Live Up to Humanism

Know The Value Of Time
Teachers! Girl Students!
“Salutations to the embodiment of time who causes everything to move,” said Bharthruhari. Time is eternal. Time does not stop for the sake of anybody or anything. It is an incessant flow. Man has to follow time, and time will not follow anybody. “*Shatamanam bhavati shatayuh purushah shatendriya ayushye vendriye prati tishtati.*” Elders bless us in this manner. Man’s lifespan is presumed to be a hundred years. But there is no certainty about it. Because, Nityam sannihito mrityuh – death is accompanying at all times. Every moment, the enemy called death along with the army called disease is invading the kingdom of the body. Then what is the point in presuming lifespan to be hundred years? It is not possible to bring back the moment that had passed away. Time is standard for everything. Time is the base for anything. It can make Taneesha into a Fakir and a Fakir into Taneesha. Countless aeons had merged into the womb of time. Seconds make minutes, minutes make hours, hours make days and days make years. Therefore, no one is capable of living beyond the purview of time. Having realized the importance of time, noble men of the past had endeavored to engage themselves in sacred deeds to sanctify the time. This is the reason why people of those days enjoyed peace and happiness a thousandfold compared to the present generation. They were selfless, egoless, and were simple. They always had liberation as the goal of their lives. In order to enjoy the same kind of peace and joy, we must strive to foster humanism first.

Mind plays a prominent role in the life of man. Mind keeps on playing tricks with humanity. It can do good and it can do bad. It is the cause for sorrow as well as happiness. Mind is both negative and positive. The principle of mind is a most important thing that man must know about. It is the needle-like thorn that gives pain; and it is the needle that removes the thorn. It is fire that dispels darkness and cooks food. It is the same fire that burns and destroys things. ‘Manayeva manushyanam karanam bandha mokshayoh’. It is the mind that is responsible for all our joys, sorrows, sins, and merits, good or bad. We must try to understand the traits of mind and we must strive to take hold of it.

These days we make stress on civilized society. What is meant by civilized life? Does it involve unrestrained way of life with endless desires and endeavors, or wastage of time, actions, and body resulting in despair and dejection? Not at all. Necessary efforts are required in order to recognize and realize the value of time and the effect of mind. There is no value for human life without fulfilling the basic qualities of ‘man’. Irrespective of positions attained, of wealth acquired. ‘Srunvantu vishve amritasya putrah’, says Veda. Man comes from immortal origin. One has to fulfill his life by trying to go back to that position. Civility of the humanism has to be understood properly by the youth. When integrity of man and chastity of woman are lost, nothing of civility remains! Therefore all must display this kind of civility through the control of desires.

What is meant by ethical way of living? Ethical life is the good practice of sanctifying time and deeds and of respecting country, religion, and society. Good tradition and good behavior are synonyms to ethics. You are all Indians (Bharateeyas). Therefore, you must understand properly the Culture of Bharat. What is religion? Be it any religion, love is its central theme! You do not find any human being without having the element of love within. Love has many forms, many expressions, and many traits. But, its goal is one and same. There is only one religion that is the Religion of love. This religion is now being forsaken. You must serve society in accordance with Dharma and with faith in God.

When immersed in riches 
People tend to ignore even the 
Lord of Kailash and engage themselves 
In acts of sins until riches vanish, 
Where upon the world becomes visible.

All the riches and pomp are ephemeral. They are like passing clouds. Virtues are our real wealth. To forget these values is not a symbol of civilized life.

Happiness is sought by everybody without understanding its true meaning. It is not proper to seek happiness from external objects. Happiness is man’s very nature. It is immanent in everybody. In fact, man is the embodiment of happiness. People reach for happiness like a person searching for his nose. The Ganges of love has its origin in the heart, and it starts flowing from there. Heart is the root of all virtues. People are forgetting this fact and are always looking outwards in search of happiness. Eternal bliss cannot be attained as long as it is sought from temporal objects.

He Who Has Love And Sacrifice Is The Fittest

Sound from bronze is big; sound from gold is feeble. Display of mediocre is dazzling. Demeanour of a devotee is humble. A true devotee must shun publicity or pomp.

