Sacred Use of Infancy Instruments(SathyaSai Speaks on 22/07/1991):
                                       TODAY, in the name of promoting education, all kinds of bizarre developments devoid of morality are taking place in the country. There is no trace of humility and discipline which are the hallmarks of true education. In the place of character and good conduct, which should be prevalent among students, we notice today the spread of materialism, ostentation and arrogance amongst them. With the rapid advance of science and technology in the world, there is a corresponding decline in peace and security. Developing insatiable desires, the modern student is vitiating his mind. He lacks the capacity for introspection. But his external vision is turned in all directions. The primary thing students should seek to know is: Who is a man and what are the qualities that distinguish a good human being? "Man" means an individual with faith. One's faith gets developed when one lives upto one's beliefs. The sacredness of the human being should be recognised. There is no use in attempting to establish a new system of education or a new social system. By these means the current problems cannot be solved. We have to bring up a generation of purehearted boys and girls. To rear such a generation, there should be a climate of purity and sincerity. This calls for the development of morality and devotion to truth. Character and truth lead to the emergence of spirituality in the divine human personality. Hence, spirituality is the basic foundation for producing a generation of pure-hearted boys and girls. Only when we have such pure young persons, will the nation experience peace and prosperity. To lead a good life students will have to give up their selfishness. Unfortunately, the spirit of sacrifice is not to be seen among students today.

Students suffer today from some mental weaknesses. One of them is the feeling that wealth and position are essential for personal happiness and these alone should be sought after.It is true that you need material wealth for a living. But wealth should not become the 'be-all and end-all' of life. Human life has come from the divine. When you dedicate your life to God and adhere to the path of righteousness you can sanctify life and achieve peace, happiness and prosperity

The first requisite, therefore, is 'self-management.' In this, there is no room for self-interest. No one can be an island unto himself. If a man is asked, for whose sake he is living, he may answer that he is living for himself. When further questioned about his job, he will say he is working for the sake of his wife and children. When he is plied with further questions he will admit his dependence on society for meeting various needs of himself and his family. No individual or family can exist without depending on society.

Today, there are lakhs of people in authority or engaged in politics, business or other walks of life. Almost all of them are concerned only about themselves and their families and few are imbued with a social consciousness. What is the cause of all the evils plaguing society? It is the lack of sense of social responsibility. Every individual has to recognise his duty to society and understand that without society he cannot lead a family life.

Students, therefore, should develop a social consciousness. They should ask themselves how by each of their actions they can promote the welfare of society rather than the interest of themselves and their families. Everyone should feel: “I am a part of the society. My well-being is bound up with the well-being of others."

Understand that without society it(he/she) can't live a family life.

It is the decline of spirituality that has led to all the disorders and maladies in the country. In the world today, beginning with the human mind, everything, the air, water, etc., is polluted. All the five elements are contaminated. Man's life is based on these five elements. Hence, he is the embodiment of pollution in these elements. The sacredness of human life has been desecrated. Moral values are going down the slope everyday. The animal instincts in man are rampant. Only by fostering the divine nature in man, can this animality be destroyed and the human can rise to the level of the divine. For this, men must get rid of their selfishness.

Education is essential as a preparation for serving society. For instance, the MBA students are hoping, after getting their degrees, to become managers of big companies and lead a comfortable life. Managerial jobs carry high salaries. The reason for the high income is inflation in prices caused by the failure of production to keep pace with the demand. Rise in income has been followed by a decline in morality. With the collapse of morals, the nation has become a prey to violence and disorder. Those receiving large incomes should ask themselves whether the work they do is commensurate with the salaries they get. In many enterprises, the expenses exceed the receipts. The absence of work ethic--the spirit of work--is responsible for this situation. The position in India is worse than in some other countries. Laziness is on the increase. Let the students compare the situation in Japan and Bharat. The Japanese have the 'spirit of work', they work hard. Hence, their productivity is high and they are able to keep the prices low. They do not abstain from work even during 'strikes'. In India, there is a clamour for high wages but there is no willingness to work harder. It is because of this attitude that the Indian economy is in a deplorable state.

