Sathya Sai Speaks 1978 · God Is Not Happy Unless He Gives You Some Occasional Sorrow

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God Is Not Happy Unless He Gives You Some Occasional Sorrow
June 1978, Summer Course 1978, Brindavan
Published English.
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In the context of divinity, man is continually agitated. He makes several different attempts to recognise the and tries to locate nobler and higher ideas. Sometimes, forgetting this sacred aspect of the , he spends a lot of time in the pursuit of matters relating to external objects. The former requires inner vision and the latter requires external vision. The sacredness of consists in harmonising one’s inner vision with his external vision and making him see the unity of these two aspects. Because of their wealth and physical strength, the were blind to the might of . was very proud of the fact that he was born in a sect higher than the sect in which was born; and being blinded with such ideas, he could not recognise the greatness of . The , having lost their wisdom in their scholarship and because of the unreal ideas they created in their own minds, were not able to recognise ’s divine personality. The pride that comes from their birth, the ego which comes from their wealth and the arrogance which comes from their education also rendered several other people incapable of recognising the greatness of . God’s actions can be described as . No one can determine the nature of such . It is also not possible to understand them. Only after the event has taken place, can one realise its significance. Because such are generally covered by , man is not able to recognise the divinity that is responsible for them. Because of this alone, man again is not able to recognise the divine connection between man and man. All attachment arises because of . If there is no , the progress of mankind itself will come to a standstill. In any respect, is not bad. In fact, is a very helpful thing to the individual who understands the different aspects of . For one who does not understand the same, it can bring about great harm. In fact, is very necessary for man and can be made the royal path in the search for God. For an individual who does not understand the aspect of , it will be a very difficult path. Take the example of a cat. When it catches hold of its kitten, it does so to take it to a place of safety. On the other hand, when the same cat catches hold of a rat, it is for the purpose of killing the rat. For those people who do not understand the aspect of divinity, is like a cat catching the rat. For those who understand God, will be a great help like the cat which takes hold of the kitten. This is in fact a tool of God and therefore God is sometimes described as one who wears as His cloak. This is basically responsible for maintenance, dissolution and creation. At such times and such places, depending on the circumstances, the behaviour of will change. is something similar to an electric current. We can use this current for running a fan or lighting a bulb. It can be used for running several machines and useful devices. Because the electric current is so useful, if you catch hold of it to show your gratitude, you will be killed immediately. Thus, current does good and also does harm. In this world, we cannot find a place where there is no . said that all this world is really transient and that there is nothing of permanent value in it. In that context, we should realise that all that we see around us is in reality the leela of the Lord. Whatever we may do, we must also regard it as a leela of the Lord and experience the truth in this way.
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The lost their kingdom and wealth and were wandering in the forest, but they were always thinking of , and showered his grace on such . Although they lost the power of wealth and position, they had the strength of faith in the Lord and so they received the grace of the Lord. has been teaching us that it is most essential for human beings to have the strength that comes from and faith in God. The battle was over and who was responsible for the victory was returning to along with the . After some time, was planning to return to . When heard of this intention of , she came running to him. She held both the hands of , and addressed him by saying, “You are the protector of the weak and those who are in trouble. You have taken care of my children and given me great good fortune. You have given us your help at a time when we needed it most. I was under the illusion that the most important thing was love and attachment. I have now realised that this is in fact the most poisonous quality. It has been my fortune to enjoy your love. There is nothing greater than your love. When I was young, I uttered the taught to me by and had a son born to me through the Sun God. Fearing the criticism which is likely to come from the society, I discarded my young son . From that day, I have been suffering because of the loss of my son. After having married King , I was travelling in the forest along with my husband. By the kindness and grace of some gods, I bore three sons - , and . To my sister , there were two sons - and . However, ended her life along with our husband. I was worried that if I also die along with my husband, there will be no one to take care of these young children; and with this kind of attachment, I was looking after the children. By the grace of the , I came to and from that day onwards, the cruel were giving us all kinds of trouble and they even attempted to kill my children by setting fire to the house in which they lived. They tried to humiliate , the goodhearted daughter-in-law of mine. On all these occasions, from that day to this day, you have been looking after my children and guiding them and consoling them. You are like a brother, father, mother, relation and God to my children. I will not be deluded and deceived by your five-foot-long human form. You are truly God and there is no doubt whatsoever. You are the source of my pleasure and comfort. Pleasure is always an interval between two pains; and in-between all my troubles, you have been a great source of comfort. You have taken care of all of us for all this time, and I cannot live without you even for a moment. How can I now agree to your going away to . I pray that you should stay for a little longer and teach the inexperienced , the art of ruling over a kingdom.” We should notice here that she addresses as . Ma means and it also means . The word means master. In this sense, is the master of Nature, and . God is an independent entity in all aspects. Several people say that God should be like