3rd August 1994
This Mission seeks to highlight that all great saints and prophets who appeared in different ages in different parts of the world adopted the same truth as base of what they preached. They wanted man to realize God and remain conscious of its omnipresence. They explained that all human beings are the children of the same Father, the Almighty and, therefore, they must live together in peace and harmony. Their message did not change with the change in times. Lord Rama, Lord Krishna, Hazrat Mohammed, Lord Jesus Christ and from Guru Nanak to Guru Gobind Singh appeared in different parts of the world at different times, but their message was the same and for all.
In a way, this is true of those who opposed them also. Such people too lived in all the ages. They did not follow the noble message of their contemporary spiritual masters. They only created problems, caused distress.
Today here we all wish to discuss the message of great saints and prophets, follow the same and show the way to others. We want that God may dwell in our hearts. We are convinced that people show respect and faith only to those who remained devoted to the Almighty. Whether we mention Kabir, Ravidas or Meera, they were great because they adopted such noble feelings in their life. They never identified themselves with a particular language or any such factor. Only devotion to God remained their distinction. We have the example of the gem of a devotee, Hanuman. In India, perhaps we do not have as many places of worship connected with the name of Lord Rama as Hanuman. We do not worship Hanuman because he had tremendous physical strength. Had this been the case, Ravana was also not less powerful. But we do not worship Ravana. We worship Hanuman because of his humility. With all the physical strength he possessed, he gave credit for his brave actions to Lord Rama.
Today, however, man thinks quite contrary to it. He is proud of his physical strength, he is proud of his wealth, he is proud of his caste and so on. Consequently, he treats others as inferior, he hates them. He is ignoring the truth that all that he is proud of is perishable, we find people confined to their bed, unable to move. They cannot even sit up and take water without the help of others. Similarly, we saw people losing vast properties in the wake of the Partition of India.
The saintly people, however, rise above all narrow considerations of the world and endeavour for the welfare of one and all:
SANTAN KE MAN RAHAT HAI,
SAB KE HIT KE BAAT;
GHAT GHAT DEKHEN ALAKH KO,
PUCHHEN JAAT NA PAAT
The noble people do not go by the caste of others. Their message is common to all. They know only one religion, and this is humanity. Let us all also follow them and rise above all considerations that cause hatred, tension and strife. No human being should be a stranger to us. We should love even those who do not love us. We know the treatment that Manthra gave to Lord Rama. But on this return from the forests, Lord Rama did not treat Manthra unkindly.
Lord Jesus Christ says, "Blessed are the peace makers"! So if we wish to have blessings of the Lord, let us also be peacemakers. Mankind heaved a sigh of relief when the Berlin Wall was removed. But then, there is Bosnia, there is Yaman. We find violence in many part of the world. Innocent people are being butchered. Let us, therefore, remind ourselves of the teachings of the great spiritual masters, wherever we stay, wherever we come from, we have one earth, one sky, one sun. Let us remember that the world is one.
TRACY (U.S.A.)
6th august 1994
True happiness flows from remembering God and being conscious of its presence all the time everywhere. It is such a realization that imparts peace and contentment. Even for a few moments when we forget the Almighty and ignore its presence, our mind slips into wickedness and we are overwhelmed by ego, by hatred. That is why it is said:
SWAS SWAS SIMRO GOBIND
Let us remember and praise God every moments of our life. Unfortunately, often we fail to do so. We concentrate only on the repetition of its name, recitation of the word and are not able to integrate ourselves with the Almighty completely, the divine masters have, however, been telling us to ensure our association with the Formless. They did not only preach, but practiced it also. They warned:
JIN MAN HOR MUKH HOR SE KADHE KACHYA
It means those who are just repeating the name of God with tongue and do not involve their minds, are rather imperfect.
