Sri Sathya Sai On: Ten Kinds of Purity for Students and Youth – Part 2

6. 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 you have to be told this. Imagine how offended you will feel if someone looks 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 will not tolerate in others. 

7. Whatever books you read or whatever you write should be pure. This is the Sadhana relating to study – Sahitya Satwica. If you read or write that which is not pure, it warps your mind. A good book makes a good mind. You may study any book in Physics or Chemistry or other subjects; it does not affect your character. 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. 

8. Pure Satwic Service. With regard to service, you have to decide what is Satwic and what is Rajasic. We go and clean streets, build roads in villages or dig wells and do them all as a service to the community. But, the kind of service which 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. 

9. Sadhana: This is spiritual discipline. This must be Satwic. Some people do Hata Yoga. Some strive to develop the Kundalini Shakti. Some invoke evil spirits to do harm to others. These forms of Sadhana are not Sadhana at all. The individual is Chit (Consciousness), God is Sat (The Eternal Absolute). When Sat and Chit combine, you have Anand – Sat-Chit-Ananda. Only the Sadhana undertaken to realise Satchidananda is true Sadhana. Where is this Sat? This Sat, the Divine, is in everybody. So, you must be prepared to serve everybody, regarding everyone as Divine. You may have 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 cowherdesses) the path of Wisdom. So, he approached Krishna. Krishna said to 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 the ignorant and illiterate Gopikas could understand the Divine. To dispel the doubts of Uddhava, Krishna sent him to Gokul. Uddhava summoned the Gopikas and told them: “I will teach you the path of Dhyana to realise the Divine”. The Gopikas came to Uddhava and said to him, “We are not interested in learning any Shastras! Teach us one simple means by which we can realise Krishna! We are not aware of any Yoga or Bhoga or Mantra. Krishna is everything for us, our Yoga, our 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 Him.” Another Gopi said, “If Krishna were a flower, I would be a bee which goes on sucking every drop of honey in the flower! This is our approach to God.” So, spiritual Sadhana means to regard a mountain, tree, flower and the ocean, as a means of God-realisation.

10. Your occupation or profession. What is the kind of work you should take up? It should be work that can benefit the community, the nation. The nation enables you to earn a living. You must see what you can give to the nation in return. You must ask yourself, “What is the service, what is the help I can do for the community?” You must see that there is no untruth in any work you do, no unfairness, no fraud, no evil motive. 

Ensure Freedom from Birth by Present Karma

These are the pure things that you must observe in your life. If you engage yourselves in right action, you will not be bound by the consequences of Karma. Because of past Karma, you have the present life. By your present Karma you can ensure freedom from birth. Through love, you develop faith; through faith and earnestness, you acquire knowledge; through knowledge, you develop Sadhana, and through Sadhana, you achieve the goal. So, for practicing Sadhana, you require wisdom, and for acquiring wisdom, you require Shraddha (earnestness and faith) and for Shraddha you must cultivate love. So love is the means and for this you must acquire control of the senses. If gradually you reduce your desires, you will be able to bring the senses under control. 

Every student should prepare himself to serve as an ideal for the community. There should be no discord among your college mates and no room for hate or ill-will. You should discharge your duties and please your parents by your conduct. Strive to bring credit to your educational institution. Above all, try to earn the grace of God by being helpful to your fellow-beings. Only these constitute true education. 

Different branches of knowledge are like rivers, while spiritual knowledge is the ocean. Even as the rivers merge in the ocean, all types of knowledge merge in spiritual knowledge. 

You must bear in mind the company you keep. Kabir said, “I salute the bad and also the good!” Kabir was asked, “We can understand your offering salutations to the good, but what is the point in offering salutations to the bad?” He replied, “When I salute the bad, I am saluting them saying, please remove yourself from my presence. I salute the good, saying, please come to me!” You must avoid the company of the bad and cultivate the company of the good. Association with the good is pure Yoga! I desire that you should pursue this kind of Yoga and confer happiness on all people with whom you are associated! 

You should strive to get rid of all your bad thoughts, give up all your bad traits, discharge your obligations to your parents, render selfless service to the community and thereby redeem your lives and earn the grace of God. This is My blessing to all of you. 

-Devotional India

Ten Kinds of Purity for Students and Youth – Part 2