Of course, money is an essential requisite and those who have assumed responsibility for service projects do need it. Six thousand villages have been adopted by the units of the organization and facilities for education and medicine are provided therein, besides roads and wells. When I decide on a project, the wherewithal for accomplishing has to be spontaneously available without any fund-raising campaign. My will has the power to concretize my plan. I willed that a College must rise in Puttaparthi; the Rajmata of Nawanagar built it. In order to feed it with properly trained boys, I willed a Higher Secondary School; Bozzani from America asked that he be given the chance to build it. I thought that at this place education on Sai lines must be available to children from the Primary stage itself. Craxi, the brother of the Prime Minister of Italy, offered to build the School. At Bangalore, when I decided on a plan for a College and Hostel, Mrs. Elsie Cowan asked that she be given the privilege of completing it. Such is the might of my Sankalpa, my Will.
Another small event. For full eight days, hundreds of thousands of people are treated as guests and breakfast, lunch and dinner are provided in festival style. When ten persons are fed free, the host desires that it should appear with huge headlines in newspapers. But, who craves for publicity when one’s dear relatives gather for meals at home. Though lakhs of people share in the hospitality, one finds no hurry and no parading.
When I entertained the idea of granting this boon to every one drawn to the Birthday festival, Dr.Bhaskara Rao from West Godavari District and Karunyananda from East Godavari District arrived at Kodaikanal and prayed that they be blessed with the sacred responsibility. I warned them that the lakhs would be too big a burden, but they persisted, saying: ‘With your blessings, we can take on even crores.’ And, promptly, without any fuss, 5000 bags of rice reached here from those two districts and from Krishna, Guntur and Nellore districts. Hundreds of bags of wheat, flour and suji arrived from Punjab, followed by the same number of sugar and jaggery bags from U.P. From Madras huge quantities of pulses were brought by members of the organization. Did anyone demand or ask for these? Can you get them by asking for them or demanding that they be given? Try and see what happens. Everything was offered spontaneously, silently, sincerely, with so much love and humility. This is their homage of Tyaga, of service through sacrifice.
Circulation of money should ensure health
A man should own only as much wealth as is essential. It is like the size of his shoes. If the shoes are too loose, he cannot walk; if they are too tight, he cannot wear them. Too much money is a torture; rich people will agree with this judgment. It is foolish to accumulate money and sit on the pile, which turns into garbages. Spread garbage over the corn field, it will fertilize the crop and multiply the harvest. After all, how much and how long can a man enjoy? A dog can only lap up water, even from a huge lake. Like blood, money too should circulate to ensure health.
Members of the organization should understand and follow these ideals set before them. In fact, no other organization has such selfless workers engaged in loving service. If you watch with an open eye, you find them cheerfully and enthusiastically labouring in the kitchens and serving the meals, cleaning and sweeping, though most of them are unaccustomed to manual work, and accommodating themselves in open grounds. Their faith has given them this fortitude. The volunteers and Seva Dal members, men and women, have toiled in the true spirit of dedication and surrender.
When the festival was just on, Kasturi repeated to me what he had heard over the radio. A cyclone was about to cross the coast, and enter Nellore and Ongole and cause heavy rains in Rayalaseema too. But, it did not happen. The devotion of the people gathered here and anxious to reach here was the shield that turned away the cyclone into insignificance. If it had swept in, devotees would have suffered much. Their devotion touched my heart and I willed that they should not be inconvenienced in any way. I have a heart, soft as butter, but butter too has to be warmed up in order that it may melt. Your devotion was the warmth. None has yet announced where the cyclone has gone! How can anyone gauge the wonder?
Transform into heroic messengers of Dharma
Your disciplined devotion, your love, your fortitude are examples. It is not proper that I praise my own people. Westerners have come in large numbers, though everything here is discomfort for them. They are braving through all this. It is real Tapas for each of them. You must devote your days, your actions, your intelligence and skills for transforming yourselves into heroic messengers of Dharma and Karma.
I desire one thing from you. Develop brotherhood with all. Adopt right conduct always. Give up selfish activity. Welcome all chances to serve the illiterate and the poor.
As part of the sixtieth Birthday Celebrations, I am prescribing a test which you have to accept. When you undergo it and emerge victorious, you can be pronounced as real humans. The farmer ploughs the field, sows the seed and watches the crop grow, until the grain is harvested. The next process is winnowing. The light chaff will then be carried away by the wind and the hard grain will stay. I shall start winnowing from now; the test will remove the chaff.
Sai and Sai Sevaks are bound by Love. Man justifies himself and proves his claim to be a worthy individual only though seva (service),undertaken sincerely, selflessly, and with no thought of worldly reward. Seva is the only path to self realization. It is the highest expression of love and of the sacrifice love involves. You have to expend yourselves in Seva, unto the very last breath. You cannot retire after a certain years of Seva or when you reach a certain age. When you have such a Lord and Master, there should be no dearth of Sevaks (servants). The servants are the glory of the Lord. The Ahalya rock of steady Tapas had to earn the contact of the Divine Feet of Rama, to get Life, Love and Light. The resurrected Ahalya is the Glory of Rama. The Sathya Sai Prabhu (Lord) and the Sathya Sai Sevaks are inseparably bound by Love and Loyalty. Sai exists for you and you exist for Sai. We cannot be apart from each other.
One other point. A misgiving has spread, and it is causing confusion in people’s minds, that after the sixtieth birthday, Swami will not be available and that there will occur a change in Swami. Mine is not a changing nature. I will never be distant from devotees. I will be available to devotees more and more from now. Sathya Sai is Satya (truth). How can Truth change? So, give up all such guesses and imaginations and engage yourselves in the service of your fellowmen.
(Sixtieth Birthday discourse at Prasanthi Nilayam on 23-11-1985 –SSS Vol. 18, pp.163-167)