Make Your Life Blessed

The whole world is filled with Hari (Vishnu). 
Hari is omnipotent; no doubt in it. 
Wherever you see in the world, 
There is nothing devoid of Hari. 
Worshipped with faith, even a stone becomes 
Narayana 
Without faith it is but a stone in mud! 
No one having faith has ever been destroyed,
It is the truth that is spoken.

Girl Students!

In this vast world, human birth is the most valuable among countless species of living beings. “Durlabham Manushya Janma”—inspite of its sacredness and inspite of its unique position, human life is a waste when there is no wisdom. “Jnanena heena pashubhi samana.” Wisdom is what makes man different from other species. When it is lost, man is just like any other animal. It is with this purpose of gaining wisdom humans take up the pursuit of sacred education. Knowledge is of several kinds like bookish knowledge, superficial knowledge, and so on. Of all these, spiritual knowledge is the most important. All other things become useless without this practical knowledge. Life becomes artificial in the absence of practical spirituality.

These days, man is engaged in an endless quest for peace. Is there a semblance of peace even after so much of profess about it? There is no comfort without peace of mind. What is the reason behind worry? Bad desires and useless thoughts are the cause of anxiety and repentance.

Develop Equanimity

Jealousy is the cause of dissatisfaction. People look at others who are on higher levels with jealousy and spoil their own health and peace for no reason. Jealousy is rampant these days. This must be checked by individuals themselves with persevering effort. Jealousy at those in higher positions, at those more intelligent, at those better looking, and so on. There cannot be any end to this attitude, unless there is self-restraint. How to curb such thoughts? Such people look only at those in higher positions; but they will know the truth when they look at those in lower positions. It implies that we must develop equanimity of outlook.

Girl Students!

This divinity that is present in humanism has to be understood in the right perspective. The whole world is an integrated form of five basic elements of nature, our body being a replica of this world. These five elements Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Space (ether) are the basic substances of our body, the one which we call as ‘ours’. Skin represents the earth principle. The second is water or fluids. The third one, the Agni (fire), is responsible for digestion and distribution. Air sustains the vitals. The aspect of Space (sky) is the field for all the above functions. But, as these elements are associated with the three cardinal qualities of Satva, Rajas, and Tamas in various proportions; individually and jointly, they become responsible for our various behaviours. Therefore, we may say that both good and bad emanate from our own being. Man must use his intellect and strive to understand this and try to foster divine principles in place of demonic tendencies. This is possible by coordinating our thoughts, words, and deeds. When all these three aspects are made pure, this is known as Trikarana shuddhi–purity of three tools. These basic tools of our life have to be purified in order to elevate ourselves, says Vedanta. These three tools are responsible for either righteousness or unrighteousness in an individual. When these are rid of impurities, we will be able to enjoy peace, happiness, and comfort as well as the realization of divinity. The Vedas, Upanishads, Dharma Shastras, and other sacred scriptures have extensive descriptions pertaining to these Trikaranas. Limbs of our body are known as Karanams. Either good or bad deeds are carried out by means of these limbs. The Karma-kanda (division pertaining to action) of the Veda teaches man the ways of doing sacred deeds. Likewise, the Jnana and Upasana-kandas of Vedas teach us the ways of knowledge and devotion. Therefore, the three major divisions of Vedas, namely Karma, Upasana, and Jnana-kanda are the broad tools through which man can elevate himself to the highest levels of existence. First, we must do good deeds with hands. This represents Karma-kanda. The second thing is the tongue with which we recite the name of God. Therefore, it represents Upasana-kanda. The words we speak should be truthful – only truth can lead to ultimate success. There is no dharma greater than Truth. Emperor Bali told his Guru thus, “Is there any sins bigger than untruth or disowning after having given an assurance?"

When we speak, the words should not be charged with undue emotion smacking of passion or vengeance. The words should not be untruthful or unpalatable. One must speak endearingly using benign language. The talk should be brief. All these things pertain to the truth belonging to the tongue. King Harishchandra had forsaken everything, including his son and wife for the sake of a truthful word. This is the reason why his fame remained on earth even after the passage of eons. Truthful word leads us from humanism to divinity.