Selfishness is at the bottom of this evil. It is growing on account of disregard for moral values. Morality means good conduct. Good conduct is based on recognition of right and wrong.There is no trace of humility and discipline which are the hallmarks of true education. In the place of character and good conduct, which should be prevalent among students, we notice today the spread of materialism, ostentation and arrogance amongst them.

SathyaSai Speaks on 27/05/2006:

Modern youth are hankering after this type of education. They go to foreign countries like Germany, Japan and America to pursue this type of education. The education that is not there in Bharat is not available anywhere else (loud applause). Yanna Bharate, thanna Bharata (what is not there in Bharat cannot be found anywhere else). Some people have a mistaken notion that those who are educated abroad are great. In fact, many of them come back after acquiring evil qualities, evil thoughts and evil habits.

In Bharat, the students acquire sacred education; it begins with the thoughts of God. Even an illiterate driver in Bharat salutes the steering wheel before starting the vehicle. Similarly, a musician offers salutations to the musical instrument before playing on it. In fact, all type of learning in Bharat begins with the name of God and prayer to Him and every activity is done as an offering to God without any artificiality and ostentation. People educated abroad come back with big degrees. What is that degree? It is only a piece of paper. They do not understand the essence of education. The students of Bharat have a pure and sacred heart. I feel blissful when I see Indian students. One can see the goodness of education reflected on their faces. The Bharatiyas are not inferior in any way; they are endowed with immense sacredness. Every individual in Bharat is imbued with divine feelings. Forgetting this type of sacred education, people these days are running after worldly and materialistic education. Today there is an influx of gadgets like calculators and computers. They are mere yantras (machines). These yantras do not stand any comparison with mantra (incantation). The real mantra is the name of God which gives immense bliss. The Bharatiyas are not able to understand this truth because of their delusion. But their heart is very sacred.

People today are ruining themselves by craving for worldly and materialistic possessions. Even those responsible for conducting the affairs of the government are treading the evil path.They want only worldly type of education to be promoted in our country. They talk about science and technology. What is this technology? It is only trick knowledge. They say it is technology, but what they do is ‘tricknology’. Many people in Bharat are indulging in dirty business; they are cheating others and doing injustice to them. No Bharatiya should take to this type of business. Everyone should have divine feelings in his heart. All actions should be done to please God. When you start all your activities with prayer to God, you are sure to be rewarded with bliss. Today if you invite a music artiste to sing devotional songs, he will ask, “How much will you pay?” In this manner, all our activity has become business-oriented. Even food and drink have become a big business.The sacred land of Bharat is annapurna kshetra (land of plenty). The tradition of Bharat is to offer food free to every hungry person and water to every thirsty person. This sacred tradition seems to have disappeared these days. By imitating the culture of the West, the Bharatiyas today are casting a blot on the fair name of Bharat. It is the land of great culture. There is hardly any other country which can stand comparison with her so far as the sacredness of the culture is concerned. Having been born in this sacred land of Bharat, we should live like true Bharatiyas. The land of Bharat which is known for tyaga (sacrifice) is being turned into a land of bhoga (pleasure) in mad imitation of western culture. That is why Bharat is facing many problems these days. What is needed in this country is not bhoga but tyaga.
Money is the root cause of many evils. Money makes many wrongs. The first priority of the moneyed people today is to send their children abroad for education. Even elders are encouraging the youth to go to foreign countries for the sake of earning money. Too much money leads man to the path of evil. Money comes and goes, morality comes and grows. So, we have to develop morality. The very foundation of Bharat is based on sathya and dharma. This is what we have to propagate. The Bharatiyas should consider adherence to truth as the greatest dharma. sathya and dharma are most important in the life of man. The youth should strictly adhere to them. What is sathya? It is the harmony of thought, word and deed. Where these three are in harmony, sathya is present there. People speak something on the platform, they have something else in their mind, and their actions are entirely different from what they speak and think. This is the worst sin.
Even animals like goats and monkeys can learn many things. A monkey can be trained to ride a bicycle. Man is much superior to animals. His conduct should be such that manifests his superiority. It is said, Jantunam nara janma durlabham (out of all living beings, human birth is the rarest). Man should therefore not behave like birds, animals and insects. When money is lost, nothing is lost. Instead of putting our faith in money, we should have more faith in love and should develop love to love relationship with others. When you have this type of relationship based on love, love will develop more and more. Only then will we be able to love everybody. We should not observe such differences as so and so is mine and so and so is someone else. We should develop the feeling that I belong to all and all belong to me. All are the children of the same mother. Being the children of the same mother, all should live like brothers and sisters. There may be some differences, but they are temporary. They will come and go like passing clouds. The only thing that is permanent and eternal is love. There is nothing great in acquiring education and amassing wealth.

