2.
THE WISE, THE BRAVE AND THE LOVING. A TALK DELIVERED IN ENGLISH BY SWAMI GITANAND
Ji I consider this ashram as my home,
although I have had the privilege to
live in many ashrams in this country, and we have put the permanent foundation
of our headquarter in south India, in Pondicherry. Still, as I told Gianiji the
other day, to come to Delhi is to come home, especially to this hallowed spot.
I would like to tell you why. In my life I have been drawn to three types of
people. In the early part, one type and
now at this later stage I find myself
drawn to two other types of persons. As a child somehow, almost naturally I was
drawn to the wise. My earliest memories of my fathers household in northern
Uttar Pradesh are of sitting on the stairways or second floor balcony,
listening to wise men discourage with my Father and grandfather. I feel I am
the most privileged of all men alive for I have been to the feet of all the
great men and women of this country and many other countries. In 1938 I had the
privilege of being in the company of this good one (indicating the Master
beside him), also of Baba Sawan Singh Ji, Aurobindo, Ramana Maharishi,
Sivananda Saraswati, Ramdas, Atmananda Saraswati. As a young man I was drawn to
these men. It seems natural to seek Satsang the company of the wise men and
there simply to imbibe their wisdom and also the magnificent feeling they were
able to pervade that which you feel in the presence of great men. Later in life, almost as naturally as I was
drawn to the wise, I was drawn to the brave and spent six years in military
service, during which time I came to admire the stout of heart and the truly
brave. Even to this day I have an open heart for the military serviceman who
has unique position in society to protect his homeland, his loved ones, and the
very things around which this society must turn. For that reason I moved with
our military here in India, and I enjoy the pleasure form having done some
service to the country. Bravery can be found naturally in the hearts of men, as
we are observing these days in Asian situations like Bangla Desh. I am proud of
being a human being, and eschew violence, which I do not understand. if there
is any violence in me, I am unaware of it. in world war II I was knocked out by
the violence there was no room left for any more violence but I came back
from that with the highest esteem for brave men. The third type I was drawn to was the loving
souls of this world. Through karmas no doubt, I was born among a loving family
mother, Father, and grandparents; my entire life has been in the shelter of
loving people, even today in the shelter of thousands upon thousands of loving
people. So I have been drawn to the wise, the brave, and the loving. It is no
wonder that my feet found their way to the presence of this one (again
indicating the Master), for he epitomizes all these the wise, the brave, the
loving in one body. From early in life, one type of person began to
seek me out those in need of physical help and no doubt again through
karma, I was led into a medical and psychiatric career. I can number some two
million patients in thirty-eight years, and to those who sought me out to help
their broken bodies and worn minds, I trust I have been of some service. As I
grew older, through imbibing from the wise, brave and loving, I began to
understand what they had to give, and perhaps through the good counsel they
gave me, some wisdom and love, others began to seek me for some knowledge, to
get some understanding of the principles of life. now in these last years I
have been taken into the most responsible position that life has afforded to
date, that is to have in my hands hundreds of thousands of young people, and
the responsibility of guiding and training them in the inner life. There is a magnificent revival here in India. I am almost at the conclusion of my fifth all-India tour where we have taken in every state in the Union, and territory of the union, with the exception of Manipur. Always there is tremendous interest toward the inner life and particularly the scientific aspect of yoga. But this year we have seen the largest audiences, are speaking to the largest groups, and are having in the sessions the largest classes we have ever seen. I am certain Beyond any doubt that we are in the midst of a counter-revolution to the violence and evil in the world, that great masses of people in the midst of the violence are looking for peace, that a great group in these war-torn and dangerous times are settling in the mind of peace. As Bapuji (Mahatma Gandhi) himself put it, In the midst of darkness light exists, in the midst of untruth truth exists, in the midst of death life exists. But I think we are experiencing something which is unique to it's time: that here in this country, poor as we are and in danger as we are, people dare to seek the regions of the spirit, that people are being led from within, that there is a mass turning to higher consciousness. I share with you today a very special day, which is the first in nearly three months, that beloved Sant Ji has been able to hold Satsang. For myself in the role of a doctor I dont like to see them well. So to see him in excellent spirits, in such progress toward good health, is medicine to me. I have had the good privilege of staying in
this Ashram and speaking to you satsangis before, and I wish to conclude these
few remarks by simply suggesting that you remain faithful to the spiritual
evolution which is taking place, aware that we are now being caught up in world wide universal inner life movement.
Some of you have been on the path from many years an have great gratitude in
you; please be pillars of strength to the younger people in your midst. I ask
you, please be examples to the many young people who are in need of examples. And
the young people, spiritually speaking, the time has never been better for
spiritual revolution. Everywhere I go, people are crying, Kali yug, kali yug,
age of darkness, age of darkness, we are finished, we are done. I say, do not
say that. Remember that immediately after the kali yug is the age of truth, and
that in Nature there is always a perfect blending. There will not be a sudden
ending of kali yug and then a bursting in of sat yug, the age of light. as no
man can tell the difference between the dark that comes before the dawn and the
dawn itself so there are heralds of the dawn: the Saints who have ever remained
a light in the darkness. Remember also that in past ages, some of our great
Rishis took hundreds, even thousands of years to evolve. Back in the age of
truth itself, some of the Rishis had to be do in one thousand years penance to
overcome certain faults in their Nature. May I tell you that today also,
penance is necessary? In kali yug penance are necessary. It does not need one
thousand or five hundred or one hundred years penance, for by turning to the
grace of the inner spirit, the penance is done. What took hundreds of years to
achieve before can be done achieved in a moment by those who are ready. So for those who are turning to that age of light, even though we are still in darkness, achievement can come quickly. Some of you older satsangis know that in the earlier part of your spiritual development, things were slow. Now, the young people are achieving it in a few days they come to the same stage. I ask the older ones not to be jealous. Sometimes I hear a complaint; Oh, I have been studying for thirty years, how come he or she thinks they are so smart in only two weeks! let me tell you that kali yug time is like that, and we remember nearing the time when man will come to the mountainhood of his own spirituality, inner spirituality in the twinkling of an eye. It is auspicious that we are at this particular age, in this particular time. we have come to that point. Without a doubt, we are on that trajectory leading to that high pinnacle point. I call on you to serve the self within. Hari Om Tat Sat. |