(The inaugural message given at the 24th All India
Divine Life Conference held at the Convention Hall of the Ashoka Hotel,
New Delhi, on 29th of December, 1973)
Mankind
today may be said to be in a state of complacence, in a kind of slumber, which
is mistaken for a consciousness of progress and cultural advancement. Are we in
a fool's paradise imagining that we are well off, not knowing what will happen
to us in the future?
In the
consciousness of the world of objects, of persons and things, and human relations,
we are rarely conscious of our own selves. The very force behind the argument
of the materialist is the reality of matter, the stability of the world as it
is perceived by the senses, the realism of sensory perception.
If the whole
world is only material, then the very knowledge of the existence and operation
of material forces will itself be a work of matter. Matter is unconscious.
Matter cannot know matter. It would be a self-contradiction of the whole
position to argue that matter can be conscious of matter. Who knows the
existence of matter? Who knows that the world exists?
You must
have heard of the magnificence of a person called Ravana in ancient times. He
terrified even the gods, as they say. And the austere, barefooted, single
person called Rama could face this immensity of material power called Ravana.
Ravana had no moral strength. He had only the material force with him, the
power of quantity. He had no qualitative worth in his personality. There was no
substance. It was essenceless. That was the life that Ravana lived,
Hiranyakasipu lived, and the materialists live. They appear to be powerful, but
they have no strength. So, develop this inner strength in you which is not
material but which is the controller of material forces. It is the discoverer
of the element of matter. And you are superior to the entire quantitative power
of the material world.
The purpose
of this conference is, therefore, to awaken our consciousness to a state of its
own self-consciousness. We are in a world of total ignorance, darkness and
misconception. We have no idea of our own selves; we do not know what we are
made of; we do not know what our relationship is with the world and human
society. We do not know what will happen to us tomorrow, or the next moment. We
are controlled by forces over which we have absolutely no power or restrictive
capacity. Our greatness is our simple ignorance!
Should we
continue the animal state of life and existence, of breathing, eating, sleeping
and procreating? We have the same fear and insecurity as the animals have.
Material possession and material comfort do not distinguish man from animal. Man
has to become man in order that he may accelerate his progress to a state which
is superhuman.
The
electricity that we have, the power over matter that we seem to possess and the
physical comforts, all these do not make man. Man is a character, an attitude,
a conduct, a system of values and a state of consciousness. And, if this
achievement is far from us, are we human beings? Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj gave
this message of universal awakening. He came to the world to shake up man from
the sleep of ignorance. Now our eyes have been opened and we can see things as
they really are.
The
Intelligence of the cosmos is far superior to the reflected intelligence of the
human beings. The evolution is not complete. Man is to become a superman, a
divine being. Declare, "Vasudhaiva
kutumbakam: My family is the whole world; I belong to the cosmos.
The world is
one, knowledge is one, the aim of humanity is one, and we need not dub
ourselves as religionists, creedists, philosophers, spiritualists, Mahatmas,
Sadhakas, etc. Let us call ourselves pure human beings who aspire for the glory
of mankind as a whole. And this glorious destination of mankind is single. As
rivers enter the single ocean, all values of life shall commingle in the ocean
of that Eternity, that Infinity, that Supreme Repository of absolute value. The
whole of mankind is a single whole. Let us invoke the blessing of the Almighty
who is the only Reality before us and who is the glorious destination, the
magnificent Goal of mankind, of the whole universe.
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