In plain words
With the same knife you can cut fruit, eat it happily and be glad. But with the same knife you can cut another man's throat, lose your humanness and show yourself a demon. The knife is not the cause of this. Man's mind alone sets its course. As the mind, so the course; as the course, so the state; and as the state, so the wealth. But man today scrambles after wealth and does not recognise his own state. To recognise this state, he must change his course in the right way. To change it in the right way, he must keep his mind in the right state. Vedānta said this very thing: ‘As one feels, so one becomes.’ Our conduct goes on in keeping with our feelings. There is a newspaper. When we look at that newspaper, no bad smell or good smell reaches us. But when we wrap jasmine flowers in that newspaper, the newspaper takes on the scent of jasmine from those jasmine flowers. When we wrap pakoḍīs in the same newspaper, the newspaper gets the smell of pakoḍīs. When we wrap dry fish inside the same paper, the smell of dry fish comes to the newspaper. Our heart is pure. It is like a newspaper with no bad smell at all. Whatever practices and whatever thoughts we put into it, the heart takes on their influence.
Sow an action reap a tendency Sow a tendency reap a habit Sow a habit reap a character Sow a character reap a destiny You are the master of your destiny You can do or undo.
All our good and bad rests on our feelings alone. It rests on our conduct alone. Our conduct must be of the very best. In humanness much divinity lies contained. All the good and bad of the world rests on man's conduct.
Satsaṅga and service to society
Today, wherever we look in the world, we see sorrow, fear, unrest and turmoil. What is the root cause of this state of affairs? The country whose women and men have the best qualities stays pure always. What is the reason the country's condition has come to this sorry state today? The reason is simply that there are no women and men of the best qualities among the people. To protect the country, missiles and weapons are not the main thing. Atom bombs are not the main thing. Women and men of virtue and good character are needed most urgently. The good and bad of the world rest on young women and young men. Today's young women and young men must enter selfless service with pure feelings and a spotless heart, and bring joy to the country. They must enter satsaṅga. People think satsaṅga means friendship with good people. No, no. Sat means divinity itself. That itself is being. That alone is eternal. We must develop our company with That. This is a great support for the bitter to go and the sweet to grow. For sins and curses to wane, satsaṅga alone is the support. The world has lost such sacred satsaṅga. It has burned humanness itself to ashes.
Holding to a boorishness that has no fear of sin, taking a road that has no love for God, humanness has sunk among human beings: this is the upheaval of the world's peace.
They have lost the fear of sin. They have lost the love of God too. Once both of these are lost, how can peace come to us? First of all we must develop the fear of sin and the love of God.
We were born in society itself. In society itself we grew up. In society itself we gained fame and renown. In society itself we learned many kinds of learning. We increased our intelligence. We gained the fame of being men of intellect. Where did all these come to us from? They came to us from society alone. We received from society so many kinds of high states, courses and minds. Of the young women and young men who have received so much from society, is any single one enquiring how we should be of use to this society and how we should give it our gratitude?