My People

Bhakti (Devotion) has been defined as, “Sa Para Anuraktih Ishware”—“It is supreme single-pointed intense attachment to the Lord.” Such attachment can be evinced even by animals, as the legends about Shiva at Kalahasthi and of the elephant that worshipped Him there, describe. Young lads are capable of it, as the story of Dhruva demonstrates. Women have proved that they are capable of cultivating that attachment, as Draupadi did.

The Moon has no inherent light of its own; the stars are sources of enormous quantities of light. But starlight is so hazy and indistinct that it is as bad as non-existent, whereas, the Moon with borrowed light is able to help man much more and to brighten his nights with a delighting quantum of light. The secret is the nearness of the Moon to the source of light, the Sun, and to those who need it, namely, mankind on earth. The stars are too far off from either, to be of any service. And, of what use is all that brilliance if what they can offer is just a twinkle? The sky is studded with a billion stars but the illumination they shed is infinitesimal!

God is more than a billion Suns but, if you are far away from Him, you cannot have either the warmth or the light. Of course, with God it is not specifically distance that counts; one has to endear himself to God. That is the process of bhakti.

Recognise The Authority Of God Over All

But as a result of worldly needs and sensual greeds, man endeavours to curry the favour of all sorts and types of men, demeaning himself with low tricks and vulgar praise! Loka-vancha (worldly desires) takes you away from Lokesha (the Lord of all the Worlds). Learn a lesson from the stream. It rushes to the hollows, never to the heights. Bend before the lowly, the humble, the godly, the good; don’t bend before the proud, the promoters of hate and greed. Those who have God in their hearts will always be self-effacing, not self-aggrandizing. If a man’s head is heavy with ego, he will suffer from aches; he cannot sustain himself on ananda (bliss). Never yearn for authority over others; recognise the authority of God over all. Be immersed in ananda and in Love.

Man weakens himself, believing three impostors: Nama, Rupa and Guna. When he says that his name is such and such and when he answers ‘Here I am’ when that name is called, he is impostor number one. When he describes himself as ill or well, weak or strong, poor or rich, he is impostor number two! When he is depressed because he suffers loss or pain, and excited because he secured profit, he is impostor number three! He has no name; he has all the names that God has! He has no phases; his body has them; but he is not the body. His car may be out of order; his house may be crumbling; but he is unaffected. Loss or gain, pain and pleasure, the entire dual throng is delusion caused by the play of fancy of fact.

Three Knowledges That Disperse The Delusions

These delusions have to be dispersed by the acquisition of three knowledges and the consequent mental attitudes: Adhibhuta, concerning all perishable things including the body and its appurtenances, that is to say, the Jiva; Adhidaivika, concerning the Divine forces that prompt action, the directions of Akasha ruling the ear; the Vayu ruling the sense of touch; the Aditya presiding over the eye; the deity of the waters, Varuna ruling over the tongue; the Ashvin Twins ruling over the nose; Agni, presiding over speech; Indra ruling over the hands; Upendra over the feet; Mitra, over the alimentary system; Prajapati over the generative; Chandra or the Moon presiding over the mind. In short, the Ishwara or Saguna (formful) aspect of God with various contributory attributes promoting man’s progress here and hereafter; and lastly, the Adhi-atma concerning the Atma (spirit) that is the individualized being, the Universal eternal Atma itself.

The Adhibhuta or Jiva-consciousness binds one with the shackles of I and Mine. The Ishwara-consciousness or the awareness of the attributes of God which energize and activate one’s functions limits the Supreme into a particularized entity. When the Adhi-atma is achieved, delusion or moha disappears and you attain Moha-kshaya (lost-delusion)—Liberation. Arjuna acknowledges with gratitude towards the end of the Gita dialogue, Nasto mohah (my delusion is lost), Smutir labdha (I have regained the memory). He had forgotten that he was the Atma; he remembered it and was liberated from the prison he had built around himself.

Man Loses Joy And Peace By His Own Craving

There was a rich man, a confirmed miser, who sought to hide his hoard in a place where no one could lay his hands on it. He decided to keep it inside a snake-hole. Poor fellow, he did not realize that if his gold was safe from others, it was inaccessible for him too! Man loses joy, his peace, his freedom by his own cleverness and craving. He devises stratagems in order to escape being entrapped by others but he is trapped, nevertheless, by his own tactics to catch blindfolded in a dark room the black cat which is not there! That is life, for most men. They won’t believe wise men when they warn or convey correct information.

Do not look upon the objective world as something to be exploited; it is something to be adopted and appreciated. Then, you can derive the maximum ananda out of the contact! At Delhi, lakhs of people were pouring in at all hours of the day and night, and clamouring for darshan (audience). Unless one group got darshan and moved on, there was no room for the next group pressing behind them to move forward. So, I got upon the terrace and gave them ananda. Truck-loads of people from Jullundher, Meerut, Patiala and even places however farther off were arriving on all the days I stayed. They were all drawn by the ananda that darshan confers.

