<!--// ********************************************************// To Use this Script, simply change the quotes below // That's all there is; no code to change.// NOTE: use a \ before any ' or " characters that are inside//       your quotes// ********************************************************var quote = new Array(  // **************************************  // Place Quotes Here, Separated by Commas  // ************************************** //"Today is January 1 2012 <BR><BR> THE Ramayana is a guide-book, a sacred text, an inspiring scripture for every man in all lands, whatever his creed or condition might be. It imparts poise, balance, equanimity, inner strength and peace. Peace is the best treasure, without it power, authority, fame and fortune are all dry and burdensome. Thyagaraja has sung that there can be no happiness without inner peace.", "Today is January 2 2012 <BR><BR> WHY is it that the world reveres Rama and revolts at Ravana? Rama is not the uncle's son or Ravana the step-mother's child! It is the kinship of the spirit, innate goodness, responding lovingly, adoringly to the goodness in Rama; and reacting revoltingly to the wickedness of Ravana. It is not enough, nor is it essential that you should repeat the name of Rama loudly; respect it in the fullness of love and admiration. If you have no spring of love in you, dig into your heart with external instruments like Puja, Stotra, etc. and it will start to flow.","Today is January 3 2012 <BR><BR> VIBHISHANA, Ravana's own brother, chastised him for his willfulness and lust and urged him to save himself, his kingdom and his kith and kin by restoring Sitha unharmed to her Lord. When Vibhishana went over to Rama, Rama knew that he had a pure heart and that he could not survive the poisonous atmosphere of Lanka. So He took him and saved him. The Lord likes to be called 'Aarthathraana-paraayana' more than any other name, for He is most happy when He rescues those in agony.","Today is January 4 2012 <BR><BR> YOU talk glibly of Ramarajya, but how can it be established if you do not emulate Rama? He was 'Vignahavaan Dharmah', the very Embodiment of Dharma. He never deviated from it. Dasaratha means one who is master of the ten Senses, the five Karmendriyas and the five Jnanendriyas; that is to say, the successful Sadhaka. Such a person can have the holy progeny of the four Purusharthas-Dharma (Rama), Artha (Lakshmana), Kama (Bharatha) and Moksha (Sathrughna). Become a Dasaratha and save that holy progeny as a gift from God.","Today is January 5 2012 <BR><BR> HANUMAN succeeded in coordinating his thought, word and act. Therefore he had the unique distinction of being great in physical strength, mental stability and virtuous character. He shines as an invaluable gem among the personalities of the Ramayana. He was also a great scholar, who had mastered, of all things, the six schools of grammar. He knew the four Vedas and the six Sastras. The Gita says that a scholar is one who sees the same Divine force motivating everyone. 'Pandithaha Samadarsinha'. Hanuman was a good example of this outlook.","Today is January 6 2012 <BR><BR> HANUMAN spoke to the brothers in sweet, gentle and pleasing words. Rama was struck by the grammatical accuracy of his sentences. They readily answered all his queries; and Hanuman was satisfied with their bona fides. He offered to take them to his Master and Monarch. The Dharsan (sight) and first Mana of Rama had removed all his sins; their Sparsan (touch) burnt away all the consequences of his deeds in previous lives; and their Sambhashan (conversation) filled his mind with joy. That is the experience of all who welcome the impact of Divinity.","Today is January 7 2012 <BR><BR> HANUMAN became the messenger of Rama. There are three classes of messengers: those who do not understand the orders of the Master or do not care to understand and who operate to the detriment of the work assigned them; those who do only just as much as the order literally communicates; and those who grasp the purpose and significance of the orders and carry them out unflinchingly until the purpose is achieved. Hanuman belonged to the last category.","Today is January 8 2012 <BR><BR> YOU find some one parades all of a sudden some -ism- as new and revolutionary socialism, for example. Socialism, which means, recognising the equality of every individual with every one else was in fact practiced in India long ago. Rama, undisputed Sovereign of a vast Empire, gave heed to the flippant scandal uttered by an irresponsible laundry-man during a quarrel with his wife, and sent his Queen, the very dear person for whom had waged a war of tremendous carnage, into exile, regardless of the fact that she was pregnant at the time. Every one's voice was given equal weight in the empire ruled over by Rama.","Today is January 9 2012 <BR><BR> THE vanaras, while building the bridge across the ocean, carried huge boulders on their heads repeating Rama-nama all the while; and that made the rocks weigh less. It is even said that they wrote the name on the stones and that made them float. Each time they handled or lifted a stone, they sang Rama-nama in unison and so they were a happy lot doing Puja, not work, which is unpleasant. Rama's Grace helped all to overcome obstacles. Take the name and make your work light: that is My advice to you.","Today is January 10 2012 <BR><BR> I INSIST on your seeking and remaining in good company, Sathsangha. Being in the midst of such spiritual heroes, you can fight against evil with a greater chance of success. Once, when Garuda the sworn enemy of snakes went to Kailas, he saw the snakes that Siva wore round His neck, His arms, His waist, and His Feet. The snakes were safe now and they hissed with their puffed hoods at the celestial bird which could not do them any harm since they were in such Divine Company. Garuda said: 'Well! Glide down from the Body and I shall kill everyone of you'! That is the value of the Sath one has reached. Sathsangha is valuable, for it is like keeping a pot of water inside a tank of water; there will not be any loss through evaporation.","Today is January 11 2012 <BR><BR> PRIDE is one of the worst sins in the spiritual field. If you feel conceited that you are Bhaktha of Hare, He will 'hare' (destroy, in Telugu) you. Remember, Sarangathi should be like the attitude of Lakshmana. Rama said: 'Take Sita and leave her in the forest'. Implicit obedience! There is no other way. That is Lakshmana. That is Sarangathi; the rest are deserving, only of 'Sarangathi', the arrow of Rama.","Today is January 12 2012 <BR><BR> WHEN the queen Kaikeyi persuaded her husband to agree to her two requests - enthroning her son Baratha as the Crown Prince and sending the legitimate heir, Rama, into exile for fourteen years - Lakshmana, another brother of Rama and Bharatha, did not acquiesce tamely. He argued that man must meet every little crisis with courage and self-reliance and that he should not yield craven-like to the machinations of intrigue. He boasted that his arrow can avert the crisis. But the arrow is an inferior weapon, even a negligible weapon when compared with the efficiency of Love. Rama heard him coolly and advised him to desist from that hasty Karma, 'Dharma must guide Karma'; then alone can it be praise-worthy and successful.","Today is January 13 2012 <BR><BR> THE path of spiritual discipline, which is most beneficial to man, is laid down in a simple and sweet manner in the great Scriptures of Ancient India. They explain, through example and precept, the Divine Principle inherent in the Universe and inspire mankind to gaze with awe and reverence at the handiwork of God and His inscrutable Lila (transcendental game). They prompt man to march along the pilgrim road of sacrifice in the happy company of Sages, so that the body feels the vision of the Eternal which can be gained and enshrined in the heart for ever.","Today is January 14 2012 <BR><BR> WHEN Sri Rama decided to end His Avatar career and walked into the flooded Sarayu river, a dog too followed the concourse. When asked why it had attached itself to the entourage, it said, 'I desire to enter Heaven with you all. I was in my previous life a full-fledged Yogi; but I slipped and fell from the straight path of self control. I became the slave of conceit. I expounded the Vedas as my fancy dictated, in strange but attractive ways. So, I have now become this animal that takes delight in barking, biting and baying. The persons who encouraged me then by praise are now the fleas and the flies that crowd on my skin and pester me. Help me, Lord, to escape from the disgrace. I have worked my Karma; I have lived out my sentence'.","Today is January 15 2012 <BR><BR> WHEN Rama is installed in the heart, every thing will be added unto you - fame, fortune, freedom, fullness. Hanuman was a mere monkey-leader until he met Rama. He was a Minister in the Court of his Master. But when Rama gave him the commission to seek Sita, that is to say, when Rama was installed in his heart as Guide and Guardian, Hanuman became immortal.","Today is January 16 2012 <BR><BR> DASA means 'ten' and Ratha means 'Chariot'. Hence Dasaratha (the father of Rama) in fact symbolises 'man' who operates with his ten sense-organs such as the eyes, the ears, the nose etc. His three wives symbolize man's three Gunas (attributes) and his four sons, the four Purusharthas (purposes). Lakshmana also represents the Buddhi (Intellect) of Rama. Hanuman is the mind, the repository of courage, while Sugriva stands for Discrimination. With these to help him, Rama succeeds in finding Sita, the lost Truth. This is the lesson of the Ramayana to everyone.","Today is January 17 2012 <BR><BR> THERE are many who spend much time in mechanically reciting the name 'Rama' or systematically reading the Ramayana according to a fixed time-table, or who worship the images of Rama, Sita, Lakshmana and Hanuman as a daily ritual, with noisy pomp and pedantry; but like a person who puts a foot forward only to draw it back again, these persons do not progress at all as the years elapse. Without gaining purity of thought and intention, compassion and the urge to serve, these outward expressions and exhibitions are but ways of cheating yourself for having society applaud you as a great devotee. Your sight must become an insight; it must be turned within and used to purify and clarify your mind.","Today is January 18 2012 <BR><BR> The more riches you accumulate the more bound you become and get into more worry, anxiety and fear. There can be no peace of mind for a person burdened by riches. People ignorantly seek this restlessness (ashaanthi) as they do not know where to acquire true peace (shanthi). An educated person must have the virtue of shanthi as the first qualification. This implies, not being affected by praise or blame, failure or success. It is the ego that makes one feel glad or sad. Therefore control the ego by extending love to every living being. Ego is lovelessness. A person afflicted with ego cannot rejoice when others are happy, and feel pained when others are miserable. Only a selfless and egoless person can share the happiness of others and take positive steps to alleviate others misery. God will ever be on the side of selfless persons and there is nothing that they cannot achieve - Baba.","Today is January 19 2012 <BR><BR> HANUMAN was ordered to discover the whereabouts of Sita and he implicitly, without question, obeyed and succeeded. He did not calculate the dangers of the journey and hesitate; and he did not feel proud that he was chosen for the high adventure. He listened; he understood; he obeyed; and he won. The name Ramadutha, Messenger and Servant of Rama, that he earned thereby has made him immortal. You must earn the name, Sai Rama Dutha. Have fortitude and self-control; use good and sweet-words; and examine each act of yours on the touch-stone of My preference.","Today is January 20 2012 <BR><BR> THE toughest fiber is anger. It is the stickiest dirt. When you get angry, you forget mother, father and teacher; you descend to the lowest depths. You lose all discrimination in the excitement; even Hanumantha set fire to the whole of Lanka when he was incensed by the Rakshasas who set fire to the tip of his tail; and he lost sight of the fact that Sita was in the Asoka Vana. It was only after he had exulted in achievement for a little while that he remembered it and then he started condemning himself for his anger.","Today is January 21 2012 <BR><BR> RAMA is extolled as the ideal son who acted according to his father's wish regardless of his own happiness. But Bhishma is a better example in this respect. He acceded to a whim of his father and in so doing made even a greater sacrifice than Rama. Dasaratha made Rama an exile in the forest for fourteen years to satisfy the claims of Truth, while Santhanu made his son give up the throne as well as a wedded life to satisfy a sensual desire of his senile body. As a matter of fact, it is not the obedience to the father's whim that is important; it is the adherence to Sathaya and Dharma, which is Rama's forte.","Today is January 22 2012 <BR><BR> RAMANAMA Feast is cloying to some tastes, but it is something ever fresh, that gives undying sweetness to the heart that is filled with the love of God. One single name will yield fresh sweetness and fresh joy every time it is rolled on the tongue. I have to tell you the things I have told you often before; for until digestion is well established, medicine has to be taken. The face has to be washed day after day. One meal is not the end of the story; you have to eat, again and again.","Today is January 23 2012 <BR><BR> RAMATATWA is known only to Rama. What can the rest know? At best, they can have but a glimpse of Rama's grace; and even then, only if they are immersed in intense inner prayer for God. Think of Him. Call out for Him; He melts. Whatever form He may be shining in, that intensity will make you recognise Him. He may be a cowherd boy, standing under a tree with a flute at His lips. You will see Him and adore Him and place Him in your heart. You extol the Lord as Love, Mercy and Grace.","Today is January 24 2012 <BR><BR> EVERY step in the career of the Avatars is fire-determined; Rama knew that the coming of Surpanaka was the prelude to the coming of Ravana. He had asked Sita to enter the fire and remain in it as just an outer manifestation. Even before the human manifestation, the Lord had decided that the Shakti must also accompany Him. Ravana's tapas were so strong that only a major sin could make the blessings he had won from the Gods null and void.","Today is January 25 2012 <BR><BR> DO not ask God for anything. Let Him deal with you as He wills. Did Jataya ask that Rama should come to him and perform the last rights? Did Sabhari plead with Rama? Earn the qualifications - holiness, purity faith and universal love - then He will approach you on foot, to console, comfort and save. If you have purity of heart and mastery over the senses, His Grace is your right.","Today is January 26 2012 <BR><BR> EGO plays all kinds of tricks in order to get unholy pleasure. During the construction of the bridge to Lanka to take the army across, Hanuman heaved a boulder on the raging waves of the sea as part of the bridge! It floated. Rama heaved another; it sank. Hanuman's ego was tickled, naturally. He laughed in derision; at that very moment, his boulder sank! And the boulder that Rama had thrown rose from the bottom of the sea and floated! Hanuman's ego was pricked into nothing. That was the purpose for which Rama had willed that His boulder should sink.","Today is January 27 2012 <BR><BR> RAMA Nama will save you, if you have at least the Pithru Bakthi and Mathru Bakthi that Rama had. If not, Rama Nama is merely a movement of the lips. Meditate on the Ramaswarupa, the Ramaswabhawa, when you recite or write Rama Nama. That will give exercise to the mind; and it will be made healthy and strong in the spiritual sense. Make the Dharmaswarupa your Atma Rama on the Janmadina of Rama. That is My advice and My Blessing.","Today is January 28 2012 <BR><BR> MAKARA Sankaranthi is a holy day because the day takes you from darkness to increasing light. From today, the sun enters upon the Uttarayana taking a northward direction for six months. When your Drishti (Sight) is on BRAHMAN and when you have Uttamaguna it is Uttarayana, and when your Drishti is on Prakriti it is Dakshinayana. When you have fever, the tongue will be bitter. The bitter tongue is 'Dhakshinayana'. When you are healthy, your sweet tongue tastes well, it is Uttarayana. The real Uttarayana is when you crave for the thought of the Lord and the company of the Godly. Bhishma spent days in bed with pain, as he felt death, when the sun starts towards north is auspicious. Bhishma yearned for the vision of Krishna in Uttarayana. Become fit for the vision of God, cultivating Prema in your heart, full of fragrance and uncontaminated by the pests of greed and egoism.","Today is January 29 2012 <BR><BR> WITHOUT the flowers, the plant yields no fruit. Without the emerging fruit, ripeness cannot happen. Without intense Karma, Bhakti cannot emerge. Without Bhakti, how can Jnana be found? Somaka the wicked, spurned and suppressed the Veda. But did he reap any happiness? The ten-headed monster coveted and kidnapped another's wife. But did he achieve any gain? The close-fisted Kaurava refused a pinpoint of land to his closest Kin. But did he keep his loot? The terror-bound Kamsa sought out and slaughtered each new-born baby; but did he escape from death? Wicked men, even now, shall meet this fate. Take this Sai word as the word of Truth.","Today is January 30 2012 <BR><BR> HERE are the three vows that Krishna had taken; they are mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita for all humanity to read, know and believe: 'For the protection of the good and the punishment of the bad, for the establishment of the Moral I shall concretise Myself, age after age. Whoever is wholly immersed in My contemplation, with no other thought, I shall be ever with him; and I shall bear the burden of his welfare. 'Surrender unto Me, giving up all the other duties and obligations. I shall liberate you from all sin; do not grieve'. The armlets are reminders of these tasks on which He is set.","Today is January 31 2012 <BR><BR> VYASA is the Lokaguru, he is Divine Effulgence. Vyasa sought to bring home, through the Puranas, the need for mastering the egoistic impulses, as the Sloka says: 'Ashtaa dasa puraneshu Paropakara punyaya Paapaaya para peedanam'. Two statements can summarize all the eighteen Puranas composed by Vyasa. 'Do good to others; avoid doing harm'. Doing good is the drug; avoiding harm is the regimen that must accompany the treatment. That is the cure for the disease of suffering from joy and grief, honour and dishonour, prosperity and adversity and the dual thong that bothers man and deprives him of equanimity.","Today is February 1 2012 <BR><BR> THE Lord will be the Guide of whoever installs Him as his Sarathi. He will not consider that position inferior. He is the Sanathana Sarathi, come to be the Sarathi of all. He is the Lord for all who seek a Master, a support. The Atma is the Master in every one; and Krishna is the 'Universal Atma' personified.","Today is February 2 2012 <BR><BR> THE moment Krishna was born, the chains that bound his father fell off; the doors that had been bolted flew open; and the prison guards were immersed in the Ocean of Bliss, so that they could not recognise any event or thing in the material world. The fire of hatred that was burning in them was cooled; and darkness gave place to the dawn of wisdom. The sky showered raindrops to soften the earth and lay down dust. How can the element operate against the Divine Will?","Today is February 3 2012 <BR><BR> KRISHNA has three separate meanings - (1) the word Karsh is one root from which the name is derived. It means, that which attracts; Krishna attracts hearts to Himself by His sportive pastimes, miraculous victories over the forces of evil, His charming conversation, His Wisdom and His personal beauty. (2) The word is also related to the root, Krish: to cultivate, a field, for growing crops. The word means, He who removes the weeds from the heart of Man and sows seeds of Faith, Courage and Joy. (3) It is related to the root Krish, meaning something above and beyond the three attributers and the three eras; and 'na' means Sath-Chith-Ananda.","Today is February 4 2012 <BR><BR> KRISHNA had taken three Vows and the Kankans were symbolic of His determination to fulfill them. They were, as mentioned by Him in the Gita: (1) 'Dharmasamsthapanaya Sambhavaami Yuge Yuge'. (I shall incarnate myself, in every age, to revive and resurrect Dharma) - (2) 'Yogakshemam Vaham Yaham' (I shall bear the burden of ensuring peace of prosperity for all who rely on me) - (3) 'Mokshayishyami maa sucha' (I shall save all those who surrender wholeheartedly to Me and I shall liberate them from the cycle of birth and death).","Today is February 5 2012 <BR><BR> KRISHNA dealt with the World as with a Sitar, pulling its heart-strings to arouse the melody of comradeship, heroism, love, affection, compassion and conviction. But, of these, the two emotions of love and compassion were characteristically His and His own. His breath was Love! His behaviour was Compassion! Adore Him, placing a garland of tears around His neck; washing His feet with tears, springing from joy at the contemplation of His Love! That very worship will endow you with the wisdom that Sages seek and the Bliss that the Books extol!.","Today is February 6 2012 <BR><BR> THIS is the genuine Bharathiya Vision to transform life into a pilgrimage towards the God resident in oneself; a steady march along the straight path to Bliss. There is no such steadiness now. Fancy and Fantasy rule the mind of man. You desire one thing in the morning; at noon you change over to something else. That desire will not persist until evening. If your desire is fulfilled, you praise God and parade your devotion. But if it does not prevail, you throw God overboard and parade your disbelief!.","Today is February 7 2012 <BR><BR> NARADA, who moves always by and with the Lord, feels that God is beyond his understanding; Balarama who came as His own brother could not fathom His personality. How then can you grasp My Mystery? How can those who strut about in well-ironed bush-coats fathom the Truth? I know some that are here, who sold their Faith to hollow men and started talking about My dress and My Hair! If you dare, seek My Truth. Come, surrender unto Me. Do not teach treason to your friends and to other seekers. Dress and manners have become polished now; but the inner man has deteriorated in virtue and faith.","Today is February 8 2012 <BR><BR> DETACHMENT is a plant of slow growth; if you pluck the tender plant to look for the pods, you will be disappointed. So too, long and constant practice alone is rewarded by the Peace that God offers. Grace is acquired by Surrender as Krishna has declared in the Gita.","Today is February 9 2012 <BR><BR> WHEN the Gita directs you to give up all Dharma (Set Codes of morality), it does not ask you to also give up all Karma, and when you do it for God, through God and by God, the Dharma of it does not matter; it has to be acceptable; and it is bound to benefit you. The statement is not an invitation to licentiousness or complete inactivity; it is a call for dedication and surrender to the highest in Man, namely GOD.","Today is February 10 2012 <BR><BR> The best way to get rid of desire, anger and hatred is to strike at the very taproot of the tree; the mistaken belief that you are the body, with this name and form, senses, intelligence and mind. This is the luggage you are carrying. Don't you say, my nose, my book, my umbrella? Who is this I that calls all these mine? That is the real you! It was present, when you were born, when you were sleeping forgetting everything else including your body and its afflictions. That I cannot be harmed, it does not change, it knows no birth and death. Learn the discipline that makes you aware of this truth and you will be ever free and bold. This is true knowledge (atmavidya), which the preceptors and sages have gleaned for you. You too must, one day or the other learn this and save yourselves. All have to reach the goal, travelling along the path of wisdom. Divine Discourse, Feb 20, 1965. Love is the ceaseless flow of divine effulgence. Sages called this Atma,the indwelling Divinity. - Baba.","Today is February 11 2012 <BR><BR> THE Mahabaratha declares: 'What is not in Bharath does not deserve reverential consideration'; and in Bharath, the message has always been: tolerance, respect for all faiths and the practice of the essential teachings of love and service with giving up of hatred, envy and pride.","Today is February 12 2012 <BR><BR> PERFORM all acts with as much love as you would offer God. In Truth, you eat for the satisfaction of the 'I' in you and dress up to please the self-same 'I'. The husband loves his wife for the sake of the 'I'. And who is this 'I' that is persistently inherent in everyone? It is God Himself. 