The Quest For Peace

26 May 1993, Summer Course 1993, Brindavan

Published English.

1

2

3

Students, The Embodiments of Divine !

4

The Universe, with all its visual phenomena is created, sustained and dissolved by the three attributes (). These attributes are the very life breath of this illusory world, and activate the workings of the Universe. Influenced by these three attributes, man loses the Divine jewel of peace.

5

Man should strive not to come under the spell of evil company. It is said: . . . . Give up evil company; desire noble company;do meritorious deeds day and night; think of the eternal and the transient.

6

7

8

9

10

The Vedic injunction is, “It is disastrous if ‘,’ ‘,’ ‘’ and ‘’ (the trace of foe, fire, debt and disease) is left.” If the debts are not discharged completely, the undischarged debt grows by leaps and bounds and assumes its original figure due to the interest charged. Similarly, if a patient is discharged from the hospital without being completely cured, the traces of the disease left in him may relapse and prove disastrous to him.

11

12

What is peace? When does it arise in the human heart? Peace arises in man when the three attributes of ‘,’ ‘’ and ‘’ (serene, passionate and dull temperaments) are totally routed. You must make earnest efforts to develop ‘,’ ‘’ and ‘’ (detachment, apathy and disinterest) towards the three attributes. Everything is fraught with fear in the world, and it is detachment () alone which can bestow ‘’ (fearlessness). A man who suffers from ‘’ (attachment) is a prey to fear; a man who has cultivated detachment is free from fear. If ‘’ is allowed to grow, it ultimately ends up as ‘’ (disease). If the waves of ‘’ and ‘’ (lust and anger) are not nipped in the bud they assume great proportions. “If a plant does not bend while it is a sapling, can it ever bend when it is a tree?” says the proverb. If a plant is not controlled as a sapling, it grows uncontrolled when it is a mighty tree. That is why youth is the most appropriate period to cultivate the control of the mind.

13

14

15

You cannot rest in peace in a room where venomous worms crawl; the worm should be either caught or killed. We should root out this worm from the . There will be no peace for man until the worm is caught and killed.

16

The youth today do not know what are ‘,’ (memory) ‘’ (heart) and ‘’ (mind). Man is made of mind and mind is nothing but a conglomeration of thoughts. Since thoughts determine our conduct, we should cultivate noble thoughts. Though the heart is the seat of purity, evil company infects the heart and vices arise as a consequence. If a piece of charcoal and a burning ember are brought into contact, the former loses its blackness and glows with intensity, as the heat and the fire of the latter enter into it. The charcoal turns into a totally burning ember when it is fanned. The charcoal glows as an ember to the extent it allows itself to be consumed by fire.

17

This is the miracle of transformation wrought by noble company. The company of a burning ember transforms a black charcoal into another ember. Hence it is said, “” (the one who knows the becomes the ). It is not enough if you are ‘Near’ noble company. You should become ‘Dear’ too, endearing yourself to it. For example: When we carry a flower in the hand, the fragrance of the flower spreads to our hands and dress. If a foul smelling flower is carried in the hand, it befouls our dress and body. Hence, good and evil are endowed with equal potency to exercise benevolent and malevolent influences respectively. You are what your company is. That is why Einstein said, “Tell me your company and I shall tell you what you are.” It is the company one keeps which makes or unmakes him.

18

Though endowed with the physical prowess and prowess of the intellect, Without the prowess of God, you will be a slave for sure. What happened to the mighty at the end? Never, never forget this noble word.

19

Though was endowed with physical and intellectual prowess, he was destroyed by associating himself with the evil company of and . In the end, he became one of the evil four () and was far removed from the Grace of God. It is only the power of God and the power of righteousness that can make all powers to rally around you. But the students of today, bereft of noble thoughts and noble conduct, are deprived of the immense strength that comes as a consequence of God’s grace. Man is befouled today instead of blooming into excellence.

20

Man’s excellence lies in radiating Divine illumination. Man’s speciality lies in the acquisition of peace, but when can man acquire this peace? People shout slogans saying, “I want peace, I want peace.” How can you secure peace while keeping atom bombs in your hands? You can never acquire peace even if you land on the moon. If you keep the bombs of evil conduct and evil feelings ever in your hands, peace remains a far cry. Peace is obtained only when evil feelings are destroyed. First and foremost, there must be individual peace, which in its turn contributes to family peace; family peace, in its turn, contributes to peace of the village. Peace of the village leads to peace of the state: Peace in the state, in its turn, secures national peace. National peace contributes to international peace. This is how individual peace contributes to world peace. Similarly in a person has the potentiality to affect peace all over. Students and educational authorities disseminate only unrest and agitation without making any contribution to peace of humanity.

21

RIGHT AND RESPONSIBILITY: The students of today are the architects of India’s future. Poverty and prosperity of India hinges on the behaviour of our students today. The of a student is his duty. But the students of today fight for right without any responsibility. Without responsibility there is no right. Duty is so important to a student that it is a (spiritual practice) to him. So it is said, “.” By disregarding one’s duty and assuming authority, people today are destroying the very meaning of humanity. If you discharge your duty sincerely, authority comes automatically to you. Right and responsibility are like the two wings of a bird, the two wheels of a chariot. But people today have axed the wing of responsibility and have utterly disregarded duty. The fight for rights is an unrighteous fight, for you have no right to fight, unless you have performed your duty.