SathyaSai Speaks on 22/08/2007

 Truly speaking, the entire world is engaged in business. Right from the Prime Minister of the country to an ordinary worker, everybody is involved in some kind of business or the other and is following the working system appropriate to his occupation. Knowing fully well this reality, our students are making a mark for themselves in all fields of life.Man is endowed with five senses of perception. The functioning of the five senses is also a type of business in which all the limbs are engaged. All the senses perform their business in the most appropriate manner with regard to the limbs they are associated with. Those who give proper direction to their senses so as to lead them on the right path are truly first rankers. Business which is done mainly by reading books, business journals and comparing Indian business with overseas business cannot be called business in the true sense of the term. Indian business should be concerned with Indian traditions and values. It should keep in view the interest and situation of the country. Other countries are making changes in their business ventures just to increase their power. We should not imitate them in any such manner. We should adopt those practices which are appropriate to our culture and traditions.True humanness lies in the integration of culture and country. Culture is not related to your worldly relations.

 Some people today ignore their culture due to the influence of modern times. You should never forsake culture at any cost. What is meant by culture? We should understand and follow our ancient traditions and values. We should never ignore our culture in our business matters. We should enquire into the relationship between culture and country. Culture has its existence due to the country. True humanness lies in the integration of culture and country. Culture is not related to your worldly relations and practices. Culture is concerned with the feelings of your heart and your power to discriminate between what is good and what is bad. Hence, you should develop strong power of discrimination. This discrimination brings about many changes in the life of man. It is due to lack of discrimination that our culture has suffered a decline. And because of the decline of culture our country has become weak. Wrong cultural practices followed by the people are, in fact, the main cause for the weakness of a country. Today people do not follow the true culture of our country. Consequently, the Government also takes to wrong path. As you all know, different political parties today follow different cultural values and ideologies. But if they all work together for a common cause, the results are sure to be good.We should follow our indigenous system and experience the happiness of living in the present. Then our future will also become happy. Many people are worried about their future. Do not brood over the past; don’t worry about future. Past is past; forget the past; do not think about it. Present, is important. It is not ordinary present; it is Omnipresent. Many people worry about their past and future and spoil their present. We should make proper use of our present.
You achieve good results in all subjects when you are present. Therefore, all of you should think about only present. Today many elders have fond memories of past times, thinking, “Our past time was so good, but everything has turned bad in the present time. In those days, children respected their elders; they conducted themselves with great humility. They revered their elders and learnt good things from them. In fact, there was no need to go to teachers; the grandmother in the house taught many good things to children. In ancient times, all led a happy life.” “Old is gold” is a proverb. True to this proverb, people in olden times were like pure gold. By their teachings, they helped the people to take to noble path. But today we have damaged this path. Therefore, we should repair this damage and restore the path again.

