A Happy Human Community

In this discourse, Sathya Sai Baba advises His college students to have firm faith in themselves so they can advance spiritually. He urges them to follow the path of truth, morality, and righteousness, living for the service of others and avoiding a barren life of selfishness. If we consider ourselves to be His students, then it holds good for us too.

This country’s youth are makers of tomorrow’s India. The fortunes of India, good or bad, are dependent on them. The progress of India is based on their skill, character, and eagerness to learn and to serve. They can also bring about, by their conduct and character, the disintegration, the decline or the debilitation of India’s culture and fame. The poverty and misery that the country suffers from at the present time are the consequence of our youth’s ignoring their duty.

India, which was for centuries the ideal land for many peoples following many faiths, is today struggling to provide a mouthful of food for her children! How has this tragedy come about? The reason is that the attitudes, desires, and acts of the youth have become unholy, impure, and polluted by selfish and greedy motives. They are not seeking the education that can implant and develop qualities befitting mankind, such as tolerance, humility, and the spirit of sacrifice.

How are thieves able to steal flowers and fruits from a garden? Because it is not fenced in, there are no watchmen. In the Brindavan [Lord’s play-ground] in the hearts of youth—fresh, fragrant and green—holy emotions, impulses, feelings and desires bloom and fructify, but before they ripen into goals pursued (that with the determination can lead to daily projects), thieves like evil habits and vices, invade the hearts and overwhelm them. Therefore, the first requisite is to erect the fence of discipline and to foster the practice of virtues in the Brindavan of each heart.

Whatever has a form and name, definite and distinct, has also a cause, a creator, and a maker. Every deed involves a doer. But there are among men both optimists and pessimists, the hopefuls and the depressed. The optimists keep their eyes always on higher values; the pessimists slide down into dispiritedness and despair. At nighttime, the optimists look up at the starlight and draw confidence and courage from the twinkling of a myriad lights on high. The pessimists, however, look down and grumble at the darkness around them. The optimists have eyes only for the flower on the rose plant. The pessimists see only the thorns underneath the flower. So fear of thorns results in rough handling, and the petals of the lovely rose fall off.

Faith is essential for human progress

Seeing a glass half filled with water, the optimist is glad that it is half full, while the pessimist is sad that it is half empty. Though both statements are correct, the optimist hopes to fill the other half too, while the pessimist gives up in despair. The one has faith; the other has no faith to sustain him. So we must develop faith by steady effort.

Faith must lead to effort. Faith is essential for human progress in every field. Knowledge, and through it, wisdom can be earned only by means of faith and effort. Equipped with these, man can venture into the heights and emerge victorious. Of course, you have to be warned against cultivating too much faith in things that are merely material. You have to develop deep faith in the eternally valid truth, God.

Faith is power. Without it, living is impossible. We have faith in tomorrow following today. That is what makes us take up activities and projects that extend beyond this day. People with no faith cannot plan; they court misery by their want of faith.

A rich man in South Africa once heard a divine voice that promised him a gold mine, if only he would dig in a certain place. He dug in that place to a depth of 200 feet and failed to discover any vein of gold. His faith waned. He doubted the authenticity of the voice. He talked to others how the voice had played false. When another rich man heard his story, he developed great faith in what he believed to be God’s command. He dug in the same areas and laid bare a rich gold mine barely three feet below the surface of the earth. That became the richest and most famous of the gold mines in South Africa.

Lack of faith brings death

During World War II, the Japanese bombed a steamer carrying Indian soldiers and sunk it. Many soldiers lost their lives. Only five men managed to row their lifeboat and hoped to have a chance to survive, in spite of the surging ocean. They were tossed about for many hours. One of them became desperate. “The sea will swallow me. I will be food for sharks,” he cried and, in panic, fell into the sea. Another soldier wept for his family. “I am afraid they will suffer much. I am dying without arranging for their future,” he said. He, too, lost faith in his survival and breathed his last. The third man said, “Alas, I have the insurance policy with me. What a pity I did not give it to my wife! How can she get the insurance money now that I am dying?” And he also died.

The other two men reinforced each other’s faith in God. They said, “We shall prove by sticking to life, however desperate the situation, that God has created us for some good purpose. We shall not yield to fear. And we shall not give up faith in God’s compassion and power.” They had to give up the leaky boat and swim toward the shore. Within five minutes, a helicopter sent from a coastal ship that had received signals for help from the sinking steamer sighted them and hauled them up to safety. While safe on land, they said, “It is only five minutes between victory and defeat.” Those who dug for the gold mine could well say, “It is only three feet of soil between victory and defeat.” Faith won the victory; want of it brought about defeat and death.

