Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s Message to Youth

My Dear Youth!

From sleep you wake, to sleep you go again. In between two periods of sleep you are engaged in activity, activity which is just aimed at filling bellies. Life is not lived by satisfying physical hunger only. It is an opportunity to remember, cherish and seek the presence of God. The world stage is full of characters. The Lord, the Director, has cast each one in a separate role. One ought to learn to perform one’s role perfectly. This can be done only if the Director is obeyed to the letter, to each and every direction of His. Anything done against His direction by the character in the drama of life renders the individual useless and desolate. Ego and attachment are the two things that bar one from obeying the Director’s commands.

 

Out of his exhaustion and despair, Arjuna surrendered himself, confessed his ignorance and sought Krishna’s guidance. As long as the feeling of “I” and “Mine” reign over the individual, the Lord shall not step into the precincts of one’s heart. So, learn to live for the satisfaction of one’s real Self by becoming selfless. Self-confidence, self-sacrifice, self-satisfaction and self-realisation are the guide posts to the fruition of life. Self-confidence is the foundation, self-sacrifice is the top, self-satisfaction is the pillar and self-realisation is the mansion.

 

It is not enough if one earns a university degree; One should strive to earn the Universal Degree. In order to become near and dear to the Lord, one should become either like the flue or like a pair of chappals (sandals). The chappals bear all the weight of the person who wears them as well as the pain of the thorns, shrubs and pebbles on the ground underneath. Learn to cultivate fortitude, patience and love, and seek to give and live.

 

It is better and easier to become the flute. The flute is hallow, devoid of likes and dislikes, desire, anger, envy, malice and greed, of me and mine. Have the goal clear before you and strive to reach it. Your advancement is measured by the yardstick of self-control. The ear must hear, the eye must see, the tongue must taste, the hands must work, and the legs must walk according to the dictates of the Atma.