                            SU-DARSHANAM(THE POWER OF SACRED VISION)
Students!! There are many things that are not known to the students and many things that need to be learned. Students need to understand the difference between the intellect and intelligence. Likewise there is a difference between mind and the thoughts. The mind is very pure like a white cloth. It becomes impure and dirty because of the bad thoughts. The whiteness is its natural quality. The white cloth becomes soiled and dirty with usage and is put to the washer man for cleaning. The washer man brings in the washed and clean cloth. People say that the washer man has made the cloth white and bright. The washer man does not have the ability to whiten the cloth. The whiteness is the very nature and quality of the white cloth. The washer man had just removed the dirt. Likewise the mind, too, is pure and sacred like the white. It gets impure due to the exposure to the worldly and physical attachments. The mind loses its dirt when it is washed on the stone called ‘contemplation of the Lord’. That is ‘Shraddha’, steadfastness. One must inculcate such steadfastness. With sincerity and faith there is nothing that man cannot achieve. One can achieve anything with faith and sincerity- can go to the moon, reach the stars and even reach the sun! What is the Sun that one can reach? It is not the Sun that produces Hydrogen and who helps the entire world! “Chandrama manasojathaha, chaksho sooryo ajayatha” Who is the Sun? One’s eye sight is the Sun. One can certainly reach the sun- the proper and pure vision. People think that God has taken a disc for a weapon. This weapon is called as the ‘Sudarshanam’- which means ‘good seeing’.(SathyaSai Speaks on 21/06/1996)

Then again, I will advise children not to read horror comics, books on crime and sex, and novels of vice and wickedness. Avoid also films, for though they may be advertised as very educative and inspiring, the producers, in their greed for profits, smuggle in low vulgar debasing scenes in order to please raw untrained minds. Don't allow the virus of vice to infect your brains. If that happens you descend to levels worse than the beasts. Do not imagine that it will be possible for you to live happily, without any anxiety or bother. Do not build castles in the air, and hope to live in them. Life is a mosaic of pleasure and pain; grief is an interval between two moments of joy, peace is the interlude between two wars. You have no rose, without a thorn; the diligent picker will avoid the pricks, and gather the flower. There is no bee without the sting; cleverness consists in gathering the honey nevertheless. Troubles and travail will haunt you, but you must not allow them to deflect you from the path of duty and dedication.The Gopees (milkmaids) of Brindhaavan were chastised and punished by their parents, parentsin-law and even husbands for taking the name of Krishna, but, they had the name printed on their hearts, just like the pictures in the books you read, and they could not remove the Name, just as you would find it impossible to remove the picture from the paper! When you have the Name in your heart and on your tongue, you will never go astray, your hand will be clean, your eyes will be bright, your face will beam with courage and self-confidence.(SathySai Speaks on  April,1973,Hyderabad)

Nowadays none wakes up when the cock crows, nor when the loud whistle of train blows, but get up late in the morning at eight or nine. What is the reason? They go to sleep late at night. Are they at least using the night hours for studies? Not at all. They put on Television or Radio, thus polluting their own minds besides wasting time. Much of what is seen on the television are things that are lewd, disgusting, immoral and vile. Such are the undesirable things being shown. I wonder what pleasure or profit accrues to Government out of all this. On the other hand Government promotes this as a great medium. So it is Government which is spoiling the children. It turns the pure, steady and selfless hearts of the youth into impure, wicked and repugnant. On top of it, it seeks for more import from foreign countries.Instead of habituating children to such evil traits, can one not encourage good practices? Can they not be shown good stories which promote good behaviour in them? None protests against this evil, neither parents inside house, nor the teachers, the educated persons and the elders in the society. The reason simply is that they too have succumbed to this addiction. So if they try to correct children, they would have to face the question “What about you?” Such are the elders of to day to whom children would give a piece of mind. They in fact are the ones who occupy the front seats in front of TV sets. Let me tell you what some of these elders are up to. They tell our students when they go home on vacation, “Son, it is an year since you watched TV or movie, as you were at Puttaparthi. Now go ahead and watch them to your heart’s content”. Mothers even serve meals to them in front of the TV set itself. Should any mother interested in the well-being of her child do this? Certainly not. But unfortunately they are all out to spoil their own children. And Government only adds to the problem, mindlessly. The government servants themselves are glued to TV as soon as they return home from offices. Or they go to clubs where they drink, fill themselves with unhealthy food and gamble. It is precisely due to these bad habits, evil traits and unhealthy activities that today’s citizens are turning into cruel people. Even their speech is not soft and pleasant but is very rude. That is why I often tell you, ‘You cannot always oblige, but you can speak obligingly’. One should speak obligingly with all humility an d modesty. Today even these virtues are disappearing. I n addition to all this they squander away money in idl e pursuits.(Sathya Sai Speaks on 27/05/2002)

