In plain words
It is not possible to stop saṅkalpas. So, as far as possible, we must keep silence for one hour. Talking and talking, the nerves in the head grow weak. If your words are sacred words, the battery is charged. If we utter impure slander or abuse of others, our life sinks still further. So all of today's young must first of all cut down their words. You can enjoy greatly the sweetness that lies in it. When society looks too, that boy is very good, he talks to no one. He gains the good name of one who stays quiet. Some people chatter on and on. Seeing them, people in society say, ‘Here comes the chatterbox!’ and go off. They slip away, saying a bore is coming. Not only do they slip away from you; you get a bad name. Measured speech, great ease. Too much speech, harm to the mind.
Character, conduct and behaviour matter greatly
In doing service you need not spend much money. Spending as little as possible, you must do as much service as you can. You may be men of lakhs. You may be wealthy. But, simple living, high thinking: the clothes you wear must also be simple. You must not go in for show. When you go in for show, Ahaṅkāra sets in. So we must be simple dress, simple life, simple living. It must be pure. You must look after your health too. You must gain respect in society. We must wear clothes fit for that. Along with that, our conduct must be sacred. As white and as clean as the clothes we wear, so clean must our heart be.
First of all we must try to know ourselves. If you go about everywhere throwing out ‘who are you?’, a great deal of time is wasted. First of all you must try to know yourself. How must you try to know? In this world everyone suffers from unrest. The weather troubles man a great deal. What do people do when they go to a hill station? Inside they put on a vest. Over it they put on a shirt. On top of that they put on a woollen coat. What for? They put them on to bear that cold. But when we return to our own place, what do we do? First we take off the woollen coat on top. Then we take off the shirt. We take off the vest too. Then we can see our chest clearly. The coat on top is the tamas guṇa, the shirt inside is the rajas guṇa, the vest is the sāttvika. When you take off these three, you understand the principle of the Ātma. As long as these three guṇas remain, we can never grasp the knowledge of the Ātma. We must go on reducing these guṇas little by little.
Young men! As I said at the very start, the root of everything is character. If our character, our conduct and our behaviour are good, there will be no one in history greater than us. Ten of you go to a village. How must you be in that village? You must stay calm. You must keep a smile. You must not go along laughing ha ha hā. You must not go along talking loudly so as to disturb the people around. ‘What, a gang of rowdies is coming!’: the villagers too will take fright. You must not earn such a bad name. You must go humbly. You must not let impure looks or words creep in. Get into the work. If you get into the work, there is no room for talk. The one who talks does not work. The one who works does not talk. Keep this truth in mind. Truly, the one who talks does not work. Take how to conduct yourself in life as a new chapter.
Live in the present with faith
What has happened has happened. However hard you try, it will not come back. Do not think about the future. future is not sure. Present is very important. this is not ordinary present, omni present. What is the reason man today falls prey to so many sorrows and to unrest? He forgets the present and searches for the future. The present is the chief thing. When you are hungry, eat the food on your plate. Ten months ago there was a festival in our house. What use is it to think back, ‘At that festival we made the five kinds of delicacies and sweet rice’? Why must you think of what happened ten months ago? Think of the present. past: tree, future: tree, present: seed.