Thought for the Day - As written at Prasanthi Nilayam


Thought for the Day Archive

November 2003

01 November 2003

Just as you attend to the needs of the body, feeding it three times a day in order to keep it in good running condition, so too, spend some time regularly everyday to keep your inner consciousness also in good trim. Spend one hour in the morning , another at night and a third in the early hours of dawn for japam (repetition of God's name) and meditation on the Lord. You will find great peace descending on you and new sources of strength welling up within you as you progress in this sadhana (spiritual endeavour).

02 November 2003

An empty iron box gets value when it contains jewels; the body is honoured when it contains the jewels of consciousness and values known as 'virtues'. Life has to be lived through for the sake of the chance to unfold the virtues. Otherwise, man is a burden upon the earth, merely a consumer of food. Help to the needy has been described as the highest virtue and harming others has been condemned as sin.

03 November 2003

Man is deriving innumerable benefits from Nature and enjoying the amenities provided by it in various ways. But what is the gratitude he is offering to Nature and God? Man is forgetting the Divine who is the Sole Provider of everything. This is the reason for his falling prey to various difficulties and calamities. While he is receiving countless benefits from Providence, he is offering nothing in return to Nature or God. This shows how unnatural and heartless man's behaviour is. When we are enjoined to return good for evil, how unbecoming is it to fail even to return good for good? Man should learn the great lesson Nature is trying to teach him - the lesson of doing service with no expectation of return.

04 November 2003

When man thinks, speaks and acts along virtuous lines, his conscience will be clean and he will have peace. Knowledge is power, it is said, but virtue is Peace. Virtues are like cows yielding health-giving milk. Vices are like the tigers that fall upon the cows and tear them to pieces. If you build a barricade of God's Name, then the tiger of vices cannot harm you or your virtues.

05 November 2003

Vice breeds disease. Bad thoughts and habits, bad company and bad food are hostile grounds where disease thrives. Arogya (Good health) and Ananda (Happiness) go hand in hand. A sense of elation and exultation keeps the body free from ill-health. Evil habits, in which men indulge, are the chief cause of disease in the physical as well as the mental state. Greed affects the mind; disappointment makes man depressed. Man can justify his existence as man only by the cultivation of virtues. It is only then that he becomes a worthy candidate for Godhood.

06 November 2003

Everything that is born must die. But you can escape death by not being born again. When you realise that you are the limitless Atma, you are no longer subjected to the limitation of birth. That is the secret. How is this knowledge to be acquired? It is the result of a long process of sharpening and purifying the emotions and the impulses. You may do the most rigorous japa (repetition of God's name) or submit yourself to the ordeal of austerities, but if you are not virtuous, all of it is sheer waste.

07 November 2003

Morality has to be grown in the heart by feeding it with love. Then only can we have justice, security, law and order. If love declines among the people, nations will weaken and mankind will perish. Morality should be taught in conjunction with other subjects, not separately. The respect commanded by a community depends on its moral strength.

08 November 2003

During bhajans, instead of paying great attention to raaga, thaala, laya and shruti (the melody, the beat, the rhythm and the tone), one should try to elevate the bhajans to a spiritual level by singing with true feeling and ecstasy of devotion. The songs should flow not from the lips but from the heart. When the songs come from the heart, they will be blissful to the ears also. Conduct your bhajans with a pure unsullied heart, oblivious to all worldly desires. When you chant the Lord's name with a pure heart, you will experience the Divine.

09 November 2003

Man is a creature of society and owes everything to society. Gratitude is a supreme virtue. Ingratitude is a grievous sin. It will deprive a man of his God-given right. There is no means of atonement for the ungrateful person. If you wish to safeguard your future, you have to be grateful to those who have helped you in your difficult times and enabled you to obtain your personal needs.

10 November 2003

One should so live that no pain is caused to other beings through one's activities. And, one should be ever grateful for the kindness received. Even if you fail to be helpful to others, do not cause harm to others. All spiritual aspirants should cherish in their hearts with gratitude, the good done to them and the help rendered to them by others.

