5
Practise Silence to Conserve Energy
Spiritual energy has to be conserved by all pos-
sible means. The sages practised silence to con-
serve the energy lost through speech.
Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume XVII,
Chapter 6: Students and Sadhana.
2
Triple Purity That Pleases the Lord
There are three things that are immensely
pleasing to the Lord: a tongue that never indulges
in falsehood, a body that is not tainted by caus-
ing harm to others, and a mind that is free from
attachment and hatred. These three constitute
the triple purity. Refrain from uttering falsehood,
inflicting pain on others, and entertaining ill will
towards others. Practise silence as a means of pre-
venting the tongue from straying away from truth.
The ancient sages practised and preached silence
for this purpose.
Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume XXI,
Chapter 9: From Annam to Ananda.
2
Restraint in Speech Develops Mental
Agility
The effect of excessive speech on the behaviour
and mental faculties of people was the subject of
research at Columbia University. The experiment
was conducted in a primary school for twenty-five
years. The students were grouped separately in
batches of ten. Those students who spoke the least
were offered prizes. Tests were conducted on stu-
dents indulging in excessive talk and those observ-
ing silence or reticence. It was found over the years
that the intellectual abilities of students observing
restraint in speech were of a high order. There was
purity in their speech. They had a broad outlook.
They developed enquiring minds. They had a high
degree of discrimination.
In the case of students indulging in excessive
speech, it was found that their memory power was
weak. They were narrow-minded. They lacked dis-
criminating power. The result of the experiment
testified to the wisdom of the ancient sages who
went to the forest for silent contemplation. Every
one of the practices of the ancient sages was de-
signed to lead men to the highest stage. Remem-
ber that through restraint in speech you can de-
velop mental agility.
Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume XXII,
Chapter 10: Vidya and Samskara.
2
Two Functions of the Tongue
Control of the senses should be one of the pri-
mary aims of students. More than the sense or-
gans, the sensory perceptions are powerful. They
are: sound, touch, form, taste, and smell. Among
the sense organs the most important one is the
mouth (or tongue), with the power of speech. If
one can conquer the tongue, he will be the master
of all the other senses.
The tongue has two functions: speaking and
eating. Whoever is able to master these two fac-
ulties will be able to raise himself to the level of
the Divine. When the tongue becomes silent, the
mind begins to talk. To control the mind’s talk, the
buddhi (intellect or intelligence) has to be awak-
ened. Then one should strive to turn the intellect
or intelligence towards the Atma (the Divine).
True spiritual striving consists in turning the
tongue towards the mind, the mind towards the
intellect, and the intellect towards the Atma. Al-
though this royal road is available to man, he
chooses to immerse himself in worldly pleasures
and becomes submerged in sorrow.
Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume XXIII,
Chapter 13: Royal Road to Realisation.
6
Pursue the Godly Way of Life
To get rid of ego, there is only one path – it
is to pursue the godly way of life. When you are
puffed up with the sense of ego, sit silently in a
corner and observe what your breathing is telling
you. It is declaring: “So-Ham” (“So” while inhaling
and “Ham” while exhaling). So-Ham is made up
of the two words Sah (He, that is Brahman) and
Aham (“I”). “Aham Brahmasmi” (I am Brahman).
If this is constantly meditated upon and this con-
sciousness grows within, the Aham (“I”) will cease
to be a bother. This mantra (sacred syllable or
word, by the repetition of which one attains lib-
eration) has been described as Hamsa Gayatri in
Vedantic parlance.
Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume XXIII,
Chapter 16: The Buddhi and the Atma.
2
Tips on Controlling Anger
You should not become a victim of the feelings
of anger, hatred, ego, or pride that may arise in
you. When such feelings arise in you, sit silently
for a few minutes. Instead of doing so, you must
not give vent to your anger by scolding or beating
others as you like. How to put this into practice?
As soon as you get angry, you should immediate-
ly leave that place and go out into the open and
quietly walk about 200 metres. Then your anger
will disappear. An easier method than this is to
stand before a mirror and look into your own an-
gry face. You will dislike your own face and look
upon it with disgust or aversion. Then try to laugh
heartily and your anger will leave you.
If you find it difficult even to do this, go into
your bathroom and turn the water tap on. To the
accompaniment of the tune of the sound created
by the water flowing from the tap, begin to sing
a good song. Then your anger will certainly dis-
appear. Or else, drink a glass of cold water. Like
this, you have to seek ways and means of regaining
a calm and peaceful mood. Instead of doing so,
if you allow your anger to grow, restlessness will
also grow along with that anger, depriving you of
peace of mind. You should never give tit for tat, or
word for word.
The less you talk, the more your mental power
will grow. With the increase in your mental capac-
ity, there will be an increase in your power of dis-
crimination too. Consequently, you will give up
“individual discrimination” and resort to “funda-
mental discrimination.” Because of this, you will
begin to consider the good of the world at large
rather than your own individual welfare. You must
cultivate such broad feelings from this young age
itself.
Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume XXV,
Chapter 15: Rise from Animality to Divinity.
2
Three Kinds of Silence
The ancients practised three kinds of silence.
The first was silence of the tongue, the second one
was silence of the mind, and the third was supreme
silence. Silence in speech meant confining one’s
speech to the limit and the needs of the occasion.
By this discipline, excessive talk was avoided. As
a result, the power of their speech was conserved
and enhanced. Discipline in speech also resulted
in truthfulness. Speaking the truth served to pu-
rify their thoughts. By this means they acquired
the highest wisdom. Therefore purity in speech is
vital. It has to be achieved by restraint in speech.
Then, there is silence of the mind. The mind is
a bundle of thoughts and fancies. These thoughts
have to be reduced gradually. When thoughts are
reduced, the mind naturally comes under control,
like a clock that is unwound. When the activity
of the mind is reduced, the power of the Atma
manifests itself. As a consequence, intellect be-
comes more active than the senses. When con-
trol of speech and control of the mind have been
achieved, the state of supreme silence is easily re-
alised. Students should strive to reach the third
stage by the disciplines of the first two stages.
Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume XXVII,
Chapter 7: Imbibe Bharat’s Ideals.