Having much education devoid of culture;

Does it acquire you any respect?

Intelligence sans morality;

Will it earn you any value on this earth?

If authority vested with powers crosses its limit:

Will people look up to you in respect?

Leaving out righteousness and charity;

Is it proper for a man to search for the path of Truth?

A childhood without the fear of sin,

Is a mistake;

Indeed it is a mistake at any age.

What else can I convey to you,

Pious and noble members of this gathering!

If you probe into the earth, you will observe the water table receding. When you look up at political scenario, you would see morality and integrity extinct. The teachers are removing themselves from the invaluable treasures of knowledge and intelligence. When you turn to humanity, you would notice that the human values have disappeared from it, totally. While the teachers of the ancient world were extolled as Tyagarajulu, Yogarajulu and Yatirajulu [ideals of sacrifice, spirituality and renunciation in history] the teachers of today have become bhogarajulu and kamarajulu (ideals for pleasure and desires).

Ancient culture is the manifestation of the eternal Truth: that which does not change with time, is unmoved and un-dissolved by calamities as well as undisclosed to the manifested world. Bharathiya dharma (the way of life of Bharath) is a reflection of this ancient culture. Having forgotten such eternal and truthful dharma, man wastes his precious life in the vain pursuit of ephemeral pleasures. Man is in no position to recognise his own value. He estimates himself in terms of dhana (wealth). Where then are the values? It appears that there is no place for values in human life. He dedicates his life to a selfish and worldly cause while shunning virtue and ignoring his strengths.

Since time immemorial Bharatiyulu (the people of Bharath) have expressed their spirituality. In turn earned and experienced Ananda (Bliss) and they have shared it with others. Man today is unable to comprehend such an eternal and truthful bliss. He would have earned and obtained everything in life but he is yet to experience Atmaananda (Atmic bliss). In fact, he has been gifted with human birth only to experience the Bliss of the Self. The word M-A-N is encrypted with this truth – overcoming the Maya (illusion), envisioning the Atma (Self) to attain Nirvana (liberation). But man does not recognise that his birth is meant to enquire into these three aspects.

The present day man ruins himself, getting carried away by prabhava (worldly affections), having forgotten his swabhava (true nature). The prabhava (worldly affections) can be credited to prarabdha (fate) and swabhava to the inner qualities of Truth, Righteousness, Peace and Love. Man’s true nature is to attain the four goals of life, viz., Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha (righteousness, wealth, desire and liberation). Today man has no desire for spiritual teachings. There are no divine feelings in his mind. In such a situation, how can he remain unaffected by prabhava? He has to transform prabhava into swabhava. His Swabhava is to annihilate prarabdha. Swa-bhava, which means Atmic feeling, is man’ s swabhava. Truth, Righteousness, Peace and Love constitute Atmic feelings.

Is there a need to search for them while they are his natural innate qualities? Man is influenced by prabhava, craving for name, fame, wealth and comforts, as he has forgotten his natural qualities. He is only interested in dhana (wealth), and not in guna (virtue). Is this the purpose of life? No doubt, money is a necessity, but, among the four purusharthas (objectives of life), money comes only after righteousness. It implies that money should be earned in a righteous manner. But today man resorts to unrighteous means to amass wealth.

Today you are being troubled by prarabdha as you have classified the objectives of human life into four: righteousness, wealth, desire and liberation. Club them together into two, viz., wealth earned in a righteous manner and desire for liberation. Only then will you be free from the influence of prarabdha. Your escape from prarabdha is difficult as you desire only the worldly and not liberation. Money is essential to carry on with your life, but it should be under certain limits. Man does not realise this. He is in mad pursuit of money till his last breath. Have you understood the meaning of the word MAN? You have to overcome Maya, understand the Atma and attain Nirvana. Man leads an un-sacred life, ignoring such an eternal truth.

Man aspires to attain bliss. What is the path to bliss? Can he attain bliss from material objects? No, not at all. The happiness related to the world is temporary. First and foremost, man needs to develop faith in the Self. You love your mother because you have the faith that she is your mother. The wife loves her husband because she has faith in him. So, where there is Faith, there is Love; where there is Love, there is Peace; where there is Peace, there is Truth; where there is Truth, there is God; where there is God, there is Bliss. You need not undertake any worship or ritual to attain peace. There are many who say that they are undertaking a particular ritual for world peace. It is but a mere stunt! You can never attain peace from rituals. Peace is contained in love. You can develop love only when you have faith in the Self. Today man has faith in the ephemeral and transient but not in God. His faith in God is not steady. He is filled with doubts. One should have total faith in God. One should believe only God and not the world because all that is seen in the world is bound to perish one day or the other. God alone can grant the true and eternal bliss and one who experiences it, is a true human being. When Buddha was about to attain Nirvana, his cousin Ananda, who was by his side at that time, started shedding tears. Buddha said to him, "O simpleton, why are you grieving over my attaining Nirvana? In fact, Nirvana is the true goal of human life. Overcome Maya, have the vision of the Atma and attain Nirvana." Ananda followed the teaching of Buddha and, ultimately, attained Nirvana.

