Sanctify Human Life Through the Pursuit of Sathya and Dharma
When the Lord comes in our midst there are two important aspects to His descent that stand out among others. One is His powerful and enchanting presence, which has the potency to transform and raise all who comes to Him. Everyone who comes to Him benefits, some considerably and few immensely, depending on one’s receptiveness. The other aspect is the message that He brings, and this has some unique benefits of its own. Adherence to the message has the power to manifest the Lord in one’s life. A tryst with Divinity could be a blessing for good acts of the past, but it is in loyalty to the message that one completely benefits and finds redemption, and also a means to express one’s devotion to the Lord. So it is indeed of paramount importance for each of us to dwell on His message.
As part of the 90th Birthday offerings, we will begin every month from the present one with excerpts of a discourse from the Golden Jubilee Birthday Celebrations of Bhagawan. During the grand 50th Birthday celebrations, Baba gave discourses specific to the Seva wing and the Bal Vikas wing, apart from discourses revealing His own message and mission. Let us listen and re-listen, read and re-read even as we imbibe the essence contained.
An important difference between a Guru or a spiritual master and an Avatar, lies in the wide reach and applicability of the message of the latter, and the variety of individuals who get to draw solace from it. This is not to belittle the role played by great masters, or to say that their message lack something. Most often than not, the spiritual message of a Guru is esoteric and the individual to be drawn to it must’ve spent considerable time in enquiring in those very lines. But an Avatar comes for all. Bhagawan’s presence elevated and continues to elevate every person that comes into contact with Him. A worldly man would be inspired to draw out the goodness from within, a good person would be prodded to a spiritual path, an aspirant would find fresh inspiration and vigour to march on, and the wise ones were filled with a ceaseless sense of fulfilment. Bhagawan’s message has welcomed into its embrace people from different faiths and belief systems, cultures and spiritual inclinations.
And it is a wonder in itself how Bhagawan’s message began spreading across continents in spite of His resolve not to make trips abroad. (The only overseas trip Bhagawan made was to East Africa in the 1960s). And as Bhagawan’s name and message spread, there began to rise with it, the need to indoctrinate the basic tenets of the message. This was more to form the basic framework of what Swami expects of those who wish to associate with His name.
This process began with the setting up of the Sri Sathya Sai Organisations in the 1960s. Bhagawan set an example for us all by spending enormous time and energy by personally guiding and explaining His instructions, expectations and vision for this Organisation. He did this by either talking to the office bearers in interviews or through the World Conferences that were held in HIs august presence. We bring you excerpts from the discourse Swami gave as part of the 2nd World Conference, during Bhagawan’s 50th Birthday Celebrations.
The message that Bhagawan says every Avatar and Master comes to give is this – Divinity is within, and all that we do must be to enable us to manifest it. One of the key objectives of the SSSO as listed in the official website is: “To help the individual be aware of the Divinity that is inherent in him and to conduct himself accordingly.” And that is the very message Bhagawan gives even as he opens this discourse. He goes on to tell us about two important tools one may use in this process.
