CONVERSATIONS WITH SAI – PART Six

CONVERSATIONS WITH SAI – PART Six

A Visitor: Swami, one hears talk of Mantras.

SAI: Just the repetition of a Mantra is of no value, but if the Mantra is chanted with full knowledge of its significance, it has a great effect.

A Visitor: How can we improve memory?

SAI: There is not much use thinking about the past, because it is gone. Trying to memorize is not of much value. We will naturally remember that in which we are interested. A small story: Arjuna was 85 years old, a middle aged man. In those days people lived much longer. Arjuna said, ‘Lord, how is it that you can remember all the past lives, and I cannot?’ Krishna replied, ‘Well, what were you doing ten years ago on the third day of the month?’ Arjuna said ‘I do not know.’ Then Krishna said, ‘Well, you were alive then.’ Arjuna replied, ‘Yes, I was alive.’ Krishna then said, ‘Look back Arjuna, 60 years to the day you were married, do you remember that?’ ‘Oh, yes,’ replied Arjuna, ‘I remember that’. ‘Then, look further back, Arjuna, to the day you met your Guru and were taught the martial arts. Do you remember?’ ‘Yes’, replied Arjuna, ‘I remember.’ Then Krishna said, ‘It is obvious that people remember that in which they are interested, that which was sufficiently intense to cause them to remember the incident. But they do not bother remembering that in which they are not intensely interested. Now, you do not remember 20 years back, but you know you were alive then, therefore the memory is there, but you cannot recall it. Now, I remember everything, Arjuna, because I am interested in everything

A Visitor: (carrying a professional camera): Can I take Your picture now?

SAI: (in English): How many are here? Two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten…..twelve.

A Visitor: Twelve disciples.

SAI: This is my camera (Swami opens His hand and there are 12 small pictures of Himself amid much exclamation from the group). Keep them in your purse. See, twelve! Full address also! Address here in India. No camera, no film, no flash. A visiting card. Puttaparthi is the address. (Sai opens a silver box and starts preparing leaves).

Visitor: What is that?

SAI: (in English) That is the nut. This is the leaf. See, the leaves, and this is the betel. This is not a bad habit. If it were a bad habit, Swami would not chew it. The leave’s juice purifies the blood. The nut digests. Here, they mix the nut and give it for digestion even with the little puppies. And the other thing that is put in is calcium. The three mixed make red colour. This is Indian. (The foregoing was said in a joking voice, accompanied with much merriment from the foreign visitors).

A Visitor: The pictures that people take of Swami and then produce for sale are not good pictures. They do not do justice to Swami. Swami is perfect and everything around Him should be perfect.

SAI: Some may like one thing and others may not like that thing. The liking and the disliking is not in the object, but in our minds. If a person judges just from appearance, then it indicates a lack of depth. First they should know Swami, and then make a judgment.

A Visitor: But Swami is beautiful and the pictures make Him ugly.

SAI: Love is the beauty.

A Visitor: How does one get devotion to God?

SAI:
 Confidence is necessary. Food is the origin – the body is made from food. Without health, it is very hard to do anything. The stomach is of four parts: one quarter air, one quarter food, and one half water. Too much food is taken nowadays; there is no room for water. In India, rice and wheat are standard. They are all right if taken in moderation. But people eat too much and become dull. Too much food results in dullness of mind. Food in moderation does not result in sickness. Swami travels to various parts of India and does not get sick from food. Swami becomes sick only when taking on the sickness of a devotee. Otherwise, never. Too much milk is bad. It is Rajasic.

Visitor: Sai Baba, this is for me, this is not for anybody, just for myself – my food. Meat is important, meat is my food.

SAI: Food is important for the body. Food is the reason even for being born. Mother and father have been nourished with food and then give birth to a child. The parents have grown up on food. The whole body is a food bundle. The type of food you eat creates the kind of thought that will come to your mind. There will be a Sattwic effect if you have Sattwic food such as fruit and milk everything that is cool and not hot like strong onions. Meat gives the blood an effect, like passion and similar qualities. Dirty thoughts come with fish. Although fish is always in water, it has a bad smell.

A Visitor: How about lamb?

SAI: Meat is all right for those who concentrate on the body and want to have strength, but for spiritual aspirants it is not good.

SAI: Yes, the body will get proteins with meat, but mental proteins will not be there. If you are keen on a spiritual life, eating meat is not worthwhile; but if you are keen on worldly life, it is alright. There is another spiritual reason. When you kill an animal you give it suffering, pain and harm. God is in every creature, so how can you give such pain? Sometimes when someone beats a dog he cries, he feels so much pain. How much more pain then occurs in killing. Animals did not come for the purpose of supplying food to human beings. They came to work out their own life in the world. When a human being is dead, the foxes and other animals may eat the body, but we have not come to provide food for those that eat the human body; we have not come for that purpose. Similarly, man eats the animal, but the animal has not come to provide man with food. But, we have taken to eating meat as a habit.

