The word BHARAT simply means one who takes his pleasure in Divinity. That means all citizens of Bharat should have their pleasure and happiness fixed in God.

Vedas (old scriptures of Bharat) teach that man should adore and worship God in gratitude for His benedictions. The Bible teaches that man should pray for peace and practise charity. The Quran would have man show mercy to the suffering and surrender his will to the Divine. The Buddhist texts teach the lesson of detachment and sense control. The Zendavasta exhorts man to get rid of evil propensities and shine in his own innate glory.

India has been teaching since ages the message of the spirit and the means to gain and ensure equanimity and joy. The prayer that she has taught her people is, ‘May all people everywhere be happy’?

This is the consummation of Hindu thought since time immemorial. These wholesome ideals were practiced by the rulers of Bharat, but later, due to vicissitudes in the country’s history when the people were subjected to pressures, these ideals suffered a setback. The faith got diversified and got crystallized into specific identifiable names and forms. Each new attitude became a special sect and every theory enveloped itself in its own shell. Thus the Vedic religion became the parent of a number of sects and types of belief. Each of these sects elaborated their own rituals and modes of worship, their own priorities in spiritual attainment, and their own body of doctrines about the objective world and God. But in all cases the main theme was to purify the mind and to insist the practice of high moral virtues. But soon this was ignored and the craving for personal aggrandizement and power made every sect, faith and religion rigid and dry.

Today sons and daughters of Bharat, where the lesson of oneness was first taught, go to Western countries and propagate ‘the many’; Westerners come to India from cultures hailing diversity, to learn and propagate ‘the One’. It is a complete turn-around! We have to accept the value and practise the teachings of the great men whom we revere. Mere oratory is not enough; it only reveals hypocrisy. We must welcome the good in Western culture and amalgamate it with our own Vedic traditions and spiritual ideals, and help the children of this land to progress towards a happy, useful life. They should march equally fast and forward in all spheres of life – material, moral and spiritual. We should expect obstacles and overcome them.

The fundamental teaching of the ancient culture of India is love. For generations the youth have been advised, encouraged and taught by precept and example to love the poor, the helpless, the handicapped, and the disabled, for the same spark of Divinity that is in us, is also active in them.

Indians are not eager to identify and benefit from the lessons of their Divine culture! Right under that is lit there is bound to be a patch of darkness.

Every nation depends on three sections of its people for its progress – the producers, the protectors, the preceptors.

Be lamps of love. This contains all. Then there is no need for Japam or Tapas. Love, loving service of others (who are forms assumed by the Divine) will provide you the Grace of God.

Have faith in your culture, which emphasizes the spiritual path of self control and discipline. Do not be led away by the showy attractions of foreign cultures. Indian customs like wearing of saris are now being adopted in the west, while Indian women are wearing western type of gowns. Indian women bob their hair and discard the KUMKUM dot, in order to be fashionable, but, every Indian custom has deep significance. A whole container of sweetness can be spoiled by a drop of Kerosene. Accept the good things from other cultures, the things that help you to control the vagaries of the senses and the Mind, to investigate and discriminate more clearly.

‘Samskriti’ the word for culture and civilization is derived from the word samskara, which means the dual process of removing the dust and dirt of vice, and planting the virtues of Sathya, Dharma, Shanthi and Prema. Samskara is also the name of certain obligatory rites of initiation and purification prescribed by the Vedas for the spiritual upliftment of man. Their number is forty-eight in all, but they could be reduced to ten and if needed, even to one; the final fulfilling one, of recognizing one’s identity with Madhava or Siva or Brahman. Nara is but Narayana seen through the limitations of primal ignorance.

___ Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba

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