Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba Speaks on Wisdom 1. Humility “The first virtue is humility, the absence of pride. As long as you have pride, you cannot earn wisdom. A person’s behaviour should be like the behaviour of water; whatever colour you pour into water, it absorbs it and never asserts its own colour. It is humble without conceit. But now the behaviour of people is quite contrary. When they do the smallest service or donate the slightest amount, they are anxious for people to know about it. For this, they go about prattling or arranging to get it published. The absence of such pride and ambition is what is recommended as humility.” 2. Absence of vanity “The second is absence of vanity. This is a very great virtue in people. It means the absence of pretence, pompousness, boasting that one is great when one is not, claiming that one has power when one has nothing, that one has authority when one has no such title.” Here, readers will note one point. The world today is full of this false pretence, this hypocrisy. Whichever field of activity you watch, whomever you observe, you discover this dire defect. The governments of nations are in the hands of people who are pretenders to power, authority, and capacity. Those with no knowledge claim to know everything. Those with no one even to help them at home claim that they have a huge following. In every activity, this hypocrisy is the very first step. It ruins people in every field, like a pest that destroys the crop. If this hypocrisy is wiped away, the world will be saved from disaster. Pretence will make you lose this world and the next. It is harmful at all times and places. It does not suit ordinary people; how can it then be beneficial to the spiritual aspirant? 3. Non-violence “The third virtue is non-violence. This also is an important virtue. Violence is not simply physical; it means even more: the mental pain that is inflicted, the anxiety and worry that are caused to others by your actions and words. Even if you desist from causing physical pain to others, you cannot claim to have non-violence. Your activities must not cause pain and must be unselfish. Your thoughts, words, and deeds must all be free from any motive to cause such pain.” 4. Patience, fortitude “The fourth is patience or fortitude. It means that you should consider as unreal the evil others do unto you, the loss you suffer through them, the hatred they evince toward you. Treat these as you treat a mirage. That is to say, you must develop that degree of patience or fortitude. It is not the helpless putting up with the evil that others do because you are powerless to retaliate. It is the expression of the peace that reigns in the heart, this outer behaviour.” It is true that many people put up with the injury that others inflict because they lack physical, economic, or popular support; this suffering cannot be honoured as real fortitude. 5. Integrity “Next, let us consider the fifth: straightforwardness, integrity, sincerity. It means the agreement of action, speech, and thought; this applies to secular and spiritual activity. This is a facet of the second virtue, absence of vanity.” 6. Reverential service rendered to the spiritual teacher “The sixth is reverential service rendered to the spiritual teacher. This virtue will promote affection for the pupil, so one will benefit a great deal. But the guru who has no goal will only mislead the disciple into perdition. The guru must shower grace on the disciple as freely and as spontaneously as the mother cow feeds the young calf with milk. The teaching of the guru is the source and sustenance for attaining God and acquiring liberation.” 7. Cleanliness “The seventh virtue is cleanliness—not merely outer cleanliness but inner cleanliness. And what is inner cleanliness? The absence of affection and hatred, of desire and discontent, of lust and anger; and the presence of good, i.e., godly, qualities. Water cleans the body; truth cleans the mind. Knowledge cleans the reasoning faculty; penance and discipline clean the individual.” 8. Steadfastness “The eighth virtue is called steadfastness, fixity of faith, the absence of fickleness or waywardness. Aspirants must hold fast to what they have once fixed their faith upon as conducive to their spiritual progress. They should not flit from one ideal to another, changing their goal from day to day. This is also referred to as dedication. Fickleness, the product of weakness, has to be scrupulously avoided.” 9. Control of the senses “The ninth is control of the senses. Be convinced that the senses have to subserve your best interests, not that you should subserve the interests of the senses. Do not be the slave of the senses; rather make them your slaves.” 