What you need to do is not perform rituals like Yajnas and Yagas. First of all, you should understand the truth that the changeless and eternal Bliss is within you. It is described as, Nirgunam, Niranjanam, Sanathanam, Niketanam, Nitya, Suddha, Buddha, Mukta, Nirmala Swarupinam (attributeless, beyond delusion, ancient, final abode, eternal, pure, unsullied, immortal and free from bondage). The Vedas declare, ‘Sarvam Vishnumayam Jagat’ (the universe is saturated with Divinity), ‘Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma’ (verily all this is Brahman). In order to understand these divine statements, you should cultivate sacred qualities. One without noble qualities cannot understand them. Every individual, every living being, every object in this creation is a manifestation of Divinity. All the five elements are the forms of the Divine. To understand this truth, you have to take to the spiritual path.

You are making efforts to understand the human values, viz., Truth, Righteousness, Peace, Love and Non-violence. What is meant by Truth? It is that which is changeless. Sathyam Jnanam Anantham Brahma (Truth, Wisdom and Eternity is Brahma). It is a mistake to think that truth is related to speech alone. Trikala Baadyam Sathyam (Truth is that which remains changeless in all the three periods of time). So, Truth is God.

What is meant by Dharma (righteousness)? It does not mean actions of charity and rituals like Yajnas and Yagas. It does not mean good actions alone. Dharayati iti Dharma (that which sustains is Dharma). True Dharma is to put into practice the Truth that originates from the heart. When Truth is translated into action, it becomes Dharma. What is Santhi? It is the feeling one experiences at the time of attaining Nirvana (liberation). Peace is the crown that man should aspire to wear. Everybody wants peace in this world. Where is peace? It is within you. Keep reminding yourself, "I am the embodiment of Truth, I am the embodiment of Peace, I am the embodiment of Love, I am the embodiment of Righteousness. I arm everything." Have total faith in the principle of the Atma without which whatever you say or do cannot be called Truth or righteousness.

Yenta chaduvu chadavi ye neethi unnanu,

Heenudi gunambu maruva ledu.

Tarachu chaduvu chadavi tarka vaadame

Kaani poorna gnanambu eppudu pondaledu.

Chaduvu chadivi chadivi chavanga netiki;

Chaavu leni chaduvu chaduvavale.

 

What is the use of all the education man has acquired,

If he cannot give up his evil qualities?

All the worldly education will lead him only

To vain argumentation, not total wisdom.

It cannot lead him to immortality.

So, man should acquire that knowledge,

Which will make him immortal.

Today the education that students pursue is only worldly in nature. They study books, write examinations and get degrees. They do all this only for the sake of their livelihood. A foolish person boasts of his high education and intelligence, yet does not know his own self.

Man specialises in various subjects not for the welfare of the world, but for his own self-interest. If you sincerely want world peace, undertake sacred actions. Love your fellowmen. Make them happy. Human values are not mere verbal expressions. They originate from the heart. People are mistaken as they go only by the letter without understanding the spirit. First of all, develop faith that everything is within you. Without faith, human life will come to ruin.

There should be transformation at the three levels – individual, social and spiritual. This is what Sai is bringing about. The three letters in the word SAI stand for Spiritual Change, Association Change and Individual Change, respectively. SAI also denotes Service, Adoration and Illumination corresponding to work, worship and wisdom. You have to understand the inner meaning of every letter of this word SAI to sanctify your lives.

Today thousands of Bal Vikas Gurus have gathered here. Worldly education is essential but children should also be taught spiritual education right from a young age. In the conferences held elsewhere, you find an ocean of difference between the number of delegates who are supposed to participate and the number of people who actually take part in the deliberations. But our conference is unique in the sense that all the delegates attend it. Nobody gets up in the middle except a few who do so only out of physical constraints. You cannot find such conferences being held anywhere else in the world. Though I know everything, sometimes I watch the proceedings of the conference from behind the scene. All delegates attend the meeting with utmost sincerity and devotion. Such conferences should be held more frequently. Many more members should be trained and should be taught new procedures. Only then will the whole world benefit out of this.

