Sathya Sai Baba
Sathya Sai Baba
Sathya Sai Baba
2008
ISBN 9781897510919
www.sathya-sai-baba.org
© Vladimir Antonov, 2008
Contents
THE ADVENT OF SATHYA SAI BABA .............................. 4
WHO IS SATHYA SAI BABA? ..................................... 5
HIS TEACHINGS................................................. 7
FROM CONVERSATIONS WITH SATHYA SAI BABA ................ 26
BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................ 36
3
The Advent of Sathya Sai Baba
He was born in 1926 and named Sathya Narayana
Raju.
In childhood, He was liked by everyone, because He
was always kind, forgiving all offences from playmates,
never “requiting evil with evil”. And more… in school,
He entertained other pupils by giving them sweets,
which He took out from an apparently empty bag, ma-
terializing them.
At the age of 14, He told His parents that He would
not go to school any more, because He knew every-
thing. And that He was a reincarnation of the well-
known Muslim saint, Sai Baba (Baba means Father in
Sanskrit), from the place called Shirdi. And that He
wanted to leave His parents’ home in order to dedicate
His life to helping people, preaching the Truth about
God and about the Way of attainment of the Highest
Freedom in Mergence with Him.
His years of childhood and adolescence are de-
scribed in detail in a remarkable book of Samuel Sand-
weiss [4], everyone interested can find this information
there. I only want to notice, in order to help you un-
derstand the content of this book better, that Sathya
Sai Baba, living in the shaivistic partly-pagan environ-
ment, did not oppose it. On the contrary, He supported
4
people’s faith by materializing, for example, attributes
of the shaivistic symbolism.
All preaching activity of Sathya Sai Baba includes
demonstration of miracles by Him.
He did this even during His school years: He mate-
rialized sweets, pencils, rulers, and so on. He also won
easily in running among other pupils by transporting in-
stantly His body from the start to the finish.
In the following years, He converted adult atheists
to believers, for example, by materializing in front of
them, sitting at the table, the dishes which were “or-
dered” mentally by each one of them.
And now, materialization of various objects is a
part of everyday activity of Sathya Sai Baba, by which
He helps people to strengthen their religiousness.
As the preaching activity of Sathya Sai Baba devel-
oped, a group of faithful followers gathered around
Him; an ashram was built, in which pilgrims could stay.
Financial support from interested people made it possi-
ble to create in India a system of medical and educa-
tional institutions supervised by Sathya Sai Baba and to
begin publishing books. Thanks to books and films, the
name of Sathya Sai Baba is well-known now on all con-
tinents, He has millions of followers.
He brings to people salvation from the darkness of
atheistic ignorance and religious misunderstanding. Let
us — as souls — approach Him!
5
But this is just His body, just a tiny part of Sathya
Sai Baba…
In reality, He is completely different. He is the
Oceanic Universal Consciousness connected with the
material body. And in any part of the planet where it is
necessary, It appears as a tongue of non-material Di-
vine Flame, which rises above the surface of the Earth
for kilometers. The tongues of this Flame emerge in
every place, where He is helping His disciples. It is
enough just to call Him.
Yes, this is It — the Divine Fire, Which makes sin-
ners tremble with fear, but does not have the quality
of heat for righteous men, Which is the Subtlest of the
subtle, Which is Tenderness, Bliss, Divine Love for all
who became like It and entered It! Or It enters them
and fills them with the Love of God.
Souls, which He touches in such a way, can hear His
precepts, instructions, pieces of advice. They can do it
if they, as consciousnesses, are pure and subtle
enough, if they are capable of attuning themselves to
the perception of Him, forgetting about the problems
of the material plane.
“There are 3 stages of concentration,” Sathya Sai
Baba says. “At the first stage, you receive My messages
in the form of mental waves. At the second stage, you
can hear My voice. And at the third, you can hear and
see Me. If you succeed in the purification of the con-
sciousnesses, you move from stage to stage.
“… When the mind is motionless and silent, one can
hear the voice of God. Anyone who is able to purify the
mind from anxiety, agitations, and thoughts can attune
themselves to the voice of God inside.” [4]
… Sometimes He takes on another appearance —
more condensed, of just several meters in height. In
this case, even people who have not purified them-
6
selves as consciousnesses to the necessary level are
able to see Him.
Yet always — in any appearance — He can be rec-
ognized by His distinctive feature: a magnificent head
of hair!
And let no one think that while He is communi-
cating, for example, with the author of this book, the
rest of His disciples are left without His attention and
supervision. No: at each moment from His Abode as
many tongues of His Fire come as necessary for satisfy-
ing the needs of all! Because He is an integral Part of
the Primordial Universal Consciousness, and His Power
is unlimited!
He speaks about Himself in such a way:
“I am the Sai Baba of Shirdi come again; then, I was
mostly engaged in preparing the meal, now I have come
to feed you all with the strengthening, purifying re-
past!” [4]
“I came to restore the Straight Path to God!” [1].
His Teachings
He does not say that His Teachings are new. His
Teachings are just one more manifestation, for the
contemporary conditions on the Earth, of the Divine
Teachings which have been many times imparted to
people by God through His Messengers. These Teachings
are called in Sanskrit Sanathana Dharma — the Eternal
Law. “Sanathana Dharma is the mother of all religions,
all ethical codes, and all laws of the universe,” says
Sathya Sai Baba [7].
