Sathya Sai Baba The World-Avatar Teaching and Revelations

If there is an iron law of karma which binds man hand and foot, why
do the sacred text extol the earnest efforts and penance of aspirants?
Those efforts and that penance can surely transmute the evil consequence
of karma, and save man from the fate that he has woven for
himself. (...)
There are countless instances in the earthly careers of all Avatars to
show that grace is greater than accumulated karma. 8.12.64, (19-13)
The prayer from the past: "From this transient world of decay, lead me
to the everlasting world of bliss; "Give me the effulgence of thy grace
and illumine my soul with truth; "Save me from the torture of birth and
death, destroy the cravings of the mind which produce the seeds of
birth”. (27-1)
No other human community has gone so deep into the problem of birth
and death, of thoughts, and the continuity of the consequences of
thoughts, words and deeds after death, as the Hindus. The solutions
they discovered and verified are so universal, so convincing and so
beneficial for individual and social uplift, that they have stood the test
of centuries of critical assessment by scholars and sages of all lands.
One commendable feature of this investigation is that reason has never
taken second place. At every step spiritual discipline is to be reinforced
by reason. Spiritual exercise is the regimen. The disease of ignorance
is cured by the “medicine” higher knowledge. (27-13)
It is only in the eternal moral code that the importance of karma in
shaping the destiny of man, is so strongly and so clearly laid down. The
individual undergoes many births in his progress towards birthlessness,
and the mighty grace of God's coming as man among men to
gather them around him in holy companionship to save them and the
world through them. If you doubt any of these great truths, you are certain
to suffer and grieve. Every one of you must be saved, sooner or
later, by the grace of the All-merciful. Make it sooner rather than later.
Keep the goal clear before the eye and march on. 17.10.67, (20-163)
Man alone has the chance to liberate himself from the wheel of birth
and death, through the most pleasant means, that of serving God. But,
as a result of ignorance or what is worse, perversity, he lets the opportunity
slip from his hands, and suffers grief and pain, fear and anxiety,
ad infinitum. 31.7.67, (20-79)
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