Truth Unity of Thought, Word and Deed

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TruthUnity of Thought, Word and Deed
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Light Meditation
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Leadership Review

• In Swamis Mahavakya on Leadership, what does
  Swami say are the 4 steps to being a good leader?
• In his 81 years of life, Swami has exemplified
  the role as our ultimate Leader thru his words,
  actions and deeds. Why does Swami so often
  emphasize the role of the youth as Leaders?
• Have you experienced any changes in your
  leadership traits after experiencing the Sai
  Challenges in the last 2 weeks? Please share
  these changes/experiences

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What is Pure Thought, Word Deed?

• Pure Thought
• That which dwells on the Divine Name and Form
• That which dwells around Help ever Hurt Never
• If it is good and will harm no one, go ahead.
• If it is not good, put it aside. If not sure, do
  nothing until sure
• Pure Word
• That which exemplifies Gods Name (Namasmarana)
• That are soft and sweet
• Before you speak, think - Is it necessary? Is it
  true? Is it kind?
• Will it hurt anyone? Will it improve on the
  silence?
• Pure Deed
• Selfless Service Love All Serve All
• That are offered to Swami
• Hands that Serve are holier than Lips that Pray

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What is Unity of Thought, Word Deed?
Swami says What is this triple unity? Thoughts
originate in mind, they express themselves
through words and are manifested as deeds.
Humanity or humanness is the confluence of the
mind, speech and the body. If man is such that
he has one thought, says something else and does
something different, he should not call himself a
man. How can such a man, who is afraid of truth
within himself, search for the cosmic truth? It
is only when there is a harmony between this
thought, word and action that man will be in a
position to recognize his own true nature. True
liberation (moksha) consists of giving expression
in words to the thoughts which arise in the mind
and to practice what one says.
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What is Unity of Thought, Word Deed? (Cont..)

• The ancients considered the triple unity as a
  form of yoga. Moreover, one should carefully
  analyze and weigh the pros and cons before saying
  something. That is why it is said Manasyekam
  Vachasyekam Karmanyekam. (Those whose thoughts,
  words and deeds are in perfect harmony are noble
  ones). Manas anyath vachas anyath karmanyanath
  duraathmaanam (The wicked are those whose
  thoughts differ from their words and actions).
  Hence every person should strive to achieve unity
  in thought, word and deed. That is the hallmark
  of humanness.

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Why Unity in Thought Word Deed?

PURE
IMPURE
T
Leads to bad words, bad actions Dwells on
material world
T
Leads to good words, good actions Dwells on
divine name form
Is true, kind and soft Necessary
meaningful Improves over silence Spreads Love
Is false, unkind or hurtful Is unnecessary Does
not improve on silence Spreads hatred can not
love GOD
W
W
D
D
Leads to righteousness Selfless
Leads to wickedness, evil Self-centered
Spiritual growth Hallmark of humanness Earn
punya noble one (mahatma) Able to attain True
Liberation
Spiritual breakdown In-humane Earn Sin wicked
(durathma) Fails to attain True Liberation
U
U
True humanness consists in observing unity of
thought, word and deed.
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Why Unity of Thought Word and Deed?

• To give full meaning to any service activity we
  undertake
• True help should include the society and
  permeate your thoughts, words, sight, hearing and
  hands. Help rendered with unity of thought, word
  and deed is true service.
• To create a better world
• All the Chaos in the world is due to the fact
  that people lead double lives. There should be
  unity in thought, word and deed. True
  spirituality consists in promoting human unity
  through harmonious living and sharing the joy
  with one and all.
• To connect with our Atma
• Wherever there is oneness of the thought that
  comes to ones mind, the word that comes from
  ones mouth and the deed that one performs, there
  is the spirit of Atma.