He — Sathya Sai Baba — is the Avatar of our days.
He says that though all conceivable powers of the uni-
verse are contained in His Palm, He is not going to
make everyone happy without distinction, because eve-
7
ryone has his or her own personal destiny (karma) cre-
ated in the past by his or her own good or bad thoughts
and deeds. By our present deeds, we also create our
future destinies.
In order to escape from the abyss of earthly suffer-
ing, it is necessary to live in love for God and all living
beings, including creative love-service to other people.
The service to people, which consists in helping them
in their positive evolution, is service to God.
The main enemies of man, leading to accumulation
of negative karma, are the wrongly directed mind and
uncontrollable emotional sphere with dominating ego-
tistic or coarse emotions.
Man can overcome these obstacles by strengthening
faith, by directing the mind towards Divinity, and by
using spiritual practices, which, first of all, normalize
the emotional sphere and help to learn how to control
the mind and consciousness.
But the mind, as such, is not an enemy of man at
all. On the contrary, it is an embryo of wisdom (jnana)
and should be developed in every possible way as an
analyzing and creative function of the consciousness.
In order to clean one’s path from the karmic im-
pediments, it is important to repent all small or big
crimes committed against any living being. “By sincere
repentance all sins can be washed. God’s Mercy is re-
sponsive. If He has a wish to forgive, nothing can pre-
vent this… In spite of past sins, if there is deep remorse
and love for God, then all sins get washed and the na-
ture of man becomes clean. To be afraid that this will
not happen is a weakness. God has unlimited compas-
sion, look for His love and you will find forgiveness!”
[2]
“The most important spiritual practice is the search
of one’s own imperfections and weaknesses, and mak-
8
ing attempts on ridding oneself of them, becoming
closer to Perfection” [6].
For strengthening the orientation of the mind to-
wards God, Sathya Sai Baba recommends using the
technique of frequent repetition of God’s name and
participating in divine worships with singing praise to
God.
Gaining of faith is the first step. The next step in
this direction is love for God. But how can people fall
in love with the One Whom they do not know yet? This
is why Divine Teachers come to the Earth to help peo-
ple: the Unmanifest reveals Itself in a form manifested
for people. Love for the manifest, personified Aspect of
God is more convenient for incarnate people.
But people should also understand that Sathya Sai
Baba is not only in His body: He is everywhere, wher-
ever He is needed. Therefore, it is not necessary to go
to His ashram in order to talk with Him, it is possible to
talk with Him right from your home.1
Sathya Sai Baba teaches that all people have only
one God. And they must not divide themselves because
of the variations of their beliefs. Let everyone worship
One Universal God using their traditional variations of
worship.
What really divides people is not the variations of
faith, but the levels of the spiritual culture. Imagine
for example, says Sathya Sai Baba addressing male stu-
dents of a college, that according to the principle of
equality of all people you marry a Muslim girl who is
1
But this requires that the main part of the work on cleansing
and refinement of consciousness be done. Otherwise you, being in
coarse eons, will hear the voices of their inhabitants — demons,
devils, probably mistaking these voices for the voice of God Who is
yet too distant and unknown to you.
9
used to eating meat. What will happen? Conflicts and
discord?
But Sathya Sai Baba does not want people to be at
enmity with each other because of differences in nutri-
tion: let worldly people eat meat. But if you walk the
spiritual Path, then the ethical aspect of nutrition has
to be observed impeccably! [2]
It is not possible to come to God without pos-
sessing perfect love, because He Himself is Love and
lets in only those similar to Him. And the main principle
of Love is compassion for all living beings — from plants
and animals — to Divine Messengers.2
Concerning using fish for food, Sathya Sai Baba
notes that these animals also die in suffering.
Once Sathya Sai Baba sent a group of His disciples
to live in the mountains in monastic seclusion. The pur-
pose of this seclusion was meditative training. And so
that the disciples did not distract themselves from this
training by seeking food, He gave them a jug in which
they could find enough food materialized by Him every
day. What was in their “menu”? Rice, vegetables,
beans, fruit, juices, and before night (before going to
bed) everyone had a glass of milk. [1]
Killing-free nutrition is favorable for purifying the
mind and consciousness. If one gets up early and goes
to bed early, this also contributes to purification of the
mind and consciousness. The second thing that a neo-
phyte in religion should do is to refuse to concentrate
the mind on negative traits of other people. Each per-
son is potentially God. See God in everyone. Love eve-
ryone as the manifestation of God for you! I teach you
by using the negative and positive traits of other peo-
ple.
2
The same was taught by Jesus Christ, but people did not in-
clude His words about this in the New Testament.
10
People differ by the qualities of their “egos” or
“selves”.
Thus there are deeply fallen, degraded souls who
like to do evil. They can do evil even without any re-
ward. This is their nature: they are like a moth that
gnaws and tears things no matter what they are, it
equally gnaws a rag and an expensive sari [8].
But even such people are used by God in the gen-
eral process of the Evolution of consciousness. From
their example, other people can learn not to be like
them and thus can know both good and evil. And they
will be able, by pushing themselves away from evil, to
walk the Path of good towards Perfection, towards
Mergence with God. One should know both: what kind
of person one must not be and what kind of person one
must be. It would be difficult to know good if one does
not know evil.
Evil people are also used by God for correction of
the development of true sadhakas (spiritual warriors).
In particular, in this way God reminds sadhakas about
the approaching death, and this allows them not to re-
lax excessively on the Path.