Man must behave like a human first. 
He who supports sinful acts is a sinner too 
Spiritual education is a right royal path 
This exhortation comes from the Vedas

The prime aim of education is to foster humanism. The hallmark of a truly educated person is humility. ‘Vidya dadati Vinayam’ Love, sacrifice, and cleanliness are the three limbs that are important for humanism. In the army, we find many cadres like soldier, sentry, sergeant, etc. But they all have two things in common– parade and firing. Only those who know them well are fit to be in the army. Similarly, we have a variety of avocations and professions as also a variety of religions and sects. But, among all, the fittest are those who possess the two qualities of love and sacrifice. These are like two eyes of man, like two wings of a bird, and like that of two wheels of a cart. Divinity has no particular shape or form that can be perceived easily. It cannot be formed into a shape like a pot created by a potter. The divinity that is naturally present in everybody has to be realized by means of contemplation and Sadhana (spiritual practice). God’s grace is possible only through our good qualities and love, not by any other means.

Justice is an important aspect of the Supreme Lord. Justice is like the sunray that contains seven different colors within it. This justice has different facets that are necessary for the sake of the welfare, development, and control of society.

Rule of justice plays a vital role in the welfare of humanity. Integral life is not something obtained from external sources. Integrity pertains to the heart or conscience. This conviction leads a person through a regulated life of noble principles. Whatever one does must be in a way that is approved by his own conscience. One’s own heart is the most authentic witness to all that one does. One’s own heart is the most reliable guidepost. Your heart or conscience must be satisfied about your integrity. One must regard or love everybody equally without having distinction like caste, creed, religion, nation, gender, or community. This is not so easy to put into practice. Determined efforts are required for the development of this kind of attitude and lifestyle.

God is present everywhere, and He is present in everybody. We must endeavor to realize this truth. When you hate a person, know that you hate God – you are hating the very God that you are worshipping! Lord Krishna said in Gita, ‘Adveshta sarva bhutanam’ – do not hate any being’.

One reaps sin when he derides another person. 
This sin cannot be wiped away easily, 
For, others are not others; verily they are God,
says Vemana. We say, “others, others”. No, they are all mighties.

This feeling is the principle of universal love. Love has to be expanded gradually. Expansion of love means the extension of humanism into divinity.

This is the eve of Sankranti. What is its meaning? It is a kind of change. What kind of change it should be? It must be towards good, but not bad. We are incessantly battered by unsacred and deceitful events. We must develop truth, love, compassion, non-violence, and other sacred qualities in order to get rid of these sorrows. On the day of Sankranti, the sun enters the zodiac sign of Capricorn.

Chandama Manaso Jataha. Chaksho Suryo ajayata. Mind is represented by the moon. Intellect is represented by the sun. Its spiritual significance is that the intellect has to move towards the heart or conscience, where God is present; that is the highest, purest, and most sacred seat of Lord Shiva, which is also known as Kailasha. You must know that the intellect is different from intelligence. The intellect without good qualities leads to several kinds of miseries in society.

You are all aware of the role of Gandhari in the Mahabharatam. Gandhari was a woman of chastity. She totally believed her husband as God and followed him throughout her life. Shakuni was her brother. Even though they were both siblings of the same mother, their qualities were contrary. Shakuni had mighty intelligence, but physically he was a weakling. Reposing faith in his intelligence and friendship, the Kauravas had ultimately met with destruction, because they lacked the intellect or the discriminative power. This is the difference between intelligence and intellect. The intellect shines bright when good qualities are developed. This is not obtained by reading books or by taking lessons from Gurus.

Inner Voice Is The Real Guru

Society flourishes better through intellect rather than intelligent men. Our body is a temple of God. Deho devalaya prokto jivo devah sanatanah – Body is the temple for God that is eternal. God is not residing in a distant country. He is very much there in one’s own body. This temple becomes useless when we neglect to keep it clean and tidy, keeping the idol in mind always with an attitude of reverence and worship. There is no point in decorating the body when the inner divinity is neglected. Then, it amounts to decoration of a corpse. There is ‘Shivam’ inside. When this ‘Shivam’ is forgotten, the body becomes ‘Shavam’ (corpse). Girls and boys of Sri Sathya Sai institutes must become ideal citizens, displaying discipline wherever they go.