Ganga Of Spirituality Can Never Be Polluted

When every moment of stay in Delhi was thus packed with the sharing of ananda, Gulzarilal Nanda, President of the All India Sadhu Samaj, wanted to take Me to Kurukshetra. I told him, “How could I leave the thick flood of people pouring out their hearts in anguish, “Sai Baba! Darshan Devo” (Sai Baba! Give us darshan!) and come with you to Kurukshetra? They will feel I have deserted them.” But, he insisted so sincerely and argued so selflessly that I yielded to go, during the hot hours of the day, when I had some respite at Delhi from the pressure of the prayerful crowds.

There I found a large assembly of over three lakhs of people. Among them were many sanyasins; the ochre robe was predominant all around. I had a surge of ananda, standing before that happy gathering, on ground that was familiar to Me, as a field for corrective teaching! I said that sanyasins (those who have renounced worldly desires) have a unique role in Society. The color of their robes must indicate the colourlessness within. I warned them against the corrupting influence of politics and of institutionalism. They should not sacrifice their freedom, their simplicity and their role as vigilant witnesses to the wiles of pomp and pageantry.

I described the political pressures that are under-mining the spiritual culture of India in the name of secularism. I assured them that the Ganga of Spirituality emerging from the Himalayan ranges of Satya, Dharma, Shanti and Prema can never be polluted by political tactics. For millennia, the lives of generations of Indians have been saturated in God; they have toiled for God; they have been fostered by God; God is the root; the bed-rock, the very breath of the millions of India. No one can dry it up, or blast it or deny it.

Be Aware At All Times Of The God Within

The truth about the individual, the Universe and God discovered by dedicated delving and announced through universal compassion can never be tarnished or argued away. Ambassador Keating of America told Me: “I cannot grasp the full import of Indian Culture through the study of books, nor can I vouchsafe the authenticity of the scriptures of this land. But, when I see in the Capital City of India in the Seventies of the twentieth century a phenomenon like this—five lakhs of ardent men and women milling around to get a heartening glimpse of this five-foot personality, I feel I can hear the heartbeats of this ancient people.”

When a person is sleeping on a cot in a room at night, and thick darkness prevails, you try to wake him up in order to talk with him. You grope around and when you touch a chair or shelf or book, you say to yourself, “Not this! Not this.” At last, when you touch one foot, you are thrilled; you know, “This is He.” “Once you have contacted God, get confirmed in Faith and by adhering to His Commands, attach yourselves to Him closer and closer,” I told the gathering at Kurukshetra.

I advised the sanyasins to give up anger, greed and envy; to eschew factionalism and pomp; to be aware at all times of the God within and the God without and so behave that all may be inspired to follow the spiritual path. I explained to them that without purity of consciousness, wisdom cannot dawn in the heart.

We went to Meerut one evening, a place historically important during the days of British rule and even had a big cantonment of the army. It was here that the British suffered their first reverse in the days of the mutiny. They now want a Sri Sathya Sai College there! The gathering there was so huge and so thickly packed at the assembly place that cars could not proceed, nor could we, by foot. When we thought of returning, there was such weeping and wailing that I appeared on the dais, while they were wondering where I was and whether I had left; I gave them joy, singing a few Namavalis.

In The Divine Path, There Is No Chance Of Failure

I am telling you this, because it is a forecast of what you can expect in the coming days. I have been declaring since six or seven years that the day when millions will gather to benefit from the Avatar (divine incarnation) is fast coming; I am advising you to garner and treasure all the Grace and all the Bliss you can, while you may, so that you can sustain yourselves ruminating on the sweetness of the memories and the experience.

If you live on the level of the body and the individual, you will be entangled in food, fun and frolic, in ease, envy and pride. Forget it, ignore it, overcome it—you will have peace, joy and calm. In the Divine Path, there is no chance of failure; it is the Path of Love.

We are having a Summer Camp for College Students at Brindavan in May—the entire month. The Chairman of the University Grants Commission, who has written a voluminous report on College Education, told at Delhi that his long cherished dream is now coming true, that what the Government cannot do, Bhagawan is making a reality. We have a number of scholars and Pandits coming to speak on various subjects to the students. Of course, all subjects are spiritual, there is nothing beyond the realm of the spirit. Even matter is spirit, basically.

I desire that you should share your ananda with others and you should hold forth, in your daily life, conversation and activity, ideals which they can emulate and follow. There will be no shortage or hesitation in My giving ananda to you; any shortage or hesitation will only be in your accepting what is offered. Be vigilant that you do not miss the least part of the Bliss.

Prasanthi Nilayam, 8-4-1972.