The third tool is the mind. It is said, “Manomoolam Idam Jagat—this world is based on mind.” When there is no mind, there is no world. One may use this mind either to his own liberation or bondage. Therefore mind cannot be described as good or bad. Only its usage makes it good or bad, like the knife we use for either good deeds or bad deeds. Therefore, mind must be exercised with great care while talking or doing any act. From the way one speaks, he can be judged as a man or an animal. One may assume the role of Pashu (animal) or Pashupati (Lord Shiva) through his demeanour. In this context, Jayadeva sang, “Jihve rasajna madhura priyatvam, Satyam hitam tvam paramam vada...”. Tongue is given to you not for abusing or making fun of others or for hurting anyone. It is meant for expressing sweet words. Among all the five senses, only the eye and the mouth are provided with shutters. Others have no shutters. Ears have no shutters. You may listen to anything. Nose has no shutters. If you close it, you are finished. But eyes have lids, implying that whenever you see bad, you must close them. Ears are endowed with only the faculty of hearing.

Eyes are also endowed with a single faculty of seeing. Nose can only smell. Whereas tongue is endowed with two faculties. It can taste food, and also it can speak words. Its power is formidable indeed. Tongue should be guarded carefully. If the leg slips, there is not much damage. But, a slip of tongue can create devastating effects. If the leg slips, it is only the person concerned that is affected. A doctor can mend it. But the tongue is capable of breaking the hearts of others, whose damage can never be rectified by any doctor. Therefore, you should exercise great care while speaking, so that our words will not hurt the feelings of others. The root cause behind the words is the mind. Thoughts are like waves of the sea. They are endless. Sea waves do not exceed their limits. The waves of the mind have no control. So, it is important to impose restraint in the dealings of the mind. Mind should be diverted from bad thoughts, and it should be engaged in contemplation or discrimination of eternal values vis-a-vis transient things. It is important to maintain a vision of equanimity and sacredness. Among the three paths of Karma, Bhakti, and Jnana, Bhakti is the middle path. It is the easiest path to reach higher levels and to attain peace, bliss, and liberation. Bhakta (devotee) is one who cannot be separated (Vibhakta) from God. Some people worship with a notion that God is different from the world. This kind of differentiation is not proper.

The whole world is filled with Hari–Hari encompasses the whole cosmos. You find Hari wherever you see. But He cannot be described. Take, for example, the World map. The whole world is represented in it. On the earth, there are innumerable mountains and valleys.

Faith Must Follow Common Sense

But on the map, you will find, in their place, only some dots. On the map, the whole world looks as one entity, while divisions of countries do exist on earth. In the same manner, when you look at the earth from space, it appears like a single ball. Therefore, the broadness of vision determines oneness of the world. When the vision is narrowed, even a small mount appears as big, and even a cluster of trees appears as a forest. When you develop spiritual vision, you will find Hari (Vishnu) encompassing the whole universe. When one worships with complete faith, even a stone becomes Narayana.

This difference of outlook can be found between Prahlada and his father Hiranyakashipu. The father asked “Where is Narayana? He is not there at all.” Prahlada replied, “Do not doubt His presence. If you look in the right perspective, you will find Him everywhere and anywhere.” This kind of total faith is the noblest, most sacred, and sweetest of all beliefs/concepts. Faith is the most important quality in life. Without the element of faith, life becomes absolutely useless. When faith is coupled with reasoning, it brings success in worldly matters. But, in spiritual matters, reasoning is a kind of hindrance rather than help. But, common sense and general knowledge are necessary in both cases. For example, in the laboratory, you may make water by mixing oxygen and hydrogen. But, you do not set up a water-making plant or a purifying plant near the dining table. This is what we call common sense. Without this kind of common sense, any faith can lead to blind faith.

God is described elaborately in textbooks. He is described as dispassionate, full of virtues, and so on. In reality, it is highly difficult to conceptualize such a supreme being. But, it becomes easy when you can relate Him to the attributes of man, because you are a human being, fully aware of the human traits. Therefore, the deluded human outlook in him can be erased only when God appears in human form and displays exemplary qualities. As a further step, man will be able to realize the fact that he himself is the embodiment of divinity, and that Narayana is present inside as well as outside any being. What is the point in searching for God when He is present everywhere? Instead, God’s name should always be playing on the tongue, because the tongue is like an entrance gate of the body. By constantly uttering God’s name, there will be light inside as well as outside the body, “Tamasomä Jyotirgamaya”; leading to peace in life. Trikarana shuddhi (purification of the three tools) leads to peace. In other words, our thoughts, words, and deeds must be maintained pure at all times, so that peace is attained by the individual concerned and peace prevails in the surrounding atmosphere. Hands must do sacred deeds. Tongue should utter sacred words. Heart should be filled in pure love. Therefore, the foremost thing is to get rid of divisions like religion and community. Our race is humanity. Our religion is humanism. Each one of you might have come from various places. But right now, you have assembled in this auditorium. This auditorium does not discriminate your place of origin. All are welcome here. As an extension of this view, you must realize that this world is a common abode for all beings.