'Iswarah Sarva Bhoothanaam' says the Gita: the Lord resides in the heart of every being. He is the Atman in every being. He is the Atman in everyone, the Paramatman.","Today is February 13 2012 <BR><BR> PONDER over your 'sthithi' (present condition), 'gathi' (direction of movement), 'sakthi' (capabilities), and 'mathi' (inclination). Then enter upon the path of Sadhana step by step, so that you approach the goal faster every day, every hour, every minute. Arjuna became entitled to the Gita Upadesh from the Lord Himself, because he evinced the 'Vishada', the 'Vairagya', the 'Saranagathi', the 'Ekagratha', essential to assimilate The Great Message. When the yearning for liberation has become intense, beyond expression, man can set aside all social conventions, worldly norms and codes of conduct that do not subserve that high purpose.","Today is February 14 2012 <BR><BR> KRISHNA does not speak of whoever among men who pronounces the 'Pranava' at the moment of death, etc. The word He uses 'whoever' is without any qualification of sex. He does not say 'Whoever that is authorized' or 'Whoever among the deserving'. The clear intention of the Lord is to encourage women, as well as men, to take up Pranava-Upasana. You would have seen that I do not discourage anyone from the Upasana. It is the royal road to spiritual victory which all are entitled to use.","Today is February 15 2012 <BR><BR> THE Gita says that, if you give up all Dharma and take refuge in Him, then He will save you from Sin and wipe your tears. Giving up Dharma does not mean that you can bid farewell to virtue and righteous action; it means, you have to give up egoism that you are the doer. Be confirmed in the faith that He is the 'doer' of every deed. That is the genuine 'giving up'.","Today is February 16 2012 <BR><BR> I AM in your heart all the time, whether you know it or not. Draupadi called out for the Lord of Dwaraka, Sri Krishna, when she was cruelly assaulted by the wicked cousins of her husbands, and so the Lord responded but after a little delay. He had to go to Dwaraka and come from there to Hastinapura where she was! He told her that she could have received Him in the fraction of a second had she called out, 'Oh Dweller in my heart', for He dwells there as everywhere else.","Today is February 17 2012 <BR><BR> THE elders in Brindavan who reveled in scandalizing Krishna - successors have been born for them even now - set an ordeal for Radha to test her virtue. She was given a mud pot with a hundred holes and asked to bring water in that pot from the Yamuna to her house! She was so full of Krishna-consciousness that she never knew the condition of the pot. She immersed it in the river, as usual repeating the name of Krishna with every intake of the breath and every exhalation. Every time the name Krishna was uttered, a hole was covered, so that by the time the pot was full, it was whole. That was the measure of her Faith. Faith can affect even inanimate objects.","Today is February 18 2012 <BR><BR> IN Realty, Truth is God; Love is God; Dharma is God. The Gopis and Gopalas saw in Krishna the Embodiment of Truth, Love and Dharma. What He said was Truth; what He was became Love, what He did was Dharma. They were so immersed in Krishna-Consciousness that they saw everywhere and in everything nothing but Krishna. Krishna for them did not exist as a separate entity in the home of Nanda; He was right in their own consciousness, at all levels of it. These Gopis and Gopalas were true Bhakthas indeed.","Today is February 19 2012 <BR><BR> WHATEVER is dedicated and offered to God can never be lost. People can gain enormous benefit by offering even a little to God. 'A leaf or a flower, a fruit or a little water' - that is enough, if offered with devotion. Draupadi gave Sri Krishna the fraction of a leaf sticking to the side of a vessel and God granted her endless good fortune. Kuchela gave a handful of parched rice and received from the Lord awareness of His endless Glory.","Today is February 20 2012 <BR><BR> THE Lord had Maya as His consort, so to say, and He had a son called Manas. This Manas, to continue the parable, had two wives. Pravritti and Nivritti (Attachment and Detachment). Of course, Pravritti was His favourite wife and she had a hundred children. Nivritti was ill-treated and neglected; and she had just five. That is the symbolism of the Kauravas and the Pandavas. Though all the children lived in the same kingdom, ate the same food and learnt from the same Teacher, their natures differed widely from one another. The Kauravas, children of the attachment, were greedy, cruel, self-centered, and vain. The Pandavas, five of them, each one represented a Supreme Virtue, so that they could be said to symbolize Sathya, Dharma, Shanti, Prema and Ahimsa. As they were so pure and born of Detachment, the Lord became their Guide.","Today is February 21 2012 <BR><BR> THE Gita speaks of Bhakthi, Jnana, Karma as Yogas; and by Yoga is meant what Pathanjali intended it to mean: 'Chiththa Vrithi Nirodha', that is to say, 'the stilling of the agitations of the consciousness'. Vishnu is the supreme exemplar of this calm, for He is 'Saanthaakaaram bhujagasayanam', the very picture of peace and calm, though reclining on a thousand-hooded snake, the snake being the symbol of the objective world with its poisonous fangs. Being in the world but not of it, not bound by it - that is the secret.","Today is February 22 2012 <BR><BR> THE riches that you should strive to amass are not fields, factories, bungalows or bank-balances but the wisdom and experience of oneness with the Grandeur of the Universe and the Force that runs it without a hitch. Arjuna is called Dhanajaya by Krishna because he had won (Jaya) such Dhanam (riches) that saves man; and that cannot be taxed, stolen or transferred. The method of winning these riches is Sadhana.","Today is February 23 2012 <BR><BR> GIVE joy to all. Prema or Love is the means to achieve this ideal. When Love can bring even God nearer to you, how can it fail where man is involved? Krishna could not be bound by any other means. That is the reason why SAI has declared: 'Start the day with Love; spend the day with Love, fill the day with Love; end the day with Love. That is the way to God","Today is February 24 2012 <BR><BR> KRISHNA was known to all as Almighty, All-knowing, All-encompassing, and All-fulfilling. Yet, the enthusiasm to do Seva promoted Him to approach Dharmaraja, the eldest of the Pandava brothers, on the eve of the magnificent Raja Suya Yaga that he had planned to perform and offered to take up Seva of any kind. He suggested that He might be given the task of cleaning the dining-hall after the guests had partaken of the feast! Krishna insisted on outer cleanliness and inner cleansing. Clean clothes and clean minds are an ideal combination.","Today is February 25 2012 <BR><BR> DURING the battle of Kurukshetra, which climaxed the Mahabharatha story, Krishna served as the 'driver' of the chariot of Arjuna throughout the day till dusk on the field and caused the adjournment of the fight. He led the horses to the river, gave them a refreshing bath and applied healing balms to the wounds suffered by them during the fierce fray. He mended the reins and the harness and rendered the chariot battle-worthy for another day. The Lord sets the example for the Devotees to follow. He teaches that Service done to any living being is offered to Him and is accepted by Him most joyfully. Service rendered to cattle, to beasts, and to men is laudable Sadhana.","Today is February 26 2012 <BR><BR> THE World is today in deep distress because the common man and his leaders are all distracted by lower desires and lower motives, which require only the lower skills and meaner impulses of man. This is what I call 'devaluation'. Though man is inherently Divine, he lives only at the animal level. Very few live even in the native human level.","Today is February 27 2012 <BR><BR> KRISHNA does say: 'whoever among men who pronounce the Pranava at the moment of death', etc. The word he uses is 'whoever' without any qualification of sex. He does not say 'whoever is authorized or whoever is among the deserving'. The clear intention of the Lord is to encourage women as well as men to take up Pranava Upasana. You will see that I do not discourage any one from the Upasana. It is the royal road to spiritual victory which all are entitled to use.","Today is February 28 2012 <BR><BR> BHISHMA, for example, has to be revered and accepted as an inspiration, even more potent than Rama so far as homage to the father is concerned. In order to cater to the carnal cravings which he could have ordinarily condemned, he denied himself gladly, spontaneously, without demur and for the entire period of his life, both wedded life and royal status. The Vedic injunction, 'Pithru Devobhava' was honoured by him in the fullest manner.","Today is February 29 2012 <BR><BR> Since I move freely among them, talking and singing, even intellectuals are unable to grasp my truth, my power, my glory, or my real task as Avatara. I can solve any problem however knotty; I am beyond the reach of the most intensive enquiry and the most meticulous measurement. Only those who have recognised my love and experienced that love can assert that they have glimpsed my reality. For the path of Love is the royal road that leads mankind to me.","Today is March 1 2012 <BR><BR> THIS created Universe has two aspects, one is impermanence (Anityam), the second one is unhappiness (Askulham). In the Gita, Krishna has said, 'Anityam Asukha Lokam Imam Prapy Bhajaseva Maam'. Nothing in this World can give happiness that is true and lasting. Mistaking the World as 'All' and forgetting the Atman, which alone is eternal and the only refuge, is the greatest folly of man today. Man is pinning all his hopes on slippery work and is madly running after amassing and hoarding wealth. Of course, material needs are to be taken care of but within limits and not at the cost of spiritual values. Money and mansions are not the only wealth. Hoard the wealth of the Spirit. Character is wealth; good conduct is wealth; and spiritual wisdom is wealth.","Today is March 2 2012 <BR><BR> WORKERS and peasants - that is the slogan nowadays. These two classes were given their due share of social importance and honour during the Krishnavathar. Now, people are honoured even if they grow not food but cash crops. Foreign exchange is what we are after and so, people are encouraged to produce what others can buy not what we need; such as milk and a variety of milk products which are highly nutritious foods. Balarama, the elder brother and an Avathar in his own right, had as his weapon the plough. It declared agriculture as a consecrated occupation.","Today is March 3 2012 <BR><BR> EGOISM is the most dangerous illusion that has to be exploded and destroyed. Bhima had it; but when he could not lift and lay aside the tail of a monkey, who was really Anjaneya himself, that bubble was exploded. Arjuna had it one day after the battle. When Krishna brought the chariot back to camp, he wanted that Krishna should get down first, like all charioteers; the Master must get down later, after the Charioteer opens the door for him. Krishna refused and insisted that Arjuna should alight before He should. At last Krishna won. Arjuna got down and as soon as Krishna left His seat and touched the ground, the chariot went up in flames. In fact, if Krishna had gotten down first, the various fire-arrows which had the power of burning the chariot would have hit the target; but due to the presence of Krishna, their igneous powers could not manifest themselves. After knowing this, Arjuna was humbled and his egoism had a powerful shock. He realized that every action of Krishna was full of significance.","Today is March 4 2012 <BR><BR> THE Gita advises 'Karmasamyasa', that is to say, Karma without attachment to the fruit thereof. There are Karmas which have to be done as duties related to the status in 'Samsara' and, if these are done in the proper spirit, they will not bind at all. Do all Karma as actors in a play, keeping your identity separate and not attaching yourself too much to your role. Remember that the whole thing is just a play and the Lord has assigned to you a part; act well your part; there all your duty ends. He has designed the play and He enjoys it.","Today is March 5 2012 <BR><BR> IT is when you are in a desperate situation that you call upon the Lord, forgetting your pride and your egoism. The Pandavas were so full of misery in a worldly sense that they always had an attitude of prayer. If I had given you all the comforts and opportunities, you would not have come to Puttaparthi. Trouble is the bait with which the fish is pulled out of the water. Kunti asked that Krishna should continue giving her and her sons all kinds of misery so that He may grant them His Grace continuously.","Today is March 6 2012 <BR><BR> THE Gita prompts you to seek the answers and directs you to experience them. It helps you to control the 'Chittha', the agitations of the mind; it destroys delusion. It develops true knowledge; it makes you glimpse the splendour of the Lord and confirms your faith. You say at one moment: 'Baba does everything, I am but an instrument; but the next moment the same tongue says: 'I did this; I did that; Swami did not do this for me'. If you never step into wrong, you can be ever certain of His Grace.","Today is March 7 2012 <BR><BR> THE Mahabharata, for example, is basically the story of the five Vital Airs of Man (the Pancha Pranas) overcoming the hundred obstacles in the path of upward progress. The eldest of the Five Pandava brothers is Dharmaraja (Morality, Righteousness); he is ably supported by Bhima (physical strength devoted to Divine Service and charged with Devotion), Arjuna (steady pure Faith in God), and Nakula and Sahadeva, who represent Steadfastness and Equanimity. When these Five are exiled, the Hasthinapura (body) is inundated with Adharma (unrighteousness).","Today is March 8 2012 <BR><BR> IN the Manasa-Sarovar (the deep, placid mind-lake) of every man lurks a poisonous cobra with six hoods: Lust, Anger, Greed, Attachment, Pride and Hate, infesting the air and destroying all who are near it. The Name of the Lord, when it dives into the depths, forces it to come up to the surface so that it may be destroyed. So, allow the Divine in you - the Krishna, Lord over the mind - trample on the hissing hood and take out the vicious viper; let it vomit the venom and become Sathvic and sweet.","Today is March 9 2012 <BR><BR> LIKE all Avatars, Krishna announced His advent to the World bit by bit, step by step, testing every time how far the Reality will be accepted by the masses. The signs and miracles were intended, then as now, to proclaim the Avatar.","Today is March 10 2012 <BR><BR> THE mystery and splendour of God can be grasped only by a pure mind and a clear vision. That is why the Lord granted a new eye to Arjuna in order that he might not be confounded by his glory. A resolution adopted by the mind is like a stone thrown into a Sarovar or lake. It produces ripples that affect the entire face and unsettles equanimity. A good resolution or 'Sankalpa' sets up a series of such thoughts, each contributing its quota to the process of purification and strengthening.","Today is March 11 2012 <BR><BR> THE One is comprehensive of all this. So, it has no wants, no desires and no activity to realise anything. Sri Krishna tells Arjuna: 'Name Partha asthi Karthvyam, Thrishu lokeshu Kinchava Partha'. (There is nothing I have to do in any of the three Worlds). He has willed the World as his sport. He has laid down that every deed must have its consequence. He is the dispenser of the consequences but he is not involved in the deeds.","Today is March 12 2012 <BR><BR> ONE can also be rid of Maya if one can discard the three Gunas from one's make-up. The 'Sathyaguna' too has to be transcended; why? The Gita directs that even the eagerness to be liberated is a bond. One is fundamentally free. Bondage is only an illusion. So, the desire to close the bond is the result of ignorance. Krishna says, 'Arjuna, become free from the three Gunas'. In truth, the word 'Guna' means 'rope', for all three 'Gunas' bind the 'Jiva' with the rope of desire. Liberation means liberation from delusive attachment or 'Moha'; 'Mohakshaya', decline in the desire caused by attachment to sensory pleasure.","Today is March 13 2012 <BR><BR> CONSIDER for a moment how long worldly triumphs last. They are but the play of the scintillating name and form of the Divine which is the core of every being. Earn the vision that sees the Divine inherent in all. We are not troubled when something is good; only when it is bad. This is because goodness is natural. In our evil aberration, we are worried and alarmed when we slide into wrong or pain or sorrow. This is because Nature plans us to be right, to be happy and ever in a state of joy. It is a pity that man has lost his understanding of this Truth.","Today is March 14 2012 <BR><BR> THE One is comprehensive of all this. So, it has no wants, no desires and no activity to realise anything. Sri Krishna tells Arjuna: 'Name Partha asthi Karthvyam, Thrishu lokeshu Kinchava Partha'. (There is nothing I have to do in any of the three Worlds). He has willed the World as his sport. He has laid down that every deed must have its consequence. He is the dispenser of the consequences but he is not involved in the deeds.","Today is March 15 2012 <BR><BR> DHYANA is not mere sitting erect and being silent nor is it the absence of any movement. It is the merging of all your thoughts and feelings to God. Without the mind becoming dissolved in God, Dhyana cannot succeed. The Gita declares genuine Dhyana as 'Anayaschinthayanthomaam Ye Janah Paryapasathi' (Those persons who adore me without any other thought or feeling). Krishna has assured such persons that He would carry their burden and be by their side, guiding and guarding them. Persons adept in this Dhyana are very rare; most people go through the external exercises only. So they are unable to win Grace.","Today is March 16 2012 <BR><BR> LIFE is a song, sing it. That is what Krishna taught through his life. Arjuna heard that song in the battlefield where tensions were at their highest and when the fate of millions was to be decided by the sword. Krishna sang the Gita for Arjuna to listen to. Gita means 'Song', and he sang because he was 'Ananda' wherever He might be, in Gokulam, on the banks of the Yamuna or at Kurukshetra between the warring armies.","Today is March 17 2012 <BR><BR> WHY does He attract all to His Presence? To plough the heart, prepare it for receiving the shower of Grace, to grow the seeds of Love, weed it of all evil thoughts which smother the crops of joy and to enable it to gather the harvest of Wisdom. That wisdom finds its fulfillment in Krishna Himself, for Krishna also means the pure Essence, the Supreme Principle, the 'Sath-Chith-Ananda'.","Today is March 18 2012 <BR><BR> WHERE there is Dharma there Krishna is; so, think for yourself, each one of you, how far have you deserved the Grace of the Lord? You draw Him near; you keep Him far. You entangle yourself, bind yourself, and get caught in the trap. No one is your foe except yourself. No one else is your friend. You are your only friend. The Guru shows you the road and you have to trudge alone, without fear or hesitation.","Today is March 19 2012 <BR><BR> THE word Dharmakshetra is the first word in the Gita. In the very first verse of the Song Celestial, the Kurukshetra (field of Action), in which the Maamakaah (my people, as the blind Dhritharashtra described them through fond attachment and egoistic delusion), people motivated by greed and passion, and the Pandavas (the other people, the good and righteous, the sons of the Fair one, the Progeny of the pure), is spoken of as already transmuted into Dharmakshetra (field of Righteousness). For victory is always for Righteousness and not for greed and passion which blind men.","Today is March 20 2012 <BR><BR> IF you ask Me, I will say that the Gita is like a balance: scales, needle and all. The scale on the left is the 7th sloka of the 2nd Chapter, speaking of 'Karpanya Dosha'. The fulcrum is the 22nd sloka of the 9th Chapter, beginning with 'Anayaschinthayamshomaam'; and the scale on the right is sloka 66 in the 18th chapter, speaking of 'Sarvadharmaam Parithyajya'. See how apt the fulcrum sloka is. It speaks of single-minded attention, 'steady, like the needle of a well-adjusted balance'. Really, the Gita begins with two scales and a fulcrum: the two armies of Righteousness and Unrighteousness with Krishna, the Teacher, in the middle.","Today is March 21 2012 <BR><BR> BHAKTI is of various types according to the Damskara of the devotee and the state of his mind and the stage of his development. There is the Shanta Bhakti of Bhishma, the Vatsalya Bhakti of Yasodha, the Madhura Bhakti of the Gopikas. Of these the Dasya attitude is easiest and the best for the majority of aspirants at this time. It means 'Saranagathi' and 'Prapathithi' out of Shanti Bhakti.","Today is March 22 2012 <BR><BR> THE fire of sorrow and joy burns when the fuel of Vasanas is fed into the furnace of the mind. Take away the fuel and the fire dies out. Take away the Vasanas, the force of the impulses, promptings and urges and you become your own master. This is done in Yoga by various physiological and psychological exercises. But Bhakti is the easier means for this end. Namasmarana is enough: it is said that the name Sitarama sufficed in the Tretha Yuga; the name Radha-Shama sufficed in the Dwapara Yuga; and in the Kali Yuga, I tell you, all Names have that capacity.","Today is March 23 2012 <BR><BR> PRAKRUTHI is Dhara, Earth and Creation. Think of it always. Long for it. Pine for Dhara, Dhara, Dhara and you find you are pining for Radha, Radha. So, Radha is the Becoming and Krishna is the Being; the desire of Being becomes the longing of the Becoming for the Being - this is the Radha-Krishna relationship, which has been sung by seers and poets, calumniated and caricatured by ignorant critics, appreciated and apprehended by aspirants, and analyzed and realised by sincere scholars of spiritual lore.","Today is March 24 2012 <BR><BR> WELCOME all the blows of fate, all the misfortunes and miseries, as gold welcomes the crucible, the hammer and the anvil in order to get shaped into a jewel; or as the cane welcomes the chopper, the crusher, the boiler, the pan, the sprayer and the dryer, so that its sweetness may be preserved and used as sugar by all. The Pandavas never demurred when disasters fell thick upon them. They were happy that they helped them to remember Krishna and call upon Him. Bhishma was in tears on the arrow-bed, when he was about to pass away. Arjuna asked Him 'why' and he replied, 'I am shedding tears because the miseries undergone by the Pandavas pass through my mind'. Then he said, this is done in order to teach the Kaliyuga a lesson; never to seek power, position or pelf but to submit to the will of God in a completely resigned way, so that you may be ever happy and unmoved.","Today is March 25 2012 <BR><BR> THE Gita speaks of Bhakti, Jnana, Karma, as Yogas. By Yoga is meant what Patanjali intended it to mean 'Chiththa Krishthi Nirodha', that is to say, 'the stifling of the agitations of the consciousness'. Vishnu is the supreme example of this calm, for He is 'Saanthakaaram bhujaga Sayanam', the very picture of peaceful calm, though reclining on a thousand-hooded snake; the snake being the symbol of the objective World with its poisonous fangs. Being in the World but not of it, not bound by it, that is the secret.","Today is March 26 2012 <BR><BR> THE Individual is Arjuna, the Universal which inspires him is Krishna: Led by the Universal, the Individual has to oppose the attractions and delusion of the Manifested, the Maya, and the Prakruthi, that is, the Kaurava hordes. The battle depicted in the Epic is the inner battle, between the temporary and the eternal, the particular and the universal, the sensual and the super-sensual, the seen and the seer. The Atma is described as a streak of lightning in the blue cloud. It is a Gita (streak in Telugu). Discover the Gita, then the purpose of Gita study is fulfilled.","Today is March 27 2012 <BR><BR> WHEN Dharmaraja, the eldest of the Five Pandavas came to know - after the death of Karna which they effected successfully - that Karna was his brother, his agony knew no bounds; he was struck disconsolate and was torn by despair. If only he had known the truth, all that grief could have been avoided. So too, until you know that all are altars where the name God is installed and all are moved and motivated by the Grace of the self-same God, you are afflicted by hate and pride; once you know it and experience it, you are full of Love and reverence to all.","Today is March 28 2012 <BR><BR> WHEN Krishna leapt down from His Chariot with the wheel-weapon in His hand to slay Bishma, Arjuna jumped down with Him and holding both His Feet he prayed 'Oh Lord, you have given word that you will not wield any weapon. Let it not be said that you broke your word to save me from Bhishma, I am prepared to die'. That was the measure of his Bhakti. Bishma too had equal Bhakti. He did not step forward to fight the new challenge nor did he question the Lord. He stood silent drinking in the charm of the Lord and filling himself with the vision of the magnificence of the Lord. That was the measure of the dedication to His will.","Today is March 29 2012 <BR><BR> KRISHNA is slandered by ignorant, prejudice critics as 'jaara' and 'chora' and extolled by seekers and sages with the same appellations, 'jaara' and 'chora'. He stole the hearts and the owners were glad of it. He shed light, awakened people and made those, whose hearts he stole, richer and happier. He destroyed all craving for sensual pleasure and sensual knowledge and filled the entire being with thoughts of the Divine. How then can He be referred to as 'jaara' and 'chora'? When the blind leads the blind in this way, both have to fall into the pit.","Today is March 30 2012 <BR><BR> IN the Mahabharatha, the most noteworthy theme is Dharmasthapana. When the Pandavas were called into the forest, it was as if the Five Pranas of Dharma, the sustaining forces of Dharma, were exiled. Dharmaraja is the Prana of the Right Conduct, Bhima, of the protective Might of Dharma; Arjuna, of the Faith and Devotion needed as its Foundation, Nakula and Sahadeva, of the sraddha essential for the Practice of Dharma. When the Pandavas went to the forest, Hastinapura was reduced to Astinapura, a city of bones, without flesh and blood.","Today is March 31 2012 <BR><BR> KRISHNA was the Purushothama, Arjuna the Narrothama; It was a friendship between The Embodiment of the Highest and the Embodiment of the Best. Krishna was the Avataric Person. Arjuna was the anandic person; it was a coming together of the Avathramurthi and the Anandamurthi. Arjuna was often addressed by Krishna as Kurunandana. This name has a deep significance. 