Sri Sathya Sai Baba Avatar    The Golden Age of Sai - Page 2 Compiled by Nirmal Vancouver: Nirmal, 1997 (Copyright declined. You are welcome to copy freely) 1st edition: 1996 2nd edition: 1997 1955 1955 - Baba's Mission In this avathar [Divine Incarnation], the wicked will not be destroyed; they will be corrected and reformed and educated and led back to the path from which they have strayed. (SSS, I, 22; from talk given Mahashivaratri, 1955.) 1955 - Follow My Advice You can get Anandam [Divine Bliss] only by following the advice I give you and that is why I am particular that you should listen carefully and take to heart all that I say. (SSS, I, 15; Mahashivaratri, 1955.) 1956 1956 - The Avatar's Mission When man loses his way and strays into the wilderness, believing that he is the body or gunas [illusory cosmic qualities] or the object, then the Avathar comes to warn and guide. (SSS, I, 25; from talk given August 1, 1956.) 1958 1958 - This Kali Yuga The present situation in the world is like a typhoon, causing unrest and confusion. No one has mental quiet; fear and anxiety stalk everywhere; panic reigns even while the conquest of space and the creation of new planets is being hailed. (SSS, I, 39; from a talk given Feb. 2, 1958.) Today, the typhoon of hatred and falsehood is scattering the clouds of Dharma [Righteousness], Nyaya [Philosophy] and Sathya [Truth] to the far corners of the sky and people feel that Sanathana Dharma [Hinduism in particular; the Ancient Wisdom in general] itself is in danger of extinction. But that can happen only if the lord wills, and the Lord who has laid down the Dharma [the Law or Order] will not allow it to be destroyed. (SSS, I, 51; March 24, 1958.) The World today is suffering from Rajobuddhi [restlessnes of mind] rather than Thamas [slothfulness]; people have violent likes and dislikes; they have become fanatical and factious, they are carried away by pomp and noise, show and propaganda; that is why discrimination has become necessary. To reach the goal, Sathwabuddhi [balance of mind] is essential; it will seek the Truth calmly and stick to it whatever the consequence. (SSS,I, 66; July 25, 1958.) 1958 - Baba's Mission Man ... has been forgetting the path prescribed in the Scriptures for the cultivation of his nature, and hence all this suffering: hence also My Advent. (SSS, I, 65; July 25, 1958.) Of course, I confer on you these boons of health and prosperity but only so that you might, with greater enthusiasm and with less interruption, proceed with spiritual Sadhana [practice]. (SSS, I, 66; July 25, 1958.) 1958 - The Lord is Omnipotent They feared that I may not be able to cross the floods and come south in time for this engagement. From the fact that I had permitted them to announce My arrival for this function, they could well have inferred that the floods would subside and that I would be in their midst, for once My Word goes forth, it must happen accordingly. Do not doubt it. (SSS, I, 94; Sept. 9, 1958.) Believe Me, nothing can hamper Me; My will must prevail. Those who spread stories that I was held up by the floods were ignorant of My Reality. Nothing can hold Me up or agitate Me or cast a shadow on Me in this Human Form; be certain of that. Not even a hair can be touched by forces of calumny or distrust or ignorance. My Sankalpa [Will] must prevail; My task must be accomplished. My Mission will succeed. I have come to illuminate the human heart with the Light Divine and to rid man of the delusion that drags him away from the path of Santhi [Peace], the perfect equanimity of Realisation. (SSS, I, 94-5; Sept. 9, 1958.) 1958 - The Lord is Inscrutable No one can understand my Mystery. The best you can do is to get immersed in it. It is no use your arguing about pros and cons; dive and know the depth; eat and know the taste. (SSS, I, 71; July 25, 1958.) 1958 - I Give You What You Ask For I am like a shopkeeper whose shop is stocked with all things man needs. But, like the man behind the counter, I give you only what you ask for; if the customer asks for a towel, how can I give him a dhoti [wearing cloth]? But these material things are not important at all. Ask for Bhakthi [Devotion]and for Jnana [Wisdom] and I shall be happy. Many do not crave for such things now; it is their misfortune. They are merely wasting their chance. (SSS, I, 54; March 24, 1958.)he Lord is the Kalpatharu, the Divine Tree that gives whatever is asked. But you have to go near the tree and ask for what you want. (SSS, I, 59; March 25, 1958.) Earn the right to approach the Lord without fear and the right to ask for your heritage. (SSS, I, 59; March 25, 1958.) 