Opening Discourse

May 1974, Summer Course 1974 - Brahman, Brindavan

Published English.

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Young students and others who are organisers and patrons of education! Today we are going to begin a very sacred experiment. The purpose of this sacred experiment is to make you realise the meaning of dharmic nature and the need for an adhyatmic environment. Many people who are at the helm of education and who are experienced educationists are going to function as (Vedic priests) and participate in this great or experiment. The sacrifice that we have to make in this endeavour is to give up our pride and selfishness and promote selflessness and concern for others’ good. Life strictly symbolises a journey from the position of “I” to the position of “We.” In this journey which we have to perform, if only we can give up all incorrect ideas, will we be able to enjoy the unity of this universe.

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Nowadays, we are forgetting the sacred Indian culture and we are adopting the pattern of western civilisation. By doing this we are learning various methods of earning money, but neither the students nor those who are at the helm of educational programmes seem to be giving any thought to knowing the purpose of life and how we are to be useful to other human beings during our lifetime. Earning money cannot be the sole purpose of education. Acquiring good qualities can be the only purpose of education. Individual capacities of any special nature are not necessary if we are merely to earn money, learn to sleep, and eat food. From the time of our birth till the time this body perishes, we are making many attempts to earn money and acquire food. In this process of amassing wealth, we are adopting means and methods which are adopted, also, by the birds and animals. In the matter of acquiring food, different kinds of strength, abilities, and skills are used by us; but these very same skills are used by animals and birds as well. It is not right that we use all our knowledge and skill for doing just what the animals and birds, also, do. In the process of our spending all our energies in acquiring food, we are going far away from the aspect of (Divine principle).

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For the purpose of feeding ourselves, many lives are being sacrificed. In this process of our searching for food, many things like trees, birds, fish, and animals are being sacrificed. Because these various living things are being sacrificed and are merging with human beings, they have also been acquiring human lives in their rebirth. None of these (individual souls) are getting any chance of rising higher than human lives.

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The entire life is being spent in making an effort to be reborn after one’s death, thus repeating the cycle of birth and death. We are becoming slaves to the process of birth and death. We should not allow ourselves to become slaves to this process. We should make an attempt to become one with the great effulgent spirit. Man today does not make an attempt to understand the basic difference between the (code of conduct) that has been entrusted to him as a human being and to others. He does not ask the question as to what he has achieved during his lifetime and how he has been useful to others. He ends his life without answering any of these basic questions.

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The welfare and the decline of our country’s future rests on your shoulders. Those of you who have this burden on your shoulders should be prepared to understand the basis of our culture and put the injunctions of our culture into practice. An average student of today does not understand the sacred contents of our culture. He gets information only from hearsay; he does not read books like the or the and therefore has wrong and imperfect notions.

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The first thing that you should do is to understand the contents of our culture and then you should follow it up by putting the injunctions thereof into practice. There is a small example for this. In all the countries the world over, religious scriptures like the Bible, the , and the are regarded as important. No one belonging to any one particular religion is asking the reason for these being regarded as important texts. It is a very difficult matter to understand or comprehend divinity. One who does not understand his own individuality is trying to understand divinity and this is a ridiculous situation. For our spiritual life, is the basis.

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does not depend on an individual. does not depend on a period of time or a particular situation. depends only on truth. That is why it has been said that there is no other than truth. To conduct oneself in a manner which, on the spur of the moment, comes to one’s mind and to think that it is is very foolish. To think that to conduct oneself in accordance with one’s own ideas is practice of is very foolish. To be able to develop equal-mindedness and to be able to develop equanimity are the correct aspects of ; and for this, one must have an unwavering mind and thought.

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In the history of Indian thought and Indian culture, the has been often taken as an authority. In Christian thought, the Bible has been taken as an authority. When we read the Bible, we look at Christ as an ideal figure who proclaimed truth to the world. When we learn about his life story, we come to the conclusion that he was born of Virgin Mary. The moment this story of Christ’s birth to Virgin Mary is revealed, all those who follow Christianity rightly feel very proud and feel that this mysterious birth is the result of some divine power and that Mary was a very sacred woman. They further proclaim this fact to the world with great pride. We should understand this aspect and learn how they accept such an event.

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On the other hand, if we take an example from our own tradition, we note that when we are told the story of , who was born of , at the time when she was an unmarried woman, we feel ashamed about the incident. It is not understandable why we should put ourselves in an embarrassing situation when this story is told. Today, we are taking such stories contained in our tradition and giving them wrong meanings by setting aside the real meanings. We further persist in giving the wrong meanings. Therefore, in the very first instance, you should make an attempt to understand the history and traditions of our culture and get the correct meaning that is implied in each incident. There is no trouble if you are fully knowledgeable. There is also no trouble if you are completely ignorant but there is great trouble if you are neither knowledgeable nor ignorant and you are in a state of great confusion resulting in your taking always the wrong meanings.

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During the month that follows, in order that you may learn to control your sense organs, we are going to put you to practise the . If at this time when you are young and when your body, mind, and spirit are all strong, you cannot control your sense organs, how will you be able to do this when you grow old? Good education consists in training you to control your sense organs and to make them grow in the right direction. That process which enables you to control your sense organs should be regarded as the right type of education. The excitement which comes from your sense organs is something which destroys the human qualities and sometimes brings disgrace.

