Embodiments of Love!

Visvaasam (faith or confidence), Saahasam (daring or determination), Dhairyam (courage), Buddhi (intelligence), Sakthi (energy) and Paraakramam (valor)- when a man has these six qualities, the Divine will stand by him in all his endeavors. In any age or at any place or in any circumstance, these six good qualities are essential. No worry will haunt any man who has these six virtues.

These six qualities cannot be acquired by education. Nor can they be imparted by any preceptor. Nor can they be inherited from one's parents.

These qualities are secured only by Self-confidence (Atma-visvaasam).

The first among the six qualities is faith (Visvaasam). In our daily experience faith is evident from the simple act of posting a letter. No one will send a letter by post if he did not have faith in the postal department. The address and the postage stamp on the letter are unaffected by distance. Likewise, God makes no distinction between those near to Him or remote from Him. One's faith should be properly addressed. The faith should be unwavering, total and free from doubts of any kind. The letter of Faith has also to carry the stamp of Love (Prema). It should be selfless love. Selfish love will be useless. When firm faith is associated with unselfish love, the prayers addressed to Bhagavan are bound to reach Him.

This kind of faith has become rare nowadays. Self-confidence is totally absent. How can one without confidence in himself have faith in God? And how can such a person hope for God's grace? Hence, every man must cultivate firm faith.

Today in every field, firm faith is essential. Any one who leaves home for his office sets out with the confidence that he will return home in the evening. No one will embark on any undertaking unless at the outset he has the confidence that he can do the job. Faith is thus essential for every activity in life.

The ancient sages accomplished many great things by their faith. Their achievements are cherished by people today even after thousands of years.

Unfortunately, because of the influence of Kali in the present age, faith is declining from moment to moment.

People change their beliefs constantly. Such changes are mental aberrations. They do not pertain to the Spirit (which dwells in the heart).

Human Values

Mankind has a history of lakhs of years. But humanity is yet to realize the greatness of humanness. After all these years, man is still unable to answer the question: "What are human values?"

Men study books, listen to discourses, experience gains and losses, joys and sorrows, but all these do not give them a firm hold on what is permanent in life. If they had acquired this hold they would have realized that the world is one family.

The Vedas taught the concept of one human family. The Vedas declared that the Cosmic Principle (Brihath) has no limits. It is infinite.

Mankind has also no bounds or barriers. In fact, there are no barriers between humanity and every other species of living beings like birds, beasts and insects and even trees. All of them belong to a single family of living beings.

In the Tree of Life, man appears in many forms - as animals, birds and insects. In all these forms he experiences his divine essence.

You are all aware of the fact that Ganapathi has two mothers, Gauri and Ganga. For every man there are four mothers. The first mother is (Sathyam). The second mother is Righteousness (Dharmam). The third is Love (Prema). The fourth is Santhi(Peace). Man must live in such a manner that he pleases all the four mothers. Man, however, has given up these four sacred mothers and adores four others who are adopted mothers . Who are they? Injustice, Immorality, unrighteousness and falsehood - these are the adopted mothers. As a result, man is a prey to many difficulties. Man, who ought to adhere to Truth, Right Conduct and Love, has become a creature of injustice, wickedness and untruth. As a result of abandoning one's natural mothers and clinging to unnatural relationships man is leading a polluted life and forfeiting peace.

In an earlier aeon Rama declared that the mother and the Motherland are greater than Heaven itself. But man today has given up his natural mother and is adoring meretricious mothers. Man should love Truth, Righteousness, Love and Peace as his mothers. In no circumstance should he cause any pain to these four because that will result in great suffering for him.

The six enemies

The Creator has endowed man with numerous marvelous qualities. Besides the six virtues mentioned earlier man has also got six vices. The opposites of the six virtues are Desire (Kaama), Anger (Krodha), Greed (Lobha), fascination (Moha), Pride (Mada) and Envy (Maathsarya). These are known as the six enemies of man. They are part of creation. The mind is the master of these vices. Man tries to train the mind to overcome these vices. But this is not easy for all. The reason is that, being unaware of how to control the mind, man becomes an easy prey to its vagaries. Everyone should strive to find out how to use the mind in any situation, at any time and in any circumstance.

