SELF AWARENESS

"Manasi vicharya barambaram" - this aphorism of Acharya Shankara tells us that as we egin to ponder over the important questions of life, and as we grow more and more inquisitive about it, we get more and more deeply acquainted with the verities of our life. It is through the genuineness and intensity of seeking that we become able to know ourselves, and then we are surprised at our folly: "Oh! How in the world were we continuing with such a senseless existence"! Enquiry explains to us the meaning and purpose of life; it reveals the raison d'etre of things and empowers us to discriminate between the right and the wrong, the virtuous and the vicious, the purposeful and the purposeless. In short, it makes us conscious and wakeful. This is the natural result of enquiry and may be considered as the second stage in the process of awakening.

In the state of wakefulness, we are able to cognize our strengths and potentials. Correct understanding of the state of mind and meaningful use of the available circumstances are possible in this very condition. Side by side, we can also identity and overcome the psychological and material obstacles which had hitherto prevented us from actualizing our potentials, from giving proper expression to our talents, and from experiencing the pleasure of a meaningful existence.

It is this very depth and intensity of awakening that becomes jivana bodha. Every facet of life its every nook and corner is illumined with the light of awareness; nothing remains hidden, nothing remains unseen, nothing remains unfamiliar. Every event in life, big or small, becomes a lesson. The whole life becomes a school, a continuing education, instead of being a burden. He, who lives in true awareness, utilizes the moments of happiness in the best possible manner. At the same time he also knows how to derive benefit from the times of trails and tribulations. Moments of joy are yoga for him, while moments of pain turn into tapa (disciplinary austerities). In every situation, he has full comprehension of the meaning of existence.

It is in this state that the interior begins to grow with the light of the truth that only those who are wakeful, alert and conscious can walk the path of jivana sadhana. This path is so perilous and demanding that even the slightest sluggishness and carelessness in effort will result in fall and failure; the personality will remain dull, confused and underdeveloped. To understand the different dimensions of the personality and to illuminate them is the first step on the path of jivana sadhana.

WHERE THERE IS WILL, THERE IS A WAY

As a person attains youth there grows a strong desire in him to become self-reliant. He wants to stand on his own feet and be the master of his life. Until some decades back this desire was largely a male phenomenon. But over the years young girls too have been exhibiting this urge more and more strongly, sometimes even more than the boys. Practically every college going girl today wants to be self-reliant financially. She wants to be a "Women of substance" and cut out an independent identity of her own. The concept of 'working women ' is a common currency now.  

 But this ambition to become self-reliant is not easy to fulfill. Government sector jobs are continually shrinking while the number of educated youth has phenomenally increased. this growth in their population is matched by their growing ambition for better employment, better pay and perks and better life styles.

  It is true that private that private sector employment opportunities have tremendously increased. But their demand is more or less confined to select fields, especially information technology and management. Liberal arts, social sciences and even basic sciences have few takers. Besides, even in the private sector, there are many kinds of contractual limitations; and the work pressures are increasing to unreasonable limits. To add to the woes, government is also slowly tightening its grip over even the private enterprise. this, not exactly for ensuring better work conditions for the employee, but for caste reservations and other such political mileage. The situation is that ability and merit cannot necessarily guarantee employment.

 As for going in for self-enterprise this requires capital which is not available to the larger majority. Government and bank loans are of course there but the rosy picture painted in media announcements as well as print advertisements and hoardings fall far short of percolating to the branch level.

Then, one finds the usual procedural bottlenecks and discouraging conditions and limitations. Some do get these loans without much trouble but a large number are forced to waste their time in frustrating runs from table to table, form this office to that office trying to meet the myriad conditions that are raised from time to time. Ansh sahni of Employment Research program says that the data gathered from the field and their evaluation show the gravity of the situation. But all said done, the old dictum "Where there is a way" still holds good. The young students - boys and girls - of Dev Sandkrit Vishwa Vidyalaya have vindicated this truth and molded it in tune with the changing times. The subtle guidance of Yugrishi Gurudev has ever been their beacon.

SENSES TRAVEL IN A VARIOUS DIRECTIONS

Meaning: Man's senses are never steady in a single direction. As soon as they get an opportunity, they are attracted towards their own lust. For that reason, man should always be alert to save himself from the lust of his senses.

Message: Restraint of the mind is necessary for all. It is deeply related with every person wishing for the uplift of his soul. For success in the practice of religion and upliftment in spiritual life one has to fight these types of problems of the mind. Without the control of the mind, neither man's not society's qualitative development work can ever be completed.

It is especially very difficult to keep the mind engrossed in the religious sphere. When we sit for recitation or meditation, at that time as if all the senses rebel together. Eyes, ears, nose, with the slightest indication, get swayed and start wandering here and there, and the mind? Well it goes on producing thoughts from far and near from its treasury and it becomes extremely difficult to concentrate on reciting the name of God. In our practical life also, a similar situation arises. We are not able to do any work properly. the mind starts moving in all four directions and in the end, because of failure, there is a lot of unhappiness and repentance.

The wavering condition of the mind occurs because of fear, desires and impurity. Because of that the flame of concentration and absorption of any subject starts swaying and ultimately gets extinguished. By allowing the minds to wander after gratification of desires and indulgence and by becoming slavers of our senses we create an unhappy situation by which the soul's independence gets destroyed. We get liberation only by a control over our senses struggle and labor. We get liberation only by a control over our senses and by a life of purity. A spiritual life is a harsh life full of struggle and labor. We aspire for liberation and freedom from fear, wish to be freed from the limitations of the body and mind, but this is not possible as long as we are addicted to our wish and desires.

This wavering of the mind can be considerably reduced by a regular daily routine. For this we must cultivate the habit of thinking in an organized manner and working accordingly. There should ba a unity in all the aspects of our character. For this, the most important mater is 'chittasuddhi' or cleaning the mind and purifying it. First of all, restraint must be given the topmost priority thus preventing any further dirty thinking from entering the mind. Along with it, by using discretion, we must throw out blind and foolish beliefs and also throw out our faults and wicked tendencies. The process of 'chittasuddhi' is certainly slow but it is possible with constant practice.

To keep the mind under proper control is a very interesting mental game. Although there is a possibility of being defeated, one should keep an attitude of sportsmanship and fully enjoy this Endeavour. For playing this game we have to develop qualities like full alertness, skill, a sense of humor, sincerity, knowledge of strategy, patience and velour. These qualities rescue us from disappointment despite hundreds of failures.

This is the wonder of 'atmabal' (strength of the soul).

SOUL IS BRIGHT

One of the strongest and powerful elements is our soul. For this our ancient Athervaved 13/2/29 explain about our soul that — O man! Your soul is bright, luscious and great just like the Sun. At least try to know your strength and know how vast your glory is.

Message: There is a very close relationship between the soul (atma) and God (the supreme soul- paramatma). The soul residing in the body is a part of the Supreme Father, the God. His authority is present within all the living beings. We can also say that God has put this soul in our body as his representative, which through the medium of this body, constantly moves forward towards divinity. It is our greatest misfortune that due to ignorance we have forgotten our own soul and have suppressed it under the garbage of faults and wicked tendencies.

Just like the Sun giving brightness, light, heat, energy, and life to the whole world our soul is also equally powerful Atma is also called Indra. 'Ahamindro na parajigye' means 'I am Indra who never gets defeated'. Endless is the power of the soul. The man who possesses the strength of the soul is never defeated. Victory lies in the strength of the soul and defeat lies in its absence. When man accepts with faith and trust the relationship of his soul with God, then he starts experiencing that he is also all powerful and becomes free form the feeling of wretched lowliness. After that he never gets defeated in any task. With the strength of the soul, man achieves victory over death also, that means he is not afraid of death.

'Atmabal (the strength of the soul) is an inner flame. The power of the soul burns away disease, sorrow and similar affections. The affections of the soul are removed by doing good deeds, the burnished soul's divine light shines forth as 'atmic-shakti' (or the power of the soul) and through it the affections gets destroyed. As a result, the entry of wicked tendencies into the heart stops altogether. This is a great power which brings freshness and luminosity, sharpening of faculties and creates the capacity of carrying out the biggest tasks. It makes the impossible possible by removing even the unimaginably big and difficult obstacles.

