Opening Discourse

Discourse of Sathya Sai Baba during the Summer Course in Spirituality and Indian Culture
held for College Students at Brindavan, Whitefield, Bangalore District in May/June 1974
Published by Sri Sathya Sai Books and Publications Trust
Web posted at Jun 20, 2002

Do not feel proud of your learning and think that you are a very knowledgeable person. What after all is the extent of the knowledge that you have acquired when you are not able to help others with that knowledge? To think that, because of the limited education you have had, you are better than others is a matter of unwarranted pride and ego and you have to give this up. In truth, you are the embodiment of ignorance. You must realise that out of your limited knowledge and education, correct ideas cannot come to you.

Young students and others who are organisers and patrons of education! Today we are going to begin a very sacred experiment. The purpose of this sacred experiment is to make you realise the meaning of Dharmic nature and the need for an Adhyatmic environment. Many people who are at the helm of education and who are experienced educationists are going to function as Rithwicks and participate in this great Yagna or experiment. The sacrifice that we have to make in this endeavour is to give up our pride and selfishness and promote selflessness and concern for others' good. Life strictly symbolises a journey from the position of 'I' to the position of 'we'. In this journey which we have to perform, if only we can give up all incorrect ideas, will we be able to enjoy the unity of this universe.

Today, we are forgetting the sacred Indian culture and we are adopting the pattern of Western civilisation and by doing this we are learning various methods of earning money, but neither the students nor those who are at the helm of educational programmes seem to be giving any thought to know the purpose of life and how we are to be useful to other human beings during our lives. Earning money cannot be the purpose of education. Acquiring good qualities can be the only purpose of education. Individual capacities of any special nature are not necessary if we are to only earn money and learn to sleep and eat food. From the time of our birth till the time this body perishes, we are making many attempts to earn money and acquire food. In this process of amassing wealth, we are adopting means and methods which are adopted also by the birds and animals.

In the matter of acquiring food, different kinds of strength, abilities and skills are used by us but these very same skills are used by animals and birds as well. It is not right that we use all our knowledge and skill for doing just what the animals and birds also do. In the process of our spending all our energies in acquiring food, we are going far away from the aspect of Atma. For the purpose of feeding ourselves, many lives are being sacrificed. In this process of our searching for food, many things like trees, birds, fish and animals are being sacrificed. Because these various living things are being sacrificed and are merging with human beings, they have also been acquiring human lives in their rebirth. None of these Jivas are getting any chance of rising higher than human lives. The entire life is being spent in making an effort to be reborn after one's death, thus repeating the cycle of birth and death.

We are becoming slaves to the process of birth and death. We should not allow ourselves to become slaves to this process. We should make an attempt to become one with the great effulgent spirit. Man today does not make an attempt to understand the basic difference between the Dharma that has been entrusted to him as a human being and to others. He does not ask the question as to what he has achieved during his lifetime and how he has been useful to others. He ends his life without answering any of these basic questions. When one finds around oneself several people who are ridiculing his culture, it is surprising that one is not affected by such a situation.

It is surprising that the great Indian culture - the contents of which have been improved and reformed from time to time - is today an object of ridicule and that we are putting up with such a situation without any difficulty. We should make people realise that no one can ridicule any religion or any good tradition. It is unfortunate that the students of present day are not able to reply in a fitting manner when others criticise and ridicule our religion and our religious practices. This inability on the part of our young people to meet the criticism is a very sad state of affairs. The reason for this is that our young students do not acquaint themselves with the great traditions of our culture. In the present situation where there is confusion the world over, you young people should understand the aspects of Indian culture and should, by citing appropriate examples, meet all criticism and expound what is valuable in our culture.

The good and the bad of our country's future rests on your shoulders. Such of you who have this burden on your shoulders should be prepared to understand the basis of our culture and put the injunctions of our culture into practice. An average student of today does not understand the sacred contents of our culture. He gets information only from hearsay; he does not read books like the Ramayana or the Bharatha and therefore has wrong and imperfect notions. The first thing that you should do is to understand the contents of our culture and then you should follow it up by putting the injunctions thereof into practice. There is a small example for this.

In all the countries the world over, religious scriptures like the Bible, Koran and the Vedas are regarded as important. No one belonging to any one particular religion is asking the reason for these three being regarded as important texts. It is a very difficult matter to understand or comprehend divinity. One who does not understand his own individuality is trying to understand divinity and this is a ridiculous situation. For our spiritual life, Dharma is the basis. Dharma does not depend on an individual. Dharma does not depend on a period of time or a particular situation. Dharma depends only on truth. That is why it has been said that there is no Dharma other than truth. To conduct oneself in a manner which on the spur of the moment comes to one's mind and to think that that is Dharma is very foolish. To think that to conduct oneself in accordance with one's own ideas is practice of Dharma is very foolish. To be able to develop equal mindedness and to be able to develop equanimity are the correct aspects of Dharma and for this one must have an unwavering mind and thought.

