1. The greatest fear man can have is the fear of losing GOD's Love.

2. Too much food results in dullness of mind.

3. A language is as sweet as the tongues of the speakers.

4. Every experience that is drawn through any of the senses has an effect on one's health.

5. Love all beings; that is enough.

6. Discipline is the mark of intelligent living

7. When calamity approaches, discrimination departs.

8. A man's well-being depends upon his degree of contentment.

9. God is all Names and all forms.

10. Follow the Master, face the devil, fight to the end, finish the game.

11. Real happiness lies within you.

12. All things in creation are subject to the law of change, and man, too, is subject to this law.

13. Renunciation is the power of battling against evil forces and holding the mind in check.

14. The teachers of tomorrow are the students of today.

15. God is not to be spoken of as coming down or going up, since HE is everywhere.

16. Learn to speak what you feel, and act what you speak.

17. What is the unmistakable mark of a wise man? It is Love, Love for all humanity.

18. Each man carries his destiny in his own hands.

19. Whenever and wherever you put yourself in touch with GOD, that is the state of meditation.

20. Small minds select narrow roads; expand your mental vision and take to the broad road of helpfulness, compassion and service.

21. Silence is the speech of the spiritual seeker.

22. Service springs out of LOVE and it scatters LOVE in profusion.

23. Ignorance is the most important cause of sorrow.

24. Once we surrender our mind to GOD completely, HE will take care of us in every way.

25. Have constructive thoughts, consoling words, compassionate acts.

26. Where there is FAITH, there is LOVE; Where there is LOVE; there is PEACE; Where there is PEACE; there is GOD; Where there is GOD; there is BLISS.

27. The end of knowledge is LOVE. The end of education is character.

28. LOVE is the scarcest article today.

29. Mine, not thine; this sense of greed is the root of all evil. This distinction is applied even to GOD! -- my GOD, not yours! Your GOD, not mine!

30. All spiritual practice must be directed to the removal of the husk and the revelation of the kernel.

31. The mind fixed in the awareness of the ONE is line a rock; unaffected by doubt, stable, secure.

32. LOVE lives by giving and forgiving. Self lives by getting and forgetting.

33. GOD is the doer; you are but the instrument.

34. The heart of man, which is now allowed to lie fallow, has to be ploughed by spiritual exercises like repetition of GOD's name.

35. GOD is neither distant, nor distinct from you.

36. What is meant by the phrase "to know GOD"? It means "to love GOD".

37. When there is harmony in the home, there will be order in the nation. When there is order in the nation, there will be PEACE in the world.

38. The beauty of life depends upon our good habits.

39. Good company is important, it helps to cultivate good qualities.

40. You cannot see ME, but I am the light you see by. You cannot hear ME, but I am the sound you hear by. You cannot know ME, but I am the truth by which you live.

41. Be ever watchful to see that you strive to take in more and more of GOD into you.

42. If you honour your mother, the Mother of the Universe will guard you against harm.

43. The same current activates all.

44. GOD gave you the time, space, cause, material, idea, skill, chance and fortune. Why should you feel as if you are the doer?

45. Make the home a seal of harmony.

46. Have no desires to place before GOD, whatever HE does with you, however HE treats you, is the gift that HE likes best to give you!

47. Unity is divinity; purity is enlightenment.

48. Always respect another's opinion and another's point of view.

49. Food should not be too salty, too hot, too bitter, too sweet, too sour.

50. Reason can prevail only when arguments are advanced without the whipping up of sound.

51. Take failure and victory cooly.

52. There should not be any trace of dislike or distrust on the score of nationality, language, caste, economic status, scholarship, age or sex.

