Sathya Sai Baba The World-Avatar Teaching and Revelations

Divine law is not an ordinary affair. He who does not practice Divine
discipline is as bad as dead; if he does practice it, he is of the Divine
nature. Now there is need to turn men on to the spiritual path by means
of good advice, tempting them with the attractive consequences of following
the path, threatening to dissociate from those who do not, and
inflicting punishment as a last resort; the traditional methods of equal
(sama), non-attachment (dama), retraction (bheda) and conduct?
(danda). In ancient times, people never gave up the practice of right
conduct even when they were threatened with death at the point of the
sword. Now, without even the slightest pressure from others, people
slide down and fall into godlessness. Indeed, Divine law is interpreted
in various confusing ways and those who strictly follow the real Divine
law are obstructed and laughed at and treated as worse than dried up
grass. Those who are anxiously adhering to dharma are branded as
cheats, hypocrites and ignoramuses. Such calumniators do not know
what Divine law is or what its principles are. Unfortunate individuals!
They have no capacity to grasp the meaning of that word. You can
judge for yourself how it can be understood by persons who do not
know even the literal meaning of the word. What can a person, born
blind, know of the sun or its rays? Of course he can feel the heat, when
the rays of the sun fall on his body; he cannot have an idea of the nature
of the sun, its form, its shape, its brilliance, etc. So too for a person
who has no conception of Divine law, who has no faith in Divine conduct,
the joy derived by its observance is something incomprehensible.
To dilate on Divine law before such a person is as useless a venture
as blowing a conch before a person who is stone deaf. He can
only see the conch at the lips of the person in front of him, he cannot
hear the least bit of sound. So when Divine law is taught to a person
or extolled, care must be taken to see that he has faith and earnestness
and the eagerness to practice it. Only such must be handled and
sought to be corrected. Later, by the promptings of their own experience
and the joy they derive therefrom, even the ignorant will plant in
their hearts the seedlings of spiritual law. (...)
It is only by following the path of spiritual discipline or rectitude that the
sun and moon are revolving unerringly on their orbits; it is only the call
of spiritual law that makes all the Divine powers adhere to their various
duties and responsibilities; Divine law only keeps the five elements
bound to the principles of their nature.
You should derive the greatest possible benefit from spiritual law and
avoid, while following it, causing any injury to yourselves or others.
You must spread the glory of Divine conduct by making yourself a
221