10. Detachment “Next, the tenth virtue: detachment or renunciation (vairagya)—the loss of appetite for sound, touch, form, taste, smell, etc. The senses run after these things because they titillate and give them temporary joy. However, the senses are not interested in the goals—righteousness-wealth-desire-liberation (dharma-artha-kama-moksha) of the sublime type. The Atma can be discovered only through pursuit of the sublime.” 11. Absence of egotism “The eleventh virtue is absence of egotism—the breeding ground of all vices and faults. The ego-centric individual pays no regard to right and wrong, good and bad, godly, and wicked. That person doesn’t care for them, doesn’t even know about them. That person is completely ignorant of dharma and morals and will not conform to justice. To be devoid of this poisonous quality is to be endowed with absence of egotism. Egotism is a foe in the guise of a friend.” 12. Awareness of birth-death-old age-illness-grief “The next virtue is called janma-mrithyu-jaraa-vyadhi-dukha-dhosha-anudarsanam, meaning only this: awareness of the inevitable cycle of birth and death, of old age and disease, of grief and evil, and of other signs of the temporariness of this created world and life in it. Although people see these things happening to them as well as others,

Silence is the Language of the Spiritual Seeker The Voice of God Can Be Heard Only in the Depth of Silence Silence Is the Speech of the Spiritual Seeker You Can Experience Divine Bliss Only in Absolute Silence Silence Develops Love Silence is the only language of the realised. Practise moderation in speech. That will help you in many ways. It will develop love, for most misunderstandings and factions arise out of carelessly spoken words. When the foot slips, the wound can be healed; but when the tongue slips, the wound it causes in the heart of another will fester for life. The tongue is liable for four big errors: uttering falsehood, scandalising, finding fault with others, and excessive articulation. These have to be avoided if there is to be peace for the individual as well as for society. The bond of brotherhood will be tightened if people speak less and speak sweetly. That is why silence was prescribed as a vow for spiritual aspirants by the scriptures. You are all spiritual aspirants at various stages of the road, and so this discipline is valuable for you also. Talk Sweetly without Anger The first step in spiritual discipline is the cleansing of speech. Talk sweetly without anger. Do not boast of your scholarship or attainments. Be humble, eager to serve; conserve your speech. Practise silence. That will save you from squabbles, idle thoughts, and factions. Make the Place Where You Are a Citadel of Silence You need not escape into a forest to gain silence and the chance of uninterrupted spiritual practice. You can make the place where you are a citadel of silence; shut off the senses, let them not run after objects. Your home becomes a hermitage; your spiritual practices will then move on, without any obstacle. Stay Away from Bad Company I know that you are finding time, in spite of the hard work throughout the day, to attend cinemas, to engage in wayside chats, to promote and partake in factions, and quarrels, and for many other distractions that add to the sum of your worries. It is best you stay away from companions who drag you to such distractions that weaken and worry you; spend a few minutes every morning and evening in the silence of your own shrine or home; spend them with the highest of all powers that you know of. Be in His elevating and inspiring company; worship Him mentally; offer unto Him all the work you do; you will come out of the silence nobler and more heroic than when you went in. Communion with the Master Just consider – do you come out of the cinema theatre more peaceful, more heroic, purer, nobler than when you went in? No; your passions are aroused, your animal impulses are catered to, your lower nature is fed. Nothing else can give one the rich reward that silence and prayer and communion with the Master can give. Not even a decent bank account, or a string of degrees, or the muscles of a prize-fighter. Kindness Has to Be Fostered in Silence One great temptation for weak minds nowadays is the opportunity for publicity. Even a gift of five rupees to some charitable organisation is announced in thick banner headlines! Conceit is thus encouraged, and man slides into paltry pomp. Kindness has to be fostered in the silence of the mind. The Silent Man Has No Enemies The tongue is the armour of the heart; it guards one’s life. Loud talk, long talk, wild talk, talk full of anger and hate – all these affect the health of man. They breed anger and hate in others; they wound, they excite, they enrage, they estrange. Why is silence said to be golden? The silent man has no enemies, though he may not have friends. He has the leisure and the chance to dive within himself and examine his own faults and