53. Your thoughts, words, and deeds will shape others and theirs will shape you.

54. GOD is ONE without a second.

55. The service of man is the only means by which you can serve GOD.

56. By eating flesh one develops violent tendencies and animal diseases.

57. The PEACE that pervades the heart can never be shaken for any reason; only PEACE of this kind is worthy of the name.

58. As close as you are to GOD, so close is GOD to you.

59. Immortality is the fruit of sacrifice.

60. The grace of GOD is like insurance. It will help you in your time of need without any limit.

61. When you feel you cannot do good, at least desist from doing evil.

62. LOVE seeks no reward; LOVE is its own reward.

63. The joy that we cause in the heart of GOD is the only worthwhile achievement.

64. Do not get attached to worldly things and pursuits. Be in the world, but do not let the world be in you.

65. Truth has no fear; Untruth shivers at every shadow.

66. Be simple and sincere.

67. The mind sees separateness, LOVE sees unity.

68. God is the life-breath of every soul.

69. The only ache people have nowadays is ache in the stomach due to over eating and lack of exercise!

70. Being a good example is the best form of service.

71. Friendship is the expression of unshakable LOVE, LOVE that is noble, pure, free from desire or egoism.

72. Money comes and goes; morality comes and grows.

73. GOD first; the world next; myself last.

74. Try to conduct yourself in such a way as not to injure others.

75. Do not use poisonous words against anyone, for words wound more fatally than even arrows.

76. Patience is all the strength that man needs.

77. With effort and prayer destiny can be attained. Start the effort.

78. You must welcome tests because it gives you confidence and it ensures promotion.

79. What is offered to GOD is totally free from all defects and imperfections.

80. Spiritual progress is right living, good conduct, moral behavior.

81. A nation that has no bridle on its sensuality, can never thrive our survive.

82. I am you; you are ME. You are the waves; I am the ocean. Know this and be free, be divine.

83. Teachers must be examples of LOVE and TRUTH.

84. Each country is but a room in the mansion of GOD.

85. We should realize that man has not only a mind which conceives thoughts, but also a heart which can put them into practice.

86. LOVE must express itself as SERVICE.

87. The wise are those who know the Self.

88. Whatever the trouble, however great the sorrow, persist and win by recollecting the LORD.

89. Man will realize his mission on earth when he knows himself as divine and reveres others as divine.

90. Devotion is not a uniform to be worn on certain days and then to be put aside.

91. When the road ends, and the goal is gained, the pilgrim finds that he has traveled only from himself to himself.

92. So long as you say "I am". there is bound to be fear, but once you say and feel "I am GOD", you get unconquerable strength.

93. Duty without LOVE is deplorable, duty with LOVE is desirable, LOVE without duty is divine.

94. When you kill an animal, you give him suffering, pain, harm. GOD is in every creature, so how can you give such pain?

95. When the magnet does not attract the needle, the fault lies in the dirt that covers up the needle.

96. When the people become good, the world will become good.

97. Practice the vocabulary of love - unlearn the language of hate and contempt.

98. God is in you, around you, behind you, above you, beside you.

99. Of all the righteous acts, help rendered to those needing it, is the most righteous.

100. Surrendering the fruit of action to the Lord is real sacrifice.

101. My birthday is the date when divinity blossoms in your heart.

102. God is neither distant nor distinct from you.

103. What is offered to God is totally free from all defects and imperfections.

104. The joy that we cause in the heart of God is the only worthwhile achievement.

105. The acid test by which an activity can be confirmed as holy or sacred is to examine whether it promotes attachment or avoids bondage.

106. Education should build character.

107. Its is Truth and Truth alone, that is one's real friend, relative.

108. Faith is like our life breath. It is impossible to live even for a minute in this world without faith.

1. Silence is the only language of the realized. Practice moderation in speech. That will help you in many ways. It will develop Prema, for most misunderstandings and factions arise out of carelessly spoken words. When the foot slips, the wound can be healed; but when the tongue slips, the wound it causes in the heart of another will fester for life. The tongue is liable to four big errors: uttering falsehood, scandalizing, finding fault with others, and excessive speech. All these have to be avoided if there is to be santhi for the individual as well as for society. (Sathya Sai Baba, SSS. Vol.1 p. 62)

2. The first step in the Sadhana is the cleansing of the speech. Talk sweet without anger. Do not boast of your scholarship or attainments. Be humble, eager to serve; conserve your speech. Practice silence. That will save you from squabbles, frittering thoughts and faction. (Sathya Sai Speaks Vol II p.34-36)

3. I insist on silence. Talk less, talk low when you must talk. Do not thrust your sorrows, your needs, your problems into the ears of those who have come here with their own bundle of such things. They are not interested in adding to their troubles. I am here to listen to you, to console you. Do not by loudness of voice disturb those who are meditating or reading or writing the Name of God. (Sathya Sai Baba, SSS. Vol. 3 p. 9)

4. Spend a few minutes every morning and evening in the silence of your own shrine or home; spend them with the highest of all the powers that you know of. Be in His elevating and inspiring company; worship Him mentally; offer unto Him all the work you do; you will come out of the silence nobler and more heroic than when you went in. (Sathya Sai Baba, SSS. Vol. 3 p. 122)

5. The old man had seen people carrying transistor radios, people miss a very valuable thing if they do not listen in, even while they are moving about or resting in the parks or beach! They are afraid of being alone; they avoid silence as something detestable! But, you can discover your own truth, only when you are alone with yourself and there is silence all around you. (Sathya Sai Speaks Vol IV p.56)