In the history of Indian thought and Indian culture, the Mahabharatha has been often taken as an authority. In Christian thought, the Bible has been taken as an authority. When we read the Bible, we look at Christ as an ideal figure who proclaimed truth to the world. When we learn about his life story, we come to the conclusion that he was born of Miss Mary. The moment this story of Christ's birth to Miss Mary is revealed, all those who follow Christianity rightly feel very proud and feel that this mysterious birth is the result of some divine power and that Miss Mary was a very sacred woman. They further proclaim with great pride this fact to the world. We should understand this aspect and learn how they accept such an event. On the other hand, if we take an example from our own tradition, we note that when they are told the story of Karna, who was born to Kunti, at the time when she was an unmarried woman, they feel ashamed about the incident. It is not understandable why we should put ourselves in an embarrassing situation when this story is told. Today we are taking such stories contained in our traditions and giving them wrong meanings by setting aside the real meanings. We further persist in giving the wrong meanings. Therefore, in the very first instance, you should make an attempt to understand the history and traditions of our culture and get the correct meaning that is implied in each incident.

There is no trouble if you are fully knowledgeable. There is also no trouble if you are completely ignorant but there is great trouble if you are neither knowledgeable nor ignorant and you are in a state of great confusion resulting in your taking always the wrong meanings. In the sacred task to which we have committed ourselves during the next one month with the help of the elders who will tell you our traditional stories, I hope that you will be able to understand the full significance of such stories which are part of our culture. The kind of education that you are getting today cannot be called true education. As a result of the education that you are having today, you are getting only superficial acquaintance with a large number of text books and are not getting the essence thereof or right education. As a result of the vast amount of information that you are getting, you are simply losing all the energy that you have. We cannot find even one student who has acquired general knowledge. He chooses one small part of the totality of knowledge or one special aspect and he tries to acquire higher sense in that aspect and in this process loses common sense.

Our minister explained to you that there is a difference between science and spirituality. He also told you that if only you can synthesise and co-ordinate the two, there is a great deal of similarity between them. Science should grow and as a result of such growth it should help people. We should acquire such education which will strengthen our physical body organs as well as our mind and spirit. Science is good, science is sacred and science can be useful to the country but we are not learning the correct methodology of science so as to make it useful to mankind. In developing science they are going quite high and they are discovering many things but because of our inability to use such scientific discoveries for individual and common benefit, we are going very low in human values.

During the month that follows, in order that you may learn to control your sense organs, we are going to put you to practice the Yoga Asanas. If at this time when you are young and when your body, mind and spirit are all strong, you cannot control your sense organs, how can you do this when you grow old? Good education consists in training you to control your sense organs and to make them grow in the right direction. That process which enables you to control your sense organs should be regarded as the right type of education. The excitement which comes from your sense organs is something which destroys the human qualities and sometimes brings disgrace.

Pavitratmaswarupas! The country is not made up of dust. It is a conglomeration of human beings. It is the human beings that give it the name of a country. If there are no human beings, it is not called a country. A country is very much like a human body. The divine strength of the country is the human nature in the body. If there is no divine strength in the human body, what is the use of this body? A body devoid of divine strength is equivalent to dust. Today, we see only the human form but the human nature and human qualities are extinct in this human form.

The qualities which are precious and which characterise the human being are morality, adherence to truth and Dharma etc., and if these are missing, then the human nature does not shine at all. We should promote human quality and human nature. We should not cultivate simply the human form and appearance. These two are like the negative and the positive. If the unity and the oneness of these two aspects is not properly brought about, then both of them are useless. Enshrine divinity in your heart and make it sacred. Then you can use the human form in a manner in which you like. The fact that today you are not enshrining sacred divinity in your heart and thereby becoming distant from it and that you are letting your body go where it likes is not a human quality at all. It is behaving very much like an animal.

Freedom is very necessary but before we enjoy freedom, we should understand what is meant by freedom. The freedom that is implied here should arise out of wisdom and out of character which you build up as a result of your education. To make an attempt to transform the human nature in yourself and elevate it to the sacred divine nature should be the purpose of all education that you wish to have. You should give up the idea of starting from the nature or the environment around you and moving to the aspect of Atma. On the contrary, you should believe that you start from Atma and move on to the aspect of nature. If you start from the base of Atma and get into nature, then the pure ideas that characterise the Atma will be with you.