In Swan, they have a night-market on the footpaths. We found a man sitting right in the market, telling beads, with his eye closed. Suddenly, a motorcycle stopped in his front. The man at once held out his bowl towards the rider for collecting alms. We understood that while he was telling beads, repeating the name of god, his mind was somewhere else, looking for somebody who would offer a few coins to him. It is for such people that Kabir Ji pointed out:
MALA PHERAT JUG GAYA, GAYA NA MAN KA PHER;
KARKA MANKA DAAL DE MAN KA MANAKA PHER
It is one use turning the beads and repeating the name of God with one’s tongue only. God must be remembered with heart and soul, all the time, everywhere, in all situations. Only this realization can be helpful in making our life meaningful no only for ourselves but for others also.
We use candle to drive away the darkness. This is, however, not correct to presume. The darkness stays very much there. Put out the candle and you have it. Similarly, the moments man fortes God, his mind is overtaken by the darkness, by wickedness. All the enemies of his happiness are there all the time, watching only for the opportunity to attack. They are: Lust, Anger, Passion, Greed and Pride. So long as we are spiritually enlightened and our mind is fully conscious of the presence of God Nirankar, the very angle of our looking at things is changed. Our attitude will be that of good will. There will be peace all over. Nobody will feel hurt by what we speak. We will be free from ego:
MITHAT NIWIN NANAKA,
GUN CHANGIYAN TAT
The best trait of human being is his humility, accompanied by sweet tongue. All the prophets. Sages and seers, who appeared in different ages, are remembered with reverence even today, because they had these qualities. Let us also follow them and make our lives content and blissful. It is said:
JO PAYE SANTOSH DHAN,
SAB DHAN DHOOL SAMAN
Contentment has been described as the greatest wealth. Material wealth is just nothing before the noble quality of contentment. Wise men say that poverty is not confined to the huts of the poor, if he is not contented with what he has.
Contentment is the outcome of the realization of God, omnipresent. Once we become conscious of the omnipresence of the Supreme Giver and feel all the time grateful to the Almighty, each moment of our life is blissful in the real sense of the term.
Contentment does not mean that we should become lazy and sit back. Just as we tell a school-going child that he must work hard, similarly we must perform our worldly duties with full sense of responsibility. We must not give up everything on the pretext of God remembrance. On the other hand, we must continue our day-to-day activities, surrender to the divine will and be contended. We should not spoil our happiness by being jealous of others, who might happen to be better blessed.
Once a person was distributing sweets. It was found that he had been sanctioned an increment in his salary. After a few days the man was seem sitting remorse. On enquiry, he stated that he was sad because one of his colleagues had been sanctioned Ra. 200/- more than what he got by way of increment. This is what is happening everywhere. The divine masters have always advised us to remain contented with whatever God has given to us and lead a life based on love and affection. We should always realize that there are many in this world who are less fortunate than ourselves. Through selfless service, we may endeavour to bring happiness in their lives also. The young boys and girls working in the Mission’s Sewa Dal are already setting an example in this direction.
Once a person got worried because according to him there was very little land to produce food for the entire population of the world. He pointed out that about three-fourths of the earth is under water, while another considerable chunk has been taken away by rocks, forests etc., rendering the same unavailable for cultivation. It was, however, pointed out to him that there was no reason for him to worry, because in spite of all this there was ample food for man. What we mean to say is that we should not worry for what is not there; we should feel grateful to the Almighty for what we have.
LOS ANGELES (U.S.A.)
6th August 1994
Today man is keen to show himself as great, as most important, superior to all. The message of the divine masters has, however, been quite contrary to this. Age after age, they have called upon man to give precedence to the realization of God, the source of lasting bliss. The pride based on worldly possessions is of no avail, because all material objets are subject to change, meant to decay.
If we go through scriptures carefully, we find that all of them seek to proclaim that man should behave like a true human being. No doubt man does have faith in the holy scriptures, but their message is lost. Our behaviour tends to be in total contradiction of what we read. No religious book teaches us narrow mindedness or hatred. On the other hand, each one of them calls for self-realisation through divine light, we must know the creator of the universe, the Father of humanity. We must understand we are from the family of God, children of the Almighty, human fraternity, universal brotherhood.
Once we realize this, we will understand that the various barriers put up by man to divide humanity on the basis of caste, creed and colour and so many other considerations are futile. They are against the principle of oneness of Father and brotherhood of mankind. They are anti-human.