SAI:
 Anything that comes from the cow, a little milk, butter, cheese, is alright for the spiritual aspirant. There is no harm to the cow, and it is of benefit to take it. In Dwapara Yuga, before Kali Yuga, 5680 years back, milk came into favour. Eleven thousand years is the full length of the Kali Yuga.

CONVERSATIONS WITH SAI – PART Seven

SAI: Anything that comes from the cow, a little milk, butter, cheese, is alright for the spiritual aspirant. There is no harm to the cow, and it is of benefit to take it. In Dwapara Yuga, before Kali Yuga, 5680 years back, milk came into favour. Eleven thousand years is the full length of the Kali Yuga.

Visitor: Does Kali Yuga still continue?

SAI: Yes.

A Visitor: What should be done for my leg? It is still swollen and hurts.

SAI: Do not move around and climb on the hills. Take rest.

Visitor: Oh. When I climbed to that tree on the hill, I did not realize.

SAI: You must take care of the body. Body is like a boat. Life is like a river. On this side is the world; on the other side is God. And so, to reach the other side, that is to reach God, you must maintain this boat carefully. You can keep the boat for any length of time in the water; there is no danger. But if the water comes into the boat, then there is danger. You can remain in the world for any number of years, but don’t let the world take hold.

SAI: (to a visitor): If you had fashionable earrings would you wear them?

Visitor: Oh, yes, (Sai moves hand and there appears a set of golden, jeweled earrings which he gives to the visitor).

SAI: See, they are fashionable, but the value is not high. (Sai now moves over to where the visitor is sitting and himself places the earrings on her ears. Much exclamation from the individuals in the group.)

A Visitor: (who is somewhat bald) Swami, can you grow hair?

SAI: (starts to make some comment, but the visitor interrupts).

Visitor: No. Just a joke, Swami.

Translator: Swami can do anything. Swami says that He gives the earrings to the lady to bring joy in her. The more joy the more the disease will go.

SAI: That is the medicine for her. Joy is the medicine.

Visitor: I wanted to go to the hill to see the Kalpataru Tree.

SAI: This is the Kalpataru Tree. Swami is the Kalpataru Tree. Swami is able to give anything you want. If you want anything, here is the Tree. This is the gold shop also, and the camera shop! (Much merriment from the group.)

A Visitor: Swami’s gifts are beautiful, but what if one wants peace of mind?

SAI: Only thoughts of God and intense love for Him bring peace. As worldly thoughts diminish, thoughts of God increase. Normally, the mind is all the time desiring these worldly things. As the desires are cut out one by one, the peace becomes stronger. You weave the threads and there is the cloth. If the threads are removed, there is no longer cloth. When there are Godly thoughts, there is peace of mind. Swami cannot give peace of mind; one has to work for it. We do meditation, spiritual practices in this temporary body. Though this body is temporary, you have to use temporary things to realize the Truth.

Visitor: But I wanted to know about peace.

SAI: Yes. If the desires are cut off one by one, then there is peace. When the desires go one by one then there is die-mind. Then there is peace of mind. Swami cannot give peace of mind; you must work for it yourselves. First, stop the questioning and ask, ‘who am I?’. This is my body, my mind, my intelligence. But who is this ‘My’? Who is it that claims the ownership of that which is declared to be ‘mine’? ‘My’ indicates ownership. That ‘My’ is the life. As long as the life is in the body, there is this connection between the ‘my’ and the intellect – ‘my’ body, ‘my’ house, ‘my’ land. But the moment you remove the life from the body, there is no ‘my’ or sense of possession. Life is God.

‘Who am I?’ The answer is ‘I am God’. The body comes and goes, but the Atma is permanent. The body has birth and death, but the spirit does not have any of these. You reach the stage where you say, ‘I am God’, but even there, there is duality, ‘God and I’. That is not the full Truth. When we breathe, the breath makes the sound of ‘So-Hum’, ‘He am I’. There is still the body consciousness, the ‘I’. But in deep sleep, the declaration of ‘He’ and ‘I’ falls away and only ‘0’ and ‘M’ remain, ‘Om’; there is only the One.

Hislop: One understands this and has for some time, but when does intellectual comprehension change to reality?

SAI: It will become reality only when you practise it intensely. You read so much. You do not have to practise all that you read. Take one or two things to practise and then it will become a reality to you. When you go to the hospital, there are so many medicines. You do not have to take all the medicines; just the ones that are needed for your malady. You do not have to eat all the medicines. Whatever kind of spiritual practices you sincerely want to do, you just take that medicine; do not collect all the other things. Because too much of this book knowledge just leads to doubts and confusion. You get too many doubts asking ‘what is this?’ and ‘what is that?’, and you waste a lot of time in this conflict.