failings. He has no more inclination to seek them in others. If your foot slips, you suffer a fracture; if your tongue slips, you fracture someone’s faith or joy. That fracture can never be set right; that wound will fester forever. Therefore use the tongue with great care. The softer you talk, the less you talk, the more sweetly you talk, the better for you and the world. Silence Is the Best Practice to Guard Faith Silence is the best spiritual practice to guard faith; that is why I insist on silence here also, as a first step in your spiritual practice. Repeat God’s Name in the Silence of the Heart The magnet cannot draw to itself a bit of iron that is covered with rust and dust. You cannot yearn for God when your mind is laden with the rust of material desires and when the dust of sensual craving sits heavy on it. Clear the rust, know the glory of God, and repeat His name in the silence of the heart. Any one of the names that denote Him can be selected. Do not listen to people who canvass for one particular name and cavil at others. Keep Silent if Speaking Truth Causes Grief or Pain If you want to know the way in which you have to observe truth in speech, read the Bhagavad Gita. It tells you that the best speech is speech that does not create pain or anger or grief to others. The scriptures also say, “Speak the truth and speak pleasantly. Do not speak the truth which is not pleasant. If speaking truth will cause grief or pain, keep silent.” The Voice of God Can Be Heard Only in the Depth of Silence It is only in the depth of silence that the voice of God can be heard. Speak as low as possible, as little as possible, as sweetly as possible. All Joy Is Within All the joy you crave for is in you. But, like a man who has vast riches in the iron chest but who has

Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba Speaks on Purity The first is purity of the place in which one lives. It is necessary to fill the room in which one resides or studies with a satwic (pure) atmosphere. The pictures or other objects you see should fill you with peace and pure thoughts. Objects that arouse agitation and bad thoughts should have no place. The room should be clean and free from anything that is impure. Second: In the family in which you live, there should be mutual understanding and cooperation and a sense of harmony. There should be no discord in the family that will create a bad atmosphere. A harmonious atmosphere will give you true peace of mind. The third need is satwic food. This means that none of the edible items should be excessively sour, bitter, or hot. You should eschew rajasic (passionate) food like fish or meat. Even good satwic food should not be taken in excess. Some people consume so much satwic food that even though it is satwic, it develops rajasicqualities. It is only satwic when you sit for the meal with a light stomach and get up from it with a light stomach! If you sit with a light stomach and get up with a heavy stomach, it becomes tamasic (slothful). Fourth: Whatever fluids you take should also be satwic. You should not drink whatever water is available. It should be pure water. Alcoholic spirits should be eschewed. Fifth: Satwic thoughts and feelings are of great importance. Students tend to neglect this factor. Only if your thoughts and feelings are pure, can you get the full benefit of a clean room, a good family, and pure food. Sixth: If you want to develop satwic feelings and thoughts, your vision must be pure. All srishti (creation) is based upon drishti (sight). It is only when you have wrong vision that you have wrong thoughts. You must look upon every elderly woman as your mother and all women who are younger as your sisters. When you are filled with such pure thoughts, you will have pure feelings. It is because you are students that you have to be told this. Imagine how offended you would feel if someone looked at your mother or sister with an evil eye. Realising this, you have to entertain pure feelings towards other women. You should not commit the sort of offences that you would not tolerate in others. Seventh: Whatever books you read or whatever you write should be pure. This is the spiritual practice relating to study—sahitya satwika. If you read or write that which is not pure, it warps your mind. A good book makes for a good mind. Any book you may study about physics or chemistry or other subjects, does not affect your character. But books that are literary are not always good literature. If improper books are prescribed for study, treat them as mere textbooks and do not attach any high value to them as guides for life. Eighth: Pure satwic service. With regard to service, you have to decide what is satwic and what is rajasic. We clean streets, build roads in villages or dig wells and do them all as a service to the community. But the kind of service that we do should give