Today, when we see humanity threatened by mass annihilation, we are constrained to condole automatically that this is the handiwork of the feelings of hatred and violence taking birth in the human hear, due to ignorance. As a direct consequence the image of man is falling down day by day. People belonging to the different religions point out to the same Father of the mankind but with different names. The difficulty arises when they fail to realize that they are all the children of the same Father. They do pronounce that God is one, but practically they do not display their truthfulness by means of action. May be they believer but they do not act.
Lofty principles are written on the walls of the various shrines all over the world. Do we follow that in practice? Then there should have been no hatred, tension or warfare in any part of the world. We must give a thought to it and reform ourselves.
LOS ANGELES (U.S.A.)
8th August 1994
The importance of Satsang lies in the fact that here we know the Almighty. The company of saints gives us an opportunity to understand the message of the divine masters of the past as also the holy scriptures.
All the men of wisdom and holy scriptures tell us that there is nothing wrong about the material world. Every object of the universe has been created by God. All spiritual masters led a chaste and spotless life even though they stayed in the midst of the material world. The reason was that they did not attach importance to the creation; they concentrated on the Creator. They made use to the various objects considering that they were all a gift to man by the Almighty. They never felt proud of the worldly wealth. Whatever they had, they used it for the welfare of all.
Unfortunately, the man today gives preference to the creation, which is perishable. He does not choose to rely on God, the unperishable. The result is that man runs after the things that are false, short-lived and subject to decay. Naturally, he suffers from the sense of pride, which gives rise to all kinds of ill will.
There is hardly any part of the world where man is free from fear. There is tension, because there is hatred. It appears that nobody feels like remembering the teachings of our great masters. Lord Christ said ‘Love thy neighbour’. The neighbour here does not mean your next-door resident. It includes the neighbour of the latter also. Thus if each neighbour loves the other, the whole population of the world will from part of the chain. Then, who will be a stranger? Your neighbour’s neighbour will also become your own neighbour who will be entitled to your love and affection as per the great principle enunciated by Lord Christ.
The problem today is that although we know that God id one, we stick to the name that we have given to the Formless. The name we attach becomes so sacred for us that all othe names sound to be different, not to be accepted, not to be tolerated. Hence, tension and suffering all around. We must get rid of this kind of ignorance, if we want to live in peace and be happy. Peaceful co-existence will remain a mere dream, if we do not realize that there is only one religion and that is humanity. All these barriers and walls dividing humanity on different excuses are futile. We must rise above all kinds of narrow mindedness. Instead, we must usher in the spirit of love and tolerance, only then we shall be able to turn this earth into heaven and set up the kingdom of God the Ram Rajya as we describe it.
PHOENIX (U.S.A.)
9th August 1994
There should be sweetness in our tongue. We should be very careful in the selection of words. It takes no time to speak out something but who knows whether it is going to hurt the feelings of others or prove a healing balm to their wounds?
BANI TO ANMOL HAI, JO KOI BOLE BOL;
HRIDAY TARAZOO TOL KE, PHIR MUCH MAHI BOL.
Words are precious. They must first be weighted on the scales of heart. We must realize the impact that they are going to have on others. We must realize the impact that they are going to have on others. At times, a few words spoken may cause suffering for years. We may, therefore, speak only such words as produce good will for others.
It is well-known that the iron which is cool can easily mould and break the iron which is hot. Parshuram came all in rage. His hot tamper was, however, compelled to give way before the sweet words of Lord Rama. There is another example. Somebody attacked a spiritual master and hit him with his foot. The great master did not complain. On the other hand he fondled the man’s foot and regretted that being an old man his bones might have hurt the same.
Pride leads to bitterness and disgrace. Duryodhana suffered from this feeling. He refused to give even five villages to Pandavas, in spite of the fact that Lord Krishan recommended it. We know the result. It was his downfall, his decay. Man must remain humble. That is the only way to attain peace of mind. It is said:
EK MIAN MEIN DO KHADAG, DEKHA SUNA NA KAAN;
PEENA CHAHE PREM RAS, AUR KARNA CHAHE MAAN.