Death and God are the most important landmarks
for all incarnate people, says Sathya Sai Baba.
Evil people doom themselves to hell and suffering
in the next incarnations. However, they too are given a
chance for salvation: to reform and repent. Repentance
is conscious remorse that leads to liberation from the
vices.
Concerning the ethical self-correction, Sathya Sai
Baba says the following [8]:
Those who seek bliss in the Atman should not run
after the joys of sense objects.
Just as a body that has no breath is useless and be-
gins to rot and stink, similarly life without the Truth is
11
useless and becomes the stinking abode of strife and
grief.
Believe that there is nothing greater than the
Truth, nothing more precious, nothing sweeter, and
nothing more lasting!
The Lord who is Sathya grants His darshan (an op-
portunity to contemplate Him) to those of truthful
speech and loving heart.
Keep undiminished kindness towards all beings and
the spirit of self-sacrifice.
You must also possess control over the indriyas, an
unruffled character and non-attachment.
Be always watchful against the following sins: 1)
speaking falsehood, 2) speaking ill of others, 3) back-
biting, 4) talking too much, 5) killing, 6) adultery, 7)
theft, 8) drinking intoxicants, 9) eating flesh, 10) sexu-
al cravings, 11) anger, 12) greed, 13) worldly attach-
ments, 14) impatience, 15) hatred, 16) egoism, 17)
pride.
First give up the evil tendency to feel envious at
the prosperity of others and the desire to harm them.
Be happy that others are happy! Sympathize with those
who are in adversity and wish for their prosperity. That
is the means of cultivating love for God.
Patience is the strength that one needs!
Those anxious to live in joy must always be doing
good!
One should never give a reply in swear words. Be at
a great distance from them; this is for your good. Break
off all relations with people who use such words!
Seek the company of good men, even at the sacri-
fice of your position and life. But be praying to God to
bless you with the discrimination needed to distinguish
12
between the good men and the bad. For this, you must
endeavor with the intellect given to you.
Those who conquer states and earn worldly fame
are hailed as heroes; but only those who have con-
quered the indriyas are heroes who must be acclaimed
as the conquerors of the universe.
Whatever acts, good or bad, man may do, the fruits
of them follow him and will never stop pursuing him.
Greed yields only sorrow; contentment is best.
There is no happiness greater than contentment!
The tendency to make harm should be plucked out
by the roots! If allowed to exist, it will undermine life
itself!
Bear with fortitude both loss and grief! Try to
achieve joy and gain in the future!
From this moment on, avoid all bad habits! Do not
delay or postpone, because this does not bring any
benefit.
Try as far as possible within your means to satisfy
the needs of the poor, who really live in poverty. Share
with them whatever food you have and make them
happy for at least that moment.
Whatever you feel should not be done to you, avoid
doing such things to others.
For faults and sins committed in ignorance, repent
sincerely, try not to repeat the faults and sins again!
Pray to God to bless you with the strength and the
courage needed to stick to the right Path!
Do not allow anything to come near you, which will
destroy your eagerness and enthusiasm for God. Lack of
eagerness will cause the decay of the strength of man.
Yield not to cowardice! Do not give up bliss!
13
Do not swell with pride when people praise you! Do
not feel dejected when people blame you!
If among your friends one hates another and starts
a quarrel, do not attempt to inflame them more and
make them hate each other more! On the contrary, try
with love and sympathy to restore their former friend-
ship.
Instead of searching for others’ faults, search for
your own faults! Uproot them, throw them off! It is
better to find one fault of yours than to find tens of
hundreds of faults in others!
If you cannot or will not do any good deed, then at
least do not conceive and carry out any bad deed.
Whatever people may say about your faults that
you know are not in you, do not get upset! As for the
faults that are in you, you must try to correct them
yourself, before others point them out to you.
Do not harbor anger or bitterness against persons
who point out your faults! Do not retort, pointing out
the faults of those persons themselves, but show your
gratitude to them!
Trying to point out to people their faults is a great
mistake!
It is good if you know your faults, it is bad if you
search for faults in others.
Whenever you get a little leisure, do not spend it in
talking about all and sundry, but utilize it in meditating
on God or in doing service to others.
Only the bhakta (the one who loves God) under-
stands the Lord; only the Lord understands the bhakta.
Others cannot understand them. So, do not discuss
matters relating to the Lord with those who are not
bhaktas.
14
If anyone speaks to you on any subject having un-
derstood it wrongly, do not think of his wrong opinions
but grasp only the good and the sweet in what he says.
If your worldly desires do not get fulfilled, do not
blame it on the love of God: there is no relationship
between such desires and the love of God!
If your meditation does not progress properly, do
not get dispirited! When such feelings come, seek for
your flaws!
It is only when in your daily conduct you behave
automatically according to these rules, that you can
perceive the Divine principle very easily! Therefore,
hold on to these maxims firmly!
However, Sathya Sai Baba notes that all ethical
teachings can be expressed in one short formula of
Vyasa: “Help3 ever, hurt never!”.
The ultimate task of each man consists in cognition
of the Higher Self, which is the Atman, Paramatman,
the Creator. But for this purpose the lower self, which
manifests itself as egocentrism and which is created by
the mind, must be eliminated.
The mind in this context is a part of the conscious-
ness captured by worldly desires.
Desires are not thoughts. Thoughts become desires
when they “submerge” deeply into objects.
