Love God, Fear Sin, Guard Human Values

If free from arrogance, you are loved. 
If free from anger, you are free of sorrow. 
If free from desires, you gain wealth. 
If free from greed, you become happy.
(Sanskrit Sloka)

Embodiments of Love! 

So long as a man is puffed up with pride, none, not even his wife and children will love him. One should shed his ego and arrogance if he wants to be loved by others. One has to suffer grief and misery as long as he is prone to anger. It is only when he gives up anger can he be happy. So long as one goes on multiplying his desires, he will continue to be in want. When he controls his desires, man attains prosperity. Greed makes a man unhappy and miserable. Only when greed and miserliness are given up, can one have an enjoyable and peaceful life.

The whole world and the objects therein are interrelated by the bond of love. It is love that binds the human race together. The world cannot exist without love. God is love and resides in the heart of everyone as embodiment of love. Based on this truth, we pray, “Lokah samasta sukhino bhavantu” (may all the beings in the entire world be happy).

In ancient times, the sages and saints sacrificed everything for the sake of the welfare of humanity. Even the youth of those times followed suit. They are remembered even today because of their spirit of selfless sacrifice. On the contrary, the youth of today are becoming exceedingly greedy and totally selfish and harboring feelings of hatred and jealousy, while those in ancient times were leading a life of tyaga and yoga (sacrifice and sense control). The present day youth want to lead a life of bhoga (enjoying worldly and carnal pleasures), which results in roga (disease).

Make God Your Friend

On the journey of earthly life, people take some wealth for expenses and when they finish the journey and reach the goal, they hand over the balance to some trustworthy friend and sleep soundly. Everyone brings the wealth of love from the moment of his birth. In this karmakshetra (field of activity), that is, the world, it is difficult to safeguard the treasure of prema (love). Therefore, everyone should look for a faithful friend.

Today, the only true friend is God. When you hand over the wealth of love to God, it will be easy for you to carry on a life of security and peace.

There is no greater teacher than your heart. Time is a great preacher. The world is a scriptural text. God is the great friend. With full faith in these four entities, one should lead his life on this earth. Prema (love) is the natural possession of every human being. It is the fruit of the tree of life. There are certain impediments in your enjoyment of the fruit. But, before tasting a fruit, you have to remove the skin and rind covering the pulp inside and also cast off the seed. The fruit of love is covered by the thick skin of ego. You have to peel off this skin of ‘mine’ and ‘thine.’ Then only you can taste the sweet juice. That is why the Vedas describe God as raso vai sah (supreme sweet essence).

By pure love, you should establish unity with the Divine. The path of prema (love) is the straightforward road to realize the Divine. The human life is a journey from ‘I’ to ‘We’. It is also progressing from Sam to Soham (Individual self to the state of merger with the Divine).

Three Types of Prema

This means that every one of your actions must be done as an offering to God. But, nowadays, people start their journey from ‘I’ and come back to the same ‘I’. This is selfishness. The day you give up selfishness, you are on the right path. You experience love in three ways: swartha prema (self-oriented love), parartha prema (love towards all fellow beings) and anyonya prema (mutual give and take type of love).

“I should be happy. I should enjoy all pleasures and be comfortable. I do not care for others.” This is the attitude of swartha prema (selfish love). Anyonya prema represents the feeling that not only himself, but also his relatives and friends should be comfortable and enjoy a good life. But, parartha prema represents the feeling that all should be happy in the entire world. This is the highest type of prema.

There are three examples to illustrate these three types of love. Swartha or selfish love is comparable to the bulb that illumines just one single small room. This cannot be called love at all. Anyonya prema is like moonlight. Though it illumines all directions, it is very dim. It does not help one to have a clear perception. You may mistake a rope for a serpent and a stump of wood as a human body in moonlight. Similarly, you may mistake a good man to be a wicked one and vice versa due to illusion. But, parartha prema is like sunlight which is very bright and will not give room for any doubt. The confused person will be overpowered by delusion. He may believe the words of wicked persons, which may appear to be sweet. The words of wise people may appear to be unsavory, but, they communicate nectarine truth. Divine love is like a downpour of rain, although sometimes interspersed with hard hailstones hurting you. But, remember! They melt into the water of love for you. Similarly, Divinity sometimes may appear to be hurting you. But, you should realize it contains nothing but love. God is love. Love is God. Live in love. You should make an effort to lead such a life.

Look for Your Own Defects

Some people regard minor defects in others as huge flaws and criticize them while they ignore even great drawbacks in themselves. This is highly improper. The correct method is to magnify your own small mistakes and consider them as big mistakes, and the big mistakes of others as small ones of no consequence. That is how you can control the commission of errors. With this attitude, you will be able to realize the Divine. The love of humans is earthly and selfish while Divine love is spiritual and selfless. It is pure love. The ancients described the Divine as eternal, immortal, pure, and unsullied. In order to experience the Love of God, you should give up petty-minded selfishness and expand your love.

Let us take an example of how the love of a newly married man to his spouse decreases as days go by. In the beginning, he shows considerable concern when they are walking on the road, and come across a thorn. The man shows a lot of concern and pulls the wife aside. In the same situation a few months later, he retorts, “Are you blind? Can you not see the thorn?” Thus, the worldly love will become diluted while Divine love will be constant and steady.

People cannot understand the greatness of Divine love. They misconstrue this love and even blame God when they do not get their low desires fulfilled. Some want liberation. What is liberation? It is liberation from desires. They want to see God. Should you not have the requisite faith and feeling in your heart for this?

Aspire to Experience Divine Love

Even when you live close to God you cannot see God unless you have the faith and devotion, just like a frog in the pond which is ignorant of the honey in the lotus, though near to it, while honey bees from far-off places know the existence of honey in the flower, and come and taste it. People from distant lands come and experience the sweetness of God’s love, while those nearer are not able to do so.