One sheath cannot hold two swords at the same time. Either there can be love or pride; the two cannot stay in the same heart. Animosity or ill-will does not produce welfare or good will. Even a small piece of stone in the shoe cause pain. The same is the case with pride. Unit and unless we remove it from our heart, it will continue to make us bitter. The sugar mixed in sand cannot be separate and eaten by the elephant, but a small ant does it.
In the absence of God-knowledge man forgets his real traits. He is over taken by animal tendencies. Instead of building something, he starts destroying what he finds. Suppose someone works hard for years and converts a barren piece of land into a beautiful orchard. Then somebody else comes and destroys it in one day. This is what we call animal tendency. It is very difficult to construct the house, but quite easy to raze it to the ground. It is for the saints to venture for the difficult, but constructive work. They never cause destruction. Wherever they go, they treat the world as their own. Therefore, they will not do anything that may harm others.
HOUSTON (U.S.A.)
10th August 1994
Man should not be a man in appearance only; he should be a real human being, the best of creations of God. This can be proved only if he aligns himself with God and owns the entire mankind. He must liberate himself from the feelings of hatred, jealousy and enmity and inculcate noble sentiments of love, affection and humility.
Man cannot claim to be superior to other creatures simply because he has the wisdom to build a house. Even a tiny bird makes a beautiful nest, collecting straws one by one. Man can also not claim superiority because he has the capacity to develop or produce things. A small worm produces silk which is so valuable. Then, we have jade obtained from the elephant. It proves that if man is proud of his real identity. No wonder, the spiritual masters have often pointed out:
KARTOOT PASHU KI MANAS JAAT
It means that man is a human being only to look at, otherwise he is no better than animals so far as his actions are concerned. The men of wisdom have, therefor, always advised man to become a man. He should treat the entire world as a human family. They have always warned him against dividing humanity and creating hostility. The real proof of manhood lies in creating an atmosphere of peace and inspiring everyone towards devotion of God. Suppose, somebody acquires a piece of barren land and develops it into a beautiful garden with, of course, a lot of hard work and labour. Now suppose, somebody else comes and destroys it in no time. Naturally, we shall describe the former as a man end the later fan animal. Today, there is no dearth of those who are engaged in destruction. Everywhere we find them creating riots, killing people and burning houses. Even small innocent children and their mothers are not spared. How can such unhuman persons be happy and acceptable to God as per the principles laid down by spiritual masters?
Why destruction is so easy and development or construction very difficult? In fact, every great act, noble act has got to be difficult. In order to build a house we have to collect lot of material and put in hard labour for months together. On the other hand, it takes on time to demolish it. The man walking along water can be thrown into it even by a child, but how many are there who will come forward to se him? This is definitely a difficult task. Anybody can hurt another person, but how many are there to heal his wounds?
The act saving is noble but at the same time difficult. The actions of saintly people have always been difficult but for the welfare and happiness of the mankind. Lord Rama, Lord Krishan, Hazrat Mohammad, Lord Jessus Christ and from Guru Nanak to Guru Gobind Sing all great spiritual masters worked for the amelioration of the suffering, for the rescue of the drowning humanity. They always tried to provide joy and happiness to the mankind. They preached love that would enable humanity to live in unity and harmony. They illumined the minds of the people with love, affection and compassion and they never upheld the feelings of hatred, jealousy and enmity. They showed the path for man’s own welfare as also the welfare of others. Whether we live in India, America or Pakistan or for that matter in any other country, whether we are black or white, educated or illiterate, well dressed or not, we must abide by the noble teaching of the great masters, follow them in our day-to-day life. Only then we will find peace all around. Once we are out of the darkness of ignorance, every action of ours will please God. Let us link ourselves with God, promote the feelings of love and compassion and establish a real human family.
It is our actions that make the world a heaven or hell. If our hearts are filled with the darkness of the ignorance, this very world becomes a hell for us. On the other hand, if our hearts are illumined with God-knowledge the same world turns into heaven. We often refer to Ram Rajya, the Kingdom of God. It means nothing but the realm of the noble feelings like tolerance, harmony and selfless service. Tama Rajya is naturally not to be confined to a particular part of the world. Lord Rama was being offered a throne, but he preferred to go to the forests, as an obedient son. We are touched by his greatness. Then, we find that he has no ill-will even for those who tried to harm him. This is Ram Rajya. This is heaven.
