An
extract from a divine discourse by Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba on January 1,
2000.
Embodiments of Love!
God is the basis of everything. He is omnipotent, omniscient and pervades
all creation.
Just as without cotton, there can be no cloth, similarly, there can be no
world without God. Do not mistake this deha (transient body) as real. It
is the dehi (indwelling divinity) that is the true reality. This
divinity is beyond birth and death; the one without any beginning, middle or
end. This birthless, deathless God is the eternal witness of the entire cosmos.
Recognise
this truth.
Recognize That Human Birth Is A
Rare Occurrence
You are celebrating this day as the beginning
of the New Year. Do not consider that the New year is related only to the
Christians. Do not have any such narrow distinctions. Humanity in the whole
world is one. All men of all countries belong to one race, the race of
humanity. Keep this truth firmly in your heart. You must recognize that human
birth is a rare occurrence. Consider time as highly valuable. The heart must be
soft and the mind must be sweet. Human mind, which is supposed to be sweet, has
become highly poisonous today, because man is allowing it to indulge in sensual
pleasures, which are like deadly poison. Do not poison your nectarous mind by
associating it with the objects of your senses. By doing so, you are making
your soft heart also hard like stone. Do not waste time. Time is the very form
of God.
Hence, it is said in the Vedas:
Kalaya Namah, Kala Kalaya
Namah, Kala Darpa Damanaya Namah, Kalatheetaya Namah.
God is the master of time.
He transcends time. Therefore, have firm faith in God and not in your body. The
body is impermanent. It grows and declines with the passage of time.
Embodiments of Love!
You are considering this day as very sacred. “Yad Bhavam Tad Bhavati” (as you think so
you
become). In any event, the year is not bad in any sense. It will promote
very high ideals and propagate divine principles. It will foster the principle
of unity. In a very short time, all the people of the world are going to be
united. Today you consider America, Russia, Japan, China, Pakistan, and India
as separate from each other. Very soon there will be unity amongst all these countries.
Even those whom you consider as your worst enemies are going to become your
best friends.
You should not hate anybody. You are all brothers and sisters. In a short
time, you are all going to witness the “Brotherhood of Man and Fatherhood of
God.” With a pure heart, all of you should pray for this to happen at the
earliest.
There are many
people in the world in great distress. The people who have been recently
hijacked were under a severe strain. Prayer is the only remedy for the
alleviation of such misery. There is nothing in the world that cannot be
achieved by prayer. Prayer melts the hardest hearts. Pray wholeheartedly, “Loka
Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu” (May the whole world be happy). Do not pray only
for the welfare of your family, friends and relatives. Such narrow- minded
prayers are futile. Your prayers should be for the welfare of all people in all
the countries of the world.
Start A New Life With Ideals Of
Service And Love
Embodiments of Love!
The one principle that you have to uphold and develop is that of love.
When love dominates, there is no room for hatred. If there was no feeling of love
earlier, at least sow the seeds of love now.
You must sow the seed of love in loveless hearts. Water it with love. Let
love flow in a flood and reach all. You should cultivate this pure, steady,
unselfish love in this New Year. Modern man directs his love towards wordly
objects and gets entangled in several complications. “Love lives by giving and
forgiving, self lives by getting and forgetting.” Selfish love is like the foul
smell of fish. Cultivate selfless love. Love all. Let others feel and think as
they like. Do not bother about that. There is no need to fear anyone. Make your
love pure. Then the whole world will become pure.
Meet All Contingencies With Love
Many people are worrying and speculating as
to how the year will unfold. There will be no formidable difficulties. In this
world all things, good and bad, come and go. World devoid of happiness and
misery cannot exist. Nothing is bad for the world. Pleasure is an interval
between two pains. How can you feel pleasure if you have never felt pain? These
come and go like passing clouds. One should neither dread one nor crave for the
other. Meet all contingencies with love. Transform everything into love and
suffuse your lives with love. Then there shall be peace and stability in the
world. Why do you repeat the word “santhi” (peace) thrice? You pray that
you may have peace at all the three levels—physical, mental and spiritual—for
you are not one individual, but three—the one you think you are (physical
body), the one others think you are (mental body) and the one you really are (atma).
All three aspects of your being must be in a state of peace. This can be
achieved only through love. Swami Himself is the proof of this. Infinite love
is Swami’s only wealth. Who sent out invitations to this large congregation?
Your love toward Swami and Swami’s love towards all of you has attracted all of
you here.
Hence, convince yourself that everything can be achieved with love. The
evil traits of hatred, jealousy and pride should be cast aside. These are not human
qualities, but animal traits. You are a human being. Love is the chief quality
of man, truth is his basis and righteousness is his very life. The combination
of all these ensures peace. If you possess all these, peace is your property by
right. Give up selfishness and work for the unity of your country. Pray for the
welfare of all and lead an ideal life. Human life is not gifted to you to
hanker after worldly objects. You have to set an ideal to the world. What is
the ideal that you have to set? You must help all to your utmost capacity.
The best way to love God is to love all and
serve all.
Adopting service and love as your ideals, you must start a new life from
this moment—this is My blessing and benediction to you.
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