good human being.
Sometimes, deeds done with a good mind may yield bad results. The result may appear adverse, but there is goodness latent in it. A good mind will never change because of such results. Man is essentially good. He therefore ought to lead a life of goodness. But, today, man wavers every moment. It is due to the lack of will power. Man should have unwavering mind and steady vision. Then he will not be subjected to any hardships. Only God’s grace can help man overcome these negative tendencies. One may be a millionaire, but his wealth will not redeem him if his feelings are impure. Even if a man does not possess anything, he can still achieve the highest if he has purity of heart. Anything that a man of purity sees or touches turns into gold. On the other hand, if one lacks purity and effort in the right direction, even a stick in one’s hand will turn into a snake.
Divine Discourse, January 1, 2001, (Heart to Heart)
From the earliest times, the sages looked upon human life as madhuram (sweet). This sweet life is associated with Madhava, the Divine, and not anything else. We must see that this sweetness is properly cherished. Only when this sweetness is safeguarded will man be true to his human nature. Without this sweetness, man ceases to be human.
To experience this sweetness the spirit of sacrifice is essential. This nectarine sweetness is the outcome of tyaga (sacrifice). As the Vedas declare: “Not by deeds, or progeny, or wealth is immortality gained. It is realized only through sacrifice.” Whatever good deeds one may do, whatever wealth one may acquire, without sacrifice the Divine cannot be experienced.
It is out of the feeling of sacrifice that the nectarine sweetness arises in man. That sweetness is Divinity itself…When the Lord is described as the “Master of madhura,” what is this sweetness? The heart is sweet, the feeling is sweetness, and the love one feels is sweet. The action of the devotee is sweet. The ananda (bliss) is sweet. The atma is sweet. This bliss-filled sweetness pervades man from head to foot.
Sai Speaks, Divine Discourse, July 3, 1994 (SSS, Vol. 27)