Desires directed towards worldly objects cause
pleasure and suffering. But if a desire is directed to-
wards God, then it gives bliss! [2]
The ability to think correctly has to be developed
through the earthly affairs. Then it can be transformed
into a function of the buddhi. For this purpose, the
“tentacles” of the consciousness (indriyas) should be
3
Help everyone in everything good.
15
redirected from the objects of the material world,
even the best ones, towards the Divine Consciousness.
The thinking of such progressively developing people in
all their affairs rises to a fundamentally different level,
because at this stage they, step by step, begin to learn
to see earthly problems as God sees them. The egocen-
trism of such a person gets gradually substituted with
Godcentrism.
How can one get rid of the vicious work of the
mind, which impedes further advancement? — Very
simply: do not try to “muffle” it, but just think about
God! The nature of the mind is such that it is necessary
for it to be preoccupied with something, so let it be
preoccupied with God! And when it is preoccupied with
God, it stops. [2]
If you are not able yet to do this, then occupy it
with repetition of the name of God or with another
useful activity.
The uncontrolled mind is like a snake. It has two
tendencies: it moves not straight and captures all
things which it sees. But it should be forced to move
straight to God, turned directly towards Him.
When the thinking of a progressing person is per-
formed not by the mind but by the buddhi, then the
buddhi submerges into God in order to become Him.
This is why it is so important to accustom oneself
to being turned by the face (of the consciousness) to-
wards God. [2]
There are two main themes that one should always
remember about: the approaching death and God. And
there are two main themes that one should forget: the
evil caused by others to you and the good done by you
to others. “Of course, it is essential to remember about
death, because this helps one to do many good things
and avoid doing many bad things!” [2]
16
“Time is the most precious gift in this world. Do
not waste it saying ill words or doing bad deeds! … One
must not waste time! It will not wait for anyone. … It is
impossible to return the moment that has been wasted,
it is lost forever… No one knows when death comes.
The hand of time can crush you at any moment…
“In your deeds you should rise to the level of he-
roes and be not weak-willed people!
“Remembering about one’s own death leads to
‘unidirectional resoluteness’!” [7]
“The position, pride, and power — all vanish before
death. Realizing this, strive day and night — with purity
of the body and mind and spirit — to realize the Higher
Self by serving all living beings!
“The body should be supported and kept as an in-
strument for this purpose.
“But remember, you are not these bodies, and the-
se bodies are not you.” [7]
“This body is but an instrument, a tool given by the
Lord. And let it serve its purpose!” [7]
One should take care of the body: it is an instru-
ment for development of oneself, for one’s God-
realization. It should be washed, fed, healed if it falls
sick; at that, there are no contraindications for using
medicaments and other medical means. [2,7]
But food is not a means for getting pleasure! Food
is like fuel for a car. It is an essential element in ser-
vice to God. [7]
Remembering about the approaching death should
hurry one instead of inducing one to feel dejection and
despair.
On the contrary, help provided to others, construc-
tive discussions with spiritual friends, progress on the
17
Path of self-development should fill one with happi-
ness, joy.
“Happiness is essential for God-realization. It is one
of the big gateways to Divinity. If man is unhappy, this
is not just a flaw. This is one of the most serious flaws!
This is an obstacle on the way to self-realization!
“In most cases people are unhappy because of
worldly aspirations, attachments, and enjoyments:
they pay too much attention to that which is worldly.
“In order to help one get rid of this flaw, it is nec-
essary to point out how serious this flaw is. One should
realize that worldly desires are never-ending like waves
in the sea!” [2]
In many cases, the reason for people’s suffering is
that only through suffering God can convince them of
the necessity of turning inside, into the depth of the
multidimensional structure of their organisms, of the
necessity of self-examination. Without this, such peo-
ple will never get rid of suffering! God is inside, in the
depth! He heals from there!4 [2]
“It is only when you are far from the Truth that you
suffer and feel pain.
4
Going into the depth, however, has nothing to do with just
philosophizing or even with “psychoanalytical” “picking” at one’s
past. Subconsciousness is the originally wrong term; it is not relat-
ed in any way to the concept of consciousness. What is called sub-
consciousness is just that which was forgotten by the mind; it is
also the manas.
The mind is meant for maintenance of life in the material
world, the buddhi — in the non-material world, first of all.
The manas must enter the buddhi through submersion into the
spiritual heart and there — into the depth of the multidimensional
organism — towards merging with the Higher Self. In that way, the
personal mind of man merges with the Wisdom of God.
18
“At a distance from the bazaar, one hears only a
huge indistinct uproar. But, as we approach it and walk
into it, one can clearly distinguish the separate bar-
gainings.
“So too, until the reality of the Supreme is known,
you are overpowered and stunned by the uproar of the
world, but once you enter deep into the realm of spir-
itual endeavor, everything becomes clear and the
knowledge of the reality awakens within you. Until
then you will be caught up in the meaningless noise of
argumentation, disputation and exhibitionist flamboy-
ance.
“Those who seek the Eternal through the path of
bhakti (devotional love for God) should strive to ac-
quire the following characteristics: they must keep
away from the turmoils, the cruelties, and the false-
hoods of this world and practice truth, righteousness,
love, and peace. This is truly the Path of bhakti!
