Sairam,

Bodha (teaching) will germinate and grow into the tree of knowledge when you plant it in the heart, water the plant with divine love, manure it with Faith and Courage, keep off pests with insecticides of bhajana and sathsangha so that you can benefit in the end. You can demand Shanthi and grace of Lord after starting Sadhana. Start the Sadhana and everything will be added unto you.                                                                                                              

The requisites for the spiritual discipline:

1. Faith to withstand the ridicule of the ignorant

Faith on Self (Athma) is required to stand the ridicule of the ignorant, the cavilling by the worldly and laughter of the low-minded. When someone ridicules, you should argue within yourself "Is he ridiculing my body or Athma? If it is body, he is doing what I suppose to do as I want to escape out of this attachment to this body. If it is Athma, he is trying to do impossible as Athma is beyond the reach of words or thought. Carry on saying yourself "My Athma thathwa (Priniciple of the Self) is Nischala (immovable) and Nirmala (Pure)”.

2. Do not worry

Do not worry about ups and downs, loss or gain, joy or grief. Cut off the craving for worldly things and                  there will be no swinging from joy to grief.

3. Reason out and get convince

--   The world is constituted of five elements or bhuthas by their permutations and combinations.

--   Prithivi (Earth element) has its own special characteristic of gandha (smell) as well as the characteristic of the other four i.e., sparsha (touch), rasa (taste), rupa (form) and sabdha (sound).

--   Jala (water element) has its own characteristic and other three elements i.e., taster, touch and sound.

--  Agni (Fire element) has its own characteristic of Form and two elements i.e., sound and touch.

   --  Vayu (Air element) has its own characteristic of touch with one more quality i.e., sound.

   --  Akasha (Sky element) has only one element i.e., Sabdha.

Earth is the grossest of all, Jala is subtler than Earth-element, Agni is subtler than Jala, Vayu is subtler than Agni and Akasha is still subtler than Vayu. God is subtler than Akasha and even more subtler than ether and so he is all-pervading. The Lord’s nature is beyond all all human vocabulary and beyond all human mathematics. Have this conviction well stabilised in your intellect.

4. Be steady

Be steady in your spiriual practice and never hesitate once you have decided. Keep steadily engaged in the practice so that the cloudy dust of the objective world will not cover your face. 

Divinity is Sabda Brahmamayi (embodiment of sound), Characharamayi (mobility and immobility), Jyotirmayi (light), Vangmayi (Speech), Nityanandamayi (Eternal bliss), Paratparamayi (perfection), Mayamayi (delusion) and Sreemayi (wealth). Divinity (God) is present in man in the form of his life-breath that he can perceive, hear and recognise. Three Principles of Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara are embodied in Soham Tattwa -- Easwarathwa is present in the form of Sound, Vishnutwa is present in the form of thought and Brahmatwa is present in the form of Speech. 

When you medidate on Soham principle, you have to observe that the 'So' comes in and 'Ham' goes out with each inhalation (Puraka) and exhalation (Rechaka) respectively. 'So' relates to divine principle (That) and 'Ham' to Ahamkara (I am i.e., ego). While divinity enters our body, ego should leave us. The divine principle thus enters our body should be held firmly in system by the process of Kumbhaka (holding of breath).

--SATHYA SAI

Source:

Brindaavan, 15-4-1964; Brindavan, Whitefield, 13-4-1964; Sai Kulwant Hall, 12-10-2002