Atmabal is called 'ashmavarma mayasi' meaning this is my armor of stone. The Vedas have given to this unbreakable, un-diminishable inner power the simile of stone because it can face each and every disaster. The power of the soul is unconquerable and free from the effect of conflict. This power destroys both - the sins as well as the sinners.

A man with the soul-power never lives a life of helplessness and dependence. Such a man becomes successful and a leader in the society.

It is our duty to recognize the profound power of our soul. We should, by constant introspection, go on removing the faults and wicked tendencies covering the soul so that our life shines brilliantly with atmaprakash (the brightness of the soul) and becomes bright and powerful or authoritative. this power of the soul makes possible even the impossible tasks of this world. If there is any power after the power of God, it is of our own soul only. To know one's own power is actually the worship of God.

Life's objective is achieved by atmadarshan (seeing one's soul i.e. by self-realization

SOURCES OF GOOD QUALITIES

Meaning: The line of the Yajurved 34/3 expresses all the sources of good qualities within our bodies. It can be expressed as - Our mind is the source of good qualities of excellent knowledge, contemplativeness and patience etc. In order that it is not dragged into darkness, that is, wicked deeds, may our mind be filled with auspicious and beneficent thoughts?

Message: For our material and other worldly progress, the biggest means is our body. The all powerful mind within the body administers all our senses. Both auspicious and inauspicious or good and bad flow knowledge starts from there only after reflection and contemplation. The mind is also the source of patience, restraint, cleanliness, tenderness, discretion etc. To a large extent the people's lives are peaceful, tender and clean by all such qualities as discipline, organization, the habit of consistency in every work, respect for other, the desire not to hurt others etc. For obtaining these qualities, we will have to worship and cultivate 'satvagun'. Thoughts full of 'tamogun' like hardship, cruelty, disrespect, hatred, etcetera will have to he thrown out of the mind.

'Tamaso ma Jyotirgamaya' (kindly lead from darkness to light) is our principal prayer as well as teaching. We should remove our mind's darkness by lighting up the flame of knowledge. With that, mind becomes clean and pure, and the deeds that are worth discarding, are unable to enter the mind.

Deeds worth discarding are those which are harmful to the society and the country. By giving up such acts any society or nation moves forward on the path of progress, and our interest lies only in the progress and interest of all. It is every man's duty to give up all his bad qualities and wicked acts. Untruthful speech causes man's moral downfall. Those who make false allegations on others, they invite their own destruction by themselves. Therefore untruthful speech is worth discarding.

Man is destroyed by sins; therefore sins must be completely given up. There is a saying in the Vedas that those who do not work at all and the non-believers (those who do not believe in God) die under the weight of their own sins only. Their supremacy passes on to others. It is not that sins are committed by deeds only; sins are also committed by thoughts. One, who steals, also commits mental sin. Similarly thinking about another woman, reading of obscene literature, exhibition of perverse and obscene dance of another woman etc are considered mental sins. The wicked thoughts arising in the mind inspire a man towards sinful acts. Such a man gets trapped in various immoral and undesirable acts which are fit for discarding only. If there is any power capable of saving us from the temptation of sinful acts, it can only be the firm power of the strength of the soul i.e. will power. Only that power is able to save us from the dark well of wicked acts.

The reflection of our spiritual power lies in freeing the mind from all types of sinful thoughts and to awaken 'saatvik' thoughts (i.e. morally good thoughts). Only such men can achieve success in life. We should recognize the endless power of our mind and open up the road for personal development.

SPIRITUAL COMPARING WITH THE SCIENCE AND POLITICS

While comparing a scientist with a political, James Ruston, the author of the book "Precision of Science and Confusion of Politics" states: - " A scientist knows the capability of his resources and keeps control on them He sets his target and organizes resources on the basis of facts. Then he hands over the management of the planned process to specialized and trained people. The activities of a politician are just the reverse of this - he does not fathom capabilities or the availability of resources. Most of the time politics is engulfed by ill-virtues like bragging, egoism, envy, selfishness, and personal whims. So a politician blindly plays his cards like a gambler and achieves blind results. Governance does not remain always in the hands of active, wise persons with foresight; at times goes into the hands of people who are totally unworthy of it. In their exuberance they initiate big projects, but mostly end up as failures when they face difficulties and by losing control on circumstances. A scientist every moment is aware of the dangers of his errors, while steps of a politician remain uncontrolled and take uncertain directions like that of a drunkard".

Many world famous thinkers like H G Wells have been voicing their concern that the control of the future of humanity has unfortunately slipped into the hands of blind politics. This control needs to be taken away from politics and the basis of governance should become science, which means utilization of specified resources by the best of people to achieve the highest of ideals.

Communal religion or the perception of religion by most of us today has to be refined through spirituality. The control of politics should not go into the hands of egoists and whimsical minds. It should be handed over to those foresighted people who are capable of building up systems of general welfare based upon factual information and truthfulness. This is the seer- like insight of Saint Vinoba and this is his forecast for the new world order. This change is essential for the glorious fulfillment of humanity

[A fowler/hunter wanted to be consecrated by a great saint. The saint had a rule of swearing in the vow of following nonviolence as the teacher's reward (guru-dakshina). The fowler could not do without catching birds and so he didn't agree to the condition. Then the saint suggested him an easy way out. He said -"For now, you swear to be merciful to at least one bird, and then slowly increase the limits of your oath." The fowler greed to it and introduced himself to the faith of nonviolence by at first avowing not to kill the crow. He continued thinking about the nonviolence and gradually kept on increasing the perimeter of his confinement. After a few days he became a great nonviolent saint.

SPIRITUAL POWER

Meaning: Man has to struggle continuously to achieve the objective of life. Tremendous will-power is required for facing the widespread bad customs, wicked activities and corruption and to adopt good activities and honesty in life. Information on mantras which help to achieve this aim is given in the Rig-Veda 1/164/4 -"To achieve the spiritual knowledge of the self is the main goal of man's life. What is the main reason for the manifestation of matter? Man must obtain the knowledge of the body, the strangeness of the blood, muscles, bones, etcetera within it and their being different from the soul (or the spirit)".

Message: The human body is the most excellent gift from the God. After wandering in countless species we have obtained this human from due to virtuous deeds in earlier births. The arrangement of the body of any animal in this world is not as excellent as man's. Only man has been given a body perfect with all qualities. Every part and organ of man is unique in its capability.

Most men believe this human body as their total existence and do not think it necessary to look beyond that. Every moment they are busy in decorating this body only. Such men are busy in nurturing their desires only and totally forget the extremely valuable soul residing within the body. They forget that this body is perishable while the spirit or the soul is immortal. In fact God has graced us with his blessing by giving this body for some time only. This body is an instrument only; it is the place for the residence of the soul. With this body as a medium, the soul can progress on the road of salvation and achieve salvation.

What is the objective of human life? Most people think that achievement of 'swarg' (heaven) is the one and only objective. But where is this heaven? Heaven is created by the condition of our mind only. We ourselves only produce the situation of heaven or hell by our conduct. Hence it is very necessary that we must determine very clearly the objective of life. The only single objective of our life is to realize our real authority (the soul) by very firmly expressing the unexpressed divinity residing within us. God is hidden within us and thoroughly interwoven (or united) within us and that God is the 'antaratma' (the conscience) of all. HE only gives us the fruits of our deeds (i.e. 'Karmaphal' as reward or punishment) and resides within all of us. Every man is a form of a 'devata' (deity) only; he has strayed away from the excellent path only because of his ignorance. In reality man is like a wandering deity. After knowing this great truth, our most important duty is only to implement divinity into our conduct.

It is not possible to obtain this type of spiritual knowledge until we make pure our mind, speech and deeds. Our mind never remains empty. Either it wants to enjoy the lust for evil deeds or else it intensely aspires to spread the fragrance of good deeds. Such thoughts arising in the mid are expressed by speech and the deeds are only carried our accordingly. After self-realization, only pious thoughts arise in his mind. Only by discarding the ego and with the feeling of 'aatmavat sarvabhooteshu' by accepting the fact that God resides in every creature, can man be saved from sinful deeds and increase divine qualities within himself.

