Man is called so because he has the capacity to enjoy Manana or inward contemplation of the meaning and significance of what he has heard; not only this capacity, but also the urge to the inner life. (SSS Vol.2, p. 149)
Man is a mixture of two strands of the same substance, Maya andMadhava; Moha and Rama, Deha andDehi, Jada and Cit, Sariram and Sariri, Jiva and Brahman. Like the two circular stones of the grinding mill, the Brahman one is stable, the Jiva one is revolving. The stable is the base; the revolving is dependent. (SSS Vol.5, p. 20)
Man is the monarch of all animals; his is the most glorious chance among all living beings. Though the elephant lives longer, the lion is more fierce, the eagle more far-seeing, the cock more punctual in early rising, the cow more imbued with the spirit of sacrifice, man has in him vaster potentialities which can be brought out by proper culture. If only he intensifies his thirst for God, he can live in perpetual content, instead of grovelling in perpetual discontent, pining for land, buildings, bank balance, furniture, status, power, authority and all such trivial satisfactions. (SSS Vol.5, p. 238)
Man is inherently Divine: he ought therefore to demonstrate in thought, word and deed the Divine attributes of Love, Tolerance, Compassion and Humanity. God is Truth; man too must live in Truth. God is Love; man too must live in Love, eschewing anger. Master hatred through Love; master anger through sweet Tolerance. (SSS Vol.8, p. 156)
Man, it is said, is a monkey that has lost its tail. Well, he must lose many more attributes of the monkey before he is entitled to call himself man. He must dedicate his thoughts, words and deeds to God, and surrender to His Will. Then only is this animal entitled to become a Man, in whom the Divine is enshrined. (SSS Vol.8, p. 153)
The Jagat or Cosmos was created by God out of Himself, so that He is the originator as well as the material of the Cosmos. As a result, He is Full (Paripurna). The creation is also Full, and the individual Atma is also Full. Man is fundamentally Atma; but he has the encasement of a body. The Cosmos and all Creation are but the billion bodies of God. He is this and in all this; but He is changeless and eternal. Nature is amenable to change. The Atma too can contract or expand, blossom or fade, shine or be befogged. Bad deeds will diminish its splendour by clouding its brilliance. Its innate and genuine Truth and Wisdom may be hidden by evil thoughts and deeds. Those acts and practices that can disclose the native splendour and glory of the Atma are termed ‘good’. The Atma is unbound at first, but later it is rendered limited and restricted. Through good deeds and activities, it resumes its vastness and boundlessness. Everyone without any exception has the opportunity to achieve this transformation. When the time is ripe; every one can succeed in this and can liberate himself from the bounds and bonds. But the Jagat (Cosmos) will not end. That is eternal, incapable of being destroyed. (SSVahini, pp. 65-66)
Man should be (1) full of devotion (2) prepared to enjoy suffering (3) eager to serve the Lord (4) free from the attachment to the transitory, (5) of correct conduct, (6) charitable, (7) having an unsullied reputation, (8) with no blemish on his character, (9) fully content, (10) endowed with all the virtues, (11) equipped with the fruits of learning, (12) ripe with wisdom, (13) self-controlled, (14) adorned with commendable social traits, (15) moved by humanity, and (16) fully dedicated to God. (SSS Vol.1, p. 162)
Man is Atma-Swarupa, of the nature of Atma, which is Truth, Beauty, Goodness, Peace and Love. But he craves against his nature for the false, fleeting, the crude, the inert and the chaotic. This is demeaning and disgraceful. Man must turn his face away from these and seek in himself the source of strength and joy. He must always have God, of whom he is an expression, in view, when he does any act. (SSS Vol. 6, p. 36)
