Students!
I don’t say that you should not study. But see to it that the Divine Love within your heart is steady. When you have a steady mind, you can prosper. What is the meaning of study? ‘Study’ is ‘to become steady.’ Your mind should not move like the pendulum of a clock. What is the meaning of education? It means not only theoretical knowledge but it should be practically put into action. What is the aim of education? Education should be for life and not for a mere living. What study do the birds and animals undertake? Are they not living? Thus, education should be for life, but today who is studying for life? Today no one is studying so. Character is the end of education. How should it to be achieved? It should be achieved following one path, with a single feeling. We should only aspire for God and nothing else. What is the aim of education? The aim of education is the concentration of mind and not collection of facts. Today we keep on collecting information. In the morning even small children read the newspaper. This way of learning, trying to know about what happened in Germany, Italy and USA is only collection of facts, which is not so important. There is only one fact that we should know. That is the quest of our own reality. You say that you want peace. In fact, every man wants peace but nobody gets it; there are only pieces everywhere. From where will you get peace? It is there within you. If you completely fill your heart with love, you merge in the peace within your heart. Then there is no movement. Such motionless mind confers peace. What is the truth? All that comes out of the heart is truth. What is Dharma? All that emerges from love is Dharma. All the actions done out of love is Dharma.
The Temple of Your Heart
Students! You don’t know what is peace, righteousness, truth, non-violence, love and happiness. You only take the words and remember them. You should not merely remember, but should install them in your heart. Once upon a time, Sage Narada questioned Lord Narayana, “Many times I want to report to You many things and also want to ask You many questions. Where shall I meet You at such times? Will You be there in Kailasa, Vaikuntha or in heaven? If You tell me, I will come there immediately.” Lord Narayana said, “I install Myself there where people pray for Me with pure hearts.” That is why Meera, when her brother-in-law asked her to get away from his house said, “Where can I go without my Krishna?” It was initially a shock for her. But later she started praying to Krishna “Hamara Dil Tumhara Mandir”. My heart is Your temple and hence You are there with me only. You should have such a steady will. You must have faith that your heart is your temple. There is no temple bigger than your heart. All the temples are built with stones, cement and iron. But this real temple is built by God Himself, without any cement, bricks or mud. It is permanent and nobody can shake it. Your heart is such a permanent and pure temple. So Hrud + Daya = Hrudaya. This heart is filled with compassion. It should be always compassionate. Its name itself is Hrudaya. So where can you find the place, where there is no compassion. It is there in every man. But man is not trying to recognise it. We forget this ever new and glorious temple.
Be Grateful for All that You Have Received
Students! You need not search for God anywhere. He does not exist in a foreign land. He exists in your own body. Sin too is not there in a foreign land-it is lurking in your actions only. Sin and merit exist in your actions. Hence students should perform good actions. Students should speak good words. What is the tongue given for? It is given in order to express gratitude. God gives us many things. If it rains, water flows through the canals and you get a lot of water, even the tanks become full. If you switch on the fan, you will receive little air. But when there is a storm, it spreads everywhere. All these - the air, water, sound, earth and the fire are all the forms of God. What do you offer to God in gratitude for all that He has given you? If your kerchief falls down, and a person picks it up for you, you tell ‘thanks’ to him. Even the five elements are given to you. Expressing your thanks to them is real gratitude. Don’t forget the good done to you by others. That is the most important value for man. When you forget that, you will become an ungrateful person. When you do Surya Namaskara, you say ‘Adityaya Namaha. Suryaya Namaha’ (I bow to Lord Surya – the Sun God). He has another name - Krutaghnaghnaya Namaha. What does it mean? The Sun distances himself from the person who is ungrateful. How does God exist in man in the form of Sun? Sun is reflected in the eyes of man. God makes the ungrateful person blind. You should not become blind. You should always be bright. That is the way we can find fulfilment in our life. Man should lead his life like a true human being.
