Treat History and Culture as Father and Mother

If you cannot see God because of your ignorance, as you cannot see the stars in the daytime because of the light, do not say that God does not exist. What other truth can I convey to you? Good people always see only good. They do not find a fault at all. They keep on praising all that they see. There is another category of people, who describe a fault as a fault and good as good. The third category of people always find only faults and they never see good anywhere. A fourth category of people see even good acts as bad acts and they blame all the people around them. The first three categories can be tolerated. The fourth category are so bad that even demons are better than them.

Students, boys, and girls:

It is not easy for man to live his life satisfactorily in this world. When a student is in a school, there will be a new lesson each day and a new class each year. It will not happen that he will sit in the same class in all the years and learn the same lessons at all times. In the same manner, every sadhaka on the spiritual path should introspect and find out if his sadhana is correct and improving day after day. If not, he should change his ideas and attitudes and improve himself.

A sadhaka should not always remain on a dual path. As the first step, he should move on from a dual path to one, which we call qualified non-dualism. This is the duty of every sadhaka. To worship God with flowers and to offer incense to Him is only the first step in sadhana. A sadhaka who has good qualities and a sacred mind will always grow in his spiritual stature as he moves along the spiritual path. It is the duty of every sadhaka to keep on improving from his first step. A sadhaka should not spend all his life in doing worldly puja to God and remain a beginner.

He should strive to improve his mental attitude. That is why in Bhagavad-gita, ahimsa (non-violence) has been described as the first flower. The control of sensory organs has been described as the second flower of offering. The third flower is described as compassion. Forbearance is described as the next offering to be made. Peace, tapas, dhyaana, and truth are the flowers, which follow. The Gita has taught us that one should worship God through the eight flowers and one should merge in God through such a blissful experience. In order to worship God, man spends a lot of time in gathering flowers, which will only fade away in a short while. After a time, these transient, ordinary flowers will become useless and stale. How are we going to get true bliss by using such transient flowers to worship God? Not only this, these ordinary flowers are available in God’s creation. They have not been created by man for the benefit of man. They have been created by God and what is the speciality if you take and offer such flowers to God? The tree that has given you the flower will get the benefit by such offering. What is the gain that will come to you by such offering?

On the other hand, you should offer the fruits of your sadhana, the fruits which will come from your own sadhana, the fruits which will come from your own life, to God. These fruits are good conduct, truth, good habits, love, etc. These fruits must be grown by the effort of your sadhana. You should offer such fruits to God. If such fruits grown by you by your sadhana are offered to God, the benefit will come to you. In the preliminary stages, such pujas with flowers plucked from a tree are necessary. To adopt this procedure for all your life is not the right type of sadhana. It will be like sitting in the same class in school for all your life.

As our lifespan is becoming shorter and shorter day after day, we should through our sadhana reach a higher step on our spiritual ladder. The essence of good qualities, good ideas, and love should be offered to God as fruits grown by your own sadhana. The world itself will be benefitted by an individual who has good conduct. If fire starts on one tree in a forest, that fire will not stop after burning that particular tree. It will spread and burn out the entire forest. In the same manner, if there is one individual who has bad qualities, he will spoil the entire community in addition to ruining himself. On the other hand, if there is a tree which is full of good flowers, it will fill the entire area with a good flavor and will spread its fragrance. In the same manner, if there is an individual with a high code of conduct, he will not only improve himself, but will also improve the entire society around him through his good conduct. In this context, for our attaining a high and respectable position, or a low and despicable position, our qualities alone are responsible.

Our good and our bad are contained in our qualities. For all these things, the factor which is responsible is one’s selfishness. So long as this selfishness is present, man cannot experience any kind of happiness. The quality of selfishness is of a demonic nature. It does not take into consideration the happiness or the well-being of others. Students, boys and girls, you must get rid of this selfishness. You should attempt to promote in yourself an attitude of selflessness and divine love. If you want to get rid of selfishness, you should promote qualities like sat, chit, and aananda. These qualities of sat, chit, and aananda are not to be acquired from outside. They are naturally present in us. The quality of truth is present in us, but on some occasions, as a result of bad qualities, we cover this truth. If truth is not present in us, how does it come out on certain occasions? Truth is present within ourselves in a latent and effulgent form.