Past is past. You need not worry about the past. There is no point in looking back again and again at the path we traversed. It is necessary to tread the path looking ahead carefully, in order to reach the goal safely. Human birth is precious and sacred. Even Gods aspire to be born as humans. Tukaram said, ‘Human being is like a diamond’. But we are using this diamond as a paperweight instead of keeping it safely in an iron safe. Everybody must keep on thinking at every stage, “I am not an animal; I am not a demon. I am man. Am I behaving like man, or am I displaying animal and demonic qualities?”

When you practice this kind of introspection there is no need for you to search for any external Guru. The moment one knows the secret then mind becomes a Guru. You have one separate teacher for each subject. But to those who mastered the mind, there is no need for any other teacher. You must apply discrimination before doing any work.

Self-confidence is necessary for self-realization and Atmic bliss. What is the reason for all sorrows? Birth is the cause of sorrow. Birth comes as a result of our Karmas (deeds). Passion and hatred are the cause of deeds. These are caused by feelings of comfort and discomfort (likes and dislikes). These are aberrations. Feelings of duality are the cause for the aberration. Finally, it may be inferred that ignorance is the cause for all our aberrations and sorrows. To get rid of sorrow, ignorance must go. When ignorance is resolved, the purpose of life is fulfilled and there is no need for another birth. This is the medicine that Lord Krishna had administered upon Arjuna.

Will the snake die when you scratch over the 
anthill? 
Will the craving for luxuries subside when you 
punish the body? 
Will renunciation of food and water result in self
realization? 
Without knowing own self, how do you get 
spiritual knowledge?

Finding this kind of weakness in Arjuna, Lord Krishna said, “Get up, O, Dhananjaya! Fate is inexorable! Justice wins, righteousness prevails, selfishness perishes. This is an eternal rule; is it not? The Karmic effect is so strong that you will find even a father of hundred children will have a wretched death, and none of the sons remains to attend to his last rites. “The cause for your sorrow is ignorance. Only when you remove ignorance, your sorrow mitigates.” When the light of knowledge dawns, the darkness of ignorance vanishes automatically. But, there is no use of fighting darkness incessantly forgetting this light. This knowledge comes out of inner vision. Insight rather than external sight is what is important. You say, ‘I am man.’ What is this ‘I’ in this body? Is it intellect or mind or chitta that can be called as ‘I’? You say ‘It is my body’. This really means that you are different from the body. Similarly, when you say, ‘this is my mind’, the mind is different from your self, and so on. Therefore, you are, in fact, not the body, not the mind, not the intellect, etc. It is this very ‘I’ that is your reality. You will arrive at this conclusion only when you apply the reasoning or technique of negation, saying ‘not this, not this’.

Are there as many Gods as there are people? The answer is ‘no’. There is only one God. He is omnipresent. He is present in everybody and everything. This idea is known as non–dualism in Vedanta. Ekameva Adviteeyam Brahma – Brahman is one only. There is nothing separate from it. Divinity is but one, that is present in all human beings. Know this truth and try to respect all and do not resort to inflict pain on anyone. Only then the society will respect you. You should respect others in the same manner as you wish to be respected.

When a person becomes a slave to his desires, it means he is a slave to the world. You must be a master instead of becoming a slave to them. You are aware of the episode in Ramayana– Kaikeyi the queen and mother of Bharata had sent Rama to the forest after listening to her maid servant Manthara; with the result she became most unpopular. She was hated by her own son Bharata, and she lost her husband Dasharatha. Will anyone relish to be called Kaikeyi or Manthara? Any woman who becomes a slave to her senses is Kaikeyi. Therefore, every woman must lead a pure life and obtain the epithet Kausalya. Only then she gets a child that is equal to Ramachandra. Your life gets sanctified when you spend one-fourth of your life in acquiring knowledge, and the other three-fourths in leading a life of good thoughts and good deeds.

I conclude my discourse with a wish and blessing that all of you will endeavor to acquire good thoughts and good habits.