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Human and Divine Actions

Discourse of Sathya Sai Baba, Shri Sathya Sai Hospital, 7th Anniversary Festival, 18 October 1963
Published by Sri Sathya Sai Books and Publications Trust
Web posted at Jan 13, 2001

Many people consider all acts of worship, Puuja, etc., as "His" and all acts of earning and spending as "Mine." But, this is a mistake. All acts are "His." There is no such distinction as Maanavakarma and Maadhavakarma (actions of man and God); all Karma leads you towards Maadhava or away from Him. For example, you say that you fall ill, that you are in good health, etc. That is because you feel that the body is "you," whereas you are really only the Aathma, with the five sheaths which you have super-imposed on it. This is the result of the system of education now prevalent which teaches that the Aanandha one derives from the senses is all the Aanandha that one can get. It does not disclose to the individual the eternal source of Aanandha that he has within himself.

There is no training in the art of acquiring mental peace. No one is told the secret of attaining the state of equanimity, amidst the confusion of modern civilisation. Everyone is induced to float with the current that drags humanity down to fear, anxiety and despair. Life today is similar to the situation when the master of the house is restricted to a tasteless regimen, while the members of the family revel in a banquet. The senses revel without limit but the Aathma is ignored.

Modern Education does not produce wise Men

Modern education produces only "learned fools;" it does not produce wise men who can meet life calmly and bravely. Its products know how to fill themselves with information, device tools or handle them for the destruction of fellowmen or cater to the whims of the senses - but, they are helpless to meet the crisis of death, a crisis that is inevitable.

Hanumantha Rao of the I.A.S., who is the President of this Meeting said that, during the last 14 years, when he had not visited this place, many great developments have taken place, including this Hospital.

Some of you may ask why there should be a Hospital at all, here! Why should not Baba cure diseases by an exercise of His Will? That is the question. Well for one thing, this Hospital is not My only Hospital. Hanumantha Rao has a Hospital in Madras where disabled children are treated and trained to be useful and self-respecting individuals. That too is My Hospital. In fact, all hospitals everywhere are Mine. I visit them all. Why? All those who call out from their hearts for succour, in whatever language, from whatever clime, whether from hospitals or homes, are Mine. Do not confine me to these few acres around the Prashaanthi Nilayam. Wherever a person craving for Prashaanthi (perfect peace) lives and prays, there a Prashaanthi Nilayam exists.

Faith in Grace is not yet strong

You should remember another point. The Hospital serves to increase faith, to demonstrate divinity and to remove doubt. That is also necessary. Besides, you have to mark time, in consonance with the song that is sung. There are many who are hungry for medical treatment and they are satisfied only if drugs are given and injections administered. Their faith in grace is not yet strong. So, a Hospital is required for such.

Earn Anugraha (grace), that is the crucial gain. The hospitals can be closed, especially if the spiritual Saadhana used for gaining the Anugraha results in simple lives, spent in contentment and undisturbed calm.

The king of death does not bring a noose when he comes to drag people to his abode; the noose is made by the victim himself and he has it ready round his neck, awaiting the arrival of the end. It is the Karma-paasa (noose resulting from action) which each manufactures and winds round himself that ultimately drags him away. Become aware of your reality and you will lose the sense of identification with the body. That will make you disease-free. You will have perfect 'ease.' This is quite easy, understanding that you are not the body. For, you are practising this truth every day for at least six hours, ever since birth! If that cannot teach you, I wonder which can.

Every day, when you sleep, where are you? Who are you? Your senses are inoperative, your intelligence is in abeyance; your mind creates a world of its own and after playing in it for sometime, it lapses into inactivity. That is sleep, the nearest you reach in your journey to Samaadhi (super-concious state).

Each one of you can become Bhagavaan

Live in the Aathma thathwam (true nature of self); that will ensure Shaanthi. With the poison of Raaga and Dhwesha (attachment and hatred) inside you, how can you be pronounced healthy? If you experience the Aathma thathwam, you become Bhagavaan (divinity) Himself. That is why I do not address you as Bhakthulaaraa! You are not Bhakthaas (devotees); you are more than that - you ought to become Bhagavaan; each one of you can become Bhagavaan by merging your separate individual Jeevas (souls), in the ocean of the universal Aathma.

Death comes swooping like the falcon on chicken feeding on the ground. The man who dies, prays to Me to receive him; the persons who weep at his departure, pray to Me to keep him alive. I know both sides of the picture, the past and the present, the crime and the punishment, the achievement and the reward and so, I carry out what is just, though modified by g race. I am not affected one way or the other, by the arrival into the world of some or the departure from it of some others. My nature is Nithya-aanandham (eternal bliss). You can share in that Aanandham by following My instructions and practising what I say.