The meaningfulness of human life lies in that only.

SPIRITUAL SALVATION

Meaning: Yajurved's line 34/2 has given the information that — the means for spiritual salvation and material happiness are obtained through mind only. It is in every person. Therefore our mind should always be engaged in auspicious thoughts for the welfare of all.

Message: We get this human life only as a result of innumerable good deeds. This human life is a means, a vehicle for good deeds. Man can get eternal bliss only by using it properly. The Vedas preach that man should always progress. He should never get pushed into the chasm of downfall. He should make life immortal by diligence, enthusiasm and self-reliance, always move forward on the path of progress without rear of death, and obtain a long life.

Firm will-power is the principle means for achieving success in any Endeavour. A man with firm will-power rests only after completing a task. His involvement, engrossment, tremendous faith and dedication give him success. Such a man obtains money, prosperity, skills, everything. The great power of firm decision makes possible even those tasks which seem impossible. A man with firm determination never wavers from his path of progress. Even big obstacles do not deter him and the gleam in his eyes is more powerful than even the rays of the sun.

In this way, with tremendous will-power and firm determination, man is able to obtain all material happiness. Not only that, but on the strength of his good deeds and divine sentiments, he obtains many types of means of comfort also. Our future is also decided on the basis of our deeds only.

Firmness of the mind is possible only when our mind is clean, innocent and pure. If we wish to become firmly established, excellent, achieve progress and supremacy in personal and social life, then we must recognize the intense power of mind and must remove from the mind all the dirt, garbage and bad thoughts. It is essential that we keep clean, pure and free form dirt our mind and body, means and ends man and society all of them.

For the material and other worldly individual and social success, for success in everything, purity and cleanliness is a very necessary condition. Real purity of mind means proper expression of all divine qualities. Freedom from dirt means cleanliness which means cleanliness which means 'saatvikta' (all that moral goodness stands for) and 'saatvikta' means achievement for welcoming God. The opposite of it is 'malinta' (ordirtness) which produces 'aatmaglaani' (or gloom and dejection) and tamogun (or darkness of mind). Dirtiness of mind means doors closed for the entry of God. Such dirtness means destruction of the soul and movement towards social suicide. Man himself has to decide whether he has to accept dirtiness of mind or keep his mind clean and pure. He has to decide by his own discretion and select the path which he wishes to tread.

Material and other worldly bliss can be experienced only by making the mind a playground of auspicious and beneficial thoughts.

STAY IN THE YOGIC DISCIPLINE

Meaning: The line of Yajurved 34/4 has explained that - the mind which, with yogic discipline, obtains the indestructible knowledge of the past, present and future, the mind by which all the tasks of life are properly carried out, may that mind of ours be perfect with good, auspicious and beneficent thoughts.

Message: We are imagining here men of three levels i.e. maanav (or human being) daanav (or man with demoniac tendencies) and devata or (man with divine tendencies). In that daanav is at the lowest level maanav is at the middle level and devata is at the highest level. The daanavs are full of wicked tendencies, men possess a mixture of good and bad tendencies, therefore their life is tainted, whereas the divine men are perfect with all qualities and they are obliging and bright. They have extraordinary power and brightness. God is in every particle and in everything but we can experience Him only when we possess the necessary brightness.

The Vedic religion is based on the principle of Karma or "as you sow, so shall you reap". The first point is that man cannot remain without doing work even for a moment. The second point is that one always receives the result or fruit one's deed and the third point result of inauspicious and bad deeds is bad only. Inscrutable is the effect of Karma's results. Many-a-time we start doubting the principle effect of Karma, i.e deeds. When we see sinful people becoming rich, prosperous and enjoying luxurious living, doubt creeps in our ever-wandering mind. But this doubt is without any base. The last wish of the criminal is also fulfilled before hanging. God's plan is also something like that.

Our mind is so powerful that if it thinks with discretion and constantly contemplates deeply on own past, present and future, then it can certainly understand the reality of the situation also. We can ourselves know by experience whether our mind is becoming like human beings or is getting trapped I demoniac tendencies or whether by doing divine deeds, is becoming praiseworthy and bright like that of the devatas. Brightness is the most excellent inherent part of our nature. Without worrying about any trouble or hardship, to be enthusiastically busy in excellent deeds is this brightness. In reality, in this struggle some world, only that person is alive who is bright. Only he will achieve progress and all his tasks will be properly completed in his journey of life.

But all this is possible only when we always think auspicious and the mind will never get trapped in the net of desires, lust, anger, greed, attachment, vanity, malicious, jealousy etc: when there will be no emotion for committing any sin: when we save ourselves from going on the wrong path and always go on throwing out bad thoughts and resolve to perform only good and beneficent deeds. But nothing will be achieved by merely thinking like Sheikh Chilli or Don Quixote. Success is achieved only when the deeds are carried out according to the resolve. Most men constantly build castles in the air. Such people merely talk big but do not make even the smallest effort for giving a concrete shape to their plans. When they neglect in this way, the good, auspicious thoughts which arose in their minds, gradually vanish.

We should never be lazy in putting into action our good thoughts.

PROFOUND STRENGTH OF THE WILL-POWER

Every person is the powerful of all things. They can perform everything whatever they like, but if the person have no self confidence he can do nothing in his life. So every person should develop their self-confidence. From the stenza of the Rigved 10/27/5 has given the meaning to every individual that - "O men! Profound is the power of your self confidence. Nobody can crush your determination. When big obstacles of the size of mountains cannot obstruct your path, what is the significance of ordinary obstacles? Men! you are more powerful than even the Sun.

Message: The biggest power in the world is the power of the soul, which arouses the dormant powers of man and brings out the extra-sensory capacity by developing them and gives the capacity for increasing the material prosperity. All the activities for sustaining the life by obtaining the menas for facilities and for their proper planning are carried on with the soul's powers (spiritual powers). The capacity for working for personal benefit and for the benefit of a few others is obtained by our intelligence. But with the strength of the spirit such profoundness is possible, by which not only personal, but the entire world's upliftment becomes possible. A man who lacks spiritual strength cannot experience happiness even though he has all the material means. But if a man becomes rich with spiritual strength he achieves heavenly bliss in this life itself and by establishing oneness with God, constantly moves towards the real objective of life.

Normally with external physical vision we believe this body to be the be-all and end-all, but our life is created with the body, the pran (life's breath force), the mind, the intelligence and the five subtle covers sorrounding the soul (the annamaya kosh, the pranamaya kosh, the manomaya kosh ,the vigyanmaya kosh and the anandmaya kosh). The soul is a part of the paramatma (the supreme soul), i .e. God) and is alwas trying for going towards the Supreme. The power which the vast Godhead, the Creator of this world has for Himself, the same power is within us (because of God being within us). Self-confidence is nothing but having faith in this fact. Once a man filled with glorious self-confidence takes a decision, then no power on earth can sway him.

Hanuman was able to cross the ocean with just one jump, on the profound strength of self-confidence. Arjun achieved victory in the great Mahabharat war only because his self confidence was roused. All the achievements of man in the present times are a result of his firm and tremendous will power. Man has climbed to the top of Himalayas, flies in the air, is making discoveries at the bottom of the sea - all this is miracle of only the profound power of his self-confidence.

The problem is only one that man has niether been able to know his soul (or spirit) nor God, the supreme soul. He has started wondering after material pleasures and suffers sorrow, but does not make an attempt to find the ultimate truth. Usually most people do not get even an inkling of the soul and God. What is the means of bringing about this arousal? What is the real path for recognising the tremendous power of our soul and by its energy increase the happiness and prosperity of the self as well as the world? That path is "Total faith only in God's Authority". Once this faith or confidence becomes firm we always get the experience that God is within our soul only. His presence automatically goes on inspiritng us towards good deeds.

The other term for God's authority is nothing byt the strength of the soul or will power.

STRONG SPIRITUAL POWER

Meaning: As explained in the Atharvaved 4/9/7 — keeping in minds the peculiarity of the world, let us always speak the truth and obtain self confidence.

Message: God has filled the world with innumerable types of peculiarities. Man is continuously engaged in trying to find their secrets by the strength of his intelligence. 'Asto ma sadbamaya' man wishes to remove the veil of the darkness of untruth and endeavors to move forward towards the light of truth.