this and conduct himself in a particular manner, but this is not possible. For one who is above , how can there be any particular qualities? For one who is formless, how can there be any limitations of form? God may take any form and may have any , and he may perform any action that he likes for the benefit of the world. This will be determined as a reaction to the actions of the devotees; and depending on the prayers of the devotees, God will take a particular form. Suppose we build a house in a small place. The house has been constructed in the allotted place and there is no external place available. Although there is no place available outside, there is enough place for the owner to move about within his own house. In a similar manner, the universe is the mansion of the Lord; and he moves about freely in all places. This is the reason why, when a door that cannot be opened is asked to be opened, we see a smile in ’s face. When the entire universe is His mansion, what is the fun in searching for the main door of this mansion. When the Lord himself is always behind me, where am I to search for the main door and where am I to look for the Lord? Play on the strings of the Lord’s name and concentrate on the Lord in . That is the main door to the mansion of the Lord. Our heart filled with is really the and the Lord has all the right to move about in our heart. recognised that God dwells in her heart. Before this realisation, she was under the illusion that attachment and were important human qualities. She also recognised the truth that for one who realises the greatness of the Lord and relies on him, there is no danger of any kind. God is not happy unless he gives you some occasional sorrow. Even the mother will not be happy unless the child cries heartily. Even while kissing the child, the mother twists the cheek of the child and then kisses him. In the same manner, God also causes several troubles and tests and then will please you. It is because of this, said to , “It is your nature to play on the happily when your devotees are in discomfort and crying!” God makes you cry only to give you extreme happiness after that. We will be able to eat more food, if we are hungry, and are able to digest well. If the food we take is not digested, how can we eat more food? In this manner, at first God gives troubles, sorrow and pain and then after your digesting these, he gives happiness and bliss. In this context, we must realise that it is not possible to easily understand the divine actions of the Lord. Only those who can experience them will be able to enjoy them, and others can never understand this. Because of some external troubles, we think God is a very unkind person. This is not so. Actually God is preparing you to receive eternal happiness. Material pleasures are momentary and transient. Because recognised this basic truth, she could not bear separation from .
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A small instance will enable us to recognise the intensity of ’s love towards . After ’s , was returning to in a very dejected manner and even as he was walking back, he witnessed a large number of bad omens. As soon as reached the palace, he gave the news of the of ; and all the were grief stricken. Although was a very strong person, he could not even draw his bow after the of . Then realised that all his strength by which he won the battle of and by which he burnt down the was in reality the strength acquired by his proximity to . He realised that he had no intrinsic strength of his own. was also wondering how he could convey the sad news to the old blind mother. As they entered the mansion, was informed that was coming. Because of her old age, it was natural that she could not see or hear properly. As soon as she realised that was coming, she thought that was bringing news of . She began to shower a number of questions on and wanted to ask many questions about . was greatly worried as to how he could convey the news to . Unable to give a reply to her questions, cried out and said that was no longer alive. As soon as she heard of this sad news, she left her life as if she was going in search of . She could not live for even one moment without . also had great affection for and they were no ordinary people. The were like the five for and was the mainstay of . On one occasion, told that he should not show any extra partiality to the because to him, the and the were equally important. To this replied without fear or favour and said, “There is no comparison whatsoever between the and the . I will now tell you the kind of connection I have with the . is like the head in the body; is like the shoulders of the body; is like the stomach of the body and and are like the two legs; and in such a body, I am the heart and the moving force. Without a body, the heart cannot exist and without a heart, the body cannot exist. Such is the inseparable connection between me and the .” who had given such a reply was treating the with great affection and, in turn, the were treating as their life-moving force. In fact, at all times, in pain and pleasure, in joy and sorrow, in ease and difficult times, they were always thinking of and leading their lives. That is why, when the were told of the of , they were greatly agitated and disturbed. The kind of detachment they developed towards the world after this incident cannot be found in any other household. took the head of the departed mother on to his lap. He addressed one of his brothers and asked him to make arrangements for the last rites of the mother. He asked another brother to make arrangements for the coronation of , and he asked yet another brother to make arrangements for their departure to the forest for leading a secluded life. On one side, he was making arrangements for the last rites of his mother; and on another side, he was arranging for the coronation; and on another side, he was preparing to lead a detached and secluded life. Such a combination of events is very unusual and singular. It is the love which the had towards that is responsible for this. has been teaching the people of the world this sacred devotion of the . was a great individual who had an intense and affectionate feeling towards the . Therefore, you should make an attempt to understand the sacred acts of in the true perspective. The that we see depicted in the cinemas and dramas of today is not the true . In fact, he is sometimes depicted like a modern college student with many unsacred ideas and doing several irresponsible acts. Truly, the aspect of is very sacred and his actions are full of divine love. These sacred actions of , which are seen at many places in , must be well and properly understood by all of you.