Eyes are the manifestation of the power of the Sun. The light is not in the eyes. One needs to understand this concept clearly. There are two aspects to this. The boy had just recited: “anthar bahischa tat sarvam vyaptha narayana stithaha”. There is light inside and outside and this constitutes the vision. The sun shines brightly. In spite of the bright sunlight, if one closes one’s eyes, one cannot see anything. Standing in the bright sun, one must be able to see the sun with closed eyes, but it is not so. What is the reason? The sun in oneself and the sun outside must unite; otherwise it cannot be called as one. One cannot see anything sitting in a dark room even with eyes open. The reason for not being able to see things in a dark room is that there is no sunlight in the room. When standing in the bright sun with eyes closed there was no light in the eyes so one could not see the sun. Therefore, one can see objects when the light of the sun and that of the eyes, both are present. One must have sunlight and must keep one’s eyes open to be able to see the things. One cannot do away with sunlight for in a dark room one cannot see the objects with mere eyes. Therefore, there must be unity of the outer sun and the inner sun for developing pure intellect. “Dheeyoyonah prachodayath”-The brilliance of the sacred intellect shines the sun called the eyes.(SathyaSai Speaks on 21/06/1996)

Another instance in our Puranas where the child in the womb got such knowledge was the case of Abhimanyu, who learnt the details of Padmavyuha (labyrinth of lotus shape, particular type of maze), while in the womb of his mother. In view of this, it was the custom in those days that pregnant women were taken care of with great effort and they were always kept happy and were permitted to listen only to sacred stories and sacred things. They were always given only good news. It is in this context that the baby in the womb will be experiencing only happy situations and as a result will turn out to be a happy individual. But today, pregnant women see various kinds of pictures during the period of pregnancy and in this process the child also develops bad ideas even from the time of its being in the mother’s womb and they take to an unsacred path once they are born. Thus the entire future of a child depends on the manner and conduct of the pregnant woman in whose womb the child is growing.If today we take to a sacred path and do the right thing, there is no doubt that our children in the future will also attain reputation and will take to a sacred path.Although one does not directly see the greatness of a manthra, it is sure to hand in the consequence by inference. Some people argue that it may not be necessary to read the manthras with the proper accent and the proper stress at the right place and that it may be looked upon as a mere collection of words. Our youth have no understanding and familiarity with the divine path or with anything that relates to the culture of our country. It has become a fashion to take a crooked view of everything and they give a reply which is quite irrelevant.you. Your friends and relations may come till the burial ground to bury or cremate the body, and thereafter all will return home. Only the good and bad acts that you have performed in your life will accompany you. Your next birth will be carved out according to your deeds in this life.(Excerpts from SathyaSai Speaks on Summer Culture & Spirituality ,1974)

"See no evil; see what is good" is the prescription for the eyes. Keechaka (in the Mahaabhaaratha) looked with an evil eye on Dhraupadhi (who was serving as the Queen's maid in the palace of the king of Viraata dhesa). His lustful vision brought about his death. His very name is abhorred by everyone.(SathyaSai Speaks on 12/04/1996)

 “Sathwik listening is listening to the stories, experiences and messages of Sages and Saints who aspired after God and realised Him. Sathwik seeing is seeing the worshippers of the Lord, seeing the portraits of saints and sages, attending festivals in temples, etc. Rajasik seeing is seeing scenes of luxury, pictures of sensuous joy, of pompous pageantry, of the exhibition of power and status and display of egoistic authority. Taking delight in the description of sensuous scenes and incidents, in the demonstration of power and authority, in the assertion of might and prowess—these are to be classified as Rajasik listening. Others take delight in listening to gruesome adventures, stories of wicked ogres and vicious deeds. Such are Thamasik individuals. They admire cruelty and terrifying tactics and they take pleasure in keeping such pictures before them. They worship demonic bloodthirsty Gods and they revel in the lore of ghosts and evil forces.”(Excerpts from Geetha Vahini,Page No-276,Chaptr. XXVI)

