Live And Work For The Good Of The Community Around You

May 1977, Summer Course 1977, Brindavan

Published English.

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How can we describe the great good fortune of people who are born in ? God in human form is being born in this country again and again, and He is teaching Divinity and the Divine aspects to the people who live in this country. He has been treating them like His friends and relations. Do you not feel this truth around you?

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If a wife addresses her husband and says, “Now that we have come to the decision to admit our son in the , should we not make some clothes for him?” If, at that moment, the husband has no money, he decides to borrow some and get clothes prepared for his son. For whose sake has he borrowed the money? For whom has he got the clothes prepared? He has done all this for the sake of his son. After some time, a few of his friends come to him and tell him that Summer Classes are being conducted in the and advise him that, if necessary, he should take a couple of days’ leave and go and listen to those lectures. To this, the individual may give a reply and say, “I cannot get leave even for half a day and how can I go and listen to the discourses in the Summer Classes?” If the next day, his wife gets some incurable disease, then he takes leave, takes his wife to a hospital, admits her there and goes on leave for a number of days. For whose sake has he taken this leave? That is for his wife. After a few days have passed again, an incident may occur by which he has prepared some very good food which he likes, and while the food is in his plate, he gets the news that his son fell under a car and met with an accident on the street. Then he will give up the food that he likes. Although he is hungry and wants to eat, he will run for the sake of his son on the street. He has given up the food which he very much likes to eat. For whose sake has he done this? For whose sake has he run into the street? That is for his son. Thus, we see that when one sees his own people, who are dear to him, suffer from pain, he is willing to sacrifice everything. We come to understand that he is doing nothing for him-self, but that he is doing all these things for people who are dear to him. Will he have complete satisfaction if he and the close members of his family are well? Will it be possible in those conditions for him and the members of his family to live in peace? This will not bring him complete peace because he lives in the society. A human being who is born in the society, who grows in the society, and who lives in the society, cannot for a moment abandon the society. He may say that he is doing his work for promoting his own prospects and for looking after himself and that he has nothing to do with the society. But who has given him his job, and who is paying him his salary and looking after his comforts in life? It is the society around him.

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We will take here one small example. In a big city like , we have what are called social clubs. In these clubs people of different avocations, people who are in positions of authority, people who are not in any position of authority, and various components of the society will all be moving together. When people from different strata of life are moving in the club, spies on behalf of the state will also be moving amongst them in order that they may collect some information from various people. These spies will be prepared to spend any amount of money in order that they may get access to the secret information. Some people will be prepared to give away secret information that is required, because they are in need of money.

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Do not have such narrow ideas and narrow views. You must broaden your vision and regard God as being present everywhere; and in that context, you should serve and love everyone. In developing such broad ideas, young people should put in all the effort possible. The young people are the saviours of the world. ’s ambition and hopes rest on the young people. The future of the country depends upon the faith of the young people. If you turn out to be good people, the country will turn out to be good. If you promote your narrow ideas and keep them narrow for all the time, you will harm this country.

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