The proximity to the Divine can elevate human to the level of the Divine. But, many fail to realize this and waste their lives. Love is in everyone, but, because it is turned to selfish ends, it becomes attachment. You should aspire to experience daivi prema (Divine love).

In the modern world, youth should know the nature of true love. Many from abroad mix with persons of the opposite sex, calling them boy friend and girl friend. If you really love each other you must get married and not continue living as friends.

A few years back a foreign youth was sitting under a tree with a crestfallen face. He was just in his late teens, and when questioned by Swami, he said that his second wife had deserted him and he was anxiously thinking of his child she bore. If at this age he had worries, imagine what would happen when he became older? Some young people, even before they reach twenty years of age, get married and divorced. They remarry and get separated from wife and child too, and later feel sorry for themselves. They do not realize the value of human life which is both rare and sacred.

According to the Upanishads, human life is sacred and rare. The human being is noble and powerful. He is called manava, that is, ‘not new at all, but, eternal.’ It is the body that changes often, not the Atma (the Inner Being or Self).

God Is the Changeless Truth

Young men and women! You may be getting a lot of thoughts because of your food and other habits. You should discriminate whether they are good or bad. You should not be carried away by bookish and superficial knowledge. You should have practical knowledge to make your life useful. Achieve coordination between your education and behavior. Perfect harmony in thought, word and deed is the hallmark of a human being. You should have full faith in God with no doubt at all. Divinity is beyond your human comprehension with the physical equipment you have. Your thoughts are only reflections, resounds and reactions of the outer world. God has no such reactions. He has only one sound, that is truth absolute. You should follow the twin ideals “Speak the truth and do righteous deeds.” God is the changeless Truth, but, no one understands this. You can do so only when you follow the righteous path of morality and integrity.

Man has become a slave to money. He may forget God, but, will never forget money. You provide yourself with an air conditioner, a good bed, fans and other accessories with a view to having a comfortable sleep. But, you do not get sleep. Why? You should have mental peace to sleep well. Your body, mind, chitta (will power) and ahamkara (egotism) being the inner instruments, must all be oriented towards peace as well as the external limbs and sense organs. This can be achieved only by developing Divine love, which is selfless love and which always gives and never takes, while worldly love is keen on getting and then forgetting.

Harming a Fellow Being Is Harming the Divine

Divine love has no equal. It stands supreme. You pray to God for trivial worldly things. You should ask for something that you do not have. You do not have selfless love, hence you should only ask for such love which the Divine has in plenty. God is the embodiment of bliss. Pray for love, peace and bliss. You should be able to distinguish between earthly happiness and Divine bliss. Today, people pray for many trifles. God knows what is good for the devotee and gives it. He is a witness to all the thoughts, words and actions. Therefore, surrender wholeheartedly without any reservation whatsoever to God, and lead an ideal life. You are all embodiments of the Divine. So, you should love all and never hurt anyone. If you harm anyone, you are harming the Divine.

St. John used to consider all as his brothers. But, on one occasion he punished one brother. Jesus appeared in his dream and questioned him, “Do you think you are hurting that man? No, you are hurting Me.” You should understand this truth that any harm done to a fellow being is harming the Divine. You should cultivate the spirit of oneness.

Bhajan, meditation etc., are only exercises for purifying the mind. “*Chittasya suddhaye karmane.*” Develop love which is your life breath. When a tree is full of green leaves, branches, and fruits, you are attracted by it. When it becomes dry, you destroy it because there is no life in it. A person without love is akin to a dead tree only.

Love is as vital for a human as fire is vital for a lump of coal to sparkle. You should get rid of your weaknesses by concentrating on Divine love, as Divine grace confers the greatest strength. All other things may come and go, but, Divine grace is ever flowing. Whatever you may or may not be able to do, develop Divine love. God is the director and all humans are mere actors. Be good performers in God’s play. Only to train you for this role, this Youth Conference has been convened. In the midst of the world replete with fear, distrust, and mutual recrimination, you have to prove yourself to be the messengers of the Divine and embodiments of love, peace, and truth. Declare your reality as Divine to the world at large and make them realize the Divinity in everyone.

Embodiments of Love! 

You young men and women should know what is truth, what is love, and what is God and what relationship is there between mind and world. Youth go abroad in quest of money. You are not satisfied with what you can earn here and out of greed you go for earning more. You should have hands in society and head in the forest. This is the real test. Men spend their entire life with attachment to money to such an extent that even while on death bed they cannot think of God. In this conference, you have been told about fear of sin and morality in society. You have to carry these ideals with you and practice them.

God Is the Hero, Rest Are Zeros

You must radiate human values and ensure unity in thought, word and deed. At present there is chaos and mutual animosity amongst various people. You have to spread the message of unity, purity, and Divinity.

Vivekananda said: “Give me ten men who are pure and perfect. I can change the whole world.” But I say, “I can bring about transformation even with one truly perfect human being.” You should have Divine as the base number one. Any number of zeros placed alongside the figure of (1) will carry value; value increases many fold with additional zeros. But, without the number one, if you put zeros, they carry no value at all. The Divine is ONE. Sun, moon, earth, etc., are all mere zeros. They get value only because of the primary number ONE, which represents the Divine. So, God is the hero and the rest are all zeros! Have full faith in God and surrender to God. Do serve with a spirit of dedication as an offering to God. Spread the message of the glory of God in every village by chanting the name of God. Then, the atmosphere and climate of the world will change for the better and become sacred.

Discourse during the World Youth Conference on 17-07-1997 in Sai Kulwant Mandap.