Man has become the bond slave of lower instincts and desires. He is unable to distinguish between the low urges of lust and the elevating urge of love. Prema or Love is the first step on the road that leads to Divine Grace. But man wallows in lust for physical comfort and pleasure; he is haunted by that nefarious companion of lust, called anger. When lust is frustrated, anger overtakes him and he becomes bestial and even demonic; when lust envelops the heart of man, truth, justice; compassion and peace flee from it. (SSS Vol.8, p. 107)
Man is born with a great thirst, a deep hunger – for bliss. He knows he can get it, but he knows not from where. He has faint memories of his being the heir to the kingdom of ananda. But, he does not know how to establish his claim to his heritage. Something in him revolts when he is condemned to die, to suffer, and to hate. It whispers to him that he is the child of immortality of bliss, of love. But, man ignores these promptings, and, like one who exchanges diamonds for dirt, he runs in search of meaner pleasures and sordid comforts. (SSS Vol.5, p. 343)
Man must live his days without despair and unlimited desire. You should be levelheaded, without exulting when fortune smiles, drooping when misfortune frowns. Teach your children this hard lesson. (SSS Vol.5, p. 349)
Man is divine; he has the Lord dwelling in his heart, but yet he is bound, miserable, limited, weak, agitated. Why? He is ignorant of his reality. He imagines himself weak; limited, bound arid he is so shaped by the mind, which is the source of that imagination. (SSS Vol.5, p. 203)
Man is fundamentally Divine, and so, naturally, the more he manifests the Divine Attributes of Love, Justice, Truth and Peace, the more ananda he is able to enjoy and impart. The less he manifests them; the more ashamed he ought to be, that he is living counter to his heritage. (SSS Vol.5, p. 217)
Morality, truth and sacredness of your heart and pursuit of self are qualities, which you should have and these are the things, which will entitle you to be called a man. We can assert without any fear of contradiction that the man who has lost fear of sin and love of God is only a man in form, and at the core, he is not a human being. (SSB 1976, p. 74)
Man means he who marches from the status of self towards the all-inclusive Self, from Atma to Paramatma. (SSS Vol. 15, p. 49)
In the very word ‘Manava’ which stands for man, we are able to see the Divinity that is present in man. Manava, the word, has got three syllables. The first one, ‘Ma’, stands for ‘Ajnana’ or ignorance or absence of knowledge. The second one, ‘Na’, stands for the desire that ignorance and absence of knowledge should disappear. The third one, ‘Va’, conveys the injunction that one should conduct oneself in a manner as to remove ignorance. Our ignorance is equivalent to, or synonymous with, death. Thus there is no meaning in our attributing ignorance to man. (SSB 1972, p. 10)
To be born as a man is a very sacred thing. ‘Jantunam Nara Janma Durlabham’. That is, among all the animals that are born, to be born as a man is something very difficult and very sacred. Even devas at one time want to have a human birth. One must make the determination to use all the organs in the body for sacred purposes. (SSS 1974, p. 228-229)
Man is essentially Divine. (UV, p. 1)
Man cannot live in isolation like a drop of oil on water surface. He is a product of society. He has to live in it, grow with it and work for it. Human birth is supposed to be a rare one, not easily granted to the animal world. (SSS Vol.9, p. 199)
Man has not come for food. After man is born, food becomes a necessity. Therefore food has come for man. We should eat to live and not live to eat. We have come to proclaim the truth and stand by Dharma. That is what we have to bear in mind and this is our purpose in the world. (SSB 1973, p. 233)
Man, alone has the chance to liberate himself from the wheel of birth and death, through the pleasant means of serving God. But as a result of ignorance, or what is worse, perversity, he lets the opportunity slip from his hands, and suffers grief and pain, fear and anxiety, ad infinitum.