'Kuru' means 'act, activity, Karma'; Nandana means 'happy, delighted'. Kurunandana therefore means 'he who is delighted while engaged in activity'. Throughout the eighteen chapters of the Githa, Arjuna is alert and active, participating vigilantly in every turn of argument.","Today is April 1 2012 <BR><BR> PRACTICE the constant presence of God and, learn to offer all your activities at the Feet of the Lord as an act of worship. Then they will be free from fault. Krishna advised Arjuna to enter the fight and, at the same time, told him not to have 'hatred' towards 'enemies'. These may appear to be two irreconcilable attitudes, for war is rage (passion, attachment) and renunciation of hatred is Vairagya (absence of raga). Arjuna asked Krishna how he was to reconcile these two attitudes. Krishna said, 'Maamnusmara yudhyacha' (keep Me ever in thy mind, and fight. Do not cultivate the egotistic feeling that it is you who is fighting. I am using you as My instrument).","Today is April 2 2012 <BR><BR> THE Pandava brothers were highly fortunate. The eldest, Dharmaraja, rose to be the emperor. The second was the Indomitable Bhima, armed with the terrible mace. The third was Arjuna, son of the Lord of the Gods, Indra. The lord poured His Grace on Arjuna and deigned to serve him in battle as his charioteer! In spite of all these advantages, they were subjected to the severest tragedies in life. What is the lesson that their lives teach? No one can predict what calamity will overtake one and at what time. Every thing depends on the will of Providence; it all happens according to the Divine Plan.","Today is April 3 2012 <BR><BR> THE question on the battlefield was not who was the Kin of whom, but who was right and who was wrong; fight for justice, fight for truth, fight for these as akshatriyu is in duty bound, and leave the result to the Dispenser of all. Krishna told Arjuna: 'I am surprised that you should weep, for you are Gudakesa, the conqueror of sleep and ignorance. You do not kill, so don't be so conceited; nor do they die. They have many more things to do; and so they are real deathless'. 'The sentence of death has been already pronounced on their bodies by Me, and you have but to carry out My Orders', Krishna said.","Today is April 4 2012 <BR><BR> KRISHNA felt that it was time to reveal His Truth and so He just showed all creation in His Mouth when His mother asked Him to show her His tongue, when she suspected He had eaten sand. He made even the longest rope too short to bind Him. It became the talk of the place and every one felt he had all the fourteen Worlds in Him! Avathars choose the time and the mode of announcement of their Advent and Their Glory. Even in this Avathara such miracles had to be done when I decided that the time was opportune for taking the people into My Secret.","Today is April 5 2012 <BR><BR> WHEN the righteous Pandavas were harassed by wicked Kauravas, the beauteous Krishna appeared and saved them. The lord can never design violence and blood shed. Love is His instrument, non-violence His Message. He achieves the correction of the evil-minded through education and example. But it may be asked, why did Kurukshetra happen? It was a surgical operation and therefore cannot be described as an act of violence. The Surgeon saves life through the beneficial use of His Knife.","Today is April 6 2012 <BR><BR> CONSIDER the name Krishna which the Avathar bore; what a significant name? Krishna is derived from the root 'krish' which means (i) to attract (2) to plough and cultivate and (3) the Divine Principle beyond time, space and causation. Krishna, like all Avathars, attracts not only seekers, saints and sages but the simple, the innocent and the good. He draws also the curious, the critics, the skeptics and those who suffer from atheism. He draws them towards Himself by the irresistible charm of His Person, by His invincible Look, His Voice, His Flute, His counsel and His undaunted Heroism! He is ever in a state of bliss, spreading harmony, melody and beauty around Him; He sings every where in the peaceful pasture lands of Brindavan and in the blood soaked battle field of Kurukshetra.","Today is April 7 2012 <BR><BR> THE Githa was Arjuna and Krishna, though Krishna supplemented it with Captious explanations of why and wherefore. Arjuna admitted that he was a prapanner. He had to surrender to His Wait, so that there was no need for Krishna to argue with him. He was convinced of the correctness of His command. Still, in order that Arjuna might fight with a full heart, He gave him the reasons which supported the course that He laid down for him. I too want you to know why I designed it so you should act in a particular manner, and I do not like you to behave in another manner.","Today is April 8 2012 <BR><BR> BISHMA was a Bhakta and by winning the Lord's Grace he was clothed with more Majesty and splendour than any early emperor. What majesty have these scepter-holders? They cannot claim to have inner peace, inner joy, they know not the joy of sharing love with all. Bhishma surrendered to the Lord when He challenged him with the su-darsana (Vishnu), that is to say, when He offers su (good) dharsana (vision) one must be wise enough to surrender, give up all, that is what Bhishma did.","Today is April 9 2012 <BR><BR> ARJUNA exclaimed Krishna as the Omnipresent, Omnipotent and Omniscient God, when the foe was defeated day after day. But when his son Abimanyu was killed in the conflict he raved in the grief that Krishna had not guided him properly and guarded him efficiently. His mind wavered with every wind of fortune. To many the mind is the master of the intellect also. One must be vigilant and preserve the impartiality of instrument called Reason of Intellect. Clarify reason, then it will reveal God everywhere, even in you once you accept God as the core of the universe, and you have that strong and steady faith.","Today is April 10 2012 <BR><BR> FILL every moment with energy enthusiasm and effort. The Epics teach you how to succeed in this. The Mahabharatha describes how and when every other of the hundred Kauravas died. The eldest Duryodhana was challenged by Bhima to meet him in a duel, when at last he fell on the ground, Bhima struck his head with his foot in order to add insult to injury. Duryodhana's pride was hurt, a Kshatriya, such as he, could not pass that insult by. He retorted even when he was dying. Do not exult that you have done some big heroic act by tramping on my head! In a few seconds dogs and vultures will be doing that act. It does not require a hero to plant his foot on a dying man. You dared not do this when I was capable of hitting back, you coward! That kind of awareness of one's potentialities and quick response to all happenings must be present in you too. Heroism gushed out even when he was passing away!.","Today is April 11 2012 <BR><BR> KRISHNA, whose advent you should celebrate, is not the cowherd boy who charmed the village folk with His flute, but Krishna the indefinable inscrutable Divine Principle that is born in the navel of the body (Mathura) as the product of Divine Energy (Devaki) that is then transported to the Mouth (Gokulam) and fostered by the Tongue (Yasodha) as its source of sweetness. Krishna is the Visualisation of the Atma that the repetition of the Name grants, the vision was gained by Yasodha, you must foster that Krishna on your tongue. When He dances on it, the poison of tongue will be ejected completely, without harming anyone as happened when as a child He danced on the hoods of the serpent Kalinga.","Today is April 12 2012 <BR><BR> PURITY of motive is the best guarantee that you will have Peace. An uneasy conscience is a tormenting compassion. Righteous action will have no bad effects, to disturb your sleep or health. If there is righteousness in the heart, there will be beauty in character; If there is beauty in character, there will be harmony in the home; When there is harmony in the house, there will be order in the nation; When there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the World. So, be righteous; avoid all prejudices against others on the basis of caste, creed, colour, mode of worship, status, or degree of affluence. Do not look down upon any one; look upon all as Divine as you really are.","Today is April 13 2012 <BR><BR> ALL Faiths are inter-related and mutually indebted to each other for the principles they teach and the disciplines they recommend. The Vedic Religion was the first in time; Buddhism, which appeared about 2500 years ago, was its son; Christianity, which was influenced much by the Orient was its grand-son. And Islam, which has the Prophets of Christianity as its base, was the great grandson. All have Love as the Fundamental Discipline of the Mind in order to chasten it and merge man with the Divine.","Today is April 14 2012 <BR><BR> VINAYAKA is called the child of two mothers, Gowri and Ganga. You are the pet children of four mothers, each of you; Sathya, Dharma, Shanti and Prema. Do not ridicule them by your act. Honour them and be grateful to them. Do not claim 'Anyaya' (Injustice), 'Akrama' (Undiscipline), 'Asathya' (Falsehood and 'Anachara' (Evil behaviour) as your mothers. Instead, expand your heart, taking in all humanity into the circle of your kin, even the birds, beasts, worms, and insects, trees and plants. The Vedic Prayer asks that the aspirant's heart may be expanded 'Brhathe Koromi' - I make myself Vast! The vastest is 'Brahman' which comes from the same root, 'brh', to enlarge.","Today is April 15 2012 <BR><BR> I EAT as you do, move about as you do, talk in your Language and behave as you can recognise and understand, for YOUR sake - not for My sake! I turn you towards the Divine, winning your confidence, your love, your submission, by being among you, as one of yourselves, one whom you can see, listen to, speak to, touch and treat with reverence and devotion. My plan is to transmute you into Seekers of Truth (Sathya-anveshko). I am present everywhere at all times; My will must prevail over every obstacle; I am aware of the past, present and future of your innermost thoughts and carefully guarded secrets. I am 'Sarvatharyami', 'Sarva Sakthi' and 'Sarvajna'. Nevertheless, I do not manifest these powers in any capricious manner or merely for display. For I am an example and an inspiration, whatever I do or omit to do. My Life is a commentary on My Message.","Today is April 16 2012 <BR><BR> LOVE must be manifested as Service or Seva. Seva must take the form of food for the hungry, solace for the forlorn, consolation for the sick and the suffering. Jesus was himself out in such Seva. The heart full of compassion is the temple of God. Jesus pleaded at the sight of the poor. Jesus is worshipped but His teachings are neglected. Sai is being worshipped but His teachings are neglected. Everywhere pomp, pageantry, hollow exhibitionism and Lectures, Lectures and Lectures! No activity, no love, no seva. Heroes while lecturing are Zeros while putting what is said into practice. Develop Compassion. Live in Love. Be Good, Do Good and See Good. This is the way to God.","Today is April 17 2012 <BR><BR> THE nature we have around us and with us is the vesture of God. We have evidence of His Beauty, Goodness, Wisdom and Power all around us; wherever we turn our eyes. But the art of recognising Him is strange to us and so we deny Him and live on in darkness. We have all around us, in the atmosphere, the music emanating from all the Broadcasting Stations of the World, but they do not assail your ear at any time. You are not aware of any Station; but, if you have a receiver and if you tune it to the correct wave-length, you can hear the matter broadcast from any Station; if you fail to tune it correctly, you will get instead of news only nuisance! So too, the Divine is everywhere above, around, below and beside, near as well as far. For cognising it, you require not a 'Yantra' (machine) but a 'Mantra' (mystical formula potent with a psychological undertone). Concentration of Dhyana is the fixing of the exact location of the Station in the Band; Love is the correct tuning in; realising the Reality and the Bliss it confers is the happy clear listening!.","Today is April 18 2012 <BR><BR> THE Divine is a wine that would intoxicate you. It is produced by the nectar that the Name of the Lord is saturated in. Taste it and you forget everything else; you are transformed. Man is, they say, a monkey that has lost its tail; Well, he must lose many more attributes of the monkey before he is entitled to call himself Man. He must dedicate his thought, word and deed to God and surrender to His Will. Then only is this animal entitled to become a Man in whom the Divine is enshrined.","Today is April 19 2012 <BR><BR> THE body is the ball filled with the air of Divinity; it is kicked in play by six players on the side (the six foes: Lust, Anger, Greed, Attachment, Pride and Hate); and six on the other (the six friends: Truth, Right, Peace, Love, Compassion and Fortitude); the goal-posts are on each side, and if the ball is hit so that it passes through them, they achieve 'Dharmavidya' (Moral attainment) and victory. Or else, their kick results in an 'out'! Learn to speak what you feel, act what you speak; do not allow them to be at cross-purposes. Man, with the feelings of a demon fuming with hate, engages in fighting, holds Peace Conferences and prides himself on his Plans for Peace! Transform the heart into a Tabernacle of Peace, then Conferences to deceive oneself and others become unnecessary. What can mere talk achieve?.","Today is April 20 2012 <BR><BR> DISCIPLINE trains you to put up with disappointments; you will know that the path of life has both ups and downs, that every rose has its thorn. Now, people want roses without thorns, life has to be one saga of sensual pleasure picnic all the time. When this does not happen, you turn wild and start blaming others. If each one cares for his own pleasures, how can Society progress? How can the weak survive? Mine, not thine, this sense of greed is the root of all evil; this distinction is applied even to God! - my God, not yours! Your God, not mine!.","Today is April 21 2012 <BR><BR> GOODNESS, compassion, and tolerance: through these three paths, one can see the Divinity in one-self and others. Softness of heart is condemned by people today as weakness, cowardice, and want of intelligence. The heart has to be hardened, they say, against pity and charity. But that way lies war, destruction, and downfall. Love confers lasting happiness and peace. Sharing can reduce grief and multiply joy. Man is born to share, to serve, to give and not to grab. When you have faith in God as a precious truth in the altar of your heart, you will welcome, with equal alacrity, the blows and blossoms of fortune.","Today is April 22 2012 <BR><BR> HAVING come to this place and availed yourselves of this opportunity to treasure in your hearts the things you have seen and heard, resolve to plunge into a practice of them. Your resolution and your practice must happen simultaneously. Have a master-plan and start from tomorrow the execution of the program, drawn in consultation with others. This must happen in all countries. Do not think that only the Andhra State is Sai's. All are Sai's. All are one. We must endeavour by all means to realise and establish this Truth in this Kali Yuga. This is the message I am giving you today. I am fulfilling all your desires. So you must fulfill this one desire of Mine. I bless that you have long life, good health, Ananda, Peace and Prosperity; and that you will dedicate your physical, mental, intellectual and spiritual strength and skills for the service of the country and of all mankind.","Today is April 23 2012 <BR><BR> THERE are some ignorant persons who laugh at 'Bhajans' and other acts of worship and consider them a waste of valuable time. Those persons might laugh at your pouring bags of paddy seeds on a slushy field and condemn that act too as waste of valuable food-material. But you know that, for every bag of paddy-seed, Mother Earth will give back grain tenfold or even twenty fold, in a few weeks. Time spent in contemplation of God or adoration of the Divine is indeed well spent, for it rewards you with a rich harvest of mental peace and courage.","Today is April 24 2012 <BR><BR> WHEN Jesus was emerging as the Supreme Principle of Divinity, he communicated some news to his followers. The statement of Christ is simple. (He, who sent me among you, will come again) and he pointed to a lamb. The lamb is merely a symbol, a sign. It stands for the voice BA-BA. The announcement was 'The Advent of BABA'. - 'He will wear a robe of red, a blooded robe'. He will be short, with a crown (of hair). The lamb is a sign and symbol of Love. Christ did not declare that he will come again, he said, 'He, who made me, will come again'. That BABA is the Baba; and Sai, the short curly hair crowned, red-robed Baba has come.","Today is April 25 2012 <BR><BR> MANY believe that a pilgrimage to holy places is conductive to spiritual progress. They journey to Tirupathi, Rameswaram, Badrinath or Amarnath and pray for the removal of their mundane troubles. They vow to remove their hair if, through Divine intervention, they win a prize in the State Lotteries, as if God is in need of hair. This trick of bargaining is only cheating oneself in an attempt to cheat God. Do not pray to God for wealth or fame, positions of power or for the fruits of your actions. The genuine seeker will pray for nothing else but God.","Today is April 26 2012 <BR><BR> HUMAN lives are now passing on and on, filth over filth, bent, broken, diseased, distressed and disheartened. To enrich their lives and to make the human heritage worthwhile, I have come, I am evincing all this enthusiasm to teach you the prayer attitude to Seva, for Love expresses itself as Seva, Love grows through Seva, and Love is begun in the womb of Seva. And God is Love. The Avatar is a Child to the children, a Boy to the Boys, a Man among men, a Woman among women, so that the Avatar's message might reach each heart and receive enthusiastic response as 'Ananda'. It is the compassion of the Avatar that prompts His every action.","Today is April 27 2012 <BR><BR> HAVE no thorn of hate in your mind. Develop Prema towards all. Desire is a storm; Greed is a whirlpool; Pride is a precipice. Attachment is an avalanche; Egoism is a volcano. Keep these things away, so that you can do Japa or Dhyana; they do not disturb the Equanimity. Let Love be enthroned in your heart. Then there will be sunshine and a cool breeze and the gurgling waters of contentment feeding the roots of faith.","Today is April 28 2012 <BR><BR> THE title 'Sathyam Sivam Sundaram' is full of meaning. It speaks of HE, imminent in every one of you. Sathyam is the basic reality of you all; that is why you resent being called a liar. The real 'you' is innocent, you will not accept an imputation that is false. The real 'you' is joy, happiness, and auspiciousness. It is not Savam but Sivam, it is Subham, Nithyam, and Anandam. How then can you bear being called ugly? The Atma has got entangled in the body which it does not like; it is weighed down by shame, when you identify it with the body and attribute to it the weaknesses and deficiencies of that physical vehicle.","Today is April 28 2012 <BR><BR> I NEVER speak through another; I never possess another or use another as a vehicle of expression. I come direct, I come straight, I come as I am to confer Peace and Joy. I do not accept from you flowers that fade, fruits that rot, coins that have no value beyond the national boundary. Give Me the Lotus that blooms in your Manasa-Sarovar, the clear, pellucid waters of the lake of your inner consciousness. Give Me the fruits of holiness and steady discipline. I am above all this worldly etiquette which enjoins you to see elders with some fruit or flower in your hand. My World is the World of the Spirit; there, values are different. If you are happy with faith in God and fear of sin, that is enough 'Service', enough 'Kainkaryam' for Me. It pleases Me so much.","Today is April 30 2012 <BR><BR> YOU must speak soft and sweet words to everyone. Do you like the voice of the crow? No, you drive the crow away when it starts to caw; its speech is harsh, it is too loud for your ears. You must have heard the Koel, the cuckoo, haven't you? That bird looks very much like the crow; it grows in the nest of the crow with the baby crows; it is fed by the mother crow, along with her own kids. But no one will throw a stone at a 'Koel'; every one likes to hear its sweet voice. Speak soft and sweet; then every one will like you.","Today is May 1 2012 <BR><BR> NO service is too low or mean; every emergency is immediately noticed and attended to. They need not be sorry that during those days they had no time to sit for Dhyana or do Japa or even to go out on Nagarsankirtan! Why? You can have the Name on the lips, when you sweep the streets or lift a corpse in the morgue or when you walk towards or away from the area of distress. People may dub you mad! But be elated that you are not affected by the insanity they suffer from!","Today is May 2 2012 <BR><BR> THE mind plays many tricks with you, the chief of which is to foster the ego and hide the Prompter and the Power within. You must have heard of an Accountant in the Court of the King of Death, Chitragupta, by name. He maintains