                                  THE REAL FRIENDSHIP(FRIENDSHIP IN TRUE SENSE)                   
You may ask what benefit we may get out of such good company. Man’s good as well as bad features receive their final shape when he mixes with other members of the society. In this context, we can take the example of the dust that settles on the surface of the earth. Although such dust does not have wings and cannot fly away by itself, by acquiring the good company of wind, it can get off the earth. The same dust settles down and cannot move upwards if it acquires association with water. Iron, which is hard, black and dull becomes soft, red and shining when it makes friendship with fire. The same iron, acquires a lot of rust and loses all its strength when it makes friendship with dirt and moisture. All these modifications are coming because of association with others in the environment. It is generally not possible for anything to change or transform by itself without the help of external associations. Even a newly born baby learns to walk, talk, run, read and write only with the help of its mother and the love and affection the latter shows. Without the love and affection from the mother, the baby will grow like an animal and will not be able to talk, walk or do things which other human beings can do and are trained to do. Animals which are born in the forest, grow and move about in the forest and have certain features which are special to them. If the same animals are given appropriate training by a circus manager, we can make them do things which other animals cannot do. Even birds are able to utter good words in an understandable and clear manner if we give them good training and keep them in good company. Thus, the kind of sacred life which you wish to lead and the aspirations which you have in your mind about the type of life which you want to live can be achieved if you are in the company of good people. You have to make friendship with good people and follow their example in your daily routine. This is the appropriate age for you to lead such a life and put yourself in the company of elders. During this age, you will be able to develop good ideas and good conduct and you should make a firm determination to do so. At this important stage of your life, you should dedicate yourself to the service of your country and to the service of your parents. On the contrary, if you spend your time in bad company and wander about the streets like stray dogs, whistling like foxes, you will only be wasting your life. Time wasted is life wasted.(SathyaSai Speaks on 24/05/1973)
                          

All potentialities are the reflections of mental feelings. We should have friendship with our mind. Once you develop friendship with your mind, you will be successful. According to Indian culture, it is only when you have true friendship, you can really experience God. Listening, singing, chanting, service, salutation, worship, servitude, friendship, self-surrender. It is the friendship that leads to self-surrender. Without friendship, you cannot reach the state of self-surrender. If you say that, it is only verbal or vocal declaration but nothing effective in terms of action.(SathyaSai Speaks on 14/01/2003)

These days, it is not uncommon to see evil doers [seemingly] get away with it while good people suffer. It appears as if someone commits the crime and someone else gets punished – this is how things are in the world. Here is an example. You are sleeping in your room at night but mosquitoes disturb you. So, next day, you use a mosquito net but it still does not help because a few mosquitoes have sneaked into the net. You now resort to a drastic remedy – you spray Flit all over. You cannot identify the specific mosquitoes that bit you but you are not bothered; you spray over all the mosquitoes you can see. Only one or two mosquitoes bit you but now hundreds are dying. Why is this so? Because of friendship. Even if you are innocent, you have to suffer if you keep the company of evil doers. It is to drive this home that Swami often says: “Tell Me your company and I shall tell who you are.” Once bad thoughts get in, they multiply rapidly and soon drive out kshama; and kshama once lost is not easily regained. You must therefore protect this virtue at all costs and see that you never lose it, especially because with kshama you can achieve anything.(SathyaSai Speaks on 25/05/2000)

Shankara was in the position of a teacher for the entire world and he propagated many ideals amongst the people. Amongst them, the concept of non-dualism or the philosophy of Adwaitha, is an important one. Along with his disciples, he taught these things, travelled all over the country, stressed the importance of the aspect of Atma and explained to people the nature of Paramatma or God. He stressed the importance of having Satsang or spending your time in good company. He taught that for one’s liberation, Satsang or good company is an important step and even the first step. When we make an enquiry as to what the word Satsang means, we will come to interpret it by saying.(SathyaSai Speaks on 24/05/1973)

