Discipline entails the strict observance of rules and regulations and directions. The sense of duty can yield results only when discipline is observed, and devotion to Sai and the Message of Sai is the basis for the sense of duty which keeps you ever bound to discipline. Do not be part-time devotees, leading one kind of life when you wear the scarf and badge and another kind of life when you have removed them. Be ever Sadhakas and Sevaks. Do not forget, do not modify. In the path of service that you have chosen, there should be no bumps of doubt or jumps of deviation. Move on steadily and bravely, with your eyes fixed on the Goal, the Grace of the Lord. Be intent on the development of the man-mind. Not the monkey-mind. Do not hop about from decision to indecision, from acceptance to denial. Be alert and inspired as humans, not dull and fitful as beasts. Above all, cultivate love, express love, move among other Seva Dal members with love. Let love be your very breath. Let the sum of love help the lotus of your heart to blossom.

- Sixth All India Conference, Prasanthi Nilayam | November 14-22, 1975

In some places, there are Units which do not carry on any activity. Or, if they do, the activities are quite contrary to the principles and practice of Prasanthi Nilayam or to the rules laid down for the Organisation. Wherever there are such Units, the State President or the District President must take steps immediately to remove them from the Organisation.

In some Samitis, members do not attend meetings, even 50 per cent of them. They are absent for 100 per cent of the meetings. Some Samitis do not hold meetings at all, so that no one can calculate the percentage of attendance. It is for such Units that rules and regulations are imperative. If rules are not observed as laid down, the Organisation will come down in confusion.

Some Units are established with the sole purpose of earning money for the promoters. When a certain name or person is known all over the world and revered by all, such men are tempted to utilise that name for filling their own pockets or for earning name and fame for themselves by associating their activities with that name. This is natural stratagem. Several such persons are found to emerge everywhere. When this happens, the Organisation gets a bad name.

- Third All India Conference, Prasanthi Nilayam | November 20-21, 1970

You know that Indian culture insists that you should offer reverence to all the names and forms of the One Godhead. In your Organisations, there may be some who insist that only Sai Bhajan should be sung, only the name and form of Sathya Sai be used. This is a great mistake. You are thereby dishonouring Sai. If you attach yourself to Sai and detach yourself from Krishna, you get a plus there and a minus here; the resultant gain is zero. In this matter do not develop fanaticism or sectarianism. Others may have these, but that is no reason why you should meet them with the same failings. Try your best to avoid such infection.

The State Presidents must pay immediate attention to this point. In some States, peoples have started publicising the manifestations of My Power, and converting themselves into propagandists with a view to making a profit out of the transaction. There are some Units doing this type of business, still existing inside the Organisation. You must decide to dissociate these Units from the Organisation. Using our Name, many collect donations and contributions; so, those who are not aware of the norms of this Organisation are being misled and deceived. Efforts must be made to remove from the Organisation anyone, however rich, however renowned as a scholar, however influential and important in society, if he transgresses the rules of Organisation. This must be done as soon as the transgression is known.

- Fourth All India Conference, Madras | December 22-23, 1971

It is also laid down strictly that those who are in our Organisation should not have any connection with other Organisations of spiritual or religious character. Of course, so far as service is concerned, members should help and serve all, without distinction. Everyone in distress deserves help. But no member of the Samiti should have any connection with other such institutions or societies. For example, there may be a Sai Samaj in your locality. “Sai is Sathya Sai; Sathya Sai is Sai.” I have declared often, and you know it and have realised its truth. Why then, you may ask, is the Sai Samaj distinct from the Sathya Sai Samaj? Well, this body with the name Sathya Sai, has full authority over all institutions established under this name.

For the Sai Samaj, there is no body with that name to hold and exercise authority and so, if funds are collected, used or misused, this body has no control over the Sai Samajs in a tangible manner. So, it is best to keep the two distinct and allow those societies to go their own way.

There are a number of other institutions also started and run by Swamis of various types. If we have any who associates with these, I ask the District and State President to remove them immediately. Though people can revere and worship whomsoever they like, we should not have in the Organisation men with dual loyalties. Only those with faith and devotion to this Name and Form can carry out its objectives with zest and enthusiasm.

