Summer Showers in (2002)

Summer Showers in Brindavan 2002 is the final volume in the Summer Showers series of discourses by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, delivered during the Summer Course on Indian Culture and Spirituality at Brindavan (Whitefield, near Bangalore).There are thirteen discourses in this volume, each covering aspects of spiritual development, character, self‐knowledge, culture, Ramayana ideals, and how one may overcome inner weaknesses to realize the divine potential within.

A central theme in 2002 is the tension between desire and divinity: Sai Baba repeatedly teaches that as desires multiply, the innate divine powers of the human being diminish. He urges the aspirant to reduce desires, curb the senses, purify speech and mind, and through such inner discipline attain clarity and peace. Linked to that is the importance of education not just in the modern sense but educare—education that leads to perfection of character. True education, according to Baba, shapes virtues like sincerity, selflessness, truth, discipline, humility, and inner vision.

Many discourses in this volume draw from the Ramayana, taking various episodes and characters as exemplars of ideal conduct: brothers like Rama and Lakshmana, the sense of duty in the face of hardship, loyalty, self‐restraint, compassion. Sai Baba uses these stories not only for moral instruction but to help seekers see how they themselves might aspire to live these virtues in everyday life.

Another important topic is the all‑pervasiveness of Divinity: everything in the world—each element, limb, organ, sense, every part of creation—is pervaded by God. Yet mankind often fails to perceive this because of mental restlessness, attachments, false identification of self with body and senses. To remedy this, Sai Baba stresses control of the senses, steadiness of mind, and reduction of attachments as means to realise one’s inherent divine nature.