There is a lot of importance and virtue for truth. There is great strength and power in truth. There is nothing more beneficial than being truthful. The meaning of 'truth' is to know everything as it is, to believe in it and to disclose or proclaim it as it is. The religious books have symbolized truth as austerity and religion. A man cannot remain as man in the absence of truth. Brightness cannot remain on the face of a liar. Everyone distrusts a lair and his reputation gets destroyed, and even friends become enemies. Man must take a vow to speak the truth always but at the same time he must also be careful to se that the truth uttered by him should not be painful to someone, should not hurt someone's heart, and should be beneficent and also pleasant.

'Satyameva jayate naanrutum' i.e. truth always wins, while untruth never wins. This solemn adage is enshrined in our national logo. We should delve deep into our hearts and find out how much we observe this in practice.

By speaking the truth man saves himself from the biggest sins and becomes a real pilgrim on the path of truth. Truth has tremendous power. It has endless virtues. Truth is the highest religion and a ladder to heaven. Truth itself is an austerity and a yog (yog' means to join with or to combine with. Here it means joining with God), and truth is the best yagya. In the great epic Mahabharata it has been said to the extent that 'there is no religion beyond truth and no sin greater than untruth, therefore discard untruth and accept the truth'. Raja Harischandra, Swami Dayananda Saraswati (the founder of the Arya Samaj sect) and Mahatma Gandhi have glorified the human race by their excellent experiments in truth.

Truth by itself is fire. Nobody and not even fire can influence it. By being near the fire one feels the heat and may get brunt but 'saanch ko aanch nahin' - means that a truthful person will not be harmed. The purifying fire of the truth cleans a man's heart free from dirt, and purifies it. The false allegations of a lair have absolutely no effect on a truthful person. One speaks a lie either for selfish interest or with the only intention of finding faults with others. In both the situations ultimately it becomes the cause of his own downfall. A man seeing faults in others and always speaking bitterly is looked down by the society. The conduct itself of such men destroys them.

Only the man of truthful conduct is a man of good conduct. Such a man always goes ahead on the best path and becomes praiseworthy, spiritually powerful and bright. The flag of his fame always flies high in the world. Such a man is always filled with divine light. A man of bad conduct does not have the courage to face him and a man of good conduct is moved with emotion in the cool breeze of his pleasantness.

Only a man replete with strong spiritual power can implement truth in his conduct.

STRONGEST SOUL

Meaning: As maintained in the Atharvaved 5/3/1 - Men should never be swayed because of struggle. By worshipping God make your soul and body strong, so that no one in this world is able to harm them.

Message: In this world, big, difficult and strange situations constantly occur in a man's life. A man who carries our justly proper task, others undo it by their bad deeds and he has to suffer defeat upon defeat. He is unable to find a solution for this bad situation. All-round there is an empire of worry, fear, sorrow, disappointment, jealousy, desires and lust. For the fulfillment of their desires, people are falling like sheep into the deep well of downfall and are pulling others too. Then what should be donning? Should one give up the truthful path and choose the suicidal path of downfall?

Man has not been given this life merely for passing the days. He has been given this life for achieving excellence, greatness and doing some great deeds. Blessed are those who are striving for excellence and greatness. For this, one has to be alert and struggle constantly. The mind has to be made determined and one has to move forward towards one's goal, and follow ideal persons.

What is our ideal? A man greedy for the fulfillment of desires and wealth, when he cannot achieve these by proper means, he resorts to many immoral, wrong paths for fulfilling his selfish interests. Should we make such people as our ideals? No, never. The real ideal is our Father, God himself. His order is that we should always fulfill our duties and responsibilities. Without getting swayed by whatever difficulties on the path of truth, we should be involved in our work with cheer. They really worship God, who are not afraid of the difficulties on the truthful path and strive hard to remove them.

Life is struggle itself. The meaningfulness of life lies in constantly struggling against the wicked activities going on everywhere in the world. Struggle rouses simplicity, moral goodness and self-respect in man. Love for spirituality, god emotions, and faith in God get strengthened. Ideals become the focus of man's life and he tries to conduct himself according to the ideals. Hardships, big and small, come in a man's life. But those who do not get afraid are not swayed, patiently fight them, shine with brightness like gold refined in fire and succeed in life. These difficulties manifest in our lives to test our patience, courage and valor and we are blessed with God's grace only by defeating them.

To make the soul and body powerful and strong by restraint and to plunge into life's struggle is the distinctiveness of an ideal Brahman.

THE GENESIS OF DIVINE CULTURE

Once Mahatma Gandhi was invited to address the academia at the Jamia Millia University. He spoke for about half an hour but mostly on the Gayatri Mantra. This was annoying to the Islamic members of the management, as they considered it as a mantra of the Hindus. They expressed their resentment after the function was over. Gandhiji cleared their doubt saying that this is not a mantra of a Hindu priest; neither does it belong to any particular cult or religion. It is universal; it is the mantra of all human beings. It is a mantra of pure intellect, foresightedness, a source of divine illumination of the inner self. It is a mantra of awakening humanity in people's heart.

I fully agree with what Mahatma Gandhi said about the Gayatri Mantra. I feel that I have found our lost golden heritage in this mantra, found the invaluable gem that was lost in the vicissitudes of time. Some old snakes are known to have a special kind of gem (mani) in the crest of their hoods. They are said to possess powers, which vanish if this gem is lost. Some elephants are said to have pearls (gajamukta) in their heads. If this pearl is lost, the elephant goes mad. I do not know how far this information is correct. But I can talk about the Nepalese Culture, which was endowed with supreme powers of the "Kamadhenu". We have neglected and forgotten it, deformed it, and thus doomed our prestige and thrown away the crown of being the preeminent guide to the world and have also soiled our prestige. It is high time we awaken and do something to retrieve our lost treasure of divine culture and wisdom. I have tried my level best to revive our ancient, glorious culture that was enlightened by the Gayatri mantra.

Gayatri Mantra is a philosophy. It is the science of spiritual evolution. It is the source of elevated thinking. It is the seed mantra of social uplifting, global peace. It is worshipped as "vishwamata" (mother of the world). If we adopt it (its philosophy) in our thoughts and deeds, the world would once again prosper and shine with the glory of Vedic times. Gayatri is the mantra of divine knowledge. Its sadhana can purify and transform an ordinary character into a revered one. It is 'worshipped' as "Devamata (mother of Gods). I keep explaining to you’re the philosophy of Gayatri. You will live a fulfilling life, a memorable one if you could grasp and follow it through heart.

Now let me tell you something about the science of Gayatri. Are you aware that you are full of enormous powers, extrasensory capabilities? But these remain unexpressed and dormant. The vibrations generated by devout Sadhana of Gayatri Mantre, stir and gradually activate the nuclei of power hidden in your subtle and physical body. Awakening these endows you with supernatural powers. Gayatri Mantra also enlightens your intellect and inspires divine virtues in your inner self. Thus it can transmute an ordinary individual self into a divine self. This is how a divine incarnation, angelic being is 'born' in human form. Lord Ram and Lord Krishna were born in human forms. Like other humans they also left the physical sheath one day. But they were divine incarnations. They were Gods in human form; their divine powers and virtues were expressed as per the need of the era and purpose of their arrival on the earth. We are not angelic beings but that possibility is certainly sown in our deeper self.

THE KEY TO KARMA YOGA

Karma Needs Vikarma (1) to complement it.

1. Brothers, as stated before, about the yoga of desire less action. It is impossible to attain desirelessness if we give up Swadharma and embrace the dharma which is not ours. It is a trader's swadharma to sell indigenous goods. But when he gives it up and starts selling foreign goods imported from distant lands, his motive are nothing but to earn more profit. How can such work be free from desire? Pursuit of swadharma is therefore indispensable for desire less work. But swadharma could also be pursued with an eye on the gains. Take the case of non-violence. Violence is taboo for a votary of non-violence; but he could be outwardly non-violent while being steeped in violence inwardly. For violence is an attribute of the mind. The mind would not be non-violent merely by throwing the sword away. The same is true about swadharma also. To have desirelessness. It is not sufficient for attainment of that goal.

