Not Twice, But Thrice!

You are all sharing the joy of serving others, doing good to others, according to your capacity and skill. The main objective of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation, which you must always keep before you, is to help man to recognize the Divinity that is inherent in him. But this Divinity is latent; it is veiled; it is not always apparent to oneself or others.

There is nothing wholly bad or wholly good in creation. There are few who do not commit mistakes; there are few who do not perform good deeds. Both good and bad, beneficent and maleficent, constructive and destructive, are ever present everywhere. You, as members of the Managing Committees of the units of the Samiti (Organisation), and as Members of the Sevadal (Voluntary Service Corps) and of the Mahila Vibhag (Women’s section), are unique because you have dedicated your talents and time to the service of others, and, ultimately, to the promotion of your own best interests.

First of all, I want that you should give up the blind imitation of other cultures, other social systems, and other ideals. This tendency has now conquered 99 out of 100 people in our country. Your conduct and behaviour, your dress and food habits, your sports and games, your methods of agriculture and industry, your art and architecture—all are borrowed from other societies. Even your intelligence follows the processes of other cultural groups. You are leading lives which have no roots in the past; it is guided and controlled by these other civilizations.

Do Not Give Importance To Differences Of Religion

To escape the pull of these alien attractions and material pleasures, faith in God as your Inner Reality and the source of immense power is essential. Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation must recognize and re-establish this Truth—that the Atma (Divine Self) is the Reality of everyone, however distinct they may appear in physical form and mental equipment. When one lamp lights many lamps, all shine with equal brilliance. The Paramjyoti (the One Supreme Effulgence) is the origin and source of all the jeevan-jyotis (particularised effulgences). Ekam eva adviteeyam: There is only one without a second. The same wind is referred to as a breeze, whirlwind, storm, typhoon, hurricane, etc. The same God is referred to by different Names. This is the very foundation of our culture.

So, your duty is to emphasize the One, to experience the One, in all that you do and speak. Do not give any importance to differences of religion or sect or status or colour. Have the feeling of oneness permeating every act of yours. Only those who do so have a place in this Organisation; the rest can best withdraw.

The Ever Present God Notes All That You Do

You have to re-establish the moral outlook and the righteous behaviour in this great Country. That is the tradition appropriate and native to India. However, do not look down upon the cultures of other countries; do not try to discover faults in other cultures and decry them. The Bhagavad Geeta advises that you should be "Adveshta sarva bhutanam," not condemning or hating any being.

You have been in this Organisation since 7 or 8 years. It is time for you to ask yourselves, whether you are in it out of compulsion or of your own free will; whether you are giving it the best you can, in efficiency and enthusiasm. Has the work been exhibition-oriented or has it been genuine? Is your faith in the rightness of Service patent in every act of yours?

Let me tell you that if you serve with your whole heart, the result will be Ananda (Divine Bliss) for you; half-hearted work will give only superficial joy or fame. Remember that the God you worship by this work is resident in your own heart. Others may or may not see; but, the ever-present God sees and notes all that you do or feel. He metes out to you the consequence, in full, of whatever you do or feel.

There was a rich man once who owned a rice mill. He heard a Pandit (scholar) expound that the service that God appreciates most is the gift of food to the hungry. So, he decided to serve food to the poor in his village. But he had no mind to use good varieties of rice for the purpose. He felt that any rice is good enough for them. So, he got the rice that was rotting in his godown—he did not care even to remove the worms that infested it; he cooked it and served it to the hungry poor, who ate it and suffered many illnesses as a consequence. His wife expostulated with him and told him that good food given to 10 persons would be more meritorious than bad food given to hundreds! But, he was in no mood to listen to sound advice.

Everyone Has To Suffer For The Injury He Causes

The wife therefore hit upon a plan for him. She placed on his plate every day food that was rotten and full of worms. When he grew angry and castigated her, she replied, "The Pandit said that everyone has to suffer for the injury he causes others. You have to eat, in the other world, rotten food, full of worms. I am giving that type of food to you, even now, so that you may get used to it. It will help you to eat the consequence of your evil deed." At this, the husband realized his iniquity; he repented for his wrongs and learnt better ways of service to the poor.

