Love is the royal road to reach God

Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba Divine Discourse
Sri Sathya Sai Panduranga Kshetra, Hadshi, Pune, 29 October 2009

Forbearance is the real beauty in this sacred land of Bharat (India).

The nectarine feeling in this country is the feeling of love towards one’s mother.

(Telugu poem)

Whatever you may have already learnt, there is still so much to be learnt in the sacred land of Bharat (India). The land of Bharat is pious, divine, glorious, and ever new. Anyone born in this holy land is a blessed one.

People are responsible for all their sufferings

What is the purpose of human birth? It is to experience the love of God. Only those who are recipients of God’s love can bring about transformation in the world. Society today is full of unrest and suffering. Wherever you look, there is nothing except sorrow. Many natural calamities like floods are causing great devastation. This is not something caused by God. Humanity itself is the cause of all this suffering. God always teaches the path of righteousness and not that of unrighteousness, injustice, and impropriety. The Vedas declare: “Speak truth, practise righteousness (Sathyam vada, dharmam chara).”

God is one, but, people call Him by different names like Rama, Krishna, Govinda, Narayana. It is only due to delusion that people observe differences in these names. You may call God by the name of Allah or Jesus, it is all the same. In fact, there is only oneness in this world. “One Atma dwells in all beings (Ekatma sarva bhutantaratma).” “Truth is one, but the wise refer to it by various names (Ekam sat viprah bahudha vadanti).” You yourself are the cause of all your delusion. You think that you are in the grip of sorrow, but this sorrow is of your own making; it is not given by God. Everything is the creation of your own thoughts; God is not responsible for it. Do not think that God is responsible for any of your sufferings. God gives only happiness.

God is the embodiment of eternal bliss, wisdom absolute, beyond the pair of opposites, expansive and pervasive like the sky, the goal indicated by the great aphorism “You are That”, one without a second, eternal, pure, unchanging, witness of all functions of the intellect, beyond all mental conditions, and the three attributes of purity, passion, and inertia (God is nityanandam, parama sukhadam, kevalam jnanamurtim, dwandwateetam, gagana sadrisham, thathwamasyadi lakshyam, ekam, nityam, vimalam, achalam, sarvadhee sakshibhutam, bhavateetam, and trigunarahitam).

If you enquire into the teachings of Vedanta, you will realise that God has nothing to do with your sufferings and difficulties. God always helps. Your thoughts are responsible for your happiness and sorrow. It is a great mistake to think that someone else is the cause of your difficulties and sufferings.

You should love all and serve all. Love is present not only in human beings, but also in birds and animals. All can experience love including birds, animals, and insects. Whomsoever you see, there is God in them in the form of Atma. If you hate someone, it amounts to hating God. Therefore, do not hate anyone. Do not be angry with anyone. If you hate someone, you are, in fact, hating yourself. Similarly, if you abuse someone, you are abusing yourself.

Every human being is a mirror. You see yourself in the mirror. There may be many mirrors, but, you see your own reflection in all of them. Everything is reaction, reflection, and resound. Do not think that someone else has abused you. It is only you who abuse yourself, but, today, people do not realise this truth. Develop the faith that God is present in the form of Atma in whomsoever you see. Therefore, it is not good to hate or ridicule anyone.

Love all. Love is the royal road to reach God. No other path except the path of love can take you to God. All spiritual aspirants who attained God could reach Him only through love.

Follow the path of love

Sakkubai always chanted ‘Ranga, Ranga, Ranga,’ but others made fun of her. Her mother-in-law and her husband subjected her to great ordeals. Ultimately, Lord Panduranga came to her help, and she was able to reach Pandharpur. Thus, she became a shining example of devotion and dedication for the entire world. That is why so many people came to see her. She never thought that Panduranga was separate from her. She contemplated on Panduranga in all the three states, viz. waking, dreaming, and deep sleep.

But modern people do not know who God is and where He is. In fact, God is present everywhere, wherever you see. Many people who earlier did not believe in God and even showed disrespect to the idols of gods have become devotees of Swami. Unknowingly people may commit mistakes, but once they realise their mistake, they will repent. Repentance is true atonement. It is God who pervades the entire world. Out of their ignorance, people may say many things about God. But once they realise the truth, they will know that God is one.

We see many poisonous creatures like snakes and scorpions. God has given them power only for their protection. When a scorpion bites, it has no intention to harm you. It bites you only out of its fear that you might harm it. Even a tiger in the forest will not harm you if you do not provoke it. It will pounce upon you only when you provoke it. In this manner, for everything there is reaction, reflection, and resound. Whatever you do, you are bound to reap its consequences. If you do something bad, you will receive only bad results. Do not think that God has given this bad result to you. On the other hand, if you do something good, you will have only good results. Man’s thoughts are responsible for his happiness and suffering. Therefore, have only good thoughts.