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Discussion Questions

• How do you tell if you are in Harmony with your
  Thoughts, Words Deeds?
• Where do you see yourself on Unity of Thought,
  Word Deed on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being fully
  in harmony and 1 being in total disharmony?
• What is your greatest challenge developing pure
  thoughts, speaking soft words or performing
  selfless deeds Or is it being in harmony with
  any two or all of these ideals?
• As a SAI Youth, in what situations do we notice
  the disharmony between thought, word deed the
  most? (Sai Center, family, at work, friends,
  while you are alone). Do the three ideals keep
  changing based on your situation like difficulty
  with words at work, difficulty with thought while
  alone?
• When we do service in our centers, do our
  thoughts and words resonate with our activities?
• What techniques do you use to overcome the
  hurdles that prevent you from observing unity in
  Thought Word Deed?

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Techniques for practicing Unity of Thought, Word
Deed

• Carry a small photograph of Swamis with you all
  the time. Whenever you feel that you are about to
  break the thought, word and deed harmony remember
  that Swami is watching you! Do you want to do
  some thing that Swami does not like?
• Have an activity to counter disharmony
• If your words/ actions dont reflect your
  thoughts, take a short break, focus on Swami and
  restart activity
• Strive to give up evil thoughts, evil looks,
  vicious speech and the greed to give ear to evil
  counsel and slanderous gossip
• Constantly practice on discriminating your
  thoughts to have only good thoughts and
  intentions
• Learn the meanings of some of the words in
  devotional songs. Make your thoughts dwell on
  these images during devotional service
• Keep good company, it will help you to think, do,
  and say good things

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Unity of Thought Word and Deed
Oh Lord, take my love and let it flow in
fullness or devotion for thee, Oh Lord, take my
hands and let them work incessantly for thee, Oh
Lord, take my soul and let it be merged in one
with thee, Oh Lord, take my mind and thoughts and
let them be in-tuned with thee Oh Lord, take my
everything and let me be an instrument to work!
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Sai Challenges

• Challenge yourself. Take up one or more of
  these Sai Challenges and keep track of it until
  the next study circle
• When thinking a negative thought, change focus by
  singing a devotionalsong or chanting a prayer. 
• Practice constant communion with Swami and use
  him as your Spiritual Police in practicing unity
  of thought, word and deed
• Read good books or Sai Literature for the next
  two weeks. Use these positive text in your
  constant pursuit of uniting good thoughts, with
  words and deeds
• Control your senses by practicing one hour of
  silence each day (without television, radio, or
  phones), what we see and hear directly affects
  our thoughts
• Think of one or more selfless service deeds that
  you can offer, discuss it with fellow YAs, and
  conduct the selfless service once a month until
  WYC III
• Prepare and eat Sathwic pure food only for a
  meala day a week -- Swami says, As is the
  food, so is the mind, as the mind, so the
  thought, as the thought, so the act.
• Looking for more challenges??? Refer to the
  accompanying word document.

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Extreme Sai Challenges

• If you share Swamis teaching (whether through
  bhajans, speech or written words), be sure that
  you already practice it in your own life
• The rosary exemplifies the unity of thought, word
  and deed. Our mind ponders on the Name, our lips
  chant It and our hands move a bead for each name
  uttered. Chant Aum Sri Sai Ram or another chant
  108 times with a rosary without once losing this
  unity
• Keep a spiritual diary of all the very positive
  thoughts and negativethoughts.  Gauge your
  progress until WYC.  How did these thoughts
  translate into words and deeds?
• Before going to bed, self-assess your thoughts,
  words and actions throughout the day and
  consciously work towards correcting yourself

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Next Steps

• Take first 10 minutes during the next study
  circle to recap Unity of Thought Word and Deed
• Practice sense-control, leadership and Unity of
  Thought Word and Deed and build from the previous
  study circles
• Share experiences on how the week(s) after this
  study circle was different by practicing Sai
  challenges ensure that a holistic picture is
  obtained by sharing both challenges and successes
  
• Try to incorporate the Leadership sub-value in
  your efforts to unite thought, word and deed and
  discover similarities between this sub-value to
  Leadership
• As ideal SAI youth with the goal of uniting with
  Swami and His mission, an ideal first step on
  this journey would be to harmonize our Thoughts,
  Words and Deeds

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Right Action (Dharma) is the practical
application in real life of the ideal of Truth.
Peace is the result of Right Action and Love is
the effulgence of Peace. - Sathya Sai Speaks
835, 189 , 03/03/1976
JAI SAI RAM