11 November 2003

Dharma is bound up with a great many variety of meanings and does not mean only duty, which pertains to one individual. Dharma is a body of principles that are fundamental to social stability and individual progress. It is eternal, same for everyone, everywhere. The birthplace of Dharma is the heart. What emanates from the heart as a pure idea, when translated into action, is Dharma, or to put it in simple words- "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

12 November 2003

The ideal of gratitude has been handed down the ages as a heritage in India. A man without this supreme virtue of gratitude is worse than a cruel animal. Having received his wealth, education and skills from society, if he does not serve the cause of society, his wealth, education and skills are but a sheer waste. It is only by serving society that these acquire splendour and significance.

13 November 2003

We should do our might to enhance the reputation of our country, its culture, and language. But, let not that pride lead you to dislike other languages and cultures. The languages by which thoughts are expressed may be varied, but the thoughts, emotions and feelings are the same. The language of the heart is the same, but when it comes to the tongue, it may take various forms.

14 November 2003

Lava and Kusha became heroic because of their great mother, Seetha Devi. The noble thoughts of the mother make the children great. A mother may go wrong in other respects, but she will always strive for the well-being of her children. Hence every son has to love the mother as his primary duty. Then he should love the father and revere the preceptor. The mother confers the body. The father protects it. The preceptor imparts knowledge and wisdom. All three are essential for every human being for getting on in this world.

15 November 2003

You must pay attention to small details also, for Bhakthi (Devotion to God) is not just a pose. It is a series of little acts, directed by the attitude of reverence for the Divinity in all the beings. Watch for the lie that lurks on the tongue, the violence that lurks behind the fist, the ego that lurks behind the deed. Restrain them before they grow into habits and settle down as character to wrap your destiny.

16 November 2003

You must become like the flute in the Lord's hands. Let the breath of the Lord pass through you, producing delightful music that melts the hearts of everyone. Surrender yourself to Him; become hollow - egoless; then He will Himself come and pick you up caressingly and apply you, the flute, to His lips and blow His sweet breath through you. Allow Him to play whatever song He likes.

17 November 2003

Those who seek to impart the values of Sathya, Dharma, Santhi, Prema and Ahimsa to others, must try first to practise them themselves whole-heartedly. To imagine that values can be installed by teaching is a mistake. Such learning will have no permanent effect. Educationists must take note of this fact. If transformation is to be effected in students, the process must start from a very early age.

18 November 2003

Man may love the body, the mind, the Buddhi (the intellect) or the Antah Karana (the Inner Instruments). Love for the body ends with the death of the body. Love for the mind results in bondage because of the aberrations of the mind. Love for the intellect results in endless speculation and enquiry. Love for the Antah Karana promotes the ego feeling. It encourages dualism (separating man from God). Only the one who realises his oneness with the Atma can experience infinite bliss - the bliss that is eternal.

19 November 2003

Ladies Day

Women are the makers of the home, the nation and the world. They are the mothers who shape the generation to come. So, they must enshrine in their hearts the spiritual urge towards light and love, wisdom and bliss. The Feminine Principle is the foundation on which a peaceful and happy world is to be raised. When women are true, brave, kind, and compassionate, the world can have an era of peace and joy.

20 November 2003

Man grieves because he has developed attachment towards the unreal. He cultivates an unreasonable affection for wealth; but he is prepared to sacrifice the riches in order to save the lives of his children, for attachment to children is stronger than to the wealth he has earned. But, the same man stoops so low as to neglect his children when the choice is between his survival and the children's welfare. But, the bliss that one gets when he dwells on the Atma, the source and spring of all joy is unbounded and imperishable. That is the real joy.

21 November 2003

Whoever subdues his egoism, conquers his selfish desires, destroys his bestial feelings and impulses and gives up the natural tendency to regard the body as self, is surely on the path of Dharma. He knows that the goal of Dharma is the merging of the wave in the sea; the merging of the self in the over self.