In this manner, you must endeavor to develop equanimity, to share divinity, and to consider yourselves as divine beings. God is not a separate entity. He is omnipresent. We find today many people engaged in the search for divinity. People go to all pilgrimage centers seeking God. Scriptures like Ramayana and Bhagavatam reveal to us that God appears spontaneously to those who totally surrender themselves. In his Bhagavatam, Pothana said in the beginning, “What is spoken is Bhagavatam. Ramabhadra is the prompter. It seems redemption from the world is possible when I talk of the Bhagavatam. I shall, therefore, speak only this and nothing else.” Pothana had not assumed any doer-ship unto himself. He considered all that he wrote and spoke belonged to Rama and was by Rama Himself. Instead of resorting to the burdensome ego of doer-ship, he reposed everything in Rama. With the result, the Bhagavatam had attained great glory. Pothana’s brother-in-law Srinath tried his best to get it dedicated to the king of the region. But Pothana did not yield to it. “Every word that emerged from my mouth had in fact come from my heart. Those were the words composed by my Sri Rama.” he said. This is the epitome of devotion. Everyone must emulate this kind of devotion.

Troubles and tribulations are natural to all living beings. The pleasure is an interval between two pains. Pleasure cannot be obtained exclusively. You are struggling so much even to obtain a B.A. degree. But, are you trying to obtain God’s grace with a fraction of such an endeavor? People wish to obtain God’s grace without spending a single rupee or without stepping out of the house. They wish to reach heaven straight away without undergoing any pain. Do you get sugar, for example, the moment you wish to create it? For this, you need to crush sugar cane first, then go through various processes, and then only sugar is obtained. Our body is like sugar cane. The juice in it is the divinity. Our duty can be compared to the crushing machine. The final product of the process is knowledge. Vision of unity is known as knowledge, in its real sense. This is what we must endeavor to achieve.

Future Of Children Is In Mother’s Hands

Girl Students!

We find selfishness rampant among the present day students. Take, for example, the case of examination results. When the results are published in the newspapers, each student is worried about his/her result alone, and they are least bothered about others. Instead, one may derive enormous joy if only the student looks at the huge number of passed candidates in these pages. Take another example. When you look at your group photo, you are interested only in your own image, ignoring all others. We find selfishness even in minute things such as the above. Selfishness and self-centered attitudes are ruining nations and are ruining humanism. The divinity inside us brightens only when we shed selfishness. Self-interest is not bad in itself. It should be in limits. The end of wisdom is freedom. The end of culture is perfection. The end of knowledge is love. The end of education is character. Character is essential for anybody. One may achieve anything in life provided there is good character. More than boys, it is the duty of girls to develop and foster equality and affection, because they are the future mothers. The future of children is in the hands of mothers. Children can only be as good as mothers. Therefore, you must cultivate good thoughts, words, and deeds. In the olden days, pregnant women were engaged in reading sacred biographies, sacred stories, and in doing sacred deeds. But these days we find pregnant women seeing all sorts of movies. In the Mahabharatam, we find Arjuna telling sacred stories to Subhadra while she was carrying Abhimanyu. He started telling her about the technique pertaining to Padma-vyuha (a war stratagem). While Subhadra was half-asleep, the child from inside the womb was listening to his words.

Modern scientists also confirm to the fact of this kind of relationship between a pregnant mother and her child in the womb. The food as also thoughts of the mother will affect the child’s health and mental makeup. When the mother is habituated to seeing movies, the child will naturally pick up those habits. The mother must take proper care keeping in view the child’s future. It is not great to be born as humans. It is important to be a good and ideal human being. Duty is implicit in the word ‘Manava’ (man), what is the duty? ‘Ma’, ‘na’, ‘va’—‘Ma’ signifies ignorance, ‘na’ means ‘without’; ‘va’ means ‘to behave’. Therefore, man is one who behaves without ignorance. Even after acquiring wisdom, capabilities, and education, we are unable to live like true men. Educated people are more prone to devious ways of life. This kind of education is not what is expected of a good society. Education should not aim at filling stomach like pigs do. Education must bring out the effulgence of divinity from within. We must fill the hearts with love. We must fill the life in sanctified deeds. Education must teach these things. Prahlada said, “Oh, father, I studied the secret essence of all studies.” What is the essence? When one gets the grace of God, all planets and powers become slaves to him. Prahlada pleaded with Hiranyakashipu, “Oh, father, you had achieved everything in the world except mastery over your own senses. Therefore, it is all a waste.” Ravana had mastered all the sixty-four types of education, like Gokarna and Ghatikarna and even the languages of birds and the animals. Despite all this, Ravana was totally ruined along with his relatives because he followed the path of evil. Just one bad quality is enough to destroy a person or even a nation.