      Desirelessness is an attribute of the mind. Pursuit of swadharma is necessary but not sufficient for acquiring that attribute. Other means must also be used towards this ends. To light a lamp, oil and wick are necessary to have a flame. Darkness disappears only when we light a flame. How to light a flame? For this one must purify ones mind. The mind should be thoroughly cleansed through intense self-examination. The Lord has given this important advice at the end of the Third Chapter. The Fourth Chapter has its genesis in this advice.

2    The Gita uses the word Karma (action) in the sense of swadharma. We eat, drink, and sleep; these are all actions. But they are not the actions that the Gita refers to when it talks of Karma. Karma refers to the performance of swadharam. But in order to attain desirelessness through such Karma, an important aid is necessary. One must overcome desire, attachment and anger. One cannot have desirelessness unless and until the mind has become pure and calm like the waters of the Ganga. The actions necessary for the purification of mind are called vikarma by the Gita. Karma, vikarma and akarma - these three terms are important in the Fourth Chapter. Karma means the outward actions done in the pursuit of swadharma. Vikaram means total involvement of the mind therein. We may bow our head before somebody, but that outward action is meaningless without inner humility in the mind. There should be unity between the inner and the outer. I may worship the image of the Lord; but that act is worthless if it is not accompanied with devotion. In the absence of devotion, the idol will just be a piece of stone and so shall I; and the worship will only mean that a stone is facing a stone! Desire less, selfless karma yoga is attained only when outward actions are complemented with the inward action of the purification of mind.

3    In the phrase desire less action, the adjective desire less is more important than the word action, just as in the phrase non-violent non-cooperation, the adjective non-violent is more important that the word non-cooperation. Non-cooperation without non-violence could be a terrible thing. In the same way, it could be dangerous if performance of swadharma is not complemented with vikarma of the mind.

      Those engaged in social service today are certainly pursuing their swadharma. When people are poor and destitute, it is a natural duty to serve them and make them happy. But all social workers cannot therefore be called karmahogis. Social service without pure motives in the heart of the workers could have disastrous results. Such a social service can generate in equal measure the vanity, hatred, envy and selfishness that wee generate when we serve our families exclusively. This is clearly evident in the world of social work today.

THE POWER OF MIND IS ENDLESS

Swami Vivekanand once happened to visit Hyderabad. Swamiji had heard about a Brahmin, who lived there, that he had some mysterious powers by which he could materialize anything anywhere. He was a highborn merchant of repute. Swamiji went to him and requested him to exhibit his miraculours powers. The merchant, however, was bed-ridden with some illness. There is a generally prevalent belief in India that a man's illness disappears if a holy man places his hand on the ailing man's head. The merchant appealed to Swamiji, " Swamiji, if you kindly put your hand on my head, my fever will disappear, and then I can show you miracles." Swamiji agreed to do so.

     

 The man kept nothing but a lion cloth on his body; he had removed all other clothes. As the days were cold, he was given blanket to cover himself. Quite a large crowd had gathered there. Having covered himself with the blanket, the man went and sat in a corner. Then he said, "Please, give me in writing the names of things that you want me to materialize for you." Everybody did so. Swami himself wrote the names of those fruits which were not produced in that area. To the surprise of all, he produced from the blanket bunches of grapes and oranges in such abundance that their weight was double the weight of that man. All partook of the fruits, which were very sweet in taste. Finally at Swamiji's behest, he produced about a hundred or more fully-bloomed rose flowers whose petals were wet with morning dew and not one of them was loose or withered.

Endorsing the veracity of this incident, Swamiji writes, "People may consider this as a magical or miraculous display, but I don't. There is nothing that is not rooted in desire. This was an exhibition of fact. How can the shadow be there if the substance is absent? This was not 'Maya' but truth or fact. It is a proof of the limitless powers of the mind. Our mind is capable of producing anything desired. The mind is internally packed with all the wealth and abundance of the earth. The only condition is that we must handle the mind properly. An uncontrolled mind can not only ruin itself but al others too. This Brahmin from Hyderabad controls his mind, but is ignorant of the basic fact that he is dealing with his controlled mind. Under a delusion he has taken a halt at the limit of miracles. He has failed to recognize that Almighty, who resides within." The miracles and miraculous powers of the mind have been proved in many ways. It is capable of conquering time and space through the force of its imagination.

It is reported about Rabbi Elijah of Lithuania, that in spite of his having some miraculous mental power, he could not turn it to his personal advantage on account of his inability to control it. Reading only once, he had memorized about 2000 books. Being asked to quote from memory any page from any book, he could do so faultlessly. His brain was ever active, so he had to have a book in his hand always and when he had nothing else to do he would start reading.

Harry Nelson of Pittsburg (USA) had also such wonderful mental faculty. He was reputed as "the magicial of the Chess Board." He could play with twenty contestants at a time remembering the moves of each of them. Sometimes thus engaged against twenty opponents he world feel some mental fatigue, to remove which he would indulge in a game of cards also.

A German emperor had his big library in Prussia. The librarian Mathurin Bassire had miraculous memory regarding sounds. Just to test his phenomenal memory, ambassadors of twelve different countries went to him and spoke twelve different sentences each doing so in his own mother tongue. No sooner did they stop, Bassire repeated twelve different sentences of twelve different tongues immediately. The fact was that once he heard the sound of man's voice, it was permanently fixed in his memory. Politician Leon Garobatta of France and Richard Pearson, a learned scholar of Greek, also had such wonderful capability.

THE SOUL'S STRENGTH

One of the strongest elements is our soul. For this statement the stanza of the Rigved 10/151/4 states that - "Shraddha (truth) is the symbol of the high sentiment of the heart. With it man's spiritual life becomes successful and he becomes happy by earning money".

Message: Faith is our life's most tender, pleasant and excellent experience. There are three steps of progress in life- faith, trust and love. Every issue becomes achievable with faith. Trust makes even a difficult task easy, and love makes it the easiest. By imbibing these three good qualities and putting them into practical conduct, our life's path becomes free from all types of difficulties and hardships. A faithful man achieves success in every task.

Tulsidas also began the salutation prayer to his beloved God by saying "shraddha vishwas rupeenow" (like faith and trust) and then successfully wrote the great epic Ramcharit Maanas for the benefit of the common people. God manifested from the stone-idol given to the medieval princes saint Meerabai because of her sheer faith and the same idol absorbed the poison which Meerabai was made to drink. Ramkrishna Paramhans fed th eGoddess, Mother Mahakali with his own hands - so helpless did she become by his faith and love for her as God in the form of Mother.

A man thoroughly immersed in faith invariably achieves success in whatever task that he carries out. The company of faith is the biggest company in a man's life. The main pillars of our life are faith in mother, father and Guru (spiritual teacher), faith in religion and 'sadachar' (good moral conduct) and faith in one's own work. It increases man's self confidence and develops firmness of resolve; la ziness and lethargy disappear and by total involvement of mind, the path for the fulfillment of the resolve becomes wide open. The hypocrisy of success and wealth also crumbles to dust before faith. Whatever the hardship and howsoever tough the situations, they can never become obstacles in our path.

A combination of faith and trust gives rise to cheerfulness in the mind. A man with cheerful heart is like the mid-day sun, whose rays drive away the darkness of sorrow in the hearts of countless sorrowful people and fills their hearts with cheer. Cheerfulness is like the fragrant sandal paste - when applied on the foreheads of others, it makes our own fingers fragrant.

The flame of faith must always be kept kindled in our hearts. Without the flame of faith we are not able to complete any task successfully. Our life should be soaked with faith and no task should be undertaken without faith, in fact, every task should be completed with total faith. Prayers and rituals such as sandhya-pujan must be performed with faith. The reign of faith must be present at every time, every moment, i.e. all the twenty-four hours of the day in our lives.

By becoming faithful, money, strength, knowledge, intelligence, credit or fame, all this is obtained, and success is achieved in every task. We should never give up the support of faith but at the same we should also save ourselves from bline faith and blind trust. We must faithfully believe whatever is praper, but only after discriminating between the proper and the improper. Without giving proper thought any task performed by imitating others is blind faith only and is harmful also.

