Spiritual Development
It is the bounden duty of man in this life, as also in later lives, to know and experience the basic cause of the universe and all the love and sweetness it evokes in him. When that is done, man can have uninhibited bliss. All his misery is due to separation from that source of all. He is sat-chit-ananda (being, awareness, bliss absolute) swaroopa (embodiment) and he must become aware of this fact so that he may be happy. If he believes that he is not sat, but a lesser principle, subject to decline, decay, and death, he will be haunted by fear and uncertainty. If he thinks that he is not chit, he will be caught in doubt and dialectics and will wander on the devious paths of delusion. If he assumes that he is not ananda, he will be struck by every passing gust of disappointment and be subject to sorrow on every trivial defeat. The basic cause of the universe is sat-chit-ananda, and since man too is a spark of the same first cause, he too is made of the same components…
The mind is like a boulder which the intellect transforms into an image, even as a sculptor does. If the intellect allows the senses to dictate the design, the boulder will be shaped into a horrid idol. If, however, the senses are sublimated by the spirit, the image wrought by the intellect will be simply adorable. One must have the mind fully co-operating in the spiritual discipline and not obstructing its progress at every step. Liberation is the goal and the mind must help the pilgrim at every stage of his journey. Mind should not admit any activity that is contrary to dharma (righteousness) or injurious to spiritual progress.
Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 15, Pp. 19-20
Have high ideals. Strive to elevate yourselves. Make for the highest goal—God. Whatever the obstacle or opposition, do not be disheartened. Give up the animal in you, stabilize yourselves in human virtues and proceed boldly toward the achievements of divinity. Do not waver, going today to bhakti (devotion), tomorrow to sensual gratification, and the day after again to bhakti. When everything is successful you are all for devotion; when something goes wrong you are filled with despair; when discipline is enforced you start holding back and when love is showered, you are foremost. This dual attitude must be given up.
Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 15, Pp. 7
There are three types of men: the multi-centered, the unicentered, and the non-centered. The first group, who allow their senses, mind, and intelligence to wander where they will, is a very populous group. So, also, is the third group, which comprises of people who flit from one object to another, hop around from one thing to another in listless flippancy. For earning the concentration and single-centeredness characteristic of the second group, the festival of Shivaratri is very propitious.
Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 15, Pp. 2