A human being should have human qualities. But, unfortunately, human values are not to be seen in people today. People behave like animals. Therefore, fault lies in people and not in anybody else. One should accept one’s own mistakes instead of finding fault in others. Today, there are few who do good. On the other hand, we find everywhere people indulging in bad deeds. Recently, there were severe floods in some parts of the country. Many people went to help the flood victims. But there were others who gave no help and at the same time criticised those who helped the people affected by floods. Many people criticised even devotees like Radha and Sakkubai, who always chanted the name of God. Ultimately, Krishna taught them a lesson. Therefore, never criticise anyone. If some people develop good thoughts, follow them and feel happy about it.

God is the ocean of bliss, but sometimes you unjustly criticise Him because of your own evil qualities. Whatever good or bad you get, it comes from you only and not from God. Therefore, try to correct yourself. First of all, you have to annihilate your ego. That means cutting of your little ‘I’, which makes the sacred symbol cross (†) worshipped by the Christians. You can realise your Self (Aham) only when you root out your ego. When you know yourself, you will know everything. People today try to know everything except the principle of Atma. One is able to fly in the sky and keep an account of the number of stars, but one is unable to do the ‘homework’ given by God to know oneself. One is following the evil path because one does not try to know one’s true Self.

Know thyself

God’s love is immanent in every being. You prepare a number of sweets like Mysore Pak, gulab jamoon, burfi, palkova, jilebi, etc. In all these, sugar is the same. Similarly, God permeates all beings. “Whomsoever you salute, it reaches God (Sarva jiva namaskaram Kesavam pratigachchati).” “Whomsoever you criticise, it reaches God (Sarva jiva tiraskaram Kesavam pratigachchati).” Everything happens by the will of God. One who understands this truth is a real human being.

What must you know today? You should know your mistakes and rectify them. That is enough. Help Ever, Hurt Never. You become a true human being when you know this truth. What does the term ‘human being’ mean? A human being is one with morality and character. When people adhere to the path of morality, they will have no suffering. It is only to teach such lessons to humans that God incarnates on earth.

One should know the unity in diversity. You may describe the glory of any name of God, but God is one. He is present in everyone as the Atma, which has no name and no form. The same Atma is present in all living beings. You see so many lights here. They appear to be different from each other but the electric current in all of them is the same. When you turn off the main switch, everything will become dark. Various names and forms such as Rama, Krishna, Govinda, Narayana are like the bulbs. The same divinity is present in all these names and forms.

First of all, understand the nature of your mind. You have to keep your mind under your control. Then everything will become good for you. What do the vedic mantras signify? They signify the oneness of the Atma. There is no greater spiritual practice than to realise the oneness of the Atma. This is the goal of all the spiritual practices like chanting, penance, and sacrifice. Therefore, develop faith in unity and not diversity. When you develop faith in unity, you will experience peace and happiness.

Know your real name

When you ask God, “Who are You?”, He will reply, “I am Atma.” He will not say, “I am Rama, I am Krishna, I am Venkateswara, I am Sai Baba.” God is only one. This is the eternal truth. He is the same in all the three periods of time — past, present, and future. The same divinity is present in the individual, society, creation, and Creator. Therefore, do not put your faith in diversity.

When you are in difficulty, you chant the name of Venkateswara, Rama, or Krishna, but you do not remember them when you have no difficulties. However, right from your birth, you chant the mantra, “Soham (I am God)” with each inhalation and exhalation. Ultimately, you should realise, “I am God.”

Your parents may have given you a certain name. If I ask, “Who are you?”, someone will say, “I am Ramaiah”, and someone else will say, “I am Krishnaiah.” These names are given to you by your parents and not by God. Soham, Soham, Soham (I am God, I am God, I am God.) This is the name given to you by God. This is the name given to everyone, whichever country or religion or community one may belong to. Those who realise this divine principle and act accordingly are truly blessed. You may attend any number of meetings and listen to a number of discourses, but what you have to ultimately know is only one thing and that is Self (Aham).

Many people try to describe the glory of Swami in many ways. But, it is all their delusion; they do not know My Reality. What is My name? It is not Sathya Sai Baba, though the world knows Me by this name. People should get rid of this delusion to know My Reality. Today, everybody is trying to realise the truth except the politicians. If only they would realise the truth, the entire nation would prosper. Politics is the cause of all the conflicts that we see today, everywhere. Politics has affected not only the general public but also the police, the army, and the entire administration. How many people are getting killed because of politics! Therefore, do not put your faith in politics and do not follow politics. Whosoever tells you something good, accept and follow. May all the beings of all the worlds be happy (Samasta lokah sukhino bhavantu)! This is My message.

All living beings should be happy. Wherefrom can you derive happiness? You can derive it only from the Atma. People want peace. But where is peace? Outside, you find only pieces. Peace is present only in love. If you develop love, you will have everything.

Very happy!