1958 - Love is the Wealth I have to Give You You can call me Premaswarupa [Embodiment of Divine Love]! You will not be wrong! Prema [divine love] is the wealth I have and which I scatter among the miserable and afflicted. (SSS, I, 63; July 22, 1958.) 1958 - What is Essential It is not even Bhakthi that is essential. It is Love, Truth, Virtue, the eagerness to progress, to serve, to expand one's heart, to take in the whole of humanity in one's Love, to see all as Forms of the Divine Consciousness. (SSS, I, 55; March 24, 1958.) Today, I am really full of joy for I have before me people who are engaged in hardy toil and who sacrifice their personal comforts in order to make others happy. What the world needs is work done in that spirit. (SSS, I, 83; Sept. 2, 1958.) 1958 - Attach Yourself to the Lord Attachment to nature has limits, but the attachment to the Lord that you develop when the Inner Eye opens has no limits. (SSS, I, 43; Feb. 2, 1958.) Attach your mind to the Lord. Then you will be led on to the company of good men and your talents will be transmuted. (SSS, I, 67; July 25, 1958.) 1958 - Begin Now You owe your birth to God, you subsist on God and you merge in God. Every living thing has to reach that consummation; why, every non-living thing too. So, do it now; take the first step, purify the heart, sharpen the intellect or at least, begin the recital of the name of the Lord. That will give you all the rest in due time. (SSS, I, 79; Sept. 2, 1958.) 1959 1959 - The Avatar's Mission It is to clear the path of spiritual progress of Man that the Avathar has come. The Asanthi in which man is immersed has to be curbed. ... All jivis must get Santhi and Santosha [??]; that is the mission on which the Lord comes again and again on this Earth. He selects a place full of Pavithratha or holiness, and divyathwam or divinity and takes on the human form, so that you may meet Him and talk, understand and appreciate, listen and follow, experience and benefit. The tragedy is that when Godhead is invisible, formless, you concretise it as you like and pray to it and get consolation and strength out of it; but when it is before you, concretised in human form, you doubt and discuss and deny! (SSS, I, 127; from talk given July 10, 1959.) The Lord had announced that he would come down for the restoration of Dharma and that He would assume human form so that He might gather round Him and feel the thrill of His Companionship and Conversation. And the Lord has Come, as announced. (SSS, I, 150; Jan. 22, 1960.) 1959 - The Lord is Inscrutable You need not waste time in trying to discover Me and My Nature. Understand what I teach, not 'who is the teacher' for I am beyond your intellect and your sakthi. You will understand Me only through My work. That is why sometimes in order to reveal who I am, I myself show you my 'Visiting Card', something you call a Miracle. Know the 'marma' or the mystery and carry out the karma or the duty I assign you. (SSS, I, 114; February 2, 1959.) 1959 - How Best to Use the Avatar You must dive deep into the sea to get the pearls. ... So also if you must realise the full fruit of this Avathar, dive deep and get immersed in Sai Baba. Half-heartedness, hesitation, doubt, cynicism, listening to tales, all are of no avail. Concentrated complete faith - that alone can bring victory. This is true of any worldly activity, is it not? How much more true it must be, therefore, in the spiritual field? (SSS, I, 128; July 10, 1959.) 1959 - The Past and Future of India The science of spiritual culture and of the control of the mind has been developed and practised in this country for thousands of years; and that is why Indian civilisation has stood the shock of ages and the fury of typhoons that swept whole peoples off their feet. India is still green and fresh, on the threshold of a new era, under the leadership of her on ancient ideals. (SSS, I, 135; July 11, 1959.) 