We find many people confine themselves to the recitation of the name of God. Outwardly, it appears to be an act of devotion, but in reality it is not. Because the man has not known God he worships. That is why spiritual masters advise us: "Know One, believe One, be one". We must rise above the considerations of high and low, rich and poor. We must rise above the considerations of high and low, rich and poor. We must realize that every human body consists of the same five elements as ours. Instead of claiming to be superior and becoming proud of our caste, creed and colour we should create an atmosphere of love, free from any kind of hatred. Pride is never upheld in the realm of divinity. It makes man wicked.
It is said that once Yudhisthra was asked to search for the most wicked person of the world, while Duryodhan was required to search for the noblest. After sometime, both of them returned, without bringing any third person with them. Yudhisthra said that wherever he went he was reminded of his own shortcomings. So he concluded that he himself was the worst man on the earth. On the other hand, Duryodhana explained that he did not find a person nobler that himself. Now, we know how much regard we have for Yudhisthra and how much for Duryodhana! We must avoid false pride. We should be grateful to the Almighty for whatever we have been blessed with and nothing should become a reason for pride.
BROWNSVILLE (U.S.A.)
11th August 1994
The great masters, who appeared in his world from time to time, always preached that love must abide in our hearts. None of them suggested that we should hate each other. They never told us to be proud of our own caste and look down upon others simply because they come form some other caste. On the other hand, they always advised such a person not to think that his own body is made of six elements while others are comprised of five and, therefore, are inferior to him.
In fact, the divine masters considered a family superior only if it had produced a saint, a devotee of God:
KABIR SOI KUL BHALI,
JA KUL HAR KO DASS.
In the words of Kabir Ji, if there is any person who can claim superiority on the basis of his family, is a devotee of God. Otherwise, on man can be superior to others. In case somebody has such feelings, it will means that he is suffering from pride. It is said:
APAS KAU JO JANE NEECHA,
SAYU GANIYE SAB TE UNCHA.
In fact, the greatness of man lies in his humility. Today, man feels proud of his physical strength, his wealth and condemns others as inferior. His is, however, not right, if you want to drink water, you have to bow your head. One who is not prepared to bend cannot have the nectar.
Spiritual masters, who showed the right path to man, always pointed out that one must be humble and treat others as superior.
KABIR SAB TE HUM BURE,
HUM TAJ BHALO SAB KOYE
The greatest sign of an enlightened person is that he considers himself low. Naturally, it is he who receives the nectar. Even the prophets who appeared to show the way to others described themselves as the humblest of the humble. They pointed out that the king riding a horse, with a decorated umbrella above, does not stay there for ever. The palaces are also not ever lasting. They should, therefore, not be a reason to be proud of.
Pride makes man devil. Suffering from ego, he considers others as low and hates them, which may lead even to violence. There will be no violence if man gives up his arrogance or pride. Pride is a fire that burns everything. It makes no distinction between a hut and a palace. The poor and rich, the black and the white, the Indian and the Pakistani or an American, all are equal to fire, because burning is its very nature. It ruins man. Take for example Ravana. In spite of the fact the he was a great scholar and even spiritually enlightened, he suffered because of ego. He lost his entire family. While Kabir and Ravidas are remembered with reverence, nobody shows any regard to Ravana. Similar is the example of Kansa, who gave no importance to anybody else than himself, so much so that he did not bother about Lord Krishana. He always talked in terms of ‘I’. He had to suffer because of false pride. That is why spiritual masters always warned man against ego or pride as a reason of downfall and decay. They always preached for an attitude of welfare for all. It is said:
PAR DUKHE UPKAR KARE,
MAN ABHIMAN NA ANE DE.
It means even the service to others has to be free from ego. Our help to others should not become a source of pride. Otherwise, it will fail to produce any happiness. Let us, therefore, do whatever we can for others without taking any credit for the same, without being proud it.