Chit represents awareness. We use this awareness on several occasions to distinguish good from bad. If this awareness is not present, we will not be able to enquire into anything at all. Thus, this quality of chit is also present in us in a latent form.

Aananda or bliss is also present in us. This is evident from the fact that we sometimes feel happy. The sun and the moon are brightly shining at all times, but when there is a thick layer of clouds, we will not be able to see the sun or the moon. In the same manner, in the sky of our heart, divine qualities like sat, chit, and aananda are always present, but when bad qualities like selfishness and ego are present, they act like clouds and hide the good qualities. We should promote divine qualities, like sat, chit, and aananda.

The human body is not an ordinary thing. It is like the temple of God. This body is also like a chariot for God. This chariot cannot be empty. In the chariot, the one who has the form of the atma, is God. It is in this context that we say that God who is ancient, because He is eternal, is living in this human body. In this sacred and divine temple, the human body, the effulgent atma is living. Like every river, which flows to join the sea, human life must also flow to join its ultimate destination, the ocean of divinity.

There is an example for this. The sun’s rays fall on an ocean and convert the water into vapour. If we directly take ocean water, it will taste salty, but when the ocean water is converted into vapour, because of the sun’s rays and if this vapour turns into clouds and rain, this rainwater will taste very sweet. Here, we should ask, how and wherefrom does the rainwater get its sweet taste, while the water from the ocean tastes salty? The water in the oceans can be compared to knowledge obtained from books, while the water from rains can be compared to knowledge obtained from experience. When the sun’s rays fall on ocean water, it gets converted into clouds, which may be compared to truth. From these clouds, which we have called truth, will come the raindrops in the form of love. The drops of love gather together and form a river of bliss. The river of bliss, which is made up of drops of love, will go and merge in the ocean again. There is no other alternative for this water. That is why it is said that all rivers must merge in the ocean. The water that has fallen on the earth has ultimately to merge with the ocean.

Today, man has forgotten his final destination. He is running after illusions. Today, human beings are not able to recognize from where they have come and to where they are going. If we take an envelope, we must write the “from address” or the “to address”. If both are not written, the envelope will simply go to the waste paper basket. In this context, we should understand wherefrom the envelope of our life has come, or to where it is going. Life, which is not aware of either the ‘from address’ or the ‘to address’ is merely a waste of time.

Out of the time which man spends in the thought of his relations, friends, and others, out of the time which man spends in the thought of acquiring wealth and fame, if he spends even a fraction in the thought of God, he will not have to face hell. The doors of heaven will open for such a person.

It is not right for us to spend all our time in evil thoughts about others. It is always better to think of God, rather than about others. Thus, the three divine qualities of sat, chit, and aananda must be promoted. We should examine the manner in which we can promote these qualities. We must become people with good qualities. Through good conduct, such sacred ideas will begin to sprout in us. So long as we keep our attachment to the created world around us, we cannot get such good qualities. The eyes see bad things. The ears hear wrong things. The words are such that they criticise others. So long as we have such faulty vision and faulty talk, we can never develop good conduct. On the other hand, if our sensory organs are surrendered to God, we may get good conduct through the grace of God. While it is not an easy thing to acquire, yet by effort, man can achieve these qualities. Whether we receive praise or blame, gain or loss, sorrow or pleasure, we will have to struggle to get the grace of God by our good conduct.

In this manner, the gopikas surrendered all their lives to Krishna. On one occasion, Radha said that there was nothing else for her in her life. She said, “Although I have not even a shelter in the world, I am bearing this life for Your sake. I cannot live if I am separated from You even for one moment. You are like the eyeballs in my eyes. You are always like a baby in my thoughts. I cannot have any life without You.” When the gopikas thus regard Krishna as a child, is there any chance of their devotion taking an impure form? Truly, if we want to understand the sacred contents of the Bhagavatam, we will be able to do so only through devotion. If we take our distorted vision and use it to understand the Bhagavatam, it will also appear distorted.

