Be Heroes, Not Zeros

I am happy that I could converse now with so many of you, at the same time. Yesterday and the day before, I had the same happy experience, and thousands partook of the joy from the words that were spoken. Now, the whole world is very agitated; it is full of discontent and anxiety, fear, petty faction, and hatred. To calm and quiet it and remove the discontent and anxiety, you must have enthusiasm and courage. When defeat and disappointment stare you in the face, you must not give way to weakness or despondency. Never condemn yourselves as inferior or useless; analyze the defeat and find out the reasons in order to avoid it the next time.

You should have muscles of iron and nerves of steel. Then, your resolution will itself generate the necessary confidence, and that will win over opposition. For the crop of life, courage and confidence are the best manure; they are also the best insecticides. Be like lions in the spiritual field, rule over the forest of the senses, and roam fearlessly with full faith in victory. Be heroes, not zeros, for maanava (man) is of the nature of maadhava (God); he is the imperishable, eternal aatma! Just as rain, falling in various parts of the world, flows through a thousand channels and reaches the ocean at last, so too creeds, rituals, religions, and theologies, all derived from man’s yearning for the vast inscrutable beyond, flow in a thousand different forms, fertilizing many fields, cooling many communities, refreshing tired people in many ways, and at last, reach the ocean of bliss.

Proper Atmosphere Is Essential For Saadhana

The Lord is all love, so he can be seen only through love; the moon has to be seen only through its own light, no other light can illumine the moon. In the night of vyaamoha (utter delusion), the Lord can be seen only by the light that He himself is, namely the light of pure prema (love). He is satyam and nityam (truth and eternal) and so, He is beyond the categories of mithya or jagat (falsity and change).

Drop the delusion that you have become old or diseased, or that you have become weak and debilitated. Some people begin to count the years, grieve over advancing age, and shudder like cowards, afraid of death. But remember, elation is heaven, and despondency is hell. Have always some work to do and do it so well, that you get joy.

Vyaamoha is the dust that settles upon the glass of the chimney of the lantern and dims the light. The attachment to sensual objects and the pleasure they give is the soot that sticks to the inside of the chimney; that too dims the light. Clean the chimney by naamasmaraëa every day and the flame will shine for you and others. Also, have good activities and good companionship. That will help very much in spiritual saadhana; a proper atmosphere is very essential for the aspirant. That is why saadhakas (spiritual seekers) used to move out and dwell in the aashramas (hermitages) maintained by sages in the past.

In the aashramas, the saadhakas had the unique chance of being immersed in good thoughts, good activities, and good company. It is like keeping a pot of water immersed in water; the water in the pot will then not be lost through evaporation. But, if the pot of water is kept in the open so that the wind plays upon it and the sun shines on it, very soon the pot becomes empty. Be careful, therefore, that the success you have won in the promotion of virtue, in the conquest of baneful habits, and in assuming regular disciplines are not frittered away by trite company, and loose talk, cynical criticism, or lackadaisical effort.

Draw Upon God’s Grace For All Your Needs

The goddess of victory smiles only on the heroic, those who make lions of themselves, hardy, brave, and adventurous warriors. If you secure the grace of maadhava, you are reinforced with so much strength, that you can carry out even the most difficult tasks. So, get the Lord on your side and draw upon His grace for all your needs.

The treasure that is unmistakably precious is the quality of shaantam, equanimity, unruffled-ness. Practise this and make it your natural reaction. Why be put out when you see wrong? Why be attracted, when you see evil? Remember, evil has in it the potentiality to become good; good has in it the liability to turn evil. There is no fire without a wisp of smoke; there is no smoke without a spark of fire. No one is fully wicked or fully infallible. Take the world as it is, never expect it to conform to your needs or standards.

Maaya (illusory quality) envelops the good with the blemish of the bad; it makes the evil glitter with the shine of the good. Discriminate to the best of your capacity and develop your capacity to discriminate. Struggle to win, that is the best that you can do; few can say, “I have won.” Your conscience knows the real source of joy; it will prod you towards the right path; your business is to take it as a ‘guide’ and not disobey it every time it contradicts your whim or fancy.

India Has A Rich Mine Of Spirituality

There were two parrots on a tree, twins to be more precise. A hunter trapped them and sold them, one to a low, cruel butcher, and the other to a sage, who was running an aashram to teach the vedas (revealed, eternal truths). After a few years, he was surprised to find that one bird swore very foully, while the other recited the leelas (divine plays) of the Lord in a sweet, musical tone, which captivated the listeners. Such is the effect of the environment, so seek and secure satsang (good company).

If truth is given up and man slides down the path of falsehood, then, as Appa Rao said just now, kshama (starvation and disease) will descend on the earth instead of kshema (well-being), famine will stalk the land instead of the plenty that characterized it formerly. Appa Rao said that, in Hindustan, there have been many manifestations of the Lord. That is true, for teachers have to be present where schools are and where children eager to learn are found. You cannot have the teachers in one place, the school in another; the blackboard in one place and the bell in another.

There are mica mines near Gudur; you cannot ask why they are not found near Peddapuram. It is so, that is all. So too, in India, there is a rich mine of spirituality, and so, engineers have to come here to operate it, extract it, and prepare it for use. That is the reason why more manifestations of the Lord appear here. The atmosphere here is also conducive for the practical application of new modes and methods of extraction and use, for the benefit of all humanity.

“I Am You And You Are All I”

Bha-rata means the land of those who have rati (attachment) towards bha or bhagawaan, that is to say the Lord. The Lord too has to come in human form and moves about among men so that He could be listened to, contacted, loved, revered, and obeyed. He has to speak the language of men and behave like human beings, as a member of the species. Otherwise, He would be either negated and neglected or feared and avoided.

The avatara (divine advent) has to lift humanity and put it into the crucible, in order to remove the slag and inferior metals that have destroyed its sterling worth. When little boys turn the tap without knowing its mechanism, water badly drenches them by scattering on them circular showers, so is man drenched in grief, because he does not know how to turn and get an even flow.

If the naayaka (hero) is good, the naataka (drama) will be grand; if the hero is a flop, the drama will be a disaster. The leaders of the people must have faith in their own aatma and the confidence born of that; then, they can lead others; then, they will not lead them astray, for they will feel kinship with the basic aatma in all. Appa Rao spoke of Me. My mystery can be known only by traversing My path that I have laid down here. Understand yourself, and that will reveal Me to you, for I am you and you are all I.

There is no need to retire into a forest or a cave to know your inner truth and conquer your lower nature. As a matter of fact, you have no chance to exercise your anger there, and so, the victory achieved there may not be lasting or genuine. Win the battle of life; be in the world, but yet be away from its tentacles. That is the victory, for which you deserve congratulations.

Peddapuram, 3-9-1958