Simplicity

The educated person and the student undergoing education must both cultivate simplicity; they must discard ostentation. If they are addicted to ostentation, they lose their genuine nature or individuality. Students must note this point well.

People without humility and discipline in dealings with others are certain to be counted out as scholar or pundits, no matter what sciences they have mastered or how famous they are as intellectuals. Such people will not be honored by society. They may win respect for some time, but that attitude will decline pretty soon. Such respect does not bring credit to the recipient. Only artlessness and simplicity earn honor—and they render the honor enjoyable. Insane parade of scholarship brings in only spurts of reputation and ridicule. When one gives up ostentation, one can get permanent respect from people. Real education imparts a spirit of renunciation, a dislike for ostentation, and the yearning to serve others.

~Vidya Vahini

The elders too must experience vikas (flowering or development), and lead exemplary lives of simplicity and sincerity, of spiritual discipline and steady discipline. Today, children are wayward and vile since they have no other examples to follow. Learn the lessons of duty, devotion, and discipline from the lips of these children; let each child be a ray of sunshine in the home, shedding light and love. Let the child’s desire to serve other children and the defectives around be an inspiration to you. Children do not say one thing and do the opposite. They are very straight forward and innocent. Imbibe this nature now from them, for elders have strayed far from that ideal.

~Sri Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol 13 (1975 – 77)

Sundaramurthy had arranged a “grand” procession for Me from his institute to this stadium, for today he is celebrating the Silver Jubilee of his institute! Let Me tell you this now itself: I do not like this pomp and show. I do not derive any joy out of it. Pomp such as this has become a fashion now, even among ascetics and monks who ought to know better. They profess poverty and simplicity, and yet, they allow or encourage their disciples to waste much energy and money on pomp and pageantry, which serve only to develop the egoism of themselves and their followers. The emphasis on show makes a thing hollow of all meaning. The misery of the present age is largely due to this empty ritual of insincere demonstrations.

~Sri Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol 3 (1963)

Those upon whom the people are traditionally depending for guidance have become callous, forgetting their task, or involved in darkness and dialectics. So, there is need to spread the message of Love, which is the message of God. Simplicity is the sign of Divinity. Pomp, paraphernalia, jaw-breaking formulae, abracadabra, dark mysterious mumblings – these are alien to the spirit of true religion. These are tricks by which man wants to monopolize or gain God.

~Sri Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol 7 (1967)

To save man from degradation and destruction, the system of values has to be overhauled. Character, straight-forwardness, humility, detachment, simplicity—these must be restored to the position of man’s highest ideal. Even the bodies in which we dwell must be given up one day; they decay and disintegrate. Wealth, fame, authority–all these are but temporary tinsel. How long can a person stick to the chair from which he wields power over others? It is the ego that prompts him and deludes him into the belief that it will last. Mankind is adrift, with no apparent goal. The holy task of fulfilment is forgotten. The sacredness of life is ignored. Unless these are rediscovered, goodness and godliness cannot thrive in this country and elsewhere. Embodiments of Love! The demonic forces of egoism, envy and greed must be exorcised soon. Then alone can man blossom into this truth, goodness, and beauty. Then alone can the tongue utter sweet words of self-less love; then alone can the heart urge the hands to engage in loving service; then alone can man justify himself before mankind and attain the Divine.

~Sri Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol 14 (1978 – 80)