“Those who seek Union with God, those who seek
the welfare of the world should discard as worthless
both praise and blame, appreciation and derision,
prosperity and adversity. No one, not even God or an
Avatar can ever escape criticism and blame. But They
do not yield to threats.” [7]
“Man must pray for newer and newer opportunities
for service and exult in the chance that his hands re-
ceive. This attitude gives immeasurable joy. To live a
life that is suffused with this joy is indeed bliss! … If
life is lived accordingly, then it becomes one long un-
broken service to the Lord. The feeling of ‘I’ and ‘You’
will soon disappear, all traces of self will be de-
stroyed.” [7]
“Many aspirants and hermits, many sadhakas and
sannyasis lost all their achievements, which they won
by many years of struggle and sacrifice, because of
their attachment to the self.” [7]
19
“Whatever the wealth of words, whatever the
standard of scholarship, it is all useless. In order to
bring the Teachings… into the actual life, it is neces-
sary to extirpate the feeling, ‘I know,’ see the very Es-
sence and introspect on It. Only in that case one will
certainly achieve bliss…
“If however the awareness of ‘I’ produces pride…,
a fall is inevitable!…” [7]
Service to others performed in accordance with the
principles of Karma Yoga not only develops people in
all the criteria and makes their karma better but also
leads one to gradual merging of one’s self with the Di-
vine Self, provided one has the right attitude to this
service, i.e. regards oneself as an assistant of God.
“At home all members of the family do work in-
tended for them. In the evening, when all the work is
done, no one says: ‘Father, I have done this work, you
have to pay me’. This is one family, therefore you do
not ask for the payment for your work, you just do it.
“But if someone from the outside comes to work in
your house, then you arrange about the payment and
pay accordingly. What you pay to someone shows that
this person is not from your house.
“But when someone becomes ‘yours’, it is not nec-
essary to pay this person. He or she works with inter-
est, not expecting any reward for the work.
“It is the same with God. When you know that God
is the closest and dearest Being for you, and that He
and you are one family, you do not ask for the pay-
ment. The one who devotes oneself to God completely
is Mine and should not expect any reward.
“But if someone says: ‘I have dedicated to sadhana
so much time!’ and establishes trade relations with
God, saying at the same time: ‘In my sadhana, I have
20
done this, and I must get a reward!’ then it is com-
pletely different.
“A child, who is too small, does not say to his
mother: I want milk, I want my napkin changed, and so
on. The mother herself keeps her eyes on what is nec-
essary for the child without the child’s requests about
this. When you have devoted yourself to God complete-
ly and become His child — it is not necessary to speak
about what you want. He will give you even more than
you would ask!
“Because of your love for Him — let Him be the
dearest for you!
“Perform your sadhana, and you will approach God!
When it happens, it will not be necessary for you to tell
Him that you want this or that — because you will be-
come for Him as His small child. He will come and give
you even more than you ask!
“Just as a ventilator is an instrument, you are the
instrument of God. Is it a ventilator which puts itself in
motion? Or is it the electric current that puts it in mo-
tion?” [2]
“To entrust yourself to God means to devote to
Him each thought and to act not wishing (for yourself)
the fruits of this act. Perform acts not because of their
fruits, but because it is your duty. The act is devoted
to God, and the result is reaped by Him as well.
“The acts performed in that way without a selfish
desire for their fruits are free from negative karmic
consequences. Because the ego during such acts is not
fed and stimulated, it disappears soon.” [2]
Sathya Sai Baba, as we have seen already, is
against casual sexual relationships, against being ob-
sessed with sex. But He supports marriage, family life,
including upbringing of children. Marriage also helps
“washing out” the primitive lower self, because family
21
life is favorable for transformation of the “I” into
“we”.
Marriage and Karma Yoga teach one to care for
others. In that way, the ability to take care grows, this
ability is an attribute of love. In that way, the sphere
of one’s love extends to more and more people. One’s
personal “I” dissolves in the universal “we”.
The further progress in that field is ensured by
meditative techniques which wash out all remaining
coverings from the Higher Self.
But Sathya Sai Baba warns that one should not trust
various “gurus” only on the grounds that they pro-
claimed themselves a “guru”. He says that a real guru
is the one who knows God and can lead people to Him.
But such people are very few. Anyway, it is much bet-
ter when your guru is God.
Sathya Sai Baba also very precisely points out that
meditative training is not meant for everyone. People
differ between themselves by the age of souls, first of
all. For young and immature souls meditative training
may be destructive. Not all people can even compre-
hend what meditation is. For example, dreamlike men-
tal images, such as flying to other planets, are a wrong
and harmful practice [2].
The true essence of every human being is the
Ocean of the Consciousness of the Creator. Our task is
to develop ourselves to the stage of practical realiza-
tion (not only mental understanding) of this truth
through sadhana (the way of spiritual endeavor).
On this Path one should transform from a jiva (an
individual soul attached to the body and material ob-
jects) to a chit (the pure, i.e. a consciousness which is
purified and refined to the level of the Creator, and is
identical to the Atman, to the Higher Self of man).
22
A developing soul, who walks this Path, from a cer-
tain moment gains the ability to see in the subtle eons,
as it explores them more and more. A human con-
sciousness, which has entered the higher eons, learns
to see God — as Living Light-Fire — and to interact with
Him.
From a certain stage of Buddhi Yoga, adepts can
experience the material world as if “superimposed” on
the Light of the Divine Consciousness. Then it is easy to
“fall” into It, dissolve in It, become It [8].