6. Dakshinamurthy taught His disciples by His silence. Yes, what He did was to make the disciples rely on their own intelligence. Do not demean your talents, when you dive deep into yourselves, you can discover the source of all strength. (Sathya Sai Baba, SSS. Vol. 4 p. 155)

7. Be silent yourself; that will induce silence in others. Do not fall into the habit of shouting, talking long and loud. Reduce contacts to the minimum. Carry with you an atmosphere of quiet contemplation, wherever you happen to be. There are some who live in a perpetual hullabaloo, in a tornado of noise. Whether they are in an exhibition or a fair or in a hotel, or a temple or the Prasanthi Nilayam, they wag their tongues and will not stop. These will not proceed on the Godward road. (Sathya Sai Speaks Vol IV p 190)

8. Do not pretend or patronize. If you simply say: "Do not talk loud" or give some blank direction, you are patronizing and treating people with disdain. They deserve to be told why. Tell them that silence is the very first rung of the ladder of sadhana; that it is the hallmark of Prasanthi Nilayam; that they must learn to make every place where they are a Prasanthi Nilayam; that loud talk disturbs those who practice Namasmarana or Dhyanam or Japam; that noise breeds further noise. This is a workshop, where damaged minds and hearts come for repair or overhaul. (Sathya Sai Baba, SSS. Vol. 4 p. 257)

9. Learn the value of silence, of Namasmarana, of Bhajan, of Japa, of Dhyana, of single minded remembrance of the Lord, of the association with spiritually kin. These will stand you in good stead, when distress assails you. (Sathya Sai Speaks Vol IV p 270)

10. Be silent yourself; that will induce silence in others. Do not fall into the habit of shouting, talking long and loud. Reduce contacts to the minimum. Carry with you an atmosphere of quiet contemplation, wherever you happen to be. There are some who live in a perpetual hullabaloo, in a tornado of noise. Whether they are in an exhibition or a fair or in a hotel, or a temple or the Prasanthi Nilayam, they wag their tongues and will not stop. These will not proceed on the Godward road. (Sathya Sai Baba, SSS. Vol. 5 p. 245)

11. The less you talk, the more will become your mental power. With the increase in your mental capacity, there will be increase in your power of discrimination too. Consequently, you will give up "individual discrimination". Because of this, you will begin to consider the good of the world at large rather than your own individual welfare. You must cultivate such broad feelings from this young age itself. (Sathya Sai Baba, Divine Discourse. Brindavan, 24 May, 1992)

12. Each one eats to assuage his own hunger; so too, each one must discover the best way to appease his own spiritual hunger. Do not be led away by the scorn of others, or by the recommendations of others. Contact your own reality in the silence that you create by quieting the senses and controlling the mind. There is a voice that you can hear in that silence. The true witness of your having listened to that voice is your behaviour. The tree is held and fed by the roots that go into the silent earth; so also, if the roots go deep into the silence of your inner consciousness, your spiritual blossoming is assured. (Sathya Sai Baba, SSS. Vol. 4 p. 366)

13. One of the first principles of straight living is the practice of silence. For the voice of God can be heard in the region of your heart when the tongue is stilled and the storm is tilled and the waves are calm. There will be no temptations for others to shout when you talk to them in whispers. Set the level of the tone yourself; as low as possible, as high as necessary to reach the outermost boundary of the circle you are addressing. Conserve sound, since it is the treasure of the element akasa, an emanation from God Himself. Reason can prevail only when arguments are advanced without the whipping up of sound. Silence is the speech of the spiritual seeker. Soft sweet speech is the expression of genuine love. Hate screeches, fear squeals, conceit trumpets. But love sings lullabies. It soothes. It applies balm. Practice the vocabulary of love; unlearn the language of hate and contempt.

14. Less talk - more work! There is too much talking going on. Because of excessive talking, spiritual energy is being wasted. (Sathya Sai Baba, 4/10/91)

15. You feel the presence of God when silence reigns. In the excitement and confusion of the market place, you cannot hear His Footfall. He is Sabdabrahma, resounding when all is filled with silence. That is why I insist on silence, the practice of low speech and minimum sound. Talk low, talk little, talk in whispers, sweet and true. Examine each act of yours and see that you execute it with minimum noise. Do not shout to a person standing far; go near him or beckon to him to approach you. Loud noise is sacrilege on the sky, just as there are sacrilegious uses of earth and of water.

What is a study circle?

