Satsang by Swami Sivananda Saraswati
Love is the hope of this world. Love is dynamic. It always expresses itself through untiring selfless service. Love does not envy. Love suffers long. Love is kind. Love is not puffed up. Love is the greatest power on this earth. Love unites. Love always gives. Love never bargains. In the cultivation of cosmic love is individual spiritual progress, the welfare of the community and the peace of the whole world.
* * *
Sins can be destroyed by charity. Lord Jesus says, "Charity covers a multitude of sins." In the Bhagavad Gita you will find, "Yajna, charity and austerity are the purifiers of the
intelligent." See God everywhere. Share with all. Give the major portion to others. Your heart will expand and be purified. You will have a new wide vision. You will experience an indescribable thrill of divine ecstasy and spiritual bliss. This will give you tremendous inner strength.
* * *
Kindness delights in contributing to the happiness and welfare of others. A kind person is good-natured, friendly, tender and accommodating. Kindness is the cheapest of all things. A kind look, a kind word, a kind act, a friendly smile all cost nothing but bring to others happiness which money cannot buy. They are priceless in their value. Do kind acts now. Do not procrastinate. Kindness is like a healing balm. It soothes suffering. Just as little drops of water make the mighty ocean, little acts of kindness make an ocean of goodwill. Kindness is the language the deaf can hear and the dumb understand. Kindness is a direct passport to the kingdom of Eternal Bliss.
* * *
Although thousands of rupees came as donations for the divine work, I never concerned myself as to whether anything was left for the next day. Sometimes my disciples would be alarmed when they observed me giving as much as a hundred rupees to a beggar. "Let him enjoy," I would say. "He has never known what enjoyment is in life."
* * *
All wealth belongs to the Lord. It is a sin to hoard money. One who lives only as a trustee of his property and spends his money for the good of others thinks that the property really belongs to the Lord. He feels that God gives through his hands. He lives happily and attains eternal peace. Just as the water of the Ganga cannot decrease if thirsty people drink it, so also your wealth cannot decrease if you give it to others. Give one-tenth of your income to those in need. If you give, money will come to you This is the immutable, unrelenting law of nature. You make a living by what you get, but you make a life by what you give. Always give, give, give. This is the secret of abundance.
* * *
A benevolent person seeks the well-being or comfort of others. Benevolence is love of mankind and kindliness of heart. To feel much for others and little for ourselves, to restrain our selfish nature and exercise our benevolent affections constitutes the perfection of human nature. One who employs his wealth, thoughts and speech to advance the good of others is a veritable God on this earth. He always searches out occasions to do good to others in a variety of ways.
* * *
You live in vain if you do not have a generous heart. If you can remove selfishness, half of your spiritual sadhana is over. Selfishness constricts the heart. Through selfishness you only create a boundary wall around the members of your family. You always think, "Why should I bother about the welfare of others?" Be a little more patient, a little more forgiving, a little more loving and a little more devoted to service.
* * *
Have the desire to mitigate social evils and increase social comforts. Try to benefit mankind. Live not for yourself. Work for the good of all mankind. A merciful and forging person understands the suffering of others and is ready to help them. His heart melts when he sees the suffering of others even at a distance. A merciful person serves and loves the person who has wronged him.
* * *
Most people are very generous to themselves. They will eat the best fruits and offer rotten ones to strangers, neighbours and servants. What small, constricted hearts they have! Always give the best things, the best food, the best fruits, the best milk, the best clothes to friends, .neighbours, strangers, guests and servants. You will derive immense joy, strength and happiness. Put this into practice and realize the benefits yourself. Give up the practice of reserving the best of everything for yourself and giving away stale things to others. Feel that your own self is in the others too. Only then will your heart expand.
* * *
Meditate on the qualities of tolerance and generosity. When you move in the world, feel, "I will be tolerant of all today. I will perform generous acts." Slowly these qualities will become part and parcel of your nature. May compassion arise in your heart. May your heart be filled with mercy.
* * *
Although our books were printed with great difficulty, I would distribute thousands in a couple of days. Sometimes the disciples would protest and say, "Swamiji, we have no books left for sale." I would tell them, "It does not matter. It is serving the same purpose. We are selling the books to benefit humanity. By giving them free, they are also being benefited. So why are you worried? Even if some of the books are given to people who will never read them, they will pass them on to somebody else and that person will read them and be benefited. Someone or other will be benefited. So I am just offering them. The worst that a person can do is to tear out the pages and wrap channa in it. The one purchasing the packet of channa will open it and read the matter on that piece of paper."