But such a level of the meditative work is accessi-
ble only for very few successful disciples of God. For
beginners Sathya Sai Baba recommends the following
series of meditative training which for sure cannot
harm anyone [2 and others]:
Light a candle. Remember its image very well.
Then transfer this image into the anahata (this can be
done while sitting with the back turned towards the
candle), fill the volume of the chakra with the light,
imagine in it a flower consisting of light and beginning
to open. Then direct the light into the arms, into the
head, into other parts of the organism. Then fill with
this light the bodies of the most beloved people, then
the bodies of all people, animals, plants…, the whole
world gets filled with the light, my self sinks in it and
disappears, I and the light merge together, the image
of the light created by me has merged with the Light of
the Consciousness of God…
Mastering each element of this meditation may
take much time. But it is a straight Path towards the
cognition of God and Mergence with Him.
If one includes in this meditation a Fiery Image of
Sathya Sai Baba or of any other Divine Teacher, then
such work will be much more effective.
Bhakti Yoga, i.e. self-realization through love for
God, is the highest Yoga, the Highest Straight Path.
23
The true (potentially) essence of every human be-
ing is God. God indeed resides within the multidimen-
sional organism of man, in its very depth, in the sub-
tlest eons. It is necessary just to learn to move there
with the concentration of the consciousness, and then
to establish oneself there. This will be full Self-
realization, God-realization of oneself, full and final
Liberation from the bondage of the world of illusions.
One achieves God-realization through love, through
falling in love with God. This love allows one to sink in
His Flame, in the Embrace of His Love, to merge to-
gether with the Beloved.
This is the only way of attaining the highest spiritu-
al achievements, there are no other ways. This is what
God has been teaching during the entire history of
mankind and teaches now. This is the fundamental of
all serious religious systems. But people forget about
this, and God has to remind them again.
One of people’s problems is that they do not listen
to God, but listen to various false pastors, false gurus,
leaders of numerous sects. Some of them suggest them-
selves to people as an object of worship, instead of
God. Others speak about God, yet pervert His Teach-
ings to the opposite.
An example of this is a well-known, widely promot-
ed sect of “Yoga”, where its followers — as they were
— were suggested that every one of them is God, a co-
essential to Him Part of Universal God. They “expanded
the consciousnesses” and, as a constant practice, asked
themselves: “Who am I?” The answer had to be: “High-
er Self!”, “God!”.
The leader and the members of this sect knew nei-
ther God, nor even the direction in which one must
seek Him. They recognized neither repentance, nor the
necessity for the refinement of the consciousness, nor
love for God: Why, God is what I am!
24
And if I am God, then all my desires and acts are
flawless, Divine! They are a manifestation of the uni-
versal Divine Will!
This large sect produced a great number of primi-
tives who considered themselves “Gods”, the primitives
who lived by the coarse uncontrollable passions, which
became “legitimatized”, “Divine” for them.
Sathya Sai Baba, answering once in a conversation,
disapproved the work of this sect and said that its
“guru” made spiritual progress only later on, when he
stopped his activity [2].
The techniques of the expansion of the conscious-
ness, of its crystallization are very dangerous methods,
in the sense that if they are given to people with the
non-refined consciousness or with the undeveloped in-
tellect and perverted ethics (with traits of violence,
egotism), then diabolization of these people happens,
in the very direct sense: they become devils. They
transform into devils, dooming themselves to much suf-
fering. They also bring to the Earth the will of the dev-
ilish eon, manifesting it through their bodies.
Therefore, Sathya Sai Baba strongly recommends
not to trust such “gurus” but to become a disciple of
God. Let God be your guru! No one can put oneself be-
tween a person and God! Trust in God, and He will help
you!
Love for God is the Straight Path!
25
From Conversations
with Sathya Sai Baba
… I love Sathya Sai Baba infinitely! Through this
love, I learned to feel myself in meditations as a part
of Him. And when He talks to me, the feeling of infinite
Love-Care of my Universal Parent does not leave me.
“Baba5, how can one learn to think as You do?”
“One cannot just throw away everything from the
head and replace it with Me, with My Consciousness… —
then one would become a biorobot, a puppet. No, one
has to grow one’s own intellect, one’s own ability to
think so. And only then this ability to think with the
consciousness6 unites with My Divine Wisdom!
“In this way the development of a soul goes on.
First, one has to learn to be love and to grow as love.
Then one learns to give one’s love to Me. In this way,
gradually, such a person masters Mergence with Me.
“If you have no love yet… — you have nothing by
which you can merge with Me!
“Then love should be supplemented with the as-
pect of power.
“When you dedicate all the strength of the soul to
serving Me7, then you begin mastering Mergence with
My Omnipotence. This is a very gradual process…
“In the same way, gradually, one can learn from Me
Divine thinking.
5
Father (Sanskrit).
6
I.e., not with the manas but with the buddhi.
7
This constitutes the main essence of the true monasticism.
26
“Being in Me means to be Me! Therefore, the flow
and the essence of your thoughts must correspond to
this. I suggest that you master broad-thinking —
thoughts flow easily, smoothly, and calmly and become
manifested from the Depth on the physical plane. And
then one can encompass with the consciousness not on-
ly forests, meadows, rivers, lakes with their inhabit-
ants, but also countries, continents, nations and com-
munities of people, feeling them all together and every
one in particular.