Men today are dominated by three evil qualities: anger, hatred, and envy. These three qualities poison the mind of man. Consequently, every action of man gets poisoned. Every word he utters is venomous. All actions done by the prompting of the mind are tainted. All sensory actions are equally polluted.

The Power of Love

To transform these evil thoughts and actions into good ones, it is necessary to infuse love into all thoughts and actions. When the mind is filled with Love, all actions get suffused with Love.

Today man is totally unaware of what is meant by Love. Man equates desire with Love. He imagines that whatever he yearns for, is prompted by Love. This is not true love (Prema). Prema is totally free from desire. It is utterly selfless. It seeks no return. It is all encompassing. It makes no distinction between friend and foe.

Forgetting this concept of universal selfless love, filling himself with selfish desires, man fancies that he is filled with Love. This is mundane attachment It is quite apart from the Love that flows from the Spirit inside. Spiritual love is boundless. It is free from the feeling of hatred. It is capable of expressing itself in universal terms.

It is vital to fill the mind with Love and expel the six enemies residing in it. Every part of the body should be filled with Divine Love. That is the way to divinise man.

Many people imagine that to divinise man and make him a godly being is a superhuman exercise. This is not so. Divine love is within the competence of man. It is natural to man. He is entitled to possess it. Divine Love should not be considered as something transcendental or alien to man. But men tend to degrade this love by giving it different forms and names and degrade themselves.

The defect lies in the perversion of Love and is not inherent in it. Convert anger into Love. Turn hatred into Love. To effect this change what is needed is a change of heart - filling it with Love. When the heart is filled with Love, the whole world becomes lovable.

The mind is restless and fickle. All troubles that afflict man stem from the mind. The thoughts arising from the mind are the cause of human birth.

Dharma and Seva

The Vedas describe man as Manuja. This implies that man takes birth to experience fulfillment of his desires. Hence, it is necessary for man to make his desires sublime. He should seek to know what can make his life ideal and exemplary. What can contribute to the well-being of society? What is ideal for the whole world? Thinking over these questions, one should develop sublime ideas. People should not act in haste on every impulse of the mind. It is said that the body is a prerequisite for the achievement of righteousness. But it is important to note that man is endowed with a body to render service to others. The implication of the two dicta is that while discharging his duties, man should also render service to others.

There are any number of helpful services to be rendered by men in this world today. We have here three types of devotees: There are those who are not conscious of their abilities. There are a second type of devotees who seek God alone and do not desire anything else from God. The third type are those who adore God as the embodiment of Truth and get their wishes fulfilled by their prayers to Him as the omnipotent Lord. God is one. But He can be worshipped under different names and forms by devotees.

The Seen and the Unseen

Man has no need to seek for anything outside him. He has the universe within him in his heart. He is potentially the Cosmic Being. He has in him the magnetic power of attraction. It is derived from the Divine. Every atom has this divine power. Men think that only what is perceived by the senses is real and what is beyond human perception is unreal. This is wrong. It is the unseen that contains everything. When you see a man, you consider his physical features as the only reality about him. But you can have no conception of his powers and talents which are not visible externally. He has Compassion, Love, the Spirit of Sacrifice, Sublime thoughts, none of which are apparent to you. For that reason, can you say that they do not exist? Likewise, the secret of a man's actions may not be apparent. A flower, for instance, has fragrance, which has no visible form. The form of fragrance is to be found in the form of the flower. Without the flower there is no fragrance. It is said that love (Prema) has no form. But love has a form. The mother, who loves her Child, expresses the form of love.

Likewise, everything has a form. But the ignorant, not aware of the truth, declare that what is formless is non-existent. There is nothing in the universe which is without form. For one to understand this truth, he has to realize that the Divine exists in the microcosm and the macrocosm.

