BE COURAGEOUS

BE COURAGEOUS

 

 

Man creates trouble and misery for himself.

Give up all sorts of fears.

Stand up like a lion.

Draw courage from within.

There are many people who are so timid that they will not move around at night. Even when they see a cat at night, a cockroach at floor, lizard on a wall, they tremble. What a shame.

 

 

They are embodiments of timidity. They are 'moustache ladies'. They tremble with fear when they are put to a little test. They perspire and quiver when there is any impending danger!

 

 

They are poor, miserable specimens. A dacoit can become a good Vedantin, if his energy is turned in a spiritual direction, because he is absolutely fearless and has no feeling "I am the body"; but not a timid man.

 

 

Fearlessness is the greatest qualification for a spiritual aspirant.

All fears are imaginary.

They have no real basis.

When you think seriously they will melt away like snow before the sun.

Think a tiger or a lion has come in front of you, and you will have to face it.

Think that you are placed in front of a machine gun, and that you will be blown up right now.

Draw courage now.

Think of the verses of the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. They deal with the immortality of the soul.

Again and again think of the divine verses of the Avadhut Gita. You will become courageous – though perhaps not all at once.

Gradually you will find that you are gaining courage.

 

 

Constantly think that you are the atman, the self.

You will gradually develop great courage.

Worry and fear are fearful forces within us.

They poison the sources of life; they destroy all harmony, vitality and vigour. Thoughts of cheerfulness, joy, and courage are healing and soothing.

Always be cheerful. Always laugh and smile.

 

 

Just as darkness cannot exist in the presence of light, so also fear cannot exist in the presence of self-denial or self-realisation or courage.

Exhibit undaunted spirit, intrepidity and manliness.

Make a strong resolve: "I will die or realise the self."

Give up the idea that you are the body.

Fearlessness is one important sign of a liberated being.

 

 

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AVOID HARMING YOURSELVES

AVOID HARMING YOURSELVES

 

 

“Never bore enmity or ill-will to anybody.” – Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch. XXIII.

 

 

A woman suffered from severe rheumatic pains in the knee joints. No treatment was of any avail. The pain became unbearable. She sought the blessings of a holy man to help her out of her utter misery.

 

“Do you hold a grudge against anyone?” he asked her gently.

 

For a split second, she hesitated: then she answered, “My mind is seething with resentment against my own sister who did not behave properly towards me.”

 

The holy man said to her, “Your pain will disappear only when you forgive her and make peace with her.”

 

The woman found it very difficult to do so. However, with a tremendous effort of will, she went to meet her estranged sister; she hugged the astonished sister and said to her, “Let bygones be bygones. Let us begin anew!”

 

To her amazement, she found that soon thereafter, the pains disappeared completely!

 

We hold resentment against someone, we may not harm that person – but surely, we will harm ourselves!

 

 

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I LOV YOU

I LOV YOU

 

Baba said, "If a man utters My name with love, I shall fulfill all his wishes” in Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch. III.

 

“I have heard you urge the people to keep on telling God, time and again, ‘I love you!’ ‘I love you!’ Don’t you think God would be tired of listening to the same words?” a young man asked to Swamiji.

 

Swamiji said to him, “How many times did you tell your girl friend to day that you loved her?”

 

“Many times.”

 

“And how many times did you tell her yesterday?”

 

“Very many times.”

 

“And the day before?”

 

“Times without number.”

 

“Does she not feel tired of listening to the same words, again and again?”

 

“No,” answered the young man. “She rejoices to hear those words, every time I tell her.”

 

“You have answered your own question,” Swamiji said to him quietly.

 

 

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FEBRUARY 3 - Righteousness

FEBRUARY 3 - Righ teous ness

 

If you love me, you will obey what I command. . . . He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. — JOHN 14:15, 24

 

He’s a righ teous man!” I once commented about a pastor friend. Immediately the group I was with gave a funny look. “Is that supposed to be a compliment?” one of them laughed. They assumed I meant he was stiff and rigid, legalistic, and not at all spiritual. In other words, self-righteous. Nothing could have been further from the truth. My pastor friend has a buoyant, happy love for the Lord Jesus; because of this, his goal in life is to pursue righteousness.

 

God expects evidence of the love we profess to have for him. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:33, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” To pursue his righteousness is to live rightly. It is to obey his commands. Love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, and mind . . . honor your father and your mother . . . look out for the interests of others . . . love your enemies . . . rejoice always . . . do not lie . . . don’t grumble or complain. If our lives reflect no significant difference from our old ways, we should seriously ask, “Do I really know Jesus?”

