In plain words
You must understand rightly the principle of the Sathya Sai organisations. There are many organisations in the world. But the ideal of the Sathya Sai organisations is to be found in none of them. There may be a few mistakes here and there. But on the whole, the workers of the Sathya Sai organisations are toiling very hard. They work with all their hearts. One look at the atmosphere of Prasanthi Nilayam makes it plain. Women who have never known the sun's heat stay under the trees and bear the discomforts with a smile. How great must their Bhakti and prapatti be for this feeling to arise! Those who cook day and night, those who serve, the Seva Dal volunteers, work without knowing what weariness is. Though so many lakhs gathered, did even one ant bite even one person? Their Bhakti and prapatti alone are the reason for this. The devotees who came showed great forbearance.
The other day Kasturi came to Me: ‘Swami! They said on the radio that a cyclone is coming towards Nellore and Ongole. They say the cyclone is coming to Rāyalasīma too,’ he said. ‘Do not be afraid at all, Kasturi! No hardship of any kind will befall our devotees. Their Bhakti itself will shelter them like an umbrella,’ I said. Had that cyclone come, how many hardships everyone would have suffered! Did Swami do all this? No, no. It is your heart of Prema that could turn Swami so. Does butter melt just because you hold it in your hand? You have to show it heat, don't you! In the same way, though Swami's heart is like butter, it melts only when the heat called Bhakti and prapatti is shown to it. Look the next day, and no one knows where the cyclone went or what became of it. Only you and Swami know how holy the atmosphere was these ten days, and with what divine feelings you took part in the programmes. This is not something others could understand.
Winning Sai's Prema is the true tapas
Embodiments of Prema! Your Bhakti and prapatti are of the very finest. How great your patience and your calm are, no one can say. But it is not fitting for Me to praise My own people. You have come from so many countries. The people from abroad are people who have enjoyed many comforts and conveniences. But in Prasanthi Nilayam everything is a discomfort for them! In conditions like these, to win Sai's Prema is the true tapas. Making this tapas grow day by day, you must teach your ideals and your principle of Prema in every village and in every street, rejoice in them, and bring glory to Bhārata. There is no fault at all in the steps you take for the growth of the organisations. But, without straying onto contrary paths and without misusing anything, spending your lives in good deeds, you must go forward like heroes of action. Sai asks for one thing only. You must love your fellow men, serve society and give your humanness its full meaning. Give up selfishness. Enter into living for others. Grow in holiness. Stand by the helpless. I hope that from this day our Sathya Sai organisations will enter every town and every village, make the atmosphere of every street pure, and try to foster brotherhood among the people. This is the very joy of My birthday.
With a Lord like Sathya Sai and servants like the Sai devotees, anything at all can be achieved
The sixtieth birthday holds a test as well. Only those who come through it are true sādhakas. Whatever the hardships, whatever the losses, whatever the sorrows, unafraid of blame and reproach, make a firm vow to achieve it. When the farmer who has raised the crop brings the grain home, he winnows it. Then the solid grains settle below. The chaff is blown away by the wind. In the same way, in this it will come out how many are solid grains and how many are empty ones.