Jesus's Message

There were controversies regarding Jesus. These differences were the cause of the ordeals he had to go through. But Jesus was prepared to face any trouble or any penalty. He considered Compassion as the supreme quality. At first, he declared he was a "Messenger of God." Then, he announced: "I am the Son or God." Ultimately he declared: "l and my Father are One." You must take note of this oneness. You must proclaim your oneness and not your diversity.

Today people talk about unity but do not practice it.

In every discourse Swami speaks about love. How many practice it? How many have tried to understand the Love Principle? Who has this Love? Love is not to be seen anywhere.

Purity and Divinity

Where there is love, there is no room for hatred. Do not be envious of anyone. When this evil quality appears, Love takes to flight. A pure heart is the abode of Love. Where there is Purity, there is Unity. Unity leads to divinity.

Today Purity is absent. How, then, do you realize Divinity? You must offer everything to God without any desire. Dedicate your all to God. This was the teaching of Jesus. He considered everything as an offering to God.

When he was being nailed on the cross, people around were weeping. At that moment an ethereal voice declared: "All are one, My dear Son! Be alike to everyone. " Jesus declared: "Death is the dress of life." Just as we change our clothes, we change also our bodies. The bodies are vestures (for the indwelling Spirit). Hence bodies should be regarded as mere vestures. We should not worry about the body.

Buddha's Advice

Buddha also, before he attained Nirvana, expounded his teachings clearly. His step- mother's son, Ananda, was in tears at that time. Buddha told him: "Ananda! you should not shed tears like this. Why are you weeping?". Ananda said: "I am grieving over your imminent passing." Buddha declared: I am not dying. Nor are you living. All have to give up this body. Therefore, you must not shed tears."

How many heed such sayings? You must learn to lead ideal lives. That is the right way to observe the birthday of Christ. Few care to observe the ideals of the great teachers.

You must realize that there is nothing more divine than Love. Love is God. Live in Love. This is your duty. Fill your hearts with Love. You will then be free from all afflictions.

You may feel that you are suffering because of Love. But that suffering is due to constricted love. When your love is all embracing there will be no room for suffering.

Towards the end of his life, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was suffering from cancer of the throat. All his disciples appealed to him to pray to the Mother Durga Devi, whom Ramakrishna worshipped, to relieve him of his malady. Ramakrishna said: "I have prayed to the Mother." They asked him what the Mother's response was. Ramakrishna said: "The Mother told me: When I am eating so many things with so many mouths, does it matter very much if you are unable to eat with your one mouth? Her words opened my eyes".

All mouths are the mouths of God. The Vedas proclaim that the Divine has a myriad heads and a myriad eyes and a myriad feet. This means that all heads are His, all eyes are His and all feet are His. God is infinite. Man is finite. The infinite Divine must be loved with boundless Love. God's love is limitless and undiminishing. It is ever pure and unsullied. You must serve everyone with a loving heart.

[Bhagavan then referred to the service activities of the old alumni of the Sathya Sai Women's College at Anantapur. ]

Bhagavan concluded His discourse with a reference to the crucifixion of Christ. Christ was the victim of envious persons who were opposed to His teachings and who leveled accusations against Him. Devotees of God should not mind the criticisms of envious persons. All good people have to face such troubles. They should treat everything as meant for their good. This was how the Pandavas looked upon all the troubles they experienced.

Yesterday and today the overseas devotees filled everyone with joy by their music programs. God is a lover of music and enjoys music. Saintly devotees like Narada and Thumburu, who are always in the proximity of God, are always singing the glory of God. Nothing else can give so much joy as music. You can please God with your music. God revels in music. Music is therefore holy. It reflects the state of one's inner being. Singing the glories of God, render service to the people.

You will derive the greatest joy when you sing and serve.

[Bhagavan concluded His discourse with the bhajan: "Hari bhajana binaa sukha santhi nahi]