The body has been given
for a grand purpose
The Lord has endowed man with the body and so,
every limb and every sense is worthy of reverent attention. Each must be used
for His Glory. The ear must exult when it gets a chance to hear the wonderful
tales of God. The tongue must exult when it can praise Him. Or else, the
tongue of man is ineffective as that of frogs which croak day and night,
sitting on the marshy bank. Krishna told Duryodhana, when he said that he was
not afraid of God and man, that he was indeed pitiable. The pasu (animal)
fears; the mriga (beast) terrifies. Man should be neither. He should neither
terrify nor get terrorised. He must be neither a coward nor a bully. If he is
a coward he is an animal; if he is a bully he is a daanava, an ogre. It is
because you feel the urge to use the body with which you have been endowed,
for this higher purpose that you are here in Prashaanthi Nilayam. The kinship
among you and of all of you with Me is ageless; it is eternal. It is not based
on worldly relationship; it is based on the aspirations of the heart. It is
Prashaanthinilaya sambandham the bond of the abode of Supreme Peace. The
human body has been given to you for a grand purpose - realising the Lord
within. If you have a fully equipped car in good running condition, would you
keep it in the garage? The car is primarily for going on a journey; get into
it and go. Then only is it worthwhile to own it. So too, with the body.
Proceed, go forward to the goal. Learn how to use the faculties of the body,
the senses, the intellect, the mind, for achieving the goal and march on.
Please
man; please God
People do not believe in God, but, they believe
newspapers and the news they publish about things they do not see or cannot
see. They believe what their ears hear, more than what their eyes see or minds
experience. A blind man is in darkness and when he denies there is light, we
need not attach any value to his denial. Even if man does not attempt to seek
God, he can at least seek to get shanthi, santhosh, soukhyam and swatantra -
peace, joy, happiness and independence. He does not now seek even these.
Nor does he try to learn how he can get them. The top spins perpetually and
has no rest; man too pines and labours for ever and ever and has no relief
from the round. The only peace and joy that he gets now are of a momentary
kind; here now, gone the next minute. Pain puts a stop to joy; joy is but the
absence of pain. Why must man live for years--a burden on earth, so much of
rice or wheat consumed year after year, with no return in joy or peace to
himself or others? The petromax light will shine bright only when you pump air
vigorously; your light too is dim and well nigh out; pump vigorously, that is
to say, engage yourself in spiritual practice and illumine your mind better
and spread light on all who come near you.
Discover
for yourself your stage of spiritual development, to which class in the school
you would fit in. Then determine to proceed from that class to the next higher
one. Strive your best and you will win the Grace of God. Do not bargain or
despair. One step at a time is enough, provided it is towards the goal, not
away from it. Beware of the pride of wealth, of scholarship, of status, that
drag you into egoism. Do not seek the faults of others; seek your own. Be
happy when you see others prosper; share your joy with others.
Three
Forms of Energy
The
vision and the world
Today, students develop many undesirable qualities
like pride, envy and hatred even before they join college. With such polluted
minds they view the world in dark colours. This may be illustrated by an
episode from the Mahabharata. One day, Krishna summoned Duryodhana and
Dharmaraj and asked them to make a study of the people in the kingdom. He
asked Duryodhana to find out how many good people existed in the country. He
asked Dharmaja to find out how many bad people were there in the kingdom.
Duryodhana went round and reported that he could find no good person anywhere.
If there was any good man, that was himself, he said. Dharmaja reported to
Krishna that he could find no bad man anywhere in their dharmic kingdom. He
could find some badness only in himself.
