Be Human: Become Human

Man is an amalgam of body, mind, and spirit. The senses of perception and action, which form the components of the body, are busy contacting the objective world. The mind consciousness of the various levels, the faculty of reason and the ego examine, experience, and judge. It decides, after discrimination, which word or deed will be beneficial, favorable, fruitful, and felicitous. It attempts to separate the good from the bad, the punyam (virtuous deed) from the papam (sinful action), the true from the false, the permanent from the momentary. The Spirit of the Self or the Atma is unaffected, stable, and foundational. Its quality is Sat (is-ness), but it is ever aware, ever Chit (consciousness). And when the consciousness is pure and unchanging, that state is undiluted felicity, delight, or Ananda (Divine bliss).

What is the purpose of life for man? What has to be his highest achievement? Tennyson has extolled “Self-reverence, Self-knowledge, Self-control” (“these three alone lead man to sovereign power”) as the ultimate goal.

Truth Involves the Co-ordination of Thought, Word, and Deed

The feeling ‘I’ has to be retained until it is submerged in the ‘We’ and finally in ‘He’ from whom it was projected at His will. This is an arduous process, which requires a long journey through compassion, renunciation, rectitude, fortitude, and patience. These are the five vital airs which purposeful living needs. All these are subsumed under the word, dama (control of senses), in the scriptures. The person endowed with dama is named a danta, indicating an adept in Vedanta! These five are the counterparts of Truth, Righteousness, Peace, Love, and Non-violence.

Truth implies more than the correct reporting of what was seen. It involves the co-ordination of thought, word, and deed and the recognition of the Eternal Witness of all three. The Witness is the Self, a sport of the Omni-self. X may wear a brown shirt today; he might have worn a black one yesterday. “X in a brown shirt” is a true statement today; “X in a black shirt” was a true statement yesterday. This level of truth is known as ‘truth for all practical worldly purposes’ (Vyavaharika Satyam). The coats do change; the body of X does change from day to day. But the witness, the Self, is free from change.

Dharma (right action) is the code of morals that upholds and uplifts man and society. It is the superstructure on Truth. It serves the needs of the time, the society, and the goal and is therefore subject to modification. The Dharma of the ‘student’ is different from that of the ‘master of the family’ and from the Dharma of the renunciant and the monk. But, through all the stages of life, the Truth, the Unchanging Witness persists. Accept Buddhi (intellect) as the charioteer; then, the practice of Dharma will lead to success.

Dharma is Love in Action

All the fundamental human values emanate from Dharma, based on Truth. If human behavior has no such basis, it leads to disaster. Man has dehumanized himself systematically by neglect of the basic unity. From slings to arrows, from cannonballs to bombs, from fusion to fusion, man has progressed in the art of killing and entered the Darkest Age of history. The greed for wealth and power has overwhelmed the creed of compassion. The law of self-aggrandizement reigns; the law of self-abnegation has receded. When the son is acclaimed as a good fellow, the father congratulates himself; when he is ostracized as a bad fellow, the father condemns others for leading him astray!

A person who is unable to cope with the demands of worldly competition is labeled as a fool, an A-jnani, one without jnana (knowledge). But, he can well be an A-jnani, in Akshara (not letters of the alphabet, but the imperishable) that which is not kshara. Jnani (a liberated person) is a person who has mastered the knowledge of the indestructible Cosmic Core, and so, he is established in the highest peace. A-jnani is one who is not aware of this imperishable principle. The Sat alone exists; the Chit is its effulgence; Ananda (Divine bliss) is the consequence.

The enumeration of human values as five—Truth, Righteousness, Peace, Love, and Non-violence—is not correct. They are all facets of the foundational humanness. They grow together; they are inter-dependent, they are not separable. Dharma is Love in Action; Love thrives on inner Peace, on the absence of inner conflicts. How can one have Peace when he revels in violence of speech and action?

You are entering upon the sacred task of guiding and training teachers who will inculcate human values in the hearts of the children. Do not treat ‘Human Values’ as a separate curricular assignment. Then, it will become dry and uninspiring. It must transform the way of life and should not stop with imparting information. It must be imparted more through example and practice rather than by books and formal teaching.

Humility Promotes Charity and Purity

Emphasize the importance of physical cleanliness, simple Satvika (pure) food, and group activities involving mutual help. Service is Divine. Be examples of humility so that the children may learn its value and validity. Humility promotes charity and purity. Also, exert yourselves to implant in the children self-reliance by encouraging them to believe in themselves. Let them not develop a desire for imitating the vanity of others. Appreciate good thoughts, sweet speech, and selfless deeds, and denounce bad thoughts, words, and deeds as soon as they emerge.

Any beneficial venture will have to overcome the obstacles of indifference, ridicule, and opposition. But, you must consider this project as a spiritual sadhana, as an exercise in self-realization, as a Tapas (penance). Already, 25,000 persons now engaged in teaching the children in Primary Schools have been trained in methods of cultivating human values. This is indeed a great achievement in the field of service. Do not give room for slackness. Continue the seva (selfless service) with full vigor. A few thousand more teachers are coming here in June for fulfilling their desire to become ideal teachers of fundamental values.

The world today is flooded by conflicting propaganda. Let the message of this educational revolution, insisting on the resurgence of the Divine in man, spread to every street and home. You have My blessings in ample measure. You can receive My guidance and help always in the fulfillment of this task.

Bhagawan’s Discourse in the Mandir to the Bal-vikas Gurus, Prasanthi Nilayam, on 31-12-1984