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Date : 1st January 2001 --- Occasion : New Year's Day --- Place : Prasanthi Nilayam
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NEW YEAR - NEW DIVINE LIFE
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Sacred feelings in the heart make you a mastermind.
Happiness carries with it an undercurrent of sorrow; none can separate sorrow from happiness. Sorrow leads to happiness. In fact, both happiness and sorrow are the effects of Kali Age.
Embodiments of Love!
Ages have rolled by, but man has not developed noble feelings. A true human being is one who has a good mind. A good mind has the brightness of the sun and coolness of the moon. It makes one utter sacred words and brings peace in society. One with compassion, love, forbearance, sympathy and sacrifice alone is a true human being. But in modern man such sacred qualities have become scarce. How can one, bereft of human qualities, be called a human being?
Man has his origin in Nature. The earth sustains life. The sun gives light. Trees give oxygen. Water quenches our thirst and air helps us to live. How is it that man, born out of the five elements and sustained by them, does not possess the sacred qualities of these elements? Having been born out of Nature and brought up by it, man should imbibe its qualities and propagate the ideals set by Nature. Birds, animals and trees follow Nature and lead a natural life. Trees absorb poisonous carbon dioxide and give out life-supporting oxygen. Even animals discharge their duties and help man in many ways. But, having been born as a human being, why is it that man does not practise human values? He is unable to propagate human values, having stopped practising them.
Embodiments of Love!
Everyone expects the New Year to usher in peace, happiness and prosperity for him. The New Year neither brings happiness nor sorrow. Yesterday is the same as today and today is the same as tomorrow. Days are the same, but one experiences pleasure or pain depending on one's own actions. Meritorious deeds can never bring misery and sinful deeds never happiness. Everyone is bound to face the consequences of one's actions. But one who receives God's grace will maintain equanimity both in sorrow and happiness. God's grace destroys mountains of sins and bestows peace on man. But due to the impact of Kali Age, man has lost faith in God. He is after money and power. How can such a man attain Divinity? Man can rise from human to Divine level only by practising human values. So, man should cultivate human values.
Years come and go, so also do pleasure and pain. Nothing gives permanent bliss except the experience of Atma. Man cannot attain peace and happiness from his actions unless he has sacred feelings within. Many people have a fond hope that the New Year will bring happiness and prosperity for them. But, in fact, the New Year only brings for you the results of your past actions. In order to atone for your past sins, you have to cultivate sacred qualities and perform sacred actions in the New Year. In fact, bliss is within you; it emanates from your sacred feelings. So, you have to manifest bliss from within; it cannot be bestowed on you by others. None can take away the bliss from you and neither can you, obtain bliss from without.
The heart is the centre of sacred feelings. It is filled with compassion. It is compassion that gives rise to sacred feelings. One has to develop compassion, spread the light of Love and cultivate divine feelings. Without doing so, how can one expect happiness to be conferred on him? One gets what one deserves. If one expects good results, one must cultivate good feelings. With purity of heart, steadiness of mind and selfless action one can receive Divine grace. This will remove any amount of suffering in a trice. One cannot achieve anything without Divine grace. So, one has to undertake activities that earn Divine grace. Peace and happiness cannot be obtained from the external world. You can attain them only through Divine grace.
People celebrate the advent of the New Year with singing and dancing. That enthusiasm and happiness are momentary. What man needs is permanent peace and happiness. How can he expect to attain permanent happiness through worldly deeds? He has to perform sacred actions in order to attain permanent happiness.
Happiness emerges only from difficulties. It is impossible to experience pleasure without pain. Pleasure is an interval between two pains. You may be a wealthy man or a spiritual aspirant - you get what you deserve. You cannot expect mangoes by sowing a Neem seed and vice-versa. As is the seed, so is the fruit. Similarly, as are the thoughts, so is the result. You are deluded if you think that you get pain and pleasure from the external world. In fact, they result from your own thoughts. You should, therefore, bring about a change in your thoughts.
Embodiments of Love!
Years have gone by, but feelings of man have not become pure. He will attain peace only when there is a change in his feelings. He should fill his heart with sacred feelings. Under all circumstances, let your feelings be pure and ideal. Let all your actions be for the welfare of others. The Vedas declare: Paropakara Punyaya, Papaya Parapeedanam. (Serving others is merit and harming others is sin). When your feelings are sacred, you will get sacred results without your asking.
The consequence of the Kali Age, is that man's thoughts, words and actions are not in harmony with each other. You may say or do anything: the result you get depends on your thoughts. So, make your thoughts sacred and become a good human being. One with good thoughts and good mind alone can be called a good human being. Sometimes, actions done with good intentions may yield adverse results. The results may appear to be unfavourable, but there is goodness latent in them. A good mind will never change because of such results.
Man is essentially good. So, he ought to lead a life of goodness. But today man wavers every moment. This is due to the lack of will-power. Man should have an unwavering mind and a steady vision. Then he will not face any hardships. Only God's grace can help man to overcome these negative tendencies. You may be a millionaire, but your wealth will not redeem you if your feelings are impure. Even if a man does not possess anything, he can still achieve the highest if he has purity of heart. Anything that a man of purity sees or touches will turn into gold. On the other hand, if he lacks purity even effort in the right direction, will come to naught. A stick in hand will turn into a snake. Sankalpamoolam Idam Jagat (Thoughts form the basis of the entire world). Some people feel that their expectations do not fructify in spite of their best efforts. This is mainly due to the lack of purity in their feelings and intentions.