Moreover, our behaviour should be based on love and sweet tongue. What is the difference between a crow and a cuckoo? Why do we not like a crow? Why so we always scare it away? Does it steal our wealth? On the other hand, why do we not extend the same treatment to a cuckoo? The reason is quite simple to understand. The cuckoo has a charming and sweet voice, while the crow has not. The cuckoo fascinates us with its voice, with it songs. This is what we call an act of service to others, an endeavour that produces welfare. Let us, therefore, understand that if we praise others, instead of condemning them, it is a great service to them.
We should always give love to everybody. We should live as one society, one humanity having one and the same Father. No Christian, Muslim or a Hindu will say that there are more than one Father, the Creator, God Nirankar. The only thing, however, is that if one says God is mine, the other will say Allah is mine, and there will be still another to say Ram is mine. The reason for this is that they do not have that actual realization of God, Allah and Ram. They consider it their duty to read the scriptures and this is being done also but they do not realize what exactly they mean.
The message of love is not only to be read or recited, it has to be adopted. Only then, we may become the embodiment of peace. Only then we shall be able to spread the divine light and remove the darkness of hatred. We have candlelight so that we do not stumble in darkness. The divine light also saves us from stumbling in life.
NEW ORLEANS (U.S.A.)
12th August 1994
The well-known devotees of god have always shown us the way to a happy lf. For example, they say that if you help others, you are a great religious man. If you cause pain to others, you are a sinner. If we understand the meaning of religion as defined by them, we should be able to avoid so many problems.
Religion does not mean only to read about it. It means to show love and kindness to others. Pride must give way to humility. Even our service to others should not become a reason for pride. This human body should not be a source of pride. We must realize God before it is too late. This is the method, which was followed in all the ages to attain salvation. Today, we remember only those who realized God. Otherwise there was no dearth of people in any age in the past. That man shall be salvaged only if he develops noble feelings of love, kindness, modesty etc. is true of the present age also.
Devotion to God is strengthened by the company of saints, service to others and, of course, remembrance of God. The company of unsaintly people, however, takes us away from the Almighty. The company of saints is life a hammer that keeps the peg of our devotion to God firm in the soil of our hearts.
NASHVILLE (U.S.A.)
14th August 1994
The praise of God sounds soothing and pleasant as it comes from the hearts of devotees who are pure, simple and innocent, free from ill will. No wonder such devotees get equated with God because of their godly qualities. They have physical form, their bodies are composed of five elements like any other human beings, yet they command reverence, normally extended to God, because they possess divinely traits.
Such devotees of God are not extended love and faith normally meant for the Almighty as an appreciation of their intellectual qualities or material achievements. Had it been so, the kings who were great scholars and ruled over cities of gold should also have commanded the same regard and respect. Alexander, the Great should also be worshipped like God. But the fact is that unlike them, the devotees of God are remembered for their godly qualities. They had the spirit of tolerance. They remained humble, they were kind and merciful.
In India alone we have number of such enlightened devotees and saints who are regarded as spiritual masters and extended the same reverence as we offer to God. Tanna Ji and Ramanna Ji are popular in Andhra Pardesh and other Southern states. Kabir, Ravidsa, Meeara and others are prominent in the North. Similarly, if you go to the Western, parts of the country, you come across the names or Tukaram, Namdev and others. In the East you have Panchsakha in Orissa and many others in Bengal and other States. In this way, we find different saints and devotees of God revered and worshipped just like God Almighty.
We remember and praise these enlightened saints and devotees of God so that we may complete the journey of our life purposefully and successfully taking inspiration from them. We may like to possess love for everyone. Otherwise, we know that this human body, howsoever strong, must give way one day.
That is one reason why men of wisdom have always advised man to realize God without any delay and while this human body exists. We must put aside all other considerations and attach importance to this noble task and be salvaged at the end:
JINI KAMMI NAHI GUN,
TE KAMMRE VISAR;
MAT SHARMINDA THEEVAHIN,
SAIN DE DARBAR.
If is further said:
FARIDA KOTHE MANDAP MARIAN,
USARENDE BHI GAYE;
KURA SAUDA KAR GAYE,
GORIN AYE PAYE.
