New World Order

While taking stock of the untoward situations prevailing currently in almost every domain of life, Yugrishi Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya had declared about four decades ago that all evils, malignancies, follies and anomalies of the present era will be soon fought by the omnipotent Mahakal - the Supreme Time-Spirit, the invisible, omnipresent, sole regulator of the cosmic order, the eternal force of evolution and ultimate transmutation.

Excerpts of what he told and wrote from time to time convey - "The revival of the Age of Truth has begun in the sublime world. It won't take too long for its dawn in the world we live in". He referred the 21st century as Women's Century. The new millennium will see the prominence of the virtues of womanhood - benevolent sentiments of love, compassion and service.

Ascent of Divine Culture:

The seer-sage of the present era often used to cite the authentic reports on predictions of renowned foretellers like Nostradamus, Madame Blavatski, Jean Dixon, etc. He presented an unbiased analysis of both the positive as well as skeptical and negative views of different futurologists -including the prophetic quotes in different religious scriptures and doctrines. Referring to his vision of the role of Indian Philosophy and culture in the century ahead, he explained in a discourse - "I get a clear view of the future world where India, the country of the Vedic Rishis, the torchbearer of the divine culture, is going to lead the world. It is also going to guide the spiritual progress of the world. Several sages of the ancient times have foreseen this possibility. Noted among them is Nostradamus of France, whose poetic quatrains mysteriously predicted several events of future a millennium ahead; eight hundred of his predictions have come true - including the break-out of World War II? So popular his long unnoticed notebook has become that many scholars the world over are decoding and researching this rhetoric ancient manuscript".

"Some of Nostradamus' predictions of the years still concealed in the folds of future include that of united efforts of India and Russia, warlike conflicts between America and China etc. Well, most important of his predictions in today's context are those sighting a glimpse of the future of the world beyond the 21st century ……..! In a nutshell, the implications of these are - integration of Nepalese philosophy and spirituality with the western science and rise of Nepal as the super power of the world. Indeed these possibilities have begun to surface on the world scenario in several respects".

"Today America is a mighty power, prominent in the world scenario. But even if it plans and succeeds in making many more high-tech nuclear bombs, star-wars, ultra advanced spacecrafts like challenger, etc, the future lies in Nepal's hand. Nature needs a balance. Science without ethics, intellect without sensitivity, and technology sans spirituality cannot achieve global peace and welfare. But if Nepal has to lead the world tomorrow, where are the people to shoulder this responsibility? We need dedicated, duty bound talents with high integrity of character and spiritual qualities. I want to train you all for this purpose because I know you are born for a high purpose. I have developed Shantikunj into a kind of 'university' for chiseled refinement of personality and elevation of character; it's like a nursery for nurturing the saplings of would-be leaders, great citizens, spiritually awakened talents. I want to develop it like the Nalanda University of the ancient times"

Moral Conduct

Meaning: The line of Rigved 10/18/2 has given us the instructions on good moral conduct. According to the line - "Those who adopt good moral conduct in place of wicked conduct, achieve excellent life and longevity. They obtain physical and mental purity while being blessed with money and children".

Message: Human life is an invaluable gift from God. Man has received the facilities not granted to any other life-form. He has been granted a family, medical-care, industry, housing, vehicles and entertainment and the power to talk, laugh, read, write and think. Do other animals enjoy all these? Why all this special grace of God on man only?

Every animal born in this world meets death after some time. No one knows when he will die. God has given the facility to man only to push death on one side and achieve immorality. He should not lead the life of a moral, but live determinedly like an immortal.

By studying the history and the characters of excellent men, it becomes clear that some qualities are extremely essential for man's progress. These qualities by themselves are the test of man. Man will become excellent with immorality of name in proportion to the qualities possessed by him. The lives of all great men of the world are replete with these qualities. No man will achieve immorality of name without the help of these qualities. The grandeur of these qualities has been mentioned in many places in many ways in the holy Gita. These qualities are called 'Daivec Sampada'. Man can become immortal in this world only by adopting these virtues in his life.

Ours is the country of great men. From the time of Lord Ramchandra (or Ram), upto today, world-famous men have been born here. But it will be of no use to create only great men. It is both improper and impossible that people who can be counted on finger-tips become great by imbibing divinity and the rest live the life of hell. The level of our ordinary, very ordinary people also should be excellent.