As your thoughts are, so is the result. The result will be based on the thoughts that an individual has. Radha described Krishna as the eyeball in her eye. Here also, there is a meaning that you should recognize. When you are standing in front of Me and I am standing in front of you, it is natural that I see My image in your eye and you see your image in My eye. On the other hand, if we are not looking at each other, then you cannot see your image in My eye and I cannot see My image in your eye. This statement of Radha therefore means that the gopikas and Krishna are inseparably situated close to each other. Krishna is present in their heart, as if He has been printed on the paper of their heart. Their thoughts are externally fixed on the name and form of Krishna. All their work is dedicated to Krishna. His worship and devotion to Him have become firm in their minds. That is why the gopikas were capable of such sacrifice and self-surrender. They were experiencing Krishna with all their mind.

On the other hand, our devotion today is distorted and our view of Radha’s devotion is also distorted. We may dress like Radha and talk like Radha, but you cannot get a heart like that of Radha. Even if we do not put on any of these external forms to imitate Radha, if you can have the heart of Radha, then Krishna will reside in your heart. Our entire life unfortunately depends on exhibitionism. We seem to derive pleasure from such conduct.

Students, it is great ignorance to give up the bird in your hand and go after the bird in the bush. God does not exist in some separate place outside you. When you make an attempt to turn your vision and thoughts inward, you will see divinity within yourself. Although we may accept external actions as the first step, we should make progress to a higher step. On the other hand, if we always remain on the first step, when are we going to rise higher? It is only when we recognize the need to go higher, that our life can become purposeful.

The ideas that are contained in us are moving away like the cold wind or the clouds. Like a flower which blossoms in the morning and fades away in the evening, our life will fade away due to old age. We are forgetting our duty. Having got such a sacred opportunity, it is unfortunate that we are frittering away our lives in the pursuit of useless things.

We have been learning for the past one month about the sacredness of Bhagavatam. We must learn to surrender all our actions to God and only then can we say that we have learned something. Gradually, the attachment to external body connections should become less and less. We should reach a stage, when we can accept the Krishna aspect as being present in everyone.

I have said many times that you are really not one person, but three people – the one you think you are, the one others think you are, and the one you really are. If you spend all your time in the aspect of what you think you are, namely your body, how will you ever think of God? You should gradually turn the external manifestation of devotion to true inner devotion. Here, ahimsa has been mentioned as the first flower in this worship. We generally think that ahimsa means not causing harm to some living being. Ahimsa is not just this. Even bad vision, bad hearing, or bad talk is also ahimsa.

Ahimsa really means that you should not cause harm to anyone through your vision, hearing, or talking. Buddha also said, “Ahimsa paramo dharma.” On the basis of what Buddha said, Gandhi adopted this path. He interpreted ahimsa as that, which does not cause any harm to any living object. After some time, he realized that himsa (harm) is done even if any harm is done either by vision, or by hearing, or even by talking. On one occasion, the cow which he was looking after, had a serious disease. Several doctors looked at the cow and decided that the cow would not live much longer. When Gandhi realized this, he suggested that an injection be given to end the life of the cow. This was because he thought that even looking at the suffering of the cow is himsa for those who look at the suffering. We should interpret ahimsa as not causing any harm, or himsa to any individual by any means.

In this manner, young students, both boys and girls, should be prepared to enter into society and do the right kind of service. In the very first instance, you must try and understand the sacred nature of your country. As soon as one is born, one recognizes his father and mother. So also, we should regard the dharma or righteousness and sacredness of our country. We should regard the history and culture of our country as our father and mother. Students of today do not know about the history of our country and they know much less about her culture. This means that the students of today are in the unfortunate position of not being able to recognize their own parents. Truly, one’s motherland is more important than even the parents, who gave birth to you. Students should recognize that the body is only a reflection of the country. The society is in a very degraded state. The sacredness of our culture is becoming tarnished. Students should come forward to revitalize the sacredness of the country.