By escaping from the clutches of the fascination exercised by material objects and physical pleasures, man can succeed in his efforts to liberate himself. He has travelled long enough on the wrong road; it is time now to turn back and move steadily towards the goal. The love that he has cultivated for men and things has to be sublimated into pure, divine worship. Then it gets transmuted as bhakti. Convince yourself that the Lord is in you, as the charioteer, holding the reins of the five horses (the senses) and giving you constant counsel, as he did when Arjuna prayed to Him, to lead and guide. Then it becomes easy for you to convince yourself that the self-same charioteer is leading and guiding all other men and even all other beings. When you are established in this faith firmly, you become free from hate and malice, greed and envy, anger and attachment. (SSS Vol. 6, p. 60)
Man is unaware of his glory. He is the Divine poured into the human mould, just as everything else, alive or inert is, but it is the privilege of man alone, to be able to become aware of this precious truth! This is the Message of Upanishads to Man, yet man turns a deaf ear to it, perhaps due to his own misfortune created by his own misdeeds in past lives. He can derive ananda through the contemplation of his Divinity, or the Divine as represented by all that he sees, hears, tastes, touches or smells outside himself. ‘Sarvam brahmamayam’ - Brahman is imminent in all. (SSS Vol.8, p. 111)
Man has passed through many animal lives before he has come as man on earth. Strains of animal nature such as cruelty, anger, greed, hatred, ignorance of higher ideals etc still persist in him. Man is many animals in one. He has the jackal, the buffalo, the tiger, the elephant – all in him. He must cast off these traits from his composition. When he indulges in needless and useless controversy on matters beyond his understanding, he is announcing himself as a sheep; when he jumps from one idea to another, from one ideal to another, from one project to another, without fully involving himself in any, he is exhibiting the nature of the monkey. (SSS Vol. 10, pp. 136-137)
When we speak of man, we should consider him as the combination of body, mind and Spirit (Atma). The body is an instrument for performing actions. Mind is faculty that determines what is right or wrong. The Atma (Spirit) is that which is ever pure, unchanging and permanent. ‘Man’ implies three things: doing, knowing, being. It is when the body, the mind and the Atma are present in union that a human being can be said to exist. When the body alone acts, without regard to the mind and the Atma, that person is said to be in the animal state (Pashutvam). When the mind alone acts in association with the body, without regard to the Atma, that condition is described as ‘demonic’ (Danavatvam). When the Atma functions according to its true nature, without concern for the body and the mind, that state is described as ‘Daivatvam’ (oneness with the Divine).
Hence, man has in him these four possibilities: animality, humanness, demonic nature and divinity.
‘Brahmanishtaratho devah’, says a Vedic aphorism. This means that one who is ever immersed in the contemplation of the Supreme (Brahman) is divine. Such a person is ever dedicated to righteousness and integrity and leads a life of purity. Ever seeking to be helpful to others, he showers love on all and does no harm to anyone.
‘Satyanityaratho marthyah’. ‘One who is always wedded to Truth is a true man’. This means that one who adheres to truth and righteous conduct in daily life is alone entitled to be called a man.
The third category is described a ‘Madhyapanorathah daanavah’. One who is addicted to intoxicating drinks and meat eating and leads a sensuous life is a demonic being. Such a person is intensely selfish and has no feeling or consideration for others. A wicked person, swayed by evil motives and evil actions, is described as a demon.
ahara-nidra-bhaya-maithunam cha, samanyam etad pashubhir naranam
dharmo hi tesham adhiko vishesho. dharmena hina pashubhih samanah
(Mahabharata)
The fourth category consists of beings who only lead a life devoted to eating, sleeping and sexual indulgence with no awareness of real meaning of human existence. Such ignorant beings have been described as equal to animals. (Pashubhih-samanah). Such persons are immersed in sensual pleasures. The senses should be regarded as instruments for rendering service to others. The foolish idea that all pleasures consist in indulgence of sensual appetites should be given up. Only animals are content to derive all satisfaction from the senses alone. Hence every man should firmly declare,’ I am a man and not an animal’. Only when he has this double conviction, will man cease to be an animal and assert his humanness. Unfortunately today men claim to be human, but are engaged in animal activities. (SSS Vol.24, p. 159)
Men are called ‘Magollu’ in Telugu. They go on turning and talk as they like. These are gollu (round stones), they are doolu (drums). So they do not know where to go, why to go, what to do and they are forgetting the morality. The women don’t know how to keep peace and silence, get peace and silence. Things will improve if both men and women drive away these qualities. (DTB Vol.4, p. 15)
