As Is The Feeling,
So Is The Result.
Come, I am the repairer of broken hearts and damaged four-fold instruments of mind, intellect, memory, and ego. I am like the smith, who welds, mends and sets right. The Lord will be waiting outside the door of the worship room of the devotee, anxious to fulfil their wish! Verily, one who has the Lord as his Servant — that one is the real Lord! Only do not allow your faith to falter. Do not become a slave to others; no, not even to God. Test. Test, examine, and experience. When you find God, demand as if it is your right. But before you get that right, you should appear for the examination and pass, is it not? I set tests not as a punishment or because I enjoy putting you into trouble but just to give you the joy of passing! Also, do not yield to despair or become dejected. It is My resolve (sankalpa) that you progress in spiritual development. I have collected all of you and I shall lay the concrete foundation and build the walls and erect the roof and complete the mansion. My resolve never proves ineffective.
- Sathya Sai Baba – Divine Discourse, October 17, 1961 / Daily Email, Sai Inspires: Subscription
The way of living matters, not the standard of life.
Uncertainty is God. Embrace it. Ego is the great betrayer. It operates through the mind. Crucify ego by filling the mind with thoughts of God and Dharma. Whatever is happening, want Dharma to happen.
Vicious men and women want to fill the mind with uncertainty and despair and the heart with hate and fury. Let uncertainty and despair be welcomed and hate and fury left to Him Who, alone, knows how to use those qualities, when, and where.
In all circumstances, be loyal to your parents and siblings, their parents and siblings, your country’s constitution, the institutions your constitution establishes, and your country’s very land herself. Foster all three: land, family, constitution. Pin your loyalty irrevocably to these.
I am uncertain the outcome of the array of felonious actions that bent the recent national election. I am certain POTUS Trump won that election, going away as they say, like Secretariat at the Belmont Stakes race on June 9, 1973. The felonies were so deep and wide as to invalidate the election results amassed or announced in numerous states.
I am certain The Almighty has the situation in hand, that He guides it for our welfare, and that I, especially my mind and heart, can relax on that account.
Certain also am I that the way through any tribulation is loyalty to one’s chain of command. Down as well as up it. For each of us has the same chain of command: land, family, and constitution. Mundane families differ, but land and the constitution are the same for all of us of each country. And ultimately, so is the family: each of us shares the same Father and belongs to the same Brotherhood of Humanity.
All of us share one and almost all of us also share several other of our Seven Mothers:
Mother Earth
Mother Cow
Mother Scripture
Mother Religion
Mother Language
Mother Country
Natural Mother
Every person on earth has the same Mother Earth. Almost every person on earth has the same Mother Cow. Very many persons on earth have the same Mother Scripture. Large numbers of persons on earth have the same Mother Religion. Many persons on earth have the same Mother Language. Variously-sized numbers of persons on earth have the same Mother Country. Very few persons on earth have the same Natural Mother.
The point is, a human personality is loyal to their mothers, all seven of them, and also, a human personality honors and venerates other human personalities because of the mothers they share in common as well as recognition of the loyalty each owes to the mothers they do not share.
If you disagree with a course of action being undertaken by a superior in your chain of command, say so to them directly. Never disobey them, plot against them, or lay stratagems to divert them from the course they have chosen. Speak straight up what you think and leave it at that. If you feel the need, leave the chain of command you think is headed wrongly, say so to your superior and leave it at that. Do not stir passions against a superior among peers in or others outside of your chain of command. Speak plainly what you believe and leave it at that.
Take Benedict Arnold, Sally Yates, Peter Strzok, and Mark Esper for counter-illustration of the importance of loyalty. All four disgraced themselves, albeit in different ways. Arnold subverted his superior. Yates disobeyed her superior. Strzok self-elevated above his superior. Esper refused to obey his superior. All three earned approval from their confrères. And no one, including their confrères, will ever trust them again.
Disloyal once, disloyal always, potentially. Arnold went and Yates, Strzok, and Esper will go through life now holding court to myriad audiences, all quietly wishing they could actually admire this person for having been honorable and noble, and always knowing — that bittersweet sinking / grasping feeling — that their hope is forlorn. Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus.
Be always loyal in your chain of command. Down it as well as up it. This way you can be certain to be well-brought through bouts of uncertainty and well-preserved from falling into bouts of hubris and stupidity.
Chandramathi was a woman of sterling character. She always followed her husband, Harishchandra. When they were passing through difficulties, she infused courage in him saying, “Oh king, you are highly intelligent and educated. You should never give scope to weakness and waver from your chosen path. We are swimming in the ocean of truth. We should not give up our resolve till we reach the shores.” In this manner, women of those days would encourage their husbands to follow the path of truth. Sita did not shed tears even in extremely trying circumstances. Though surrounded by demons, she was never afraid of them. She spent her time in the contemplation of Lord Rama, and thus set an ideal. The same can be said of Damayanti. She was one of virtues. With her strong determination, she helped her husband regain his kingdom. In this manner, women of those days earned a name for themselves with their sterling character and ideal motherhood. Today’s women should make them role models.
- Sathya Sai Baba – Divine Discourse, November 19, 2002 / Daily Email, Sai Inspires: Subscription
Βασιλεία του Θεού