Articles for Saadhana

B. told me earlier also that I should speak in a little detail about the three important qualities or virtues, namely love, sympathy and sacrifice. I had thought about it and found that the foundational qualities are these three – love, sympathy and sacrifice.

Everyone suffers from selfishness and self-centeredness. That is what we generally have right in the beginning. I think the whole world is selfish. To some extent it is good also. At least because of selfishness everybody looks after himself and his family members. If they are not even that, then I think themselves as well as the family members would have become the burden of others. But that is not something unusual or the minimum goal or the minimum purpose of human life. You look after yourself - quite good. Be also responsible for your family and its members. That is also good. But understand that neither you as an individual, nor your family as a unit, would be there if the larger family called the society were not there. We cannot draw a line between the individual and the family, in the same manner, the family and the society.

I always say “As the individual is a member of the family, the family is the member of the society. The society is a segment of the nation and the nation is a unit in the globe.” And you can extend it beyond also. The globe - generally by globe, we mean the earth. But beyond that, what is this globe after all? In the totality of creation it is something very very small. And the earth by itself cannot be there. It can be only in conjunction with so many other planets and heavenly bodies. So there is an inseparable relationship with the other things also. In other words, as an individual considers himself, he has to consider and make a provision for the family members; equally and parallely he should be concerned with the society, with the nation, with the globe and with the totality of the whole universe as an environment. All these are concentric circles, they are not opposed to each other. The smallest circle will be our own body. The still larger one will be the family. The next one will be the society. Next the nation. Then the globe and then the large environments.

When you understand that that there is a mutuality between the individual and the rest of creation, automatically you must have love for the rest. Generally when we speak of love, the love is always for something you love. Love can be thought of only between a lover and the loved, or the beloved. So don’t think of love which is centered in yourself. If you are loving yourself, not sufficient. Love your family. Then naturally love the society, nation, globe etc. all of them go together. So if you think a little bit you will find, you must be having a love, an abiding love for the rest. This brings in the quality of amiability. You cannot be a seclusionist, you cannot be a separatist.

You should understand, every time you live in the company or in conjunction with the others. I always say, the moment you step out of your house and its compound, you are placing your feet on the footpath or on the road. Both of them are public, they don’t belong to you. When you admit the children to a school, the school is not yours, it is setup by the society. The dress you wear is not made by you. The food you eat is not produced by you. Every facility in life which you are using, most of them, 99%, are produced and delivered by the others.

This interwoven character between the individual and the rest of the creation is something that you have to bring in mind and understand. When you understand the mutuality, automatically you have to be loving and accommodative. Just like you will love your hand, which is a member of your body, you have to love the member of your family, member of your society, member of the whole universe. I think it is a progressive affair. How much you can actualize it and how well you do it is an individual question. But you have to.

Whenever I speak of love, what is this? Is it just an emotion which the mind feels? Not at all! It has to be vibrant, active and interactive. What is meant by “it has to be vibrant, active, and interactive”? I am loving the others. Therefore, I give a place to them in my mind. I am happy when they are happy. I would like to do something to help them, to make them comfortable, keep them clean, adorable etc. So your attitude towards the rest of creation will be to preserve it better and help in the process. You must have consideration for everything in this world. The world needs everything to constitute.

We speak of good. The very good will be there only when it is contrasted with the bad. So without there being a bad, there cannot be a good. Without a day, there cannot be a night. Without a man, there will not be a woman. Without happiness, there cannot be a misery. Without misery, there cannot be happiness. So there is a lot of mutuality and inseparability between all the things in the world.

Now as you are feeling love towards them, you must also feel a progressive sympathy towards them. What do you mean by sympathy? Where there are people who are lesser blessed, either bodily or mentally, or in terms of money or other factors. Always have a feelingful heart and try to be helpful … helpful. You can help them physically if needed. Mentally you always wish for them. That is why we have some universal prayers. What is that? Universal prayers?

काले वर्षतु पर्जन्यः पृथिवी सस्यशालिनी ।

देशोयं क्षोभरहितः सज्जनाः सन्तु निर्भयाः ।।

kāle varṣatu parjanyaḥ,pṛthvī sasyaśālinī,

deśo'yaṁ kṣobharahitaḥ, sajjanāḥ saṁtu nirbhayāḥ

Let there be timely rain, let the earth be full of greenery, let the land be free of terrorism and agitation, let good and noble people be peaceful. Let the other people become good people. So there is something called the universal prayer. You cannot reach out to anybody and everybody physically. So mentally have an overflowing feeling towards the welfare and prosperity of the others.

Coming to closer terms, this is a feeling where it is unhindered, you incorporate the whole world in your mind. But when it comes to a question of actually helping or being helpful to the others, you are not supposed to do the whole of it. To the extent it is possible, to the extent people come to you seeking help, or you know that who needs help, extend it to them. Extend it to them. In the Ashram, various kinds of help seekers come. Not that all the people in the world come. And I clearly tell them, we don’t have resources to help you, we primarily help the people of this panchayat. If you start coming from outside the panchayat, anybody can come from any distance and we are not equipped for it. Speaking a few good words, I give them a little money and send them away. So we cannot help all people in this world. It is not possible also, nor necessary.

So try to be helpful. It may be initially your own relatives, friends. And when you start doing help in this manner, you will find some deserving and needy people also start coming to you. And when you start giving either money or otherwise … you see you should extend bodily help, help with words, help with thoughts, and help with materials whenever you can. This sympathy should start at home. If you have some peculiar habits, which interfere with the family, that is not good.

Now here is a group life. For the sake of the group life we have fixed some timings etc. and the participants are supposed to come here in time. And they should observe the time. They may be given to individual habits of late sleep or late rising. But that is not right. You are in a group and we have fixed some time. So in time every participant should help there. When the participants are asked “Write”, they should write. You must have that sympathy and concern for the others. How can a teacher be happy if the student doesn’t come to the class in time. Will he be happy? Even one student when missed, a good teacher will feel for him. I am very particular that, whenever I speak, people are there to hear. If they don’t come. I feel bad. I cannot always speak alike. And some very good things when I present, the inmates and the others should be there. And if they are not able to come, I feel bad. So you must have a sympathy. That sympathy may be on one account or the other.