* * *
Give now, not tomorrow or the day after, but now itself. People may change their minds later on and go away. You may not have the opportunity of rendering service to them. This is one of the most important rules in selfless service. Opportunities come and go. Be ever vigilant and utilize every opportunity to give. When a task is put off for the next day, then other tasks accumulate around it and the opportunity is lost. I give because I cannot help giving. Everything is His and He himself directs the gift from within to deserving persons and causes. Always glorify Him.
Love is the hope of this world. Love is dynamic. It always expresses itself through untiring selfless service. Love does not envy. Love suffers long. Love is kind. Love is not puffed up. Love is the greatest power on this earth. Love unites. Love always gives. Love never bargains. In the cultivation of cosmic love is individual spiritual progress, the welfare of the community and the peace of the whole world.
* * *
Sins can be destroyed by charity. Lord Jesus says, "Charity covers a multitude of sins." In the Bhagavad Gita you will find, "Yajna, charity and austerity are the purifiers of the
intelligent." See God everywhere. Share with all. Give the major portion to others. Your heart will expand and be purified. You will have a new wide vision. You will experience an indescribable thrill of divine ecstasy and spiritual bliss. This will give you tremendous inner strength.
* * *
Kindness delights in contributing to the happiness and welfare of others. A kind person is good-natured, friendly, tender and accommodating. Kindness is the cheapest of all things. A kind look, a kind word, a kind act, a friendly smile all cost nothing but bring to others happiness which money cannot buy. They are priceless in their value. Do kind acts now. Do not procrastinate. Kindness is like a healing balm. It soothes suffering. Just as little drops of water make the mighty ocean, little acts of kindness make an ocean of goodwill. Kindness is the language the deaf can hear and the dumb understand. Kindness is a direct passport to the kingdom of Eternal Bliss.
* * *
Although thousands of rupees came as donations for the divine work, I never concerned myself as to whether anything was left for the next day. Sometimes my disciples would be alarmed when they observed me giving as much as a hundred rupees to a beggar. "Let him enjoy," I would say. "He has never known what enjoyment is in life."
* * *
All wealth belongs to the Lord. It is a sin to hoard money. One who lives only as a trustee of his property and spends his money for the good of others thinks that the property really belongs to the Lord. He feels that God gives through his hands. He lives happily and attains eternal peace. Just as the water of the Ganga cannot decrease if thirsty people drink it, so also your wealth cannot decrease if you give it to others. Give one-tenth of your income to those in need. If you give, money will come to you This is the immutable, unrelenting law of nature. You make a living by what you get, but you make a life by what you give. Always give, give, give. This is the secret of abundance.
* * *
A benevolent person seeks the well-being or comfort of others. Benevolence is love of mankind and kindliness of heart. To feel much for others and little for ourselves, to restrain our selfish nature and exercise our benevolent affections constitutes the perfection of human nature. One who employs his wealth, thoughts and speech to advance the good of others is a veritable God on this earth. He always searches out occasions to do good to others in a variety of ways.
* * *
You live in vain if you do not have a generous heart. If you can remove selfishness, half of your spiritual sadhana is over. Selfishness constricts the heart. Through selfishness you only create a boundary wall around the members of your family. You always think, "Why should I bother about the welfare of others?" Be a little more patient, a little more forgiving, a little more loving and a little more devoted to service.
* * *
Have the desire to mitigate social evils and increase social comforts. Try to benefit mankind. Live not for yourself. Work for the good of all mankind. A merciful and forging person understands the suffering of others and is ready to help them. His heart melts when he sees the suffering of others even at a distance. A merciful person serves and loves the person who has wronged him.
* * *
Most people are very generous to themselves. They will eat the best fruits and offer rotten ones to strangers, neighbours and servants. What small, constricted hearts they have! Always give the best things, the best food, the best fruits, the best milk, the best clothes to friends, .neighbours, strangers, guests and servants. You will derive immense joy, strength and happiness. Put this into practice and realize the benefits yourself. Give up the practice of reserving the best of everything for yourself and giving away stale things to others. Feel that your own self is in the others too. Only then will your heart expand.
