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.

Great sages and saints are innately and naturally humble, courteous and egoless.

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.

Total Health

A. "I will take care of my body because it is the temple of God"

1    I will do some form of exercise at my level of competency and do it regularly in order to discover my points of capability.

2    I will walk, walk, walk - stretch, stretch, stretch, stretch - breathe, breathe, breathe.

3    I will eat the purest possible food bewaring of harmful chemicals and additives, dyes, sweeteners and artificial supplements.

4    I will eat more fresh fruits and vegetables.

5    I will watch my diet without getting paranoid about watching.

6    I will eat slowly, thoughtfully, gratefully, remembering to chew my food so thoroughly that it will swallow itself.

7    I will quiet myself with a word of prayer before meals.

8    I will remember to shape up, straighten up, look up and work up to my highest physical potential.

9    I will remember that my body has a will to be well and that I am co-worker in its determination to maintain health and heal itself in periods of sickness and distress.

10  I will not willfully drive my body to a point of exhaustion; neither will I pamper it to a point at which it is weakened by fear or disuse.

B.   "I will take better care of my mind because what I think is related to what I am and what I will become".

1    I will think in terms of health, not sickness.

2    I will think in terms of love, not hate.

3    I will think in terms of God's good guidance over my life.

4    I will think creatively.

5    I will believe that my mind is constantly being renewed, refreshed and strengthened.

6    I will keep an open mind, a compassionate mind, and a thoughtful mind.

"A gentleman is one who can disagree without being disagreeable"

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.

Twenty-First Century - A century of Women

Believe it or not, the future is passing into the hands of women. This has not happened by chance. Women have carried out deep penance since time immemorial for achieving it. By achieving the highest development of their total powers, they have achieved this glory. Guru, mother, sister, and wife - in all these forms the woman has obliged man in countless ways and these countless blessings can be joyfully compared to divine blessings. Society to-day wants to repay those obligations.

Woman's uplift is essential for proper molding of individuals. Only then the molding of the family and the creation of a fine society is possible. Woman is the life-breath of the family. If we have to think of our own and world's welfare, woman must be considered as man's equal. World's welfare can be thought of only after thinking of women's uplift. Both struggle and resurgence of a new era of goodness are together in this major problem, therefore for fulfilling it, extraordinary man-power, means and dynamic courage are required. The secret of man's progress lied in woman's progress only.

The times are dynamically changing. This is seen in the fast changes occurring with the passing over of 20th century into a new era. Simultaneously woman has recognized her own inner vitality, her own inner strength. Woman herself is trying for her own uplift. She is not willing to spend her life at a level lower than man's. The support of time is with her. It will not do not to recognize her, nor suppress her. These days one can see a tremendous vitality of the people getting organized properly.

It is the Creator's wish that now woman should come forward and her superiority be once again conferred on her. It is His wish that woman should give the proof of her velour and show by actual deeds how she has uprooted widespread backwardness and how she has replaced it with progress.

We are calling the twenty-first century as the Century of the Woman because Nature is in her favor and from the viewpoint of special qualities, she is very much better than man and simultaneously Nature is in the process of breaking the old order and creating a new one. Only the woman fits into this plan. This movement of women's uplift will make woman equal to man.

The cyclonic speed of the new era will rest only after liberating the woman from her backward, inferior position and making her capable of taking advantage of human rights. Woman will have her own independent existence in the 21st century, and she will get the opportunity of developing her own individual identity. In the coming days, not the color of her skin and beauty, but her individuality will be considered as everything. The same amount of time and money will be utilized for girls' education, health, and developing their skill, as is employed for boys.

Only such transformation will sustain and maintain the long-term role of Yug Parivartan (transformation of the era). The main basis of the future 'Satyugi Parivartan' (transformation bringing goodness of thinking and conduct among people) will be that the entire leadership be given to woman- woman whom nature has made full of love, co-operation and compassion. Seeing that welfare lies in woman's power, we should not leave any stone unturned for furthering woman's power. One who has always given the proof of selfless love for husband, children and family at every step; she will create the same atmosphere in the area of her influence when given the leadership.