Show Zeal In Spiritual Pursuit

Therefore, everyone must exercise great care in fostering qualities. There lies the essence of humanism.

Embodiments of Divine Atma!

Every individual should keep on reminding himself the fact “I am God”. This thought desists one from taking the evil path. Sanctified intellect discriminates well and delivers good judgment on any aspect. God or divinity is not something that stays afar. Divinity is present everywhere. God is one. “Ekam eva advitiyam Brahma—Brahman is not dual, one and only one. This is what we are all supposed to realize in our lives.

Girl Students!

You have so many prizes (bahumati) today. You want Me to give you bahumatis (bahu–many, mati–mind). You have, as such, so many troubles with just one mind. Then, what to talk of many minds (bahumatis)? You should not crave for diversity. You should strive for unity. Unity is the uniting factor between humanism and divinity. Therefore, the zeal with which you participate in sports, games, and entertainment must be applied to spiritual pursuit as well. Without zeal and devotion, spiritual life cannot flourish. People take up studies again and again until they die. But, they don’t study about that which makes them deathless. Inspite of large acquisition of knowledge, the mean person cannot detach himself from evil qualities. Education must help in reforming our hearts and thoughts. Divinity shines bright in broad hearts.

Embodiments of Divinity!

All the education, all positions, and all achievements are of no use when humanism is lacking. How can anybody call himself a man when he lacks the basic qualities of man? It is not wrong to have desires. But, they must be under check and control. It is said in Upanishads, “Na shreyo niyamam vina” –there is no welfare without proper control. We say 98.4 is the normal temperature for man. But even if it rises to 99, we call it abnormal. Similarly, our blood pressure is considered normal as long as it stays at 120/80. Similarly, our eyesight and ear drums have certain limitations under which they function properly and beyond which they lead to malfunction. When eyes are subjected to high intensity of light, the retina gets destroyed. When ear drums are subjected to loud noise, they get destroyed. Therefore, every aspect of our body has a limited capacity; one must carefully understand his own limits in order to lead a happy life.

Girl Students!

You must cultivate qualities of humility and sacredness. Cosmetic improvements will not really make us attractive. Fashion is not the right means to win hearts. Will a monkey become beautiful by wearing jewels? Our life is a gift of God. Moon is the adornment for the sky. Waves are the adornment for the sea. Lotus is the adornment for a tank. Houses are adornment for a township. and virtue is the adornment for a woman. Therefore, virtues are necessary for a woman to attain fame. This is the purpose for which you have joined this Sri Sathya Sai institution, unmindful of the distances involved. Here, there is no need for you to spend any money to acquire knowledge or to acquire virtuous qualities.

Virtues will brighten your personalities. Every one of you should become a beacon of virtuous living. Do not worry much if you lag behind in studies. You should remain vigilant about remarks but not marks in examinations. This is what I expect from you. While in public places, exercise care to talk less and behave with humility. This is the right path for women to achieve honour in society. Modesty and honour are the lifebreath for women. You must remain sweet and soft at all times. You may not always oblige, but you can speak always obligingly. You should emulate Sumitra and Kausalya, but not Kaikeyi. Steadiness in vision and sweetness in talk will brighten your life. Of course, you are all good girls. I am only cautioning for future guidance. I am not pointing at your defects or mistakes. I only wish that you become exemplary women endowed with salubrious qualities. I wish that our institutes produce such kind of students. Your virtuous behaviour must first evolve from the ambiance of home. You should know how to make your parents happy, as a first step in this direction. Your love and virtue will have to be expanded from the confines of homes to the expanse of the village and then to the country, keeping faith in God as your sheet anchor. Try to avoid unnecessary arguments. You can achieve anything with faith and sacred thoughts. I conclude My discourse with the hope and blessing that all of you will lead sacred lives.