Of course, every person is Divine but there are degrees in the manifestation of that Divinity. The fire at the end of a lighted scent-stick or cigarette, is incapable of igniting even a dry stick of wood. But a forest fire can consume in its conflagration even the greenest tree. There is difference in the degree of the manifestation of the Divine element in the voltage of the bulb which turns the current into light. Some persons may claim to be superior or supreme, but though they have reached heights, their eyes are roaming like those of vultures, searching the plains for food. Their forms and names are those of advanced Masters, but their thoughts are low. Do not associate with such people, however high their positions, if their vision is low. Save yourselves by your own effort; acquire discrimination and realise the Truth. Then, you can move out to help others to realise.

- Third All India Conference, Prasanthi Nilayam | November 20-21, 1970

Bharat is the centre of spiritual progress for ages and the region where Divine incarnations re-establish Dharma for the good of humanity. In order to make known My majesty and My glory as the Divine that has incarnated, miraculous happenings of an amazing nature do take place in certain areas. Taking advantage of the attraction that those happenings draw upon them, many misuse them for personal propaganda and aggrandizement. They trade for money the Vibhuti that the pictures in their altars shower! They go about pretending that they are ‘superior devotees’ of a higher order and conferring boons and blessings on the innocent folk whom they fleece. Others put forth false claims that Vibhuti is emanating from the pictures of Baba in their homes, that Amrit (nectar) is dripping from them or that material objects are falling from them, like written answers to questions. Samitis and other Units should have no contact with such cheats and crooks. Anyone who is attached to such or who encourages such can be immediately removed.

- Third All India Conference, Prasanthi Nilayam | November 20-21, 1970

There are others who claim that I am speaking through them, and answering questions put to them. These people must be either insane or hysteria-affected or they are possessed by some ghost or by the greed to earn money thereby. I can only tell you that it is not I that speaks through them. I do not need media; nor do I need substitutes or subsidiaries or representatives. There are some crooks who are publicising that I have allotted them some regions for ministration by them on My behalf, because they say, My devotees have increased so much that I am unable to attend to all of them, single-handed! On the face of it, this is an absurd lie.

Moreover, consider another aspect. Even those who cry in pure agonising yearning, Sai Sai Sai, and lead pure unselfish virtuous lives, even these find it hard to realise Me; how then can these low scheming vulgar men who know no Sadhana, sincerity, truth and humility, how can these people claim that they have been blessed by me? They may wear the same style of dress, imitate gestures and style of speech but these will only bring their falsehood into greater prominence. That I am supposed to “possess” such people or speak through them or shower My Grace on them is an assumption of which one ought to be ashamed! How then can anyone believe it, I wonder. Evil forces which design to damage or diminish the faith and devotion of the simple and the sincere do emerge into action and try to attract attention by devious means. They try to draw away aspirants from the spiritual path into worldly paths of avarice and malice. There is a big chasm of difference between the Sai Shakti and these inferior Shaktis. Since the opportunity has now offered itself, this has to be said. There can be no limit for Sai Shakti, no hindrance, no opposition or obstacle. You may believe it or you may not, but Sai Shakti can transform earth into sky, the sky into earth. Only, there is no call for that transformation. This Divine behaviour is far distinct from the mean exhibitionistic tricks of the inferior Shaktis. This is spontaneous manifestation; those are calculated to collect customers and exploit the ignorant. The inferior Shaktis may imitate the dress or the gestures, for imitation cannot be prevented. But you have to ask yourselves the question: “Can all green feathered birds be parrots? Or, can all worms on petals turn into butterflies? Or, can a donkey wearing a tiger-skin become a tiger or can an overgrown boar be honoured as an elephant?” Beware of being cheated by dress or speech or by tricks. You need not feel angry or upset by these. For Truth is ever Truth. Falsehood can never become Truth, whatever its tactics. This is the very embodiment of Truth. It has no unreality or falsehood in its composition…

Whoever may join in this campaign, whatever tactics they employ, even if all the ‘14 worlds’ unite as one, they cannot succeed; they cannot affect Me in the least. And, even if ten more worlds, say 24 in all, lend them their support, their falsehood will not be accepted or established as Truth… When you light a lamp in your home, you have to go around the homes of others and invite them to come and admire it. But when the Sun rises in all its splendour, there is no need to draw the attention of the world to the event. This is the splendour of the Sun. It will itself command attention. No one need be invited to notice it.

- Third All India Conference, Prasanthi Nilayam | November 20-21, 1970