a Register of the good and the bad deeds done by each living being, and on death, he brings the book to the Court and strikes the balance between debit and credit. Yama, the king, then meets out the punishment that can expiate and educate. This Chitragupta has his Office in the mind of man, all the time, awake and alert. The word means the secret picture; what he does is to picture all the secrets from promptings that blossom into activity; he notes the warning signals as well as the occasions when those signals were ignored or wantonly disregarded. You must see that the warning of the Divine against the merely human or even the bestial inclination, is heeded.","Today is May 3 2012 <BR><BR> YOU have the chance to see, experience and be sanctified by the incarnation of the Lord; this chance you have received as a result of the accumulation of merit in many previous lives. That merit has brought you here when I came down. For this chance, Rishis and Devas have prayed long in the past. Having won this chance, strive to taste the sweetness and achieve the Bliss of Merging without wasting even a single moment. The rays that emanate from Me are of three grades: the 'Sthula', filling this Prasanthi Nilayam; the 'Sukshma', pervading the Earth; and the 'Karana', covering the entire Universe. The people who have the privilege of living in this Prasanthi Nilayam are indeed lucky, for they are nearest to the 'Kiran' (rays). The 'Sthulakirana' makes a man a 'Sadhaka'; the 'Sukshma' makes him a 'Mahatma'; and 'Karana' converts him into a 'Paramahamsa'.","Today is May 4 2012 <BR><BR> I NEVER deviate from Truth. Since I recline on Truth, I am called Sathya Sai; Sayi (as Seshasayi) means reclining. The name is very appropriate, let me assure you. It is only those, who fail to follow My instructions and deviate from the path I lay down, that fail to get what I hold out before them. Follow My instructions and become soldiers in MY army; I will lead you on to victory. When someone asks you in great earnestness 'where the Lord is to be found', do not try to dodge the question. Give them the answer that rises up to your tongue from your heart. Direct them. He is here in Prasanthi Nilayam. All Avatars teach, as the first step in the long road of 'Sadhana', the giving up of attachment. In the Thretha Yuga, the Yoga-Vasistha taught the same rule. In the Dwapara Yuga, Krishna taught Arjuna to give up Vishaya-Vasana, attachment to the objective world. People utter with apparent faith, 'Krishna, Krishna, Krishna', but they never give up 'Thrishura' (Thirst) for worldly goods or fame. In each Yuga, you have the Avatar of the Lord come to redeem, review and rebuild. At the present time, Mahasakthi, Mayasakthi, and Yogasakthi have come all together in One Human Form. Your endeavour should be to draw near and earn Grace therefrom.","Today is May 5 2012 <BR><BR> WHAT is the immortal part of man? Is it the wealth he has accumulated, the residences he has built, the physique he has developed, the wealth he has acquired and the family he has reared? No, all that he has done, developed or earned are destroyed, he has to leave them all to the ravages of time. He cannot take with him even a handful of earth, the earth he loved so much. If only the dead could take with them a handful each, the earth would have become so scarce that it should have been rationed by now! Discover the Immortal 'I' and know that it is the spark of God in you; live in the companionship of that vast measureless Supreme and you will be rendered vast and measureless. Consider all objects that you collect here as given on 'Trust' to be used in this caravanserai during your pilgrimage in this Karunakshetra.","Today is May 6 2012 <BR><BR> UNLESS you brighten your vision with Love, you cannot see the Truth. Love helps you to see God in everyone and everyone as Divine. The Jagath is not false, it is not a trap; it is the splendour of God, His reflection. He reflected and the Jagath happened! It is His own substance, manifesting as multiplicity, as latent or potent energy-matter. When activity is in accordance with awareness that is befogged or belittled, dried up or deluded, there Dharma is decadent and the Avatar appears among men!.","Today is May 7 2012 <BR><BR> EVERY one must learn the secret of happiness which consists in refusing to shed tears for anything less than God. You have won this human body, this human life, as the reward for many lives spend in acquiring merit. You have won this chance, this unique good fortune of being able to get Dharsan of Sai. Plunging deep into the waters of this tumultuous ocean of Samsar, you have heroically emerged from its depths, with this rare Pearl in your hands - the Grace of Sai. Do not allow it to slip from your clasp and fall into the depths again. Hold firmly on to it. Pray that you may have it forever and be filled with the joy that it confers. This is the way by which you can render this life fruitful.","Today is May 8 2012 <BR><BR> UTILISE the World as the means to an end; do not desire to stay in it. It is a caravanserai, where you can rest a while during your pilgrimage to the source. It is a bridge wide and strongly built. Can any pilgrim build a house there on for himself? The Cosmos is changing constantly. The minutes that are past cannot be retrieved, even if tempted by a billion rupees. The past is not ours any more; the present slips from our grasp; and the future is uncertain. You come naked into the world, You go out of it without informing the survivors of the address where you can be contacted. In spite of this, attachment grows and you cultivate bounds. This is the great illusion.","Today is May 9 2012 <BR><BR> THE grace of God cannot be won through the gymnastics of reason, the contortions of Yoga or the denials of Asceticism. Love alone can win it; Love that needs no requital; Love that knows no bargaining; Love that is paid gladly as a tribute to the All Loving; and Love that is unwavering. Love alone can overcome obstacles, however many and mighty. There is no strength more effective than Purity, no bliss more satisfying than Love, no joy more restoring than Bhakti and no triumph more praiseworthy than Surrender.","Today is May 10 2012 <BR><BR> HIN means 'Hinsa' (Violence) and 'du' means 'dura' (distant); so HINDU means a person who is devoid of violence, who loves and sympathizes, who helps and serves - not one who hides and hits, harms and draws blood. The same sky is over everyone's head; the same earth supports everyone's feet; the same air enters everyone's lungs! The same God brought all forth, brings up all and brings about the end of this earthly career. Why then this inhuman role of foe and fanatic; of fight and feud?.","Today is May 11 2012 <BR><BR> I AM the embodiment of Love; Love is My Instrument. There is no creature without Love; the lowest loves itself at least. And its 'self is God'. So, there are no atheists, though some might dislike Him or refuse Him, as malarial patients dislike sweets or diabetic patients refuse to have anything to do with sweet! Those who preen themselves as atheists will one day, when their illness is gone, relish God and revere Him.","Today is May 12 2012 <BR><BR> STRUGGLE to realise the Atma, to visualise God; even failure in this struggle is nobler than success in other worldly attempts. The buffalo has horns; the elephant has tusks, But what a difference? To live in the body, with the body, for the body is the life of a worm; to live in the body with God is good, for God is the life of man. The dull, activity-hating Thamasic persons have ego and their love is limited to their kith and kin. The Rajasic, active, passionate persons seek to earn power and prestige and love those who will contribute to these. But the Sathwic, the pure, the good and equanimity-filled love all as embodiments of God and engage themselves in humble service.","Today is May 13 2012 <BR><BR> THERE are three types of approaches towards the Lord; the Eagle type, which swoops down on the target with a greedy swiftness and suddenness which, by its very impact, fails to secure the object coveted; the Monkey type, which flits hither and thither, from one to another, unable to decide which is tasty; and the Ant type which moves steadily, though slowly towards the object which it has decided is desirable. The ant does not hit the fruit hard and makes it fall away; it does not pluck all the fruits it seeks; it appropriates just as much as it can assimilate and no more. Do not fritter away the time allotted to you for sojourning on the earth in foolish foppery and fanciful foibles which always keep you outdoors. When are you to walk indoors into the warmth and quiet of your own interior? Retire into solitude and silence now and then; experience the joy derivable only from them.","Today is May 14 2012 <BR><BR> WHAT is the sanctity of Sivarathri? Your answer, 'Linga emerges from Swami's Udara (abdomen)'. 'Today is the fourteenth day of the dark of the month, when the moon is all but invisible, just a minute fraction remains visible to man. The mind is the source of all the entangling desires and emotions. The mind is, therefore, almost powerless this day; if only this night is spent in vigil and in the presence of the Divine, it can be fully conquered and man can realise his freedom. Vigilance this night is to be secured by 'Sadhana', this is by means of 'Bhajan' or the reading of sacred texts.","Today is May 15 2012 <BR><BR> RAMA, Krishna and Sai Baba appear different because of the dress each has donned, but it is the selfsame Entity, believe Me. Do not be misled into error and loss. The time will soon come when this huge building or even vaster ones will be too small for the gatherings of those who are called to this place. The sky itself will have to be the roof of the Auditorium of the future. I will have to forego the car and even the airplane when I move from place to place, for the crowds pressing around them will be too huge; I will have to move across the sky; yes that too will happen, believe Me.","Today is May 16 2012 <BR><BR> SEE all as Narayanaswarupa and worship all with Prema. Even My nature can be understood by you only when you wear the glasses of Holiness. Holy things can be cognised only by the Holy Seeker. You get what you search for; you see what your eyes crave for. The doctor is found where patients gather; the surgeon stays in the operation ward; so too, the Lord is ever with the suffering and struggling. Whenever people cry out in agony 'Oh God', there God will be.","Today is May 17 2012 <BR><BR> YOU very often condemn the mind as a monkey; but take it from Me, it is far worse. The monkey leaps from one branch to another; but the mind leaps from the heights of the Himalayas to the depths of the sea, from today to tens of years ago. Tame it by the process of Namasmarana. Make it as Ramdas did into a Badrachala, a stable and steady mountain. That is the task I assign to you. Make your heart an Ayodhya by means of Ramanama; Ayodya means a city that can never lie captured by force. That is your real nature: Ayodhya; Badrachala. Forget this and you are lost. Install Rama in your heart; and then no outer force can harm you.","Today is May 18 2012 <BR><BR> THINGS are not so important; the transcendental truth of things is of value. You must visualise the spiritual in the material, the gold in the jewels, the Divine in the diversity of character and conduct and seek to know the Atma. All are equal in birth and in death. Differences arise only during the interval. The Emperor and the beggar are both born naked; they sleep equally silently; they bow out without even leaving their new address. Then how can their reality be different? There can be no doubt on this score. All are basically the same.","Today is May 19 2012 <BR><BR> LISTEN to Me. When you wake up, feel that you are entering the stage to play the role assigned to you by the Lord; pray that you may act it well and earn His approbation. At night, when you retire to sleep, feel that you are entering the green-room after the scene, but with the dress of your role on; for perhaps the role is not yet over and you have not yet been permitted to take the dress off. Perhaps, you have to make another entrance the next morning. Do not worry about that. Place yourself fully at His Disposal; He knows; He has written the play and He knows how it will end and how it will go on; Yours is but to act and retire.","Today is May 20 2012 <BR><BR> WHEN the mind of man is unattached to the ups and downs of life, but is able to maintain equanimity under all circumstances, then even physical health can be assured. The mental firmament must be like the sky, which bears no mark of the passage through it of birds or planes or clouds. Illness is caused more by malnutrition of the mind than of the body. Doctors speak of Vitamin deficiency; I will call it the deficiency of Vitamin G, and I will recommend the repetition of the Name of God, with accompanying contemplation of the glory and grace of God. That is the Vitamin G. That is the medicine; regulated life and habits are two thirds of the treatment, while the medicine is just one third only.","Today is May 21 2012 <BR><BR> CARRY on your highest duty - following the four F's: Follow the Master; Face the Devil; Fight to the End; and Finish the Game. Then you win My love in full measure. Love is My highest Miracle. Love can make you gather the affection of all mankind. Love will not tolerate any selfish aim or approach, Love is God. Live in Love. Then all is right; all can be well. Expand your heart so that it can encompass all. Do not narrow it down into an instrument of restricted Love.","Today is May 22 2012 <BR><BR> THE tongue is the armour of heart; it guards one's life. Loud talk, long talk, wild talk, and talk full of anger and hate; all these affect the health of man. They breed anger and hate in others; they wound; they excite; they enrage; they estrange. Why is silence said to be golden? The silent man has no enemies, though he may not have friends. He has the leisure and the chance to delve within himself and examine his own faults and failings. He has no more inclination to seek them (fault) in others. If your foot slips, you sustain a fracture; if your tongue slips, you fracture some one's faith or joy. That fracture can never be set right; that wound will fester for ever. Therefore, use the tongue with great care. The softer you talk, the less you talk and the sweeter you talk, the better for you and the World.","Today is May 23 2012 <BR><BR> BIRTH is the consequence of 'Kama' (desire, lust); Death is the consequence of 'Kala' (Time, the lapse of Time). The God of Desire (Kama) was reduced to ashes by Shiva; the God of Time is Kala or Yama. He was subdued by sin. So, one has to surrender to Siva (God) if one has to escape the consequences of these two frightfully fatal forces. If between 'Kama' and 'Kala' you take refuge in Rama, then you can escape the rigour. For Rama is the Atma who has no 'Kama' and is unaffected by 'Kala'.","Today is May 24 2012 <BR><BR> WHEN you seek to learn swimming, you will have to enter the water and struggle with the strokes. When Bhasma (Vibuthi) is given, doubt haunts some people whether Swami is wishing that the recipient should be a Saivite! It is a symbol of the indestructible basic substance which every being is. All things become ash; but ash remains ash, however much you may burn it. It is also a sign of renunciation, of sacrifice and of 'Jnana', which burns all 'Karma' - consequently into ineffective ash. It is a sign of Iswara and I apply it on your brow to remind you that you too are Divine. It is a valuable 'Upadesa' about your identity. It also reminds you that the body is liable any moment to be reduced into a handful of ash. Ash is a lesson in detachment and renunciation.","Today is May 25 2012 <BR><BR> THE river of human life meanders along, through many a valley, leaps over many a cliff, loses itself in many a marsh and seeks to empty itself in the ocean of Divine Grace; though, what happens is that it falls into the undrinkable expanse of salt. The flood flows from the heights to the depths; only the flames of fire do ever rise from the depth to the heights. That is why we speak of 'Jnanagni', the Fire of Wisdom of Realisation. Man suffers because he has developed hunger as vast as the sky, with a throat as narrow as a needle. His throat must become as vast as the earth; his heart must blossom wide through Shanti and Sahana; that is through equanimity and fortitude. Then the desire of man for full lasting undiluted 'Ananda' can be attained.","Today is May 26 2012 <BR><BR> LIFE on earth is as on the ocean, ever restless with the waves of joy and grief, of loss and gain, the swirling currents of desires and the whirlpools of passion, greed and hate. To cross the ocean, the only reliable raft is a heart filled with the Love of God and Man. Man is born for a high destiny, as the inheritor of a rich heritage. He should not fritter away his days in low pursuits and vulgar vanities. His destiny is to know the Truth, live in it and for it. The Truth alone can make man free and happy. If he is not prompted by this high purpose, life is a waste and a mere tossing on the waves, for the sea of life is never calm.","Today is May 27 2012 <BR><BR> YOUR car is not meant to be kept a showpiece in a glass garage. It is meant for the roads, for taking you fast and safe to the place where you want to go. So too, your body must serve the purpose of your journey. Journey to where? Not, as it has been happening, to the cemetery. You have nobler things to do than merely die! You must know your own Reality before you die and merge in that Supreme Joy. Eat just enough to keep the body trim; use the body to discover this Reality, namely, God. Sanctify every moment of your sojourn here with pious deeds and sacred thoughts.","Today is May 28 2012 <BR><BR> IT is to persuade you to engage in Namasmarana that I am concluding My discourses with singing a few Namavalis. An Officer of the Indian Civil Service has to write on the slate, A, B, C and D and pronounce those letters, in order to teach his children the alphabet. When you find him doing so, you do not infer that he is himself learning the alphabet, do you? Therefore, do not be surprised if I sing Bhajan songs; I am but initiating you into this most efficacious Sadhana. Strengthen yourself, purify yourself, and educate yourself by this 'Namasankeertan'. Do it loudly and in company. Let those who join you listen and imbibe the nectar of the Name.","Today is May 29 2012 <BR><BR> WHEN you call out in all sincerity, the response will certainly come. Give up all low desires and call from the anguished heart. Do not pray from the lips, as you do now, from the puja room which is but a corner of the kitchen. You worship the Lord with an eye on the dishes or cooking on the oven, with a nose inhaling hungrily the smells of the hot curries. Your thoughts of God are vitiated by 'Vishavasana', attachment to sensory objects. There is a vast gap between what you say and what you do; and between what you are capable of and what you accomplish.","Today is May 30 2012 <BR><BR> FOOD received by foul means and clothing procured through ease and comfort are the main things in life. Do not think that ease and comfort are the main things in life. Disappointment, disease and distress are the lot of all, rich and poor, educated and uneducated, young and old. They are the common lot of all. Let not your pure, immaculate hearts be rendered dirty by false-hood and wrong. Do not soil your tongue using it for uttering dirty words. Utter the name of God; it acts like a spark which can burn into ash a big hill of cotton! All evil thoughts, wicked plans and plots will disappear like fog before the Sun when the Name of God is remembered sincerely.","Today is May 31 2012 <BR><BR> ONCE man is free from undue attachment to the body and its appurtenances, he is liberated also from the pulls of joy, grief, good, bad, pleasure, pain, etc. He is firmly established in equanimity, fortitude and undisturbed balance. There man discovers that the World is one in God; that all is Joy, Love and Bliss. He realises that he himself is all this apparent World, that all the multifarious manifestations are the fantasies of the Divine will, which is his own Reality. This expansion of one's individuality to cover the ends of the Universe is the highest leap of man. It gives supreme 'Ananda', an experience for which sages and saints spent years of prayer and asceticism.","Today is June 1 2012 <BR><BR> MAN has been enslaved by money. He lives a superficial, hollow, artificial life. This is indeed a great pity. Man should seek to possess only as much money as is most essential for his living. The quantity of riches one must earn can be compared to the shoes one wears; if too small, they cause pain; if too big, they are a hindrance to physical and mental comfort. When we have more, it breeds pride, sloth and contempt for others. In pursuit of money, man descends to the level of the beast. Money is of the nature of manure. Piled up in one place, it pollutes the air. Spread it wide; scatter it over fields; it rewards you with a bumper harvest. So too, when money is spent in all the four quarters for promoting good works, it yields contentment and happiness in plenty.","Today is June 2 2012 <BR><BR> MOVE forward towards the light and the shadow falls behind you. Move away from it and you have to follow your own shadow. Go every moment one step nearer to the Lord and then, Maya, the shadow will fall back and will not delude you at all. Be steady; be resolved. Do not commit a fault or take a false step and then repeat it! Have the 'Thaapam' (the deliberation, the decision, the discipline) first; that is better than 'Paschaath Thapam' (regret for the mistake made).","Today is June 3 2012 <BR><BR> GIVE something divine if you want the Divine. Prema, Shanti, Dharma and Sathya are Divine. Do not try to get it for a flower that fades, a fruit that rots, a leaf that dries and water that evaporates. There are some who write and speak as if they have known Me, all that is to be known of Me. I can only say this: they can never know Me and My nature, even if they are born and reborn a thousand times. To know Me, one has to be like Me, rise to this height. Can ants discover the depth of the Ocean?.","Today is June 4 2012 <BR><BR> IN this Kali age, the wicked have to be reformed and reconstructed through love and Compassion. That is why this Avatar has come unarmed. HE has come with the message of Love. The only weapon which can transform the vile and the vicious is the Name of the Lord uttered with Love. The Name is redolent with Divine Glory. So when it is turned over in the mind, it transmutes it into an instrument for liberation from delusion.","Today is June 5 2012 <BR><BR> THREE disciplines are essential to become aware of Divinity in all and in the Avatar; no activity should be taken up with individual aggrandizement in view; intellect and emotion must be directed to the revelation of the Resident of the Heart, Atma; and every act should be done sincerely, with Love, with no yearning for acquiring personal profit, fame or benefit. Above all, listen to the voice of God within. As soon as one contemplates a wrong act, the voice warns, protests and advises giving up. It pictures the shame that has to be suffered, the punishment that has to be faced and the disgrace that it entails.","Today is June 6 2012 <BR><BR> IF God is implanted in the heart, you will see God everywhere, even in the objective World. 'Sarvam Brahmamayam' is a fact. Resolve this day to engage only in virtuous deeds, good thoughts, and good company. Let your mind dwell on elevating thoughts. Do not waste a single moment of your time talking in idle gossip, vain boasting or demeaning recreations.","Today is June 7 2012 <BR><BR> THE journey into the inner consciousness, to calm the storms that rage, is more important than the journey to the Moon or Mars. The latter may be more spectacular, but the former is the more beneficial. Life without goodness, good thoughts, good actions and good words is like the sky in the night without the moon or stars. It is like a wheel without a hub or spokes! No one can push a boulder away while standing on it; you cannot be free from anxiety while all the entrances through which it sneaks in are open. Stop catering to the senses and feeding the desires that haunt you.","Today is June 8 2012 <BR><BR> THE ceremony of Brahmopadesam is Upanayanam, because the word means, 'taking near', taking the young aspirant near Brahman, that is to say, introducing him to Brahmajynasa, the path of Brahma. It is one of the Samskaras, that is rites which reconstruct the personality, reform the mind, purify it and rebuild it. It makes the person receiving it a 'Dwija', twice-born! The boy is born first into the World; now he is born into the Sadhaka World. He becomes a Brahmachari, a person who walks towards Brahma.","Today is June 9 2012 <BR><BR> SEE God in every being and then true 'Sneha' will blossom. This type of true 'Sneha' can come only when you follow the advice of Krishna. 