The so ul's strength or self-confidence becomes strong with faith only.

THE SUCCESS OF HUMAN LIFE

Meaning: All the knowledge and wisdom teach us by our Vedas. Among them the technique of success life teaches us by the stanza of the Sam-Veda 1302 that -"The success of human -life lies only in removing the spirit's (soul's) and mind's faults and wicked tendencies and becoming cleansed and pure. Thousands of solutions have been described in the Vedas for freeing the soul from blemish and for freeing it from the shell of selfishness. Therefore, the Vedas are worth reading and worth pondering".

Message: This life as a human being has been achieved by us as a result of innumerable virtuous deeds. Man can get eternal joy only by using it for good deeds. There are innumerable types of moral injunctions in the Vedas and their essence is that man should always progress in life and should never have a downfall. It is the duty of every man to give up all types of vices and wicked tendencies. To achieve freedom from the demons of selfishness, greed, attachment, arrogance etcetera which grip the soul, strong will-power is required. The soul and mind can become cleansed and pure only by freedom from them.

The maximum emphasis has been laid on the strength of will-power in the Veda-mantras. Man can fulfill all his desires only by performing austerity, spiritual-endeavor, and hard labor and with mental firmness. Ambition gives an idea about a man's power or ability, but along with that the spirit of selflessness and sacrifice is necessary. Only after these types of wishes are fulfilled by austerities and spiritual-endeavor, can a man make his life successful by helping others. The measure of success of a man's life can be determined only on the basis of how far his will-power has developed. Even the greatest powers of Nature can be defeated by man's will-power. The impression of man's will-power can be seen in the development of culture, in all human activities and all material success.

Man's will-power is produced from his character which is produced as a result of his deeds. That will-power is of the type of his deeds. All of us know that it is very beneficial to lead a moral life. Even then we somehow commit a sin and then we have to bear its painful result. There is no way of getting rid of the results of one's deeds. The difficulties seen in our daily life are not only because of some basic vice or wickedness, but the hardship caused by them is troubling us because we are neglecting the good resolve to free ourselves from them. A man, who can conquer his wrong type of thinking, will without doubt become the master of tremendous will-power.

A misguided man can become strong only when he thoroughly understands that he is the soul and not the body. One who understands that God resides in his soul, then through that understanding it, tremendous energy is produce d within him. Through this power only, he develops the capacity to reject and throw out the mental faults and vices. Satvik thought (qualities of a sattogun or satvik qualities) and divine thinking is produced only after freeing oneself from vices and immoral activities. And with that, enthusiasm is produced within man for resisting vices and immoralities.

One must remember the Vedic admonitions which are summed up as, "Uproot the vices and throw them out, increases and nature good qualities".

THE WONDER-WORLD OF HORMONES

Dr. Ivo has emphasized the predominant role of hormonal glands on one's psychology development in his book entitled -"Glands of Distinctly". He cites the example of Napoleon Bonapart - stating that, Napoleon lost the battle of Waterloo because his pituitary gland and become defective; he was therefore unable to take any decision; in the mangled state of mind he lost the opportunity of turning the strategic planning into his favor. The inference of Dr. Ivies is based on the postmortem report of the little corporal in which the deformation of pituitary gland was a significant finding. In terms of occult anatomy, the visible or perceptible components of the body and their activities do not form the system of life. The conscious energy working in even the tiniest form of these elements is the real source of life. The subtle aspects of vital functioning in the living beings are still beyond the reach of the knowledge attained in the fields of physiology, anatomy and other and other biomedical sciences. In other words, our contemporary knowledge of our own body is yet incomplete.

Consider the endocrine glands for instance: Very minute, almost negligible as compared to the amount of blood in our body, large quantities of hormones are secreted by these glands. The secreted hormones get dissolved in the blood and produce tremendous effects that after the source of normal functioning of human body and mind in many respects. How these glands are developed - what is the source of their existence? Why and what types of transformations take place in their activities? Why do the bio-chemicals secreted by these glands vary so much in nature? What is the mechanism of their significant effects on body functions? These questions yet remain unanswered. So far, only the manifestations- in terms of normal and abnormal growth and functions of the body and behavioral aspects and chemistry of some of the hormones secreted by these glands have been elucidated. However, the research studies are silent on why, from where…., these effects?

Early research in neural chemistry had found the presence of some hormones which are secreted by the endocrine gland and which make temporary or permanent effects on specific organs or physicochemical functions of the body. Advanced results have found newer secrets in terms of the association of these hormones with the nature and inherent character of humans. In view of their tremendous effects on regulating the physical, mental and emotional states of a person, the hormone-secreting glands appear like the 'fingers' of a hidden juggler who makes the humans dance like puppets under the control of the hormonal 'threads'.

The internal hormonal and other neuro-chemical secreting system - the endocrine system - has long been a challenging puzzle for the anatomists and physiologists. Whatever hypotheses and inferences are drawn in one point of time, they are often required to be modified or changed after some time because of the newer or contradictory observations. The secrets of this system seem to be hidden behind such a curtain which gets more entangled into a mesh of unknown facets whenever opened up a bit.

As early as during the times of Luis XV in France, an anatomist named Dr. Thuffe had conjectured the presence of a somewhat supernormal (in terms of physical existence) system in the body which secrets special juices and chemicals that can significantly alter the functions of different components of the body. An Italian Anatomist, Dr. Eustachi had reported a well-structured hypothesis on hormonal glands in the upper poles of the kidney as early as 1563. Later on, some researchers of the Vodak Institute of Science had thrown light on the adrenal glands. Around 1850, Dr Karl Inge of Britain and Dr. Yeri of Paris had given experimental evidences to illustrate the remarkable effects of some hormonal secretions inside the body on the physiological and biochemical functions. Research in the fields of hormones/neurochemicals geared up gradually in the later years.

At present, the research on neurohormonal secretions and allied topics is one of the most active areas of advanced sciences. Dr. Luis Warman of Columbia university had recently published an article entitled "Glands Regulating Personality" to highlight the predominant role of hormonal glands in the psychological makeup of a person. The author states that there are some special glands in the body, which are tiny in size but colossal in effects…. Besides their apparent role in controlling the organ development, metabolism and other activities of the living body, they also have significant influence on the mental functions. Disharmony of some secretions may lead to the decline of one's personality in many respects; one can even go whimsical or insane because of such imbalances. An orderly controlled, refined state of such secretions, on the other hand, might endow one with a courageous, foresighted, cheerful, charming and talented personality.

THOUGHT INCONVENIENT, 'CHANGE' IS INEVITABLE

The juncture of the end of night and the beginning of day is called dawn. This period is filled with unique opportunities for self-growth for the early-rises; but for those who are still half-asleep, it appears as an unwelcome guest and as a burden loaded with new responsibilities. Howsoever unpleasant, they have to rise up and attend to their daily chores. Night does not return and the day does not stop. There is no other alternative than to adjust with the change. The cosmos is in perpetual movement. All our resistance is of no avail to hold back the incessant process of change.

The fetus manages happily in the dark cell of mother's womb, but when it is fully developed, nature pushes it out of its cozy chamber, separates it from the mother's umbilical core and forces it to come out in free atmosphere. In the process of progress, this change is essential and unavoidable. The time of birth is painful and inconvenient to everyone. Mother, nurse, members of the family and friends - all have to abandon their normal routine and get ready to help in whatever way they can in the process of birth. Ultimately the result of this exercise is pleasant to all.

During the present momentous transition period of change of an era, the process of elimination of the Evil and establishment of the Good in human hearts is bound to appear painful for the rigidly orthodox. Other sections of the society may also feel it inconvenient to adopt new ways of life befitting a new era. But there is no other alternative than to adopt the discipline of ushering in of the new enlightened world order that has been ordained by Nature. Once we accept this Truth and are not resistant to change, we will find that change is seed of spiritual growth for all humanity. We will discover that the very change we were fleeing from had held the good we had prayed for.

Sitting in the Dakshineshwar garden, Swami Ramkrishna Paramhansa was contemplating on the Divine Mother. Just then Dr Mahendra Nath Sarkar, who had not met the Master till then, arrived there. He mistook the Swamiji for the gardener and told him to pluck flowers. Swamiji was in a state of consciousness, beyond honor and dishonor; he plucked flowers at once and gave them to the doctor, who went back with asking for Master's darshan. The next day he came again to see Swamiji, and then he realized his folly and was moved by his divine modesty.