Man Gives Value to the World, God Gives Value to Man
There are many new boys here today. The word ‘Manava’ contains three parts- Ma, Na and Va. There are three letters. What is the meaning of it? Ma means ignorance, Na means without, and Va means living. The one who conducts himself without ignorance is Manava, the man. But you find ignorance everywhere. It flows from top to toe. That is not the nature of man. Man is great. He is the one who gives value to the world. Who evaluates the value? You say gold is valuable, diamond is valuable and land is valuable. The one who evaluates is man himself. Men are more valuable than all the wealth in the world. Such a highly valuable man today acts as though he is valueless. God gives us the relations in order to give value to man. He has taught the unity between God and man, i.e., the true principle of Atma. There is a bulb which is negative and the current is positive. When the positive current goes into the negative bulb, we get light. You get light because of unity of positive and negative aspects. Thus, gold and gems are there but how can you make an ornament out of it? You have needle and flowers but how can you make a garland out of it? There should be one to make the garland. He is God. Forgetting God, if you say, ‘I have needle, flowers and thread’, how can these become a garland without Him? We are forgetting God who is everywhere. The consciousness is there everywhere. It is the Truth.
Satyam Bhruyat, Priyam Bhruyat; Na Bhruyat Satyam Apriyam
(Speak truth, speak pleasing words; do not speak truth in a harsh manner.)
Truth transcends all the three times. It is worldly and spiritual at the same time. All that is created has emerged out of Truth. Ultimately everything merges in the Truth. This is the ultimate principle of Truth.
You are Charcoal and God is the Fire
Embodiments of Love! There is nothing higher than Truth. You have sacred love in your heart. How to worship God? There should be unity. There is no use of multiplicity between God and you. There is no benefit with this multiplicity. How? Consider your body as a charcoal. God is the fire. But how can fire get into the charcoal? Either the fire should come near the charcoal or the charcoal itself should go near the fire. This happens when the wind of love blows. So, the wind of love unites the charcoal and the fire. Thus you find unity. There is only one Truth, but people interpret it in many ways. Truth is one. There is no second. Today’s children, the charcoal, are far from God, the fire. There is no relation between the fire and the charcoal. Even if the fire and charcoal get together, if there is no wind of love, how can you attain unity? The wind of love should blow. Then only the fire and charcoal will become one. So we should live in unity. That is true humanity. Being born as man, you should find unity. You should not have any difference with God. You should see God everywhere.
Self-Confidence is the Foundation of Life
Students! What is the meaning of culture? Culture means refinement. What is this refinement? That which refines or purifies is refinement. Each country has got its own culture. You keep on studying and studying and ultimately end up in ignorance. What is the use of learning from the books? Put into practice at least little of what you have learnt. That is enough. You may study as much as you want and learn the essence of education. However there is no use until you put it into practice. God always wants practical science. He does not want superficial knowledge. This superficial knowledge is not superior. Practical knowledge is superior. We have to put everything into practice. If you repeatedly say ‘sweet’, can you feel its taste? Put one drop of sweet water into your mouth. Then you will experience its taste. What is the purpose of your birth? What is the purpose of life? We don’t know. Then what for are we born? Is it only to eat, sleep, roam and die? What is the use of it? Being born as a human being, you should live and die like one. That is the true spiritual practice. You should not waste your lives by just aimlessly roaming and eating. What is the secret of human life? Try to find it. If you do, you will recognise the Self. Self- realisation is the secret of life. Take a small example. Look at this beautiful building. It has walls which give support. But how do the walls stand? There is a foundation beneath it. The walls are able to stand because the foundation is strong. What is the use of walls without a roof? You can live in a house only when there is a roof. Self-confidence is the foundation, Self-satisfaction is the wall, Self- sacrifice is the roof, and Self-realisation is the life. For safe existence, we need a roof, the wall and a strong foundation. So first develop self-confidence.
We should first remember this principle and develop confidence. If you do not have the confidence, you will have ups and downs all the time. Your mind becomes a monkey mind. It is not an ordinary monkey, but a mad monkey. It is very difficult to control this mad monkey. All the time it is jumping and bumping around. But you are not a monkey. You belong to mankind. And you should show that you are a part of mankind. Today you are a man but there is no kindness in you. So you should develop this kindness. You should cultivate love all the time. You should speak with love. You should move with love, study with love and sleep with love. Start the day with the love, fill the day with love and finally end the day with love. This is the way to God. Always be happy. There should not be any castor-oil faces. It is not good. You should lead a happy life. You should have a happy face. Not only on the day of birth, should you say “Happy Birthday”, but also you should always be happy. That is Sat (the Truth). That is true happiness. All the time you should be Sat-Chit-Ananda. When you have love for God, you will always be happy. So you should lead a happy life. When you lead a life against God’s will, it cannot be called life. So follow God, Love and Truth.
Source: Discourse 7, My Dear Students Volume 2; Divine Discourse delivered on April 10, 2000 at Trayee Brindavan
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