'Adveshta sarva bhoothanam maitrah karuna evacha Nirmano nirahamkaarah Sama dukher Sukha Kshami': 'He who has no trace of hatred towards any creature, who is friendly and compassionate towards all, who is free from the bondage of 'I' and 'mine', who takes pain and pleasure as equally welcome and who is forbearing in spite of provocation'. Grow these qualities in you, for they are the signs of true 'Sneha'. It is only when you are proceeding on the God ward journey along the nine stages of Bhakti that you can attain this Divine ideal of true friendship.","Today is June 10 2012 <BR><BR> MOHAMMED, who sought to establish the primacy of the One Formless Absolute, had a large share of persecution, defamation and privation. Jesus, who attempted to rebuild mankind on the basis of Love, was crucified by little men who feared that their tiny tower of hate and greed will be toppled by his teaching. Harischandra, who had resolved never to waver from Truth, was subjected to ordeal after ordeal, each more terrifying than the previous one. Those who seek to know God must steel themselves to bear insult, injury and torture with a smile.","Today is June 11 2012 <BR><BR> YUGADI: The word 'Yugadi' means: the day of the Inauguration of the 'Yuga or Age'. On this day dedicate your life anew to the spiritual discipline, giving up all habits that interfere with the constant remembrance of God. Nature puts on a neat garb of green, but man alone continues with his old prejudices, out-worn habits and moth-eaten principles, which tarnish and demean him. The spiritual discipline prescribed by the Scriptures for the Kritha (Yuga) Age is Dhyana; for the Tretha Yuga it is Dharma; for the Dwapara Yuga it is Archana or Ritual worship; and for the Kali Yuga it is Namasmara and Seva. With the constant remembrance of God, worship the Lord, leaving the result to the All-powerful, All-knowing and All-Merciful. The New Panchangam reveals the position of the Sun, Moon and Stars. Saint Thyagarja sang that Rama's Grace can counteract the evil effect of Stars. Expand yourself. Take in all. Grow in Love. That is the new dress you have to wear and shine on this day.","Today is June 12 2012 <BR><BR> I AM showing you by My example. You must fill every moment with useful beneficial activity. You talk among yourselves, 'Oh Swami is having his rest hour; Swami is sleeping', but I have never craved, for a minute's rest or sleep or relief. Shall I tell you at what time I feel restful, relieved and content? When I know that you are all earning supreme Bliss through detachment and spiritual discipline; not until then. I am ever engaged in some activity or other for your benefit. Things that I could get done, I do not entrust to others; I do them myself, so that they may learn self-reliance and get experience thereby.","Today is June 13 2012 <BR><BR> YAMA or the God of death is described as dragging his victims to his abode by means of the rope or 'Paasa'. Well, He has no rope-factory there, for supplying him with the rope he needs. You manufacture the rope yourself and have it ready around your neck; he has only to take hold of the rope and pull you along! It is a three-stranded rope, the strands being 'Ahamkaram' (Egoism); 'Vishayavasana' (sense-attachment); and 'Kama' (Desire).","Today is June 14 2012 <BR><BR> LEARN a lesson from the tree. When it is heavy with fruits, it does not raise its head aloft in pride, it bends low, stoops, as if it does not take any credit for its accomplishment and as if it helps you to pluck the fruit. Learn a lesson from the birds. They feed those who cannot fly far. The bird relieves the itch of the buffalo by scratching it with its beak; they help and serve each other with no thought of reward. How much more alert must man be then with his superior skills and faculties? Service is the best cure for egoism.","Today is June 15 2012 <BR><BR> I WOULD advise you to dwell always on one Name of God, one personification of one of His innumerable attributes of Glory. Then there is the expansion of your Love, the removal of hate and envy from your mental composition, seeing the God whom you adore in every other person intently as you see Him in yourself. Then you become the Embodiment of Love, Peace and Joy.","Today is June 16 2012 <BR><BR> REMOVE the cataract and the vision becomes clear. So too, remove the feeling of inferiority that dwarfs you now; feel that you are 'Atmaswarupa', 'Nityaswarupa', and 'Anandaswarupa'; then every act of yours becomes a 'Yajna', a sacrifice and a Puja. The ear, the eye, the tongue and the feet become tools for your uplift, not traps for your destruction. Transform 'Thamogunam' into 'Thapogunam' and save yourself.","Today is June 17 2012 <BR><BR> REMOVE the weight from your head by transferring all burdens to the Lord, leave everything to His will and His Law. Feed your mind with sweet and wholesome food: 'Satsanga', 'Satpravatana', and 'Sarveswara Chintha'; then you are full of joy. I am 'Anandaswarupa'; come and take 'Ananda' from Me and, returning to your avocations, dwell on that 'Ananda' and be full of 'Shanti'.","Today is June 18 2012 <BR><BR> THE greatest single cause for darkness in the World today is envy. When one is happy and contented, others envy him and strive to ruin his peace of mind. When any one is acclaimed as great, malice moves others to invent calumny in order to tarnish his reputations. This is the way of the World. There is in life the tragedy of ignorance and selfishness. They force man to take the wrong road; and suffer calamity.","Today is June 19 2012 <BR><BR> A STRONG will is the best tonic. The will becomes strong when you know that you are a child of Immortality or a person who has earned the Grace of the Lord. Medicine and hospitalization are for those who doubt and hesitate and argue about this doctor being more efficient than the other and this drug being more powerful than the rest. For those who rely on the Supreme Doctor, His Name is the drug that cures.","Today is June 20 2012 <BR><BR> YOU can call me on the phone, but I will not be available for all those who do not have the sincere and steady yearning for the Lord. For those who say 'No, You are not my Lord', I say 'No'. For those who say, 'Yes', I too echo 'Yes'. If I am available in your heart, I will be available over the phone. But remember, I have My own special Postal and Telephone Systems. They operate from the heart straight to the heart. There are rules and regulations for the operations of the Systems which the Sastras declare. You can find them there. I am glad that devotees have today acquired this new convenience at Prasanthi Nilayam.","Today is June 21 2012 <BR><BR> TRUTH can reflect itself in your intelligence only when it is cleaned by 'Thapas'. 'Thapas' means all acts undertaken with higher motives and all acts indicating yearning for the spirit; repenting for past blunders; staunch determination to adhere to virtue; self-control; and unyielding adherence to equanimity in the face of success or failure. 'Thapam' means heat, burning intensity and earnestness of endeavour. It is 'Thapas' that fosters Renunciation and discipline.","Today is June 22 2012 <BR><BR> THE Rama and Krishna Avatars performed the mission of restoring Dharma and fostering virtuous living, besides punishing the wicked and teaching the World that vice will not succeed. Man is an amalgam of Humanity, Animality and Divinity. It is a tragedy if he cannot get rid of the Animality; and it is a greater tragedy if he cannot cultivate his Divinity. Contemplation of the Rama and Krishna Avatars and their Leelas and Mahimas is the surest method of cultivating the Divine in Man!","Today is June 23 2012 <BR><BR> GOD has four qualities and it is only when you cultivate them that you can understand Him. They are: Prema (Love), Beauty (Soundarya), Sweetness (Madurya), and Shoba (Splendor). The development of Prema is enough to add into you the other three. When you are full of Prema for the Divine in all creation, that stage is Beauty; when you are immersed in the sea of Universal Love, you reach the acme of Sweetness; when your mind loses its identity and merges in the Universal Mind, then there is Splendour indescribable.","Today is June 24 2012 <BR><BR> MY task is not merely to cure and console and remove individual misery. It is something far more important. The important task of the mango tree is to produce mango-fruit. The leaves, the branches and the trunk of the tree are useful in their own way, no doubt, but the main aim is the fruit. So, also from the plantain-tree, the fruit is the main gain. The leaves and the edible core of the stem are all incidental. So too, the removal of misery and distress is incidental to My Mission. My main task is the re-establishment of Veda and Shastra in the heart of Bharthavarsha and the revival of Knowledge about them in the people. This task will succeed.","Today is June 25 2012 <BR><BR> NARADA once asked Krishna the secret of the attraction His flute play had on the cowherds of Brindavan. 'Do they run to You or do You run to them?', he queried. 'Among us there is neither I nor they; how can a picture be separated from the cloth on which it is painted? I am imprinted on their hearts so inseparably and so inextricably', Krishna replied. Have God imprinted on your hearts; be ever so inextricably established in Him - that is My message to you.","Today is June 26 2012 <BR><BR> THIS Sai has came in order to achieve the Supreme task of uniting the entire mankind as one family through the band of brotherhood, of affirming and illumining the Atmic Reality of each being in order to reveal the Divine, the basis on which the entire Cosmos rests, and of instructing all to recognise the common Divine Heritage that binds man to man, so that man can rid himself of the animal and rise into the Divine which is his goal.","Today is June 27 2012 <BR><BR> DO not get elated at the riches, status, authority, and intelligence, which have been given to you on trust, so that you may benefit others. They are all signs of His Grace, opportunities for service and symbols of responsibility. Never seek to exult over others' faults; deal sympathetically with the errors and mistakes of others; hear only good things about them; and do not give an ear to scandals.","Today is June 28 2012 <BR><BR> NOW, there is a wave of anxiety spreading over the World as a result of rising prices; and attempts are frantically being made to bring down the level. The fundamental cause for the rise in prices is the decline in the price of man. Man must realise his pricelessness; he should not regard himself as a cheap nut or bolt that has no higher purpose in life. He should know that he is the imperishable, unconquerable Atma; and the body is only a vehicle for the Atma.","Today is June 29 2012 <BR><BR> DOES thou know why you are given eyes? To see whatever can be seen? No! No! To fill the eyes with the vision of God who resides on Mount Kailas. We have to cast our looks at sacred sights. We must visualise in everyone only the good and the Godly. That is the purpose for which God has equipped us with eyes. He has not gifted them to us to observe and judge others, to follow people into the bazaar or to see unsightly films.","Today is June 30 2012 <BR><BR> THE snakes move in curves, not in a straight line; man too, when he is following the senses, has to move in a crooked path. He has greater poison in him than the snake; his venom is to be found in his eye, his tongue, his hands, his mind, his heart and his thoughts - whereas the cobra has it only in its fangs. The cobra raises its hood and sways in joy when it hears music - so, man too, when he realises the stage of 'nirvikalpa', (steady unchanging establishment in the ultimate Reality), dances in heavenly Bliss.","Today is July 1 2012 <BR><BR> GOD is the source of all Love; Love God, Love the World as the vesture of God, no more and no less. Through Love, you can merge in the Ocean of Love. Love cures pettiness, hate and grief. Love loosens bonds; it saves man from the torments of birth and death. Love binds all hearts in a soft silken symphony. Seen through the eyes of Love, all beings are beautiful; all deeds are dedicated; and all thoughts are innocent. The World is one vast kin.","Today is July 2 2012 <BR><BR> GOD is all powerful; God is everywhere; God is all-knowing. To adore such a formidable limitless principle, man spends a few minutes out of the 24 hours and uses a minute idol, image or picture! It is indeed ridiculous; it is practically futile. Adore Him so long as you have breath and so long as you are conscious. Have no other thought than God, have no other aim than knowing His command; no other activity than translating that command into action. That is what is meant by Surrender. Surrender yourself unto Him.","Today is July 3 2012 <BR><BR> GOD is the guardian, the corrector, the admonisher and the saviour; so, people must get into the habit of calling on Him as a living presence. The temple helps to soften the hearts! It instills the virtue of compassion and charity. Greed and cruelty will spread in an atmosphere that has no devotion and adoration to God. Make yourselves into moving temples. Become aware of the God that resides in you. It is He who protects you, provides for you and prevents you from falling prey to pernicious propensities.","Today is July 4 2012 <BR><BR> THERE are three types of persons: those, who confess their own faults and mention the excellence of others, are the highest type; those, who highlight their own excellence and decry the faults of others, are worse; those, who parade their own faults as excellence and deride the excellence in others as faults, are the worst. The last type is nowadays most rampant.","Today is July 5 2012 <BR><BR> GOD has no will or want; He does not confer or withhold; He is the eternal witness. To put it in the language that you can understand: He is like the postman, who is not concerned with the contents of the letters that he hands over to the addressees; one letter might communicate victory; another defeat; and you receive what you have worked for. Do good and have good done in return; be bad and accept the bad that comes back to you. That is the law; and there is really no help (or) hindrance.","Today is July 6 2012 <BR><BR> THE relief and joy that you give to the sick and the sad reach me, for I am in their hearts and I am the One they call out for. God has no need of your service; does He suffer from pain in the legs, or ache in the stomach? Try to serve the Godly; be 'dasanudasas', the servants of the servants of the Lord. The service of man is the only means by which you can serve God.","Today is July 7 2012 <BR><BR> THYAGARAJA said that, if he is armed with the Grace of Rama, the planetary missiles can never injure him. Purandaradasa, another great saint, asked, 'What are eyes for?' and answered the question himself, 'To visualise the Lord'. 'Eyes that do not yearn to see you, are black balls; ears that do not hear your praise, are narrow mountain caves where jackals live; and the tongue that does not relish the repetition of your Name, can only croak like a frog', says Purandaradasa.","Today is July 8 2012 <BR><BR> ALL who come embodied are Avatars, that is to say, advents of the Divine, Manifestations of God. What then is the special feature of Rama, Krishna, Buddha and Christ? Why do you celebrate their Birthdays with such reverential enthusiasm? The specialty is this: they are Aware; you are unaware of the Atma which is the Truth. Awareness confers Grace, Glory, Majesty, Might and Splendour. Awareness confers Liberation from bonds, time, space and causation, and sleep, dream and wakefulness. Avatars are ever alert, aware and alight.","Today is July 9 2012 <BR><BR> THE name of God, if recited with love and faith, has that power. Once the mother of Agastya boasted that her son drank all the waters of the ocean; but the mother of Hanuman, who was there, said; 'Why go to that extent? My son leaped over it in a trice'. But there was the mother of Rama with them. She said, 'Your son leaped over the ocean, uttering my son's name. Without it, he was helpless'. The name has that overmastering power. It can bring unheard of and unimagined strength and courage.","Today is July 10 2012 <BR><BR> FOR Namasmarana, no expense is involved; no materials are needed; there is no special place or time to be provided. No qualification of scholarship or caste or sex has to be proved. When a bit of iron is rubbed to and fro on a slab of stone, heat is generated; only the rubbing has to be vigorous and continuous. When you do so at intervals and with poor pressure, the iron will not get hot. So too, in order to get sufficient heat to melt the soft heart of the Lord, rub the name 'Ram', 'Ram', 'Ram', 'Ram' vigorously and unremittingly; then, the Lord will shower His Grace.","Today is July 11 2012 <BR><BR> THIS is the best time to tell you something about the authenticity of this Advent. I only wish to communicate the Truth. There are many who can not bear or tolerate the Splendour that I am manifesting, the Divinity that is expressed in every act, the wonders and amazing happenings that are the result of Grace; these people label these as acts of mesmerism or miracles or feats of magic! They hope to bring these down in the estimation of people. Let me tell you this; mine is no mesmerism, miracle or magic. Mine is genuine DIVINE POWER.","Today is July 12 2012 <BR><BR> LIFE sustained by food is short; life sustained by the Atma is eternal. Do not lay claim to long life; but to Divine life. Do not pine for more years on earth, but for more virtues in the heart. Buddha knew and made known to the World the Truth. Everything is grief. Everything is empty. Everything is brief. Everything is polluted. So the wise man has to do the duties cast upon him with discrimination, diligence and detachment. Play the role but keep your identity unaffected.","Today is July 13 2012 <BR><BR> IN order to escape being tossed about on the waves of joy and grief, one should cultivate unconcern (upeksha), an attitude of welcoming either as a sign of Grace. Sri Ramakrishna said that if you must avoid the sticky fluid in the jack fruit from contacting your fingers when you peel it, you have to apply a few drops of oil on them. So, too, said he, 'If you do not want the World and its reactions to stick to you, have a few drops of unconcern applied on your mind'.","Today is July 14 2012 <BR><BR> THE foundation for real peace is, according to the Vedas, the quality of Maithree. Maithree means amicability, friendship, compassion and, kindness. It can also be taken to mean 'My three', that is to say, my word, deed and thought shall be in accordance with words, thought and deed; that is to say, we shall speak, think and act together without friction or faction, in an atmosphere of love and understanding. That is what is wanted in the world today: My three.","Today is July 15 2012 <BR><BR> ALL men are Mine; so the whole World has to be saved from the consequences of ignorance or limited knowledge. I will get all My people near Me, for they are Mine, and I am theirs. Then, I will start teaching and training them, until they become entirely ego-free. For the last 25 years, it has all been sweetness, kindness, soft persuasion; hereafter, it will be different. I will drag them, place them on the table and operate. That is to say, I have no anger or hate. I have only Love. It is Love that prompts Me to save them and to open their eyes, before they get deeper into the morass.","Today is July 16 2012 <BR><BR> MAN alone can rise through effort to higher stages of spiritual evolution. No other animal can do so. Animal trainers of the Circus can train a tiger to perform various tricks, but they cannot change his nature. They cannot make it live on grass and completely deprive it of meat. But man is different. His nature can be changed by means of his own disciplined effort. He can control, by his will, the evil thoughts and ideas that arise in his mind. This is why birth as a human being is considered a rare gift.","Today is July 17 2012 <BR><BR> FAITH in God will instill faith in themselves and in others and the World will be happier thereby. The Americans might walk on the moon, or the Russians picnic on the planet Mars, but they have both to return to Earth, which is their common home. One can claim genuine victory only when one has reached not the dead satellite, but the living star, not the Chandra, but Ramachandra, the Lord who rules over the inner satellites, the inner planets, the inner motives and aspirations.","Today is July 18 2012 <BR><BR> LIFE is a jungle, where there is a great deal of dry wood which harbours worms and insects. No one cleans the floor of the forest or cuts away the undergrowth of bush and bramble. To wade through the thorns and the leech-ridden floor of the jungle, one has to wear boots. So too, one has to wear the boots of sense-regulation, if one has to pass through the jungle of life without harming oneself.","Today is July 19 2012 <BR><BR> THERE are three desires which every 'I' cannot escape from. 'I must live' is the first. The will to live is overpowering and paramount. This is the urge for immortality. 'The desire to know' is the second. This too is unquenchable thirst and is an indication of the position of which the 'I' is the inheritor. 