When you visit the patients in a hospital, serve the patients with a full heart, sincerely, and to the utmost extent possible. I must say that the service programmes you have undertaken in Bombay City are being carried on very well. They can be the ideals for other clues to follow.

But, do not put a full stop; have only a comma. Move on with greater and greater enthusiasm, and achieve more progress in all directions. Service is a lifetime programme, it knows no rest or respite. This body has been given to you so that you may devote its strength and skills to the service of brother-man. Serve man, until you see God in all men; then, what you do will be elevated as worship.

God is love and can be reached and realized through love. God is truth and can be reached and realized through truth. But are you concentrating on the development of love and truth?

The Tender Age Is The Best For Religious Instruction

I must say that the Mahila Vibhag is evincing greater enthusiasm and love in their work—the Balvikas (children's section) classes, for example—than the men, in the Samitis. This is, I know, because the men have not got as much leisure to devote to Samiti activities; but, they can use the available time in sacred ways and to greater benefit. The kind of Seva (service) which the women are doing in the Balvikas is very useful, for it ensures a good future for our country. The children are trained in a very fine manner. These children will bear the burden of the country, better and more intelligently, with more attachment to the culture and traditions of Bharat.

Tell the children what they cannot learn by themselves, by observation, namely, the stories of Ramayana, the Bhagavatam, and the Mahabharatam. Tell them also stories from the Bible, the Buddhist texts, the Zend-Avesta, and the Quran. That a horse has four legs is a fact which one need not teach the child; it can discover it in a moment. What is not known to the children are the stories and verses that embody our culture.

Do not be deterred by people who say that the information and inspiration you give will be too much of a burden on the tender minds. It is only grown-ups that would find learning new facts burdensome; the tender age is the best for this kind of instruction. Tell them the importance of Om and its significance, as the basic sound of all creation. It is a meaningful symbolic sound; it is quite unlike the useless jargon which children learn today, in the very first lesson at school; Ba Ba, Black Sheep! Ding Dong Bell; the Pussy is in the well!

Aim At The Promotion Of Faith In God

The Sevadal members must spend their leisure time in satsang (good company) and not waste even a moment in frivolous play. Take some good books and read them out to illiterate brothers and sisters, spread the Message of our culture among all those who have no chance to know about it. Do this service to the slum-dwellers, the people who live in hutments, and the villages. The city dwellers are used to silly storybooks and novels that drain their brains and plant evil thoughts in their minds. But the poor in the villages and in the huts will welcome you and listen to the stories and lives of saints and Divine Incarnations.

Transmit to these people the sacred texts of all religions and the lives of the Saints of all faiths. 

Do not imagine that your task is to propagate Sai and speak of Sri Sathya Sai and His Message. This is not right. But, through the name of Sri Sathya Sai and the emphasis on the message, aim at the promotion of Godliness and of Faith in God. Create the spiritual attitude; promote spiritual discipline. It does not matter what Name you use or what Form they concentrate upon. Through some Name and some Form, lead them into the path of faith and sadhana (spiritual discipline). Just now, some among you felt that the Sun is scorching the spot where I am and you wanted to do something to avoid it. But this is happening to many people here, and you should not be content with measures to prevent the Sun from hurting one individual. Sevadal must care for the comfort of all. There is the Atma in everyone. This body is for you, and all these other bodies are also Mine.

Your Prema, your shraddha, your bhakti (love, steady faith, and devotion) have persuaded Me to come over to Bombay, twice a year! If you promote these virtues even more, in a still larger measure, I will come to Bombay not twice, but thrice a year, and give you Ananda (Divine Bliss). I give you blessings for all the Seva that you have undertaken and all the love you are sharing with others.

Bombay, 6-1-1975