real happiness to the people. In the name of “social work” you go to a hospital and approach a patient. This is not real service. Any person whom you wish to serve, you should regard as an embodiment of the Divine. Going to the help of the destitute and the neglected is rendering service to God. Narayana has two forms: one is “Lakshmi Narayana,” the other is “Daridra Narayana.” This “Lakshmi Narayana” is full of wealth. He is able to help any number of people. He will be able to get many persons to serve him. But for “Daridra Narayana,” there is nobody to serve him. It is to such persons that we should do satwic service. Ninth: Sadhana. This is spiritual discipline. This must be satwa. Some people do hatha yoga. Some strive to develop the kundalini sakthi. Some invoke evil spirits to do harm to others. These forms of sadhana are not sadhana at all. The individual is Chith (Consciousness), God is Sath (The Eternal Absolute). When Sath andChith combine, you have Ananda—Sath-Chith-Ananda. Only the sadhana undertaken to realise Satchidananda is true sadhana. Where is this Sath? This Sath, the Divine, is in everybody. So, you must be prepared to serve everybody, regarding everyone as the Divine. You may have a normal relationship with your kith and kin. There is nothing wrong in this. You must perform sadhana in the spirit that the One pervades the many. In this process, you must cultivate the feeling of love. There is no higher sadhana than the cultivation of love! Gopikas’ Devotion to Krishna Uddhava was an adept in the path of jnana yoga (knowledge and wisdom). He wanted to teach the gopikas (the cowherd girls of Brindavan) the path of wisdom. So he approached Krishna. Krishna told Uddhava: “The gopikas are totally devoted to me. Their devotion is fundamental to their life and reaches My heart! Their purity and devotion are like a light that shines! You cannot understand the hearts of such devotees! I am completely enshrined in their hearts.” Uddhava doubted whether ignorant illiterate gopikas could understand the Divine. To dispel the doubts of Uddhava, Krishna sent him to Repalle. Uddhava summoned the gopikas and told them: “I will teach you the path of jnana (wisdom) to realise the Divine.” The gopikas came to Uddhava and told him: “We are not interested in learning any scriptures! Teach us one simple means by which we can realise Krishna! We are not aware of any yoga or bhoga (sense pleasure) or mantra. Krishna is everything for us, our yoga or bhoga. Please, therefore, tell us the means by which we can obtain Krishna! We do not want to waste our time on yoga.” Uddhava asked the gopikas: “How can you become one with Krishna?” One gopika answered: “If Krishna were a flower, I would be a bee whirling round Him. If He were a tree, I would be a creeper twining round him. If He were a mountain, I would be a river cascading from its top! If Krishna were the boundless sky, I would be a little star, twinkling in the firmament. If He were the deep ocean, I would be a small stream, joining the ocean. This is the way I would be one with Krishna and merge with

Guides us on Meditation Techniques Sri Sathya Sai Baba Speaks on concentration and contemplation Hear and Download MP3 of Excerpt from Bhagawan’s Divine Discourse on May 25, 1979 in Brindavan​ Do not follow the vagaries of the mind Let the mind run wherever it likes; just be careful not to follow it, seeking to discover where it is going! It will then wander about for some time as the fancy takes it; soon, getting tired and exhausted, it will come back to you in the end! It is like a little child that knows nothing. Since the mother is following it and calling it back, it gets courage and confidence to run forward in any direction, but if the mother does not run behind the child and instead retraces her steps quietly, the child too, of its own accord, will run back to the mother! Do not care for the vagaries of the mind. Carry on remembrance and meditation of the name and form that you like best, in the manner you are accustomed to. In this way, you will acquire one-pointedness (ekāgrata); you will realise your heart’s desire. [Dhyana Vahini: Chapter 8] Watch the breathing process with “So” and “Ham”   Jyoti (Light) Meditation Flame that kindles and flames kindled are identical Jyoti (Light) meditation Technique The following is a guided How-To video based on Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s words. As regards the technique of meditation, different teachers and trainers give different forms of advice. But I shall give you now the most universal and the most effective form. This is the very first step in spiritual discipline. At first, set a few minutes every day for meditation, and extend the time as you feel the bliss that you get. Let it be in the hours before dawn. This is preferable because the body is refreshed after sleep, and