This day marks the commencement of the New Year 2001. It will be 2002 next year. Destiny does not change with the change in year. Along with the change that the year brings your actions, too, should change for the better. Only then will you get good results.
Students!
You will fare well in the examination only when you work hard throughout the year. As is the action, so is the result. Sometimes, you may question the adverse outcome of a good action. But in fact, good actions can never yield bad results. Sometimes, the results may appear to be adverse, but they are essentially good. It is human weakness to see only the negative aspect and ignore the positive one.
Pleasure and pain, good and bad co-exist;
None can separate them.
You cannot find pleasure or pain, good or bad
to the exclusion of the other.
Pleasure results when difficulties fructify.
Even a sweet mango tastes sour when plucked prematurely. It should be allowed to ripen. Only then will it taste sweet. So, do not get disheartened if your actions do not yield the desired results immediately. Your efforts are bound to fructify in due course of time. You should wait for the favourable time and maintain purity and sacredness. Then you are sure to get what you deserve.
Embodiments of Love!
You have been waiting for the commencement of the New Year with great expectations. But you should enquire whether you have been making efforts in accordance with your expectations. Before undertaking any activity, you should discriminate and enquire into its pros and cons. Man today has lost his sense of discrimination. He does not know how to respect his elders, and how to behave with others. He should use his sense of discrimination and enquire into such matters. He should make proper use of Mathi (mind), Gathi (destiny), Stithi (position) and Sampatthi (wealth) that God has bestowed on him. Instead, he has become a victim of the six evils of desire, anger, greed, infatuation, pride and jealousy. These evils are not created by God; they are the outcome of man's consumption of wrong food and his bad habits. Food and habits form the good and bad qualities in man.
Mathi, Gathi, Stithi and Sampatthi are of Divine origin. Sacred qualities originate from the heart and they correspond to Nivrithi (the inward path); whereas all the worldly acts of man like earning wealth, taking up jobs, playing games, desiring for positions of authority, correspond to Pravrithi (the outward path). Worldly tendencies originate from the head and are subject to change. Only the inward tendencies that originate from the heart are true and eternal. Ignoring the inward tendencies, man takes the outward path. Consequently, he is unable to attain permanent happiness. He treads the path of Pravrithi, but expects the results corresponding to Nivritti. Every action of modern man is oriented towards Pravrithi. He speaks untruth, sees evil, listens to lies and acts in unrighteous ways. In fact, his entire life has taken a negative direction. Man should, therefore, give up the outward path and direct his vision inward. Before entertaining any thought, he should discriminate whether it is good or bad. One can never attain permanent happiness if one follows the outward path. For example, you may be 20, 40, 50 or 80 years old. You have been eating food everyday all these years. But can your hunger ever be satisfied permanently? No. Only the taste varies, but hunger is the same for everybody.
Food may vary, but hunger is one;
Jewels are many, but gold is one;
The colour of the cows may vary,
but milk is one;
Beings are many but breath is one;
Forms are many, but God is one.
Man leads a life of delusion because he sees diversity in unity. He faces many hardships during the course of his life. Life is transitory. To lead such an ephemeral life, why should one take the wrong path and become deluded? So long as one is alive, one should tread the path of Truth and set an ideal for others. Only then can one's life be sanctified. Truthful activities alone can confer eternal peace.
A poet may compose grand verses in praise of God and also pray for His protection. The feeling is important and not the manner in which the verses are composed. One may extol God according to one's capacity, but one should do so with pure, steady and sacred feelings. One may sing Bhajans, offer worship and undertake service for a number of years. But all this is futile if there is no transformation of the heart. The heart should be filled with compassion. Only then can it be called a temple of God. Otherwise, it becomes verily a devil's den.
The New Year does not bring anything new with it. The day when fresh and sacred thoughts originate in your heart is the real New Year day. As you all consider this day as New Year day and welcome it with enthusiasm, I bless you all so that you may cultivate fresh, sacred and ideal thoughts. I want that you share with others all that you consider good. I bless you all to lead a peaceful and blissful life and become role models for the rest of the country.
At times, evil qualities like desire, anger and hatred may arise in you but they should not be allowed to enter the mind. Once they are refused permission, they will automatically withdraw. If they are allowed to enter the mind, they will remain in it. A small example. Suppose someone comes to your doorstep with his baggage. If you receive him and start exchanging pleasantries, he will immediately enter your house and settle down in it. On the other hand, if you ignore him completely, he will go to a hotel or a lodge. Likewise, when evil qualities try to enter your mind, just ignore them. Then they will go back to the place of their origin. On the other hand, if you entertain them, they will rule over you.
When you come across something evil, do not look at it, talk about it or listen to it. Just ignore it. That is true human quality. You will allow only your friends and relatives to enter through the doors of your house. Will anyone allow donkeys and pigs to enter their house just because it has doors? Your body has nine doors. You should permit only what is sacred through them. Do not allow anything evil to enter. Only then can you attain eternal peace.
Human life is noble, valuable, sacred and divine. Do not misuse it by harbouring evil qualities. Use the power of discrimination, and make proper use of the senses. Only then will your life be redeemed. You will attain immortality and infinite bliss.
Start a new and divine life in this New Year. Give up all old, unsacred thoughts. Cultivate divine thoughts. Once you have divine thoughts, no other thought can enter your mind. Install God within; then peace will automatically follow.
Embodiments of Love!
I bless you all, to lead your lives with peace, prosperity and happiness. Thus, I bring My Discourse to a close.
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