Man has in him all the Bliss, as well as all the equipment needed to unravel it; but he is caught in dire ignorance of his own inner resources. He can have Supreme Peace but, he does not strive to earn it; his attempts are weakened by doubt and indecision, and so, they are doomed to failure. Of course, there is the flow of water underneath the ground. But, how can we benefit by it unless efforts are made to dig down into that. source? A good deal of desire-for-sense-satisfaction has to be removed before that inner spring of peace and joy can be tapped. (SSS Vol.12, p. 89)
Man is he, who is pure in mind and body. The demon, on the other hand, is he who has let himself be invaded by the internal enemies such as lust,anger, envy and jealousy, and who manifests these negative qualities: Why, we ask ourselves, has man forgotten his true nature? Because he looks for that which does not exist, the transitory, and not for the permanent and the ever lasting: He has let himself be deceived by his senses. He has forgotten God and has deceived himself with the world. But man cannot live without God! God and man are inextricably linked together. That which God has united, and is one forever and ever, cannot be separated by man’s distorted vision. What must be done is to correct such a vision and learn to see unity in diversity. ‘Men live on earth in order to learn, first of all the art of being human, and then, to learn the art of being divine. Seen this way, life is a marvellous adventure, where man’s every action, every thought and every word can manifest the Divinity, which is latent in him. The harmony of creation is within the man who has reached the highest peaks of spiritual wisdom and which is then manifested through his words, thoughts and actions; God is within man’s reach. It is said that God is as near man as his ears are to his eyes. The eye cannot see Him, but He is there, and He listens...’ Only God can redeem man, only in God is his salvation, only in God will man find his true happiness! Man needs God! Many people ask; if God is present on earth, why does He do nothing to get rid of evils such as hunger, famine, illness and some say, even death?’ He (Baba) told us: ‘I have not come to take these things away, but rather to teach you, the way to face them. There is no effect without a cause. The egoism of man is the cause of all your evils.’
‘The law of karma, or action-consequence, operates ruthlessly in every action, with its result, in every thought with its vibration, in every word, with its echo or resound. Do not blame God and His laws, which are perfect, but those who infringe them! ‘Mother Nature is perfectly able to nourish all Her children’. Resources are not lacking, only man’s egoism is responsible for the huge plague that is hunger which stares in the eyes of people of the so-called ‘under-developed’ countries, with a tremendous accusation, which makes us, feel ashamed of ourselves. It would be enough, if the great nations stop their senseless race towards armaments, the stupid and useless conquest of space, to re-establish the equilibrium.’ (SS Apr 95 , April 1995, p. 93)
Man is an amalgam of body, mind and spirit. The senses of perception and action, which form the components of the body, are busy contacting the objective world. The mind-consciousness of the various levels, the faculty of reason and the ego - examines, experiences and judges. It decides after discrimination, which word or deed will be beneficial, favourable, fruitful and felicitous. It attempts to separate the good from the bad, the punya (piety) from Papa (sin), the true from the false, the permanent from the momentary. The spirit or the Self in the Atma is unaffected, stable and foundational. Its quality is ‘Isness’ (Sat) but is ever aware, ever conscious (cit). And when the consciousness is pure and unchanging, the state is undiluted felicity, delight or bliss (ananda).
What is the purpose of life, for man? What has to be his highest achievement? Tennyson has extolled ‘Self reverence, Self knowledge, Self control’ (these three alone lead man in sovereign power) as the ultimate goal. The feeling ‘I’ has to be retained until it is submerged in the ‘We’ and finally in ‘He’ from whom it was projected at His Will. This is an arduous process, which requires a long journey through compassion, renunciation, rectitude, fortitude and patience. These are the five vital airs which purposeful living needs. All these are subsumed under the word, ‘Dama’, in the scriptures. The person endowed with ‘Dama’ is named ‘danta’, indicating an adept in Vedanta! These five are the counterparts of Truth, Righteousness, Peace, Love and Non-violence. (SSS Vol.17, p. 97)
‘... Man was long born and died a mineral, and then he promated himself to a tree. He was then long born a tree and died a tree. He rose next to an animal and now he has reached the height of man. This rise from one scale to another has been acknowledged by science and spiritual experience. (NGM, pp. 11-12)