Humans are the crown of all beings

Faith is the very breath you live by. Every being is the effect of some cause and has been created for some purpose. Man has been made man for some cause he has to serve. Young persons must firmly believe in this cause-effect principle. This silver plate has a purpose. The plate did not exist as a plate; it existed only as silver. So, too, the pot is already in the mound of clay as the cause; it has not yet manifested as an effect at the hands of the potter. Cause and effect are indistinguishably intertwined. The silver is the cause, and the plate, the effect; the clay is the cause, and the pot, the effect. In the same way, divinity is the cause, and humanity, the effect.

The effect reveals the cause. The pot is the effect of the clay. Why can’t pots be the effects of water or sand? When the cause (the clay) assumes the form of the effect (the pot), it reveals itself in the effect. The dharma (innate nature) of the cause will also be evident in the effect. Dharma means “vesture,” or “that which is worn.” The effect has the same vesture, characteristic pattern, as the cause.

Salt is salty. If it loses its saltiness, it is not salt. Fire must burn. If it does not, it is no longer fire; it is only cold coal, not hot embers. Chilies must taste hot. If they do not possess that characteristic and unique quality, they are not chilies. Each thing has a unique quality for which it exists. Man, too, has a unique quality that marks him out from others. It is the capacity and the willingness to give up, renounce, and sacrifice. He is endowed with that quality for a high purpose.

What exactly is the purpose? The Vedas declare it in clear terms. “By renunciation alone can immortality be gained?” Immortality, not death, is the genuine dharma, or nature, of the human being. This is why humans are the crown of all created beings. But man has lost hold of this precious quality, and he lives in bondage to selfishness. When man attaches himself to the ego, he loses access to higher levels of consciousness. This downfall results in his losing his grip on the reality. And, when it eludes him, he is confronted by a crowd of contradictory conclusions. This calamity in the thought process results in mental confusion.

Evil desires rob man of peace

Students must make all efforts to know the reality by boldly entering the realm of the spirit, as Svetaketu Aruneya, the son of Uddalaka Aruni—an ancient Vedic teacher—is said to have done in the Upanishads [scriptures]. Svetaketu sought to discover the first cause, the reality, that which is neither born nor subject to death, that which has neither beginning nor end. He rejected the hypothesis that food was the cause of life. His father led him from one theory to another, which he visualized as the ultimate truth. Svetaketu was convinced that the cause could not be water, fire, air, or ether. It could only be God.

The one Divine remains one, though It is cognized in and through diverse forms. It can and does assume these forms. It wills itself to be many: “I am one; I shall be many.” So all things and beings in the universe have God as the cause. Scientists who have not attained the knowledge of the totality suffer from want of faith in divine will. You must give up this weakening complex and venture courageously on the path of discovery. That is the purpose of religion, as emphasized in Indian culture. There is no defect in the goals that Indian culture has laid down; the fault lies in the minds of those who judge it. Cleanse the mind of material desires and sensual longings. Then you will find that the teachings of all religions are sound and satisfying.

The lesson offered by Karna’s life

Evil desires rob man of peace. The tender hearts of students must be guarded against hypocrisy, conceit, and pomp. Karna, the great hero of the Mahabharata epic, had the Sun God Himself as his progenitor. He had divine blessings in ample measure. As a consequence, he possessed enormous powers. No one could overcome him in battle. But Karna’s life offers a good lesson in the way blessings can be transformed into curses.

Karna approached Parasurama [a sage], desiring to learn archery from that divine sage and also to gain some superhuman weapons, like the Brahmastra [Brahma’s missile, the ultimate instrument of destruction], from him on the conclusion of the training. Parasurama had vowed to destroy the entire warrior caste, for it had dealt very cruelly with his father, Jamadagni. So he would accept no warrior boy as a pupil. Therefore, Karna claimed to be a Brahmin [educated class], of the same caste as Parasurama. The sage accepted Karna as a Brahmin pupil and instructed the boy in archery and also in the use of the use of the Brahmastra. But in the end, when he came to know that Karna was a warrior, he grew angry. He said, “Since you learned archery from me by impersonating a Brahmin, I curse you that you shall never succeed in using this sacred weapon.”

Therefore, when you approach the preceptor, you should not try to deceive him. Let there be no trace of ego in you. Do not boast or exaggerate. Do not parade your learning, wealth, or physical power. Be his pupil and learn from him in a disciplined and humble manner. Since Karna was arrogant and cunning, he had to suffer defeat at the hands of the Pandava brothers.

Importance of truth and morality

Another warning for you: When you are aware of the truth and when you know what action dharma (virtue) dictates at a particular time, you should not play false to yourself. Apply the knowledge of truth in every crisis of your life; follow the path dharma has laid down; do not be misled by falsehood or wickedness or by fear or favor. Bhishma had won great fame from the vow by which he abjured wedded life as well as the throne to which he was entitled. He was the teacher of both the Kauravas and the Pandavas [evil and good characters of Mahabharata]. He was a great warrior, a fearless fighter, and an unfailing guide. And he knew all the intricacies of dharma. Yet he failed to guide Duryodhana and Dussasana [Duryodana’s brother] at the critical moment when they dragged Queen Draupadi by the hair and instead watched as they insulted her in open court before others. Of what avail was his mastery of dharmic codes?

