Prayer must emanate from the heart, where God resides, and not from the head where doctrines and doubts clash. - Baba

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PRAYER OF SURRENDER

'Why get agitated? Let me take care of all your business. I shall be the one who will think about them. I am waiting for nothing else than your surrender to Me. I intervene only when you know how to completely surrender to Me, then you do not have to worry anymore about anything. Say farewell to all fears and discouragement. You demonstrate that you do not trust Me. On the contrary, you must rely blindly on Me.

To surrender means to turn your thoughts away from troubles. To turn them away from the difficulties you encounter, and from all your problems. Leave everything into My hands saying, "Lord, Thy Will be done". That is to say, "Lord, I thank You, for You have taken everything in your hands and You will resolve this for my highest good'.

Remember, thinking of the consequence of a thing is contrary to surrender, that is to say, when you worry that a situation has not had the desired outcome. You thus demonstrate that you do not believe My love for you. You will prove that you do not consider your life to be under My control and nothing escapes Me. Never think, 'How is this going to end? What is going to happen?'

If you give into this temptation, you demonstrate that you do not trust Me. Do you want Me to deal with it, yes or no? Then you must stop being anxious. I shall guide you only if you completely surrender to Me, and when I must lead you into a different path than the one you expect, I will carry you in My arms.

What seriously upsets you is your reasoning, your worrying, your obsession, and your will to provide for yourselves at any price. I can do many things when the being, as much in his material necessities as in his spiritual ones, turns to Me saying, 'You think of it', then closes his eyes and rests quietly.

You pray to Me when in pain so that I intervene but in the way you desire it. You do not rely on Me but you want Me to adjust to your request. Do not behave like some sick people who ask for a treatment from a doctor, all the time suggesting their own preferred remedy to him. Do not do that, but rather even in sad circumstances say, 'Lord, I prise and thank You for this problem, for this necessity, I pray You arrange things as you please for this terrestrial and temporal life... you know very well what is best for me'.

Sometimes you feel that disasters increase instead of diminishing. Do not get agitated. Close your eyes and say with faith, 'Thy Will be done.' When you thus speak, I even accomplish a miracle when necessary. I only think of it when you trust Me totally. I always think of you, but I can only help you completely when you rely fully on Me.'

With every inhalation, utter the name of God; with every exhalation, utter the name of God. Live in God, for Him, with Him.

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THE LINGAM

A close associate of Sathya Sai Baba wondered if there was damage to the body tissues when such a heavy and occasionally angular foreign body as an ellipsoid Lingam, makes its long journey from inside Swami’s abdomen; Baba replied: When I will its birth, it is born as a very soft, pliable substance. It is soft as it emerges from the stomach and comes up the throat. It hardens only at the time when it is ejected from the mouth.

It is interesting how it begins as a soft material, only to emerge as a hard solid object. We have seen how hard the Lingam becomes when He bounces it off the table or it lands on the floor, without breaking or having any damage to it. It is equally interesting to note that His body temperature rises as high as 104 degrees F., prior to it leaving the mouth.

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LIFE IS A GAME, PLAY IT!

"All the world is a stage,” Shakespeare so wisely put it, “…with men and women merely actors.” We have our entrances and our exits. Entering on cue, performing our roles to the best of our ability, and leavingthe stage at the appointed time. Not sooner, nor later, but when our roles are completed, -our part in the script, finished.

Indeed, many of us require prompting from time to time. However, the script is always there for us to look into, to check and refer to. While we pursue our roles and stay close to the script, we also have our director who is over- seeing the overall play, with the individual actors taking part. When we finish one play, that does not mean that we loose touch with our fellow actors. Indeed, it is likely that when one production closes, another is being prepared with the same group of actors coming together, but cast in new roles with a new scenario. So, the divine show goes on!

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THE NATURE ADORES THE LORD

Each of us is aware of how much Swami gives to all of us from the loving care He showers on those who are devoted to Him, but equally to those who are still unaware of Him. In return, we endeavour to return to Him something of our devotion, our love for Him, by our good deeds towards others. Nature, too, likes to give to Him, Who is always giving, giving. On one occasion Nature demonstrated her love to the Lord of all, when He stood at the sea-shore, as the waves caressed His feet. One stately wave rose some distance from the shore and rolled gently ashore and receded. Leaving behind a garland of pearls, dancing, swaying and surrendering to the Lotus Feet of the Lord! One hundred and eight translucent pearls, each beyond price, strung together on a thread of gold! A hundred and eight “thank yous” from Nature to the Lord.

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REPEAT THE NAME OF GOD

Not at any time in human history has mankind been presented with such a glorious opportunity to realise God. In the past, individuals have attained God-realisation through fasting, suffering, meditation, etc., but today man has been given the highest, and most noble of experiences, by-passing all suffering, simply by chanting the Name of God or reciting a holy mantra like OM, or the Gayatri Mantra. Swami has said that repeating God’s Name, or saying a holy mantra, is the most potent way in this age to experience God, for God’s Name is God Himself, and that constantly repeating His Name keeps our devotion alive.

Dr. Sandweiss referred to the holy Gayatri mantra as the ‘mother of the Vedas’. “It holds within it the meaning of all the Vedas,” he stated. “Reciting the Gayatri, we pray for an enlightened intellect that transcends all desire and thus realises Divinity. These mantras are forms of God, and Swami tells us that the name of God, or these holy mantras, are equal to all the power and glory of God. Chanting the Name can tame and focus the mind and bring us into oneness with God. He reminds us that all Names of God are His and that chanting Ram, Om, or Gayatri mantra, brings us to Him.”

Dr. Sandweiss tells the story in his book, “With Love Man is God”, of a patient who suffered extreme pain and lost some control of her legs. She said, “I was dropping off to sleep when Swami came to me with so much love that I forgot all my pain and suffering, and I was very happy. Then He began chanting to me.”
The doctor asked her if she remembered what He was chanting, and she said, “Wait a minute,” and then slowly began chanting “Om bhoor bhuvah suvaha.”; “My goodness, how can you remember a Sanskrit mantra from your dreams?” She explained that it wasn’t a case of the sound coming from Swami’s mouth but it radiated from His heart. So, she didn’t hear it with her ears but from her heart. The sound entered her heart, and she still hears it there. Swami is not separate from us, but resides in our hearts in the Form of Love.

Gathered by Sai Team