You should believe that all creation is divine. Paramatma is present everywhere and is all knowing. He is present everywhere in His creation and by seeing Him everywhere, it will be possible for you to live in this world by getting correct knowledge of the nature around you and by such Adhyatmic knowledge, you will be able to enjoy happiness in the spiritual side of the world. Paramatma is the embodiment of truth, wisdom and is infinite and in that form he is present in all the organs that make up your body. He is effulgent in the form of Atma in our body.

Today many incredible and surprising things are happening in this world. Several people feel very proud that they are very knowledgeable and think that they can attain a very high position by their knowledge of science. These people question the very existence of God and say that even if there is a God, there is no place for Him in their thinking and in their hearts. This is a ridiculous argument. There is need to examine what is implied in this statement with care. A person who claims to be a very knowledgeable person cannot be so, because, if he is really a wise person, then God must be in his heart for God is the very embodiment of knowledge and learning. To say that such a God has no place in his mind is only to say that he has no wisdom in himself. God is the very embodiment of Atma and He is self, that is present in everyone, and to say that such a God is not present in one's mind is to say that he does not exist himself and is the same as proclaiming that one does not believe in himself.

At one time, Hiranyakasapa of our tradition was moving about with great pride saying that he was the only God and that he was all powerful. Even such a Hiranyakasapa had the need for God on one occasion. Are these proud people of today who proclaim that there is no need for God, cleverer or stronger than Hiranyakasapa? If with all his physical and mental strength, he had the need for a God, these proud people will certainly need the help of God and will one day recognise this. God exists in everyone and therefore to say that God does not exist is to show one's own lame hand and say that he himself does not exist. To say that God does not exist is as ridiculous as saying that he has been born to a barren woman. To argue that there is no God is as bad as insisting that the one that is arguing cannot speak. All these are meaningless words intended to make up meaningless arguments.

We should really strive to understand the sacred significance of our culture. You must make up your mind and have it implanted in your minds firmly that you wish to understand and experience what is sacred in our culture and traditions. In the sacred culture of our country, there are five injunctions which form its very basis. These are 'Matru Devo Bhava', 'Pitru Devo Bhava', 'Acharya Devo Bhava' 'Sathyam Vada', 'Dharmam Chara'. Regard your mother, father and Guru as Gods. These form the essential basis of our culture. Added to his, we have to speak the truth and act in the right manner. Our very body, our clothes and our food are such that they tell us that we share our blood with that of our parents. If we cannot show gratitude to such mother and father, what is the human quality that is left in us? If only you show such gratitude to your parents, can you expect your own children to show you gratitude in future. If you do not show the gratitude due to your parents now, where is the guarantee that your children will show gratitude to you?

All the future depends on the present and on what you do now. Every action of yours at the present time is bound to have a reaction, resound and reflection in the future. In your ignorance today, you may show disrespect to your elders, you may follow bad ideals and bad paths, you may do these things jokingly and in a laughing manner, but as time goes on, you will have to inescapably experience all the consequences. It is in this context, therefore, that it has been said 'Be good, do good, see good' and 'this is the way to God'. In this context, during the one month of the summer classes, you should have the sacred ideal of learning about Indian culture and concentrate on it and should be able to imbibe the good qualities contained in our culture. Maybe, in the food that you get and in the manner of your living, you will have some inconveniences, but you should not let that hinder the one sacred purpose of your wanting to imbibe the root contents of your culture.

We will have to accept and subject ourselves to different kinds of experiences in our life. We should not pay any attention to the inconveniences and call them difficult or undesirable experiences. Only when we are able to bear several kinds of hardships will we be in a position to experience the sacred truth and pleasures. If there are not two periods of pain, there will be no experience of pleasure, as pleasure is described only as an interval between two pains. In this young age of yours, to be able to sacrifice, to be able to shun all comforts and to be able to develop broad mindedness, will all stand in good stead in future. Sacrifice is a very big Yoga for you. Bhoga or enjoyment is a great disease. If you give yourselves to enjoyment and Bhoga now, you are sure to get into some kind of trouble in future. On the other hand if you give yourselves to sacrifice today, you will have happiness tomorrow.

All the boys and girls who have assembled here in Brindavan should regard themselves as brothers and sisters and they should try and see only the divinity that is present in each one of them. They should use this occasion to develop and promote the sacred principle of brotherhood of man and fatherhood of God. Today, people come on a platform and address others as brothers and sisters but they do not share the property with them. We should not talk of brothers and sisters in the aspect of a bodily relationship but realise the one divine principle that is present in all and it is in that context that we should regard all as brothers and sisters. There is no escape from our having to follow this sacred principle. You should spend the next one month in the direction of purifying your vision, your talk and your hearing.