Man incarnates in this world in five different forms. They are described as Nityavatara, Viseshavatara, Aviseshavatara, Leelavatara and Purnavatara. The Leelavatara is also called Amsavatara. The first three Avatars are only partial aspects of divinity, reflecting the fifth and ninth attributes of the divine. It is only the Purnavatara, which has all the sixteen aspects of the divine resplendent in him. The ancients believed that only the one who had all the sixteen divine attributes can be considered as God. The sum and substance of this is that every human being may be considered as an Avatar. Avatar is the descending of the divine to the earth. God cannot be found and cannot give his vision in any different form for human beings. An elephant, a rat or a man may go to an ocean of grace and may fill themselves with grace. They may be compared to a vessel. The grace of the Lord can be filled only upto the capacity of the vessel itself There is some difference in the containers but there is no difference in the content. That is why it is said that it is the same God who is found in every human being. Everyone is an aspect of an Avatar. Respect every human being. Love every human being. Love is not something that can be cultivated as a crop. Love cannot be sold in a market or a shop. Whether it is a government or a citizen, when they give up their ego and prepare themselves for sacrifice, there emerges love. So long as you identify yourself with the physical body you are not you. So long as you are separate from me, you are not you. There is no room for you in me. There is only one heart. Our heart is not a bed for two people to rest. It is not a double sofa bed, or even a musical chair. Ekam Sat, Viprah Bahudha Vadanti. That sacred heart is only one, not two. Giving up the feeling, of difference that you and I are difierent, loving unity and divinity, when you experience divinity, then you are yourself an Avatar Purusha. (Div, pp. 16-18)
Every time the hand is lifted, lift it for Him. If you lift the hand to serve, to help, to console, to encourage another man, you are lifting it for God, because in every man there is God. (FG, p. 65)
Man is not a machine, contrived by clever combination of legs and hands, head and heart, mind and matter. In these and over these, there is a immanent but yet transcendent Entity which is called Atma, the Overself. (SSS Vol.11, p. 21)
Man is not just a creature with hands and feet and eyes and ears and head and trunk. He is much more than the total of all these organs and parts. They are but the crude image that carne out of the mould. Later, they have to be ground and scraped, polished, perfected, smoothened and softened through the intellect and higher impulses and the pure intentions and ideals. Then man becomes the ideal candidate for Divinity, which is his real destiny. The impulses will be rendered pure and intentions will be raised to the higher level, if man but decides to dedicate all his deeds, words and thoughts to the Lord. For this, faith in One Supreme intelligence, which conceives, conserves and consumes this Unverse, is necessary. (SSS Vol.5, p. 174)
One who overcomes M (Maya), attains A (Atma, Self) and enjoys N (Nirvana, Bliss). (Uniq, p. 171)
Man should realise his reality. The body is given to him for performing his duty. What kind of duty? ‘Paropakaram Artham Idam Sariram’ (This body is given for helping others). So your duty is to help others. But people don’t cherish this broad outlook. (SSS Vol.26, p. 30)
Man is the most valuable being in the Universe. He is also the creator of all values. (SSS Vol.16, p. 28)
The nature of man is a mixture of progressive and regressive characteristics. He must take note of this and foster the former, to the exclusion of the latter. The will to renounce, to share, to give up, is a precious virtue. (SSS Vol.17, p. 30)
Buddha proclaimed that the word ‘man’ should be interpreted thus: -
M - Stands for Maya, which has to be controlled and got over.
A - Stands for Atma - understand the Atmic
N - Stands for Nirvana - Attain Nirvana.
When you get over the illusion of maya and understand ‘Atma’, you get ‘Nirvana’ -liberation. Therefore, Buddha preached sense control and eradication of desires as of primary importance. He advocated good vision, good speech, good hearing, good action, good thoughts as essential for human beings. (SSS Vol.31, p. 92)
Today, man has made himself into a ‘Cinematic’ man. (MA-NI-SI if reversed, becomes Si-Ni-Ma, meaning movies). Everything he does is steeped in artificiality. Hence he becomes a slave to his senses. The man who restrains his mind is a real man. The man who has not conquered his mind is a man-in-form, but not a man-in-reality. Only when he controls the mind completely, he can be called a true man. (SSB 1993, p. 79)
Avatars of the Lord in these different forms have been manifesting themselves for aeons and aeons. This may be quite astonishing to children of today. For instance, when they hear about the state of things in the Krita Yuga they will feel that they are amazing and incredible. Human beings in that age used to live for hundreds of years. Moreover, their bodies were not as small as in this age. They were gigantic figures, with arms as long as six feet. What kind of life did they lead? In the Krita Yuga, life remained in the body as long as the bones were intact. All other parts of the body may disintegrate, but life remained in the skeleton.