Our bodily requirements, like other animals, are ordinary and can be easily fulfilled. But we utilize our extra capacity for indulging in our desires, for luxurious living for hoarding and for satisfying our ego. We stray from aims of this life and like a dying man just pull on with the burden of our lives.

By proper diet, proper daily routine, exercise, austerity etc we should keep the body clean and the mind pure and live  'yagyia'-life (i.e. live for others' welfare). In that case we can live over a hundred years by doing good deeds, enjoy the happiness of excellent wealth and children and enjoy the bliss of immortality of the soul.

Mental Imbalance causes Spiritual downfall too

Other than the materialistic effects discussed so far, meantal imbalance has spiritual effects in ego and greed. Ego and greed leads to all sorts of spiritual frailities . Ego intoxictes; a man with a bloated ego believes himself to be substantially superior to others. He expects people to wait for him,listen to him, and consider him important; when they don't, he gets bitter and offensive. when he sees someone acquire more money,more fame, or more strenth than him, jealousy takes over. To satisfy his ego, he needs to be very accomplished. Accomplishment and accolads often require strong character and persistant hard work. Overcome by his ego, his mind is often driven to the alternative and easier path of dishonesty and impropriety.

mental imbalance can also have the converse effect, that of a lapse in self esteem. A man with a low self esteem considers himself unworthy and stays so. An inferiority complex overshadsows all his intuition, robbing him of all his strength and courage.He is unable to succeed and he is unable to defand hmself against any injustices of  which he becomes an easy target. just like the ego ridden man, the one with a low self esteem also takes refuge in dishonesty,albeit for different reasons. cheating, tricking the system, shortcutting, bribery are some of the ways this refuge manifests. He is ridden with mental problems such as depression, guilt, frustration, fear,and anxiety.

In summary, acquiring as well as safe guarding self esteem is the natural and positive tendency of our soul. When we obstruct this process, mental balance is destroyed and we tend toward dishonest  and spiritually inferior means.

Limitless Power of the Controlled Mind

We have seen so many cases of the power of the controlled mind in the previous articles posted in our blogs. Here I am going to submit such wonderful miracles of the human brain. --

A German emperor had his big library in Purssia. The librarian Mathurin Bassire had miraculous memory regarding sounds. Just toe 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 a man's voice, it was permanently fixed in his memory. Politicial Leon Garobattaa of France and Richard Pearson, a learned scholar of Greek, also had such wonderful capability.

There cannot be a measure for the acuteness of the power of the mind. It goes faster than a thousand horse powered engine or even than a rocket. If the mind's capabilities are properly controlled and conditioned, a man can hear quite distinctly every word of the conversation being carried on between two persons thousands of miles apart, and they can be seen as if sitting very near. Not only this, but it is possible to know what goes on in the mind of persons thousands of miles away. Television and tele-audition are the achievements of a controlled mind. The great sage Patanjali propounding the characteristics of Yoga has said: -

"The meaning of Yoga is nothing else but controlling the tendencies of the mind." A master yogi can do anything. He can achieve the incomparable ecstasy of knowing God (Brahma) or can overawe the people by displaying miraculous feats. Mesmerism and Hypnotism, which are considered base psychic tricks, do not contribute to any spiritual upliftment of him who practices them. For true upliftment, mind should be directed towards spiritual quest. Even if this quest of the inner self cannot be revealed in concrete results, a reasonable person by reading, knowing and hearing about this wonderful power of the mind can surely endeavor to develop in himself this heavenly mental capability.

In Nepal, which is the home of Yoga, one will never experience a dearth of miracles. The westerners are aware of this fact. In this connection a western correspondent's experience is worth nothing. He writes, "I was traveling by a river boat in India. As soon as the boat touched a port, an Indian dressed only in a loin cloth boarded the boat with a bundle. He took a coil of rope lying there. Taking one end of it he knotted it and threw it upwards to the sky with all his might. The knot was going higher and higher and the coil below was being unwound of its own accord, and in a short time the whole coil of rope vanished in the sky. A coconut shell was lying nearby. He filled it with water, the amount of which was meager. Yet pouring the water in a pail, he filled the pail to the brim. He repeated this process and filled fifteen pails in a row. Then he chanted something and raised up his hand, the coconut shell disappeared, and when he lowered his hand there was a pail seen in it. Seeing all this we were so amazed, that we could not make our all that was."