22

What is your duty? Your duty lies in striving for the upliftment of the society, not in selfish striving for the upliftment of your own family. Once we have uplifted society, we should work for the well-being of the nation. Then alone you will accomplish self-fulfilment. It is said “” (Body is given for ensuring righteousness). God has gifted the body to man for performing good deeds. That is why, the laid down “.” This is how you should at first surrender yourself to . It is by transforming and sanctifying , you become (The noble intellectual). After sanctifying your , you must use it in the service of society (). After serving the society you must infuse () into society. This is how man should travel from (intellect) to (society) and from to (righteousness).

23

THE LAST JOURNEY: The gave supreme importance to (action). What is the significance of this? The significance is that righteousness should shape and mould our . The said, “.” What do we need for the cultivation of ‘’ (enquiry into God)? We need fine dresses and beautiful ornaments for attending a marriage; we need money for seeing a cinema; we need a walking-stick and slippers for walking, but all these activities are left to your choice for, you are free to cancel them or postpone them. But you have no choice in regard to the last journey. You can never postpone it. People make enough preparations for performing small activities like walking, reading, writing etc., but what preparation do they make for a serious and significant activity like the journey beyond death? We spend lavishly on paltry activities; we sacrifice ourselves for the sake of trifles and trivialities. We sacrifice our body, wealth and time for temporary and transient things. What do we sacrifice for securing the Vision Divine? Our minds are not steady even for two minutes during . It is said, “The thought that I bestow on my kith and kin, on property and wealth will surely not save me from Lord at the time of death. It is my loving contemplation of the Lotus Feet of the Lord which will enable me to launch on this journey beyond death. Hence, Oh Lord! Bless me with the desire to meditate on Your Feet every moment of life.” We must follow the spirit of this prayer and elevate ourselves.

24

time, as we change our dress. In fact, death is nothing but change of dress - ”Death is a dress of life.” We change our dresses but can we change the journey of our life? In this long journey of life, it benefits us well to carry less luggage. It is said, “Less luggage, more comfort, makes travel a pleasure.” The less luggage that we should carry in our life is nothing but the desires that we entertain. There is nothing wrong in entertaining desires; but it is seriously wrong to entertain excessive desires, as excessive desires cause unrest and agitation. Our desire should remain as a limited desire and should not assume the proportion of greed. That’s why said,

25

Not for you, not for you, Oh man, the thirst for wealth. Wealth is a consequence of action. Contain your desires and be content. Chant, O foolish one, ‘,’ ‘.’

26

once found an old grammarian who was religiously repeating ’s grammatical formula, ‘.’ went to him and said:

27

28

. .

29

(Oh foolish man, Chant the name of . When the hour of death comes, it is only who will save you and not your grammar.) Hence man should wholeheartedly chant God’s name for he may be saved in the hour of death.

30

The knowledge that you acquire in the educational institution is not the true knowledge; the secular education in which you are trained is no education at all. It is only spiritual education which is true education. Secular education educates only the mind and leaves the heart and the spirit untouched. What arises from the head is the ‘’ (materialistic) and what springs from the heart is ‘’ (spiritual). Human life is interwoven with ‘’ and ‘.’ The six vices of desire, anger, greed, pride, infatuation and jealousy lead us on ‘’ whereas Love, Truth, Patience, Sacrifice and Compassion lead us on ‘’ .

31

32

For enjoyment in this world, you must learn ‘’ (science of Alchemy) For enjoyment in the other world, you must learn ‘’ (spiritual science).

33

34

35

All our knowledge today is only secular knowledge and not immortal knowledge. What is immortal knowledge? The true and immortal knowledge is the knowledge of “.” It signifies the oneness of man and God. The “” is repeated with every breath, for man says ‘So’ with every inhalation and ‘’ with every exhalation. Our breath itself teaches the unity of man and God, but we are not prepared to master this knowledge. Our bookish knowledge fosters only argumentative skills. But what we require is practical knowledge. We need the knowledge that enables us to experience in our daily life. Mind is the seat of all secular knowledge whereas the “Spiritual Heart” is the seat of all Atmic knowledge. It is by Love alone that the science of spirit can be known.

36

37

What is love? Oneness of feeling is love. If you foster the feeling that the same resides in all, you will be able to love all. That is why the say, “” (your salutations to living beings reach ). If you salute the living beings, you are saluting the Lord Himself as the Lord is the resident of all beings. While saluting a person you must feel that you are saluting the Lord in the temple of heart, for the body is a moving temple. Instead of worshipping the Lord in a physical temple made of brick and stone, worship the Lord in the living temple of the human body.

38

diligence) and “” (Doubts destroy us). The river of our life, while flowing towards the ocean of grace, would do well to flow between the bunds of the two sacred ‘’ (eight lettered ). The observance of the exhortation sounded by the saves us from dangers and enables us to reach the destination of Divine grace.

39

National feelings have declined in the students of today. We must cultivate the feeling that we are children of the sacred land of and that we are all equal in the eyes of God. We must show gratitude to the country in which we are born. We must be actuated by the feeling that our fellow beings are embodiments of God. We must be actuated by the feeling that our irreverence to fellow humans is tantamount to irreverence towards God. “.” The exhorts us to make the river of our life flow between the two bunds of “” (knowledge is obtained by

40