Passage 1

Tap any word for its meaning.

In plain words

I am in the light; I myself am the light; the light is within me; I myself am the light: the one who holds this feeling close in his heart, that man becomes one with Brahman. Asato mā sadgamaya, tamaso mā jyotirgamaya, mṛtyor mā amṛtaṃ gamaya:

so runs the Upaniṣad's saying. But, in view of the influence of today's conditions, to pray to be led from darkness to light, to be taken from Asatya to Satya, to be brought from this mortality to immortality: this is the mark of Dvaita. It does not give the right path for today's conditions, for this influence. A student who stays in the same class however long he stays will find no joy at all in his future. If we travel the whole of our life in Dvaita alone, when are we to reach our goal, Advaita?

Dvaita is only imagined; it is not Satya. We give up Advaita, which is Satya, and follow Dvaita, which is Asatya. So we must try to follow the path that reaches Advaita. We are putting Satya, Dharma, Prema, Śānti and Ahiṃsā on display, but we are not seeing them. We must see into these five sacred qualities. We must practise. From display we will see no fruit at all. Man hopes to be honoured everywhere and in everything, but he makes no effort to honour others. Only when he tries to honour others can he become entitled to receive honour from others. This is the worldly form of the Aham. As long as this remains, we cannot see Satya, Dharma, Śānti, Prema and Ahiṃsā. So first we must practise, experience and enjoy them, and gain the strength and capacity to give them to others.

Every single man hopes for Śānti. But for us, Śānti is not in some other place. To search for that Śānti in religion: this is a waste of time.