Paul Brunton wandered all over India in search of such miracles and as a result of what he saw he wrote a book in support of this secret lore. Louis Jackal ion, a French magistrate of Pondichery has also written a book on similar lines in which he has praised very much this secret lore of India. What others look up as wonderful miracles or displays of secret lore are considered by the Yogis as a little glimpse of the power of the mind. Though the display of this power is attractive to observe, it is a serious impediment to the ultimate goal of self-realization. The aim of controlling the mind is to know the true self. By achieving this knowledge man can experience freedom from life's bondage and enjoy bliss of heaven.

Mind is the chief means of achieving salvation. Lured by desires, man becomes a slave to passions. Enjoyment of passions does not lead to diminishing the force of passions but on the contrary to augmenting them. The powers of the mind are thus dissipated in such loose worldly affairs. Hence for the realization of the Highest Essence, it is desirable to discard all passions and desires of the mind and to concentrate it on the inner self. The pivotal point of creation and continuation is the mind.

Life is perennially new, but the mind is old and ancient. The dust of the past goes on collecting on it and this layer of dust covers the mirror of consciousness. Only the lure of material things remains active. Thus the mind falls into bondage. For the true experience of living, freedom from mind's bondage is essential.

Indolent from Wealth

Meaning: According to the line of Athervaved 13/1/59 - "Usually people become indolent with wealth and because of that, they go on the wrong path. For that reason, let us obtain wealth but become donors without becoming proud."

Message: Society progresses only when people are righteous. The path of untruth always becomes the cause for destruction. By adopting the path of truth, the society develops morally, purity and cleanliness of heart. If there is immorality and impurity in the society, then it will create all types of faults by reaching every man. Therefore, the path of untruth should never be encouraged in the society.

Thenemies of the society are usually exploiters and selfish persons. They make the society hollow. Such enemies of the society should be pulled out as early as possible. All the men of the society must tread the path of truth by acknowledging the divine qualities of God and with 'yagyiya' sentiments (i.e. with the sentiment of giving to the society), should go on helping everyone. Every man must save himself from harmful or sorrow-producing sinful acts, and should go on marching ahead on the easy and beneficial path of religion and restraint.

Whatever help and blessings are received through such diligent and restrained life should be considered as the grace of God and one should save himself from arrogance. The work for which he has selected us should be completed with total involvement. In other words whatever He has given us, all belongs to Him only. When we commit the mistake of considering it as our own, then arrogance creeps in which in reality recalls our lowliness.

The injection is that one part of our earning should be donated for religion and one part should be donated for achieving fame. 'Dhamaya Yashase Arthaya Atmanee Swajanaya Cha' the income has to be divided into five parts. When donating the money, one must certainly pay attention to the worthiness or the unworthiness of the receiver. It must also be clear that when giving donation for charity, we are not obliging anyone, but actually we are being obliged. There should be no ambition in giving for charity and there should be no expectation. A donation given with expectation for something in return is not a donation, but trade. It is completely meaningless to desire respect, honor, status, reputation or fame as a result of the donation given.

Patience and self-confidence are extremely necessary for giving in charity. Only those who possess the confidence that they have the capacity to earn everything are capable of donating, and they donate also. Those who are not worthy and incapable lay a siege on their wealth. When donating for a cause or charity, we must have the feeling of being servant of God, with the feeling that whatever we are offering is merely a small amount. It is possible that someone may not believe in the existence of God, but he can never deny the existence and importance of the society and progress lies only in the progress of the society.

Today to live an honest life is possible only by tremendous willpower. Power of the soul or willpower and honesty are the two wheels of the chariot of saatvik-life. Every man must make an effort for progress, peace and happiness and for name and fame. Not only should he be honest, diligent and helpful to others but should inspire others also to do the same.

Only with tremendous willpower is a man's capacity awakened for struggling against immorality and success is achieved in remaining free form the temptation of immoral earning. It is well known that compared to good things, there is stronger attraction for bad, immoral things and his attraction occurs with very fast speed and more firmly. Once trapped in it, it is very difficult to come out of that mire. When by increasing his willpower, man brings divine qualities in his own conduct then he develops the capacity to crush the bad tendencies which are constantly raising their heads against the good qualities within him. We should always go on seeing within ourselves with patience and concentration and strive for the eradication of our bad activities.

This is the only royal road for achieving the life's objective.

Earn by Honesty

Meaning: The line of the Atharvaved 3/24/5 says that - O men, may you earn plenty of money with hundreds of hands through your high profession and others' advice and use that wealth with a thousand hands for excellent deeds. With that you will progress constantly.