1959 - The Next Generation In the next fifteen years, a number of young people now growing up will shine as devoted aspirants in the spiritual field; they know that each of them is Nithyam [Eternal] and Sathyam [Truthful] and Pavithram [Holy] and that they are Amrithaputhras or children of immortality. They are growing in Viveka [Discernment] and Vairagya [Renunciation] and they are purifying themselves by Namasmarana [repetition of the Name of God]. (SSS, I, 114; Feb. 7, 1959.) 1959 - Let There be Consistency in Thought, Word and Deed You who shared in this glorification of the Lord will tomorrow as enthusiastically join in some other gathering where falsehood and injustice are honoured! There is no consistency in your behaviour. What you feel as correct and what you do are poles apart. That is not the mark of a Bhaktha [devotee]. (SSS, I, 124; April 12, 1959.) Karma [action] is the very foundation of Bhakthi [devotion]. It is the basement on which devotion is built. Dharma is the attitude in which action is done, the Truth, Prema and Equanimity with which the mind is activated, when it seeks to do things. ... Those dominated by Sathwaguna [the quality of balance, goodness, or purity] will do Karma, regardless of the fruits thereof, leaving the result to the Lord, not worrying whether it leads to success or failure, conscious of their duties and never of their rights. (SSS, I, 125; April 12, 1959.) 1959 - Give up the Pursuit of Wealth The Jivi [individual soul] has come to this birth in order to reveal the splendour of the spark of Godhead which it is. The body is the wick of the lamp, yearning for God is the ghee which feeds the flame. But like the rat which, attracted by the strong smelling cheap stuff inside the trap, neglects all other articles of food in the granary and falls a prey to its foolishness, man too neglects his real sustenance and wastes his life in pursuit of mortal riches. (SSS, I, 125; April 12, 1959.) 1959 - Liberation does not Come at a Single Jump The sensory world is the cloud that hides the Atma [Self], ever shining in the firmament of your heart. ... Train the mind to disperse the clouds, not to gather them. Every aspirant has to do this by following a systematic discipline. You cannot reach the peak in one jump; it is a hard job to negate the evidence of the senses; one has to overcome the tendencies that have grown through hundreds of births. (SSS, I, 121; April 12, 1959.) 1960 1960 - Baba's Mission I have come to set the world right and so I have to collect all those who are ill and treat them in my 'Hospital' and restore them to sanity, strength and wisdom and send them back to their stations in life. I must intensify your bhakthi, reinforce your faith and rebuild the foundations of your moral nature, so that you can counter temptations with greater confidence. (SSS, I, 183; Sept. 28, 1960.) All these [spiritual treasures] are now fast declining and I have come to restore them to their pristine purity and strength. (SSS, I, 175; Sept. 27, 1960.) My Mission is to give you Ananda [Divine Bliss] and I am ever ready to do so. (SSS, I, 155; from talk given June 25, 1960.) Showering Ananda, that is My task. (SSS, I, 180; Sept. 28, 1960.) You are My treasure; even if you deny Me. I am your treasure, even if you say No. I shall be affectionate to you and attach Myself to you; I shall take all the trouble to keep My property safe in My custody! That is to say, in the custody of the Lord, by whichever name you may be calling upon Him. All the powers I have are for you; I am just the store-keeper, keeping them ready to be given to you, whenever you ask for them. My Prema [Divine Love] shall [I] give even if you do not ask, for it is your right to share in it. (SSS, I, 182; Sept. 28, 1960.) 