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108 Quotations on Faith in God
From
Sri Sathya Sai Baba's Divine Discourses
–
34 –
Yajnas
and yagas, acts of charity and virtue, penances and
ceremonial rituals are all designed to promote purity of heart.
Purity of mind promotes purity of heart. Purity of mind is
achieved by association with noble personages and studying the
writings of saintly persons. "Chittasya suddhaye karmah"--the
purpose of doing karmas (the duly ordained duties) is to
purify the consciousness. Purity of consciousness leads to
realisation of the Self. Atma Jnana can be got only by
faith. Develop faith in yourself and faith in God. This is the
secret of greatness.
Self-confidence today is manifest only in matters relating to
worldly achievements and selfcentered pursuits. Faith and
confidence are not in evidence in the spiritual field. Without
unwavering faith, the Divine cannot be experienced. Because of the
absence of firm faith, the formal observance of spiritual
practices yields no results.
The primary requisite is unqualified and unshakable faith in God.
One-pointed devotion promotes spiritual Sraddha
(earnestness). The earnest seeker gets knowledge of the Self. The
earnest devotee needs no other qualification except deep faith. He
needs no other knowledge, no title to lineage or wealth. He may
belong to any caste or community. He may be a child or even an
animal like Gajendra (the Lord of the elephants). Valimiki, Nanda,
Kuchela, Dhruva, Gajendra, Sabari, Vidura and Hanuman are examples
of devotees who got God's grace through their deep devotion, without
any other special qualification.
To realise God it is not necessary to have wealth, gold or other
emblems of affluence. Nor is great scholarship necessary. All that
is needed is pure, selfless devotion. Today men with selfish and
impure minds attempt to worship God. Without purity of thought,
speech and action, it is impossible to experience the Divine. God
cannot be realised through ostentation and self-conceit. The
basic-requisite is the shedding of selfishness and possessiveness so
that one can engage oneself in actions in a disinterested spirit.
Any person is entitled to embark on this quest without regard to
sex, age, caste or community.
– Sri
Sathya Sai Baba
From: Sri Sathya Sai
Baba's Divine Discourse on 6.10.1986
Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume XIX, Chapter 20: Atma Jnana,
Section: Atma Jnana can be got only by faith and love
Online:
http://sathyasai.org/search/volume19/sss19-20.pdf
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