It means that even those who raised big bungalows had finally to rest in graves. This however, does not mean that the saints were advising us to shun everything in the world. They did not mean to say that man should not have a house or shelter. What they sought to underline was tat since human bodies are short-lived, one must attach priority to divine name as compared to other worldly responsibilities.
The message of love, tolerance and kindness proclaimed by the saints and sages from time to time was meant for the entire mankind as a whole. None of them said that the noble feelings he pleased for were meant only for those who lived in India or any other particular country. They projected their teachings as the need of the entire world. They were keen that the entire mankind should come out of darkness of ignorance. They pointed out that the light was available all the time; it was man who kept himself shut into a cave. He would find the light as soon as he comes out, steps out of the cave.
CHICAGO (U.S.A.)
20th August 1994
Centuries have passed since that spiritual masters have advised man to do away with all kinds of discrimination, but his pride seems to know no limits. Instead of being humble and giving importance to the Almighty, he is overwhelmed by false pride based on religion, caste, language, etc.
Whether we talk of Vedas, Ramcharithmanas, Guru Granth, Quran or the Bible, none of them is addressed to any particular sect. The style of presentation or the examples quoted may be different in different scriptures, but they seek to address the mankind as a whole, they want man to behave like man. They suggest that man must realize that the entire humanity is the creation of the same Father, God Nirankar. All are, therefore, members of the same fraternity, the same human family. Man is mistaken, when he tries to erect walls and divide humanity. This is only promoting the cult of violence. This kind of outlook is not based on truth or reality.
The truth is that every human soul is the ray of the same Supreme Light. We read this in our holy scriptures day in and day out. But we do not go further and act on the same. Whether it is India or any other country of the world, religion is being exploit to spread violence and ruin the mankind. Unless this is changed, the walls dividing humanity will not be shattered.
We must realize the Ultimate Truth and recognize our own self. No spiritual master in the past created divisions. Their real contribution to humanity is that they endeavored to remove all kinds of misunderstanding, bring the reality to light and establish union between man and God. They wanted that the darkness of ignorance should go forever. Their message was that of truth and love. And this message was for the entire mankind. They never wanted humanity to be divided.
Today, our misfortune is that we are interpreting the message of the divine masters in our own way. The result is that we are ruining ourselves with our own actions. Once a dear being chased by a tiger hid himself beyond the bushes. Instead of sitting quietly, it started eating the branches of the bushes. Soon the tiger spotted him out and killed him. This is the condition of man today. The teachings of the saints and sages that were meant to save humanity are being violated.
We often say that such and such age i.e. Satyug, the Golden Age, Treta, the Silver Age or Dwapr, the Brosze Age, was the best. In fact, no particular period of time or age is good by itself. We find that Hiranyakashyap too lived in Satyug. Everybody was not like devotee Prahlad. Similarly, Treta had Ravana and Dwapar Kansa, condemned for their wickedness. All times are great provided we seek blessings of saints who bind humanity with the common chord of divine truth.
CHICAGO (U.S.A.)
21st August 1994
The need for the spirit of universal brotherhood is felt by every right thinking citizen of the world. We here also wish that people should live in harmony, rising above considerations that smack narrow-mindedness, hatred and jealousy. The Divinity provides the best route to universal brotherhood. If we all know God, the source of divine light, there will be no darkness in our mind. But we must understand that it is the earth that moves round the sun and not stand that it is the earth that moves round the sun and not vide-versa. It is for man to take initiative to realize the truth.
We must be thankful to God for blessing us with everything in nature. We should, however, be guided by the sense of contentment and optimism. We should prefer to say that t a glass is half full of water instead of proclaiming that it is half empty.
Let us remember that flowers and thorns are found together. We should learn a lesson from the life and reaching of the great devotees of God and collect flowers avoiding the thorns. We should go in for such actions as produce joy and shun the attitude that may cause trouble or bring pain for others, let us be like flowers and spread fragrance of righteousness. We know that people search for flowers whatever the nature of occasion, happy or sad. Thorns are never sought after.