Mind

Faith is like a live volcano. Doubts are like seeds. No seed will sprout on a live volcano. If your doubts are multiplying, it means your faith is weak and unstable, and akin to an extinct volcano. Where there are doubts, there can be no faith. Your doubts arise or disappear because of your past karma (actions). No doubts will arise if your faith is strong. To realize Divinity, you must first get rid of all your doubts. From time to time, God subjects you to various tests. These are not intended to be punishments as you may imagine, but to strengthen your faith. Always remember that the Divine acts as a witness. The Divine shows you the path to self-realization.

Divine Discourse, July 24, 1983

Do not entertain in your mind the idea of purity or impurity while undertaking a spiritual practice. There is nothing impure in the world. When the Lord is immanent everywhere and in everything, how can anything be impure? Even if something appears to the eyes as impure, the moment it contacts the Name of the Lord, it becomes purified. Purity and impurity are the result of the mental reactions at a particular moment. When one is giving money to someone, one talks of choosing an auspicious time. But when one gets a chance to take money, every moment becomes auspicious! The mind is the reason for both the attitudes. Remember that everything is pure, everything is Divine.

It is the youth and youth alone who can set this world right. No nation can stand without its youth. Never underestimate the capabilities of young people, thinking that they are inexperienced and immature. Only the youth can protect this world; they are endowed with immense power. If they take a firm resolve, they can achieve anything! When they realize their power, they can emancipate nations. You must face all difficulties with forbearance. Accept all trials and tribulations with love. Accept both pleasure and pain with love. Fill your heart with love and not with the poison of evil qualities. Everything is love. The very word ‘love’ is suffused with sweetness. Treat each other with love, converse with each other with love; lead a life full of love and enjoy bliss.

Divine Discourse, Mar 30, 2006

There is milk in the body of the cow; the milk has ghee (clarified butter) latent in it. But the cow cannot derive any strength through that latent ghee. The milk must be taken out of the animal, boiled, and a little sour curd poured into it in order to curdle it. Then, when the milk is transformed into curds, it must be churned and the butter separated and rolled. After this, the butter must be melted and clarified, only then can ghee be obtained. The ghee thus prepared can be fed to the cow that would make it stronger. So, too, God is omnipresent. Yet, He is not easily available or perceivable to individuals unless they undertake the required sadhana (spiritual practices).

– Sathya Sai Vahini, Chap 12

A farmer clears and levels the land, removes the stones and thorns, ploughs and prepares the field, manures and nourishes the soil, waters and applies fertilizers on it. Then he sows the seeds and transplants the saplings. This is followed by the process of weeding and spraying of pesticides. Finally, after a long wait, he reaps the harvest.  Once the crop is harvested, he then winnows it, threshes it and finally stacks the produce. All these various processes are for the sake of feeding the stomach. So, too, one must feel that hunger, thirst, joy and sorrow, grief and loss, suffering and anger, food and appetite are but impulses that impel us toward attaining the Presence of the Lord. If you have this attitude, no sin will ever tarnish your actions. Over time, these impulses, too, will vanish without a trace.

~ Prema Vahini, Chapter – Sankalpa is the Path for Attaining the Presence