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The country is not made up of dust. It is a conglomeration of human beings. It is the human beings that give it the name of a country. If there are no human beings, it is not called a country. A country is very much like a human body. The divine strength of the country is the human nature in the body. If there is no divine strength in the human body, what is the use of this body? A body devoid of divine strength is equivalent to dust. Today we see only the human form, but the human nature and human qualities are dormant in this human form. The qualities which are precious and which characterise the human being are morality, adherence to truth and etc. and if these are not evident, then the human nature does not shine at all. We should promote human quality and human nature. We should not cultivate simply the human form and appearance. These two are like the negative and the positive. If the unity and the oneness of these two aspects are not properly brought about, then both of them are useless.

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To make an attempt to transform the human nature in yourself and elevate it to the sacred divine nature should be the purpose of all the education that you wish to have. You should give up the idea of starting from the nature or the environment around you and moving to the aspect of . On the contrary, you should believe that you start from and move on to the aspect of nature. If you start from the base of and get into nature, then the pure ideas that characterise the will be with you. You should believe that all creation is divine.

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is present everywhere and is all knowing. He is present everywhere in His creation. By seeing Him everywhere, it will be possible for you to live in this world by getting correct knowledge of the nature around you; and by having such Adhyatmic knowledge, you will be able to enjoy happiness in the spiritual side of the world. is the embodiment of truth, wisdom and infinite and in that form He is present in all the organs that make up your body. He is effulgent in the form of in our body.

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Today, many incredible and surprising things are happening in the world. Several people feel very proud that they are very knowledgeable and think that they can attain a very high position by their knowledge of science. These people question the very existence of God and say that even if there is a God, there is no place for Him in their thinking and in their hearts. This is a ridiculous argument. There is need to examine what is implied in this statement with care. A person who claims to be a very knowledgeable person cannot be so, because if he is really a wise person, then God must be in his heart, for God is the very embodiment of knowledge and learning. To say that such a God has no place in his mind is only to say that he has no wisdom in himself. God is the very embodiment of and He is the self that is present in everyone. To say that such a God is not present in one’s mind is to say that he, himself, does not exist, and that is the same as proclaiming that one does not believe in himself.

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At one time, of our tradition was moving about with great pride saying that he was the only God and that he was all powerful. Even such a had the need for God on one occasion. Are these proud people of today, who proclaim that there is no need for God, cleverer or stronger than ? If with all his physical and mental strength, he had the need for a God, these proud people will certainly need the help of God and will one day recognise this. God exists in everyone and, therefore, to say that God does not exist is to show one’s own lame hand and say that he himself does not exist. To say that God does not exist is as ridiculous as saying that he is born to a barren woman. To argue that there is no God is as bad as insisting that the one that is arguing cannot speak. All these are meaningless words intended to make up meaningless arguments.

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We should really strive to understand the sacred significance of our culture. You must make up your mind and have it implanted in your mind firmly that you wish to understand and experience what is sacred in our culture and traditions. In the sacred culture of our country, there are five injunctions which form its very basis. These are “”, “”, “”, “”, “”. Regard your mother, father, and as Gods. These form the essential basis of our culture. Added to this, we have to speak the truth and act in the right manner. Our very body, our clothes and our food are such that they tell us that we share our blood with that of our parents. If we cannot show gratitude to such mothers and fathers, what is the human quality that is left in us? If you do not show such gratitude to your parents, can you expect your own children to show you gratitude in the future? If you do not show the gratitude due to your parents now, where is the guarantee that your children will show gratitude to you?

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May be in the food that you get and in the manner of your living, you will have some inconveniences; but you should not let that hinder the one sacred purpose of your yearning to imbibe the root contents of your culture. We will have to accept and subject ourselves to different kinds of experiences in our life. We should not pay any attention to the inconveniences and call them difficult or undesirable experiences. It is only when we are able to bear several kinds of hardships will we be in a position to experience the sacred truth and pleasures. If there are no two periods of pain, there will be no experience of pleasure, as pleasure is described only as an interval between two pains. In this young age of yours, to be able to sacrifice, to be able to shun all comforts and to be able to develop broad-mindedness will stand in good stead in future. Sacrifice is a very big for you. or enjoyment is a great disease. If you give yourselves to enjoyment and now, you are sure to get into some kind of trouble in the future. On the other hand, if you give yourselves to sacrifice today, you will have happiness tomorrow.

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All the boys and girls who have assembled here in should regard themselves as brothers and sisters and they should try and see only the divinity that is present in each one of them. They should use this occasion to develop and promote the sacred principle of brotherhood of man and fatherhood of God. Today, people come on a platform and address others as brothers and sisters, but they do not share their property with them. We should not talk of brothers and sisters in the aspect of a bodily relationship but realise the one divine principle that is present in all, and it is in that context that we should regard all as brothers and sisters. There is no escape from our having to follow this sacred principle. You should spend the next one month in the direction of purifying your vision, your talk, and your hearing.