22 November 2003

XXII Convocation of S.S.S.I.H.L.

Education can claim success only when it results in the student gaining awareness of the Divinity inherent in him and others. No academic degree can confer as much self-confidence and self- satisfaction and lead man as quickly and gladly to self-sacrifice and self-realisation as that awareness. It has to be transmitted by teachers who have attained it through a sense of duty and in a spirit of love. It has to accepted by students who have cultivated faith in the teacher and reverence for his role.

23 November 2003

78th Birthday Celebrations of Bhagawan Baba

You can call Me Premaswarupa (the embodiment of Love). Prema is the wealth I have and which I spread among all. I have no other riches. The Grace of the Lord is always flowing like the electric current through the wire. Fix a bulb and the current will illumine your house. The bulb is the Sadhana (spiritual practice) you perform, the home is your heart. Come to Me gladly; dive into the sea and discover its depth. There is no use playing in the shallow waters and lamenting that the sea has no pearls. Dive deep and you will secure your heart's desire.

24 November 2003

'The Lord is all Love; so He can be seen only through love. The moon has to be seen only through its own light, no other light can illumine the moon. In the night of Vyamoha (delusion), the Lord can be seen only by the light that He Himself is, the light of pure love or Prema. He is Sathyam and Nithyam, the True and the Eternal and so, He is beyond the categories of Mithya or Jagath, falsity and change.

25 November 2003

A little practice will teach you to hold fast to the feet of God while roaming about in the world, doing all duties and carrying out all responsibilities dedicated to Him. Do all work as actors in a play, keeping your identity separate and not attached to your personality or your role. Remember that the whole thing is just a play and the Lord has assigned you a part; there your duty ends. He has designed the play and enjoys it.

26 November 2003

Human values cannot be promoted merely by repeating the words - Sathya, Dharma, Santhi, Prema and Ahimsa. The Vedas declare: 'Sathyam Vada, Dharmam Chara' (Speak the truth, adhere to right conduct). Truth and right conduct should be adhered to with pure intentions. A righteous life leads to peace. Love is to be experienced in the depths of peace. Love should find expression in non-violence. Where love prevails, there is no room for doing harm or indulging in violence towards others. All these basic values have to be demonstrated in action and not limited to preaching.

27 November 2003

The greatest obstacle on the path of surrender is egoism. It is something that has been inhering to your personality since ages, sending its tentacles deeper and deeper, with the experience of every succeeding life. It can be removed by the twin detergents of discrimination and renunciation. Bhakthi (devotion) is the water to wash away the dirt of ages. And the soap of Japam (chanting the Lord's Name), Dhyanam (meditation) will help to remove it quicker and more effectively.

28 November 2003

Man always seeks happiness by trying to satisfy his desires. If a desire is fulfilled, he feels joyous and when it is not, he feels disheartened. But the trouble is, desire is a bonfire that burns with greater fury asking for more fuel everytime. One desire leads to ten more; and man exhausts Himself in trying to fulfil his desires. He has to be turned back from this path of never-ending desire, to the path of inner contentment and joy.

29 November 2003

Dharma is that which sustains mankind. True humanness consists in observing unity of thought, word and deed. All actions done with this triple unity are Dharmic actions. There are various rules of conduct which are related to conditions governing time and space. Such rules are liable to change from time to time, and country to country, according to changing situations. But if Sanathana Dharma (the eternal Dharma) changes, humanity will cease to be human. Just as burning wood which loses its heat becomes a mere charcoal; likewise man remains truly human only as long as he adheres to the eternal Dharma which is represented by unity and purity of thought, word and deed.

30 November 2003

There is in everyone a spark of Truth; no one can live without that spark. There is in everyone a flame of Love; life becomes a dark void without it. That spark, that flame is God, for He is the source of all Truth and all Love. Man seeks the Truth; he seeks to know the reality because his very nature is derived from God who is Truth. He seeks Love, to give it and share it, for his nature is God and God is Love.

 

Online source: Radio Sai Global