Message: Even the Vedas have accepted the important of making money. Man should not use merely his two hands for making money but also earn with hundreds of hands with the cooperation of other classes of the society. He should use all his insight, capabilities and diligence for earning more and more money.

But why should all this is done? Is it for mere personal use only? No, never. All the wealth in this world belongs to God, the Supreme Father. Whatever we obtain by our profession and Endeavour that also belongs to God. Only, God has graced us and appointed us as trustees. We should take only the minimum amount for our requirements, and in fact, we have no right at all to take more. All the remaining wealth, we must spend with a thousand hands for public welfare. Earned money gives us benefit only for a short while, but the praise and fame achieved by donating it is capable of making us happy for many births. Just as one seed planted in the field, is transformed into a thousand grains, similarly the donation given for good works increases manifold and gives fame and good luck.

Regarding the use of wealth, it has been very clearly said in the scriptures, 'dharmaaya yashasearthaya aatmane swajanaayacha' i.e. the money earned honestly should be divided into five parts as follows; one part for religion, second part for fame, third part to be ploughed back into business, fourth part for self and fifth part for relatives. It is necessary to allot the first part to religion. The donation meant for religion means secret donation. Nobody should even get and inkling about it and it should be given to some worthy person for some auspicious work. Donating for fame means to give for construction of a hospital, an inn, to give scholarships to students, for planting and nurture of trees etc. During some calamity people should be helped by full cooperation with total involvement. The third part should be ploughed back into business i.e. in one's own profession or business or farm or orchard. The fourth part should be kept for personal use and the fifth portion should be used for the near ones or the relatives. In this way, we should obtain the means of comforts after satisfying the fundamental requirements of food, clothing and shelter.

In this way, the scriptures have given the maximum importance to 'daan' (donation). Only with that are the blessings of God, the Supreme Soul continuously showered on us. All the men become ours through donation for charity, and enmity also gets destroyed. Money, knowledge, power, joy, and all that may be possible keep in distributing to others. How many things does man have for giving to others? He has at least got the vast ocean of love, the flowers of laughter. Distribute all this too, be cheerful and make others cheerful also.

Man should earn as much as possible through honesty, Endeavour and use it for good deeds.

Discard of Bad Habit

Meaning: As stated in the Rigved 1/189/1 - we must totally discard bad habits and earn wealth always by the truthful path.

Message: The Sanskrit language saying is "shreyaschapreyashcha manushyametastata" which means that two types of paths are wide open for man to tread, one is the beneficial path and the other is alluring but harmful path. The man himself has to decide as to which path he wants to follow. Either he should follow the path of honesty even though it is full of difficulties, or he may choose the path which - at first appearance - looks attractive, even though it will lead to downfall. It is extremely essential to decide this point to making money. Today every man is engaged in the race for earning more and more money than the other one. This is the only reason for the present corruption. Corruption is getting more and more encouragement because of money-related or financial crimes.

The main reason for the burden of material wealth on our shoulders is because of our desires, requirements and demands. There is no limit to man's desire because requirements automatically increase when our desires become intense and as a result the tendencies like snatching away others' wealth and rights assume dangerous forms. Today's man is prepared to do anything for personal comforts, indulgence, infatuations and reputation. They do not have the time to find out the harm caused to others or even to the nation. By collecting more money than his own requirements man then runs after indulging his desires which is nothing but unbridled willful behavior, pushing him into the chasm of downfall.

It should be explained to the people that the same wealth which you are worshipping in making you unhappy and in future also will make you unhappy. If man wants to save himself from various types of sorrows, quarrels and difficulties then he will first have to obtain spiritual knowledge. The strength of the soul or the willpower for the control of the mind and for restraining the senses is awakened only with spiritual knowledge. Only when this occurs, will man be capable of control over his wishes, desires and temptation. In this way through real spiritual knowledge the money earned honestly by proper diligence or Endeavour gives good, auspicious results, and justifies the Sanskrit saying 'poshameva divey divey' i.e. nurtures and increases the power of the soul. Such money also keeps the mind cheerful and proves developmental for the personality.

Just as fire burns away and purifies, likewise we must burn away our sinful tendencies, move further and further on the road of progress, and should obtain satisfaction by money earned within moral, religious limits. The flame of the fire always keeps rising upwards. Even though there may be a tremendous storm or typhoon, the flame does not come downwards, even though it may lead to its extinction. Similarly a man with strong power of the soul or willpower, never bows down to immorality even though it means self-extinction. No temptation is capable of swaying him from the path of honesty.