1994: Cultivate Forgiveness and Love
Summaries of the discourses of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba on New year and Yudagi 1987 to 2009.
1994: Cultivate Forgiveness and Love
In this worldly life love is manifesting in several forms such as the love between mother and son, husband and wife, and between relatives. This love based on physical relationships arises out of selfish motives and self-interest. But the love of the Divine is devoid of any trace of self-interest. It is love for the sake of love alone. This is called Bhakthi (devotion). One characteristic of this love is to give and not to receive. Secondly, love knows no fear. Thirdly, it is only for love's sake and not for selfish motive. All these three angles of love jointly cannot Prapatthi (Surrender). When one revels in this attitude of Prapatthi, one experiences the bliss of the Divine. For this, the prime requisite is Kshama (forgiveness).
Kshama cannot be learned from textbooks. Not can it be acquired from preceptors not from anyone else. It is to be cultivated by oneself in times of difficulties, trials and tribulations that one is forced to meet. Only when we face problems and difficulties that cause grief and misery this quality of forbearance and forgiveness has the scope for taking root.
People with jealousy and hatred are pursuing the wicked path and bringing ruin on themselves. Jealousy is a dangerous canker that eats at the root of the tree of life, while hatred is pest that attacks the trunk of the tree. Thus the tree of life is completely destroyed by both these pests. The Kauravas in Mahabharatha were victims of these two pests and sought their own ruin.
When mind conceives a thought, all the organs are co-ordinating to get the thought executed. If senses do not follow thoughts, life will become miserable. When there is forbearance, all organs co-ordinate harmoniously and work in unison.
Happiness and sorrow have to be experienced in the worldly life as they are inevitable like the sunset and sunrise. It is the mind that is responsible for pleasure and pain. If your mind is good you will find anything good.
There is sweet juice inside the orange fruit. But it is covered by the bitter outer rind. It is the bitter rind that protects the juice inside. So we should put up with the bitter difficulties in order to enjoy real pleasure. Man is embodiment of the quality of Kshama. There is nothing in this world that you cannot achieve with this quality.
God will accept the bad qualities provided they are offered with sincere devotion and repentance and shower His Grace on you. For example, suppose you have a soiled, torn and mutilated hundred rupee currency note, no one will accept it. But, if the number is intact, the Reserve Bank will accept it and give a good note of same value in return. Thus people offer all the bad qualities to God and receive good from Him. When you sit near God, your bad qualities are kept off and good thoughts and divine qualities will come to you. This Being a human, you should make others happy.
Points to Ponder:
How can one experience the friendship of the Lord?
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