Truth and righteousness go together; they are two faces of the same coin. There is no dharma higher than truth. Righteousness is built on the foundation of truth. Since Bhishma, Drona, and the others did not rise to the occasion and stop the wanton wickedness of their wards, they covered themselves with infamy. What was the reason for their inaction? It was consideration for self, sheer self-preservation. They were overcome by a sense of gratefulness. Conscious that they were eating the salt provided by Duryodhana, they attached more importance to the impermanent body and its needs than to the permanent values of truth and morality, which they ignored.

In this day there is a great need to assert and proclaim by every means possible the power of truth and morality, their holiness and their unique importance in life. This message must be proclaimed both by words and deeds. Youth must demonstrate the value and validity of truth and morality by adhering to them under all conditions. For God is the motivator of truth and morality. The inner urge to uphold these qualities is the urge of the Divine in you.

Live for others

Students, the information and the physical and intellectual skills you gather and gain will be of use to some extent in your dealings with this material world. Scientific knowledge can be expanded through the manipulation of matter or through understanding of the world and the changes that happen both in matter and the world. Scientists can describe the composition of matter and its behavior, but they cannot delve into the why and wherefore of things. The real aim of education must be to help the student discover the Divine in every being. Saint Vemana says:

“Scholars study, study, study.
But the fools know not who they are.
Studying, studying, studying.
The scholar is not free from vice
Nor has he become wise.
Then why study these mean mortal things?
Study only that which is deathless.”

The most desirable subject for study is the secret of the soul, which is immortal. Do not be satisfied with an education that helps you to eke out a livelihood during your sojourn on earth. Even birds and beasts eke out their livelihood somehow. You have come to the world as humans to manifest fully the special human endowment of intelligence and intuition. Prasanthi Nilayam [Sai Baba’s main ashram] is seeking to [help youth] realize this goal through the schools, colleges, and university.

Live for the progress of the country

You should not confine yourself to the study of books but should expand the love latent in your heart and translate it into service to man. Service to society is the worship you offer to the Lord. Do not lead barren lives, concentrating on your own advancement. Live for others, for the promotion of the welfare of society, for the progress and prosperity of the country.

It is not as if you are not aware of the conditions in this country. They are serious and ever frightening. Wherever you turn, people are anxious and agitated. Peace and security are not available to them. Your responsibility is, therefore, tremendous, for you have to lift India out of this morass of poverty, hatred, ignorance, and violence. By the example of your lives, you have to restore confidence among the people in the higher values of life. Do not neglect the great lessons embedded in the ancient wisdom, which have sustained countless generations in this land for many centuries. “May all the worlds be happy”—this is the goal toward which the ancient wisdom is leading you. Welcome within the fold of your love all men without distinction of race, religion, color, or class. Have the picture of the happy, united, love-filled human community in your heart. That will give you enough encouragement for your mission.

Develop simple living and high thinking

Students, only two paths are open before you: the path of individual freedom and the path of social service. Adhering to individual freedom, you should not lose yourself in egotism. Students must develop simple living and high thinking. In the name of high thinking, do not lose yourself in tons of books and waste your energies in barren pursuits. The mind will only confuse, confound, and weaken your reason. Use only the energy that the situation and the need of the moment demand. Take the example of the electric bulb. The drawing room should have a high-wattage bulb, while the bedroom does not need it. If you fit all rooms with brilliant bulbs of high wattage for the simple reason that electric current is available, you will be wasting precious stuff and paying heavy costs. Energy too has to be conserved. Pay careful attention to the time, place, and purpose, and your action will be correct….

…Man has in him vast resources of power. When he does not utilize them while discharging his duties to himself and to the society that sustains him, he is only becoming a target for ridicule. When you are on a railway station platform waiting for the train and come to know that it will arrive five hours late, how do you react? You fling abusive words at the train.

When the train receives from you such treatment, how much worse treatment you deserve for not fulfilling your duty and the expectations raised by your being a man! Utilize your skills and learning as consistently and as effectively as duty demands. Unless used, a watch gets rusty. What can be said, therefore, of unused skill?

The body has to be exercised to keep it trim as a tool for serving your fellowmen. The body has not been granted by God to be fed, well clothed, and paraded around in pride. Plunge into the problems of society, take up the burden of the family, and advance the interests of your country. Shine as examples of loving service. This is the ideal of the Sai colleges. Cast aside all egotism, pluck out the root of pride, destroy the weed of envy, and cultivate divine consciousness. Then you will be true students of these institutions.

Source: Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 15