the dealings of daytime will not yet have impinged on you. Have a lamp or a candle before you with an open, steady, and straight flame. Sit in front of the candle in the lotus posture or any other comfortable sitting position. Look on the flame steadily for some time, and closing your eyes try to feel the flame inside you between your eyebrows. Let it slide down into the lotus of your heart, illuminating the path. When it enters the heart, imagine that the petals of the lotus open out by one, bathing every thought, feeling, and emotion in the light and so removing darkness from them. There is no space for darkness to hide. The light of the flame becomes wider and brighter. Let it pervade your limbs. Now those limbs can never indulge in dark, suspicious, and wicked activities; they have become instruments of light and love. As the light reaches up to the tongue, falsehood vanishes from it. Let it rise up to the eyes and the ears and destroy all the dark desires that infest them and which lead you to perverse sights and childish conversation. Let your head be surcharged with light and all wicked thoughts will flee therefrom. Imagine that the light is in you more and more intensely. Let it shine all around you and let it spread from you in ever-widening circles, taking in your loved ones, your kith, and kin, your friends and companions, your enemies and rivals, strangers, all living beings, the entire world. Since the light illumines all the senses every day so deeply and so systematically, a time will soon come when you can no more relish dark and evil sights, yearn for dark and sinister tales, crave for base, harmful, deadening toxic food and drink, handle dirty demeaning things, approach places of ill-fame and injury, or frame evil designs against anyone at any time. Stay on in that thrill of witnessing the light everywhere. If you are adoring God in any form now, try to visualize that form in the all-pervasive light. For Light is God; God is Light. Practice this meditation as I have advised regularly every day. At other times repeat the name of God (any Name fragrant with any of His many Majesties), always taking care to be conscious of His might, mercy, and munificence. [SSS 14.41: 21-11-1979] Universality of Jyoti (Light) Meditation The light is first moved into the heart which is conceived as a lotus, the petals of which will open. The light is then moved to other body parts. There is no particular sequence. But important is the final body station, which is the head. There the light becomes a crown enshrining and covering the head. The light is then moved outside, from the particular to the universal. Move the light into relatives, friends, enemies, trees, animals, birds until the entire world and all its forms are seen to have the same light at their centre as has been found to be within oneself. The idea of moving the light into the universal phase, the idea of universality is that the same divine light is present in everyone and everywhere. To impress this universality on the mind, we do the spreading of the light outside one’s own body. One should understand that what comes about in meditation as one moves deeply into it, is not the thinking of the light, but the forgetting of the body and thereby the direct experience that the body is not oneself. This is the stage of contemplation when the body is totally forgotten. It cannot be forced. It comes about by itself and is the stage that naturally follows correct concentration. Vivekananda said that in meditation he was unable to find his body; where was this body? He could not find it. Seeing the light and moving the light here and there is to give work to the mind, to keep the mind occupied in the right direction so that the mind will not be thinking of this and that and thus interfering with the process of becoming quieter and quieter. Spreading the light into its

God as Guru And Guide Since time immemorial, across religions, cultures and spiritual traditions there is a deep yearning and reverence for a teacher/guide to lead man through this great adventure called life. This is evidenced through the life of holy persons and scriptures.  Since a very young age, Sri Sathya Sai Baba began His role as a spiritual teacher, guiding all on the path to goodness and godliness through His personal example and through secular initiatives like Pandhari bhajan group (children’s choir) and street theater based on stories from scriptures or contemporary social issues calling for reform and equality. In October 1940, Sri Sathya Sai Baba declared His mission and the first message as the Avatar of the age was, “Manasa Bhajare Guru Charanam, Dusthara Bhava Sagara Taranam…”   (O Mind, take refuge at the feet of the Guru; He will guide you across this ocean called life.) Guru Poornima is celebrated in the lunar month of Ashad (July) on the full moon day (Poornima) as a day dedicated to the Guru (spiritual teacher). However, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba formally revived this ancient tradition of honoring the Guru in 1956 as an important spiritual festival to be celebrated by all aspirants. It is a day dedicated to a) remembering the Guru with gratitude, b) reflecting on the Guru’s teachings and c) resolving to put His teachings into daily practice.  