1960 - The Lord is Inscrutable No one can unravel the Mystery of the Lord. (SSS, I, 175; Sept. 27, 1960.) You cannot understand Me and My Secret ... without first understanding yourselves. For, if you are too weak to grasp your own Reality, how can you hope to fathom the much grander Reality of My Advent? To grasp My Meaning, you have to tear into tatters the doubts and theories you now have and cultivate Prema; for the embodiment of Prema can be understood only through Prema. (SSS, I, Jan. 22, 1960.) I have no ... balance of karma to work out! I am unaffected by karma.... The Mahasakthi [Divine Energy] puts on the cloak of Mayasakthi [illusory energy and its forms] in order to fulfil the purpose of contacting and protecting mankind. I have no desire and so, no binding karma. It is only you who have the desire, aim and wish that drag you along various paths. For Me, your Ananda is My Food, your elation is the swing on which I sit. Your activity is My Playground. (SSS, I, 179; Sept. 28, 1960.) 1960 - The Lord is Unchanging The Lord will never undergo a fundamental change; only the external form may change, the essence will be the same. ... The Lord will be characterised by unbounded Prema and unsullied sweetness. (SSS, I, 180;Sept. 28, 1960.) 1960 - My Will Must Succeed [The superpower] will never engage Itself in any task without fruit. (SSS, I, 180;Sept. 28, 1960.) There is no one who can change My course or affect My conduct to the slightest extent. I am the Master over all. (SSS, I, 182; Sept. 28, 1960.) I will be in this mortal form for 59 years more and I shall certainly achieve the purpose of this Avathar, do not doubt it. I will take My own Time to carry out My Plan so far as you are concerned. I cannot hurry because you are hurrying. I may sometimes wait until I can achieve ten things at one stroke.... But My Word will never fail; it must happen as I Will. (SSS, I, 189; Sept. 29, 1960.) 1960 - The World is My Mansion Suffering in one corner of the world is as much the concern of the Lord as suffering in any other. ... The world is a Temple; the temple of the Lord, His body where He resides. (SSS, I, 156; June 25, 1960.) 1960 - I Speak with the Authority of Love I am not commanding you today on the basis of my authority; I am telling you out of the fullness of Prema, on the basis of the right I have to chastise you and direct you along the path. (SSS, I, 152; Jan. 22, 1960.) I have not come for propaganda or publicity or gaining disciples or devotees. I am yours and you are Mine. Where then is the need for publicity? I give not lectures but mixtures for your mental health and moral re-invigoration. So take My words as medicine necessary for your health. (SSS, I, 159; June 25, 1960.) 1960 - I Want no Praise I do not want you to extol Me; I shall be satisfied if you rely on Me. (SSS, I, 180;Sept. 28, 1960.) 1960 - Only He Knows What is Ahead The Lord alone is aware of the Plan, for His is the Plan. You see only a part of the play on the stage and so it is all very confused. When the entire story is unfolded, then you will appreciate His Plan, not until then. (SSS, I, 181; Sept. 28, 1960.) 1960 - Our Role If by acting your role well you develop Prema [Divine Love] towards fellow-actors, that is more important than getting Bhakthi [Devotion] for God. If you acquire Santhi [Peace], that is a more valuable success than acquiring Jnana [Wisdom]. For Bhakthi is the seed of Prema and Jnana is the seed of Santhi. At least, Bhakthas should behave as if they are all of one family. (SSS, I, 181; Sept. 28, 1960.) Let each one march at his own pace; only the direction and the road have to be God-wards. (SSS, I, 183; Sept. 28, 1960.) 1960 - Don't Miss This Opportunity I must tell you that you are luckier than men of previous generations. The accumulated merit of many previous births must have granted you this luck. You have got Me and it is your duty now to develop this relationship that you have achieved by sheer good fortune. In four or five years' time, you will see Yogis [those who are united with God] and Maharishis [great seers] and Munis [silent sages] crowding here and you may not have such chances of asking Me questions and getting the answers, of approaching Me and directly speaking to Me. (SSS, I, 174-5; Sept. 27, 1960.) I have now fallen into your grasp, the very Treasure that you have been searching for. (SSS, I, 186; Sept. 29, 1960.) The mysterious indescribable superpower has come within reach. ... I bring tears of joy into your eyes and wipe the tears of grief. ... I make [people] mad about God and about the Sadhana [spiritual practise] needed [to reach Him]. I cure the madness which makes people run frantically after fleeting pleasures and fall into fits of joy and grief.