Budhdhihi karmanusaarini!!” One’s intellect develops based on one’s good and bad actions. Bad actions lead to bad mind and good actions lead to good mind. Therefore, one’s actions are solely responsible for one’s state of mind. Hence to indulge in good actions one has to keep good company. As is the company so is the mind. ‘Tell me your company I shall tell you what you are!!’ It can be proved that as is the company so is the person. Therefore, one must develop good qualities by keeping good company.(SathyaSai Speaks on 08/03/1997)

You should acquire the qualities of truth, prema and forbearance, as also the quality of sacrifice. This period of your life is like the morning time of the day. If you, as you commence your life, turn your mind towards good and towards God, you will be starting your life in a manner where bad qualities do not haunt you, ego does not haunt you, jealousy and other undesirable qualities do not haunt you. There is a small example for this. In the morning time, the sun rises. If at that time you face the sun and look at it, you will notice that you have a long shadow but it is behind you. If, on the other hand, you do not direct your sight towards the sun but turn towards your shadow, you will notice that your own shadow, a long one at that, is leading you and it will appear as if this long shadow is showing you the path. In this example, you are the Jiva Tattwa and your shadow is the Maya (illusion). If it is your desire to overcome Maya and leave it behind you, however fast you may walk, you will never get rid of Maya if it is in front of you. On the other hand, you turn your sight towards the sun, you can overcome Maya even as the shadow is behind you. In the same manner, your mind, thoughts, organs and the body constitute the Maya or the shadow. If you want to get away from them, you will have to turn your vision inwards and towards your Atma. When you do this, you will be able to shake off the Maya. Therefore, you should make an attempt to join the Satsang and derive all the benefits that accrue from joining good company. Good company leads you to detachment and by detachment you will achieve self-realization. Shankara has given many verses and each verse is to be regarded as a shining lamp of knowledge. You should put the contents thereof into practice and rectify your life.(SathyaSai Speaks on 24/05/1973)

Kabir looked at good company as well as bad company and said that both of them should be respected. At this, the disciples questioned him how it is that both good company and bad company deserve to be respected. To this, Kabir replied that there is some trouble to the world from the bad people and there is trouble to the world also from the good people. In order that there is no trouble from either quarter, he is paying respects to both of them. The disciples then asked how any harm can result from good people. Kabir smiled and said that association with bad people causes great discomfort. On the contrary, separation from good people also causes great discomfort, and therefore, he was praying to both. There should not be separation from good people and there should not be association with bad people. You must always be praying that both these things may come your way. This is my blessing to you. I hope you will be able to get good company always.(SathyaSai Speaks on 24/05/1973)

Give up bad company. Run away from bad company. You should never be in bad company. The reason is, you will also become bad. Tell me your company, I shall tell you what you are! Never be in bad company. If possible, try to change the bad to good. Run away from bad company. It is not enough if you do that. Join good company. In ten litres of milk, if you add one litre of water, it also becomes milk. The water that has no value, gets value added to it. In ten litres of water, if you mix one litre of milk, the milk will lose its value. If good people are in bad company, they will lose their value. We should be in good company. Good company is required. We should join in satsang occasionally. Only then would it be possible to have good qualities, good actions, good feelings and good heart. Therefore, you should be in good company. What is the third line (of the stanza)? Do meritorious acts day in and day out. What is this merit? Are they acts of charity? Those are only worldly acts. What is real merit? Body is for the welfare of others, Paropakara. The three syllables "Para" "upa" "kara" make up Paropakara. Para - Atma, Upa - proximity, Kara - go. Go close to the spirit. Be near divinity. That is the real Paropakara. Do meritorious acts. Be with God. Do with God. See with God. Drink with God. Eat with God. Have the divine approach all the time. This is real Paropakara - help. Do meritorious acts continously. Day in and day out, whatever we do, it take it as God's work. Good work will be transformed into God's work. We should lead a sacred life with such feelings. Then what is the fourth (line of the stanza)? This has to be done in our daily routine. Today we don't practice, we don't do anything that we are supposed to in our daily life.(SathyaSai Speaks on 17/02/1996)