'The desire for joy' is the third, prompting man behind the senses into the outer World for pleasures. This evidence shows that deep in the core of the 'I' there is a spring of 'Ananda' which seeks its mate and its fulfillment.","Today is July 20 2012 <BR><BR> THERE is no Vidya which our students are not proficient in. They develop all the virtues and they saturate every act of theirs, including their skills and studies, with those high and pure qualities. To demonstrate that this process will yield joy, peace and prosperity, I have these students as My instruments. They would themselves act as ideals. They are the source of My delight and they sustain My hopes. (They are My 'Aasaya', My 'Ananda' and my 'Ahaara') These students, and those of the same stamp are the pioneers in My task of mending the present World and ushering in a new World.","Today is July 21 2012 <BR><BR> PARENTS set bad examples uttering falsehood, scandalizing others, gambling, drinking, behaving violently, inflicting injury, becoming addicted to nightclubs, pictures and drinking parties and quarreling after arriving home past midnight. How can children, used to such low sights and sounds, learn to become bright fresh fragrant flowers of the Sanathana Garden of India?","Today is July 22 2012 <BR><BR> THE student of today is not able to realise what he should primarily be concerned with. It is only in name that he is a 'Vidyarthi', the seeker of knowledge. In practice he is only a 'Vishayarthi', a seeker of worldly pleasures. It is the duty of every human being to understand and respect his parents. Similarly, in a nation, it is the duty of every national to assimilate and appreciate the historical and cultural background of his nation and consider these two factors as his father and mother. In fact, one who is ignorant of the historical and cultural heritage of his country is like a stupid person who has no knowledge of his parents.","Today is July 23 2012 <BR><BR> TODAY the student-world is tossed in confusion; not only in confusion but in downright insanity. They wear white clothing; but the hearts are still dark. Heads are full of evil thoughts Ears are open for scandal-tales, Eyes delight in peeping unseen; Minds crave for wicked plots; Reason pursues plan to cheat. When Vidya perceives these in man, It will not stay a moment there. When this is the condition, how can one earn Vidya? Of course, man's present situation and status are determined by his acts and thoughts in the past.","Today is July 24 2012 <BR><BR> SAMSKRITI the word for culture and civilization is derived from the word samskara, which means the dual process of removing the dust and dirt of vice, and planting the virtues of Sathya, Dharma, Shanti and Prema. Samskara is also the name for certain obligatory rites of initiation and purification prescribed by the Vedas for the spiritual upliftment of man. Their number is forty-eight in all, but they could be reduced to ten and if needed, even to one; the final fulfilling one, of recognising one's identity with Madhava, Siva, or Brahman. Nara is but Narayana seen through the limitations of primal ignorance.","Today is July 25 2012 <BR><BR> AN Iron box is essential to keep safe precious stones; so too, the body is essential to keep safe the precious gift of virtue, faith, love and discrimination. The parents gave it and so they have to be respected by speech, action and behaviour. How can you expect the Heavenly Father to respond to your prayers if you do not respond to the demands of the earthly Father? The first step in Dharma is gratitude; the first duty of the child is reverence to the parents. When the first step is absent, ascent is impossible.","Today is July 26 2012 <BR><BR> IF a school has poor discipline and if its students are led away by self-seekers into the wilderness, the fault lies on the parents, elders and the Committee of Management. The Committee often is only a 'Come-for-Tea' affair.","Today is July 27 2012 <BR><BR> HOWEVER superfine the paper, however artistic the envelope and however poetic the composition of the letter, it will not reach the addressee by post when it lacks the 50 paise stamp! So too the trappings, vestures, shawls, moles and rosaries are ineffective; they cannot reach the addressee - God. What will take their prayers to the addressee is the 50 paise stamp: dedication or Bhakti.","Today is July 28 2012 <BR><BR> I WANT each one of you to grow into a strong, steady and straight person. Your eyes should not seek evil sights; your ears should not seek evil tales; your tongue should not seek evil speech; your hands should not seek evil acts; your minds should not seek evil thoughts. Be pure and be full of Love. Help those who are in a worse condition and serve those who need your help.","Today is July 29 2012 <BR><BR> GOD appears in human form; He promotes pasture of cattle and agriculture in order that the food must sustain the Head and render it intelligent and clear enough to realise God. The body has to be nourished for the sake of the Head, so that 'Gnana' can be attained and Liberation gained. Food-Head-God: this is the chain of events.","Today is July 30 2012 <BR><BR> MOST of the names of the Divine have but two letters or syllables; the significance of the number two, Rama, Krishna, Hara, Hari, Datta, Sakti, Kali etc., is that the first syllable represents Agni (Fire principle), which burns up accumulated demerit or sin; and the second represents the Amritha principle, the restorative, refreshing and the reformation force. The two processes are necessary for the removal of obstructions and the construction of the structure.","Today is July 31 2012 <BR><BR> WHEN you live in the World of desire, you must be prepared for both Joy and Grief. Invite the Minister Boga, and along with him you must be prepared for the visit of his Private Secretary Roga! On the other hand, invite the Minister Thyaga or his colleague Yoga, and you will be happy to receive their Private Secretary Boga who plays a minor role in the presence of his Master.","Today is August 1 2012 <BR><BR> MAAM anusmara - with Me in memory ever! Do not distinguish this task as Bhajan, or Bhojan (eating) or Pujan (adoration of God). All acts are Pujan, for food is given by Him, eaten by Him, for His sake to yield strength for His work. Each moment is worthwhile, for He gives it; He uses it; He fills it; He fashions it; and He fulfills it. When He is fused with every breath, you can achieve the sovereign task of merging in Him.","Today is August 2 2012 <BR><BR> BHAKTI is not to be calculated on the basis of the institutions one has started or helped, the temples that one has built or renovated, the donations one has given away; nor does it depend on the number of times one has written the Name of the Lord or on the time and energy one has spent in the worship of the Lord. These are not vital at all; no, not even secondary. Bhakti is Prema, unsullied by any tinge of desire for the benefit that flows from it or the fruit of consequence of that Love.","Today is August 3 2012 <BR><BR> GOD is as eager to save you as you are eager to be saved; He is Prema, He is Karuna, for all who flounder on the road. He is called 'Bhakta - Abhista - Prada' (He who grants the desires of the Devotees). You say that I laugh within Myself, that I roll my hair on My fingers and draw them right over My face, but let me say why? A sign of My 'Ananda' is the success of the Bhaktas in capturing My heart.","Today is August 4 2012 <BR><BR> THE human body has been secured as a reward for many lives of meritorious activity. Being valued as a boat which can help us cross the ocean of change 'Samsara', it has to be tended with grateful reverence. The Baghavad Gita calls the body 'Kshetra', which means 'a field'; one can sow holiness or sin and gather a harvest commensurate with the particular quality. Choose the crop that you need before you sow the seeds.","Today is August 5 2012 <BR><BR> THE bird, in the physical cage wherein man is imprisoned, is always, from the moment of birth to the moment of death, chirping 'Soham' declaring 'Jiva and Deva are One'. It is this affirmation that is the justification for the gift of life. When that chirp does not emanate from the breath, the body is a corpse: Savam! When it manifests, illumines and fills the cage with the 'Divine Fragrance', it is a Tabernacle: Sivam! Identify yourselves with the Manthra, the bird chirps and the breath repeats.","Today is August 6 2012 <BR><BR> THE Vedavids marked three stages in the Life of man and assigned one aspect of God to preside over each stage. The first, where man is deep in activity of some sort or other in Karma, is presided over by Vasu. The second, under the protection of Rudra, is filled with reverential worship of the God in all, discovered through the impact of Love. The third is the stage of Gnana, the supreme Wisdom, presided over by the Source of illumination, Aditya or the Sun.","Today is August 7 2012 <BR><BR> THE World is a furnace and a factory where man has to shape his destiny by his honest, untiring effort. He, who takes up this challenge and spends his allotted years and the skills and intelligence with which he is endowed, in purposeful activity, is really entitled to the status of a KARMA YOGI.","Today is August 8 2012 <BR><BR> DUTY is God; Work is Worship; and there is a dictum: 'Heads in the Forest; Hands in Society'; Do deeds that are holy and beneficial, untarnished by ego and the greed to benefit. Start on the sacred pilgrimage to the Divine Goal and make every minute of your life holy and purposeful. Then surely, this Earth, your field of work, will be transformed into a Karmakshetra and a Dharmakshetra.","Today is August 9 2012 <BR><BR> God is ready to grant you happiness. Are you prepared to receive what He wishes to offer? Banish all worries. They are temporary like passing clouds. Happiness is union with God. God is eternal bliss. Get rid of your evil tendencies and fill your hearts with love of God. You will then become one with God. Do not allow anyone to come between you and your duty to God. Your allegiance to the Lord should transcend all other obligations. God takes care of such devotees. Surrender yourselves to God and dedicate yourselves to the service of mankind.","Today is August 10 2012 <BR><BR> A Person might appear poor, distressed, and depressed to ordinary mortals; he might not have the exterior demonstration of devotion, but God could be ever installed in his heart, guiding and guarding him. He might be doing all acts as acts of worship to the God residing in his heart.","Today is August 11 2012 <BR><BR> WE, who are crossing the ocean of Samsara (the chain of birth and death), need to cultivate the art of swimming through 'Bhagavath Chinthana' (Meditation of God). However learned we may be, if we do not have this training and cultivation, we are bound to sink. Life is a boat which enables us to cross the ocean of Samsara with the aid of Meditation on God.","Today is August 12 2012 <BR><BR> WHEN you spend your hours in thoughts about God, you are also free from evil ways. You will not be tempted to abuse others or harm them in any way. You live in Love, accepting all the events as His gifts. Homes such as yours are, really speaking, Heavens on earth; the Joy that bubbles in your hearts is the symbol of Vaikunta; the earnestness and care that you evince in your work is the sign of Kailas, the abode of Siva. Hearts dedicated to these ideals are indeed 'golden'.","Today is August 13 2012 <BR><BR> WE cannot describe God in the vocabulary learnt upon the Earth. We have to experience the Bliss of realising Him as the core of our being. Man is endowed with a sense of wonder and awe, the sense which makes him either a participant (Karma Yoga), an inquirer into the mystery (Gnana Yoga) or a devout adorer (Bakthi Yoga).","Today is August 14 2012 <BR><BR> EVERY DAY before you begin work, pray to God for a few minutes at least; and, at the end of the day, when the work is over, gather in some consecrated spot, a temple or mandir and offer grateful thanks to the Lord, singing His name and meditating on His Majesty. That will make you real Karma Yogins, even heroes of the Karma Path.","Today is August 15 2012 <BR><BR> ONE does not have to search for spiritual power, going around the World and spending a lot of money. Be in your own house, develop it in yourself, such spiritual power in you! You do not have to run for it here and there. God is not external; God is not outside you; God is inside you. You are not a man, you are God yourself. You are not one person, but three; the one you think you are (physical); the one others think you are (mental); and the one you really are. Do not be under the delusion that God is somewhere and you have to search for Him; God is in you.","Today is August 16 2012 <BR><BR> PARENTS and teachers can earn My Grace only by becoming good and worthy examples to their sons and daughters, or their wards and students. You claim to have devotion to Me, but you must examine and discover whether I am pleased with you. You must examine yourselves every moment, whether you are observing the discipline I have laid down and the program of service I have marked out. That is the way to earn My Love. Love others and serve them; then you can win My Love.","Today is August 17 2012 <BR><BR> YOU will see the day when the Chitravati sands alone cannot accommodate the gatherings that assemble here from all parts of the World; when the sky alone can provide a roof for them all. Many hesitate to believe that things will improve, that life for all will be happy and full of joy, that the Golden Age will ever recur. Let me assure you that this Dharmaswarupa has not come in vain; it will succeed in averting the crisis that has come upon Humanity.","Today is August 18 2012 <BR><BR> WHEN the Dharma of the Age is laid aside to establish it anew, through loving means; when the World is polluted by conflict and confusion, to restore the path of virtue and peace; when good men caught in cruel coils wail, to save them from pain and shame; when sacred texts are not grasped aright, to proclaim the message they teach mankind; to relieve the earth of the burden of Vice, to fulfill the promise made in the Tretha Age; Achutha has incarnated on this earth; Vasudeva, Srihari, has come into the World.","Today is August 19 2012 <BR><BR> GOD alone is eternal; man is a momentary flash, a tiny wave that rises and falls. So, fill yourselves with vast thoughts, magnificent ideas, indefinable splendour, by reciting the names of God, names that describe HIM to your receptive Consciousness. That is the main discipline for this Age.","Today is August 20 2012 <BR><BR> REMEMBERING the Lord by means of His name is enough to save man. The Lord is 'Anandamaya'; He is also 'Ananda'. That 'Ananda' is to be tasted through the Name. It is 'Sath-Chith-Ananda'. You may doubt whether such a small raft as R‰ma, or Sai or Krishna can take you across the boundless sea of Samsara. People cross vast oceans on a tiny raft; they are able to walk through dark jungles with a tiny lamp in their hands. The name or even the Pranava ,which is smaller, has vast potentialities. The raft need not be as big as the sea.","Today is August 21 2012 <BR><BR> DO not fret against the rules and regulations which the Organisation imposes on you; they are laid down for your own good. Regulation is the every essence of creation. The oceans observe their limits. Wind and fire respect their limits and bonds. The human body has to maintain its warmth at 98.4ø F. in order to be healthy; the heart has to beat a definite number of times a minute. How, then, can this Organisation escape the prescription of certain rules and regulations?","Today is August 22 2012 <BR><BR> THE same Divine compassion that blessed Dharma, saved Gajendra, restored Kuchela and stood by Prahlada, has come to the Earth as the Refuge of the refugees; as the Lord of Peace, Harmony and Righteousness; as the Lord of all the Worlds; as the Sath-Chith-Anandamurthi; and as the Puttaparthi Sathya Sai, Sath-Chakravarthi, the King of Kings.","Today is August 23 2012 <BR><BR> THE Avatar is Atmasakthi that has put on the raiment of Kriyasakthi and Yogasakthi. Generally, Avatar or the process of Incarnation is described as a 'coming down' from a higher status to a lower one. But, no! When the baby in the cradle weeps, wails and clamours for help, the mother stoops and takes it up in her arms; her stoop is not to be described as a 'coming down'. If you earn the necessary credentials, the Incarnation will come and save you. If, on the other hand, you multiply your demerits and descend lower and lower, how can you be saved?","Today is August 24 2012 <BR><BR> SAI only reflects your mind. He has no prejudices or preference. He is a mirror wherein you can see yourselves as you really are. In order to correct their mistakes and remove your faults, I sometimes have to use harsh words; but you may be rest assured that My sole aim is to turn you to better ways. I have no anger in Me. It is the inner compassion which takes the other form of anger.","Today is August 25 2012 <BR><BR> YOU think that Sai Baba is comfortably sleeping in the Mandir. Do you know where I find happiness? I am happy when I am with you. That is the reason why I declare 'My Life is My Message'. I am consistently engaged in some work or another at all hours. I do not get attached to anything nor do I need to detach Myself from anything. I am ever in full Ananda.","Today is August 26 2012 <BR><BR> EGOISM is a thorny bush which, when planted and fostered in one's heart, makes one pay the penalty. Egoism makes enemies of fast friends and rains many good causes and projects, for it does not allow two good men to work together. Grief follows it like a shadow. Where there is no ego - joy, peace, courage, cooperation and love flourish. When man is aware that the same Divine consciousness that motivates him is equally motivating all others, then Love ousts the ego into the background and takes charge of man's activities, words and thoughts.","Today is August 27 2012 <BR><BR> OVERCOME by inner foes, how can man succeed in overwhelming the outer foes? Burdened with sloth and dullness, how can he achieve wisdom? Prompted by passion, how can he cultivate devotion? Balance and equanimity alone can confer peace and harmony.","Today is August 28 2012 <BR><BR> NARA and Narayana, man and God, are like iron and magnet. God, by His very nature, attracts man near, for in man there is the Divine. When the magnet fails to attract the iron piece, we sometimes conclude that the magnet has lost its power. The real fact however is, that the piece of iron is too thickly covered by rust and dust. Thus, man (the iron) does not realise his own defect, but rushes to blame God (the magnet) and even to deny Him.","Today is August 29 2012 <BR><BR> REVERE Jnana as you revere your father; adore love as you adore your mother; move fondly with Dharma, as if it is your own brother; confide in Daya, as if it is your dearest friend; have 'Shantam' as your better half; treat 'Sahana', fortitude, as if it is your own beloved son. These are your genuine kith and kin. Move with them; do not forsake or neglect them.","Today is August 30 2012 <BR><BR> HOLD all your property and wealth in trust for the Lord who gave them to you; even your family you must treat as a sacred trust, as persons given to you by the Lord to love, foster and guide. Thus, you must elevate your attachment into worship and make it an instrument for spiritual progress.","Today is August 31 2012 <BR><BR> YOU come to Puttaparthi, secure a picture, and taking it home, begin worshipping it every day or every Thursday; but, all that is simply 'Sathkarma', good activity. They will not take you far. You must also develop 'Sathguna', virtues, good habits, good attitudes, good characteristics and a good character. Otherwise, our life is a chain of pluses and minuses, one canceling the other out, totaling up to a mere zero.","Today is September 1 2012 <BR><BR> DEVOTION towards God goes ill with hatred towards fellow-men. Fellow-men and the World must be seen ever in the mirror of 'Sath-Chith-Ananda'. Kinship based on this recognition alone will last. That is the Sai kinship. When you deepen that kinship, the true presence, the constant presence of Sathya Sai will be yours. Do not be led, away by your fancies into the jungle of words and feelings. Be firm, true to your inner-most nature.","Today is September 2 2012 <BR><BR> THERE are many Trusts operating in this country and in others beyond the seas. I wish to emphasis that the Sathya Sai Trusts have to shine forth among them all by their special characteristics. They must be based on mutual trust and cooperation built on the actual experience of the One-ness of all. There is no room here for egoistic poses, compulsory tactics, greed for power, recrimination and jealousy.","Today is September 3 2012 <BR><BR> GOD too is a reality, ever present in us and in every being; but we miss Him, as we miss the movement of the earth. We have to infer God through proofs and evidences of His Providence, His grace, His Majesty and His Glory, just as we infer the movements of the Earth, the Moon and the Stars by watching the sky, the seasons and the precise procession of day and night. We cannot describe God in the vocabulary learnt on the earth.","Today is September 4 2012 <BR><BR> HUMAN desire is illimitable and without end. It makes you pursue the mirage in the desert; it makes you build castles in the air; it breeds discontent and despair once you succumb to it. But develop the thirst for Krishna; you discover the cool-spring of Ananda within you. Krishna-nama makes you very strong and steady; it is sweet and sustaining.","Today is September 5 2012 <BR><BR> SIVOHAM, Sivoham - was the exclamation that rose from the Souls that knew the Truth in a flash of illumination, after long years of cleansing the mind through the process of 'Tapas'. 'I am Siva, Siva am I'. Though called by many names and recognised in many forms, the Divine Principle is one, without a second. It is 'Sivam' and it is latent in each being, including Man.","Today is September 6 2012 <BR><BR> THE serpent can be tamed and its poisonous fangs removed, when music from the Nagaswaram pipe is played and when it is fascinated by that sweet melody. The poison that Vishaya exerts on the human mind can also be eliminated and countermanded, when man is fascinated by the sweet melodies of NNamasmaranaor Sankeertan, that is to say, by the repetitive chanting of the meaningful Names of the Lord. The poison in both can thus be transmuted into pure nectar.","Today is September 7 2012 <BR><BR> SCRIPTURES are endless; Sadhanas are countless; opportunities are few; time is already overstocked. But you can easily win the battle of life, in spite of these handicaps, provided you arm yourself with Love, which is the essential teaching of all Scriptures, the goal of all varieties of Sadhana, the best use to which all opportunities can be put and the most profitable way of utilising the precious capital time.","Today is September 8 2012 <BR><BR> IMAGINE the fate of the cows when a tiger enters the manger. Can they survive the invasion? So too, the cows of Truth, Justice, Peace and Love cannot survive in the human heart when the 'Tigers', namely Greed, Anger and Pride enter and play havoc. Today, the human heart, especially the heart of the educated man, has become the lair of wild desires and cruel habits.","Today is September 9 2012 <BR><BR> THE day when devotees sing songs in praise of the Lord and please the ear; The day when sorrows of the poor recur and men move closer as brothers born; The day when servants of God are fed with Love and Care in thankfulness; The day when a Great One comes to us and relates thrilling tales of God; these indeed are worthwhile days. The rest are like days dedicated to obsequies for the dead.","Today is September 10 2012 <BR><BR> DO not consider any act of service as demeaning. Sweeping the streets, for example, is not below your dignity. Do you not sweep the floor of your homes? Do you not scrub and wash off dirt? When you undertake such tasks, the villagers will also gladly share in them. Why feel ashamed to be good? The ridicule that may be cast on you has been the reward of many Saints. It will soon fade away. Mohammed was driven out of Mecca by those who could not appreciate his teachings. Jesus was crucified. But their names resound in reverence in the hearts of millions.","Today is September 11 2012 <BR><BR> ISAA Vaasym Idam Sarvam, all this is enveloped by God; all this is soaked in God and saturated with God. Everything is the substance of God. In fact the best teacher is one's own heart. Time is the best preceptor and awakener; the World is the best scripture; God is the best friend for man. So there is no need to wander in search of a Guru. Man is of God, with and from God. The Cosmos is a bubble born in the Absolute. The human essence in man is Divine. The true Guru is not the human preceptor. Revere the World as Divine. All that is seen or heard is God. Revere the Universe as Guru.","Today is September 12 2012 <BR><BR> I HAVE no sense of distinction between Bhaktas who worship this form or that. All can come near, all who crave for heat and light. The heat of this splendour will destroy the chill of sensual pleasure. The light will scatter the darkness of the ages. Cultivate Love and Prema towards all; that is the way to gain nearness. I do not measure distance in terms of meters or miles. The range of Love decides the distance for Me.","Today is September 13 2012 <BR><BR> THE real aim of education must be to help the student discover the Divine in every being Saint Vemana says: Scholars study! study! study! But the fools know not what they are! Studying, studying, studying. The scholar is not free from vice nor has he become wise. Then why study these mean, mortal things? Study only that which is deathless. The most desirable subject for study is the Secret of the Soul which is Immortal.","Today is September 14 2012 <BR><BR> SEVA is the adoration of the Lord, as 'Viswa-Virataswarupa' , as having the multifaceted form and immanence in the entire Universe. The Vedas describe Him as thousand-headed, thousand-eyed and thousand-footed. The thousands of hands and eyes and feet that have come here for the festivals are all His, the Lord's. Worship Him; that is the purpose of your Seva. And He is none else than your own self.","Today is September 15 2012 <BR><BR> YOU must discover your identity; then only can you have peace. You are like a man who has forgotten his name; his address and his mission in life. Realise it and try to delve into yourself; so that you may know who you are. Then you get security and peace. Sharpen your intellect for this purpose; and cleanse your consciousness for this purpose through Sathsang, Japa, Dhyana, Namasmarana etc.","Today is September 16 2012 <BR><BR> VALMIKI was a highway-robber who waylaid and killed hundreds without hesitation; he was the slave of passion and emotion; but when the seven-Sages, whom he waylaid one night, counseled patience, forbearance and self-enquiry, he