To-day's Problems are the Result of Man's Wicked Thinking

The basis of downfall is perversity in thinking. Living in want, indigence, grief and sorrow, malice - all these maladies are going form bad to worse, their root cause in the fallen level of thinking.

To-day we find individuals immersed in too much anxiety and pain and the society ravaged by innumerable problems. The only reason behind the atmosphere of unrest, doubt, suspicion and discontent that we see everywhere is increase of wickedness in man's thinking and such thinking turning to wicked activities. If this tide can be blocked, if persons can be trained to explain the morality of idealism, then situations can be completely turned around. People's capacity, currently engaged in divisive, immoral activities, if turned around and engaged in resurgence of goodness and nurturing goodwill, then in no time the situations can change radically for the better. The current hell-like atmosphere can then change in no time to a heavenly atmosphere. Therefore we should grasp this very important reality which others are not aware of and get involved with all our heart for the removal of wickedness and re-establishment of goodness. This unnoticed effort may not get us any applause, but because of its usefulness its importance is so much that there are no words to describe it.

The 'Gyan Yagya Abhiyan' (campaign for spreading knowledge) is one of the most creative in history. Its method of working is to make door to door contacts and to provide healthy and proper solutions to the problems for the people and the society. After a1000 year's slavery, the thinking of Nepalese people has become very distorted and perverse, and many of their beliefs, but people consider these as traditions, still cling to them and thereby suffer from a variety of hardships. The purpose of Gyan Yagya (the campaign for the spread of knowledge) is to awaken the discretion of the individual to enable him to understand the difference between what is proper and improper and to arouse the courage to discard the improper and accept what is proper.

TRANSFORMATION OF THE ERA BY THOUGHT-REFORM

The foremost requirement of this era is reformation in thinking. If man's thinking is not changed in time, then this world will be destroyed. As long as the present condition of man's way of thinking is not altered and straightened up, all the efforts for establishing peace and happiness will prove unsuccessful.

The only reason for all the perversities, obstacles, grief, sorrow, dualities, conflicts, wants, crimes, and diseases is that our thinking has been vitiated. The reason for all the wars is vitiated, wicked thinking. Even if all the facilities are available and still our way of thinking is not proper, then the individual will receive only unhappiness and cause unhappiness to those in his contact. The reason for our physical, mental, economic, familial, social, national and international problems and troubles is the impure thinking of the people. If the reasons for the mistakes are not tackled, then the effort for reformation is like watering a dried-up tree.

Therefore if a real solution is to be found for the current problems, then we have to conclude that it is essential to change the prevalent pattern of thinking in the world. Moral and cultural revival is possible only on this basis. Except for this there is no solution for world - peace. The foremost requirement of this era is an all-round revolutionary - thinking, a complete change in our thinking. Whether achieved today or after a thousand years, there is no other way except this. All of us must make effort in this direction according to our capacities.

Spiritual Development

Creating a new order should start with one's own self. 'Preach others but practice not' may be alright in other matters, but when it is a question of cleansing people's minds, the cleansing must start with one's own self. The sooner we learn the truth in depth that excellence is not achieved by preachment but by conduct, the better. Speech and writings can be effective to an extent for teaching others. The real influence comes from the preacher's conduct. People do not have the courage to tread a thorny path unless they have an ideal before them. Physical information can be obtained though speech and writings, but not so with subtle and spiritual information.

One must think seriously every day for a long time on the following four basic philosophical principles of spiritual development.

1.   The first truth of looking at one's own self i.e. the soul, is to think of oneself as a very pure part of the Supreme and to think of the mind and the body as completely separate from the soul and to think of them as merely  the vehicles and instruments of the soul.

2.   The second spiritual truth is to think of the human life as the pure gift of God for the purpose of public good.

3.   The third big truth is - to achieve the life's objective of achieving completeness from incompleteness. The chasm between God and the soul can be filled only by removing one's faults and deficiencies. Only by adopting the policy of excellence in thinking and ideal behavior, does the person get the opportunity of spiritual elevation to the level of God.

4.   The fourth big truth is to think of this vast universe as a concrete manifestation of God and to make sincere efforts in spiritual endeavor for spiritual enlightenment.

 Only these four truths are the central points of the science of spiritual Endeavour. If we want to usher in a new era, we will first have to concentrate on spiritual development.

VITAL ROLE OF GAYATRI SAKTI IN HUMAN LIFE

There is no way of glorious success in human life without Sadbuddhi. The support of Gayatri in this form is inevitable for all aspirants of progress and blissful prosperity. There is no path to spiritual evolution, realization of God, or ultimate salvation that does not emanate from the spiritual element of Gayatri Sakti. The Sadhaks or seekers of God should also note that thee is infinity, beyond all perceptions and thoughts. Thou is omnipresent and loves all without any discrimination. No one could have direct reach to thy realization. The subliminal shield of wide separation between the individual self and thy-self could be pierced only by the spiritual force of the enlightened soul. The gamut of the science of spirituality, devotional practices and ascetic endeavors are devised for the sole purpose of arousing this force. Absolute evolution of the Satoguna in the individual-self alone can revoke the hidden spiritual force of the soul and enable its linkage with its divine origin and thy realization. Gayatri Sakti, being the genesis and eternal power of Satoguna is therefore revered as the cosmic impulse of divine conjugation between the soul and the God.

Gayatri Sadhana is the ideal medium for reaching thy realms. Indeed the ultimate realization is attainable only in the sublime core of Gaya tri Sakti. Before entering it, it is only the sentient perception; and beyond it there remains nothing - the subtle senses of the subtle and the astral bodies too get concealed in the absolute void.

Thy devotion and thou realization also attained by the Sadhana, Upasana of Adi Sakti Gayatri and its manifestations in Parvati,-Shiva, Lakshmi-Narayana, Rhadhe-Krishna or Sita-Rama. The devotion of Saraswati, Lakshmi, Kali, Mahamaya, Savitri, Pravati, Sita or Radha is also the Upasana of Gayatri only.

Lord Krishna identifies thyself in the holy Bhagwat Gita as - "Gayatri Chandamaham" (I am immanent in the Gayatri Mantra). Gayatri Mantra is the universal Mantra of the Upasana of God. People might argue otherwise because of their ignorance and prejudices against a particular 'name' (manifestation) of thee, but every spiritually enlightened Sadhak, true devotee of divinity experiences and knows that there is no path isolated (insulated) from the sublime domains of Gayatri that could lead to spiritual illumination, divine attainments and realization of the Brahma.

Worshiping the Motherhood by Gayatri Upasana

Gayatri Upasana is the Upasana of the Viswa-Mata, Deva-Mata, Veda-Mata; it is the devotion of the eternal mother. The deity Gayatri is worshiped in the idol of a Goddess -the divine mother. Mother's love for the child is the most sacred, pure and supreme expression of love. Love experienced in other relationships, howsoever intimate or closed might be is not totally devoid of the influence of selfish attachments and expectations. But mother's love is truly selfless and free from all constraints and perturbations.

Fight from the stage of conceiving a child to raising and training him, she bears a lot and gives what all she has of the welfare of the child; she continuous to bless the child with abundant care and love. Her warm love demands to returns, has not expectations. The saying that "sons could be bad and ungrateful but the mother is never short in her love." Elucidates the limitless grandeur of motherhood. Worshipping God in a mother-form is a salute to the divine nature of motherhood. It also has great psychological benefits. Devotion develops an emotional relationship between the devotee and the deity. Needless to say, the intensity of this intimacy is most deep and natural when the devotee regards the deity as divine mother. The latter also responds accordingly and bestows motherly love upon its child - the devotee. As a child feels most secure and happy in the lap of his mother, the devotee also experiences the same while worshiping the omnipotent divine mother. The immediate psychological impact of this feeling induces soundness in his devotion and liberated the devotee from all tensions, doubts and illusions. When the Sadhak takes shelter in the lap of the Almighty Mother Gayatri and devotes himself, thou too embraces him with equal warmth and endowers the nectar of divine motherly love.