"What is a study circle? It is not just reading books. Circle, study circle means taking a point and each person discussing what is the meaning of the point to them. Like a round-table conference. Each person gives their point of view, and finally values are derived from this. If there is just reading, there is doubt. But if each one gives his view, doubts will be answered. The topic is viewed; the study circle looks at different facets. It is like a diamond with its different facets, but there is one facet that is flat, the top facet, and from this all can be viewed. To discover the top facet is the task of the study circle.

"Swami's talks may be taken, or other scriptures. "Take a point. Have everyone think about it and discuss it, and come to the final point where doubt is decreased. If only one person reads, there will be only one meaning. All misunderstandings, all points of view --after these are brought out, the study circle members will get confidence. There is no doubt of this.

"If each one only reads, this may go on for a year or two, then an allergy to reading develops. "Centers must have study circles in this way, and none will note the passage of time. Each one listens eagerly and many will give their point of view. The Bible, the Koran, the Gita, Swamis books may be used. What is wanted is a study circle; rotating. Each one must be given a chance."

Conversations with Sai Baba, by Hislop: pp.125-126 in older edition; pp. 137-138 in new edition)

Practise what you learn

A STUDY circle does not mean only just reading and discussing and taking information into the head, but also putting into practice what is learnt. If knowledge is stored in the mind, it causes confusion and confusion leads to blowing of the fuse. How will real jnana (spiritual wisdom) develop if there is too much confusion? For instance, if you go on eating all the 24 hours, it will result in indigestion. This will lead to disease. What is eaten should be digested and then only you should eat again. In the same way, you should listen {eat) in the Study Circle and put into practice (digest). what you have learnt. Again you can have another round of listening in the Study Circle. Now what you are doing is only loading and loading and no unloading. How much can you sustain like that? So, you should go on loading and unloading, listening and practising. You have to practise whatever you have learnt. Then only it becomes a real Study Circle.

It is important to learn your true nature

In the Study Circle, whatever we listen and assimilate in the mind should be distributed to others. In that way we show gratitude for what we have receded. We should not listen and keep it to ourselves only for our benefit. Whatever we hear and practise should also be distributed to society at large, Such gratitude is very important for man. If one does not have gratitude, he leads the life of an animal. Even a dog shows gratitude if you give a little rice. In the Sathya Sai Organisation, keeping this in mind, we should maintain unity and help the world. Other organisations may not know the inner meaning of this, but in our organisation we should know the inner meaning and we should practise it, otherwise it is of no use. You should therefore be an ideal to others. In the study circle you can learn a lot of things, but the most important thing to be learnt is your own true nature --your Atmathathwa. Learning all about external things without knowing your real self is like studying the branches of a tree, ignoring its roots. There are many fruits on the tree. We can see the fruits. What happens if you water those fruits? They will fall down. But if you water the roots down below, the tree flourishes and will give fruits which can be enjoyed. You have to develop self-knowledge and self-confidence and then only you can help others.

Full circle or half circle?

You have joined the study class at Dharmakshetra, and are engaged in poring over all types of books and gathering information and instruction. But, what have you gained? Knowledge about what this author says or that sage teaches is not what your study circle must aim to acquire. Not information, but transformation; not instruction, but construction should be the aim. Theoretical knowledge is a burden, unless it is practised, when it can be lightened into wisdom, and assimilated into daily, life. Knowledge that does not give harmony and wholeness to the process of living is not worth acquiring. Every activity must be rendered valid and worthwhile by its contribution to the discovery of Truth, both of the Self and of Nature. Of what use is it to know everything about nature, if you do not know anything of the Self? Nature is only a projection of the Self, and so, unless the Self is known, knowledge of nature is either distorted or deceptive. The Self is Atma, of which the entire Creation is composed, so knowledge of the Self alone can quench the thirst of man.

Every one of you is a pilgrim on that road proceeding at your own pace, according to your qualification and the stage reached by its means. The advice that appeals to one of you or applies to one of you might not be appropriate to another, who has traveled less distance or reached a more advanced state. When I tell one person to follow one line of sadhana (spiritual discipline), it is specifically for his benefit; do not take it as prescription for your benefit also, saying, "Swami told him thus; let me also adopt it." Each has a different make-up --mental, physical, and spiritual. The doctor directs one patient to drink curds and prohibits another from drinking it. When a man is obese, he advises certain types of food; when he is lean, he advises other types. When doctors who treat diseases of the body have to prescribe different remedies, how much more specific and personal must be the remedies for the complex and varied conditions of mental situations and spiritual yearnings and aspirations?

