You and I - Together · Sathya Sai Speaks 1974

You and I - Together

31 January 1974, Brindavan

Professor Kasturi's English.

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A COLLEGE which does not confer the knowledge of their Athmic Reality to the students engaged in the pursuit of various objectives and material studies is as barren as a sky without the Moon, or a heart without peace, a nation without reverence for law. Colleges in India have a greater responsibility in this matter, for, here, more than the material, technological and scientific side of civilisation, emphasis was laid for centuries on the social, cultural and spiritual side. The goal of life and the ways of ensuring harmony were discovered here and propagated by saints and sages. The young men and women that emerge from the colleges of India have to cleanse this land of untruth, injustice, violence and fear. They must spread the message of peace, tolerance, righteousness and service, and be exemplars of these qualities for the people. You are not educated, if all that you have achieved is, the study of a ton of books. The body and the mind have to be illumined by the light of Love that emanates from the awareness of the Soul and its essential Divinity. Since education today deals only with the body and mind, and is unrelated to the Soul and Spirit, the youth of the land is wafted hither and thither by every gust of passing, like rootless vegetation. Awareness of the will grant unshakeable power and courage. The teach the means of securing this awareness, and drawing on it to meet the challenges of life. That alone can crown education with success. That alone can strengthen youth to encounter the problems of unrest and anxiety. The colleges have to teach not only certain subjects, but, the subject-object relationship too. The process by which man can transcend this duality and cognise the Unity has also to be communicated, in order to render 'education complete.

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Men should grow straight, without any crookedness At the present rate and under present conditions, the future of India, once the Preceptor of Humanity, is grievously poor. Students must awaken in time and decide to transform themselves into worthy instruments for the revival of the grandeur of . They must grow straight, without any crookedness. They must grow as Indians on Indian soil, in the Indian atmosphere; they should give up the itch for aping foreign fashions of thought, speech and dress. Instead of delving into their inner reality and living true to it, they are now exploring the outer delusions and imitating the outer trappings of equally deluded people. They silence the Voice of Conscience and behave in exotic styles. The heart warns, the brain protests, but, the mind prods on. He who smothers the voice of God is as good as a living corpse. Note the type of dress that is now considered fashionable - the weird uncouth bush-shirts and drain-pipe pants. Note the side-burns and the weird moustaches and beards that besmirch the face of youth. Note the value attached to slovenliness and primitivity, to foulness and frivolity. No one can appreciate this trend, except those who are victims to it; disgust is the only reaction one gets. When the exterior is reeking with untidiness, how can the interior be tidy? How can harmony and honesty be installed in such a cluttered heart and in such a lumbersome brain? Young people move about like clowns; they pay no attention to the seriousness of the task which lies ahead of them. When the parents, society and the nation yearn that they should become 'biggers', they revel as 'beggars', before the fashion fabricators of other lands, the imitators of other countries and the hysterics of other cultures.

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I am depending upon you, students, for a great transformation in outlook, a great revolution. Students of the must lead this movement. The older generation can only talk; it is you who must act. You have to prove yourselves worthy of this College. Be disciplined; be sweet in manners, in speech, and in your relations with the less fortunate. Be grateful to your parents, your villagers and those who strive for your welfare. Try your best always to earn a fair name for yourselves, for your College and for your parents. Do not be under the impression that you and I have come together only now since you study in this College! You have come to Me for the sake of far higher triumphs, as a consequence of merit acquired in many previous lives. You and your teachers are destined to achieve tremendous tasks under My guidance, in the execution of the Mission on which I have come.