 

We call Chris tians “spiritual” or “committed,” but we rarely speak of believers as “righ teous.” We’ve become influenced by our culture, which hates true righ teous ness. Why such an aversion to the biblical word righ teous ness? John 3:19 – 20 explains, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” Seek first his kingdom and his righ teous ness — first means in order of priority. As you live right today, you will shine his light into the world’s darkness.

 

Lord of Righ teous ness, I take delight in obeying your commands. Today and always, I want to live differently than the world lives. May my life be an evidence of my faith.

 

FEBRUARY 2 - Stand Firm, Ladies

FEBRUARY 2 - Stand Firm, Ladies

 

Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends! I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. Yes, and

I ask you, loyal yokefellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. — PHILIPPIANS 4:1 – 3

 

Oh, to have labored alongside Paul! To listen to his preaching, share his passion, pray beside him, and follow him high and low, always contending for the faith. In this rare celestial air of apostolic fellowship, surely the esprit de corps was strong, unswerving, and sweet. Euodia and Syntyche were in that exceptional circle of intimate Chris tian friends. These two women were dear companions of Paul, and they fought valiantly beside him for the cause of the gospel. They faced the same opposition and risks to their lives, the same hardships and struggles. Like Paul, they spread the gospel everywhere they went.

 

Somehow they lost their focus. Things degenerated between them, and these two sisters in Christ started knocking heads. News of their haranguing and berating of each other even reached the ears of Paul who was in prison. They forgot their purpose. They didn’t consider how their shenanigans would wound not only those around them, but the apostle. Their disagreement terribly deflated others. Most of all, the gospel took a backseat — their dispute was more important to them!

 

Paul first addresses these two women with the command, “Stand firm.” Recapture your passion, reclaim the vision, recall your focus! No one is above becoming disagreeable and argumentative — not even Euodia and Syntyche. Today, remember Philippians 2:14 says, “Do everything without complaining or arguing.”

 

Thank you, Father, that you included the story of these two women in Scripture. I take it as a warning to me today. Help me to agree with others “in the Lord.”

 

FEBRUARY 1 - When Life's Not Fair

FEBRUARY 1 - When Life’s Not Fair

 

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal weight of glory that far outweighs them all. — 2 CO RIN THI ANS 4:17

 

When Vicky’s husband abandoned her and her two-year-old son, she needed to find work. On one fateful day of job hunting, she was brutally attacked — and shot through the neck — by a man pretending to hire her. Later that day, lying in an emergency room, she knew she would live . . . but as a quadriplegic in a wheelchair for the rest of her life.

 

In the years that followed, Vicky’s anguish and bitterness finally began to melt under her friends’ prayers, warming to the Word of God and its promises. “But sometimes I wonder,” she once told me, “about the fairness of it all.” I explained to her that it took the most unfair act in history, the execution of Jesus, to satisfy divine justice in a world full of injustice. That event made it possible for the least deserving of all — a convicted thief on a cross next to his — to gain an eternity of undeserved happiness. One day the scales of justice will not only balance, but they will be weighted in our favor, all for our good and God’s glory.

 

Vicky now understands that, even in her wheelchair, she is no better than that thief on the cross. By all that’s “fair,” she knows she should be on her way to hell and that there was nothing “fair” about Christ paying the penalty for her sins. She doesn’t deserve such mercy. And neither do we.

 

This present life of ours is infinitely shorter than the blink of an eye compared with the eternal beauty, purpose, and joy we will experience in the Father’s house. Let your thoughts linger on heaven for a while, and then give thanks to the One who made it possible — by the great injustice of dying on a cross to pay the penalty for our sins.

 

Lord Jesus, I praise you for enduring the humiliation, the injustice, and the unspeakable agony of your crucifixion to win an eternity of light and hope for me.

 

யாருக்கு ஞானம்...

யாருக்கு ஞானம்...

இதோ ஒன்று ஞானப்பாடல் ....

கோயிலாவது ஏதுடா? குளங்களாவது ஏதுடா?
கோயிலும் குளங்களும் கும்பிடும் குலாமரே
கோயிலும் மனத்துளே, குளங்களும் மனத்துளே
ஆவதும் அழிவதும் இல்லை, இல்லை இல்லையே !

-சிவவாக்கியார்.

இந்தப் பாடலின் கருத்தை கூற வேண்டியதில்லை .....

