1972: Teach by Example
Teachings to treasure, teachings that transform.
In this auspicious year 2015 commemorating the 90th birthday of Bhagwan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, we offer a compilation of key messages from the over 140 discourses in the month of July, including Guru Poornima Days between the years 1958 and 2009.
1972:
Teach by Example
Villages which are the cells of the body-politic are afflicted
with this terrible malady today. So,
this school is being established in order to guide children on
right lines and to inspire the elders
to be examples of tolerance, service and mutual love. Joy and
peace have to be restored in this
village through truth, goodness, justice and love.
Every village has to be equipped with four Aalayas
(Houses). First, the Bhojan-aalaya (the
Eating-house or Hotel), which must provide for a moderate
price, clean sustaining food. Of
course, man does not feed on such food only. He feeds on pure
water and air and the food that he
gorges through the eye, the tongue and the sense of touch has
also to be free from pollution and
poison Next, the Aarogya-aalaya (the
Medicine-House, the Hospital). This has become essential,
since man has neither healthy eating habits nor the inclination
to adopt them. Third, the
Vidhyaalaya.(the Learning-House, the
School) which is a lamp lit to keep darkness away. The
School must instruct the young and inspire the old, keep alive
the roots of one's native culture.
Last, the Deva-aalya (the House
of God, the Temple, the Heart of the Community), pumping the
life-blood of Faith, Reverence and Steadfastness throughout the
body-politic.
Everyone in the village is a flower with its unique hue and
fragrance. They are collected and
strung as a garland for the Lord. The string that runs through
all, that holds them together, that
enables them to enhance the charm of the Lord (if ever that is
possible!) is the Brahma-suuthra--
-the unifying thread called Brahma
(the Universal Absolute). This Truth has to be revealed to
everyone; it has to be implanted in the heart, so that each one
can have the faith that can face
both failure and fortune. That is the inner purpose of the
School.
The gross body has its characteristics---height, weight, girth,
proportion, name, caste, sect,
nationality; it is a pot, a container, it is devised, designed;
it disintegrates; it is destroyed. 'It
cannot be 'you'. The subtle body is like the water in the pot;
that too is poured by some one. It
does not originate therein; it is no essential part of it; it
is not its dharma. So it too is not 'you'.
The causal body is affected by attachment and detachment, the
world and its objects, through
reaction and reflection. So, it too cannot be 'you'. 'You' are
beyond all three. You are not limited
by these three containers---one within the other, one finer
than the other.
You have inherent in you, vast potentiality, you can draw upon
that reserve strength and succeed." Then, I gave him the example of a
bumble bee. It is a small thing, judging from size but it bores through the
toughest timber! This same bumble bee settles at sunset on a lotus flower and
drinks the intoxicating nectar. It falls into a stupor, overwhelmed by the
elixir. While it is still on the task, the Sun sets and the petals close in, to
make the bloom a bud, again! The bee is imprisoned in the softness; it has no strength
to bore through the tender velvety veil! I told him, "Let your mind imbibe
the nectar of the Name, let it taste the elixir of the Lotus Feet of the Lord,
it will be incapacitated, rendered ineffective, incapable of harm." You
may have vast scholarship, fame and fortune. But, the bee can give you a lesson
on how to be free from torment.
Points
to Ponder:
·
How to succeed in our efforts?
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