“Yes, one has to learn from Me — to love, to think,
to act! The lower self must be substituted with the
Higher Self — with your True, Divine Self, Which is co-
essential to the Self of God.
“… But this is not the end of the Path. Every Soul
that became One with Me continues to develop in Me,
growing and perfecting Its service — the service to the
evolution of consciousnesses in the universe.
“Those of Us Who come to the Earth through an in-
carnation differ from each other. It does not mean that
Some are superior or inferior to Others… The difference
is that Some are like sprouts which just have appeared
on the surface from the boundless Foundation — from
the Ocean of the Creator, while Others are like strong
great trees which have been growing for a long time.
“Nevertheless, however great may be Every One
coming out from Me, He or She is but a small particle of
the Great Primordial Ocean!
“… Avatars always have something to say to people:
They are Flows of the Divine Energy directly from the
Creator.
“… I am going to tell you about how live Those Who
became One with the Father. They live helping people
cognize their Higher Nature. They live manifesting the
Father. And Everyone learns to help…
27
“I learn too…
“Shirdi Sai Baba was a Saint only to a small number
of people who were near His body.
“Sathya Sai Baba became close to millions of peo-
ple on the Earth. Many of them have never seen My
body; nevertheless, I became a reality in their lives.
“When I was a boy Narayana, I talked only to those
who saw the eyes of My body. And now I really help
many of My followers living in bodies of children,
adults, and old men. The love of Sathya Sai Baba for
them — and their love for Sathya Sai Baba — in an in-
stant! — connects Me with every one of them like a cur-
rent: one pushes a button to light up the bulb of love —
and My Current flows to this person!
“I do this in all corners of the Earth, the distance
does not matter here. I come to them so that they can
hear My voice, can see Me. When they urgently need
My help, I react instantly and redirect there a part of
My Power. And miracles happen there. This is the reali-
ty of relationships between man and God.
“I learned to do this. It is not the body of Sathya
Sai Baba that does this; it is the Part of Me-
Consciousness That is present in the Creation and works
there; and this Part is Giant!
“I also heal the bodies of My followers by guiding
the hands of surgeons during operations. I write books
with those who do this for Me. And I just sing bhajans8
with those who cannot do anything else yet.
“… I easily manifest Myself on different levels of
the density of consciousness.
“Look: now I am of a human body in height…” Baba
shows Himself walking slowly over the road in the park
8
Songs which praise God and accustom one to love for Him.
28
where our conversation is taking place: He walks as He
does on darshan: I see His orange robe and thick dark
hair, it seems that I can touch them with my hands.
“Or I can enter your body…” and Sathya Sai Baba
looks through the eyes of my body at the leaves falling
slowly from the trees; then He moves my arms…
Then He showed His Face familiar to us from com-
munication with Him… It consists of Light-Love, Light-
Tenderness, and His Arms can take on the Palms any
soul on the planet and get to know everything about
it…
“And this is I — Universal!…” Sathya Sai Baba ap-
pears in a Giant Mahadouble coming out from the
Ocean of the Primordial Consciousness.
“The Brahmanic part of Me is so great that I can be
everywhere — wherever it is necessary.
“It is very important to learn to live being a con-
sciousness free from the body: to love, to hear, to per-
ceive, to speak, to act!
“To be and to act from the Ocean of God-the-
Father here, in the world of matter, is possible only out
of Great Love for His children. This is the state in
which God comes to this world!
“And to be able to awake the hearts of people one
must have also… the Divine patience!”
“Tell us please about the Divine patience. How can
one gain it?”
“Patience is the foundation of calm, the basis of
the true ability to work creatively. The more patience
you have, the more you can achieve in all areas of life,
and, of course, — in cognition of Me.
“Patience must not be passive: what use is it to be
patient doing nothing? No, the true patience is an ac-
tive state.
29
“One must patiently, step by step, reform in one-
self all the defects of the soul, reform oneself in ac-
cordance with the ethics of God. In the process of this
work, one gains the Divine Patience.
“Patience is also necessary for understanding of
other people. One has to learn to understand other
people! Without such understanding one cannot help
them!
“I understand everyone who addresses Me. And My
understanding results in people trusting Me. Trust is the
foundation of faith. The true faith manifests itself as
full trust in Me.
“Trust in Me is born and grows when man addresses
Me, not only in the moments of despair but always: in
sorrow and in joy, in work and in rest, being sick and
being healthy. In the process of constant communica-
tion and interaction of the soul with Me, mutual under-
standing and trust are born, the true faith is formed,
which is founded on one’s own experience and
knowledge.
“Everyone can fill his or her life with Me to a cer-
tain degree. This is very simple: one has to open one’s
heart and invite Me into it! One also has to learn to ask
Me questions. God has Divine Etiquette as well: I never
come there where I was not invited, nor do I answer
unasked questions. Observing the Law of freedom of
will, I do not interfere in people’s lives without neces-
sity.
“… Love is multifaceted! You can know its various
aspects: love-friendship, love-care, love-tenderness,
love-respect and reverence… And now — unite all these
together!
“And let friendship be without dependence, care —
without attachments, tenderness — without a desire to
possess…
30
“To love means to give, to shine with the Light of
Love, to be Love in all Its fullness, purity, and trans-
parency!
“Also, watch Me, watch My every move and My eve-
ry thought. I guide every one of you! One of the ways I
do this — is through the acts of vile people…
“Ponder: what is your goal? The answer is simple
and obvious: to become Me completely!
