A HAPPY HUMAN COMMUNITY

An extract from a divine discourse by Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba

This country's youth are makers of tomorrow's India. The fortunes of India, good or bad, are dependent on them. On their skill, on their character, on their eagerness to learn and to serve, are based the progress of India. They can also bring about, by their conduct and character, the disintegration, the decline or the debilitation of its culture and fame. The poverty and misery that the country suffers from at the present time are the consequence of our youth ignoring their duty. India, which was for centuries the ideal land for many people following many faiths is today struggling to provide a mouthful of food for her children! How has this tragedy come about?

The reason is the attitudes, the desires and the acts of the youth have become unholy, impure and polluted by selfish and greedy motives. They are not seeking the education that can implant and develop qualities befitting mankind such as tolerance, humility, and the spirit of sacrifice. How are thieves able to steal flowers and fruits from a garden? Because it is not fenced in; there are no watchmen. In the Brindaavan of the heart of youth, fresh, fragrant and green, holy emotions, impulses, feelings and desires bloom and fructify, but before they ripen into goals which are pursued with determination into projects and programmes implemented in daily life, thieves like evil habits and vices invade the hearts and overwhelm the youth. Therefore, the first requisite is to erect the fence of discipline and to foster the practice of virtues in the Brindaavan of each heart.

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

Faith is essential for human progress

Seeing a glass half filled with water, the optimist is glad that it is half full, while the pessimist is sad that it is half empty. Though

both statements are correct, the optimist hopes to fill the other half too, while the pessimist gives up in despair. The one has faith; the other has no faith to sustain him. So, we must develop faith by steady effort. Faith must lead to effort. Faith is essential for human progress in every field. Knowledge, and through knowledge, wisdom can be earned only by means of faith and effort. Equipped with these, man can venture into the heights and emerge victoriously. Of course, one has to be warned against cultivating too much faith in things that are merely material. One has to develop it deep in the eternally valid Truth, God. Faith is power. Without faith, living is impossible. We have faith in tomorrow following today. That is what makes us take up activities and projects that extend beyond this day. People with no faith cannot plan; they court misery by their want of faith.

A rich man in South Africa once heard a divine voice which promised him a gold mine, if only he would dig at a certain place. He dug at that place to a depth of 200 feet and failed to discover any vein of gold. His faith waned. He doubted the authenticity of the voice. He talked to others how the voice had played false. When another rich man heard his story, he developed great faith in what he believed to be God's command. He dug in the same areas and laid bare a rich gold mine barely three feet below the surface of the earth. That became the richest and the most famous of the gold mines of South Africa. The most desirable subject for study is the secret of the soul which is immortal. Do not be satisfied with the education that helps you to eke out a livelihood during your sojourn on earth.

Even birds and beasts eke out their livelihood somehow. You have come to the world as humans in order to manifest fully the special human endowment, of intelligence and intuition. This is the goal which Prashaanthi Nilayam is seeking to realise through the schools, colleges and university.

Live for the progress of the country

You should not confine yourselves to the study of books. You should expand the love latent in your hearts and translate it into service to man. Service to society is the worship you offer to the Lord. Do not lead barren lives, concentrating on your own advancement. Live for others, for the promotion of the welfare of society, for the progress and prosperity of the country. It is not as if you are not aware of the conditions in this country. They are serious and ever frightening. Wherever you turn, people are anxious and agitated. Peace and security are not available for them. Your responsibility is, therefore, tremendous, for you have to lift India out of this morass of poverty, hatred, ignorance and violence. By the example of your lives, you have to restore confidence among the' people in the higher values of life. Do not neglect the great lessons embedded in Sanaathana Dharma, which have sustained countless generations in this land for many centuries. "May all the Worlds be happy"---this is the goal towards which Sanaathana

Dharma is leading us. Welcome within the fold of your love all men without distinction of race, religion, colour or class. Have the picture of the happy, united, love-filled human community in your heart. That will give you enough encouragement in your mission.