எவ்வளவு தெளிவும், துணிவும் இருந்தால் இந்த வரிகள் பாடலாக வரும். இந்த அளவிற்கு ஞானத்துணிவு அனைத்து சித்தர்களிடமும் இருக்கிறது. காரணம் என்ன?

சமயங்களையும், அதற்காக அடித்துக் கொண்டு சாகும் சாமானியர்களையும் காக்கும் பொருட்டு மட்டும் இதை அவர்கள் குறிப்பிடவில்லை. உண்மையின் உச்சத்தை தன் வரிகளில் தெளிவு படுத்தி இருக்கிறார்கள்.

சரி ஒரு நிகழ்வு ....

ஒரு முறை ஒரு ஞானியிடம் ஒரு பக்தர் ஒருவர்..

"சுவாமி ஞானம் பெறுவதற்கு நான் தகுதி உடையவனா? " என்று வினவினார்..

" நீ உயிரோடு இருக்கிறாயா?" என்றார் ஞானி.

அந்த பக்தர் அதிர்ந்து போய்...

"சுவாமி நான் உயிரோடு தான் இருக்கிறேன். அதில் என்ன சந்தேகம்?" என்றார்.

"அப்படியானால், ஞானம் பெறுவதற்கு தேவையான தகுதி அதுதான்" என்றார் ஞானி.

அந்த ஞானி வேறு யாருமல்ல திருவண்ணாமலையில் வாழ்ந்த பகவான் ரமண மகரிஷி அவர்களே..

சந்திப்போம் நல்லோர்களை சிந்திப்போம்...

நல்லோர் தாள் போற்றி! நாயகன் தாள் போற்றி !!

 

 

SEEK ADVANTAGE ON ADVERSITY

SEEK ADVANTAGE ON ADVERSITY

"We are tested as it were. If we only hold on steadily to Baba with full faith and continue our endeavours, our efforts will be ultimately crowned with success." – Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch. XXIX.

An old matured, seasoned farmer, one day, was very angry with God, though he was a great devotee. He said to God in his morning prayer, "I have to tell it as it is – enough is enough! You don't understand even the ABC of agriculture! When the rains are needed, there are no rains; when the rains are not needed, You go on pouring them. What nonsense is this? If you don't understand agriculture, You can ask me – I have devoted my whole life to it. Give me one chance; the coming season, let me decide and see what happens."

It is an ancient story. In those days people had such trust that they could talk directly to God, and their trust was such that the answer was bound to happen. God said, "Okay, this season you decide!" So the
farmer decided, and he was very happy because whenever he wanted sun there was sun, whenever he wanted rain there was rain, whenever he wanted clouds there was clouds.

And he avoided all dangers, all the dangers that could be destructive for his crops; he simply rejected them – no strong winds, no possibility of any destruction to his crops. And his wheat started growing higher than anybody had ever seen; it was going above man's height. And he was very happy.

He thought, "Now I will show Him!" And then the crop was cut and he was very puzzled. There were no wheat at all – just empty husks. What happened? Such big plants – plants big enough to have given wheat four times bigger than ordinary wheat – but there was no wheat at all. And suddenly he heard laugher from clouds.

God laughed and He said, "Now what do you say?" The farmer puzzled, because there was no possibility of destruction and all that was helpful provided. And the plants were growing so well, and the crop was so green and so beautiful! What happened to my wheat?" God said, "Because there was no danger – you avoided all danger – it was impossible for the wheat to grow. It needs challenges."

There are times in everyone's life when something constructive is born out of adversity… when things seem so bad that you've got to grab your fate by the shoulders and shake it.

 

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A LESSON A DAY

A LESSON A DAY

 

“All people learnt the lesson, that those who disobeyed Baba's instruction met with accidents in one way or the other, and those who obeyed them were safe and happy.” – Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch. IX.

 

 

A merchant, an old man and his little daughter met by the side of a fountain of clear, sparkling waters. On the fountain was an inscription which read, “Learn of me!”

 

The merchant said, he learnt a great lesson from the fountain. It started as a trickle of water but as it wended its way to the sea, it was joined by streams and brooks and creeks and, in due course, became a roaring river. We should do our work likewise – start with little beginnings and soon develop big business houses.

 

The old man said that the lesson he learnt, from the fountain, was to serve silently – friends and strangers alike.

 

The little girl said that the lesson she learnt was, water is useless unless it is pure. Even animals reject turbid water. Therefore, we should live a clean and chaste life.

 

The teacher is one. Everyone learns according to his aptitude and capacity. In this school of life, the day on which we have not learnt something new is a lost day indeed.

 

 

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