Unless you make earnest inquiry, you cannot discover the remedy applicable to your temperament and its problems. Study with faith and devotion. Delve into the significance and the meaning of what you read, and always have before you the goal of putting what you read into practice. Unless you do so, the study circle will remain a half-circle for ever; it cannot be a full circle. And, pay attention to one other point also. Do not confine your studies to this circle and these books. The whole Universe is University for you. You can imbibe wisdom from the sky, the clouds, the mountains, the rivers, the daily phenomena of sunrise and sunset, the seasons, birds, trees, flowers, the insects --in fact, all beings and things in nature.

Education in the Sai era

Study the best means of bringing peace. What can gatherings, meeting and sessions of learned bodies achieve? The conclusions arrived at after extensive discussions are not put into practice at all. Large sums of money as well as countless reams of paper are wasted. The recommendations and resolutions must be tasted on the touchstone of practice. The money can be better spent on raising the standard of life of the village folk.

You have formed a study circle. Study the best means of bringing peace and apply those means in a few villages to prove their validity. They can then be taught to people in other lands also. Members of the circle can help students who are handicapped or defective and who have not been able to keep abreast of the rest, by giving them extra attention and special guidance.

Holding a workshop on study circles

The study circle is an integral part of Sai Organization activities. Some devotees, especially new ones, may not know the goals of study circles and how they work. The quotes from Hislop's Conversations and from Sai Baba's discourses that are found on this page will be useful in this regard. However, it sometimes helps to hold a workshop at a retreat or conference, where the participants can discuss the study circle, with a facilitator leading the discussion. Below are some ideas on holding such a workshop.

It may be useful to hold the workshop like a study circle, in the following sense. The facilitator can discuss an issue for 3-4 for minutes and present some point on it. Then, the facilitor can have the participants contribute their ideas and suggestions on the issue. Go around the circle of participants, asking each person for their contribution (if they want to). The facilitator ensures that people don't break in but wait their turn.

The workshop can concentrate on these four issues:

Universality of light (jyothi)

The flame never does diminish in luster, however many lamps may be lit therefrom. So, the flame is the most appropriate symbol of the eternal Absolute. Light symbolizes divinity in man. The importance of the light in contrast to other things is that other things are decreased by sharing, but the light remains shining in all its splendor even after a thousand or more have lit their candles or lamps by it. This explains the universal soul, from which all beings come as individual souls.

The idea of moving the light within the body and then into the universal stage, the idea of universality is that the same divine light is present in everyone and everywhere. To impress this universality on the mind, we do the spreading of the light outside one's own body.

Conversations with Sathya Sai Baba, XLIX , by John Hislop.

Jyothi meditation details

"As regards the technique of meditation, different teachers and trainers give different forms of advice. But I shall give you now the most universal and the most effective form. This is the very first step in spiritual discipline. At first, set a few minutes every day for meditation, and extend the time as you feel the bliss that you get.

"Let it be in the hours before dawn.This is preferable because the body is refreshed after sleep, and the dealings of daytime will not yet have impinged on you. Have a lamp or a candle before you with an open, steady, and straight flame. Sit in front of the candle in the lotus posture or any other comfortable sitting position. Look on the flame steadily for some time, and closing your eyes try to feel the flame inside you between your eyebrows.

Let it slide down into the lotus of your heart, illuminating the path. When it enters the heart, imagine that the petals of the lotus open out by one, bathing every thought, feeling, and emotion in the light and so removing darkness from them. There is no space for darkness to hide. The light of the flame becomes wider and brighter.

Let it pervade your limbs. Now those limbs can never indulge in dark, suspicious, and wicked activities; they have become instruments of light and love.

As the light reaches up to the tongue, falsehood vanishes from it.

Let it rise up to the eyes and the ears and destroy all the dark desires that infest them and which lead you to perverse sights and childish conversation.

Let your head be surcharged with light and all wicked thoughts will flee therefrom. Imagine that the light is in you more and more intensely. Let it shine all around you and let it spread from you in ever widening circles, taking in your loved ones, your kith and kin, your friends and companions, your enemies and rivals, strangers, all living beings, the entire world.

"Since the light illumines all the senses every day so deeply and so systematically, a time will soon come when you can no more relish dark and evil sights, yearn for dark and sinister tales, crave for base, harmful, deadening toxic food and drink, handle dirty demeaning things, approach places of ill-fame and injury, or frame evil designs against anyone at any time. Stay on in that thrill of witnessing the light everywhere.

If you are adoring God in any form now, try to visualize that form in the all-pervasive light. For Light is God; God is Light.

"Practice this meditation as I have advised regularly every day. At other times repeat the name of God (any Name fragrant with any of His many Majesties), always taking care to be conscious of His might, mercy, and munificence."

Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol X (Old edition, pages 348-350)