Yesterday our Prime Minister Vajpayee sent a letter to me through Indulal Shah, "Swami, our government with all the power at our disposal cannot undertake such noble tasks. It is not possible for anybody close except You. Please take up more and more responsibilities and involve even the Government in this matter." They write such letters out of love, but we do not involve ourselves in the matters relating to Government because their temperament and influences do not match with our activities, experiences—and happiness. So, we take care of our activities without involving others. Many conferences are being held here, but do you find any collection of funds here? No. Each one is taking care of one’s own requirements. They come here wholeheartedly and enjoy the bliss. Such conferences should be held not once but thrice a year. Each time new delegates should be given a chance. You should be prepared to put any amount of effort for educational purposes.

Today students acquire various degrees. They become doctors and engineers, but they do not do the work that is expected of them. What is the use of their education? Can you call them educated at all? The modern field of education has become highly corrupted. Even those who cannot read a thermometer properly, manage to get a doctor’s degree these days! Even engineering education has become a sham. In our institutions, you may call even a first standard boy and ask him a question. He will give a correct answer. Our boys are well educated but they are not putting their knowledge into practice. They say, "Swami knows everything. Whatever He tells is good for me." When you believe that whatever Swami says is good for you, why don’t you follow His command? I do not want such people. One must practise what one says. You may be teachers, but you should be good students in the first instance. If a student takes to bad ways, he ruins himself, but if a teacher takes to evil ways, he spoils the lives of many students.

So, teachers have to be very careful. It is not enough if you merely give your attendance here and keep quiet. You should go outside and propagate all that you have seen and experienced here. You should be heroes in practice, not merely in platform speeches. Share the bliss that you have experienced here for the last three days. Talk less and work more. That is what I am precisely doing. For the last ten days, I have not been talking much to people. What is the reason? There may be a few narrow-minded people who might feel that Swami tells them to talk less, but He does not follow the same. That is why I am talking less now. I am doing so only to teach them. There is limitless bliss in limited talk. Bliss cannot be obtained from outside, it comes from within. The good or bad that you see in others is nothing but the reflection of your own inner feelings. Once you understand this truth, you will never talk bad about anybody. All that you experience in this world is nothing but the reflection, reaction and resound of your own feelings. So, you should be good to everybody and take him or her along with you with the spirit of love.

Take care that you do not forget your swabhava, which is the true purushartha (objective of life). Many speakers have taught you many things on the basis of their experiences. I have been hearing them. Try to understand their experiences, put their teachings into practice and teach the same to others. I tell you only one thing.

Having been born as human beings, you should overcome the Maya, have the vision of the Atma and attain Nirvana. This is the purpose of your life. Where is the Atma? It is your very form. You are not the physical body. The body is temporary; it is like a water bubble. Mind is like a mad monkey, do not follow the body, and do not follow the mind. Follow the conscience, which is your true form. How can you have the vision of the Atma? You need not search for it outside. Turn your vision inward. Only then can you have the vision of the Self.

A person remained silent though he was being criticised. When his friend wanted him to react, he replied, "The same Atma is present in me as well as in the person who is criticising. So, why should I be annoyed when he is criticising himself?" A deep enquiry will reveal that when you love or hate others, you love or hate your own self. In fact, there are no ‘others’. You consider yourself different from others because of body attachment. Once you give up body attachment, you will realise that there are no others and all are yours. That is the true vision of the Atma. The Atma does not have a specific form. Bliss is Atma, Consciousness is Atma. The ‘conscious’ is related to the senses; conscience is the inner witness and Consciousness is the all-pervasive Atma. You should understand the unity of these three. Take to the path of service. Then you can proceed along the path of adoration and ultimately attain illumination. To the extent possible, serve everybody. True happiness lies in service.

You may be disappointed that I have not spoken to you in the last two days, but I have been with you and listening to you all along. I am not angry with you, neither am I disgusted with you. But I am disappointed in the sense that you are not paying heed to my words. Then how can you come up in life? What is the use of my talking to you or moving closely with you? This is the reason I have not spoken to anybody. But some people are unable to understand this truth. How can the narrow-minded understand my broad feelings?

How can you attain God’ s grace? Here is a small example. You toiled hard, earned money and deposited it in a bank for safety and security. No doubt that the money belongs to you, but the bank manager will not give it to you on your mere asking for it. There are certain rules and regulations for the withdrawal of money from the bank. You can withdraw the money only when you sign the cheque and surrender it to the bank manager. Likewise, you have deposited the ‘ money’ of meritorious deeds with God, the Divine Bank Manager. Affix the signature of love on the cheque of sacrifice and surrender it to Him. Only then will He confer the wealth of His grace on you.