* * *
Meditate on the qualities of tolerance and generosity. When you move in the world, feel, "I will be tolerant of all today. I will perform generous acts." Slowly these qualities will become part and parcel of your nature. May compassion arise in your heart. May your heart be filled with mercy.
* * *
Although our books were printed with great difficulty, I would distribute thousands in a couple of days. Sometimes the disciples would protest and say, "Swamiji, we have no books left for sale." I would tell them, "It does not matter. It is serving the same purpose. We are selling the books to benefit humanity. By giving them free, they are also being benefited. So why are you worried? Even if some of the books are given to people who will never read them, they will pass them on to somebody else and that person will read them and be benefited. Someone or other will be benefited. So I am just offering them. The worst that a person can do is to tear out the pages and wrap channa in it. The one purchasing the packet of channa will open it and read the matter on that piece of paper."
* * *
Give now, not tomorrow or the day after, but now itself. People may change their minds later on and go away. You may not have the opportunity of rendering service to them. This is one of the most important rules in selfless service. Opportunities come and go. Be ever vigilant and utilize every opportunity to give. When a task is put off for the next day, then other tasks accumulate around it and the opportunity is lost. I give because I cannot help giving. Everything is His and He himself directs the gift from within to deserving persons and causes. Always glorify Him.
* * *
When distributing sweets as prasad, I ignore all the instructions about two per head. I give until the bucket is empty. Look at the satisfaction that people gain. This is the most important point. When people come and sing the Lord's name and prasad is distributed, they should go back fully satisfied. What a lopsided economy it is to save expenditure in this respect.
Even when the ashram was much poorer, everyone who came went away fully satisfied. Some ashramites used to say, "We workers do not get so many conveniences, but Swamiji gives milk and fruit to a stranger who walks in and says he is sick, and when he leaves, Swamiji gives him ten rupees also." Now they have started saying that the auditor is objecting. Audits and budgets have nothing to do with a sannyasin's accounts. Even if we need to take food from the almshouse, we should go on with the publication of books and leaflets. I will go on spending. I will go on distributing the books. All are benefited.
* * *
Giving should be unconditional. The donor should not bind the receiver with all kinds of conditions. Such unconditional giving will greatly benefit the donor for he will have served the world through his money. A few people realize this, but others have a banker's mentality. This narrows their hearts and clouds their intellects.
For whose sake are we doing charity? Not for our sake. The Lord will provide us with sufficient funds to carry on the work. I have the power to bring about a shower of gold in the ashram. But I will not do it. Householders should be given an opportunity to give to others and become purified of their negative karmas. Only through giving can they purify their hearts and minds and thus expand and evolve. Everyone should realize this. We should not give with any motive or with the expectation of a return.
* * *
Apply this test: Does your heart melt at the suffering of others? Has generosity become your very nature? Your money belongs to the Lord. You have no business to keep more than you need. How can you accumulate wealth when your God in the form of a poor man is starving. How can you take food four times a day when a beggar - Lord Narayana - is starving outside the door? These are the real tests of spiritual progress. Do you rush to the poor man walking along the street and offer him food? Do you rush to the aid of the sick or injured man lying on the roadside?
* * *
Feel that you are only a trustee of your money. God has given you money. Share it with others. One who has not shared what he has with others has a poor heart indeed, though he may be a millionaire. Even the man who has nothing to eat is the richest man in the world if he has a large heart and shares what he has with others. Radiate thoughts of generosity and love. Forgive the faults of others. Bless the one who injures you.
* * *
Prayer takes you halfway to God, fasting to the door of His supreme abode and charity procures you admission. The charitable deeds you have done will stay with you forever. Giving is the secret of abundance. Use the material wealth, knowledge and spiritual wisdom that you possess as a divine trust from God to be distributed among his children.
Give in plenty without expectation of reward. Have a large heart. Take delight in making other people happy.
* * *
Be thirsty to do generous acts daily. Create opportunities. There is no yoga or yajna greater than pure spontaneous charity. Help the poor, the sick and the forlorn. Give to the orphans, the old and infirm, the blind and the helpless. Give with the right mental attitude, and realize God. Glory to those who give with the right spirit.