In Treta-Yuga, the height of human beings was less. The longevity was also less. Life remained as long as muscles and flesh remained in the body. In DwaparaYuga, life remained as long as blood circulated in the body. As you may know, Bhishma lay on a bed of arrows after he had been wounded in the Kurukshetra war. As long as blood remained in his body, he lived. His life lasted for 56 days. In the present Kali Yuga, life lasts as long as there is food in the body. Without food man cannot survive.
In Krita and Treta Yugas, men had intimate relationship with God. Food was not so important. In Dwapara Yuga, the head became important. In the Krita and Treta yugas, Dharma was all-important. Dharma mulam idam jagat (The cosmos is based on Dharma). In Dwapara Yuga, the decline started and wealth became all important. Dhana mulam idam jagat (The world is founded on wealth). The war between the Kauravas and the Pandavas was over property rights.
In the Kali Yuga, neither Dharma nor Dhana (wealth) is as important as Daya (compassion). It is because of the absence of compassion that the world today is afflicted with so many troubles. (SSS Vol.29, pp. 303-304)
As science and technology are on the rise, peace and security are on decline. Today’s student is increasing his desires and losing his peace of mind. In today’s student, the aspect of introspection is missing. Extrovertness is seen in many ways. Today’s student should inquire, ‘Who is a man? What are the qualities of man?’ Man is one who has gratitude. One who has faith. You will develop faith only when you follow what you want to believe. Man should recognize that he is sacred being. You have to recognize the essence of this sacredness first.
The word ‘Pavitra’ originates from the Latin word ‘vir’. ‘Vir’ means man. Man is one who is sacred. The actions of such a man should also be sacred. These are the characteristics of a sacred man. The proper study of mankind is man. Even though a man may have had a great education and held high posts, be should develop good qualities along with these achievements. We can inquire into the Divinity of man in still another way. In Roman countries, after Christianity developed, man was called ‘persona.’ ‘Person’ means Divinity which has descended on earth. So as Divinity is there in each and every person, a human being is known as ‘persona’. ‘Persona’ in Latin later became ‘person’ in English.
This word person in English is ‘Paurusha’ in Telugu or Sanskrit. This proves the personality of a person. What do you mean by personality? Just one’s physical appearance is not one’s personality. Because of the inherent presence of Divinity in man, he has a personality. If a man manifests Divinity in him, he can also be called ‘Vyakti’ (person). (M, pp. 80-81)
Punyasya phalam ichchanti
Punyam nechchanti manvaaha|
Na papa phalam ichchanti
Paapam kurvanti yatnataha
(Mahabharata)
Man desires good results, but does not perform meritorious deeds. He does not want the fruits of bad actions, yet he plunges into undesirable activities. (D.D. 24.11.98-P2)
Moham hitva priyo bhavati
Krodham hitva na shochati
Kamam hitva arthavan bhavati
Lobham hitva sukhi bhavati.
He who has ego is not loved by anyone;
He who has anger ceases to discriminate;
He who has excessive desires cannot control his mind;
He who has greed cannot taste happiness. (Sanskrit Verse)
As long as man has ego nobody will love him. Even his own wife and children will shun him. When anger erupts in man he ceases to happy. Excessive desires make him lose control over his mind. The day man distances himself from greed he will enjoy happiness. (SSB 2002, p. 51)
Etti vidya lu Jagatini Eruganatti Pakshi jatulu Pashuvulu
Paramamaina Niyamamunnu Booni Jeevancha Nerchiyunda,
Telivi Galgina Manujunaku Ee Telvi Lede!
Although devoid of knowledge or education, birds and beasts
Learn to live in accordance with the divine law.