turned heroically into the path of Ram (giving up the lure of Kam or Lust) and achieved immortality and immortal fame, as the narrator of Rama's story.","Today is September 17 2012 <BR><BR> SCATTER the seeds of Love in dreary desert hearts; then the sprouts of Love will make the wastes green with joy; the blossom of Love will make the air fragrant; the river of Love will murmur along the valleys; and every bird, beast and child will sing the song of Love.","Today is September 18 2012 <BR><BR> PRAYER is the very breath of Religion for it brings man and God together and with every sigh nearer and nearer. Dhyana is the process of listening to the Song Celestial, the Flute of Krishna, with the mental ears alert on the melody. Yoga is the merging of the Mind in the Bliss of self-forgetfulness when the music fills the Consciousness.","Today is September 19 2012 <BR><BR> THE Primal Formless Absolute wedded Desire and the Mind was born. The Mind wedded two wives, Inner contemplation and Outer activity. The first gave birth to five sons; Sathya, Dharma, Shanthi, Prema and Ahimsa, the Five Pandava Brothers. Mind was infatuated more with the second wife, and so, gave birth to a 100, each one with a name indicative of badness and wickedness, the Kauravas. God was on the side of the Pandavas and they won.","Today is September 20 2012 <BR><BR> THE Universe is seen; it can be learnt about; it can be experienced and enjoyed. But God is unseen. He has to be inferred through His handiwork. So too, Society to which social service is rendered, cannot be seen as such. We can contact only individuals. But through the individual, you infer the immanence of the Divine. All are actors on the World Stage, in His play. Every atom is surcharged with His Power, His Might and His Glory. Every being is surcharged with His Bliss, His beauty and His Goodness.","Today is September 21 2012 <BR><BR> BE devoted to the Universal; be eager to become that. When you pray to God for a job, a son, or a prize, you are devoted not to God, but to the job, to the son and to the prize. Pray to God for God. Love, because it is your nature to Love, because you know nothing else and because you cannot act otherwise than Love. Expand yourself, take in all! Grow in Love.","Today is September 22 2012 <BR><BR> HAVING an open heart, do not relish the narrow path of restricted love; love all, do not develop prejudices against men in power or position. They too are our kith and kin. We all sail together. Be convinced of one Truth about Me; Swami will never lay his hand on a task without proper reason and without some profound effect that will flow there from.","Today is September 23 2012 <BR><BR> WHEN the Giver of Grace is here, you run after persons who claim that they got this or other article from Me or were blessed with this gift from Me. When you have Kamadhenu here, why seek to know and secure a cow? Kamadhenu can give you all that you need. When you have Kalpatharu here, why bother about the fruits on a tree? Kalpatharu can give you all that you ask. When you have here the mountain of Gold and Silver, Meru, why cringe for silver and gold from persons who are themselves beggars? When you have God come among you to support and sustain you, why grovel before crude vulgar entities?","Today is September 24 2012 <BR><BR> MAN is equipped with a return-ticket when he takes birth. Holding it in his grasp, he earns and spends, rises and falls, sings and dances, weeps and wails, forgetting the end of the journey. But though he forgets, the wagon of life moves towards the cemetery which is its terminus. It brings no glory to man if he is tied helplessly to the wheel of birth and death. His glory and greatness consist in disentangling himself from that revolving wheel.","Today is September 25 2012 <BR><BR> Spiritual aspirants will rejoice in listening to the Glory of God. They will join the company which exults in praising the Lord. This is their hallmark. Spiritual aspirants and votaries of the Lord are to be judged using these barometers and not by external appearances or apparel. If you mix with people who revel in sensory talk and activities, then you put yourself out of His Court. Spend your time in the company of the good and godly, engaged in Godly affairs. Avoid the company of the ungodly. Only when you establish yourself in good company and avoid bad company, can you be called as Bhagavatha or God's own!.","Today is September 26 2012 <BR><BR> Ignoring Madhava (God) who is free from Maya (delusion) and spending time immersed in Maya is fruitless; in this scenario, sorrow alone is the final gain. Whomsoever you love, that love has to come to an end. The self-same Lord gives and takes, as and when He wishes. Everything is His; so how foolish it is to lament when things belonging to Him are taken back by Him? The wise man will therefore not pine over anyone or feel undue attachment to anything. Let all the pining and all the attachment be reserved for the Lord; He alone is eternal; He is the source of all joy. For the rest, love a thing as a thing, not more. Love man as man, not more. If you love them more, it is a sign that you have been deceived about their real nature. - Dharma Vahini.","Today is September 27 2012 <BR><BR> SANKARA wrote a verse summarizing the advice he gave the poor struggling Brahmin house holder at Varanasi (Benares city): 'Bhaja Govindam, Bhaja Govindam, Bhaja Govindam, Moodha Mathe, Samprapthe Sannihithe Kaale Nahi Rakshathi Duakru Karane', Praise God, Praise God, Praise God, you fool, when death knocks at your door, rules of grammar cannot save you.","Today is September 28 2012 <BR><BR> OF what avail is a car, a bank deposit, a bungalow in a posh extension of a city? If you have all these but no love in your heart, the heart becomes a dark deserted temple, where the bats of lust and anger breed in the everlasting night. Such hearts are foul, diseased with terror and error!","Today is September 29 2012 <BR><BR> BIRDS, beasts and trees have not deviated from their nature; they are still holding it valid. Man alone has disfigured it, in his crude attempt to improve upon it. So, the Avatar has to come as Man among men, and move as friend, well-wisher, kinsman, guide, teacher, healer and participant among men. He has come to restore Dharma and when man follows Dharma, He is pleased and content.","Today is September 30 2012 <BR><BR> GET up, place the rosary in its bag and engage yourselves in relieving distress; that is the true spiritual path. Do not waste all your years with stone images, pictures or idols, learn to see in every living vital active person the embodiment of all energy, all beauty, all beneficence, namely God. God is subtler than ether filling the smallest crevice with His Majesty. Know this and serve His manifestations, wherever you meet them.","Today is October 1 2012 <BR><BR> CONTENTMENT is heaven; grief is hell; anger is the foe; calmness is the armour; and compassion is the comrade. You repeat Shanti three times, don't you? It is to encourage peace in the human, Godly and natural milieu in which you have to live; also to develop peace, in the body, mind and intellect.","Today is October 2 2012 <BR><BR> ALL men have two constables ever with them; they are the symbols of his sentence of imprisonment. They are 'Abhiman' (sense of I) over 'Mamakar' (sense of Mine), the egoistic feeling and the pride of possession. Man is a prisoner of his senses so long as these two keep him under guard. Man strays away into misery and pain, because he loses the sense of value and runs after the temporary and the trivial. He ignores the voice of God which warns and guides from within; and he pays the penalty for the transgression.","Today is October 3 2012 <BR><BR> AN act dedicated as an offering to the God, resident in all, becomes as sacred as the highest Seva, that is why Avatars happen; hence, when you offer Seva to mankind, the Avatar will naturally be pleased and you can win Grace.","Today is October 4 2012 <BR><BR> THE individual born in the lake of Society must swim and float in the calm waters, and joining the River of Progress, merge in the Ocean of Grace. Man has to move from the stance of 'I' to the position of 'We'. This day we see only the wild dance of ego-stricken individuals, who hate Society and behave most unsocially.","Today is October 5 2012 <BR><BR> THE call of the Divine echoes in every heart; it provokes the reaction of awe, reverence, affection, love and sacrifice all ingredients of Bhakti. It translates itself into acts of worship, of praise, of adoration and of rituals symbolizing the Majesty of God. Thus, the Mind gets saturated with Divine thoughts. It is recast in the Divine Mould until the flow of 'Ananda' becomes unabated.","Today is October 6 2012 <BR><BR> GOD first; the World next, myself last! That is the legitimate sequence for the Sadhaka; and who is not a Sadhaka? You have to be one, now or later, so that you can be liberated from this cycle of birth-death! Now, man in his callousness towards his own welfare, has turned it topsy-turvy! It is myself first, the world next, and God is last. So, God is lost too! Hold fast to God; then you will be safe.","Today is October 7 2012 <BR><BR> MY activities are not for publicity or propaganda or even to confer joy on others! They are for conferring joy primarily on me! I have no need to please others and to earn approval or appreciation. For I and you are not distinct entities; you are I; and I am you. I am the current that flows into every bulk and illumines it. Those who see me as separate are seeing falsehood. I am in your hearts; you are in Mine. Don't be misled into doubt and distress. Dogs may bark and jackals howl; but Truth moves majestically forward.","Today is October 8 2012 <BR><BR> THERE is only one God and He is Omnipresent, True. But to concentrate on the Omnipresent, some fixed point or preliminary form is needed. And to conceive of the Divine as present everywhere at all times, the mind of man is to be clarified and purified by means of a certain psychological process called Sadhana.","Today is October 9 2012 <BR><BR> REMEMBER, God is your guardian, when you sleep; when you are helpless; even when you have forgotten or neglected or discarded Him. He has no need for the things you offer or promise to offer. He is ever content, ever blissful, ever full and ever free. Do your duty to yourself - that is enough offering for Him.","Today is October 10 2012 <BR><BR> MAN must first decide, after vigorous self-examination and continuous discrimination, the path that he wishes to traverse. Moksha or Liberation means the removal of the bonds of Ignorance that could hide the Truth and create a mirage of the Truth. In fact, living is only another name of the process of achieving alternate misery and happiness, hunger and contentment, illness and health, desires and fulfillment.","Today is October 11 2012 <BR><BR> THE Sai Religion is the harmonious blending though Love of all Religions, though some followers of other Faiths feel that the Sai Religion is contrary to theirs. We should not entertain similar feelings. Ours is the Totality, the Sum; we should not limit or restrict our Vision.","Today is October 12 2012 <BR><BR> YOU may have vast scholarship, fame and fortune. But the bee can give you a lesson on how to be free from torment. The tree can teach you forbearance and tolerance. It offers a shade to all, irrespective of age, sex or religion, nationality or status. It helps with fruit and shade even to the foe who lays his ax on its trunk! The dog can teach you a lesson in Faith, Selfless Service and the process of Dedication.","Today is October 13 2012 <BR><BR> FORM small Sathsangas and meet regularly for Bhajans and mutual consultation about spiritual matters. Read some fine spiritual classics like Bhagavatha. Fill your eyes with the Beauty of His form, your ears with the story of His Leelas, and your hearts with the sweetness of His Glory; inspire yourselves by seeing Him everywhere. Think of His Immanence in every hill and dale, every man and beast, every tree, bird and insect. You will be really thrilled by the joy of that Vision.","Today is October 14 2012 <BR><BR> MAN is daily growing more and more greedy to know more about the lives of others, more extrovert in fact. He wants to escape from himself by interesting himself in others. He does not want to worry about the details of his own life or the problems of his own rehabilitation. Of what benefit is all this burden of information that you seek to carry in your head, this knowledge of the various regions of the world without a knowledge of the region of your own self, the centre of all the interest that you evince?","Today is October 15 2012 <BR><BR> REMEMBER, you cannot have the 'Anubhava' and the 'Ananda' first. And you cannot postpone Faith until you get them. You cannot bargain: Give me Ananda and then I shall have Faith; See the Purushothama in all Purushas. Purusha means: he who lives in the rural or port-city or town. Each one of us is the resident and the sole resident of a distinct house of God. But, the Purushothama, the Supreme Resident in all the cities, is God. You can recognise the Purushothama, if you educate yourselves properly.","Today is October 16 2012 <BR><BR> EVERYDAY, when you take food you are offering eatables to the fire that God has put in you to digest food. You have to eat in a prayerful mode, in profound gratitude. The Gita says that the fire which cooked the meal is God; the meal is God; the eater is God; the purpose of eating is to carry on the work entrusted by God or pleasing to God; and the fruit of that work is progress towards God.","Today is October 17 2012 <BR><BR> PREMA must grow with every moment of Sadhana. It must sweeten every word, deed and thought of yours. Emerge from Dhyana as a person more charged with Love! Emerge from Bhajan with a greater measure of Love! Return from Nagarsankirtan with a firmer conviction that everything is surcharged with the same Divinity that is behind all your activity.","Today is October 18 2012 <BR><BR> THE beauty of Nature is but a reflection of the Beauty that is God. But like all images, it is not substantial. Flowers fade, clouds scatter into new patterns, physical charm is but a flash that disappears in a moment - but Divine Beauty is eternal, full and free. That Sundaram is Sathyam, unaffected by the passage of time, unchanging with the location; that Sundaram is the real Shivam, the only Good that is. Pursuing petty physical beauty leads man astray; it is as calamitous as the pursuit of trivial joy.","Today is October 19 2012 <BR><BR> YOU must all study the Gita daily. Read a few slokas and meditate on the meaning yourself; it will dawn on you in the silence of your heart. You need not read elaborate commentaries. Each word in the Gita is a gem. No more do you need gemstones for the ear, the nose, and the neck; have the gem of the Gita slokas in your heart; let them activate your intellect and your hands.","Today is October 20 2012 <BR><BR> WE shall act ever as if we are in the presence of God, as if God is watching and weighing every thought, word and deed. See yourselves in all; See all in yourselves; that is the road to lasting peace and joy. Let us not seek the outer empire; let us become the rulers of the inner empire. Let us not try to defy the outer enemy, leaving the inner foe to grow in striking power. We have Krishna with us, and so, who can defeat us? We shall win through winning His Grace.","Today is October 21 2012 <BR><BR> YOU may be in the Prasanthi Nilayam area for 20 or 25 years. But you worry more about physical needs and comforts than Japam and Dhyanam; the waving of the camphor flame at the end of the Bhajan sessions is to remind you that your sensual craving must be burnt away without leaving any trace behind, and you must offer yourself to God for being merged with His Glory.","Today is October 22 2012 <BR><BR> THE Gayathri Manthram is a Universal Prayer that can be used by men of all climes and creeds, for it calls upon the Glorious Power that pervades the Sun and the three Worlds to arouse, awaken and strengthen the Intelligence, so that it may lead to intense Sadhana; and Sadhana may lead to success.","Today is October 23 2012 <BR><BR> GANAPATHY is described as 'Buddhi Vinayaka' and 'Siddhi Vinayaka' (Vinayaka the Wise and Vinayaka the Accomplished). 'Vinayaka' means the Ganas, hence He is called Ganapathy. Man is confronted with many obstacles (Vighnas) in the journey of life. Prayers are offered to Vigneswara - for removing obstacles and impediments. He is the Deity to whom worship is offered first in any ritual. Because of the acute intelligence He displayed, Vinayaka was made Head of the Ganas by Parameswara.","Today is October 24 2012 <BR><BR> HAPPINESS and peace do not follow when man is fed well, clothed well, housed well and educated up to a good standard and employed under comfortable conditions with no injury to health or security. There are many who have all these in plenty but who are still worried or in pain or discontented. They depend on the inner equipment of man, not on his outer skill or riches.","Today is October 25 2012 <BR><BR> SPEND the allotted span of years in the contemplation and the adoration of the Almighty, not in servile praise of the feeble, the futile and the weak. Life is an opportunity afforded to each, not to eat and drink, but to achieve something nobler and grander; to master oneself and merge in the Reality.","Today is October 26 2012 <BR><BR> A PERSON being transferred from one goal to another will have two Constables who will escort him. The 'Punya' and the 'Papa' (good consequences and bad consequences of actions) are the Constables who lead man from one birth to another. You must escape from their attention and avoid migration from one goal to another; act - but do not calculate the consequences. That is to say, do not worry about the consequence; leave it to God who prompted the act and made it possible. Dedicate the act, the will, and the wish, all to God.","Today is October 27 2012 <BR><BR> IT takes time for a fruit to mature and acquire sweetness and become eatable; time is a prime factor for most good fortunes. Make full use of Me, that is all I ask of you. I have at no time any feeling of separateness. I invite all to come and know and derive benefit from Me. Dive and know the depth; watch and discriminate; eat and know the taste - I long for people who do that.","Today is October 28 2012 <BR><BR> SARVAM Vishnu mayam jagath: the Universe is saturated with Divinity; there is nothing here which is not HE; ISAA VAASYAM IDAM SARVAM. He is the base and the superstructure, the material and the manner, the inner motive and the outer movement. The body is the temple of the Lord; the atmosphere of this temple is by its very nature filled with Love for all beings. But man, overpowered by egoism, fouls it with envy and greed and so it festers with disease and distress.","Today is October 29 2012 <BR><BR> THERE are some who always condemn themselves and their lives and aspire for the Grace of God to save them. Jiva and Deva are two separate entities and never can they merge or unite, they declare. The obvious is very often untrue. Sin is not the real nature of man; it is acquired and can be shed. Man is pure, good, loving and wise. That is why in the Nilayam, I have stopped people from reciting slokas which proclaim man as sinful, born in sin, reveling in sin, etc., Let the purity, which you are, get manifested; endeavour to express it in your activities; that is what pleases me and wins my Grace.","Today is October 30 2012 <BR><BR> I AM telling you this, because it is a forecast of what you can expect in the coming days. I have been declaring since six or seven years that the day, when millions will gather to benefit from the Avatar, is fast coming; I am advising you to garner and treasure all the Grace and all the Bliss you can, while you may, so that you can sustain yourselves ruminating on the sweetness of the memories and the experience.","Today is October 31 2012 <BR><BR> IF you live on the level of the Body and the Individual, you will be entangled in food, fun and frolic, ease, envy and pride. Forget it, ignore it, overcome it. You will have peace, joy and calm. In the Divine Path, there is no chance of failure; it is the Path of Love.","Today is November 1 2012 <BR><BR> WE have to pay attention to the plans that intelligence dictates, not to the external signs of orthodoxy. A person may appear strictly orthodox, but his heart may be filled with the poison of hatred and envy. Has he realised that God is the God of all, that He is present in every being 'Sahasraseersha, Sahasraksha, Sahasrapaad', (thousand headed, thousand eyed, thousand legged) as He is?.","Today is November 2 2012 <BR><BR> WHEN Avatars come, they choose the time and the place, clan and the family, and they decide and bring the comrades and the coworkers. When Rama came, Sesha, Sankha, Chakra and other inseparable adjuncts of the Lord also incarnated; they also came down in order to taste the sweetness of the Lord's company and service. Rohini, under which Krishna was born, is related to the attainment of Yogic success and the powers that flow from it.","Today is November 3 2012 <BR><BR> PUNARVASU, the star under which Rama was born, has a mysterious influence on the authority which accepts all who submit to the 'Saranagatha-Thrana' aspect of Rama's glory.","Today is November 4 2012 <BR><BR> HOW can darkness conquer or stand up to light? Krishna is 'Premaswarupa' and He can be won over only by 'Prema'. Audacity cannot approach Him. Actors in films, however, correct their accouterments (equipment) and intonation; they can never be the Real. Not even the biggest Scientist can understand Me by means of the categories to which he is accustomed. I always smile at those who deride Me and even those who praise Me. I am always full of 'Santhosh', whatever may happen. Nothing can come in the way of My smile. Derision and Calumny only tend to make it grow better and happier.","Today is November 5 2012 <BR><BR> THREE disciplines are essential, to become aware of Divinity in all and in the Avatar. No activity should be taken up with individual aggrandizement in view; intellectual emotion must be directed to the revelation of the Resident in the Heart, Atma. Every act should be done sincerely, with love, with no yearning for acquiring personal profit, fame or benefit. Above all, listen to the voice of God within. As soon as one contemplates a wrong act, that voice warns, protests and advises giving up.","Today is November 6 2012 <BR><BR> ONAM is the Festival of the Vamana's advent as well as Bali's Transformation. Emperor Bali was both humiliated and blessed by God Vamana, the Emperor of the Three Worlds. Bali was saturated with egoism. God came to him in the guise of a Brahmin boy and asked for a gift of just three-foot measures of land. The Preceptor of Bali warned him about the identity and bona fide of the strange mendicant who was God Himself. Vamana drew Himself up to Cosmic proportions and measured the entire earth with one foot and the vast expanse of space with another foot. Bali offered his own head as the third foot-measure and went into the Nether World. Vamana taught that Pride meets with doom. He permitted Bali every year on Onam day to receive the homage of the people (S.B. 8.20).","Today is November 7 2012 <BR><BR> ONAM is the Festival which instills a Divine Message into those who observe it with an eye on its inner significance. Kerala has contributed a great deal to the preservation of Vedic Culture and Sanskrit learning. Keralites have a name for faith and dedication. Witness the age-old privilege the Nambudris of Kerala enjoy as priests of the great Vaishnavite shrine thousands of miles away from their land, namely Badrinath, among the Himalayas.","Today is November 8 2012 <BR><BR> MANY people think that Concentration is the same thing as Meditation, but there is no such connection between Concentration and Meditation. Concentration is something which is below your senses, whereas Meditation is something which is above your senses. But many are under the false impression that concentration is identical with Meditation and they take to a wrong path. Concentration is something which we use involuntarily in our daily, normal routine life.","Today is November 9 2012 <BR><BR> TO many it may appear strange that in this Anandalaya (Abode of Bliss) there exists an Arogya Nilaya (Abode of Health) or Hospital. They may wonder why prominence is given to bodily