Worry and grief of one sort or another will always be there, in the past, present, and future, while walking, dreaming, and sleeping. But place faith in the Lord and do your tasks as dedication to Him and they will definitely vanish! Remember the Lord with thankfulness at least thrice or even twice a day; that will give you great peace. Do not give up your worldly duties, but do them with the name of God on your lips. Do not involve yourselves in the affairs of others to the extent that you get so entangled that you cannot extricate yourselves. Spend your time in the contemplation of the beauties of nature, which are spread out before you in earth and sky - lovely green expanses, soothing and joyful cool breezes, the panorama of coloured clouds and the music of the birds. Sing the glories of God as you walk along. Do not talk hatefully, do not get angry, do not disturb the sky with your shouts and curses, and do not pollute the air with vengeful boasts.(Sathya Sai Speaks on 02/09/1958)

Sometimes it may so happen that you will find yourself in a different company and some among them may be bad. They may even abuse you and treat you in a bad manner. In such cases, you should make an attempt to communicate the good spiritual essence in your heart to them as well. When a sharp axe is used to cut a sandalwood tree, the sandalwood tree does not feel hurt by the axe nor does it get angry with it. On the contrary, the sandalwood tree hands its fragrance to the axe. The sandalwood is such that even when it is cut to pieces, it gives fragrance. Even when it is rubbed against another stone, it gives fragrance. This is the quality of good people.(Excerpts from Summer Showers in Indian Culture & Spiritualty,1973)

Friendship, in these days, can be illustrated by a story. A person had three friends. He had taken to several bad ways and consequently had to face a court case. He went to a friend and sought his help. The friend frankly told him that he would not like to associate himself with the crime committed by him. He refused to give evidence to rescue him. The second friend, when approached, told him that he would only go up to the court but would not be a witness in a witness box. Thereafter, he approached the third friend for help. He immediately responded and said, “Yes, your troubles are mine, my troubles are yours and I shall help you in whatever manner you wish me to help.” It is quite clear that amongst these three the third is the best kind of friend. For our life also, we have three such friends. At the time of death, one has to leave behind all that one owns. Wealth and status do not accompany In order to remain good, you must cultivate respect for truth which is permanent, whereas everything else including your body is subject to change, decay and death. So it is desirable to undertake various practices to win the grace of the Lord at this young age while you have the energy and ability to learn and concentrate. It is quite probable that some of your friends may point out to you that this is the age to make a success of yourself in worldly affairs. They will advise you to earn money and enjoy life. According to their way of thinking, the pursuit of God can be kept in abeyance till the age of retirement from active life. But, the fact is that the young age, being impressionable and formative, is the right age to develop sacred ideas and practise spiritual sadhanas. It is common knowledge that if throughout one’s life one pursues Maya, then at the time of death it will not be possible to divert one’s thoughts towards God. Therefore now is the time for you to lay the foundation for a good future. of prema. From now on, you should make a determination to cultivate friendships based upon love. Do not allow the current meaning of friendship to corrupt your minds.Friendship based on altruism adopts the motto: love for all and malice towards none, keeping in view the well-being of others, overlooking personal interests. Such an attitude makes life enjoyable and helps, also, to set right the world. Such attitudes make persons voluntarily give more and receive less, whereas if egoism creeps in you, then you like to receive more and give less. The difference in attitudes of egoists and altruists reveals the contradiction between the concept of ideal friendship and the actual manner in which it is practised in everyday life. Friendship should not be based on considerations of fear and favour. On the one hand, you try to be friendly with a person who is in authority and power out of fear; and on the other hand, you try to be friendly with an affluent and wealthy person in the hope of gaining some personal benefits. Wealth and status being temporary, our friendships will also turn out to be of a transitory nature. If a person is adopting wrong ways, a true friend should not be afraid of pointing out his errors with a view to improving him. It is not enough to merely share joy with each other; but it is more important to share the sorrow with each other. Sacred friendship is that which enables one to help others, at all times, and in all circumstances. (SathyaSai Speaks on Summer Showers on Indian Culture & Spirituality,1973)