But man, despite his intelligence, does not have this sense! (SSB 1995, p. 116)
Ignorance is on the rise with the progress of Science. Truly speaking science has not matured. Man has become senseless. All the trials and tribulations faced in this world were due to the so-called development in science and technology. It is not technology but it is ‘tricknology’. Do not become a slave to such technology. Uphold truth and righteousness. Cultivate love and experience divinity. (SSP p.189)
Manavas or Men are full of Prema or love. Their hearts are springs of Mercy. They are endowed with True Speech Peace is he characteristic of the mind of man. That is the innate quality of the mind. In order to search for Peace there is no need to go anywhere else. As gold and silver lie hidden under the earth and pearl and coral under the sea. Peace and Joy also lie hidden in the activities of the Mind. Desirous of acquiring these hidden treasures, if one dives and turns mental activities inward, then, he becomes full of prema or love. Only those who have so filled with themselves with Love and who live in the light of that Love can be called Men. Those devoid of Prema are Danavas, Monsters, Sub-humans. That holy quality of Love will not remain unmanifested off and on; it will be ever present, without change. It’s one and indivisible. Those saturated with Love are incapable of spite, selfishness, injustice, wrong and misconduct; but, in those who have no Love, above qualities are always above everything else.
(Prema Vahini, p. 50)
Man must demonstrate his superiority over the animal, by conquer over the senses. He must wriggle out of his animal shackles and assert his ‘humanity’, which essentially, ‘divinity’. (SSS Vol.5, p. 135)
When man makes mind his master
It burdens him, worse than any beast;
When man makes buddhi his master
It raises him, high as Lord of the Living.
Will the good, and you are happy.
Will the bad, and you are sad and lost.
Don’t will at all, and be at peace
This is the Truth, the word of Sai.
(SSS Vol. 15, p. 1)
Man wastes his childhood in fun and frolic.
In youth, his life is wasted by indulging in sensual pleasures.
In middle age, man submerges himself in
materialistic pleasures and struggles all the time to earn wealth
In old age, he laments over the lack of this or that and does not think of God.
Without any interest in the path of devotion,
He is bogged down in the cycle of cause and effect and thus ruins his life.
(SSS Vol.33, pp. 329-330)
Man is really not different from In-dweller, and the individual is God Himself. Goodness lies in seeing Narayana (God) in Nara (man). On the other hand, man today revels in seeing God as just man. Such perception arises from an utter lack of faith, and is considered to be height of intellectual reasoning. People think that it is important to achieve greatness; it is far more important to be good than to be great. The truly good one sees God in every human being. The evil one, on the other hand, reduces even the Divine to mundane levels. Such a one can be described as Ravana. Ravana mistook God to be an ordinary human, quite in contrast to Sage Narada who always saw Narayana in Nara. Every individual has Divine power latent within. (SSB 2000, pp. 80-81)
Man is not but God
There is the story of a young man who was riding a cycle on a dark night along a crowded road;
the policeman on duty asked him to stop and alight, for, he had no lamp on his cycle. The fellow, however, shouted, ‘Policeman! Keep away. Of course, I have no lamp; but, beware, I have no brake, either!’ That is the pathetic’ condition of every one now. No one has the lamp of wisdom, or the brake of sense-control. How then can they go along the road to ananda (divine bliss), without causing injury to themselves or others? The cyclist must have both; man too has need of wisdom and self-control. Or else, he is certain to ruin this chance he has got to save himself.
Man has been sent into the world, in order that he may use the time and the opportunity to realise the truth that he is not man, but God. The wave dances with the wind, basks in the Sun, frisks in the rain, imagining it is playing on the breast of the Sea; it does not know that it is the Sea itself. Until it realises that truth, it will be tossed up and down; when it knows it, it can lie calm and collected at peace with itself. (SSS Vol.9, pp. 58-59)
Man is blinded by the objective world and he believes that world to be real, meaningful and worthy of pursuit. The cataract grows in the eye and robs it of its efficiency. The cataract is the enemy of the eye. Ignorance, the cataract of the inner eye, blinds the intellect and robs it of its efficiency. So, it cannot see the divinity that is your real nature. It misleads you into the impression that you are a man (Manava), whereas you are really God (Madhava). (SSS Vol.4)