“To become Me, to be Me — what can be higher
than this? It is in My Beingness that you will find all the
Highest that man can dream of!
“Explain this to people! Unfold to them this Goal in
all its majestic greatness! Let everyone understand
that God is not a ruler-usurper, but in Him is the high-
est Freedom of everyone, the Freedom which most
people cannot even conceive now!
“First, they who have dedicated their lives to Me
have to come to know what it is like — to be Me.
“Then they have to make a decision to sacrifice the
life which they lived before — for the sake of coming to
My Life in its fullness. And such a sincere seeker re-
ceives My help.
“Gradually, they must abandon their old way of life
and transform their lives to the Life which I open for
them.
“When in their lives there remains nothing of the
cravings of the lower self and there is only Me — then
they truly become a Part of Me.
“God cannot give Himself to those who do not
yearn for Him with all the heart!
“All who seek to cognize Me have to kindle in
themselves a great yearning for Me — for the Ocean of
My Love! I want from people not a languid remember-
ing about God…
31
“Everyone striving for the full cognition of God has
to make Me their main Goal! Meditation brings true
fruits only when love flares up so that between you and
Me no obstacles remain! And then — your separateness
does not exist any longer!
“The true cognition of God begins when the flame
of your heart becomes a part of the Divine Fire. Only
when you become the Fire of Love — you may know the
main Essence of yourself, Which is God in the Aspect of
the Creator!”
“How can one kindle such love in people more suc-
cessfully?”
“Fire is kindled by fire…
“My burning Love touches the hearts of incarnate
people and ignites the souls!
“One has to bring people to the threshold where
they come in touch with Me. And then let everyone re-
main there one-to-one with Me.
“If a soul, after touching Me, continues to shine for
others — then this is the true burning!
“The one who goes to preach Me and My name has
to do it even in the absolutely empty desert: so that
even a single traveler who happens to come there by
chance may hear this preaching.
“But your particular situation is different, and you
know about this.
“I love you, My son!
“Your voice is not a voice in the desert, and many
people hear you!
“You are a Sower who went to sow true knowledge!
I thank you and bless you to make new feats for the sa-
ke of Me!
32
“My Abode is for few! It is for those valued by Me,
for those who lay down their lives for the sake of Me,
not for their own sake! This is the main criterion!
“I am always among you! Every one of you can feel
My Love everywhere!
“I give My eternal Freedom to those who are de-
voted to Me, as you are. I invite everyone to come to
My Abode, yet the time needed for traversing this Path
is different for different people. For someone it is 100
or even 1000 incarnations. For another, this time can
be reduced to 1 year or less. It depends, to a large de-
gree, on to whom this person was devoted during the
previous incarnation on the Earth.
“Let everyone feel here and now the dynamics of
the flow of the evolution of consciousnesses: it can be
likened to a situation when some particles of water be-
come foul in the swamp, while other particles, in a
rapid current, rush forward outrunning each other!”
“You told us that You are going to leave the body,
to leave the earthly plane. And what about the millions
of Your followers — how will You build Your relation-
ships with them?”
“I will remain with everyone who have entrusted
themselves to Me. I will continue to guide them
through their lives to My Abode — to the Primordial
Ocean of the Universal Consciousness. I will talk to
them through you too. Many times I tried the purity of
your hearts, the strength of your love, the reliability of
your hands. And now I know: your hands are My Hands,
your hearts are My Heart! I bless you to continue My
work on the Earth!
“Fill souls with My Light so that they may arise to
life in Love!
“I radiate Brahmanic Light through your Atmic Ma-
hadoubles, They are like Light pipes!
33
“The strata of the Absolute are your ‘clothes’, and
you live beneath them.
“Always perceive your new Atmic Bodies9 — to the
Full Height! You have to learn to live with them, in this
process, the material body becomes divine and the
soul’s control center moves into Paramatman — into
the ‘I’ of God!
“The total freedom from the body is possible when
it is separated from the consciousness through death.
But another freedom is also possible. This freedom is
achieved without the death of the body, and it is as to-
tal as the other one. To gain it, the body needs to be
treated with the Primordial Consciousness…
“People Who have learned to be the Ocean — live
being connected with the Infinity of Me…
“In order to completely transfer the self-awareness
into the Creator, one needs not only to have ethical
purity and devotion but also to bring the energies of
one’s body to the Creator’s state. Apart from this, one
needs to learn to live in the state of “non-I”, because
the Creator is contrary to the individual ‘I’.
“So, let all your dreams and intentions become
Mine!
“Let all your aspirations become Mine!
“Let all your decisions become Mine!
“Let all your love become My Love!
“Let all your deeds become My Deeds!
“Let all your desires become My Desires!
“Let all your life become My Life!
“… And do not think about money which you ‘can-
not get from anywhere’!
9
Atmans in Paramatman.
34
“Jesus had nothing on the Earth and did not always
know what He would eat and where He would sleep
with His disciples. Yet, this did not prevent Him from
carrying out His Mission…
“And Krishna, after the battle, did not possess any
earthly wealth: they left carrying nothing; their only
wealth was the memories that they left for the future
generations… At the moment of the death of His body,
Krishna was as rich as Jesus dying on the cross: They
were richer than other people, for They did not just
give Themselves to Me but changed the history of the
Earth by Their Lives — and even today souls flow into
Me through Their Channels!
“Now it is your turn!…”
35
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36
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37