health, in a place that is dedicated to the health of the Spirit. But for attaining the four aims of Human life, Dharma (Righteousness), Artha (Prosperity), Kama (Fulfillment of Desires) and Moksha (Liberation from Bondage), the basic requirement is health of the body and the mind.","Today is November 10 2012 <BR><BR> IT is enough if Prema is cultivated, the Prema that knows no distinction between oneself and another, because all are but limbs of One corpus of God Almighty. Through Love alone can the Embodiment of Love be gained. Here, no scholarship is needed; in fact, scholarship will be an impediment for it caters to egoism and it breeds doubts and the desire for disputation and laurel of victory over others preening themselves as learned.","Today is November 11 2012 <BR><BR> IT is a national disgrace if the sons and daughters of India (which was for centuries the Light of Asia and the Guru of the West) grope in the dark, blinded by the scintillations of the scientific inventions of the West. But Peace does not drop from outer space! It springs from the heart within.","Today is November 12 2012 <BR><BR> THE Himalayas, which form the bastion of Bharath, are the symbols of might and majesty; they remind us of the Purity that we should develop in ourselves; they teach us that we should be as firm, as unshaken as the snow clad peaks, as unaffected by the noise and turmoil of the bazaars of mankind.","Today is November 13 2012 <BR><BR> BETWEEN Concentration and Meditation, there is a border area which covers both and that is the area of Contemplation. To be in that area of Contemplation is to free yourself of worldly attachments. If you break away all the worldly attachments - all the routine attachments in the World - then you enter the region of Contemplation. When you have completely broken away all your attachments, you break through this area of Contemplation and you get into the area of Meditation.","Today is November 14 2012 <BR><BR> THE ultimate step of Self-realisation depends upon the base of Self-confidence. You must therefore develop as a first step Confidence in your own self. Without having and developing Confidence in your own self, if all the time you are talking of some power being with someone else, if in this way you travel all the time and depend upon a power which is with someone else, when are YOU going to acquire any power and confidence in your own self?","Today is November 15 2012 <BR><BR> EVEN when Divinity comes down as Avatar, man is unable to pierce the veil and revere the Divine. Lord Krishna says that people are unable to recognise the Divinity that is He, because they deem Him to be merely human. Only those who are aware of the current within, the Atma, can identify the Source of Power before them.","Today is November 16 2012 <BR><BR> ONE of the first principles of straight living is: Practice Silence. For the Voice of God can be heard in the region of your heart only when the tongue is stilled, the storm is stilled and the waves are calm. There will be no temptation for others to shout when you talk to them in whispers. Set the level of the tone yourself; as low as possible, as high as necessary to reach the outermost boundary of the circle you are addressing. Conserve sound since it is the treasure of the element Akasa, an emanation from God Himself.","Today is November 17 2012 <BR><BR> Those attached to God, aspiring for God, aware of God, adoring God, have certain distinct marks by which they can be identified. Such people have a compassionate heart. If a person turns the rosary on the fingers, and is intensely engaged in watching the tip of his nose unmindful of the distress that dances around him, we can at best name him a sloth, that is all. Get up, place the rosary in its bag, and activate yourselves in relieving distress - that is the true spiritual path. Do not waste all your years with stone images, pictures or idols. Learn to see in every living vital active person, the embodiment of all energy, all beneficence, namely, God. God is subtler than ether, filling the smallest crevice with His majesty. Know this and serve His manifestations, wherever you meet them. Sri Sathya Sai.","Today is November 18 2012 <BR><BR> I LIKE simplicity, I like a dress that will not discourage people from approaching you for a kind word, a bit of service, a helping hand. It must be clean and decent; not outlandish and queer. It should not be worn to attract attention. Just as you desire to wear clean comfortable clothes for the body, desire also clean, consoling exercises for the mind, like 'Japam' and 'Dhyanam'.","Today is November 19 2012 <BR><BR> MAN is flying to the Moon and diving into the Sea; but he does not know how to live on Earth with his fellow men in Love and Peace. He moves towards the Moon for fear others may reach there before him and dives through the Sea to strike terror, himself terrified of others! The way to live without fear or causing fear is laid down in the Gita, the very first Sloka which is about Dharmakshetra!","Today is November 20 2012 <BR><BR> IF one's passions and emotions have come under control of his higher nature, then the Lord will assume responsibility for his progress towards Him. Otherwise, he will have to wait. Do not think that you have no Natha or Guardian. God is the only 'Anatha' - Guardianless Person. All the rest have Him as the Natha or Guardian. He is ever beside Man, within him as Conscience, without him as Companion and Guide.","Today is November 21 2012 <BR><BR> DO not lay the blame on Godhead, as you are prone to do. When everything goes right you say that God has come close to you; when something goes wrong you say that God has deserted you and gone far away! He does not move far or near. The distance from Him to you is as much as the distance from you to Him. He is everywhere. He is always in your heart. Recognise Him there; realise Him as closest and nearest to you. He is your own self, neither terrible nor tender, but simply IS.","Today is November 22 2012 <BR><BR> YOU cannot be fresh and feeling fine wearing a washed vest under an unwashed shirt, or an unwashed vest under a washed shirt. Both have to be clean to provide the sense of tingling joy. So too, outer and inner cleanliness is but the reflection of the inner achievement. There is a strange glow on the face of a guideless person. Inner cleanliness has its own soap and water - the soap of strong faith and the water of constant practice.","Today is November 23 2012 <BR><BR> REASON can prevail only when arguments are advanced without the whipping of the Sound. Silence is the speech of the Spiritual Seeker. Soft sweet Speech is the expression of genuine Love. Hate screeches; Fear squeals; Conceit trumpets, but Love sings lullabies, it soothes, it applies balm. Practice the Vocabulary of Love; Unlearn the language of hate and contempt.","Today is November 24 2012 <BR><BR> THE true aspirant will have a reverent attitude to the duty he is bound to. He will carry out every task assigned to him as if it is an act of worship, by which the Lord will be pleased and through which he can approach the pedestal of God. Duty is God; Work is Worship--that is the motto.","Today is November 25 2012 <BR><BR> WORSHIP is not a uniform to be put on and off at stated hours of the day. Render every thought into a flower worthy to be held in His Fingers; render every deed into a fruit, full of the sweet juice of Love fit to be placed in His Hand; render every tear holy and pure, fit to wash His Lotus Feet.","Today is November 26 2012 <BR><BR> NOW I must tell you, that during this Sai Avatar, there is no place for a 'drama' with scenes of failures and defeats! What I will, must take place; what I plan must succeed. I am Truth; and Truth has no need to hesitate, fear or bend.","Today is November 27 2012 <BR><BR> DO not attempt to know Me through the external eyes. When you go to a temple and stand before the Image of God, you pray with closed eyes, don't you? Why? Because you feel the Inner Eye of Wisdom alone can reveal Him to you. Therefore do not crave for the trivial material objects; but crave for Me and you will be rewarded.","Today is November 28 2012 <BR><BR> I SHALL tell you why I give these rings, talismans, rosaries, etc. It is to signalize the bond between Me and those to whom they are given. When 'calamity befalls them, the article comes to Me in a flash and returns in a flash taking from Me the remedial Grace of protection. The Grace is available to all who call on Me in any Name or Form, not merely to those who wear these gifts. Love is the bond that wins Grace.","Today is November 29 2012 <BR><BR> I HAD to tell you so much about My Truth, for I desire that you should contemplate on this and derive joy from the reform, so that you may be inspired to observe the disciplines laid down by Me and progress towards the Goal of Self-realisation, the Realisation of the Sai that shines in your hearts.","Today is November 30 2012 <BR><BR> IF each one does his duty in the spirit of dedication, the Light can illumine all, but if the doors of the heart are shut against the Light, how can darkness disappear? You cannot sit back and expect the Incarnation to bring Peace and Joy into you. The Incarnation comes to warn, to guide, to awaken, to lay down the path and shed the light of Love on it. But man has to listen, learn and obey with hope and faith.","Today is December 1 2012 <BR><BR> THE deer, the elephant, the cow, the horse - these live on Sathvic food and behave in a Sathvic manner. So they are adored and even worshipped by man. Tigers, bears, hyenas and other wild animals are feared by man and are driven by him into the dark recesses of the forests. The wonder is that the wildness, the cruelty and the terror-inflicting attributes of these beasts are developed and exhibited by man himself! Man prides himself as the crown of creation, he declares that he has in him the spark of the Divine. But he ignores it or suppresses it and revels in displaying the qualities of the ferocious beasts of the jungle.","Today is December 2 2012 <BR><BR> THE ocean is a vast mystery. It is boundless and as old as time. It has in its womb chaotic whirlpools, raging currents, and it has a face with furious moods. No one can hope to sail over it from one shore to another without a sturdy boat of Divine Grace to cross the raging Ocean of this 'Samsara' (ever-changing, ever-agitated flow of life). This ocean too is vast and full of mystery; it has its unplumbed depths! It tosses man about from birth to death and again from death to birth.","Today is December 3 2012 <BR><BR> TO equip oneself with the Ocean-worthy boat of Grace, one has to develop in himself the qualities of Faith and Discipline. One has to clarify and purify the inner Consciousness, the 'Chitta'. Time is the Gift that God has blessed man with, for this purpose. So man should use it as an instrument for the clarification and the purification. Contemplating the Glories of God, discovering His Presence in Beauty, Goodness and Truth seen anywhere, meditating on His Form, repeating His Name - by these means the process can be made successful.","Today is December 4 2012 <BR><BR> TO achieve release, man kneels before a million Gods, in frantic pain. If he but blasts the ego within, the goal is reached, he is freed indeed! It is difficult indeed to understand the ego in its depth and devious ways. It is an inert entity; that is to say, it cannot know itself nor can it know others. It has no fear; it will not bend before others; it degrades man from the golden glory, which is his due, to the level of lowly dust.","Today is December 5 2012 <BR><BR> THE best way to resolve the confusion and conflicts that hamper moral, ethical, material, technological and spiritual progress is for man to live as fully as man ought to and rise to the height of the Divine, that is his Reality. That is the one eternal, universal teaching. The thoughts that the intellect frames, must be reflected as feeling in the mind and translated into action by the hands. Thought, word and deed must be coordinated. They must fulfill one another. The sign of a holy person of Mahatma is 'Manasayekam, Vachasyekam, Karmanekam', 'One mind, one word, one act'.","Today is December 6 2012 <BR><BR> SATHYA and Dharma go together; they are the two faces of the same coin. 'Sathyam-naasthi Paro Dharmah', 'There is no Dharma higher than Sathya. Righteousness is built on the foundation of Truth'.","Today is December 7 2012 <BR><BR> WORDS can confer strength; they can drain it off; Words can gain friends; they can turn them into enemies; words can elevate or lower the individual. One must learn the habit of making one's words sweet, soft, and pleasant. A person is judged by his words; words inflict damage in other ways too. Whenever we talk disparagingly, defamingly, sarcastically or hatefully of others, they get recorded on the tape, which is our own mind.","Today is December 8 2012 <BR><BR> DIAMOND and gold are only material things; man has made them precious. But, man is really the most valuable being on earth. He has recognised his uniqueness and importance for, he declares, 'Janthoonaam narajanmam durlabham'. In spite of the awareness, man desecrates himself by bartering himself for trivial pleasures.","Today is December 9 2012 <BR><BR> WE have a feeling that 'Ananya Bhakti' consists in surrendering to God, saying 'I have no Saviour other than you'. We think that simply by declaring 'You are mother, you are father, you are friend; you are my saviour, Oh God of Gods', we have surrendered and are practicing 'Ananya Bhakti'. Real 'Ananya Bhakti' comes from deep inquiry into the Reality of the Inner Self.","Today is December 10 2012 <BR><BR> THE World today is in a very bad state. The situation can improve only through Asthikas, who are believers in Divinity. They should become Prema Swaroopas or Embodiments of Love and by their Sadhana, backed by patience, forbearance and compassion, play their role in serving Society and contributing to the betterment of the World. God is present in you and is visualizing through thousands of eyes what you do. Even when no one is seeing, God is watching your actions always. Do everything with this awareness.","Today is December 11 2012 <BR><BR> WHEN clouds gather in the sky, lightning appears and illuminates the cloud. Similarly, 'Wisdom must illuminate Education'. This word of SAI is the path of Truth. Smaller than the smallest atom, bigger than the biggest thing, witness of everything, the Atma is Brahman and Brahman is 'Atma'.","Today is December 12 2012 <BR><BR> THERE are three types of knowledge: Knowledge of matter-energy; knowledge of mental energy; and knowledge of cosmic energy. Cosmic energy works in every person in the form of Divine knowledge. Matter in all forms is only Energy. Without atoms, you cannot have any matter, and in the atom, energy has the form of electron, proton, neutron, etc. Energy springs from the structure of the atomic constituents.","Today is December 13 2012 <BR><BR> MAN does not live by food alone. In fact he lives by the power of the Atma. So you must use your strength of body and mind, wealth and education with intelligence, in order to realise the Power of the Soul. Without discrimination, what is the use of physical strength?","Today is December 14 2012 <BR><BR> ILLNESS, both physical and mental, is a reaction of the body, caused by poisons in the mind. An uncontaminated mind alone can ensure continuous health. Vice breeds disease. Bad thoughts and habits, bad company and bad food are fertile grounds where disease thrives. 'Arogya' and 'Ananda' 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 causes of disease, physical as well as mental. Greed affects the mind; disappointment makes man depressed. Man can justify his existence as man, only by the cultivation of virtues. Then he becomes a worthy candidate for Godhood.","Today is December 15 2012 <BR><BR> THE God ward path is Karma, based on Dharma. That is the path also towards joy, contentment and, therefore, of strength. Now, the path has become hidden by an overgrowth of briar and bush; the bridges and culverts are in disrepair. People have forgotten the goal, the path and the habit of walking on it. That road is the only refuge; it must be trodden tomorrow, if not today, for the goal lies at the end of that road. It was laid down, centuries ago in the Vedas, beyond the memory of history. 'Sathyam Vada', 'Dharmam Chara': the Vedas call on you.","Today is December 16 2012 <BR><BR> MAN is basically, essentially and fully immortal. He is 'Amruthaswarupam' yet he is afraid he would die! He is 'Anandaswarupa'; yet he weeps that he is miserable. He is Santhiswarupam; yet everywhere he is overlaid with anxiety. This absurd self-deception is the root of the tragedy from which the World suffers today.","Today is December 17 2012 <BR><BR> ALL Religions exhort man to cleanse the heart of malice, greed, hate and anger. All Religions hold out the gift of Grace as the prize for success in this cleaning process. Ideas of superiority and inferiority arise only in a heart corrupted by egoism. If someone argues that he is higher or that his Religion is holier, it proves that he has missed the significance of his faith.","Today is December 18 2012 <BR><BR> SACRIFICE, service, sharing in the exaltation of others, and compassion when others suffer grief are virtues that purify and prepare the individual to the arduous task of reaching the Goal. Expand the limited awareness of the individual into the limitless realm of Divine Glory - that has been the call, down the corridors of Time.","Today is December 19 2012 <BR><BR> FOR each person, there is a Code of Conduct laid down in the Shastras, according to age and status, the profession adopted, the stage of spiritual attainment reached and the goal of life accepted. Do not carp at the behaviour of others or at the efforts they make to get consolation and courage amidst the turmoil of life. For each there is the path that he has chosen and the Name and the Form of God he prefers. Also do not give up your Code of duties and take up that which is recommended for someone else.","Today is December 20 2012 <BR><BR> DELUSION has to die; then only does the cycle of change end, then only is man liberated from the bonds of birth, life and death. Call it 'reaching the Goal', or 'Sayujyam' or 'Brahmasaakshaathkaaram', or 'Aikyaanubandhaanam' or 'becoming one with the Infinite' - the Names may differ but the Finish is the same. Every mortal must attain Immortality; for he is 'Amruthasya Puthra', a child of Immortality.","Today is December 21 2012 <BR><BR> IT is much easier to speak the Truth and be done with it. What you have seen or heard or done, speak about these just as you saw or heard or did! And what is Dharma? Practicing what you preach, doing as you practice in life. Earn virtuously; earn piously; live in the fear of God; live for reaching God. That is Dharma.","Today is December 22 2012 <BR><BR> THE Five Elements have each a characteristic that affects and attracts one of the five senses: Sound (ether) which fascinates the mind through the air; Touch (Air), which draws the mind to itself through the skin; Form (fire), which manipulates the mind in its favour through the eye; Taste (Water), which enslaves the mind through the tongue; and Smell (Earth), which attracts the mind through the nose. Contact with the external world is maintained by the senses, for the sake of these experiences which yield joy or grief.","Today is December 23 2012 <BR><BR> THE symbol on the Flag at Prasanthi Nilayam is a reminder of this ideal, which you have to put into practice. It is the symbol of Victory, achieved by steady endeavour over the diabolic foes of lust and greed, of envy and hate and of malice and conceit. It is the symbol of the silent state of the Supreme Bliss, won through Self-control and Self-realisation.","Today is December 24 2012 <BR><BR> THERE is not the slightest trace of self-interest in Me. Whatever I do, whatever paths I pursue, everything is intended for the happiness of all, for the good of all, and for the improvement of all. Not a single action of Mine is undertaken for the satisfaction of My own personal desires. Desire is something alien to Me. All My wishes are only to promote the welfare of the World. 'Loka Samastha Sukino Bhavanthu' is the only objective of SAI (May all the World be happy).","Today is December 25 2012 <BR><BR> SAI'S main purpose is to develop the minds and attitudes of young men on right lines, so that they may work for the progress and welfare of Bharath. Students are the only wealth that I cherish. All My hopes are concentrated on them. To reform them and train them to serve as exemplars of righteousness is Sai's sole resolve.","Today is December 26 2012 <BR><BR> I DO not have any particular desire with regard to food or any other need. My 'Ananda' is My food; and to secure that food I promote happiness in others and derive delight from their joy. That is the significance of My statement, 'My Life is My Message'. To feel blissful enjoying the happiness which others experience, is a quality of the Divine.","Today is December 27 2012 <BR><BR> YOU come to know that you are a spark of the Divine Flame. Very soon, you realise that others too are sparks from the self-same fire. How then can hate, anger, envy or greed survive in the Sunlight of the Vision?","Today is December 28 2012 <BR><BR> CHANGE your Vision and the world will appear accordingly. Let the eye be charged with the Divine, it will see all as God. It is foolish to try to shape the World; shape yourself as the embodiment of Peace, Love and Reverence. Then you will see all as Love, Compassion and Humility.","Today is December 29 2012 <BR><BR> YOU are the image of the Supreme Atma, the image that is reflected in the body that is part of 'Prakriti'. Your body is Kith and Kin of all the objects that surround you in nature; your body is an object among so many. The original Divine spirit, the individualized spirit, which is the image and the objective world of which the body is a part - these are the entities called Iswara - Jiva - Prakriti.","Today is December 30 2012 <BR><BR> IT IS not enough you are at Puttaparthi. You have to engage in Sadhana to win My Sankalpa. You may think that the burden of the consequences of acts done in previous births cannot be easily brushed away; no, they can be destroyed, as a heap of cotton is by a spark of fire. 'Jnanagni dagdha karmanam', the speck of Jnana will destroy the effect of Karma in a trice.","Today is December 31 2012 <BR><BR> 1. Keep skid chains on your tongue; always say less than you think. Cultivate a low, soothing voice. How you say it counts more than what you say. 2. Make promises sparingly, and keep them faithfully, no matter what it costs. 3. Never let an opportunity pass to say a kind and encouraging word to or about somebody. Praise good work, regardless of who did it. If criticism is needed, criticise helpfully, never spitefully. 4. Be interested in others, their pursuits, their work, their homes and families. Make merry with those who rejoice,Êwith those who weep, mourn. Let everyone you meet, however humble, feel that you regard him as a person of importance. 5. Be cheerful. Don't burden or depress those around you by dwelling on your minor aches and pains and small disappointments. Remember, everyone has their problems. 6. Keep an open mind. Discuss but don't argue. It is a mark of a superior mind to be able to disagree without being disagreeable. 7. Let your virtues speak for themselves. Refuse to talk of another's vices. Discourage gossip. It is a waste of valuable time and can be extremely destructive. 8. Be careful of another's feelings. Wit and humour at the other person's expense are rarely worth it and may hurt when least expected. 9. Don't be too anxious about the credit due to you. Also, pay no attention to any ill-natured remarks about you either. Simply live your truth. Let go and let God! Success is much sweeter that way."  // *********************************  // !NOTE: No Comma after last Quote!  // *********************************);  // *********************************  // Count cumulative days in year and get value from array  // *********************************var timenow = new Date();var daycountbymonth = new Array(0,31,59,90,120,151,181,212,243,273,304,334);var currmonth = timenow.getMonth();var totaldays = daycountbymonth[currmonth] + timenow.getDate()-1;  // *******************  // Write the Quote Out  // *******************document.write(quote[totaldays]);// -->