H: What does the supreme Spiritual Doctor say is the correct medicine for me?

SAI: Meditation. For, in meditation you first get sense control. And yoga will help you with the body and when the mind is steady, concentration will come automatically. When you get such concentration, then you get peace of mind

CONVERSATIONS WITH SAI – PART Six – A Sacred Dialogue of Faith, Truth, and Inner Transformation

CONVERSATIONS WITH SAI – PART Six is a meaningful spiritual theme that reminds us how divine wisdom can remove confusion and bring peace to the heart. A true conversation with a spiritual master is not only about questions and answers. It is a sacred exchange where doubt becomes clarity, fear becomes faith, and the restless mind begins to understand the real purpose of human life.

The beauty of CONVERSATIONS WITH SAI – PART Six lies in its practical guidance. Spirituality is not meant only for temples, rituals, books, or special occasions. It must become part of daily living. The way we speak, think, work, serve, forgive, and remember God shows whether spiritual teachings have entered the heart. Divine wisdom becomes valuable only when it changes conduct.

Human beings carry many doubts. People wonder why suffering comes, how to control anger, how to remain peaceful, how to serve others, and how to live close to God while fulfilling worldly duties. CONVERSATIONS WITH SAI – PART Six teaches that sincere questions are not wrong. When asked with humility and a genuine desire to learn, questions become steps toward deeper understanding.

One important lesson is love. Love is not only emotion or attachment. It is patience, kindness, forgiveness, sacrifice, and understanding. A loving person does not hurt others through harsh speech, ego, or selfish action. Love becomes divine when it expands beyond family and friends and embraces all beings. This kind of love makes life peaceful and sacred.

CONVERSATIONS WITH SAI – PART Six also reminds us of the importance of truth. Truth gives strength to the heart. Falsehood may bring temporary benefit, but it creates fear and weakness within. Truth should be present in thoughts, words, actions, duties, and intentions. When a person lives truthfully, the mind becomes steady, prayer becomes deeper, and character becomes strong.

Discipline is another powerful teaching. Without discipline, even good intentions remain weak. A person may wish to pray, study, serve, speak kindly, or improve character, but without steady effort, the mind easily becomes distracted. Discipline teaches proper use of time, careful speech, moderation in food, honest work, and regular remembrance of God. It is not a burden; it is protection for the soul.

CONVERSATIONS WITH SAI – PART Six teaches that education must be joined with character. Knowledge alone does not make a person noble. A clever mind without values can become selfish or harmful, while knowledge joined with humility and compassion becomes a blessing to society. True education should make a person responsible, respectful, truthful, and service-minded.

Service is also a sacred path toward God. Feeding the hungry, helping the sick, comforting the sad, guiding the confused, and supporting the weak are all forms of worship when done with love. Prayer purifies the heart, but service proves that prayer has become real. Devotion remains incomplete if it does not become compassion in daily life.

Another important lesson is control of desires. Desires are endless when they are not guided by wisdom. One wish creates another, and the mind never feels fully satisfied. Contentment does not mean laziness or lack of effort. It means knowing the difference between need and greed. A contented person works sincerely, lives responsibly, and remains grateful without becoming a slave of comparison or luxury.

CONVERSATIONS WITH SAI – PART Six also gives a deep message of surrender. Surrender does not mean weakness or inactivity. It means doing one’s duty sincerely and leaving the result to divine wisdom. A student must study, a worker must work honestly, a patient must take treatment, and a devotee must practice good values. After sincere effort, the heart should accept the result with faith.

Spirituality should not remain limited to outer worship. Lighting lamps, offering flowers, singing bhajans, and reading sacred texts are beautiful when they purify the heart. But if a person continues to speak harshly, act selfishly, or hurt others, devotion remains incomplete. The real offering to God is pure thought, gentle speech, honest action, and selfless love.

Prayer gives courage during difficult times. Life will not always move according to personal wishes. There will be delays, illness, misunderstandings, losses, failures, and painful moments. During such times, prayer gives strength and patience. It may not remove every problem immediately, but it gives peace to face the situation with faith. A heart connected with God does not break easily.

CONVERSATIONS WITH SAI – PART Six finally reminds us that divine wisdom is meant for transformation. It guides seekers toward love, truth, discipline, service, contentment, surrender, and inner purity. When these teachings are practiced sincerely, ordinary life becomes meaningful. The mind becomes calmer, the heart becomes kinder, and every day becomes a sacred step toward God.