Q532

Which of the two paths - Jnana and Bhakti, brings Grace of the Lord more easily?



Through devotion to God (Bhakti) alone can that knowledge (jnana) be attained.  Bhakti purifies the heart and universalises the vision.  It also brings down the Grace of God; for, the clouds have to come over the fields and pour rain; the plants cannot rise up to drink the life-giving fluid.  The mother has to bend to the cradle to fondle the child.  Bhakti has that power, to bring the Lord down.

(SSS Vol 4, pg 69)

Humour Is A Natural Resource

Humor is a serious thing. I like to think of it as one of our greatest, earliest natural resources, which must be preserved at all cost.


- James Thurber

Be Blessed - 40

Righteous Way

Weakness

Life is a mixture of good and bad, of ups and downs.  Ignore the bad and enjoy what is good.  In life, you should forget the bad experiences and make use of the good ones.  Instead, man broods over the bad experiences and spoils even the good that comes his way.  This is a sign of weakness in man.

(Gems of Wisdom, Coconut Ritual, pg 382)

VEDA 56

"I did it." "This is mine." These are the two fangs that make the individual poisonous. Pull out the fangs, the snake can be handled and played with as a pet.



(From : Sai Veda, The Word of God,  sayings of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba)

The Barrier

During a research experiment a marine biologist placed a shark into a large holding tank and then released several small bait fish into the tank.

As you would expect, the shark quickly swam around the tank, attacked and ate the smaller fish.

The marine biologist then inserted a strong piece of clear fiberglass into the tank, creating two separate partitions. She then put the shark on one side of the fiberglass and a new set of bait fish on the other.

Again, the shark quickly attacked. This time, however, the shark slammed into the fiberglass divider and bounced off. Undeterred, the shark kept repeating this behavior every few minutes to no avail. Meanwhile, the bait fish swam around unharmed in the second partition. Eventually, about an hour into the experiment, the shark gave up.

This experiment was repeated several dozen times over the next few weeks. Each time, the shark got less aggressive and made fewer attempts to attack the bait fish, until eventually the shark got tired of hitting the fiberglass divider and simply stopped attacking altogether.

The marine biologist then removed the fiberglass divider, but the shark didn’t attack. The shark was trained to believe a barrier existed between it and the bait fish, so the bait fish swam wherever they wished, free from harm.

The moral: Many of us, after experiencing setbacks and failures, emotionally give up and stop trying. Like the shark in the story, we believe that because we were unsuccessful in the past, we will always be unsuccessful. In other words, we continue to see a barrier in our heads, even when no ‘real’ barrier exists between where we are and where we want to go.

- Author Unknown -

GEM 824

Depression, doubt, conceit, these are Rahu and Kethu to the spiritual aspirant.

(From : Garland of 1008 Gems, Bhagawan Shri Sathya Sai Baba's Sayings)

Sai Jewel - 32

Look Within

There is so much beauty in

This wondrous, blue rose

If only we could capture it

Within our very souls

If we could take its beauty

And apply the glow within

Search a little deeper

In the soul beneath our skin

Take what it does stand for

And shed its love abroad

Don't hide the glow within you

But share the love of God

You know you can't touch beauty

Without it rubbing off on you

And spreading it to others

In the kindness that you do

There lies within each one of us

The beauty like this rose

When it's used in touching others

Then its beauty overflows

~ WhtDove~