Photo: Swami Satchidananda, Sri Lanka, 1957.
Every year on his birthday, as we gathered to honor Sri Swami Satchidananda, the tables would turn in the most profound way. Rather than our offerings of gratitude and celebration taking center stage, Gurudev would bless us with a birthday message brimming with wisdom and inspiration. It always felt as though we were receiving far more than we could ever give. His words, imbued with love and vision, carried the power to uplift and transform us, gently guiding us toward the ideals of perfect health, peace, and a life of service. As he so beautifully expressed in one of these cherished talks—this one from 1974:
“My only wish in this life is to see that you all enjoy perfect health and permanent peace, and a life filled with dedication, so that one day we will see a beautiful heaven on this earth. May God bring this wish to be true.”
This year, as we honor his Jayanthi—his 110th birth anniversary—once more we are reminded of his unshakable faith in humanity’s potential to create a world of harmony and love—a vision that continues to inspire and guide us all. We offer our deepest gratitude and love to our spiritual master, our Guru We offer our deepest gratitude and love to our spiritual master, our Guru, who dedicated his life to revealing the divine potential within each of us and bringing peace to the world.
Herewith, Sri Swami Satchidananda’s birthday blessing message from December 22, 1957, his 44th birthday:
We have heard about fruits like the banana, mango, orange, grapes and jackfruit and even tasted them, but only a few have seen the spiritual fruit. This fruit is not the one we easily buy with money. If you want this spiritual fruit you have to grow it on your own. The phrase “spiritual fruit” means the fruit of spirituality. It is much sweeter than the banana, mango, jackfruit, which are supposed to be the three sweetest fruits. But, there is one fruit that would be very much tastier than this fruit mixture; that is the taste of spiritual fruit.
The great saint Sri Ramalinga Swamigal also talked about this spiritual fruit. He said that if we want a mango fruit, we could plant a mango seed, gradually it would become a full-grown mango tree, and then we could get the fruit. One person could plant the mango seed and many could have the fruit. But it is not the same way for getting the spiritual fruit. If you want the spiritual fruit, you have to grow it on your own. No one could grow it for you or no one other than you could enjoy it.
Photo courtesy of RDNE Stock project.than you could enjoy it.
Your mind is the land for growing the spiritual fruit. All kinds of trash fill the mind. We should remove all that first. How could there be trash in the mind? Desire, anger, cowardice, dishonesty, fraud, lies, pride, are the trash. Once we remove these, then we plant the seed belief in God in the mind. To enable that seed to become a tree and give us its fruit, the mind should be pure. Then it is easy to have the spiritual fruit.
As you know running after things for our happiness—wants, cravings, desires—is the reason for the impurity of the mind. We forget God amid the many desires for temporary materialistic comforts. People think that money, fame, power, and beauty are permanent. But they all go away after some time as they are impermanent.
What about power? It is also not permanent. How much respect and importance one gets when they are the president of the country? If they had a headache, it would be news on the first page of the newspaper with their photos. So much importance when that person was in power. The moment they are no more the president, they lose all their power, respect and importance.
What about beauty? It is also not permanent! Youth vanishes when we become old. The beauty of the 1954 beauty queen becomes dull in 1955 when another becomes the beauty queen. Thus all worldly things are subject to change form in the world.
People think that impermanent things would remain permanent. Because of this attitude they forget the simple fact that all things are meant for their use and instead they live for the sake of things. Things are meant for the people but people are not meant for things. The moment we become a slave to impermanent things we are influenced by selfishness and jealousy.
The boat floats in the sea. People get into the boat and reach the shore. What if the water from the sea gets in to the boat? The boat, as well as the people, would be destroyed. The life of those who are slaves to impermanent things would also be left in the same way. As long as we are in the world, we should be able to use properly what was given by God.
The next birth depends on what we do in the present birth. If we indulge in selfish activities, become slaves to worldly comforts, and become dull in our knowledge and without wisdom, then the next birth would be a very difficult one. There should be morality, purity, and selflessness in our lives. The ethically mature mind is the mature land in which grows the seed of great faith in the Divine. Those seeds would grow into a big tree. When we pour our sincere efforts, they become as water for the seedling. Then, this tree will give us grace and blessings as the fruit that will be sweeter to us. Those who have tasted that spiritual fruit would be in spiritual bliss. May you enjoy all the spiritual fruits. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.
