Good Company Enables You To Retain Your Goodness

May 1977, Summer Course 1977, Brindavan

Published English.

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Just as a rat gets trapped in the cage because it is unable to resist the temptation of the bait in the cage, so also man loses the great happiness and bliss that comes out of the knowledge of , unable to give up his wanting to enjoy the many sensuous attractions of this world.

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Even an individual engaged in begins to think of so many things, and cannot concentrate his attention on the objective. His attention wavers. This is simply the result of weakness in one’s own devotion. If one’s faith is strong, there will be no doubt whatsoever in being able to acquire such concentration.

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The citizens of have learned to worship people. They have not learnt to understand them. They are worshipping like and , in the faith that God is born in human form in this world when such an Avathar appears. They have not understood that , and like that are only ideal examples of human individuals. Such divine people who are born in the community constitute ideal examples of human beings, and the moment we learn to practise what they demonstrate, we should have learnt and understood them. A weak person who is not in a position to understand even human nature and human aspects, how is he going to understand the aspects of divine nature? It is only when we can understand , , etc., as ideal human examples, can we elevate them to the position of divine .

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Today, we are worshipping such in the form of idols and photographs; but we are not following the ideals they gave us. As we have learnt to accept that the Avathar and the Godhead are identical, so also we should accept that the ideals they have set for us should be practised.

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In this world, a large proportion of people want to look for an easy path. They want to enjoy happiness without any effort. Without making any effort and without practising true , nothing can be achieved. They are unable to recognise this basic fact. Like dogs which compete with each other and run away with a small quantity of food, these opportunists compete with each other, and they do everything to snatch an opportunity and run away with it.

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At first, they should enquire whether the desires and the ambition which they have, are those which they need and are good for them. Unable to have the discriminating power, they develop desires which they should not develop. When such desires are not fulfilled, they begin to accuse God and put the blame on Him. Such people feel very happy if they get what they want and are constantly giving trouble and harm to other people. Such people always look down but they never look up. Without taking any trouble and without making any effort, they want to get things which do not belong to them. How can people, who have such bad qualities, ever take a path which is beneficial and healthy? Truly, young people like you should recognise the two great and sacred qualities of morality and sacrifice. So long as we hanker after things which are material and which are around us, our condition will be like what it is. We should make an attempt to understand and enquire into questions like, who is man? What is the purpose for which he has come into this world? We keep on talking about sacrifice. We repeat the words and , but do not really practise them. We pretend to have faith in God. We keep on expressing and announcing that we have faith in God. If really you have faith in God, you will not do such things. Whatever one does, appears to be done only for the purpose of promoting his own selfish interest or the selfish interest of his own family. He has a narrow mind and has not got in his mind the aspect of selfless work and wanting to do something useful for others.

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There is a small example for this: It is quite common that either in excitement or in a state of temporary happiness, people take a different view at the moment. This can be called a temporary or transient type of . There was a person in Northern India who was running a flour mill. Once he went to a place where a good was being told. The author of the , the story of devotion to God, stated in the very beginning that there is no gift greater than the gift of food. He also asked, is there a God who is greater than mother or father? Is there any moral conduct nobler than following truth? Is there any greater than you showing kindness where it is needed? Is there anything more profitable than keeping company with good people? Is there a greater enemy than anger itself? Is there a disease for a human being worse than being indebted? Is there any wealth which is better than continued reputation? He further stated that the consequences of giving food to a hungry man will be such that great good will come out of them.

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When your parents see you, they should see the transformation in you and be very happy. All the bad ideas and the old thoughts should have left you. If damaged and dilapidated cars go to a workshop and return from the workshop in the same dilapidated condition, what is the use of taking them to the work-shop? At least from today, all the bolts, nuts and screws that have ceased to work in you should be left in , and you should reappear outside with new bolts, new nuts and new screws. By such a change of ideas in your heart, you should set an example so that people with whom you come in contact should also he able to change their habits.

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What we talk of as a present-day world is not permanent. This is purely a . We do not know when and at what moment and in what way, our end will come. For the satisfaction of such a transient human body, we are devoting all our resources, all our energies. Whatever we may acquire, all those acquisitions have to be given up some day or other. Whether we live or whether we die, we should carry a name which is full of reputation. What remains permanently in this world is only your name and reputation. Do not let yourself be subdued by the thoughts. I will do this, I will do that, I will acquire this and I will acquire that. These are simply imaginary words spoken in the air. You must make good use of the time that has been given to you by living in this society and by doing service to the people in the country.

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There is no need to establish a new society. It is our duty to recognise what good already exists in us. organisations have no selfish interest in them. They want to help all religions and all . They are acceptable to everyone. They have not been established for the sake of promoting a name. It is not as if there are no individuals in the organisation who are selfish. But you should not care for such people and such ideas. You should become selfless and should join the organisation with a selfless spirit. So long as you are in this environment, you may feel that these are very sacred and good ideas. The moment you go outside and enter the external world, it becomes different. Your ideas are bound to change when you go out. But when the company outside is also good, then it is possible for you to retain these sacred ideals for longer periods.

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You are still young. In your young minds, there is a tendency to waver a little. If one wants to explain the nature of a young man, it can be compared to the behaviour of one hundred monkeys. Taking this into consideration, when you go back, you should join the Organisation and in that good company, you should do good to the rest of the world.