GEM 716

The mind moves only towards the right and the pure, of its own accord, but the senses and the outer world drag it towards wrong and the impure.

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

Spiritual Wisdom

God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts.

There is no key to happiness. The door is always open.

Silence is often misinterpreted, but never misquoted.

Dear God, I have a problem, it's me.

Laugh every day, it's like inner jogging.

Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape.

The most important things in your home are the people.

As a child of God, prayer is kind of like calling home.

He who dies with the most toys is still dead.

It's all right to sit on your pity pot every now and again. Just be sure to flush when you are done.

Surviving and living your life successfully requires courage. The goals and dreams you're seeking require courage and risk taking. Learn from the turtle, it only makes progress when it sticks out it's neck.

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.

Anger

The Ability

Not all living beings can recognize that in all living beings the Divine exists as the indwelling spirit.  Only a human being has the capacity to recognize this.  Man alone has the ability to discriminate between the transient and the permanent.  The other unique faculty with which man is endowed is VIJNAANA (the ability to acquire the highest knowledge).

(Gems of Wisdom, How Is Man?, pg 283)

Key To Healing

Sometimes a life, like a house, needs renovating - the smell of new wood, new rooms in the heart, unimagined until one begins the work.  One rebuilds because the structure deserves a renewing.

- Doris Schwerin

What is the key that unlocks the flow of healing life within me?  Faith is an important key, a tool that I use to uncover new understanding.

It is the very spirit of God that enlivens and renews me.  My understanding faith sparks a current of life and healing that surges throughout my body.

There is no turning back; I am moving forward with new life in a new life.  At first, I may only notice a slight improvement.  I may move about more easily and even think more clearly.  Yet, the fact that I am refreshed is unmistakable.

The spirit of God is the life and vitality that fills me and thrills me.  I am alive with the life of God!

I am alive with the life of God!

(From : 'Daily Word' magazine by Silent Unity, a world wide prayer ministry)  

Q489

The Japa-malas have 108 beads.  What is the significance of 108 ?



The japa-mala teaches you the Unity, though it has 108 beads!  If it is a sphatika maala (garland of crystal beads), you can see the string running in and through each bead, the inner reality on which all this is strung!  If the beads are not transparent, you still know that the string passes through, holds together and is the basis for the maala to exist!  

Why 108 beads?  108 is the product when 12 is multiplied 9 times, 12 is the number of Adityas (luminaries), that reveal the objective world, and so, symbols of the Saakara aspect (the world of name and form, of manifoldness, the seeming variety, the fleeting pictures).  9 is the screen on which the pictures appear, the basis, the rope which deludes you as the snake in the dusk, Brahman, the Nameless, Formless, Eternal Absolute.  9 is the Brahman Number, for it is always 9, however many times you multiply it!  It is immutable, for 9 multiplied by any number finally adds up to 9 only.  So, when you turn the beads, impress upon yourself the fact that there is both truth and travesty in the world, that the travesty attracts, distracts and delights in deceiving you, diverts you into devious paths, the truth makes you free.

(SSS Vol 9, pg 28-29)

GEM 715

The mind is like a sheet of paper; once rolled in one way, it will always roll along that direction only.

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

Agitated Plea

Spiritual Standards

Raising the standard of living must also mean raising ethical, moral, and spiritual standards.

(Gems of Wisdom, Spiritual Quality is Essential, pg 277)

I Am Everyone