(SSS, I, 180;Sept. 28, 1960.) You must know how to use the chance that you have got in this life to come in contact with the Lord. ... How you use this chance depends upon your destiny and luck and the amount of Grace that you are able to win. Develop faith; strengthen devotion; and everything will follow. ... I command you: never hate others, or wish evil of them or talk ill of them. Then only can you attain the Santhaswarupam [??]. (SSS, I, 181; Sept. 28, 1960.) 1960 - The Way is Long To reach the [final] stage..., you have got to go a long way. But do not be down-hearted.... I am here ready to help you from the first lesson to the last. Do not be weighed down by sorrow that your Prarabdha karma is against your progress. The accumulation of the effects of your past karma is sanchitha and out of that store what you have selected for present consumption can be made sweet, palatable and health-giving. Moreover, God's Grace can destroy the effects of past karma or modify its rigour. Never doubt that. If the law of Karma is so unbreakable, then why recommend Sadhana, good living and cultivation of virtue? Prarabdha [karmic consequences that one is currently encountering] will melt like mist before the Sun if you win the Grace of the Lord! ( SSS, I, 196; Sept. 30, 1960.) 1966 1966 - Baba Refuses Audience to Advanced Sadhakas [Swami Maheshwaranand:] Bhagavan Baba is not allowing the Rishis [divine seers] and Siddhas [those with yogic powers] to meet him. But the time is not far off when all [the] ill take human forms and ... go to Puttaparthi along with [the] Rishis and Munis to offer their prayerful salutations to the Lord and seek His blessings. Twenty years ago [ie., 1966] ... the Lord was having breakfast with some close devotees. They proposed to Bhagavan [i.e., the Lord], "Swami! Your leelas and miracles are the talk of every home in almost all the major countries of the world. As such we want to organise a conference of all spiritual seekers at the international level and declare from that forum that God, the Creator of this Universe, has already come down to earth. By so doing the entire humanity will get the benefit of the Lord's presence." Bhagavan Baba listened to them with a smile and spoke compassionately, "Your feelings for your fellow beings are commendable and I respect them. But that time is still far off. Prior to that I have to bring such persons near me, who, in their previous lives, have been incessantly and untiringly trying to get access to me through their severe sadhana. A time will come when the world will know about the Avatar through public declaration. All the same impelled by a sense of duty if you wish to bring this truth to the knowledge of your fellow devotees and friends, you may do so on a personal level." (SSBNNGA, 1990, book written in 1986, 38.) 1968 1968 - Kali Yuga At the present time, strife and discord have robbed peace and unity from the family, the school, the society, the religions, the cities and the state. (Baba in 1968 in HMAP, 1975, 86.) Respect for spiritual institutions, temples, holy places, elders and sacred books is fast declining. Pride in material wealth and competition in acquiring it, are fast increasing. This is the tragedy of our times. (SSS, VI, 169; from talk given March 26, 1 968.) Man's mind is too full of the world; his stomach is demanding too much of his time and energy. His desires and wants are multiplying too fast for his capacity to satisfy them; his dreams are far too real for him; they lead him into false victories and absurd adventures. Engrossed in the analysis of the material world, he has lost all sense of sin, sweetness and sublimity; under this new dispensation, truth has become just a word in the dictionary. Compassion is reduced to a meaningless travesty. Humility, patience, reverence -- these are invalid as a flameless lamp in the far distance. The only hold that man has in this dreadful darkness is the name of God. That is the raft which will take him across this stormy sea, darkened by hate and fear, churned by anxiety and terror. (SSS, VI, 163; Feb. 26, 1968.) 