Womanhood is worshipable by men in all its expressions. What a woman gives him as a wife, sister, and mother at least deserves his acknowledgement in terms of amity, affection and respect in the respective relations. The science of psychology reveals that man would have been a cruel, harsh, desperate creature living in the primitive state (of civilization), had he not been fostered by the peerless love and aid of woman. The dry and thirsty land is delighted by the cool lashing of rains and expresses its joy by sprouting fresh greenery. The serene love and sympathy enshowered by woman similarly nurtures and helps excel the potentials of the man. However, the poison of uncontrolled lust, erogeneity and carnal desires often spoils the nectar-like effect that could be generated by healthy cooperation in a couple. The familial and social relations between men and women would have been far more beneficial for mutual welfare and progress had the purity of thoughts and affectionate emotions been insulated from the insidious sensuous passions. The toxic of licentious attitude and eroticism converts the nectar-fruit (of fulfilling relationship) into a deadly poisonous seed.

Gayatri Sadhana is an excellent spiritual remedy to naturally pacify the untoward passions and mental perversions and to purify the emotional fields. Worshiping Mother Gayatri as Vishwo-Mata - the genesis of motherhood the symbol of pristine womanhood gradually invokes sacred feelings and intrinsic respect for womanhood. The Sadhak's sincere attempts of continence over the sense organs, eliminating mental ailments - especially those driven by concupiscence, and his strive for mental concentration over constructive thoughts succeed effectively with the progress of this spiritual-conditioning. Beastly instincts cannot survive in the heart of a true devotee of motherhood. The Upasana of Gayatri as Viswa- Mata is the supreme experiment to educe this spiritual elevation.

WE DON'T REQUIRE LEADERS, WE REQUIRE CREATORS

Outstanding persons are required for raising the level of the society and the country and for its progress in the right direction. Ordinary persons cannot bear this heavy burden. For this purpose, talented great men with leadership qualities are required. Only they are capable of giving good direction to the society. A person does not become an impressive leader merely by speeches from the dais - he has to perform certain deeds and discharge certain responsibilities.

To make the society progress, the leader himself has to be of pure character and raise the level of character of the society. In the absence of the above two, no society can go forward on the path of progress. A society can not exist without a leader and vice-versa, but to-day in every street - corner, we find a 'leader'. Just like the sudden flood of frogs during monsoon, we find the flood of 'leader' in our democracy to-day. To-day we are not able to get the fruits of democracy because the 'leaders' do not allow us to be at peace. Even when there is no problem, they create new and new problems and do not allow us even to breathe in peace.

One thing is certain and that is that the society's and country's uplift depends upon the leaders. If the leaders become corrupt, then the country heads towards downfall, therefore at least from the point of our own protection, we should select our leader after proper inquiry, scrutiny and investigation. The root of many of our troubles can be the wrong leaders chosen by us. Therefore the leader must be such who has the qualities of purity, friendliness, abnegation, truthfulness, remembering obligations and similar other qualities. The leader will be only that person who observes morality in conduct and makes others tread the path of morality. The leader is one who knows morality, which means the policy of going on the right path. One, who cannot enforce his morality with discipline, cannot be a leader.

One feels that the generation of selfless leaders which served the country selflessly with their talents has vanished. To-day the so-called leaders are found chattering away-like frogs suddenly coming out in the rain - in streets, hotels, bazaars and clubs, chewing betel-leaves and giving spirited speeches. They are getting their sustenance from some post or a shelter of some political party. The crowd of such leaders is increasing whereas the number of citizens in the real sense is decreasing. The intention of those persons will naturally be suspect when they say that nothing can be done without the authority of a post or power or money. Gandhi, Vinoba, Loknayak, Jaiprakash, Ishwarchandra, Raja Ram Mohan Rai and innumerable leaders like them remained miles away from any prestigious post and yet worked for society and culture. Thus the demand of the times is not for revolutionary leaders, but of such public teachers who involve themselves totally and work without rest for the effort of creating enlightenment in the public mind. Therefore it is the demand of the times that not leaders but creators are required.

Needless to say that this great work is not possible by selfish, greedy and power-hungry leaders but by sentimental creators who can be like the corner-stone or dissolve like the seed to sprout forth, and maintain their role for NavNirman (resurgence of a new era and order of goodness) and who have no personal ambition nor any desire for name and fame. For permanent benefit, inner peace and satisfaction, there cannot be any better Endeavour or worship than this for the society and the country. All of us must ask our leaders to be creative persons rather than leaders in name only and we must honor and support such creators only.

WHAT IS GAYATRI?

Being the source of ultimate evolution and beatified salvation of Prana, the Adi Shakti is called Gayatri. The Vedic scripture "Aitareya Brahamana" describes this meaning as - "Gayan Trayate Sa Gayatri; (meaning - That, which protects the Gaya (Prana) if Gayatri). The scholarly as - "Shankarcharya Bhashya" further explains the meaning of Gayatri as - "Giyate Tatva Manaya Gayatri". (Meaning: the discerning, pure intellect Ritambhara Pragya), which unfolds the ultimate truth and absolute knowledge, is Gayatri.

Sadbuddhi - the enlightened intellect that enables prudent distinction between the truth and the false, the right and the wrong and guides the righteous decision making, is indeed a unique power, which proves to be superior and more beneficial than any other power or resource in the world. Wisdom or brilliance of mind trained and talented in worldly affairs might serve excellent achievements in materialistic developments. But the glittering success, haughty possessions and luxurious comforts attained thereby do not assure reduction of ego, jealousy, worries, tensions, and other complications; and on the contrary, often gravitate the burden of the untoward tendencies and problems in life. No wisdom, no intelligence - howsoever trenchant, soever or erudite it may be, can nurture real and viable progress with peace and joy if it is not endowed with Sadbuddhi.

The sharp intellect if deprived of Sadbuddhi turns out to be a negative talent in many respects. Such a power of mind may appear fascinating on several fronts and offer rapid materialistic gains and powers but it is also true that it steals the peace of mind and thereby encourages psychosomatic disorders and varieties of related problems. In extreme cases, it might trigger detrimental decline by accumulating egotist cruelty and immoral use of talents. The sharper such skilled minds, the greater would be the insidious effects. It thus appears better to have a dumb head than such Drubuddhi.

The divine light of Gayatri generates Sadbuddhi, which illuminates righteous intellect and inoculated virtuous and saintly tendencies. Every step guided by its inspiration is a forward move towards welfare, peace and happiness. The Sadbuddhi educed by the grace of Gayatri strengthens one's virtuous, talents, enlightens the Prana and gradually bestows greater success and glory in ideal direction. Durbuddhi, on the contrary weakens the vigor of Prana by draining it in untoward thoughts and activities driven by selfish passions and addictions. It plunges one's life deeper in the mire of ignorance, confusion, perversion and sins. Cravings, avarice, fear, ego and self-obsessive ambitions shield the inner light by Durbuddhi and eventually diminish the mental strength and talents too., thus leading to endless sufferings, sorrows and decline.

Gayatri is the savior force and pious light for those entrapped in the vicious cycle of Durbuddhi and evil instincts and those loosing the invaluable human life in shear ignorance. It kindles the spark of Sadbuddhi and thus provides a divine support, a courageous hope and liberates and saves the Prana of people from the smog of illusion and perversion. The path to righteous evolution opens up with the inspiration of Gayatri and the silver line of peace, progress and true joy begins to shine with soothing glow in the devotee's life.

Gayatri is not any mythological deity or imaginary power. Rather, it is the source of divine luminescence, the evolutionary impulse of thy will that is expressed in human self as Sadbuddhi and that enables enlightened progress and glorious accomplishment of life.

The spiritually illuminated acumen of the Rishis had found, while in the depths of their Sadbuddhi that the subliminal powers of Gayatri are active in the cosmic vibrations of Sabda (eternal sound). This realization was expressed by Rishi Vishwamitra in the unique Mantra of twenty-four specific symbols (syllables) associated with the corresponding currents of Sabda. This Mantra, being a representation and carrier of the sublime power of Gayatri - the eternal savior of Prana, is called the great Gayatri Mantra.