Here are a few excerpts from Guru Poornima discourses given by Sri Sathya Sai Baba for individual or group study. Significance of Guru Poornima The moon is the presiding deity for the mind. Today, it is Poornima (full moon day). What does Poornima signify? It means the completion of the full circle by returning to the starting point. One half of the circle is represented by worldly life. It is like the letter “C”. This is equated with science, which is incomplete knowledge. The full circle represented by the moon represents the state of the mind when it is filled with Love. Guru Poornima is observed today.  Gu means darkness and Ru means dispelling. Guru means one who dispels darkness. Guru Poornima is the day on which one celebrates the dispersal of the darkness of ignorance from the mind. Hence, people should fill their minds with the all-embracing Love Principle. To experience the fullness of Love, you have to fill your hearts completely with Love. That will be the result of total devotion. Sri Sathya Sai Speaks V27:Ch21, Divine Discourse July 22, 1994 What is the significance of Guru Poornima? Guru is one who illumines the path to divinity. Poornima stands for the cool full moonlight. Full moon stands for a mind with total illumination and purity. Even if there is a trace of blemish in the mind, it will lead to darkness. It cannot give you total bliss. Embodiments of Love! Let your mind be filled with the radiance of divine love. Acquiring mere textual knowledge is of no avail. What you have studied is only a fraction of the total knowledge. Yet you feel proud about it. Your worldly education is insignificant compared to divine wisdom. You cannot attain God with your education, power and wealth. He is accessible by Love and Love alone. You can experience Him only when you develop Love. Devotion means to Love God wholeheartedly. Sri Sathya Sai Speaks V35:Ch13, Divine Discourse July 24, 2002 This day, thousands of you have gathered here because it is Guru Poornima (the full moon day dedicated to Guru).  The fully worth-while Guru must facilitate that vision of Unity without the discords and divisions that ‘mine’ and ‘thine’ engender in the mind of man. Such a Guru was the sage Vyasa. This day is also called Vyasa Poornima, a day when mankind offers him the gratitude he deserves. ‘Vyaso Naaraayano Harih’: Vyasa is the Lord Narayana, Hari. Narayana, the Lord Himself, came as a man called Vyasa, to collate the Vedas and teach man the path towards God. He has made the path plain and easy to climb… Sage Vyasa sympathised with man who was caught in the coils of do’s and don’ts, of success and failure, of desire and despair. He demarcated many practices which leads man along to fulfilment. The fulfilment consists in eliminating animalistic tendencies that lurk in man and reaching out to Divinity that is his essence. Sri Sathya Sai Speaks V14:Ch27, Divine Discourse July 9, 1979 Who is a Guru? The first Guru is the mother; her example, her advice, her admonition affects man deepest and longest. The second is the father, who is admired by the child for his strength and knowledge and feared for the punishments he inflicts. Next is the teacher, who leads him and guides him into the maze of material knowledge. But, the Guru (spiritual preceptor) alone can open the inner eye and cleanse the inner instruments of intuition. He induces you to question yourself, “Dheham?” (Am I this body or is this body only a vehicle which I am using) and discover the answer, “Naaham” (I am not this Body). Then the investigation starts to delve into the reality of the I, “Koham” (Who am I then?) and the answer reveals itself in the purified consciousness, “Soham” (I am He); I am a spark of that Glory; I am Divine. This day is a day set apart for the worship of the Guru. Who is the Guru? How can a person who has not reached the goal guide you towards it? When he is himself groping in the dark, how can he illumine your path? Most Gurus who profess to lead are themselves not quite sure of the road or quite convinced of the rightness of their path. ‘Gu‘ means darkness, or ignorance; “ru” its removal. So the Guru must know the process by which ignorance can be removed in another. How can he do it when he has not done it for himself? The blind cannot lead the blind. Guru has another meaning too. ‘Gu‘ means gunaatheetha (beyond the three strands of energy of which the Cosmos is composed) and ‘ru‘ means rupa-rahitha (devoid