1968 - Baba's Mission God incarnates for the revival of Dharma (Righteousness) which includes morality, truth, virtue, love and a host of other qualities that uphold the communities of man as well as the individual. The other purposes usually give -- serving the devoted, destroying the wicked, re-establishing the sacred tradition -- these are all secondary. For, he who is righteous will be guarded from harm, by righteousness itself; he who is unrighteous will fall into disaster through the evil that he perpetrates. The one task includes all else. I shall fulfil that task, whatever the comments that others may make. Comment is a natural corollary. I do not pay attention to it; nor should you. The higher the hill, the deeper the valley. Praise or blame will not affect me in the least. The unshakeable foundation on which my work is proceeding is Ananda. I cannot be moved from it, by any one, at any time. (SSS, VI, 167; from talk given Feb. 26, 1968.) For the protection of the virtuous, for the destruction of evil-doers and for establishing righteousness on a firm footing, I incarnate from age to age. Whenever asanthi, or disharmony, overwhelms the world, the Lord will incarnate in human form to establish the modes of earning prasanthi, or peace, and to reeducate the human community in the paths of peace. (Baba in 1968 in HMAP, 1975, 86.) I have come to correct the buddhi, the intelligence, by various means. I have to counsel, help, command, condemn and stand by as a friend and well-wisher to all, so that they may give up evil propensities and, recognizing the straight mark, tread it and reach the goal. (Baba in 1968 in HMAP, 1975, 87.) I have come to give you the key to the treasure of ananda, or bliss, to teach you how to tap that spring, for you have forgotten the way to blessedness. If you waste this time of saving yourselves, it is just your fate. You have come to get from me tinsel and trash, the petty little cures and promotions, worldly joys and comforts. Very few of you desire to get from me the thing that I have come to give you: namely, liberation itself. Even among these few, those who stick to the path of sadhana, or spiritual practice, and succeed are a handful. (Baba in 1968 in HMAP, 1975, 88.) 1968 - Who Can be Called a Devotee? You can lay claim to be a devotee only when you have placed yourself in my hands fully and completely with no trace of ego. (Baba in 1968 in HMAP, 1975, 86.) 1968 - Baba's Promise Cultivate a nearness with me in the heart and it will be rewarded. Then you too will acquire a fraction of that supreme love (Baba in 1968 in HMAP, 1975, 91.). You can enjoy the bliss through the experience the Avatar confers. (Baba in 1968 in HMAP, 1975, 86.) 1968 - The West Misleads Itself In western countries now, God is denied, and man is relying on himself; he exaggerates his own intelligence and sense of adventure and prides himself on the advance he has made through science and technology. But, intelligence without equanimity is filling mental hospitals. Peace is fleeing from the hearts of men and women; social harmony is becoming a distant dream; international concord is a mirage, pursued by a few. Man travels to the moon, but does not explore his own inner levels of consciousness. ( SSS, VII, March 16, 1968, 12.) 1968 - When Changes will Start [Dr. John Hislop:] According to the astrology of ancient times, the change in world conditions to be brought about by Swami's influence will come in about 15 years [this conversation was in December, 1968]. This was predicted about 5,600 years ago in the Upanishads. The coming of Baba, the Sai Avatar, which includes the three incarnations, is all forecast quite clearly. People born in this generation may consider themselves quite fortunate. (CSSB, 1978, 101. The 1985 change is the beginning of the "Great Awakening," mentioned below; the beginning of the Golden Age is said to occur around 1998-2000.) 1968 - Be Confident that You will All be Liberated This is a great chance. Be confident that you will all be liberated. Know that you are saved. Many hesitate to believe that things will improve, that life will be happy for all and full of joy, and that the golden age will recur. Let me assure you that this dharmaswarupa, that this divine body, has not come in vain. It will succeed in averting the crisis that has come upon humanity. (Baba in 1968 in HMAP, 1975, 91.) Next: Page 3 of Sathya Sai Baba's teachings about "The Golden Age of Sai" CLICK HERE!